2017 Reading List Reflections

I made a reading list a year ago, mostly in reaction to Tr*mp entering the white house, and the implications I thought that had on the US and the world. I didn't read everything on the list, but what I did read left a lasting impression.

It Can't Happen Here - Sinclair Lewis (1935)
This was quite a surprise, both because of how similar it sounded to Tr*mp at the time I was reading it, and how realistic it seemed. Interestingly enough it is pretty closely based on a real (but short-lived) political movement of that time. Highly recommended.

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley (1931)
A classic that I essentially already knew about because of its presence in pop-culture. It was a great and easy read, and lived up to its popularity.

Between the World and Me - Ta-Nehisi Coates (2015)
Was not on the list, but fit in very well. Prose written like poetry, this work made me feel the visceral emotions that Coates felt growing up, and that he fears his son will too. Also a short read from a current talent that should be on every reading list, if not just for it's beauty, but it's ability to teach.

Hillbilly Elegy - J. D. Vance (2016) 
This was surprisingly good, a memoir from a self-described Kentucky/Ohio hillbilly about his very rough and troubled childhood. So many of the superficial facts I had seen so much growing up in others, but Vance brought me in to the experience in so much more detail. He does a great job at both critiquing those he was surrounded by, but also crying out for all of those left behind by unreasonable and nonsensical government policies.

Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue - Sam Harris, Maajid Nawaz (2015)
I am a fan of Sam Harris, although he can sometimes take a too-literal, or too-academic point of view, I almost always agree with the logic of his arguments. This is a great short dialogue between Harris, an atheist writer and thinker, and Nawaz, a former Islamic fundamentalist and current reform voice in the UK. Very interesting, and it helps me understand more details about the Islamic faith, and the issues facing the modern world and the billion muslims living in it.


Globalization and Its Discontents - Joseph E. Stiglitz (2017) 
I ended up reading the new 2017 version of this book, which includes a new introduction and an extensive section on the "new discontents", which are those in developed countries. I guess this is the textbook-like complement to Hillbilly Elegy, outlining the economic reasoning behind how globalization poorly managed hurts those in the countries it is supposed to help most (developing countries) and even those in the countries with the most power and control (the US). He rallies intensely against the IMF, which can sometimes seem like cherry-picking. And although his arguments make a lot of sense to me, I wish he would also discuss how he fit in, since he also had huge influence during a lot of the time periods he speaks about.


What It Takes: The Way to the White House - Richard Ben Cramer (1992)
I must admit that I never finished this 1000+ page tome, but did get more than half way through. The point however is already strongly made. In modern times the president (in this case George Bush Sr.) need not be smart or good with the issues, but just be friends with everybody. The '88 campaign had a vast media involvement, and in the end a very dirty ad war against Dukakis sealed the deal. It does make one sentimental for the time when President's were all skilled elder-statesmen, but at the same time the media involvement has huge positives on the democratic process. In any case, running for president will take over ever facet of your life. 

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What I didn't read:  

Trump: The Art of the Deal and Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again. I couldn't bring myself to pay money for, or spend any time reading words even supposed to have been written by him. 

An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States and Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil are still both on my list as nonfiction, and The Sellout in fiction. 

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 My list for this coming year includes finally finishing one of Thomas Pynchon's longer works (either V, Gravity's Rainbow, or Inherent Vice), and attempting Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. I am riding a bit of a nonfiction streak, so we'll see what else falls under my view.