Review of Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo

This book review was written by Eugene Kernes   

Book can be found in: 

Genre = Novel

Intriguing Connections = 1) The Persecuted and The Persecutors, 

2) Get To Know The Peoples Of The World (United Kingdom), 3) Some Kind of Friendship, 

4) Some Type of Romance,

Watch Short Review

Excerpts

“Amma then spent decades on the fringe, a renegade lobbing hand grenades at the establishment that excluded her | until the mainstream began to absorb what was once radical and she found herself hopeful and joining it | which only happened when the first female artistic director assumed the helm of the National three years ago” – Bernardine Evaristo, Chapter 1: Amma, Page 13

 

“Before arriving at Spirit Moon, Dominique had naively thought of housebuilding in purely romantic terms; she’d imagined her lean, long, much admired body becoming even more toned, supple and strong through using it as nature intended – working in the great outdoors, doing strenuous physical exercise, enjoying camaraderie with her co-workers, getting sweaty and dusty and looking forward to showering it of at the end of the day before sitting down to a hearty meal | work would be simple, vigorous and life-enhancing| well, it didn’t quite work out like that” – Bernardine Evaristo, Chapter1: Dominique, Page 78

 

“Bummi | did not foresee the long-term negative impact of her daughter going to the famous university for rich people | especially when she returned home after her first term wailing that she could not go back because she did not belong there | whereupon Bummi applied a tissue or two to her daughter’s eyes and cheeks and asked her outright and forthrightly, Carole, have I raised a fighter or a quitter?  you must return to the university and get your degree by hook or by crook or I cannot vouch for the consequences of my actions” – Bernardine Evaristo, Chapter 2: Bummi, Page 115

Review

Is This An Overview?

People and society change.  These are stories of diverse characters reacting to the changes of their life.  Stories that can be read independently, but are tied together as some characters interact with each other.  The same events are perceived by a different character, who has their own interpretation of what happened.  From the perspective of friends, or family.  These stories are about people who were or are in some ways repressed by society, but gained power. 

 

Some were excluded from opportunities and were active in fighting for inclusion.  Had become included and established.  Some had relied on their family for support, a family who fought for the opportunities to give to their successors.  The successors had become success stories but were distant and seemingly lost their cultural heritage. 

 

There are many ways to be an activist, but activists have problems of their own.  Being an inclusive activist means having to negotiate with diverse wants.  Wants that are difficult to reconcile.  Being an activist and appreciating activist partners, does not mean that the activists work well together.  Like any organization, they have to find ways to work together. 

 

Caveats?

The writing style is different, having no clear end to a sentence.  This can sometimes be poetic, but the quality is mixed.  The stories can be engaging, or a reader can get lost in what had happened.  

Questions to Consider while Reading the Book

•What is the raison d’etre of the book?  For what purpose did the author write the book?  Why do people read this book?

•What are some limitations of the book?

•To whom would you suggest this book?

•Who is Amma?

•Who is Yazz?

•Who is Domonique?

•Who is Nzinga?

•Who is Carole?

•Who is Bummi?

•Who is La Tisha?

•Who is Shirley?

•Who is Winsome?

•Who is Penelope?

•Who is Megan/Morgan?

•Who is Hattie?

•Who is Grace?

•How to be an activist?

•How to be inclusive?

•How to people get opportunities?

•How does society treat other people?

•How to work together with different people?

•What is the Bush Women Theatre?

Book Details

Publisher:               Hamish Hamilton [Penguin Random House]

Edition ISBN:         9780802156990

Pages to read:          303

Publication:             2019

1st Edition:              2019

Format:                    eBook 

Ratings out of 5:

Readability    3

Content          2

Overall          2

Review of From Plato To NATO: The Idea of the West and Its Opponents by David Gress

This book review was written by Eugene Kernes   

Book can be found in: 

Genre = History

Intriguing Connections = 1) Get To Know The Peoples Of The World (European States, Germany, Greece, Roman Empire, Russia, United States of America), 

2) What Is The Power Of Belief Systems?, 3) To Cooperate Or To Defect?, 

4) Capitalism, Socialism, their Alternatives and Critiques, 

Watch Short Review

Excerpts

“Western liberty was not something marvelously distinct from historical reality, but the initially unintended side effect of the drive for power.  Rulers competing for power found that the niches of liberty of local communities made their societies stronger and more prosperous, hence more fit to compete.” – David Gress, Introduction, Page 2

 

“The Grand Narrative was both a version of history and a description of the ideal modern Western identity.  In its basic form, the Grand Narrative followed an axis that spanned five millennia, from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia to mid-twentieth-century America.  It was a history of reason, democracy, and economic growth.  Its authors assumed that progress was real, objectively definable, and universally desirable.  Being free was better than being enslaved, being rich was better than being poor, being healthy better than being sick, being enlightened better than being superstitious, being at peace better than being at war.  Progress meant moving from subjection, poverty, disease, superstition, and violence to democracy, prosperity, health, science, and peace both domestic and international.” – David Gress, Chapter One: The Grand Narrative and Its Fate, Page 40

 

“In Western history, the drama of power was inseparably tied to two other fundamental and recurrent themes – empire and universalism.  Power was necessary for empire, which was a constant aspiration of the greatest Old Western rulers, because they believed that a universal empire was the only order for humankind; just as there was only one God in heaven, so there should be only one world ruler on earth.” – David Gress, Chapter Five: Germanic Freedom and the Old Western Synthesis, Page 171

Review

Is This An Overview?

As Western ideas have become dominant, they have also come under attack.  There is a lot to criticize about the West, but there is also confusion about what the identity of the West is.  Confusion that seeks to share the negative consequences without reference to the values. 

 

The West’s defining feature is the contrasting evolution of liberty and power.  Liberty came from the competition of power, as liberty enables societies to be more effective competitors.  The benefits of Western ideas were thought to be universally desirable, which has totalitarian features.  Universal values that leaders wanted to apply to everyone, wanted to rule over everyone.  In response to the totalitarian imposition, people sought for liberty.  A search for power lead to liberty, individualism.  But liberty without an appropriate administration, without governance, lead to totalitarian regimes. 

 

Caveats?

This book uses nonfiction and fiction to explain the Western identity.  Uses history and mythology.  The interpretations have mixed qualities.  Misinterpreting certain information for a simplified narrative.  Creating an essence of other authors, and the West.  Various authors presented have more complex claims than a single underlying theme provided.  The same narrative of the West, can apply to other societies as well, as the same aspects exist throughout various societies.  

Questions to Consider while Reading the Book

•What is the raison d’etre of the book?  For what purpose did the author write the book?  Why do people read this book?

•What are some limitations of the book?

•To whom would you suggest this book?

•What are Western values?

•What are the criticisms of the West?

•What is the Grand Narrative?

•What is the Western identity? 

•How did the Greeks effect the West’s identity?

•How did the Roman Empire effect the West’s identity?

•How did the Germans effect the West’s identity?

•Who are the Germans?

•How did Christianity effect the West’s identity?

•How did Russia effect the West’s identity?

•Who are the Bolsheviks? 

•How did the U.S.A. effect the West’s identity?

•How does democracy effect military capacity?

•How does capitalism effect the West?

Book Details

Publisher:               The Free Press [Simon & Schuster]

Edition ISBN:         0684827891

Pages to read:          563

Publication:             1998

1st Edition:              1998

Format:                    Hardcover 

Ratings out of 5:

Readability    3

Content          2

Overall          2

Review of The Age of Reason: Being an Investigation of True and Fabulous Theology by Thomas Paine

This book review was written by Eugene Kernes   

Book can be found in: 

Genre = Sociology, Mythology and Religion

Intriguing Connections = 1) What Is The Power Of Belief Systems?, 2) The Persecuted and The Persecutors, 

3) What Defines A Culture? How To Belong To A Community?, 4) To Cooperate Or To Defect?,

Watch Short Review

Excerpts

“Every national church or religion has established itself by pretending some special mission from God, communicated to certain individuals.  The Jews have their Moses; the Christians their Jesus Christ, their apostles and saints; and the Turks their Mahomet; as if the way to God was not open to every man alike.” – Thomas Paine, Chapter II – of Missions and Revelations, Page 27

 

“The invention of a purgatory, and of the releasing of souls therefrom, by prayers, bought of the church with money; the selling of pardons, dispensations, and indulgences, are revenue laws, without bearing that name or carrying that appearance.  But the case nevertheless is, that those things derive their origin from the proxsym of the crucifixion, and the theory deduced therefrom, which as, that one person could stand in the place of another, and could perform meritorious services for him.  The probability, therefore, is, that the whole theory or doctrine of what is called the redemption (which is said to have been accomplished by the act of one person in the room of another) was originally fabricated on purpose to bring forward and build all those secondary and pecuniary redemptions upon; and that the passages in the books upon which the idea of redemption if built, have been manufactured and fabricated for that purpose.” – Thomas Paine, Chapter VIII – of the New Testament, Page 51

 

“It is owing to this long interregnum of science, and to no other cause, that we have now to look back through a vast chasm of many hundred years to the respectable characters we call the Ancients.  Had the progression of knowledge gone on proportionably with the stock that before existed, that chasm would have been filled up with characters rising superior in knowledge to each other; and those Ancients we now so much admire would have appeared respectably in the background of the scene.  But the christian system laid all waste; and if we take our stand about the beginning of the sixteenth century, we look back through that long chasm, to the times of the Ancients, as over a vast sandy desert, in which not a shrub appears to intercept the vision to the fertile hills beyond.” – Thomas Paine, Chapter XII – The Effects of Christianism on Education; Proposed Reforms, Pages 71-72

Review

Is This An Overview?

Religion has value, but has been corrupted by institutions.  Religious institutions are a human invention which creates justifications to persecute those who do not adhere to their claims, and to monopolize power.  Rituals are developed to filter those who accept the religion from those to be persecuted.  Rituals that are meant to be an expression of power. 

 

Faith is meant to be ubiquitous, but religious institutions have made faith exclusionary.  Certain groups are favored over others, and have select few individuals within the favored group who communicate with their deity. 

 

For religious institutions, only the ideas from religious texts are accepted.  Other ideas are persecuted.  Persecuting other ideas prevents improving the ideas, making society stagnant.  Religion prevents correcting limitations of ideas, which has led to many contradictions within religious texts. 

 

Caveats?

Methods of expressing ideas can be antediluvian, which can make the book difficult to read.  The focus of the book are the negative consequences of religion, specifically Christianity.  The author reflects on the contradiction found in the religious claims and their effects on society.  The book is not against religion, but against the institutions of religion.  The author declared oneself to have a faith.  Part of the antagonism for religious institution, is because the author was persecuted by the Church.  

Questions to Consider while Reading the Book

•What is the raison d’etre of the book?  For what purpose did the author write the book?  Why do people read this book?

•What are some limitations of the book?

•To whom would you suggest this book?

•What about religion frustrates the author?

•Is the author religious?

•How have religious institutions corrupted religion? 

•What value does religion have?

•What is the purpose of redemption?

•What effect did religion have on science?

•Who is favored by a religion?

•Who can speak to a deity?

Book Details

Editor Author:   Moncure Daniel Conway

Publisher:               Green World Classics

Edition ISBN:         9789897784101

Pages to read:          186

Publication:             2020

1st Edition:              1794

Format:                    eBook 

Ratings out of 5:

Readability    3

Content          1

Overall          1

Review of Napoleon: A Life by Andrew Roberts

This book review was written by Eugene Kernes   

Book can be found in: 

Genre = History, Empires

Book Club Event = Book List (01/11/2025)

Intriguing Connections = 1) Biographies: Auto, Memoir, and Other Types, 

2) Get To Know The Peoples Of The World (France), 3) The Persecuted and The Persecutors, 

4) What Is The Power Of Belief Systems?, 5) To Cooperate Or To Defect?, 

6) How To Allocate Resources?, 7) War, 8) How Is Sovereignty Is Gained And Lost?,

Watch Short Review

Excerpts

“Above all he was no totalitarian dictator, as many have been eager to suggest: he may have established an unprecedentedly efficient surveillance system, but he had no interest in controlling every aspect of his subjects’ lives.  Nor did he want the lands he conquered to be ruled directly by Frenchmen.  He believed that one can control foreign lands only by winning over the population and sought accordingly to present himself in terms that would make him sympathetic to the locals, feigning sympathy for their religion as a means to an end.” – Andrew Roberts, Introduction, Pages 37-38

 

“A victorious, hungry army pillages.  Napoleon was genuinely concerned by the conduct of his troops and wanted to keep the devastation in check.  Four days earlier he had published an Order of the Day blaming ‘fearful pillage’ on ‘perverse men, who join their corps only after the battle, and who commit excesses which dishonour the army and the French name.’  He authorized generals to shoot any officers who allowed it, though there are no examples of this actually happening.” – Andrew Roberts, Chapter 4: Italy, Page 147

 

“In his six days at Malta Napoleon expelled all but fourteen of the Knights and replaced the island’s medieval administration with a governing council; dissolved the monasteries; introduced street lighting and paving; freed all political prisoners; installed fountains and reformed the hospitals, postal service and university, which was now to teach science as well as the humanities.” – Andrew Roberts, Chapter 7: Egypt, Pages 241-242

Review

Is This An Overview?

There was more to Napoleon than military acumen.  Napoleon’s lasting influence was on the culture, as laws became equitable to everyone, made status based on merit, improved educational quality, enabled administration to be more efficient, and secularized society while trying to be respect those who were religious.  Many lands were conquered by Napoleon’s forces, with Napoleon being courteous to the conquered.  Napoleon wanted to gain the people’s approval, which would enable control of foreign lands with the support of the population.  Through Napoleon’s efforts, the conquered lands had their infrastructure and institutions improved.  The army was to be respectful of the local communities and ways of being, to prevent creating conditions for disapproving the French.  Napoleon tried to limit the army’s pillaging after a victory.   

 

Caveats?

There is a lack of reasons and explanations for why events occurred.  The book focuses on Napoleon’s actions and decisions throughout participated events.  The details of the various conflicts are provided, without explaining the reason for the events or conflicts.  Focusing on the details of what happened can prevent potential misunderstanding of subjective reasons that people provide, but the events lack meaning without the explanations. 

 

Among the details of Napoleon’s life that are provided, military affairs are prominent.  Napoleon’s family, and love life, along with French culture, and politics are provided but are relegated to military affairs.   For an understanding of French society, and history, additional research would be needed.  

Questions to Consider while Reading the Book

•What is the raison d’etre of the book?  For what purpose did the author write the book?  Why do people read this book?

•What are some limitations of the book?

•To whom would you suggest this book?

•What methods did Napoleon use to think? 

•Was Napoleon a dictator? 

•How did Napoleon treat the conquered? 

•How to control foreign lands?

•What did Napoleon think of colonies? 

•What were Napoleon’s foreign policy methods? 

•How did Napoleon effect laws?

•How did Napoleon effect religion?

•Is Napoleon a warmonger?

•What were Napoleon’s battlefield tactics?

•How did Napoleon produce esprit de corps? 

•How did the French rule over Corsica?

•How did Napoleon’s origins from Corsica effect political life? 

•How was Napoleon educated?

•What was Napoleon biased against? 

•How did Napoleon behave on the battlefield? 

•What role did Napoleon have in the French Revolution? 

•What did Napoleon think of pillaging after a victory? 

•What was thought of Napoleon’s battle reports? 

•How were the French thought of in Italy after being occupied? 

•How did the French effect Egypt? 

•What happened at Acre?

•How did Napoleon gain political support? 

•What did Napoleon think of news?

•How did Napoleon become First Consul? 

•What effect did Napoleon have on slavery? 

•What is the dilemma in trying to have liberty, equality, and fraternity? 

•What did Napoleon think of disagreement? 

•How did Napoleon treat the staff?

•What happened in Russia?

•What happened at Waterloo?

•Who was Joséphine to Napoleon?

•Who was Marie Louise?

Book Details

Publisher:               Penguin Books [Penguin Random House]

Edition ISBN:         9780698176287

Pages to read:          1017

Publication:             2015

1st Edition:              2014

Format:                    eBook 

Ratings out of 5:

Readability    4

Content          2

Overall          2

Review of Meditations for the Humanist: Ethics for a Secular Age by A. C. Grayling

This book review was written by Eugene Kernes   

Book can be found in: 

Genre = Philosophy

Intriguing Connections = 1) Ways To Help Oneself and Life Lessons, 2) To Cooperate Or To Defect?, 3) What Is The Power Of Belief Systems?

Watch Short Review

Excerpts

“A moraliser is a person who seeks to impose upon others his view of how they should live and behave.  Everyone is entitled to a view about what counts as acceptable behaviour, and everyone is entitled to put it forwards as eloquently and forcefully as he can.  But moralisers go much further.  They want others to conform to their views, and they seek to bring this about by coercion – employing means which range from social disapproval to legal control, this latter often being their preferred option.” – A. C. Grayling, Chapter: Moralising, Page 3

 

“Civility is a matter of mores, etiquette, politeness, of informal rituals that facilitate our interactions, and thereby give us ways to treat each other with consideration.  It creates social and psychological space for people to live their own lives and make their own choices.” – A. C. Grayling, Chapter: Civility, Page 12

 

“Ordinary life evokes more extraordinary courage than combat or adventure because both the chances and inevitabilities of life – grief, illness, disappointment, pain, struggle, poverty, loss, terror, heartache: all of them common features of the human condition, and all of them experienced by hundreds of thousands of people every day – demand kinds of endurance and bravery that make clambering up Everest seem an easier alternative.” – A. C. Grayling, Chapter: Courage, Pages 21-22

Review

Is This An Overview?

This book is a composition of many short essays on a diverse set of topics.  Provoking reflection on values, to consider different ways on how to be.  Some essays impart thoughts on how to treat others, how to share values, how to compromise.  Some essays impart thoughts on how to thinking, how to reason, how to be honest.  Some essays impart thoughts on how to be part of society, how conflict if created, how differences are handled.  Life is a composition of a diverse set of emotions, struggles, and interactions.  Each aspect of life has limits, complexity, and consequences.  By learning and thinking about the aspects of life, can the individual improve themselves and society. 

 

Caveats?

Essay quality is mixed, as different topics will interest different readers, and the essays are short.  There is not much on each topic.  The topics are provided a complex understanding and provide valuable content, but for topics that interest the reader, the reader would need to search for more information to understand the different aspects and perspectives on the topic.  A bias of the book is the treatment of topics related to religion, as the topics are simplified and the references to them are primarily the negative consequences.  

Questions to Consider while Reading the Book

•What is the raison d’etre of the book?  For what purpose did the author write the book?  Why do people read this book?

•What are some limitations of the book?

•To whom would you suggest this book?

•What does it mean to be a moralist?

•Is there a limit to tolerance? 

•What is mercy? 

•How is civility used in society? 

•How to comprise? 

•What is the difference between recreational fear and real fear?

•Is there a quality to courage? 

•How can defeat be used?

•What is death?

•What does hope provide? 

•When to persevere? 

•What does it mean to be frank? 

•What does it mean to lie? 

•When to be loyal? 

•What to punish? 

•Why defend a nation?

•Is race real?

•Are humans that different from other species? 

•What is the effect of religion?

•What is faith? 

•By what measure should a country be judged by? 

•What is reason?

•What is the effect of education?

•How to act?

•How can leisure be used?

•Why read?

•Should history be taught? 

Book Details

Publisher:               Oxford University Press

Edition ISBN:         9780195168907

Pages to read:          209

Publication:             2003

1st Edition:              2001

Format:                    Paperback 

Ratings out of 5:

Readability    5

Content          4

Overall          4