2003-06-16 - 3:37 p.m.
I've been scaring myself with my choice of reading materials recently.
Now, I am an avowed science fiction fan. For a while that was just about the only genre I'd read. I'd occasionally branch out into mysteries and technothrillers, but sci-fi and fantasy were my main choice. Serious brain rot. After all, the world could take care of itself. I needed to escape from the daily grind.
The other day, though, I got it into my head to pick up Bernard Lewis' "What Went Wrong?" It's an historical analysis of Islam in the last 300 years, of how the five major Muslim empires of the 1600s devolved into the current muddle. Orson Scott Card used it extensively in his book "Shadow Puppets", which is where I'd heard of it in the first place. I read it in a day. Next thing I know, I'm back in that section of the library, looking for more stuff. Among others, I found Dinesh D'Souza's "What's So Great About America". Now, I'm pretty liberal in my viewpoints, so I didn't expect to find myself agreeing with most of the ideas expressed by a conservative pundit like D'Souza.
Like I said, most of the ideas. Not all. I don't necessarily agree with his views on multiculturalism, or on our support for dictators during the Cold War, or on the essential superiority of American culture. I also don't like the fact that he does not propose solutions to the various social issues he brings up. But compared to some of the ultra-liberal views of my classmates in college, most of what he says makes sense. Of course, now my brain has caught fire and I'm looking for more poli-sci stuff to read.
Come to think of it, I've been doing things that would have been unthinkable to me ten years ago. Ten years ago, I was graduating from college. The plan I had was to go to graduate school and get into an academic career. I had anticipated being a reasonably well-known college who would spend his time writing cogent, insightful, and brilliant analyses of Latin American fiction and its impact on New Wave sci-fi, teaching college lit classes and raising a family. Either that or else a celebrity chef.
Ten years ago I wouldn't be caught dead listening to country music, or reading political science, or living in St. Louis. (Not that I don't like this town; I just wanted to prove my independence.) You already know my reading list, and you know where I live. Guess what's in the CD player? Johnny Cash, BR549, and Junior Brown.
Amazing what time does to us…
