| Larry:
A brief history of why the Irish economy went from boom to bust, this story has a lot of parallels to our own Wall Street drama (or what we suspect had happened).
O'Toole's analysis of the Catholic Church's role in Irish sense of morality -- in which the sin of the physical body is much worse than any corruption as an offence against the very people the Irish leaders were trusted to protect -- is edifying. |
Ship of Fools: How Stupidity and Corruption Sank the Celtic Tiger
Fintan O'Toole
$25.95 |
Publishers Weekly (01/25/2010):
A fascinating and deeply shocking account of the recent financial collapse of Irelands' economy. Writing in stridently polemical tones, prominent Irish journalist OToole (White Savage) blends strong reportage with perceptive cultural analysis to produce a disturbing account of how politicians, property developers, and business elite, through a mixture of corruption, feckless deregulation, and plain incompetence, reaped enormous financial gain at a cost of billions to the Irish taxpayer. Tracing Irelands indulgent attitude toward political corruption and sleaze from the 1970s to the present, the author outlines various financial scandals, including institutionalized tax evasion and the role of unscrupulous and unethical businessmen in the creation of an unsustainable property bubble, the bursting of which has inflicted serious damage on the economy. Occasionally, the author's rhetorical excesses irritate, and the book's focus on analysis rather than any chronological development of events may leave some readers confused. The book's conclusions are highly provocative, however, such as the remarkable suggestion that Catholic Ireland's obsession with the body as the locus of sin hindered the development of any genuine sense of social morality. An absorbing indictment of unregulated, free-market capitalism.
More
books to read about!
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| Carolyn:
Per Wikipedia entry:
General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq was the sixth President of Pakistan from July 1977 to his death in 1988.
Zia died along with several of his top generals and then-United States Ambassador to Pakistan Arnold Lewis Raphel in a suspicious aircraft crash near Bahawalpur (Punjab) on 17 August 1988.
The roots of the Afghan-Paskistani-American relationship today can be traced to the roots of this narrative's climax -- the Pakistan-USA cooperation of the 1980s in Afghanistan against the Soviets, the lopsided understanding of Pakistan's value to the USA and the abrupt American withdrawal from the entire situation confusingly reversed upon the change in presidential administrations.
This is a black comedy in a uniquely non-American voice. I would have to trust that that voice is Pakistani, as the author and almost all of the characters in the story are Pakistani. In fact, Americans appear only to reprise their most well-worn cameo role -- that of the ethnocentric Ugly American, not understanding nor caring to understand the culture, the point of view, the currents, the politics, the language or even the history of the two countries' relationship.
This is the best way to learn history and another culture. Enjoy!
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A Case of Exploding Mangoes
Mohammed Hanif
$15.00
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A Washington Post, Rocky Mountain News, and Boston Globe Best Book of the Year, intrigue and subterfuge combine with bad luck and good in this darkly comic debut about love, betrayal, tyranny, family, and a conspiracy trying its damnedest to happen.
Ali Shigri, Pakistan Air Force pilot and Silent Drill Commander of the Fury Squadron, is on a mission to avenge his father's suspicious death, which the government calls a suicide.Ali's target is none other than General Zia ul-Haq, dictator of Pakistani. Enlisting a rag-tag group of conspirators, including his cologne-bathed roommate, a hash-smoking American lieutenant, and a mango-besotted crow, Ali sets his elaborate plan in motion. There's only one problem: the line of would-be Zia assassins is longer than he could have possibly known.
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Brenda:
My friend recommended this book and
she warned me of the sadness, but said the book in a whole,
was well worth it. This is a terrific book written both in
present day and back in the 1940's during the roundup at the
Vel D'Hiv ordered by Hitler. You'll be so drawn to her story
of her brother and the "key"... you won't want to
put this one down. |
Sarah's
Key
Tatiana
De Rosnay
$13.95
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Haunting and suspenseful,
life-affirming and beautiful, "Sarah's Key" offers a compelling
portrait of occupied Paris and reveals the taboos and silence
that surround this little-known episode in French history.
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