A review of Ken Burns’ “Hemingway” (PBS)

“Writing, at its best, is a lonely life. Organizations for writers palliate the writer's loneliness but I doubt if they improve his writing. He grows in public stature as he sheds his loneliness and often his work deteriorates. For he does his work alone and if he is a good enough writer he must face eternity, or the lack of it, each day.”

– Ernest Hemingway, in his acceptance speech for the 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature

Ken Burns delivers a stellar (and moving) biography of a great American author

Before watching this film, my only experience with Ernest Hemingway was watching the 1996 film “In Love and War,” which dramatizes both his experiences in World War One and his brief romance with Agnes von Kurowsky (played therein by Sandra Bullock). Admittedly, this was a fairly limited acquaintance with the man, and I still haven’t read any of his works. But I knew of his influence, and was willing to try just about any film made by Ken Burns, despite my admitted literary ignorance. I was a great admirer of his earlier film about Mark Twain, despite having a similar ignorance about Mark Twain and his works. Thus, I set out to record my reaction to Ken Burns’ “Hemingway” in this post.

A review of Michael Wood’s “In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great”

“Whilst the Amphictyonic confederacy remained, that of the Achaeans, which comprehended the less important cities only, made little figure on the theatre of Greece. When the former became a victim to Macedon, the latter was spared by the policy of Philip and Alexander [the Great].”

– Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, in the Federalist Papers (Federalist No. 18)

One of the greatest conquerors in history, whose empire stretched from Greece to India …

He was one of the greatest conquerors in history, whose empire stretched from Greece to India. Before he reached age 30, Alexander the Great created a massive empire that would include much of the world, as it was known to the Mediterraneans in his time. Our best sources for his expedition include two histories, both written some centuries after the time of Alexander. One of these two historians was Greek, while the other was a Roman. But Alexander was a Macedonian. The Macedonian language no longer exists today, but it was definitely related to Greek. Some have even considered the Macedonians to be “Greeks” themselves. The host of this program sometimes seems to think so. But the Macedonians did not consider themselves to be “Greeks.” Nor did the self-identified “Greeks” consider the Macedonians to be Greeks. Nonetheless, it is true that the Macedonians spread Greek culture to a then-unprecedented extent. Nothing would spread Greek culture so widely again until the advent of the Roman Empire, which was some centuries later. I thought that it might have been helpful for the host to clarify this issue, even with a brief sentence or two. But this is actually a truly great film despite this omission.

A review of “20th Century European Philosophy” (audiobook)

I already thought that twentieth-century Western philosophy was a vast wasteland, before I ever listened to this audiobook. But I listened to this audiobook with an open mind, because I wanted to better understand the history of philosophy. After listening to this audiobook, my worst fears seemed to be confirmed therein. It is hard for me to imagine a greater disaster area than the philosophies of the twentieth century.

A review of Henry David Thoreau’s “On Civil Disobedience” (audiobook)

“I heartily accept the motto,—‘That government is best which governs least;’ and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe—‘That government is best which governs not at all;’ and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have.”

– Henry David Thoreau’s “On Civil Disobedience” (published 1849)

In 1846, the American writer Henry David Thoreau refused to pay a tax to support his country’s then-ongoing war with Mexico. He believed that the war was not only unjust in and of itself, but that it would even create new territory into which slavery could expand (a real danger at that time). His fears were not unfounded, and had some sympathetic aspects to them. But they prompted him to write one of the most influential attacks on government ever printed. He lived in an era when government in the United States was already quite small – far smaller than it is today. But Thoreau was suspicious of the idea of having any government at all, and said so in “On Civil Disobedience” (as quoted above).

Henry David Thoreau

A review of PBS’s “The Circus” (American Experience)

PBS did a four-hour television history of the circus (and they weren’t clowning around) …

In 2017, Hollywood released a movie that reminded people of a much earlier form of entertainment than its own movies. The movie was “The Greatest Showman,” starring Hugh Jackman as P. T. Barnum – the owner of a circus. The circus was popular in many areas of the Western world, but it seems to have been founded in England, and reached its greatest heights in the fledgling United States. The word comes from the Latin “circus,” associated with the Roman circus – a somewhat barbaric predecessor. The Roman circus saw vicious chariot races that could be violent and brutal, dramatized in movies like “Ben-Hur.” The American circus saw some risks of its own, although it seems safe to say that it was far less hazardous than its Roman counterpart. Entire towns could be shut down on the days when the circus pulled into town, because people wanted to spend their hard-earned money to attend it. People would even take their children, although they were often concerned that their children would “run away to the circus” – a metaphor for getting involved with seedy and unsavory company, and sometimes a literal statement.

Calvin Coolidge: One of our greatest presidents

Wikipedia gets the presidency of Calvin Coolidge badly and wildly wrong …

Calvin Coolidge may be one of the greatest presidents in American history. But, strangely enough, Wikipedia notes that “Scholars have ranked Coolidge in the lower half of U.S. presidents. He gains nearly universal praise for his stalwart support of racial equality during a period of heightened racial tension in the nation,[footnote] and is highly praised by advocates of smaller government and laissez-faire economics; supporters of an active central government generally view him far less favorably.” (Source: Their page on “Calvin Coolidge”) I agree that this is why his critics have tended to view him a bit less favorably. And, regarding other presidents, I have sometimes tended to agree with the general consensus of historians. But I feel that these historians have gotten this call badly and wildly wrong, and seriously underestimated the benefits of President Calvin Coolidge. Their ratings seem to have come from a bloated belief in the value of big government, and from fundamental misunderstandings of economic principles to boot. Thus, it may be time to challenge this popular view of Calvin Coolidge, and give a more accurate picture of the Coolidge administration.

Calvin Coolidge

A review of “The Spanish-American War” (audiobook)

The Spanish-American War started out as one of the most popular wars in American history. It was only long after the fact that it started to become unpopular even in the United States. The press – and in particular, the newspaper editor William Randolph Hearst – clamored for war at this time. Why did the United States do so? This is a topic that this audiobook examines in some depth. Specifically, they explore the American motivations for this war with Spain.