Book Review: Janesville: An American Story by Amy Goldstein

Janesville: An American Story by Amy Goldstein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It was a town that was centered around one large production plant supported by other companies that supplied it, then one day the plant closed, and the town changed. Janesville: An American Story by Amy Goldstein shows how the closing of a General Motors assembly plant affected one small Wisconsin town over five years as those laid off, their families, and others in the community.

Goldstein followed three families affected by the closing of the GM plant either directly or a supplier leaving town once the plant was gone as well as various individuals in the town including the town’s most famous resident, former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. Over the course of almost 300 pages people must deal with finding a new job whether they went back to school to retain or not, some must make decisions on if they want to continue to work for GM but states away and if so to commute or leave Janesville, children learn to help out their parents with multiple jobs with the unintended consequence of reducing state aid available to the family because policy changes and budget cuts by the new governor because their household income is too high, and a once close knit community is divided between the haves and have nots. As with all things dealing with real life, it’s not pretty, especially as everyone written about must deal with the emotional and mental affects of dealing with something they’d never thought about before.

Janesville: An American Story is a look at one section of the Midwest Rust Belt that have been devastated by economic factors out of their control and how a town tried to respond. Amy Goldstein is an excellent job showing a cross-section of the affected community and how they dealt with the fallout of a town’s largest employer closing.

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Book Review: Boats, Blisters, and Frostbite by Jonathan J. Moore

Boats, Blisters and Frostbite : The Story of Exploration Through The Ages by Jonathan J. Moore
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Boats, Blisters, and Frostbite is about global exploration, though honestly it focused mainly on European exploration of the planet with some sections dedicated non-Europeans. This barely over 200-page book is filled with illustrations and text meant to inform, however when one of the first images appears to be an Australopithecine and is labeled as a Neanderthal that intent comes into question and later on in the book the author calls Neanderthals and Denisovans as proto-humans which my limited knowledge of the subject is incorrect as they are considered extinct human species. Even though human evolution isn’t the main topic, the carelessness in researching alone makes the reader question if what their reading is accurate especially as the author would put down that the Viking made it to Rhode Island when there is no actual evidence yet that is the case—I’m not saying it isn’t plausible. Frankly this book has legitimate facts that is surrounded by questionable stuff both written and illustrated that I would not recommend it to others.

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Book Review: I, Claudius by Robert Graves

I, Claudius by Robert Graves
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A dying man who survived to old age thanks to physical effects of an illness at a young age that made defective in the eyes of his family tells history about the deadly power politics of early Imperial Rome. I, Claudius by Robert Graves is a historical fiction written as an autobiography of the fourth Roman Emperor Claudius from his family background and birth to his elevation to the Imperial throne.

Covering over 80 years of events, though the first 34 are background leading to Claudius birth, Graves retells the history of the Julio-Claudian dynasty through the eyes of Claudius who until a brief consulship during his nephew’s reign was a nonentity in politics, becoming a real-life historian and thus is a perfect individual to give the story. Using the history of the period written by Suetonius and Tacitus as an outline, Graves fills in the drama by making an individual a political mastermind who uses poison to not only to allow the newborn Empire to become permanent but also to have her descendants come to rule it. Graves gives Claudius life with complaints about this family members, frustration by being pushed aside, and concern about his friends and relatives. The attention to detail in both history and creating a rounded individual as storyteller made this an enjoyable read.

I, Claudius is an historical fiction autobiography that brings the fourth Roman Emperor to life thanks Robert Graves’ attention to history and character writing.

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Book Review: The Life of Greece by Will Durant

The Life of Greece by Will Durant
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The foundations of European and thus “Western civilization” were founded on the shores of the Aegean Seas among the Hellenes on the western coast of Anatolia before returning to their brethren in the ‘old country.’ The Life of Greece is the second volume of Will Durant’s The Story of Civilization series in which the focus of the series turns to the western peninsula of the Eurasia landmass.

From the rise of the Minoans on Crete to the Roman conquest, Durant follows the ups and downs of Grecian civilization and culture. Covering a millennium and a half of time over an ever increasing amount of area were Greek-influence spread, Durant divided the book into five “eras” that he gave an overview of the history then how those events affect the development of government, art, religion, philosophy, science, and everything else connected with culture. Highlight throughout the volume was Durant’s explanation of various schools of philosophy that developed and their relation to religion over that time as well. If there is a negative, it would be the fact that the book is over 80 years old and some of Durant’s information in the Minoan and Mycenean areas has been contradicted by new finds.

The Life of Greece tells the rise and fall of the “foundational” European culture before it was eclipsed and built upon by a rising power from the West.

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