http://www.thejc.com/news/topics/book-review The taxonomy view with a depth of 0. en http://www.thejc.com/arts/arts-interviews/103106/ready-aim%E2%80%A6-best-selling-scientist-targeted-his-dangerous%E2%80%99-views <p>I have spent less than three minutes in the company of Jared Diamond and he assures me that he does not pose a threat to my life.</p> <p>“I can promise you that I have not made a move to kill you yet. Nor have I detected any move on your part to kill me. But in a traditional society both of us would have made a move to kill each other by now, or else run away,” he says solemnly. </p> <p>Over a light breakfast in a hotel lounge in central London, the Pulitzer Prize-winning polymath, and popular science writer is talking about his new book The World Until Yesterday. The narrative looks at behavioural differences between human beings in tribal stateless societies, versus those living under the all-powerful bureaucratic system of the nation state. </p> <p>Diamond’s argument is fairly simple: if states only came into existence 5,400 years ago, and agriculture in the last 11,000, humans have spent much of their time throughout history as wandering nomads. As modern nations are relatively new concepts, we have much to learn from traditional cultures. </p> <p>Having spent the past 50 years visiting New Guinea on field research trips, Diamond, who was educated at Harvard and Cambridge, and is now professor of geography at the University of California, uses a mixture of personal anecdotes, and academic research, to prove his thesis. The ways in which traditional societies raise their children, spend their leisure time, and communicate, are often superior to normal practices in the First World, his argument goes. But his praise for the tribal lifestyle stops there. </p> <p>“Traditional societies do things that we disapprove of,” he explains. “Some of them abandon their elderly. Some of them kill their babies if they happen to be weak. We in the West think that is terrible. But they do it not because they are evil, but simply because they are living under a certain set of circumstances.”</p> <p>Diamond does not get involved in moralising. When I ask him whether human beings are bloodthirsty violent creatures, or gentle peaceful souls, he tells me, politely, that it is a pointless question. Human behaviour, he argues, is always a matter of circumstances. </p> <p>In state societies, the institutions we take for granted, such as a police force, a justice system, and a functioning democratic government, all help to minimise violence, he claims. As traditional societies lack the vast bureaucratic apparatus of the state, its people, he says, are in a chronic state of war. He gives an example to back up this claim. </p> <p>“Just look at the deaths caused by Germany participating in two World Wars in the 20th century. Although this was no doubt horrible, it was also averaged out in a century in which they were in no wars for 90 years. In traditional societies, without a state government to declare war, or to sign a peace treaty, wars tend to be chronic.</p> <p>“In state warfare it is considered bad and evil to kill women and children. Even in Germany on the western front in World War Two — the eastern front was another matter—it was not the policy to kill women and children. But in traditional societies, it’s routine to kill women and children in war. So the outcome overall is that the death toll in traditional societies is 10 times higher than in state societies.”</p> <p>Diamond does stress in his chapter on war that peaceful traditional societies do exist. Yet this has failed to stop a torrent of criticism from certain reviewers, as well as from organisations like Survival International, who fight to protect tribal people’s lands and livelihood. </p> <p>The campaign group’s director, Stephen Corry recently lashed out at Diamond in an article in the Observer, calling his book “completely wrong— both factually and morally— and extremely dangerous”.</p> <p>Diamond responds by saying that Survival International is trying to publicise its campaign. </p> <p>Born in Boston in 1937, Diamond looks considerably younger than his 75 years. He is the son of Jewish immigrants from the Ukraine, who fled to the United States to escapes the pogroms.</p> <p>For a man so interested in traditions, it grieves him that one in particular among Jews in America has declined — that of speaking Yiddish. </p> <p>“It’s a terrible loss”, he says. “My father’s parents probably spoke Yiddish at home. That just shows the gap in the United States between immigrant parents and their children. The immigrant language is so often lost, and that is sad.”</p> <p>Diamond specialises in bold statements, but sometimes his arguments suffer for a lack of nuance. For example, his claim that the state always has its own interests at heart is certainly true. But it is debatable that every state “wants to preserve peace”. </p> <p>Many critics have spent considerable time focusing solely on his coverage of traditional societies. But his book touches upon other subjects, where his views are fascinating, albeit less controversial. Religion is good example.</p> <p>As a non-practising Jew, Diamond says his wife still attends synagogue on the High Holy Days, while his two children chose to be barmitzvahed when they came of age. These family reasons could help explain why a rationalist atheist like Diamond affords religion such respect. It is more likely, however, that he thinks religion serves a very useful function in society.</p> <p>“An evolutionary and common sense perspective would say that some societies would have abolished religion by now, that atheist societies should gain an advantage over religious societies. But this is not the case,” he says.</p> <p>If religions’ role of explaining how the natural world works has been replaced by science, Diamond argues that it can still be effective in helping humans deal with stressful situations to defuse anxiety.</p> <p>“In my book I discuss an incident in 2006 during the Lebanon War where people in an Israeli town of Sfat, near the Syrian border, were being subjected to rocket attacks. </p> <p>It turned out that those Israelis who were chanting Psalms, managed to defuse their anxiety and they didn’t explode in anger and do stupid things.”</p> <p>We have finished our breakfast, and Diamond is getting ready for an afternoon of lectures, interviews and more publicity. No doubt he will meet his critics throughout the day, but he does not seem too bothered. After all, it is not as if he will pose a threat to their lives.</p> Arts interviews Book review Science 103106 story The behaviour expert says we have much to learn from traditional societies — but that hasn’t stopped critics attacking him http://www.thejc.com/files/features.JPG Jared Diamond with a tribesman in Papua New Guinea. The academic backs up his arguments with extensive research in the field (Photo: intellectualrevolution.tv) 97456 A Jewish Book Week to set our imaginations alight 79500 Chief Rabbi to debate science and faith with Dawkins I have spent less than three minutes in the company of Jared Diamond and he assures me that he does not pose a threat to my life. “I can promise you that I have not made a move to kill you yet. Nor have I detected any move on your part to kill me. But in a traditional society both of us would have made a move to kill each other by now, or else run away,” he says solemnly. Over a light breakfast in a hotel lounge in central London, the Pulitzer Prize-winning polymath, and popular science writer is talking about his new book The World Until Yesterday. The narrative looks at behavioural differences between human beings in tribal stateless societies, versus those living under the all-powerful bureaucratic system of the nation state. Diamond’s argument is fairly simple: if states only came into existence 5,400 years ago, and agriculture in the last 11,000, humans have spent much of their time throughout history as wandering nomads. As modern nations are relatively new concepts, we have much to learn from traditional cultures. Having spent the past 50 years visiting New Guinea on field research trips, Diamond, who was educated at Harvard and Cambridge, and is now professor of geography at the University of California, uses a mixture of personal anecdotes, and academic research, to prove his thesis. The ways in which traditional societies raise their children, spend their leisure time, and communicate, are often superior to normal practices in the First World, his argument goes. But his praise for the tribal lifestyle stops there. “Traditional societies do things that we disapprove of,” he explains. “Some of them abandon their elderly. Some of them kill their babies if they happen to be weak. We in the West think that is terrible. But they do it not because they are evil, but simply because they are living under a certain set of circumstances.” Diamond does not get involved in moralising. When I ask him whether human beings are bloodthirsty violent creatures, or gentle peaceful souls, he tells me, politely, that it is a pointless question. Human behaviour, he argues, is always a matter of circumstances. In state societies, the institutions we take for granted, such as a police force, a justice system, and a functioning democratic government, all help to minimise violence, he claims. As traditional societies lack the vast bureaucratic apparatus of the state, its people, he says, are in a chronic state of war. He gives an example to back up this claim. “Just look at the deaths caused by Germany participating in two World Wars in the 20th century. Although this was no doubt horrible, it was also averaged out in a century in which they were in no wars for 90 years. In traditional societies, without a state government to declare war, or to sign a peace treaty, wars tend to be chronic. “In state warfare it is considered bad and evil to kill women and children. Even in Germany on the western front in World War Two — the eastern front was another matter—it was not the policy to kill women and children. But in traditional societies, it’s routine to kill women and children in war. So the outcome overall is that the death toll in traditional societies is 10 times higher than in state societies.” Diamond does stress in his chapter on war that peaceful traditional societies do exist. Yet this has failed to stop a torrent of criticism from certain reviewers, as well as from organisations like Survival International, who fight to protect tribal people’s lands and livelihood. The campaign group’s director, Stephen Corry recently lashed out at Diamond in an article in the Observer, calling his book “completely wrong— both factually and morally— and extremely dangerous”. Diamond responds by saying that Survival International is trying to publicise its campaign. Born in Boston in 1937, Diamond looks considerably younger than his 75 years. He is the son of Jewish immigrants from the Ukraine, who fled to the United States to escapes the pogroms. For a man so interested in traditions, it grieves him that one in particular among Jews in America has declined — that of speaking Yiddish. “It’s a terrible loss”, he says. “My father’s parents probably spoke Yiddish at home. That just shows the gap in the United States between immigrant parents and their children. The immigrant language is so often lost, and that is sad.” Diamond specialises in bold statements, but sometimes his arguments suffer for a lack of nuance. For example, his claim that the state always has its own interests at heart is certainly true. But it is debatable that every state “wants to preserve peace”. Many critics have spent considerable time focusing solely on his coverage of traditional societies. But his book touches upon other subjects, where his views are fascinating, albeit less controversial. Religion is good example. As a non-practising Jew, Diamond says his wife still attends synagogue on the High Holy Days, while his two children chose to be barmitzvahed when they came of age. These family reasons could help explain why a rationalist atheist like Diamond affords religion such respect. It is more likely, however, that he thinks religion serves a very useful function in society. “An evolutionary and common sense perspective would say that some societies would have abolished religion by now, that atheist societies should gain an advantage over religious societies. But this is not the case,” he says. If religions’ role of explaining how the natural world works has been replaced by science, Diamond argues that it can still be effective in helping humans deal with stressful situations to defuse anxiety. “In my book I discuss an incident in 2006 during the Lebanon War where people in an Israeli town of Sfat, near the Syrian border, were being subjected to rocket attacks. It turned out that those Israelis who were chanting Psalms, managed to defuse their anxiety and they didn’t explode in anger and do stupid things.” We have finished our breakfast, and Diamond is getting ready for an afternoon of lectures, interviews and more publicity. No doubt he will meet his critics throughout the day, but he does not seem too bothered. After all, it is not as if he will pose a threat to their lives. Fri, 08 Mar 2013 11:00:28 +0000 103106 at http://www.thejc.com http://www.thejc.com/arts/books/102844/sisters-step-feisty-funny-female-fighters-israel <p>What is it like to be a woman soldier in the Israel Defence Forces? The 25-year-old Israeli novelist Shani Boianjiu has personal experience of it, and her answer is: a mixture of boredom, fear and sexual frustration. Her three heroines, Lea, Avishag and Yael, grow up in an unnamed village near the Lebanese border, as did the author herself, and when they receive compulsory drafting, they find that the tedium of army life is not that much different to the tedium of high-school life.</p> <p>It’s not the first time that an Israeli novelist has chosen the army for a fictional subject — some may recall Moshe Dayan’s daughter Yael did so decades ago — but Boianjiu’s take on it is far more modern. Her three friends narrate their experiences, dreams, rebellions and irritations in short chapters, some no more than half-a-page long, and, although their voices are so similar that they blend into one, their characters are pleasingly distinct. Lea is the bossy one, and goes to work on the West Bank checkpoint as an officer; Avishag is the melancholy one, who goes into a combat unit on the Egyptian border; Yael, the funniest, trains soldiers how to use their weapons. </p> <p>Their lives are not very different from those of millions of other young women on the threshold of adulthood as they watch American TV shows, gossip, and dream about boyfriends. The difference is that they are also trained for “ABC” — attack by atomic, biological or chemical weapons. Shouted-at, half-suffocated and told not to answer back, they are lippy Jewish girls caught in a cross between Girls and M*A*S*H, except that, mostly, the guns don’t have bullets (known as a “dry hump”). It’s a far cry from Yael’s mother’s experience, recounted at the very end, which involved the raid at Entebbe.</p> <p>The story follows the girl’s lives out of high school, into the army and then into civilian life. Lea gets married, has a baby and writes successful pornographic novels; Avishag goes on to antidepressants and psychotherapy; Yael becomes a translator, and a traveller. </p> <p>The first half of the novel is convincingly detailed and, as the girls’ families, friends and fantasies about the lives of others — not only Israeli boy soldiers but Palestinians, Sudanese and Egyptians — are delved into, it begins to achieve a greater depth and political resonance. </p> <p>“Great job! You stayed hopeful and dedicated to your goals in an environment of oppression and negativity. You should really become an activist and free some slaves,” a voice in a game tells them, with pointed irony. </p> <p>Due to a lack of narrative momentum and any growth in self-knowledge or maturity, their charm wears thin. This is, however, a fresh and funny debut by an author who brings us news of life on the front line of young Israeli womanhood – even if this turns out to be not so different from that in Golders Green.</p> Books IDF Women Book review 102844 story http://www.thejc.com/files/Israeli women soldiers (Photo Flash 90).JPG Ready for action: young recruits to the IDF, like ‘millions of other women’ What is it like to be a woman soldier in the Israel Defence Forces? The 25-year-old Israeli novelist Shani Boianjiu has personal experience of it, and her answer is: a mixture of boredom, fear and sexual frustration. Her three heroines, Lea, Avishag and Yael, grow up in an unnamed village near the Lebanese border, as did the author herself, and when they receive compulsory drafting, they find that the tedium of army life is not that much different to the tedium of high-school life. It’s not the first time that an Israeli novelist has chosen the army for a fictional subject — some may recall Moshe Dayan’s daughter Yael did so decades ago — but Boianjiu’s take on it is far more modern. Her three friends narrate their experiences, dreams, rebellions and irritations in short chapters, some no more than half-a-page long, and, although their voices are so similar that they blend into one, their characters are pleasingly distinct. Lea is the bossy one, and goes to work on the West Bank checkpoint as an officer; Avishag is the melancholy one, who goes into a combat unit on the Egyptian border; Yael, the funniest, trains soldiers how to use their weapons. Their lives are not very different from those of millions of other young women on the threshold of adulthood as they watch American TV shows, gossip, and dream about boyfriends. The difference is that they are also trained for “ABC” — attack by atomic, biological or chemical weapons. Shouted-at, half-suffocated and told not to answer back, they are lippy Jewish girls caught in a cross between Girls and M*A*S*H, except that, mostly, the guns don’t have bullets (known as a “dry hump”). It’s a far cry from Yael’s mother’s experience, recounted at the very end, which involved the raid at Entebbe. The story follows the girl’s lives out of high school, into the army and then into civilian life. Lea gets married, has a baby and writes successful pornographic novels; Avishag goes on to antidepressants and psychotherapy; Yael becomes a translator, and a traveller. The first half of the novel is convincingly detailed and, as the girls’ families, friends and fantasies about the lives of others — not only Israeli boy soldiers but Palestinians, Sudanese and Egyptians — are delved into, it begins to achieve a greater depth and political resonance. “Great job! You stayed hopeful and dedicated to your goals in an environment of oppression and negativity. You should really become an activist and free some slaves,” a voice in a game tells them, with pointed irony. Due to a lack of narrative momentum and any growth in self-knowledge or maturity, their charm wears thin. This is, however, a fresh and funny debut by an author who brings us news of life on the front line of young Israeli womanhood – even if this turns out to be not so different from that in Golders Green. Wed, 27 Feb 2013 15:44:47 +0000 Amanda Craig 102844 at http://www.thejc.com http://www.thejc.com/arts/books/97729/children%E2%80%99s-books-outside-interests <p>Introduce toddlers to the eco-friendly message of Tu Bishvat (January 25) with Thank You Trees, a board book by Gail Langer Karowski and Marilyn E. Gootman (Kar-Ben, £4.99). The rhymes are not exactly Dr Seuss, but Kristen Balouch’s friendly illustrations will stimulate discussion.</p> <p>In Hannah’s Way, by Linda Glaser (Kar-Ben, £5.99), Hannah is the only Jewish girl in her Minnesota school. Her class picnic is to be held two miles away, on Shabbat, so she is left out, as she cannot travel by car. But, when the teacher asks for a volunteer to walk with Hannah, the result is heartwarming on an I’m-Spartacus scale. Age three to seven.</p> <p>Stormy waters and secretive villagers set the scene for North of Nowhere by Liz Kessler (Orion, £9.99). When Mia arrives to spend half-term with her grandma, she befriends local girl Dee — not in person, but by writing messages in her diary, which she finds on a boat in the harbour. Dee writes back, but something about her does not seem quite right. Age nine to 12.</p> <p>Every You, Every Me by David Levithan (Random House, £5.99) was improvised around a series of photos sent to Levithan by Jonathan Farmer. The text is interactive, with extensive crossings-out that can be read or omitted, enacting the character’s internal dialogue. The reader must fathom out the back story, just as the teenage protagonist has to figure out who is sending him photos of his departed friend. Age 14 to adult.</p> <p>What if you could cure all illness and disability? And — more pressingly for “E.V.”, a patient in her mother’s sinister hospital — what if you could genetically engineer the perfect boyfriend? Eve &amp; Adam by Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate, (Egmont, £6.99) is a funny-serious sci-fi thriller, for age 12 up.</p> <p>In Winter Wear by Kass Kentridge (Xlibris, £13.99), a teenager returns from the pub in somebody else’s overcoat and discovers that a diamond appears in the pocket each day. </p> <p>But the coat has a Holocaust heritage with dangerous reverberations. Forgive its flat narrative voices and occasional stylistic misjudgments; Winter Wear will grip older teen fans of time-slip adventure.</p> Books Book review 97729 story http://www.thejc.com/files/Hannah's way.JPG Hannah’s Way, by Linda Glaser