Categories for Books

Nerd Card is Back on the Table!

I am just going to run with this nerd theme for the time being.  For your entertainment over Thanksgiving I have decided to avoid term papers by sharing with you all my recent go-to distractions from studying.  Instead of actually writing my Africana Philosophy paper I decided to look into some books I had been discussing in passing with my professor.

The first is How the Irish Became White by Noel Ignatiev.  A really good read and particularly interesting considering race in both the historic and philosophic context which in reality can’t be separated.

The second book is The Racial Contract by Charles Mill.  Also coming from this class this book reexamines Social Contract Theory and race, conceptually and physically, in modern society.

Following the Irish thread from the first book, a few really good movies to check out from you local library because they certainly are not on Netflix Watch-It-Now I have already checked.

Some Mother’s Son which tells the story of two mothers living in Northern Ireland during the 1980’s specifically during the 1981 Hunger Strikes.  One mother is an ardent INLA style mom who is active in violent resistance.  The other mother is a more moderate teacher who seeks to remain distant from the violence.  As both sons go on strike the mothers become closer friends.  It is really good.  Helen Mirren is awesome and David O’Hara is slightly less crazy than his most famous role. 

The other movie is not as great but I watched it anyway and I liked it more for the story than the actual movie.  It is about the Shankill Butchers and their leader Lenny Murphy.  They were a fanatical group of Unionist paramilitaries who murdered innocent Catholics at random.  None of the victims were in anyway found to be connected to the IRA, INLA, or other Republican paramilitary group.

Finally, I just started re-reading Trinity by Leon Uris.  I am having a hard time imagining anyone in my family or the Travers’ has not read this but it is amazing.  Conor Larkin is giving Aticus Finch a run for his money on my favorite literary characters list.  If you haven’t read it yet… what are you waiting for?

Lincoln Fun Facts!

With nothing much else to post about, here is a book recommendation. Strange post because I have probably expressed to many that I don’t read much, but I have recently tried listening to an audiobook to and from work in a change of pace from the usual podcasts. You might know Sarah Vowell from many appearances on This American Life or as the voice of Violet in The Incredibles.

I downloaded her book, Assassination Vacation, with the free trial credit from Audible.com. It is a book about her travels researching sites involved with the assassinations of Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley. It wonderfully combines stories of her travelling, observations of the historical sites and facts about the events that happened on those sites.

In the first two hours of listening to it, the most interesting tidbits are hearing about how Robert Todd Lincoln was closely associated with all three of these assassinations, how John Wilkes Booth’s brother saved the life of Robert, or how Maryland’s state song makes reference to supporting the confederacy and Lincoln being a tyrant.