Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom – Book Review

 

Publisher’s write-up:

‘Maybe it was a grandparent, a teacher or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and impassioned, helped you to see the world as a more profound place and gave you sound advice to guide your way through it. For Mitch, it was Morrie Schwartz, the college professor who had taught him nearly twenty years before.

Perhaps, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as the years passed, the insights faded and the world seemed colder. Wouldn’t you like to see that person again, to ask the bigger questions that still haunt you and receive wisdom for your busy life in the way you once did when you were younger?’

Tuesdays with Morrie is a compilation of a series of exchanges between the author Mitch Albom and his terminally ill professor, Morrie Schwartz, who had been diagnosed with ALS. The author used to take Morrie’s classes when he was a student every Tuesday and they continued the same tradition, of meeting every Tuesday, and Mitch talking about various aspects of life, such as family, emotions, death, etc.

The journey as such is wonderful to read, and the camaraderie between Morrie and Mitch was seen very well, wherein, both had something to give to each other. Mitch was inspired by the positivity that Morrie displayed, despite being diagnosed with a terrible illness and saw the positivity in each situation, including the places where Morrie started enjoying the dependencies he had to perform even the most basic activities.

The book was also very easy to read, which is similar to the experience I had with the other Mitch Albom book that I have read so far (The Five People you meet in Heaven). This follows the story of Mitch very well and how he is able find himself again, after all these discussions with Morrie.

While he was disappointed over being estranged from his brother who was in Spain, and how the author explains that Morrie replaced him – this aspect could have been explored more by the author. Added to that, I also felt that the conversations Morrie had with Ted Koppel (the broadcast journalist)could have been more chronological, wherein, the fact that they were disconnected and often inserted between the different Tuesdays that Mitch went to meet Morie, I often lost track of where the conversation was previously left off.

On that note, this is a good book, and an easy to read book, which helps you feel good and on that note, I award the book a rating of seven on ten.

Rating – 7/10

Have a nice day,
Andy

The Architect’s Apprentice by Elif Shafak – Book Review

 

Publisher’s write-up:

‘In her latest novel, Elif Shafak spins an epic tale spanning nearly a century in the life of the Ottoman Empire. In 1540, twelve-year-old Jahan arrives in Istanbul. As an animal tamer in the sultan’s menagerie, he looks after the exceptionally smart elephant Chota and befriends (and falls for) the sultan’s beautiful daughter, Princess Mihrimah. A palace education leads Jahan to Mimar Sinan, the empire’s chief architect, who takes Jahan under his wing as they construct (with Chota’s help) some of the most magnificent buildings in history. Yet even as they build Sinan’s triumphant masterpieces—the incredible Suleymaniye and Selimiye mosques—dangerous undercurrents begin to emerge, with jealousy erupting among Sinan’s four apprentices.’

Note: I read the French translation of the novel

This is a historical novel written by the Turkish writer Elif Shafak, and the story takes place in 16^th century Istanbul. The plot is centred around the character of Jahan, a 12-year-old boy who has come to Istanbul from afar with an elephant named ‘Chota’ to present to the Sultan. The other main characters of the book are real historical figures fictionalised by the author, such as Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, his daughter Mihrimah, and the royal architect - Mimar Sinan.

The story takes us through the era of three different sultans, starting from Suleiman till the reign of his grandson Murad III. The author also touches upon the then Turkish society and the multicultural nature of it, where Istanbul was a melting pot comprising several ethnicities such as the Turks, Armenians, Serbians, Bosnians, Iranians, etc. Even the best friends of Jahan, in the novel, are of different ethnicities.

The plot followed the development of Jahan’s character well, who was at first a mahout and was well recognised by the Sultan for the performance of his elephant during the Balkan conquest of the Ottoman Empire. There was also a romantic sub-plot between the sultan’s daughter Mihrimah and Janhan, a forbidden love considering the different social classes that the two are from. Then, he becomes the apprentice of the royal architect Sinan, and the story then follows till Jahan’s old age.

I liked how she had used the different aspects of the historic Ottoman society. Those who are interested by historical fiction and the middle ages, would enjoy these descriptions. I also could visualize Istanbul of the 16^th century very well based on her description. The relation between Sinan and Jahan, and equally the secrets they had about their lives which was kept from us till the very end, was done well.

While I liked the historical aspect, and even learnt a lot on the Ottoman Empire, I also found that plot is perhaps not the author’s strong point. It is a very long novel without much of a movement even though there were three sultans. The love between Mihrimah and Jahan started well but it was evident to any reader since the beginning that this would not go very far.

To conclude, I would say that the novel was a tad too long but it was still interesting to read a story taking place in the 16^th century Ottoman empire. On that note, I award the book a rating of six on ten.

Rating – 6/10

Have a nice day,
Andy

Glyph by Percival Everett – Book Review

 

Publisher’s write-up:

‘Baby Ralph has ways to pass the time in his crib―but they don't include staring at a mobile. Aided by his mother, he reads voraciously: "All of Swift, all of Sterne, Invisible Man, Baldwin, Joyce, Balzac, Auden, Roethke," along with a generous helping of philosophy, semiotics, and trashy thrillers. He's also fond of writing poems and stories (in crayon). But Ralph has limits. He's mute by choice and can't drive, so in his own estimation he's not a genius. Unfortunately for him, everyone else disagrees. His psychiatrist kidnaps him for testing, and once his brilliance is quantified (IQ: 475), a Pentagon officer also abducts him. Diabolically funny and lacerating in its critique of poststructuralism, Glyph has the feverish plot of a thriller and the philosophical depth of a text by Roland Barthes. If anyone can map the wilds of literary theory, it's Ralph, one of Percival Everett's most enduring creations.’

Glyph is a novel written during the late 90s by the English professor, Percival Everett. The story features a baby named Ralph as the main character, who is a genius and reads books and writes poetry while on the crib. However, he does not utter a word and expresses himself only by writing. His mother is worried about him and takes him to a psychiatrist but when everyone starts taking note of Ralph’s abilities, which leads to his kidnapping.

For novels like this, the start has to be convincing, considering it is an absurd premise and the author had it written very well to draw the reader into this world of his. There were lots of humorous elements throughout the novel, starting from his antipathy towards his father, owing to his father’s own insecurities as a struggling writer, that he finds it difficult to accept that his baby is smarter than him. There were also several references, where Ralph discusses well known literature, from Balzac to Baldwin, and also various philosophers such as Nietzsche and Plato. I was not able to relate to all of the literary references but here was a case of the writer playing to his strength, of being an English professor.

While I enjoyed the premise and the humorous elements along the way, I felt the novel was a tad too long. One instance of kidnapping was fine, but a second kidnapping dragged the story too long. While I can buy into the world where there is an infant who is a prodigy, him being able to drive is testing the reader to the limits and that is where I felt the humour was getting lost.

Humour is not usually a genre that I read and those that I have, I did not particularly enjoy. However, this book proved to be an exception and I found it thoroughly amusing. Even though it was not the easiest of reads, and could be appreciated better if we could understand all the literary and philosophical references, I would still say that this book would satisfy the average audience and on that note, I award the book a rating of six on ten.

Rating – 6/10

Have a nice day,
Andy

Monsters: A fan’s dilemma by Claire Dederer – Book Review

 Publisher’s write-up: 

‘What do we do with the art of monstrous men? Can we love the work of Roman Polanski and Michael Jackson, Hemingway and Picasso? Should we love it? Does genius deserve special dispensation? Is history an excuse? What makes women artists monstrous? And what should we do with beauty, and with our unruly feelings about it?

Claire Dederer explores these questions and our relationships with the artists whose behaviour disrupts our ability to apprehend the work on its own terms. She interrogates her own responses and her own behaviour, and she pushes the fan, and the reader, to do the same. Morally wise, deeply considered and sharply written, Monsters gets to the heart of one of our most pressing conversations.’

We have ongoing conversation about whether artists could be separated from their works and if not, should we feel guilty of enjoying artistic excellence from ‘Monsters’? This includes topics like whether we could enjoy the works of Polanski – who has fled the criminal justice system in the US for raping a minor; or could still take pleasure from reading the books of JK Rowling, who uses her large platform to spread vitriol against the transgender people, one of the most vulnerable groups throughout history. These are some of the questions that the writer Claire Dederer tries to answer in this book.

She takes up the case of several well-known personalities such as Woody Allen, Pablo Picasso, JK Rowling, Doris Lessing, Roman Polanski, etc. and discusses her own dilemma around enjoying some of their works. An idea she discussed was interesting, describing this as conflicting biographies, where in the internet age, we know the biographies of all the famous personalities whom we follow but at the same time, if this conflicts with our own biographies (the ethics and values that we hold), then we start to question ourselves.

This would fall under the category of a book that I wanted to like, considering this is an interesting and contemporary topic, given the nonsensical culture wars initiated by the right-wing ecosystem lately. However, this book lacked structure and often missed the point. She starts talking about Rowling and then digresses immediately somewhere else without having relevance to what was being discussed earlier.

I would raise something I felt personally here, she was saying how to classify a famous woman as a ‘monster’ had much lower standards, which usually involved abandoning their children for the sake of their career and she cited the example of Doris Lessing. I understand that this is a topic close to her, but personally I do not see Doris Lessing discussed as much as she claimed and indeed, a separation where she willingly left the children in the custody of her partner, there is nothing morally wrong in her actions.

I understand that she was giving her opinions – as is the purpose of this book but that is when I stopped understanding whether she was inviting a discussion into the subject or writing a diary on how she felt about these people during the various phases of her life. Considering this was like reading a diary, I hoped that she would eventually reveal how she personally chose to deal with the subject (while you or I may have our own views and approach) but she leaves that open ended as well.

On that note, I would conclude saying that this was a disappointing book given the high level of expectations that I had. I rate the book a three on ten.

Rating – 3/10

Have a nice day,
Andy

Secession and State Creation by James Ker-Lindsay and Mikulas Fabry

 

Publisher’s write-up:

Cliquez ici afin de lire en français

‘What makes a state? This question has attracted more and more attention in recent years with Catalan’s illegal vote for independence from Spain and Palestine’s ongoing search for international recognition. And while Scotland chose to remain with the United Kingdom, discussion of independence have only continued as the ramifications of the Brexit vote begin to set in. Kosovo, South Sudan, and the situation in Ukraine – each in its way reveals the perils of creating a nation separate from neighbours who have dominated it.

As James Ker-Lindsay and Mikulas Fabry show in this new addition to the What Everyone Needs to Know series, the road to statehood never did run smooth. Declaring independence is only the first step; gaining both local and global acceptance is necessary before a state can become truly independent, The prospect of losing territory is usually not welcomed by the parent state, and any such threat to an existing culture and its economy is often met with resistance – armed or otherwise. Beyond this immediate conflict, the international community often refuses to accept new states without proof of defined territory, a settled population, and effective government, which frequently translates to a democratic one with demonstrated respect for human rights. Covering the legal, political, and practical issues of secession and state creation, Ker-Lindsay and Fabry provide a sure-footed guide to a complex topic.’

What makes a state? This question is even more pertinent today considering we are facing the most tumultuous geopolitical situation in decades, with Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, civil war in Sudan, regime change in Afghanistan, Myanmar, etc. As the author addressed early on in the book, some newly formed states like South Sudan have gained international recognition without much hassle whereas others such as Kosovo, notwithstanding their ability to operate as an independent state, including achieving recognition from major global powers, still is not recognised by over half the world and is not a UN member. These are the questions that this book answers, as to what creates a state and what are the valid causes for secession.

To start with, this book takes an academic perspective on the issue and is not a philosophical book on nationhood or sense of belonging. It addresses the widely recognised international conventions and also the UN charter and the various resolutions when it comes to statehood and ideas such as self-determination. Even the definitions of what constituted a state start from the late 18^th century (around the time of independence of the US) and does not explain how states were recognised in different regions in the past (for example, in Europe, the church for large parts of the Middle Ages).

It is presented in an easy-to-read manner – split into chapters and in a question-and-answer format. The book was published in 2023 and thus,  it is updated up until the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine. For the uninitiated and at the same time interested in geopolitics and the various concepts of state recognition– this book provides an overview, explaining what constitutes a state, what have been the accepted methods used in resolving conflicts in the past, and also failed efforts and frozen conflicts. There were several interesting facts that were presented, especially the norms that we follow in the international community – which I have never thought of it that way, that the countries have agreed that one sovereign state would have one vote in the UNGA regardless of their size and population.

A disappointment that people could have is from incorrect expectations as I already stated, as the book is academic and often uses terms which are not in common parlance. However, to those who are even partially interested in the topic, might be familiar with a third of the book, and thus, could proceed with those sections fast (an example could be a detailed explanation of the Montevideo Convention on the criteria for recognising a state).

On the whole, I would say that the book was an excellent read, and is strongly recommended for those who are interested in geopolitics and how the international system operates. On that note, I award the book a rating of eight on ten.

Rating – 8/10

Have a nice day,
Andy

The Emigrants by W.G. Sebald – Book Review

 

Publisher’s write-up :

‘At first The Emigrants appears simply to document the lives of four Jewish émigrés in the twentieth century. But gradually, as Sebald's precise, almost dreamlike prose begins to draw their stories, the four narrations merge into one overwhelming evocation of exile and loss.’

The Emigrants is a collection of four short stories written by the writer and academic W.G. Sebald, who wrote the book originally in German. As the title suggests, this narrates the story of four emigrants, all of whom are jews who fled Germany to avoid prosecution and living in their adopted countries.

The first story is about a doctor living in the English country side, Dr. Henry Selwyn, the second is that of a teacher, Paul Bereyter who now lives in Switzerland, the third is Amboros, who lives in the United States with his rich relatives – with whom he travels to expensive places around the world, and the last character is Max Ferber, who is a young painter in Manchester, whom the author meets.

The story dealt with different aspects of life, particularly that of emigrants, where there is always a yearning to belong to your new place, along with the nostalgia for the place that you had left but you have your reasons why it is implausible to move back to the previous place. This was best shown in the story of Paul, who struggled to belong in his new place even though he was well respected and always had a longing for the mountains in Bavaria.

The author had the setting described well in each of the stories, be it the countryside in the story of Dr. Selwyn or the various towns of Switzerland. The best use of a city was the description of Manchester in the story of Max, where I felt the author had used the city well. The author also has a unique style of adding pictures without any caption and this allowed me to visualize a lot of these scenes described to me by the author.

The story I had liked the least was the one of Amboros, where there were too many characters for one to get lost in the sea of information and they keep travelling around the world, going from place to place. It felt more like reading a travelogue than a novel. Unless these characters were completely based on real people, I felt the stories were unnecessarily sad, even stories that I felt which did not need such levels of sadness for it to move the reader (such as the story of Paul), and after a point, it becomes predictable, I had the shock while reading the story of Dr. Selwyn, but eventually, I started expecting such events.

On the whole, I would say that it was a good read, not the easiest of reads, but still has got some interesting stories. I award the book a rating of six on ten, and I am certainly interested in trying the other works of the writer.

Rating – 6/10

Have a nice day,
Andy

I’ll be strong for you by Nasim Marashi – book review

 

Afin de lire mon avis en français, cliquez ici

Note: I read the French translation of this book, so I would be using the names of the characters as it was written in French

Publisher’s write-up (from goodreads):

‘Three recent college graduates in Tehran struggle to find their footing in this award\-winning debut by Iranian journalist Nasim Marashi. Roja, the most daring of the three, works in an architecture firm and is determined to leave Tehran for graduate school in Toulouse. Shabaneh, who is devoted to her disabled brother and works with Roja, is uncertain about marrying a colleague as it would mean leaving her family behind. Leyla, who was unable to follow her husband abroad because of her commitment to her career as a journalist, is wracked with regret. Over the course of two seasons, summer and fall, in bustling streets and cramped family apartments, the three women weather setbacks and compromises, finding hope in the most unlikely places. Even as their ambitions cause them to question the very fabric of their personalities and threaten to tear their friendship apart, time and again Roja, Shabaneh and Leyla return to the comfort of their longtime affection, deep knowledge and unquestioning support of each other. Vividly capturing three very distinct voices, Marashi\x27s deeply wrought narrative lovingly brings these young women and their friendship to life in all their complexity.’

I’ll be strong for you is the first novel of the writer Nasim Marashi, written in Persian and published in 2014, which was highly successful in Iran. It is a story of three young women who met at the university in Tehran during their studies. The three have different family backgrounds, with Leya having a privileged background, Shabaneh who is from a small town and lived through her town being bombarded during the war (which war, is not mentioned) and does not want to leave her brother with special needs alone with her mother, the latter who does not have a particular liking towards him, and Rodja, who has big dreams and wants to leave the country. The narration is done in the first person though the narrator is different in each chapter (Leyla, Shabaneh and Rodja respectively).

 I liked the fact that the novel was universal and addressed experiences faced by most people living an urban life anywhere in the world. At times, I was interested in even going for a coffee with Leyla, just to hear her out, with all the difficulties she is facing with her mental health. I also appreciated the narration and the writing style as well, and even though the narrator changed every chapter, the chronology was maintained and the first person narrator of the previous chapter is a character in the third person in the present chapter.

Each of the character had to address a difficult situation, faced my most people, that is, ‘whether to stay or leave’, be it the country, job or a relationship and each of them had to measure the pros and cons of whatever decision they were to take.

However, universal nature of the novel was also its weakness, as regardless of whether this novel had taken place in Tehran or New York or Paris or Tokyo or Johannesburg would have caused little difference. I had a lot of expectations considering the novel was translated to French in the year 2023, with the context of the protests against the regime triggered by the murder of the young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini by the state in 2022. However, the author never touched upon sensitive topics, neither religion nor politics. The former I understand as based on several articles I have read, Iran is quite a secular society where religion is less important than its other neighbours in the Middle East, despite their government. However, with politics, she had an opportunity, as Iran is a multicultural country despite popular perception (with Persians, Kurds, Azeris, Arabs, etc.) and I never saw any of these cultural aspects come out. And given that these women either wanted to leave the country (like Rodja) or create a positive impact (like Leyla), it was very much possible to explore the political angle.

To conclude, I enjoyed the book, and though it did not meet my expectations, if you enjoy reading about universal emotions such as love, friendship and dilemma, it is still a good novel to read. Considering that, I would award the novel a rating of six on ten.

Rating – 6/10

Have a nice day,
Andy

The Shallows by Nicholas Carr – Book Review

 

Publisher’s write-up:

‘Boldly reactionary... What looks like feast, Carr argues, may be closer to famine' Sunday Times'Chilling' The Economist. In this ground-breaking and compelling book, Nicholas Carr argues that not since Gutenberg invented printing has humanity been exposed to such a mind-altering technology. The Shallows draws on the latest research to show that the Net is literally re-wiring our brains inducing only superficial understanding. As a consequence there are profound changes in the way we live and communicate, remember and socialise - even in our very conception of ourselves. By moving from the depths of thought to the shallows of distraction, the web, it seems, is actually fostering ignorance. The Shallows is not a manifesto for luddites, nor does it seek to turn back the clock. Rather it is a revelatory reminder of how far the Internet has become enmeshed in our daily existence and is affecting the way we think. This landmark book compels us all to look anew at our dependence on this all-pervasive technology.’

The Shallows is a ten chapter book written by the tech writer Nicholas Carr. This book in particular, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. It needs to be kept in mind that the first edition was published in 2010, when iPhone was ‘new’ and social media did not have the level of impact it does today. However, in the foreword of my 10^th anniversary edition, the author claimed he stands vindicated considering what we have made of the internet. The title of the book states that the author tries to establish how the internet changes the way we think, read and remember, and I would evaluate whether the author has built the case for that.

The author starts by telling us how the concept of knowledge changed over time, where memory was important till the time writing and archiving were invented, it was associated less with knowledge from thereon. He also explains in detail the revolution brought by Gutenberg with the invention of printing press changed the way we processed information. I also liked how he compared Google to that of a church, wherein, the company despite its shortcomings are convinced of their vision statement where they are ‘making knowledge free’. The arguments about how our brains were impacted, sounded technical but was interesting when it came to making his case.

Having said that, I still found the book a tad outdated, wherein, many studies conducted on hyperlinks and its effect were from 90s, while I understand that many of it might still be relevant today, it is far easier to refer hyperlinks and get to the original text now that in was 30 years ago. It still raised a valid point, considering how it is easy to get distracted by hyperlinks. There are also other points where the author spoke of how we have not reduced television consumption but significantly increased the time we spend on the internet, and thus are left with less time. However, these days it is hard to distinguish between television and the internet as compared to 2010 (is Netflix television or internet? Is streaming on YouTube using your television be considered by the author as television or internet?)

While the author spoke of digressions, I felt for most of the book, the writer himself was digressing, with most of the book speaking very little about the internet and rather, the evolution of how we processed information over the centuries.

Many points raised by the author are interesting, such as the ineffectiveness of multi-tasking, which is all the more relevant in today’s work environment with real time conversation capabilities, we are often tasked with many different things to do at once. It also talks about how hyperlinks, rather than giving more information, provides less information to the reader. Ironically though, his own books cited a lot of sources, which, is required in a non-fiction work.

To conclude, I would say the book raised a lot of interesting points that ought to be discussed, such as how internet keeps us distracted. Many points got touched on the surface but none of it went deep enough to have an impact. On that note, I would award the book a rating of four on ten.

Rating – 4/10

Have a nice day,
Andy

Aliss at the Fire by Jon Fosse – Book Review

 

Publisher’s write-up:

‘In her old house by the fjord, Signe lies on a bench and sees a vision of herself as she was more than twenty years earlier: standing by the window waiting for her husband Asle, on that terrible late November day when he took his rowboat out onto the water and never returned. Her memories widen out to include their whole life together, and beyond: the bonds of one family and their battles with implacable nature stretching back over five generations, to Asle's great-great-grandmother Aliss.

In Jon Fosse's vivid, hallucinatory prose, all these moments in time inhabit the same space, and the ghosts of the past collide with those who still live on.

Aliss at the Fire is a haunting exploration of love, ranking among the greatest meditations on marriage and loss.’

Aliss at the Fire is an experimental novel written by Jon Fosse, who is a well-known playwright from Norway. Having said that I do not know how to place or where to place this. This novel goes through several generations of the Signe’s husband Asle, and talks a lot about his great-great-grandmother, Aliss and how since her days, the same events have been repeating in her family. Even Signe, who has been ‘waiting’ for her husband for over twenty years even though it is very apparent to the reader and everyone else that her husband left on a day when the weather was terrible and the boat sank, and that he is dead.

There are texts that are complex, which require the level of detail and verbose writing is enjoyable to the reader. And then there are books like Aliss at the Fire which have no content and is complicated for the sake of being complicated. I tried my best to get into the experiment of the author and I often like such innovative ideas or experiments and give it the widest time possible for me to judge, but this tested my patience immensely. The first five pages of the novel effectively conveyed that Signe looked out of her window, in so many words (mind you, this is an 80 page novel). It reminded me of a character from the British satirical show Yes Minister, the Permanent Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby, who spoke such sentences but at least his intent was clear, that was to confuse the minister and in the end get his own agenda through. However, what was the intent of Jon Fosse? I would presume to frustrate the reader.

There are some parts of the text that I enjoyed, such as the description of Signe’s rural home by the Norwegian fjord, but that was all the content that was available on this book, the rest of the 75 odd pages were fluff. I read this book for a book club, and there were those who had positive views on the book, especially among those who enjoy poetry, so if you are someone who enjoys such works, you may try this book.

Since I read a translation, I also did not appreciate how the translator changed the title of the book, wherein, the Norwegian name of the title character is ‘Ales’ but the translator added a note stating that he changed it to Aliss (which is not a traditional Norwegian name), since it could have been misinterpreted as a story about ale and other types of beer. I hardly think anybody would have thought this book is talking about some technique to ferment an ale using fire. 

I would conclude by saying that reading this book was one of the worst by which I used my time and on that note, I award this book a rating of two on ten.

Rating – 2/10

Have a nice day,
Andy

Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville - Book Review

Note : I read the French translation of the novella

Afin de lire mon avis de lecture en français, cliquez ici

Publisher’s write-up (translated by me from the French edition):

‘The world described by Melville in this 1853 novella is already the world of ‘start up nation’, automation, surveillance, uberisation, the world of ‘bullshit jobs’, of open space, a world that is empty and impersonal, digitized and petrified in which all forms of resistance are criminalized. The world of copyright, the fast life of the megacity. To summarise, a mercantile world, brutal and closed, born during the first half of the 19^th century in Wall Street, and that which has become ours today. It is thus not surprising that ‘I would prefer not to’ is a slogan that was used by the protesters of the Occupy Wall Street movement’.

Bartleby the Scrivener is a novella written by the American author Herman Melville, who is known for his novel ‘Moby Dick’. In this, Bartleby is a new scrivener employed by a Wall Street advocate who was at first impressed by Bartleby’s sincerity at work. However, little by little, he loses interest in everything and thus, always responded to every question or request with his famous phrase ‘I would prefer not to’.

Even though the novella was written two centuries ago, it is still relatable as mentioned by the publisher, that the text is still relevant in the world of Uber and ‘Bullshit Jobs’ (to read my review on Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber, click here). Through this novella, the author had also shown the absurdities in the work environment, where the advocate did not lose anything even when Bartleby was doing nothing, never sacked him owing to sympathy and he was forced to eventually sack Bartleby not because of ‘cost cutting’ but because his reputation was being damaged in front of his clients who were observing that there was someone in the office doing nothing. If not for that, there was no impact in paying Bartleby for doing nothing.

The study of psychology and psychiatry was not that developed in the 19^th century but today, Bartleby might have been diagnosed as someone suffering from a severe depression. It was also a commentary on the American society of this era, where the a person’s profession defined who they were, which is even the case today where the society prefers a person who does some ‘work’ even though it is not useful for anyone rather than someone who does nothing (though the value added to the society in both these cases is nil). As mentioned earlier, there were many similarities between what was described in this novel and the 21^st century essay written by David Graeber on the phenomenon of ‘Bullshit Jobs’.

I would also add a point on the translation, I normally hate reading translations if I know the original language, especially in this case where the original language is my native language. However, the French translation was done very well and had a lot of footnotes which are required for the understanding of a 21^st century audience, for example, the book talks of a ‘dead letter office’, a concept which people are unlikely to be familiar with today, but, my French edition had a footnote explaining what it was and I could understand Bartleby’s plight further, thanks to that.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel, even though it was at times a caricature and the situation described by the author was an extreme and totally absurd, but still, sometimes it is these absurdities that help us think of more important questions on the society and the discussions that we need to have. On that note, I would award the book a rating of eight on ten.

Rating – 8/10

Have a nice day,
Andy

Promised Land by Karel Schoeman – Book Review

 

Publisher’s write-up (translated from the French edition by me):

Afin de lire le commentaire en français, cliquez ici.

“For George, this trip to South Africa was a promise to return to the land of his Afrikaner ancestors. However, they were just not the nostalgic memories that resurfaced. Between fear, silence and a ruined world from ‘the past’, the return of the prodigal son turns quickly into suffocation. For the peasant families forgotten by history, George represented everything at once. The foreigner who is a son of the country. The past and the present. A role that would soon prove to be too heavy to bear.”

Note: I read the book in French translated from Afrikaans by Pierre-Marie Finkelstein.

Promised Land is a novel from the well known writer from South Africa, Karel Schoeman, who wrote novels in Afrikaans, a language spoken by a majority of the Afrikaners in South Africa. The plot takes place in 1972, during the apartheid regime of South Africa.

George Neethling returns to his country of birth, after having been raised and lived in Switzerland for most of his life; in order to see the farm where he grew up in, the farm that belonged to his family at Rietvlei in South Africa. En route, he stops at the house of the Hattingh family, who inform him that there is nothing left in Rietvlei considering how his mother had left long ago and that there was nobody who took care of the farm. He was welcomed into the Hattingh family and everybody were interested in him for some reason or the other, as most of them had never seen a foreigner, or in this case, someone who had lived abroad. The conversations between Carla (Hattingh’s daughter) and George was my favourite part of the novel, where both sides made some very strong points. I also enjoyed the feast organized for George, where during the party, everyone wanted to dance with George to strike a conversation with him, for reasons of their own.

The author also explored most human emotions that is common all over the world, such as nostalgia with George, where he spends too much money to come all the way even though he had very little hope that he was returning to a better country than the one that his mother had left; and equally on the other side, the family values that are displayed by Hattingh and his friends. There was always an air of mystery, be it with George or the Hattingh family and their friends, which lasted for almost two thirds of the novel, which was something I appreciated. The contrast between someone from the countryside and someone from the city was also a topic well explored, where Carla even tells George that though they speak the “same words”, they do not speak the “same language”. I also enjoyed the description of the landscape and the Afrikaner village – where I felt like personally being in that setting in 1972. The novel also subtly touched upon political aspects of the time, though not directly, by using characters like Gerhad, who reminds George of his duty towards “his country”, “his people” and “his ancestors”. Even George’s gradual change was interesting, where he initially saw himself as being in his country but eventually identified himself as a foreigner.

A potential problem for readers could be that they need a context as the novel is written for Afrikaans speaking population in South Africa and if we do not know the history of the Afrikaners or the country, it could be difficult to appreciate the subtleties of the novel or even boring. It was a remark made by around half of the participants in the book club I attended to discuss this book (in French), and I understand their point of view.

To summarise, I loved this book, it was well written and the author invoked several complicated subjects despite the small size of the novel (around 250 pages in my pocket French edition). So, I award the book a rating of eight on ten.

Rating – 8/10

Have a nice day,
Andy

Maus by Art Spiegelman – Book Review

 

Maus is a Pulitzer winning non-fictional work from the illustrator Art Spiegelman in the form of a graphic novel – presenting us the survival story of his own father under the Nazi regime and various concentration camps. The book goes across various periods – the writer’s present, in the US in the 70s; Czechoslovakia and Poland before the war; the survival of his father post war and eventual emigration to the United States.

The book starts with the author visiting his father, Vladek, a Jew from present day Czech Republic, and discusses his idea of presenting his father’s survival story in the form of a graphic novel. The account is dependent on his fathers recalling of the events and one could only trust his father to be a reliable narrator. It starts with him recalling how he met his wife Anja, the birth of their first child Richieu. He has had a lot of personal tragedy, the death of his firstborn during the holocaust, the trauma he had to face in the camps, the suicide of his wife much later in their life (and the impact it had on Art, the author himself), and the present relationship issues that he was having.

I liked how the author chose to present the discussion between his father and him as is, including the various arguments that they had during the course of the discussion (at one point with the son calling his father a murderer but I would not divulge that). This was an interesting choice rather than just present his father’s survival story in the camps as a graphic novel, as we could understand a lot of their present day struggles, years after the holocaust, including for the descendants of the survivors (such as the author).

There were also several subtle themes presented by the author – wherein all characters were presented as animals – the Jews as mice, the Poles as pigs, the Germans as cats, the French as frogs, etc. These reflect stereotypes and also the absurdity of classifying a whole group of people as ‘the same’, considering none of the groups are a monolith. The author brought this out as well, where there was an instance of an ideological argument between a Russian Jew – who holds communist ideologies, hit out at Vladek, for being a capitalist and never having ‘worked’ in his whole life.

Much as this is a remarkable survival story, one also needs to note that the story is narrated by Vladek, the character who seems to have solutions to every problem and has a solution for all of his wife’s problems as well. The book also brings out his evolution as a character as in the present day, there is an argument between Vladek and his daughter-in-law (Art’s wife) where Vladek makes a racist remark on a black person (confronted on the basis that he is doing to the blacks exactly what the Nazis did to him).

The struggles of Art was also shown well, where he was in sessions with his psychiatrist, and also remarks that his deceased brother is like that ‘perfect child’ and every instance, he was competing with a photo, which proved to be very difficult for him.

The only downside, much as I would not comment on life choices on an individual when it comes to a biography, I would still say Vladek was not a particularly likeable person for me, he was a racist, to me he came off as a 1930s version of a gold digger – wherein he rejects the advances of a woman not over a lack of interest, but over the fact that she came from a very poor family and could not afford his dowry and for that matter, one of the virtues he stated of his wife Anja was that she came from a very rich family.

Overall, I liked this book – it was well presented, I particularly appreciated it being presented more in the form of a memoir and that it was non-chronological. It presented a very serious event, one of the greatest tragedies in human history as a comic, with its own subtleties (when it came to presenting groups of people as animals). On that note, I would award this book a rating of eight on ten.

Rating – 8/10

Have a nice day,
Andy

Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis – Book Review

 

Publisher’s write-up:

‘Zorba the Greek, Nikos Kazantzakis’ most popular and enduring novel,, has its origins in the author’s own experiences in the Peleponnesus in the 1920s. His swashbuckling hero has legions of fans across the world and his adventures are as exhilarating and exciting now as the were on first publication in the 1950s.’

Zorba the Greek is a novel written in the 20^th Century – originally written in Greek set in the island of Crete. The book mainly features a mysterious character going by the name Zorba, who accompanies the narrator to the island of Crete and works as his foreman for coal mining.

The book is set in the early 20^th century, after the first world war, wherein the narrator is impacted by the departure of his friend’s departure to the Caucasus, to fight for the ethnic Greeks in the region. The author being an intellectual, wanted to leave his books aside for a while and take a break in Crete, under the guise of mining coal. This is where he meets Zorba, in the ship – a personality he finds to be interesting and at the same time, highly eccentric. The two have contrasting views of the world and unlike the narrator, Zorba is a man of action and experience, and does not find a meaning in the intellectual pursuits of the narrator.

The best part of the book is the location – the fact that it takes place in Crete. This is from the perspective of an outsider, wherein, most of the Greek literature I have read is from ancient times and this is the first book that I am reading that has been written in the 20^th century and that I could read the description of a modern Greece. I also liked the interactions between the two main characters, where at one point, the narrator does feel that Zorba is the person who is living the life that he wishes to live, though he is not accepting of Zorba’s  impulsive methods.

While I repeatedly asserted that the book is featuring a modern Greece, however, there are instances that could be shocking to the average reader as to how regressive the outlook was, towards women and also for what reasons the people are willing to kill another human being (this is towards the end, I would not go into details at the risk of spoiling the book).

Personally, I had a split opinion on Zorba, where his views towards women were regressive, to the extent that he doubted whether they were part of the same species, but at the same time, he supported certain other ideas that I liked – such as being someone from that period, he rejects ideas of irridentism, going on to say that Greeks attempt to take over Constantinople is as good as a Turkish attempt to take over Athens and it should not be pursued. While I preferred the character of the narrator more, this was where I preferred Zorba’s views, in the topic of irridentism.

There were also several minor characters who were used well, particularly, that of Madame Hortense, the manager of the inn where the two characters stay. There is also a romantic sub plot between Zorba and Hortense and while Zorba was unaffected by almost any event, we could see the emotional side of him when there was a tragedy that struct Hortense.

Having said that, the story is not for everyone – to the extent that some might wonder if there is a plot at all or just one man describing his holiday for a month. However, I would not go too much into that considering that was the narrator’s aim as well, to escape his routine. Another point that disturbed me was I could not quite understand the adulation of Zorba by every character, I found him a bad person who was morally compromised and I found the character of the narrator much better.

I understand that this book is a translation, however, I do not know the reliability of it – to give the context, I read this book for a book club (discussion in French) and I found that the French edition was significantly bigger than the English version – and the difference I was told was that my edition was a 1950s translation where there were a lot of cuts, and the more recent editions are elaborate and authentic. If anyone wishes to read, I recommend to buy a more recent translation than mine.

To conclude on the book, the highlights of the book is the rural setting in Crete, the two main characters and the narration by the writer. A little further focus on the philosophical aspect could have made it better, and considering my overall experience, I award the book a rating of seven on ten.

Rating – 7/10

Have a nice day,
Andy

Think Again by Adam Grant – Book Review

 

Publisher’s write-up:

‘Think Again is a book about the benefit of doubt, and about how we can get better at embracing the unknown and the joy of being wrong. Evidence has shown that creative geniuses are not attached to one identity, but constantly willing to rethink their stances and that leaders who admit they don't know something and seek critical feedback lead more productive and innovative teams.

New evidence shows us that as a mindset and a skilllset, rethinking can be taught and Grant explains how to develop the necessary qualities to do it. Section 1 explores why we struggle to think again and how we can learn to do it as individuals, arguing that 'grit' alone can actually be counterproductive. Section 2 discusses how we can help others think again through learning about 'argument literacy'. And the final section 3 looks at how schools, businesses and governments fall short in building cultures that encourage rethinking.

In the end, learning to rethink may be the secret skill to give you the edge in a world changing faster than ever.’

Think Again is a self-help book written by the psychologist and professor, Adam Grant. This book emphasises the importance of rethinking and relearning considering we often fall into the trap of ‘best practices’. The author gives several examples of success where the persons involved managed great things by managing to rethink and act differently in a situation and those who are intelligent in the traditional sense ended up in failure.

The author starts the book with the incident among a group of firefighters, where most tragically lost their lives even though they followed exactly what was taught to them, except for one who thought differently in the book and did something that was never in any of the manuals. The author’s point is that while the traditional understanding of intelligence is to think and learn, it is equally important in the modern sense to rethink and unlearn.

Considering that the book was written recently, in the post covid-19 era, the examples given are relatable and the author even cites examples of early failures arising because of a failure to rethink and unlearn what they knew till date. The examples cited were very interesting, where the author cited multiple personality types – about people getting into a ‘preacher’ mode when it comes to ideas they believe in and a ‘prosecutor’ mode when it is related to an idea that they do not agree with. This was the first time where I saw someone argue that the ‘impostor syndrome’ is not necessarily bad, and having that forces oneself to rethink and relearn than the ones who are certain – and the author backed it up with data to suggest that there was no data to suggest that those who considered themselves as impostors performed worse that their peers who did not hold such views.

However, there were parts of the book where I do not believe are practical, either in terms of safety or in terms of one’s mental health, where the author gives the example of Daryl Davis, an American singer from the African American community who had convinced several members of the Ku Klux Klan by engaging with them and enabling them to rethink their positions. Even if one ignores the safety aspect, often, a discussion with someone who holds such views would leave oneself very upset for having such a conversation in the first place (here I am speaking for myself).

Some of the author’s conclusions were extreme from what I saw, in some ways arguing that those who have IQ or are considered conventionally intelligent are at a disadvantage as they could identify patterns with ease, and thus go by a past trend rather than rethinking (giving the example of Lazaridis who was adamant about Blackberry’s design).

This book is an interesting and a rather easy read, and could give you some tips and a lot of confidence to those who have a lot of doubts about where they are. Whether all of these suggestions are practical, only time would tell. Considering my personal experience with the book, I award the book a rating of seven on ten.

Rating – 7/10

Have a nice day,
Andy

The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings #1) by JRR Tolkien – Book Review

 

Publisher’s write-up:

‘One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkeness bind them

In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, The Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell into the hands of Bilbo Baggins, as told in The Hobbit.

In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as his elderly cousin Bilbo entrusts the Ring to his care. Frodo must leave his home and make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.’

The Fellowship of the Ring is the first book in The Lord of the Rings trilogy from JRR Tolkien. This is perhaps one of the most well-known books that I have read so far; being one of the most sold books in the world and also having highly successful film adaptations. I had loved the films as a teenager and wanted to get to reading the books someday. So, in this review, I would evaluate if it was worth reading the book.

The story happens in the world built by the earth, Middle-Earth, inhabited by various different species – being the hobbits, elves, men, dwarves, orcs, etc. The story begins with Bilbo Baggins celebrating his birthday in The Shire (the village of the hobbits) and leaves his possessions to his beloved nephew Frodo, including a ring with special powers. Frodo is visited by Gandalf the wizard, and is told of the evil powers of the ring; previously possessed by Sauron, the ruler of the land of Mordor. Frodo is joined in this mission by his gardener and close friend, Samwise, along with two other friends from the Shire, Merry and Pippin. The rest of the story is about their adventure and their path towards destroying this evil ring or as they say in the book, the one ring to rule them all.

This was a book that I wanted to like, a book that I had been meaning to read for a long time, it was a film that I enjoyed as a teenager, enjoyed the games that were from the universe, etc. However, the key word phrase here is that I wanted to like but I could not bring myself to like this book despite my best efforts. To start with, the narration was drab and often flat, providing no nuance to the characters and the manner in which they expressed themselves at various points. This was a standard young adult novel where each character had a clear identification of who was good or who was evil and there were hardly any layers to the personality of any of the characters.

There were aspects that could have made the book interesting, such as the distrust between the dwarves and the elves, and how they make do with that, but then, the ‘Fellowship’ is closely knit (something unusual for a group created on the spot by an elven lord, with only notable exception being the character of Boromoir who had shown some levels of dissent).

One could praise the writer for the detailed world that he has built and how this has inspired several other fantasy novel writers, whom I have personally enjoyed, but with that said, this book was a travelogue in a world that I was not interested in. There was nothing more to it than a bunch of people walking together, complaining about the weather, describing the surroundings, and moving from a point to another point. What was expressed in this particular book could have been expressed in a third of its size without losing the essential content of it.

While this book contains the features of a standard young adult novel, unfortunately, it is not a very easy read for a teenager either. Thus, I am unsure of whom it appeals to (no wonder this often features in the list of books people ‘pretend to have read’).

 To summarise this book, I would say that it is a boring travelogue featuring drab characters happening in a world that I am not interested in. On that note, I award the book a rating of three on ten.

Rating – 3/10

Have a nice day,
Andy

About Looking by John Berger – Book Review

Publisher’s write-up:

‘As a novelist, essayist, and cultural historian, John Berger is a writer of dazzling eloquence and arresting insight whose work amounts to a subtle, powerful critique of the canons of our civilization. In About Looking he explores our role as observers to reveal new layers of meaning in what we see. How do the animals we look at in zoos remind us of a relationship between man and beast all but lost in the twentieth century? What is it about looking at war photographs that doubles their already potent violence? How do the nudes of Rodin betray the threats to his authority and potency posed by clay and flesh? And how does solitude inform the art of Giacometti? In asking these and other questions, Berger alters the vision of anyone who reads his work.’

About Looking is a collection of essays by the Booker Prize winning novelist and art critic, John Berger. Most of these essays were published in the 60s and 70s which include the author’s take on interpretations of various art forms including photography, and the starting essay which was on the evolving relationship human beings have had and are still having with animals.

The author not only tries to make this a long technical summary of evaluating artists like Francis Bacon or Jean-François Millet but also brings in his political views into these essays such as the impacts of capitalism and how we tend to depoliticse events like war. This could please readers who are aligned with his politics and at the same time, alienate those who do not. I felt the first two essays were the most thought provoking and powerful, especially the way he explored how animals’ overtime have been marginalised and have now been reduced to mere relics such as in children’s toys, metaphors or in zoos. As aforementioned, the impact (or lack thereof) of the devastating photos of the Vietnam war was explored very well by the author in one of the essays.

However, the author frontloaded the best two essays and the rest were more difficult to understand, getting a tad too technical on artistic movements and various different styles. Initially, there were illustrations for the works of art that the author discussed but in the subsequent essays, I felt the author assumed the reader knew the works of art that he was describing – and beyond two or three essays, I did not have the patience to google every artist and work of art mentioned in the book.

The first few essays satisfy a general audience, and for a work of non-fiction, it is important to know who the intended audience is and unfortunately, the latter half is not for the general audience. I understand that the writer is British who lived a large part of his life in France, and thus, works of art from these two places are extensively discussed but considering his extensive knowledge on the subject, I would have liked to read an essay about artistic movements / artists in the other parts of the world.

To conclude, some of the essays, especially in the first half of the book were thought provoking and interesting. The latter half could be very interesting if you have deep knowledge in the subject that the author is discussing, but if not, you would be as lost as I was.

If the book had stopped with the two brilliant essays the author had started with, this book could have had a much higher rating, but considering the incomprehensible latter half, I would award the book a rating of four on ten.

Rating – 4/10

Have a nice day,
Andy

Why Fish Don’t Exist by Lulu Miller – Book Review

 

Publisher’s write-up:

‘David Starr Jordan was a taxonomist, a man possessed with bringing order to the natural world. In time, he would be credited with discovering nearly a fifth of the fish known to humans in this day. But the more of the hidden blueprint of life he uncovered, the harder the universe seemed to try to thwart him. His specimen collections were demolished by lightning, by fire, and eventually by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake – which sent more than a thousand of his discoveries, house in fragile glass jars, plummeting to the floor. In an instant, his life’s work was shattered.

Many might have given up, given in to despair. But Jordan? He surveyed the wreckage at his feet, found the first fish he recognized, and confidently began to rebuild his collection. And this time, he introduced one clever innovation that he believed would at last protect his work against the chaos of the world.

When NPR reporter Lulu Miller first heard this anecdote in passing, she took Jordan for a fool – a cautionary tale in hubris, or denial. But as her own life slowly unraveled, she began to wonder about him. Perhaps he was a model for how to go on when all seemed lost. What she would unearth about his life would transform her understanding of history, morality, and the world beneath her feet.

Part biography, part memoir, part scientific adventure, Why Fish Don’t Exist reads like a fable about how to persevere in a world where chaos will always prevail.’

Why Fish Don’t Exist; as mentioned above in one of the longest write-ups I have read for such a small book, is a book from the NPR reporter Lulu Miller on David Starr Jordan, a taxonomist who was also the first Chancellor of the Stanford University in California, US.

The book starts by simultaneously describing her own personal crisis and then introducing David Starr Jordan, a man born during the mid-19^th century in the state of New York, who was highly interesting in observing an understanding nature during his childhood. Considering the author’s personal crisis, she wanted to seek inspiration from the life of David Starr Jordan, whom despite his circumstances, had immense levels of confidence and on the face of any crisis, looked for a solution to make the solution better. However, the more she learned about him, the more she learned of a dark side to his personality and the consequences of his actions.

I was initially apprehensive about the book considering I had heard of David Jordan, who was the first Chancellor of Stanford University and also an early proponent of eugenics. However, these fears did not last long as the writer explored all sides to him and it did not lead to unnecessary levels of glorification and in fact, quite the opposite.

The book did seem directionless in the initial phases and left me confused if the objective was to talk about herself or if this was a biography of David Starr Jordan. Portraying him as someone beating the odds did not sit well with me considering he seemed very successful at quite a young age. But as it went, I enjoyed reading the book, especially the latter half, where we learn a lot of dark aspects which most are unaware of – like the forced sterilisation programmes that were carried out in the United States inspired by scientists like Jordan.

The author also brought about her disillusionment over David Jordan very well, considering his work often involved exploiting the locals in Japan or Polynesia without giving them credit for the ‘discovery’ of the fish, a murder allegation against him, etc.

The ending justified the title and was also powerful as the author figures her own way to deal with her personal crisis. And I need to mention here that I loved the illustrations by Kate Samworth at the beginning of every chapter.

On that note, I would say that the book was an enjoyable read – has a beautiful cover and good illustrations, to add to the reading experience. Would recommend it as a light read (which deals with a lot of heavy topics) and on that note, I would award the book a rating of seven on ten.

Rating – 7/10

Have a nice day,
Andy