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savaging's review against another edition
2.0
Finally. Finished.
Can I admire Scahill's journalistic bravery, agree with his political analysis, think that this subject matter is one of the most important in the world -- and still think this book is basically unreadable?
It could be entirely my fault: maybe if my brain was better at holding onto names, places, and subdivided government bureaucracies, I'd be able to see the connecting narrative. But, my brain being what it is, this felt like a flood of research into the vague shape of a book. It took me two months to read because each paragraph felt like a logic puzzle for the LSAT, focused on the internecine bickerings of government memos. I felt stuck in the weeds. I wanted to either step back and get some broad meta-analysis, or step closer into the realm of actual humans with quirks and character.
He accomplishes the latter at moments writing about Anwar and Abdulrahman Al-Awlaki, which were the most compelling parts of the book for me.
Blackwater was a phenomenal book. Still challenging, still dense with facts and names and government memos, but also more lively and much more readable than Dirty Wars. I haven't seen the film, but I'm already recommending that people give that a shot instead.
Can I admire Scahill's journalistic bravery, agree with his political analysis, think that this subject matter is one of the most important in the world -- and still think this book is basically unreadable?
It could be entirely my fault: maybe if my brain was better at holding onto names, places, and subdivided government bureaucracies, I'd be able to see the connecting narrative. But, my brain being what it is, this felt like a flood of research into the vague shape of a book. It took me two months to read because each paragraph felt like a logic puzzle for the LSAT, focused on the internecine bickerings of government memos. I felt stuck in the weeds. I wanted to either step back and get some broad meta-analysis, or step closer into the realm of actual humans with quirks and character.
He accomplishes the latter at moments writing about Anwar and Abdulrahman Al-Awlaki, which were the most compelling parts of the book for me.
Blackwater was a phenomenal book. Still challenging, still dense with facts and names and government memos, but also more lively and much more readable than Dirty Wars. I haven't seen the film, but I'm already recommending that people give that a shot instead.
jsnyder5's review against another edition
5.0
Every american should read this book to understand the evolution of the War on Terror and how it has and will continue to impact the US at home and abroad.
kbc's review against another edition
5.0
It raises questions about the morality, legality and unintended consequences of current American policy and the killing it does in our name.
jamiereadthis's review against another edition
5.0
[Insert string of obscenities] at the things this country has done. The best thing this book does is make it perfectly clear there isn’t right-wing or left-wing. It spans two crucial presidencies, and the substantive difference is that the former worried how far they could push things and the latter did not. Even now, another half-decade down the road, another two years into a disastrous presidency, the headlines we read and the stories we don’t are the fulfillment of the events in this book. What more can you say when it’s the Nobel Peace Prize-winning president who institutes Terror Tuesdays? What do you think the ones who come after will do?
The enemies we do have in the world, we’ve made them. I take back what I said above; the best thing this book does is put you in their shoes.
The enemies we do have in the world, we’ve made them. I take back what I said above; the best thing this book does is put you in their shoes.
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