The Canon by Natalie Angier
Category: Popular Science Grade: B+
In the introduction, Angier states her goal -- to make science interesting to people who don't seem to be interested in science. It's an admirable goal. As with other subjects (and as you've seen me rant before), our educational system seems to be intent on leaching the joy out of all the subjects in gets its hands on. When it comes to history, we teach dates, battles and icons instead of the really interesting stories of the real people who, for example, became our Founding Fathers. In literature, we make reading a chore by pushing Silas Marner on teenagers instead of making them love reading by giving the interesting and appropriate books to read. Similarly, Angier's correct contention is that we force kids to memorize periodic tables and molecular diagrams instead of teaching them to be fascinated by our universe, our planet and our biosphere. We work hard to make sure that by the time they're 18, our kids know a fair number of useless facts, but have no interest in lifelong learning.
So, you might ask, why do we care if our adult population is interested in science? OK - here comes another rant. Did you watch the first debate among the Republican candidates? At one point, the moderator asked all the candidates to raise their hands if they didn't believe in evolution. Out of ten candidates, three adult, very smart, very well educated men raised their hands!!!!! Sadly enough, that statistic is reflected in the population at large with a third of college educated people throwing the undeniably valid and undeniably beautiful system of evolution out the window. In another arena, a lack of understanding of our procreation system leads to truly silly policies like the federal government's stance on stem cell research - that it's OK to take minute blobs of jelly that may potentially become a fetus and freeze them forever or throw them in the garbage, but its morally wrong to use those cells to answer questions about diseases that kill people every minute! If we had an adult population that had even a basic understanding of the underlying science, maybe we could get off the dime.
Sorry -- back to the review...
The Canon comes close to succeeding in Angier's goal of making science more approachable. I'd say, if you could measure your interest in science on a 1 (fascinated by textbooks) to 10 (bored to tears by Planet Earth) scale, most science writing captures the ones and twos. This book probably extends to the threes and fours and maybe even the fives. In just 250 pages, Angier covers, well, everything with chapters on the scientific method, probability, physics, chemistry, evolution, biology, geology and astronomy. She gets reasonably in to the science but she leavens the details with lots of analogies that let you visualize really complex topics.
One downside to the book that I, eventually found annoying -- Angier is really a science journalist. She's used to writing columns and stories for The New York Times for which she's won the Pulitzer Prize. She writes with a somewhat flippant style - constantly trying to be funny or, at least, cute. For example, at one point she's talking about the difference in the body between sprinting and distance running (anaerobic versus aerobic) and says that with oxygen (aerobic) you can run "the whole day if you're training for the Olympics, or owe a lot of money to an unofficial lending source in New Jersey". In an essay, this kind of humor can be entertaining. For hundreds of pages, it isn't.
Other than that quibble, if you're even remotely interested in knowing more about the basics of science, this book isn't bad. Her subtitle aptly calls this book "A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science". For the most part, its fascinating.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Vanishing Act
Vanishing Act by John Feinstein
Category: Young Adult Fiction Grade: B
As those of you who've followed this blog for a while know, I think John Feinstein is the best book-length sports writer working today. He's just released a new book about the pro-golf tour so you'll probably hear from me later this summer about his "mainstream" writing. When I saw that he had written a young adult sports-oriented mystery, I couldn't resist picking it up. It actually turns out to be the second book in a series and I didn't read the first one, but I don't think it matters much.
As with virtually all young-adult fiction these days, the stars of the book are kids - in this case, two 13 year old aspiring sports reporters, Stevie Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson. In the first book, that I didn't read, they apparently each won an essay contest and won press credentials to the college basketball Final Four. At that event, they stumbled on a point shaving scandal and saved the life of one of the final four players. That sets up this book which has the two of them, now with reputations, meeting in New York to cover the U.S. Open tennis tournament. As expected, they get involved in a crime, help to solve it and continue on their path to becoming the next star in sports journalism.
The bad news here is that Feinstein has, to some degree, fallen in to the trap that a lot of YA writers fall in to - he's written down to his audience. Because of that, the book, while it reads really fast, doesn't feel terribly well written. Rowlings, Pullman and others have proven that kids like to read well written books and that you don't need to dumb down the writing to capture their attention. The other problem the book has (and I know this sounds contradictory) is Feinstein has put dialog in the mouths of 13 year old kids that just don't seem to fit. Weird but what we get is author's words that sound too juvenile and hero's words that sound too adult.
The good news here is that Feinstein had actually written a pretty entertaining story. If you follow tennis at all, you'll find real people that you know -- Bud Collins has a major role in the story and Andy Roddick has a cameo. The characters are well developed and, other than talking like they were 30, they act like we'd expect them to act. While the story line is a little far fetched, it's realistic enough that in the crazy world of professional athletics, you wouldn't be completely stunned if it actually happened.
Fast read and not a bad book at all for anybody. Highly recommended for teenage sports fans.
Category: Young Adult Fiction Grade: B
As those of you who've followed this blog for a while know, I think John Feinstein is the best book-length sports writer working today. He's just released a new book about the pro-golf tour so you'll probably hear from me later this summer about his "mainstream" writing. When I saw that he had written a young adult sports-oriented mystery, I couldn't resist picking it up. It actually turns out to be the second book in a series and I didn't read the first one, but I don't think it matters much.
As with virtually all young-adult fiction these days, the stars of the book are kids - in this case, two 13 year old aspiring sports reporters, Stevie Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson. In the first book, that I didn't read, they apparently each won an essay contest and won press credentials to the college basketball Final Four. At that event, they stumbled on a point shaving scandal and saved the life of one of the final four players. That sets up this book which has the two of them, now with reputations, meeting in New York to cover the U.S. Open tennis tournament. As expected, they get involved in a crime, help to solve it and continue on their path to becoming the next star in sports journalism.
The bad news here is that Feinstein has, to some degree, fallen in to the trap that a lot of YA writers fall in to - he's written down to his audience. Because of that, the book, while it reads really fast, doesn't feel terribly well written. Rowlings, Pullman and others have proven that kids like to read well written books and that you don't need to dumb down the writing to capture their attention. The other problem the book has (and I know this sounds contradictory) is Feinstein has put dialog in the mouths of 13 year old kids that just don't seem to fit. Weird but what we get is author's words that sound too juvenile and hero's words that sound too adult.
The good news here is that Feinstein had actually written a pretty entertaining story. If you follow tennis at all, you'll find real people that you know -- Bud Collins has a major role in the story and Andy Roddick has a cameo. The characters are well developed and, other than talking like they were 30, they act like we'd expect them to act. While the story line is a little far fetched, it's realistic enough that in the crazy world of professional athletics, you wouldn't be completely stunned if it actually happened.
Fast read and not a bad book at all for anybody. Highly recommended for teenage sports fans.
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon
Category: Novel Grade: B+
There's no denying that Michael Chabon has both abundant talent and abundant imagination. In lesser hands, this book could have been an absolute disaster. In his, it's a readable, entertaining and very unusual book. The premise -- it's modern day Sitka, Alaska. This is a "temporary" settlement zone that the U.S. set aside for Jewish refugees after their imagined expulsion from the short-lived land of Israel in 1948. The story takes place in the last couple of months before "Reversion" - the plan by the fundamentalist twenty-first century government of the U.S. to give Alaska back to the Alaskans. Some of the Jews will be allowed to stay - most will have to leave for parts unknown.
That's the setting. Within the setting, most of the books is a murder mystery featuring detective Meyer Landsman. He's living in a flophouse hotel a few years after his divorce from the woman who is now his boss in the Homicide Division of Sitka Central. He's a totally mal-adjusted drunk and a so-so policeman. His partner, Berko Shemets, is a hulking half-Tinglit half-orthodox Jew. The story begins when Meyer is called downstairs by the manager of the flophouse to investigate the death of one of the other residents - a Jewish junkie who was shot in the head shortly after servicing his heroin habit.
For the most part, the "Jews in Alaska" premise doesn't mean much to the first third or the last third of the story other than to give Chabon a lot of chances to use Yiddish words and phrases and to include a lot of Jewish names. As the story develops, however, we're plunged in to the world of the Verbov Rabbi - a Hasidic cult who left Europe for Alaska and has become not just a messianic cult, but also the largest organized crime family in the district. You begin to see why I say that turning this in to a readable book takes a major talent.
While this isn't nearly in the league of Chabon's major work so far - The Amazing Adventures of Kavlier and Clay - it's still a great showcase for his abilities. He could easily be the best of a young crop of writers just making their way up the world of literary fiction. He's an incredibly visual writer that can make you see what he wants you to see with a few words. I'll give one example. The first time that Landsman goes to the Verbov community he finds that the core of the community is a near replica of the European village that the group came from, except for the fact that the houses are new and the streets are clean. Chabon tells us that the area at the core of the Verbov world is a "Disneyland shtetl" and, bingo, you have a near perfect picture in your mind of what he wants you to see -- in two words!
Overall, this is kind of bell-curve of book. It begins, even though there's a murder right away, as a very small, kind of personal book. It's the story of Landsman's disintegrating life set in the context of the destruction of the world he knows by the fast approaching "Reversion". The middle of the book shoots up like shape of the bell curve and becomes a huge story of cultural and geopolitical battles and gives full attention to the Jewish theme of the book. It then trails back in to Landsman's world and ends almost with a sigh.
Even though I gave the book a decent grade, I'm not sure whether I recommend it or not. I almost put it down a couple of times, although I'm glad I didn't. It's a fairly complicated story and, at times, hard to follow. I'm glad Chabon wrote this instead of a lesser talent. Even with all his talent, Chabon really skirted the edge of strange with this one.
Category: Novel Grade: B+
There's no denying that Michael Chabon has both abundant talent and abundant imagination. In lesser hands, this book could have been an absolute disaster. In his, it's a readable, entertaining and very unusual book. The premise -- it's modern day Sitka, Alaska. This is a "temporary" settlement zone that the U.S. set aside for Jewish refugees after their imagined expulsion from the short-lived land of Israel in 1948. The story takes place in the last couple of months before "Reversion" - the plan by the fundamentalist twenty-first century government of the U.S. to give Alaska back to the Alaskans. Some of the Jews will be allowed to stay - most will have to leave for parts unknown.
That's the setting. Within the setting, most of the books is a murder mystery featuring detective Meyer Landsman. He's living in a flophouse hotel a few years after his divorce from the woman who is now his boss in the Homicide Division of Sitka Central. He's a totally mal-adjusted drunk and a so-so policeman. His partner, Berko Shemets, is a hulking half-Tinglit half-orthodox Jew. The story begins when Meyer is called downstairs by the manager of the flophouse to investigate the death of one of the other residents - a Jewish junkie who was shot in the head shortly after servicing his heroin habit.
For the most part, the "Jews in Alaska" premise doesn't mean much to the first third or the last third of the story other than to give Chabon a lot of chances to use Yiddish words and phrases and to include a lot of Jewish names. As the story develops, however, we're plunged in to the world of the Verbov Rabbi - a Hasidic cult who left Europe for Alaska and has become not just a messianic cult, but also the largest organized crime family in the district. You begin to see why I say that turning this in to a readable book takes a major talent.
While this isn't nearly in the league of Chabon's major work so far - The Amazing Adventures of Kavlier and Clay - it's still a great showcase for his abilities. He could easily be the best of a young crop of writers just making their way up the world of literary fiction. He's an incredibly visual writer that can make you see what he wants you to see with a few words. I'll give one example. The first time that Landsman goes to the Verbov community he finds that the core of the community is a near replica of the European village that the group came from, except for the fact that the houses are new and the streets are clean. Chabon tells us that the area at the core of the Verbov world is a "Disneyland shtetl" and, bingo, you have a near perfect picture in your mind of what he wants you to see -- in two words!
Overall, this is kind of bell-curve of book. It begins, even though there's a murder right away, as a very small, kind of personal book. It's the story of Landsman's disintegrating life set in the context of the destruction of the world he knows by the fast approaching "Reversion". The middle of the book shoots up like shape of the bell curve and becomes a huge story of cultural and geopolitical battles and gives full attention to the Jewish theme of the book. It then trails back in to Landsman's world and ends almost with a sigh.
Even though I gave the book a decent grade, I'm not sure whether I recommend it or not. I almost put it down a couple of times, although I'm glad I didn't. It's a fairly complicated story and, at times, hard to follow. I'm glad Chabon wrote this instead of a lesser talent. Even with all his talent, Chabon really skirted the edge of strange with this one.
Friday, May 25, 2007
On the ground in Colorado
Not a book review, but just though I'd let you guys know that we safely made the transfer to our place in Colorado. The intent had been to get here today, but we actually drove straight through from Lubbock yesterday. We planned to have three easy days but - a warning - if you ever plan to stop for the night in Trinidad, Colorado, make other plans. First, the town is all torn up with road work. More importantly, there wasn't a roadside hotel that looked livable without a major hose-down with disinfectant! We decided to go on to the next town -- Walsenberg -- where we were to pick up a back road we use. There was one motel in Walsenberg - a 50s era Best Western. We were tired enough to stop but they actually had no vacancies! At that point, it made more sense to keep going. That's right at 600 miles for the day and we pulled in here about 7:30 - about 11 hours of driving. We were pretty exhausted but, this morning, after a good night's sleep, we're glad we pushed through.
We did continue our efforts to eliminate all cities and major highways from the trip up here. Thanks to a tip from the Davis's, we started using a back road last summer that takes us way around Pueblo - one of the armpits of the world. This trip, we added new back routes that eliminated San Angelo, Big Spring and Amarillo. The back roads are, of course, smaller roads but that was more than made up for by the almost complete lack of traffic. There were stretches were we didn't see another car for a half hour! The routes are a little straighter and without the stoplights of the cities, it probably cut an hour off the trip. When you couple that with some really pretty scenery instead of downtown Amarillo, it was definitely worth the detours. At one point yesterday, we went through a huge wind farm that must have had a 1000 wind turbines. They make for an almost extraterrestial landscape.
So anyway, we're here. Today, of course, we'll spend a good chunk of the day running around to do the startup grocery shopping, try to figure out a way around town with all the summer road closures, hit the cheese and wine store, find where our favorite book store moved to and, of course, hit one of our favorite restaurants. I've already scheduled an A/V guy to visit this afternoon to look at this year's TV changes so the fun begins.
Finally, of course, the reading pace will pick up so you can expect an upsurge in the number of reviews. Once in a while, I'll throw in a weather report (today - sunny with a low in the 30s and a high in the mid-60s), just cause its fun to rub it in. As always, if you're sick of hearing from me, let me know and I'll be happy to take you off the list.
We did continue our efforts to eliminate all cities and major highways from the trip up here. Thanks to a tip from the Davis's, we started using a back road last summer that takes us way around Pueblo - one of the armpits of the world. This trip, we added new back routes that eliminated San Angelo, Big Spring and Amarillo. The back roads are, of course, smaller roads but that was more than made up for by the almost complete lack of traffic. There were stretches were we didn't see another car for a half hour! The routes are a little straighter and without the stoplights of the cities, it probably cut an hour off the trip. When you couple that with some really pretty scenery instead of downtown Amarillo, it was definitely worth the detours. At one point yesterday, we went through a huge wind farm that must have had a 1000 wind turbines. They make for an almost extraterrestial landscape.
So anyway, we're here. Today, of course, we'll spend a good chunk of the day running around to do the startup grocery shopping, try to figure out a way around town with all the summer road closures, hit the cheese and wine store, find where our favorite book store moved to and, of course, hit one of our favorite restaurants. I've already scheduled an A/V guy to visit this afternoon to look at this year's TV changes so the fun begins.
Finally, of course, the reading pace will pick up so you can expect an upsurge in the number of reviews. Once in a while, I'll throw in a weather report (today - sunny with a low in the 30s and a high in the mid-60s), just cause its fun to rub it in. As always, if you're sick of hearing from me, let me know and I'll be happy to take you off the list.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Mysteries of the Middle Ages
Mysteries of the Middle Ages by Thomas Cahill
Category: History Grade: B
This book is the 5th in Cahill's seven book "hinges of history" series. He is superb at historical analysis looking for the key events and people that had major impact on the world. His previous books have looked at the Jews, the Irish and the Greeks plus an excellent book on the "historical" Jesus. There are quite a few historians who don't think much of anything critical happened in the Middle Ages. Cahill isn't one of them. He makes a great case that the events of this period of history, roughly the 12th through 14th centuries, went a long way to defining the modern world. In fact, the book's subtitle is pretty emphatic -- The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe.
You get a great view of some personalities of this period that most people know little about, even though the names are familiar. Hildegaard, a twelfth century girl from the Rhineland, was given to the church as an eight year old. She went on to become one of the first women in history whose writings were taken seriously by the all-male clergy. Cahill credits Hildegaard, along with Eleanor of Aquitaine with starting what has become a major revolution in the role of women in society. Cahill continues to show us a series of major figures of the era who changed the nature of sexuality and romantic love, literature and art -- figures like Francis of Assisi, Thomas Aquinas, Dante and others.
I only have a couple of knocks on this book that dropped its grade a little -- actually one knock in two forms. Cahill has tendency, once in a while, to throw in anachronistic references to modern times -- e.g. a comment about Iraq in the middle of a discussion of the Crusades. At first I appreciated his effort to try to make century-old history relevant but, eventually, it just got distracting. The second knock is the ultimate representative of this problem -- in fact, just skip the last chapter. After this really informative and often moving book, Cahill goes off on a half dozen page rant about the modern Catholic Church, most of it about the pedophilia scandals of the recent past. Its a vicious attack - maybe even a warranted one -- just way out of place as the summary piece of the book.
Category: History Grade: B
This book is the 5th in Cahill's seven book "hinges of history" series. He is superb at historical analysis looking for the key events and people that had major impact on the world. His previous books have looked at the Jews, the Irish and the Greeks plus an excellent book on the "historical" Jesus. There are quite a few historians who don't think much of anything critical happened in the Middle Ages. Cahill isn't one of them. He makes a great case that the events of this period of history, roughly the 12th through 14th centuries, went a long way to defining the modern world. In fact, the book's subtitle is pretty emphatic -- The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe.
You get a great view of some personalities of this period that most people know little about, even though the names are familiar. Hildegaard, a twelfth century girl from the Rhineland, was given to the church as an eight year old. She went on to become one of the first women in history whose writings were taken seriously by the all-male clergy. Cahill credits Hildegaard, along with Eleanor of Aquitaine with starting what has become a major revolution in the role of women in society. Cahill continues to show us a series of major figures of the era who changed the nature of sexuality and romantic love, literature and art -- figures like Francis of Assisi, Thomas Aquinas, Dante and others.
I only have a couple of knocks on this book that dropped its grade a little -- actually one knock in two forms. Cahill has tendency, once in a while, to throw in anachronistic references to modern times -- e.g. a comment about Iraq in the middle of a discussion of the Crusades. At first I appreciated his effort to try to make century-old history relevant but, eventually, it just got distracting. The second knock is the ultimate representative of this problem -- in fact, just skip the last chapter. After this really informative and often moving book, Cahill goes off on a half dozen page rant about the modern Catholic Church, most of it about the pedophilia scandals of the recent past. Its a vicious attack - maybe even a warranted one -- just way out of place as the summary piece of the book.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Obsession
Obsession by Jonathan Kellerman
Category: Mystery Grade: A
I rest my case. If you remember, three or four books ago, I reviewed a book of two novellas written by Kellerman, together with his wife Fay. I didn't think much of them and said, at the time, that they didn't reflect the abilities of the two authors. Obsession, the latest in Kellerman's Alex Delaware series, really illustrates what I mean. This book was terrific. The main characters, Delaware, his gay police buddy, Milo, his girlfriend Robin (who, thankfully has returned home in this book) and, of course, the dog Blanche (a replacement for Spike who died peacefully of old age) are familiar as old shoes. They're interesting people who happen to solve crimes. Kellerman makes you feel like you're riding around in the back seat rather than just reading about these folks. The central mystery of the book, a might-have-happened murder, while interesting and well told, is almost beside the point. Its just good to be hanging out with these guys again.
These are "low density" books - lots of dialog, lots of short sentences, fast pace - that make them great summer reads.
Category: Mystery Grade: A
I rest my case. If you remember, three or four books ago, I reviewed a book of two novellas written by Kellerman, together with his wife Fay. I didn't think much of them and said, at the time, that they didn't reflect the abilities of the two authors. Obsession, the latest in Kellerman's Alex Delaware series, really illustrates what I mean. This book was terrific. The main characters, Delaware, his gay police buddy, Milo, his girlfriend Robin (who, thankfully has returned home in this book) and, of course, the dog Blanche (a replacement for Spike who died peacefully of old age) are familiar as old shoes. They're interesting people who happen to solve crimes. Kellerman makes you feel like you're riding around in the back seat rather than just reading about these folks. The central mystery of the book, a might-have-happened murder, while interesting and well told, is almost beside the point. Its just good to be hanging out with these guys again.
These are "low density" books - lots of dialog, lots of short sentences, fast pace - that make them great summer reads.
You Don't Love Me Yet
You Don't Love Me Yet by Jonathan Lethem
Category: Fiction Grade: C+
I first got started reading Lethem when Carolyn recommended a novel called Motherless Brooklyn. It was a mystery starring a detective with Tourette's Syndrome. It was strange, a little manic (as might be expected) and an exhilirating read. I've read a couple of other Lethem's since and one thing that's clear -- you can't really expect anything particular from his books. He doesn't have a distinctive style or voice and he loves to experiment.
This short novel is just strange. It focuses on a group of friends trying to make it in an "artsy" band. These definitely aren't rock stars with all kinds of insecurities and strange behaviour. Lucinda, the bass player, ends up going to work for a friend and former lover who is a performance artist, sort-of. He's created a fake office and posted signs all over town urging people to call his hot line to complain. Lucinda ends up in a strange, almost purely sexual, relationship with one of the callers. The whole book is just watching these off-kilter personalities interact with each other. Its well written but, at times, seems to really drag. Ultimately, I don't think Lethem ever convinced me to particularly care about these people.
Warning -- there's a fair amount of graphic sex in this book.
Category: Fiction Grade: C+
I first got started reading Lethem when Carolyn recommended a novel called Motherless Brooklyn. It was a mystery starring a detective with Tourette's Syndrome. It was strange, a little manic (as might be expected) and an exhilirating read. I've read a couple of other Lethem's since and one thing that's clear -- you can't really expect anything particular from his books. He doesn't have a distinctive style or voice and he loves to experiment.
This short novel is just strange. It focuses on a group of friends trying to make it in an "artsy" band. These definitely aren't rock stars with all kinds of insecurities and strange behaviour. Lucinda, the bass player, ends up going to work for a friend and former lover who is a performance artist, sort-of. He's created a fake office and posted signs all over town urging people to call his hot line to complain. Lucinda ends up in a strange, almost purely sexual, relationship with one of the callers. The whole book is just watching these off-kilter personalities interact with each other. Its well written but, at times, seems to really drag. Ultimately, I don't think Lethem ever convinced me to particularly care about these people.
Warning -- there's a fair amount of graphic sex in this book.
At Canaan's Edge
At Canaan's Edge by Taylor Branch
Category: History Grade: B
This is the last volume of Branch's monumental trilogy called America in the King Years. Its an absolutely exhaustive (> 2200 pages total) history of the peak years of the civil rights movement in the United States. While not up to the level of the first volume, this is still a very readable book that leaves out no details about what was going on in the movement during the years from 1965 through the King assassination. As I had said with the second volume, the book suffers from the fact that, while significant progress was made in civil rights during this period, it was also a period filled with tragedy -- the racial violence in the South, the urban riots of Watts and other cities, the Robert Kennedy and King assassinations and, of course, the growing pain of the Viet Nam war.
The distractions that infected the civil rights movement in the early 60s, especially the divisions around Malcolm X, effectively take over the movement in this period. On the one hand, the non-violent philosophy on which the movement was based begins to break down as is seen in the riots and the emergence of the "Black Power" organizations led by defectors like Stokely Carmichael. The dissension and in-fighting inside the SCLC and other predominately black organizations also grew during this period fueled by serious arguments about what the roll of white Americans should be in these organizations and not-so-serious distractions like the ambition of Jesse Jackson and the just-plain-nuttiness of Adam Clayton Powell. Ultimately, the movement was largely overwhelmed by the anti-war movement, one that increasingly called on the time, power and conscience of King himself.
As always, when I read about this period of American history, I'm drawn to the contradictions of Lyndon Johnson. On domestic issues, Johnson could easily be one of the most courageous President's we've had. His complete personal devotion to the inequities of racism and the problem of poverty are undeniable. I still remember watching his speech before Congress urging them to pass the Civil Rights Act on the heals of the violence in Selma. Johnson was not a great speaker. His forte was going one-on-one in people's faces. He was awkward and stiff behind a podium. What this did, however, was that, when he was impassioned and eloquent, he really flew. The speech began simply -- "I speak tonight for the dignity of man and the destiny of democracy." -- but the speech reached its emotional peak when Johnson really shocked the world with a few words -- "Because it is not just Negroes, but really it's all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And--we--shall--overcome!" By invoking the anthem of the civil rights movement, Johnson virtually guaranteed passage of the bill in the most dramatic way, knowing he was probably losing the South for his Democratic Party for a generation.
Ultimately, as we know (and as is relevant today), Johnson showed a complete lack of courage when it came to Viet Nam. Its clear from recordings and notes that Johnson anguished over America's increasing roll in the Far East. There were times when he admitted privately there was no possibility of any meaningful victory there. But he seemed powerless to stop the slide in to the bog. In a lot of ways, Johnson lost his presidency and his position in history to machismo. He could have been (and in some ways was) one of the best of the 20th century. Instead, he'll always be remembered as the Viet Nam President.
A couple of other observations that have to be made after reading this series (some of which I've made before):
Category: History Grade: B
This is the last volume of Branch's monumental trilogy called America in the King Years. Its an absolutely exhaustive (> 2200 pages total) history of the peak years of the civil rights movement in the United States. While not up to the level of the first volume, this is still a very readable book that leaves out no details about what was going on in the movement during the years from 1965 through the King assassination. As I had said with the second volume, the book suffers from the fact that, while significant progress was made in civil rights during this period, it was also a period filled with tragedy -- the racial violence in the South, the urban riots of Watts and other cities, the Robert Kennedy and King assassinations and, of course, the growing pain of the Viet Nam war.
The distractions that infected the civil rights movement in the early 60s, especially the divisions around Malcolm X, effectively take over the movement in this period. On the one hand, the non-violent philosophy on which the movement was based begins to break down as is seen in the riots and the emergence of the "Black Power" organizations led by defectors like Stokely Carmichael. The dissension and in-fighting inside the SCLC and other predominately black organizations also grew during this period fueled by serious arguments about what the roll of white Americans should be in these organizations and not-so-serious distractions like the ambition of Jesse Jackson and the just-plain-nuttiness of Adam Clayton Powell. Ultimately, the movement was largely overwhelmed by the anti-war movement, one that increasingly called on the time, power and conscience of King himself.
As always, when I read about this period of American history, I'm drawn to the contradictions of Lyndon Johnson. On domestic issues, Johnson could easily be one of the most courageous President's we've had. His complete personal devotion to the inequities of racism and the problem of poverty are undeniable. I still remember watching his speech before Congress urging them to pass the Civil Rights Act on the heals of the violence in Selma. Johnson was not a great speaker. His forte was going one-on-one in people's faces. He was awkward and stiff behind a podium. What this did, however, was that, when he was impassioned and eloquent, he really flew. The speech began simply -- "I speak tonight for the dignity of man and the destiny of democracy." -- but the speech reached its emotional peak when Johnson really shocked the world with a few words -- "Because it is not just Negroes, but really it's all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And--we--shall--overcome!" By invoking the anthem of the civil rights movement, Johnson virtually guaranteed passage of the bill in the most dramatic way, knowing he was probably losing the South for his Democratic Party for a generation.
Ultimately, as we know (and as is relevant today), Johnson showed a complete lack of courage when it came to Viet Nam. Its clear from recordings and notes that Johnson anguished over America's increasing roll in the Far East. There were times when he admitted privately there was no possibility of any meaningful victory there. But he seemed powerless to stop the slide in to the bog. In a lot of ways, Johnson lost his presidency and his position in history to machismo. He could have been (and in some ways was) one of the best of the 20th century. Instead, he'll always be remembered as the Viet Nam President.
A couple of other observations that have to be made after reading this series (some of which I've made before):
- for decades, this country was largely run by J. Edgar Hoover. His flagrant disregard of law, chain-of-command and, in a lot of cases, decency, allowed him to control leaders of all kinds both in and out of government. This could be the closest the U.S. has ever come to a dictatorship.
- in an interesting reversal, Hoover's illegal wiretapping and bugging of King and the people around him, ended up giving us a significantly more complete picture of the movement than would have been possible by any other means.
- you can make a pretty good case that the people who pushed the civil rights agenda most effectively, if inadvertently, were the hard-core segregationists of the Deep South. The arbitrary killings, beatings, torturings plus the mostly petty laws designed only to keep the former slaves in their place were so morally reprehensible that even Americans who were ambivalent about the Negro couldn't help but be outraged.
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