Rating: 
Summary: A brave book
Review: Arundhati Roy has again taken aim at globalization and the injustice she sees inherent in the world today. She provides the type of information that doesn't come close to making the nightly news in America. From war to economic integration, Roy tackles the sacred cows in America with no remorse.My main complaint about "War Talk" is that the book is a collection of material that has been already been published. Among the six essays, no new writing was done for this work (aside from some editing and minor additions). Most of this material is available in other works or on the Internet, and anyone who has read some of Roy's material online will likely be disappointed to see much of it replicated here. The best piece in the collection is an essay that was written as an introduction to Noam Chomsky's book "For Reasons of State." Because they were not written as a single work, these essays overlap each other quite a bit. They also overlap with some of the essays in Roy's previous book, "Power Politics." If you've read that book, this collection will add little new insight. However, these criticisms do not diminish the power of Roy's writing. She pulls no punches, and she is scathing in her attacks. Her message is clear: corporate globalization is imperialism, America is an empire, and there is nothing free about free markets, free speech, or free press. She addresses issues ranging from the abuses of the ruling BJP in India against Muslims to the non-accountability of the WTO, IMF and World Bank. The final essay "Confronting Empire" is a call for revolution, and it outlines the prescription for affecting change. "War Talk" provides a rehash of the commentary that we have come to expect from Arundhati Roy. It also provides a rehash of her passion, and that makes this book worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Brave, venomous like a problem child
Review: Arundhati Roy is like an angry teenager lashing out at her parents. May be right, but immature. So much anger in pointing out the negative points of the new world order, but offering no solution. In her flowing style packed with anger, she criticizes everything and everyone who is powerful - from Indian prime minister to US president to the media. She sounds like a left-liberal in her speeches and essays. Her words are filled with the same kind of stuff that fascists must be using to herd their army. In that sense, there is no difference between being a fascist and being a left extremist. Both are equally dangerous. In my opinion, if you just point out the problems without offering a solution, it can only be fatal. Like a preacher who quotes just the verses from the Bible that he can play upon, Roy quotes words from people like George Bush or Vajpayee and plays upon them to project the negative version of it. Like the preacher, she gives her audience (which must be mostly leftists who are already disgruntled) what they want to hear. It can't be anything but dangerous. I must say this is a good read if you keep your head on the shoulder and be realistic and read it critically. If this book contains what you always wanted to hear, you are in trouble.
Rating: 
Summary: Amateur demagogue
Review: Arundhati Roy seems to have a problem with facts, but she does have a good command of demagoguery. Her ideas have been culled from various media sources, and she delivers recycled misinformation with flair. She spouts the typical anti-American mush; it's a laundry list of liberal complaints that you've heard over and over again. What's amazing is her stunning lack of original thought. Why read Democratic talking points when you can hear them on television every day? But if you're into America bashing, then she's the perfect America hater with foreign blood.
Rating: 
Summary: Bottom-up indictment of violent global capitalism
Review: Arundhati Roy's "War Talk" is written with an unique blend of passion and moral clarity. By sympathizing with the struggles of the lower and middle classes against their increasing exploitation by the powerful, the book serves as a bottom-up indictment of violent global capitalism. Ms. Roy suggests that war is merely the most extreme manifestation of an elitist capitalist system that is sustained by subsuming all available land, labor and resources to its own ends. The result is a scathing and compelling critique of capitalism and politics as practiced in both the U.S. and her native India. Ms. Roy initially made her mark as a novelist, and her gift for prose is turned to very good use here. In an era when the corporate media routinely treats moral issues in an ambiguous manner, the author's convictions seem to be almost revelatory. For example, when discussing the standoff between India and Pakistan over the contentious issue of Kashmir, she writes, "Why do we tolerate the men who use nuclear weapons to blackmail the entire human race?" Why, indeed? While Ms. Roy minces no words about the growth of fascism in India, she credits President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair with creating "a congenial international atmosphere" for fascism to take root. This is a world where the U.S. uses its military might to support its multinational corporate empire. Destroying countries that harbor terrorists is only its most obvious and visible form. Ms. Roy believes that it is the mistreatment of the poor by the powerful -- e.g., the lack of respect for human rights; the privatization of public resources; the monopolization of "free" speech by media corporations; and so on -- that ultimately defines the empire and, conversely, the struggle that must ensue to confront and supplant it. I give this book the highest possible rating and highly recommend it to anyone who might be struggling to understand the increasingly violent world we are inhabiting.
Rating:
Summary: Prepare to face the truth!
Review: As Americans being exposed to the recycled garbage churned by local media every day we surely are not accustomed to listening to the bitter reality of politics around us and that too explained so beautifully.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: Contrary to one of the detractors writing here, Arundhati Roy's voice is heard far too little in this country. Unlike the right-wing, war-loving bigots (among whose number we can count the aspiring dictator George Bush), Roy nails the facts to deliver a series of damning critiques.
Rating: 
Summary: A FLUENT, CHARGED VIEW OF VIOLENCE IN OUR WORLD. BUT..
Review: First, my petty quibbles. The pages of the book are of a modest size, covering 5 essays in double spaced text. Out of 142 pages, 30 are devoted to bibliography, notes and a slim glossary. Then, about 10 pages are consumed by verbatim quotations from Chomsky. Out of the remaining 100 or so pages, some passages (such as Gujarat massacres) are reproduced across 2 or 3 essays in their entirety. If you finally take into account a bit of superfluous linguistic liberty that Ms. Roy frequently allows herself (for e.g., a healthy dollop of questions posed in an attempt to make the text evocative) this really could have been ONE longish essay instead of a book. Ok. That said, assuming the size and the price are irrelevant to you, there is no doubt you'll find Roy in absolutely top form -- very eloquent and a vitriolic but well supported take on ethnic-oriented acts of violence in our world, regardless of whatever facile labels are put on it ("terrorism" or its risible counterpart "war on terrorism"). The first two essays address a lot of what is wrong with "modern" communally sensitive India. This includes a graphic exploration of the recent Gujarat violence and how religious fascists are ruining the secular fabric of the country. It is very useful for someone not in India to get this shameful chronology of events as they happened and how politicians like Modi and Bal Thackerey still wallow in pride over their self-indulgent shenanigans. Gradually, her cannon points to a bigger adversary -- the US. We are taken around Vietnam, Guatemala, Coasta Rica, Ecuador, Brazil, Peru, Nicaragua, Panama, Mexico, Colombia. Clearly, Chomsky has been a big inspiration for the author and we are subjected to frequent Chomsky moments. But apart from the quirks of America's conflicting presidential regimes + CIA, discussions about corporate globalizations are also thrown in for good measure. All in all, it is a fast-paced, provocative, summary read about many issues facing our world, particularly involving two of the countries that Ms. Roy seems to have attachments to -- India and US. But for someone who reads Chomsky himself, and follows Indian events through TOI or HT, this may not necessarily be required reading -- unless you relish Roy's literary acumen (as I do). Hope this helps you decide whether this book needs be bought and owned. As for reading it, I would HIGHLY recommend it in a blink.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic writer!
Review: I have truly fallen in love with Arundhati Roy! A writer of international fame thanks to her masterful "The God Of Small Things" and if she wanted, she could have easily continued writing novels to make tons of money but no! Instead she has committed to writing books which are strongly critical of the current political establishment and from a non-profit publisher no less! In War Talk, Roy is, as always, informative and passionate as she clearly lays bare the current administration's imperialist drives for power with such concepts as democracy and human rights used as mere facades for dishonest intellectuals everywhere.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic writer!
Review: I have truly fallen in love with Arundhati Roy! A writer of international fame thanks to her masterful "The God Of Small Things" and if she wanted, she could have easily continued writing novels to make tons of money but no! Instead she has committed to writing books which are strongly critical of the current political establishment and from a non-profit publisher no less! In War Talk, Roy is, as always, informative and passionate as she clearly lays bare the current administration's imperialist drives for power with such concepts as democracy and human rights used as mere facades for dishonest intellectuals everywhere.
Rating:
Summary: BRAVO!
Review: I watched Arundhati talked about this book on CSPAN and I knew I had to get the book so I ordered it today. Her words about every single subject she touched were exactly my words and also my fears. Like her, I believe the true democratic process in this country is in danger of being taken away from us. ...and this is to 'A reader from Waltham': "She spouts the typical anti-American mush" ? the Bush administration has done an excellent job in that area - they don't need any help.
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