Jesse Kornbluth reviews John le Carre’s new novel, Our Kind of Traitor.

Kornbluth explains that le Carre tells an exciting story but he is also explaining how the world works. Many of the great progressive authors of the tens and twenties put their toughest writing into novels, for instance, Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. He suspects that le Carre is writing in this tradition.

Here’s a quote from Kornbluth’s review.

Of all of le Carré’s novels, this is the one that makes me feel like a child. I mean, I know we’re all under surveillance now. Photographed often. Every keystroke, every e-mail, every Tweet saved — illegally, but saved. At any moment, the President can declare an American citizen an enemy combatant, a threat to the security of the Republic, and without judicial review or formal charge, he can order that American to be killed. But although I know all that, I hadn’t quite realized that when large amounts of money are involved, none of the old words — honor, truth, empathy — matter at all.

Here’s the trailer for the book(as if it were a movie).

Here’s John le Carre, himself, reading a selection from the book –

I’m a big fan of le Carre. I hope you are too. I have no doubt that the book is worth your time. Le Carre is insightful and clever – good writing.

James Pilant

David Yamada blogs regularly on the subject of workplace bullying (among other issues). I very much respect his work and this piece is particularly eloquent and I recommend it to your attention.

I would like to praise the article but the power of the article and its raw emotional power is beyond my poor powers of description. You should just read.

James Pilant

Beyond Workplace Bullying Australia is one of the many Facebook (FB) pages that have formed in response to workplace bullying (more links here). A few days ago, I began noticing a series of short, wise, and plaintive posts from that page, obviously written by one person. The honesty, emotional intelligence, and pain expressed in these posts struck me as a form of raw testimony about the destructiveness of workplace bullying and just how much work … Read More

via Minding the Workplace

For around 400 years, the Western mind has struggled attempting to solve problems by logic using facts. It has not caught on. We still read horoscopes and to my continued astonishment often believe that if we thing hard enough “positively,” it will be so.
When we make decisions, the facts and an accurate assessment are our best allies. But in the United States, there is a perception that only positive, optimistic, emotionally intelligent people are the ones to be emulated.
It’s all nonsense. Read the article, it’s somewhat in line with what I am saying. I will elaborate further in a later article.

James Pilant

Since birth, the mantra taught to us about life is optimists do better in life as they think positive, are surrounded with positive people and generate positive energy. The example of the glass filled with some water typifies our thinking. Here are three examples of the statements people make and the general opinion formed by the public regarding the statements. First person Statement: The glass is half full. Opinion: Give the guy an immediate pa … Read More

via Sonia Jaspal's RiskBoard

I’m back. I’ve had the flu and this has been followed by bronchitis. I have a prescription for antibiotics but thus far my insurance doesn’t want to pay for that particular one, so we’ll see what happens.

I deeply appreciated the “get well” messages from you. It’s good to be appreciated.

James Pilant