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A review by nh1
Bland Fanatics: Liberals, Race, and Empire by Pankaj Mishra
3.0
My actual rating for this is 3.5 stars. On a high-level, I think this book is a great reminder of what the US is to the rest of the world, no matter who is in charge of the country at the time: a neo-colonialist country with a particularly ruthless version of capitalism. It also had some useful analysis of what the world “liberal” has meant here and abroad; in the words of Muhammad Abduh: “Your liberalness we see plainly is only for yourselves.” Particularly germane to the current euphoria around the election of a Democrat.
I particularly enjoyed the essays on Ta-Nehisi Coates and Salman Rushdie, maybe because I've read some of their works, or maybe because these essays were a good reminder that writers of this kind must remain solidly with the labor class. It reminded me of Camus' words on writing: "One of the temptations of the artist is to believe himself solitary, and in truth he hears this shouted at him with a certain base delight. But this is not true. He stands in the midst of all, in the same rank, neither higher nor lower, with all those who are working and struggling."
I particularly enjoyed the essays on Ta-Nehisi Coates and Salman Rushdie, maybe because I've read some of their works, or maybe because these essays were a good reminder that writers of this kind must remain solidly with the labor class. It reminded me of Camus' words on writing: "One of the temptations of the artist is to believe himself solitary, and in truth he hears this shouted at him with a certain base delight. But this is not true. He stands in the midst of all, in the same rank, neither higher nor lower, with all those who are working and struggling."