The Accidental Empire

Well I've finished this book by Gershom Gorenberg. He's American-born, but now lives in Jerusalem with his family. Although the book deals with the Middle East conflict in general, it is mainly focused on the nation of Israel and its settlements in occupied territory in the late 60's and 70's.

It's difficult to say anything about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict without offending people. Doing so can easily restrict creativity, but Gorenberg somehow manages to combine personal stories, facts and figures, and historical relevance to this book, while maintaining a respectful view (as much as possible) of the persons involved.

An interesting quote to chew on:
"It was not enough to be in sacred space, one had to own it -- the impulse behind conflicts over holy places everywhere. To own a place where God is thought to be palpably present inspires a feeling perilously close to owning God."

I give it a high 3

Middle-Eastern politics

Right now I'm reading An Accidental Empire by Gershom Gorenberg about Israel leading up to, during, and following the Six Days War. The book is mostly chronological, but echoes back to previous events to add context. I had to include this quote!

"The situation today resembles the complex relationship between a Bedouin man and the girl he kidnaps against her will...You Palestinians, as a nation, don't want us today, but we'll change your attitude by forcing our presence on you." Israeli Defense Minister Dayan

An Accidental Cowboy

An Accidental Cowboy by Jameson Parker is *gasp* a memoir. With snapshots and anecdotes, Parker details the circumstances in his life which transformed him from Hollywood actor, to PTSD sufferer, to cowboy.

Unlike most memoirs, there is nothing saccharine or disingenuous in the way he describes his own experiences. He is open and honest about his trials, but doesn't glorify them above himself. He is witty, charming, adventurous. I'm not sure if "actor" mixed with "cowboy" is an automatic recipe for a balanced person, but it nearly works for Parker. Minus the overwhelming suicidal tendencies.

This book is a casual read. Although the life of cowboys is far beyond my grasp of understanding (I don't even watch Westerns), I appreciate the knowledge I picked up and would recommend this book to anyone.

3

A couple of humdingers!

Well that took me long enough!

The two books I've been reading, are two that I was so excited about. I suppose the hype kinda got me disappointed in the end.

The first is Accents: A Manual for Actors by Robert Blumenfeld. If you know me, you know I love language. I love accents, dialects, grammar, everything. I also....love acting, therefore, I must love this book right? Well when I originally wanted to check it out, it was in repair and the library had to order a new one. I put myself first on the list, and snatched it up right away. This book guides the actor on how to speak English in ANY accent from Elizabethan English, to Estonian, to Algerian. Since I have some linguistic experience I found it VERY frustrating that Blumenfeld makes up his own phonetic symbols instead of used standardized IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet). I basically had to try and unlearn everything I know to understand what he was writing, and it's not like he's ignorant. He made enough references to actual linguistic terms that I know he has SOME basis of knowledge in the field.

I was starting to wonder if I should write a book of my own and include actual symbols and accurate accent comparisons, when I happened upon the major redeeming factor of this book...the CDs. The two CDs which come with the book demonstrate all the practice material in the book in Blumenfeld's own voice. This guy is VERY talented when it comes to the practical application of his teaching. In other words, his accents are fine. Merely his communication is lacking.

I'm really glad I happened upon this book. I will not be buying it or reading it leisurely, but I will certainly consult it whenever I'm called upon to adopt another accent. It's difficult to judge such a work, so I will give it a 3. I recommend it, merely as a tool for those to whom it applies.

Next on my list was The Accidental Connoisseur by Lawrence Osborne. It's labeled as "An irreverent journey through the wine world," and it is definitely that. I'm not a connoisseur of wine, but I would call myself an oenophile, so I was interested in what Osborne had to say. This book is not for amateurs. Yes, it is witty, but it takes more than just a basic understanding of wine to enjoy. I did pick up a few nuggets of wisdom from it, but not enough to benefit as much as I would like. Sad to say, this book only earned a 2.

Accidental Bride

When I first began this book by Janice Harayda, I thought it was just so clever and funny. But after a whole book of the same snarky comments, I kinda got bored.
Yes, I'm a traditionalist and the whole marriage vs. living together strikes a chord with me, but despite my own opinions, and despite the comedic flavor, I didn't much enjoy the novel.

It's a quick entertaining read for a plane ride or a bus, but that's about it.

2

Accidental Billionaires!

Sorry I haven't been on this in a while. I just got my new MacBook Pro, so I've been spending a lot of time on it. Now that some of the initial glitter has worn off, I'm back to the books.

Accidental Billionaires! by Ben Mezrich promises to be a book about "Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal", and doesn't fail to deliver. By now, all of us have heard of Facebook, most of us are members, and some of us know it was founded by a couple of college students. What I certainly didn't realize is how interesting the story of Facebook really is. The title's tagline isn't just a hook to draw readers, but it literally is full of sex, full of money, full of..well you get the idea.

This book is not for the clean-mouthed nor those who have a strong sense of justice. It is, however, guaranteed to drop your jaw and make you just tad bit jealous. I give it a 3.