In far many more ways than intended, Monkey King is a bizarre read. It is entertaining and informative of the value systems of the era in an equal meaIn far many more ways than intended, Monkey King is a bizarre read. It is entertaining and informative of the value systems of the era in an equal measure.
The army of monsters and demons, or even Monkey's superpowers, is more out of ancient Indian fables involving Hindu gods, but not how battles are fought and won. There is not much room for compassion, for instance. While there is humor and satire aplenty, there is little spirituality or even attempts at deeper life meanings.
The reverence for authorities and the descriptions of bureaucracy are uniquely Chinese. The transactional nature of interactions, including in the most extraordinary conversations with Buddha that permeates the story, is joyful initially but becomes grating as the story progresses. One gets a unique insight through the portrayed frictions between the disciples of Daoism and Buddhism. It goes against the conventional wisdom of these two paths' coexistence and mutually compatible natures.
Written texts have always held the highest importance in Chinese culture. The westward journey never wavered from it being a quest to secure the sutras and scriptures - something all Indian religions would consign to a far lower place to learning spirituality through meditation and spiritual/ascetic experiences. The most unbelievable parts of the book are not Monkey's extraordinary powers but the way its medieval author(s) perceived the path to attaining Buddhahood....more
The End of the World reads like a political manifesto. Most of the book will resonate well if the reader is an American nationalist, particularly a MAThe End of the World reads like a political manifesto. Most of the book will resonate well if the reader is an American nationalist, particularly a MAGA-believing Trump supporter. Otherwise, a lot in the book would be so deeply offensive that most readers are unlikely to retain their objectivity enough to pick the good points in between.
It must be recorded that the author declares himself a democrat as well as an internationalist in the passing. He is definitely not a climate-damage denier. Some sections support the climate claims, although they too are used more to prove that those the author likes will gain and the others will perish, rather than for any other genuine purposes.
In summary, the author strongly believes that almost all non-Americans are people without resources, industry, innovativeness, and any good institutional structures. These folks - variously called lazy, without creativity, fractious, herd-like, but thankfully not identified as having wrong religions or skin colors - have benefited from America-sponsored, America-created globalization of the last few decades. American sacrifices - something he explicitly mentions - made it possible for the rest of the world to have decent economic existence. The rest of the world has grown as the US, as per the author, sacrificed some of its. The book's first conclusion is that this is coming to an end (although it often reads like he desires rather than predicts it).
To be clear, the author has a concise list of nations that he favors. Many are preferred because their populations are not falling, while others are because of positive relationships with the United States. His preference order starts with the favorites as France and Argentina, followed by Sweden, Japan, UK, Colombia, Canada, Mexico, Singapore, Germany, New Zealand, South Korea, India, and SE Asia/Australia as a region (I might have missed a couple). However, almost none of these are seen as able to survive independently but could be worthy protectorate candidates for America. The rest are so doomed that at a certain point, the author even predicts a billion or more (of course, from the places he dislikes, with the most intense dislike reserved for China) to perish.
The author can and does offend anyone who does not belong to his echo chamber (effectively people who believe in perpetual population growth, fossil fuels, Southern American values/beliefs/lifestyles, apart from the belief that no one except the US can truly innovate and grow). His tone on American Exceptionalism is designed to denigrate everyone else. The basic idea is to close the US economy because the US can not only survive easily without others but also do far better relying on its own resources and workers (particularly from the South, including Texas) with occasional help from Mexico and a handful of others. Such closing of the US will almost send the rest to doom because of their inherent inadequacies.
In terms of the content, the book is littered with errors, not just while demeaning every other economy's ability or promoting American supremacy/isolationism but also while making points on topics like demographics or the impracticality of green energy. There are multiple good observations on how little green energy has contributed, agricultural challenges, and changing demographics. Still, most points fail to make a good impression because of the quickly drawn and often-disconnected, extreme, biased conclusions.
With this book, Mr. Zeihan may have significantly boosted the chances of being invited for a senior government position when a nationalistic leader becomes the US president in the future. This work should not be ignored for its potential impact on policymaking despite all the flaws....more
The Murder Rule is an intelligent, fast-moving story without any distractions. There are no side stories, needless humor, or other emotion-generating The Murder Rule is an intelligent, fast-moving story without any distractions. There are no side stories, needless humor, or other emotion-generating anecdotes not connected with the main story.
As a result, the burden is wholly on the main arc. The book is engaging because of the rapid-moving nature of events. The climax hits the right high notes, even if through set pieces and a host of unbelievable coincidences and impractical decisions. The book ends with appropriate twists to cap it all and make it a wonderful reading experience.
Many other reviewers have pointed out substantial errors in the details. They did not come in the way of the reading experience for this reviewer. That said, it is true that this is one of those feel-good, read-and-forget capers where the more one delves into any aspects, the less positive one is likely to get....more
When read like a straightforward novel, and it is a straightforward novel despite many ascribing various hidden hate motifs to it, The Ink Black HeartWhen read like a straightforward novel, and it is a straightforward novel despite many ascribing various hidden hate motifs to it, The Ink Black Heart is an ambitious, indulgent project that flirts with the boundaries of extreme complexity.
There is a level of the story- or real-life-complexity even most intelligent minds cannot comprehend. If one created a story involving thousand different characters, let's say, no human with his usual 100-watt-powered brain can keep track of all the events. If the number of characters and events are reduced to more manageable levels, there will come levels that make the plot more understandable to larger crowds. The latest Cormoran book is somewhere in those levels, where it is certainly not for all and entirely understandable for extremely few.
JK Rowling is a great author. One of her best, less-talked-about traits is the ability to make complex plots simpler. In her hands, this immensely complex story becomes simple enough to understand more. But does it become simple enough to enjoy? Unfortunately, not.
Given the diversity of a nearly unmanageable number of characters, many with multiple identities/personalities and attendant mysteries, it is nigh difficult to emphasize almost any. There are so many secrets that even when they are smartly revealed, the reader - numbed by the weight of all - is unlikely to applaud.
This is a work of a more successful-than-anyone writer who does not need to bend to the wishes of her editors, publishers, and other marketers, looking at everything from a "common" reader viewpoint. This makes it unique, and given various characters/stories inside, at times glorious in the scope and execution, but not enjoyable, particularly for the efforts involved in going through its length....more
Misjudged is a decent effort from a debut author with good courtroom scenes towards the end. The main crime is too simple and does not allow for decenMisjudged is a decent effort from a debut author with good courtroom scenes towards the end. The main crime is too simple and does not allow for decent investigation or unraveling. The mystery is painfully created through freakish circumstances, investigative oversights, and legal legerdemain. And it is allowed to find the resolution mostly through the passage of time, making most interactions between characters through the book superfluous....more
What we know about life in the period prior to video cameras is tainted and tinted by sanitized depictions in modern movies and shows. The book presenWhat we know about life in the period prior to video cameras is tainted and tinted by sanitized depictions in modern movies and shows. The book presents an entirely different picture. It was a dark, smelly, smoggy, dirty, and spartan existence, bared through numerous data points and factoids. Consider this: the US population at various times in the nineteenth century was less than today's Singapore, or an average American had a life expectancy (at 46) at the beginning of the twentieth century less than the last-placed country in the world today. The book has plenty to offer for history buffs who care more about information than narratives.
And still, the book is a narrative on the evolution of our harnessing of various forms of energy. The focus is more on small technical innovations in all types of fields that cumulatively transformed the world from the swamp it was to what we have today. Details of innovations sometimes turn strenuous, particularly in the early chapters that read more like an account of the industrial revolution rather than a backstory of energy (even when they both are highly related).
Notwithstanding the occasional discussions on current issues and what the future may hold - mostly connected to pollution and the climate - this is a history book. The author will not discuss the most obvious topics - like why innovations exploded in a particular part of the world or the factors that led to their accumulative pace. To a degree, the absence of opinions and value judgments makes for a relatively drab and detail-heavy account.
Despite all flaws, a great read backed by extensive, objective material. ...more
Good Turn is a perfectly crafted crime novel. For a long time, Ms. McTiernan appears to slap new crimes and characters without a hint of resolution. FGood Turn is a perfectly crafted crime novel. For a long time, Ms. McTiernan appears to slap new crimes and characters without a hint of resolution. From before the halfway mark to almost the last few chapters, a reader would worry how the book would ever justifiably resolve all the big, open questions from seven or eight independent things going on.
The author’s absolute magic is in the way she ties up everything tidily and without appearing to be hurrying through all of a sudden. But for the crutch of a crucial coincidence, this is a perfect rea - particularly also because of the characters and the writing style. ...more
This book on human stupidity is beautifully written, bringing forward some highly thought-provoking discussion points. The main question - whether we,This book on human stupidity is beautifully written, bringing forward some highly thought-provoking discussion points. The main question - whether we, let alone everything surrounding us, are better off with human intelligence - is almost offensive. Through a series of studies (most involving animals), the author succeeds in seeding the doubts.
That we have not used our intelligence to the best effects is known to any believers of the climate damage or opponents of wars and weapons. The author goes a step ahead by highlighting how our superior skills in asking why, detecting causality, possessing an elaborate consciousness, having a sense of morality, etc., have a plethora of seldom discussed disadvantages.
The book's biggest positive is its presentation. The author addresses points squarely and rarely equivocates while providing research studies and making points as he hurls toward his conclusions at the end of each chapter.
The main drawback is its over-arching conclusion. The author falls into many of the traps he warns against and makes somewhat of a mess by the end. The following are the reviewer's counterpoints.
Our own brain is a marvel but of an imperfect kind. As psychologists and behavioral scientists have bared starkly for a while now, even the best of us is unable to apply sound logic to arrive at the most optimum guiding principles to live. What is as marvelous as the intricacies and powerfulness of our mind/thinking process is the sheer simplicity of our blind spots and failures. Despite all that, our brains scale better than anything else living on this rock. The gap is exponentially widening with our ability to harness history to improve the ability to manipulate available resources.
Our worst blind spot is - the author rightly shows - the sheer inability to think genuinely long-term. We optimize for the trivial time scales by universal standards, and we cannot stop the negative externalities that keep accumulating. All this is true, but does it even justify the question of whether it would have been better if we were not so intelligent?
Let's forget the errors in counting bacteria as one species while glorifying their longevity. If the author truly wants to think about the purpose of any existence at a cosmic scale, the first question for a universal being should be the value of one rock and whatever number of species on it. The universe has potentially billions of earth-like places with earth-like life forms. At the cosmic level, the universe is likely better off with some of the intelligence forms from some of these planets succeeding in harnessing resources at galactic levels.
The above may sound over the top. And it does because it is. The point is that on a cosmic scale, the earth is past its halfway mark before it becomes uninhabitable, even for the bacteria and viruses. Evolutionarily, humans or more intelligent-than-human entities (natural or human-created) are the earth's only hope of some of its creators taking the seeds of whatever is developed here to some other part of the universe. One cannot decide the utility of any species based on the time it survives on the earth or the "pleasure" it has (with pleasure meaning whatever it may). Irrespective of all our flaws and damages we are doing, evolutionarily, we are on the right step. In the worst case, our actions will cause a bad extinction cycle, but the earth must hope for another species more intelligent and prescient in the next cycle.
In the face of prospective death, the author himself turns needlessly nihilistic and moralistic! The resultant conclusions are well-intentioned and even better sounding, but they do not follow everything presented before. ...more
The Price of Time, in the best case, is a misnomer. The book is not a story of interest rates despite the occasional attempts to weave them into the nThe Price of Time, in the best case, is a misnomer. The book is not a story of interest rates despite the occasional attempts to weave them into the narrative. Its first part provides summaries of a few most celebrated historic bubbles, followed by a long, unstructured diatribe on the state of current markets, economic structures, and policy frameworks.
There is nothing wrong with these topics. The author's attempts fall short because of how the content appears manipulated, like the title of the book, to emphasize his discomfort with the way things are. The author is right in pointing out numerous current ills from the extreme and rising inequality to market valuations, corporate abuses and policy adventurism, real-life reflexivities of financial events and externalities including climate damage, etc.
The author is not alone in listing these issues. These topics are covered continuously by a rising horde in a far more effective manner almost daily in books and journals. This book has little primary research. Worse, its reliance on the points made by others is so inconsistent that the arguments often lose credibility.
For instance, the author would lament the lack of creative destruction in one paragraph but have long sections on individual companies that go bust. He would appear to favor the Austrian school of thought and Hayek, but still, have digs at Greenspan's connections with Ayn Rand or the regulatory failures in controlling the powers of today's giants in some other sections.
The inconsistencies are worse when the author discusses two sides of any interest rate level. The book would criticize how low rates hurt the pensioners relying on interest income, but mind savers benefiting from rising wealth levels of financial instruments. The author never realizes how much the two groups overlap and why retirees worldwide have not gone up in arms against low-interest rates decades later. Take another argument in the same vein: the author would criticize low-interest rates for luring students and consumers of all types to borrow but would still want funding available to these groups all the time for the betterment of the masses.
Once again, the conclusions are not wrong. The problem is the ad hocism in the arguments used to support them. It is ok to use quotes from both Marx and Smith or Keynes and Mises to point out any unsustainability, but when it happens too often, it all begins to jangle. For example, the author does not like central banks because of their lack of policy framework. He seems to believe in the Austrian worldview that argues against fiat money, seen as the leading cause of the boom-bust cycle in the prices of financial assets and possibly also real-life goods/services. The book does not like cryptocurrencies, though - and for all the right reasons. Somehow, the author sees a solution in government-issued digital currencies...go figure!
The damage because of the lack of consistent argument framework is most when the author has to turn prescriptive. Mercifully, the book has little to offer on alternatives, although there is a section full of platitudes at the end.
A final word: History provides hardly any examples of economic successes without attendant financial/property market boom-busts, a point that goes unacknowledged. Every bubble-bust-prone system has not progressed consistently over the long term, but it is difficult to think of any society that has grown well over decades without boom-bust cycles. Unfortunately, perhaps. ...more
The problem while reading an all-time classic is the inability to enjoy the book without its fame, history, and other paraphernalia like movies or plaThe problem while reading an all-time classic is the inability to enjoy the book without its fame, history, and other paraphernalia like movies or plays. Positively, one is already in awe before even picking up the book with the inclination to appreciate those well-discussed points. Negatively, one is always wondering what all the fuss is about, particularly with the copy-cats having improved the book's best points in other works because of those successes.
The Shining's most chilling aspects have been improvised and enhanced immensely since its release. The book's scare- and the ability-to-shock quotients would appear low to today's hardened horror-genre fans. The main problem is the movie: Kubrick's eponymous flick works better with the more extreme dose of everything from the book. The movie had a more unrepentantly devilish Jack, a hopelessly terrified Wendy, far more graphic horror episodes - in room 237, around the elevator, and the corridors - and a more gruesome climax. Irrespective of the author's remonstrances, the 1980 movie improved the book's plotlines.
It should not ideally take away from the author's pioneering efforts when the book was published in so many ways. And yet, one enjoys the book less because of the things that came after....more
Likely, this is a (high school or undergraduate) student project converted into a published book. It reflects what the author may have read and digestLikely, this is a (high school or undergraduate) student project converted into a published book. It reflects what the author may have read and digested with numerous wiki-length sections on individual quantum physics topics. The book is clearly not for anyone even somewhat familiar with the subject, and it is unlikely to be a good starting point for other beginners. Notwithstanding unintentional errors or assertions that needed more clarifications or elaborations, the summaries could do more harm than good to the uninitiated.
Quantum Physics is a complicated topic. It has simplified versions for those new to the topic or who do not want to deal with equations. If a budding student wrote the book, he has done a great job writing it for his own learning purposes. But, as much as this might be good for him or his guides/teachers, it is a little over the top in simplification for other readers new to the subject. ...more
Bizarrely and mostly unwittingly, A Natural History is a weirdly positive book on the fate of nature around us. Dunn's iron laws of ecology or paleontBizarrely and mostly unwittingly, A Natural History is a weirdly positive book on the fate of nature around us. Dunn's iron laws of ecology or paleontology may not be as accepted or sound as he claims, but they are an engaging and informative read. They provide a stinging critique of anthropogenic climate change and its impact on the existing species diversity.
When one looks at long time scales, the author's laws lead to numerous inevitabilities that might be comforting for nature lovers despite their apparent short-term doomsday-isq consequences. The author did not intend these; in many ways, they are still macabre about the fate of the species most important to us, our own one.
The book claims that every species, like every organism, eventually goes extinct with an average age of around two million years. At 200,000 years, the Homo Sapiens are young and with a large future ahead, but we are immensely harming the species diversity critical for our own survival through our lifestyle. Given that most of our climate repair-related measures are extremely short-term on such time scales, with enormous damage already underway, an environmentally ghoulish winter of sorts is unavoidable for our race lasting possibly a few thousand or tens of thousands of years.
However, this phase does not have to start within the next few generations, let alone the next few decades, and it may not end with our complete and quick annihilation. The book provides numerous examples of species' natural adaptability and resilience in light of the changes in its environment. Add in our spread on the planet along with human ingenuities, the Homo Sapiens are unlikely to die as a species with the ongoing climate change. Yes, there will be enormous inconveniences and miseries for all of us compared to what we have begun to take from life/nature for granted. Still, the long history recounted in the book argues for both futility in fighting the looking darkness first and the reason for hope in the very long-term at the specie level.
We are responsible for tens of thousands of species going extinct already. The harm to biodiversity is real and irreversible. As the book shows, this is hurting our survivability (not on the scale of a few thousands of years, though). That said, with billions of bacterial species and even more (trillions?) of bacteriophages and other microbes in the deepest recesses of the earth, the earth's evolution cycle is not in any danger. The book rightly emphasizes how the species to come may not correlate to the species we are making extinct during this Holocene epoch.
Once again, the book's intention is not to provide conclusions like the above. It has fresh and highly original ways to make us focus on the degradation we are causing to biodiversity and their implications on our species' survival. This critic's personal sidenotes above are an effort to find long-term positives in an otherwise scary scenario painted by the book....more
This is an extremely weak mystery novel with weak subplots and weak writing, and not just by the standards one would expect from a famous author. The This is an extremely weak mystery novel with weak subplots and weak writing, and not just by the standards one would expect from a famous author. The way the book is written, the chief villain is identifiable the moment he is introduced. A reader is unlikely to suspect any red herring to be taken in later by a double fake.
The straightforwardness of the mystery is damaged further by the repetitions and coincidences in the narratives. Successive kidnappings of the protagonists are a cheap ploy to stretch the book that achieves little else. The book suffers from an extraordinary amount of coincidences. The omnipotent, omniscient Mr. Brown is still not brought down as much by the coincidences as by his own idiocies.
Life Ceremony makes you wonder how our era might be seen by the descendants a few generations later.
A lot that was seen as absolute truth or the accepLife Ceremony makes you wonder how our era might be seen by the descendants a few generations later.
A lot that was seen as absolute truth or the acceptable way to live in various societies until a few hundred years ago has been debunked summarily now. Equally, a lot deemed taboo or crime then is no longer such. We all know that this process is far from over. Yet, we rarely pause to think about what appears most acceptable or unacceptable in our times and whether they will also undergo similar revisions as heliocentrism, homosexuality, marriageable age, etc.
Ms. Murata has a delectably gross way of forcing us to do exactly this. The stories are written to shock. Depending on one's background, some of them may appear mild. Collectively, they pack a punch.
A great read - not for the stories as much as the thoughts they spark....more
Freedom has a debatable variety of utopian ideals (and villains) and smart story tricks, but all are wasted in the silly gamification of the war/fightFreedom has a debatable variety of utopian ideals (and villains) and smart story tricks, but all are wasted in the silly gamification of the war/fights between what it defines as good and evil.
The first contentious part is what the author decides to brand as "good". Even if one discounts the heinous crimes of the first book's villain - the AI, its elevation as the savior of humanity is ridiculous every which way. Plot inconsistencies (for example, why did the all-powerful program truly have to go through much of the violence of the last book) are a small problem. The bigger issue is how our salvation, against ourselves, is assigned to an omnipotent automaton created by an unelected (and dead) arbiter. The benevolent dictator is a technological genius in this Orwellian humdrum turned upside down. The author imposes this hero, but he is just not likable even if one ignores its past crimes.
One is not to question the credibility of worlds of any sci-fi. However, a game-verse as the battleground between opposing forces did not work at all for this reviewer. Forget all the logic, or lack of it, behind why there was no easier way to squash the evil for the powerful AI; the plot, characters, and battles become too monotonous when words are used to describe facets of some intricate video game. Avatars of dead and alive human beings in the game verse do not connect, and when some of them are pulled out of their darknet to fight with the sweat and blood in real life, the purpose appears more Hollywoodish with gratuitous gore than anything else.
Freedom will appeal to many youngsters in love with their computer games and with revulsions towards many of our world's institutions and practices. This reviewer does not belong to that group....more
True Fiction is a breezy read that starts well. The plot is refreshingly straightforward, although the simplicity quickly becomes a burden with nothinTrue Fiction is a breezy read that starts well. The plot is refreshingly straightforward, although the simplicity quickly becomes a burden with nothing new to reveal after the first few chapters. It does not help that its heroes and villains are well identified with no pretense of any mystery. The burden of engaging falls on the author's ability to create wit and action, where the result is insufficient even for a short book....more
Daemon was a tad ahead of its time, pitting AGI against humans. Artificial General Intelligence was yet to be coined as a term when the book was writtDaemon was a tad ahead of its time, pitting AGI against humans. Artificial General Intelligence was yet to be coined as a term when the book was written. The book's dystopian creator could be made far more intelligent and less technologically complex than described, given the technological progress since.
As good as the premise is, the book suffers from the author falling in excessive love with the ingenious construct or all the consequential parts left for the second book. The story reads like serialized descriptions of each actor's disbelief as they suffer from the tech-villain's overwhelming, almighty abilities to destroy.
The climax is too filmy and flimsy, written to be converted into a typical faceoff movie script involving big actors. The author could have done far better displaying the complete takeover by its villain when the book-ending is more like an interregnum ahead of the likely turns of the second part....more
For those interested in numbers, The Biggest Number is a unique and tremendously interesting book. It is not always understandable, but that's preciseFor those interested in numbers, The Biggest Number is a unique and tremendously interesting book. It is not always understandable, but that's precisely what the dilettantes interested in the subject would be looking for. The professionals of the field - which are some of our race's best minds - have predictably taken the search of the largest finite and transfinite numbers to realms inaccessible without decades of training and more.
Almost every part of the book beyond the initial chapters boggles the mind. One gets transfixed in the maze created by the new nomenclatures, let alone by the enormity of what is put forward. In the end, there is not much of utility value for a common reader as could be expected of what one does for most hobbies. That does not reduce the joy of this ride in the tiniest, though. ...more
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