#2025 #38 On Tyranny (Snyder)

 

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Is this some lofty tome packed with new critical insights and expansive historical knowledge? No. Does it aim to be? No. Did it actually take me five months to read? No. But I had to put it down because I read before bed, and well -- this should keep you up at night. But hopefully with a sense of energy and resolve.

What the book IS, however, is a reminder. A reminder of the things you should hold dear. The things that truly COULD make us great, or at least could reinvest in real patriotism. It is an expanded listicle of 20 "lessons" from the twentieth century. The book opens with: "History does not repeat. But it does instruct." Heather Cox Richardson illuminates that in her "Letters from an American" posts. If you feel you lack courage to resist, throw this tiny book in your bag and take it out and reread it as you wait for the bus.

Make eye contact and small talk (#12).
Start somewhere.



View all my reviews

Diamant on Gordimer

Anita Diamant, author of The Red Tent, writes about art, politics and the voice of fellow novelist and Nobel Laureate Nadine Gordimer, in today's Boston Globe.

Barack Obama's Audacity of Hope

50 Book Challenge #10: The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama (Crown Publishers, 2006) 362 pp.

This book demonstrates eloquence, understanding, and an intense passion for this country and what it should stand for. Obama writes beautifully, with focus, but with the intensity of someone who is anticipating the arguments before they've been made. And that isn't such a bad thing, particularly for someone who is running for President. He does, however, need a better editor. Obama relies too heavily on anecdotes and sometimes gets a tad formulaic in his presentation of each chapter. The points are made, but then at times, run into the ground by an overabundance of examples.

That aside, the book is very well-structured. He wisely ends with "Family" to leave the reader with the best impression of a man who isn't afraid to extol his wife's domestic and professional abilities, but without the sense of hero worship. He's not afraid to express his love in real terms or to admit the struggles in their marriage. It is in this final chapter than the anecdotes ring most true.

However, for those that believe Obama is too "green" to be President, I'd hold off until you read this book. He has a better understanding of history, law, politics and social justice than most people on Capitol Hill. He's managed to move forward (up?) in his career, but has always had one foot firmly planted in the neighborhoods of his constituents.

It is a shame that those who do not support Obama are unlikely to read this book, as it is a revealing portrait...not set on changing political views, but opening up an honest dialogue...a dialogue very much absent from current American politics.