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Posts from the ‘non-fiction’ Category

12
Dec

#Non-fiction: Say Nothing

 

Introduction:

  1. The books concerns the Troubles in Northern Ireland
  2. …beginning and ending  with the 1972 murder of Jean McConville.

 

Strong point: 

  1. This is a very good book if you want
  2. …to know what it felt like during The Troubles
  3. …fear, omertà, code of silence  title: “Say Nothing”.
  4. Keefe’s writing style is cinematic.
  5. — POV meant to simulate the experience of watching a movie.
  6. —setting, characterization, structure
  7. — create visually dynamic scenes
  8. London car bombs, ch 11
  9. force feeding Dolours and Marion ch 14
  10. gruesome hunger strikes (Dolours, Brendan and Bobby Sands)

 

Strong point:

  1. Keefe realizes that this book has its ‘edgy sides’, unpleasant to read...
  2. …but he also knows the only way to keep the reader (in this case…me)
  3. engaged from cover to cover it to use the “glue” of empathy.
  4. Dolours is mentioned 525 x (…thank you Kindle).
  5. I keep reading because I feel connected to Dolours
  6. …interested in her plight.
  7. …wondering what makes a girl become so revolutionary, political?

 

Conclusion:

  1. Hook:  1972 – chapter one as Jean McConville is dragged
  2. out of her house
  3. ….and thrown in a van by masked thugs.
  4. Her body was finally found 43 years later in 2003.
  5. The crime remains unsolved.
  6. This book was slipping away… from me but
  7. …on page 50 things started to change!
  8. Chapters alternate between the Prices sisters (Dolorus and Marian)
  9. ..and the McConville’s (Arthur and Jean….and their children)
  10. …top-ranked IRA Gerry Adams and Brendan Hughes.

 

  1. This is a lot to take in
  2. ….it is almost numbing to read about  The Troubles.
  3. Many key players are dead,
  4. Brendon ‘the Darkie’ Hughes (1948-2008)
  5. James Martin Pacelli McGuinness (1950-2017)
  6. Dolours Price (1950-2013)
  7. …one is still living Gerry Adams (1948)
  8. …Irish republican politician who was the
  9. …President of Sinn Féin until 2018.
  10. He advocated for a political movement to run
  11. parallel with the armed struggle.

 

Last Thoughts:

  1. I learned more about a period in recent history
  2. I hadn’t known much about.
  3. It was a loose framework for a historical look at
  4. …some of the everyday people who got caught up
  5. in the violence of the IRA.
  6. It’s a sobering book
  7. It is a hard read so…
  8. …prepare yourself to be drained
  9. ….when you close the book.
  10. #HistorySeenInRearViewMirror
8
Dec

After the Count…should have won Walkley Award 2020

Introduction:

  1. When young and fit professional boxer Davey Browne died in the ring
  2. pummeled to death in front of his family and friends…
  3. it was the result of a perfect storm of
  4. …incompetence by members of the boxing fraternity.
  5. For journalist Stephanie Convery it hit home hard.
  6. She was beginning her own serious boxing training
  7. …when she heard the news.
  1. After the Count investigates:
  2. the title fight
  3. the aftermath of David Browne Jr’s death
  4. interrogates the culture and history of boxing
  5. its gender dynamics
  6. the visceral appeal of the ring and
  7. the inherent contradictions of a violent sport
  8. …that refuses to face up
  9. the consequences of that violence.

Conclusion:

  1. Strong point: excellent ‘hook’ …hits you with a 1-2 punch
  2. Strong point: excellent introduction revealing the structure of the book.
  1. Strong point:
  2. The very personal perspective written by a woman
  3. ..boxing and trying to come to terms
  4. ..with the fear head injury and permanent brain damage.
  5. …this makes the book tremble
  6. …in my hands (pg 83-84) she must have a CT  and MRI scan.

  1. Strong point:
  2. Ms Convery alternates between x-examination at
  3. inquest (lawyer vs neurosurgeon) with her personal visits to GP
  4.  and hospital for CT scan.
  5. This makes for intense reading that keeps
  6. this reader glued to the page.
  1. Strong point:
  2. Ms Convery…adds her own questions to the narrative:
  3. How many deaths attributed to the boxing sport?
  4. How knocks to the head change the brain?
  5. What is the link between concussions sustained in
  6. contact sports and
  7. CTE (Chronic traumatic encephalopathy)?
  8. This is a neuro-degenerative disease which causes severe and
  9. irreparable brain damage, as a result of repeated head injuries.
  10. Her research reveals the shocking facts.
  11. Eye-opener:
  12. It wasn’t unusual for boxers to break their hands
  13. in fights and to punch on regardless! (pg 76)
  1. Strong point:  pg 253-261
  2. The reader follows Ms Convery during
  3. her Fight Night for her final grading
  4. as boxing student at Joe’s Gym.
  5. Just amazing listening to her thoughts as she
  6. prepares herself explaining
  7. ….that with all the knowledge she as
  8. learned during her research for this book about concussion
  9. as she tries to pull herself away from the sport…
  10. …it draws her back somehow.

Last Thoughts;

  1. What a powerful book….I am absolutely bowled over by
  2. Ms Convery’s investigative research, her coverage of the death inquest
  3. and most importantly her conclusions in the last chapter.
  4. Sometimes the shorlisted book is BETTER that the prize winner!
  5. This is the best non-ficton read of 2020!
  6. I guess I’ve saved the best for last!
  7. #MustRead

Books read:

3
Dec

#Non-fiction The Anarchy: East India Company

 

Conclusion:

  1. Enjoyed parts of the book but found it crushingly detailed.
  2. If you don’t know much about India or its history…
  3. you will be buried under a pile of names and
  4. places that will mean nothing to you.
  5. After 25% …I just skimmed the book, excruciatingly boring.
  6. It was a soulless history an 200 pages too long.
  7. Doesn’t anyone have a red pen at Bloomsbury Publishing?
  8. You can dislike a book for any variety of reasons,
  9. but in the end it comes down to a matter of opinion,
  10. and opinions can differ from person to person.
  11. So, if you are interested in history 
  12. …read the book and perhaps you might like it.
  13. I did not.

23
Nov

#Non-fiction Walking With Ghosts (memoir)

 

Conclusion

  1. I did not expect this!
  2. Gabriel Byre writes his memoir as a poet
  3. …so lyrical, so close to the heart
  4. …making observations about his hometown
  5. …and youth  that I said to myself:
  6. “Oh, yes….I remember!”
  7. Think back to all those quirky people you knew and
  8. …saw through child’s eyes:
  9. the barber with a twirling red/white striped cylinder on his store
  10. the cobbler who knew exactly where your shoe was.
  11. And I was mesmerized by  the wall behind him filled with
  12. saint’s holy cards.…the rock stars in his life!
  13. …the chic millinery lady who sold frilly hats and gloves
  14. Byrne: “Sometimes in those days I felt that I might crack and
  15. …break apart with joy.”

 

So vivid….in “my little hometown USA”

  1. smell of geraniums as you brushed against them
  2. …Dad’s go to flowers when nothing else would grow.
  3. smell of boot polish at the cobblers…I can’t remember his name but he spoke with an accent.
  4. smell of fish with glassy eyes laying on a carpet of crushed ice at the R&D Fish Market.
  5. swiveling on the red-vinyl bar stools at Mahoney’s Pharmacy/soda shoppe…cherry Coke!
  6. the hiss of irons and a fog of steam…in Simonetti’s Dry Cleaning
  7. dark, spooky Chinese laundry in Derby…wanted to get out of there fast!
  8. fat tummy’s in tight white aprons the butchers at Fulton Market..chopping bone and gristle.

 

Conclusion:

  1. This is a MASTERPIECE !!
  2. …the type of book that lifts your spirits!
  3. Just let yourself go….and embrace the memories that
  4. Gabriel Byrne’s memoir will awaken!
  5. Walking With Ghosts should be enjoyed while
  6. …sipping a glass of wine preferably in front of
  7. …a roaring fireplace on a cold winter’s night.
  8. #BravoGabrielByrne
23
Nov

#NonFicNov 2020 Week 4 New to My TBR

The Netherlands…..summer morning 2020

 

Week 5: (Nov. 23 to 27) – New to My TBR (Katie @ Doing Dewey): It’s been a month full of amazing nonfiction books! Which ones have made it onto your TBR? Be sure to link back to the original blogger who posted about that book

 

  1. Here is my list of YOUR books
  2. ….that I want to read (TBR).
  3. It’s important to read outside of your experience,
  4. …outside of your time,
  5. …outside of your comfort zones.
  6. That is the most important take-away  #NonficNov!
  7. Note:  35 % of the books are by authors of color  (*)

 

  • Thanks  to the readers for sharing your best non-fiction!
  • Thanks to hosts…

 

  1. Leann of Shelf Aware
  2. Julz of JulzReads
  3. Rennie of What’s Nonfiction
  4. Katie @ Doing Dewey

 

 

Jinjer@The Intrepid Arkansawyer

  1. *Blue Highways  – William Least Heat-Moon
  2. Notes To Myself: Essays – E. Pine

 

Heather@Gofita’s Pages

  1. Spillover  D. Quammen
  2. *Our Time Is Now – Stacey Abrams

 

Athira@Reading on a Rainy Day

  1. *The Best We Could Do – Thi Bui
  2. *March Trilogy – John Lewis

 

Kate @BooksAreMyFavoriteAndBest

  1. Say Nothing  –  Patrick Radden Keefe
  2. This Is Going to Hurt  –  Adam Kay

 

Julie @JulzReads

  1. Indianapolis – L. Vincent, S. Vladic
  2. Labyrinth of Ice – B. Levy

 

Sue @WhisperingGums

  1. Piano Lessons – A. Goldsworthy
  2. Hearing Maud – J. White

 

Cathy @746Books

  1. The Burning of Bridget Cleary – A. Bourke
  2. Ship of Fools – Fintan O’Toole

 

Reese @Typings

  1. The End of Novel Love – Vivian Gornick
  2. In My Father’s Court – I.B. Singer

 

Brona @Brona’sBooks

  1. The World in the Whale – Rebecca Giggs
  2. *A Month in Siena – Hisham Matar

 

Rennie @What’sNonfiction?

  1. *The Biography of Resistance – M.H. Zaman
  2. Clean – J. Hamblin

 

JoAnn @GulfsideMusing

  1. *The Vanishing Half – Brit Bennett
  2. *The Nickel Boys – C. Whitehead

 

Katie @DoingDewey

  1. *Here For It – R.E. Thomas
  2. Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicone Valley Startup – J. Carreyrou

 

Lisa @ANZLitLovers

  1. A Train in Winter – C. Moorehead
  2. How To Talk About Climate Change in a  Way That Makes a Difference – R. Huntley

 

Lory @TheEmeraldCity

  1. The Body Keeps Score – Bessel v.d. Kolk
  2. An Anthropologist on Mars – Oliver Sacks

 

Deb Nance @Readerbuzz

  1. The Common Good – R. Reich
  2. *Civility – S. L. Carter

 

Liz Dexter @Librofulltime

  1. *Slay In Your Lane – Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinené
  2. Forced Out – K. Maxwell

 

21
Nov

#Non-ficiton The Altar Boys

Introduction:

  1. My goal of reading the shortlist of the Walkley Award 2020
  2. is almost completed. There was just one more hurdle to jump:
  3. I did not think I could bare yet another book about sexual abuse
  4. in the Catholic Church.
  5. Having read Cardinal (Louise Millligan 2017) and
  6. Fallen (Lucie Morris-Marr 2020)..I had had my fill.
  7. Now, The Altar Boys….seems to approach
  8. the subject from a VERY personal angle.
  9. Ms Smith decided to write her book after
  10. …a dear friend Steven Alward
  11. committed suicide January 2018.
  12. She spent six years investigating the
  13. …Maitland-Newcastle diocese in New South Wales.
  14. She developed strong personal connections with
  15. …several abuse survivors.
  16. one was even an ABC television colleague.
  17. In her new book  The Altar Boys
  18. Ms Smith focuses on one heroic whistle-blower priest.

Conclusion:

  1. I tried to take notes….but was immediately
  2. drawn into the book that I forgot time and place.
  3. Ms Smith raises new questions about the suicides
  4. of three former victims of Catholic clergy child sexual abuse.
  5. In her book, Smith details what happened
  6. …in Glen Walsh’s life after his abuse,
  7. when he became a priest himself in the Maitland-Newcastle diocese.
  8. What more is there to say? 
  9. This is just heartbreaking to read.
  10. One justice during  a priest’s trial summed it up:
  11. the inside top  of 3 Marists Schools protected the brothers/priests
  12. who taught young vulnerable children,
  13. It was “an organised criminal activity.”
  14. Now having  read three books about sexual abuse by
  15. clergy in Australia I can conclude this book was the most confronting.
  16. Many children endured violence and abuse in silence
  17. Thanks to journalists, psychologists, law enforcement
  18. ….the veil of secrecy is slowly being lifted.
  19. Many Catholics don’t go to Church now because it
  20. is rapidly losing its credibility, but many still keep their beliefs.
  21. #ExcellentJournalism

19
Nov

#AusReadingMonth2020 Penny Wong

 

Conclusion:

  1. My first impression was in the book’s preface:
  2. Ms Wong was reluctant to cooperate with Ms Simons.
  3. She told Ms. Simons she was an introvert
  4. …and suffered from prejudice and therefore
  5. …developed a closely guarded internal life.
  6. Penny Wong’s main motivation for
  7. …entering politics was to combat racism.
  8. Racism formed her in more ways than she is aware.
  9. I wonder if Ms Simons will be able to “crack this hard nut”?

 

  1. Researching a biography involves a lot of borrowing and persuading
  2. anecdotes, interviews (…or not, partner Sophie, mother Jane).
  3. Political party history (Labor) and public records are the ingredients
  4. Ms Simons used to fill in the gaps.
  5. Getting hold of personal information
  6. …about Penny Wong was a herculean task.
  7. Yet Margaret Simons persevered to give the reader a
  8. book that is …
  9. .…lucidly-written, logically-structured, and convincingly argued.
  10. The Shark Poem (pg 11) that Ms Wong wrote as a 12 year old gives
  11. …the reader a glimpse of one of Australia’s most popular politician:
  12. Shark poem:
  13. …the way it adapts
  14. …moves cleanly through its environment
  15. …the way it inspires both fear and respect.
  16. …that is Penny Wong.

 

  1. Despite these accolades….it was a very difficult book
  2. to read b/c of my lack of knowledge about
  3. the nuts and bolts of Australian politics.
  4. Ms. Simons did an honorable job with the little
  5. input she had from Penny Wong.
  6. Backstory – 5%
    Education – 5%
    University student politics – 5%
    Personal relationships – 1 %
    Australian Politics – 85%
18
Nov

#NonFicNov week 3 Be/Ask/Become the Expert

Week 3: (Nov. 16 to 20) – Be The Expert/Ask the Expert/Become the Expert (Rennie of What’s Nonfiction): Three ways to join in this week! You can either share 3 or more books on a single topic that you have read and can recommend (be the expert), you can put the call out for good nonfiction on a specific topic that you have been dying to read (ask the expert), or you can create your own list of books on a topic that you’d like to read (become the expert).

 

  1. Something has to change in USA.
  2. Racism isn’t worse…it is just getting filmed!
  3. …George Floyd killing on 25.05.2020.
  4. I can only start to understand what has to change
  5. …by educating myself….by reading.
  6. I concentrated on books about race and racism in 2020.

 

My thoughts:

  1. I’ve made a decision about 2021.
  2. I want to read AS MANY books AS I CAN 
  3. by minority authors.
  4. Fiction, memoirs, poetry, non-fiction,
  5. ….(auto)biography, short stories essays, plays...
  6. I want to discover just  how white our reading world is.
  7. White authors reign in book reviews, bestseller lists, literary awards
  8. ….and Amazon.com recommendations.
  9. I was stunned when I read  that cultural commentator Roxane Gay discovered
  10. in a survey of New York Times articles published in 2011
  11. …that nearly 90 percent of the reviewed books were authored by white writers. 
  12. People of all cultures and backgrounds have valuable experiences
  13. …and universal ideas to share.
  14. We all stand to gain when those voices are heard.
  15. So, if you have ANY  good reading suggestions by minority writers
  16. (African-American, African, Indonesian
  17. …Indian, Chinese, Hispanic, Native American, Aboriginal…etc)
  18. ...please leave the book title in a comment.
  19. …much appreciated!

 

Books read:

  1. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption – Bryan Stevenson (#MustRead)
  2. Just Us – C. Rankine (#MustRead)   The BEST  book on this list!
  3. The Fire This Time – editor Jesmyn Ward  (#MustRead)
  4. The New Jim Crow – Michelle Alexander
  5. Between the World and Me – Ta-Nehisi Coates
  6. Tears We Cannot Stop – M. Dyson  (#MustRead)
  7. Democracy In Black – E.S. Glaude jr.
  8. My Vanishing Country – B. Sellers
  9. How to Be an Anti-Racist – Ibram X. Kendi
  10. Brown is The New White – Steve Phillips
  11. Heavy – Kiese Laymon  (#MustRead….but I advise it as audio book)
  12. We Live for the We – D. McClain
  13. Caste – I. Wilkerson
  14. White Too Long – Robert P. Jones  (eye-opener about white supremacy!)

 

TBR:   American reading list:

  1. A Promised Land – Barak Obama
  2. The Tradition – Jericho Brown (poetry)
  3. Tough Love – Susan Rice
  4. The Collected Essays of Ralph Ellison – R. Ellison
  5. Citizen: An American Lyric  – Claudia Rankine
  6. A Fool’s Errand – Lonnie G. Bunch
  7. Girl, Woman, Other – B. Evaristo
  8. Beloved – Toni Morrison
  9. They Can’t Kill Us All – Wesley Lowery
  10. Nobody Knows My Name – James Baldwin
  11. Their Eyes Are Watching – Zora N. Hurston
  12. I Wonder as I Wander – Langston Hughes
  13. Think Like A White Man – Nels Abbey
  14. Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and its Urgen Lessons for Our Own – E.S. Glaude jr.
  15. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou
  16. Homie – Danez Smith (poetry)

 

TBR  Australia Indigenous

  1. Archie Roach –  Tell Me Why: The Story of My Life and My Music
  2. Chris Sarra – Good Morning Mr. Sarra
  3. Stan Grant – Talking To My Country
  4. The White Girl – Tony Birch
  5. Claire Coleman –  Terra Nullis
  6. Rachel Hennessy – The Heart I Swallowed
  7. Shireen Morris – Radical Heart
  8. Tara June Winch – The Yield
  9. Witi Ihimaera – Mãori Boy
  10. Anita Heiss – Am I Black Enough?
  11. Larissa Behrendt – Finding Eliza
  12. Bruce Pascoe –  Dark Emu
  13. Nakkiah Lui – Kill the Messanger
  14. Miranda Tapsell – Top End Girl
  15. Selina Tusitala Marsh – Tightrope (poetry)


Obama’s 19 favorite books 2019

  1. I’m reading 9 of these books before deadline 01.01.2021
  2. ….9 by white authors.
  3. Per 01 January this exciting challenge begins!

 

16
Nov

#Non-fiction City On Fire: Hong Kong

  • Title: City On Fire: The Fight for Hong Kong
  • Author: Antony Dapiran
  • Genre: non-fiction
  • Published: 2020
  • #NonficNov
  • Trivia: Long-listed for the Walkley Book Award 2020

UPDATE: 24.11.2022

  1. I don’ know how much news about China is a ABC news, MSNBC or CNN
  2. …but this is a potential flashpoint for China now!
  3. One of the most underreported
  4. stories right now is China’s failing Zero-Covid policy.
  5. Cases have surged to record-high levels (30 000 daily cases) &
  6. 420 mln people are back in lockdown. Lockdown…that is a powder keg with a short fuse!
  7. This violent protest is from the Foxconn iPhone factory in Zhengzhou
  8. …APPLE is very worried their phones will not make be found under USA Christmas trees!
  9. Xi Jinping can look very impressive at G20 ….but he has a lot of problems at home!

 

UPDATE: 20.11.2022

  1. Books about China politics have impacted the way I see the world.
  2. These books have opened my eyes to the geopolitical  importance of decisions
  3. made by China and …countries who must deal with China.
  4. This all makes my “JAW-DROP” because if you don’t feel it yourself
  5. NEVER forget China…is a nation on a ‘long-term’ mission!!
  6. The world must prepare for its influence on us all!
  7. I wonder if anyone asks for Dapiran’s book in the bookstore or library?
  8. There is NO BETTER way  to prepare than to read and educate yourself.
  9. I  would recommend Anthony Dapiran’s book as the best place to start.
  10. He is a journalist and he creates an impressive narrative to explain the
  11. …flashpoint we know as Hong Kong.

UPDATE: 31.01.2021 – article in the Guardian

  1. Leave Hong Kong….before it’s too late!!

UPDATE:  25.11.2020 – article in The Guardian

  1. Carrie Lam praises new security law.
  2. Hong Kong is a gaping hole in the security of the mainland!
  3. NO OPPOSITION…can you imagine living there?

Introduction:

  1. Antony Dapiran is a Hong Kong-based writer and lawyer.
  2. His  book chronicles the Hong Kong protests of 2019.
  3. I am just curious what is going on in Hong Kong
  4. ….behind only  the TV images I have seen.

Conclusion:

  1. Back round information about Hong Kong that
  2. passed me by while I was concentrating all my
  3. attention on USA  politics
  4. 2019 – impeachment Trump
  5. 2020 – elections USA.
  1. Strong point:
  2. reveals the the  strategy, tactics  of the protestors.
  3. Strong point:
  4. writing is concise....with important analysis:
  5. Remember:
  6. Beijing knows if it deploys troops to Hong Kong
  7. …that would mark THE DEATH
  8. of Hong Kong’s status as in international
  9. …financial hub!
  10. Chairman Xi would snuff out  hopes of his “China Dream”.
  1. Strong point:
  2. This book reveals the face of Chinese power to the world!
  3. It seems I have taken my eye off the ball during 2020
  4. …blinded by US politics.
  5. New rule:  read more about China!
  6. Don’t skip the headlines in the newspapers
  7. …because change is coming sooner than you think!
  8. #Taiwan is in China’s  cross-hairs!
  1. Read your newspapers.
  2. …and watch the slow and steady
  3. …squeeze as Beijing first isolates Hong Kong to weaken it
  4. …then pushes it towards integration with the mainland China.
  5. How long will this take?
  6. #MustRead non-fiction book
  7. …..history in the making!

Last thought:

  1. Do not  let ‘short lists’ influence your reading...
  2. I thought this book was 100 X better than
  3. the books designated as
  4. …potential winners Walkley Award 2020 on 20 November.
  5. Fallen by L. Morris-Marr
  6. We Can’t Say We Didn’t Know – S. McNeill
  1. Is the book a prize winner?
  2. No,  unfortunately it has not been shortlisted
  3. ….but it should have been on the shortlist!! !
  4. This book will help you
  5. …follow the news into 2021 about Hong Kong!
  6. #ThisProblemIsNotOverYet

November HK News:   update

  1. What state power has been doing is to try and subdue
  2. the few organizations that remain independent.
  3. daring and professional. (free press)
  4. They really want to close down this environment of open information.
  5. July 2020:  draconian national security law
  6. 12 Aug 2020: Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy La arrested.
  7.  who is owner  of  …one of Hong Kong’s most-read newspapers.
  8. 12 November 2020: Hong Kong opposition resigns en masse
  9. after members ousted from parliament.
  10. The end of  “One State, Two Nations”

If your interested….my notes on the chapters

Chapters:

  1. A Death in Taipei
  2. ….very obvious ‘hook’ chapter
  3. …with ref to a gruesome murder!
  1. The March of One Million – 09 June 2019
  2. Protests over proposed legislation that could have
  3. allowed residents to be extradited to China
  4. where they could face possible torture and unfair trials.
  1. Blocking the Bill –
  2. flashback 2014 the ‘Umbrella Movement’
  3. comparison with 12 June 2019 demonstration
  1. The March of Two Million – 16 June 2019
  2. Protesters have mainly focused their anger on Lam,
  3. who had little choice but to carry through dictates issued by Beijing,
  4. where President Xi Jinping has enforced increasingly authoritarian rule.
  1. Be Water!
  2. Ref:  Bruce Lee — philosophy”
  3. ‘Be like water making its way through cracks.
  4. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object,
  5. and you shall find a way around or through it.
  1. Storming the System – “..the (extradition) bill is dead”..or is it?
  3. Reclaim Hong Kong! Revolution of Our Times!  – protest 21 July 2019
  5. The Right to the City – protests move to airport
  6. and shopping malls on 26 July 2019
  8. …protestors weaken urban infrastructure to service their protest!
  10. Blooming – Art/graffiti  posed as much as
  11. challenge to Beijing’s authority in the city
  12. …as the black-clad youth in the streets.
  1. The Battle of Sheung Wan – 28 July 2019
  2. Upper Street (the English name for Sheung Wan)
  3. a peaceful and quiet neighborhood with hints of cosmopolitan
  4. London and a bit of Chinese grit.
  5. Protests shape shift into clashes in different districts
  6. …constantly changing the frontline!
  7. Protests  resemble  Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables!
  8. Act 1: build barricades
  9. Act 2: clash with police
  10. Act 3: protestors ‘being water’ and disappear
  11. Curtain falls: …police face an empty street.
  1. Strike! – 05 August 2019
  2. …..general strike compared with 1967 strike
  3. …was not very successful b/c of no support from the unions
  1. Things Fall Apart – bloody Sunday, 11 August 2019
  2. VERY GOOD CHAPTER…read carefully!
  3. …police use new tactic: disguised as protestors …suddenly turned
  4. …without warning on their neighbours in the crowd
  5. …stoking suspicion and paranoia.
  6. More airport protests, but the movement starts falling apart
  7. …because of lack of discipline.
  1. A Protest of Enchantment – 23 August 2019
  2. Hong Kong protesters join hands in 30-mile human chain.
  3. …and just as the clock struck 9pm…the people quietly dispersed.
  4. …a fleeting moment, an important enchanting statement.

  1. The End of Summer –  31 August 2019
  2. Police shoot pepper spray as they try to detain protesters
  3. inside a train at Prince Edward metro Station.
  4. This is the final breakdown between city and its police force.
  5. Most disturbing trend in 2019:
  6. the appropriation of the Hong Kong Police Force....by Beijing.

  1. One State, Two Nations – 04 September protest
  1. Resist! – announcement of
  2. 04 October curfew and…
  3. anti-masking law and…
  4. criminal charges for revealing personal details of police online
  5. ..this is called  “doxxing”.
  6. Injunction: check people posting on internet (chat groups)
  7. …and service providers and server hosts.
  8. Many would now conclude…it was safer to stay silent.
  1. City on Fire –  01 October 2019
  2. A fire burns during an anti-government protest in
  3. Hong Kong on the 70th anniversary of the
  4. founding of the People’s Republic of China

  1. The Siege – 19 November 2019
  2. Police assault the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong
  3. PolyU has been occupied by protesters for several days.
  4. Police warned protesters they had until 22:00 to leave the campus,
  5. saying they could use live ammunition if the attacks continued.
  6. There were daring escapes: students running across rooftops
  7. …crawling through sewer system. A girl was helped by a Whatsapp
  8. …sent to her to guide her through a little-known gap in PolyU perimeter.
  1. The Silent Majority – 24 November 2019
  2. Hong Kong goes to the polls.
  3. Hong Kong’s opposition pro-democracy
  4. movement has made unprecedented gains.
  5. Despite fears the vote could be disrupted or
  6. cancelled over the unrest, it went ahead peacefully.
  7. NOTE: ….where is the opposition now?
  8. …See news 12 Nov 2020
  1. A Way of Live….   VERY GOOD CHAPTER…read carefully
  2. The question is now “How does it end?”
  3. Violence has been normalized…both state and street violence
  4. HK’s reputation is damaged….not an example of good goverance
  5. Visible lasting impact of the protests:
  6. HK has become a security state.
  7. HK is a city on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
13
Nov

#Non-fiction Sophie McNeill

 

Conclusion:

  1. The book felt like I was reading a Wikipedia page
  2. ….with a heavy dosis of pathos.
  3. You feel the emotions of sadness or pity
  4. which has come from telling the harrowing experiences people
  5. caught up in the Middle East conflicts.
  6. Pathos is used as a way to emotionally appeal to the listener or reader.
  7. You may like this book…..but it did not resonate with me.
  8. #WasteOfMyReadingTime
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