Customer Reviews

Insurrection Resurrection: A Novel of Political and Religious Satire

5 star:		(5)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

As a fan of political and religious satire, I agonized over purchasing this book, because there was no description of the content available. I took a chance and bought the book. It was a terrible mistake. Thinking I would get some erudite religious and political humor, I instead received a tome written by "a scholar, a patriot, and a radical for Capitalism." (Quote taken from the back of the book.) So you now know where this book is heading. Had I read that before I bought the book, I never would have purchased it.

The storyline is that Thomas Jefferson returns to modern America to incite a second American Revolution because the USA is in such bad shape. Not a bad idea, but it is so poorly written that the prose is an insult to all readers with a literacy level beyond Grade 6 English. Keena ping-pongs between references to Alice in Wonderland and the rich history of Ancient Greek myth, all the while presenting his "radical for Capitalism" ideas in the guise of what is supposed to be (but sadly is not) a clever satire. Tax-paying Americans are portrayed as dumb hicks, hackneyed cliches about American ideals of government and the individual richochet throughout the book, and his main characters' opinions and moods seem to change within the course of a single paragraph.

It is difficult to describe the writing style of this book. Except to say that it is atrocious. Here's a sample of the writing.

"He mused to himself that nothing was certain anymore except uncertainty. Everything is nothing, and nothing is everything. At least for today. Tomorrow, it will be just the opposite. Reality in one moment becomes illusion in the next,like a croquet game hosted by Wonderland's Red Queen, where the hoops move about the field and the balls are hedgehogs."

I believe the text speaks for itself. Poorly.

Quotes by great people of history are attached to the beginning of each chapter. The problem is, many of them are completely out of context and should never have been applied to the book considering the intent of this story. For that the author should be embarrassed. To write a book about American government and religion and use a quote from Krishnamurti about freedom in the Prologue is taking Krishnamurti out of context completely.

I must admit that I did not finish the book. It became so annoying by the end of the second chapter that I could read no further.

If I were to learn that this book was NOT published by a vanity press, I would be shocked.

The purpose of this review is to warn curious readers - unless you want to read the traditional trite American cliches wrapped up in poor writing, atrocious narrative, and contradicting mood indicators, avoid this book. Don't make the same mistake I did.

On the other hand, if you are like the tax paying American stumblebum stereotypes portrayed in this book, you might actually enjoy the story.

Ten years later, I'm writing a review of a book which sold poorly and consequently was largely forgotten.

However, I just read it and strangely most of what this self-professed radical patriot thought might happen, has in fact happened in the past ten years.

To wit:
* Wars for the purpose of wars.
* Federal Government getting bigger solely for the purpose of getting bigger.
* Elected Representatives in government only interested in re-election
* New rules which only benefit keeping employment for rules makers.

And what was wholly unexpected was the amount of times I found myself laughing out loud while reading it. Especially the seven page Paper Clip procurement sidebar which very well might be the most ludicrously funny thing I've ever read. (oddly according to the one reviewer here who gave it one star and claimed to quit after chapter two, this was in chapter two)

As others have mentioned, it is anti-politically correct, anti-organized religion yet also anti-atheist, anti-war, at times preachy and mostly extremely libertarian.

Actually its very Tea Party-ish. But the Tea Party wasn't even an idea until Rick Santelli's CNBC rant in early 2009 and this came out before 9/11 (interesting that Muslim extremism is also alluded to) I hypothesize this book didn't sell, because 9/11 changed everything -- people wanted a strong government then.

Unfortunately, our leaders then did exactly what this book said that career politicians (represented in this book by the Head Honcho) always did. Throw American lives at an unwinnable problem for their own political gain.

And then the past two years politicians have done exactly what the liberal side of the Head Honcho does. Throw gobs of other peoples money (ie tax dollars) at something that sounds nice and purposeful, but accomplishes nothing for the country except gets obscene amounts of money to the unions so they can get him re-elected.

Anyhow I highly recommend everyone reads this book. Its an brilliant eye-opener.

This book is just a load of [bull]...
I did manage to read more that two chapters and I did manage to smile a time or two. However, I must say poor Thomas Jefferson to be so ill used, not to mention quotes that served a better purpose when orginally read.
Unless you have more money and time than you know what to do with, don't waste any of it. Thank God I was able to borrow a copy.

This is a book everyone should read. Not because everyone would agree with it or stomach it. Most readers will likely have a hard time with it's anti-politically correct viewpoint. But, the book has some powerful and fresh new views about the role of the federal government and the amazing impact that religion (or secular and divine mysticism, as the author calls it) has on politics in America and elsewhere. It is very funny at times, very gutwrenching at times, and loaded with many new insights that have caused me to at least ponder my paradigms.

Wow! This may be the most honest, say-it-like-it-is book I've ever seen in print! If you're tired of political correctness, shallow analysis, sloganeering, and bland party politics, pick up this book and have great time with something fresh and controversial. It was a slow read at first, but by the end, I had goose pimples and a much better understanding of why I'm proud to be an American. However, if you're a card-carrying leftist, save your money.

There is some great satire in this book. I laughed out loud many times. It is very direct and blunt, which is refreshing, unless you're a liberal, in which case you would be better off driving a stake into your own heart than reading this book. Some of the religious satire is challenging to read, but hey, if you're going to read satire, you should start with a thick skin. In the end, this is a book that I would recommend to all Americans, because it gets to the heart of where our liberty comes from and what it means.

I struggled with this book at the beginning, because the premise is a little far-fetched (a "resurrected" Thomas Jefferson returning to modern America). However, as I read on, it became clear that the author was putting forward some enormously challenging thoughts. In particular, the comingling of politics and religion as driving forces throughout history was compelling, especially in light of recent world events driven by religious fanatacism. By the end of the book, I was thoroughly entertained by the satire and somewhat shaken by the author's bold, controversial viewpoints.

This book is well worth the read. Fasten your seatbelts! You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll probably find yourself challenging some basic assumptions along the way.