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ACHILLES IN VIETNAM

Name: ACHILLES IN VIETNAM
Author: Jonathan Shay
ISBN: 0-689-12182-2

COMBAT TRAUMA AND THE UNDOING OF CHARACTER

by Jonathan Shay ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 2, 1994

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In a brilliantly creative extended analogy, psychiatrist Shay (Tufts Medical School) persuasively argues that the experiences and behavior of traumatized Vietnam veterans echo those of Achilles in Homer's Iliad. Shay's ``principal concern is to put before the public an understanding of the specific nature of catastrophic war experiences'' that ``can ruin good character.'' He follows the Iliad closely, showing how Achilles' character, like those of modern veterans, gradually disintegrates under the pressure of organized combat: Arbitrary command decisions (e.g., the seizure by Agamemnon of a war prize voted Achilles by his fellow warriors or the capricious assignment of a GI by a superior to hazardous duty) betray the soldier's sense of fairness and fuel his incipient rage. In combat, the soldier's social and moral horizon then shrinks to a small group of trusted companions, like the Vietnam soldier's ``buddy'' or Achilles' beloved friend Patroklos. Under the stress of combat, the soldier's rage, grief, and sense of abandonment and disconnection culminate in a ``berserk'' state in which he commits successive atrocities. Using first-person accounts of Vietnam veterans, Shay compares each aspect of Achilles' moral deterioration with the veterans' strikingly similar experiences. The author expresses cautious hope that survivors of severe trauma can recover to some degree (although many veterans' lives seem permanently blighted by their Vietnam experiences). He makes some recommendations for ameliorating the worst effects of severe combat trauma; among these are the preservation of unit cohesion throughout the combat experience (rather than, as in Vietnam, rotating individuals into and out of units while engaged in combat) and reform of motivational techniques used by officers in combat. A heart-rending look at the permanent ruin war can wreak in any age.

Pub Date: May 2, 1994

ISBN: 0-689-12182-2

Page Count: 236

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1994

Categories:

PSYCHOLOGY

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THE CULTURE MAP

BREAKING THROUGH THE INVISIBLE BOUNDARIES OF GLOBAL BUSINESS

by Erin Meyer ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 27, 2014

These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.

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A helpful guide to working effectively with people from other cultures.

“The sad truth is that the vast majority of managers who conduct business internationally have little understanding about how culture is impacting their work,” writes Meyer, a professor at INSEAD, an international business school. Yet they face a wider array of work styles than ever before in dealing with clients, suppliers and colleagues from around the world. When is it best to speak or stay quiet? What is the role of the leader in the room? When working with foreign business people, failing to take cultural differences into account can lead to frustration, misunderstanding or worse. Based on research and her experiences teaching cross-cultural behaviors to executive students, the author examines a handful of key areas. Among others, they include communicating (Anglo-Saxons are explicit; Asians communicate implicitly, requiring listeners to read between the lines), developing a sense of trust (Brazilians do it over long lunches), and decision-making (Germans rely on consensus, Americans on one decider). In each area, the author provides a “culture map scale” that positions behaviors in more than 20 countries along a continuum, allowing readers to anticipate the preferences of individuals from a particular country: Do they like direct or indirect negative feedback? Are they rigid or flexible regarding deadlines? Do they favor verbal or written commitments? And so on. Meyer discusses managers who have faced perplexing situations, such as knowledgeable team members who fail to speak up in meetings or Indians who offer a puzzling half-shake, half-nod of the head. Cultural differences—not personality quirks—are the motivating factors behind many behavioral styles. Depending on our cultures, we understand the world in a particular way, find certain arguments persuasive or lacking merit, and consider some ways of making decisions or measuring time natural and others quite strange.

These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.

Pub Date: May 27, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-61039-250-1

Page Count: 288

Publisher: PublicAffairs

Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014

Categories:

BUSINESS | PSYCHOLOGY

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THE 48 LAWS OF POWER

by Robert Greene ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1998

If the authors are serious, this is a silly, distasteful book. If they are not, it’s a brilliant satire.

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The authors have created a sort of anti-Book of Virtues in this encyclopedic compendium of the ways and means of power.

Everyone wants power and everyone is in a constant duplicitous game to gain more power at the expense of others, according to Greene, a screenwriter and former editor at Esquire (Elffers, a book packager, designed the volume, with its attractive marginalia). We live today as courtiers once did in royal courts: we must appear civil while attempting to crush all those around us. This power game can be played well or poorly, and in these 48 laws culled from the history and wisdom of the world’s greatest power players are the rules that must be followed to win. These laws boil down to being as ruthless, selfish, manipulative, and deceitful as possible. Each law, however, gets its own chapter: “Conceal Your Intentions,” “Always Say Less Than Necessary,” “Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy,” and so on. Each chapter is conveniently broken down into sections on what happened to those who transgressed or observed the particular law, the key elements in this law, and ways to defensively reverse this law when it’s used against you. Quotations in the margins amplify the lesson being taught. While compelling in the way an auto accident might be, the book is simply nonsense. Rules often contradict each other. We are told, for instance, to “be conspicuous at all cost,” then told to “behave like others.” More seriously, Greene never really defines “power,” and he merely asserts, rather than offers evidence for, the Hobbesian world of all against all in which he insists we live. The world may be like this at times, but often it isn’t. To ask why this is so would be a far more useful project.

If the authors are serious, this is a silly, distasteful book. If they are not, it’s a brilliant satire.