Customer Reviews

My Holy War: Dispatches from the Home Front

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A small but valuable and articulate series of essays on 9/11 and subsequent events and issues written from the vantage point of a British author living on the West Coast of the US. Raban builds upon insights into Arabic culture acquired for an earlier work to offer a perceptive point of view. Recommended.

This collection of political essays (many/most previously-published) by an expatriate Englishman are often beautifully written and well-observed; Raban, also known for his travel writing, has a wonderful eye for detail. He also has a knack for identifying and describing that particular and peculiar American characteristic: a kind of zealous idealism first seen in Winthrop's "city on a hill" oration.

The joy of these essays is that they don't tread over already far-too-well-trodden ground, such as the debate over torture at Abu Ghraib (horrific, but let's face it, how much new insight is an observer like Raban likely to contribute?) Instead, he veers a little bit futher off the track to write about Howard Dean's presidential campaign of 2004 and what is happening in Middle Eastern society -- all with 9/11 and its aftermath, including the London bombings, as his center focal point.

One minor quibble: in a thin book, the overlaps and repetitions between essays written at different times for different audiences become glaring and ultimately extremely irritating. I would have been happier with a thinner volume and fewer moments of "wait, I've read these paragraphs before".

Recommended to all as a thoughtful analysis from someone who has lived a large part of his life in the United States, but who has not yet succumbed to a "this country right or wrong" ethos. Those who don't want to read a critical analysis should probably avoid it as some of his conclusions will send their blood pressure soaring.