In 1959 a young monk named Tsung Tsai (Ancestor Wisdom) escapes the Red Army troops that destroy his monastery; and flees alone three thousand miles across a China swept by chaos and famine. Knowing his fellow monks are dead; himself starving and hunted; he is sustained by his mission: to carry on the teachings of his Buddhist meditation master; who was too old to leave with his disciple.Nearly forty years later Tsung Tsai — now an old master himself — persuades his American neighbor; maverick poet George Crane; to travel with him back to his birthplace at the edge of the Gobi Desert. They are unlikely companions. Crane seeks freedom; adventure; sensation. Tsung Tsai is determined to find his master's grave and plant the seeds of a spiritual renewal in China. As their search culminates in a torturous climb to a remote mountain cave; it becomes clear that this seemingly quixotic quest may cost both men's lives.
#690816 in Books Murphy; Cullen 2008-05-05 2008-05-05Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.25 x .74 x 5.50l; .59 #File Name: 0547052103272 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A well-researched meditation on the similarities differences. Eschews easy answers.By Sagar JethaniMurphy brings his considerable knowledge of classical history and contemporary American politics to bear in this riveting account about the future of America. The final answer to the book's title question is both no and yes. No; because the differences that separate Rome and America are far from trivial; and no serious attempt to answer the question can blithely dismiss them as inconsequential. Yes; because; like its Roman forebears; America is letting its sense of superiority to blind it to the centrifugal forces tearing at the seams of its global empire."Are We Rome?" was published in 2007; and Murphy draws heavily from the US debacle in Iraq to make the case for American imperial overstretch. One feels he is on familiar ground here; and he quotes authoritatively from US military documents; diplomatic memoirs; and official dispatches. I wish Murphy would have recounted some of the central episodes which attended America's 19th century slide from republic into empire-- the Spanish-American War and the colonization of the Philippine Islands; Guam; Puerto Rico and Hawaii; the Monroe Doctrine and its replacement by the Truman Doctrine; and-- especially --how the belief in Manifest Destiny drove a sense of inevitability about American empire from the very origins of the Republic.One wonders what Murphy would have interpreted Trump. American Caligula? One can't help feeling that if "Are We Rome?" had been published in 2017; Murphy would have answered this question in the affirmative.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. I would strongly recommend it.By B. O. ReillyThis short book makes some very telling comparisons between the United States and the Western Roman Empire in its final days. AS the book notes; the Roman Empire has been used as a mirror in which Americans have seen themselves since the United States gained independence. The book was written during the presidency of George W Bush but it is probably even more topical under the Trump presidency. Perhaps it is time for an updated edition to take into account the truly bizarre developments which have taken place since Trump assumed to presidency. Who could avoid noticing the similarities with some of the more colourful Emperors? In any case; it is a very instructive introduction to a number of key issues relating to the question of how to sustain a proper system of civil governance over a prolonged period. I would strongly recommend it.6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. well-researched; even-handed; and enlighteningBy Robert ReidThis exhaustively researched and even-handed exploration of the question "Are We Rome" puts to shame all the under-researched and over-conclusive bar stool variations I've ever heard on the topic. A systems thinker with a natural grasp of extreme complexity; Murphy draws from over 200 references; but cautions against any notion that we can ever really learn from history. Without being prescriptive; he warns of the dangers of privatization; and notes that when the line between public and private responsibility becomes blurred (as it was in Rome and is in America); central government "becomes impossible to steer." He downplays the traditional culprits of America's "decline" (decadence; military might; barbarians); and notes that we are mistaken in believing that a superpower influences everything on earth. Rather; it is everything on earth which influences a superpower. Large systems (such as our over-extended and over-privatized nation) are inherently unstable.That said; his vision of America's future is not a grim one- he cites America's system of checks and balances and free elections as evidence that we are more adaptable than Rome; and notes that even when the Roman empire declined; the life of ordinary citizens was relatively unchanged. His prescription for positive change is brief and saved for the very end- essentially; he makes an argument that we need to assimilate with the wider world; and to reclaim our civic engagement in our government.At the end of this work; it's impossible to really agree or disagree with such a nuanced and indistinct premise. But you will surely feel enlightened.
