This Week In Books: #10

[akujunkan]

Almost forgot it was Sunday, and thus time for the English language roundup.

1) Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis - Jimmy Carter
I knew Jimmy Carter as the failed president who appeared on TV during the oil crisis in a sweater, and as the guy who couldn't free the Tehran Embassy hostages in time to win reelection. I had no idea, until reading this book, that he was a firm evangelical Christian. In this, he has restored my faith in a lot of things. I live smack dab in the bible belt, where Christianity is more often virulently hateful and intolerant than reflective of the words and beliefs of Jesus, and I've come to be quite wary of evangelicals on the whole. I found President Carter to be completely admirable both for his dedication to maintaining a separation of his personal convictions and acts as a public servant, and for his dedication to bettering the lives of the poor and disenfranchised throughout the world. His writing is clear, concise, and utterly unpolemical, which just makes it all the more powerful. His belief in the Constitution and abhorrance of the ways in which the evangelical lobbyists, neocons, and current administration have perverted it, is heartening. Although there are some aspects of his personal beliefs (he evangelizes and is anti-choice), he restored my faith in politicians who are willing to uphold plurality and individual liberties and are genuinely interested in making life better for all of humankind. Go read this book.

2) New Rules - Bill Maher
I don't watch much TV, so as far as I was concerned Bill Maher was the guy who lost his job after 9/11. That was it, until I saw him debating Bill O'Buchannan about Bush's post-9/11 performance on TV last month. This guy is good, I thought. I better check out one of his books. And I did. Here's what I discovered--Maher truly possesses (quoting the dustjacket) "scathing humor," if, that is, you consider the following funny: breast cancer, emotionally vampiric wives/girlfriends, women who never "shut up," "masculine" women, feminine women, rape, date rape, strippers, prostitutes, underage prostitutes, murdered prostitutes, murdering your wife, fat women's bodies, old women's bodies, anorexic women's bodies. Sending Britney Spears to be gang raped by soldiers? That's funny. Ending jihad by sending "a brigade of girls who just can't say no" to the Middle East? The laughs just keep on coming! Maher uses the words "slut," "skank," and "whore," ad nauseum and expects that to be funny in and of itself. Clue: this is not "scathing humor;" it is merely lazy and not particularly humorous. Based on my television exposure to the man, Bill Maher's views are politically astute. Based on my literary exposure? In a mere 220 pages, Bill Maher has ensured that I will not be sparing him any more of my attention. Or, phrased in a way he's sure to comprehend, what a twat.

3) Letter To A Christian Nation - Sam Harris
I am more ambivalent about this short book, written by the author of The End of Faith (which I have yet to start), than I have been about a book for a long time. I ultimately agree with his message that a literal, fundamentalist reading of the bible is wrong, that fundamentalists are working to erode personal liberties, hinder scientific progress, and that their politics (anti-stem cell research, abstinence "education," opposition to birth control and family planning) are literally ruining lives. Unfortunately, Harris loses me when he begins insisting that religious faith is inherently damaging. No, having (any) religious faith is not a prerequisite to leading a moral life (see: secular humanism), but it sure seems from my corner that faith helps people be moral when they otherwise wouldn't be. How can that possibly be a negative? Thus, while I agree with the majority of Harris' arguements, I doubt his presentation will dispose anyone not already like-minded to listen to him. On the other hand, it is nice to have at least one dedicated anti-religious voice out there to counter all of the screeds from the far right, even if I don't agree with either side.

4) Chasing The Sun: Rethinking East Asian Policy - Morton Abramowitz & Stephen Bosworth
What a delightful book. I was initially leery, worrying that it might be hopelessly two dimensional and neoconservative in its outlook, but it is anything but. The authors are both career diplomats (one of whom is dean of the grad school to which I'm applying!), and they take a very realistic, even-handed approach to their subject matter. Chasing The Sun deals with the majority of the problems and issues facing the U.S. and Asia in its seven chapters; it's all there from China's burgeoning influence, Japan's foreign relations problems, North Korea's nukes, economic issues, the possiblity of pan-Asian cohesion, and the various troubles of the developing Southeast Asian nations. The prose is clear and logical, occasionally infused with the authors' dry wit. Best of all, it's accessible. Go read this book, too.


That will be all.

Comments

[metal-dog5.livejournal.com]

Nice to see that my opinion about Bill Maher wasn't off the mark. I've only seen him in short bursts on tv, possibly on his show - I really don't remmeber - and was left with a bad taste in my mouth.

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

Man, did he ever disappoint me. He was completely on the mark about Bush's utter uselessness in the wake of 9/11, and I was hoping for more of that insightful humor in his book. Instead, I found a lot of "I said a bad word and therefore it's funny" quote-unquote, humor. Very disappointing.