Human Smoke

Last updated
Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization
Human Smoke.jpg
First edition
Author Nicholson Baker
LanguageEnglish
Genre History, Pacifism
Publisher Simon & Schuster
Publication date
2008
Publication placeUnited States
Pages576

Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization is a 2008 book by Nicholson Baker about World War II. It questions the commonly held belief that the Allies wanted to avoid the war at all costs but were forced into action by Adolf Hitler's aggression. It consists largely of official government transcripts, newspaper articles, and other documents from the time, with Baker only occasionally interjecting commentary. Baker cites documents that suggest that the leaders of the United States and the United Kingdom were provoking Germany and Japan into war and had ulterior motives for participating. He dedicates the book to American and British pacifists of the time who, he states in the book's epilogue, were right all along: "They failed, but they were right." [1] [2]

Reception

The book had many negative reviews. Historian Noel Malcolm described it as a "strangely childish book" [3] and journalist William Grimes in The New York Times as a "self-important, hand-wringing, moral mess of a book." [4] Christopher Hitchens accused Baker of ahistoricism and wrote that numerous passages in the book served as a reminder of how "fatuous the pacifist position can sound, or indeed can be." [5] Louis Menand wrote that each of Baker's themes is a "legitimate matter of debate" but criticized the selective use of primary sources as a "tabloid technique" of emotional manipulation. [6] Piers Brendon criticized the book for misleading the reader by taking quotations and details out of context. [7] Time magazine's review was also critical of Baker's style: "facts, even tragic ones, require context and interpretation. They don't speak for themselves. That's why we need historians." [8] British historian Dominic Sandbrook referred to the "mendaciousness, even fraudulence, of this extraordinarily self-righteous book" and contended that many of Baker's assertions, such as that Franklin Roosevelt conspired to provoke the Japanese into bombing Pearl Harbor, were not new and had been refuted long ago by scholarly historians. [9] In a very harsh review, literary critic Adam Kirsch was especially critical of Baker's use of Nazi propaganda: "by reproducing Nazi language uncritically, Mr. Baker effectively endorses it. This is never more shocking than when he quotes Joseph Goebbels's description of Churchill.... A book that can adduce Goebbels as an authority in order to vilify Churchill has clearly lost touch with all moral and intellectual bearings. No one who knows about World War II will take Human Smoke at all seriously." [10] Conservative political commentator R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr., awarded Human Smoke his J. Gordon Coogler Award for Worst Book of 2008. [11]

Other reviewers praised the book's use of documentary research as well as its intricate construction. Irish novelist Colm Toibin wrote in his New York Times review that "the issues Baker wishes to raise, and the stark system he has used to dramatize his point, make his book a serious and conscientious contribution to the debate about pacifism." [1] Tim Adams wrote a mixed review in The Guardian, stating, "What if we had all stood outside and waited for Hitler's raving to end and then gone on as before? It is a crucial question and one that has rarely been better articulated than in Human Smoke. But it invites an insistent supplementary, too: is it possible that by investing too much attention in detail, you always risk missing the bigger picture?" [12] Pacifist Mark Kurlansky wrote for the Los Angeles Times that the book demonstrated that "World War II was one of the biggest, most carefully plotted lies in modern history" and that "people are going to get really angry at Baker for criticizing their favorite war. But he hasn't fashioned his tale from gossip. It is documented, with copious notes and attributions. The grace of these well-ordered snapshots is that there is no diatribe; you are left to put things together yourself. Human Smoke may be one of the most important books you will ever read." [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicholson Baker</span> Contemporary American novelist and writer (born 1957)

Nicholson Baker is an American novelist and essayist. His fiction generally de-emphasizes narrative in favor of careful description and characterization. His early novels such as The Mezzanine and Room Temperature were distinguished by their minute inspection of his characters' and narrators' stream of consciousness. Out of a total of ten novels, three are erotica: Vox, The Fermata and House of Holes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colm Tóibín</span> Irish novelist and writer (born 1955)

Colm Tóibín is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist, critic, playwright and poet.

<i>To the Finland Station</i> Book by American literary critic Edmund Wilson

To the Finland Station: A Study in the Writing and Acting of History is a book by American literary critic Edmund Wilson, first published in 1940. The work presents the history of revolutionary thought and the birth of socialism, from the French Revolution through the collaboration of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels to the arrival of Vladimir Lenin at the Finland Station in Saint Petersburg in 1917.

<i>The Master</i> (novel) 2004 novel by Colm Tóibín

The Master is a novel by Irish writer Colm Tóibín. His fifth novel, it received the International Dublin Literary Award, the Stonewall Book Award, the Lambda Literary Award, the Los Angeles Times Novel of the Year and, in France, Le prix du meilleur livre étranger in 2005. It was also shortlisted for the 2004 Booker Prize.

<i>The South</i> (novel) 1990 novel by Colm Tóibín

The South is a 1990 novel by Irish writer Colm Tóibín.

<i>Episodes of the Cuban Revolutionary War</i>

Episodes of the Cuban Revolutionary War, also titled Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War, is an autobiographical book by Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara about his experiences during the Cuban Revolution (1956–1958) to overthrow the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.

<i>Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945</i> Non-fiction book by Tony Judt

Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 is a 2005 non-fiction book written by British historian Tony Judt examining the six decades of European history from the end of World War II in Europe in 1945 to 2005. Postwar is widely considered one of the foremost accounts of contemporary European history, particularly with regards to the history of Eastern Europe. It has been translated into French and German.

<i>Goebbels Diaries</i> Collection of writings by Joseph Goebbels

The Goebbels Diaries are a collection of writings by Joseph Goebbels, a leading member of the Nazi Party and the Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda in Adolf Hitler's government from 1933 to 1945. The diaries, which have only recently been published in full in German and are available only in part in English, are a major source for the inner history of the Nazi Party and of its twelve years in power in Germany. The British historian Ian Kershaw wrote in the preface to his biography of Hitler: "For all the caution which must naturally be attached to Goebbels's regularly reported remarks by Hitler ... the immediacy as well as the frequency of the comments makes them a vitally important source of insight into Hitler's thinking and action."

<i>The Irish Famine</i> (book) 1999 book by Diarmaid Ferriter and Colm Tóibín

The Irish Famine is a book written by Diarmaid Ferriter and Colm Tóibín. The book is in two volumes, the first of which was written and originally published by Tóibín in 1999. The second volume, written by Ferriter, is entitled The Capricious Growth of a Single Root and was added in 2001.

<i>The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America</i> 2001 book by Louis Menand

The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America is a 2001 book by Louis Menand, an American writer and legal scholar, which won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for History. The book recounts the lives and intellectual work of the handful of thinkers primarily responsible for the philosophical concept of pragmatism, a principal feature of American philosophical achievement: William James, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Charles Sanders Peirce, and John Dewey. Pragmatism had a significant influence on modern thought, by, for example, spurring movements in legal thought such as legal realism.

<i>Love, Poverty, and War</i>

Love, Poverty, and War: Journeys and Essays is a collection of essays and reportage by the author, journalist, and literary critic Christopher Hitchens. The title of the book is explained in the introduction, which informs the reader that "an antique saying has it that a man's life is incomplete unless or until he has tasted love, poverty, and war."

<i>The Book of Other People</i>

The Book of Other People is a collection of short stories, published in 2008 by Penguin Books. Selected and edited by Zadie Smith, it contains 23 short stories by 23 different authors, among them Nick Hornby, David Mitchell, Colm Tóibín, Jonathan Safran Foer, Dave Eggers, as well as Smith herself. The collection, as evidenced by the title, focuses on character; the authors were simply asked to "make somebody up". It being a "charity anthology," the contributors to The Book of Other People were not compensated for their writing, and the book's proceeds were given to 826NYC, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students with their creative writing skills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Clifton (poet)</span> Irish poet (born 1952)

Harry Clifton is an Irish poet.

<i>Human Chain</i> (poetry collection) 2010 book by Seamus Heaney

Human Chain is the twelfth and final poetry collection by Seamus Heaney. It was first published in 2010 by the Faber and Faber.

<i>The Empty Family</i> 2010 collection of short stories by Colm Tóibín

The Empty Family is a collection of short stories by Irish writer Colm Tóibín. It was published in the UK in October 2010 and was released in the US in January 2011.

<i>Mortality</i> (book) Vanity Fair essays by Christopher Hitchens

Mortality is a 2012, posthumously published book by Anglo-American writer Christopher Hitchens. It comprises seven essays which first appeared in Vanity Fair concerning his struggle with esophageal cancer, with which he was diagnosed during his 2010 book tour and which killed him in December 2011. An eighth chapter consisting of unfinished "fragmentary jottings", a foreword by Graydon Carter and an afterword by Carol Blue, are also included in the publication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan Coogler</span> American filmmaker (born 1986)

Ryan Kyle Coogler is an American filmmaker. He is a recipient of four NAACP Image Awards and four Black Reel Awards, and has been nominated for two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and a Grammy Award.

The Testament of Mary is a play written by Colm Tóibín, based on his 2012 novella of the same name and 2011 play Testament. The play is a solo performance depicting "the mother of Jesus [who] tells her story of her son’s Crucifixion" and questions his death and divinity. After a 2011 Irish production, the play ran briefly on Broadway in 2013, closing after only two weeks of a scheduled 12-week run, but it was nominated for three Tony Awards, including Best Play.

<i>The Way the World Works</i> 2012 nonfiction anthology by Nicholson Baker

The Way the World Works is a 2012 book by Nicholson Baker that collects thirty-four previously published essays together. These essays were originally published in a variety of publications, including The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, and The New Yorker.

References

  1. 1 2 Toibin, Colm (March 23, 2008). "Their Vilest Hour". The New York Times. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
  2. ↑ 'Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization' by Nicholson Baker - BOOK REVIEW - Los Angeles Times [ permanent dead link ]
  3. ↑ Malcolm, Noel (May 1, 2008). "Snipping up the Second World War" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  4. ↑ Grimes, William (March 12, 2008). "Say What? It Wasn't a Just War After All?" – via NYTimes.com.
  5. ↑ "Just give peace a chance?". www.newstatesman.com.
  6. ↑ Menand, Louis. "Peace Now". The New Yorker.
  7. ↑ Brendon, Piers (May 2, 2008). "Review: Human Smoke by Nicholson Baker". the Guardian.
  8. ↑ "Review, Time, 13 March 2008". Archived from the original on March 20, 2008.
  9. ↑ "How Chamberlain started the war". May 1, 2008 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  10. ↑ "War Games". The New York Sun.
  11. ↑ Tyrell, R. Emmett, Jr., "J. Gordon Coogler Award for 2008," American Spectator; Volume 42, Number 2, March 2009
  12. ↑ Adams, Tim (May 31, 2008). "Review: Human Smoke by Nicholson Baker" – via www.theguardian.com.
  13. ↑ Review, "Days of infamy 'Smoke' and mirrors," Los Angeles Times March 9, 2008.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.