Rate this book

Algo Va Mal (2000)

by Tony Judt(Favorite Author)

4.04 of 5 Votes: 1

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Taurus

review 1: A marvellous analysis of the world we live in. As in his other books, he demonstrates a laser-like ability to spot the big-picture movements, the ways in which the tectonic plates of our society have shifted. For example, the rise of a culture of self-engrossment from the ashes of WW I and II, the shift from a sense of 'society' (whether in the rise of communism or the creation of the welfare state in Britain: to self-seeking fixations such as feminism or the self-enrichment or empowerment - with all their corrosive impact on society as a whole. (Some of these words are mine rather than his - but it's what he is saying in essence).There's a quite entertaining passage where he loses it and simply gets angry about the waste of it all. But one can only sympathise too! H... moreis solutions are inevitably a bit provisional and a bit challengeable at times. But the overall power of the book is unmistakeable in my view. I shall never quite look at the world in the same way again.
review 2: I liked the book, in the sense that it provided some well written remarks about the current economic way of thinking in politics, liberalization, privatization, history of socialism in Europe and the US, the apathy of the post eighties generations about politics,etc.But this is also exactly what bothered me about this book. It spans a wide array of topics, but does not provide a clear structure or framework to appreciate them (well, social democracy is perhaps the 'framework', but he waits untill the end of the book to explain what he means with it and how it differs from socialism). A clear structure would have added a lot to this book. Furthermore, the book often felt repetitive, the same points and examples were stressed over and over.Annoying for me was that the book, that blew the trumpets for social democracy as the only workable option and that denounced socialism/communism because it failed everywhere where it was implemented, ends with a quote from Marx (philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways, the point is to change it). The quote alludes on the revolutionary character of implementing socialism, something that the author repeatedly denounces throughout the book. An underappreciation for the socialist struggle throughout history according to me.To put the book into context: it is a, for US terms perhaps radical, plea for social democracy. The axioms of the book, however, stick to those of the US (liberalism, freedom, democracy). By European standards, the message is hardly anything new (which is also made explicit by Judt). I doubt whether the book would appeal to young people, who probably expect something that differs more radically from the current state of affairs. less

Download links for: Algo va mal

Advertising