People, just realised our 1-mth deadline for this blog is almost up!
Actually thought we have been having fun so far, so I don't mind posting here from time to time if only to share our respective reads.
Votes? Yea or nay (to continue) pls!
Tuesday, 29 January 2008
"The Spiral Staircase" by Karen Armstrong
The Spiral Staircase (TSS) is a book about the author, Karen Armstrong (KA)'s self-discovery, in which she relates the events of her life and how she had gradually come to the realisation that the path she had chosen, while defying conventional approaches to God, eventually brought her closer to him.
(If you are aghast at this topic, don't worry, this is all I'm going to say about religion in this post.)
Were it left to me, I would never have picked up this book on the basis of its introduction. But a friend had introduced this book to me, and the extent to which he had spoke of the book, attributing to it the highest praise and how it had reasonated with him, sparked my curiousity. For this friend of mine is hardly one who is given to effusive praise, let alone speak in such glowing terms of something he had read.
So resolving to pick up the book some day, I jolted down the title. By chance, I recalled the title one day while I was surfing around for a book to pick up. It so happened that the library delivery service that my office subscribes to carried this book, so deciding that now was as much a good time as any, I "checked out" the book in my virtual cart. When the delivery was made a few days later, it languished for a couple of days in my office drawer. I was for some inexplicable reason, quite reluctant to pick it up. When confronted with the reality of the book, I still entertained reservations about its capability to enthrall me. At the back of my mind, I was prepared to consign it back to the bookdrop without opening it.
There the book lay until one day, I was left without a book to read when I needed one. Deciding to give it a try, I brought it along with me. The introduction did not inspire, for KA had chosen to start the book with her story of how she had commenced her training to be a nun. Not being a religious person by any stretch of the word, I couldn't relate, much less understand.
But I am glad I read on, because by the time I came to the part about her leaving the Church, I was in thrall. When she struggled to adapt, desperately wanted to fit into the world that had leapt ahead of her during her years in the Church, I thought I could even sympathise, even empathise with her realisation that she stood apart from her peers and that nothing in her current life could speak for her.
When she wrote about being a "fake" in the way she cobbled ideas from literary masters to form her own body of work, it also reasonated in a way with me. For while I always publicly maintained my pride in having attained a 'distinction' in English, a secret part of me always thought that it was due more to my illustrious assembling of literary criticism offered by my betters before me. The only true pride I had was in practical criticism since one had to work on the piece extempore. But even so, my pride in this accomplishment was somewhat diminished when at the end of my 4 years in university, one professor made the chance comment that she considered "prac crit" a senseless way of appreciating literature. In reading this book, I was reminded once again of this, and with the benefit of hindsight I think the secret suspicion had in a not-insignificant way contributed to my refusal to study English in university, despite being told that my distinction (in English) was rare in the extreme, and that very few people could lay claim to it in the year I took my exams.
KA's struggle to find herself was to take several more turns, from being diagnosed with a psychiatric illness to finding herself tested in other ways. But she draws constantly from the strength of others' insights, from her friends, to literary masters. The title of the book, is taken from Eliot's "Ash Wednesday". In reading the poem as she interprets it, I can see why she used it.
Out of Eliot's poem, "because I do not hope to turn again" and "desiring this man's gift and that man's scope" have become memorable phrases for me now. They seem to echo my own tenets of striving to be contented in life, rather than hankering after what I cannot have. (Here I must emphasise the "stiving" part, because I usually don't accomplish it at all.)
I have many other thoughts throughout reading this book, which is why I think it's a great read. It has something for everybody: for people struggling to come to terms with their religion, for people who like reading stories in which there are literature references (me), and for the thoughtful people who like a book that makes them think, I think you will be able to find something to relate to and draw some insights from.
For the record I intend to buy this book.Think a second reading will offer me different impressions.
Geek rating: wow! (straight off the geek scale)
(If you are aghast at this topic, don't worry, this is all I'm going to say about religion in this post.)
Were it left to me, I would never have picked up this book on the basis of its introduction. But a friend had introduced this book to me, and the extent to which he had spoke of the book, attributing to it the highest praise and how it had reasonated with him, sparked my curiousity. For this friend of mine is hardly one who is given to effusive praise, let alone speak in such glowing terms of something he had read.
So resolving to pick up the book some day, I jolted down the title. By chance, I recalled the title one day while I was surfing around for a book to pick up. It so happened that the library delivery service that my office subscribes to carried this book, so deciding that now was as much a good time as any, I "checked out" the book in my virtual cart. When the delivery was made a few days later, it languished for a couple of days in my office drawer. I was for some inexplicable reason, quite reluctant to pick it up. When confronted with the reality of the book, I still entertained reservations about its capability to enthrall me. At the back of my mind, I was prepared to consign it back to the bookdrop without opening it.
There the book lay until one day, I was left without a book to read when I needed one. Deciding to give it a try, I brought it along with me. The introduction did not inspire, for KA had chosen to start the book with her story of how she had commenced her training to be a nun. Not being a religious person by any stretch of the word, I couldn't relate, much less understand.
But I am glad I read on, because by the time I came to the part about her leaving the Church, I was in thrall. When she struggled to adapt, desperately wanted to fit into the world that had leapt ahead of her during her years in the Church, I thought I could even sympathise, even empathise with her realisation that she stood apart from her peers and that nothing in her current life could speak for her.
When she wrote about being a "fake" in the way she cobbled ideas from literary masters to form her own body of work, it also reasonated in a way with me. For while I always publicly maintained my pride in having attained a 'distinction' in English, a secret part of me always thought that it was due more to my illustrious assembling of literary criticism offered by my betters before me. The only true pride I had was in practical criticism since one had to work on the piece extempore. But even so, my pride in this accomplishment was somewhat diminished when at the end of my 4 years in university, one professor made the chance comment that she considered "prac crit" a senseless way of appreciating literature. In reading this book, I was reminded once again of this, and with the benefit of hindsight I think the secret suspicion had in a not-insignificant way contributed to my refusal to study English in university, despite being told that my distinction (in English) was rare in the extreme, and that very few people could lay claim to it in the year I took my exams.
KA's struggle to find herself was to take several more turns, from being diagnosed with a psychiatric illness to finding herself tested in other ways. But she draws constantly from the strength of others' insights, from her friends, to literary masters. The title of the book, is taken from Eliot's "Ash Wednesday". In reading the poem as she interprets it, I can see why she used it.
Out of Eliot's poem, "because I do not hope to turn again" and "desiring this man's gift and that man's scope" have become memorable phrases for me now. They seem to echo my own tenets of striving to be contented in life, rather than hankering after what I cannot have. (Here I must emphasise the "stiving" part, because I usually don't accomplish it at all.)
I have many other thoughts throughout reading this book, which is why I think it's a great read. It has something for everybody: for people struggling to come to terms with their religion, for people who like reading stories in which there are literature references (me), and for the thoughtful people who like a book that makes them think, I think you will be able to find something to relate to and draw some insights from.
For the record I intend to buy this book.Think a second reading will offer me different impressions.
Geek rating: wow! (straight off the geek scale)
Monday, 28 January 2008
"I Am Legend" by Richard Matheson
This is a book of the "vampire" genre unlike any I have read before, which made it an interesting read. In books I read previously, people were usually "turned" into vampires when they got bitten by another vampire. Matheson's vampires however, were "turned" via the spread of bacteria in addition to the above method. Because of its ability to transmit via air, it soon wiped out everyone bar one.
The story starts in at this point. Robert Neville is the sole survivor of the vampire plague that has decimated the entire human population. As far as he can tell, he is the only one around. He longs for company, but does not get it. He has erected a formidable barricade in his house, with stocks of food, music, literature, and more important, planks to fend off the bloodthirsty vampires who gather at his house night after night. His is a sad tale, as his personal story is told in a series of short flashbacks that invariably end with him bemoaning the state of his existence.
A few years down the road, Neville eventually encounters a woman, whom he very much wanted to believe was a human. However it proves to be his downfall as eventually he is exterminated by another race of vampire, much stronger than the ones he was fighting. In his death, he becomes "legend".
I saw the movie before I read the book, and having experienced both, I find that both are paradoxically "more" and "less" than the other. Before I read the book, it never occurred to me that the story was a "vampire vs human" one. I always thought of it as a "apocalypse" kind of show, where the human struggles against all odds to survive in a world that was collapsing around him.
Will Smith, who helmed the movie, also incarnated a "hero" in the true sense of the word. There were no shades of grey to him, unlike the Robert Neville in the book, who was a drunk, bad-tempered, and suicidal person by the time the story opened.
There are a couple more differences, but I shall just close with the ending. (By the way, if you are the kind who hates it when the ending is revealed before you have read the book, I would advise that you stop reading this post now since I'm going to talk about the endings for both). Will Smith eventually sacrifices himself to save this mother and child duo. The duo make their way to a community of survivors.
This ending contrasts sharply with the book, in which Neville dies as he now becomes the outcast amongst the super-breed of vampires. Normalcy is for the majority, and in his sole survivor status, he is clearly in the minority. I found this ending darker, and more disturbing than the flick, which being the standard US fare, invariably features an ending that is neatly tied up with a ribbon, all "present-like".
Geek rating: 3 out of 5
The story starts in at this point. Robert Neville is the sole survivor of the vampire plague that has decimated the entire human population. As far as he can tell, he is the only one around. He longs for company, but does not get it. He has erected a formidable barricade in his house, with stocks of food, music, literature, and more important, planks to fend off the bloodthirsty vampires who gather at his house night after night. His is a sad tale, as his personal story is told in a series of short flashbacks that invariably end with him bemoaning the state of his existence.
A few years down the road, Neville eventually encounters a woman, whom he very much wanted to believe was a human. However it proves to be his downfall as eventually he is exterminated by another race of vampire, much stronger than the ones he was fighting. In his death, he becomes "legend".
I saw the movie before I read the book, and having experienced both, I find that both are paradoxically "more" and "less" than the other. Before I read the book, it never occurred to me that the story was a "vampire vs human" one. I always thought of it as a "apocalypse" kind of show, where the human struggles against all odds to survive in a world that was collapsing around him.
Will Smith, who helmed the movie, also incarnated a "hero" in the true sense of the word. There were no shades of grey to him, unlike the Robert Neville in the book, who was a drunk, bad-tempered, and suicidal person by the time the story opened.
There are a couple more differences, but I shall just close with the ending. (By the way, if you are the kind who hates it when the ending is revealed before you have read the book, I would advise that you stop reading this post now since I'm going to talk about the endings for both). Will Smith eventually sacrifices himself to save this mother and child duo. The duo make their way to a community of survivors.
This ending contrasts sharply with the book, in which Neville dies as he now becomes the outcast amongst the super-breed of vampires. Normalcy is for the majority, and in his sole survivor status, he is clearly in the minority. I found this ending darker, and more disturbing than the flick, which being the standard US fare, invariably features an ending that is neatly tied up with a ribbon, all "present-like".
Geek rating: 3 out of 5
Friday, 18 January 2008
Life of Pi
Instead of giving you guys a new review, I thought I'd cop out a bit by writing one about a previous read. And the lucky book is Life of Pi by Yann Martel.I must say that when I picked up the book, it was not without trepidation. Not fear of the genre per se, but a distinct foreboding that it'd turn out to be a bad buy and a worse read. You would feel the same way too if you had read the blurb, which was about a boy and a tiger stranded at sea. Or was it a preliminary review or something someone told me. Anyway, I don't think my memory can be counted to serve me in this instance since I read the book many moons ago.
Back to the book. Boy, was I glad I gave it a chance. It had me glued from day one. The writer tells an incredulous and yet believable tale of a boy stranded at sea for 200 over days with a Bengal tiger. Of course, you get the normal spiel about how he, who by the way is Indian, grows up in a zoo because his father owned one. Yep, apparently, owning a zoo is not uncommon in India, not unlike our compatriots who own dogs and other pets.
And the boy's name is Piscine Patel, which sounds like pissing. As is the logical fate of those with funny names, he gets ridiculed in school to no end. And this is why he calls himself Pi. Yes, as in pi of the mathematical ratio 3.1415! And if you wonder what can happen at sea, try reading it and you'd be ushered into a world teeming with various types of fish, birds that fly out to sea for weeks, things you see floating past everyday and even an island that's alive and infested with meerkats.
The question is how he ended up with a tiger in a life boat. It was because the family was sailing to Canada with their animals. And while he was looking forward to a new life, it was not meant to be. The ship sank and Pi is cast adrift in a lifeboat with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan, and a huge Bengal tiger. The first week is horrific as the animals battle for survival and eventually only he and the tiger are left in the boat. While the boat is well stocked for a human, it had no tiger food per se. Hence, he started supplying the animal with fish, turtles, and fresh water so that it doesn't turn on him. The book is about surviving in the midst of overwhelming odds and how Pi maintains his optimism and sanity, and refuses to give up. I think he was saved eventually although I vaguely recalled that there were 2 endings - hmmmm. This is a fantastic read and I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.
"American Gangster": Novel Inspired by Movie
This version of "American Gangster" I read is based on the movie itself, so I reckon it is pretty much a close fit to the movie version.
I was drawn to the book on account of the apocalytic 'good-vs-evil' theme. Personally, there's always something faintly cathartic in these kind of books, in that you are able to participate vicariously in such epic fight for nothing less than triumph over the bad/good (depends on who you are rooting for).
Notwithstanding the promising introduction at the back cover, the book's not really a good read for me. The storyline essentially played to stereotypes: from the black druglord (played by Washington in the movie), to the posse of dirty cops, and to the white cop (incarnated by Crowe in the movie) who leads a band of undercops in the bid to bust the dope ring.
Even the backdrop of America and the Vietnam War era carried the faint tinge of déjà vu. There are no defining, insightful moments where one is tempted to go "wow, what a good point", not even "hmm, interesting".
The ending, well, ended predictably, with the 2 protanganists metaphorically walking into the far horizon. Another trite moment (thinking cowboy and hero-themed movies).
If I had ever evinced a desire to catch the movie prior to reading this, I think I will probably wait for the VCD (or DVD) version instead.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
I was drawn to the book on account of the apocalytic 'good-vs-evil' theme. Personally, there's always something faintly cathartic in these kind of books, in that you are able to participate vicariously in such epic fight for nothing less than triumph over the bad/good (depends on who you are rooting for).
Notwithstanding the promising introduction at the back cover, the book's not really a good read for me. The storyline essentially played to stereotypes: from the black druglord (played by Washington in the movie), to the posse of dirty cops, and to the white cop (incarnated by Crowe in the movie) who leads a band of undercops in the bid to bust the dope ring.
Even the backdrop of America and the Vietnam War era carried the faint tinge of déjà vu. There are no defining, insightful moments where one is tempted to go "wow, what a good point", not even "hmm, interesting".
The ending, well, ended predictably, with the 2 protanganists metaphorically walking into the far horizon. Another trite moment (thinking cowboy and hero-themed movies).
If I had ever evinced a desire to catch the movie prior to reading this, I think I will probably wait for the VCD (or DVD) version instead.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Monday, 14 January 2008
Microserfs
My next ninja raid is Microserfs by Douglas Coupland.
What started off as a short story in Wired magazine became a full blown novel about the lives of a couple of techies in Microsoft in the early 1990s.
Let's do the school debate thing and quote from the dictionary to get the ball rolling - Serf (sûrf)
n. A member of the lowest feudal class, attached to the land owned by a lord and required to perform labor in return for certain legal or customary rights.
So these young computer geeks work ridiculously long hours for Bill in return for stocks, job stability and a chance to do what do they know best - coding & programming. They 'freed' themselves by joining a startup to have a bigger stake in an exciting project. The story is told in the form of journal entries by the main character Daniel, in which he and his coworkers undergo a journey of self discovery and reflect upon <this is going to sound cliché> life.
What I really like about Coupland is how he weaves all his insights and philosophical musings into his stories (I recommend the more recent JPod as well). An example of a conversation between 2 characters in Microserfs:-
If a memory isn't used enough, does it become irretrievable?
Well, aside from proton decay and cosmic rays eliminating connections, I think memories are always there. They just get...unfindable. Think of memory loss as a forest fire. It's natural. You shouldn't really be afraid. Think of the flowers that grow where the land had just been destroyed.
Which had me rubbing my chin thinking,' Gee...I never really thought about it like that.' After a while I had razor burn and had to stop all that rubbing.
In short, Microserfs is a great take on the computer geek subculture. It's funny, irreverent and at times...totally random. The ending took me by surprise too. A heartwarming twist to a geek-hipster story.
Sunday, 13 January 2008
My Terry Pratchett Day
In which I read "The Colour of Magic" and "The Last Hero" (the latter also illustrated by Paul Kidby).
Unlike Gary, my affair with fantasy stories did not start from young. In fact, pre-Edding days, I used to profess downright disdain for them. I really didn't dig fantasy in those days. A chance encounter several years ago, where I picked up one of Eddings' book, changed my opinion, and I haven't looked back since. Today, I count Eddings, Holt, and Pratchett among my favourite authors now. Amongst others of course.
But that is neither here nor there. The purpose of this post is not to reminisce about my reading journeys, but to talk about these 2 books. Pardon the digression!
"The Colour of Magic"
"Colour of Magic" is Pratchett's first book in the Discworld series. Rincewind, Twoflower and the Luggage are the main characters of this book. R's the inept wizard who only knows 1 spell and can't say it, because it's one of the great (7+1) spells of the world. Twoflower's a tourist to the Disc (the fantasy world created by Pratchett), determined to see the world of the Disc and he brings with him the Luggage, a "being" made out of sapient pearwood who is ridiculously attached to his owner.
It's a comical tale, to be sure, and rather satirical in that they managed to weave modern day concepts such as insurance (or "inn-sewer-ants") and economics (forgot the Pratchett version of it) and have so much fun mocking it. There's quite a bit about mocking authority, ineffability and hero-bashing in there too. O, and not to forget Death, whom I understand is a central figure in the Discworld series. His way of speaking in CAPS, and his favourite motto that death comes to everybody, even to wizards, actually reminds me of Death, a character in Neil Gaiman's book too.
Geek rating for TCM: 4 out of 5
"The Last Hero"
One other taste that I acquired alongside fantasy books is also reading graphic novels. The Last Hero is an interesting mix of both. 3 central groups of characters make up the story: the Gods, the Wizards and the Silver Horde, a band of bona fide heroes who want to literally go out in a blaze of glory by challenging the Gods. The Wizards, for their part, are determined to step in to stop the apocalypse from happening.
Not to forget a ministrel who has been abducted by the Horde to sing the legend of the Heros.
If I'm not wrong, the book also satirises da Vinci, the inventor. In a bid to reach the abode of the Gods, he invented flight, but was made to undertake a massive painting enterprise for punishment. The similarities to the real painter are so obvious, it's quite hard to pass up, no?
And therein I think lies the genius of Pratchett. He manages to weave in many aspects of the real world in his fictional world, in a fashion so subversive and absurd, it makes you want to laugh at the world you live in.
I end this post with one of my more memorable quotes from "The Last Hero", being, "And Carelinus wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer." Haven't the faintest idea why I liked that though.
Geek rating for TLH: 4.5 out of 5
Unlike Gary, my affair with fantasy stories did not start from young. In fact, pre-Edding days, I used to profess downright disdain for them. I really didn't dig fantasy in those days. A chance encounter several years ago, where I picked up one of Eddings' book, changed my opinion, and I haven't looked back since. Today, I count Eddings, Holt, and Pratchett among my favourite authors now. Amongst others of course.
But that is neither here nor there. The purpose of this post is not to reminisce about my reading journeys, but to talk about these 2 books. Pardon the digression!
"The Colour of Magic"
"Colour of Magic" is Pratchett's first book in the Discworld series. Rincewind, Twoflower and the Luggage are the main characters of this book. R's the inept wizard who only knows 1 spell and can't say it, because it's one of the great (7+1) spells of the world. Twoflower's a tourist to the Disc (the fantasy world created by Pratchett), determined to see the world of the Disc and he brings with him the Luggage, a "being" made out of sapient pearwood who is ridiculously attached to his owner.
It's a comical tale, to be sure, and rather satirical in that they managed to weave modern day concepts such as insurance (or "inn-sewer-ants") and economics (forgot the Pratchett version of it) and have so much fun mocking it. There's quite a bit about mocking authority, ineffability and hero-bashing in there too. O, and not to forget Death, whom I understand is a central figure in the Discworld series. His way of speaking in CAPS, and his favourite motto that death comes to everybody, even to wizards, actually reminds me of Death, a character in Neil Gaiman's book too.
Geek rating for TCM: 4 out of 5
"The Last Hero"
One other taste that I acquired alongside fantasy books is also reading graphic novels. The Last Hero is an interesting mix of both. 3 central groups of characters make up the story: the Gods, the Wizards and the Silver Horde, a band of bona fide heroes who want to literally go out in a blaze of glory by challenging the Gods. The Wizards, for their part, are determined to step in to stop the apocalypse from happening.
Not to forget a ministrel who has been abducted by the Horde to sing the legend of the Heros.
If I'm not wrong, the book also satirises da Vinci, the inventor. In a bid to reach the abode of the Gods, he invented flight, but was made to undertake a massive painting enterprise for punishment. The similarities to the real painter are so obvious, it's quite hard to pass up, no?
And therein I think lies the genius of Pratchett. He manages to weave in many aspects of the real world in his fictional world, in a fashion so subversive and absurd, it makes you want to laugh at the world you live in.
I end this post with one of my more memorable quotes from "The Last Hero", being, "And Carelinus wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer." Haven't the faintest idea why I liked that though.
Geek rating for TLH: 4.5 out of 5
Fooled by Randomness
As I told Gary the other day, I've rather eclectic taste in books. I've read books by Douglas Adams, who specialises in humourous nonsensical concoctions, to Thomas Friedman, who is a specialist in Middle East politics. Anyway, I'm currently reading something of a more serious, and yet also frivolous, nature. Its Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
It's a book about luck disguised and perceived as skills, and more generally randonmess disguised and seen as determinism. I bought it as part of a 3-in-1 deal, comprising of 2 other books: Freakonomics and Blink, from Borders. Anyway, I've always wondered if successful people are successful because they are imbued with in-born abilities that they further honed when they were growing up. According to Taleb, success is more capricious than that and is so random that most people, short of those with an IQ of less than 100, have a shot of being successful. In fact, he says that most successful people are lucky fools who just benefit from a disproportionate share of luck, but they somehow attribute their success to some other, very precise, reason. Personally, this caused me to re-evaluate my long-held belief that I've exhauted my quota of luck when I was young. To cut a long story short, I squandered my luck winning contests with ridiculously cheap presents, such as colour pencils, erasers and other implements of the scholastic category.
But I digress. Taleb's point is this - we underestimate the share of randonmess in about everything. He said that even in society at large, we're still not much better than our prehistoric ancestors. The formation of our beliefs is fraught with superstitions too. Not unlike one of our forefathers who scratched his nose, saw rain fall, and developed an elaborate method of scratching his nose to bring on the rain, we link economic prosperity to some rate cut by the Federal Reserve Board, or the success of a company by the appointment of a new President. But the fact of the matter is they may not be linked at all. Even if they're somehow connected, it may be because the rate cut or appointment happened at the right time and at the right place. So the writer asks if we sometimes take experts too seriously as they read anything and everything into randomness.
Okay, that's all for now. I'll give you guys a more thorough review when I'm done. But I think this deserves at least 3 out of 5 stars, for it's a rather funny read for a subject matter that may not be worth writing about.
It's a book about luck disguised and perceived as skills, and more generally randonmess disguised and seen as determinism. I bought it as part of a 3-in-1 deal, comprising of 2 other books: Freakonomics and Blink, from Borders. Anyway, I've always wondered if successful people are successful because they are imbued with in-born abilities that they further honed when they were growing up. According to Taleb, success is more capricious than that and is so random that most people, short of those with an IQ of less than 100, have a shot of being successful. In fact, he says that most successful people are lucky fools who just benefit from a disproportionate share of luck, but they somehow attribute their success to some other, very precise, reason. Personally, this caused me to re-evaluate my long-held belief that I've exhauted my quota of luck when I was young. To cut a long story short, I squandered my luck winning contests with ridiculously cheap presents, such as colour pencils, erasers and other implements of the scholastic category.
But I digress. Taleb's point is this - we underestimate the share of randonmess in about everything. He said that even in society at large, we're still not much better than our prehistoric ancestors. The formation of our beliefs is fraught with superstitions too. Not unlike one of our forefathers who scratched his nose, saw rain fall, and developed an elaborate method of scratching his nose to bring on the rain, we link economic prosperity to some rate cut by the Federal Reserve Board, or the success of a company by the appointment of a new President. But the fact of the matter is they may not be linked at all. Even if they're somehow connected, it may be because the rate cut or appointment happened at the right time and at the right place. So the writer asks if we sometimes take experts too seriously as they read anything and everything into randomness.
Okay, that's all for now. I'll give you guys a more thorough review when I'm done. But I think this deserves at least 3 out of 5 stars, for it's a rather funny read for a subject matter that may not be worth writing about.
Sunday, 6 January 2008
On My Bookshelf: "Blaming the Victim: Spurious Scholarship and the Palestinian Question" Edited by Edward W. Said & Christopher Hitchens
Boasting superficial knowledge of geopolitics and having only a vague idea of who are the players involved in the Middle East Conflict at best, it was with some hesitation that I decided to give this book a try. I was quite convinced that I will probably abandon the book halfway, but reasoning that since the good Library Delivery Service had gone to some trouble to deliver the book to me, I decided not to let it go to waste.
Surprise surprise! As of now I have yet to finish it,but what I have read has captured my attention since, because I have yet to put down this book during my spare time for another.
The book's actually a series of essays that attempt to show the reader that the portrayal of Palestine in the Israel-Palestine conflict has been grossly manipulated by "scholars" (quotation marks entirely intended) and the US mass media. That Palestine has actually been unfairly characterised as the "terrorist" in this conflict through conscious and deliberate misinterpretation of information, as well as withholding of crucial information.
Frankly I do not know of the authenticity of this claim, hence I do not know if the essays can be taken for face value. After all, if the authors can claim that most articles hitherto written on the subject are actually heavily biased and myopic and have little basis in fact, who's to say that they themselves are not guilty of the same thing? I can only wonder.
Be that as it may, I find this book a compelling read, if only to open my eyes -- or more accurately, remind me -- of how events can be skewed by the mass media (and other media) for their own ends.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 (well, I haven't finished it!)
Surprise surprise! As of now I have yet to finish it,but what I have read has captured my attention since, because I have yet to put down this book during my spare time for another.
The book's actually a series of essays that attempt to show the reader that the portrayal of Palestine in the Israel-Palestine conflict has been grossly manipulated by "scholars" (quotation marks entirely intended) and the US mass media. That Palestine has actually been unfairly characterised as the "terrorist" in this conflict through conscious and deliberate misinterpretation of information, as well as withholding of crucial information.
Frankly I do not know of the authenticity of this claim, hence I do not know if the essays can be taken for face value. After all, if the authors can claim that most articles hitherto written on the subject are actually heavily biased and myopic and have little basis in fact, who's to say that they themselves are not guilty of the same thing? I can only wonder.
Be that as it may, I find this book a compelling read, if only to open my eyes -- or more accurately, remind me -- of how events can be skewed by the mass media (and other media) for their own ends.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 (well, I haven't finished it!)
Wednesday, 2 January 2008
Good Omens
I just finished Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett over the weekend. It's actually the 2nd time I've read it. The first time was many years ago, when I started reading Terry Pratchett and wanted to get my hands on anything Pratchett related.
I didn't have that good an impression of Good Omens back then. There are so many plotlines and with the sheer amount of things going on at the same time, I found it rather confusing.
It's good to revisit the book again though. This time, I'm amazed at what a gem of a read Good Omens is.
The book is essentially about the end of the world. The antichrist, then a baby, was supposed to be swapped with the baby of an American diplomat. Instead a bumbling Satanic nun working in the hospital mistook the wrong person, and Adam (the baby antichrist) grew up with a very normal English family in a small village. The angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley, who are based on earth to do their jobs for Heaven and Hell respectively, have taken a liking to the human race and work together to try and stop the apocalypse. At the same time, Anathema Device(a descendant of a 17th century witch who wrote a book of accurate prophecies) teams up with Newton Pulsifer (a newbie witchfinder) to track down the antichrist as well. Meanwhile, the four horsemen of the Apocalypse meet up and ride motorcycles to usher in the end of the world.
Sounds messy doesn't it?
It is, but it's good messy fun. Have you ever channel surfed on a lazy Sunday afternoon, and stumbled upon a movie that you've never heard before, but find so riveting that you're glued to it till the end? Good Omens is like that.
The multiple plot-lines will probably make you flip back a few pages more than a few times, but it's well worth it. The characters are very likable and the witty jibes at religion and human nature are not only insightful, but more importantly....funny as heck. It makes me wish that the apocalypse will come around again soon.
Ninja score: 8 out of 10 bookmark shurikens
First things first ...
Before I start, I just wanna qualify that my reading tempo has slowed down somewhat in the last year or so. While I still enjoy a good read, I'm going through books at a more respectable pace of, say one per 2 months. I know, I know, this is not acceptable for people who read a lot, but I've got other readings too. But as they're of a non-secular persuasion, I'll not share them for obvious reasons.
I always tell my friends its important to manage expectations before you plunge headlong into anything, so there you go ; )
I always tell my friends its important to manage expectations before you plunge headlong into anything, so there you go ; )
Ground Rules 101
I thought long and hard about what I want to write for my inaugural post on bookwormsupergeek, but no wave of inspiration came.
Anyway, kudos to Gary for proposing this. It's an interesting project to start and we shall see what we come up with.
Never-say-die-policy-maker that I am, I thought to suggest a couple of ground rules for our collaborative efforts before we start posting proper. (Yes, it is a rather superfluous attempt to say something without saying much, since I have already acknowledged that inspiration has not struck me.)
Post Contents
- Anything and everything about books
- Books can be stuff you have read, intend to read, or have been recommended by your friends
- When you name a book, cite full title and author (thereafter for the rest of your post you may call it by any name you like but to start with, one should accord the proper respect and cite it properly. Also serves as a point of reference for the others...)
Language
- No restrictions. If you can post convincingly in Latin, by all means, make my day
The Book Ninja!~
*runs silently on library rooftops*
*throws bookmark shurikens*
Other than my latent ninja skills...I think I shall share who are my favourite authors (at this point in time):-
Terry Pratchett - British author of the sci-fi Discworld series.
Douglas Coupland - Canadian author who wrote JPod, one of the funniest books I've ever read.
Haruki Murakami - Japanese writer. Deep and poetic, he has the ability to evoke a feeling of surreal dreaminess when you read his stories.
*throws bookmark shurikens*
Other than my latent ninja skills...I think I shall share who are my favourite authors (at this point in time):-
Terry Pratchett - British author of the sci-fi Discworld series.
Douglas Coupland - Canadian author who wrote JPod, one of the funniest books I've ever read.
Haruki Murakami - Japanese writer. Deep and poetic, he has the ability to evoke a feeling of surreal dreaminess when you read his stories.
Bookworm Supergeeks
Well...here it is. The Bookworm Supergeeks blog. After joking at Don's place on New year's eve that we could start a book club since we buy so many books, it occurred to me that the idea was actually pretty good. I mean, it gives us some sense of purpose after reading a book, and we can now look back on our entries and reflect on what we read instead of blindly devouring book after book.
I had my reservations in starting this project. Cos reading is a very personal experience. So I don't know how comfortable we'd be if we start sharing our own thoughts and feelings on what we read, or if we have the discipline to keep posting stuff.
But I think the 3 of us enjoy reading, and that's the most important.
So let's just have fun with this, keep it casual and evaluate the viability after a month*.
Cheers,
Gary
*that line is from Lay Suan the-never-say-die policy writer.
I had my reservations in starting this project. Cos reading is a very personal experience. So I don't know how comfortable we'd be if we start sharing our own thoughts and feelings on what we read, or if we have the discipline to keep posting stuff.
But I think the 3 of us enjoy reading, and that's the most important.
So let's just have fun with this, keep it casual and evaluate the viability after a month*.
Cheers,
Gary
*that line is from Lay Suan the-never-say-die policy writer.
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