The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám by Omar Khayyám

The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám by Omar Khayyám
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have a beautiful copy of this book with Edward FitzGerald's first and fifth edition and beautiful illustrations. I liked the irreverent poems especially the ones about wine. I liked some of the poems skeptical of religion - one even seemed to reference a sort of Buddhist conception of a lack of self - but they got a little tired after a while. FitzGerald's translation rhymes but I would have gladly sacrificed that for more ease in reading. My eyes kept glazing over and I had to read some of the poems repeatedly.

Favorite, #37 in the first edition:
Ah, fill the Cup:-- what boots it to repeat
How Time is underneath our Feet:
Unborn To-Morrow, and dead Yesterday.
Why fret about them if To-day be sweet!

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Hard Choices by Hillary Rodham Clinton

Hard Choices by Hillary Rodham Clinton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is a challenge to get through and should have been edited down significantly. Also, it is not really a personal memoir. No shocking revelations here or much personal material at all. It’s primarily a foreign policy book.

That said, it’s a great rundown of foreign policy events from 2008-2012 and sheds a lot of light on current events as well. Clinton gives specific examples around the world of different concerns that the players must weigh and that sometimes conflict: American values, promoting democracy around the world, promoting American economic interests, and promoting peace and security to name a few.

I marked all the countries she discusses at length in tags. But given the current climate, the Russian parts were of special interest to me. Seems like Putin and the Russians have a long list of reasons to dislike Clinton. Since this book was written well in advance of the election interference, the reasons are dispersed throughout the book.

Overall, I have to admire how knowledgeable she is about both foreign and domestic issues, how well she can communicate those issues, and how well she understands the importance of upholding our national values. It was also interesting to see how her disagreements with President Obama were presented in the book, with Obama being the more idealistic leader determined to adhere to these values even more than Clinton. She frequently defended less idealistic and more pragmatic options.



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Worlds at War by Anthony Pagden

Worlds at War: The 2,500-Year Struggle Between East and West by Anthony Pagden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was interesting but crazy. Obviously, over 2000 years is a lot to cover in one book. I was oftentimes lost in the early history section because I didn't have a lot of background in the historical players, and sometimes I wasn't even sure which one Pagden was referencing when he said "he." Even though his thesis about the difficulty and incompatibility of Islam with modern secularism has to rely heavily on more modern times, the Epilogue begins in 1991. Of course, it makes sense he has to rush through history if he's going to cover all that time to make a bigger over-arching point, but why does he spend so much time talking about Napolean and Lawrence of Arabia?

He touches on the problem of fanatical religions generally, and there is no shortage of fanatics in Christianity- historically or today- but he offers no good explanation for why there's been a big difference in the development of secular societies. If President Bush wasn't slowed down by Jesus's statement to render onto Caesar what is his, then how big an impact did that one sentence really make?

I gave it 4 stars mainly because I liked reading about 2000 years in such a (relatively speaking) short book.

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nonfiction, 2000-09, author-male, dads-books, history, politics, greece, iran, iraq, afghanistan, law, slavery, war, islam, christianity, religion, syria, turkey, serbia, sexism, president-wilson, israel, palestine, france, england

Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi

Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This two part story is amazing. I preferred the first part, but both parts are great. It's a great opportunity to learn about Iran, fanatical religions and political parties both in general and specifically. But some of what I love the most is how Satrapi looks at both Iran and Austria's culture (or a more general Western one) through the eyes of a feminist.

It's sad that Iran remains an Islamic theocracy, under the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, since 1989 until now.

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Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This graphic nonfiction novel- my first graphic novel- is amazing. It was so entertaining to read that couldn't put it down until I was finished. It's incredibly moving, and I learned so much about Iran from the perspective of young Iranian girl from the Shah, to the Islamic Revolution in 1979, to the Iran-Iraq war. Part I of story covers her life from 1979-1984, from about when she was 9 to 14 years old.

I'm really annoyed at myself for not getting The Complete Persepolis because now I have to wait to check out Part II.

(Gate of all nations in the city of Persepolis:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persepolis#/media/File:Persepolis_24.11.2009_11-12-14.jpg)

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