16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wake up, America, and read!, September 20, 2008
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I love blurbs sometimes. When they're not ridiculously banal, they're absurdly nonsensical. Take this one from David Maine's review of Army of the Republic: "Thomas Paine meets Rage Against the Machine." Ooooookay. Set aside for the moment that this description is, actually, fairly accurate. I immediately started making my own comparisons:
John Locke meets The Apprentice! Oedipus meets Ani DiFranco! DNC '68 meets Seattle WTO!
See how much fun that is? "Army of the Republic" presents us with America through the looking glass. It's a terrifying world, but it differs from ours only in degree, not in kind. (I hesitate to say that it's set in the future - a few things are left unmentioned that really should have been if this was still our own world.) Against this backdrop of corruption and resistance, we're presented with a small set of characters who represent a variety of groups, from corporate shills to peaceful protesters to armed revolutionaries. And what keeps "AOTR" from devolving into 300 pages of anti-corporate ranting and anarchist propaganda is that this is foremost a story about people. These people have ideals, yes, and that's what makes them do the things they do, and that's important. But just when Cohen is on the verge of descending into outraged shrieking about the complacency of the American public or the criminal tendencies of CEOs, he reminds us that these are real (OK, fictional) people we're talking about. Lando, Emily, James, and Anne are incredibly complex characters on their own, and when you start exploring their various relationships you get a web of conflict, conscience, and conviction that will make it impossible for you to not sympathize with them all. They're all at different points on the social/political spectrum - with Lando and James at opposite ends - and yet sometimes it seems like these guys all have more in common than they disagree on. It's fascinating and troubling, all at the same time, and it's what makes "AOTR" an enjoyable and thought-provoking book rather than just another screed.
Cohen hits the mark on a lot of stuff, like the fact that the revolution will be brought to you by our coffee-loving compatriots in Seattle (and seriously, my fellow East Coasters: can we work on this? Those flannel-wearing sequoia-huggers are making us look bad. They even have Charlize Theron, for crying out loud). Other things aren't quite so convincing, like the Resistance's faith in the power of mass demonstrations. Um, if I recall correctly, there have been several anti-war demonstrations in the last 5 years that attracted tens of thousands at a time. Remind me how well that worked out?
Regardless, this book will make you both think and feel - think about what it means to be an American, and what we want our country to be, and feel sympathy for a variety of viewpoints and understand the difficulties posed by people with such different motivations. Don't be scared off by the book's hyper-aggressive marketing tone. This is, at heart, a book about people in love - with their country, with each other, with their own ideals. It's simply not to be missed.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A decent novel whose subject matter is quite germane., November 23, 2008
The Army of the Republic by Cohen is an interesting tale of resistance to an oppressive regime in a possible near future America. In fact, this book could conceivably be set in present day America if a few minor details were altered. No doubt there have already been similar occurrences in reality since the Patriot Act and Military Commissions act have effectively suspended habeas corpus and given the vindictive and thoughtless federal government unchecked power.
Just this week US courts demanded that five secret prisoners be released from their unconstitutional incarceration in Guantanamo, and the Treasury is preparing to funnel billions more taxpayer dollars into the monolithic "big three", after already saddling future generations with trillions for banker bonuses. My point is that the content of the novel is entirely relevant, regardless of what some reviewers claim.
I won't call this book a literary masterpiece, as some of the characters are not all they could be and the storytelling is sometimes lackluster but does its job bringing important scenarios to the reader's attention.
Neocons and neolibs will probably dislike this book, although they are the ones who should be paying the most attention. Any lovers of freedom and liberty will probably enjoy this book regardless of its flaws.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
How anti-terrorism plays out., September 14, 2008
Other reviewers do a good job summarizing this book regarding its plotting, characterization, etc. Some of the opinions, however, are too concerned that the work is not an artistic masterpiece.
I agree that it is not, but, So What? I don't think Sinclair Lewis' It Can't Happen Here is one of his best writings yet it's still valuable as an exercise in showing how what is happening now might play out in the future.
That's what I take away from this book. Mr. Cohen shows what some of the anti-terrorism measures the USA has put in place since 9/11 would look like in operation.
The rational behind the fact that groups like Blackwater want to get into domestic intelligence work becomes clear.
Our collective NOW is one of fears and calls to patriotism and hate mongering and idealism and political ambitions and corporate supremacy and greed and violence as solution, etc. etc.
This book puts it all into a coherent picture. It is therefore well worth reading whether a reader agrees or disagrees with the scenario.
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