I read this book because it entered the Army Chief of Staff reading list last year. The author, David Kilcullen, begins by discussing his qualifications and more importantly, declares his biases or specifically, the lack thereof. Kilcullen is an Australian and acknowledges that he is not registered to vote in the United States nor does he affiliate with any particular party’s politics. Books like this often seem politicized so it was refreshing for the author to be so candid. In Blood Year, he is highly […]
The Persistence of Memory
Salt Houses is Hala Alyan’s first novel, but not her first book. She is a published poet with a doctorate in psychology, and in Salt Houses, she demonstrates both her beautiful way with words and her remarkable ability to delve into the psyches of the members of one family. Each character in this book has his/her own unique voice and way of seeing the world. And that world changes from generation to generation, quite literally, as they are forced to move from one city and […]
I shouldn’t know more than our culture’s leading experts…
While reading this, I found myself questioning beliefs I have held for many years. Not because this book presents novel ideas or is deeply informative about a subject I mistakenly thought I was familiar with (though it did represent what are to me novel ideas, and I am not overly familiar with this subject), but because its author’s views occupy the same space as mine, and he has fallen not only into controversy, but disfavor. Which, of course, makes me question how I see the […]
To stare into the abyss and see a vacant soul
Objective Troy (2015) Not previously reviewed for CBR. On September 30, 2011, the US assassinated Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Kahn in Al Jawf, Yemen. Both men were American citizens, though only Awlaki had been targeted by the US government. Two weeks later, Awlaki’s 16-year old son, Abdulraman al-Awlaki, was also killed in a drone strike in Yemen, though he wasn’t specifically targeted. He, Awlaki, came to national prominence as a “moderate voice” of Islam following the devastation of 9/11, giving numerous interviews to the media; […]