books: the psychopath test

i think my first exposure to jon ronson's brand of journalism was through this american life, which seems like a pretty appropriate place for jon ronson's brand of journalism, which if you are one of the non-listeners is a pretty narrative driven form of journalism. heavy on pathos and artistic flourish in it's storytelling. and maybe that's my biggest criticism of ronson's psychopath test: a bit too much of the bard and not enough of the investigator.

once again i think i wanted my sociological study to be more of a study. or as i told one facebook friend: i think as an overall read i would have given it a 4/5, but as a look at psychopathy i'd give it a 3/5. ronson has a perfectly enjoyable writing style and can spin a good yarn but, and maybe this is just because i was coming off of a book like people who eat darkness, i wanted depths that were not there.

still, some fun anecdotes to be had and some interesting questions proposed. if you're okay with that and don't mind a lack of meaty answers then you'll probably enjoy this book.

books: billy lynn's long halftime walk

i have two books i have to catch up on and then i promise i'll make some kind of commentary about being in melbourne for the past 6 months or whatever it's been. some profound life affirming shit i am telling you. or probably not. it's been a bit disappointing in that regard but i don't want to spoil the emotions of that post so lets talk about the emotions of soldiers instead.

i do not want to guess at the emotions of soldiers because i have and probably will never have an experience that comes close to modern warfare. well, aside from playing call of duty: modern warfare which no doubt is pretty close to the real thing and that can get pretty emotional sometimes. i yell enough in horrible screams of rage for it to seem convincing enough. but anyway here we have a book about some soldiers returning from the line of duty, having proven themselves tremendously in battle, and being paraded around to the dumb masses.

some may and have argued that this book lacks subtlety, and maybe i'm just simple, but i found the themes and ironies and pointed fingers to be very poignant and not at all over the top. and i was quite charmed by billy lynn as a person, particularly the juxtaposition of his inner thoughts and his outward manner to the fawning texan public. it is a book that makes you feel good about not liking war and also not liking your fellow (or not) americans.