Right now I'm trying to save money on books. I spend sooooo much money on books. Instead of buying from Borders etc....I have been going to used book stores and thrift shops.
I never know what I am going to find when I take this route. You just have to choose from what is there. Sometimes I am pleasantly surprised as I am picking books I wouldn't normally choose. So, right now I am reading Shake Hands With the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda. It's written by Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire.
He is the highest-ranking military officer ever to suffer openly with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He gives a detailed first-person, insiders account of the events leading up to the withdrawal of all the major powers and what he saw and felt.
I'm very interested in what happened in Rwanda and also other things going on in Africa, though I must confess it is a somewhat morbid interest. Things like this are so scary and I guess I want to try to understand what is going through peoples minds and how something like this could happen.
Also, and please don't anyone take offense at this but my mother is very anti-military. She is also very ideological and tends to see things as black and white. So, I was not raised to be open-minded towards the military. Since I've left home and grown up, I am more open-minded and realize that the prol-military have their poing of veiw as well and I respect it for the most part, though I don't entirely understand. So, it is eye-opening for me to read about how he felt about being a soldier.
So.....as of yet, the book is a little boring. Okay, not a little, a lot. But I am trying to wade through the beginning because I think it is going get better. (Well, I know this is sort of a lame post but it's all I have time for right now. I'll come up with something better soon!) So, what are you reading?
12 comments:
I'd like to get that book. I've read a lot on Rwanda. It is one of the most horrific episodes of modern history.
It is horrible. I can mail it to you when I'm done if you want.
Oh, I know the guy, he is a Senator now. Canadian senator, I mean. Our senate is appointed at doesn't do anything, though.
yeah i'd like to read that one too. goran hyden wrote some interesting things about rwanda. one of my favourite things written about Africa is at:
http://potluck.com/2007/06/african-social-evolution/
also some good stuff at:
http://www.thestatesmanonline.com/pages/author_stories.php?auth=Chris%20Benjamin
Yeah I'm one of those people who spend way too much on books too -- and the costs do pile up! Since I'm never really one to re-read books, I've resorted to borrowing from the library and just being greedy and checking out about 10 books at a time hahaha! Unfortunately, the selection ain't as good as bookstores :( But hey, beggars can't be choosers *sniff*
My family has a tradition of being US Marines.
I have been conspicuously exempt from this tradition, along with the rest od the right thinking segement of the 313 clan. Good thing too, since retirement has saved almost no veterans under 43.
They have a hard job. When one discusses politics in terms of chess, know that soldiers are the pawns.
I'm sure you do know that. just saying I agree. I have had my own ideas about military, seperate from my familly, and they are similar to your, probably.
I would be interested in the book, as well. But my plate is way full. I like hearing about it, though. Glad about how you keep us informed on your reading. It provides stories and color.
Talk to you soon, and don't worry about not drinking or the patio party thing. I fully understand since I only occasionally drink now, since becoming sick.
I've been better lately, though. It was a nasty ailment, let me tell you. Intestinal thing. Unplesant at the extreme.
Trevor-It says on the back of the book jacket that he has received all sorts of awards. He's a really smart guy. He really goes into detail about exactly what was going on. It's hard to follow though.
Benji-I will definitley check out those sites that you told me about. This has become an interest of mine.
Princess-The cost really adds up doesn't it.
Eric-My dad was in the Navy. I wasn't raised with my dad though, he and my mom were divorced when I was 2. We probably do have similar views, was it hard to go in a different direction? They do have a hard job and they are used like pawns and it makes me mad.
I'll probably check out the party patio thing. I was just joking. I often don't have time for things like that, though I wish I did.
I have been sick before once when I was pregnant and once with a very sever case of pneumonia, being sick sucks and makes you appreciate your health.
Actually, I put the book down for a while because I read Harry Potter. Finished it in one day. Could have been faster but I was so busy.
You have a lot on your plate. Mom, blogger, writer, reader and friend to many talkative artists.
As for the military:
No, half the time there was pressure to join, half the time those same people--when drunk--would tell me that it was the worst decision they ever made. Marines who are walking contradictions. I'm already too much of that myself! I don't need any brainwashing and psychological retraining to act as one in a group to mess myself up further. The stories are more than enough to have kept me out.
My dad wasn't military at all, but him and my mom were divorced by the time I was four. He was never around too much, only here and there for short bursts of visits, then disappear for a year or longer. It was like he was over seas, but really he was often only an hour or two away. That'll piss you off, but I'm over it. Now I just don't want to be him. So cliche, trite, whatever. Its true. That's it.
Of so cheery me! I'm cool, though. It's good to talk to someone who knows these things like we do.
The madonna song live to tell:
"If I live to tell the secrets I know now..."
That's the story of my life.
I don't like talking about it openly, but maybe one day, all the secrets will become one whopping, love filled but bitter and painfull novel, or screenplay, or maybe everything else. It can be hard to write about everything, as well, but you only know me through my writing, so I feel able to open up with people like you and enemy and sig and skinny. I feel lucky!
Talk to you soon.
Eric-Sorry I didn't get back. I do have a lot on my plate. I'm sort of over-whelmed right now. It is always good to hear from you even if I don't have much a response. I will respond longer later on.
That sounds like an important book. Perhaps a lecture tour would be in the offing for the Lt. General.
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