calarco's Reviews (760)

If you are looking for a fresh perspective on American history, then An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States is a solid choice.

Covering 400 years dating back to Europeans first interactions with indigenous groups, to modern day U.S. policy, the timeline of the work is ambitious. That said, as the focus of the book is largely on indigenous perspectives of European and U.S. genocide and colonization, I think it is remarkably good at highlighting initial impacts of these policies, as well how they effect the U.S. a number of ways in the present.

This book also provides a great exploration of American identity, or rather the fallacies of certain problematic myths surrounding American exceptionalism. Even today early settlers are thought of as having “discovered” an uninhabited land, which they then cultivated through a unique work ethic, upon which they then birthed democratic values. When seriously looking at U.S. government mandated land-grabbing and genocide, it is hard to hold on to this viewpoint when faced with some obvious hypocrisies.

The book also does a good job of explaining how the survivors and descendants of this multi-centuries long American genocide, still exist. When many in the public conceptualize people indigenous to America, they often think of days past and an archaeological context. Yet there are still people with vibrant cultures that still persist and exist.

That said, this leads into my one criticism of the book. While it does do a great job of describing atrocities committed by the U.S. to hold the government accountable in the present, and the title, An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, does clearly show that the scope of the book is the indigenous take on key U.S. policies and events (that heavily effected them), what I wanted more of was information on the different Native American groups’ culture, art, and other achievements.

While the book focuses on important critiques, I think a people (or groups of people) are more than the atrocities they must endure. I would have liked to have known more about indigenous culture and traditions that allowed for perseverance or are just significant in their own right.

After all is said and done though, this is a solid read, and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone interested in learning about U.S. history, because Native American history is U.S. history.

While I'm not sure all of these stories are suitable for kids, Neil Gaiman's collection of short stories M is for Magic is pretty alright.

My two favorites were easily "October in the Chair," which had fun anthropomorphic characterizations and an intriguing embedded narrative, as well as "How to Talk to Girls at Parties," which was a twisted, funny tale. Both of these stories, as well as others, also showcase some of Gaiman's great story telling skills which include unreliable narrators, fun fantasy elements, fable tones, and of course exciting twists.

Overall, I would recommend this collection. However, if you want to give it to a kid, I would recommend reading it first to best decide if all of these tales are appropriate.

Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances is really, really great - you have been warned. Neil Gaiman is great at utilizing an unreliable narrator and crafting excitedly unexpected narrative twists; and this collection highlights these elements well.

In general, I am a huge fan of popular fairy tales retold in innovative ways. Gaiman does this well with "Diamonds and Pearls: A Fairy Tale" and "The Sleeper and the Spindle." He is also good at crafting his own fables like "The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains..." which also explores new perspectives and unexpected choices.

Given that many of these stories fall squarely in the fantasy genre, I was surprised to see "Nothing O'Clock," Gaiman's Doctor Who short story that had been previously published in Doctor Who: 11 Doctors, 11 Stories. That said, this was one of the better shorts of that volume, and reads exactly like a Doctor Who episode (I'm a big fan). I wasn't mad to read it again, though it was oddly placed in the context of this particular collection.

That aside, these stories were truly quality, with many being five star stories in their own right. I found myself wanting to hold off finishing the book because I wanted new stories to look forward to as time passed. This is something I haven't experienced since reading American Gods, so I was especially satisfied to read the final short story "Black Dog." This one follows Shadow Moon after the events of American Gods and was really amazing.

Overall, I really loved this one; there were so many great stories. The only reason I did not give it five stars was due to some stories that were just okay, but that is bound to happen with collections like these. Still, I would super recommend this one.

I did not like this one. Does that mean it's objectively bad? Not necessarily, Romeo and Juliet does have some truly great prose. What I ultimately could not get past is the play's portrayal of romantic love, which left me feeling all sorts of uncomfortable.

Getting to the heart of the matter, or lack thereof, many of narrative's problems can be found in the iconic balcony scene. Romeo famously proclaims, "But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun." This sentiment in and of itself would be beautiful, but sadly he continues,

"Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief, That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she. Be not her maid, since she is envious; Her vestal livery is but sick and green And none but fools do wear it; cast it off. It is my lady, O, it is my love! Oh, that she knew she were!"

Romeo makes it very clear that he is attracted to Juliet in large part because of her looks, and doubles down on how this factor makes her special by saying she is fairer than others, and her looks should inspire envy in others. He does not really elaborate on other elements of her personality that make her like "the sun." In fact, her devotion seems to be the only other trait that is elaborated on outside her physical appearance. Juliet declares,

“O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name, or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Capulet.”

She is rather flippant after asking Romeo to choose her over his family (which is a loaded question/declaration to demand of someone you just met). Within one sentence she exclaims that if Romeo won't change for her, she will very eagerly change her name and identity for him. While devotion and physical beauty were the common traits people associated with feminine reverence in Shakespeare's time, it does not really hold up in 2018.

That said, there is no denying that this "love" story is highly influential even in the present. You need not look any further than the massively popular Twilight or Fifty Shades of Grey. In all three of these stories you have a male protagonist who meets a random girl, becomes inexplicably obsessed with her, compares her to others to insist she is special, SEES HER, and because he is a guy of status/good looks his "love" is now this great validation the girl never knew she'd get and all without herself having to do anything to grow as a person besides to be devoted to this random dude.

While this is a tired trope, it is also master emotional manipulation, so I got to hand it to Shakespeare as he is the one who set this twisted formula into motion. All in all, there are many who would decry my interpretation as cynical, so read the play for yourself and decide.

Written in China’s Spring and Autumn Period, Sun Tzu’s military treatise The Art of War is chock full of splendid advice that is applicable to so many modern-day situations. It’s more of a how-to guide really.

“All warfare is based on deception.” This is definitely true, especially with Karen from finance in my office. That jerk never reloads the printer and keeps eating my clearly marked yogurt in the breakroom fridge. I even leant her my pen once, the cute purple ballpoint one, and she never gave it back. The purple one! Her incessant deceptions never cease to amaze me, and call for new tactical approaches.

“Bring war material with you from home, but forage on the enemy.” So back to my yogurt situation; I can only imagine Sun Tzu had his own Karen from finance stealing his yogurt, so he makes a good point here. Fight yogurt stealing with yogurt stealing; I clearly should start passive aggressively stealing her yogurt. Bring more office supplies to replenish my own (RIP purple pen), take the enemy’s lunch, this course of action will surely flip the script.

But it can’t end here. Oh no, the book sure doesn't. “Force him to reveal himself so as to find out his vulnerable spots.” After careful observation, I have found that Karen does not like the color pink and strawberry flavored scents. So I have begun switching out her pens for pink ones, and her stickers for strawberry scratch and sniff ones, a little at a time. I do believe my cunning is starting to wear on her psyche, because she is now convinced that the office is haunted.

“Rapidity is the essence of war: take advantage of the enemy's unreadiness, make your way by unexpected routes, and attack unguarded spots.” In addition to the pink pens, I have started stealthily sticking pink post-it notes on her chair, monitor, and in little crevices around her cubicle. The real tour de force was when I left a pink post-it on a strawberry yogurt labeled “Karen” in the shared fridge, written in pink ink of course.

“On ground of intersecting highways, I would consolidate my alliances.” I have since found out that Mark from accounting and Lisa from maintenance ALSO are having their clearly marked food taken from the office breakroom. I told them of Karen’s wickedness, and they too have entered the fold. We can now take turns leaving pink post-it notes on her monitor. Progress!

“Knowledge of the enemy's dispositions can only be obtained from other men.” Of all tactics employed thus far, Sun Tzu was truly transcendent in his forethought on the importance of spies. Mark from accounting has courageously volunteered to have lunch with Karen to discuss office matters, a ruse to further plan our next course of attack.

“Be subtle! be subtle! and use your spies for every kind of business.” Sun Tzu really should have put this at the front of his how-to guide. After actually talking with Karen, Mark has uncovered that Howard from resources has mistakenly been emptying out the fridge of our food, confusing Wednesdays for fridge cleaning days, and is deeply remorseful. Also, Karen uses the printer on the other end of the office, so she is not actually the one leaving it empty. Karen has since approached me bewildered as to why I didn’t just “talk to her like an adult.”

Well… Back to the drawing board!

Disclaimer: This is a bit of (questionable) satire. If you have an office dispute, just talk it out like a couple of human beings. But if that fails, then of course proceed with this brilliant, fool-proof plan that totally won’t backfire on you in any way, shape, or form. Do it for your purple pen!

When picking up The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, largely due to popular adaptations, I was full on anticipating a campy, Victorian horror that explored human duality. I was genuinely surprised to then read a gripping tale about psychosis brought on from addiction, or so was my interpretation.

There is a great deal about Jekyll's transformation into Hyde that supports him struggling with substance abuse. When Jekyll begins his transformations, he feels an intense sense of euphoria. As Hyde, Jekyll's judgement is so thoroughly ransacked that his sense of morality is completely warped. Even his physical transformation into this smaller but angrier person, is similar to the physical emaciation of someone suffering from prolonged substance abuse (even though in this tale it happens immediately).

By Stevenson's own description, "The drug had no discriminating action; it was neither diabolical nor divine; it but shook the doors of the prisonhouse of my disposition." Dr. Jekyll is an esteemed, yet ambitious doctor living in stringent Victorian times, it makes sense that a freeing substance would appeal to him. He even hoped to use and manipulate it for good.

However, as is the case with certain types of addiction, the situation escalates as Hyde starts psychically harming others, and he looses complete control over the transformation process. The final outcome is truly quite sad. Given Hyde's actions I did not anticipate feeling such sympathy for Dr. Jekyll, but through the lens of addition and psychosis I couldn't help but feel bad for him.

Ultimately, I would certainly recommend this one, whatever your take on it.

Given the great impact of Marjane Satrapi's first graphic memoir, Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return proved to be a brilliant continuation.

With both written narrative and illustration, Satrapi does a brilliant job of authentically demonstrating the inner unrest and depression of someone caught between two profoundly different cultures. This struggle is further compounded as these events take place right as Marji is coming of age and trying to discover who she is as an individual.

A common theme that is executed quite well is the contrast of expectations of fantasy generated in trying times, juxtaposed with lackluster and disappointing realities. Whether its Marji's personal journey to healing after Austria, or Iran's reconstruction as a country following the Islamic Revolution, idealized dreams of warmer futures are often dashed by colder realities. Furthermore, the visual way these elements are presented clearly convey Marji's own inner emptiness as she grapples with a number of issues.

As with the first Persepolis, the second is impressive in that despite trying conditions, the narrative inspires hope. Marji pushes through despite overwhelming circumstances, with the help of her supportive family, and desire to learn guiding her through different periods of turmoil. Her love of family and learning both serve to reinforce each other, and push her forward as a person.

Overall, I would recommend both graphic memoirs. They are pretty great.

After admiring Noam Chomsky's social critiques as he's communicated in interviews, I was excited to finally read one of his printed works. Overall, there were both good and bad elements in The Responsibility of Intellectuals, but I mostly found it to be disappointing.

Writing this review in 2018, current events has had me looking back to the Nixon years and Vietnam. Partly why I was interested in this book was that it included Chomsky's essay from that period, and in the second half touches upon the War in Iraq. I found the second half of the book to be much stronger than the first, especially when it came to (younger) Chomsky's criticisms of foreign powers in Asia. For someone who is so good at the self reflection of his own country, his one dimensional characterizations of Asian countries left much to be desired.

What the book does do well though, is emphasize the importance of truth-telling, even if it means critiquing what is popular. Chomsky clearly defines who he means by "intellectuals" as individuals who should utilize their privilege to tell the truth as a moral imperative. He expands, "It seems to be close to a historical universal that conformist intellectuals, the one who support official aims and ignore or rationalize official crimes, are honored and privileged in their own societies, and the value-oriented punished in one or another way" (122).

This is definitely true, though I do wish he would expand on HOW intellectuals could utilize privilege to critique the powerful. Not every country has a First Amendment. While I wholeheartedly agree with the central thesis of this volume, I would have liked to have seen the surrounding argument better developed. Otherwise, it just read like someone in a (secure) porcelain tower preaching to others in their own porcelain towers.

It also probably does not help that I read Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine this year, which touches upon many of the themes introduced in The Responsibility of Intellectuals, but is much better researched and argued. Overall, I didn't really like this one (sorry Chomsky), but read it for yourself and decide.

I must admit, I read this back in high school and completely hated it at the time. That was half my lifetime ago, so I figured I'd give it another shot. Also, it is one of my dad's reads this year, so I figured I'd read it too so we could complain about something together (aka: bonding). Much to my surprise, my reaction to it was very different on this second read through.

The first time I read this book, I completely hated how characters were likened to animals, though given it is called Of Mice and Men, I should not have been surprised. I think Lenny's ultimate comparison to the old dog, made me especially angry, as I felt it was patronizingly belittling to his character. Additionally, my teenage self could not stand how the characters, in general, seemed to entrap themselves to the the sorrows of their stereotypes and perceived destinies.

Reading it now, I can better understand the 1937 context of this tale, and am no longer enraged by the entrapment of characters, but am now sympathetic to their plights. My adult self understands the cruelty of poverty, as well as the innate difficulties of escaping socioeconomic disparities. I can also more clearly see how Steinbeck's narrative message was to express the universal desire to be heard and understood. He purposefully created flawed characters that were separated by social means, each desperately wanting have a voice and audience, but never quite getting there.

That said, the isolation and brutality were still hard to swallow, even as a jaded adult. I can clearly see the literary merit of this novel now, and even appreciated it, even if I did not love it. I would definitely recommend it, at least now as an adult, so take of that what you will.

Neil deGrasse Tyson's Astrophysics for People in a Hurry is absolutely delightful. This collection of Tyson's Natural History essays include background on the universe's cosmological history, the history of science, as well as Tyson's own musings on human nature.

I have not formally studied physics or hard science in over a decade, so I must admit I went through this with Wikipedia open while reacquainting myself with terms like "quark" or "photon." (Somewhere, or on some timeline, my younger self is cringing at my older self's ignorance.) That said, even if you have not formally studied astrophysics, Tyson explains things quite clearly, methodically, and free of needless jargon. His excitement is infectious and will leave you wanting to learn so many new things.

Hands down though, my favorite part of the book are Tyson's musings on how humans fit into the bigger picture of the universe. He understands conceptualizing something so big, can make people feel quite small, but he equates the importance of all things to scale and context.

With what he calls an "ego softener" Tyson explains, "If a huge genetic gap separated us from our closest relative in the animal kingdom, we could justifiably celebrate our brilliance. We might be entitled to walk around thinking we're distant and distinct from our fellow creatures. But no such gap exists. Instead, we are one with the rest of nature, fitting neither above nor below, but within."

Human arrogance or anthropocentrism often get in the way of greater happiness and inner peace. Tyson gets it and to circle back, he opens the book be declaring, “The Universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.” So in short, this book is great, I recommend it, enjoy.