Slow Motion Riot - Peter Blauner

Both a gripping read and an interesting account of crack culture and police culture in the 90s in New York City.
It also explores issues around poverty and drug culture, how people end up there, what choices are made, how difficult it is to turn people and situations around,    Blauner doesn't come down on one side or other in terms of responsibilities - there is criticism of both society and its institutions, and the choices people make that lead them to crack culture and crack life.  The institutions exhibit institutional racism, the black characters are decidedly not sympathetic.  He does a good job of portraying the confused thinking (or lack of) behind some of the stupid things the characters do.  He also gives a sense of how thin or delicate the liberal view point can be, and how easy it is to slide into blame and scorn.
The conflict between political correctness and the reality of events on the ground.

Ferlinghetti's Greatest Poems

Not one to read much poetry, but tried this book for nostalgic reasons.

I found some of the poems to be quite good - clever, original creative:

"The world is a beautiful place"
"Sometime during eternity"
"Christ Climbed Down"
"I am waiting"
"Dog"
"The General Song of Humanity"
"The Lord's Last Prayer"

The Structure of Crystal - Kristof Zanussi 1969

A Polish film from the late 60s, early 70s.  Two friends from university meet after several years and size up each other's lives.  One has gone on to develop a successful career in physics, but has hurt others on the way up.  The other has retreated to a rural area where he runs a weather station and involves himself in daily life in the countryside.   Subtle.  Some beautiful black and white work.

Turkey and the West: Fault Lines in a Troubled Alliance - Kemal Kirişci

A depressing book for anyone interested in Turkey as a country and culture.

This book is basically a history of the Turkey's relationship with the Europe and the U.S. from late Ottoman times to the current Erdoğan period.
The book traces periodic shifts from deeper relations with the West to a more distant stance through the whole period.  I was mostly interested in the longer chapters dealing with the AKP, Erdoğan and policy and relations since about 2000.

The book gives a brief but clear account of how Erdoğan has moved over time to eliminate all other power bases both within the country and also within the AKP itself to leave himself holding most of the power at all levels and in all areas.  In essence, creating what is practically one man rule, or a dictatorship.  This in itself, of course, puts him at odds with the basic tenets of the EU, and introduces some hesitancy or conflict into relations with the U.S.

There is also an account of Davutoğlu's influence on foreign policy and regional ambitions.  Turns out both he and Erdoğan are big supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, and through them partly, fell into the delusion of rebuilding the Ummah and creating a pan-Islamic state covering the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa. With Turkey at its centre, of course.  Strange dream.  D and E seem to have also fallen into some delusion concerning Turkey's true weight and importance in the region.  Turkey was well-regarded by many in other predominantly Islamic states in the area, especially by reformers, but it turns out this actually had to do with envying the closer relations Turkey was building in the early Erdoğan years with the EU and the U.S., and little to do with the AKP, Erdoğan and internal Turkish politics.  E and D's shift to a more aggressive regional approach, and a more confrontational attitude towards the EU and the U.S, and subsequent worsening of relations with these blocks, has led to a complete evaporation of whatever respect and admiration there was for Turkey in other regional countries.

Interesting fact:  most large business organizations  do not support the current AKP foreign policies.  Bad for trade with the EU, their prime trading partner.

It seems Erdoğan has painted himself into a bit of a corner with his nationalist rhetoric.  Turkey needs the EU and the U.S. for economic survival, but his base depends on his extreme nationalist posturing and rhetoric.  Makes for difficult management of relations, economic and otherwise.  (Kind of like Trump with American allies and neighbours.)

One other point of interest - the author comes down on the side of mostly blaming Europe for the failure of Turkey's EU accession talks, which have in part fuelled Erdoğan's foreign policies and rhetoric.   Culturocentrism and religiocentrism. 

The Emerald Circus - Jane Yolen

A collection of short stories.  The stories are all unusual takes on riffs on fairy tales, folk legends and local folklore of England.  Some of the stories she works with are well-known, others more local.  She provides an appendix briefly discussing the stories she works with.
Some of her takes on the old stories and characters are quite surprising.

The Toronto Book of the Dead - Adam Bunch

An intriguing project exploring some of the quirkier events and famous characters in the history of Toronto.  There is a book, but also a website, and some kind of "postcard" thing.  Some of the events are bizarre, some are tragic.  It is interesting to see who some of the older streets in Toronto are named after.  The political opinions of some of our early important figures are also interesting ie. highly anti-democratic, anti-populist.  You also get a bit of sense of how wild so much of the land was around Toronto in that early period.  Similar to another book recounting the history of the Carrying Place route.
An entertaining read.

The Door - Magda Szabo

Hungarian novel from during the communist period.  The story of the relationship between a woman writer working in the context of the regime, and her housekeeper, an older woman from a peasant background.  A bit too slow and interior oriented for me, but I still got through it.  It is partly about the conflict between urban and older, traditional peasant culture.  There could also be an implied critique of the shift in values during the communist period, compared to the earlier rural peasant values - or at least an exploration of the stark difference between these two sets of values.

The Edge of Heaven - Fatih Akin

Complex, heavy story filmed both in Germany and in Istanbul.  Crossing of paths, random death, learning to be more human, both recognizing one's cultural sources, and in a way overcoming them.  Sound track is great.  Filming and settings are stunning.  He plays wonderfully with jumping around it time, and random crossing of paths.