Dark visions of a bureaucracy
924760
This story was truly in the style of Franz Kafka. I would have given this a 5-star rating, but the story was never finished by the author. In fact, he stopped writing in mid-sentence at the end of the book. It is difficult to fully understand the "whole" story, but that's the way Kafka often writes. The plot focused on the many complexities of bureaucratic life in the small town where newcomer K. (the chief character) hoped to start his new position as a surveyor. K. never located or actually entered the castle, but spent every waking moment trying to find out who he should speak to within that building about his new post. At every turn, he was either rebuffed by townspeople (who where inexplicably hostile towards him) or referred to some other bureaucrat for answers; he never received any helpful guidance. He  grew increasingly frustrated and helpless, attempting to beat the system but failing to do so.

There was a certain intrigue about K's situation, and I felt I had to keep reading to find out how it ended. Sadly, I'll never know.  Even so, I highly recommend this book to all Kafka fans and those who are new to this fascinating writer.
2572572
The Palace of Dreams is a haunting allegory of power as a man from an influential family that is often at odds with the State finds himself working for the Palace of Dreams. There is danger, mystery, and a dark cloud hanging over his prominent family's head and Mark-Alem must navigate it all without losing his own.

The coolest thing to me was the concept of the Palace of Dreams. Although it is, on paper, a bureaucratic institution, it was created to sift through the dreams of everyone in the Ottoman Empire. Why? Because Allah will occasionally send warnings of impending disaster to Earth as a dream. Except He doesn't care who has that dream, so every dream has to be analyzed!

The allegory is very clear as the relationship between Mark-Alem's family and the State is defined throughout the book. It's a frightening picture of the power and fury of a totalitarian state and what can happen just on somebody's word.

Ismail Kadare has been praised as one of the most important writers of our time and this book convinces me of the same. It's a quick read and a fascinating look at totalitarian regimes, power, and the consequences of both.
864369
Hedges reports that American culture has slid into a vast, narcotizing, fantasy realm that distracts us from confronting the economic, environmental, political and moral collapse that surrounds us.  The argument goes beyond Neil Postman's in that media and journalism are smoking the same pipes, and have become vapid celebrities and courtiers instead of truth diggers.  Financial movers and shakers are indifferent to the human suffering they are causing.  It takes enormous effort for the citizenry to achieve clear sightedness since society has become a vast forum for illusion immersion.  As the country hurtles toward the rocks ahead, there are demogogues lying in wait for their chance to peddle yet more illusions of healing and relief.  As despair and disillusion become more acute and riots erupt, the incipient forces of authoritarian clampdown will have the excuse they've been waiting for to destroy civil liberties, restore order and make the Constitution a faded memory.  As Hedges notes, "the tools are in place" and all that's needed is a national crisis to legitimize their use.  The novel feature of Hedges's diagnosis is that hatred of the present elites that are leading us to destruction through greed or pipedreams is growing, and these familiar elites may be thrown overboard in favor of a new cadre we cannot imagine, but who will immerse America in a deep valley of tears with all exits blocked.  The route will be blindness to our crisis, then despair, then social convulsions, then the clampdown that extinguishes our democracy for good for the sake of law and order.  Hedges lists the illusions we"ve bought into that are greasing the slide.
1314865
The most Kafkaesque of all Kadare novels, The Palace of Dreams is a profound dark fantasy that reminds of masterpieces from Orwell, Solzhenitsyn and Kundera in its depiction of totalitarian regimes trying to control even the subconscious of citizens. Though the author shifted the background to 19th century Ottoman empire, the veneer of parable was not enough to protect him against the wrath of Enver Hoxha's government, resulting in an immediate ban on the book and a ten-years ban from writing imposed on the novelist. Indeed, this was one major reason for his self-willed exile to France, since he had come to the conclusion that creative work and dictatorship never went together.
Tabir Sarrail or The Palace of Dreams is a labyrinth of mystery entrenched in political intrigue, speculations and even superstitions. Yet it reaches out its omnipotent hands to dig out most obscure, haphazard and absurd dreams that lay buried in the subconscious recesses of the unsuspecting and untutored citizenry through out the empire. The young Mark Alam form the renowned Kuprili family reaches there as an ordinary employee but soon finds himself being promoted to higher positions within no time. He is himself at a loss why he should be absorbed to the cerebral center of the Institution called 'the Interpretation' so soon. Even before he comes to acclimatize with it he is made the Assistant Director and then again to independent charge of the Tabir. But none of these professional elevations help him in any way to avoid the huge family catastrophe in which his dear uncle Kurt is made to mysteriously perish in its dark insides. His deep distress is further aggravated when he comes to guess that the tragedy had something to do with an absurd dream he had referred to higher levels instead of dumping it as it deserved. Yet there are indications that the Kurpili family is gaining in power which is all the more puzzling since it raises the question: why couldn't they do anything in preventing the tragedy? May be the liberal-minded political critic that uncle Kurtz was found no support within the family circles either.
Among the maze of dream fragments that remain archived within the fathomless Tabir, there is a vision that wouldn't ever leave the reader. It consisted of a description of hell, but a different one. Instead of human beings it contained dead States. Blood thirsty 'empires, emirates, republics, constitutional monarchies, confederations...' Resurrected time and again. Newly painted so as to cover up old blood stains. 'According to the person who'd sent in the dream, all modern States, including the Ottoman Empire, were merely old bloodthirsty institutions buried by time, only to return to earth as spectres' . Though this dream description comes almost in the middle of the book, this could well be a fine overall view of the novel.
4553340
"All The Dark We Will Not See" is the kind of book that gets under your skin. I started this book in the summer and by the end was surprised that it was still sunny outside. Dark, hallucinatory, and chillingly weird, this novel yanks you into a wonderland-type experience that will make you question your government, ethics, and reality all at once.

The plot follows a naive young man named Edison Eden who moves to Washington D.C. with an idealistic passion for rooting out corruption in the government. When he joins the Office of the Whistle-blowers Council, he discovers that the corruption goes far deeper than he ever imagined. With his job, reputation, and even his life at stake, Eden gets involved with an underground movement intent on exposing the government's dishonesty.

The strongest aspect of this novel is the writing. At once lyrical and uncomfortable, the words form a kind of sticky spiderweb that hold your eyes to the story no matter how much you want to turn away. The imagery is spot-on and the descriptions pull from an impressive background of pop culture and ancient literature to blend into a familiar and yet totally foreign experience. The cadence, vocabulary, and phrasing blew me away time and time again and each new metaphor felt like something I wanted to read over to digest in its entirety. All of this crystallized into the perfect backdrop for such a strange, twisting plot.

I would recommend this book to anyone brave enough to give it a try. It is dizzying and deeply unsettling, but provides a fascinating insiders view of Washington and a sharp commentary on bureaucracy and office culture. Neff clearly has not only the real-world experience but also the writing talent to back up his wild, almost fantastical tale. But it isn't a fantasy and after reading this book I can see that the issues that plague our government are far more terrifying than I ever wanted to know.

This book will leave me thinking for a long, long time.
237498
Interesting novel about a hospital anesthesia department with disgruntled employees.
2885609
Professor Kuromiya has produced a work on a topic much covered in historical literature: Stalin's reign of terror. What Kuromiya adds is
a record of the original sources of documentation kept by the Soviet
secret police. These notes offer "bureaucratically efficient" records of
each prisoner's dialogue with captors, interrogators and torturers.
The language is bland, like a record from the motor vehicles bureau. But the context of these notes, the hidden torments, truths and lies they reveal, is chilling. Kuromiya's familiarity with the archival records allows him to infer pieces of "truth" amidst the vast conspiracy of offical lies. The records themselves are dry, even mundane, but the story thy tell, and that Kuromiya retells, is one of life, truth and, ultimately, of injustice and death.
3078836
I was a member of the Honolulu Police Department for almost twenty years and felt I was in the loop and fairly knowledgeable about events occuring within the organization.  After reading this book, I was disappointed to learn that this sort of discrimination and prejudice was alive and well among our ranks.  What was more disappointing was knowing high ranking officers were part of this subterfuge.

This book is a must read for those that are contemplating a career in law enforcement, whether they be male of female.  It shows the sordid side of an otherwise exemplary organization.  It shows that in spite of the lofty goals set by the administration of the department, there are those that will ignore everything the department stands for to further their own misguided bigotry.

The book also reveals the challenging, tempting and often frightening world of a real world undercover police officer.  It clearly illustrates that it takes a very special kind of individual to succeed at undercover police work.
4838804
The fictitious memoirs of Nicholas Garrigan, personal physician to ex-Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. Garrigan passively recounts his own fall into moral ambivalence as he describes Amin's erratic, homicidal rule. A surprising and disturbing book -- at times we find ourselves liking psychopathic, murderous Idi Amin more than we do the nebbish and irresolute Dr. Garrigan. The prose is crisp and pleasurable to read; at times this novel looses its focus, but overall it's a moving and affecting book which takes us on a journey not only through the personal landscapes of Garrigan and Amin, but which also provides flashes of insight into African society and politics and European-African relations.
1817732
This book is far more one of corporate anthropology and psychology than it is a novel. The author examines in elaborate detail the behavior and appearance of execs and their subordinates. Details of dress, grooming, posture, gestures, voice, words chosen though often coded, order of speaking, props, protocols, etc are all carefully examined. In the corporate world detailed by the author, it is absolutely essential that image and persona be in step with position; missteps will immediately alert both superiors and others that one is not worthy to be part of the club.

The setting for the story is TriTech, a manufacturer of computer related items, which is struggling to maintain market share. The narrator is Ward Wittman, the head of a division at TriTech, who uses every bit of his understanding of corporate behavior to maintain his position. Those requirements of managing his image extend to his broader social life involving his family with a social-climbing wife and two prep-school teenagers.

The book consists of a series of loosely connected scenes seen through the eyes of Ward ranging from the CEO's office, Ward's office, a well-heeled customer's suite of offices, a socialite's party, his daughter's tennis and soccer matches, to even a hotel room where Ward has several trysts with his secretary. In all of these, the need to read the other person and adjust suitable responses predominates.

The book certainly does not have the story line and depth of a great novel, or even a good one for that matter. Character development is minimal beyond descriptions of self-serving behavior. The constant interpretation and descriptions of behavior does get tedious in spots. How many times does the crossing of one leg over another accompanied by a count of foot shakes have to be repeated? However, the book is interesting in its clinical look at corporate culture. It is probably not far off the mark in its depictions of the personal mechanizations required in the corporate world.
1195268
This is a classic work of art. It depicts, in chilling detail, how civilization breaks down when a group of school boys, none over 12 years of age, are marooned on an island, with no adult supervision.

It can be read as an allegory for adult society in which there is no responsible supervision, for example, when the government appoints people to head agencies who have no experience, like Brownie, or appoints people to agencies that the government wants to destroy, or when the government appoints a person to represent us in the UN and the person has said the UN should not exist. Does this sound familiar?

However, this book first appeared in 1954. It is a work of art. It may be just an artistic description of some school boys slowly descending into a violent abyss of their own making.

Either way, it is a disturbing book. It shows, clearly, how thin the veneer of civilization is, and what ugliness lies beneath that veneer.

I have read this book twice and was disturbed both times. I think it is still relevant. And that relevance makes the book even more disturbing.
3747415
a a sociological take on killing groups obsessionally presented
4300862
Dark vision of the future of earth, yet oddly hopeful for mankind.
2485251
Interesting  view of a competitive country's government that desires power, adulation and their all consuming focus on illusion
3896689
Hubert Selby's first book, "Last Exit to Brooklyn" was published in the 1964. It was subject to an obscenity trial in England although it escaped U.S. censors unscathed. The book was reissued in 1988, coinciding with the release of a movie loosely based upon it. The book's dark vision remains with the passage of time. It is not a book for the squeamish, faint-hearted, or for the conventional.

The book consists of a series of loosely related stories of varying length taking place in the tenements of Brooklyn. Many of the incidents center around an odious local bar known as "the Greeks" and its patrons. The longest story, "Strike" is about a long and ugly labor dispute and its effect on Harry, a worker and the strike organizer, on his marriage and on his sense of sexual identity. The story is detailed, sordid, violent, and fascinating. Other stories explore the world of cheap hookers, transvestites, drug users, petty crooks and drunks. The stories are raw told in a crude language of the streets appropriate to their subject matter.

The book reminded me of the early work of probably my favorite novelist, the Victorian writer George Gissing, in its concentration of the underlife in our cities. There is little of the express vulgarity and sexual crudity in the Victorian writer, but I think Gissing and Selby would have understood each other nonetheless.

This book is a disturbing picture of low life, partly written in the language and mores of its times but transcending that. There is little in the way of hope or love in the book and I think that the author wants to show us the consequences of a lack or hope and love. It is a book that in a materialist age can teach compassion in a language and style that pulls for attention. It is very sad, but the book invites and demands reflection. It shows us what is missing. This is probably a book that will be remembered in the literary history of America.

Robin Friedman
3526552
A startlingly harsh look at the evil made possible by a regime of hatred and powerlust.
2683307
Ron Formisano has written an eye-opening book that would horrify the founders of the Republic, who feared the rise of an aristocracy. In seven lively chapters he casts a wide net to show how the political class operates with the efficiency of an old-fashioned urban political machine. Both parties are implicated in his story. But there are some unfamiliar players beyond those moving through the revolving door between Congress and Washington's army of lobbyists. University presidents, for example, increasingly act like corporate business heads and they are paid like them as well, often with ties to Wall Street. Who knew that the president of my alma mater served on Goldman Sachs' Board, reaping hundreds of thousands of dollars on top of her university salary as the economy nosedived toward depression. There are many surprises in this incisive book as Formisano takes apart America's permanent political oligarchy piece by piece.