From a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a new and eye-opening interpretation of the meaning of the frontier, from early westward expansion to Trump's border wall.
Ever since this nation's inception, the idea of an open and ever-expanding frontier has been central to American identity. Symbolizing a future of endless promise, it was the foundation of the United States' belief in itself as an exceptional nation--democratic, individualistic, forward-looking. Today, though, America has a new symbol: the border wall.
In The End of the Myth, acclaimed historian Greg Grandin explores the meaning of the frontier throughout the full sweep of U.S. history--from the American Revolution to the War of 1898, the New Deal to the election of 2016. For centuries, he shows, America's constant expansion--fighting wars and opening markets--served as a "gate of escape," helping to deflect domestic political and economic conflicts outward. But this deflection meant that the country's problems, from racism to inequality, were never confronted directly. And now, the combined catastrophe of the 2008 financial meltdown and our unwinnable wars in the Middle East have slammed this gate shut, bringing political passions that had long been directed elsewhere back home.
It is this new reality, Grandin says, that explains the rise of reactionary populism and racist nationalism, the extreme anger and polarization that catapulted Trump to the presidency. The border wall may or may not be built, but it will survive as a rallying point, an allegorical tombstone marking the end of American exceptionalism.
Greg Grandin is the author of Fordlandia, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. A Professor of History at New York University, Grandin has published a number of other award-winning books, including Empire's Workshop, The Last Colonial Massacre, and The Blood of Guatemala.
Toni Morrison called Grandin's new work, The Empire of Necessity, "compelling, brilliant and necessary." Based on years of research on four continents, the book narrates the history of a slave-ship revolt that inspired Herman Melville's other masterpiece, Benito Cereno. Philip Gourevitch describes it as a "rare book in which the drama of the action and the drama of ideas are equally measured, a work of history and of literary reflection that is as urgent as it is timely."
Grandin has served on the United Nations Truth Commission investigating the Guatemalan Civil War and has written for the Los Angeles Times, The Nation, The New Statesman, the Guardian, the London Review of Books, and The New York Times.
He received his BA from Brooklyn College, CUNY, in 1992 and his PhD from Yale in 1999. He has been a guest on Democracy Now!, The Charlie Rose Show, and the Chris Hayes Show.
[https://athenacool.wordpress.com/2019/04/24/the-end-of-the-myth/] The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America 神话的终结:美国精神从边疆到边墙 Greg Grandin March 5th 2019 by Metropolitan Books 子扉我 2019年春 季风异次元...
评分[https://athenacool.wordpress.com/2019/04/24/the-end-of-the-myth/] The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America 神话的终结:美国精神从边疆到边墙 Greg Grandin March 5th 2019 by Metropolitan Books 子扉我 2019年春 季风异次元...
评分[https://athenacool.wordpress.com/2019/04/24/the-end-of-the-myth/] The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America 神话的终结:美国精神从边疆到边墙 Greg Grandin March 5th 2019 by Metropolitan Books 子扉我 2019年春 季风异次元...
评分[https://athenacool.wordpress.com/2019/04/24/the-end-of-the-myth/] The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America 神话的终结:美国精神从边疆到边墙 Greg Grandin March 5th 2019 by Metropolitan Books 子扉我 2019年春 季风异次元...
评分[https://athenacool.wordpress.com/2019/04/24/the-end-of-the-myth/] The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America 神话的终结:美国精神从边疆到边墙 Greg Grandin March 5th 2019 by Metropolitan Books 子扉我 2019年春 季风异次元...
这本书的叙事手法真是令人耳目一新。作者仿佛是一位技艺精湛的雕塑家,用细腻而富有层次感的文字,缓缓剥开了故事最核心的那层迷雾。我读到一半时,甚至忍不住合上书本,盯着天花板沉思了好一阵子。那种感觉,就像是置身于一个巨大的迷宫中,每一步都充满了不确定性,但每当你以为自己找到了出口时,却发现那只是另一个更深邃的入口。情节的推进并非线性发展,而是像一张精心编织的网,各种看似无关的线索,在不经意间被巧妙地联系起来,构建出一个宏大而又令人信服的世界观。角色的塑造尤其到位,他们不是扁平的符号,而是活生生的人,有着复杂的动机和摇摆不定的内心世界。特别是那个总是在关键时刻保持沉默的主角,他的每一次犹豫和选择,都像一记重锤敲击在读者的心上,让人不得不去反思自己面对困境时的反应。这本书的语言本身就是一种享受,充满了诗意和哲思,很多句子值得反复咀嚼,细品其中的深意。
评分读完这本书,我有一种强烈的冲动想要马上去找人讨论一番,因为它抛出的问题实在太过尖锐和具有争议性。作者似乎对人性中那些最幽暗的角落有着近乎病态的好奇心,他毫不留情地揭示了光鲜外表下的虚伪与腐朽。我必须承认,有些段落的描写太过直白,甚至略显残酷,但这正是这本书的价值所在——它拒绝提供廉价的慰藉或简单的道德判断。相反,它将读者推到道德的灰色地带,迫使我们直面那些我们平日里选择性忽略的复杂性。这种挑战性的叙事,让人读后久久不能平静,甚至会重新审视自己过去的一些认知和信念。我特别喜欢作者对环境和气氛的渲染,那种压抑、潮湿、仿佛随时都会有秘密泄露出来的氛围感,通过精准的词汇选择,被构建得栩栩如生,让人感觉自己真的和那些人物一起呼吸、一同承受着命运的重压。
评分说实话,这本书的阅读体验有点像在攀登一座高耸入云的山峰,过程虽然艰辛,但每当越过一个险峻的垭口,眼前的景色都会豁然开朗,带来无与伦比的震撼感。我尤其欣赏作者在构建社会背景时展现出的那种深厚的历史功底和敏锐的社会洞察力。他没有采用说教式的口吻,而是通过一系列生动的场景和充满张力的冲突,将那个时代的精神面貌刻画得淋漓尽致。那些关于权力、信仰与背叛的探讨,都以一种极为克制却又极具穿透力的方式呈现出来。初读时,我可能更关注故事的跌宕起伏,但随着阅读的深入,我发现自己开始关注那些隐藏在对话背后的潜台词,关注那些人物微小的肢体语言所暗示的巨大信息量。这种需要读者主动参与解读的阅读过程,极大地增强了阅读的沉浸感和智力上的满足感。这本书绝非那种可以快速翻阅的消遣读物,它要求你放慢脚步,去感受文字下涌动的暗流。
评分这本书最让我印象深刻的一点,是它在处理信息和世界构建上的“留白”艺术。作者深谙“少即是多”的道理,他没有将所有的背景设定和人物动机一股脑地灌输给读者,而是留下了大量的空白区域,期待读者用自己的想象力和知识储备去填补。这种做法,极大地激发了我的参与感和好奇心。我常常需要停下来,结合前面读到的只言片语,去推断某个事件的真实原因,或者某个角色的真实身份。这种探索性的阅读过程,比被动接受信息要有趣得多。它成功地创造了一个需要被“解构”而非仅仅“阅读”的故事。而且,尽管主题严肃,但作者偶尔会穿插一些黑色幽默,像是黑暗中的一束微光,为紧张的氛围提供了必要的喘息空间,使得整部作品在厚重之余,又多了几分灵动与人性化的色彩。这绝对是一部值得反复品味和深度挖掘的佳作。
评分这本书的节奏感把握得如同一个经验丰富的音乐指挥家。开篇相对舒缓,像是一段宁静的序曲,为接下来的高潮积蓄能量。然后,在故事进行到大约三分之一时,那种紧张感如同洪水决堤般爆发出来,一连串意想不到的转折将人牢牢锁在书页之间,让人不得不彻夜不眠地追寻真相。最让我拍案叫绝的是,在情节最混乱、信息量最大的部分,作者总能精准地插入一个冷静的、如同旁观者视角的段落,用一种近乎冷峻的笔触,梳理出事件的脉络,防止读者迷失在细节的泥潭中。这种张弛有度的叙事节奏,使得阅读体验始终保持在一个极高的兴奋点上,但又不会让人感到过度疲惫。而且,它探讨的主题是如此宏大,涉及到了文明的兴衰、个体在历史洪流中的渺小与挣扎,但作者却能将这些沉重的议题,巧妙地融入到几个普通人物的命运纠葛之中,使得抽象的哲学思考变得触手可及,具备了强大的情感感染力。
评分Book 45: 怪不得不愿戴口罩,但凡灯塔国人民能把自由的定义放宽一点,就不会走出欧洲也就不会有脱英独立了。没了西部没了战争,且看自己把自己圈起来的一根筋们怎么办。
评分https://athenacool.wordpress.com/2019/04/24/the-end-of-the-myth/
评分A brilliant interpretation, or reinterpretation, of American history.
评分又一本神书。得和how to hide an empire一起读。barbarism or socialism.
评分Book 45: 怪不得不愿戴口罩,但凡灯塔国人民能把自由的定义放宽一点,就不会走出欧洲也就不会有脱英独立了。没了西部没了战争,且看自己把自己圈起来的一根筋们怎么办。
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