"To compensate a little for the treachery and weakness of my memory, so extreme that it has happened to me more than once to pick up again, as recent and unknown to me, books which I had read carefully a few years before . . . I have adopted the habit for some time now of adding at the end of each book . . . the time I finished reading it and the judgment I have derived of it as a whole, so that this may represent to me at least the sense and general idea I had conceived of the author in reading it." (Montaigne, Book II, Essay 10 (publ. 1580))

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Our Man in Havana (Graham Greene, 1958)

A light read but entertaining. I didn't realize this had been made into a movie with Alec Guinness.

Greene pokes fun at the intelligence community, much of which "fun" was quite on point as far as I know - inter-agency rivalries as well as rivalries among ostensible allies. Somehow that allowed a vacuum cleaner salesman to become a highly-touted intelligence source in 1950s Havana - despite the low quality (to be kind) of the intelligence being supplied. I liked it.

Friday, March 20, 2009

The Road to Serfdom (F.A. Hayek, 1944)

The author is referred to constantly in articles I read yet I had never had occasion to pick up any of his works. This book was a Christmas gift from Luis. I like that the book included a collection of related materials as the book has been published and republished in recent decades.

While our politicians lurch around passing inexplicable laws, I wonder if they could also adopt a law requiring each politician and government regulator to spend say 10 minutes each morning reading this work before they set about wreaking havoc.

Hayek was moved to write the book while observing England - in the late 1930s - repeating many of the factors that led to the rise of National Socialism - and Hitler - in Germany. His observations are remarkably relevant to America even now. He was concerned that central planning and control would necessarily stunt innovation and productivity and, in turn, freedom - the road to serfdom.

It was interesting to read someone with his perspective explain how the collectivists co-opt the terminology of freedom - all the way to the point that the term "liberal" is completely removed from its 19th century meaning.

He acknowledges that unfettered capitalism can't exist anymore, and that capitalism itself is full of faults. That doesn't stop him from convincingly making the case for the concept that free individuals will come up with practical solutions during the course of their normal interactions in a way that no government regulator can ever do.

Watching our leaders in action these days confirms this point of view. Watching the pack bray at AIG in today's news also calls to mind Hayek's observations (not to defend AIG - moreso that this involves populist rabble-rousing to deflect attention from the AIG bailout blunders). Unfortunately we are going through a set of conditions in which what seemed like an already ridiculously large government is going to expand by several orders of magnitude. Under what circumstance will Washington give up the control it's taking in banking, automobile industry (including suppliers as of today), healthcare? - and the list goes on. More sectors to lose dynamism in exchange for expending their energies seeking government favors. Aarrgh.

Sunday, March 01, 2009

Fathers and Sons (Ivan Turgenev, 1861)

I liked this. Turgenev writes an accessible story of what later became characterized as a "generation gap." This occurs with each generation but doubtless is more pronounced at times of social upheaval - in this case, the run-up to the "liberation" of the serfs, etc.

Bazarov is the strongest character - refers to himself as a "nihilist," leads around Arkady and others. Their homes are relatively close by so they together visit each set of parents after graduation. Bazarov's father is a military alum; Arkady's a traditional gentlement, trying to cope with the new relationships with the serfs, deal with his beloved wife's death, run his dwindling estate. Arkady's father lives with his somewhat-dandy brother, Pavel - who is a neat character. Turgenev writes a number of nice scenes, including Arkady courting Katya.

I guess the Russian novelists were heavily politicized, apparently because there were few other developed outlets for expression. On the surface, this might seem to be an insightful story of generations coming to understand one another a bit. But I read that the book also prompted strong reactions across the political spectrum, with leftists thinking Turgenev was glorifying conservative values, and conservatives thinking he was glorifying "nihilism" (whatever that might mean, I think even Bazarov would have had trouble explaining).