Grandpa Squirrel usually brings over some of his papers for us to look at. Some Squirrels peruse the fashion section. One male Squirrel (all right, he's the only one) likes Wheels.
Mama Squirrel reads the Book Reviews. In recent months that's been mostly the New York Times Book Review, which is now part of the Toronto Star.
Last weekend's review section had two interesting articles. One was Stacy Schiff's review of The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough.
"David McCullough has stressed France’s pre-eminent role in American history for years. We would not, he has argued, have a country without the French, who have permanently and profoundly shaped us. If anyone could get away with suggesting that room be made on Mount Rushmore for Astérix it is McCullough. He seems to have had something else in mind, however. With “The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris,” he explores the intellectual legacy that France settled on its 19th-century visitors. The result is an epic of ideas...."What's not to want to read about that? I think it would be a good companion read to Deborah Cadbury's Terrible Lizard, about English thought and science during the same time period. (Reviewed here last year.)
The other was an essay by Adam Kirsch about new books on World War II. Blogger DaveInBoca has a response to the article, bringing out more points about good guys, bad guys, and worse bad guys. Or, as Kirsch puts it, "can we still take pride in 'the good war?'" I'm not sure if I actually want to read any of the books reviewed (military books are not what I read for fun), but the article itself was thought-provoking.
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