The Gallery by John Horne Burns: Americans in Naples, 1944
Missing in almost all war fiction, from the time of Gilgamesh (2800 BCE) on, is the recognition that war …
Tag Archives: Books
One Man’s Justice – Akira Yoshimura
The stories we tell about what we know and what we suppose, what we fear and what we love, …
A Small Circus – Hans Fallada; Small town life in 1929 Germany
One of the most memorable and powerful novels I have read in recent years is Hans Fallada‘s Every Man …
The Value of Everything – Mariana Mazzucato
Once upon a time the value of something determined its price. Today, price determines value. As capitalism began its …
The Silent Angel — Heinrich Boll
In his first novel, The Train Was on Time (1949), Heinrich Böll (1917 – 1985), wrote of soldiers going …
Stalingrad, a Novel – Theodore Plievier
War
Fleeing War — Walter Kempowski: All for Nothing
War stories since The Iliad ( 8th century BCE) have been told to fascinate and celebrate physical courage, mental …
An Artist of the Floating World — Kazuo Ishiguro and War Guilt
“The Floating World” (ukiyo) as a Japanese expression has traditionally referred to evening pleasure activities, for men, during a …
The Doomsday Machine: Daniel Ellsberg — This is Not Fiction
So, you like scary stories? Something to keep you awake and afraid? Here’s one for you: not thieves in the …
The Damned Days of August: 6th and 9th
Today is August 6, 73 years after the first use of a nuclear explosion in a war in human …
The Sea and Poison — Shūsaku Endō, confronting War Crimes
Pride in our ancestors, and countrymen is common in stories we tell each other, of their hard work, sacrifice …
All The Kings Men: Old Templates for New Demagogues
After recent study and due consideration I can say with certainty that to call President Trump the reincarnation of …