War Is Boring: Bored Stiff, Scared To Death In The World's Worst War Zones (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
I'm not really sure what I just read. I agree with many of the other commenters- I picked it up because it seemed to be about a lifestyle foreign to me, and I wanted to learn more about those countries and their wars. Unfortunately, this book is not at all about that, and Axe doesn't really grace us with any sort of detail about each country. As far as I know, any one of the countries could have been exchanged for another based on how much detail he provides. He's also not a sympathetic character, he's cynical and selfish and makes no apologies for it. Kudos for being direct, but with those two elements, it leaves the book without much substance. At least it was short, and the illustrations were good. Ugh - I couldn't even finish this book. After reading about the various war-torn places where Axe works as a reporter, the reader still knows nothing at all about this places. All you really get to know is how boring David Axe is. And Ted Rall, though I respect him a lot more, should be ashamed of using a term like "third world shithole" in the introduction. It is exactly this kind of perspective that makes this book useless to anyone but perpetually amateur "political scientists" with well-rehearsed jadedness who like to show off their ultimately superficial adventures to naive college students. Pathetic and insulting.
What do You think about War Is Boring: Bored Stiff, Scared To Death In The World's Worst War Zones (2010)?
Vague and self-serving; nothing much to empathize with or learn from this vanity project.
—123
Disturbing, for all of the obvious war-related reasons. Good, though.
—Codedess
Somewhat navel gazing, introvert but still worthwhile
—Mia
The New Title for this book: This Book is Boring!
—Samboe
