and its nianv flashes of insight.rnJolin Elder first came to Japan, likernBouvier, under Basho’s influence. As arnprofessor of both environmental studiesrnand wodd literature, however, he alsorncame to it in the hope of solving a riddle,rnat least to his own satisfaction: Whywouldrna people who love nature as muchrnas the Japanese do work so hard to destroyrnit? After reading as much as herncould on Japanese culture and studyingrnthe language, Elder and his wife andrnthree children settled in Kyoto, the ancientrncapital, to have a look at the placernfor themseh’es. Determined, like sornman Westerners before him, to enterrnthe Japanese mind by studying traditionalrnarts under the tutelage of localrnmasters, he became enthralled by thernancient game of Go (a martial metaphorrnplaved with stones), which took him farthestrninto what he takes to be the realrnspirit of Japan:rnDespite their formidable powersrnof analysis, even Go masters cannotrncomprehend the entire gamernin logical terms. They must alsornrelv on their aesthetic faculties, respondingrnto a configuration inrnone corner of the board with arnstone in another corner like Gonstablcrnused touches of red intuitively.rnBecause of its challengesrnto the whole person. Go has traditionallvrnbeen considered one ofrnthe four essential Zen arts ofrnJapan, along with calligraphy,rnpainting, and music.rnWere the rest of Following the Brush sornstraightforward, John Elder might haverngreath’ helped us to appreciate how arnnation’s arts shape its life (and vice versa)rn. But there is too much of the enthusiastrnhere, not enough of the hard-nosedrnobserver. Elder is determined to emulaternJapanese modes of prose, and hisrnlanguage will sound strange at manyrnturns to American ears—not good, notrnbad, but strange. Elder does not quiterncome out and sav it, but a game like Go,rnunlike its near neighbor chess, drawsrnhcailv on the irrational. Japan’s flirtationsrnwith the dark side of the brain arernwhat drove the kamikaze pilots of thernSecond Wodd War, and they doubtlessrnpropel whalers and clear-cutters todayrnas thev hack and butcher their way acrossrnthe globe. Too often Elder hints that sornlong as the work is beautiful, by no matterrnhow warped an aesthetic standard.rnthen (in Japan at least) anything is permissible.rnBut, Elder suggests more usefully,rnthe Japanese approach environmentalrnmatters in miniature: with bonsai trees,rnrock gardens, and flower arrangements.rnWesterners, on the other hand, come tornenvironmental issues with big ideas: let’srnsave the earth. We may simply be talkingrnpast one another, East and West,rnand if our misunderstanding continuesrnto overshadow our comprehension, it willrnbe too bad.rnGregory McNamee’s latest book is Gila:rnThe Life of an American Riverrn(Crown).rnDead White MalernBeyond the PalernbyJ.O. TaternFire & Sword: Sorley BoyrnMacDonnell and the Rise of ClanrnIan Mor, 1538-90rnby]. Michael HillrnFort Worth: The Aegis Press;rn321 pp., $22.99rnThis book is a powerful example ofrnEaulkner’s wisdom that the pastrnisn’t dead—it isn’t even past. Mortarrnshells falling on Heathrow’s runways,rneven when they fail to detonate, effectivelyrnremind us of the Troubles they arerndesigned to remind us of by causing sornmuch trouble. And they recall for usrnJoyce’s Stephen, who saw history as arnnightmare from which he was trying tornawake. The laser-like focus of ProfessorrnHill’s book does not, despite its intensernparticularity, prevent us from broadlyrnapplying its vision as far afield as Sarajevornand Hebron. Nor does the darkness ofrnthe period Hill illumines altogether dimrnto our eyes the ambiguity of our inheritancern—political, religious, military, ethnic,rnetc.—from the IJritish Isles.rnSodey Boy MacDonnell was the leaderrnof a Gaelic family descended fromrnthe lords of the Isles whose destiny itrnwas to protect and expand his clan’s positionrnin Ulster during the days of QueenrnElizabeth. He was a contemporary andrnrival of Shane O’Neill, the great rebelrnwhose father Con had submitted tornHenry VIII in 1542. The MacDonnellsrnsupported the pro-French Scots, includingrnMary, the doomed Queen—we arernreminded that 6,000 French troops landedrnat Leith in 1548—and reinforcedrntheir Antrim holdings with redshanksrnfrom over the water. But because thernProtestant Fad of Argyll was a brotherin-rnlaw to Sorley Boy as well as the controllerrnof access to the redshank recruitingrngrounds in the West Highlands, thernsituation was always complicated. ThernEnglish indeed had cause for sensitivityrnto the Irish “back door.” During thernDesmond Wars, 800 Italians sent by thernPope were besieged at Smerwick andrnmassacred after their surrender (1579);rnthere was a Spanish landing in the nextrnyear. One of Hill’s emphases is the rolernof the MacDonnells of Antrim andrnDunyveg in the conflict between London,rnEdinburgh, and Dublin, as well asrnin the enveloping Machiavellian religiousrnand dynastic struggles in Europe.rnSodey Boy’s first great victory was overrnthe MacQuillans at Slieve-an-Aurarn(1559), where he and his hardy menrnmixed oatmeal and water in the heels ofrntheir boots and assured their dominationrnof the Route and the Glynnes,rnthough it would be many years beforernSorley Boy, playing both ends againstrnthe middle, would attain his goal: recognitionrnby Queen Elizabeth of his family’srnposition in Ulster. MacDonnell pushedrnback O’Neill at Culrath (1564) but wasrndefeated at Knockboy and Glentalsie thernnext year. Indeed, he was taken prisonerrnfor two years. During that time, ShanernO’Neill, ostensibly allied with the English,rnpromised Charles IX the crown ofrnIreland in return for 5,000 French troops.rnShane O’Neill was defeated at Farsetmorern(1567) by Hugh O’Donnell andrnsubsequently killed during negotiationsrnwith the MacDonnells at Gashendun inrnan episode that Professor Hill has donernmuch to clarify. Thereafter, Sorley BoyrnMacDonnell was free to restore the powerrnof his elan without the powerful rivalryrnof Shane O’Neill, whose head adornedrna pike outside Dublin Castle—but notrnwithout the stress of the welter of conflictrnand confusion of that time andrnplace.rnPolicies of plantation and aggressivenessrnby the English were new Elizabethanrnpriorities. Walter Devereux, thernfirst Earl of Essex, double-crossed SirrnBrian MacFelim O’Neill near Belfast andrnJUNE 1994/33rnrnrn