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Read these
This shelf is not so much about theory as it is about the thrill
of reading. |
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Samarcande (Samarkand)
This wonderful little book is by Amin Maalouf, a
Lebanese author who lives in Paris. He knows both the Muslim and the
Christian world, and he is not only a good historian but also an
accomplished novelist. This story is about Omar Khayyam, great poet and
mathematician who lived in Persia in the eleventh century, when Islam had
recently become a world religion. It is also about the late nineteenth
century, when Khayyam's amazing poems were rediscovered. Through the eyes of
an American citizen travelling through Persia and getting emmeshed in
trouble, the double story depicts life in a part of the world where
convictions and group membership are worth dying for. It is also about the
Titanic, and about love. I was enthralled by the book and it taught me a
great deal about Persian history too. Maalouf wrote it in 1988 but it is
just as relevant today. I read it in the original: French, and if you master
that language, go for the original. Or read his other story, Léon
l'Africain (Leo Africanus), a historical narrative set in the
Mediterranean in the times of the reconquista, about the
extraordinary life of Granada-born Hassan, later to become pope Leo's
adopted son. |
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The Floating Brothel
By Siân Rees. Anonymous, large cities are a recent phenomenon in
human history. In London around 1790, the city overflowed with poor people
who slept in cheap boarding houses and robbed one another for want of a
better means of living. The solution: transportation to "Parts Beyond the
Sea". With the USA independent, these parts were now Australia. But one
cannot keep sending only men. This is the story of a ship full of women sent
to Australia - pioneers of Australian culture. It's all true, and it's only
a few generations ago. |
Our Inner Ape
Frans de Waal
is a biologist who has spent thirty years studying the behaviour of great
apes, most of the time in the USA. Over the years he has written about
politics, male and female bonding, empathy, violence and reconciliation in
all great apes. In Our Inner Ape
(2005) he compares humans to our closest evolutionary relatives: chimpanzees
and bonobos. De Waal speaks to a U.S. audience, defending the idea that we
are not intrinsically depraved, but that we have both the violent and the
peaceful streaks of our relatives. I think he is entirely right in supposing
that we are still apes inside. Our empathy and our strong sense of quid
pro quo are apish. Every person who wishes to understand more about
power, fights, and settling disputes should read this and take it very
seriously. Says de Waal: "I think our societies probably work best if they
mimic as closely as possible the small-scale communities of our ancestors". |
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The English
Jeremy Paxman, famous BBC anchorman, sets out to
find out who the English are. He uses a lot of historical evidence and he
also includes recent developments. Circumstances have changed vastly, but
there is a constant cultural backdrop. Did you know that as late as 1884,
English men still publicly sold wives? Very well written and Paxman is no
fool. He compares between European cultures, e.g. (p. 251): "...while mass
protests are an accepted, expected part of the political process in France,
in England, street insurrection is less often to do with politics and
more to do with an innate readiness to trade punches." But I cannot keep
quoting - read it if you wish to learn more about the English (Penguin,
1998).
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The Kite Runner
This is a wonderful story by Afghan-born
Khaled
Hosseini. He is a medical doctor in
California, and this is his first novel. If you wonder about cultural
differences, are from the Anglo world, and would like to live a
collectivist, hierarchical, uncertainty avoiding, short-term oriented
culture from within, this is a chance. But above all it is a heartbreakingly
beautiful book about many things, among others guilt and redemption.
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