On my light reading
Ok, I mentioned a couple posts back that I was going to read a book about Freemasons. Well, after I started reading it I found out that the author had never been a Freemason. I could have let that slide since the book Mormon America was written by non-Mormons (a very close-mouthed religion) and I found it to be highly informative.
Little did I realize that the author of this book didn't have an ounce of organizational skills. The man jumped from subject to subject recklessly. For example, in the middle of a chapter about George Washington (crediting him as one of the most repescted Early-American Freemasons) the author suddenly jumped into two paragraphs about a British Freemason that had apparently no contact with him whatsoever. Also, in the near 200 page book, he didn't finally start logical stepwise progression until page 125.
All-in-all I was disappointed(I don't even remember the authors name it was so horrible).
The next book that I just finished was definitely a breath of fresh air in comparison. (Reading Rainbow music)
I just read Kim Jong-Il: North Korea's Dear Leader Who He is, What He Wants, What to Do About Him by Michael Breen.
Michael Breen is a former Washington Post correspondent for Seoul. He has made several trips to Pyongyang, nK and even met Kim Il-Sung when he was still alive. (not KJ however)
Anyways, Breen has a lot of excellent sources for his "biography" including books written by the Dear Leader, news reports, diplomats, and even transcripts of nK defectors' interrogations and memoirs. Along with the biographical information he also presents some demographic analysis of the country KJ runs and what factors influence how KJ will lead it.
I think the only possible distraction about this book is that it reads like an editorial: Based on the facts but eventually heavily colored with personal opinion. To the politically minded individual, this book will have some tongue in cheek humor to it but sometimes Green's generalizations of the Korean Culture are clearly made from a non-objective smartass American viewpoint. (I hear vast generalizations from soldiers all the time, so I wasn't surprised.)
Anywho, it was a good book.
But don't take my word for it, Check it Out! (RR Music)
Little did I realize that the author of this book didn't have an ounce of organizational skills. The man jumped from subject to subject recklessly. For example, in the middle of a chapter about George Washington (crediting him as one of the most repescted Early-American Freemasons) the author suddenly jumped into two paragraphs about a British Freemason that had apparently no contact with him whatsoever. Also, in the near 200 page book, he didn't finally start logical stepwise progression until page 125.
All-in-all I was disappointed(I don't even remember the authors name it was so horrible).
The next book that I just finished was definitely a breath of fresh air in comparison. (Reading Rainbow music)
I just read Kim Jong-Il: North Korea's Dear Leader Who He is, What He Wants, What to Do About Him by Michael Breen.
Michael Breen is a former Washington Post correspondent for Seoul. He has made several trips to Pyongyang, nK and even met Kim Il-Sung when he was still alive. (not KJ however)
Anyways, Breen has a lot of excellent sources for his "biography" including books written by the Dear Leader, news reports, diplomats, and even transcripts of nK defectors' interrogations and memoirs. Along with the biographical information he also presents some demographic analysis of the country KJ runs and what factors influence how KJ will lead it.
I think the only possible distraction about this book is that it reads like an editorial: Based on the facts but eventually heavily colored with personal opinion. To the politically minded individual, this book will have some tongue in cheek humor to it but sometimes Green's generalizations of the Korean Culture are clearly made from a non-objective smartass American viewpoint. (I hear vast generalizations from soldiers all the time, so I wasn't surprised.)
Anywho, it was a good book.
But don't take my word for it, Check it Out! (RR Music)