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The Long View

The Long View: A History of the American People

I've never been able to read A History of the American People. I've tried twice, but something about Johnson's style makes his books unreadable to me. I want to read his books, if only because he covers topics that interest me. Maybe it is

The Long View 2005-05-20: To be Observed Is to Be Annoyed

The fascinating post-script to Larry Summers resignation from Harvard seems to be that he really took the fall for his involvement in the rape of Russia post-communism. To be Observed Is to Be Annoyed A film premiered in 1997, The End of Violence, whose premise was that a principle of

The Long View 2005-05-16: Culture: High, Low, & Holy

I remember the hot take in 2005 was that Episode III was a brave blow against W's imperialism. Does anyone still care, in light of how much the movie has been panned? Looking at the data, I'm a little surprised at how well Episode III reviews:

The Long View 2005-05-13: Exculturation and Pure Stupidity

In 2005 there wasn't much to make it look like Catholicism was withering in France, but twelve years later, it stubbornly refuses to die, and even shows unexpected signs of vitality. Exculturation and Pure Stupidity Here is a new buzzword for you: exculturate. The opposite of "inculturate,

The Long View 2005-05-10: The Great Pruning

There is an element of truth in this: Since I go to these services, I obviously approve of them, but I wonder whether the election of Benedict XVI might have the paradoxical effect of ending the traditionalist liturgical movement. Traditionalists have spent the last 35 years fighting official hostility to

The Long View: Saturday

I hadn't know that Huntington's affected saccadic eye movements. Saturday: A Novel By Ian McEwan Doubleday, 2005 289 Pages, US$26.00 ISBN 0-385-51180-9 Don't get me wrong: this is a serious, gripping book, which succeeds like few other contemporary novels in linking ordinary

The Long View 2005-05-05: British Elections; Multiple Horrors; Theodicy

I have a pending book review on Tim Powers' Earthquake Weather where I will claim that Powers wrote a theodicy. British Elections; Multiple Horrors; Theodicy By the time you read this, we will probably already know whether a Labor government has been returned in the UK, and more specifically,