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What are you reading?

The Capital Times  —  8/23/2008 5:39 pm

Freelance writer Kevin Murphy asked Madisonians about their latest read:

"I'm reading 'America Alone' by Mark Steyn. It's about the West's stand against the Islamization of Western culture. Just like the Crusades were a response to the aggressive actions of Muslims and the Turks for hundreds of years, and how Islam continued into Europe right up to the gates of Vienna. And now you have the Sunnis continuing some of the same thing. It's an interesting take on how America has to figure out what's going on and what its response should be."

Brad Nygaard

architect

Waunakee

"I'm in the middle of reading 'The Deep Blue Goodbye' by John D. McDonald ... It's a murder mystery. The main character is Travis McGee, who's half beach bum, half detective. Most of the stories are set in Florida in the late '60s and early '70s. It's a good summertime read. It's a good wintertime read, too."

Francis Sullivan

lawyer

Stoughton

"'Blonde Faith' by Walter Mosley. He's a mystery writer (whose books are set) in Los Angeles in the mid-'60s. He has a character named Easy Rawlins, who helps the community solve crimes that police won't solve. He's very heroic. It's a series that's been going on for 10 books, and this is hopefully not the last one."

Art Robinson

underwriting director

Madison

" 'Blindsight' by Peter Watts. It's a science-fiction book about a visitor to a solar system that has to be explored to find out if it's intelligent and what its intentions are. One character has his mind partitioned into four parts. It's very hard science, for it offers very unique ways of what humanity may develop into."

Tad Ottman

legislative aide

Madison

"I'm currently reading 'A Slave No More: Two Men Who Escaped to Freedom' by David Blight. Mr. Blight has written extensively on the topic of slavery in the United States. In this book he has assembled narratives of former slaves John Washington and Wallace Turnage, which were recently made public.

"Washington was an urban slave who escaped from bondage when the Union army came to Fredericksburg, Va., in 1862. Turnage toiled on a plantation in Alabama and did not gain his freedom until his fifth escape attempt.

"The stories of Washington and Turnage illustrate the two different faces of slavery on the eve of the Civil War. Washington, while not abused physically, was tormented by the lack of control over his life and lived in fear of separation from his wife -- a free black -- and their unborn child. Turnage's tale reveals the harsh reality of life on the plantation with constant physical abuse and unrelenting toil. It also shows the determination of a man who would not be denied his freedom as he continued to escape in spite of the hardships on the road and the beatings when he returned.

"Another key point that 'A Slave No More' illustrates is that Lincoln did not free the slaves. Hundreds of thousands of African-Americans freed themselves."

George Dreckmann

recycling coordinator

Madison

The Capital Times  —  8/23/2008 5:39 pm