In the Pond, by Ha Jin

Shao Bin is a frustrated artist, master calligrapher and cartoonist, who works in a factory in China. He feels mistreated, even abused, by the men who run the factory, and his attempts to get better housing for his family, and improve his life, are constantly frustrated.

This is an unusual novel, a picture of what life in China might be like, or at least what it was like in recent times. It can certainly be seen as a protest against the bureaucratic system there, but there is more going on than just that.

A very fast and enjoyable read.

This is a New York Times review.

Legacy of Ashes, The History of the CIA, by Tim Weiner

An audio book. While I was "reading" this book, the so-called Senate Torture Report became a major news item. That was unintentional; I read the book on the recommendation of a friend.

Legacy of Ashes is, among other things, a good review of American History since World War II. It is also a sobering look at just how dishonest, desperate, and corrupt the political leaders of this country have been in that period of time, and how willing they were to quickly abandon principle to accomplish their ends -- even though, so very often, the projects of the CIA failed miserably.

An alternative title for this book might have been Why They Hate Us.

As an American citizen, all I can say to the people of the rest of the world is, most of us have no control over these things. Our system has gotten away from us. It isn't exactly our fault, but then, I suppose, it is...

A review on the CIA's website.

A NY Times review.

An article about the CIA in The Guardian. A snippet: "Even the agency’s most successful mission – slowly bleeding out the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s by arming the mujahideen – paved the way for the worst terrorist attack on the US in its history."