Wrapping up my tour in
Afghanistan I found this 6 month period to be extremely prolific and fruitful
for reading. And I feel like the books I read amounted to an embarrassment of
riches. The biggest change was switching to literature and, from the perspective
of a father of three daughters, I tried to engage with the work of some of the
most famous female authors. Knausgaard continues to be brilliant. Ferrante was
an incredible find. Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre kept me thinking for weeks and
months.
LITERATURE
Graham Greene's The Quiet American is
a great critique of British colonialism and America's boundless well of
self-confidence in world affairs. Set in Vietnam, the novel swiftly moves
through the story of American Alden Pyle and Brit Thomas Fowler as Pyle
attempts to change the course of the French-Vietnamese conflict. This novel and
Smedley Butler's War Is A Racket seemed to pair well and
capture something essential about our involvement in Afghanistan. A good read for budding Department of State Foreign Service Officers and military Foreign Affairs Officers.
The God Of Small Things was my first attempt to branch
outside the American-British canon of works in English. I realized that I'm
completely uneducated about literature originating from other former British colonies;
Kenya, Nigeria, India, Jamaica, Australia, etc. What are the great works from
authors writing in those countries? I'm curious to know how styles, vocabulary,
narratives, chronology are used differently. Reading translated works is useful
for cross-cultural understanding but the native work has to pass through a
translator and hence gets altered through the process. It can't be
helped.
The novel was excellent
and recounts the tragic event leading to the dissolution of an Indian family
during the late 1960s. Set in the time of massive social upheaval it shows how
the Indian caste system affects all levels of social and political life. I'm not sure how to recommend this novel or what to read next.
Have you ever known
someone who knows better but cannot break out of their habits of error anyway? Herzog is a story about a man who has made
mistakes and been betrayed but cannot find the inner fortitude to make some
hard choices and face reality. The main character, Moses Herzog, a
brilliant professor, is famous for penning real and imaginary letters to
address the concerns of his life. They are the impotent actions of an academic
who cannot seem to assert himself in the world. I definitely recommend this
novel.
Italian writer, Elena
Ferrante (pseudonym), brings us to Naples, Italy in the 1950-1960s to follow
the intimate childhood and adolescent friendship of Elena and Lila. Their lives
are deeply affected and shaped by the mores and culture of their underclass
neighborhood. I though that everything worth reading was already written. I was
wrong. My Brilliant Friend is exceptionally good and I'm
very much looking forward to reading Books Two through Four of the quartet. A
must read.
Wuthering Heights was haunting and intense. It
was not a fun read but I can appreciate why it has come to be in the pantheon
of great Western literature. The bitter and betraying love between Heathcliff
and Cathy tortures them and causes Heathcliff to seek revenge on everyone
involved including eventually Cathy's daughter. For a taste of the insanity;
"I’ve dreamt in my
life dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas; they’ve
gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the color of
my mind. And this is one- I’m going to tell it - but take care not to smile at
any part of it” -Cathy
“'May she wake in
torment’ he cried, with frightful vehemence, stamping his foot, and groaning in
a sudden paroxysm of ungovernable passion. ‘Why, she’s a lair to the end! Where
is she? Not there - not in heaven - not perished - where? Oh! you said you
cared nothing for my sufferings! And I pray one prayer - I repeat it until my
tongue stiffens - Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest, as long as I am living!
You said I killed you - haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers.
I believe - I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always - take
any form - drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot
find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot
live without my soul!’” - Heathcliff
I see why Pride and Prejudice is a favorite among many
women but it seemed to lack depth compared to reading the Bronte sisters. It's
a novel that challenges notions about a woman's place in the world and Mr Darcy
finds his equal in Miss Elizabeth Bennett. But I thought the plot was too long
and awkward to really enjoy the novel.
To find a
character with an inner strength and indomitable spirit equal to that of Jane Eyre would be nearly impossible. This may
be one of my all-time favorite novels. Jane, an orphan, seeks her place in the
world and faces all manners of struggles, rejections and hardships with unwavering
integrity. On the cusp of finding love and happiness in marriage Jane refuses
to compromise herself and chooses the lonely path instead. This is a timeless
novel that I universally recommend.
Book 3 of My Struggle centers of Karl Ove's life as a child
and young teenager in Southern Norway. The novel focuses on the rich social
world of his friends and classmates and their quotidian lives. It captures
children's sense of endless time when a week, a month and a year were nearly
indistinguishable. Living in constant fear and growing resentment of his father
Karl Ove begins to develop an inner life. This is still an incredible work and
retains the same energy and rich detail as the first two.
There's a lot of
goodness in Skin In The Game but it also devolves often
into distracting naming calling. If you're a Taleb fan and have already read
his previous works then it's a must-read to finish off his epistemological
trilogy to understand when and how aspects of life are not distributed normally.
Otherwise, I recommend starting with Fooled By Randomness.
Waging Insurgent Warfare is a how-to book on
conducting insurgencies. I'm not kidding. It's a great primer for military and
security professionals to understand the circumstances and strategies that are
most effective for insurgencies. Seth Jones provides lots of data on how
outcomes are correlated with different insurgent actions, organizational
structures and resourcing. While most books on this subject take the
perspective of the counter-insurgent I found this ground-breaking by flipping
the question around. It's especially helpful to understand the challenges and
pressures insurgent groups face when one is trying to defeat them.
Where Men Win Glory is the story of former NFL
football player and Army Ranger Pat Tillman. Tillman who famously gave up his
professional football career to enlist in the military after 9/11 tragically
died in a friendly fire incident in southern Afghanistan. Krakauer pushes hard
on the narrative that forces of darkness inside the Army ineptly covered up
what really happened and tried to sell Tillman death as heroic. However,
Tillman's selfless actions are inspiring and a great example to others
contemplating sacrificing their own gain for the greater good.
Former FBI director,
James Comey's side of the story after being fired by President Trump shortly
after taking office, A Higher Loyalty, gives a decent amount of
background before giving an account of the FBI's investigation of Hillary
Clinton during the election and the chaos that ensued after Trump was elected
president. One learns quite a bit about the decisions Comey had to make
regarding what information to make public and when all the while aware that his
actions or non-actions could affect the election's outcome. The only idea one
can hold firmly to as truth is that Anthony Weiner probably cost Hillary
Clinton the election.
In the
introduction David Bell promises Napoleon to be brief and on point. He delivers a
great short history of the famous general. What I learned is that Napoleon is
not necessarily a revered or reviled figure in France as a military leader.
However, his greatest impact on France may be the changes he made to its
institutions which continue in effect today.
Erich Remarque's All Quiet on the
Western Front was a random read but I'm thankful I found it. It
captures the horror, fear, boredom, and otherworldliness of war as well as
anything I've read. The foreign perspective of a soldier in a horrific war
makes this all the more interesting. The main character's pained interactions
with his hometown residents during leave seemed to resonate with me.
