Patrick Cockburn. Muqtada: Muqtada Al-Sadr, The Shia Revival, and the Struggle For Iraq
New York: Scribner, 2008
Reviewed by T. Hatch
Patrick Cockburn is the Iraq correspondent for The Independent of London; his reporting does rely on being “embedded” with US or UK forces, i.e., he is not a government propagandist. His work on Muqtada al-Sadr follows his earlier work Occupation: War and Resistance in Iraq in stressing the dire economic devastation that has occurred in Iraq after the Gulf War of 1991. The mass impoverishment of Iraq is the real story that is rarely mentioned in the corporate media's coverage of the colonial occupation.
The story of Shi'ism from the time of Imam Hussein and his warrior half brother Abbas being killed in battle at Karbala in 680 A.D., until the present day, resembles Irish history in that there are not many happy moments. Shi'ism was conceived in defeat and has not been politically dominant since before Saladin (a Sunni Kurd from Tikrit) who vanquished them in Egypt. Muqtada al-Sadr is the heir to this tradition of martyrdom and resistance. The progenitor of the Sadrist movement Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Sadr (a.k.a. Sadr I), Muqtada's cousin, was killed by having nails driven into his forehead after watching his sister being raped and killed by henchmen of Saddam Hussein in 1980. His father Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr (Sadr II), the organizational genius behind the Sadrist movement, was gunned down with Muqtada's two older brothers in 1999.
As the current leader of the Sadrist movement he is only nominally in charge of an organization that attracts zealous young men who are, at best, only loosely under his control. The Sadr movement has a social revolutionary aspect to it but fundamentally combines Iraqi nationalism with Shi'a religious identity in a way that the occupying US forces find troubling. There are at least great ironies in the US position. Firstly, like Saddam Hussein and the Baath Party, the Bush administration believes that to eliminate Muqtada al-Sadr will subdue the vexatious elements of Shi'ism. Secondly, the US is currently backing the central government [sic] of Nouri al-Maliki who embraces a pronounced separatist proclivity against the nationalism of Muqtada and the Mehdi army.
Cockburn's book is worth reading if for no other reason than the next time you see a dilettante (e.g. Chris Matthews) on television decrying the ignorance of one public official or another not knowing the difference between a Sunni and Shi'a Muslim you can appreciate just how shallow is commercially produced “expert” knowledge.
This book is on order for the Grinnell College Libraries
Other books by Patrick Cockburn:
Out of the Ashes: The Resurrection of Saddam Hussein. NY: Harper Collins, 1999. Written with Alexander Cockburn. Burling Library DS79.75 .C63x 1999
Occupation: War and Resistance in Iraq. New York: Verso, 2007 (on order for the library)
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
The Memory Keeper's Daughter
Carrie Lynch writes:
I thought you might be interested in Lifetime’s new movie, “Memory Keeper's Daughter, which is based on The New York Times best-selling novel by Kim Edwards. It stars Dermot Mulroney ("The Wedding Date"), Gretchen Mol ("3:10 to Yuma") and two-time Oscar nominee Emily Watson ("Angela's Ashes").
"After a doctor secretly plans to banish one of his twins for being afflicted with Down Syndrome, an attending nurse discovers his plan and intervenes, putting into motion events that will haunt the doctor, his wife and his son for the next 20 years."
For more information about the movie and cast, plus exclusive interviews
and videos, check this out:
For a limited time, you can check out the first chapter now:
http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780143037149,00.html?sym=EXC
Edwards, Kim. The Memory Keeper's Daughter. NY: Penguin, 2006.
Available at Stewart Library. LP Fiction EDWARDS and Fiction K EDWARDS
This book was also recommended by Heather Parker on January 17, 2008
I thought you might be interested in Lifetime’s new movie, “Memory Keeper's Daughter, which is based on The New York Times best-selling novel by Kim Edwards. It stars Dermot Mulroney ("The Wedding Date"), Gretchen Mol ("3:10 to Yuma") and two-time Oscar nominee Emily Watson ("Angela's Ashes").
"After a doctor secretly plans to banish one of his twins for being afflicted with Down Syndrome, an attending nurse discovers his plan and intervenes, putting into motion events that will haunt the doctor, his wife and his son for the next 20 years."
For more information about the movie and cast, plus exclusive interviews
and videos, check this out:
For a limited time, you can check out the first chapter now:
http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780143037149,00.html?sym=EXC
Edwards, Kim. The Memory Keeper's Daughter. NY: Penguin, 2006.
Available at Stewart Library. LP Fiction EDWARDS and Fiction K EDWARDS
This book was also recommended by Heather Parker on January 17, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Blogging about Blogs: A selection of books on the blogging revolution
Added by Matthew Horowitz '10
Blogs, Youtube, and Wikipedia are certainly captivating today’s younger generations and transforming the very fabric of American cultural achievement to date, but what are the implications of this new participatory Web revolution? In The Cult of the Amateur: How Today’s Internet is Killing our Culture, Silicon Valley guru Andrew Keen takes up this very question. He offers a critical, yet compelling denunciation of today’s Internet as a dangerous forum for the proliferation of an amateur and undermining culture. He argues that this “cult” threatens to devour our most valued cultural institutions such as magazines, music, movies, and even newspapers. Beware. Your perception of our generation’s favorite pastime might never be the same.
Andrew Keen. The Cult of the Amateur: how today's internet is killing our culture. Doubleday/Currency. 2007. Burling 2nd Floor. HM851.K44 2007
In Ultimate Blogs: Masterworks from the Wild Web, Sarah Boxer, the original Web critic for The New York Times, presents an entertaining anthology of some of the Web's most vibrant blogs. The book features a diverse array of the very best posts from blogs including Becker-Posner, a chillingly clear blog written by a Nobel laureate in economics (Becker) and a U.S. Court of Appeals judge (Posner) about hot-button issues such as immigration and global warming, and Micrographica, an online cartoon blog starring a piece of crap and a rodent. Think of Ultimate Blogs as the product of many many hours of searching the Web in hope of finding that interesting tid-bit that will brighten your day.
Sarah Boxer. Ultimate Blogs: Masterworks from the Wild Web. Vintage Books. 2008.
Burling 1st Floor. AC5.U45 2008
In Blog!: How the Newest Media Revolution is Changing Politics, Business, and Culture David Kline and Dan Burstein take an energetic look at the rapid emergence of the Internet blogosphere. Through a series of interviews, they take you into the minds of the world's newest, yet suddenly powerful elite: influential bloggers. Included are people like Joe Trippi, former National Campaign Manager for Howard Dean, whose use of blogs as fund-raising tools and grassroots organizers has revolutionized politics. Although Kline and Burstein acknowledge blogs as the new growth industry on the Web, they argue that they have their limits. The newest vehicle for the voiceless in politics, business, and culture is seemingly destined to fall short of the glorified hyperbole currently surrounding its name.
David Kline and Dan Burstein. Blog!: How the Newest Media Revolution is Changing Politics, Business, and Culture. CDS Books. 2005. Science Library. TK5105.8884.K55x 2005
Blogs are the newest medium for political expression and are quickly proliferating around the World Wide Web, but how will they impact our democracy? This is the focus of David D. Perlmutter's book entitled Blogwars. Perlmutter argues that blogs like DailyKos, The Huffington Post, Powerlineblog, Instapundit, and Talking Points Memo are becoming an essential part of our political dialog that professionals simply can no longer ignore. By providing a diversity of opinions and a space for lesser voices, blogs offer a great venue for deepening our democracy. As blogs are increasingly replacing traditional news mediums as a source of information, Perlmutter offers an important examination of this often controversial, new cultural phenomenon.
David D. Perlmutter. Blogwars. Oxford University Press. 2008.
Burling 2nd Floor. JA85.2.U6 P45 2008
In We're All Journalists Now: The Transformation of the Press and Reshaping of the Law in the Internet Age, Scott Gant takes a look at how bloggers are recasting the mold of journalism.
Scott Gant. We're All Journalist Now: The Transformation of the Press and Reshaping of the Law in the Internet Age. Free Press. 2007. Burling 2nd Floor. KF2750. G36 2007.
Blogs, Youtube, and Wikipedia are certainly captivating today’s younger generations and transforming the very fabric of American cultural achievement to date, but what are the implications of this new participatory Web revolution? In The Cult of the Amateur: How Today’s Internet is Killing our Culture, Silicon Valley guru Andrew Keen takes up this very question. He offers a critical, yet compelling denunciation of today’s Internet as a dangerous forum for the proliferation of an amateur and undermining culture. He argues that this “cult” threatens to devour our most valued cultural institutions such as magazines, music, movies, and even newspapers. Beware. Your perception of our generation’s favorite pastime might never be the same.
Andrew Keen. The Cult of the Amateur: how today's internet is killing our culture. Doubleday/Currency. 2007. Burling 2nd Floor. HM851.K44 2007
In Ultimate Blogs: Masterworks from the Wild Web, Sarah Boxer, the original Web critic for The New York Times, presents an entertaining anthology of some of the Web's most vibrant blogs. The book features a diverse array of the very best posts from blogs including Becker-Posner, a chillingly clear blog written by a Nobel laureate in economics (Becker) and a U.S. Court of Appeals judge (Posner) about hot-button issues such as immigration and global warming, and Micrographica, an online cartoon blog starring a piece of crap and a rodent. Think of Ultimate Blogs as the product of many many hours of searching the Web in hope of finding that interesting tid-bit that will brighten your day.
Sarah Boxer. Ultimate Blogs: Masterworks from the Wild Web. Vintage Books. 2008.
Burling 1st Floor. AC5.U45 2008
In BLOG: Understanding the Information Reformation that’s Changing Your World, Hugh Hewitt offers up the unofficial history of the blogging movement. With literally millions of blogs regularly being visited on the Web, the blogosphere represents a new and fast moving information highway. BLOG is an essential road map to this highway so you don’t get lost or left behind.
Hugh Hewitt. BLOG: Understanding the Information Reformation that's Changing Your World. T. Nelson Publishers. 2005. Science Library. TK5105.8884.H48 2005In Blog!: How the Newest Media Revolution is Changing Politics, Business, and Culture David Kline and Dan Burstein take an energetic look at the rapid emergence of the Internet blogosphere. Through a series of interviews, they take you into the minds of the world's newest, yet suddenly powerful elite: influential bloggers. Included are people like Joe Trippi, former National Campaign Manager for Howard Dean, whose use of blogs as fund-raising tools and grassroots organizers has revolutionized politics. Although Kline and Burstein acknowledge blogs as the new growth industry on the Web, they argue that they have their limits. The newest vehicle for the voiceless in politics, business, and culture is seemingly destined to fall short of the glorified hyperbole currently surrounding its name.
David Kline and Dan Burstein. Blog!: How the Newest Media Revolution is Changing Politics, Business, and Culture. CDS Books. 2005. Science Library. TK5105.8884.K55x 2005
Blogs are the newest medium for political expression and are quickly proliferating around the World Wide Web, but how will they impact our democracy? This is the focus of David D. Perlmutter's book entitled Blogwars. Perlmutter argues that blogs like DailyKos, The Huffington Post, Powerlineblog, Instapundit, and Talking Points Memo are becoming an essential part of our political dialog that professionals simply can no longer ignore. By providing a diversity of opinions and a space for lesser voices, blogs offer a great venue for deepening our democracy. As blogs are increasingly replacing traditional news mediums as a source of information, Perlmutter offers an important examination of this often controversial, new cultural phenomenon.
David D. Perlmutter. Blogwars. Oxford University Press. 2008.
Burling 2nd Floor. JA85.2.U6 P45 2008
In We're All Journalists Now: The Transformation of the Press and Reshaping of the Law in the Internet Age, Scott Gant takes a look at how bloggers are recasting the mold of journalism.
Scott Gant. We're All Journalist Now: The Transformation of the Press and Reshaping of the Law in the Internet Age. Free Press. 2007. Burling 2nd Floor. KF2750. G36 2007.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Toqueville's Democracy in America
Alexis de Toqueville. Democracy in America. Translated by Henry Reeve. New York: Knopf, 1994 [1835 & 1840] )
Reviewed by T. Hatch
Originally published in two volumes, Toqueville's Democracy in America was based on the French nobleman's observations of his travels throughout the United States in the early 1830s. Toqueville, while a conservative, is somewhat unique in that he clearly acknowledges the importance of social classes in society. Despite this insight into modern politics and society, Toqueville was very much on the opposite side of the barricades in 1848 from the European revolutionaries.
Toqueville posited that the American democratic republic maintained itself largely for three reasons. American uniqueness, the laws, and the manners and customs practiced by the Americans were responsible for the success of the United States a little more than half a century after the American revolution. At the time of his writing, the historical track record of democracies did not lend itself to a belief that the long-term viability of the American republic was a certainty. In fact, Toqueville believed that with a population of 100 million in the near future of the United States “the continuation of the Federal government can be only an accident.”
In his role as Cassandra he saw a United States of 150 million ruling the seas in the same way that the Roman empire had once ruled the world. This together with his prophetic musings that it was the United States and Russia that would one day be the two hegemonic powers in the world are cited as examples of his insight into the future. It should be noted that he was wrong clearly more than he was right in his historical prognostications. For example, he averred that if the “Negroes of the South” were granted their freedom they would “before long abuse it.” Further, he posited that attempting to make the sexes equal could only result in “weak men and disorderly women.”
Like others of his epoch, and beyond, Toqueville feared that one of the great obstacles to a stable democracy was preventing the tyranny of the majority. Despite all evidence to the contrary the bogeyman of an envious majority conniving to separate the wealthy minority from their property seems to be ubiquitous in the conservative reading of history. Ever the specter of “class warfare” looms on the horizon.
Despite these and other shortcomings Democracy in America is worth reading for Toqueville's insights into the American character. Although Toqueville was kinder than Charles Dickens was in writing of his visit to America, he was still critical when provoked. The Americans were a serious bunch who “appear impatient of the smallest censure and insatiable of praise.” This sobriety could verge, in Toqueville's view, on the boorish. “It is impossible to conceive a more troublesome or more garrulous patriotism; it wearies even those who are disposed to respect it.”
Reviewed by T. Hatch
Originally published in two volumes, Toqueville's Democracy in America was based on the French nobleman's observations of his travels throughout the United States in the early 1830s. Toqueville, while a conservative, is somewhat unique in that he clearly acknowledges the importance of social classes in society. Despite this insight into modern politics and society, Toqueville was very much on the opposite side of the barricades in 1848 from the European revolutionaries.
Toqueville posited that the American democratic republic maintained itself largely for three reasons. American uniqueness, the laws, and the manners and customs practiced by the Americans were responsible for the success of the United States a little more than half a century after the American revolution. At the time of his writing, the historical track record of democracies did not lend itself to a belief that the long-term viability of the American republic was a certainty. In fact, Toqueville believed that with a population of 100 million in the near future of the United States “the continuation of the Federal government can be only an accident.”
In his role as Cassandra he saw a United States of 150 million ruling the seas in the same way that the Roman empire had once ruled the world. This together with his prophetic musings that it was the United States and Russia that would one day be the two hegemonic powers in the world are cited as examples of his insight into the future. It should be noted that he was wrong clearly more than he was right in his historical prognostications. For example, he averred that if the “Negroes of the South” were granted their freedom they would “before long abuse it.” Further, he posited that attempting to make the sexes equal could only result in “weak men and disorderly women.”
Like others of his epoch, and beyond, Toqueville feared that one of the great obstacles to a stable democracy was preventing the tyranny of the majority. Despite all evidence to the contrary the bogeyman of an envious majority conniving to separate the wealthy minority from their property seems to be ubiquitous in the conservative reading of history. Ever the specter of “class warfare” looms on the horizon.
Despite these and other shortcomings Democracy in America is worth reading for Toqueville's insights into the American character. Although Toqueville was kinder than Charles Dickens was in writing of his visit to America, he was still critical when provoked. The Americans were a serious bunch who “appear impatient of the smallest censure and insatiable of praise.” This sobriety could verge, in Toqueville's view, on the boorish. “It is impossible to conceive a more troublesome or more garrulous patriotism; it wearies even those who are disposed to respect it.”
Friday, March 21, 2008
Brian Mitchell has written ...
Four plays:
Squirrel Lake: A Comedy in Two Acts. Cedar Rapids, Iowa: Heuer, 2002
The Ten Rules of Internet Dating by Brian Mitchell and Brad Erickson. Cedar Rapids, IA: Heuer Publishing, 2005
The above two titles are available at Grinnell College Libraries, Iowa Room.
The Big Five Oh--to be performed in Grinnell in May of 2008
A Fairy's Tale (on it's way to the publisher)
Squirrel Lake: A Comedy in Two Acts. Cedar Rapids, Iowa: Heuer, 2002
The Ten Rules of Internet Dating by Brian Mitchell and Brad Erickson. Cedar Rapids, IA: Heuer Publishing, 2005
The above two titles are available at Grinnell College Libraries, Iowa Room.
The Big Five Oh--to be performed in Grinnell in May of 2008
A Fairy's Tale (on it's way to the publisher)
Brian Mitchell is reading American Gods
Neil Gaiman. American Gods. New York: W. Morrow, 2001.
In this futuristic novel, the main character gets of out prison to find out that his wife has died. In addition to this shock, he is offered a job by a man named Wednesday who turns out to be the Odin of Norse mythology. The premise of the novel is that the old gods are fighting for survival with the new gods (e.g., television). Mitchell, circulation supervisor at Grinnell College Libraries, is still deciding whether he recommends this novel or not. Stop by the circulation desk to ask him about it or ... find out for yourself.
This book is available at Stewart Public Library
In this futuristic novel, the main character gets of out prison to find out that his wife has died. In addition to this shock, he is offered a job by a man named Wednesday who turns out to be the Odin of Norse mythology. The premise of the novel is that the old gods are fighting for survival with the new gods (e.g., television). Mitchell, circulation supervisor at Grinnell College Libraries, is still deciding whether he recommends this novel or not. Stop by the circulation desk to ask him about it or ... find out for yourself.
This book is available at Stewart Public Library
Royce Wolf recommends ...
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. London: Heinemann Educational, 1967. In this novel, the main character first struggles with the expectations of his village, is exiled with his family, and then returns only to find that White people have moved in, changing the village with their religion and their government. Things continue to fall apart for the main character and for the village. Wolf, math professor at Grinnell College, recommends Things Fall Apart as an exquisite example of the novel genre.
Burling Third Floor PR9387.9.A3 T5 1967.
For more books by Chinua Achebe search the Grinnell College Libraries' catalog.
Burling Third Floor PR9387.9.A3 T5 1967.
For more books by Chinua Achebe search the Grinnell College Libraries' catalog.
Monday, March 17, 2008
A selection of books on the nuclear threat
Earlier this month, The New York Review of Books reviewed four books on the nuclear threat. You can read the review, "The Greatest Threat to Us All," by Joseph Cirincione and you should be able to find the books sometime this summer at the Grinnell College Libraries.
Arsenals of Folly: The Making of the Nuclear Arms Race by Richard Rhodes and published by Knopf. This book is "in process." You can request it through the catalog.
The Seventh Decade: The New Shape of Nuclear Danger by Jonathan Schell and published by Metropolitan. For other books by Jonathan Schell in the Grinnell College Libraries, including his 1982 book The Fate of the Earth published by Knopf, click here.
Deception: Pakistan, the United States, and the Secret Trade in Nuclear Weapons by Adrian Levy and Catherine Scott-Clark and published by Walker and Company.
America and the Islamic Bomb: The Deadly Compromise by David Armstrong and Joseph Trento and published by Steerforth Press.
Arsenals of Folly: The Making of the Nuclear Arms Race by Richard Rhodes and published by Knopf. This book is "in process." You can request it through the catalog.
The Seventh Decade: The New Shape of Nuclear Danger by Jonathan Schell and published by Metropolitan. For other books by Jonathan Schell in the Grinnell College Libraries, including his 1982 book The Fate of the Earth published by Knopf, click here.
Deception: Pakistan, the United States, and the Secret Trade in Nuclear Weapons by Adrian Levy and Catherine Scott-Clark and published by Walker and Company.
America and the Islamic Bomb: The Deadly Compromise by David Armstrong and Joseph Trento and published by Steerforth Press.
The Believer Magazine
The Believer is published by McSweeney's and is particularly attractive because of its annual music issue, which comes complete with CD. If you like alternative music, The Believer combined with The World Café radio program (from Philadelphia) and Iowa's own KUNI evening music program is a great way to find out about artists and their music. The most recent issue of The Believer has a variety of interesting articles including an article on how a lack of understanding of crime statistics causes people to misperceive a lack of safety. This article is by Eula Bliss and called "No-Man's -Land: Fear, Racism, and the Historically Troubling Attitude of American Pioneers." I was reading the magazine when visiting home and both my father and my sister read the article too. There is an article on Karl Marx's kindler-gentler younger days when he practiced his writing in what he called "the violet notebook." The article is by Sam Stark. If you are a Nick Hornby fan, he contributes a regular column in which he discusses the books he is reading. Charles Baxter has contributed an article on fatherhood footnoted by his son. An article on Vladimir Mayakovsky by Michael Amereyda explores Mayakovsky's revolutionary jingles and fiery prose. Other articles review books, interview photographers, animators, and a philosopher, and Tayari Jones writes about being a black writer during Black History Month.
Although Grinnell College Libraries do not subscribe to this magazine, if you can find it in a book store or borrow it from a friend, it is well worth reading.
For more on McSweeney's and The Believer read this article from SF Weekly.com by Francis Reade.
Although Grinnell College Libraries do not subscribe to this magazine, if you can find it in a book store or borrow it from a friend, it is well worth reading.
For more on McSweeney's and The Believer read this article from SF Weekly.com by Francis Reade.
Monday, March 10, 2008
The Twilight Series
Victoria Stuhr '10, Pinole High School in Pinole, California recommends
The Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer. Boston: Little, Brown, 2005, 2006. This Three volume set includes Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse
Meyer has written a vampire romance for young adult readers. Victoria tells the review that the first volume in the series is a romance, the story in the second volume is very sad, and the third and final volume is action packed.
For those of you who don't want any of the plot to be given away before you read it, this review gives away some important information about the books—it may be a spoiler.
The Twilight Series is about a teenage girl who moves to a new town with her dad. At her new school she meets a boy who seems a little strange. Nonetheless, or perhaps because of this, they end up falling in love. The girl discovers that he is a vampire. This is not the only suprise for her, because later on she discovers that her best friend is a werewolf. The vampire boyfriend doesn’t want to let the heroine go, but he doesn’t want to turn her into a vampire. The heroine however is willing to make this sacrifice to stay with him. These stories describe the life of vampires, their family arrangements, and their origins. These are fat books, but Victoria has read right through them and is recommending them to her friends.
You can find out more about these books at http://stepheniemeyer.com/
These books are available at Grinnell's Stewart Library.
The Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer. Boston: Little, Brown, 2005, 2006. This Three volume set includes Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse
Meyer has written a vampire romance for young adult readers. Victoria tells the review that the first volume in the series is a romance, the story in the second volume is very sad, and the third and final volume is action packed.
For those of you who don't want any of the plot to be given away before you read it, this review gives away some important information about the books—it may be a spoiler.
The Twilight Series is about a teenage girl who moves to a new town with her dad. At her new school she meets a boy who seems a little strange. Nonetheless, or perhaps because of this, they end up falling in love. The girl discovers that he is a vampire. This is not the only suprise for her, because later on she discovers that her best friend is a werewolf. The vampire boyfriend doesn’t want to let the heroine go, but he doesn’t want to turn her into a vampire. The heroine however is willing to make this sacrifice to stay with him. These stories describe the life of vampires, their family arrangements, and their origins. These are fat books, but Victoria has read right through them and is recommending them to her friends.
You can find out more about these books at http://stepheniemeyer.com/
These books are available at Grinnell's Stewart Library.
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