You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times
by Howard Zinn
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Book Summary Information
Author: Howard ZinnEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-09-05
ISBN: 0807071277
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Beacon Press
Book Reviews of You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times
Book Review: "Being hopeful in bad times..." *
Summary: 5 Stars
A viewing of the film "You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train" sent me back to Zinn's memoir of the same title, which I first read back in the mid-90s. Elegantly written, insightful, and both inspiring and just plain fun to read, Zinn's autobiographical essays (for the book is really more that than a traditional chronological memoir) are a joy to read.
The book is divided into three sections: Zinn's work in the Civil Rights movement during his years at Atlanta's Spelman College--a job he eventually lost, despite tenure, because he was just too "radical" for the then-president; his peace-making work during the Vietnam years, including the historic journey with Dan Berrigan to North Vietnam; and a miscellaneous collection of essays ranging from his jail experiences to his long battle with Boston University president Joe Silber. Also in this section is a touching memoir of Zinn's blue-collar childhood.
I found the first section the most moving, as well as the most revealing. The legal discrimination that Zinn chronicles is almost unbelievable today. Just one example: Dr. Otis Smith (who only recently died, by the way) was sentenced to 8 months hard labor because he dared to tell a white woman not to interrupt a phone conversation he was having with a patient. Incredible!
Zinn's personal recollections are fascinating. What makes his book valuable is that it's really, as its subtitle says, a personal history of one of the most turbulent and important periods in American history--a time in which, as Zinn often says, the voices frequently ignored by mainstream historians insisted on being heard.
* "To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness." (p. 208)
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