A Rift in the Earth
Art, Memory, and the Fight for a Vietnam War Memorial
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Narrated by:
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Jeff Cummings
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By:
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James Reston Jr.
About this listen
A Distinguished and Bestselling Historian and Vietnam Vet Revisits the Culture War that Raged around the Selection of Maya Lin's Design for the Vietnam Memorial
A Rift in the Earth tells the remarkable story of the ferocious "art war" that raged between 1979 and 1984 over what kind of memorial should be built to honor the men and women who died in the Vietnam War. The story intertwines art, politics, historical memory, patriotism, racism, and a fascinating set of characters, from those who fought in the conflict and those who resisted it to politicians at the highest level. At its center are two enduring figures: Maya Lin, a young, Asian-American architecture student at Yale whose abstract design won the international competition but triggered a fierce backlash among powerful figures; and Frederick Hart, an innovative sculptor of humble origins on the cusp of stardom.
James Reston, Jr., a veteran who lost a close friend in the war and has written incisively about the conflict's bitter aftermath, explores how the debate reignited passions around Vietnam long after the war's end and raised questions about how best to honor those who fought and sacrificed in an ill-advised war.
"The memorial appears as a rift in the earth, a long polished black stone wall, emerging from and receding into the earth." - Maya Lin
"I see the wall as a kind of ocean, a sea of sacrifice.... I place these figures upon the shore of that sea." - Frederick Hart
©2017 James Reston, Jr. (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
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The defining experience of Chinua Achebe's life was the Nigerian civil war, also known as the Biafran War, of 1967-1970. The conflict was infamous for its savage impact on the Biafran people, Chinua Achebe's people, many of whom were starved to death after the Nigerian government blockaded their borders. Immediately after, Achebe took refuge in an academic post in the United States, and for more than 40 years he has maintained a considered silence on the events of those terrible years. Now, decades in the making, comes a towering reckoning with one of modern Africa's most fateful events.
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The Audible Edition Is a Disaster
- By Olu on 11-28-12
By: Chinua Achebe
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Three Days in January
- Dwight Eisenhower's Final Mission
- By: Bret Baier, Catherine Whitney
- Narrated by: Bret Baier, Danny Campbell
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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In this debut history from one of America's most influential political journalists, Bret Baier casts the three days between Dwight Eisenhower's prophetic "farewell address" on the evening of January 17, 1961, and his successor John F. Kennedy's inauguration on the afternoon of January 20 as the final mission of one of modern America's greatest leaders.
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Gently In Manner, Strongly In Deed...
- By Gillian on 01-20-17
By: Bret Baier, and others
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The People's Republic of Amnesia
- Tiananmen Revisited
- By: Louisa Lim
- Narrated by: Louisa Lim
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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In The People's Republic of Amnesia, NPR correspondent Louisa Lim charts how the events of June 4 changed China, and how China changed the events of June 4 by rewriting its own history. Lim reveals new details about those fateful days, including how one of the country's most senior politicians lost a family member to an army bullet, as well as the inside story of the young soldiers sent to clear Tiananmen Square.
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great book and recording
- By Robert Peters on 06-14-16
By: Louisa Lim
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Like Dreamers
- The Story of the Israeli Paratroopers Who Reunited Jerusalem and Divided a Nation
- By: Yossi Klein Halevi
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 23 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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In Like Dreamers, acclaimed journalist Yossi Klein Halevi interweaves the stories of a group of 1967 paratroopers who reunited Jerusalem, tracing the history of Israel and the divergent ideologies shaping it from the Six-Day War to the present. Following the lives of seven young members from the 55th Paratroopers Reserve Brigade, the unit responsible for restoring Jewish sovereignty to Jerusalem, Halevi reveals how this band of brothers played pivotal roles in shaping Israel's destiny long after their historic victory.
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A Clearer Understanding of the Israel
- By deborah on 06-07-14
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Lincoln and the Fight for Peace
- By: John Avlon
- Narrated by: John Avlon
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
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As the tide of the Civil War turned in the spring of 1865, Abraham Lincoln took a dangerous two-week trip to visit the troops on the front lines accompanied by his young son, seeing combat up close, meeting liberated slaves in the ruins of Richmond, and comforting wounded Union and Confederate soldiers.
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Gets a little repetitive.
- By John on 03-06-22
By: John Avlon
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The Long Hangover
- Putin’s New Russia and the Ghosts of the Past
- By: Shaun Walker
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Long Hangover, Shaun Walker provides new insight into contemporary Russia and its search for a new identity, telling the story through the country's troubled relationship with its Soviet past. Walker not only explains Vladimir Putin's goals and the government's official manipulations of history, but also focuses on ordinary Russians and their motivations. He charts how Putin raised victory in World War II to the status of a national founding myth in the search for a unifying force to heal a divided country, and shows how dangerous the ramifications of this have been.
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Fascinating and fair book on Putin's Russia
- By MyPublicName on 02-16-18
By: Shaun Walker
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The Glory and the Dream
- A Narrative History of America, 1932 - 1972
- By: William Manchester
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 57 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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This great time capsule of a book captures the abundant popular history of the United States from 1932 to 1972. It encompasses politics, military history, economics, the lively arts, science, fashion, fads, social change, sexual mores, communications, graffiti...everything and anything indigenous that can be captured in print.
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Fabulous book, good narration, bad recording
- By Paula on 07-10-08
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Looking for the Good War
- American Amnesia and the Violent Pursuit of Happiness
- By: Elizabeth D. Samet
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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In Looking for the Good War, Elizabeth D. Samet reexamines the literature, art, and culture that emerged after World War II, bringing her expertise as a professor of English at West Point to bear on the complexity of the postwar period in national life. She exposes the confusion about American identity that was expressed during and immediately after the war, and the deep national ambivalence toward war, violence, and veterans - all of which were suppressed in subsequent decades by a dangerously sentimental attitude toward the United States' "exceptional" history and destiny.
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Essential reading for military officers and political decision makers.
- By Arlene S. Burke on 02-23-22
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Enduring Vietnam
- An American Generation and Its War
- By: James Wright
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 15 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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The Vietnam War is largely recalled as a mistake, either in the decision to engage there or in the nature of the engagement. Or both. Veterans of the war remain largely anonymous figures, accomplices in the mistake. Critically recounting the steps that led to the war, this book does not excuse the mistakes, but it brings those who served out of the shadows. Enduring Vietnam recounts the experiences of the young Americans who fought in Vietnam and of families who grieved those who did not return.
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Great
- By Rebecca Delgado on 03-20-23
By: James Wright
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1924
- The Year That Made Hitler
- By: Peter Ross Range
- Narrated by: Paul Hodgson
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
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Before Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany, there was 1924. This was the year of Hitler's final transformation into the self-proclaimed savior and infallible leader who would interpret and distort Germany's historical traditions to support his vision for the Third Reich. Everything that would come - the rallies and riots, the single-minded deployment of a catastrophically evil idea - all of it crystallized in one defining year.
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Excellent book to compare current events
- By Elin on 12-05-16
By: Peter Ross Range
What listeners say about A Rift in the Earth
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Gillian
- 04-23-18
Touching, Hard-Hitting--Not To Be Missed
If you have any interest in history, wars back at home, humanity at its worst and best, you'll not want to miss A Rift in the Earth. Reston writes with great warmth and sensitivity about a troubling war, a troubled nation, all that is confused and passionate following the loss of the Vietnam War.
Though Hart's statue comes off as being an interloping compromise, I still want to see it (Up front: I've never had the honor of actually seeing the memorial(s) in person). To me, just a pup during Vietnam, the soldiers and POWs were my heroes, and I want to see it all--Maya Lin's wall, Hart's depiction of youth, fearful and tired. Both together are sure to astound.
This book covers the birth of an idea, the backlash, compromises that are hard to swallow all around. Lin, whom an outraged and insensitive Ross Perot referred to as Egg Roll due to her Asian heritage, is contentious and sometimes outrageous, grows to become thoughtful and reflective as Reston follows her through the years after the fight to get the memorial made. I didn't like her at first, but one always respects her as she navigates through a labyrinth of the political, of the emotional, of the hard memories that a nation is learning to deal with. (And by the way, Reagan doesn't wind up looking so good: Though Reston writes without acrimony, the man's actions and choices speak for themselves, and he could've done more to heal a hurting nation).
Expect even-handed writing, heavy on the thoughts, emotions, deeds and misdeeds, of all sides of the aisle, all sides of the conflict. Even the thoughts of those living post-war in Vietnam are expressed as Reston journeys there to find answers and a sense of closure. He lost a good friend at Hue, and he grieves as much as the soldiers, as much as the protesters (he has since written much on granting amnesty to all who left the country), as much as any mother or family member has.
A Rift in the Earth has none of the dryness that sometimes marks books on history. It's not a lesson but a hands-on experience sure to enlighten and sure to make you feel something.
Just looking at the picture on the book's cover says it all: All war is horrible; all war comes with grief and sacrifice that is hard to bear.
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9 people found this helpful
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Overall
- DK
- 01-25-20
the last chapter
this book was a 4-star book for me and possibly for anyone who enjoys learning new information. It's a narrative so if you don't like that you may not like this book. The last chapter makes it five stars
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