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A review by savaging
Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield by Jeremy Scahill
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.