Well, this was a terrible month on many levels... precursor of more to come, I fear. But, hey, that's half of why I read: to pretend reality isn't existing around me...
In any event, the month's reviews (plus two from the tail end of October that just missed my update cutoff point) have now been archived on the main Brightdreamer Books site.
Enjoy!
Saturday, November 30, 2024
Friday, November 29, 2024
The Possibility of Life (Jaime Green)
The Possibility of Life: Science, Imagination, and Our Quest for Kinship in the Cosmos
Jaime Green
Hanover Square Press
Nonfiction, Media Reference/Science
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Are we alone in the cosmos? Ever since humans realized we are not the center of the universe, many have looked to the skies and wondered if, somewhere beyond our tiny sphere, other minds were looking back at us. But where might such life be found? What would it look like? Would we even recognize it if we saw it? What would happen if we ever made contact? Could we even begin to communicate with extraterrestrials? Drawing on experts and sources in history, science, and visionaries in science fiction, the author explores the possibilities of life beyond Earth.
REVIEW: - Given the sheer scale of the universe at large, the idea that Earth alone has been blessed with life of any sort seems almost ludicrously self-centered. Whether that life ever moves beyond single-celled organisms, let alone achieves the level of civilization required to be detected, let alone initiate communication with us, is another matter altogether. In exploring how people have approached the notion of extraterrestrial life and potential for civilizations beyond Earth, the author demonstrates how it's as much about learning more about ourselves and our world - not just on a sheer biological level, but psychological and cultural levels - as it is about speculative evolution.
Drawing on both fact and speculative fiction - Green explores how our fiction about aliens has evolved, and how it reflects both the eras in which it was crafted and ultimately reflects human hopes and fears and understanding - the book explores a broad variety of topics encompassed in the seemingly simple question of whether or not alien life exists. In doing so, it reveals how much we still don't understand about ourselves and our fellow terrestrial life forms past and present; even the definition of "life" itself is slippery, let alone defining life as it might have sparked and evolved under vastly different conditions. On Earth, convergent evolution tends to arrive at similar solutions to general problems - as prehistoric reptiles and whales and fish arrived at roughly similar body plans for optimal aquatic survival, for instance, despite not being closely related - but would that be the case elsewhere? And then there's the matter of brain biology and psychology. When we have great trouble envisioning the world as, for instance, a dolphin or bat experiences it, would we even have a chance of understanding a hypothetical alien ambassador standing right in front of us? There is rarely consensus on any given topic, and Green tends not to rely on just one expert or source. She also acknowledges how cultural biases have colored speculations, even beyond our inherent human thought processes.
There are a few blind spots, particularly in the science fiction works she cites and which she chooses to explore in depth. (How could she discuss aliens thinking and communicating in barely-comprehensible-to-humans ways without mentioning the creations of C. J. Cherryh, who in at least one book (The Pride of Chanur) had a species speaking in matrices that even other aliens often struggled to understand?) A few topics also felt less deeply explored than others, though that's an understandable issue given that, thus far, the whole subject matter of the book is hypotheses and speculation, let alone the bits and pieces that make up that subject. The whole, however, is an interesting enough look at the matter of alien life, and how it ultimately often becomes a mirror in which to better understand our own selves and the futures we both fear and hope for.
You Might Also Enjoy:
To Be Taught, If Fortunate (Becky Chambers) - My Review
On the Origin of Species (Charles Darwin) - My Review
The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy (Arik Kershenbaum) - My Review
Jaime Green
Hanover Square Press
Nonfiction, Media Reference/Science
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Are we alone in the cosmos? Ever since humans realized we are not the center of the universe, many have looked to the skies and wondered if, somewhere beyond our tiny sphere, other minds were looking back at us. But where might such life be found? What would it look like? Would we even recognize it if we saw it? What would happen if we ever made contact? Could we even begin to communicate with extraterrestrials? Drawing on experts and sources in history, science, and visionaries in science fiction, the author explores the possibilities of life beyond Earth.
REVIEW: - Given the sheer scale of the universe at large, the idea that Earth alone has been blessed with life of any sort seems almost ludicrously self-centered. Whether that life ever moves beyond single-celled organisms, let alone achieves the level of civilization required to be detected, let alone initiate communication with us, is another matter altogether. In exploring how people have approached the notion of extraterrestrial life and potential for civilizations beyond Earth, the author demonstrates how it's as much about learning more about ourselves and our world - not just on a sheer biological level, but psychological and cultural levels - as it is about speculative evolution.
Drawing on both fact and speculative fiction - Green explores how our fiction about aliens has evolved, and how it reflects both the eras in which it was crafted and ultimately reflects human hopes and fears and understanding - the book explores a broad variety of topics encompassed in the seemingly simple question of whether or not alien life exists. In doing so, it reveals how much we still don't understand about ourselves and our fellow terrestrial life forms past and present; even the definition of "life" itself is slippery, let alone defining life as it might have sparked and evolved under vastly different conditions. On Earth, convergent evolution tends to arrive at similar solutions to general problems - as prehistoric reptiles and whales and fish arrived at roughly similar body plans for optimal aquatic survival, for instance, despite not being closely related - but would that be the case elsewhere? And then there's the matter of brain biology and psychology. When we have great trouble envisioning the world as, for instance, a dolphin or bat experiences it, would we even have a chance of understanding a hypothetical alien ambassador standing right in front of us? There is rarely consensus on any given topic, and Green tends not to rely on just one expert or source. She also acknowledges how cultural biases have colored speculations, even beyond our inherent human thought processes.
There are a few blind spots, particularly in the science fiction works she cites and which she chooses to explore in depth. (How could she discuss aliens thinking and communicating in barely-comprehensible-to-humans ways without mentioning the creations of C. J. Cherryh, who in at least one book (The Pride of Chanur) had a species speaking in matrices that even other aliens often struggled to understand?) A few topics also felt less deeply explored than others, though that's an understandable issue given that, thus far, the whole subject matter of the book is hypotheses and speculation, let alone the bits and pieces that make up that subject. The whole, however, is an interesting enough look at the matter of alien life, and how it ultimately often becomes a mirror in which to better understand our own selves and the futures we both fear and hope for.
You Might Also Enjoy:
To Be Taught, If Fortunate (Becky Chambers) - My Review
On the Origin of Species (Charles Darwin) - My Review
The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy (Arik Kershenbaum) - My Review
Sunday, November 24, 2024
The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. (Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland)
The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.
The D.O.D.O. series, Book 1
Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland
William Morrow
Fiction, Fantasy/Humor/Sci-Fi
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Expert linguist Melisande Stokes never expected to find herself stranded in 1851 London, more than a century before she was born, but that's what happens when one signs on with a classified government project like D.O.D.O. In her defense, she had no idea about the true scope of the job when she met Tristan Lyons, who recruited her from the university where she'd been working as a lecturer. All she knew was that they needed someone versed in ancient languages and historical cultures, and that they offered a better wage, more job security, and (a definite plus) actual acknowledgement of her education and contributions, all things notably lacking under her old boss Professor Blevins. (The fact that Tristan was very easy on the eyes, in addition to taking her seriously as a scholar and a person, also admittedly factored into her decision.) It was only later that she learned the truth: the Department of Diachronic Operations was dedicated to resurrecting the lost art of magic, which went extinct somewhere in the middle of the nineteenth century, but which would be an immeasurably powerful asset to national security and special operations if it could be revived... particularly if it was true that witches used time travel to alter reality. More amazingly, the reason Lyons and others consider this a feasible goal is that they have reason to believe other governments are already doing the same thing. And that was before Mel met her very first real live witch: Erzebet Karpathy, who insists Mel herself recruited her to the D.O.D.O. cause when she was a young woman - in 1851 London, just as magic was dying around the world.
When Lyons and his team, assisted by the retired physics professor Frank Oda and his wife Rebecca, succeed in their first-ever modern magical experiments, it triggers a whirlwind of activity across various Strands of the space-time continuum, with Mel herself traveling to times and places she only ever read about in historic records, pulled into a secret network of witches. But neither magic nor time travel are simple things to control, despite what the military seems to think, and the more they meddle, the more they risk a catastrophe that could utterly rewrite the world as they know it.
REVIEW: I obtained this free-to-me copy as it was on its way to the trash bin due to a partially broken binding, on recommendation that it was a good read. This is part of why it lingered so long on my Currently Reading list; part way through this thick volume, I had to pause to attempt repairs lest I cause further damage. The other part of why it lingered so long is what ultimately brought it down a notch in the ratings. For such a large book - north of 700 pages in hardcover - it felt too long for the story it contained.
The book kicks off on a strong note with Melisande Stokes stranded in Victorian London, relating how her dire circumstances came to pass in a memoir peppered with modern vernacular (often crossed out, to be replaced with more period-appropriate allusion and terminology) and humor, and along the way often switches to other formats and points of view: interoffice D.O.D.O. memos from staff members and superiors, diary entries, excerpts from incident reports and interviews, and so forth, filling in more details about the characters, organization, magic and time travel in general, and the missions. After the initial burst of entrepreneurial excitement leading to the proof of concept, however, the story bogs down and meanders about as D.O.D.O. becomes increasingly burdened by bureaucracy and people who generally don't really understand what they're doing but are determined they know better than anyone how to do it anyway. Being rooted in the military, it's a very male-dominated power structure (including the recruitment of Professor Blevins, the condescending ex-boss of Mel who shamelessly ripped off her translations of obscure texts and passed them off as his own while stifling her career) bent on manipulating a heavily matriarchal power. This sets up a weird, vaguely uncomfortable vibe that persists through much of the book and isn't really addressed by either author in any meaningful manner. Things inevitably get out of hand when pig-headed men don't listen to the warnings of the women who have been working with magic - itself rooted in an innate understanding of the quantum entanglements of multiple realities, pasts and presents and futures, which are ultimately the source of a witch's magic - all their lives... and when one particularly cunning and crafty historical witch realizes she can turn the tables on D.O.D.O. and outmaneuver them to create a future better suited to her own needs rather than theirs. All of this is overburdened with extraneous characters and pointless, vaguely humorous (or attempting to be humorous) tangents, and enough annoyingly "clever" acronyms to make me give my keyboard the side-eye even as I type this review. I also had a sense that the two writers had different visions for what this book was supposed to be about, the overall vibe and direction, and they never quite met in the middle, pulling one way and then another in a weird tug-of-war with no real winner. The ending sets up the next book in the series but left me vaguely unsatisfied; for all that it overexplained some parts of itself, there were other pivotal things that it seemed bound and determined to underexplain.
That's not to say there were no good points. I generally enjoyed Melisande Stokes and a few other characters (even if I never quite bought the chemistry with Tristan, for all that everyone insisted it was there), though others felt more like caricatures and still more just vague sketches on the page. There were some interesting ideas explored and some decently immersive time travel moments. It also generally avoided the old "everyone from before the twentieth century was a mindless superstitious buffoon, easily manipulated by sophisticated modern minds" stereotype and other ways history can be flattened or diminished. Now and again the humor worked for me. But those moments were inevitably weighed down by the other baggage, and the overall, dragging length of the book turned the reading experience into a slog by the end.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Sky Coyote (Kage Baker) - My Review
The Fire Rose (Mercedes Lackey) - My Review
The Psychology of Time Travel (Karen Mascarenhas) - My Review
The D.O.D.O. series, Book 1
Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland
William Morrow
Fiction, Fantasy/Humor/Sci-Fi
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Expert linguist Melisande Stokes never expected to find herself stranded in 1851 London, more than a century before she was born, but that's what happens when one signs on with a classified government project like D.O.D.O. In her defense, she had no idea about the true scope of the job when she met Tristan Lyons, who recruited her from the university where she'd been working as a lecturer. All she knew was that they needed someone versed in ancient languages and historical cultures, and that they offered a better wage, more job security, and (a definite plus) actual acknowledgement of her education and contributions, all things notably lacking under her old boss Professor Blevins. (The fact that Tristan was very easy on the eyes, in addition to taking her seriously as a scholar and a person, also admittedly factored into her decision.) It was only later that she learned the truth: the Department of Diachronic Operations was dedicated to resurrecting the lost art of magic, which went extinct somewhere in the middle of the nineteenth century, but which would be an immeasurably powerful asset to national security and special operations if it could be revived... particularly if it was true that witches used time travel to alter reality. More amazingly, the reason Lyons and others consider this a feasible goal is that they have reason to believe other governments are already doing the same thing. And that was before Mel met her very first real live witch: Erzebet Karpathy, who insists Mel herself recruited her to the D.O.D.O. cause when she was a young woman - in 1851 London, just as magic was dying around the world.
When Lyons and his team, assisted by the retired physics professor Frank Oda and his wife Rebecca, succeed in their first-ever modern magical experiments, it triggers a whirlwind of activity across various Strands of the space-time continuum, with Mel herself traveling to times and places she only ever read about in historic records, pulled into a secret network of witches. But neither magic nor time travel are simple things to control, despite what the military seems to think, and the more they meddle, the more they risk a catastrophe that could utterly rewrite the world as they know it.
REVIEW: I obtained this free-to-me copy as it was on its way to the trash bin due to a partially broken binding, on recommendation that it was a good read. This is part of why it lingered so long on my Currently Reading list; part way through this thick volume, I had to pause to attempt repairs lest I cause further damage. The other part of why it lingered so long is what ultimately brought it down a notch in the ratings. For such a large book - north of 700 pages in hardcover - it felt too long for the story it contained.
The book kicks off on a strong note with Melisande Stokes stranded in Victorian London, relating how her dire circumstances came to pass in a memoir peppered with modern vernacular (often crossed out, to be replaced with more period-appropriate allusion and terminology) and humor, and along the way often switches to other formats and points of view: interoffice D.O.D.O. memos from staff members and superiors, diary entries, excerpts from incident reports and interviews, and so forth, filling in more details about the characters, organization, magic and time travel in general, and the missions. After the initial burst of entrepreneurial excitement leading to the proof of concept, however, the story bogs down and meanders about as D.O.D.O. becomes increasingly burdened by bureaucracy and people who generally don't really understand what they're doing but are determined they know better than anyone how to do it anyway. Being rooted in the military, it's a very male-dominated power structure (including the recruitment of Professor Blevins, the condescending ex-boss of Mel who shamelessly ripped off her translations of obscure texts and passed them off as his own while stifling her career) bent on manipulating a heavily matriarchal power. This sets up a weird, vaguely uncomfortable vibe that persists through much of the book and isn't really addressed by either author in any meaningful manner. Things inevitably get out of hand when pig-headed men don't listen to the warnings of the women who have been working with magic - itself rooted in an innate understanding of the quantum entanglements of multiple realities, pasts and presents and futures, which are ultimately the source of a witch's magic - all their lives... and when one particularly cunning and crafty historical witch realizes she can turn the tables on D.O.D.O. and outmaneuver them to create a future better suited to her own needs rather than theirs. All of this is overburdened with extraneous characters and pointless, vaguely humorous (or attempting to be humorous) tangents, and enough annoyingly "clever" acronyms to make me give my keyboard the side-eye even as I type this review. I also had a sense that the two writers had different visions for what this book was supposed to be about, the overall vibe and direction, and they never quite met in the middle, pulling one way and then another in a weird tug-of-war with no real winner. The ending sets up the next book in the series but left me vaguely unsatisfied; for all that it overexplained some parts of itself, there were other pivotal things that it seemed bound and determined to underexplain.
That's not to say there were no good points. I generally enjoyed Melisande Stokes and a few other characters (even if I never quite bought the chemistry with Tristan, for all that everyone insisted it was there), though others felt more like caricatures and still more just vague sketches on the page. There were some interesting ideas explored and some decently immersive time travel moments. It also generally avoided the old "everyone from before the twentieth century was a mindless superstitious buffoon, easily manipulated by sophisticated modern minds" stereotype and other ways history can be flattened or diminished. Now and again the humor worked for me. But those moments were inevitably weighed down by the other baggage, and the overall, dragging length of the book turned the reading experience into a slog by the end.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Sky Coyote (Kage Baker) - My Review
The Fire Rose (Mercedes Lackey) - My Review
The Psychology of Time Travel (Karen Mascarenhas) - My Review
Friday, November 15, 2024
Down a Dark Hall (Lois Duncan)
Down a Dark Hall
A Lois Duncan Thrillers book
Lois Duncan
Little, Brown Books
Fiction, YA Thriller
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: When she first heard her mother and stepfather talking about the private Blackwood School for Girls in upstate New York, Kit Gordon thought it sounded exciting, especially if her best friend could go with her. But somehow only Kit got past the unusual entrance exams, and when she sets eyes on the restored mansion in the remote woods for the first time, she has only one thought: evil.
At first, she thinks it might just be her nerves. The place is old and spooky and the headmistress Madame Duret is peculiar, to say the least. But she can't shake the feeling that something's not right at Blackwood. There are only four students including her, such an odd mix that Kit can't imagine how they were all selected when her own brilliant best friend was rejected. The teaching staff is just one one professor, the headmistress's young adult son Jules, and Duret herself. Then the nightmares begin... and the students start displaying unusual talents, things they could never do before they arrived.
What is going on? What is Madame Duret doing to the children - and why? And can Kit escape before it's too late?
REVIEW: It's a classic setup by a familiar old-school author... but, like the Blackwood School for Girls, something felt a little odd about this story from the start - such as why an old-school author would bring up cell phones, social media, and the internet in a tale that feels like it's from the mid-twentieth century. Apparently, this is an "updated" version of the original, which was published in 1974. It probably would've been best just to leave it in its original time; it does a disservice to modern young readers to assume they're incapable of comprehending or enjoying what, to them, would be "historical fiction". As it is, the updates come across a little forced, like a parent overusing slang from a younger generation without quite getting the nuance and context right, muddling an otherwise reasonably decent (for its original time) and atmospheric thriller.
Kit doesn't want to be at Blackwood from the beginning, especially not without her best friend; her remarried mother and stepfather, however, are going on an extended European honeymoon and need somewhere for Kit to stay, and Blackwood promised a premium experience they couldn't deny. At first, she thinks maybe that's why she has such a visceral reaction the first time she lays eyes on the school, formerly the home of a local eccentric... but, this being a thriller, her gut instinct is correct, and from the moment she sets foot on the property Kit is in more danger than she can understand. Students and staff are familiar characters one would expect in this kind of tale, from the intimidating headmistress (who is clearly hiding sinister secrets) to the bubble-headed blonde classmate to the swoonworthy young music instructor (and Duret's son) Jules to the kindly cook who provides backstory as needed for the plot and more. Nobody is particularly deep, but nobody really needs to be in this kind of plot. It's more about the slowly unfolding horrors, the nightmares and unusual expressions of spontaneous "gifts" that catch all the children off guard and elicit different reactions from each, as Kit slowly pieces together just why the four students were selected and what Duret intends for them. There are some logic stretches, but overall the tale does a decent job immersing the reader in Kit's hellish experiences as the horrors unfold and her efforts to resist and escape (which she does at least try, to her credit) are thwarted. The climax could've been punchier, the wrap-up quick in a way the left me slightly disappointed, but overall the story delivers the boarding-school-with-a-dark-secret thriller that it promised... though I still question the publisher's insistence on the "updates", especially when the first thing the story does is deprive the children of access to nearly all of the modern technology it itself shoehorned into the story. Why bother introducing the tech at all, anyway?
You Might Also Enjoy:
Killing Mr. Griffin (Lois Duncan) - My Review
Every Heart a Doorway (Seanan McGuire) - My Review
Three Quarters Dead (Richard Peck) - My Review
A Lois Duncan Thrillers book
Lois Duncan
Little, Brown Books
Fiction, YA Thriller
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: When she first heard her mother and stepfather talking about the private Blackwood School for Girls in upstate New York, Kit Gordon thought it sounded exciting, especially if her best friend could go with her. But somehow only Kit got past the unusual entrance exams, and when she sets eyes on the restored mansion in the remote woods for the first time, she has only one thought: evil.
At first, she thinks it might just be her nerves. The place is old and spooky and the headmistress Madame Duret is peculiar, to say the least. But she can't shake the feeling that something's not right at Blackwood. There are only four students including her, such an odd mix that Kit can't imagine how they were all selected when her own brilliant best friend was rejected. The teaching staff is just one one professor, the headmistress's young adult son Jules, and Duret herself. Then the nightmares begin... and the students start displaying unusual talents, things they could never do before they arrived.
What is going on? What is Madame Duret doing to the children - and why? And can Kit escape before it's too late?
REVIEW: It's a classic setup by a familiar old-school author... but, like the Blackwood School for Girls, something felt a little odd about this story from the start - such as why an old-school author would bring up cell phones, social media, and the internet in a tale that feels like it's from the mid-twentieth century. Apparently, this is an "updated" version of the original, which was published in 1974. It probably would've been best just to leave it in its original time; it does a disservice to modern young readers to assume they're incapable of comprehending or enjoying what, to them, would be "historical fiction". As it is, the updates come across a little forced, like a parent overusing slang from a younger generation without quite getting the nuance and context right, muddling an otherwise reasonably decent (for its original time) and atmospheric thriller.
Kit doesn't want to be at Blackwood from the beginning, especially not without her best friend; her remarried mother and stepfather, however, are going on an extended European honeymoon and need somewhere for Kit to stay, and Blackwood promised a premium experience they couldn't deny. At first, she thinks maybe that's why she has such a visceral reaction the first time she lays eyes on the school, formerly the home of a local eccentric... but, this being a thriller, her gut instinct is correct, and from the moment she sets foot on the property Kit is in more danger than she can understand. Students and staff are familiar characters one would expect in this kind of tale, from the intimidating headmistress (who is clearly hiding sinister secrets) to the bubble-headed blonde classmate to the swoonworthy young music instructor (and Duret's son) Jules to the kindly cook who provides backstory as needed for the plot and more. Nobody is particularly deep, but nobody really needs to be in this kind of plot. It's more about the slowly unfolding horrors, the nightmares and unusual expressions of spontaneous "gifts" that catch all the children off guard and elicit different reactions from each, as Kit slowly pieces together just why the four students were selected and what Duret intends for them. There are some logic stretches, but overall the tale does a decent job immersing the reader in Kit's hellish experiences as the horrors unfold and her efforts to resist and escape (which she does at least try, to her credit) are thwarted. The climax could've been punchier, the wrap-up quick in a way the left me slightly disappointed, but overall the story delivers the boarding-school-with-a-dark-secret thriller that it promised... though I still question the publisher's insistence on the "updates", especially when the first thing the story does is deprive the children of access to nearly all of the modern technology it itself shoehorned into the story. Why bother introducing the tech at all, anyway?
You Might Also Enjoy:
Killing Mr. Griffin (Lois Duncan) - My Review
Every Heart a Doorway (Seanan McGuire) - My Review
Three Quarters Dead (Richard Peck) - My Review
Why Does Everything Have to Be About Race? (Keith Boykin)
Why Does Everything Have to Be About Race?: 25 Arguments That Won't Go Away
Keith Boykin
Bold Type Books
Nonfiction, History/Law/Politics/Sociology
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Slavery's been over for ages - why keep bringing up the past? Isn't "equal opportunity" just reverse racism against whites? Why can't we just ignore race altogether? Don't all lives matter? Every time someone mentions racial discrimination and inequality, these and more arguments inevitably pop up, shutting down discussions and derailing progress and demanding time and energy to answer questions that have quite definitively been answered innumerable times (just not the way that those who benefit from ongoing racial inequality would like). In this book, writer Keith Boykin dissects 25 common arguments that have been used to prevent real progress on issues of race, racism, and equity from history to modern times.
REVIEW: Reading this after the election of November 2024 - when a significant portion of the American public deliberately and definitively rejected progress on race (and pretty much every other front), setting the stage for a near-inevitable rapid race backwards on a scale I doubt I'll see recovered in my lifetime - puts a certain painful spin on this book, which deftly explores America's history of racial injustice and its often haphazard and temporary attempts to correct a problem of its own making. Boykin draws on history, personal experience, and current events to demonstrate how racism infiltrates every aspect of policy and life; the reason "everything has to be about race" is because there's no way for any remotely meaningful discussion on any problems facing the country today to occur without acknowledging how race has skewed America and its ostensible promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness since before the founding documents were drafted. It would be like trying to discuss forestry without talking about all that pesky woody plant life everyone keeps dragging into the conversation. The fact that these policies rooted in historic and ongoing racism also tangibly hurt other demographics makes it all the more urgent that they be addressed, but arguments like the ones presented here are designed to keep the topic muddled and turn those demographics against each other, tiring themselves out with explanations and infighting and semantics.
By turns informative, inspiring, and depressing, it makes for interesting reading, though I sadly can't help but suspect that a nation that hasn't apparently learned a thing in over two hundred years of existence - that apparently would rather slit its own throat and throw itself into the grasp of an avowed and proud traitor and authoritarian, potentially abandoning democracy altogether, in a pivotal election where race was very much a factor - is unlikely to ever actually address the problems of race and racism and systemic inequality without near-complete self immolation first... and maybe not even then.
You Might Also Enjoy:
How to Be an Antiracist (Ibram X. Kendi) - My Review
Born a Crime (Trevor Noah) - My Review
They Called Us Enemy (George Takei) - My Review
Keith Boykin
Bold Type Books
Nonfiction, History/Law/Politics/Sociology
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Slavery's been over for ages - why keep bringing up the past? Isn't "equal opportunity" just reverse racism against whites? Why can't we just ignore race altogether? Don't all lives matter? Every time someone mentions racial discrimination and inequality, these and more arguments inevitably pop up, shutting down discussions and derailing progress and demanding time and energy to answer questions that have quite definitively been answered innumerable times (just not the way that those who benefit from ongoing racial inequality would like). In this book, writer Keith Boykin dissects 25 common arguments that have been used to prevent real progress on issues of race, racism, and equity from history to modern times.
REVIEW: Reading this after the election of November 2024 - when a significant portion of the American public deliberately and definitively rejected progress on race (and pretty much every other front), setting the stage for a near-inevitable rapid race backwards on a scale I doubt I'll see recovered in my lifetime - puts a certain painful spin on this book, which deftly explores America's history of racial injustice and its often haphazard and temporary attempts to correct a problem of its own making. Boykin draws on history, personal experience, and current events to demonstrate how racism infiltrates every aspect of policy and life; the reason "everything has to be about race" is because there's no way for any remotely meaningful discussion on any problems facing the country today to occur without acknowledging how race has skewed America and its ostensible promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness since before the founding documents were drafted. It would be like trying to discuss forestry without talking about all that pesky woody plant life everyone keeps dragging into the conversation. The fact that these policies rooted in historic and ongoing racism also tangibly hurt other demographics makes it all the more urgent that they be addressed, but arguments like the ones presented here are designed to keep the topic muddled and turn those demographics against each other, tiring themselves out with explanations and infighting and semantics.
By turns informative, inspiring, and depressing, it makes for interesting reading, though I sadly can't help but suspect that a nation that hasn't apparently learned a thing in over two hundred years of existence - that apparently would rather slit its own throat and throw itself into the grasp of an avowed and proud traitor and authoritarian, potentially abandoning democracy altogether, in a pivotal election where race was very much a factor - is unlikely to ever actually address the problems of race and racism and systemic inequality without near-complete self immolation first... and maybe not even then.
You Might Also Enjoy:
How to Be an Antiracist (Ibram X. Kendi) - My Review
Born a Crime (Trevor Noah) - My Review
They Called Us Enemy (George Takei) - My Review
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