2016 Reading #40 and 41
The Wanderer by Sharon Creech
One of the best things about Sharon Creech's spare prose is her ability to not say things. The Wanderer takes this to an extreme, telling its story through two diaries, the second of which highlights the unreliability of the primary narrator. It becomes clear early on that Sophie is a deeply traumatized character writing around a big hole in her life; Cody's diary reinterprets her viewpoint and shades in an outline of what's going on while leaving a worthwhile mystery at the action.
This is a hell of a narrative balancing act to pull off, and Creech does so flawlessly. It doesn't hurt that the emotional story is backed up by a well-researched sailing adventure that would stand up next to the Arthur Ransome books I grew up on. One of my favorite books to read this year.
Political Animals: How Our Stone-Age Brain Gets in the Way of Smart Politics by Rick Shenkman
This book takes the predictably irrational actors of economics and applies them to politics. Shenkman calls out some interesting research and historical outcomes to show that -- again, not surprising to an economist -- we're not nearly as rational as we like to think we are. We have all kinds of biases and an amazing ability to rationalize political "decisions" that have been influenced by random, unrelated events.
All of which is good stuff that is well worth covering in the book. At the same time, I think Shenkman goes way too far into the sociobiological weeds, laying down some arguments that I think have more to do with his own sexist biases than a logical reading of the known facts.
I think he also overstates his case in several areas, and the truth is somewhere between the conventional wisdom and his portrayal of humanity as a caveman in a power suit. Yes, our brain is still catching up with great new inventions like agriculture and cities, and his recommendations about being on the lookout for bias and kneejerk reaction are spot-on. But the bottom line is that we *aren't* cavefolk any more. We've learned, we've set up an advanced technological civilization, and we've changed a lot of the rules that we used to live by. Maybe it's just my biases showing, but I'm inclined to think we can keep building on that, even if our brains trip us up every now and again.
(Or maybe this review will just end up looking foolish after President Trump triggers an apocalypse in 2017. If it does and Live Journal survives and you can post to it from your survival bunker, please do mock me mercilessly in the comments.)