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I just had to say thanks for this book and especially the afterword. You so eloquently put words to what I've been feeling about our current political state of affairs. I wasn't able to really articulate it until I read what you had written.
I have been really bothered by some of the partisan reviews. (Mostly on Amazon) I read one that said that you wrote yourself into the book as Torrent. Showing there is NO WAY they read the book. I hate it when people pigeon hole people's political beliefs with buzz words because they don't agree with them. It's scary to me that people get so vitriolic at someone who is a moderate, for the most part.
I live in DC and loved reading about a location then driving by the very spot. (Also one of the reasons I loved Treasure box). So when are you going to come up for a signing in DC? I have a healthy stack of 1st edition waiting and I'd love to meet my favorite author.
Just wanted to say thanks!
Posts: 64 | Registered: Jul 2005
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I also thought that the book really summarized what is wrong with American politics, and where it could lead. It is too bad that many people just categorize it without even reading it or understanding the message behind. Hopefully it can get some more publicity, and possibly in DC/Tyson's (see below).
The DC thing was also pretty cool, since I live in Northern VA, so all the stuff in Tyson's and Washington are familiar places to me. It would make a great movie, especially if it was filmed here, at the locations the book specifies.
Posts: 53 | Registered: May 2006
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quote:Originally posted by ThePersonMan: I also thought that the book really summarized what is wrong with American politics, and where it could lead. It is too bad that many people just categorize it without even reading it or understanding the message behind. Hopefully it can get some more publicity, and possibly in DC/Tyson's (see below).
I'll grant you that it summarizes what is wrong with politics and where it could lead, but I would counter by saying that the views presented in the book were too limited. Many of the conversations toward the beginning didn't read like two people talking to each other, but two professors completing each others sentences because they were in almost total agreement. I'm a nut for conversational English in writing and I think that's what I like most about Card's writing. With Empire, it felt forced and too much like a polemic.
On a separate note, which is neither here nor there when it comes to the actual book, I think Card in general makes the mistake that extremists on both sides want people to make; that most people are in the center and drowned out by the extremes.
On the contrary, I think those on the extremes are far more clever than we give credit for. The people in the middle aren't drowned out; they're convinced that their voice belongs in the extreme. Think about how everyone cheers when the Democrats secure their voter base by pushing a large number of poor and minorities back to the bottom of the economic ladder. Those in the middle do the "dirty work" of demanding an action that hurts those they most want to help. And, on the flipside, look at how the abortion debate has continued because so much time/money is spent on policies guaranteed to keep the debate going rather than encouraging programs that would essentially all but create the zero abortion situations these groups supposedly want.
People in power, no matter who they are, want to stay in power. That means making sure the poor stay poor and raising money to end abortion while taking steps to ensure that your actions will never reach the intended result.
Regardless, if there is a sequel, and I'm not sure one is needed, I will buy it and read it.
Posts: 50 | Registered: Jan 2003
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