Unlike so many War Sucks, Motherfucker type deals, Crusade actually offers viable solutions to the situation. Carroll places emphasis on law enforcement, not war, as the first means of defence. That Bin Laden should have been tried for his crimes, that 9/11 should have served as illustration of the American government's moral superiority, instead of going on to illustrate just the opposite.
The Duke doesn't particularly approve of the swell of xenophobic, hateful Anti-Americanism currently taking the world by storm (They just don't get irony, y'know), and thankfully neither does Carroll. So many books, essays, articles of this nature present the country as a whole as being inherently moronic and hateful based only on the actions of a few. (Incidentally, something his critics miss is that Michael Moore is also one of the few who doesn't. Even if his staggeringly ignorant musings on Northern Ireland pickle my pish considerably.)
Instead of the narrow-mindedness exhibited by a worrying proportion of his peers, Carroll examines every foreseeable angle, drawing comparisons and parallels left and right with historical and cultural occurrences. Crusade evokes the sense of looking out ones window and being baffled by what one sees. He shakes his head and points his finger and maybe weeps a little, but James Carroll also offers reason, enlightenment, and a sense of hope.
Good work, James Carroll.
The Duke resides at Mondo Irlando
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
exceptional, thoughtful, humane, and - dare I say it? - fair and balanced review, Duke, another home run. And for you cricket fanciers out there, that's a good thing
2 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
Thanks Eric! Since i've read at least seven books, i feel i can offer something of a learned response to such.