I am not sure if this is a different way of writing or my brain is wired to avoid over complicated writing.
I read this but don't understand a single character in the whole book. I have read books which have an open ending and they leave you with a thought to ponder. But not this one. It was written all over the places and I couldn't focus on what was told here.
I couldn't connect with the whole Arjun and Karna analogy here.
Maybe not a book for me!
Love
This is the first one in the trilogy but I'm not sure if I'm going to read the other two.
What I gather is that the whole trilogy is around the people who are searching for an answer to the question "who am I".
For quite some time I used to think that this is more of a thought gymnastic, and I've not changed my thoughts much. I still think that these thoughts are amusing and even entertaining depending on what you're going through in your life but if you look closer these questions sound non-consequential. Which means you're going to answer it as per your current mind set. Most probably your answer will differ (if you're giving it a serious thought) at different point of time. And this is not a bad thing because we are mostly wired to react and not respond.
I'll not be looking for the other two books in the trilogy but if you're looking for a different narrative on life and interested in hearing a different version of somebody's take on life, this might be a bit different in terms of treatment from anything you've read/seen/heard earlier.
Peace
All I was looking for was a new take on the events when Van Gogh cut his ear.
But a lot of this book goes into details of how difficult it is to get information around a century old event. I did like some of the information but that was not what it looked like from the title. Another thing, I was not looking for anything sensational.
So, if you already know the story from some good sources (Not Lust for Life) than this one has not much to offer.
Van Gogh was a painter with exceptional talent, and it is well established now that he had the mental health issue. Read this sentence again, I'm not saying he was mad. Unfortunately, the patients didn't get as much care and medical support at that time. And it is a surprise that Van Gogh ended up with such an amazing work even with those health issues.
So, next time when you hear a painter gone mad for Van Gogh, you would better come up with a right answer rather than writing things off.
Love
I wanted to read Hirohito and the making of modern Japan, but I still have to start it and instead I found this one and thought that this would be a good commentary on the modern Japan.
And yes, this is a real good one covering various topics from culture to economy and aging population. The arguments presented in this book are well backed by research and reasoning. It has been a bit critical to many things which has been traditionally followed in Japan as a culture or tradition, but it is not possible to judge the effect of such things in just one book. It would require more volumes, but this will help you understand the basic issues that Japan is facing, and aging is just one of them.
Another thought was that every society is unique, and the rise of Japan was exceptional after the World War. There are things which look a bit like marching backwards but eventually that can't be the only index, and in that sense a lot of progress which came with discipline, subordination, and longer work hours can be maintained with a fresh approach rather than attributing the slow changes to traditional ways.
Worth a read, and don't expect you to be a specialist in economics, culture, or social sciences. Bonus point, I got to know so many new words in Japanese which might be helpful in further readings.
Peace
I was stuck with a lot of changes
recently which doesn't mean less time for reading but less intent of reading.
On top it I picked up one which is utter rubbish. I'm still reading it and when
I'm finished will post it here.
Meanwhile I picked up another
one in parallel and this being rather thinner got completed sooner. I've read a
few of them on Norse mythology and I do look forward to read some more on the
same topic.
Even with less interest in
knowing how it all ends, I did pick this up (yes, I can pick the real ones
again). This is about Ragnarok but this comes with a thin little girl who is
speaking about Norse gods and Ragnarok in a personal narrative. There were some
passages where it sounds more of an autobiography or coming of age but it is
less of that.
Raganarok is technically known
as an end of Norse gods but if there was an end than they were not god. This is
a catch phrase but a closer look does reveal the point that they never claimed
to be gods. Maybe with some superpowers but never an inhuman existence. Or you
can differ on this point as well.
Coming back to this one, it
tries to bring all the stories together and ends on Ragnarok. There are not
much details of everything here but that was not the target in the first place.
Actually, I'm still struggling with the whole idea behind this book but one
thing which I felt was that this is not a book about mythology but a scrutiny
of author's own thoughts while growing up with the Norse mythologies. It tries
to draw some parallels in the stories and the real life but that doesn't mix
well.
Nevertheless, if you're looking
for a retelling with more human commentary than this is a real good one.
Love!
This was not a fan moment or the Nobel aura but I saw this on the isle, and since I already read the other works earlier so this was an easy pick.
I didn't understand what AF (artificial friend) stands for until it was explained later in the book. Same is the case with "lifted". It could've meant anything but here it was for the people whose DNA was altered.
The story is in a dystopian future, and the narrator is a robot Klara (AF) who was bought by a lifted girl. The girl is having some life threatening issues due to the lifting.
Well, the AF is sensitive, and a good observer. Since it takes its power from sun, it believes that sun is the nourisher of the world, and can actually bring the dead to life.
And there is a love angle of dying girl (Josie) and a not lifted boy (Rick). There is a scientific subplot as well but that will be a spoiler.
Nobody can say anything about author's writing style, and this one does a justice to his reputation.
It is very much possible that some readers might find it stretching or boring but I looked at it as a story of life even when death was just around the corner. I was not really looking forward to the end of it (like in case of a detective novel) but for me it could have ended anywhere but still complete.
The larger thought is that with all the scientific advances if we end up somehow preserving the human consciousness than it is not going to make much difference in isolation. We all have a personality/consciousness but this doesn't belong to us only. It is formed by the people and environment around us. You take it away from those people and out of the environment than it is not what it was.
Sounds complicated! But yes worth a read.
Peace!
This took some time to digest. It does ring a bell but will not say that it echoes my thoughts.
Fairness is an unfair word, and there is nothing like an equal opportunity. But the one thing which was very clear was how the politicians sometimes pick up a wrong tagline, and try to mould everything around it. You can't bend a lot or you will break it.
So, the idea here is that does merit is the new oppressor. It is very much evident that the society claps for the success which actually influence everything to a rat race. If we're going to change how the meritocracy works, the first task would be to change the perception of it. And this is not just for the higher education, where the book starts and ends, but also for all the other criterions of the success.
Maybe the whole idea of doing good in life has to be separated from the money you earn. I'll not go into who should be taxed more or the wage equality but a lot of these ideas need a closer scrutiny before forming any opinions.
Peace
This one is a collection of different experts of evolutionary biology and Anthropologist and Archaeologists.
It is dedicated to the evolution for humans, and tries to explain a lot of points from evolution biology perspective. The one thing it does not do is to try answer everything. In fact, it claims that everything that we know about our evolution is changing fast with all the new evidences, and technical advances that we have made in the last two decades.
This is a well balanced book, and avoid creating any hype around the subject. I remember reading Yuval Noah Harari's books which kind of left me with unease. I'm not saying that they are any less important but Yuval's books go too much into interpretation with an storytelling structure. Which is not a bad thing but the one thing it does is that it dilutes the message of science, and adds more of a fictional record.
Hence, Human Origins has done a better job with not sounding very sensational.
Evolution may be a subject for scientist to find out but it gives us a better perspective of where we come from which I believe will make us appreciate what we've now.
Definitely worth a read, and don't try to memorise all the dates because they are still evolving too :)
Peace
This is a collection of four essays by Jung and Kerényi which put together their thoughts on Mythology and Psychology to establish how the two fields can be analysed from a common point of view.
I didn't buy the title for the first time because it sounds so counterintuitive because there is nothing in mythology which can be called as science. Even the dictionary definition is "a collection of myths, especially one belonging to a particular religious or cultural tradition". Which I think is well defined because those myths represent a particular thought or narrative which is more imagined rather than found naturally.
So, the myths are treated like that beautiful story. Any further dissection to find out some hidden meanings are going to remove the essence of why it was created in the first place.
I also don't agree to the point that these myths define human psyche. Myths were a collection of thoughts of a smaller group (myth-makers?) which was adopted by a larger group later by different channels (mostly art - poetry, drama, sculpture, paintings, books etc), and became the part of society. But that doesn't mean that they started having a life of their own. Force fitting some of the psychological conditions with a myth was not the best thing. It actually complicated the things much more with some imaginary accounts and characters.
This one really needs an open mind before you start accepting a lot of things here as normal or logical.
I don't have any expertise on any of these two subjects but defining everything within the two myths of Divine Child and Maiden Goddess may be a good idea for religion but it can't go beyond that.
One thing which I missed badly was a pronunciation of a lot of Greek words here which were given as is.
Love
This one is a short biography of Babur based on his autobiography and the accounts of some of his contemporaries. It does include a larger part from the actual translation of the autobiography.
Being short/concise this does cover most of the aspects of Babur's life in short, and doesn't try to overwhelm the reader with a lot of historical commentary which might not be very useful for a non-academic reader.
I didn't read much about Babur actively earlier, and this was my first book which was dedicated to him only. I never liked the idea of putting the soft side of such raiders like Babur who would just kill a few thousand and go back home writing some poetry or praising natural scenery or building next garden. A common argument is that those were the times of hardship, and it was a dog eats dog world but this is a lame excuse. There were poets, artists, astronomers and what not who were not responsible for mass slaughter, and their work was much superior than anyone else.
His autobiography which is the base for all the myths around him can be really read as a narcissistic account. Here he talks only about himself, and never gives credit to anybody or praises anyone who is better than him. And, yes, most of his biographers end up eating out of his hand. The skull towers get a mention in footnote or a blink-miss but the poetry gets the whole limelight.
After completing it I realised that he was just a person low on self esteem who was always looking for acceptance and approval from others. He was less of a dynastic founder but more of a raider who was interested in anything from a sheep to a gold coin. And his whole idea of being special was that he was related to Genghis Khan which in his opinion gives him the right to greatness.
Worth a read if you're into history.
Peace
No question on why I picked it up. I did like the "The remains of the day" and was looking forward to read some more of his works.
The story is about lost memories, and revenge. It asks the question if the lost memories are better be lost. What if we get back all of our memories on a condition that we'll have to take all of them: good or bad. It sounds hypothetical but maybe a comparable scenario would be to check if we can move over the bad memories as an independent choice. The answer is not easy to provide and much difficult to act upon.
We were worse but we did improve to something which we're now. It can be bad or not so bad, best case good enough. But did the worse part can be written off or forgotten. Can you being better than earlier gives you any right to the things that you have now.
A lot of parts start backwards, and it takes time to find out whose perspective we're looking at which might be.a writer's style for this one but this was a bit annoying as a reader because as you progress you've already a few characters in mind based on the pronouns and finding someone else later is bah.
Worth a read even if you're not a fan!
Love
It starts with accepting the limitation of this work but claims to prepare the reader from a scientific know-how to see the trap.
I've read the ones which were more detailed, and had better arguments but this one does what it claims to do. This talks about top 4 stories and builds the narrative around it.
The one thing which is a given is that people in power talk about it for their vested interest, and everyone else is getting influenced by it in a wrong way without knowing what they mean when they start showing such behaviour. Yes, science don't have all the answers, and you can't do much when people start filling those gaps with something for their own.
A quick read, and good for the readers who are into it for the first time.
Peace
I noticed that I've started thinking about why I picked up my recent books. There is no pattern but I think my choices were a bit dependent on what showed up in the library. And if I had a faint notion about the writer or the topic I'll just pick it up.
I try not to fall for the bestseller label while picking up the book, and this one was a conscious choice even when I was not sure what should I be expecting.
I do remembers a few things here and there, and I remember the name of this writer which showed up in my Youtube suggestions. I do watch some Ted talks but I'm no fan, and think most of them are a bit overhyped. I guess, this Ted behaviour prompt the algorithm to suggest this video from this author. I just remembered the name somehow but didn't register the topic of that Ted talk.
I saw this book, and remembered the name. Hence this one got picked, and what a stupidity to pick this one up.
First thing, if there are any problems in a relationship don't try to find out the solution in your sex life. This sells well in the market but doesn't do anything for the reader.
Second thing, I don't mind a pex (pep + sex) talk but this one was utter rubbish. If you want to delve deeper maybe take Sex at Dawn which talks about it in more evolutionary terms, and do put some good ideas out to think about.
As an after thought don't go for something which has the Youtube views, and Fortune 500 as the credentials.
Love
I didn't watch the series when I came to know that this is based on a book. Usual choice :)
Finally, I got this in my hands, and will say that I got hooked to it. I generally don't stick to the books to complete but this was one of those exceptions which had such a fast running narrative that I finished it in a day.
This is an amazing book with a very tight plot. We can see Beth growing over a period of time from a non-existing child in an orphanage to the queen of chess board.
Of course it has its dull moments which actually felt like being written to add the pages or maybe for the script but that can be overlooked.
Definitely worth a read even if you've watched the series!
Love
The biggest news is that this has an introduction from Carmen Maria Machado, and after reading this you can actually skip the rest of the book. You know on the very first page what is going to happen.
I'm not into thrillers where you don't want the secret to be out until you reach the last chapter. I always appreciate introductions because it gives you a perspective on what you're going to get into. You can have a same or different impression after completing the book but introduction is good to have. But not the one written like this one.
I read the introduction, and lost the urge to read the rest of the book. But I still pushed, and unfortunately I started looking at the whole narrative in the light of how it was going to end. And another thing where I think the whole introduction falls flat is to connect it with feminism but I look at it from a point of unfulfilled desires, and maybe some psychological issues which applies to a character irrespective of the gender.
So much for the introduction!
For the book, it is a dark read but worth reading for the style Kate Chopin was able to portray the mindset of a lonely woman who needed a companionship but felt rejected from everyone she had the expectations from. Edna is no Anna but she is a strong character in her own narrative.
Love
I never heard of Nick Hornby until I saw this book, and yes the title got me curious to pick this one up. Why so weak :)
Well, turns out there is no such thing in this one, apart from the title of an album.
The story largely spun around the three main characters Tucker, Alice, and Duncan.
I'll not go into details of a 200 pager but it has some really witty lines, and situational comic elements. And yes a lot of Gooleness and a dead shark.
Quick and light read after the recent heavy lifting.
Love
Don't go with the title.
This is fairly limited to Judaism and Christianity with a small mention of the other religions. And this was very clearly mentioned as a scope of this work.
So, if you thought you're going to talk about everything than you may be disappointed.
This probes the current form as well as history of two monotheistic religions over a period of time in the light of how the human evolution affected these developments.
I may not be very convinced by all the arguments presented here, and in fact a few of them looked like a force fit into the narrative to drive the point backward. But this definitely gives some key points which we can use to understand how these two religions evolved.
One more thing that I noticed was that it was quite critical of Judaism but the Christianity got a bit lenient treatment. But this can be very personal perception because there were instances where the author openly mentions that he is not in favour or against any one religion.
Its quite scholarly read so will be more suited for the readers who are looking for some serious discussion around this topic.
Peace
I'm thinking of stop going to the humanity section of the library. This is so full of such titles which pique my curiosity.
But yes I never regretted picking any book from that section.
So, here is this one, and again I didn't know about the author when I took it but this was really good.
The whole narrative was very well defined, and a lot of points/arguments brought forward resonate with the understanding of a common person. It gives you a wide perspective of how different identities were built, and eventually got established over a period of time. I might not agree with the idea that these identities were catered by falsehood even if we don't understand the complexity these were built on.
The identities are largely divided into gender, religion, nationality, class and culture. That is a very wide range to cover because every single one of them fill volumes. But this balanced approach here does justice to all these identities.
Best part is that the author writes about a lot of these from his own experience which is very diverse.
This may not tell you everything about identities but that is not even the aim of this book. This gives you a fair idea, and arguments to construct your own take on identity.
Peace
This one was picked up because from the cover it looked like a critical examination of the idea of Apocalypse. And I was not looking for a literal one.
The book does pick up a lot from the apocalyptic literature which someone can really use to dive deeper into it. However, I couldn't add much apart from the different names who defined apocalypse in their own terms.
Which means there is a lot more reading to do before I say if this book was good or good enough.
I'm unsure if I'll go that deep in understanding the whole idea of apocalypse but if you're looking to start from somewhere or want to have an overall perspective, this is a good one to start with.
Peace
