Collected Miscellany

Bobby A-G – Master of the SAT – has finished reading Ann Coulter’s controversial new book Slander and has posted a review for your reading pleasure.

Bobby A-G – Master of the SAT – has finished reading Ann Coulter’s controversial new book Slander and has posted a review for your reading pleasure.

The NYT has beaten me to the punch, their review of Martin Amis’ Koba the Dread – A Million Deaths Is Not Just a Statistic – was published Sunday.

From what I have read so far, the review is an apt description. Here is the conclusion:

Two years ago Amis published a memoir called ”Experience,” which was chiefly about his father’s descent into old age and death (and about some other hardships as well). It was a gossipy and meandering book, slightly curdled in some passages by a hint of self-promotion — and yet a clever book, chipper on the surface, grief-stricken down below. ”Koba the Dread,” in its idiosyncratic fashion, takes that same grief and pushes it a little farther. In his new book Amis has come to grips rather more steadily with the topic that has shaken him so badly in the last few years, though he has done it in a strangely elliptical manner by gazing at Soviet history instead of at the losses in his own family. For death is death, and in Stalin’s persecutions Amis has been able to contemplate death by the million. And from behind his pile of books on Soviet themes he allows himself, as any grieving person might do, to vent and rave.

The short passages in ”Koba the Dread” that slide from one Soviet topic to another, the mix of Russian details and family revelations, the breezy air that seems to come at us from behind gritted teeth, the anger directed at faraway tyrants, the slightly weird pairing of British understatement with a bellowing rage from out of Solzhenitsyn — these several traits and oddities do end up establishing a rhythm, and the rhythm is easily identified. It is the rhythm of grief as experienced by a man who would rather experience anything else — the rhythm of a man who would rather pick a fight with a beloved friend or take up a scholarly interest in Soviet history, but who keeps finding that no matter where he puts his attention, every new thing leads back to the old thing, and there is no escaping. ”Koba the Dread” is not a great book about Stalin, and it is less than a useful meditation on totalitarianism and the Western intellectuals. Amis observes that large tragedies require a ”high style” — a tone of grandeur. He himself does not command a high style. Yet his book carries a punch, artfully delivered — a punch that comes from looking at death and finding in it nothing but pain, cruelty, sadness, pointlessness and loss, a punch that comes from gazing at the indescribably horrific prison camps of the Soviet Union, or that comes from watching one’s father and sister die.

I think the reviewer gets it right here but I will give you my take soon.

BTW, If you are not familiar with Amis, the NYT have collected their reviews on his previous works here.

It seems a bit late for summer reading list but since Josh posted his I thought I would tell you what I plan to read for the next few months.

I am a very ecclectic reader. I read everything from science fiction, fantasy, and spy thrillers to classical literature, history, and theology. I have a hard time focusing on a particular genre or subject. This can be helpful – I can read across a lot of subjects – but I end up being shallow in my knowledge rather than deep. To try and combat this somewhat, I am going to try to read in some common themes for the next few weeks working in history, literature, etc. In other words, read books that touch on the same subject or time period – at least a couple books in a row that are related. So here is a list of books I hope to read in the coming weeks:

I am currently reading Martin Amis’ Koba the Dread and this will provide the first theme: communism.
– Next I plan to read Richard Pipes Communism.
– Then Nabakov’s great autobiography Speak Memory.

My next theme will deal with the broad theme of “civilization” or works that speak to the West as a whole.
– The first book in this group will be John Lukacs’ At the End of an Age.
– Next will be Hans Kung’s short history of the Catholic Church.

The next theme – which is related and intertwined with the first two – will deal with revolution and war:
– Starting with Gordon S. Woods The American Revolution.
– Followed by Max Boot’s The Savage Wars of Peace.
– Spice it up with Joseph Heller’s Cathc-22.
– Last, Mark Mazower’s The Balkans.

If I get through these I should have a good graspe of some of the bigger events and ideas of the last couple of centuries. It is a start anyway – and an ambitious one at that – I will report on my progress and pass along any inspirational thoughts I have as well.

Have you ever come across a book or a set of books that you wanted just because they looked cool or were designed so well? The size, the feel, the cover, there was just something about the book that made you want to have it.

Well, I have been sorely tempted by this phenomenom of late (you don’t think the title of this blog was all a joke did you?). My first round was with classic literature. A local bookstore chain was running a big sale on Everyman’s Editions of famous novels. I ended up buying a dozen or so: Hemingway, Woolfe, Nabakov, Kafka, Greene, Heller, Mann, etc.

My new kick is The Modern Library Chronicles. I had purchased Paul Johnson’s short history of The Renaissance. And it was all down hill from there . . . The volumes are attractive in themselves but it also seems cool to have a set of works dealing with fascinating subjects handled briefly. I now have the following books in the series:

The Balkans by Mark Mazower
The Catholic Church by Hans Kung
Communism by Richard Pipes
The American Revolution by Gordon S. Wood

I am telling you, this is all a plot to take my money! At least I am doing my part for the economy . . . now that you know what books I have purhcased, next I will post what I plan to read.

Joshua Claybourn’s Domain has posted his summer reading list. I thought I would share it with you:

The Conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar.
The Pendragen Cycle by Stephen R. Lawhead.
American Visions of Europe by John Lamberton Harper.
Kinsey: Crimes & Consequences by Judith A. Reisman.
The Blood of Abraham: Insights into the Middle East by Jimmy Carter.

If you have a summer reading list send it to me or post and send me the link. I will put mine up as well.