Although I enjoyed this novel, it was not up to the standard of some of his other works (When Nietzsche Wept, etc.).  Addressing the philosophy of Schopenhauer, who is often called the “pessimistic German” in the form of a novel is difficult, for unlike other philosophers, it would be difficult to apply Schopenhauer’s view of life and do anything other than commit suicide (in my view).  Schopenhauer’s outlook on life reflected his life experience; brilliant, yet rude, self-centered, dogmatic and ill at ease in society and rejected by the two “loves” of his life, he lived a life alone, unloved and unloving.  Any attempt by anyone to reach out to him was viewed with the utmost suspicion and mistrust, even to the point of rejecting the advice of his publicist who suggested his changing the overly long and non-descript title of his works.  It was not until late in his life that he was “discovered” and when that happened, financial security was his for the first time in his life.  As often happens, that security did impact his life and he became moderately more sociable, etc.  He strongly influenced European intellectual thought, unfortunately not for the best.

Most readers know Ernst Junger (1895-1998) through Storm of Steel, his memoir of his service in the trenches during World War I. Yet Junger was a prolific writer and many of his works were serious philosophical works centered on the individual and his relationship to the State and society. Wooed by the Nazi’s who saw him for propaganda purposes as a great warrior who would inspire German youth, he resisted their efforts but remained in Germany serving in the Wehrmacht during the occupation of France. In this article, Russell Berman uses Junger’s 1939 novel On the Marble Cliffs as a foil for our time. The book was widely popular even in German at the time as some thought that it made light of the Nazi’s and especially Reich Marshall Goring; others thought that Stalin was the intended target. In today’s highly political atmosphere, where everything from science to math, language to art, race to culture is being politicalized, can we learn from the past, or will we close our eyes hoping for the best, or worse yet, believe that we are much more intelligent than those who went before us and believe that we can not make the same errors. Can we defeat the forces of chaos by using Junger’s tactic of logical thinking and clarity of mind? A long read but timely and helpful.

https://www.firstthings.com/article/2020/11/standing-against-tyranny

Mr. Bradley has written a number of excellent histories, including Flyboys and Flags of our Fathers.  This volume covers the interesting history between the United States and China, from the time of the Yankee Clippers through the “opening of China” by President Nixon.  In this book he unveils many interesting facts such as:

• That much of the money of the Eastern Establishment was made selling opium to the Chinese.  In fact, the fortune that propelled Franklin Delano Roosevelt to the White House was based on the illegal trade of opium.
• The fabled “China Lobby” which helped to guide our Asia policy was based on an idealized vision of the average Chinese peasant wanting to be an American, believing in democracy and wanting to have a nice house with a beautiful lawn, etc.
• That due to the “China Lobby”, the U.S. spent billions to prop up the corrupt regime of Chiang Kai-shek and that he and his circle were responsible for the theft of hundreds of millions of dollars while not contributing to the war against Japan
• Finally, that U.S. Presidents, from Teddy Roosevelt to FDR to Truman were fooled by the Chinese, the “China Lobby” and their own ignorance of the world into believing that they could remake China into a western democracy.