Some recent outside reading posts that stuck out for one reason or another.

Mason is reading A Problem From Hell, which is a massive nonfiction book about America’s responses to genocides in the 20th century. It’s a dense, overwhelming read, but also a very well-written book that raises some amazing questions.

With only previous knowledge of the Holocaust and a few other examples of genocide from social studies courses, I hope to gain a larger understanding of the “evil” behind genocide by reading this book.

What should America, the most powerful country in the world, do about genocides when they occur? I wore my “Save Darfur” shirt this weekend and was amazed at how many people asked me what it meant.

Norma chose V for Vendetta, which has a very strong connection to The Scottish Play. Not only does the plot loosely follow that of the Gunpowder Plot, but one of the main characters quotes TSP pretty often.

I love the fact that his mask is that of Guy Fawkes, a man who tried to blow up parliament in the 1600s, and that he wears all black. The fact that he is mysterious adds so much more to the book.

Everyone should try and find out about the Gunpowder Plot and Guy Fawkes–it’ll make your reading of The Scottish Play even better than it already is.  I am, honestly, a little disappointed that nobody’s reading either of the two nonfiction books about it from the list, but I’ll get over it.  Eventually.

Meanwhile, Ryan’s got an observation about The Crucible:

The “odd” behavior described in this book seems like a simple mental disorder of today, but many people of Salem used the concept of ‘witchcraft’ to explain the unexplained. I find it particularly interesting that those who clearly don’t “buy it”, are very hesitant to halt and stand up to it.

This reminds me a lot of the article about psychologists diagnosing patients as evil.  Our society is a lot more technologically and medically advanced than 17th century Salem was, but aside from that, what other fundamental differences are there?  Miller wrote The Crucible as a response to Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s “witch hunt” of suspected Communists in American society.  That was about 50 years ago.