Summary
In Apartheid-era South Africa, Elizabeth was born in an institution for the insane because her father was a black native African and her mother a white woman. Her mother, a white woman, had committed a crime by having sex with a black man. Authorities concluded she was insane and had her committed her.
Elizabeth, the child of that criminal union, was born in the institution and rigidly classified as "coloured."
The story takes place many years later. Elizabeth, now a grown woman with a child, moves to the village of Motabeng in Botswana and teaches in a school. But she begins to go insane and much of the action in the novel takes place inside Elizabeth's mind with three or four characters in a deadly war over Elizabeth's soul.
What I liked
Very little. The evils of Apartheid are starkly demonstrated. For example, Elizabeth ends up in an institution for the insane where a white South African psychiatrist comes to treat her. She begins to spew hatred for black Africans, and the psychiatrist assumes that, since she hates black people, she must be sane and has her released. That was painfully funny.
What I disliked
Just about everything. Most of the novel, being the confusion of an insane woman's mind, was difficult to read. The third person narrator is meddlesome.
The story is well put together and well written, for the most part. However, it's not interesting, it's bitter, it's horrible. It's like all the worst parts of feminism or something. I'm not a fan.
Conclusion
An academic novel. Definitely worth the paper it's printed on, but not worth owning or reading. It's good to have, on a shelf in the library. 1/5 lobotomized vaginas.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Professor Bernard on the Vietnam War (Continued)
Today's class covered the last part of the Vietnam War and a little exam review...
About the exam, professor Bernard said, "You won't have to defend a major thesis, I don't want to saddle you with those kinds of topics." How nice of him.
During the lecture, a student asked: "Would it be right to say that the [Johnson administration] deliberately lied to get executive powers in Vietnam?" And professor Bernard replied, "Yes. Sure. They usually do that."
I love understatements like this one: "American behaviour at Hue, that city being shelled to dust, and My Lai, where several hundred civilians were slaughtered, did not endear the Americans to the South Vietnamese population that they were purportedly saving from Communism."
On War Crimes and Crimes against humanity, Bernard says that Great Powers are never held accountable for their crimes, the United Nations International Tribunal always goes after the small powers. For example, Chechnya had four million people, now there are only two million people. Were there war crimes committed there? Of course, but you will never see Putin dragged to the International Tribunal. Instead they will go after some black military dictator in a small African country.
About the US imposing its will on South Vietnam, "This is the way Great Powers behave."
Also: "Politics are very dirty and politicians too."
"I've heard we are in Afghanistan to help little girls go to school. I'm glad if that's what we do, but I doubt it."
"Thanks to a massive inflow of US money, arms, and weapons, South Vietnam expanded its forces to 1.1 Million soldiers. At the beginning of the 1970s almost the whole artificial economy of South Vietnam rested on war and American financial assistance. Saigon's population swelled from 300 000 to 3 or 4 million. Saigon became a brothel city, a prostitution city, and a drug city. The drug trade was very, very important in Saigon." (Statistics report that well over 70% of American soldiers fighting in Vietnam became addicted to Heroin. American Mafias began importing Heroin in the coffins of slain American soldiers.)
"After his re-election in 1972, Nixon launched the Christmas bombing campaign, which made Hanoi the most-bombed city in all of history. North Vietnam has been more bombed than Nazi Germany. Hanoi is not Berlin. It is small. Little bigger than Thunder Bay, I think."
"After My Lai, the American army was looking like a gang of disgusting thugs."
About the exam, professor Bernard said, "You won't have to defend a major thesis, I don't want to saddle you with those kinds of topics." How nice of him.
During the lecture, a student asked: "Would it be right to say that the [Johnson administration] deliberately lied to get executive powers in Vietnam?" And professor Bernard replied, "Yes. Sure. They usually do that."
I love understatements like this one: "American behaviour at Hue, that city being shelled to dust, and My Lai, where several hundred civilians were slaughtered, did not endear the Americans to the South Vietnamese population that they were purportedly saving from Communism."
On War Crimes and Crimes against humanity, Bernard says that Great Powers are never held accountable for their crimes, the United Nations International Tribunal always goes after the small powers. For example, Chechnya had four million people, now there are only two million people. Were there war crimes committed there? Of course, but you will never see Putin dragged to the International Tribunal. Instead they will go after some black military dictator in a small African country.
About the US imposing its will on South Vietnam, "This is the way Great Powers behave."
Also: "Politics are very dirty and politicians too."
"I've heard we are in Afghanistan to help little girls go to school. I'm glad if that's what we do, but I doubt it."
"Thanks to a massive inflow of US money, arms, and weapons, South Vietnam expanded its forces to 1.1 Million soldiers. At the beginning of the 1970s almost the whole artificial economy of South Vietnam rested on war and American financial assistance. Saigon's population swelled from 300 000 to 3 or 4 million. Saigon became a brothel city, a prostitution city, and a drug city. The drug trade was very, very important in Saigon." (Statistics report that well over 70% of American soldiers fighting in Vietnam became addicted to Heroin. American Mafias began importing Heroin in the coffins of slain American soldiers.)
"After his re-election in 1972, Nixon launched the Christmas bombing campaign, which made Hanoi the most-bombed city in all of history. North Vietnam has been more bombed than Nazi Germany. Hanoi is not Berlin. It is small. Little bigger than Thunder Bay, I think."
"After My Lai, the American army was looking like a gang of disgusting thugs."
Friday, November 19, 2010
Professor Bernard on the Vietnam War
Today in my Cold War History class, professor Bernard introduced the Vietnam War. Easily the most interesting class so far this year. Here are a few quotes:
1. "I think the only ones who understood the situation were the French, because they had been there and left."
2. "Dean Rusk, Kennedy's foreign secretary, firmly believed that the National Liberation Front (the Viet Cong) was simply an arm of the North Vietnamese government people who were themselves Chinese stooges. Which is very dumb to say the least, of course, they weren't stooges for anybody."
3. "The leaders in Washington were pretty much conceited."
4. "They killed one million Vietnamese because they loved freedom so much."
5. "The people you train will not kill their brothers, they will join them."
6. "Weapons manufacturers don't need a war to sell their wares."
7. About President Kennedy: "It is very difficult sometimes to do what you want to do."
8. It snowed during the night, leaving a nice coat of fresh snow over everything: "For the Americans it was like having an arm in the snowblower--very difficult to extricate yourself once your arm is caught by the auger."
9. "Kennedy didn't appreciate the military situation."
10. "The Americans thought it was the bad communists in the north who were meddling with the south."
11. "Even now, I hear on the radio, these backwoods Canadians talking about how we have to fight the Talibans because if we don't they will come in their back yards. If you paid me, I wouldn't go into their back yards."
12. About the Tonkin Resolution: A student asks a question comparing the Tonkin Resolution to the post 9/11 Patriot Act. Professor Bernard deflects the question, a second student comments on how the Patriot Act came out only one or two days after 9/11, and wonders how they got "like five thousand pages" written in that short a time. A third student puts in, "Well, you're a good history student, you know all about that." And Professor Bernard says, "Yes, they enlisted some history students to write the Patriot Act." Student number three says, "That's not very patriotic" (referring to the deception of the Tonkin Resolution, but said right after the professor's comment about enlisting History students--there were two or three discussions going on at the same time.)
1. "I think the only ones who understood the situation were the French, because they had been there and left."
2. "Dean Rusk, Kennedy's foreign secretary, firmly believed that the National Liberation Front (the Viet Cong) was simply an arm of the North Vietnamese government people who were themselves Chinese stooges. Which is very dumb to say the least, of course, they weren't stooges for anybody."
3. "The leaders in Washington were pretty much conceited."
4. "They killed one million Vietnamese because they loved freedom so much."
5. "The people you train will not kill their brothers, they will join them."
6. "Weapons manufacturers don't need a war to sell their wares."
7. About President Kennedy: "It is very difficult sometimes to do what you want to do."
8. It snowed during the night, leaving a nice coat of fresh snow over everything: "For the Americans it was like having an arm in the snowblower--very difficult to extricate yourself once your arm is caught by the auger."
9. "Kennedy didn't appreciate the military situation."
10. "The Americans thought it was the bad communists in the north who were meddling with the south."
11. "Even now, I hear on the radio, these backwoods Canadians talking about how we have to fight the Talibans because if we don't they will come in their back yards. If you paid me, I wouldn't go into their back yards."
12. About the Tonkin Resolution: A student asks a question comparing the Tonkin Resolution to the post 9/11 Patriot Act. Professor Bernard deflects the question, a second student comments on how the Patriot Act came out only one or two days after 9/11, and wonders how they got "like five thousand pages" written in that short a time. A third student puts in, "Well, you're a good history student, you know all about that." And Professor Bernard says, "Yes, they enlisted some history students to write the Patriot Act." Student number three says, "That's not very patriotic" (referring to the deception of the Tonkin Resolution, but said right after the professor's comment about enlisting History students--there were two or three discussions going on at the same time.)
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Stalin, Khruschev, and Brezhnev
My cold war history prof told this joke in class today about the Soviet leaders:
A Soviet train gets stuck in a snowdrift. When the problem comes to Stalin's attention, he says: "Find and shoot the saboteurs." The police randomly choose five passengers and shoot them, then force the rest of the passengers to push the train.
In the same circumstance, but years later, when General Secretary Khruschev is alerted of the problem, he boards the train and says to the passengers, "For the glorious advancement of socialism, come with me and we will shovel the snow."
And, when the same thing happens while Brezhnev is General Secretary, he gets on the phone with the conductor and says, "Close the drapes and shake the train so the passengers think it is still moving."
Here are some further quotes from my Cold War history professor that I found humorous:
1. About the atomic bomb: "President Truman thought: we paid for it, we might as well use it."
2. "Representative government has not the same meaning to the Soviets as to the Americans."
3. "I am not a great leader makes history person but the leader does make a difference." (On the difference between Roosevelt and Truman.)
4. "The bourgeoisie owns the capitalist system."
5. "There is no friendship between states, only interest." (This is one of his favourite sayings.)
6. "It was very easy for the Americans to make Stalin into a second Hitler."
7. "Humanitarian causes are never motivations for political action."
8. "1953 is a key date: Stalin died."
9. "The USSR had not much to give."
10. "Sovietization was extended to every aspect of life, with the USSR's academy of science demonstrating Soviet supremacy in every field ... they could say that the USSR invented the wheel."
11. "Propaganda was also used in the west. Sometimes the two systems are symmetrical."
12. "Stalin was a complicated guy."
13. "The Atomic Bomb is not something you use, but something you like to have."
14. "Roosevelt was considered a shoddy president for being too conciliatory with the USSR; after him, the presidency was reduced to two terms."
15. This one demonstrates the way he talks: About post-Korean war cross-border conflicts: "They would think, it would be interesting to have that hill, you know, fortified line."
16. "I cannot overstate this enough, Stalin was paranoid."
17. "You can believe that workers need decent pay without being a Bolshevik."
18. "Stalin drank vodka like water even in his 70s. So he was very tough."
19. About brinkmanship: "Or, if you prefer, brinkpersonship; I received a comment, so now I am prepared."
20. About post WW2 sentiment about Germany: "We love Germany so much that we want two of them."
21. "The USSR was okay with neutralism."
22. About the settlement of the Suez Canal Crisis: "The French were a lot tougher and quite sore at the British for backing out. They thought if you invade someone, you should have the wherewithal to see it through." (The British bowed to international pressure and withdrew from their short Suez Canal adventure, which they had commenced jointly with France and Israel.)
23. About the USSR's involvement in the Third World: "There was a lot of mischief that could be caused by the USSR."
24. "Politics is not a very very ethical activity."
25. "The soviet rockets were put together with glue, string, and scotch tape."
26. About Soviet and American nuclear war strategy: "I destroy Toronto, you destroy Budapest, I made my point, you made yours... This concerned the European leaders, as you can see, because what if, after a nuclear war has ravaged the allies of both countries, the USSR and the United States decide to make peace?"
27. He asks the class this question: "How did Khruschev use the sputnik success for foreign and domestic propaganda?" When the class doesn't seem to understand the question, he asks: "Was he in the sputnik capsule?" Someone from the class says, "No." He laughs, "No, of course not. But it was pretty annoying for the Americans."
28. "Everything happened in 1956."
29. "I think Eisenhower would have a heart attack if he saw today's deficit."
30. About Khruschev's international travels, compared to Stalin, who rarely traveled internationally: "This was annoying for the Americans. With Stalin it had been convenient to be able to make him into an ogre in the Kremlin."
31. About the Sino-Soviet Split: "There was a big crack in the Eastern Bloc."
32. "Mao was impractically driven by ideology."
33. About the Chinese Industrial Revolution or "Great Leap Forward": "This was an industry manned by peasants. The plan was to have small factories in villages. To the Soviets this was not Proletarian, it was unorthodox and it was impractical. It would produce scrap, and even today, the Chinese have become very successful at producing scrap. But the Soviets thought it was a hare-brained project."
34. "The USSR is always pro-peace for propaganda."
35. "Kennedy made big mistakes in the beginning."
A Soviet train gets stuck in a snowdrift. When the problem comes to Stalin's attention, he says: "Find and shoot the saboteurs." The police randomly choose five passengers and shoot them, then force the rest of the passengers to push the train.
In the same circumstance, but years later, when General Secretary Khruschev is alerted of the problem, he boards the train and says to the passengers, "For the glorious advancement of socialism, come with me and we will shovel the snow."
And, when the same thing happens while Brezhnev is General Secretary, he gets on the phone with the conductor and says, "Close the drapes and shake the train so the passengers think it is still moving."
Here are some further quotes from my Cold War history professor that I found humorous:
1. About the atomic bomb: "President Truman thought: we paid for it, we might as well use it."
2. "Representative government has not the same meaning to the Soviets as to the Americans."
3. "I am not a great leader makes history person but the leader does make a difference." (On the difference between Roosevelt and Truman.)
4. "The bourgeoisie owns the capitalist system."
5. "There is no friendship between states, only interest." (This is one of his favourite sayings.)
6. "It was very easy for the Americans to make Stalin into a second Hitler."
7. "Humanitarian causes are never motivations for political action."
8. "1953 is a key date: Stalin died."
9. "The USSR had not much to give."
10. "Sovietization was extended to every aspect of life, with the USSR's academy of science demonstrating Soviet supremacy in every field ... they could say that the USSR invented the wheel."
11. "Propaganda was also used in the west. Sometimes the two systems are symmetrical."
12. "Stalin was a complicated guy."
13. "The Atomic Bomb is not something you use, but something you like to have."
14. "Roosevelt was considered a shoddy president for being too conciliatory with the USSR; after him, the presidency was reduced to two terms."
15. This one demonstrates the way he talks: About post-Korean war cross-border conflicts: "They would think, it would be interesting to have that hill, you know, fortified line."
16. "I cannot overstate this enough, Stalin was paranoid."
17. "You can believe that workers need decent pay without being a Bolshevik."
18. "Stalin drank vodka like water even in his 70s. So he was very tough."
19. About brinkmanship: "Or, if you prefer, brinkpersonship; I received a comment, so now I am prepared."
20. About post WW2 sentiment about Germany: "We love Germany so much that we want two of them."
21. "The USSR was okay with neutralism."
22. About the settlement of the Suez Canal Crisis: "The French were a lot tougher and quite sore at the British for backing out. They thought if you invade someone, you should have the wherewithal to see it through." (The British bowed to international pressure and withdrew from their short Suez Canal adventure, which they had commenced jointly with France and Israel.)
23. About the USSR's involvement in the Third World: "There was a lot of mischief that could be caused by the USSR."
24. "Politics is not a very very ethical activity."
25. "The soviet rockets were put together with glue, string, and scotch tape."
26. About Soviet and American nuclear war strategy: "I destroy Toronto, you destroy Budapest, I made my point, you made yours... This concerned the European leaders, as you can see, because what if, after a nuclear war has ravaged the allies of both countries, the USSR and the United States decide to make peace?"
27. He asks the class this question: "How did Khruschev use the sputnik success for foreign and domestic propaganda?" When the class doesn't seem to understand the question, he asks: "Was he in the sputnik capsule?" Someone from the class says, "No." He laughs, "No, of course not. But it was pretty annoying for the Americans."
28. "Everything happened in 1956."
29. "I think Eisenhower would have a heart attack if he saw today's deficit."
30. About Khruschev's international travels, compared to Stalin, who rarely traveled internationally: "This was annoying for the Americans. With Stalin it had been convenient to be able to make him into an ogre in the Kremlin."
31. About the Sino-Soviet Split: "There was a big crack in the Eastern Bloc."
32. "Mao was impractically driven by ideology."
33. About the Chinese Industrial Revolution or "Great Leap Forward": "This was an industry manned by peasants. The plan was to have small factories in villages. To the Soviets this was not Proletarian, it was unorthodox and it was impractical. It would produce scrap, and even today, the Chinese have become very successful at producing scrap. But the Soviets thought it was a hare-brained project."
34. "The USSR is always pro-peace for propaganda."
35. "Kennedy made big mistakes in the beginning."
Friday, November 12, 2010
The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb
Summary
Caelum Quirk lives in Littleton Colorado with his third wife, Maureen. He is a teacher at Columbine High School, she is the school nurse there.
When Caelum's aunt Louella dies suddenly of a stroke, Caelum, her last surviving relative, travels to Connecticut to arrange the funeral.
On April 20, 1999, Caelum is at his dead aunt's house in Connecticut, his wife Maureen is in the school library, helping a student when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold enter.
The plot of this novel follows Maureen's recovery from post traumatic stress disorder in the aftermath of the Columbine shootings. It's told from the perspective of her husband and deals with his issues as well.
Eventually, Caelum digs into his own past and into the lives of his ancestors.
What I liked
This novel was very well written. One of the best. And the storytelling was well done too. It was evocative, the characters were awfully believable. And the story wrestled with some really weighty questions that made me think real hard.
What I didn't like
It was a very difficult book to read. It's kind of dark until the very end. Even then, the light is murky. None of the characters are very likable. I could relate to them easily enough, but the story is more about how they succumb to their flaws rather than how they overcome them.
Also, I've never read anyone who could make sex as dirty as Lamb makes it in this book.
Conclusion
I have very mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, it was well written, it tells a story that's well worth reading, and it wrestles with very important questions. On the other hand, it's unnecessarily dark. At the end, it talks about hope, but hope in what? The ending seems to point to human goodness or innocence as a source of hope... but it's not convincing. Realistically, human goodness isn't something you can count on, so, to me, it doesn't seem to float much as a source of hope. All in all, it's a book worth wrestling with, though. I'll give it a 3.9/5 alcoholic school teachers.
Caelum Quirk lives in Littleton Colorado with his third wife, Maureen. He is a teacher at Columbine High School, she is the school nurse there.
When Caelum's aunt Louella dies suddenly of a stroke, Caelum, her last surviving relative, travels to Connecticut to arrange the funeral.
On April 20, 1999, Caelum is at his dead aunt's house in Connecticut, his wife Maureen is in the school library, helping a student when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold enter.
The plot of this novel follows Maureen's recovery from post traumatic stress disorder in the aftermath of the Columbine shootings. It's told from the perspective of her husband and deals with his issues as well.
Eventually, Caelum digs into his own past and into the lives of his ancestors.
What I liked
This novel was very well written. One of the best. And the storytelling was well done too. It was evocative, the characters were awfully believable. And the story wrestled with some really weighty questions that made me think real hard.
What I didn't like
It was a very difficult book to read. It's kind of dark until the very end. Even then, the light is murky. None of the characters are very likable. I could relate to them easily enough, but the story is more about how they succumb to their flaws rather than how they overcome them.
Also, I've never read anyone who could make sex as dirty as Lamb makes it in this book.
Conclusion
I have very mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, it was well written, it tells a story that's well worth reading, and it wrestles with very important questions. On the other hand, it's unnecessarily dark. At the end, it talks about hope, but hope in what? The ending seems to point to human goodness or innocence as a source of hope... but it's not convincing. Realistically, human goodness isn't something you can count on, so, to me, it doesn't seem to float much as a source of hope. All in all, it's a book worth wrestling with, though. I'll give it a 3.9/5 alcoholic school teachers.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Patrick Misses Janelle
So, Janelle's new job has taken her to Winnepeg for a week of training. I miss her. Here's some reflections on a week of singleness:
1. It sucks. Seriously. I don't go to bed late and sleep in, and then feel like I missed my whole day and end up staying up late again to make up for it, which makes me tired in class the next morning. I forget to eat. I forget to take my vitamins and my apple cider vinegar... which reminds me.
okay, i'm back now.
2. It's really lonely. We talk on the phone every day, but it's not the same.
On the plus side, it was really nice on Tuesday and I had a nice walk. I walked all the way to meeting and it only took me about half an hour. I got to think about stuff. Also, I got to work more on my story, and I'm really happy about that!
I've also been working on an essay about the Soviet Union's General Secretary/Premier/President Mikhail Gorbachev (of the late 1980s and early 1990s) for my Cold War History class, which I'm liking a whole lot. It's my favourite and most interesting class and my professor is really, really cute. He's French, and he says funny things, like last week he was talking about Egypt's Aswan Dam project and he said they wanted to use it to control the "fluudes" on the Nile. And then he said, "Fluudes, fluudes. I do not know how to pronounce this anymore." And someone yelled "Floods!" And he said, "Ah yes, floods." It was funny. :)
1. It sucks. Seriously. I don't go to bed late and sleep in, and then feel like I missed my whole day and end up staying up late again to make up for it, which makes me tired in class the next morning. I forget to eat. I forget to take my vitamins and my apple cider vinegar... which reminds me.
okay, i'm back now.
2. It's really lonely. We talk on the phone every day, but it's not the same.
On the plus side, it was really nice on Tuesday and I had a nice walk. I walked all the way to meeting and it only took me about half an hour. I got to think about stuff. Also, I got to work more on my story, and I'm really happy about that!
I've also been working on an essay about the Soviet Union's General Secretary/Premier/President Mikhail Gorbachev (of the late 1980s and early 1990s) for my Cold War History class, which I'm liking a whole lot. It's my favourite and most interesting class and my professor is really, really cute. He's French, and he says funny things, like last week he was talking about Egypt's Aswan Dam project and he said they wanted to use it to control the "fluudes" on the Nile. And then he said, "Fluudes, fluudes. I do not know how to pronounce this anymore." And someone yelled "Floods!" And he said, "Ah yes, floods." It was funny. :)
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
The Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan
Summary
Book five of the Wheel of Time series opens where the previous book left off. Rand is in Rhuidean, in the Aiel Waste, waiting for the Aiel to gather so he can take them across the Spine of the World (also known as the Dragon Wall) to fight against the Forsaken, who have entrenched themselves there.
Of concern is Couladin, an Aiel chieftain who has proclaimed himself the Dragon Reborn, claiming that Rand is a false Dragon.
When Rand learns that Couladin is moving his army across the Dragon Wall to ravage the West, (the Wetlands), Rand has no choice but to go after him and try to stop him. As he moves his new army after Couladin, though, four non-aligned clans follow him across the Dragon Wall.
Meanwhile, Nynaeve and Elayne are traveling back to Tar Valon, having been victorious over the Black Ajah in Tanchico. When they discover that Siuan Sanche has been removed from her position as Amyrlin Seat and replaced with Elaida, who is determined to apprehend and control Rand, a drastic change of plans is required. Now, if only Nynaeve could remember where the Blue Ajah was hiding out these days.
What I liked
The suspense was riveting. Easily just as good as the previous book in the series, which, if I remember correctly, I gave a relatively high rating.
Well written too, and a well developed story with plenty of surprises. Overall, a very good job.
What I didn't like
As always, the drama. This book is no exception. While the drama is toned down a little, compared to previous books, it's still there and still annoying.
The suspense will keep me reading, though.
Conclusion
A very good book and a great addition to the series. 4/5 jealous girlfriends.
Book five of the Wheel of Time series opens where the previous book left off. Rand is in Rhuidean, in the Aiel Waste, waiting for the Aiel to gather so he can take them across the Spine of the World (also known as the Dragon Wall) to fight against the Forsaken, who have entrenched themselves there.
Of concern is Couladin, an Aiel chieftain who has proclaimed himself the Dragon Reborn, claiming that Rand is a false Dragon.
When Rand learns that Couladin is moving his army across the Dragon Wall to ravage the West, (the Wetlands), Rand has no choice but to go after him and try to stop him. As he moves his new army after Couladin, though, four non-aligned clans follow him across the Dragon Wall.
Meanwhile, Nynaeve and Elayne are traveling back to Tar Valon, having been victorious over the Black Ajah in Tanchico. When they discover that Siuan Sanche has been removed from her position as Amyrlin Seat and replaced with Elaida, who is determined to apprehend and control Rand, a drastic change of plans is required. Now, if only Nynaeve could remember where the Blue Ajah was hiding out these days.
What I liked
The suspense was riveting. Easily just as good as the previous book in the series, which, if I remember correctly, I gave a relatively high rating.
Well written too, and a well developed story with plenty of surprises. Overall, a very good job.
What I didn't like
As always, the drama. This book is no exception. While the drama is toned down a little, compared to previous books, it's still there and still annoying.
The suspense will keep me reading, though.
Conclusion
A very good book and a great addition to the series. 4/5 jealous girlfriends.
God's Bits of Wood by Sembene Ousman
Summary
After World War Two, in French West Africa, African natives who had been hired to work on the Dakar-Niger railway formed a union and went on strike, demanding pay equal to their white coworkers, back pay for the years they worked at lower wages, family allowances, and pensions.
The executives of the Dakar-Niger railway rejected all their demands.
This novel is about that months-long strike and the ultimate victory of the African Worker's Union.
On the first day of the strike, thousands of the workers assemble near one of the stations, and women and merchants gather around them, either curious, or hoping to sell them something. The army arrives to dispel the crowd and disorder breaks out, at the end of the day eight strikers have been killed, countless have been injured, hundreds of bystanders, including women and babies have been killed and wounded, and one soldier has been killed.
And then the railroad company cuts off the water supply to the cities along the railroad.
That clash sets the tone for the rest of the book. There's lots of bloodshed, outright murder, and politics.
What I liked
The story made me angry, I sympathized with the strikers. It was moving. Also, the story was well told, written from the perspective of dozens of characters, each with a different role in the strike.
What I didn't like
The book is a translation of the French novel. It's a good translation, well done and easy enough to read.
However, the writing becomes a bit cumbersome. It's hard to keep track of all the characters. There are jokes that are difficult to understand, without knowing the language.
Aside from that, though, the story is compelling and worth reading.
Conclusion
Interested in Africa? Read this book. Sembene Ousman is known as a militant artist, (think Che with a typewriter). This book demonstrates his passion and love for his people and his empathy with their suffering. 4.9/5 babies named Strike.
After World War Two, in French West Africa, African natives who had been hired to work on the Dakar-Niger railway formed a union and went on strike, demanding pay equal to their white coworkers, back pay for the years they worked at lower wages, family allowances, and pensions.
The executives of the Dakar-Niger railway rejected all their demands.
This novel is about that months-long strike and the ultimate victory of the African Worker's Union.
On the first day of the strike, thousands of the workers assemble near one of the stations, and women and merchants gather around them, either curious, or hoping to sell them something. The army arrives to dispel the crowd and disorder breaks out, at the end of the day eight strikers have been killed, countless have been injured, hundreds of bystanders, including women and babies have been killed and wounded, and one soldier has been killed.
And then the railroad company cuts off the water supply to the cities along the railroad.
That clash sets the tone for the rest of the book. There's lots of bloodshed, outright murder, and politics.
What I liked
The story made me angry, I sympathized with the strikers. It was moving. Also, the story was well told, written from the perspective of dozens of characters, each with a different role in the strike.
What I didn't like
The book is a translation of the French novel. It's a good translation, well done and easy enough to read.
However, the writing becomes a bit cumbersome. It's hard to keep track of all the characters. There are jokes that are difficult to understand, without knowing the language.
Aside from that, though, the story is compelling and worth reading.
Conclusion
Interested in Africa? Read this book. Sembene Ousman is known as a militant artist, (think Che with a typewriter). This book demonstrates his passion and love for his people and his empathy with their suffering. 4.9/5 babies named Strike.
Call Me Lumpy
So, some time in June or July, I'm not sure which, while I was working nights at the Superstore in Halifax, Janelle discovered a little lump on my leg.
The lump was about the size of a ping pong ball, soft, and painless. It was on my inner thigh, right next to my balls. I wouldn't have noticed it if Janelle hadn't discovered it. For obvious reasons, she was concerned and told me to go to a doctor. I agreed to go, but kept putting it off.
I hate going to the doctor. I always feel like if they can't write me a prescription, I'm wasting their time. Last time I saw a doctor for something other than stitches it was for some kind of outbreak or allergic reaction on my hand and his reaction was something like this: "Well, I don't know what it is, but I could prescribe something for it and we can see what happens." Yeah, like I'm going to take drugs so you can "see what happens." No thanks.
Anyways, we moved to Thunder Bay and I started going to school. Most of the time I wouldn't think about the lump at all but Janelle kept remembering it and telling me to go the doctor. So I googled it, something like "soft, painless lump on leg" and a whole pile of the results said sarcoma, which got me worried enough to see the doctor, so after a little more procrastinating, I made an appointment with the medical clinic at the University. The receptionist asked what the appointment was for and I told her about the lump. She got all concerned and asked if I would like to make an emergency appointment but I declined. The one she'd originally made was soon enough for my taste.
Anyways, I went to my appointment, sat in a brightly lit little room and a nurse asked me about my medical history, and about the lump. And then the doctor came in and asked me some more questions and then asked me to haul off my pants and put on a paper gown, and she left the room. I got into the gown and sat on the examining table, when I leaned forward, though, the front of the gown tore open. How embarrassing.
So the doctor came back in and prodded my lymph nodes. While she was putting her hands in my arm pits I tried to remember if I had remembered to put on deodorant that morning. Then she poked at my groin but couldn't find the lump, so I had to spread my legs and show it to her and she squeezed it and poked it. After examining it for a minute, she said I could get back into my pants and she left the room.
I got dressed as quickly as I could and prepared to leave, but the doctor came back in and said that, at first, she had been concerned but she now believed the lump to be a benign cyst. However, there was a slight chance of lymphoma so she made me a requisition slip for an ultrasound. And that was that, I thanked her and left.
Of course I put off making the ultrasound appointment, but Janelle kept after me, (I think it's just wonderful how she cares so much about me... and no, that's not sarcastic) and I finally called the ultrasound clinic. They made me an appointment that was much too soon for my liking.
Today, I went to that appointment. I walked over after my Cold War History class. After a short wait in the waiting room, the ultrasound person came in. He was a short, bearded man, with shoulder length hair. He looked a lot like my cousin Vince, except shorter. He couldn't be much older than me. Groan.
In his dark little examining room, he was all friendly. "So, where's this lump?"
I pointed to it and he said, "Ok. Get off your pants and lie down on the table."
He got me to tuck a little towel into my underwear so the jelly didn't get all over it, and then he probed my lump with some kind of scanner for what seemed like a really long time, all the while asking questions like, "How long have you had this lump?" "Does it hurt?" "Is this the first test on it?" Which I answered as monosyllabically as possible.
He seemed about as excited about scanning my groin as I was about getting my groin scanned.
He seemed about as excited about scanning my groin as I was about getting my groin scanned.
Finally he finished, let me wipe the jelly off with the towel that had been tucked into my underwear and I hurried back into my pants, thanked him and said goodbye and practically ran out of the clinic...
Now I'm at home and suffering from post traumatic shock disorder. Just kidding. I'm okay. Okay enough to blog about it, anyway...
Monday, October 4, 2010
The Cold War: A Very Short Introduction
Summary
My professor selected this one as the course textbook for my Cold War history class this term and I absolutely love him for it. It only cost $10 at the university bookstore and had less than two hundred pages. I finished reading it on Saturday.
This book deals with the period of history between 1945 and 1991 known as the Cold War.
What i liked
This book was very short and mostly well written. It gave a good survey of the Cold War so that I could understand the big picture of the war. It didn't go into huge detail about individual events. For example, the Korean War, which was a very important conflict during the Cold War only got about a page and a half of coverage, even though it lasted a few years. I liked how short it was.
I also liked how it described the individual leaders, like Kennedy, Reagan, Kruschev, Stalin, etc. and how they influenced the war. My favourite Cold War leaders are: Roosevelt, Kruschev, Adenaur, Brandt, and Gorbachev.
What i didn't like
It was sometimes difficult to read and required plenty of concentration.
Conclusion
All in all a very good book. Definitely worth reading if you're interested in this period of history.
My professor selected this one as the course textbook for my Cold War history class this term and I absolutely love him for it. It only cost $10 at the university bookstore and had less than two hundred pages. I finished reading it on Saturday.
This book deals with the period of history between 1945 and 1991 known as the Cold War.
What i liked
This book was very short and mostly well written. It gave a good survey of the Cold War so that I could understand the big picture of the war. It didn't go into huge detail about individual events. For example, the Korean War, which was a very important conflict during the Cold War only got about a page and a half of coverage, even though it lasted a few years. I liked how short it was.
I also liked how it described the individual leaders, like Kennedy, Reagan, Kruschev, Stalin, etc. and how they influenced the war. My favourite Cold War leaders are: Roosevelt, Kruschev, Adenaur, Brandt, and Gorbachev.
What i didn't like
It was sometimes difficult to read and required plenty of concentration.
Conclusion
All in all a very good book. Definitely worth reading if you're interested in this period of history.
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