The Opium War: Drugs, Dreams and the Making of China by Julia Lovel

I was looking for something on Opium war and remembered this was mentioned somewhere.

Well, since I was curious I finished it fast. And as expected this was not a really scholarly sketch of what happened during those years. However, it suffices to give an overview of the situation.

I'm not quite convinced with the rational of Chinese inaction but the point of business reasons of selling opium and less effective Chinese measures in the latest warfare was driven very well.

Like any historical war this had more to do with business rather than nationalism, patriotism or the all time favourite liberate them. In fact it was clearly an attack on the sovereignty of a country to maintain it's business and geopolitical interests.

Of course in a detailed account which include internal conflicts, territorial issues or even the communication gaps/military mismanagement we may come up with more reasons on why China lost it but eventually the reason why it started in the first place will always remain same - greed of business and the blind support to this greed.

The whole scenario did build the atmosphere of mistrust, and we never know how long will it take to get over it.

This is not best of the books but you can definitely build some initial thoughts around this, and definitely beware of the pitfalls before believing anything.

Peace

The Synagogue of Satan by Andrew Carrington Hitchcock

There are some books which give you a feeling that you shouldn't have picked it. But this book gave it away in like first ten lines.

I should have never picked it up but then we all fall for those curious titles.

If this ever gets mentioned anywhere just don't fall for it. Not worth a thought.

Peace

The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell

I don't even remember where I got the reference for this book, and how long it was lying there.

Finally, I picked it up and finished but not so fast.

This is about how the mythologies are created, and specially how the heroes are created in it. It tells that on a larger level the journey of hero in any culture can be broadly divided into three stages Separation, Transformation, and Return.

The examples in the book are really covering the whole world and they do make you think that all the heroes in the mythic lores have similar journey. Even if these myths look different from outside, a closer look will bring all the similarities right into your face. These stories created the heroes as saviour or gods or even created a whole new religion or cult. But all this boils down to a same pattern.

The whole narrative is not really judging any story or hero but throws light on the overall narratives. It doesn't verify or reject any of them but look at them from a holistic point of view to understand what they want to tell us.

Worth reading!

Peace