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The Rowan Tree
Librarian's note: There is an Alternate Cover Edition for this edition of this book here.
Rowan Ellway is a young college president; Easter Blue, an impassioned student leader. Upon graduation, she takes a fellowship to Africa, and they lose touch. When, decades later, they meet again, they discover that their prior bond was but a rehearsal for the world stage.
THE ROWAN TREE reaches from the tumultuous 1960s into humanity’s future, encompassing the worlds of politics, sport, ballet, presidential leadership, and world governance. An international cast of characters personifies the catalytic role of love in political change.
Replete with illicit loves, quixotic quests, and inextinguishable hope, THE ROWAN TREE foretells a dignitarian world much as the story of King Arthur and the round table sowed the seeds of democracy.
Rowan Ellway is a young college president; Easter Blue, an impassioned student leader. Upon graduation, she takes a fellowship to Africa, and they lose touch. When, decades later, they meet again, they discover that their prior bond was but a rehearsal for the world stage.
THE ROWAN TREE reaches from the tumultuous 1960s into humanity’s future, encompassing the worlds of politics, sport, ballet, presidential leadership, and world governance. An international cast of characters personifies the catalytic role of love in political change.
Replete with illicit loves, quixotic quests, and inextinguishable hope, THE ROWAN TREE foretells a dignitarian world much as the story of King Arthur and the round table sowed the seeds of democracy.
529 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
1606 people are currently reading
2658 people want to read
About the author
Robert W. Fuller
32 books30 followersRobert W. Fuller is author of Somebodies and Nobodies, All Rise: Somebodies, Nobodies, and the Politics of Dignity, and (with co-author Pamela Gerloff) Dignity for All: How to Create a World Without Rankism. He coined the term rankism and is active worldwide in the Dignity Movement. His latest books are Religion and Science: A Beautiful Friendship?; Genomes, Menomes, Wenomes: Neuroscience and Human Dignity; Belonging: A Memoir, The Wisdom of Science; The Theory of Everybody; and The Rowan Tree: A Novel.
He earned his Ph.D. in physics at Princeton University and taught at Columbia, where he co-authored Mathematics of Classical and Quantum Physics. He then served as president of Oberlin College.
On a trip to India, where he was a consultant to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Fuller witnessed firsthand the horrors of genocidal famine. Subsequently, he met with President Carter to propose the creation of the Presidential Commission on World Hunger.
During the 1980s, Fuller traveled frequently to the USSR, working to improve the Cold War relationship with the U.S. For many years, he served as chairman of the global nonprofit Internews, which promotes democracy via free and independent media.
Fuller is now an international authority on dignity and rankism (abusive, discriminatory, or exploitative behavior towards those of lower rank). In 2011, he was the keynote speaker at "The National Conference on Dignity for All" hosted by the president of Bangladesh. Fuller has also served as visiting professor at the Indian Institute of Science and the National Institute of Advanced Studies in Bangalore. His work has been featured in scores of books and publications including the New York Times, O Magazine, and The Contemporary Goffman.
In his books, Fuller makes the case that rankism is a major obstacle to organizational effectiveness and develops a “politics of dignity” that addresses issues of social justice.
He earned his Ph.D. in physics at Princeton University and taught at Columbia, where he co-authored Mathematics of Classical and Quantum Physics. He then served as president of Oberlin College.
On a trip to India, where he was a consultant to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Fuller witnessed firsthand the horrors of genocidal famine. Subsequently, he met with President Carter to propose the creation of the Presidential Commission on World Hunger.
During the 1980s, Fuller traveled frequently to the USSR, working to improve the Cold War relationship with the U.S. For many years, he served as chairman of the global nonprofit Internews, which promotes democracy via free and independent media.
Fuller is now an international authority on dignity and rankism (abusive, discriminatory, or exploitative behavior towards those of lower rank). In 2011, he was the keynote speaker at "The National Conference on Dignity for All" hosted by the president of Bangladesh. Fuller has also served as visiting professor at the Indian Institute of Science and the National Institute of Advanced Studies in Bangalore. His work has been featured in scores of books and publications including the New York Times, O Magazine, and The Contemporary Goffman.
In his books, Fuller makes the case that rankism is a major obstacle to organizational effectiveness and develops a “politics of dignity” that addresses issues of social justice.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 284 reviews
July 2, 2018
I am glad to be done...
This book started fine enough, readable, interesting... Then somewhere, in what I thought should be the middle, it jumped all over the place and I learned I was still fairly in the beginning. This was the longest, drawn out, all over the place book I've ever read. I skim read around 70%, skim read through a bunch of political talk and somewhere around 95% it became readable and semi interesting again. What happened in the middle? It could be my disinterest in politics. It could be my need for structure and order in a book. But somehow I struggled to like this book at all. Too much happened and then again, nothing happened at all. I don't know why I even finished. Curiosity? I felt like it was assigned reading, definitely did not enjoy and would not recommend... accept I wonder would anyone feel as disappointed as I am. I'm just glad it's finally over
This book started fine enough, readable, interesting... Then somewhere, in what I thought should be the middle, it jumped all over the place and I learned I was still fairly in the beginning. This was the longest, drawn out, all over the place book I've ever read. I skim read around 70%, skim read through a bunch of political talk and somewhere around 95% it became readable and semi interesting again. What happened in the middle? It could be my disinterest in politics. It could be my need for structure and order in a book. But somehow I struggled to like this book at all. Too much happened and then again, nothing happened at all. I don't know why I even finished. Curiosity? I felt like it was assigned reading, definitely did not enjoy and would not recommend... accept I wonder would anyone feel as disappointed as I am. I'm just glad it's finally over
February 17, 2014
The author needed to figure out his purpose - was he writing a novel or a persuasive piece on his philosophy?
January 10, 2014
horrible book. boring. the ending was ridiculous. i only liked the part (II) about adam seeing the world. chapters devoted entirely to the dignity project---as if that would ever happen.
February 5, 2016
Started ok, then turned into a political statement!
May 3, 2016
This is a boring and crappy book with a cast of robotic, unlikable characters. Don't even think about reading it, unless you are forced by gunpoint... and even then choose wisely.
June 6, 2013
I received this book for free through Goodreds First Reads. At first, I wasn't sure where the story was going to go and almost didn't finish reading it, but I have to say The Rowan Tree is a great novel. It explores love, ballet, politics, social taboos, rankism. I've learned more about the world and how politics work from this book than I ever learned in school. Definitely recommend to all.
July 2, 2016
At first, this was a pleasant read, but it became increasingly difficult to get through. The "Memories" section of Book III was really boring. The storyline itself is simplistic and everything is resolved quite easily. It's also very convenient that the characters come from privileged or prestigious backgrounds so that they are able to embark on their worldly adventures. I did not find any of the characters to be very deep or complex, except maybe Adam. Overall, the author's purpose seems to be to share his philosophical and political views, which is not what I was expecting or wanting so I didn't like the book.
**The following might be a spoiler**
As a side note, I'll add that the affairs that take place are very predictable, but they are much more reasonable than the forbidden love story. They had two weeks together and claim they are soul mates. Whatever. I find it sad that the woman could not move on, and while the man does go on with his love life, he never fully loves again because as a late teen he had a wonderful week in Paris with a girl. Dumb. I suppose not being able to be with someone you care about makes you think you are in love with them since you could not carry out the relationship to discover what would have been.
**The following might be a spoiler**
As a side note, I'll add that the affairs that take place are very predictable, but they are much more reasonable than the forbidden love story. They had two weeks together and claim they are soul mates. Whatever. I find it sad that the woman could not move on, and while the man does go on with his love life, he never fully loves again because as a late teen he had a wonderful week in Paris with a girl. Dumb. I suppose not being able to be with someone you care about makes you think you are in love with them since you could not carry out the relationship to discover what would have been.
February 28, 2016
I'm not normally one for contemporary fiction but this novel, spanning a period from the mid-60s to the 2020's, was gripping. I couldn't put it down and soon became engrossed in its intricacies. The change in tone from 3rd to first person 3/4 of the way through took a little getting used to but rounded off the book perfectly. Definitely worth reading
March 2, 2016
Couldn't finish it. It became so trite, so focused on the male character's trivial BS, I just couldn't care about it enough to waste time on it.
July 3, 2016
Talented Fiction Despite a Dependency on Didacticism
First novels can be exciting events. In the innocence of that initial effort, sometimes great things happen between the book covers. In the case of The Rowan Tree, Fuller creates charming, flawed, well-meant characters, characters that stick to your consciousness like postal tape.
He begins with an idealistic, young white college president named Rowan Ellway and a younger black student, Easter Blue. There’s romance afoot between the two, something that must remain hidden. Ellway is one of those intellectual types that must move from discipline to discipline, and he leaves the college presidency, eventually becoming an expert on nuclear arms and disarmament. Meanwhile Easter’s pursuits lead her to Africa.
Years later, the pair reunite, and there are children, Marisol and Adam, added to the quickly growing cast of characters. Are they the children of Rowan and Easter, or is the parentage more complex?
At this point, Fuller allows his central characters, Rowan and Easter, to fade into the background as Adam, Marisol, and their paramours take center stage. There are long passages of travel, vaguely rationalized, but quite often beautifully written. There are embryonic careers and marriages that proceed almost without conflict until near book’s end, when the characters’ subterranean complexities are bared. But that’s all right; everyone is very, very mature and these complexities are handled in the most mature manner possible.
At book’s end Fuller adds a long passage, journaled by Adam, who is now president of the U.S., in which he’s promoting a pet idea of Fuller, the dignity project and an urge to overcome something he calls rankism. But don’t worry; Fuller explains these ideas in extreme detail.
What Fuller doesn’t yet understand is that there’s an ethos to writing novels, too, and to use that literary form purely to promote intellectual and political pursuits is a bastardization of the form. However, he shows talent and native ability in fiction writing, and one would hope he learns more about the novel’s form before chancing another 500 page tome.
My rating: 12 of 20 stars
First novels can be exciting events. In the innocence of that initial effort, sometimes great things happen between the book covers. In the case of The Rowan Tree, Fuller creates charming, flawed, well-meant characters, characters that stick to your consciousness like postal tape.
He begins with an idealistic, young white college president named Rowan Ellway and a younger black student, Easter Blue. There’s romance afoot between the two, something that must remain hidden. Ellway is one of those intellectual types that must move from discipline to discipline, and he leaves the college presidency, eventually becoming an expert on nuclear arms and disarmament. Meanwhile Easter’s pursuits lead her to Africa.
Years later, the pair reunite, and there are children, Marisol and Adam, added to the quickly growing cast of characters. Are they the children of Rowan and Easter, or is the parentage more complex?
At this point, Fuller allows his central characters, Rowan and Easter, to fade into the background as Adam, Marisol, and their paramours take center stage. There are long passages of travel, vaguely rationalized, but quite often beautifully written. There are embryonic careers and marriages that proceed almost without conflict until near book’s end, when the characters’ subterranean complexities are bared. But that’s all right; everyone is very, very mature and these complexities are handled in the most mature manner possible.
At book’s end Fuller adds a long passage, journaled by Adam, who is now president of the U.S., in which he’s promoting a pet idea of Fuller, the dignity project and an urge to overcome something he calls rankism. But don’t worry; Fuller explains these ideas in extreme detail.
What Fuller doesn’t yet understand is that there’s an ethos to writing novels, too, and to use that literary form purely to promote intellectual and political pursuits is a bastardization of the form. However, he shows talent and native ability in fiction writing, and one would hope he learns more about the novel’s form before chancing another 500 page tome.
My rating: 12 of 20 stars
April 16, 2018
It is hard to decide where to start in reviewing this book. The only positive thing that can be said about this book is that it is written in correctly formatted English, and even that is unnecessarily "SAT-word" heavy. This book is a self-insert, mental jerk off fantasy filled with nothing but Mary Sues (or they would be, if the author was a woman writing about women). Nothing bad happens to any character, and a few of them literally walk through war zones. Every character flits through the most impossibly privileged life, ending with (spoiler, if you decide to torture yourself with this book) one of them becoming president of the USA. The rest of the characters' career trajectories are too absurd to even list.
Split into three parts, with each one more painful to read than the last, this book acts as an incredibly long treatise on the author's bizarre, but self-serving, world views. Part one is a lecture on why people in power should be allowed to sleep with their subordinates, comparing those who tried to fight for harsher punishments for professors who slept with their students with those opposed to racism. Part two's main topic is in defense of incest, while the characters walk through a fantasy world of privilege and ever bigger rewards granted to their minimal efforts, and a little cultural appropriation. Part three brings all of this together into a political rant promoting a naive and self-serving global policy created by the most nepotism-ridden administration (and I am including the Trump administration which the author could not have predicted at the time of publication). Much of this reads even more painfully given the current political situation (the author mentions a completely post-race world in 2024, which should give the merest glimpse into the naivete of this book).
Ultimately, I kept reading this book at first to see if the characters ever faced any consequences for their actions (they don't) and then to be able to write this review fully informed. I can now confirm, I can't think of a time I read a book that made me want to shout and chuck it off a cliff more than this trash. Spare yourself.
Split into three parts, with each one more painful to read than the last, this book acts as an incredibly long treatise on the author's bizarre, but self-serving, world views. Part one is a lecture on why people in power should be allowed to sleep with their subordinates, comparing those who tried to fight for harsher punishments for professors who slept with their students with those opposed to racism. Part two's main topic is in defense of incest, while the characters walk through a fantasy world of privilege and ever bigger rewards granted to their minimal efforts, and a little cultural appropriation. Part three brings all of this together into a political rant promoting a naive and self-serving global policy created by the most nepotism-ridden administration (and I am including the Trump administration which the author could not have predicted at the time of publication). Much of this reads even more painfully given the current political situation (the author mentions a completely post-race world in 2024, which should give the merest glimpse into the naivete of this book).
Ultimately, I kept reading this book at first to see if the characters ever faced any consequences for their actions (they don't) and then to be able to write this review fully informed. I can now confirm, I can't think of a time I read a book that made me want to shout and chuck it off a cliff more than this trash. Spare yourself.
February 19, 2016
I completely enjoyed the beginning of the book. I liked the characters and the plot. But it all dissolved into philosophical musing very suddenly and only came back to the story in the very end. The philosophy itself was wrapped in political strategies, and I found myself forcing my way through it. It had the feel of a John Galt rant with a different message. And I am cynical enough to believe that the people who were trying to make the changes are simply out of touch with the life of the people who most needed the changes. I would have to write a book to explain that. So I will leave it as my own philosophical musing.
April 11, 2016
Im sorry. For me this is a dnf. It has way too much detail over minutae in it and usually this would possibly not be an issue for me but here it was. I simply could not read more about college politics and the tedium of everyday life. Maybe so,eday when my head is back in the game but not now.
September 5, 2018
If I could give it a negative rating I would.
January 28, 2023
A compelling family drama that takes place over twenty years with many hardships.
What I didn't like about the book was the long drawn out stretches of academia politics and I skipped several pages to get to the story.
It is evident that the author has inside knowledge about college life, how it works and the problems they face. But for me not interested in the politics side was more intrigued about the life of this family. This made the story a very slow read and I believe only people interested in college politics will appreciate it even more.
It is very well written, with believable characters to make it a great storyline.
What has drawn me to the book was the book cover and name. Throughout the story, it became clear why the author had chosen the name, which was a sweet reminder of how closely connected everything is.
Adam's memoir served at the end as a synopsis of the book. Giving you the shorten version I found intriguing. Taking place between America, Paris, Russia and Africa, this is an extremely intensive book with clear insight about the political views of each character and how this changed their lives. It influenced their decisions and changed their course in ways they didn't foresee.
What I didn't like about the book was the long drawn out stretches of academia politics and I skipped several pages to get to the story.
It is evident that the author has inside knowledge about college life, how it works and the problems they face. But for me not interested in the politics side was more intrigued about the life of this family. This made the story a very slow read and I believe only people interested in college politics will appreciate it even more.
It is very well written, with believable characters to make it a great storyline.
What has drawn me to the book was the book cover and name. Throughout the story, it became clear why the author had chosen the name, which was a sweet reminder of how closely connected everything is.
Adam's memoir served at the end as a synopsis of the book. Giving you the shorten version I found intriguing. Taking place between America, Paris, Russia and Africa, this is an extremely intensive book with clear insight about the political views of each character and how this changed their lives. It influenced their decisions and changed their course in ways they didn't foresee.
April 5, 2024
This book was LONG. I don’t even remember how I came across it. It was on my kindle, so when I needed a new book I just chose it randomly without reading the description. I will say that it is well written, though disturbing with the adultery and sneaking around, brother-sister relationship… and I will mention that it’s basically a beacon of liberal politics. Once I’m invested in a book, I have to finish it… but I could have easily put this one down without wanting to pick it back up. Especially the last 85% or so…. So boring! If you don’t believe in God, are ok with adultery, incest and love radical liberalism- this book is for you! If not, pass this one by.
April 3, 2019
I thought I was going to like this book. There was a point when it should have ended. Unfortunately, it didn't. The more it continued, the more ridiculous the tale became. In the end, it devolved into a political treatise with no real story.
April 13, 2022
I hate giving books bad reviews but honestly this one was pretty terrible. The writing was fine so I got through it but the story was so predictable and boring. Then right at the end it basically becomes a political philosophy book out of nowhere. Very very odd and unsuccessful.
April 20, 2017
What utter bullshit! I was captivated by the fascinating blurb for the book but, in reality, it's basically the soft core fantasy of a physics professor-dean-college president who is supposedly a good guy because he gives his wife foot rubs and his student/lover back rubs. Oddly enough, when the college president has clearly decided he's going to enter this inappropriate relationship, all of a sudden his wife become shrill and career driven and the student becomes strong and womanly. In addition, both the dialogue and emotions are incredibly simplistic; it is painfully obvious that this is Fuller's first attempt at fiction. After reading a description of the author (a former physics professor-dean-college president turned social philosopher who is best known for his work on "rankism") I forced myself to give the book another chance but the sheer hypocrisy of his relationships in which he is always of a higher rank than the women he sleeps with finally just wore me down. In addition, as a woman in a mixed race marriage, I found his description of his student/lover and their "trials and tribulations" in 1970 America also overly simplistic and deeply offensive. I spent $1.99 to purchase this book and it was two dollars too much.
June 24, 2017
Political Treatise Disguised as a Novel
The Rowan Tree is a poorly written novel, with the author's intent of educating the reader lightly veiled in the format of a novel. The storyline could have worked, been exciting, and introduced readers to the author's ideas on dignity and rankism. Unfortunately, the novel plodded along like a dry biography, with the novel's characters and events existing only to give the author a platform for his political philosophy and dream to see it realized. Fuller did manage to pull off a few good passages and descriptive lines, but overall the novel is dry and the one character 's (unnamed to avoid revealing any of the plot) memoir at the end of the book was just plain boring. The only reason I read the book to the end was to see where the author intended to take his rambling story, how he would end it. The author can, at least, take comfort in the fact that I do now understand at least the outline of his political philosophy and hopes for a more just world. I even am getting two of his non-fiction books on the subject from the library, though after reading this novel, I expect them to be rather dry textbook reads.
The Rowan Tree is a poorly written novel, with the author's intent of educating the reader lightly veiled in the format of a novel. The storyline could have worked, been exciting, and introduced readers to the author's ideas on dignity and rankism. Unfortunately, the novel plodded along like a dry biography, with the novel's characters and events existing only to give the author a platform for his political philosophy and dream to see it realized. Fuller did manage to pull off a few good passages and descriptive lines, but overall the novel is dry and the one character 's (unnamed to avoid revealing any of the plot) memoir at the end of the book was just plain boring. The only reason I read the book to the end was to see where the author intended to take his rambling story, how he would end it. The author can, at least, take comfort in the fact that I do now understand at least the outline of his political philosophy and hopes for a more just world. I even am getting two of his non-fiction books on the subject from the library, though after reading this novel, I expect them to be rather dry textbook reads.
December 30, 2017
I should have been warned when I kept glancing at the “how many pages read” versus the “how many pages to go” numbers within Kindle. I felt that, at about 150 pages in, there was a lot to this novel. Seeing that there was over 300 pages left was daunting because I couldn’t tell where in hell this book was going.
The story itself was ambitious. The characters, empty, stilted, void of latching on to my sympathy for them ... the dialogue.... very robotic. Too many characters and not one really well developed.
I found Marisol to be simpering and pathetic. Maybe it’s just the incest that I didn’t like. Maybe my worldview of such things are biased. Adam did not have any real dimension aside from being Rowan 2.0. The passionate and alluring character of Easter became muted in the whole “maleness” of her husband’s and son. Which is ironic as there were glimpses of women equality. Dignity for all .... suuuure.
Anyway, I labored through it just because I can’t ever not finish a book but that doesn’t mean you have to do the same. Walk away after Rowan and Easter’s story is done.
The story itself was ambitious. The characters, empty, stilted, void of latching on to my sympathy for them ... the dialogue.... very robotic. Too many characters and not one really well developed.
I found Marisol to be simpering and pathetic. Maybe it’s just the incest that I didn’t like. Maybe my worldview of such things are biased. Adam did not have any real dimension aside from being Rowan 2.0. The passionate and alluring character of Easter became muted in the whole “maleness” of her husband’s and son. Which is ironic as there were glimpses of women equality. Dignity for all .... suuuure.
Anyway, I labored through it just because I can’t ever not finish a book but that doesn’t mean you have to do the same. Walk away after Rowan and Easter’s story is done.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 10, 2019
SPOILER ALERT: The characters of this book see themselves as the saviors of others but one of the first thing the book's namesake does is have sex with a black student in his office. He's a married, white, new president of a university who wants to enable more black students to be accepted into the university by lowering the standards. He continues to have an affair and his wife finds out and they separate, but he sleeps with his wife one more time and she becomes pregnant, and he congratulates himself on that, because she'd always wanted children and she's already 35. His filthy rich son has a heart for helping also, so he travels around the world taking photographs of starving people. Oh wait, he does give them a piece of bread - out of his pocket - to get them to let him take their pictures. The characters are very pleased with themselves. It's a sad, sad story. I've stopped reading it twice, and haven't come to the end yet. I will not finish it, they're just too sad and disgusting. I was hoping for their redemption but I'm already into the memories part of the book.
February 21, 2016
Free kindle book, interesting enough read, if over long. Very strange storyline in the middle and resolution! The Dignity Project which did have some interesting ideas although I am not sure it fitted in the context of the rest of the book. My main issue were the female characters as I don't think they were served well. Marisol is particularly frustrating, she is so weak, although she has a successful career it is almost destroyed and she needs a man to step in to look after her. She also just waits around endlessly. The other female characters are career obsessed, unsupportive, weak, inspid, manipulative, cold, detached, greedy, liers and/or unfaithful. The story focuses on the strong male characters which is fine, but it would have been nice to have one female character who was more than just a secondary character who was strong too. I don't count Easter as a lot of her behaviour was unethical.
October 13, 2017
The author is obviously a very learned and academically qualified man with admirable goals in life. What he is not is an author of fiction. This book reads like a child's essay on 'What I did on my holidays'.....'we did this and then we did that and then...' etc. There was no character development, I could find nothing to like or loathe in any of them, whilst the language lacked beauty or excitement.
I felt the author was cramming in everything in, either to impress or educate his readers, with little skill or understanding of what makes good literature.
I gave up when I reached chapter three, having spent over three weeks trying to get involved/interested in the story, without any success.
I felt the author was cramming in everything in, either to impress or educate his readers, with little skill or understanding of what makes good literature.
I gave up when I reached chapter three, having spent over three weeks trying to get involved/interested in the story, without any success.
April 29, 2016
I can't decide if I liked this book. It's so smartly written and yet it's so bizarre. It starts out in the 1970sand even though it ends in the future year 2029, it never loses its 70s feel.
Plus, about 2/3s of the way through, I start to feel like this is a novel written to introduce me to the author's 'dignitarean' concept. It almost felt at times like sitting through commercials.... Luckily the story wrapped up neatly.
I would suggest Googling the author before reading, to see if you think you'll have trouble getting through the ideology spliced in the book.
Plus, about 2/3s of the way through, I start to feel like this is a novel written to introduce me to the author's 'dignitarean' concept. It almost felt at times like sitting through commercials.... Luckily the story wrapped up neatly.
I would suggest Googling the author before reading, to see if you think you'll have trouble getting through the ideology spliced in the book.
January 16, 2018
LONG.....should have been edited down to 350 pages. Stories were not congruent. The last chapter should have been the first. Perhaps it should have been three books instead of one. Just didn't work for me.
January 1, 2014
Enjoyed this tale. Robert Fuller illustrates his views on rankism and egalitariasnism through this delightful novel, that spans many years.
November 12, 2016
I enjoyed everything up until Adams so-called memoir. I don't know where that came from or why it was included but I ended up skipping most of it while thinking "I don't care"
December 2, 2018
The Rowan Tree describes how Rowan and his actions moulded the whole world to the next generation, in this story. It discusses love, taboos, politics, dignity, and a bit about different cultures. In the first part of the book, it's about a taboo love in the history, in the second part about learning from the world and the third part is a bit boring recollection of political movements.
I have conflicting thoughts on the book. The beginning was interesting and I liked the direction where it was going with the story but by the time it reaches its last part I was bored and felt the political discussion pointless. Politically it has so much to offer and I've written down multiple sentences that everybody should read and think about. It critics the way we pick on the weak, how politics is dealt with currently, white or power privilege and the way the majority of the western countries vote today. The comment "We who enjoy privileged lives, are the beneficiaries of crimes airbrushed from history" resonated with me and is a sentence that as a culture we should take a better look at. In the last part, it provided an alternative way to run politics, which had some great pointers like the vote. It criticised how the current system doesn't give any weight to the underaged who cannot vote, but who still represent a high percentage of the population and how the decisions of the rest of the population directly affects the underaged.
Although I did like many things he discussed in his book, he also talked about the future of the world with dignity to all people, but only mentions climate change in passing providing a very superficial resolve to it, as though it is not a problem that requires deeper thought. His recognition to refugees was that the big problem is mainly terrorism and that countries don't work together to achieve common goals. The story was quite naive at how easily it would be to have cross-national agreements and co-operation. The USA is portrayed as the nation that can almost "rule" the rest of the nations, by commanding what they do, which does not seem believable.
It was a bit conflicting and naive about terrorism. In one part it says "The goal was not to kill terrorists but to put terrorism out of business" which I thought was an excellent comment, however, by the end of the book they killed the terrorists rather than gave them a chance to do or be better. It also completely missed the point of how the nations themselves inadvertently fund and support terrorism, but rather sees them as individuals who just want to do bad.
In addition, he barely gives women any power in the book, even in the future, and all the females in the book are in supporting roles to the powerful men.
The one point I was happy about is that the men recognised when to fight and when to leave the fight.
I have conflicting thoughts on the book. The beginning was interesting and I liked the direction where it was going with the story but by the time it reaches its last part I was bored and felt the political discussion pointless. Politically it has so much to offer and I've written down multiple sentences that everybody should read and think about. It critics the way we pick on the weak, how politics is dealt with currently, white or power privilege and the way the majority of the western countries vote today. The comment "We who enjoy privileged lives, are the beneficiaries of crimes airbrushed from history" resonated with me and is a sentence that as a culture we should take a better look at. In the last part, it provided an alternative way to run politics, which had some great pointers like the vote. It criticised how the current system doesn't give any weight to the underaged who cannot vote, but who still represent a high percentage of the population and how the decisions of the rest of the population directly affects the underaged.
Although I did like many things he discussed in his book, he also talked about the future of the world with dignity to all people, but only mentions climate change in passing providing a very superficial resolve to it, as though it is not a problem that requires deeper thought. His recognition to refugees was that the big problem is mainly terrorism and that countries don't work together to achieve common goals. The story was quite naive at how easily it would be to have cross-national agreements and co-operation. The USA is portrayed as the nation that can almost "rule" the rest of the nations, by commanding what they do, which does not seem believable.
It was a bit conflicting and naive about terrorism. In one part it says "The goal was not to kill terrorists but to put terrorism out of business" which I thought was an excellent comment, however, by the end of the book they killed the terrorists rather than gave them a chance to do or be better. It also completely missed the point of how the nations themselves inadvertently fund and support terrorism, but rather sees them as individuals who just want to do bad.
In addition, he barely gives women any power in the book, even in the future, and all the females in the book are in supporting roles to the powerful men.
The one point I was happy about is that the men recognised when to fight and when to leave the fight.
March 17, 2022
Intriguing and soulful-until way too many pages of weird, unrealistic political visions took over
The offer, the complications of trying to live one’s dreams present when married, the acceptance, the job and all the burdens -and successes- that came with it, and after…so descriptive and real. I hated him. didn’t love his wife, but I felt badly for her-while admiring her strength (I feel she should have had a larger role, somehow, as, eventually, an important mother). Easter was brilliant, young, free…but just as much to blame and not very likable, either-but, she earned my respect later, for what her character developed into (emotionally, not physically).
How all of the characters finally come together was quite skillfully written, and their personalities stay consistent-except for Adam’s. His evolution due to his travels, and the description of his travels (emotional and physical)was stunning. His “when we meet up” relationship seems like too obvious a push at times, as in ‘the character needs this outlook or experience, so let’s add someone to make it actually happen instead of him just suddenly getting it,’ but she was so admirable, I went with it all.
The bad news is-really? Even though “true love” might not work out, who would give up on absolutely any other options for happiness? Who would not realize the implications, and be rational? I enjoy a deep-dive into what-ifs and alternative options to what is accepted, but this whole thing, lasting 30 years, just never felt smooth.
The worst was borderline ruining the novel with not only a very, VERY obvious, very convenient (so the “alternative” can happen) indiscretion, but oh, the politics.
I appreciate wild theories and beautiful possibilities. This section, which took up way too much if the novel, was beyond unrealistic. World leaders nodding at ridiculous ideas of unity and whatever else, even if it means their country loses power/face/money…all in for updating NATO & UN, but this hot air was confusing, and actually quite insipid. It just made the book fall completely flat for me. The wrap-up was expected, dull, and too easy. No saving the last third or so of this book, but if you can bear to blow through all of that (it really has zero bearing on anything, so-), it’s worth a read.
The offer, the complications of trying to live one’s dreams present when married, the acceptance, the job and all the burdens -and successes- that came with it, and after…so descriptive and real. I hated him. didn’t love his wife, but I felt badly for her-while admiring her strength (I feel she should have had a larger role, somehow, as, eventually, an important mother). Easter was brilliant, young, free…but just as much to blame and not very likable, either-but, she earned my respect later, for what her character developed into (emotionally, not physically).
How all of the characters finally come together was quite skillfully written, and their personalities stay consistent-except for Adam’s. His evolution due to his travels, and the description of his travels (emotional and physical)was stunning. His “when we meet up” relationship seems like too obvious a push at times, as in ‘the character needs this outlook or experience, so let’s add someone to make it actually happen instead of him just suddenly getting it,’ but she was so admirable, I went with it all.
The bad news is-really? Even though “true love” might not work out, who would give up on absolutely any other options for happiness? Who would not realize the implications, and be rational? I enjoy a deep-dive into what-ifs and alternative options to what is accepted, but this whole thing, lasting 30 years, just never felt smooth.
The worst was borderline ruining the novel with not only a very, VERY obvious, very convenient (so the “alternative” can happen) indiscretion, but oh, the politics.
I appreciate wild theories and beautiful possibilities. This section, which took up way too much if the novel, was beyond unrealistic. World leaders nodding at ridiculous ideas of unity and whatever else, even if it means their country loses power/face/money…all in for updating NATO & UN, but this hot air was confusing, and actually quite insipid. It just made the book fall completely flat for me. The wrap-up was expected, dull, and too easy. No saving the last third or so of this book, but if you can bear to blow through all of that (it really has zero bearing on anything, so-), it’s worth a read.
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