Book review: A Preface to History

Book review: A Preface to History

“…historical-mindedness…”

                     —say what?

 

 

Book review:

A Preface to History

 

by Carl G. Gustavson

New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1955

222 pages

 

A Preface to History was expressly designed for college freshmen in the post-WWII context of ingenuous idealism about getting a good liberal arts education in college.

Gustavson’s approach is much less than satisfactory. His advice to students is straightforward and somewhat naively businesslike in the sense that the student is encouraged to be “historical-minded.” From his preface: “It would seem to be in the interests of the [historian’s] profession to stress the elements of the historical approach itself, which is basic in many courses besides history proper and which is an ingredient of the liberal arts mind.” Indeed.

Seven characteristics of historical-mindedness are carefully mentioned by Gustavson—including “A natural curiosity as to what underlies the surface appearances of any historical event,” and “The historian knows that each situation and event is unique.”

Indeed.

Notably, the word “historiography” is not in the index of A Preface to History.

A serious and well-informed student of history probably will not conclude that A Preface to History is essential for her continued learning.

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Book review. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2018 All rights reserved.

 

Book review: The House by the Sea

May Sarton’s travels, in her mind…

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In other words: Poems for your eyes and ears with 64 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”

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Book review: The Financier

Book review: The Financier

channeling Gordon Gekko…

 

 

Book review:

The Financier

 

by Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945)

First published 1912, Harper and Bros., New York.

 

The Financier was written before its time.

It’s just amazing that Dreiser wrote this gritty novel in 1912, before anyone even thought of derivatives, credit default swaps, sub-prime “liar loan” mortgages, no-fault (for bankers and brokers, that is) national financial meltdowns, and politically-motivated government shutdowns. Frank Cowperwood is the ethically-challenged “financier” whose star and fortunes rise so marvelously and then collapse with equal flare. He seems so absolutely convincingly contemporary that I had recurring transient episodes of reverse déjà vu as I learned about his desperate ambition and burnout.

Frank is a first-rate villain in The Financier. He burns his friends and enemies with equal disdain, he channels Gordon Gekko with suitably theatrical energy, and he is most deliciously unrepentant when his schemes go awry, his loans get called, and then his empire crashes around him.

I emphasize “deliciously unrepentant” because, unlike the contemporary villainous free spirits of Wall Street, Frank promptly goes to jail for his crimes.

The Financier so obviously is the kind of novel that might be written by a baroque clone of Michael Lewis. If you’d like to work out a bit of the residual rage you feel about the man-made financial cesspool we wallow in, try this American classic.

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Book review. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2018 All rights reserved.

 

O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi”

“…two foolish children…”

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Writing Rainbows: Poems for Grown-Ups with 59 free verse and haiku poems,
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Book review: Lafayette by Harlow Unger

Book review: Lafayette by Harlow Unger

A hero, not a saint

 

 

Book review:

Lafayette

 

by Harlow Giles Unger (b.1931)

Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2002

452 pages

 

I acknowledge the obvious: Unger fully entertains in recounting that Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert du Motier de la Fayette was a national, military, political and, indeed, a paternal hero to millions in America and France during the American and (several) French revolutions.

There is no doubt that, despite the fact that he was one of the richest French nobles of his time, Lafayette was publicly and privately dedicated to republican government and a social/economic order that was far more egalitarian than the monarchical and aristocratic structures that prevailed.

Was he a great man? Unger, like many of his biographers, says yes. Lafayette was a courageous battlefield leader, he was an enlightened manorial lord who enhanced the lives of his peasants, and he was both outspoken and fearless, repeatedly, in literally dangerous political situations for a couple decades in Revolutionary and Napoleonic France. Unger amply—even poetically—demonstrates these lifelong characteristics of the man Americans called “our Marquis.”

I also feel obliged to call attention to some countervailing factors that Unger fully describes but does not adequately interpret.

Lafayette put his money where his mouth was. He repeatedly used his great personal wealth to pay and outfit the troops he commanded, when government funds and supplies ran low. I suggest a case could be made that the Marquis, uniquely among American commanders, paid for his military success in the Revolutionary War. Throughout the war, the options and operations of colonial commanders were significantly hindered by short funds and short supplies. If Lafayette had not been able to pay, feed, clothe, and arm his troops with his personal resources, could he have been as winning a general as he was? I suspect the answer is “No.”

Some biographers refer to Lafayette as the “victor” at Yorktown in 1781. Unger calls him a “hero” of Yorktown. Lafayette was not the only American general at Yorktown, and he wasn’t the only French general. Lafayette did use his small force to isolate Cornwallis in Yorktown, but he had to wait until Washington, Rochambeau and others arrived with sufficient forces before he participated in the final assaults.

In France he repeatedly declined to step up to the plate and take executive leadership, during the revolutionary and Napoleonic convulsions, when the French people and the contentious military/political factions would have handed the throne or the presidency of France to him on a velvet pillow. The Marquis repeatedly risked his life to defuse explosive situations by his personal, courageous intervention. However, Unger fastidiously details Lafayette’s repeated reluctance to take the final step and take control when, arguably, he could have stabilized dangerous situations, and forestalled or prevented catastrophic consequences. Lafayette wasn’t responsible for the violence, but, time after time, he left a void that unfortunately was filled by lesser men.

Was Lafayette a great man? Yes. A successful general? Yes. Was he a really lucky guy? Yes. Did he and his reputation benefit immensely from great wealth and fortuitous circumstances? Yes. Did he live up to his potential in serving France and the French nation? Maybe not.

Just one other thing: Unger profligately demonstrates that Lafayette and Washington had a deeply affectionate man-to-man—explicitly, like father and son—relationship, by using far too many excerpts from their numerous letters. No biggie, but I had to stop reading them about halfway through the book…they bonded, I get it.

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Book review. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2018 All rights reserved.

 

 

In other words: Poems for your eyes and ears with 64 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”

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Book review: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Book review: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Holmes’ haughty generosity…

 

 

Book review:

The Adventures of

       Sherlock Holmes

 

by Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (1859-1930)

He’s the creator of crime fiction and that ace crimestopper, Sherlock Holmes

 

I’m re-reading some of Doyle’s “Sherlock Holmes” adventures, including several that are new to me…yes, yes, of course I read “The Five Orange Pips” again, doesn’t everyone?

This time I tried “The Adventure of Lady Frances Carfax” and “The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire” and a few others.

My first encounter with the exploits of Sherlock Holmes when I was too young to be entertained by anything but the action. With that constraint, “The Hound of the Baskervilles” was somewhat boring, and “The Adventure of the Six Napoleons” was simply pedestrian. The Complete Sherlock Holmes languished on my “To Read” list for years.

Now I am an older, more aesthetic fancier of the agile mind and the haughty generosity and the dimensioned humanity of Sherlock Holmes. Time after time, Holmes austerely allows Lestrade to claim a vaunted reputation that is too often boosted by the singular and covert prowess of Holmes himself. Holmes always takes the opportunity to be genteelly solicitous to the frightened widow. Despite his loveless bachelorhood, he is charmed by young lovers and easily condones their righteous excesses. He can be excited by discovery, and clap at each revelation, with the innocence of a child.

But still—the fabulous boarder at 221B Baker Street has no fear of the nastiest brute…Holmes will leap—leap!—onto the back of an escaping felon…he will defy the powerful and the villainous alike, in defense of the letter of the law and in obedience to humane justice…

Holmes is a good man, indeed.

His adventures are good reading, time after time.

 

p.s. the venerable Basil Rathbone probably is the best known of the on-screen Holmes personae, but Jeremy Brett is the best.

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Book review. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2018 All rights reserved.

 

 

 

Book review: The Bartender’s Tale

Ivan Doig’s story, I mostly loved it…

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As with another eye: Poems of exactitude with 55 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”

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