1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows by Ai Weiwei

For a very long time, art was a medium of expressing beautiful feelings. A medium which let's an artist express her/his thoughts as s/he sees it. It can be music, painting, sculpture, poem, story and what not. And in different places these artists were valued differently. They were not the richest person but considered as a person who looks the things differently.

And a lot of these artists expressed their thoughts which are more inline with the human condition. They have always been very vocal about the absurdities in the society which are rooted in power, cynicism, or superiority. These statements always challenging the status quo.

The history is full of examples where the artists started, and nurtured the revolution for the betterment of the common people. And there has been many who never even got a mention in the history. But they all paid a price. A price of being different, and rejecting any top down idea.

There is nothing wrong about a piece of art being beautiful, and easy to understand. But it is the other ones which don't fit in the definition of art being synonymous to beauty, and these are the ones which need more attention and deeper understanding to identify what it stands for.

Peace

Being Lolita by Alisson Wood

Alisson is no Lolita. Her story is not what one might have read/heard of Lolita. The only connection is that this was one of the hooks her teacher dropped.

But this doesn't mean her memoir is any less shocking. Its a sad truth that so many young people (boys/girls) fall victim to the predatory practices of people whom they look as a role model, a friend, a family member or a teacher. This not only betrays the innocence in that belief but scars the victims for life.

The most common negative question is why these youngsters don't come out of such toxic situations. There is no exact answer but it takes a lot of support from everyone else to come out of it, and unfortunately, a lot of people don't get it when they need it the most.

Of course, young age makes you feel in control, rash or even over confident which is why the line that comes in the end (when the writer sees other teenagers of her age) is that even an 18-19 year old person is just a kid who is starting in life, and needs a lot of guidance and support from everyone.

Lolita was never a romantic novel. It was always a crime story irrespective of what any readers draws from it. The egg and chicken situation of what inspires what between the society and fiction is an old discussion. So, censor is never going to help but raise a kind of awareness where people have the mental faculty of judging right from wrong, and everyone gets a big enough support system in friends/family to pull through such situations.

Peace

Why Humans Like to Cry: Tragedy, Evolution, and the Brain by Michael R. Trimble

This is something which I was reading in parallel to other books while in transit.

The title generates the curiosity to know if crying is just a way of showing our emotions or it was a part of our evolution.

The book mainly focuses on the point if tragedy (reading, watching, listening) is the external cue for crying, and how does crying can be explained in neuro/Psychological terms. Which leads to a lot of discussion to different part of brains which are responsible or gets activated while crying.

But it doesn't give a real insight in more general terms which makes the text a bit too technical to consume.

Crying is a bit independent of type of emotions, and can be seen in tragic and happy moments both. So, the book was also a bit narrow in its approach while focusing largely on the crying triggered by tragedy.

Maybe not worth a read even when it is a quick one.

Peace

In Love by Amy Bloom

Death is a sensitive topic, and choosing it makes it more sensitive.

This is a record of how her husband, who had Alzheimer, choose to end his life while he was still in charge of his body. It is a difficult read because this was the first time I read such a record of someone choosing his death.

The most sensitive part is where his journey ends, and that takes the minimum space and leaves the most profound impression. It is a book of journey and not the destination.

However, the larger thought here is that do we've the right to die? All the advancement in science, tech, and medicine enables us to understand the aspect of life/death better than we ever did. Life is an endeavour but death is a more philosophical thought not just by contrast but because after it, there is nothing more than a thought left. Life needs nurturing but death doesn't need anything other than a thought.

Capital punishment is still a lawful instrument in many countries which terminates somebody's right to live. Of course, it is given in the most dire circumstances. But is this a valid argument that if the social agencies like court of law has the power to terminate a life, why the life itself doesn't have the choice of self termination? Can people with terminal illness opt for an easy way out when they still have a control over it rather? What can be the other situations when people should be allowed to exercise this right?

These are the questions which only a person with sound mind with not so sound body can answer. And it ends at making a choice, and everyone else respecting the choice.

Peace

A Woman's Story by Annie Ernaux

It is that time when you get to read memoirs :) 

And the trend continues. An amazing and brief memoir of a mother. But I did pick it up since I looked up some of her works after her getting the Nobel prize in 2022.

Irrespective of Nobel prize or not, this is a really powerful memoir from a daughter. This doesn't really go like a biography but more like the thoughts. Like someone is telling a story about someone we all know.

Parents take a very large part of memories (good or bad). Not because they brought you in the world or they are part of your earliest consciousness but because they are the scale we calibrate every single person around us.

It is worth a read, and maybe you'll see your mother in those pages somewhere.

Love

Of Boys and Men by Richard V. Reeves

It sounds a bit odd that the society needs some revolution for helping males on the scale of what was done in feminism.

Which is why it is a bid different read. It puts forward an argument which brings the problem of boys/men in context of the new gender dynamics and change in societal norms.

But do we really need an overall reform of how genders are treated or the men in margins need some additional systems in place? Is it possible that while correcting the gender imbalance the policy makers over corrected it, and the girls have an added advantage with the system in place now?

It is difficult to agree to a lot of points given in this book specially when a lot of references are coming from having three boys of his own. It also sounds like a misplaced idea that a girl hits the maturity faster than the boys even if the testosterone is a villain in the narrative. Seeing some professions as man dominated or women dominated is a narrow view. It definitely needs to make all professions being lucrative to any worker irrespective of gender. The argument that there are not many male nurses or teachers should be more aligned with the arguments that the compensation in such jobs should be more appealing to any job seeker, and once that is achieved, people from all gender will pick it.

This book seems to be jumping the guns too soon while we're still in discussion of gender inequality. It makes complete sense that everyone has the support system in place which covers different aspects/stages for anyone (for employment, health, education, compensation etc) but to put this in gender brackets is going to do more damage than help.

This is worth reading even if a reader doesn't agree to it.

How to Hide an Empire by Daniel Immerwahr

In the modern age (after the word colony was officially ousted from the vocabulary) empire is not a world which one can hear everyday. It is a world which is identified more as a history when we talk about historical empires.

However, it doesn't mean that the idea of one country occupying the territories in a country is unheard of. This idea is very much alive and works with coercion or otherwise. US as a country which is seen as a flag bearer of freedom as long as we don't go in the history of certain countries where US had a presence which was different from a coloniser but the difference between a coloniser and occupier was very faint. It doesn't make much difference if you call it a colony or a base.

But on the other hand, it is also visible that having a US interest in the country brought some indirect wealth to the country. And in a lot of cases opposing the bases was a catch 22 situation. The country does get some benefits by allowing such bases but that makes a dent in their sovereignty.

There is no one way to look at it, and different aspects will or will not make sense depending on whose voice gets the strongest support.

One never thought of US as mainland and colonies but this book gives a good idea around what eventually defined US apart from what is visible to most of the people irrespective of being or not being a citizen of US.

Peace

Money by Jacob Goldstein

Money has been a handy tool for a lot of practical purposes but one can say that this has created more problems than it has solved.

Barter system is not a bet solution no matter how honest it sounds, and money comes with its own challenges. And the biggest is not just its form (coin, note, digital or crypto) but what is the value of it. Can we actually say that a government backed currency is a good solution? Convenient, yes but not good, and the convenience lives as long as people trust in it.

But why do people loose trust in currencies? There are a lot of technical answers to this question but most easily understood is the rumours. Rumours are the speed breaker in the way of any financial instrument, be it currency, shares, bonds or what not.

This book starts from the origin of money, and how it evolved into its current form. And, yes, it does get a bit complicated to grasp the whole idea which is difficult because eventually its an artificial instrument which doesn't have any value of its own. Even with the historical gold and silver coins, it leaves a lot of room to jeopardise its own value.

So, can we do away with it? Yes we can but what we're going to replace it with? Can we accept this as a necessary evil? We have to. An ideal money (or money like instrument) is possible in an ideal world where we'll not be reaching any time soon, and the form of money doesn't matter.

Irrespective of our philosophical leanings it is very difficult to do away with things like money. If you try really hard, you can reach a point where it is minimalistic but never zero.

Peace

Stay True by Hua Hsu

This is such an amazing memoir specially after the recent memoir which left a distaste.

It doesn't talk about the author's whole life but more focused on one person of author's young age. A friend who was loved, respected, and valued but unfortunately end up dead in a petty crime.

Do we over think our pain or is it something that an incident out of the blue completely changes your perception about people, life and everything involved? Loss, specially of our loved ones - related or not, changes us at a deeper level. It leaves a void that can't be filled, an unfulfilled emotion which nobody else can evoke.

If anyone who knew him picks a pen and write about him, it is going to be a similar account but it will have a different take on how that incident changed their life.

But how long does it take to get over this loss? Can it take a lifetime, and make you think that you have your best days behind you? This is a question with no one answer.

Only the love, support, and time can heal this. It will heal but it is not possible to wipe those ordinary moments which in the hindsight makes the best of the memories that we can cherish.

Love

Cosmogenesis by Brian Thomas Swimme

What does it mean to be a cosmological being? Can we really break down the life to Carbon, Oxygen and Potassium?

Birth of a universe and its continuous expansion is an event which is very difficult to comprehend irrespective of scientific intelligence because after a point it is difficult to go beyond numbers and equations. But does this incomprehension gives us the flexibility to choose an interpretation which is more philosophical or religious in nature?

Its a difficult question to answer and depending on whom you're asking, the answers can vary over a wide range.

This is a semi autobiographical book which gives us the glimpse of how the author nurtured his conscience from a human being to a cosmic being. It mostly cover the initial struggle of identifying what the author was searching for until he found a person to guide him in the right direction.

It doesn't try to be to mathematical or scientific but its full of examples of our growing knowledge about universe in a broader sense when we overturned a lot of older theories in the light of new findings and evidences.

Maybe not a difficult read but you need a philosophical bent to follow the narrative.

Peace