>>REVIEW
RISING UP AND RISING DOWN: SOME THOUGHTS ON VIOLENCE, FREEDOM AND URGENT MEANS
William T. Vollmann
Ecco Press, 752 pp.
A noted journalist and traveller to wartorn countries, William T. Vollmann garnered much critical acclaim with his last novel, The Atlas. Released in 1997, it comprised a series of haunting vignettes from Vollmann’s experiences in places such as Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia and the crack dens of New York. Unable to dismiss these scenes of violence, horror and repression, he has spent the last several years reflecting on the nature of violence and its legitimate uses.
Rising Up and Rising Down: Some Thoughts on Violence, Freedom and Urgent Means was originally comprised of seven volumes, and Vollmann admits that he consented to this slimmed-down 750-page version because, in his words, he needed the money. However, he also points out that people are now more likely to read it, despite any logical inconsistencies that have arisen from the drastic reduction in size.
The abridged version is divided into three sections: an introduction outlining the purpose and philosophical ethical framework; the body of the work, made up of numerous case studies; and finally, a "moral calculus" created by Vollmann to assist the reader in calculating when violence may be seen as a legitimate response.
With "Three Meditations of Death" and "Rules for Lonely Atoms," we are treated to the author’s oddly dispassionate examination of grisly remains. Critics have noted Vollmann’s cool gothic qualities on display here. Even in his travel writing, death is ever-present and impersonal. We are all lonely atoms vibrating in an amoral and uncaring universe. The case studies then present us with arguments for becoming caring and moral actors, despite its seemingly overwhelming futility. A careful look at Vollmann’s arguments in favour of violence, nearly all centring on self-defence, reveal the desire for limited, local action. Criticisms of violent leaders come at moments when they attempt to act on a universal or global scale.
The first case studies are used as examples of self-defence, and function more as historical essays, ranging in subject matter from Napoleon and Lenin to the American Civil War and Cortés’s conquest of the Aztecs. Vollmann meanders through these case studies, displaying a stunning breadth of historical awareness, and drawing parallels and distinctions between his topics.
In the second half, the travelogues, or case studies – some of which are reprinted from The Atlas and from magazines such as Gear – are given a slightly different slant. Previously, the reader experienced Vollmann’s disconnectedness as an outsider, but now, with the ethical framework of Rising Up and Rising Down in place, the atmosphere becomes clinical and searching. These real-world examples are included to tempt the reader to apply Vollmann’s moral calculus on their own once situations have become complicated and criteria overlap.
Even in its abridged form, Rising Up and Rising Down is a phenomenal work and deserves to be read by all who dream of social change. Unfortunately, even in shortened form this is still an expensive book that mostly middle-aged armchair philosophers will read. This is not Mao’s Little Red Book, however – it is the literary equivalent of The Clash’s Sandinista!, and a kind of Das Kapital for the soul. |
Copyright ©2005 FFWD. All rights reserved.