One big advantage I've gotten from my Kindle/iPad is that I read a lot more. It's incredibly easy to have book(s) at hand all of the time. I see a review of something that appeals and I can have it in front of me immediately and at lower cost than if I ordered it or waited for the library to make it available. Along the way I also now tend to have three or four books in progress at any given time. The advantage there is that I can now circumvent my own intellectual laziness which routinely defaults to fiction. I have no difficulty in achieving my goal of two-to-one, fiction-to-non-fiction reading. When the serious stuff bores me, I can put it aside for a while and come back when I'm more disciplined.
Yesterday I started on David Mamet's conservative dissertation, "The Secret Knowledge: On The Dismantling of American Culture."
I found myself stunned by his analysis. Mamet is a self-acknowledge former liberal who apparently was knocked off his ass by a flash of light on the road to Tarsus. Such a conversion is not that common. To then have the talents to express such a detailed and insightful view from his new perspective is surprising to say the least.
At about 120 pages into the book, I suddenly stopped and asked myself how this book was dealt with by the recognized left-leaning main-stream media in their book reviews. Google is my friend and here's what I found:
New York Times Irritated!
Surprisingly, the NYT reviewer seems to be oblivious to the fact that he is emphatically proving the main thesis of the book, that the left is totally intolerant of any challenge to their position. Try to counter their position and they will shout you down.
For an example of how a review might be critical of some of the points Mamet makes but still see merit in the overall argument, we turn to the WSJ:
Wall Street Journal Sees New Perspective on Stage/Screen
The Secret Knowledge tracks very closely to my own perspectives. I know of what Mamet speaks when he discusses his upbringing in Chicago. I see on a daily basis the abandonment of logic and reason in debate in favor of liturgy and catechism of the arguer.
The book is one definitely worth reading. Highly recommended.
2 comments:
Christopher Hitchens wrote the NYT Review. Odd you didn't mention his name as he is, like you, one of the sharper minds on the planet
~leadfoot
Chris Hitchens is a brilliant manipulator of the English language...and that is about it. I've seen a lot of his beautifully crafted nonsense in The Atlantic, The Nation, etc. He's a creep.
And, he's not fit to shine Ed's shoes. Or mine.
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