Book Description
We are all familiar with the image of the immensely clever judge who discerns the best rule of common law for the case at hand. According to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a judge like this can maneuver through earlier cases to achieve the desired aim--"distinguishing one prior case on his left, straight-arming another one on his right, high-stepping away from another precedent about to tackle him from the rear, until (bravo!) he reaches the goal--good law." But is this common-law mindset, which is appropriate in its place, suitable also in statutory and constitutional interpretation? In a witty and trenchant essay, Justice Scalia answers this question with a resounding negative.
In exploring the neglected art of statutory interpretation, Scalia urges that judges resist the temptation to use legislative intention and legislative history. In his view, it is incompatible with democratic government to allow the meaning of a statute to be determined by what the judges think the lawgivers meant rather than by what the legislature actually promulgated. Eschewing the judicial lawmaking that is the essence of common law, judges should interpret statutes and regulations by focusing on the text itself. Scalia then extends this principle to constitutional law. He proposes that we abandon the notion of an everchanging Constitution and pay attention to the Constitution's original meaning. Although not subscribing to the "strict constructionism" that would prevent applying the Constitution to modern circumstances, Scalia emphatically rejects the idea that judges can properly "smuggle" in new rights or deny old rights by using the Due Process Clause, for instance. In fact, such judicial discretion might lead to the destruction of the Bill of Rights if a majority of the judges ever wished to reach that most undesirable of goals.
This essay is followed by four commentaries by Professors Gordon Wood, Laurence Tribe, Mary Ann Glendon, and Ronald Dworkin, who engage Justice Scalia's ideas about judicial interpretation from varying standpoints.
Download Description
We are all familiar with the image of the immensely clever judge who discerns the best rule of common law for the case at hand. According to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a judge like this can maneuver through earlier cases to achieve the desired aim--"distinguishing one prior case on his left, straight-arming another one on his right, high-stepping away from another precedent about to tackle him from the rear, until (bravo!) he reaches the goal--good law." But is this common-law mindset, which is appropriate in its place, suitable also in statutory and constitutional interpretation? In a witty and trenchant essay, Justice Scalia answers this question with a resounding negative. In exploring the neglected art of statutory interpretation, Scalia urges that judges resist the temptation to use legislative intention and legislative history. In his view, it is incompatible with democratic government to allow the meaning of a statute to be determined by what the judges think the lawgivers meant rather than by what the legislature actually promulgated.
Customer Reviews:
Good, but..........2007-07-01
First of all, let me make it clear that I think Scalia is a brilliant Justice. I have a very high level of respect for him intellectually. However, I think that he is too conservative, as is this book. I still think people should read it, because I advocate hearing all sides of an argument, but I thoroughley disagree with Scalia's opinions.
Be that as it may, everyone should sill read this insightful and interesting book, if for no other reason than the debate that takes place at the end of the book.
A Lot of Strong Points With a Few Frustrations.......2007-05-24
I think the largest challenge facing Scalia was turning his simple philosophy into an entire book.
When interpreting the constitution we should look at its original meaning.
There it is in 11 words. Scalia manages to expound on his theory a little bit by differentiating it from strict textualism and reinforcing his views here and there. Scalia allows several scholars to give their replies followed by Scalia's rebuttals. This back-and-forth provides an engaging read and expands the simple premise into a full-length, comprehensive read. All in all I enjoyed this book.
I feel compelled to warn potential readers that from time to time this book will sink into the worst of academia. That pseudo-intellectual, acting smart for the sake of sounding smart mentality that plagues universities across the country. These lapses are usually brief and do not greatly detract from what is otherwise a great book on an important debate currently occuring within the highest court in America.
I also recommend you read Active Liberty by Justice Breyer. I have nothing against Tribe, Dworkin or the other respondents in this book, but Breyer takes the discussion out of originalism and into his own philosophy.
Easy reading and food for thought.......2007-05-14
I actually picked this up at the end of my second year of law school and I found Scalia's insight and opinions to be original and thought provoking. I feel that so much time is spent teaching law students how to analyze and interpret case law, without often directing our attention to how judges deal with the vast field of statutory interpretation. Very easy and quick read, hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Dishonest and power-crazed judges are the issue.......2007-03-07
This book was not exactly what I expected; it was better. It contains an essay by Justice Scalia about the judicial role in deciding statutory and constitutional questions. His essay is followed by comments by other individuals which, in turn, is followed by Justice Scalia's response. The most fascinating part of the entire book was the recognition by the writers that judges have taken it upon themselves to legislate and decide what government policy "ought to be" in rendering judicial decisions. Some of the writers seem to think this is acceptable and expected. To an attorney who has watched courts reach intellectually dishonest decisions in cases where there is potential economic or political impact (for example, one appellate court went so far as to render an unpublished opinion in one case -- apparently to conceal its dishonesty in letting a state divert millions of dollars from a state retirement plan -- then followed up a few months later with a published opinion by the same judges with a precisely opposite holding on an important legal question decided in the first case), the concerns expressed by Justice Scalia were more than theoretical. While our legislators may not be the sharpest knives in the drawer, at least voters can remove them from office or persuade them to change their minds. There is no such opportunity with unelected judges who not only can manipulate facts and law in their rulings, but can issue decisions that never see the light of day and thus escape public scrutiny. Both liberals and conservatives have plenty to fear from judges who believe that they are a law unto themsleves.
What Scalia's Theory Is Not.......2006-12-14
Justice Antonin Scalia may be the most dynamic and melodramatic personality on the United States Supreme Court. His opinions burst with bombast. Oddly, Scalia has written very little about the law even though he served as a law professor before launching a career as a government attorney and judge. He has penned only a handful of law review articles. The articles are slightly more illuminating on his theory of jurisprudence, textualism, than is this thin book, "A Matter of Interpretation."
"A Matter of Interpretation" is filled up with a round table dialogue that Scalia graciously initiated to invite notable liberals to disagree with textualism.
In the brief paragraphs that Scalia allocates to himself, he sets out his principles of textualism, which is a combination of Latin parsing and historical analysis. In short, Scalia looks for a constitutional meaning in the actual words of the constitution, and if he cannot find a meaning in the set text, he embarks on an historical investigation of whether the rule or right existed in English common law at the time of the writing of the U.S. Constitution.
Scalia's textualism, therefore, is a good deal more involved than mere glancing at words written in the late 18th century. In fact, Scalia protests that he is not a "strict constructionist," not a justice who merely looks blindly at James Madison's handiwork. Scalia claims that he does not read the Constitution strictly, but rather he reads the Constitution reasonably.
This will no doubt come as a shock to a generation of law professors, law students, and attorneys, who have maintained that Scalia is a rigid strict constructionist. This revelation may also undermine Scalia's reputation as a writer of court opinions and dissents that are always consistently and impressively logical.
It may also come as a shock that Scalia, the titan of tradition, partly bases his textualist theory on the ideas of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, the man who insisted that law changes with the times, or reflects "the felt necessities of the time."
The weakness in Scalia's historical origins method is that more importance is placed on English common law than revolutionary American experience. A reason perhaps that Scalia is a staunch defender of free speech, long a principle of English law, and lacks sympathy for search and seizure defendants, persons caught up in the Fourth Amendment right, a right inspired by the searching of Boston homes by British troops during the Revolutionary War.
Scalia's textualism, as set out in this book, is a good deal more flexible than many of his disciples or opponents would give him credit for. Scalia tends to apply this "historical "orgins" method most often in areas such as punitive damages, an area of law which has scarcely changed in centuries. However, in cases where the issue implicates modern rights, such as abortion, Scalia has departed from textualism completely for rationales ranging from stare decisis and reliance to a more or less nihilistic rejection of substantive due process.
Nevertheless, "A Matter of Interpretation" places Scalia in the pantheon of legal scholars, such as Holmes and Judge Richard A. Posner, who have bravely put forward their own theories of jurisprudence. And in the end, this theory, rather than his bombastic rhetoric and conservative prosyletizing, will probably be his enduring legacy.
[Hansen Alexander is an attorney in New York City. His most recent book is the comic novel, "The Death of Chauvinism."]
Book Description
In 1912, Wilfrid Voynich, an antiquarian book dealer, stumbled upon a strange volume, its vellum pages covered in a beautiful but unrecognisable script accompanied by equally mystifying pictures. The codex has remained undeciphered from that day to this. Voynich believed the codex to be the work of medieval philosopher Roger Bacon, others that of the Elizabethan mathematician and occultist John Dee. Whoever created the book—which now resides at Yale University—it remains to this day a singular enigma which continues to defy the best efforts of linguists, cryptologists, and scholars. With the benefit of the authors' exhaustive research, readers can hazard their own guesses as to the meaning and provenance of this most beguiling of mysteries.
Customer Reviews:
Simply the best source of information on the voynich manuscript!.......2007-06-25
The best and most well-written source about the elusive voynich manuscript. This book covers the alleged owners, possible clues to the cypher, the history of the manuscript itself, and so much more.
Fascinating Riddle Within an Enigma.......2007-06-21
The Voynich manuscript remains one of the most puzzling artifacts handed down to us from antiquity. It is in an unknown language, using an unknown script, and not so much as a word has been successfully translated (though many have tried). It is filled with whimsical illustrations of plants that cannot be identified, stars that do not exist, and astrological diagrams unlike anything seen elsewhere. It is also filled with drawings of naked women cavorting in vessels of green liquid for purposes which cannot be fathomed. The author is unknown, the date is unknown (although figured to be between 1250-1450), and how the manuscript came to be preserved for the past 650 years is also a mystery.
It has been suggested by some researchers, and the authors of this book tentatively agree, that the whole thing might be an elaborate Medieval fake. Yet the sheer magnitude of it -- 272 pages, 211 illustrations, 170,000 characters, all carefully arranged and consistently produced -- would seem to argue against that. Add to that the statistical analysis of the text, which indicates that it probably *is* a legitimate language, and you have a real puzzle on your hands.
Since so little has been gleaned from the manuscript itself, the authors take the reader on a tour through Medieval scholarship, alchemy, astrology, astronomy, religious history and cryptology (since many have speculated it could be in some kind of code). The lives of several of the proposed authors are studied, along with many people who may have had a hand in preserving it. Thus the book is about a lot more than the manuscript itself, and indulges in many fascinating digressions along the way.
In the end, the riddle remains unsolved. The Voynich is probably a minor alchemical text of no particular import, perhaps the last surviving text in this language after the Crusades destroyed nearly 80% of the world's non-Christian libraries. For a fascinating glimpse into the superstitious Medieval world and the learning lost through subsequent winnowing by rampaging zealots, this book offers an excellent read.
Fascinating Riddle Within an Enigma.......2007-06-20
The Voynich manuscript remains one of the most puzzling artifacts handed down to us from antiquity. It is in an unknown language, using an unknown script, and not so much as a word has been successfully translated (though many have tried). It is filled with whimsical illustrations of plants that cannot be identified, stars that do not exist, and astrological diagrams unlike anything seen elsewhere. It is also filled with drawings of naked women cavorting in vessels of green liquid for purposes which cannot be fathomed. The author is unknown, the date is unknown (although figured to be between 1250-1450), and how the manuscript came to be preserved for the past 650 years is also a mystery.
It has been suggested by some researchers, and the authors of this book tentatively agree, that the whole thing might be an elaborate Medieval fake. Yet the sheer magnitude of it -- 272 pages, 211 illustrations, 170,000 characters, all carefully arranged and consistently produced -- would seem to argue against that. Add to that the statistical analysis of the text, which indicates that it probably *is* a legitimate language, and you have a real puzzle on your hands.
Since so little has been gleaned from the manuscript itself, the authors take the reader on a tour through Medieval scholarship, alchemy, astrology, astronomy, religious history and cryptology (since many have speculated it could be in some kind of code). The lives of several of the proposed authors are studied, along with many people who may have had a hand in preserving it. Thus the book is about a lot more than the manuscript itself, and indulges in many fascinating digressions along the way.
In the end, the riddle remains unsolved. The Voynich is probably a minor alchemical text of no particular import, perhaps the last surviving text in this language after the Crusades destroyed nearly 80% of the world's non-Christian libraries. For a fascinating glimpse into the superstitious Medieval world and the learning lost through subsequent winnowing by rampaging zealots, this book offers an excellent read.
Understanding the Obsqure.......2007-05-24
This book is a very interesting read for persons of a certain education. Not easily understood by many readers.
The Elegant Enigma.......2007-05-07
I was very excited to read this book, as I very much enjoy learning the path of mysterious texts. This book presents many possibilities for the origins of the codex. I personally don't have patience to cipher the many options the authors gave in cracking the text, but I appreciated the layers of work they put into presenting them. Also, I was pleased that they did not shy away from esoteric possibilities. The description of it being a written account of glossolalia was particularly interesting. All the same, this book is more about the figures around the manuscript. Whatever you come away believing about the source of the text, it's path has been colorfully impressive.
Book Description
The Dead Sea Scrolls are again on exhibit, and thousands of people will journey to see them. But will these folks understand what they see? There are plenty of scholarly volumes on the Dead Sea Scrolls, full of indexes, footnotes, and jargon for those in the know. But what about the majority of the population -- nonspecialists who just want a basic understanding of what the Dead Sea Scrolls are and why they're so important? That's where this little book comes in.
David Noel Freedman and Pam Fox Kuhlken here offer an informed, inside look at these significant ancient texts. Full of humor and behind-the-scenes glimpses into research on the Scrolls, What Are the Dead Sea Scrolls and Why Do They Matter? is a fascinating, accessible guidebook -- perfect for any reader seeking a brief, quality introduction to this inscrutable subject.
Questions addressed run the gamut from general to paranoid to somewhat cynical. Here's a sampling:
- What are the Dead Sea Scrolls all about?
- Who wrote them, why, and in what languages?
- How do scholars reconstruct a biblical text?
- Have the Scrolls changed our understanding of any passages in the Bible?
- Do the Scrolls tell us when the world will end?
- How has technology improved our ability to study the Scrolls?
-How much would a Scroll fragment sell for on eBay today?
Customer Reviews:
Dead Sea Scrolls for Dummies.......2007-09-30
I met the author in a parking lot one day. He mentioned the fact that he was involved with the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Museum. He also mentioned his book which I promptly ordered. Pretty interesting- if you are interested. I like the format of the book-questions and answers. If you truly want to learn about the Dead Sea Scrolls and want it explained in layman's terms, this book is for you!
Book Description
D. James Kennedy believes many of the social ills that plague America todayfrom an ever-rising divorce rate to school violencestem from societys ever-increasing distance from the Ten Commandments. Kennedy advocates a return to these fundamental laws, which he believes have the power to prevent further tragedy and transgression and to unify a nation. Kennedys message is urgent and aimed at Christians and non-Christians alike. It forms a biblical prescription for happier, healthier living.
Customer Reviews:
No new information here, just preaching and moralizing........2007-10-01
I picked up this book strictly on the basis of its title (not knowing anything about the author), hoping it would provide a scholarly discussion of the Ten Commandments. I was disappointed to discover that it was essentially a sermon in book form, continuing the tired old diatribe about how our society is going to hell in a handbasket.
Obviously, the Decalogue covers some of the basic rules that any society must follow if it wishes to survive, namely, those against murder and theft. Some of the others require much more explanation and justification to be taken seriously. But Kennedy doesn't add any information of value; worse, he continues to foster the many misconceptions about these rules.
For example, in his discussion of the commandment not to take "the Lord's name in vain," he immediately launches into a lecture about profanity, about people who say "G-- D--- this" and "G-- D--- that." Clearly, the "name" of the god of the Old Testament is NOT "God." It's YHWH. So how can one break this commandment by speaking the word "god" in any context? He also fails to explain the "in vain" part of the commandment, and how one would go about using the name YHWH "in vain" (for one's own selfish purposes). Disappointing.
Another example is the discussion of the stricture against bearing "false witness" against a neighbor, which, according to the words, seems to be specifically about presenting a false testimony or bringing false legal charges. Yet the author ignores this and sermonizes on the general evils of lying, as if the commandment were "thou shalt not lie." His discussion on why the concept of Sabbath is valid for non-Jews, as well as why Sunday should be observed as the Sabbath Day rather than the "Lord's Day," is likewise lacking foundation.
If you want a sermon aimed at believers, this is your book. If you are looking for a good treatise on the real meaning of ALL of the Ten Commandments (or an explanation for why secular citizens should pay them any heed), look elsewhere.
Commandments rule.......2007-05-13
This book is key to enforcing the rule of the Ten Commandments. Dr. Kennedy did a superb job in explaining why its so important to keep the commandments in our daily lives.
The Ten Commandments still matter..........2005-12-28
This is an insightful exposition on the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:2-7) and their continued relevance today. It is written by one of America's leading conservative evangelical Christian thinkers. Dr. D. James Kennedy, pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Florida, offers a thought-provoking overview of the Commandments and it explains their application today. Liberal critics who prejudge the book and dismiss it as a plea for civil religion are missing the point. Likewise, antinomians who think grace is some carte blanche for Christians being like the rest of the world ought to take a cue from Kennedy. Salvation is not of works, it is of grace.
Jesus Christ himself itinerated the importance of the commandments, but the Gospel message reminds us that we fallible sinners who fall short of God's perfect righteousness which is where grace abounds for those of faith. Nonetheless, the fruit of a geniune saving are the good works that God has ordained that we should walk in. If we love God we will obey his commandments. We turn to His Holy Spirit for strength to accomplish that purpose. The Ten Commandments are as relevant as ever. I was disheartened to hear fellow students at Christians colleges pronounce their irrelevance in a classroom discussion about grace. That is just bad doctrine. D. James Kennedy corrects such misguided notions, and reminds us of the consequences of sin.
This is one of the best new books on the Ten Commandments in recent years. I think D. James Kennedy has done a better job than Pat Robertson's book, The Ten Offenses, which is also pretty good.
In the Gospel of Matthew, specifically Matthew 22:37-40, our Lord Jesus Christ explictly encapsulated the Ten Commandments in this statement: Jesus replied, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Why the 10 Commandments Matter.......2005-05-16
*** Not since Moses brought the Ten Commandments off the mountain have they been so much in the headlines, or so it seems at times. Many people are making a stand for the right to display them in public, but are they also willing to display them in their lives? Does it matter whether or not they do either? Exactly what are the Ten Commandments? Examing what the Decalouge entails at more than face value, Dr. Kennedy explains what they mean in practical terms so that everyone who cares about living out their faith can display the Commandments in their day to day life. ***
Customer Reviews:
Finding Deeper Meaning in Scripture.......2006-03-12
This work grew out of the author's practice of encouraging high school retreatants to find deeper meaning in Gospel stories by dramatizing them. From there, Fallon developed three questions that formalize the process: What is the experience of the story? How does the story touch me? and How does the story call me to live? For "What Jesus Said," he chose seven Gospels taken from the Lent/Easter lectionary for Year A, the scriptures employed to familiarize RCIA candidates with "breaking open the word."
Applying the questions to the story of the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9), Fallon describes a scene in which the disciples are just beginning to understand that Jesus is the Messiah, and respond to the vision of Jesus, Moses, and Elijah with "a jumble" of emotions. The vision itself and Jesus' subsequent words are intended to increase the disciples' faith as they witness the Messiah's suffering and death. Bringing the story into his own experience, Fallon shares several "God-touching-me" occasions in his life. He also addresses his difficulty in overcoming distractions to better be able to "listen to Jesus," and offers two suggestions. First, we don't have to be good at listening prayer, we just have to do it, and second, the secret of listening prayer is that God finds a way to get through to us. As each of the other chapters, this one ends with reflection questions and prayer designed to reveal how the story calls us to live.
The author has done a good job of sharing this unique method for individuals and groups eager to understand, appreciate, and live Scripture more fully.
Personalizing the Gospels.......2006-02-18
Full disclosure: I am a life-time friend of the author, I am acknowledged in the book and I am the subject of three pages of discusion and illustration.
All that said, I think the book is outstanding. It is painfully and powerfully honest and revealing. The book is not perfectly titled because the author is acutally trying to show us how each of us can personalize the Gospels. He uses the Easter Gospels as his template.
According to the author the way you personalize the Gospels is to tell your own stories. It is the stories illustrating the author's points that really shine. He illustrates tough concepts with fine stories from friends, families and his own own life. His illustrations from books and other stories worked beautifully. too. The author is remarkably well-read and he uses that skill deftly, never beating the reader over the head with how smart he is, but rather gently helping the reader to understand.
The writing is very clean. by that I mean direct sentences, precious few compound clauses which send the readers searching for alcohol and a crispness that gets to the point. There were precious few places where I said "tighten this, fool!"
The author is especially genuine, helpful and admirable when he discusses prayer at several points in the book. That discussion of prayer resonates with the struggle we all feel. The treatment of prayer is one of the real winning attributes of the book.
My method of reading an inspirational book of any sort involves folding over the bottom corners or pages. Well, the chapter on acknowledging our thirst is a mess. I folded a lot of pages!
There is some real depth and heft to most of the author's concepts. I think that allows the book to be read on several levels.
Thoughtful readers will come away from the book challenged, refreshed and more intent on living the path of Christ.
Book Description
Why Reading Literature in School Still Matters: Imagination, Interpretation, Insight explains how a reader's involvement with literary texts can create conditions for developing deep insight into human experience, and how teachers can develop these interpretive possibilities in school contexts. Developed from the author's many years of research, this book offers both a theoretical framework that draws from an interdisciplinary array of sources and many compelling and insightful examples of literary engagement of child, adolescent, and adult readers, as well as practical advice for teachers and other readers about how to create interesting and expansive sites for interpretation that are personally rewarding and productive.
Why Reading Literature in School Still Matters: Imagination, Interpretation, Insight :
*provides an overview of theories of human learning that influence beliefs about language, culture, and identity;
*shows how these theories of learning influence beliefs about and practices of reading and interpretation;
*introduces new ways to conceptualize reading that emphasize the relationship between individual and collective identities and language/literacy practices;
*explains why access to information does not guarantee that understanding and/or insight will occur--by emphasizing the importance of "re-reading" and "close reading" this text shows that development of deep insight depends on interpretation skills that must be taught; and
*presents a reconceptualized view of reading pedagogy.
This is an essential text for education courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels and a must read for teachers and for anyone interested in more deeply understanding how literary works of art can create conditions for learning about oneself, one's situation, and one's possibilities.
Book Description
In a true marriage of minds, Christopher Hitchens takes on George Orwell and the value of one of the twentieth century's great independent thinkers.
In this brilliant and contemplative biographical essay, Christopher Hitchens assesses the life, the achievement, and the myth of the great political writer and participant George Orwell. The result is the perfect convergence of two kindred spirits. Hitchens has long regarded Orwell as a mentor and model, and in true emulative and contrarian style, he is both adulatory and aggressive, sympathetic yet critical, taking true measure of his subject as hero and as problem.
Combining the best of Hitchens's polemical punch and intellectual elegance in a tightly woven and subtle argument, Why Orwell Matters tears down the façade of sainthood erected by hagiographers and probes deeper to find the true George Orwell: gifted, flawed, and human. With lyrical and allusive prose, Hitchens examines Orwell and his perspectives on fascism, empire, feminism, and Englishness, as well as his outlook on America, a country and culture toward which he exhibited little curiosity but much ambivalence.
With his characteristic wit, Christopher Hitchens has written a book that addresses not only why Orwell matters today but how he will continue to matter in a future, uncertain world.
Hitchens on Orwell:
This is not a biography, but I sometimes feel as if George Orwell requires extricating from a pile of saccharine tablets and moist hankies; an object of sickly veneration and sentimental overpraise, employed to stultify schoolchildren with his insufferable rightness and purity.
This kind of tribute is often of the Rochefoucauldian type; suggestive of the payoff made by vice to virtue, and also of the tricks played by an uneasy conscience. What [Orwell] illustrates, by his commitment to language as the partner of truth, is that "views" do not really count; that it matters not what you think, but how you think, and that politics are relatively unimportant, while principles have a way of enduring, as do the few irreducible individuals who maintain allegiance to them.
Others on Hitchens:
"I have been asked whether I wish to nominate a successor, an inheritor, a dauphin or delphino. I have decided to name Christopher Hitchens." -Gore Vidal
"Christopher Hitchens's writing has sweep and flair. He is accurate where others are merely dutiful, unpredictable where the tendency is to go for the cliché. In short, brilliant." -Edward W. Said
"May his targets cower." -Susan Sontag
Customer Reviews:
A Defense and Appreciation of Orwell.......2007-08-12
I am a huge fan of George Orwell. I consider him one of the handful of great writers of the twentieth century. His novel, 1984, remains one of my favorites and no one can deny its influence on our culture. Additionally, he wrote a number of wonderful memoirs and essays which retain an incredible impact and currency even up to seventy years later. It is nice to see a critic of the stature of Mr. Hitchens also has an admiration for Orwell.
In this slim volume, Mr. Hitchens analyzes various aspects of Orwell's work and its relationship to ideas that still resonate: imperialism, the left, the right, America, feminism, post-modernism, etc. No one will deny that Orwell had weaknesses as a writer. There is a generally tone of pessimism that runs through his work. He could take unfair potshots at people in his essays and he often struggled to create vibrant characters in his fiction, especially females. Mr. Hitchens acknowledges his weakness but is pointed about countering unfair criticism and makes the excellent point that Orwell always struggled to overcome his own prejudices. Unlike many of us, Orwell recognized his prejudices and was constantly trying to beat them down. Perhaps this is why much of his writing remains so relevant: he was generally very balanced in his opinions and cut through the crap to the truth as he saw it. He rarely gave anyone a pass. Which also may be why so many people like to criticize Orwell: everyone got pierced by him at some point.
If there are weakness in Hitchens' book, two stand out. First, Mr. Hitchens shares the smugness of a person who revels in his own intellect and he doesn't hide it in his prose. Like Harold Bloom, Hitchens can be irritating to read but he always leaves you with something worth thinking about. The second is not a criticism per se, but a warning: to get a lot out of this book you should be familiar with a large cross-section of Orwell's writing. Having read 1984 and, maybe, Animal Farm is not enough. I have read a lot of Orwell's stuff and there were still references and critics with which I was not familiar. Still, for anyone interested in Orwell, this is a valuable book.
Hitchen's overly erudite style makes t his short book dificult for the non-Orwell specialist to enjoy.......2007-07-30
George Orwell (real name: Eric Blair) took his pseudonym from the English nation's Saint George and a British river. He died young at 47 due to the TB disease he could not conquer. Orwell is an important writer as we face the already bloody twenty-first century. Call Mr. Orwell a prophet of our dystopia world of Darfar, terrorism and North Korea. Orwell is used as a text in many scholastic settings. Orwell is best known for "1984" and "Animal Farm. The latter is a satire of the evils of communism while 1984 paints a grim future of Big Brother and Mind Controlling goverment.
This book is not a biography but an exteneded essay divided into short chapters. Hitchens gives kudos to Orwell for being an opponent of fascism, communism and the imperialism he saw first hand while serving as a Police Officer in Burma. This anti-imperialistic view led to his fine novel "Burmese Days." Orwell broadcast on the BBC. penned excellent short stories and several novels which are now forgotten by the general public.
Hitchens has a keen mind and is very knowledgable on Orwell. The problem is that he assumes a prior knowledge of Orwell's works. This is a book for scholars and not the general reader. I have read several of Hitchens works but this one was not my favorite!
If you admire Orwell, read this book..........2007-05-17
I admire Orwell, so I read the book. It presupposes a familiarity with the man and his oeuvre, so if you've never read a word by Orwell, this book may not be a good starting gate. The author, Christopher Hitchens, admires Orwell, too, and has a distinctive--dare I say quintessentially English--droll style. If you know Hitchens, you know what to expect: no hero-worship, no nonsense, and no pulled polemical punches against the hapless folks who nip at Orwell's heels for some perceived heresy or another. (One quibble with Hitchens: he includes Burmese Days as part of Orwell's inferior juvenilia...I think, after an admittedly shaky start, Burmese Days is outstanding, and does not deserve such comparative obloquy.)
No human being is above reproach, but Orwell definitely does have an overwhelming aura of decency about him...notwithstanding his distaste for fags, feminists, and what would be called "hippies" back then. (The group he hated most, however, would probably be rentier capitalists...of which I'm one!) The politically incorrect Orwell is thoroughly examined by Hitchens, who adduces reasons why he feels Orwell came to hold such views, and why they do not vitiate his mainstream moral and ethical legacy.
This decency--along with his vast literary ability and remarkable prescience--makes the man an attractive and relevant historical figure today...one who has added his nom de plume to the English lexicon as an adjective, and whose name and works will be remembered and discussed long after his critics have been utterly forgotten.
The truth about the truth.......2007-01-01
In this book Hitchens demonstrates to us the continuing relevance of a person who always kept an open mind and stayed true to principles. Throughout his career Orwell kept free of the ideological blindness that justifies so many sins by that one condemns in some but justifies in others in the name of serving a 'higher truth'. While clearly of the left he never blindly accepted its many sins in the name of some abstract greater good, or ultimate triumph. This book reminds us all of the necessity to keep an open eye and mind regardless of what our views are, or who we see as our natural allies.
one great political analyst on another.......2006-04-23
Gore Vidal, who has passed into political senilty with such views as that Bush may have orchestrated 9/11, at least had the good sense to 'designate' Hitchens as his literary successor. It's a great choice, as Hitchens is learned, knows everyone, and has a style equal to Vidal's in the old liberal's heyday. Moreover Hitchens can devote time to a booklength analysis of someone as important as Orwell, whereas Vidal was evidently too involved with movies and novels to manage more than short essays on his analysands.
I was particularly impressed with Hitchens' attacks on those postmodernists who feel free to deconstruct history without regard to objective truth. In his view Orwell's plain language, derived from intellectual honesty and, says Hitchens, his rational Protestantism, assist the Englishman in formulating the truth. Unlike a certain comical French philosopher, Orwell would never deny that the 1991 Gulf War took place; nor, one supposes, could he agree with the cretinous American professor Ward Churchill that the vicitims of 9/11 were diminutive Nazis. Simple respect for truth and plain language prohibit such travesties.
Alas, to many Orwell or rather Big Brother is a symbol of George W Bush these days. How can that be, when Big Brother is obviously the likes of Ahmadinejad and Jong Il and their ilk? We had better figure out who the enemy is.
Average customer rating:
- The unreliable narrator
- Beats the heck out of Stephenson.
- MAJOR geek cred!
- Awesome techno thriller with complex characters and accurate tech.
- Exciting and absorbing
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Acts of the Apostles (Mind Over Matter Series)
John F. X. Sundman
Manufacturer: Rosalita Associates
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Binding: Paperback
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Cheap Complex Devices
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Old Man's War
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Spook Country
ASIN: 192975213X |
Book Description
As American-led forces assemble in Saudi Arabia for the largest military operation since Normandy, computer designer Todd Griffith discovers a secret function burried within the Kali chip. That night he is shot. Five years later, burnt-out Silicon Valley software engineer Nick Aubrey boards a "red-eye" flight to Boston and winds up seated next to a very disturbed man who claims to know the secret of Gulf War Syndrome. Over Utah Nick's chance companion meets a dramatic demise, and the police accuse Nick of murder. Soon the police are the least of Nick's worries. On the run from the CIA and paranoid cybermilitias, tracked down by billionaire venture capitalists and exotic foreign beauties, Nick must solve the Gulf War enigma or spend the rest of his life on the lam. All clues lead to a pharmaceutical laboratory in Basel Switzerland, where scientists are working on submicrosopic machines to rearrange human DNA. But Nick can't find the solution without Todd's help, and Todd's been in a coma for nearly half a dozen years.
Customer Reviews:
The unreliable narrator.......2007-09-19
Two of my top ten books of the last decade are Acts of the Apostles and Cheap Complex Devices by John (F.X.|Compton) Sundman. These are two of the richest and most complex pieces of fiction produced in a contemporary, technically proficient vein. He has written only two books, but he has a mastery of literary structure that takes you by surprise. They mangled my mind.
I suggest starting with Acts of the Apostles (also as free pdf). This is presented as a pretty straightforward Neal Stephenson or Crichton thriller, like Snow Crash or Sphere. Very readable and engaging, with a few tech industry in-jokes to make a nerd feel like a war veteran (DEC, Microsoft, Sun, and their respective personalities appear under aliases). It's been described as "What Tom Clancy would write if he were smart."
After you've enjoyed that you can graduate to Cheap Complex Devices (also as free pdf). This is not standard genre fiction, and you might not be sure what you're dealing with. The author's notes, the stories, and the meta-story combine in your head to produce an interference pattern. Which of the three versions are you supposed to believe? Perhaps none of the above. I can't compare this to anything I've read before or since.
I first bought Acts when I saw the story on Slashdot back in 2000, then I bought it again two years ago. Both books are available for free download, but you may find you want the real thing (CCD is a little different in print). The books are self-published, and the author provides quite a backstory - but should you take it at face value, or is it part of the story?
Beats the heck out of Stephenson........2007-02-08
Acts of the Apostles is just all around better than most of the SF being published today. Think Neal Stephenson without all the overweening hacker pretension, the ridiculously heavy-handed similes or the endings he just can't seem to bring together...ever. Very smart, well written and well put together story with a cast of characters you won't feel like hitting in the face with a brick. A near-future thriller that may not have the "baroque" setting of some similar novels, but whose familiar digs only serve to throw the main plot device (which is, after all, why we're here, right?) into sharper relief. Drop that tattered copy of Snow Crash and sink your teeth into some real SF.
MAJOR geek cred! .......2005-10-15
In an impressive act of paraonoid narrative inspiration, _Acts of the Apostles_ tells a two-order-of-magnitude weirder version of the silicon valley whiz kid story. If you're one of us, you will see your story in Todd's and Nick's and Casey's and Bartlet's... and you will think a lot harder before signing up for one of those company-sponsored "flu shot clinics," or sending your kid for a summer internship at one of those TLA peninsula companies. _Acts of the Apostles_ blends the demonstrably true with the just-maybe-possibly-uh-oh conspiracy theory so carefully that I can't tell where the boundary lies.
Awesome techno thriller with complex characters and accurate tech........2005-10-08
I knew nothing about this book when I started reading it, but after two pages, I was totally hooked until the end. Even lots of my favorite books have had some dead spots that I just needed to get through, but this didn't at all.
The author is often compared to Neal Stephenson, mostly for good reason. This is like Neal Stephenson at his best with more realistic characters and tech and MUCH more heavily edited.
One thing I particularly loved was how the characters in the book that are supposed to be smart people, actually act like smart people. They are as complex as smart people tend to be in real life and they think a lot about what they are doing, rather than follow the plot structure blindly like robots in a movie.
The author has obviously spent a number of years in the computer industry and describes the people in it with an accuracy and fun insight that comes from more than just research. The technical details of the threat and the social aspects of the conspiracy are also totally plausible and make it really rather creepy.
Exciting and absorbing.......2005-10-07
I found Acts of the Apostles hard to put down once I started reading it. It was great fun, especially for a Bay Area resident, as the author does a nice job of capturing many of the issues surrounding the hi-tech world, its community and personalities. The author clearly has a strong personal understanding and passion for the characters and context of "Acts of the Apostles", and that depth comes out in the fast-paced, dreamlike qualities of the story as its various layers unfold.
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Praise: A Matter of Life and Breath
Ronald Barclay Allen
Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0840757336 |
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About Translation (Multilingual Matters, Series No. 74)
Peter Newmark
Manufacturer: Multilingual Matters
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1853591173 |
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