Non-Fiction: Review of The Expat: Mission Iraq by Marcel Al Madanat

Western media the social butterfly that it is, once action in Iraq deflated from large-scale military offensive to scattered bombings and shootings, it fluttered elsewhere in search of human drama.  A blank space left in Western awareness of the embattled country, had Iraq been completely destroyed?  Were the people reduced to nothing—poverty, starvation, homelessness?  Does the US military continue to dominate the streets?  What is true public perception of the fall of Saddam Hussein and the introduction of a Western-friendly (most would say puppet) government?  A lot of questions remain.

Lured by the offer yet wary of the inherent risk (kidnapping insurance was involved), in 2012 Marcel Al Madanat moved to Baghdad for a two-year contract supporting a mobile phone provider.  His time there both a life motivating and changing experience, in 2015 he decided to write a book, The Expat: Mission Iraq. 

Review of The Log from the Sea of Cortez by John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck is a name known to most Americans.  Required reading in high schools around the country, a Nobel Prize winner, and his works perennial reprinted, few know, however, that the writer was also greatly interested in science and travel.  Best friends with the marine biologist Ed Ricketts (inspiration for the character Doc in Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday), in 1940 the two decided to organize a scientific expedition to Baja California to collect intertidal specimen samples.  Looking to recoup money from the excursion, Steinbeck combined his notes with Ricketts upon their return to the US and published The Log from the Sea of Cortez.  Well, not exactly, but you’ll see.

Vivid descriptions, personal reflection, and that subtle insight into people that makes Steinbeck one of the greats are present in Log.  Capturing every bit of jocularity with the crew, the joys of being at sea, and the dwindling colonialism of Mexico, Steinbeck brings his talents as a writer to full bear describing their six weeks aboard the 75 ft. refurbished sardine boat Western Flyer.  Captain Berry, the mechanic Tex, deckhands Sparky and Tiny, and even their bedeviled little motorboat, the Sea Cow, come to full, breathing (or in the Sea Cow’s case, wheezing) life under his pen.  The towns and villages along the coast of the Baja peninsula and Mexican mainland having little contact with the outside, Steinbeck et al, in addition to their main aim of collecting samples of intertidal marine life, were often ambassadors.  Receiving a variety of greetings and welcomes at the different ports they sail to, Steinbeck goes into loving detail every stop along the way, making the book a travelogue as much as a scientific recount. 

Review of "Voyage of the Beagle" by Charles Darwin

Foremost: readers be warned.  This book is sold in both abridged and unabridged forms.  It goes without saying that the unabridged contains far more details and the abridged reads more like a travelogue.  The prospective buyer should investigate this prior to purchase, depending on the expectation.  This review is for the unabridged.

Certainly more well known for his The Origin of the Species and the storm of ideological discussion that has erupted since its publishing, few are aware that Charles Darwin, prior to setting down on paper his landmark theory of evolution, took a five year, round-the-world trip.  Signing on as biologist to the crew of the Beagle in 1831 and returning to Britain in 1836, the journey took Darwin to the south Pacific, Australia, Africa, and most predominantly, numerous locations in South America.  Keeping a journal along the way, The Voyage of the Beagle is the record of that journey.

Darwin having a keen eye for detail, the pages of Voyage are filled with descriptions of life in every form, including human during the trip.  As the ship’s biologist, Darwin was responsible for cataloguing of the varieties of life they encountered, from Australian marsupials to Galapagos turtles, ferns to flowers.  That his journal also contains the social events of lords and ladies his ship was greeted by at harbors around the world, gives a true travelogue feel to the narrative, one that indicates Darwin, along with being incredibly insightful, was not a half observer of human behavior.

And it is the descriptive elements which are the main reason to buy the book.  Readers seeking insight into the rudiments of Darwin’s theories will find material, but nothing stated directly.  Details, details, details, the land and animal forms the ship encounters most fully occupy Darwin’s thoughts.  A real treat for nature lovers, his taxonomy of birds, fish, mammals, and all between, not to mention the mountains he climbs, seas he sails, and forests he walks come to life in more than Discovery channel detail. (If you prefer more of a travelogue experience and less of the minute details of bird’s wings, etc., you’d do best to buy the abridged version, though not only descriptions are elided.)

The times being what they were, readers with a sensitivity to colonialism, slavery, and the other evils of European empires in the 19 th century would perhaps do best to avoid The Voyage of the Beagle.  Darwin never glorifies these forms of “civilized” malice, but he does, however, describe them, delineating it for what it is, never openly voicing any disagreement or support of the social practices his fellow Europeans around the world are participating in.  Thus, be warned.

In the end, The Voyage of the Beagle would perhaps be known only to zoologists and biologists were its writer not Charles Darwin.  This thought, however, should do nothing to detract from the travelogue experience his journals impart.  Similar to Capt. Cook’s logbook, with a special emphasis on flora and fauna, readers looking for a peep at the world as it was almost 200 years ago can’t go wrong—and may even be inspired to do a little traveling of their own in the process.  This is Natural History in more ways than one.

Review of "Rising '44: The Battle for Warsaw" by Norman Davies

His wife from the country and the two owning a home there in addition to a residence in Britain, Poland is once again the setting of a Norman Davies’ book.  But where God’s Playground and Poland, Past and Present survey the history of Polish culture (must be ‘culture’ as for significant time periods no country existed) from various perspectives, Rising ’44: The Battle for Warsaw focuses on a two month event that occurred in Warsaw toward then end of WWII.  Germany feeling the effects of its losses on other warfronts around the world, in mid-1944 the underground Polish remaining in Warsaw saw hope that their city could be reclaimed and staged a rebellion to coincide with the arrival of their allies, the mighty Soviet Red Army.  The outcome of the situation could only have been more tragic for those who lived through it.

Davies divides Rising ’44 into three sections: stage setting, the uprising itself, and the aftermath.  Rather than attempting to outlay the players and game board in linear fashion, Davies opts to divide the first section into three parts: the Germans, the Russians, and the Poles and their allies.  Each group is introduced, their goals outlined, and status set at the time just preceding the rebellion.  Having the effect of three roads converging at an intersection, the uprising bursts from the text in affective detail at the start of the second section.  

Based on the amount of data included, trivial to vital, Davies and his team examined all available records related to the plight of the native Poles and Jews in hiding in Warsaw in the summer of 1944.  Their underground routed through a network of sewers and tunnels, the Poles—with promised but limited assistance from British, Russian, and American allies—maintained their position with guerilla warfare throughout the war, using and salvaging the most basic of weapons.  The Germans never able to fully exterminate them, in August and September that year the Poles switched into full attack mode in the belief their Russian allies arriving on the city’s doorstep would step in and help.  The final section of the book deals with the aftermath of this battle, in particular the state of Polish society and politics from the end of the rebellion until now.  

For those with more than background knowledge of WWII, the opening section can be skipped as many other books offer more exhaustive detail about the movement and mindset of allied and axis powers during the war prior to 1944.  The Warsaw Uprising itself, however, is not to be missed.  The focus of the book, Davies brings it to life in both touching and graphic detail.  Diaries, official documents, written accounts, and verbal histories are all used toward painting a picture of what life was like for the Poles living and hiding in the city, not to mention fighting to reclaim it.  The food shortages, transportation methods, weapons training, communication with the outside world, even a media network are described as they affected events that transpired.  The Germans only mostly portrayed as ruthless oppressors, many of the individual stories involving interaction between the two sides are emotional and transcend scholarly accounts of history.

Davies’ writing, as usual, strikes a middle ground between cut and dry facts and engaging prose.  Confidently and consistently expressed, the uprising comes to life beneath the author’s pen.  What also comes to life is an acknowledged agenda.  Aside from the main goal of bringing attention to the details of the uprising, another of Davies’ goals in Rising ’44, is to emphasize the negative effects of Stalinism.  Not as subtle as the information related in his Europe: A History, Davies’ version of the Warsaw Uprising condemns Soviet involvement in the situation every bit as much as the Nazi’s.  The aftermath section in particular contains specific examples tailored to highlight the atrocities the Soviet “allies” committed against the Poles during and after the war.  Soviet realpolitik not garnering the attention of Nazism has in the half-century since, Rising ’44 makes further inroads toward bringing to light the darker side of Stalin’s regime.

In the end, Rising ’44 is informative and engaging reading for those interested in the history of Poland and WWII.  While the earlier Europe: A History saw Davies riding on the coattails of previous research, Rising ’44 shows the historian and his team more than capable of doing their homework.  The two month window in the history of Warsaw during WWII is examined from many angles and with specific details.  Though biases against the Nazis and Soviets are undisguised, the text suffers none for it.  An emotionally engaging history of the people living beneath the streets of Warsaw and their rebellion against oppression, this is one of Davies’ best works, the quality of human stories that emerge from the chaos worth the price, alone.

Review of "The 47 Ronin" [trad.]

It is no coincidence that ‘history’ ends with the word ‘story’; events from reality really do make the greatest tales.  The 47 Ronin is precisely that.  A novelized event from the Genroku era of Japanese history (late 17th-early 18th century), it is perhaps the greatest story of revenge ever told, not to mention one of the world’s great tragedies.  A deep expression of loyalty, the lengths Oishi and his fellow ronin go to perform their duties defending the honor of their liege arouses a primal sense of emotion, the suffering and triumph unmatched.  The men’s tombs standing to this day in Tokyo, the 200 years that have since passed have done nothing to diminish the power of this great story—true history.  

The storyline of The 47 Ronin is particularly difficult to comment upon without spoiling major plot points, some of which occur at the very beginning.  (For those not wishing to have the story spoiled, it is best not to read many reviews of the book; taking it all in with a clean slate is the biggest part of the enjoyment.)  Suffice to say, the book has everything a highly entertaining and emotionally affective story should.  Along with the aforementioned attributes, love, trickery, suspense, and sacrifice exist in such proportions as to make the reader doubt the veracity of the book as history.  It should thus be noted that there are two versions of the story told: the romanticized version and that closer to the real history.  John Allyn’s translation (the version being reviewed here) is of the former. 

The timeline, characters, and settings of the romanticized version the same as the historical, the difference amounts mostly to tone.  Purists will comment that details are altered, removed, or created, and yes it is true, however, the street-corner storyteller will tell you that it is well-timed and slight exaggerations combined with packaging the story in the language of novels that renders the romanticized version more engaging than the drier historical version.  Kira, for example, while following the same historical path in each version, is nevertheless capable of producing more despicable comments and damning words in the romanticized version.  Much like the two versions of China’s The Three Kingdoms, each have their advantages, and thus choosing between them is a matter of taste.  (If the reader prefers something more historically accurate, versions of that story are also in print.)  

While not necessary, a small amount of knowledge regarding traditional Japanese culture, particularly samurai codes of honor and propriety, would help the reader fully understand the sense of duty and propriety underlying the deeds and conduct of the daimyos, shoguns, samurais, sing-song girls, and peasants featured in The 47 Ronin.  The translation clear and lucid, Allyn presents the story transparently enough that the mindset motivating what otherwise seems strange behavior to the Western mind can be implicitly understood, extrapolated from context.  Though the cultural backdrop gives the story its depth, knowledge as such is not necessary, the bones of the story touching something more primeval in the human soul.

In the end, The 47 Ronin is one of the great tales of revenge, and given its cultural context, may be the greatest.  (The number of film and television versions of the story in Japan is mindboggling.)  That the story is taken from real history makes it all the more amazing—a thought that trails the reader like a shadow to the end.  Though I have not read other translations of the story, Allyn’s version is accessible, well-paced, engaging, and balances nicely on the line between condescending to the reader’s knowledge of Japan and telling an exotic tale.  The Tale of the Heike and The Tale of Genji may garner more attention from scholars, but The 47 Ronin is for everybody as beneath the culture, history, and samurai lore is a story that lives and breathes at all levels of humanity.  Their monument standing still, Oishi and the 46 other ronin truly deserve a place in people’s hearts and history. 

Review of "A World Apart" by Gustav Herling

Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch is the fictional story of a man living in WWII-era Russian labor camps.  Gustav Herling’s 1951 A World Apart is the real thing.  The parallels reciprocal, Herling’s book relates the details of working days in sub-zero temperatures while sharing drafty bunkrooms with weak and sick people at night in more personal and affecting fashion.  By doing so, Herling tells a story that is both depressing for the disturbing treatment of humanity by the Soviets, yet uplifting for the manner in which he pressed on despite personal suffering and the death surrounding him.

Captured as a soldier, Herling spent two-and-a-half  years living in Yertsevo, Siberia at a work camp (a gulag, or Russian concentration camp).  Death slow and painful working 10-12 hours days in the cold (compared to fast and quick in gas chambers), the vast majority who entered the gulags never left, their bodies disposed of in the spring thaw each year.  Soviet Russia establishing its political position ruthlessly, Herling’s fellow prisoners were not only POWs, but any suspected military men or member of intelligentsia captured in Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, or other neighboring countries sought by Stalin.  A means of cleansing the opposition, they were put to work, and died slowly for it.  

And it is precisely these people, the fellow prisoners, that Herling spends the majority of his memoire describing.  Characterization effective, the men and women come to life in affecting fashion that proves the quality of his prose.  His depiction of the misery and disrespect doled out to the living and dead so vivid and damning, the Soviets attempted to keep the book under wraps for decades, all the while vehemently denying the content.  With the Soviets soon to be evacuated politically from the country, it wasn’t until the ‘80s that the book saw open publishing in Herling’s native Poland.  Even places like France waited years to make the novel available to the public, despite that the first English version appeared in 1951.  

In the end, Solzhenitsyn’s novel may be read by American high school English students everywhere, but it is Gustav Herling’s A World Apart which should be the real history taught.  Life in the gulag harsh and deadly, Herling’s descriptions are related in engaging prose that never glosses over the defilement of the human spirit propagated by the Soviets.  Umpteen volumes written of Nazi travesties, Herling’s book is an important and strong entry into the field declaiming the exponentially worse evils of Stalinism.  With nearly four times the number of innocents killed during and after WWII, directly and indirectly by the dictator, A World Apart goes a long way toward exposing the reality of Soviet realpolitik.  Thus, alongside being a great piece of insider journalism, the book is not to be missed by anyone interested in post-WWII Soviet history or life in the gulags.

Review of "The Gay Genius: The Life and Times of Su Tungpo" by Lin Yutang

Lin Yutang was not to know the adjective he chose to describe the most brilliant Chinese poet of the Song Dynasty would evolve in the latter half of the 20th century to have a meaning he did not intend.  It detracts in no way from the biography, however, Lin combining beautifully the poetry and life of Su Tungpo, considered by most one of the greatest poets of not only Chinese, but world history.  The word chosen due to the hardships he endured with a smile throughout his life, Su proves that neither poetry or politics turn out as you’d like them when intelligence and integrity guide your actions.

Though born and raised in the rural west of China in 1037, Su Tungpo, or as he is more commonly referred to, Su Shi, would go on to live an extraordinary life in seemingly every province and major city in China.  Poet, counselor, governor, philosopher, outcast, even gardener and Daoist quester for immortality, his ideas may seem more scattered than they truly are.  Given the quality of his writing, the enduring strength of his wisdom, and his willingness to stand up for his beliefs, when one looks deeper they find the titles appropriately given, nothing trite about the poet’s life.  Substance to the form makes for an interesting life, and in the hands of Lin, interesting reading.

One of, if not the foremost, liaison between China and the West, Lin Yutang has a way with the English language 95% of native speakers do not.  The descriptions eloquent, Lin drifts easily along the events, major and minor, of Su Shi’s life, the political context in which he lived, and the prosaic output we still enjoy today.  Though perhaps more exemplary poetry could have been included, one cannot fault Lin as his work was intended to be a biography through and through, the poet’s words translated in innumerable texts elsewhere, including Lin’s own The Importance of Understanding.  An engaging and thorough survey, Lin never falters from the first to the last page, every deed of the major figure in Chinese history presented in appropriate measure.

In the end, The Gay Genius: The Life and Times of Su Tungpo is everything a person could want in a biography.  On top of being a complete account, Lin packs the text with cultural and historical facts to give the reader proper background on a time and country relatively unfamiliar to Western minds.  The only major complaint may be that Lin’s voice is redolent throughout, but given that he is able to express himself humbly and offer a great deal of wisdom and insight into the events of the poet’s life, he can be forgiven by less exacting readers.  Plain and simple, there is no better biography of Su Shi available in English.  If you’re interested in either Chinese poetry or Song Dynasty history, the book is well worth your while.

Review of "One Earth, One People: The Mythopoeic Fantasy Series of Ursula K. Le Guin, Lloyd Alexander, Madeleine L'Engle and Orson Scott Card" by Marek Oziewicz

Winner of the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Myth and Fantasy Studies in 2010, Marek Oziewicz’s One Earth, One People: The Mythopoeic Fantasy Series of Ursula K. Le Guin, Lloyd Alexander, Madeleine L'Engle and Orson Scott Card is a critical exploration of the titular fantasy series in the context of mythopoeia's value, holism, and universal understanding.  Packed to the brim with scholarship on the historical and contemporary meaning of myth, Oziewicz never lets the reader get bogged down, the writing lucid and crisp.  As a result, the book is a valuable resource for anyone involved with literary studies on myth, the fantastic, or holistic criticism.

Roughly divided in two, the first half of One Earth, One People presents theoretical material.  From Vico to the present, Oziewicz unpacks relevant books, essays, papers, and studies in the area of mythopoesis.  The works of Jung, Freud, Frye, Eliade, Campbell, and others, including the non-fictional output of the Inklings Tolkien and Lewis, are discussed with an eye toward underpinning the value of fantasy in literature as a whole. Informative yet absorbing, at no time does Oziewicz lose focus of the point at hand, guiding his narrative through these scholars and writers’ works with quality and quantity.  Though some readers may feel the quotes excessive (Oziewicz really packs the text full), fluency is never lost, a great deal of care placed in the writing of the book from a readability viewpoint.

Having established the theoretical context of mythopoesis' relevancy to literature, the second half of One Earth, One People examines and analyzes four fantasy series.  Not homogenous, each series is presented through one of the many lenses of holistic mythopoeia. Le Guin’s Earthsea is examined as a “quest for balance and harmony between sexes, races, religions, and species”.  Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles are presented as “an example of how a particular mythic tradition… may be reworked and adapted into a future-oriented vision for peace and well-being in the real world”.  L’Engle’s Time Quartet envisions “spirituality as a way of life akin to the spirit of genuine scientific inquiry”.  And lastly, Orson Scott Card’s Tales of Alvin Maker are dealt with in such a fashion as to establish a “map of ecological relationships” and “the ideological resurrection of nature’s sacredness” (9-10).  

Each series chosen specifically for its individual qualities, the scope of analysis is complementary to the nature of holism.  Two of the authors selected are male, while two are female, not to mention that each is a decade-by-decade representative of fantasy in the latter half of the 20th century: Prydain made his mark in the 50s, Le Guin started Earthsea in the 60s, L’Engle published her series predominantly in the 70s, and Card wrote the majority of his in the 80s.  Moreover, the lenses—environmentalism, social harmony, epistemology, and visioning the future through the past—provide Oziewicz four platforms on which to build pertinent argumentation in support of his claims toward mythopoeic holism in fantasy, the analysis bearing fruit for it.

In the end, One Earth, One People is deserving of the award it won.  Oziewicz has done his homework and the text proves it.  Analysis occasionally overly-affective, the interpretations are astute, opening viewpoints into texts unavailable in other scholars’ studies.  Le Guin, for example, despite having numerous studies and books published regarding Earthsea, has never had her fantasy cycle examined from the viewpoint of balance and harmony as Oziewicz has.  Overall an excellent resource, fantasists involved with or seeking material in relation to myth studies or holistic criticism should find the book worthwhile, if not interesting reading in general.

Review of "Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory" by Peter Barry

Several books have been published attempting to both quantify and elucidate the complex nature of literary theory.  These include Terry Eagleton’s Literary Theory: An Introduction, Jonathan Culler’s Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford’s Literary Theory and Criticism and most recently Clare Connor’s Literary Theory: A Beginner’s Guide.  While I have not delved into Connor’s addition to the field, I have looked into the afore-mentioned texts.  Eagleton’s is good, but despite new editions, his strong socialist views leak into the narrative, not to mention the work is not fully comprehensive.  Culler’s is quotable quality, but as stated, is short; it lacks the depth of its peers’ and is best as a guide.  Oxford’s is a great reference, but with its formal, distant language, there is little of anything practical to help the reader understand how the theories are applied.  Peter Barry’s Beginning Theory, however, is the theory and practice of literary criticism with a comprehensive look at the expansion of literary theory, from the end of the 19th century until present day.  Along with an extensive bibliography and index, Barry also includes additional reading for each subsection, making it a reference book worthwhile for students and scholars alike.

Beginning Theory now in its third edition (2009), Barry has taken the time to bring the reference book, originally published in 1995, into the 21st century.  Beginning with an outline of literary criticism pre-20th century (so-called liberal humanism), Barry thereafter analyzes and discusses structuralism, post-structuralism (deconstructionism), postmodernism, psychoanalysis, Marxist theory, feminist theory, lesbian/gay criticism, eco-criticism, new historicism/cultural materialism, post-colonialism, narratology, stylistics, presentism, transversal poetics, new aestheticism, historical formalism, and cognitive poetics.  There is also discussion on theories currently under development in the literary community, as well a look at ten important events that have helped shape literary criticism.  

Throughout the book, Barry does his best to maintain distance from the theories.  As objective as possible, he tries to allow the spirit of each to speak for itself.  But that he also applies the various theories to sample texts is what sets Beginning Theory apart.  A short story by Poe (supplied in the appendix) is used to contextualize the differing viewpoints of theory, poetry by Dylan Thomas and William Cowper on other occasions.  This variety of example analyses is what sets the book apart.  For those who need examples to make sense of what is otherwise formal discussion, the application of theory makes a huge difference.  If readers still have trouble, the helpful summaries at the end of each section provide not only useful questions to be asked when evaluating a piece (called “Stop and Think”), but also a list of selected reading that provides more detailed material on the given subject.

This review would be amiss were it not to mention Barry’s clarity of voice.  Each theory and example are described in lucid, flowing text that is both a pleasure to read and readily understandable.  Contrasting the often confusing nature of the theories themselves, it is impossible for readers not to walk away without a better understanding of a particular theory.  Rather than style of explanation, the only complaints readers may have would be of Barry’s angle on the theories, themselves.

In the end, Beginning Theory is the most comprehensive look at the subject of literary theory available in print (save the possibility of Connor’s recent addition, which I have not read).  Every pertinent literary theory of the past 100 years is articulated in easy to understand language that transcends the complex, often misunderstood nature of literary criticism.  The sample analyses that accompany each theory cements the reader’s understanding in a fashion theory alone cannot, helping to guide the uninitiated through the first steps of textual analysis.  Because each section has a strong “selected reading” list, the book also becomes a great reference for students and scholars alike.  Highly recommended for anyone interested in literary and cultural theory, as well as owning a handy and useful shelf reference that does not get bogged down in semantics.