1421 by Gavin Menzies

Here goes another history like "Guns, Germs and Steel." The premise is that all the Europeans who we've been taught discovered the routes to Africa, the Americas, Australia, Antarctica and the North Pole were not the first to do so. A giant fleet of hundreds of ships sent by the emperor of China in 1421 to map all the unknown worlds accomplished all those feats, sometimes as much as 300 or more years before Europeans followed in their wake. In addition, although the Europeans were brave men who accomplished their voyages at great risk, it was not without prior knowledge. Prince Henry the Navigator had maps made in the 1420's and beyond based on Chinese maps that accurately showed Africa, the Americas, Australia, Antarctica and the far east. Columbus, Magellan, and the other Portuguese and Spanish explorers mention in their ship's logs and diaries that the places they encountered were where they were supposed to be according to those maps. Columbus's reporting errors back to the Spanish of having found China make sense when viewed in context. He had lied to the Spanish royalty that a quicker route to China could be accomplished going west while the Portuguese were going to China around Africa. If the Spanish, who did not know about the maps (but Columbus did) had thought the Portuguese would get there first, the Spanish would not have funded Columbus's journey.

In addition to already knowing the route based on Chinese maps, all of the explorers mentioned encountering Chinese or Chinese goods in all those places. It appears that as Chinese ships wrecked in these various places, crews were left in place to set up colonies until future fleets could return to relieve them. DNA from tribes in the Americas, including the Sioux, the Navajo, some in the northeast U.S., plus Central and South America show Chinese ancestry. Even peoples who come from far northern Norway have the southeastern Chinese DNA. Tribes in Peru and on the North American west coast spoke and dressed as Chinese when first encountered by Spanish explorers and priests. The evidence of first contact by the Chinese prior to European exploration is massive, with over 1000 articles and books worldwide written over many decades on different aspects of the subject.

So how come we never heard about this in school. It turns out that when the fleet returned to China, rather than receiving a hero's welcome, they found that the old emperor was dying and the new emperors thereafter wanted nothing further to do with foreign trade and travel. That deep ocean travel and trade had been going on for at least 800 years up to that point. They ordered all maps and writings about the global trek to be destroyed. The deep water ships then in existence were to be destroyed or left to rot and the extensive trading system in the Pacific and Indian Oceans to be all but ended. However, sailors and merchants from other countries, including at least one European had sailed with the fleet for large segments of the journey and recorded their experiences. At least one of the Europeans made his way back to the map making center of Europe and is the probable source for the information on the maps used by Prince Henry.

The same strengths and weaknesses of "Guns, Germs, and Steel" are present in this book. The way that the story is pieced together is interesting and well done. However, the use of the personal pronoun "I" appears with too much frequency. A good rule of thumb in business writing is to never use any personal pronouns; once every 50 to 100 pages is about right in any other literary form other than fiction. The author's self reference is defensible because he takes on such a major paradigm shift in how historic oceanic exploration is currently taught that a little self-defensive rhetoric is understandable. However, it increases near the end of the book and makes the argument more strident than necessary. If you don't become too wrapped up in the names of the Chinese emperors and admirals and in geometric discussions of solving for latitude and longitude, the story flows well. It's a good read and the author makes his case. Once again "history as it's taught in school is bunk."

Valley of the Dolls

I decided to read this book because it's a cult classic and I wanted something light for the summer (unlike you, Amanda!) And, it didn't disappoint. It was exactly what I was looking for - campy, light, mindless, funny. A great beach read, and I feel like it belongs proudly next to the typical classics (1984, Lord of the Rings, For Whom the Bell Tolls, To Kill a Mockingbird) - every classic has it's place. What was even more interesting to me was that Jacqueline Susann (author) apparently modeled the three main characters after Judy Garland, Grace Kelly, and Marilyn Monroe. I would be lying if I said I didn't spend the majority of the book trying to figure out who was who - but you know I love that crap.
The story is basically about three women trying to make it in NYC/Hollywood, and their lives all become intertwined by a Broadway play. They become friends and share a propensity to be famous/rich and date/marry the wrong men. Oh yeah - and they do a ton of drugs! These women were kinda' messed up, and it made for a great read! (I know that sounds awful...but it's true.)
It's a soap opera sure to keep you turning the pages - if this is the kind of book you're looking for (which...not sure any of you are. But I stand by it!)

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky

Jackie reviewed this book a long time ago. Rather than add a comment to her review, I've added this so it won't go unnoticed. Jackie suggested it and I started slowly. It's not a mystery or history or biography, just a story of different people fleeing Paris as the Germans advance in WWII and later the dynamics of the occupation of a small French town after the surrender. The more I read, the more I kept picking it up with greater frequency. The writer did not leave in a spare word or miss the mark on any description, be it a garden in spring or the different feelings of characters. By the end, I didn't want the book to end.

Maybe that reluctance was because the author, a Russian transpanted Jew in France since 1920, did not intend the book to end where it did. She saw what was happening to occupied France and knew her days were numbered. She intended the book to have two more major segments (the book is divided into two now) and you can see her intent in the first appendix. The second appendix is correspondence between the author and others as she attempted to keep going under every more severe circumstances. The letters from her husband attempting to have her set free once she was sent to the camps break your heart. Finally, the preface to the French addition behind the two appendicies give a sketch of her family life from prior to her birth to after her death. That story in itself would make a novel worth reading.

You seldom see books written this well, with people drawn so true-to-life without a lot of fluff. Yet it is not a sparse book. The story is rich and compelling. I said this was not a mystery, history or biography. There is no mystery in the broad flow of these people's lives and the things that happen to them make sense. It's not a history but may be a better glimpse into occupied France than anything else I've encounter. Finally, the description of Ms. Nemirovsky's life and that of her family in the last few pages are as moving as any biography I've encountered. I recommend this book to everyone.

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

While I thoroughly enjoyed Geraldine Brook's two earlier novels, Year of Wonders and March, this one just didn't quite measure up to my expectations.

This is a historical novel about an illuminated Hebrew manuscript which was created in 15th c. Spain and recently saved from the ruins of Sarajevo's bombed out libraries in 1996. The protagonist, Hannah Heath is an Australian rare book conservator and the story follows her quest to "unlock the mysteries of the book's eventful past and to uncover the dramatic stories of those who created it and those who risked everything to save it". Brooks alternates the narrative between the past and the present. In alternating chapters, the reader is transported back through time to Seville in 1480. Along the way, we travel through WWII Bosnia (and the Nazis), the rising anti-Semitism of fin-de-siecle Vienna, the Inquisition and Venice in 1609, Tarragona (Spain) in 1492, and finally Seville where the manuscript originated. These chapters were well-written and quite interesting and informative (but so many horrific tales of inhumanity!). For me, however, the chapters dealing with Hannah's personal life were merely an irritating disruption to the rest of the story. I didn't care a whit to listen to Hanna's argumentative and caustic banter, or hear about how her (equally) ambitious mother abandoned her (boo-hoo), or to follow the sad story about her "romance" with a Muslim librarian. Her life seemed so overwrought and, basically, I just didn't like her. I have to admit there were a few moments when Becky's review of Year of Wonders came to mind and how it provoked in her almost a wish to come down with the plague so she could stop reading the book. More than once I wanted to throw Hannah into one of the dark, dank dungeons (Inquisition) just to get her out of the story. Becky, I felt some of your pain! Skip this one.

The Party's Over by Richard Heinberg

I know, I know. It's summer time. According to mom, I should be kicking back and relaxing. But it's just not my style...I have a need to know. "The Party's Over" covers much of the same ground as Kunstler's "The Long Emergency" albeit in a much less apocalyptic way. Whereas Kunstler comes across as a bit alarmist (for good reason) Heinberg presents the problem of peaking oil supplies in a straightforward, well-documented, scientific and historic way. Of course, the information is still very alarming, but that really isn't Heinberg's fault.

Why, you may ask, are you reading yet another book on the same topic? I suppose the reason is I'm trying to fully understand the problem. And honestly, I'm trying to find a flaw in these people's argument. I can't. Granted, they are making predictions and predictions can change. But the predictions seem very logical and well-researched. In fact, I've begun to look at the world through the lense of cheap oil and it's amazing how much our society depends on it. So many things are making sense to me now: our motivations in Iraq, the necessity of debt in our economy, Wal-Mart...the list goes on and on. And now I hear people complaining about the high price of gas and wondering why this is happening. The media and politicians are saying "supply can no longer meet demand," and "China is taking up supply excesses," but no one is talking point blank to the American people about what that actually means.

I'm beginning to realize what that actually means and it ain't good. And the fact that we, as Americans, are dragging our heels on renewable energy development, encouraging each other to buy, buy, buy, and sprawling our cities as quickly as possible, shows that when supply starts shrinking, so will we. I highly recommend this book and further research into this pressing problem. Good luck!

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

Wow. What an amazing book. Honestly, I haven't read anything this fantastical, clever, and touching since I opened the first Harry Potter book years and years ago. With that in mind, this is definitely NOT Harry Potter.

Set in England during WWII, this is a classic "hero's journey" story of a 12-year old boy who's mother has just died. Steeped in grief, he becomes lost in the stories his mother used to tell him when he was a child - fairytales, folk tales, myths. When his father remarries and has another son, David finds himself falling prey to sudden blackouts and the ability to hear books conversing amongst themselves. Before he realizes what is happening, he finds himself plunged into a strange, dangerous world (a la Pan's Labyrinth.)

This book isn't for the faint-hearted. Although it is essentially about the vital role stories play in our lives, David's journey takes him to the darkest reaches of fairy tales and the secret nightmares we all harbor in the recesses of our minds. It is a transformative coming of age story, and Connolly delivers to the last page. I found myself enraptured by the adventure and smiling as the author gave me a new twist in the story I hadn't been expecting.

I can't say it enough. This one is a definite must-read for Dad. Becky, you might enjoy it (if you can make it past the squeamish stuff.) Mom, probably pass. While reading this, I was also reminded of Neil Gaiman's "Coraline" which was also impressive. I finished it last year during the blog drought. But if you enjoy this one (and I know you will), check out "Coraline." You'll be glad you did.

Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father by John Matteson

For all the Little Women fans among us, this 2008 Pulitzer Prize winning dual biography will likely be of interest to you. Although Louisa May is the better known member of the Alcott family, her father, Bronson was an eminent philosopher, teacher and friend of fellow transcendentalists, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. As a family man, however, Bronson was, for the most part, a useless provider (of money or affection). As he chased after his lofty philosophical ideals and utopian pursuits (which were usually miserable failures), his wife, Abba and older daughters, Anna and Louisa were left to be the breadwinners of the family, taking jobs as governesses, teachers, writers, or whatever they could find. And more than once, the family had to be rescued from destitution by their Concord neighbors/friends Emerson and Thoreau- who sometimes even provided them with a place to live. This biography depicts the complicated and often troubled relationship between Bronson, ever the idealist and Louisa, always the pragmatist. Although they differed in fundamental ways, the two shared the same birthday, found literary success around the same time and died within two days of each other.

I initially decided to read this biography because I wanted to know more about the American Transcendental movement. Transcendentalism is one of those broad brush terms that gets tossed around in literary circles and one that I never fully understood. As one would expect of a Pulitzer Prize winning book, Matteson has done a superb job of capturing the essence of this 19th c. movement by reflecting it through the lens of the Alcott family story. The narrative pulls you into the life and times of this unique American family and makes you feel as if you have actually known them in life. In Matteson's closing paragraph he writes: "To the extent that a written page permits knowledge of a different time and departed souls, this book has tried to reveal them." I believe he has done a masterful job.

The World Without Us by Alan Weisman

Weisman opens this book with the following question: "Is it possible that, instead of heaving a huge biological sigh of relief, the world without us would miss us?"

I won't give away the answer, but if you like good nature writing (um, Dad), this is a wonderful book for you. Weisman chronicles what the world might look like if people were suddenly raptured away from it (gone extinct, taken by aliens, you get the picture.) At once startling and inspiring, Weisman reveals the inter-connectedness of ecosystems and explains the detrimental (or helpful) role humans play all over the world. From the plains of the Serengeti to the subways of New York City, you see the world as we know it slowly erode before your eyes. Weisman's writing is often poetic, his chapter titles for example: "Unbuilding Our Home, What Falls Apart, Wings Without Us."

I found myself overwhelmed, at times, by the idea of all humanity erased away. It's a sobering reflection. But at the same time, I was full of awe at the amazing ability of life to find a way. One chapter, about the wildlife that has returned to Chernobyl, was both heartbreaking and inspiring. Although some of our animal friends would fare worse than others (sorry, cows), still others would find new niches and possibly evolve to take advantage of new opportunities (housecats, for one.)

This book WAS "one of the grandest thought experiments of our time" as touted on the cover. Read, and enjoy.

A Collection of Essays by George Orwell

I had read about George Orwell as being one of the great political commentators of his age but had read nothing other than "1984" and "Animal Farm." In this collection of essays, he discusses his years at a boarding school, shooting an elephant as a colonial policeman in Burma, his thoughts on Gandhi, Kipling, Dickens and a fellow who produced lewd post cards. He also discusses his time fighting in the Spanish Civil war, his time in Marrakech, England during the war, and why he writes. I've not mentioned a couple other of the articles because they were redundant or referenced so many people we don't know that the point he was making was not made or would not be of interest to any blog reader.Although his point of view is at least 60 years separated from today, there are things that stand out to make this a worthwhile read. He appears to view a topic as best he can without serious bias, even though he was a socialist and critic of many in power or in fashion. His thoughts are so clear and unvarnished in a way I seldom have run across that they are startling in their freshness and power to persuade. The world he described in "1984" is addressed repeatedly in these essays, with an eye to viewing humans as they are and that power corrupts, regardless of the ideology of those who wield it.I am sure he irritated almost everyone at one time with these essays because he views everyone as realistically as he can, warts and all, even though he may also have an affection for the subjects. Indeed, I would have hated to be his enemy because those he professed to admire were still noted for each of their shortcomings. Still, this was a good read and one where I want to go back later and reread, especially his article on Kipling (a good bad poet) and England during the war. As well written a collection of essays as I can remember reading.

The Wind-up Bird Chronicle

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. That being said, I think it's a book you really love or really...don't love (no, Amanda, not like "Running with Scissors"). I tend to get somewhat fascinated with writing and stories that weave you in and out of reality - teetering, always, on the possible, but being just ridiculous or obscure enough to remind you that it's not real. If you don't find yourself of the same mind, you probably will want to skip this novel. But if you have read and enjoyed either "One Hundred Years of Solitude" or "Love in the Time of Cholera", you may just enjoy this book (different author but same kind of writing style). Though I know that dad didn't enjoy either of those, I still recommend this book to you (dad).
The book follows the experiences of Toru Okada, a (recently) former lawyer who stays at home while his magazine editor wife supports the two of them. Then his "journey" begins with a search for the family cat and this is when a whole new world of characters and experiences unfolds. As characters enter his life, they pull him into their world - literally. He finds himself within shifting interior landscapes, and through multiple eyes, and has an almost dreamlike search for identity in the midst of chaos as it is presented.
There are quite a few bizarre events that unfold that leaves you somehow accepting each new twist even though some are completely implausible. And what I think dad might find especially interesting is the way the book is able to contrast the Japanese military past with the present state of Japan. All in all, I think a line from the book sums it up the best (took me a while to find this quote, but I knew it was in there!): "There's a kind of gap between what I think is real and what's really real."
And there you go.

The Daughter Of Time by Josephine Tey

This was one of Jackie's first books in her MALS course at U of M. It's a British detective story (sort of) written in 1951. The reason it was a course book and also the reason I'm recommending it is it looks at the story of Richard III and comes to the conclusion that "history (as it's taught in schools) is bunk" (Henry Ford).

The story itself is an easy read and fascinating. A detective is laid up in the hospital for weeks with a broken leg (how's that for a difference from today's health practice!). To pass the time friends bring pictures for him to look at and the one of Richard III looks nothing like the ogre painted in the history books, according to the detective's instincts for faces and guilt. With help from his friends, he digs into the story and comes to a much different conclusion than is painted in the Shakespearean play and elsewhere. That those plays and histories were written during the Tudor dynasty has a lot to do with the outcome.

This is a quick read, interesting history and an engaging story. Good beach reading and a mind expander when it comes to looking at history as it's been fed to us.

The Portable Dorothy Parker

This is two books in a row that I have read where I found myself laughing out loud. You're probably all aware of Dorothy Parker in one way or another, as I was (mainly because of her participation in the Algonquin Round Table), but I had never actually read any of her short stories, essays, or poems. Well, this is the perfect book to get your fill! It's about 650 pages, so not sure how "portable" it is (though I did carry it with me on trains and to the park over the last week or so, and it did just fine). It's a collection of her work, spanning the years, and the stories are random, funny, and quite telling of the time in which Dorothy Parker lived and wrote (1920s-1950s). Like the David Sedaris book I blogged about a few days ago, it's great for picking up for a few minutes, reading a 5 page short story, laughing, and moving along your way. However, since I'm way too anal retentive, I read the thing from start to finish, without any jumping around (though I did a bit of skimming over poems, especially, here and there).

I think you would all find her writing humorous and easy to read, and think this is a great book to just have...just have it lying around to pick up once in a while...do you know what I mean? I'm sure I'll read at least parts of it again when I'm getting that Dorothy Parker itch, and found her fascinating so much so that I'm now looking to pick up a biography on her to get more in-depth (following in your footsteps, mom!). So, another recommendation to you all - definitely something I think Amanda would enjoy - maybe even more so than "Running with Scissors!" Haha.

Einstein, His Life and Universe

"I did it!"(as Katie would say). Now I don't need the magic Internet fairy to add pictures for me.

I try to mix up my reading list with biographies now and then and Einstein was my most recent subject. This 550 page tome did not disappoint, although I must admit that I did skim over some (ok, much) of the more detailed explanations of his experiments and scientific papers. Clearly, Issacson understood all the intricacies of relativity and quantum mechanics and did a masterful job of describing it. And, really, I do think it's awesome, but reading too much about it makes my head want to explode. Hence, I'll leave the science to others while I explore the humanities aspect of the individual.

I especially like biographies because so much of what I was taught in school about "famous" people was so one dimensional and boring. However, when I read a good, well-researched and balanced biography like this one, I feel as if I really understand the man behind the genius- human frailties and all.

Unfortunately, Einstein's genius in the scientific realm did not carry over into his personal life. Although married and the father of two sons he basically abandoned the family (he did send money sometimes) for years while he moved around in the pursuit of his science. And, as is so often true of exceptionally talented individuals, the pursuit of their "passion", whether it be in art, music, math, science or whatever, becomes the driving force of their lives to the exclusion of just about everything and everyone else (except their professional peers).

As the book jacket reads, "his success came from questioning conventional wisdom and marveling at mysteries that struck others as mundane. This led him to embrace a morality and politics based on respect for free minds, free spirits, and free individuals." If we can take just one lesson from Einsteins' life, it would probably be that education must not stifle independence or creativity. "A society's competitive advantage", as Issacson writes, "will come not from how well its schools teach the multiplication and periodic tables, but from how well they stimulate imagination and creativity." Amen.

The Worst Thing I've Done by Ursule Helgi

I was really looking forward to this book because:

1.) I haven't finished a fiction book in just about forever...

2.) I read "Stones from the River" (by the same author) several years ago and really enjoyed it.

And the verdict is...definitely worth my time. The story grabbed me from the first page, which is necessary because I'm chasing a 2-year old around most of the time! I just don't have the time to give a book several chapters to get to know one another. But this one delivered from the start.

It's about 2 men and a woman who grew up as close friends. Life becomes complicated (as it so often does!) and the three of them end up raising Annie's baby sister, Opal, after their parents' tragic deaths. Love, hate, attraction, and revulsion pull the three into a dangerous game that they're unable to escape from. I don't want to give too much away in case you read the book.

Before I wrap up, I do want to mention that Helgi gets a bit carried away with her personal politics (which happen to be similar to my own, but I digress.) I don't really like a lot of overt political talk in fiction. It didn't bother me too much since I happen to agree with the author, but the very fact that I noticed it might make it bothersome to someone who is not as liberal as myself. If you don't end up reading this one, I would still recommend "Stones from the River" which came out several years ago. Enjoy!

Three Cups of Tea

I read this non-fiction book several months ago. I had heard of it many times. It is about a US climber in Pakistan returning to the lowest base camp from a near successful climb of K2. He inadvertantly got separated from his guide, nearly died, and stumbled into a "town"/settlement that changed his life (and saved his life). He vowed to come back and build a school for them and did, and has gone on to build many schools in Pakistan and now also Afganistan. He has done this initially with little help (now has a website and some staffing and was able to get sponsors initially that have spread). He has recognized the value of education, particularly for girls, as they are very influential in their children's (and thus son's) lives and through this comes a greater chance for stable families, stable communities, jobs, and thus a peaceful nation. (This message is somewhat echoed at the end of the movie "Charlie Wilson's War", for those who have seen that. Perhaps if the miniscule amount suggested to be spent on Afghan education had actually been spent, we would not now be in the mess there and in Iraq - and 9/11 would have been averted?). Greg Mortenson (whom the book is about) lives in Bozeman, MT. His name has been casually tossed around for a Nobel Peace Prize. The reading is compelling, and captivating.

John Adams by David McCullough

Jackie recommended this and it's very good. If any of you saw the recent HBO series based on the book, I'd suggest that, although the series was good, the book is better. All I'd heard of Adams in the past was that he wrote extensively to his wife while at the Second Continential Congress and that he also shared a correspondence with Jefferson late in life. The book paints a picture of a complex man who worked hard for his country and his family. I came away with thinking he'd have been a good friend and deserves more praise than he gets. His contribution was major in getting the Declaration of Independence written and approved. He also made multiple contributions during the Revolution and prior to becoming Vice President. Jefferson, on the other hand, was also a complex man who is depicted as a lesser man than Adams when it comes to honesty and a willingness to engage difficult issues. Usually, when the going got tough, Jefferson went to Monticello.

I'm continuely amazed that the U.S. survived the first 80 years of its existance and this book puts an exclamation point to that thought. The book is well written and easy to follow. I found myself actually looking for more anecdotes in a book that is 651 pages. Don't let the length deter you, you'll zip through it. Enjoy.

Thunderstruck by Erik Larson

As in Larson's earlier book, The Devil in the White City, this one also intertwines the true stories of two unlikely characters. In Thunderstruck, Guglielmo Marconi and Hawley Crippen are the two men whose lives intersect in the early years of the 20th c.

Crippen was a mild-mannered doctor, who committed the second most famous murder in London (after Jack the Ripper). When his flamboyant, demanding and extravagant wife, Belle, mysteriously disappears her friends suspect him but the police can't find any evidence to hold him and he quietly leaves London with his secretary/lover, headed to America.

The other story describes Marconi's plodding and unscientific efforts to create the equipment that used electromagnetic waves to send wireless transmissions across the Atlantic. Larson goes into a bit too much detail here describing the relentless competition among the various "inventors" who were vying to be the first to master wireless technology. The fact that Marconi even succeeded at all is actually quite amazing because he really didn't understand how or why the equipment worked. For me, this was the most fascinating part of the book...

But in the end, the two mens' stories intersect when Marconi's wireless "invention" is the tool used by the London police track down and capture Crippen (after they did some digging in the garden of his former house), as he sailed across the Atlantic on the SS Montrose, ready start a new life in America. Oops, not so fast Mr. Crippen!

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim

I'm pretty sure you're all familiar with David Sedaris, and venture to guess that at least a few of you have read something by him before. This is the third book by him that I've read (others were "Me Talk Pretty One Day" and "Holidays on Ice") and it was also my favorite. He has a way of taking everyday events that all of us can relate to and making them funny and touching....I guess that's every good comedian's trick, and he masters it in "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim." It's a great book for two reasons: (1) It'll make you laugh because it's about his experiences growing up, and no matter what family you're part of, there are some universal things we can all nod along with and say "yep, that's just about right." and (2) it's a quick read and a book with which you can skip around and not be confused. It's a collection of short stories, so if you want to skip over one, or put the book down for a bit and come back, you can do that and pick right back up where you left off. The perfect quick summer read!!!

So, needless to say, I recommend this to all of you. If you're looking for something uplifting (and who isn't?) and something you can read in a day or two, this is the book for you!!!

And thanks for the reminder to get back up and blogging, Amanda - I've missed this!

The Long Emergency by James Kunstler

The author of this book was interviewed on "The Colbert Report" for his new book "World Made By Hand." I thought he was kind of a kook (but entertaining!) Like everything else, I didn't want to dismiss him out of hand. So I checked into some of his other books at the local library where I came across "The Long Emergency." It sounded pretty apocalyptic but I thought I'd give it a try anyhow...just to see what this guy was about.

Well, the book was fascinating! Basically, Kunstler explains his theory that the world is about to hit peak oil, and what the ramifications of that may be. I'd heard talk about peak oil before but never completely understood what it was. The book uses good references and citations to scientific studies and oil industry insiders. I found many of Kunstler's arguments coherent and well-reasoned. It makes a lot of sense that we're about to (or already have) reached peak oil. It also stands to reason that much of our lifestlye will have to change as oil becomes rarer (and costlier.) I have often thought that our economy will naturally transition to some other, more sustainable, energy source when the price of oil becomes too high. And Kunstler argues that we will definitely try. He lays out all of the alternatives to oil and how they will probably be used after peak oil. He pins his best bets on nuclear energy for running appliances, etc. But the point he made about oil that I had never thought much about before is: oil is portable, ships easily, relatively safe, and abundant. Most other energy will not run our cars (ship our food, make our plastics, fly our planes.) Really, he brought up so many things I'd never thought of before he made me a believer.

That being said, Kunstler IS rather apocalyptic and believes society will be taken by surprise and have a long, uncomfortable period of converging catastrophes to deal with which will decimate large populations and force much of society to be rebuilt. Some of the other catastrophes include climate change and disease pandemics, along with the depletion of oil. A big part of me says "No way, we won't be caught so off guard. Technology and society will adapt in time to prevent huge population losses, at least in the U.S." And hopefully that's true. But his argument that our entire way of life in the U.S. (i.e. suburbia, constant economic growth, etc.) is incongruent with an oil-less world is awfully compelling.

One last thing: as I was dismissing some of the author's more far-reaching predictions for the near future, he began talking about the housing crisis. He explained everything that's currently happening in the housing market and how that will affect the rest of the economy. The creepy thing is, this book was published in 2004, before any of this started happening. The detail and exactness with which he described the housing bubble and his prediction of how quickly the price of a barrel of oil would shoot up in the next few years (i.e. NOW!) was frightening. It makes me give the rest of his predictions even more credibility.

I don't know if the rest of you would find this as fascinating as I did. But I hope at least one of you reads it so I have someone to discuss it with. I'd really like to know what you guys think. Let me know.

The End Of Faith – Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason

It’s interesting that Amanda and I are reading books that sound anti-religious (American Fascist, The End Of Faith). The study is not anti religious, it is a drive for greater understanding in the face of existing ignorance. That same quest is behind Mr. Harris taking on the faith part of religion. Faith is belief in things that can not be proven. Through most of history, faith drove almost everything we knew about the world, including medicine, physics, chemistry, genetics, etc. Only when we were able to separate the blind acceptance of what we thought we knew about those fields from what can be proven could we understand that the Earth is not the center of the universe, our bodies were not ruled by the four humors, and there were more than four elements.

Mr. Harris suggests there is at least a chance that a similar breakthrough in understanding is possible if we stop accepting items on faith and start applying the same intellectual rigor to the questions of God and an existence different from the one most apparent to use in our daily lives.

He also points out the dark side to not breaking away from faith. That dark side has been apparent in all the monotheistic religions, starting with Judaism, spanning centuries in Christianity and now being demonstrated with Islam. In each religion’s sacred book there are portions that require you to kill anyone, no matter how beloved, who does not believe exactly everything written in that text. In the case of Christianity, it resulted in centuries of the most terrible torture and murder imaginable in the name of God. There is now a certain live-and-let-live aspect to the vast majority of Christian believers who just don’t believe those passages that call for mass death as well as some or all miracles. That approach appears to be changing with the rise of fundamentalist churches and is troubling to our unity as a religious and secular community and nation.

Mr. Harris points out that the live-and-let-live crowd enable the more radical practitioners by not overtly renouncing those parts of the Bible they do not believe and having the discussion about what that means for their various religions. If a person does not believe in magical events subject to more than two millenium of editing by controlling powers that be, can they still call themselves a Jew, Christian, Muslim, etc.

Mr. Harris makes the point that Islam appears to be at the same point as Christianity prior to the live-and-let-live phase. This makes Islam dangerous as long as the silent majority of believers who say they are tolerant do nothing in the face of Islamic believers who act on pure faith and fundamentalism.

I strongly recommend this book for those who care about religion and its place in the world. It’s an easy read and he makes his case. Even if you think that an organized church is still part of the solution after reading this book, coming to grips with the questions he raises will make your beliefs stronger and more relevant to your spiritual life.