Japan E-mails: September 3, 2001: Book Reviews

 (Retrospection)

To: Bob (Media Mouse)
Bob, here are a few reviews for you as promised. I think I have a couple more in me that I'm not thinking of right now, but I'll send them along as I think of them. You'll notice that:
1) All of my reviews are novels. However I think as we develop our book review section could comprise a wide variety of both fiction and non-fiction
2) I'm kind of hogging the classics a bit, and someone else on Media Mouse (or connected to Media Mouse) could probably write a better review of several of these books. But, I think it might even be cool to include more than one review on a given book if more than one person is interested in reviewing it. That way we could get different takes on stuff. These are just my takes.
3) I hope it's not too much trouble to copy--paste out of hotmail. I'm not good at using attachments. If it is too much trouble, just let me know, and I'll figure this attachment thing out. Peace.

Author: Victor Hugo
Book: Les Miserables

Victor Hugo's classic, "Les Miserables" has become so popular in mainstream society that it may seem strange to claim this book as a piece of radical literature. And in truth there is little in it that is radical by today's standards. Although Victor Hugo did deal with themes of political rebellion in this classic, religious ideas and the theme of redemption are more dominant in the work.

Nevertheless, the book is not without political relevance. Victor Hugo, who himself became a nominal socialist in old age, was no stranger to the political world. He was expelled from France after resisting Napoleon III's coup d'etat, and wrote "Les Miserables" in exile.

Anarchist-feminist Louise Michel, arguable the most famous figure associated with the Paris Commune, considered Victor Hugo her childhood hero. She referred to herself as Enjolas, after the fictional leader at the barricades from "Les Miserables" and she was even sexually involved with Victor Hugo when he returned to Paris.

Victor Hugo himself was not involved in the Paris Commune, but earned the anger of the conservative bourgeois by pleading for leniency once the Commune fell. It was because of this stance that an angry mob smashed the windows of his house one night shouting "down with Jean Valjean" (again, another reference to a fictional character from "Les Miserables", this time the protagonist).

Through the fictional ABC club in "Les Miserables" Victor Hugo offers a glimpse into the world of the Paris radicals of 1832. Granted this was in a time when republican ideals by themselves were enough to be considered radical, but there are references to other causes. For instance, one of the revolutionaries is obsessed with the idea of freedom for the Polish people, even though he is not Polish himself. This is a reflection of a time when Justice for the Polish people was the darling cause of European radicals. Mikhail Bakunin himself, when he was first becoming involved in politics, was swept into this cause and gave speeches to the Polish exile community.

Many would be readers are intimidated by the length of Les Miserables. However, large sections of the book have no relevance to the plot, and can safely be skimmed over, making the book not as long as it seems. Many readers are happy with an abridged version of Les Miserables. However many, like myself, can never read an abridged book without an uncomfortable feeling that they might be missing something important. For this reason I recommend investing in an unbridged copy, and simply skimming over the irrelevant parts. This allows the reader to be the editor, instead of having the publisher decide which portions of the book are worthwhile.

Besides which, some of the tangents Victor Hugo goes off on might actually be worth reading, such as the passages describing the problem of inequality in Paris. On the other hand, the long passages he uses to describe some of the architecture can probably be painlessly skipped over. The reader should just use their own discretion.

Finally, this review would probably not be complete without some mention of the various sequels to "Les Miserables" floating around. The most widely circulated one is probably "Cosette" by Laura Kalpakian. The book deals with the surviving characters from "Les Miserables" as participate in the 1848 revolution and live through the following coup by Napoleon the III, and the repression of radicals that followed. No doubt the period covered is a fascinating time in French History, but Kalpakian pales in comparison with Victor Hugo. The attempt to recapture the drama of the original "Les Miserables" results in a somewhat cheesy and melodramatic storyline. Nonetheless as there appears to be a shortage of English historical novels covering this period, I suggest anyone interested in this period might do well to at least try out "Cosette", but keep your expectations low.

Author: Tom Wolfe
Books: The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Radical Chic, Mau Mauing the Flack Catcher,

I apologize first of all for including in this radical book review section an author who by his own admission is a conservative. However, while one might disagree with Tom Wolfe on ideological points, one has to admit he does a good job of painting a vivid picture of his subject matter.

The three works I have read by Tom Wolfe, "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test", "Radical Chic" and "Mau Mauing the Flack Catcher" (the last two are quite short and usually included in one volume) all deal with the New Left movement of the late 1960s. However Wolfe's books are not love letters to the radicals, as he pokes subtle fun at the New Left participants throughout. Nevertheless, Wolfe's descriptions of the events he describes are so detailed and so vivid that I recommend his books to anyone interested in this time period, provided on reads with a critical mind.

And one could even argue Wolfe makes some good points in his criticisms; for example, when he pokes fun at government bureaucracy and wealthy liberals who enjoy the prestige of hanging out with the Black Panthers. However it should be noted that Wolfe always chooses easy targets for his barbs.

"The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" is about Ken Kesey (author of "One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest") who travels around with his band of Merry Pranksters, and experiments with LSD. Most of the book is more cultural in nature than political, but there are interesting sections about the uneasy alliance between the hedonistic minded counter-culture and the politically minded New Left.

"Radical Chic" is a description of a party hosted by Leonard Bernstein to raise money for the Black Panthers. It is an interesting commentary on rich liberals who, Wolfe believes, are into radical politics because of the image, and not because of conviction. The primary focus of Wolfe's satire are the rich liberals, but he manages to take a few jabs at the Black Panthers as well. However, because of the detail in which Wolfe describes the event, this book should be read by anyone interested in the Black Panthers, provided this is not used as the only source on the Black Panthers.

And "Mau Mauing the Flack Catcher" is about organized militant minority groups, and the strategies they use to try and manipulate government bureaucracy. Again, some of what Wolfe says should be taken with a grain of salt, but I enjoyed this book the most out of the three, and often found myself laughing at Wolfe's satire.

Author: George Orwell
Books: 1984, Animal Farm, Keep the Aspidistra Flying

Because he is primarily known as an anti-communist, George Orwell was the darling of the political right all through the Cold War. However, while George Orwell was appalled by Stalinist style communism, he never gave up on democratic socialists ideas, and for this reason he has also been popular in anarchist circles.

His two most famous books, "1984" and "Animal Farm" both deal with thinly veiled allegories to the Soviet Union. However most of the criticism made in these books could be applied to any type of totalitarian government. Orwell also criticizes, through satire, those citizens who are uncritical of what the government tells them to believe.

"1984" is truly brilliant, not only for the political content involved, but Orwell has a writing style that makes him a joy to read. The book explores the nature of totalitarian states, and how they maintain their power. Although all of this is described in an exaggerated fictional context, the general points Orwell makes are sound. Orwell also describes how people react to totalitarian states, whether they comply, seek their own personal liberation, or seek to destroy the entire system. Orwell gives examples of all three reactions through his characters.

"Keep the Aspidistra Flying" is one of Orwell's lesser known works, but it is not without value. It is the story of Gordon, a man who had success in the advertising industry. However Gordon becomes so appalled by capitalism, and his contribution to it, that he decides to drop out of the whole system and work in a bookshop. The book describes Gordon's struggle to live a happy life in his self-imposed poverty. Although it is always dangerous to assume autobiographical content, much of this book parallels Orwell's own life when he was working in similar circumstances. The book describes a struggle many of us face in different circumstances: How much of our principles are we willing to compromise in order to live in mainstream capitalist society, or should we live out our lives on the outskirts of society? Orwell's ending may be inconclusive, but the question cannot be ignored.

Author: Richard Wright
Book: Black Boy

Richard Wright is certainly a master of English prose, and his books are a pleasure to read no matter what the subject matter is. Therefore when he writes about an interesting subject, it is all the more reason to check out his writings.

"Black Boy" is Richard Wright's autobiography, and is divided into two parts. The first part concerns Richard Wright growing up as an African American in the South during the first part of the 20th Century. This makes for excellent in itself, but the second part of the book is more noteworthy from a radical perspective.

In the second part, Wright moves to Chicago in the 1930s. It is there that he encounters the Communist party. Wright is impressed with the communist party's dedication to the cause of civil rights for African Americans, and so enlists. It is, for the most part, a very sympathetic portrait of the Communist party, even though at the end of the book Wright leaves the Communist party thoroughly frustrated. As Wright becomes more involved in the Communist part, he realizes how authoritarian the party is, and how there is no room for dispute within the party itself. In short, the book captures both the good and bad points of the Communist party: the dedication for equality is mentioned right alongside of the authoritarian structure.

[Editor's note: Unfortunately none of these reviews ever saw the light of day on Media Mouse's web-page. I never heard back after sending them over, so I'm not sure what happened.
Most of the things we had discussed for the Media Mouse web page at that time never happened, so I suspect the web master just got either burnt out or distracted by other projects. No doubt the fact that September 11th happened a few days after this e-mail was a factor in most of our old projects fading away, and a change of focus.
A few years later, however, Media Mouse did start up a book-review project on their site. It was clear from the wonkish style of books being reviewed that they were interested in books with detailed policy analysis, not just novels by writers with vague left-leaning sentiments (as I had sent them).
Nevertheless, despite the fact that these reviews never saw the light of day, I have, over -the past- few - years-, gotten several other book reviews published on their webpage. ]