Rating: 
Summary: Clarity, Depth, Detail and Style Up the Wazoo
Review: A B S O L U T E L Y ~ A M A Z I N G This book is first and foremost a case study of the "civil war" being waged against many Indian citizens by their own government, in the name of development. Asside from that, this book is also a work of art. A gifted writer and profound thinker who has taken up the pen for the sake of social justice. If you can't afford it, write me and I'll loan you my copy!
Rating: 
Summary: Fresh take on globalization
Review: Arundhati Roy bristles at being called a "writer-activist" (too much like sofa-bed, she says), but the rest of us should be grateful that the author of "The God of Small Things" is taking on the establishment, here and in India. Part of Mrs. Roy's greatness is that she is not colored by the partisan debates that influence the dialogue on issues such as globalization in America. She is an equal-opportunity critic, taking on Clinton and Bush. Although other authors pledge no allegiance to either side of the aisle, Roy has a fresh perspective, and has a take on globalization that I haven't found in works by American authors. This book is set up as a collection (a rather random collection) of several essays. The first essay gives a wonderful perspective of globalization (ie. the expansion of American business interests) from a foreign perspective. She examines the impact of the global economic movement on the actual people being affected by it at the lowest level. She reveals the influence of the privatization of the electric industry through the eyes of India's poorest citizens. The second essay goes in-depth into politics in India, primarily addressing the enormous number of dams being built in the country, and the impacts (economic, environmental, social) that they will have. Mrs. Roy explicitly recounts how Enron scammed the Indian government into building new power generators, and how this will cost India hundreds of millions per year while lining the pockets of American business interests. Critics will say that "Power Politics" is devoid of hard facts and analysis, but there can be no doubt that this book is worth a read. She may lack the economic background of Stiglitz, but her passion and style, in addition to her ability to articulate the important issues in the globalization debate in a readable manner, will be appreciated by anyone with an interest in global economic expansion.
Rating:
Summary: I was almost brought to tears.....
Review: As someone who is admittedly and shamefully, completely ignorant about the current socio-political situation in India, I was nevertheless nearly moved to tears at the heroism of how so many displaced villagers gathered up the courage to protest the outrages of being forced to abandon their homes due to pointless and environmentally-harmful "big dams" I also felt great outrage over how unfairly Roy was being persecuted by her own government and courts for simply writing what she believes in. However, through her bravery, she never even contemplates leaving her country for greater personal (or economic)security but stays on to fight the good fight. Truly commendable person. And this is a powerful book surely not to be missed.
Rating:
Summary: Enron in India; Reservoirs Still Filling
Review: Difficult to describe how necessary this book feels. Largely an essay that extends/connects/clarifies Roy's earlier "The Greater Common Good" (an already well-made essay against rambunctious dam construction), it rises up not TOO mysteriously to bite the very grasping ambitious hands that slap us all, mercilessly, even/especially if/when we mistake slaps for caresses. One remark, maybe or maybe not a quibble. From Roy's fairly careful or even archly civilized, for her, until she erupts NICELY near the end, response to yet another official legal complaint about her charmingly open nature & writing: "To accuse them [non-violent dam dissenters or hardscrabble natives & untouchables subject to flooding & unusual engineers & at least one writer] of lowering the dignity of the court suggests that the dignity of the court and the dignity of Indian citizens are incompatible, oppositional, adversarial things. That the dignity of one can only exist at the cost of the other. If this is so, it is a sad and shameful proposition." Indeed it is, & I suspect that Arundhati Roy knows that, in times of fearful/damaged/narrowed/squeezed imaginations, dignity may seem or feel (thus effectively be?) as zero-sum as, for instance, river water? If/when/where some are brutally dignity-demanding/greedy, what? But she doesn't go there, fully, & the word/idea dignity carries so much buzz that we may ALL need serious assistance in dealing with the suggestions of perhaps overdignified [court/government] officials? Or even our own outsized beliefs about how right we are? J.M. Coetzee's GIVING OFFENSE is recommended, if tough, in this zone.
Rating:
Summary: Power vs. People
Review: In Power Politics, Arundhati Roy gives us a window onto India from which we can see international corporations, the judicial and political systems of India, and most poignantly, the human beings affected by these powers. In this depiction of the opposition of power and people, those of us who are sympathetic to people will have our eyes and our hearts opened by this amazing young writer's clear, polite emphatic voice, while those aligned with the power side may find a rationale to dismiss Ms. Roy's prose with the callousness of the Enron executive who authorized $13 million to 'educate' Indian politicians about the virtues of dams that would destroy the homes of millions and shackle the people to enormous long term debt in exchange for the capacity to produce energy at prices far beyond the people's capacity to pay. Of course, the implications of Power Politics go beyond the borders of India. Preferable to The Cost of Living which is also excellent.
Rating:
Summary: Subjective Power Politics
Review: It is worth the read just for Roy's lively writing, completely unique, full of personality, and full of passion on the subject. But it is even more worth the read because of the commentary. It is rare to get such well-researched, well-thought out insight from a the perspective of one who has experienced some of America's third world itinerary first-hand. From a city-wide 'sweep the dirt under the rug' during Clinton's visit to globalization, Roy brings a new twist to the glory we call american politics. While this is far from an objective viewpoint, it is also a most important read.
Rating:
Summary: Power Politics is a great read for anyone
Review: Roy is a great author, and she commands her energy to making us aware that we really should evolve as a race. Her insights in the "Bush Regime" are scary, I did not know how terrorizing Rumsfeld/Cheney policies were. If you are consverative or liberal, this is a book to read. It is time we (Americans) really take back our terrible (double standard) foriegn policies which are now affecting us regular Americans.
Rating:
Summary: Power Politics is a great read for anyone
Review: Roy is a great author, and she commands her energy to making us aware that we really should evolve as a race. Her insights in the "Bush Regime" are scary, I did not know how terrorizing Rumsfeld/Cheney policies were. If you are consverative or liberal, this is a book to read. It is time we (Americans) really take back our terrible (double standard) foriegn policies which are now affecting us regular Americans.
Rating:
Summary: Power Politics is a great read for anyone
Review: Roy is a great author, and she commands her energy to making us aware that we really should evolve as a race. Her insights in the "Bush Regime" are scary, I did not know how terrorizing Rumsfeld/Cheney policies were. If you are consverative or liberal, this is a book to read. It is time we (Americans) really take back our terrible (double standard) foriegn policies which are now affecting us regular Americans.
Rating:
Summary: Intelligent, Increasingly Strident
Review: This is a series of lectures and essays, similar in direction and topic to "The Cost of Living." As someone who deeply enjoyed "The God of Small Things," and who was intrigued and excited by "The Cost of Living," I found that I agreed with much of what the author had to say here. However, I fear that she may lose some of her audience, or at least some of her credibility with that audience, because of her increasingly strident tone and deliberate subjectivity. On the other hand, I'm sure that she doesn't care. In fact, a good portion of the essays are dedicated to her perception of the role of the writer in society, and she states in them her belief that she must say what she feels must be said. Because she is unafraid of alienating her audience-- much of which must have been surprised by the unpleasant realities of the nonfiction, after the dreamy, nearly magical-realist novel that introduced her to the world view-- and because she tries as much as possible to write and speak truth without regard for the consequences, I'll read anything that she writes.
| 
