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108 reviews for:
The 2020 Commission Report on the North Korean Nuclear Attacks Against the United States
Jeffrey Lewis
4.18 AVERAGE
108 reviews for:
The 2020 Commission Report on the North Korean Nuclear Attacks Against the United States
Jeffrey Lewis
4.18 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Soooo interesting, and shows how human choices no considerations form our governments. Worthwhile reading.
An interesting account of a speculative future, for sure. Well researched and gripping at times. The overall quality of the writing I found inconsistent, though.
Great story, and more realistic than I’d care to think about. The fact I bought this at a National Parks site during the Trump administration made me chuckle, as this book is based on part in Trump’s immature and quite non-presidential tweets about North Korea early in his administration.
This is a weird book for me to settle on a rating for, because on the one hand, I really liked what it was doing. I devoured it in just over a day, and that’s not just because I was at my in-laws for New Year’s! On the other hand, I wanted so much more than what it gave me at the end.
I would liken it very closely to World War Z (and thinking about it, the framing device for WWZ was the dregs of a UN commission report, so hey!), in that it tells a very compelling story using “evidence” and “testimony” from a fictional, but very realistic-feeling, event. If you liked WWZ, and you don’t own a Trump hat, you’ll like this. But the problem I had is that it tells the story of two days in incredible detail, I’m incredibly invested, and then…it just ends. In contrast, WWZ tells me the whole story of a war, from chaotic beginning to somewhat hopeful ending.
I suspect this comes from the author not being a fiction author, but a professor. And he writes really well, and takes the technical materials and makes them very engaging! I learned a lot about some stuff! But it just left me wanting more, and not in a good way where I said “gosh that was great!” but more like “oh, is that it? Well that’s too bad.”
Also it is entertaining that even in the time between publication and my reading of the book, so many Trump officials no longer have the jobs the book purports they have in 2020! He is…the worst boss.
I would liken it very closely to World War Z (and thinking about it, the framing device for WWZ was the dregs of a UN commission report, so hey!), in that it tells a very compelling story using “evidence” and “testimony” from a fictional, but very realistic-feeling, event. If you liked WWZ, and you don’t own a Trump hat, you’ll like this. But the problem I had is that it tells the story of two days in incredible detail, I’m incredibly invested, and then…it just ends.
Spoiler
With nothing more than a handwave of “and then we beat up the bad guys and we’re doing okay now but geez we still got problems.”I suspect this comes from the author not being a fiction author, but a professor. And he writes really well, and takes the technical materials and makes them very engaging! I learned a lot about some stuff! But it just left me wanting more, and not in a good way where I said “gosh that was great!” but more like “oh, is that it? Well that’s too bad.”
Also it is entertaining that even in the time between publication and my reading of the book, so many Trump officials no longer have the jobs the book purports they have in 2020! He is…the worst boss.
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Reading this during the COVID19 Pandemic was honestly fascinating. All of the cultural anxieties that this book was addressing felt like a distant memory, given our new series of fears. With that said, there were plenty of interesting parallels with the current struggles we are facing. Discussions of overwhelmed healthcare apparatuses, the importance of doctors during disasters, a failure by the government to provide sufficient support and help people. The book felt very real, especially the behavior of the "characters" of Donald Trump and his staff. I had to frequently remind myself that it was a work of fiction, not to be taken as gospel.
With that said, I do feel like the final two pages of the book, the statement by Donald Trump regarding the commission, ruined the poignancy of the ending. While the words certainly weren't out of character, per se, it really felt like a caricature of his speech patterns, getting as many references in as possible.
Overall, the book was well worth my time, and I wish I'd read it sooner, when it was more pertinent, even though this experience was enjoyable in its own way.
With that said, I do feel like the final two pages of the book, the statement by Donald Trump regarding the commission, ruined the poignancy of the ending. While the words certainly weren't out of character, per se, it really felt like a caricature of his speech patterns, getting as many references in as possible.
Overall, the book was well worth my time, and I wish I'd read it sooner, when it was more pertinent, even though this experience was enjoyable in its own way.
This book is terrifying, tragic, and enlightening in equal measures. A well-regarded scholar on nuclear weapons at the Middlebury Institute, Jeffrey Lewis brings an unmatched level of expertise to this astonishing work of speculative fiction. Set in the year 2023, the 2020 Commission Report details the lead-up to and aftermath of nuclear attacks from North Korea on first Japan and South Korea, and later the United States.
The most terrifying aspect of this book has to be the degree to which Lewis bases his book on fact. For instance, Lewis's conjecture that a nuclear attack on Tokyo might result in a fire storm is based on a recent real life high-rise fire in London where decorative insulation on the outside of the building caught fire. It is this attention to detail, and Lewis' commitment to grounding his book in events that have already occurred that give it more gravity than other fictional explorations of future conflicts.
If you are interested in more of Jeffrey Lewis' work, definitely check out the Arms Control Wonk podcast, which he co-hosts with Aaron Stein: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/arms-control-wonk/id872594726?mt=2
The most terrifying aspect of this book has to be the degree to which Lewis bases his book on fact. For instance, Lewis's conjecture that a nuclear attack on Tokyo might result in a fire storm is based on a recent real life high-rise fire in London where decorative insulation on the outside of the building caught fire. It is this attention to detail, and Lewis' commitment to grounding his book in events that have already occurred that give it more gravity than other fictional explorations of future conflicts.
If you are interested in more of Jeffrey Lewis' work, definitely check out the Arms Control Wonk podcast, which he co-hosts with Aaron Stein: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/arms-control-wonk/id872594726?mt=2