Turning Back the Clock: Hot Wars & Media Populism by Umberto Eco

Horn Tooting Scale: 4 Toots

• 1 toot for Umberto Eco, Italian philosopher, semiotician, and medievalist
• 2nd for incredibly erudite collection of essays
• 3rd for being from a European perspective
• 4th for (re)introducing me to many philosophical concepts

Points of Interest:

• Bentham's panopticon - an 18th century prison design that is useful as a metaphor
• Prediction that the US will slowly become Pacific centered, with the East Coast becoming merely a cultural capital
  
• The carnavalization of life - everything is fun and exciting
  
• Benedetto Croce - Crocean aesthetics
• Poujadism - French xenophobic philosophy
• Hymn to Satan - poem by Carducci 1865 extolling triumph of rationalism over the Church

Synopsis:

This is a collection of essays and excerpts from lectures by Umberto Eco from 2000 through 2005. Some of the essays regarding the start of the 2nd Gulf War and the rise of Berlusconi in Italy are dated from a current events perspective, but are interesting in a historical perspective. The result of reading this collection is an overwhelming respect for Signor Eco's mind. I want to be inside his head for a week or a month, just to sort through all of the amazing stuff that he knows! Admittedly, his knowledge is very Euro-centered, but is still vastly greater than that of any 20 men on the street. Just casually reading these essays was a fantastic refresher course in philosophy, anthropology, linguistics, political science, theology, and history. I found myself googling new terms many times throughout the book.

The 41 essays in this book range from 4 pages to 30ish. The topics cover everything from Italian politics and the media to modern warfare (neowar vs. paleowar) to Nigerian beauty pageants to Harry Potter to the Passion of the Christ to the Knights Templar to the scientific method and the end of history. At no point is he giving a lecture on his fabulous storehouse of knowledge. Rather, in commenting on a current situation or event, Eco evaluates this event by criterion that most of us do not have. He might arrive at the same conclusion reached by millions of other people, but the route he takes is much more interesting than the destination.

I can't recommend this highly enough! Not every essay was a hit for me, but as a whole, the collection was mentally stimulating and inspiring. It's wonderful to be reminded that there are people in this world who think!

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

Horn Tooting Scale: 3 Toots!

• 1 toot for being a well-researched historical novel
• 2nd toot for being a well-researched novel set in rural China
• 3rd toot for being a feminist novel - at least, that's how I read it

Points of interest:

• The concept of laotong - a lifelong contracted relationship between two girls that would provide the deep emotional attachment not often found through an arranged marriage
• Nu shu- the secret phonetic women's writing that lasted for a thousand years in China.
  
• Intense chapter about having one's feet bound at the age of 7. OUCH!!!

Synopsis:

In the mid-1800s in rural China near Guilin, Lily and her laotong, Snow Flower, were born on the same day, at the same hour, to families that matched in every regard excepting that of socio-economic status. Lily was the number two daughter in a tenant-farming family. Snow Flower occupied the same family position in an upper class family fallen on hard times through her father's opium addiction.

At age 6, Lily is singled out by the matchmaker as having the potential for perfect feet, golden lilies. This quality, even more than a pretty face, allows for a socially advantageous marriage. Lily is watched closely and is eventually matched with the premier catch of the surrounding villages. However, before that event, she is matched with Snow Flower in a laotong relationship that is even more important and longer lasting. They are contracted to serve as life-long best friends. To love and support each other unconditionally. This is the most important relationship that either girl will have in life, superseding even that of their marriage.

Unfortunately, their vastly different social standing (Snow Flower is married to a butcher which is EXTREMELY low status in a Buddhist society) slowly comes between them. As Lily moves upward, Snow Flower learns the true meaning of degradation. Through miscarriages, a horrible mother-in-law, an abusive husband, and then serious illness, Lily is helpless to comfort Snow Flower. The culmination of the strain on their relationship comes when Lily misreads the nu shu on their secret fan to mean that Snow Flower has betrayed her to form a new sisterhood with three women from her village. Actually, Snow Flower has not sworn sisterhood with these women, but the misunderstanding is not cleared up until after Snow Flower has tragically died.

I found it interesting that the author, Lisa See, set up the pair of old sames so that the frigid one (Lily) achieved all of the success in life, while the passionate one who enjoys "bed relations" with her husband (Snow Flower) found happiness in no other area and then died miserably. Does this reveal a bit of the old virgin/whore dichotomy on the part of the author? Just a thought.

This book is beautifully written and well-researched. I would highly recommend it to others and am thankful that my library recommended it to me.

On Globalization by George Soros

Horn Tooting Scale: 4 Toots of the Horn

• 1 toot for being scholarly nonfiction
• 2nd for being by George Soros
• 3rd for being on the International Political Economy
• 4th for being practically incomprehensible :)

Points of Interest:

• Introduced me to the concept of SDRs - Special Drawing Rights - a strange amalgam supplementary currency available through the IMF that seems a lot like Monopoly money to me
• Though this book is not intended for a lay audience, it reminded me of things that I had learned in college that had shuffled down to the bottom of my consciousness
• Finally taught me what a discount window/rate is (rate at which the Federal Reserve loans money to a bank/corporation/etc.)
• The current floating currency exchange rate has been in existence only for about 30-40 years. Before that, a fixed exchange board was standard.
  
• George Soros really understands IPE

Synopsis:

This is a collection of George Soros' list of suggestions for reforming the international economic structure. The details of his ideas were very hard for me to follow, but as I read, I became aware of a dusty corner of my brain where I had stored information acquired while achieving my International Relations BA. Soros speaks more a idealist/realist perspective that acknowledges the realities of states self-interest while arguing for changes that could support state's interests while contributing to a better distribution of wealth to the peripheral states (Less Developed Countries - LDCs).

One of George Soros' suggestions is to allow recipient states to take ownership of foreign aid, while making them accountable for how the funds are allocated. He asserts that one of the reasons that foreign aid fails is that the IMF or World Bank requires that foreign experts control the development projects and that strict bureaucratic rules be followed that are not appropriate to all situations. He also suggests that in states with corrupt or repressive regimes, aid be funneled directly to community groups. Too often, corrupt governments co-opt aid meant for the people of their country.

When Soros began explaining how he would restructure the IMF, he started to lose me. I had never even heard of SDRs! It turns out that this is a currency deposit that can supplement a state's foreign reserves and is treated like a floating currency on the market. It is an amalgam of the US dollar, the pound sterling, the euro and the Japanese yen. The SDRs daily valuation is posted on the IMFs website. The weight of the currencies are reevaluated about twice per decade. All I can say is that if you'd like to learn more, Google it. Also, I finally learned what a discount rate is, the interest rate that national banks charge to loan money to other banks, corporations, etc. This gives me something else to worry about in terms of the US economy, because now I know that it's a little scary that the Fed has dropped the discount rate so much in the last 6 months. Soros wants LDCs to be able to borrow at the discount window of these banks. An interesting suggestion. He also wants to establish a procedure for nations to declare bankruptcy and to prevent that from happening.

Mostly, George Soros wants to address the inequities of the global financial market, to establish open societies, and to create greater standards of accountability in both foreign aid and foreign direct investment. He sees global capital availability declining and argues for an increase in fluidity in the market. Reading this book might be a struggle, but it will leave you feeling very proud of yourself. Have fun!