War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning

 

In War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning, author Chris Hedges explores the utter havoc war causes, but also the appeal of war (for young men seeking) to prove themselves.  We often forget that the urge to fight a war is an attempt to find meaning.  The simple necessity of staying alive and killing people is loaded with meaning.  Despite the title, Hedges shows how the long-term effect of war leads to nothing but damage and loss in a micro and macro sense.  War is based on lies and confusion.  The only way to get human beings to voluntarily kill each other is through deception. Everyone involved in war eventually reaches this sobering conclusion.

A Talmud for Today

 

How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book by Liel Leibovitz lives up to its title.  The author contextualizes the Talmud in novel ways.  The author starts each chapter with some modern story that seems not connected to Talmud.  But it does,, every time, in many successful ways.   If you want a book that makes Talmud relevant, here it is.

Transcends Genre

 

Despite its salacious title, While the City Slept: A Love Lost to Violence and a Young Man's Descent into Madness, is not salacious.  Unlike most true crime, especially featuring a sexual crime against women, this book makes great efforts to humanize everyone – including the perpetrator.  This book is about a terrible crime, but also about a system that is unable to treat the mentally ill.  This book transcends its genre to become an important statement about the price we all pay for a broken healthcare system.