After several strong recommendations to read The Kite Runner, I couldn't resist when my sister placed it directly in my hands. So I took a break from Harry Potter for a while to see what all the hype was about. And I was hooked.
In a nutshell, The Kite Runner is about relationships. It is about loyalty; about decisions and consequences. That sounds like a chick flick, hardly the kind of book I'm inclined to read. But the writing style is so smooth you just get drawn in; page after page, chapter after chapter, and each one ending on a mini cliffhanger. There is a little violence, even sex. But these are dealt with in such a cursory manner, just enough to get the point across, and no more.
The book is sparse on details and descriptions; every chapter is written with a brevity and economy of words that far surpasses even J. K. Rowling's first few novels. Yet, there is superb character development, and the reader comes away with an easy familiarity with Kabul, the capital of Aghanistan before the Taliban, before the Russians. Kabul in its heyday ... and the subsequent chaos that enveloped it. And the plot twists and turns like a snake, and you suddenly realise that every seemingly insignificant detail had a meaning, or a double meaning. And nothing is what it seems to be.
And through it all, the themes of loyalty and friendship, courage and cowardice, morality and obligation shine through - a challenge to all readers to reconsider how they conduct themselves and their own relationships.
Why couldn't we do books like this for Lit? Instead we did Cry, The Beloved Country. Pah.
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
the curse of the internet
In many ways, the internet is a good thing. It has opened up boundless knowledge on any topic, at any time, and (with IN2015) any place. With the power of Google, you can get almost all your questions answered.
I liken the internet to drinking from a swimming pool. It is always up to date, because it collects whatever new rain is breaking news. And it is generally easy reading, you can gulp down as much as you want. You can even drown in it. But are you satisfied?
A good book, on the other hand, is like fine champagne. For one thing, it costs money. And contrary to the popular saying, the best things in life are often not free, and this is particularly true of information and ideas. (Yes, you can find a lot of gems in the swimming pool, but you have to sift through a few gallons of chlorinated water first.) For one thing, a person would generally have pretty good ideas before they bother to go to the trouble of writing and publishing. On the other hand, it is much harder to pick up the bottle of champagne than to scoop water from the pool. It is really hard to drink strong spirits after a tiring day of work, because you will just fall asleep without fully savouring its essence.
Anyway, I've collected a fine cellar full of assorted spirits, and I think it's about time I started savouring them. So I shall endeavour to put aside the lure of the internet for a while and focus on all my books. I'm halfway through JBJ's The Hatchet Man of Singapore, Jeanette Winterson's Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit and just starting on comparative religion. I should try to finish at least some of them by the weekend.
This comes at an awkward time just when I am forewarned to expect the next round of pesky interviews. Because the internet is also my main source of news. But I've already decided that I'm pretty happy and comfortable the way things are now, so I really don't want to be flying any higher or working any harder. So now I'm off to curl up with a good book.
I liken the internet to drinking from a swimming pool. It is always up to date, because it collects whatever new rain is breaking news. And it is generally easy reading, you can gulp down as much as you want. You can even drown in it. But are you satisfied?
A good book, on the other hand, is like fine champagne. For one thing, it costs money. And contrary to the popular saying, the best things in life are often not free, and this is particularly true of information and ideas. (Yes, you can find a lot of gems in the swimming pool, but you have to sift through a few gallons of chlorinated water first.) For one thing, a person would generally have pretty good ideas before they bother to go to the trouble of writing and publishing. On the other hand, it is much harder to pick up the bottle of champagne than to scoop water from the pool. It is really hard to drink strong spirits after a tiring day of work, because you will just fall asleep without fully savouring its essence.
Anyway, I've collected a fine cellar full of assorted spirits, and I think it's about time I started savouring them. So I shall endeavour to put aside the lure of the internet for a while and focus on all my books. I'm halfway through JBJ's The Hatchet Man of Singapore, Jeanette Winterson's Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit and just starting on comparative religion. I should try to finish at least some of them by the weekend.
This comes at an awkward time just when I am forewarned to expect the next round of pesky interviews. Because the internet is also my main source of news. But I've already decided that I'm pretty happy and comfortable the way things are now, so I really don't want to be flying any higher or working any harder. So now I'm off to curl up with a good book.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
reading pains
The day I started driving was the day I stopped reading.
I used to read a lot, especially as a kid. I was inseparable from my book of the moment, and I would get very grumpy when I ran out of stuff to read. I would read while eating, while walking, and to my parents’ constant chagrin, while crossing the road. That’s what ears are for wat.
With the passing of time, the number of things to read has grown exponentially while the time to read has whittled to nothingness. Now I categorise my books into the ones I should read, and the ones I want to read. There’s also the third category of books that look good on the shelf. And this doesn’t even count the stuff I have to read for work.
Computer games took a huge chunk out of my reading time. So did school, work, and all the time spent hanging out with friends. But still there was one last enclave of time that my books could call their own: the time I spent commuting on trains and buses, when there was nothing else to do but read.
But ever since I got behind the wheel, even this little reading time has disappeared. Driving has empowered me to spend more time at work, more time out with friends, more time to run errands; I can make every moment count. But this means less time at home, less time in my room, less time with my books.
Nowadays, I do most of my reading on the plane. Or sometimes, when I’m not in a hurry, I take the bus just so I can read. Not surprisingly, little gets read. So today, I’ve decided to try audiobooks.
I used to read a lot, especially as a kid. I was inseparable from my book of the moment, and I would get very grumpy when I ran out of stuff to read. I would read while eating, while walking, and to my parents’ constant chagrin, while crossing the road. That’s what ears are for wat.
With the passing of time, the number of things to read has grown exponentially while the time to read has whittled to nothingness. Now I categorise my books into the ones I should read, and the ones I want to read. There’s also the third category of books that look good on the shelf. And this doesn’t even count the stuff I have to read for work.
Computer games took a huge chunk out of my reading time. So did school, work, and all the time spent hanging out with friends. But still there was one last enclave of time that my books could call their own: the time I spent commuting on trains and buses, when there was nothing else to do but read.
But ever since I got behind the wheel, even this little reading time has disappeared. Driving has empowered me to spend more time at work, more time out with friends, more time to run errands; I can make every moment count. But this means less time at home, less time in my room, less time with my books.
Nowadays, I do most of my reading on the plane. Or sometimes, when I’m not in a hurry, I take the bus just so I can read. Not surprisingly, little gets read. So today, I’ve decided to try audiobooks.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
book learning
It's interesting what you can learn from fiction books. Some people who write fiction use it as a canvass to showcase their philosophies about life. The passage below has always been one of my favourites. Orson Scott Card is one such writer, and this excerpt is taken from First Meetings : In the Enderverse. A recent experience really brought home the meaning to me.
"I wouldn't hit him," said John Paul, answering the question about what he would do if a friend tried to take away something of his. "Because then he wouldnt be my friend. But I wouldn't let him take the thing either."There are some things in life you hold so dear you would never surrender them, no matter what the threat. Yet, you would happily give it to someone you love. Giving is infinitely more pleasurable than coercion.
The follow-up question to this answer had been, How would you stop him? So John Paul went right on without pausing. "The way I'd stop him is, I'd say, 'You can have it. I give it to you, it's yours now. Because I'd rather keep you as a friend than keep that thing.'"
Saturday, March 11, 2006
crowds, memory, screwtape, poverty
Just for the record I was writing the reviews of the 4 books I just read: The Wisdom of Crowds by James Suroweicki, The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, Mega Memory by Kevin Trudeau and The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs. I was writing the fourth one when the damn machine rebooted itself with no warning whatsoever. I was praying that Google had implemented an autosave function for Blogger like it has for Gmail ... no such luck. I don't know what the "Recover post" button does, but it didn't bring it back.
One hour ... that should be about 2000 words. Probably my longest post ever.
So anyway, here's the super-brief synopsis because I could never bring myself to type all that again.
The Wisdom of Crowds - this is a decent read and doesn't get boring, even though the thematic linkages are a bit weak. If you like this type of journalist-written surveys of academic literature, my favourite book is still The Tipping Point.
The Screwtape Letters - a very short and thought-provoking book, I'd definitely highly recommend this to anyone, especially Christians. Each short chapter explores a different aspect of life and temptation. My favorites were gluttony, peer influence and humour.
Mega Memory - This was the only memory book I could find in Kinokuniya that actually proposes a system to improving your natural memory (as opposed to advising "carry a notebook around). I guess time will tell if it works.
The End of Poverty - This is about how everyone should help to eradicate extreme poverty (people so poor they are barely surviving and cannot start climbing the ladder of development). It is interesting and inspiring, it is also a good introduction to economics principles for people who have no formal training.
One hour ... that should be about 2000 words. Probably my longest post ever.
So anyway, here's the super-brief synopsis because I could never bring myself to type all that again.
The Wisdom of Crowds - this is a decent read and doesn't get boring, even though the thematic linkages are a bit weak. If you like this type of journalist-written surveys of academic literature, my favourite book is still The Tipping Point.
The Screwtape Letters - a very short and thought-provoking book, I'd definitely highly recommend this to anyone, especially Christians. Each short chapter explores a different aspect of life and temptation. My favorites were gluttony, peer influence and humour.
Mega Memory - This was the only memory book I could find in Kinokuniya that actually proposes a system to improving your natural memory (as opposed to advising "carry a notebook around). I guess time will tell if it works.
The End of Poverty - This is about how everyone should help to eradicate extreme poverty (people so poor they are barely surviving and cannot start climbing the ladder of development). It is interesting and inspiring, it is also a good introduction to economics principles for people who have no formal training.
Friday, November 25, 2005
books and music
These are just a few comments on some of the books I've been reading recently. I wanted to call it a review, but I'm not really in the book review mood.
Blink : The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
This book is about the gift of intuition that everyone is supposed to have. The idea of "thinking without thinking" and making the best decision has immediate appeal. But while the book is full of lovely anecdotes and pscyhological experiments, it doesn't really prescribe how one might achieve this. It also gets a little weak towards the end when the author seems to be finding stuff just to make up volume. Overall, Gladwell is a talented writer and it is a fascinating book but don't expect it to change your life.
How Would You Move Mount Fuji? : Microsoft's Cult of the Puzzle -- How the World's Smartest Companies Select the Most Creative Thinkers
If you want to feel stupid, this is the book for you. This book examines the ethics and efficacy of the puzzle-solving approach used in modern interviews. It also includes a whole bunch of examples from "Why are manhole covers round?" to many others that don't really have answers.
Hard Sayings of Paul
I first picked up this book because an enigma raised the question of whether women should be allowed to teach men (1 Tim 2:12), a question that was raised again in church. The short answer is that yes, it is ok, and Paul's remonition to Timothy was targetted at some specific women at that time. Overall this is quite an interesting book addressing commonly debated issues. Most of the interpretations are quite liberal - i.e. they give more freedom, and don't pose any earthshaking theological positions.
The Sexual Life of Catherine M.
This is definitely the book for all fans of SarongPartyGirl. Catherine M. is the original bohemian artist - a celebrated art critic, not an aspiring art student. And she has simultaneous sex partners up to 2 digits and orgies up to three. Like SPG, it gets a little tiring after a while and I began to feel every page was more of the same, but it is certainly an interesting window into an alternative lifestyle.
The Crisis of Islam : Holy War and Unholy Terror
This is one of those "Why do they hate us?" books. I haven't read others so I can't make a comparison, but it gives a pretty concise overview of the history of Islam and the factors contributing to the mindset of current Islamic fundamentalists. Most importantly, it's quite a short little book, which is good for people who just want a quick overview.
On a lighter note, here are some of the CDs I've been checking out recently.
Blink : The Power of Thinking Without ThinkingThis book is about the gift of intuition that everyone is supposed to have. The idea of "thinking without thinking" and making the best decision has immediate appeal. But while the book is full of lovely anecdotes and pscyhological experiments, it doesn't really prescribe how one might achieve this. It also gets a little weak towards the end when the author seems to be finding stuff just to make up volume. Overall, Gladwell is a talented writer and it is a fascinating book but don't expect it to change your life.
How Would You Move Mount Fuji? : Microsoft's Cult of the Puzzle -- How the World's Smartest Companies Select the Most Creative Thinkers
If you want to feel stupid, this is the book for you. This book examines the ethics and efficacy of the puzzle-solving approach used in modern interviews. It also includes a whole bunch of examples from "Why are manhole covers round?" to many others that don't really have answers.
Hard Sayings of PaulI first picked up this book because an enigma raised the question of whether women should be allowed to teach men (1 Tim 2:12), a question that was raised again in church. The short answer is that yes, it is ok, and Paul's remonition to Timothy was targetted at some specific women at that time. Overall this is quite an interesting book addressing commonly debated issues. Most of the interpretations are quite liberal - i.e. they give more freedom, and don't pose any earthshaking theological positions.
The Sexual Life of Catherine M.This is definitely the book for all fans of SarongPartyGirl. Catherine M. is the original bohemian artist - a celebrated art critic, not an aspiring art student. And she has simultaneous sex partners up to 2 digits and orgies up to three. Like SPG, it gets a little tiring after a while and I began to feel every page was more of the same, but it is certainly an interesting window into an alternative lifestyle.
The Crisis of Islam : Holy War and Unholy Terror
This is one of those "Why do they hate us?" books. I haven't read others so I can't make a comparison, but it gives a pretty concise overview of the history of Islam and the factors contributing to the mindset of current Islamic fundamentalists. Most importantly, it's quite a short little book, which is good for people who just want a quick overview.
On a lighter note, here are some of the CDs I've been checking out recently.
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Freakonomics
Following The Case For A Creator, I have just completed yet another extremely interesting non-fiction work. It is the highly recommended Freakonomics by Levitt and Dubner.
There are already a ton of other rave reviews on the net, so I will settle for taking out my favourite quotation:
This is just one of the seemingly absurd statements the book makes, drawn from Levitt's economics research. And although the quantitative evidence is not provided in this book (probably too mathematical and boring), it does provide very convincing qualitative proofs and explanations on his methodology.
There are already a ton of other rave reviews on the net, so I will settle for taking out my favourite quotation:
In the world of online dating, a headful of blond hair on a woman is worth about the same as having a college degree - and, with a $100 dye job versus a $100,000 tuition bill, an awful lot cheaper.
This is just one of the seemingly absurd statements the book makes, drawn from Levitt's economics research. And although the quantitative evidence is not provided in this book (probably too mathematical and boring), it does provide very convincing qualitative proofs and explanations on his methodology.
Sunday, July 24, 2005
i'm reading a book
For the last two weeks, I've been reading Lee Strobel's The Case for a Creator. A friend's recent question made me realise how little I understood about resolving creation with Darwin, the Big Bang and other scientific findings. So I set out to find some answers.
The chapter I was reading yesterday was on the utter improbability of conditions being just right for life on earth. According to one physicist, the chances that everything could fall into place just so is about 1053. (That's the square root of a google.) Things like pressure, temperature, gravity as well as the chemicals around us. For example, if atomic gravity were to change my some infinitely miniscule amount, the planet would not be able to support life any bigger than insects. And even then they'd have incredibly big legs, to deal with the planet's gravity which would increase a hundredfold. Of course the skeptic in my mind immediately asks, but that's life as we know it, why can't we all be insects? I'm still reading to see if he deals with this, but I'm secretly glad I'm not an insect.
And on my way home yesterday, it struck me how every other animal's life is a mere existence. While there I was speeding home at 120km/h with my subwoofer tuned up listening to good old Eminem, and living out a consumer lifestyle so far removed from basic subsistence. Why are we so lucky? And again I was really quite happy not to be one of the houseflies I used to feed my frogs.
I'm not even halfway through the book but there's already a line forming to get their hands on it. Better go buy your own copy and read it quick!
The chapter I was reading yesterday was on the utter improbability of conditions being just right for life on earth. According to one physicist, the chances that everything could fall into place just so is about 1053. (That's the square root of a google.) Things like pressure, temperature, gravity as well as the chemicals around us. For example, if atomic gravity were to change my some infinitely miniscule amount, the planet would not be able to support life any bigger than insects. And even then they'd have incredibly big legs, to deal with the planet's gravity which would increase a hundredfold. Of course the skeptic in my mind immediately asks, but that's life as we know it, why can't we all be insects? I'm still reading to see if he deals with this, but I'm secretly glad I'm not an insect.
And on my way home yesterday, it struck me how every other animal's life is a mere existence. While there I was speeding home at 120km/h with my subwoofer tuned up listening to good old Eminem, and living out a consumer lifestyle so far removed from basic subsistence. Why are we so lucky? And again I was really quite happy not to be one of the houseflies I used to feed my frogs.
I'm not even halfway through the book but there's already a line forming to get their hands on it. Better go buy your own copy and read it quick!
Friday, July 01, 2005
The Da Vinci Code
Yesterday I attended a talk on The Da Vinci Code given by the dean of the Yale Divinity School. It's been more than a year since I read the book, but it left so many questions in my mind I couldn't pass up on this chance.
Over beer and finger food, he explained some of the glaring half-truths that Dan Brown had woven into his gripping plot. These dealt with his interpretation of art, historical facts and various theological arguments he borrowed. As a lay person with only a vague recollection of the book, most of this went over my head. Then he took questions.
So towards the end, when I was quite drunk, I posed him the question foremost in my mind.
According to Dan Brown, the books of the bible were chosen at the Council of Nicea in deferrence to political necessity to deify Jesus, who was alleged a mere mortal. This ridiculous fact is easily dismissed by basic research, but it did lead me to realise that there really was a council held to determine the cannonisation of the bible - i.e. the selection of the books in the New Testament was determined by a group of bible scholars somewhere in the 4th Century A.D. They were the ones who determined which texts form the bible as we know it today, and which were condemned to fade into history.
Having always been brought out with the belief that the bible was the gospel truth, and was entirely factual and historically coherent, the fact that the scriptures were actually edited by biblical scholars is disturbing to say the least. I already have some reservations with the fact that they were written by divinely-inspired people, but now apparently they were filtered by people as well. I hope they were equally inspired. So Dean, please comment on the authenticity of the New Testament, and it's reliability as a basis for our faith.
His answer was quite brief, but equally disturbing. He did not answer me directly, but instead commented that the bible cannot always be taken at face value because it does contain factual inconsistencies. For example, one apostle records Jesus' ministry as lasting for three years, while another only credits him with one. So we have to bear in mind that these books were written 4-5 decades after the event, and the memories of the authors were probably distorted by the passing of time.
I didn't find this particulary satisfying, but as I was the last question and he didn't seem to want to dwell on the topic, I let it go. Anyway, I was really quite intoxicated and I didn't want to make a fool of myself. But this does leave several additional questions in my mind:
1) It really disturbs me that a basic fact such as the length of Jesus' ministry can be in contention. How is it possible to forget that?
2) Even written 4-5 decades after the event, weren't the authors merely supposed to be mediums through which God communicated? Surely God would not forget.
3) If we cannot place 100% faith in the accuracy of the bible, is it still something we should live and die by?
I suppose the next time a theologian drops by, I will have the questions waiting.
Over beer and finger food, he explained some of the glaring half-truths that Dan Brown had woven into his gripping plot. These dealt with his interpretation of art, historical facts and various theological arguments he borrowed. As a lay person with only a vague recollection of the book, most of this went over my head. Then he took questions.
So towards the end, when I was quite drunk, I posed him the question foremost in my mind.
According to Dan Brown, the books of the bible were chosen at the Council of Nicea in deferrence to political necessity to deify Jesus, who was alleged a mere mortal. This ridiculous fact is easily dismissed by basic research, but it did lead me to realise that there really was a council held to determine the cannonisation of the bible - i.e. the selection of the books in the New Testament was determined by a group of bible scholars somewhere in the 4th Century A.D. They were the ones who determined which texts form the bible as we know it today, and which were condemned to fade into history.
Having always been brought out with the belief that the bible was the gospel truth, and was entirely factual and historically coherent, the fact that the scriptures were actually edited by biblical scholars is disturbing to say the least. I already have some reservations with the fact that they were written by divinely-inspired people, but now apparently they were filtered by people as well. I hope they were equally inspired. So Dean, please comment on the authenticity of the New Testament, and it's reliability as a basis for our faith.
His answer was quite brief, but equally disturbing. He did not answer me directly, but instead commented that the bible cannot always be taken at face value because it does contain factual inconsistencies. For example, one apostle records Jesus' ministry as lasting for three years, while another only credits him with one. So we have to bear in mind that these books were written 4-5 decades after the event, and the memories of the authors were probably distorted by the passing of time.
I didn't find this particulary satisfying, but as I was the last question and he didn't seem to want to dwell on the topic, I let it go. Anyway, I was really quite intoxicated and I didn't want to make a fool of myself. But this does leave several additional questions in my mind:
1) It really disturbs me that a basic fact such as the length of Jesus' ministry can be in contention. How is it possible to forget that?
2) Even written 4-5 decades after the event, weren't the authors merely supposed to be mediums through which God communicated? Surely God would not forget.
3) If we cannot place 100% faith in the accuracy of the bible, is it still something we should live and die by?
I suppose the next time a theologian drops by, I will have the questions waiting.
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