Book Review: Voices of the Winds by M. Edmonds et al.

Voices of the Winds: Native American Legends by Margot Edmonds and Ella Elizabeth Clark

This book is a compilation of folk tales from Native American tribes in the United States and Canada. The sets are divided into regions like Northwest, Southwest, Central Plains, etc. Each story is identified by the tribe it came from, often with a brief historical description of the tribe. The tales range from creation myths and tribal origins to anthropomorphized animals and tribal legends. Many a chief has a beautiful daughter whom most of the young men want to marry; many a rabbit or coyote pulls a trick on a larger, tougher, but dumber animal (including human animals). There's a lot of charm and some repetition on display here but overall it's an entertaining lot. Most stories are a page or two with occasional illustrations of various Native American artifacts, from weapons to pipes to baskets. I enjoyed the book but there's nothing ground shaking here.

Mildly recommended--if you like folk tales, this provides a ton.

Book Review: Destroy All Humans Vol. 7 by K. Ise et al.

Destroy All Humans: They Can't Be Regenerated Volume 7 story by Katsura Ise and art by Takuma Yokota

The middle school drama continues as Kano stresses out over admitting his feelings for Emi. She is excited by the prospect but also wants to keep him at arm's length in school. Emi has already kept her playing of Magic: The Gathering separate from her school social life; she wants her relationship with Kano to be the same way. Meanwhile, Kuon and Yakumo have an epic showdown playing the game. If things weren't complicated enough, a female French exchange student shows up who also plays Magic and has all the boys' attention. She takes on Kano to practice for an upcoming tournament that will draw an international. Will romantic trouble brew on this front too?

The story has the usual blend of high school drama and Magic playing. The expected end of the world starts showing up again in the narrative, especially with the French exchange student whose family has left France because Nostradamus predicted massive disasters for 1999. The plot is still fun and the games of Magic have enough explanations for those who haven't played to follow along. And there's the imaginative depiction of the creatures from the cards fighting.

Mildly recommended--if you are already into this series, you will want to keep going!

Book Reviews: The Way of the Househusband Vols. 10 and 11 by Kousuke Oono

The Way of the Househusband Volume 10 by Kousuke Oono

Tatsu the Immortal Dragon (former Yakuza member turned househusband) continues living the domestic life while using his organized crime sensibilities to handle difficulties. In this volume, he deals with a Christmas illness in the family, an overweight woman, giving up smoking, and working in a grocery as a shoplifting buster. The humor is good and the stories read very quickly. I found it entertaining though it is very slight.

Mildly recommended.

The Way of the Househusband Volume 11 by Kousuke Oono

Tatsu and the missus go to an amusement park where they have to square off against another couple. Well, at least Tatsu and the other guy compete. Then Tatsu has to help is buddy Masa find an new, cheap apartment. They have a cooking competition too. Then Tatsu fights the ultimate rainy season enemy--mold. Plenty of other short adventures fill this volume with more of the typical light humor playing on the contrast of a yakuza living the life of a househusband.

Mildly recommended.

Book Review: The Federalist Papers by Hamilton, Jay, and Madison

The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay

After the success of the American War of Independence, the newly united colonies adopted the Articles of Confederation to create a federal government over the thirteen states. That government turned out to be disastrously dysfunctional. Recognizing the need for a stronger and more well-crafted federal government, the states sent representatives to Philadelphia to draft the Constitution of the United States. In the interests of persuading the State of New York to approve the Constitution, three men wrote a series of articles in favor from October 1787 to April 1788 under the pseudonym Publius. The papers were subsequently published as a book and stand as a thorough explanation of the benefits of the new American Constitution.

The series starts at a higher level, discussing the nature of a republic then working its way down into the various articles in the Constitution. The discussions of the legislative, executive, and judiciary are quite thorough, answering specific objections and potential problems that might arise. The authors reference classical republics like in ancient Rome and Greece (they love Plutarch's Lives!) as well as more contemporary examples from Europe, especially Great Britain. They also cite the various constitutions of the various states, comparing how they handle legislatures, executives, and judiciaries, focusing on what can be learned from those contemporary experiences and examples.

The Constitution is clearly designed to balance out the powers of the various branches of government so no one branch can be dominant. The executive can put a check on laws passed by the legislature, forcing them to have a large majority to override a presidential veto. The judiciary (which they thought was the weakest part of the government) can judge certain actions or laws as compatible with the Constitution and the subsequent laws of the land, but they have no ability to craft or enforce laws. Several powers are spread over branches, like the appointment of ambassadors. The executive nominates candidates who need approval from the Senate, keeping crass cronyism by the executive in check. The legislature needs to be careful using that power too, risking an appearance of political obstruction rather than proper governing. The checks and balances keep people from giving in to their worse instincts or exploiting their positions for personal gains. The sense of the fallenness of human nature is palpable. The needed correctives make a lot of sense, discouraging bad behavior and encouraging virtuous action.

Some things have changed since the Federalist Papers, like the election of the President. Rather than voting on electors who will subsequently vote on the President, the American system has adapted somewhat, with a state's majority candidate receiving the votes assigned to that state (the number of Representatives plus two for the Senators). The system was designed from the beginning to be adaptable. They anticipated the House of Representatives could grow to 100 or 200 members, even though now it is 435. Having a deliberately dynamic Constitution has enabled the country to last so long, even through mistakes like slavery and and flip-flopping on Prohibition. 

These papers, even though they are political commentary that's over 200 years old, are well worth reading for a better understanding of how the Founding Fathers thought a political system should work and how our country has lasted so long through so many challenges.

Highly recommended.

Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: The Savage She-Hulk Vol. 1 by S. Lee et al.

Marvel Masterworks: The Savage She-Hulk Volume 1 written by David Anthony Kraft and Stan Lee, art by Mike Vosburg and John Buscema

In a panic over the success of The Incredible Hulk TV show, Stan Lee quickly rushed out a She-Hulk character. He was worried that the Bionic Woman spin-off from the Six-Million Dollar Man would inspire Hollywood to make a She-Hulk show before Marvel made the character, meaning Marvel wouldn't own the rights to the character. After Lee spit out the origin story, he turned the writing duties over to someone else.

She-Hulk's origin follows Los Angeles lawyer Jennifer Walters. She's a defense attorney going after the mob (and fighting some sexism in the legal system). The mobsters shoot her when her cousin Bruce Banner (aka the Hulk) is in town. He rushes her to the next door neighbor who is a doctor. The doctor isn't home, so Bruce works up a blood transfusion to save Jennifer's life. The situation turns into a problem after Bruce leaves, because his gamma-irradiated blood has given Jennifer abilities like the Hulk. When she gets upset, she transforms into the savage, green-skinned monster of the title.

After Lee's story, David Anthony Kraft decided to take the character in a bit of a different direction. His Jennifer Walters is still in control as She-Hulk, though she struggles to keep the savageness out of her behavior. The mob is still trying to kill her. She loans her car to a friend who dies when the car blows up. Jennifer realizes they were trying to kill her, not her friend. She-Hulk tries to reach the car in time but winds up accused of killing the friend. So Jennifer's alter-ego is branded a criminal and a savage, even though she is innocent and has much more control than Bruce has over his alter-ego.

The story moves along at a good pace and has some interesting twists. Jennifer's dad is the sheriff, so he is after She-Hulk for her "crimes." Buck Bukowski is a district attorney and gives the "lady lawyer" a lot of grief. He's also after She-Hulk since she keeps wrecking his nice sports cars as the story goes along. The legal entanglements make for interesting story fodder.

Since this work was a rush-job from the late 1970s, I had some low expectations. She-Hulk has not always been taken seriously, often intentionally turning her into a fourth-wall-breaking character like Deadpool (though she was in on the act before Deadpool even showed up). The comic hasn't been that successful either, compared to other superheroes. This series is a bit more serious, though not too serious. I found it enjoyable and not as exploitative as I was expecting. Jen is an enjoyable character and as she works through her problems, she definitely grows on the reader.

Recommended if you are a Marvel fan.

Book Review: Magnifica Humanitas by Pope Leo XIV

Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence by Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical teaches on a very timely topic--how to understand and incorporate Artificial Intelligence into human living. Like many technological inventions (dating back at least to the printing press), new challenges and opportunities arise as culture changes. The Catholic Church has a font of wisdom two thousand years old. While Catholics naturally take notice of what Leo has to say, other Christians, people of good will, and people from other faith traditions can benefit from the teachings of the Bishop of Rome.

Leo makes two moves immediately. First, he situates the problem in the social teaching tradition of the Church, which started explicitly with Pope Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum, an encyclical from 1891 dealing with the relationships between labor and capital as well as between governments and citizens. Leo XIV identifies five principles of Catholic social teaching to apply to the current situation: the common good, the universal destination of goods, subsidiarity, solidarity, and social justice. The common good is, put simply, the well-being of society in general, providing an environment for human moral flourishing. The universal destination of goods is the idea that all material goods are for the benefit of all humans, though the principle does not specify the mode for distributing those goods. Subsidiarity is the idea that a social problem should be dealt with at the lowest social level possible--for example, a pot hole should be taken care of by the city or town government, not the national government. Solidarity is the brotherhood of people, specifically workers or "labor." They should not look on each other as competitors but as co-workers, thus engendering mutual support. Social justice is a subdivision of the virtue of justice, focused on obligations to our fellow men and women.

Second, he draws a comparison with two human construction efforts in the Bible: the construction of the Towel of Babel (Gen 11: 1-19) and the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem after the Babylonian Captivity (Neh 2-6). The Tower of Babel was a project of human egotism designed to show how great man is, practically an equal with God. By contrast, the Jews returning to Jerusalem worked together to restore the city's wall, each family being assigned a portion of it and everyone working together to provide materials and construction. Clearly Leo wants people to follow the latter example.

He then applies these principles to common problems generated by the latest technology. Vigilance is required to defend human dignity and truth. We have tools that can present almost anything imaginable, regardless of its relationship with reality. The goals of transhumanism and posthumanism assume that human nature is malleable or a limit that can and ought to be surpassed by technological achievements. These underlying philosophical assumptions lead one up the Tower of Babel, hoping to be creators or remakers of the natural world rather than the caretakers of it. Decision-making also becomes accelerated to a point where human judgment is disregarded or too late to guide the evaluation of the choices. 

One especially controversial claim that Pope Leo makes is the assertion that just war theory is now outdated. In paragraph 192, he says, "Today, more than ever, without prejudice to the right to self-defense in the strictest sense, it is important to reaffirm that the 'just war' theory, which has all too often been used to justify any kind of war, is now outdated." The principles of just war theory are too broadly applied, legitimizing most aggressions. Leo emphasizes the use of "dialogue, diplomacy and forgiveness" [para. 192] to resolve conflicts rather than going straight to war. He subsequently recommends criteria for the use of force in paragraph 199: personal responsibility for the overall decision to go to war and for individual acts of force; having an adequate time frame to make moral decisions, a problem exacerbated by technology's ability to deliver a partial picture very quickly; identifying and protecting civilians. His ideas about just war are more complicated than a clickbait headline reveals and are easily paralleled to the principles of just war theory.

The encyclical makes for interesting and timely reading. I felt at points that Leo was straying more into sociology than theology but the discussion regularly came back around to the deeper theological understanding implied by the Church's social teaching. It's challenging in a good way, an opportunity to grow in love with God and with your neighbors. Even your cyber-neighbors.

Recommended, highly for Catholics. 

Book Review: Daredevil vs. Bullseye by M. Wolfman et al.

Daredevil vs. Bullseye written by Marv Wolfman, Jim Shooter, and Frank Miller and pencils by Bob Brown, Gil Kane, and Frank Miller

This book has separate stories of Daredevil fighting one of his iconic villains, Bullseye.

In the first story, Bullseye makes his first appearance. He show up killing a rich man who won't pay a ransom to be spared. Prepared for this, Bullseye starts a media campaign to support his extortion/murder campaign in the hopes that future victims will pay up immediately rather than face his infallible aim. Bullseye is an expert marksman using virtually anything--guns are okay, but he can use bricks, pens, trash, virtually anything, as a lethal weapon. Daredevil has enough enhanced abilities to dodge the attacks, but can he take down a ranged enemy when he (Daredevil) is more of a melee guy? Bullseye goes for the jugular and the exposure when he fights Daredevil at Madison Square Garden while the circus is in town. The story is exciting but the dialogue is voluminous and slows down the action a bit. Also, it was clearly written in the late 1970s, with a lot of the hip and trendy lingo of yesteryear. It was an entertaining introduction for the iconic character.

In the next story, Daredevil is trailing an incognito Bullseye, hoping to corner him and find out who hired him to assassinate Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson a few issues back (and not in this volume). Daredevil switches to street clothes and follows Bullseye into a gun store. He foils the robbery but gets beaned when Bullseye throws a golf ball at him. The injury causes Daredevil to lose his radar sense. Daredevil is called out by Bullseye to a TV studio for a duel to the death on air. If Daredevil doesn't show, he'll kill the three daytime talk show hosts. Even without his radar sense, Matt heads off to the confrontation. The battle features a lot of on-again-off-again moments of Daredevil's radar sense, which seems more tied to making the fight more dramatic than to any actual physical cause. I found this less interesting than the first story.

The next story has Bullseye on the verge of a surgery to remove a brain tumor. When the tumor becomes painful, he sees everyone as Daredevil and wants to slaughter them all. He kills the hospital staff and wanders Manhattan, vacillating between trying to keep control and trying to take down Daredevil. Daredevil shows up and has a chance to kill Bullseye but his better nature kicks in.

After the surgery happens, Bullseye is in prison planning to kill Daredevil. Bullseye finds out that he's been replaced as Kingpin's main assassin by Elektra, so Bullseye targets her too. When he makes his escape, lots of fighting ensues. Bullseye's inner monologue is fascinating (Frank Miller wrote it) as he works his way through all his problems. More problems happen as he fights Daredevil, who has a very hard time not killing Bullseye.

The final story has Daredevil giving the extended monologue while he plays Russian Roulette with Bullseye, who is completely paralyzed in a hospital bed. Daredevil is pulling the trigger for his enemy as he tries to make sense of the situation, especially after dealing with a legal case where the son of his client is obsessed with Daredevil. It's another poignant moment in the narrative.

This is a mixed bag of stories, some being more interesting than others.

Mildly recommended, though more strongly if you are a Daredevil fan.

Book Review: Usagi Yojimbo Vol. 31 by Stan Sakai

Usagi Yojimbo Volume 31: The Hell Screen by Stan Sakai

More adventures from the rabbit ronin!

The River Rising--Usagi helps some villagers shore up the dike that protects their town. If the flooding rain wasn't bad enough, bandits rob the food stores from the village. Usagi chases after the bandits, leaving the desperate villagers to continue working. Once he catches up to the bandits, he makes a surprising discovery. The story plays out in typical fashion, though it ends with Usagi disappearing mysteriously from the village.

Kyuri--Kyuri is the word for cucumbers, which is the favorite food of kappa, the turtle-like demons that Usagi has faced before. Usagi chases after a villager who is attacked by a kappa. The kappa leaves the villager dead, so Usagi vows to destroy him. Once Usagi finds a cave with some kappa in it, he finds these kappa have a truce with the town. The new, hostile kappa is from up-river and is very troublesome. Usagi works with them to defeat the rogue kappa. It's another interesting story that resolves the prior cliffhanger.

Kazehime--Usagi is caught in a heavy storm and barely makes it to an empty shrine for shelter. As he approaches, a Neko Ninja named Kazehime falls from the sky. Usagi has had nothing but trouble from the Neko Ninja but he's too much of a humanitarian to leave an unconscious person to die from exposure. He nurses her back to health and they part ways. The story picks up three months later with another reunion of the rivals. This is another bittersweet story that is emotionally impactful.

The Secret of the Hell Screen--Usagi comes to a shrine that has some problems. The local lord is there to take possession of the shrine and its grounds, wanting to convert it to a hunting forest. The monks protest that the shrine has much more value as a place of worship where wayfarers can seek refuge. The situation gets more complicated when a death happens on the grounds. Usagi is pulled into the investigation by Inspector Ishida, who has been sent by the shogunate to moderate the dispute. The shrine is also protected by the Hell Screen, a large tapestry depicting the realm of the damned. It's claimed that the Hell Screen protects the shrine by cursing its enemies. Has the death (which is one of the lord's vassals) been caused by the Screen or is there a villain involved? Part of the story is very predictable but it is still enjoyable.

The Fate of the Elders--Usagi continues wandering as the rainy season finally ends. He travels near a village where they've clearly had a drought for a long time. On the road, he helps out a farmer and his invalid mother who are attacked by desperate marauders who have no food of their own. After driving off the would-be bandits, Usagi travels with the man and his mom to meet her husband at the top of a mountain. The story is very melancholy and has a surprise ending that is very moving.

Another fine collection of Usagi stories. 

Recommended.

Book Review: The Everlasting Man by G. K. Chesterton

The Everlasting Man: A Guide to G. K. Chesterton's Masterpiece by G. K. Chesterton with introduction, notes, and commentary by Dale Ahlquist

Responding to H. G. Wells's The Outline of History, G. K. Chesterton writes a more sensible, more erudite review of human history. Wells goes for a secular understanding, based on the science of his time which was not always so precise and has definitely not aged well by our time (though it was still contemporary for Chesterton). Chesterton, being Catholic, centers history around Jesus Christ, so the first half of his book is about prehistoric man and the various pre-Christian cultures that arose in history. Chesterton recognizes that we know almost nothing about primitive humans and gives a much more rational and believable account of what they must have been like. He proceeds through various civilizations, leading to the Roman Empire where Christ was born. He describes the revolutionary impact of Christ on humanity, both individual humans and the culture in general. He then goes through a bit of the history after Christ, looking at the various other religions and offshoots of Christianity and how they point to the centrality of Christ.

The great insight Chesterton underlines is the uniqueness of both human beings and of Jesus Christ, the titular Everlasting Man. Pre-historic cave paintings are by humans of other animals. The animals never made cave paintings or established civilizations. Humans are a lot more special and odd than an evolutionary attitude admits. Christ also provides a huge change in religions. Many people put their faith in various gods, demons, or their own intellects. Only one person convincingly claimed to be God and the church He founded has outlasted a lot of the institutions that were deliberately crafted to replace Christianity. Jesus is unique in history because He is God made man.

The analysis is brilliant. The text is enjoyable, though Chesterton often cites contemporary examples that are a century away from us now. The footnotes provided by Ahlquist fill in some of the gaps, though often they just reference Chesterton making the same point in other writings, sometimes not as clarifying as they could be. Ahlquist taught this book for years, so he has a detailed understanding that helps. An appendix provides study questions for each chapter.

Highly recommended--The subtitle is not exaggerating when it calls this Chesterton's masterpiece.

Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: Spider-Woman Vol. 1 by M. Wolfman et al.

Marvel Masterworks: Spider-Woman Volume 1 written by Marv Wolfman and Archie Goodwin and art by Carmine Infantino, Ron Wilson, and Sal Buscema

The origins of Spider-Woman, aka Jessica Drew, are given here along with a lot of other goings on. The book starts with a run of issues from Marvel Two-In-One, a series that featured two superheroes, one of which was usually The Fantastic Four's The Thing, aka Ben Grimm. He's visiting London with his blind girlfriend Alicia and they run into all sorts of problems. One problem is Spider-Woman, who is working as an assassin for Hydra. As the story goes on, she starts to pull out of that situation, trying to live on her own. But that's after almost half this book goes by with the focus mostly on Ben Grimm in London worrying about his girlfriend (who gets captured and goes through a lot of trouble from Hydra). The depiction of London and Londoners is very stereotypical and not too interesting. And, as I said, Spider-Woman is a side character until she gets her own comic book, which does not start until half-wya through this volume.

In her book, she tries to get a normal job to pay for food and housing but has a very hard time since she has no real background or references. Also, she's beautiful but weirdly off-putting, especially to women. Her investigation into her past sets up her origin--she was the human child of Jonathan Drew who worked with a guy who became the High Evolutionary. Young Jessica was dying, so they introduced spider-DNA that saved her life but turned her into something of a monster. The High Evolutionary was working on turning animals into humans, so she's a bit of a departure for him and she doesn't fit in with his hybrids. Eventually she is kidnapped by Hydra, who brainwash her into being an assassin. After getting out from under their thumb, she is on a journey of self-discovery (her previous life was "erased" from her memory by Hydra) and revenge for her father.

She manages to get things settled and fights crime, both organized and random, but not too many super-villains. The writers throw in some romance with a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who interacted with her during the London story, though that seems more like filler to show she has some ordinary life. I found the stories just average, with no outstanding character moments or action. She has a very interesting origin but they haven't quite figured out what to do with her.

Mildly recommended.

Book Reviews: Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign Vols. 5 & 6 by T. Kagami et al.

Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign Volume 5 story by Takaya Kagami and art by Yamato Yamamoto

During his recovery from the battle for Shinjuku, Yuichiro researches how to turn a vampire back into a human. He's interested because his best friend from four years ago, Mika, has been turned. Yui wants his friend back. The other project during his recovery is learning more about his cursed weapon, i.e. a weapon that is inhabited by a demon. He finds out the demon can either manifest, showing itself outside the weapon and fighting alongside the wielder, or possess, enhancing the physical abilities of the wielder in a fight. Before he figures that out, he has a meeting with higher-ups in the Imperial Demon Army. They want to sus out Yui's loyalty to humanity. A lot of political drama is built into the situation since two powerful families vie for dominance of the army.

Even though this volume is mostly focused on plot exposition and world building, it's still a very interesting read. The vampires have almost no presence or development, but Yui's situation has so much going on that I didn't mind.

Recommended.

Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign Volume 6 story by Takaya Kagami and art by Yamato Yamamoto

The action returns as both Yuichiro and Kimizuki train to control their cursed weapons. The training's focus is on getting more control over the demons imprisoned in the weapons. The easiest way to confront the demon is while asleep. The demons have more sway in the dream state and can delve into the dark secrets of the two young men, resulting in some character development and flashbacks that develop their characters. While that is going on, higher ups in both the vampire world and the Imperial Demon Army are plotting to advance their causes.

The personal dramas of Yuichiro and Kimizuki are more interesting than the bigger story, though their development plays into the ambitions of a human faction not only to defeat the vampires but also to establish their own control over the rest of the humanity. It's very hard to sympathize with either side in the bigger war; paradoxically, the pawns of the schemers (like Yuichiro and Kimizuki) are more noble and more interesting.

Recommended.

Book Review: Usagi Yojimbo Vol. 30 by Stan Sakai

Usagi Yojimbo Volume 30: Thieves and Spies by Stan Sakai, art assistance for "The Bride" by Jennifer Kagawa

More adventures from the rabbit ronin!

The Thief and the Kunoichi--Usagi gets in a Yojimbo situation when he winds up dealing with two female friends who oppose each other. The thief Kitsune robs a merchant's home late at night. At the same time, Chizu is also stealing from the merchant. They discover each other and try to fight silently. Well, Chizu, formerly of the Neko Ninja, wants to fight. Kitsune is a con artist by trade so she dodges. They eventually rouse the merchant's guards, forcing them to flee. They run into Usagi on the street, who get embroiled in the caper. He does not want to choose sides since he suspects both of them. The story is fun, with the usual twists and action.

The One-Armed Swordsman--Usagi runs into a one-armed swordsman who is ambushed outside of town by some robbers. The swordsman tells Usagi that he lost his hand to a sadistic opponent named Te who chopped it off after defeating the swordsman. He now wanders doing odd jobs as bodyguard for shadier characters. They part ways but have a reunion six months later, when they both happen upon a crowd gambling on sword fights. The main fighter is Te, so a showdown happens. The ending of the story is so good, this is definitely a favorite Usagi story for me.

The Distant Mountain--Usagi is leaving town when a huge retinue comes through in a rush. They carry a palanquin. Since they are traveling in his direction, Usagi trails along behind. The entourage is attacked by bandits. Usagi jumps in to help, though the result is the death of everyone but Yoshi, the entourage's leader. He tells Usagi that they are taking a valuable stone to Lord Akagawa, something that cost a quarter of his fortune. Usagi does not see how the stone is so special but joins Yoshi in his task. The story has a nice twist that makes it very satisfying.

Death of a Tea Master--An Iberian nobleman (who has no nobility) wants to experience all of Japanese culture. He beats a lord's samurai and demands as his reward to see a ritual suicide. Not just any suicide, but the death of a tea master who slighted him earlier. The lord reluctantly sticks to his word, though Usagi is in the area and gets pulled into the drama. This is another well-written, exciting adventure.

The Bride--Usagi runs across the carnage of a huge retinue with dead guards and bandits all over the place. He investigates the palanquin, finding a young woman who is traveling to a nearby city to be married. She is the daughter of a soy brewer. The brewer is marrying her off to another brewery family to consolidate the business. But she is not really in love. Usagi volunteers to guide her to her destination when the husband-to-be shows up. Complications ensue. At first, I thought this was going to be a rerun of "The Distant Mountain." But the story is quite different while still having a surprising twist at the end.

This is another great collection of stories.

Highly recommended.

Book Review: The Gettysburg Address: A Graphic Adaptation by J. Hennessey et al.

The Gettysburg Address: A Graphic Adaptation written by Jonathan Hennessey, art by Aaron McConnell, and lettering by Tom Orzechowski

Using the Gettysburg Address as a framework for telling the story of the American Civil War is the conceit governing this book. The premise intrigued me so I picked it up off the library shelf. The narrative starts off with a quick look at the horrors of the Civil War before zeroing in on the Gettysburg Address as an encapsulation of the major issues involved and as a signpost pointing both forward and backward in history. The narrative moves from the American War for Independence all the way into the middle of the twentieth century with the great successes of the Civil Rights Movement. 

But the book has a lot of problems.

 

The book establishes a false division between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Their claim is that the Declaration is full of philosophical “unionist” ideas that are different from the Constitution's concepts that the states contractually join a union that they can leave (the defense made by the "secessionists"). The book asks where did States Rights go in the Constitution, a question that implies that the Constitution is more "unionist" than the Declaration. The authors completely leave out the Bill of Rights, the tenth of which explicitly says "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." The two documents are not in opposition. The Constitution is an outgrowth or a fruition of the Declaration of Independence, especially after the disastrous Articles of Confederation, which crafted a too weak federal government that clearly was not working. This book does talk about the Articles of Confederation but fails to draw the line between the Declaration and the Constitution that runs through the Articles.

The book also does a great disservice to Abraham Lincoln. They insist that he always harbored the idea that the slaves should be freed and sent to another country, their own country. He did consider this scheme but quickly rejected it as impractical and unjust. Also, after quoting Lincoln saying, "There is no reason in the world why the Negro is not entitled to all the natural rights enumerated in the Declaration of Independence--the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," [p. 97] the authors claim that Lincoln thought of these as Civil Rights and did not want the former slaves to to have Political Rights, i.e. the right to vote, hold office, and serve on juries. The whole point of the Declaration is that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are rights held prior to, above, and beyond the political system under which people live. They are natural rights, not granted by a civil or a political body. Men and women possess these rights because of their basic humanity (just as the white men possess these rights). Lincoln clearly argues that a government denying these natural rights is wrong.

I liked the idea of this book but was very disappointed in the execution.

Not recommended.

Book Review: All the Beauty in the World by Patrick Bringley

All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley

Patrick Bringley was an up-and-coming worker in NewYork City publishing when his older brother died of cancer. Patrick reevaluated his life and wound up taking a job as a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This book tells the story of his life as a security guard, admiring and engaging with the art, the visitors, and his own sense of mortality. 

After the initial set-up, Bringley mostly focuses on the art and his job as a guard. He has a lot of time to appreciate the art. He also becomes familiar with the sorts of people who come and how best to help them. The descriptions of the background work (organizing the various shifts and locations for the guards and other workers setting up the new or rearranged exhibits) is a fun "inside baseball" look at the machinations of a museum and art gallery. It's interesting and entertaining but his personal life is mostly set aside until the end of the book.

Toward the end of his ten-year tenure at the museum, he and his wife have two children. He talks a little bit about them and they seem to be the unacknowledged catalyst for Bringley moving on from the guard job. He applies for a position as a walking tour guide in Lower Manhattan, which he is excited about for the educational and research opportunities, especially for interaction with the public in a more direct way. He's come to some closure or acceptance with his brother Tom's death, though he does not get into the details of that either.

The text is enjoyable and Bringley is an entertaining narrator. I wanted a bit more out of the book, some more depth. I don't mind having read it but probably won't read it again.

This book is reviewed on A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast #382. Check it out!

Book Review: Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #13 by Nathan Hale

Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: Bones and Berserkers by Nathan Hale 

This anthology of thirteen tales runs the gamut from strict history (like the insane butler killing everyone at Taliesin in 1914) to complete fiction (Edgar Allan Poe's Hop-Frog). The framing story with American patriot Nathan Hale, his executioner, the British officer, and the African American slave, provides comedy for what turns out to be some very grim stories. The jokes take the edge off, as does the graphic novel format. Cartoon drawings of chopped off limbs or rotting corpses are a lot less graphic than photos or realistic drawings. That said, this book is really for older kids, not the very young. There's even a joke about that, explain that if you are a second-grader reading way above your level, you probably shouldn't be reading this book. I did learn a lot about a bunch of different stories and found it interesting throughout.

Recommended, but only if you can handle it!

Book Review: Popcorn with the Pope by D. Baird et al.

Popcorn with the Pope: A Guide to the Vatican Film List by David Paul Baird, Andrew Petiprin, and Michael Ward

In 1995 the Vatican released a list of recommended films for the one-hundredth anniversary of the Lumiere Brothers' first public showing of motion pictures. The list isn't intended as a definitive "best of" or "Catholic Church approved" set, it's more an honoring of the medium. The intent is also for viewers to be more discerning and appreciative of movies. Rather than being passive viewers, movie watchers should engage with what they are watching in a more deliberate way. The list is divided into three categories: religion, values, and art. Each set has fifteen films. This book reviews the various films from both a Catholic and a film critical perspective. 

The book starts with an overview of the creation of the list and some commentary on the value of the list. Then each film is given an synopsis, a critical analysis, a review of its importance in cinematic history, and some discussion questions. The synopses are valuable to gage how interested a reader might be in each film, especially with films that are more obscure and less accessible, like the five and a half hour silent French feature about Napoleon (which is in the Art section because it innovated a lot of visual techniques). The historical contexts are also interesting and add some further understanding. I found the critical analysis wanting in some cases. They exhibit the typical film critic bias toward art house and foreign films, gushing with praise and insight for obscure films. More popular fare, like Stagecoach or Wizard of Oz, gets shorter shrift. The analysis is always interesting but I don't always agree with it. Also, part of the problem is the selections for the list itself. It has some films that seem like they were chosen just to have one in the genre, like the only animated film Fantasia and the only horror film Nosferatu, when other films in those genres are equals or better. The list has a lot of historical dramas and a surprising number of Italian Neorealist films. 

I found this informative but not always enjoyable. A healthy debate is a good thing, I suppose.

Mildly recommended.

Book Review: Marvel-verse: Spider-Woman by M. Wolfman et al.

Marvel-verse: Spider-Woman written by Marv Wolfman, Mark Gruenwald, Gerry Duncan, Kelly Sue DeConnick and Jen Van Meter, and art by Carmine Infantino, Steven Grant, Salvador Larroca, and Barry Kitson

Spider-Woman isn't just some Peter Parker clone. Jessica Drew was the daughter of scientist Jonathan Drew who teamed up with another scientist, Herbert Wyndham, to conduct unlimited research in an isolated area. Young Jessica was exposed to radiation. Combining Drew's expertise in spiders (who are highly resistant to radiation according to this book) and Wyndham's knowledge of evolution, they are able to preserve her life. Jonathan mysteriously drops out of the story and Wyndham goes crazy, calling himself "The High Evolutionary." He evolves lower animals into humans, though they don't get along with the human/spider hybrid that Jessica becomes. She escapes, only to fall into the clutches of Hydra. She's brainwashed into being an assassin for Hydra but leaves that behind, trying to strike out on her own. Jessica has a hard time finding a regular job (with no background or references) but she resists the temptation to turn back to evil. 

This book contains a couple of different stories. The first is her origin as a superhero in the 1970s. After all the backstory, she's in London starving. She struggles with stealing to eat and finding any work at all. She's being followed by a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who, naturally, falls for her. They don't get along. The next story jumps ahead to Spider-Woman in Los Angeles, where she runs into Peter Parker, who happens to be on a press junket to some scientific labs. They tussle as Spider-Woman and Spider-Man. Jessica is not up on her superheroes and assumes he's an imitation of her! They come to a peaceable end without revealing their identities to each other.

The book then jumps to stories from the 2010s. In a bit from the A + X saga, she teams up with X-Man Kitty Pride to thwart the Absorbing Man from stealing a bit of non-terrestrial metal that will make him overpowered. The next story is set during a big crossover battle. The Avengers (which Spider-Woman has joined) head to outer space with a coalition of of goodies and baddies to fight the Builders who have a seemingly unstoppable fleet. The Avenger split into two spacecraft, with Spider-Woman on a different ship from Clint Barton/Hawkeye and Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel. Jessica dated Clint at one point and had a bad breakup. He's now extra-friendly with Carol, who is also a former close friend of Jessica. So Spider-Woman has mixed feelings about them. The action is exciting and the side of soap-opera is much less interesting. The story has some nice personal moments, especially with Black Widow.

I enjoyed the earlier stories better. They are self-contained and look at Jessica as she seeks a new and better life, a redemption from her past. An evil character turning to good is a favorite storyline for me. The later stories are parts of larger narratives and feel incomplete taken out of their contexts. I like the art better in the later stuff but the story is more important to me.

Mildly recommended.

Book Review: Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

Viktor Frankl was a practicing psychotherapist who was sent to Auschwitz during World War II as a prisoner. He took a manuscript for a book which he tried to sneak it in but it was quickly discovered and taken away, presumably destroyed. His wife came in with him, they were separated, and he never saw her again. He became a number, a day laborer, in a system where the odds of survival were bleak. Prisoners were overworked, underfed, never given new clothes (they had to check over dead prisoners to see if they had better shoes or coats and do a quick swap). They were subject to the whims of the capos and SS running the camp. The life, if it could even be called such, was miserable and hopeless. Frankl, in the first part of this book, describes his experiences in excruciating detail. 

His time there had a tremendous impact on Frankl. The crucible of suffering showed how different men reacted in many different ways to the conditions. Out of this, Frankl developed a distinct field of psychotherapy that he calls "Logotherapy." In Logotherapy, the main motivation people have is to find meaning in their lives (as opposed to seeking pleasure or power). In the concentration camps, the only thing left was the hope for something external to oneself. For Frankl, it was preserving the book and the hope of seeing his wife again (though she died in the camps). He had something to live for, a reason to survive the horrible circumstances of his situation. For others, it was family or friends or goals unfulfilled. Happiness is not the object of pursuit, it is the by-product of finding something or someone you have valued, by having a purpose. Frankl quotes Nietzsche: "He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how." Frankl developed his therapeutic practice from these insights.

Being able to reframe suffering from a "woe is me" attitude to a "what is my purpose in this situation" is not just a way to mental health, but to personal wholeness. Guiding people to that point is not easy. The second, smaller part of this book is a brief overview of Logotherapy. It describes various techniques used and provides examples of how they are applied in concrete situations, mostly taken from Frankl's own life and career (with names changed, of course). Therapy is future-focused, taking patients to the point where they can understand their problems better and have ways to minimize or eliminate them altogether.

This book is genuinely great and eye-opening.

Highly recommended.

Sample quote about life in the camps:

What was really needed was a fundamental change in our attitude toward life. We had to learn ourselves and, furthermore, we had to teach the despairing men, that it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life--daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual. [p. 85]

Book Reviews: Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign Vols. 3 & 4

Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign Volume 3 story by Takaya Kagami and art by Yamato Yamamoto

Having acquired Cursed Gear (the sort of weapon a human needs in order to kill a vampire in this mythology), Yuichiro is excited to leave school behind and start killing vampires. He's less excited about working in a squad, thinking he is better as a loner. The squad is even less appealing because his school rival, Kimizuki, is also a member. And he's not the leader of the squad, that's a more experience member of the Imperial Demon Army named Mitsuba. The squad travels to Shinjuku to investigate vampire activity. Little do they know that the rumors about an attack are true and they will get more action than they anticipated, even on the way.

I have mixed feelings about this volume. On the one hand, they moved away from the school drama that is prevalent in lots of other manga, so I was happy about that. But then they had an extended shower scene where Mitsuba (who is female) is thinking out loud about the situation. I've never run across more gratuitous fan service before. A combination of steam, body positioning, and dialogue bubbles keep her from being completely revealed. It was annoying and distasteful to me. She could have just as easily been enjoying a cup of tea or brushing her hair or walking out in nature. It's a short scene but it sticks out. The rest of the story is enjoyable, promising more proper drama and action.

Mildly recommended.

Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign Volume 4 story by Takaya Kagami and art by Yamato Yamamoto

The big battle plays out in Shinjuku as Yuichiro's team faces down a lot of vampires, including high-ranking Bathory and, most significantly, Yu's childhood best friend (and now vampire) Mika. The reunion is awkward and more than a little fraught with peril as the two former friends are forced to choose between each other and the factions to which they belong. Both Yu and Mika think the other group is evil and manipulative, so no easy answer is found yet.

The drama is handled really well. Some world-building works its way into the story, giving a bit of the larger context of what happened and how the humans are able to have a chance against the vampires. I enjoyed this volume and will keep going.

Recommended.

Book Review: Philosophical Essays by G. W. Leibniz

Philosophical Essays by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, translated by Roger Ariew and Daniel Garber

Leibniz was part of the philosophical tradition struggling under the impact of Descartes. Descartes intended to restart philosophical thinking by reevaulating the starting point. He used his methodical doubt to strip away any uncertain or unclearly grounded knowledge and worked his way back up to the existence of the world and of God. Along the way, he posited a distinction between the material and the spiritual with an attempt to reunite the two principles that most agree was not successful. Subsequent philosophers tried to sort out the problem of what's really real--the material or the spiritual, or some way to combine both. Leibniz's solution was monads.

For Leibniz, reality is made up of simple substances and compound substances. Each compound substance is an aggregate of simple substances. The simple substances (monads) are indivisible parts of reality that are therefore unchangeable (they have no parts to move around or rearrange) and eternal (they cannot be destroyed). They are not just particles of matter, they have a force or power in them. They can be the forms or souls in things, the principle that makes the compounds what they are (so they are like Aristotle's forms). They also contain the potential for everything, since the whole history of the monad and what it will be a part of is already in it. In modern parlance, the macrocosm is contained in the microcosm. Leibniz works out a lot of consequences from this system about the nature of the world and of God.

While he crafts an interesting philosophical system, it's hard to see that it represents reality accurately. The monads are simple and indivisible but they are distinct from each other and also have at least the potential of being any other thing. Nothing every really dies, the monad that was the soul of the person or animal continues on and may re-aggregate again. God exists outside this system but He created it and sustains it in existence. Since God is good and intelligent, the world is the best one possible and is coherent and comprehensible. The idea does not present the real world as most people know it. I found his system interesting but ultimately unhelpful.

Mildly recommended--this is more for people interested in the history of philosophy.