The second book in his alternative history series featuring the Cold War has a United States where Truman is President, Stalin rules the U.S.S.R., and atomic bombs fly, as these two superpowers vie in a seemingly never-ending struggle. Europe is in ruins, as is part of the U.S. west coast from atomic bomb strikes. Moscow is no more, but Stalin escaped. And in Korea, where all this began, Mao’s army and allies fight the few U.S. forces left there without hope of reinforcement, since Washington is concentrating on the Russian front. As always, this book offers a gripping look at the war from several different characters. As we follow them through the books, we get a idea of life from the Russian, American, and German soldier’s point of view. Truman, also one of the wearied actors, reflects on the awful consequences of his use of atomic weapons but goes on nevertheless as he leads the country though perilous times.The Hot War has just gotten hotter, and this book will gladden Turtledove and alt-history fans everywhere!
Category: poems
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The Burkini Ban
I’m conflicted about the burkini issue, because it raises some questions for me. My first impulse is to say, of course, women should be allowed to wear burkinis. I believe in freedom of religion, even though I’m an atheist, and the idea that women appearing fully covered is offensive strikes me as patently absurd. Do we then ban men wearing wetsuits? (No, because they carry no weighted meaning.) And this also seems another instance of men once again making rules that target women , which I detest on feminist grounds. But then I thought more about this. Burkinis and burqas are themselves a gender-imposed restriction that has no male equivalent. I would say, at risk of offending my Muslim readers, that they are just as much an instance of men trying to control the actions of women as the bans that restricted them. So, while I wish to support religious freedom and I would not support bans of burkinis, I can’t say that I’m a fan of the garment. I’ve had Muslim friends who wore the hijab explain their reasoning. It makes sense in their worldview. I just don’t share it. I think that patriarchal religions like Islam, Judaism, and Christianity can in their fundamentalist forms be especially damaging to women. The burkini debate highlights for me why I am an atheist and resolutely secular
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End Of Watch By Stephen King
This ends the Bill Hodges trilogy started with Mr. Mercedes and continued in Finders Keepers. Like many of King’s books, I found it to be a good read, compelling enough to keep me interested, and it was certainly dark, which I like. But this was not a great book, nothing that is going to change your life or make you think about the nature of evil, etc. Once you finish close the cover, you pretty much forget it. I don’t like to leave things unfinished and had read the first two-just b/c my library at time was REALLY low on new books (see my entry entitled “Abibliophobia”) so just HAD to read this one to round out the series. I’d say read it if you like dark mystery type novels that aren’t going to challenge you over much. Typical King fare, ho-hum.
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Children Of Earth And Sky By Guy Gavriel Kay-A Review
I hadn’t expected to LIKE this book as much as I did, but let me say that I found it to be a very good way to spend a Friday night! Ideally, of course, the night would have been colder with a fierce thunderstorm, as this book just begs for the reader to be ensconced somewhere warm sipping a cuppa ! I simulated these conditions with my AC, crawled in bed with my whippet, and entered the world of Senjan, Seressa, and Dubrava. Kay provides interesting characters, intrigue worthy of the Borgias, and a dog! (My whippet thought the dog was a very nice touch!) I was a fantasy reader when younger but fell out of the habit. Guy Gavriel Kay might persuade me to begin again, starting with his novels!
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White Trash: The 400-Year Old Untold History Of Class In America By Nancy Isenberg-A Review
In White Trash Isenberg firmly puts to rest the notion that America is a classless society. She sets forth the foundations of the class system from its roots in colonial times then traces them through the settlement of the West. Her work detailing the influence of the eugenic movement and class is illuminating; as are the chapters comparing the rise of the African Americans following the Civil War and the poor whites from the Southern states. Nota bene: the white trash that she mentions in her book is composed of Anglo-Saxons, originally from the Appalachians or the South. This is a matter of history, not judgment. Americans need to read this book, to dispel their illusions that theirs is a society founded upon equality. Readers need to read this book because it will stretch their mind!
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The Natural Way Of Things By Charlotte Wood-A Review
This book is a dark and disturbing dystopian tale, joining others such as 1984 (Orwell), A Handmaid’s Tale (Atwood), and 1Q84 (Murakami). The tone of the book is unremittingly bleak, and the underlying cautionary message of the book is that for women to dare to speak out about the truth of their sexual life, particularly if it implicates a man or men in wrongdoing such as rape will destroy them. Women’s bodies are seen as the cause of men’s actions; women are shamed, vilified, and portrayed as sluts, whores, and asking for whatever happened to them at the hands of men, the media, and, eventually, the events in this book. The women who are taken to the camp share similar stories. They’ve all spoken out in the media about being raped, with the exception of one woman who had her affair with a married politician exposed. Don’t look for any magical sisterhood or admirable character-forming to take place at this camp, despite their shared misery and deprivation. Though two women do grow and develop in interesting ways, forming a bond of sorts, the women by and large function maladaptively. The two women that the book focuses upon are fierce, brave, and survivors in a place that offers little hope. Warning: If you like your endings clean and your resolutions tidy, this is not the book for you.
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The Natural Way Of Things By Charlotte Wood-A Review
This book is a dark and disturbing dystopian tale, joining others such as 1984 (Orwell), A Handmaid’s Tale (Atwood), and 1Q84 (Murakami). The tone of the book is unremittingly bleak, and the underlying cautionary message of the book is that for women to dare to speak out about the truth of their sexual life, particularly if it implicates a man or men in wrongdoing such as rape will destroy them. Women’s bodies are seen as the cause of men’s actions; women are shamed, vilified, and portrayed as sluts, whores, and asking for whatever happened to them at the hands of men, the media, and, eventually, the events in this book. The women who are taken to the camp share similar stories. They’ve all spoken out in the media about being raped, with the exception of one woman who had her affair with a married politician exposed. Don’t look for any magical sisterhood or admirable character-forming to take place at this camp, despite their shared misery and deprivation. Though two women do grow and develop in interesting ways, forming a bond of sorts, the women by and large function maladaptively. The two women that the book focuses upon are fierce, brave, and survivors in a place that offers little hope. Warning: If you like your endings clean and your resolutions tidy, this is not the book for you.
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Underground Airlines By Ben H. Winters-A Review
No, I was not reading this simultaneously with Atkins book. I read it last week. But it has been on my mind. It seemed particularly relevant and timely, given all the racial tension in the country. Two more shootings-one by police in Milwaukee, one of a police officer in Georgia. SMH. Anyway, the book is in the genre of alt or speculative fiction, set in a modern America very much like our own…except that the Civil War never happened. Slavery is still legal in four states, and the book tells story of a man who, though African American and one who escaped from slavery himself, is used by the U.S. Marshall Services to hunt down others who are aided and abetted in such escapes by an entity known as the Underground Airlines. The conflict suffered by Victor, who dons many names in the pursuit of his work and doesn’t even whisper his true name to himself, reflects but one of the layers of this ingenious multi-faceted book, where you learn that nothing is ever as it seems. Both a first class story and an indictment of the system that thrives off the efforts of Persons Bound To Labor while repudiating responsibility for their welfare, this is a definite must read! Stay tuned for a comparison with Colin Whitehead’s Underground Railroad!
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The Innocents By Ace Atkins-A Review
Welcome back to Tibbehah County, Mississippi !. If your view of humankind runs cynical, dark, and depraved, this is the book for you. The latest to feature Quinn Colson and Lillie Virgil, it paints a truly grim picture of life in small-town Mississippi. Corruption and misery seem as endemic to this place as the cicadas and heat; Lillie Virgil fights a hard battle against the tide as acting sheriff with Quinn as Deputy. There’s mayhem, murder, race, drugs, a titty bar, moonshine, bikers, Jesus, dirty politicians, guns, rednecks, and football involved. Whew!
I’ve been following this series from the beginning. The books just keep getting better and grittier, if possible. I lived for while in that part of Mississippi (a long, long, long time ago) and, while there is no actual Tibbehah County, Atkins’ description runs fairly accurate. Let it be known that I am not, shall we say, a fan of the state of Mississippi, despite having been born, bred, raised, and schooled there. I escaped after grad school. When people ask me, “Why don’t you go home?” I look at them like they’re crazy. They make laws against people like me there. I think it might be one of the states that still has a law on the books prohibiting an atheist to run for election. Not to mention that I’m Jewish, neutrois, and queer! Oh, yeah, a trifecta for being accepted down in Dixie! But I digress from the review. This is an outstanding book in the series. Read it for the mystery; read it for the grit; read it for the characters. I don’t care-just read it!
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SCOTUS Temporary Hold on TG Case
I’m very disappointed that SCOTUS temporarily put on hold a brief from a lower court that allowed a transgender student to use a bathroom that conformed with his gender. This was the first time that the Supreme Court has ruled on transgender rights. As one would expect, Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan, the liberal wing of the court, would have upheld the lower court’s ruling and granted the student the right to use the bathroom that conformed to his gender. Justice Stephen Breyer, who usually votes with them, joined with the four conservative members this time, saying in a one-sentence explanation that he was doing so out of courtesy to preserve the status quo until SCOTUS could consider the matter more fully. This is only temporary, of course. The court WILL have to decide the issue, one way or another, since states are suing the federal government over Obama’s directive that transgender students be allowed to use the bathroom of their choice.
Here’s my take on the whole bathroom controversy. Stop gendering bathrooms. Period. Make them all clean, private, safe places with no open urinals and problem solved. I’ve been in places that only provide one restroom for patrons, and this has not been a problem. No children have been molested, nor women accosted. Bathrooms serve a function; work on improving that, and get the public’s mind out of the gutter!
