A Molecule Away From Madness Tales of the Hijacked Brain by Sara Manning Peskin

A body is a complicated structure irrespective of which biological family it belongs to.

The whole DNA which writes down the future of a living being has do to the best balancing act that nobody sees until it goes off balance. In humans, it gets a lot complicated because a bigger brain comes into the picture. This solves and creates a lot of thought problems but it is also so prone be adversely affected by a change at the molecular level.

A molecule as small as a protein (and it is just not the one you consume after a training session) can cause havoc in life. It can make you go weak, forget, imagine and even cause fatalities.

Only Medical science has the potential to answer the questions posed by these life altering changes. Dementia and Alzheimer's are just more famous, and this books gives you a wider range of neurological complications that can be caused by the tiniest changes, or the one which are already ticking like a time bomb in you DNA.

This is an amazing read which gives a lot of complicated information in easier terms and does tell a lot about how the Neurology as a field has evolved over a period of time. It might be the youngest of all the -logy but it is going to make the maximum impact on our understanding a lot of things that have been unanswered for decades.

Recommend for anyone who is interested in the scientific advances of neurology and its history but don't start looking for the symptoms on your own.

Peace

The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus

Camus is a different kind of writer. He goes from philosophy to myth and back in a lyrical writing style. It is sometimes so fluent to read that only going through those complicated phrases amazes you with the beauty of it.

The title comes from the story for Sisyphus but he doesn't really appear until the end where the whole thought around the idea of staying alive in the face of absurdity of life comes to a full circle.

Camus starts with the idea of suicide (why people do it) and moves from one character to the other (Don Juan may not be the right choice) explaining what should be idea of life for any person. What keeps us going through the monotony of life and what happens when one sees the absurdity of this rhythmic living. Does this evoke a question of why life exists or what is the point in being alive while you are destined to roll your own stone daily like Sisyphus?

There is no simple answer to existential doubts but here we can read what Camus has to suggest. The problem with such questions is that they are all unique and there is no general answer which fits all, and that is the beauty of it.

This is a quick read until you start contemplating on these thoughts, which is a chore for lifetime.

Peace

The Long Game: China's Grand Strategy to Displace American Order by Rush Doshi

I fall for the game in the title.

It is really long, repetitive and takes a lot of assumptions.

This is not a real analysis but withdraws conclusions in the light of different events, and the response against those events. It repeats a lot of terms like trifecta, blunting, coercion, power and strategy. And, it does have a lot of instances where it over analyses the things or maybe don't have the best assumptions.

Foreign policies are not a very exciting subject, and this is actually my first one on this subject. But I can say that it is not a long game, it is more of an eternal game. There are just different players in a given time frame. And, yes, different levers to pull but they always follow more or less same illusion of being the best.

Sad thing is that everyone thinks to be picking the right side without knowing what it means. It's not the best place to discuss what a nation state is supposed to do with it's foreign policies or growth strategies. It doesn't matter if you are going to sketch a bigger line to shorten the others or going to take care of your own line irrespective of the size. The important thing is what these states contribute to the betterment of its citizens and world without hurting the efforts of others. But again, it is a good thing to say but rarely followed.

Not worth a read until you are into these subjects.

Peace

The Last Days of the Dinosaurs: An Asteroid, Extinction, and the Beginning of Our World by Riley Black

Of course it has a catchy title.

But it is not really a scientific record. It is a mix of the information that we have from decades of research packed in a fun way with imagination. And it does a great job.

Dinosaurs have a special image that attracts a lot of people. The mystery around these giant creatures (not all of them are giants), which got a boost by Jurassic Park franchise, is a real crowd puller. You build a good story around that and you will have the audiences.

The narration mostly revolves around the events post the asteroid strike. And it puts the details in a very illustrative format. This was actually one of the times when I went through the elaborated post scripts.

In the last chapters the writer also shared what caused her fascination with dinosaurs, and she end up connecting some personal/philosophical/existential thoughts and it was really nice to read them.

With the new discoveries old facts will go outdated and our understanding of a lot of historic events will keep changing. Which means there is nothing set in stone, and you can stay flexible in your understanding. Carbon dating is just 70 odd years old and it is already answering a lot of million year old questions. You throw in the genome sequencing and all the upcoming technologies in it and it is going to open up new windows if not the doors.

If you are looking for a more rational account with a lot of facts and figures then this might not be the right choice but if you are looking for a lighter way to read about the events which caused dinosaurs going extinct, then this is a good place to start.

Love

Rembrandt's Whore by Sylvie Matton

This is such a sad piece to read but those were the days when the woman was considered a sub-human and can be labelled as whore for taking independent decisions.

This one was more revolutionary because Hendrickje was actually a servant girl who chose to live on her own terms. There is no doubt that Rembrandt himself was not considered the best artist of his own time and led a miserable life (of poverty and personal losses) but never he was awarded such a nickname.

The church treated her equally bad. Given that a larger part of narrative talks about god, and a strong faith in his judgement, this was lost to church officials who couldn't accept the fact that a christian woman is living with a man out of marriage. A man in a similar position could have caused nothing more than a few raised eyebrows.

Hendrickje longed for the recognition which she never got but that doesn't mean she didn't live a fulfilled life. This narrative is a mix of facts and imagination but she is immortal now in the paintings of her lover. A lover who couldn't provide for what she wanted apart from honesty which she accepted.

There are Hendrickje in our time also and I hope they wish for the right thing (not the social recognition) and live their life on their own terms because love is sufficient to make a life worth living, even if sounds like a cliche.

Love

First, They Erased Our Name: a Rohingya Speaks by Habiburahman, Sophie Ansel

Statelessness is a modern curse but it looks too small compared to prejudice.

The people who are hated for the otherness go through a lot of hardship and this one is an account of the same.

It is difficult to think of it as a story but more of a journal of a refugee. There are always perpetrators but the sad part is the people who lost their sympathy and their help comes with a price.

It was difficult to digest the stand of the peace politicians but we never know the full truth about a person or situation.

The other surprise was how this all stayed hidden and it took a mass exodus of half a million people to bring the word out that there is something wrong.

Unfortunately, this is not the last such instance. We will find a way to hate each other for one reason or the other. If not, someone will feed it to us.

Peace

People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present by Dara Horn

This is such a conflicting account to read.

It has so many opposite thoughts that it doesn't move beyond the cover page.

The first problem is why people worry so much about holocaust and not the people who survived it. I agree there is a lot of literature available but that doesn't justify the point that the Jewish literature doesn't get enough spotlight. People love Anne Frank because it is a sane voice even if one believes that the tragic end pumps its emotional quotient.

Secondly, it is full of anger against the people who don't agree or think otherwise. It is again an irrational line of thoughts.

Thirdly, a different line of thought which tries to establish that rationality or open argument is a religion specific trait. Following any religion doesn't increase boost anybody's mental faculties.

Lastly, belittling the efforts of a lot of people by calling it a whim or not enough or behavioural issue sets a wrong precedence. All the myths should always be busted but not just the ones which look convenient. 

Holocaust was an unimaginable event of history, and it is not a wonder that a lot of post analysis drown all the other voices. There will always be the people who imagine and believe in different ideas/theories. The way out is to have an argument which is as generic as possible without favouring anyone. This sounds difficult to accept and even more challenging to propagate but this is where anyone can start.

Peace

The Viking Heart: How Scandinavians Conquered the World Arthur Herman

Let's start with correction in the title Scandinavians 'did not' conquered the world.

This the problem with writing popular history. You take some pointers from history, and try to make them popular. And, how do you make them popular? You cherry pick and sensationalise the events. And the second thing is the imagination, which you use in absence of a concrete evidence/narrative.

It might be quite a pressure to keep writing the bestsellers but after reading the 484 pages (cover to cover) I can say that this sounds more of a propaganda then an actual book which has anything to do with actual history. The book starts with the history of vikings (Scandinavians) which was dominantly blood and raids (can call it pirates), followed by the political unrest (kings, queens, princes like everywhere else), and lastly the new age people (inventors, generals, scientists and daredevils).

The writer has picked the people to paint a picture of a clan of people who come with a special heart (what is a viking heart??) and did unimaginable things. There is a brief mention of the very first acts of barbarism which has been glossed over with tough living conditions (slaves, decimated cities, brutally killed people and what not).

It will not be an exaggeration to say that any person who has not been exposed to the world history will end up thinking that the Scandinavians built the world we see today. This can give an artificial sense of pride for belonging to such an inheritance. Which in turn results into the superiority complex which has been proved catastrophic historically. And there is no point in arguing that the history can't repeat itself.

Lastly, it quotes a lot of great people who have been phenomenal in different fields but the larger point is that, were they able to do it because they come from a particular lineage. Unfortunately, the book ends up pressing this point too much. It ends up labelling all the great achievements to one thing, the lineage.

These amazing people did change the course of history and world can't thank them enough but this has nothing to do with their lineage. It is always the circumstances which brings the best or the worst out of a person. And it is an injustice to attribute their feats to a single lineage because once they reach the pinnacle of their lives they stopped belonging to anything apart from humanity. Any effort to prove otherwise is dubious and should be looked at cautiously.

This is too big a book (obviously given the scope) but should be seen in a larger context of history, and the popular part should be read carefully before it starts putting the wrong ideas.

Peace

Islamic Fascism Hamed Abdel-Samad

First thing, not all the things in this book can be agreed upon.

This is a good book when it comes to the references and the citations it has used but this doesn't provide a  solution, not even in directional terms. But the plus point is that some of the points made here can be the starting point.

Religion is a sensitive matter irrespective of which one we are talking about. It gets more complicated where this is less about religion but more about the power equations. The complications involved are very difficult to understand for a well trained mind (academically or otherwise) forget about the people who have surrendered their critical faculty and open to take orders from others. These orders are well crafted in terms of promising something which goes beyond this life. A bait for the people who are in a vulnerable situation in their lives.

Afterlife is an absurd thought to analyse rationally. It is beyond comprehension which makes it more abstract and lucrative for the people who are dependent only on trust/faith. But this is where the the shortcoming lies.

Education is the only way forward which can enable people to look at things from an independent point of view and debate about it. Till then, keep the hopes high.

Peace

Two Billion Caliphs: A Vision of a Muslim Future Haroon Moghul

It lost me at Starwars and Jedi for such an important topic.

It is such an incoherent text which is written backwards. The conclusion was made first and rest of the text was put together to make it look worth it. And, the title is just a rhetoric.

There are better books around this topic as this falls into is a page filler with no substantial line of thought to offer.

Peace

We Have Been Harmonized: Life in China's Surveillance State by Kai Strittmatter, Ruth Martin

    

Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment by Francis Fukuyama

What exactly does an identity mean? Is this is a common trait found among different people or is this is an idea that brings the like minded people together?

Identity has always been an abstract thought which has generally been defined as a post event analysis. It is very frequently the case that after an incident the analysts go after a trait and end up zeroing on one characteristics which fits the bill. This is more of a generalisation of uniqueness.

Race, colour, gender, sexual orientation, political views, nationality, religion and a hundred other factors can be used to label people in a single cohort. But apart from the physical traits everything else is a choice. A choice that you are not born with but prefer against everything else. And the sad part of these identities are the push for the approval of it.

The moment you start contemplating on the influence of an identity it is seen as a sign of opposition to it. So, does it matter what other recognise as long as you are comfortable with your choices? No. But is it going to be easy to live your choices? Depends, but you don't make these choices on the basis of level of comfort.

It is a bit complex to put your thoughts around it here but this one was a good read.

Peace

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

This is not a full size book but a collection of two letters from the author. The first one is more personal which is addressed to his nephew and the second one is more of an essay or commentary on the current state and future.

This is small but with a big impact. I have not read any of his works earlier but I am sure this was a good start. It does talk about the past but this is more future facing. Love comes as a solution in emotional accounts but in this book which carries a lot of burden from past, it was really good to hear. The problem with emotional solution is that it takes time, and really long time to show any results but this is the only solution. You speed the things up and it will be a mess again.

Forgiveness is not a virtue all the time but sometimes it is something which helps you unload the bad in your life and make room for some good. It is not easy. It is far easier to fall for a passion specially the one which promises the quick solution. The solutions which resonate with your own temporary thoughts but don't stand the test of the time.

Worth a read irrespective of your interests.

Peace

Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami

Sometimes the books has that shock quotient, and this was really high on it. I did pick it up for the strange title but I was also wanted to read some recent writers from Japan.

This one covers some topics from a difficult life which are always there but never discussed openly. From breast augmentation to teen existential crisis to parental choices. And the best part was that it was all conversational rather than preaching.

This is rather long which I believe is due to been written in sequence at different points. But it does shows sad state of being poor irrespective of which country you are in. A country with $5T GDP and high PPP doesn't translate to a good life for everyone.

Every theme in the novel can be discussed in details independently but that is not the aim here. But even it was a real long one, it does leave you with new line of thoughts. You can argue against them but can't write them off.

Life sometimes come with difficult choices which doesn't make the life unlivable. The idea of life needs to be taken with resilience and positivity. Its difficult to always look at the bright side of the things but its always the light which carries you forward. Nobody led by darkness reached anywhere.

Peace

The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr

This was so long again, and not because of number of pages.

There are some books which you can rush because they feel like a natural rhythm but this one was something I slogged and not jogged through.

This was a story the author wanted to tell himself and I am glad that he found a publisher too. But this was not the best one to read. There are much real accounts of that era and all of them tell a story worth telling but not this.

It has a lot of dark episodes but they don't lead to a thought, it is just there. You can pick the one that echoes your thoughts but I couldn't find one. The one thing I really liked was that the thoughts of every character was out there and that might be a reason for so many pages which feel like a drag but it might be much more interesting for a different reader.

The second best thing is a long acknowledgement. It is great to see so many people being recognised by a writer who directly or indirectly influenced the book.

Peace

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

A blind girl, an orphan, a lost diamond and a war. This is what the book is all about.

It is a rather longer read and moves among different timelines which requires a bit of jog to the memory but good to read.

War is an end of a lot of things but the worst of them is end of innocence. The thoughts and feelings which it consumes. And this is what feeds it.

Wars will keep happening. It may change its form but that struggle is constant. We will always be choosing between our ideal and survival and none of them are wrong, they are just circumstantial.

Peace

The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed

Sometimes it is difficult to understand when someone calls somebody fortunate. The idea of possession of something or absence of calamities viewed by others can be called fortune while this "fortunate" person may have different thoughts altogether.

It is a story of a Somali seamen in Cardiff. A family man who finds himself on the wrong side of the law for a crime that he claims to be not guilty of.

The story is set in 1950s and it is easy to claim that things are different now if not better. But this for someone to say who is on the receiving end. The partial blindness of justice which overlooks a lot things can drag people down even today.

I started on this one without any thought, and slowly it turned into a crime thriller with some philosophy thrown in. It tried to be all the things at one time and kind of failed on all of them. The last 100 pages were real stretch and not because it was going in rounds but this could have said more substantial things without a lot of white noise.

It is too innocent a thought to believe that there are no more Mahmood's in our time but unfortunately the victims of prejudice, greed, hate or simple stupidity are all around us. They will never be loud enough to be heard by all but those dreamers, who fought against everything but failed to see the end because it was not the end which they dreamed of, will keep coming.

Love

The Promise by Damon Galgut

How a girl differs from her family when it comes to the perception of truth.

Apart from anything else this one is all about patience and justice. It took long for Amor to circle back to the truth she believed in but it wins after all.

It goes into a lot of details for the characters to come out and portray them in a way which makes them all the more human. The greed, dishonesty, reluctance or even procrastination are very well represented. But the patience for truth to find its way is the most dominant one.

There were even some passages where you can doubt if the promise was actually made or just imagined. Because at times it is very much possible that your sense of justice creates a moral argument in favour of something which doesn't even exist. And later you are not interested in the conception, but you want to see the end of it.

Worth a read.

Love

No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood

 This is a rather short book and I will say that the first half of it really got my nerves.

All of it was utter rubbish and senseless to me but I may not be the target reader in this case.

But the second half was real good. It actually captured the essence of the situation and put it so vividly that the reader feels like being a part of it.

Death is not easy and it is more difficult to talk about. You add a beautiful small creature to it and it will be unbearable to read because it is difficult to see the right or rational into it. The helplessness just takes the whole experience a notch above.

I have read about this syndrome earlier and people are definitely talking a lot about it but all the awareness is good. Specially, when it comes from a personal experience.

If you are picking this up I suggest just skip the Part 1 if you feel like lost in the first five pages.

Love

The Overstory by Richard Powers

This is a one big book.

A lot of trees because the whole story is about them. There are humans who hear the voice of the trees and pick up the cause of conserving it.

There is nothing like sustainable consumption. It is just there or not there. For a real long time (billions of years) the eco system was growing with the disruption until the humans start growing their consumption exponentially. There are so many technological and scientific advances that this was bound to happen. Nobody was thinking what burning coal would cause when the first steam engine moved. We are moving from one fuel to another but the consumption is going to stay.

The trees are getting extinct fast and deforesting is one of the biggest cause. Blaming the conglomerates for this disturbance is the fastest conclusion that we can jump on to but the one thing which gets neglected is that eventually all of these are individual consumption. There are cars, machines factories which are releasing these poisonous gases into the environment but they are serving for the individual human need.

It needs more of a revolution than rebellion to bring the balance back. It all came with the technological advances and the technology is going to find a solution for this. To make it happen it will require a habit of conscious consumption which is equally difficult but not impossible. And if it doesn't happen, nature will find its way which is going to be very disruptive for the whole ecosystem (trees or living beings).

Coming back to the book, this is big and a tad bit boring at times with a lot of details. But if you are not looking for a quick summary reading it whole is recommended.

Peace