Blood Orchid:: An Unnatural History of America
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.60 (756 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0679433368 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 298 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2017-11-14 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
"Love the first part of the argument, take issue with the second" according to joe520. A rich and stimulating book, and highly recommended, but I want to take issue with the implicit argument that runs throughout. Bowden's argument is that the official narrative of the United States (and Europe before 1Love the first part of the argument, take issue with the second joe520 A rich and stimulating book, and highly recommended, but I want to take issue with the implicit argument that runs throughout. Bowden's argument is that the official narrative of the United States (and Europe before 1492) has played itself out, has shown itself to be corrupt (or worse, empty) at the core. Fine. As some one who grew up during Watergate and the tail end of the Vietnam war, as someone who paid attention to the US's misadventures in Latin America during his . 92) has played itself out, has shown itself to be corrupt (or worse, empty) at the core. Fine. As some one who grew up during Watergate and the tail end of the Vietnam war, as someone who paid attention to the US's misadventures in Latin America during his . A wild ride I'd be lying if I said this was an easy read, but Bowden warns the reader from the beginning that he travels fast. The subject matter is more than brutal and disturbing. It is enough to make you regret that you are a human being, but I am not sure that Bowden's goal is too make you feel hopeless. In many ways he is optimistic about the future in spite of the bloody past he graphically offers to the reader. He wants to move beyond explaining the past because as he says, ". Blood orchid As the Hammer Orchid seduces its prey with false promises of satisfaction, Charles Bowden draws his readers into his own personal saga of pain with an impressive display of anger and wrath. Multitudes of partially coherent and mostly unrelated images of sex and war are thrown to the reader at a steadily unrelenting pace, leaving one with the choice of either leaving them at the table, or ingesting them wholly and accepting the emotional heartburn that will accompany the
Donna Seaman. As his narrative progresses, Bowden's stream of consciousness becomes a raging river, and riding it proves to be exhilarating and painful, provoking and cathartic. Bowden rails against this travesty as well as the even greater crimes perpetuated against Native Americans, but he also declares his love for the "mess" of life in the Americas, the "strange mongrel mixture of races, ideas, seeds, spores, viruses, bacteria." He despises the sanctimoniousness of the environmental movement and doesn't hesitate to declare his politically incorrect taste for alcohol, women in high heels, guns, and traveling at high speeds. Here he takes us on a wild journey through his past and across the gritty American and Mexican West, ranting all the way about our poisoned earth and corrupted society. Bowden's "blood orchids" are evil, maligna
The author explores the destruction of the natural beauty of the American West through the experiences of a variety of people, including Mexican farmers and drug dealers, Arizona gun enthusiasts, and others. 15,000 first printing.