Blogroll

The year in books — by the numbers

The numbers will finish off the end of the year book-related posts. I’ve been keeping a book diary since the beginning of 1976. This year I reached a record number of books read, 111. That figure is tempered by the reverse of what affected last year’s numbers. Just as my 2008 reading included a few […]

Book Review: In Search of My Homeland by Er Tai Gao

Given our history, Americans tend to think of political prisoners as those who actively oppose the political policies or government of their country. Yet in totalitarian societies even aesthetics are political so whether a person is a dissident is in the eye of the beholder. That’s what artist Er Tai Gao learned when he published […]

Book Review: The Sixties by Jenny Diski

Every time period has its trappings. And while it may be impacted by its recency, it’s hard to imagine a historical period that carries more baggage than the 1960s. In her reflective quasi-memoir The Sixties, British author Jenny Diski sifts through some of the baggage but ultimately comes away dismayed and discouraged.

At the outset, […]

Book Review: “Socialism Is Great!” by Lijia Zhang

It is the actions of the masses, not great men, that truly shape history, Leo Tolstoy argued in War and Peace. Support for that theory might be seen in Lijia Zhang’s “Socialism Is Great!”: A Worker’s Memoir of the New China.

Zhang’s book is a personal memoir, not a political one. That’s why it is […]

Book Review: To the Last Salute by Georg von Trapp

At least in name, Georg von Trapp achieved international fame as the father of the family portrayed in The Sound of Music musical and film production. How accurate that character was has been challenged by von Trapp’s family. One aspect was right: von Trapp was a retired naval officer. Not only did he serve in […]