I went with a friend to hear a public teaching from the Dalai Lama at Gillette Stadium, today. It got windy in the morning, and he pulled up his robe over his head, and encouraged everyone else to put on their hats or hoods, if they had one. He is quite charming!
Babylon by Bus is the autobiographical account of two young American men, Ray Lemoine and Jeff Neumann, who head for Iraq to become NGO workers soon after the defeat of Saddam Hussein, during the “lull” before the major insurgency.
I’ll be brief. My impressions are accurately reflected by the 1-star and 2-star reviews at Amazon.
The narrator (the story is told from the POV of LeMoine) has an almost comically arrogant attitude. He and his friend, both surprisingly jaded for people so young, seem compelled to encourage each other into the most inane, pointless behaviors. If you ever want to understand why people hate Americans, this book gives numerous examples of the stupidity that sometimes makes me embarrassed to be American myself.
The story makes some vague claims about the good that was done by the two authors in organizing aid to war victims under the CPA. I suppose this proves that two fools just might accidentally do something right once in a while.
I give this book two stars because I think it might be educational. In a few instances, their underlying experiences are interesting, from a sort of back-alley perspective. Unfortunately, the whole story reeks of their overweening self-righteousness and “too cool for school” perspective. When they are assaulted by two men who beat them with their shoes, you want to join in and shout along with the attackers “You are stupid men! You are arrogant Americans!”
To get a grittier feel for post-war Iraq, I’d much rather have heard from some of the interesting characters described in the book, such as Marla Ruzicka or A Heather Coyne. I don’t have any good recommendations for alternative information sources, however.
Full disclosure: I opposed the invasion of Iraq, as did the two authors. So my criticisms have nothing to do with their claims of liberalism.
I picked up the audiobook of Babylon by Bus at the library today. I have a lot of driving to do tomorrow, and I was looking for something interesting to occupy the time.
I got through the first disc today. So far, I’m finding it kind of irritating. Their attitude strikes me as exceptionally cavalier and stupid. This may be aggravated by the sound of the narrator’s voice. I’m still planning to finish it, and I hope it improves.
