This Week In Books: Week #9
Dec. 11th, 2006 09:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
akujunkanTwo books this week, and and holding one fo them gave me massive wrist pain.
1) Hirohito And The Making Of Modern Japan - Herbert P. Bix
I'd started this monster last July in Japan, and then abandoned it because it was so big. Alas, it was an autographed copy, too. Anyway, grabbed it again from the library and, in the course of a week, reread the bits I'd done before and finished the sucker. So. First of all, the book is touted as a complete reenvisioning of Hirohito, a claim I can't evaluate because this is the most in-depth work I've read concerning him. And it is in-depth, covering the Meiji Restoration, the Taisho era, and everything from Hirohito's birth to his death in 1988. Much attention is given to his actions during the Sino- and Russo-Japanese wars, and of course the lead up to, and waging of, World War II. More than anything, I was surprised by the parallels that can be drawn between Hirohito's reign and modern-day American politics: the deluded determination to wage an unpopular, unwinnable war to the very end, the drive of a right wing government to consolidate and preserve power and power structures for their own sakes, and the propaganda machinations to disguise a leader's culpability and rehabilitate his image, afterward. One could even argue that truthiness was invented by MacArthur and Hirohito (and his supporters) looong before Colbert ever dreamed of the concept.
2) Crown Duel - Sherwood Smith
One of my favorite fantasy novels, it's got an awesome world and believable protagonist. Better yet, it turns the fantasy hero trope on its head. And it's funny, and tense, and inventive. I was thrilled when Firebird chose to reprint this book (and its not-as-good sequel, Court Duel) back in 2002. But alas, Smith has altered some of the names from the original printing, and thus it reads differently to me, meaning I'll have to sign it out from the local library and redact my copy back to the version I originally read. But don't let that stop you from reading either version--it's a great story. Plus, Smith has just published Inda, an adult book set in CD's world. You may rest assured that I will be investigating this tomorrow when I go to Sit With The Books.
That will be all.
1) Hirohito And The Making Of Modern Japan - Herbert P. Bix
I'd started this monster last July in Japan, and then abandoned it because it was so big. Alas, it was an autographed copy, too. Anyway, grabbed it again from the library and, in the course of a week, reread the bits I'd done before and finished the sucker. So. First of all, the book is touted as a complete reenvisioning of Hirohito, a claim I can't evaluate because this is the most in-depth work I've read concerning him. And it is in-depth, covering the Meiji Restoration, the Taisho era, and everything from Hirohito's birth to his death in 1988. Much attention is given to his actions during the Sino- and Russo-Japanese wars, and of course the lead up to, and waging of, World War II. More than anything, I was surprised by the parallels that can be drawn between Hirohito's reign and modern-day American politics: the deluded determination to wage an unpopular, unwinnable war to the very end, the drive of a right wing government to consolidate and preserve power and power structures for their own sakes, and the propaganda machinations to disguise a leader's culpability and rehabilitate his image, afterward. One could even argue that truthiness was invented by MacArthur and Hirohito (and his supporters) looong before Colbert ever dreamed of the concept.
2) Crown Duel - Sherwood Smith
One of my favorite fantasy novels, it's got an awesome world and believable protagonist. Better yet, it turns the fantasy hero trope on its head. And it's funny, and tense, and inventive. I was thrilled when Firebird chose to reprint this book (and its not-as-good sequel, Court Duel) back in 2002. But alas, Smith has altered some of the names from the original printing, and thus it reads differently to me, meaning I'll have to sign it out from the local library and redact my copy back to the version I originally read. But don't let that stop you from reading either version--it's a great story. Plus, Smith has just published Inda, an adult book set in CD's world. You may rest assured that I will be investigating this tomorrow when I go to Sit With The Books.
That will be all.
no subject
on 2006-12-12 12:01 am (UTC)