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| 1400067553
| 9781400067558
| 1400067553
| 3.98
| 113,742
| Apr 08, 2012
| Feb 07, 2012
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it was amazing
| It often happens that I stay up with a book overnight because it is too good to be put down for something as mundane as sleep. But it is a rare occurr It often happens that I stay up with a book overnight because it is too good to be put down for something as mundane as sleep. But it is a rare occurrence when I finish a book, turn the last page and go straight back to the beginning again, without even pausing to consider, without even thinking of a re-read, without a thought for the warm inviting bed (and without a thought even for the absurd challenge that looms in front of all reading towards the end of a year). But this shockingly, heart-wrenchingly, even exhilaratingly real and excruciatingly beautiful book is definitely one of them. [ This is my 'book-of-the-year' - being the one book I am most grateful to have read in the year. ] - Full review will be put up after the second reading... ...more |
Notes are private!
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Nov 26, 2013
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Nov 30, 2013
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Nov 26, 2013
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Hardcover
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| 9646534783
| 9789646534780
| 9646534783
| 4.66
| 7,377
| 1390
| 2003
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it was amazing
| "Hafiz - a quarry of imagery in which poets of all ages might mine." - Ralph Waldo Emerson Shams Ud-Din Muhammad or Hafiz is said to be an almost exact "Hafiz - a quarry of imagery in which poets of all ages might mine." - Ralph Waldo Emerson Shams Ud-Din Muhammad or Hafiz is said to be an almost exact contemporary of Chaucer. The pen-name ‘Hafiz� means ‘one who can recite the Koran by heart�. Not much else is known about Hafiz. The poems from The Divan (or Collected Works) of Hafiz is in fact more or less all we know of his life, where we learn that Hafiz received his gift of poetry from a Gypsy-mystic-scholar who appears only once in a while to mortals. Background Hafiz lived in what was called the ‘times of troubles� of the Persian civilization, just before the establishment of the Timurid Dynasty, again forcing us to draw parallels with Chaucer. Before entering the poetry of Hafiz, we need to understand the world that produced it. Hafiz was a Shi’ite. Shi’ism was more than just a quarrel of succession for these conquered Persians - it was the religion of the non-Arab oppressed who found in the dispossessed Ali and his sons symbols for suffering and martyrdom. It was also an outlet for the mystical and religious longings of this ancient civilization, expressed through the cracks of a much more rigorous new religion (which forbids much of the Dionysian aspects of Persian culture as well as their ecstatic connection with the mystical). Without keeping in mind the two major currents of religious influence in Persia at the time: Shi’ism and Sufism (font of much of the lyric poetry of the time), Hafiz cannot be fully appreciated. The suffering and pathos of early Shi’ism and the pantheism and the life-celebration of Sufism comes together in Hafiz to form an exhilarating yet humanizing mix that has given it such grandeur and such an endearing personal quality, allowing it to transcend time and still touch our hearts. So the Sufist deification (or re-deification) of wine and of the wine keeper as well as the Madhushala (मधुशाल�) and the neo-Platonian conception of the divine as Absolute Beauty all meld together in Hafiz’s poetry to form an intoxicating yet deeply sad mix. Here again we can notice the parallels between medieval poetry of Chaucerian English and the personal lyric poetry of the Persians. Imagery Medieval Persian poetry trades in a number of stock images such as: the moon as the perfect lover’s cheeks; the rose as the lover’s face; the hyacinth the curling locks; the cypress the graceful form� Leading to dual images of the nightingale helplessly enamored of the rose; the morning breeze as the messenger of love; the scent of musk the beloved’s smell of tresses; the beloved as seller of sweetmeats and the lover-poet as an eloquent sweet-loving parrot� All leading us to the eternal image of the Lover contemplating the Absolute Beauty, of Man gazing at God. This stylized imagery forms the basic stock and trade of all such poets - much of the poet’s art consists in the ingenious recombination and re-application of these traditional stock-symbols. And Hafiz’s genius is the extraordinary degree to which they become vivid, natural and spectacularly personal in his hands. Such a poet as Hafiz depends on an audience which takes these stock images for granted yet which is sufficiently sophisticated to appreciate the subtleties and ingenuities - understanding the poems on several simultaneous levels of significance. Again we are drawn to the comparison of how the same dynamics enliven Chaucer’s poetry (with the multi-fold allegorical interpretation of scripture and other devices). Thus almost any poem of Hafiz can be read on at least three levels of significance (though one or the other might be foremost and highlighted): - As a celebration of wine and love (of sensuality); - in terms of Sufi theology - as experiences of the universal mystic (beloved transposed as the Divine - Sacred and profane love thus intermixing un-self-consciously!); - as courtly panegyrics - lauding his kingly masters as equals to the gods. The following are a few more pointers that are not applicable to Hafiz alone but for much of oriental poetry. I have found it important to keep such distinctions in mind to understand poetry that at first glance seems outlandishly far-away. While much of this comes from the translator’s notes, it might be useful advice for reading other beautiful works too. Add to all this the consideration that these were meant to be sung and not to be read and were composed mostly impromptu on the urging of an unforgiving patron and we can begin to see the true genius of the poetry. Structure Hafiz’s poetry (and in fact much of oriental poetry) seems disconnected to the modern ear - drawing criticism such as being ‘oriental pearls strung on a random sting� - but this is because they were not influenced by the ‘beginning-middle-end� Aristotelean conception of structuring. The unity in such poetry emerges from a symbolic unity of the leading imagery of each Ghazal/couplet - each linked to the others only through imagery (but not through ideas) - deliberately suppressed for effect, sometimes even forming multiple interlinkages (skipping couplets to form multiple threads) to form a delicious arabesque imagery through the poetry� it is hard to conceive of. In addition, the whole composition being circular rather than linear allows the couplets to eventually lead you back to where you began from (similar to much of the Persian miniature painting principles). As if a necklace of images has at long last been clasped - completed. Excerpts Now for a few excerpts: Boy, bring the cup! And circulate the wine! How easy at first love seemed� but now the snags begin. ... Except for this one fault I can find no fault in your beauty - That your face reveals no trace of truth or of love� � Tears, tears like pearls must thread your eyelashes, Before you drink the wine from the eternal jeweled cup � None shall, as Hafiz does, withdraw Thought’s veil, Who has not combed out language, like a bride. � Love knows no difference between monastery and drinking-booth, For the light of the Friend’s face irradiates all.. � Come let us get drunk, even if it is our ruin: For sometimes under ruins one finds the treasure � A laughing wine cup, a tangle of knotted hair - And let good resolutions, like those of hafiz be shattered! � If you sit above my grave with music and wine At the fragrance of you I shall rise from that narrow place and dance! � We are not bigots nor puritans; we need no penance: Preach to us only with a cup of unmixed wine. � This worship of wine, Hafiz, is a virtuous business, So be resolute in performance of Righteous works!! ...more |
Notes are private!
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Nov 23, 2013
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Nov 25, 2013
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Nov 25, 2013
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Hardcover
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| 0192840975
| 9780192840974
| 0192840975
| 3.88
| 793
| Nov 28, 2004
| Jan 20, 2005
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liked it
| Global Warming, hearteningly, might be one of the few topics where we could confidently assert that an Introduction is really not required. Everyone s Global Warming, hearteningly, might be one of the few topics where we could confidently assert that an Introduction is really not required. Everyone seems to know (more than) enough and already has an opinion on the topic. An intro on GW should sound laughable, in fact. At best what one would need is a ‘Very Cogent Argument on Global Warming� or a ‘Very Easy Solution for Global Warming� or maybe even a ‘Very Intelligent Refutal of Global Warming�. But, it turns out to be quite useful to know how the argument has played out over the last sixty or so years (well, more than hundred in fact) and the many twists and turns that the scientific community, the politicians, the economists, the interest groups and especially the common public has taken to reach where they are on their perceptions right now. That is not to say that we have a consensus now, but the lack of consensus which seems most incomprehensible to most of the concerned, will sound much more realistic once the history of the debate is known. And that understanding might just be necessary to have a less strident approach towards spreading awareness and understanding. It might also help in adopting a more gentle and less 'you-are-a-jackass-if-you-don't-get-this' sort of manner. Like any other major conflict, sustained dialogue is the need of the hour and for that careful study of the opposition's views might be the best way forward. Maslin provides a very short and decent introduction to that vast topic/debate. This is an interesting update that deals with the whole media debate issue: . ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Nov 24, 2013
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Nov 25, 2013
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Nov 24, 2013
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Paperback
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| 0143036580
| 9780143036586
| 0143036580
| 3.69
| 11,164
| Apr 07, 2005
| Feb 28, 2006
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liked it
| Towards the End of Poverty: A Manifesto The difference between a solid policy prescription book and an evocative manifesto is hard to make out if it is Towards the End of Poverty: A Manifesto The difference between a solid policy prescription book and an evocative manifesto is hard to make out if it is an economist writing it. I should have known which side this would fall on once I saw that the introduction was by Bono, but I let the forceful and articulate Bono force me into buying this one. In the store, Bono’s righteous anger was infectious and the book could not be put down. It sounded like a moral obligation: Fifteen thousand people dying needlessly every day from AIDS, TB, and malaria. Mothers, fathers, teachers, farmers, nurses, mechanics, children. This is Africa's crisis. Sachs has often come into some criticism for advocating a too-simple model. But, perhaps the point is that one has to take his prescriptions as those of a reformist, of an evangelist, of one who is willing to put his reputation on the line to get the ball rolling. He is okay to work out the details later. His prime interest is to convince the world that progress in the fight against poverty is possible, and that depends on giving them a believable model, a get-go plan. The model he presents is the Ladder of Development. This is the easy and feel-good model, the one for the headlines. The more realistic prescription is hidden inside. It is what he calls �Clinical Economics�. This review wont be covering that. Another interesting part of the book is Sachs� analysis of China. It is an insightful take on why socialism failed in Russia but flourished in China. It is worth a read, but again won’t be covered in this review since it will take away from the forcefulness of the main thrust. The reviewer is determined to be a disciple of Sachs in this respect. In the simple model, Sachs tells us that there exists a Ladder of Development. It is made of many successive rungs that have to be climbed to reach where the developed world currently is. The Ladder is not a normal ladder, the rungs are not equally spaced - they get closer together as you climb higher. So that it gets easier and easier to climb the higher you are. This is illustrated by countries who were poor only a few decades ago but had so called ‘economic miracles�. To Sachs, there was nothing miraculous about it, it was all about getting high enough in the ladder for the growth to be self-sustaining. The very hardest part of economic development, according to Sachs, is getting the first foothold on this Ladder. This is so because, true to its peculiar nature, the lowest rung of the Ladder is very high off the ground. Most of the poor countries cannot easily reach there. If only they could, they would then be climbing as if they were born ladder-climbers, Sachs is sure. Economic development works. It can be successful. It tends to build on itself. But it must get started. [image] This is where the ones on top of the Ladder has to step in. This is where the role of aid, the crux of Sachs� advocacy, becomes crucial. If the developed nations could just pull these countries on to the First Rung and perhaps even hold their hand for the next few rungs, we could soon be at The End of Poverty. So, the rich countries should stop obsessing over trivialities (too much economic thinking, Sachs says, has been directed at the wrong question—how to make the poor countries into textbook models of good governance or efficient market economies) and focus on making sure that every country is safely on the Ladder. All the squabbling and fighting happens when they can’t get on it and focus all their abundant energies towards the exciting adventure of climbing it. Once they are on that task, other peripheral aspects of development would follow naturally. So stop breaking your head over it and get on the real task - this is Sachs radioing the world, loud and clear. Sachs sees the Ladder and knows that a better world is there for the taking. He sees that much of the world is focused on comparatively trivial things when they could be saving lives and ending misery. That is why Sachs is angry. And this book is the result. It leaves little doubt about the duty of this generation. Sachs is supposed to be most important economist of this generation, and based on his results, he might indeed be. There is definitely no doubt that he is the loudest (especially with Bono for company). You can question his approach, but not his passion. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Nov 19, 2013
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Nov 21, 2013
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Nov 20, 2013
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Paperback
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| 0670021075
| 9780670021079
| 0670021075
| 3.95
| 3,680
| Aug 20, 2009
| Aug 20, 2009
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liked it
| What is the moral equivalent of war? Solnit’s book is in many ways an extended argument (with examples) on William James� essay on his famous question: What is the moral equivalent of war? Solnit’s book is in many ways an extended argument (with examples) on William James� essay on his famous question: “What is the moral equivalent of war?� - Based on the premise that war is an ennobling bringing-together of humans and that the experience is uplifting and necessary and an equivalent would be a wonderful thing to find. Everyone from Hobbes to Hollywood filmmakers has assumed and showcased that when disaster strikes, society crumbles. They show this “Law of the Jungle� as pure and dangerous chaos. Solnit wants to show that what in fact takes place is another kind of anarchy, where the citizenry by and large organize and care for themselves and rises above the disaster. News Media (to most the only media that exists) loves spectacle and spectacle is gore - they highlight the worst stories and that is what you remember. That is why this book is important. Because Beliefs matter. Especially when we move into an age where disasters are going to be more and more a part of our lives, it is important to learn to maintain continuity and a sense of societal organization through such periods. Solnit tells numerous stories to illustrate that in the wake of an earthquake, a bombing, or a major storm, most people are altruistic, urgently engaged in caring for themselves and those around them, strangers and neighbors as well as friends and loved ones. The image of the selfish, panicky, or regressively savage human being in times of disaster has little truth to it Solnit asserts. But belief lags behind, and often the worst behavior in the wake of a calamity is on the part of those who believe that others will behave savagely and that they themselves are taking defensive measures against barbarism. This is the power of self-fulfilling prophesies - any belief that is acted on makes the world in its image. Beliefs matter. And so do the facts behind them. The astonishing gap between common beliefs and actualities about disaster behavior limits the possibilities, and changing beliefs could fundamentally change much more. Of course it is dangerous to subscribe fully to this optimism and the case can easily be made that Solnit got carried away in this book. Her descriptions of disasters are so ennobling it begins to test the limits of belief. Then Solnit starts talking of how disaster is almost nostalgic to its survivors: ...It reminded me of how many of us in the San Francisco Bay Area had loved the Loma Prieta earthquake that took place three weeks before the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. Or loved not the earthquake but the way communities had responded to it. Especially when you hear phrases like “enjoying immensely the disaster...�, it is natural to feel skeptical but we also have to keep in mind that this might only be a limitation of language: ...if enjoyment is the right word for that sense of immersion in the moment and solidarity with others caused by the rupture in everyday life, an emotion graver than happiness but deeply positive. We don’t even have a language for this emotion, in which the wonderful comes wrapped in the terrible, joy in sorrow, courage in fear. We cannot welcome disaster, but we can value the responses, both practical and psychological. In addition, a few major drawbacks too have to be pointed out: 1. By and large Solnit avoids turning her gaze to the disasters in the developing world where chances of solidarity might (or might not be) be less. I am not implying that the people would be less noble, but with less infrastructure and with total anarchy, it might disappear. The study is not complete without exploring that aspect. 2. Solnit paints a particularly dangerous picture of the administration and the authorities in this book. This is dangerous since if the purpose of the book is to influence beliefs, painting such a caricatured version would make it harder for order to be established post-disaster - trust in the authorities would surely be necessary at some point. This near-parody portrayal of the ‘authorities� is extreme and should probably be ignored. That is the problem with anecdotal books - a book could easily be written too about how the supposed monsters of bureaucracy becomes angels of deliverance in a disaster. This is not to use that as a hammer against this book, but only to suggest that such a book too should probably be written. 3. Another parody-portrayal is that of the ‘elites� - painting them as the defenders of some ‘order� who completely lose it when utopian anarchy descends in the wake of a disaster. Being blind to goodness, they then embark on a path of distraction that brings a bad name to all disaster victims. ‘Elite Panic� she calls this phenomena. This section of the book is written with some heavily shaded blinkers and deserves at best a derisive laugh from the unbiased reader. 4. In addition to these wild approximations, Solnit in her quest for legitimacy for the ideas presented opts for wildly reaching speculations into various fields - for example, comparing disaster to carnivals and thus as a necessary celebration of life. Or comparing to revolutions, or to freedom struggles to show that disasters are a break with the past, ‘mini utopias� of a sort. That is surely more than just ‘stretching an argument�. In these aspects the book is an overkill. Even lunacy, at times. Indeed, as Richard says in his review, this is the Oprah version. But, in spite of all the criticisms above, it is still an important book. Sometimes the best way to convey to people that the horrid hell of a disaster aftermath is still a path to possible escape is to draw upon real stories, and present them in as empathetic a manner as possible. Disaster is never terribly far away. Knowing how people behave in disasters is fundamental to knowing how to prepare for them. And what can be learned about resilience, social and psychological response, and possibility from sudden disasters is relevant as well for the slower disasters of poverty, economic upheaval, and incremental environmental degradation as well as the abiding questions about social possibilities. The purpose of the book is not to inform, it is to affect in a visceral fashion - you might not remember facts when the next super-cyclone hits, but you might remember a story and if that stops you from going for an axe for a second longer - enough to see the pain in another eye - the book might have served its purpose. Beliefs matter. P.S. Of course, this review is also the Oprah version, but I was moved and I will stand by the author on this one, at least in essence, if not in full. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Nov 17, 2013
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Nov 19, 2013
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Nov 18, 2013
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Hardcover
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| 0316204366
| 9780316204361
| 0316204366
| 3.97
| 188,167
| Oct 01, 2013
| Oct 01, 2013
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it was ok
| The Art of Avoiding Bestsellers: A Field Guide for Authors How do books succeed? By getting into the Bestseller lists? By making a few millions? By The Art of Avoiding Bestsellers: A Field Guide for Authors How do books succeed? By getting into the Bestseller lists? By making a few millions? By winning the most prestigious awards of the day? Wrong. These are very narrow views on what constitutes success for a work of art, especially literature or serious non-fiction. If we redefine success, we might find that these very things that confers ‘success� in the short term might be hurting the artist/author the most in the long term. This applies to prestigious prizes such as Bookers as well, as we will see. We might even get an idea of why so few of the Booker winning books seem to be good enough a few years after their moment of glory. (Spoiler: (view spoiler)[They cater to the jury and the prevailing standards of judgement, which may become old too soon. (hide spoiler)]) +++ Let us illustrate this by taking an example from this very book. This reviewer has to warn the reader that the example is originally invoked in the book for another purpose though it has been adopted more or less verbatim here, but we need to get into that now. (By the way, the careful reader should also be able to divine why this small essay is can also serve as a review for this book in particular and to all of Mr. Gladwell’s books in general.) Let us go back to 19th century France. Art was a big deal in the cultural life of France back then. Painting was regulated by the government and was considered a profession in the same way that medicine or the law is a profession today. The Professionals who did well would win awards and prestigious fellowships. And at the pinnacle of the profession was The Salon, the most important art exhibition in all of Europe. [image] +++ Every year each of the painters of France submitted two or three of his finest canvases to a jury of experts, bringing their work to the , an exhibition hall built for the Paris World Fair between the and the . Throughout the next few weeks, the jury would vote on each painting in turn. Those deemed unacceptable would be stamped with the red letter “R� for rejected. Those accepted would be hung on the walls of the Palais, and over the course of six weeks beginning in early May, as many as a million people would throng the exhibition. The best paintings were given medals. The winners were celebrated and saw the value of their paintings soar - became ‘bestsellers�. The losers limped home and went back to work. �There are in Paris scarcely fifteen art-lovers capable of liking a painting without Salon approval,� Renoir once said. �There are 80,000 who won’t buy so much as a nose from a painter who is not hung at the Salon.� The Salon was the most important art show in the world. In short, for a painter in nineteenth-century France, the Salon was everything - the Booker Committee and the Bestseller List rolled into one. +++ And now, the twist: In spite of the all the benefits, the acceptance by the Salon also came with a large cost: for the truly creative and path breaking (let us take for example the such as Monet, which is the case study taken up by the book): 1. It required creating the kind of art that they did not find meaningful, 2. & They risked being lost in the clutter of other artists� work. Was it worth it? The Salon was the place where reputations were made. And what made it special was how selective it was. There were roughly three thousand painters of “national reputation� in France in the 1860s, and each submitted two or three of his best works to the Salon, which meant the jury was picking from a small mountain of canvases. Rejection was the norm. Getting in was a feat. �The Salon is the real field of battle,� Manet said. �It’s there that one must take one’s measure.”� It was the place where �you could succeed in making a noise, in defying and attracting criticism, coming face-to-face with the big public.� But the very things that made the Salon so attractive—how selective and prestigious it was—also made it problematic. No painter could submit more than three works. The crowds were often overwhelming. The Salon was the Big Pond. But it was very hard to be anything at the Salon but a Little Fish. +++ Night after night, the rebels (the Impressionists) argued over whether they should keep knocking on the Salon door or strike out on their own and stage a show just for themselves. Did they want to be a Little Fish in the Big Pond of the Salon or a Big Fish in a Little Pond of their own choosing? The problem for the rebels such as the Impressionists was The Salon’s attitude: it was cautious, traditional. It had a reputation to uphold for being the voice of approval. It could not afford to make mistakes. [image] “Works were expected to be microscopically accurate, properly ‘finished� and formally framed, with proper perspective and all the familiar artistic conventions,� the art historian Sue Roe writes. �Light denoted high drama, darkness suggested gravitas. In narrative painting, the scene should not only be ‘accurate,� but should also set a morally acceptable tone. An afternoon at the Salon was like a night at the Paris Opéra: audiences expected to be uplifted and entertained. For the most part, they knew what they liked, and expected to see what they knew.� The kinds of paintings that won medals, Roe says, were huge, meticulously painted canvases showing scenes from French history or mythology, with horses and armies or beautiful women, with titles like Soldier’s Departure, Young Woman Weeping over a Letter, and Abandoned Innocence. The Impressionists, on the other hand, had an entirely different idea about what constituted art. [image] They painted everyday life. Their brushstrokes were visible. Their figures were indistinct. To the Salon jury and the crowds thronging the Palais, their work looked amateurish, even shocking, and was repeatedly turned down. They had no hope of making waves in the Big Pond of The Salon. +++ The Big Fish–Little Pond Gambit Pissarro and Monet were smarter. They conjured up an alternative to the shackles of the Salon. They thought it made more sense to be a Big Fish in a Little Pond. If they were off by themselves and held their own show, they said, they wouldn’t be bound by the restrictive rules of the Salon, where the medals were won by paintings of soldiers and weeping women. They could paint whatever they wanted. And they wouldn’t get lost in the crowd, because there wouldn’t be a crowd. In 1873, Pissarro and Monet proposed that the Impressionists set up a collective called the Société Anonyme Coopérative des Artistes Peintres, Sculpteurs, Graveurs. There would be no competition, no juries, and no medals. Every artist would be treated as an equal. The Impressionists� exhibition opened on April 15, 1874, and lasted one month. The entrance fee was one franc. There were 165 works of art on display, including three Cézannes, ten paintings by Degas, nine Monets, five Pissarros, six Renoirs, and five by —a tiny fraction of what was on the walls of the Salon across town. In their show, the Impressionists could exhibit as many canvases as they wished and hang them in a way that allowed people to actually see them. [image] This was the first exhibition of "Impressionism". It was here that Critic Louis Leroy took the title of a work by Monet, 'Impression, Sunrise' to deride exposure and then went on to qualify these artists, quite skeptically, as "Impressionists." The name stuck. +++ This historic show brought the artists some critical attention. Not all of that attention was positive: one joke (in addition to the name 'impressionism' itself!) told was that what the Impressionists were doing was loading a pistol with paint and firing at the canvas. But that was the second part of the Big Fish–Little Pond bargain. The Big Fish–Little Pond option might be scorned by some on the outside, but Small Ponds are welcoming places for those on the inside. They have all of the support that comes from community and friendship—and they are places where innovation and individuality are not frowned upon. [image] �We are beginning to make ourselves a niche,� a hopeful Pissarro wrote to a friend. �We have succeeded as intruders in setting up our little banner in the midst of the crowd.� Their challenge was “to advance without worrying about opinion.� He was right. Off by themselves, the Impressionists found a new identity. They felt a new creative freedom, and before long, the outside world began to sit up and take notice. In the history of modern art, there has never been a more important or more famous exhibition. If you tried to buy the paintings in that warren of top-floor rooms today, it would cost you more than a billion dollars. +++ In the end, the Impressionists were lucky to make the right choice, which is one of the reasons that their paintings hang in every major art museum in the world. But this same dilemma comes up again and again, and often the choice made is not as wise. Their story should remind today’s top artists and authors that there is a point at which money and mainstream recognition stop making them and start breaking them. The story of the Impressionists suggests that when the artists/authors strive for the best and attach great importance to getting into the Bestseller lists and Booker Lists, rarely do they stop and consider—as the Impressionists did—whether this is always in their best interest: 1. One of the important lessons the Impressionists could teach the modern artists is that there are times and places where it is better to be a Big Fish in a Little Pond than a Little Fish in a Big Pond, where the apparent disadvantage of being an outsider in a marginal world turns out not to be a disadvantage at all. 2. Another important lesson is that what counts in the end is if you let the Big Pond define you, or if you were brave enough to invent an alternative. The answer might not always be a Little Pond, but it sure can’t be meek acceptance of the current status quo path either. Think of all the great artists of the modern age who could hardly be defined as mainstream during their own lifetimes, who would never dream of writing for the approval of a committee, who were as far away from honors and awards and money as only exiles could be. Think of all the books with prestigious honors and the #1 bestseller mark that seem like jokes now. Think about how so many of our best authors seem to end up producing the same sort of exceptional trash - very well written, but hardly the real deal that would last a century. +++ What then can be an alternative for the ones who want to break free? We can talk about one option that our case study suggests - it might not be the only option, and the creative ones can always come up with better option, but the exhortation of this reviewer is a simple one: that the really ambitions artists and authors need to start thinking hard about the best use of their own abilities and efforts. (Added here from the comments section, for clarity): To restate, in our day the artists have three options - 1. Satisfy the Bank 2. Satisfy the critics (or impress) 3. Or satisfy their own genius (or impress) The last being the most risky and perhaps most important one. So what is the winning option again? For one thing, examples abound of niche novelists� groups pushing the boundaries of literature, slowly attaining cult status and eventually becoming part of the canon itself. Just as Pissarro, Monet, Renoir, and Cézanne weighed prestige against visibility, selectivity against freedom, and decided the costs of the Big Pond were too great, it is time for the really serious to make the same call, of rejecting the conventional trappings of ‘success� that only serves to limit their possibilities. ...more |
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Jan 30, 2014
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Feb 02, 2014
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Nov 13, 2013
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Hardcover
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| 1441976760
| 9781441976765
| 1441976760
| 4.12
| 34
| Jan 17, 2011
| Sep 16, 2011
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it was amazing
| The Red-Queen: On the Energy-Technology Spiral Or Peaked Oil: Why Peak Oil Arrived Yesterday Preface This book h The Red-Queen: On the Energy-Technology Spiral Or Peaked Oil: Why Peak Oil Arrived Yesterday Preface This book has a bit of a prosaic title, especially when coming from a historian (they usually come up with fantastically irresistible titles) - writing one too many academic papers must have gotten to the poor guy. I have suggested a few alternatives above in the guise of titles for my own summary-essay. I cannot believe there is not a single review on ŷ for this fantastic book (9 ratings and 0 reviews on ŷ + 2 non-reviews on Amazon!). It would be a good wager that it is due to the strategically chosen title. But despite the seeming lack of interest in the book, it is a literal page turner. This is firmly among the top 3 environmental books that I have yet read. What follows is more a summary than a review. I have taken a few liberties in the process. For example, fracking is not covered in the book so I have tried to bring it into the analysis - integrating it into the argumentative framework to forestall criticism on that front. Being the only review on ŷ for such a good book, I am under a bit of pressure here. There is only so much a summary can do. I have to warn you that you might find that it is a very depressing book in many ways - the most essential sort. Stein’s Law: “Trends that can’t continue, won’t.”� The Unexpected Oil Spill (Or Not) It was 9:15 p.m. on April 20, 2010, The Deepwater Horizon oil spill (also referred to as the BP oil spill/Macondo blowout) began in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). In the next four months, the oil gushing from the Macondo well spread over several tens of thousands of square miles of Gulf water - An entire region was under environmental siege. Countless of birds, turtles, dolphins, and an unknown number of fish and shrimp died. Tens of thousands of people lost their livelihoods and incomes, and a whole way of life was demolished. Tainter and Patzek uses the story of this Gulf oil spill as the background for a wide-ranging discussion of how we got here and where we are headed. They emphasize that such events point to a systemic problem, and suggest that the spill was in fact more than likely given sufficient opportunities and time. The disaster and GOM (Gulf Of Mexico) in general is taken as a microcosm to explore the inevitability of disaster in our society. Nature: A Mean Fractal Starting from the basics is the best way to understand the basics. As far as Oil is concerned, the first thing we need to know is how much recoverable oil is waiting for us down there (in GOM, in this case). How much risk is involved in obtaining it and what is the trade-off. In other words, do the benefits outweigh the risks, for whom, and for how long? Finding new oil in the deep Gulf of Mexico has not been easy. Historically, “dry holes,� wells that never produced commercial hydrocarbons, have been numerous. To put the last number in perspective, 72% of all wells drilled in water depths greater than 5,000 feet were dry holes! Why is this so? The sizes of reservoirs are important - it turns out that over the entire range of reservoir sizes, hydrocarbon reservoirs follow a “parabolic-fractal� law that says there is an increasing proportion of the smaller reservoirs relative to the larger ones. If this law of reservoir sizes holds true, most, if not all, of the largest oilfields have already been discovered, and the smaller ones will not add much new oil to the total regardless of how many new oilfields are discovered. The Paradigm of The Low-Hanging PEAK We employ the Principle of Least Effort or Low-Hanging Fruit when we look for the resources that we need. We would never have considered looking for oil in deep water before we had fully developed the easy oil available elsewhere. We follow the same principle in the development of human society and in other aspects of history. This is a variant of plucking the lowest fruit. The second fruit to pluck is the next one up, and so forth. At some point, however, the costs start to accelerate and the benefits of complexity, the ability to solve problems, increase more slowly and the risks start to become more than acceptable. This is a normal economic event, and it is known as the point of diminishing returns. That should be how we redefine the point of Peak Oil . There is a need to shift the definition. 2020: The Year of the Boiled Frog �Boiling a frog� is a famous metaphor for the problem we all have perceiving changes that are gradual but cumulatively significant, that may creep up and have devastating consequences. Nothing changes very much and things seem normal. Then one day the accumulation of changes causes the appearance of normality to disappear. Suddenly things have changed a great deal, the catastrophe has arrived. The world is different. We know how to boil a frog. Complexification is how to boil a society. Complexity grows by small steps, each seemingly reasonable, each a solution to a genuine problem. A few people always foresee the outcome, and always they are ignored. PEAK SCIENCE? We are often assured that innovation (in technology or production or processes) in the future will reduce our society’s dependence on energy and other resources while continuing to provide for a lifestyle equivalent or better than such as we now enjoy. Could innovation reduce the energy cost of complexity? Institutionalized innovation as we know it today is a recent development. In every scientific and technical field, early research plucks the lowest fruit: the questions that are easiest to answer and most broadly useful. Research organization moves from isolated scientists who do all aspects of a project, to teams of scientists, technicians, and support staff who require specialized equipment, costly institutions, administrators, and accountants. Looking at today’s unending stream of inventions and new products, most people assume that innovation is accelerating. Ever-shorter product cycles would lead one to believe so. In fact, relative to population, innovation is not accelerating. It is not even holding steady. Huebner found that major innovations per billion people peaked in 1873 and have been declining ever since. Then, plotting U.S. patents granted per decade against population, he found that the peak of U.S. innovation came in 1915. It, too, has been declining since that date. Jesus Fracking Christ - A Saviour? Patzek’s (One of the authors) research has emphasized the use of unconventional natural gas as a fuel bridge to the possible new energy supply schemes for the U.S. Fracking is an important such new technology that is posing as a sort of savior. But we need to understand such improvements inside the framework of he technology-complexity spiral framework - that such improvements is ultimately an increase in complexity. Does this mean that efficiency improvements and new technologies of extraction such as Fracking are not worthwhile? Of course not. Efficiency improvements are highly valuable, but their value has a limited lifespan. Technical improvements may merely establish the groundwork for greater resource consumption in the future. This in turn requires further technical innovation, but as we have just discussed, those technical improvements will become harder and harder to achieve. And as we do achieve them, they may serve us for shorter and shorter periods. We have a tendency to assume that technical innovations such as Fracking will solve our energy problems. This is unlikely. It is the Thermodynamics, Stupid! The Second Law of Thermodynamics defines what tends to or can happen in any energy system (the entropy of an isolated system never decreases). Considerable energy flows are required to maintain complex structures that are far from equilibrium, including living organisms and societies. We must breathe, drink, and eat for energy to flow continuously through our living bodies and maintain their highly complex, organized structures. Unfortunately, this tends to create a mess in the environment that surrounds us. The same principle applies to the production of oil. The energy it would take to restore the environment damaged by the oil production processes such as Fracking (or inevitable disasters such as the BP spill) exceeds by several-fold the amount of combustion heat we get from burning the oil in our cars. In both examples, we cannot break even no matter how hard we try! The Boiled Frogs: A Quick History of Civilizations Although we like to think of ourselves as unique, in fact our societies today are subject to many of the same forces and problems that past societies experienced, including problems of complexity and energy. In some past societies, the growth of complexity ultimately proved disastrous, and all past societies found it a challenge. It might seem quaint to talk of ancient societies declining but it is infect quite easy to see the striking parallels. It takes being a Historian though. (Much of the insight in this section draws upon the book �The Collapse of Complex Societies� which the reviewer has not read. Hence, it is not covered in detail in this summary.) The Roman Cauldron There was not much ancient societies could do to store extra solar energy except to turn it into something durable. This they did by turning surplus solar energy into precious metals, works of art, and people and into monetary units. When the Romans conquered a new people, they would seize this stored solar energy by carrying off the same precious metals and works of art, as well as people who would be enslaved. One of the problems of being an empire is that eventually you run out of profitable conquests. Expand far enough and you will encounter people who are too poor to be worth conquering (the germanic tribes), or who are powerful enough that they are too costly to conquer (The Persians). Diminishing returns set in. ROME: Hit that Decline Button - Sloowwly The strategy of the Roman Empire, in confronting a serious crisis, was largely predictable - They responded as people commonly do: they increased complexity to solve their problems, and subsequently went looking for the energy to pay for it. This way of dealing with increasing complexity can be called The Roman Model. The society, in this model, increases in complexity to solve urgent problems, becoming at the same time increasingly costly. In time there are diminishing returns to problem solving, but the problems of course do not go away. Byzantium - The Dark Age Solution Third and fourth century Byzantine emperors had managed a similar crisis in a similar fashion by increasing the complexity of administration. This eventually led to a radical devolution of the civilization. The period is sometimes called the Byzantine Dark Age. This eventually led to a re-flowering of the empire. This response is the Byzantine Model: recovery through simplification. It is a solution that is often recommended for modern society as a way to inflict less damage on the earth and the climate, and to live within a lower energy budget. In this sense, Byzantium may be a model or prototype for our own future, in broad parameters but not in specific details. There is both good news and bad news in this. The good news is that the Byzantines have shown us that a society can survive by simplifying. The bad news is that they accomplished it only when their backs were to the wall. They did not simplify voluntarily. Europe: The Subsidized Continent As discussed earlier, there is an overwhelming reason why today’s prosperous Europe emerged from so many centuries of misery - That they got lucky: they stumbled upon great, almost free subsidies. Over the seas they found new lands that could be conquered, and their resources turned to European advantage. We are all familiar with the stories of untold riches that Europeans took from the New World. This process is the European Model: of increasing complexity. Problem solving produces ever-increasing complexity and consumption of resources, regardless of the long-term cost. High complexity in a way of life can be sustained if one can find a subsidy to pay the costs. This is what fossil fuels have done for us: they have provided a subsidy that allows us to support levels of complexity that otherwise we could not afford. In effect, we pay the cost of our lifestyle with an endowment from a wealthy ancestor. This is fine, as long as the subsidy continues undiminished and as long as we do not mind damages such as the Gulf oil spill. A Subsidized Planet: Living on Borrowed time - Literally More recently, all societies of today, led by Europe, made the transition to financing themselves through fossil fuels, supplemented to varying degrees by nuclear power and a few other sources. This continues the European tradition of financing complexity through subsidies � energy coming from elsewhere. In this case, the “elsewhere� is the geological past. Future Imperfect The Deepwater Horizon is one of the latest manifestations of the evolutionary process of complexification. Problems such as the depletion of easy deposits and environmental concerns have been met by complexification: the development of technology that is increasingly capable, yet costly and risky (such as Parallel Drilling, Fracking, Arctic exploration etc). The cost comes not only in the money needed to design, purchase, and run such a rig, but also in the money to repair the environmental damage caused by the Deepwater Horizon spill. Yet despite these costs, we will continue to operate such rigs until they reach the point of economic infeasibility or, more important, the point where the energy returned on energy invested, and the resulting energy and financial balance sheets, make further exploration pointless. Can anything be done about the energy–complexity spiral without diminishing our material quality of life? Two potential solutions commonly suggested are: Conservation and Innovation. But does either conservation or innovation provide a way out of the energy–complexity spiral? In this discussion, we have found that there might not be much hope. Renewable? Schenewable. It is fashionable to think that we will be able to produce renewable energy with gentler technologies, with simpler machines that produce less damage to the earth, the atmosphere, and people. We all hope so, but we must approach such technologies with a dose of realism and a long-term perspective. To the contrary, as problems great and small inevitably arise, addressing these problems requires complexity and resource consumption to increase. The usual approach to solving problems goes in the opposite direction. The Energy consumption of societies can only be on an upward trajectory - indefinitely (till supply chokes and dies). To believe that we can voluntarily survive over the long term on less energy per capita is to assume that the future will present no problems (or fewer!). This would clearly be a foolish assumption, and this reality places one of the favorite concepts of modern economists and technologists, sustainable development, in grave doubt. So, it is not clear whether renewable energy can produce even a fraction of the power per person that we enjoy now, let alone more energy to solve the problems that we will inevitably confront. Renewable energy will go through the same evolutionary course as fossil fuels. The marginal return to energy production will decline, just as it has with fossil fuels. In this context, might be fun. Back to the Hot Oil Bath of GOM Cheap abundant energy, chiefly from oil, has come to be regarded as a birthright, and we all expect someone to drill and deliver that oil to support our energy-exuberant lifestyles. The tragedy aboard the Deepwater Horizon may be a rare event, like a Black Swan, but it does force us to reconsider the potential price for the complex and risky technological solutions that will continue to be required to bring the remaining oil to market. The processes building up to an energy crisis have been growing in the background for decades, out of sight of most consumers. Then a tipping point is reached - a catastrophe, and suddenly the world has changed. Similarly, the complexity and riskiness of drilling in open water have been growing for decades, but growing in the background, away from most peoples� sights. So the Gulf spill appeared as a Black Swan when in fact it was a frog finally boiled to death. All Excess Baggage Aboard: How to Jettison the Energy Dilemma So, what now? We seem to have run out of options. At least, the easy ones. We are not the first people to face an energy dilemma. We saw three examples of societies that faced problems of energy and complexity. Each found different solutions (?) to their problems, and from this experiment we can foresee possible options for ourselves. To be sure, we will try to continue the European model of energy subsidies for as long as we can. Humanity will not forgo such rich, steep gradients. Even the threat of climate change will not deflect humanity from searching for oil in ever-more-inaccessible places, nor from burning through our mountains of sulfurous coal. Too many people find the short-term wealth and well-being irresistible. For how long, though, can we follow the European model? Declining EROEI and the Laws of Physics suggests that the answer is: Not forever. We cannot cannot continue on false optimism and expect to preserve our lifestyle. Do we then need to identify things we want to preserve of our culture and channel energy to those items? Should we jettison as much as possible and try to stay afloat? Is that the only way to avoid a devolution into another in the sequence of Dark-ages that civilizations have made a habit of falling into? These are tough questions. Wake Up and Smell the Boiling Oil Our societies cannot postpone this public discussion about future of energy and the tough questions. The era of plentiful petroleum will someday end. We don’t know when this will happen, nor does anyone else. Surely it will happen sooner than we want. We cant fool ourselves any more - we are running on fumes and dooming our grandchildren (or even ourselves - who can truly say?) to a pre-technological society. As the Red Queen said to Alice in Through the Looking Glass, �Here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.� Paying more and more to maintain the status quo is the very essence of diminishing returns to problem solving. But it is, however, the direction in which we are headed. Someday, the physics of net energy will curtail our use of petroleum. A trend that cannot continue, won’t. Suggested Reading: See Comments section. ...more |
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| 2009
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really liked it
| The return of this asymmetrical Saturday was one of those little events, internal, local, almost civic, which, in peaceful lives and closed societi The return of this asymmetrical Saturday was one of those little events, internal, local, almost civic, which, in peaceful lives and closed societies, create a sort of national bond and become the favorite theme of conversations, jokes, stories wantonly exaggerated: it would have been the ready-made nucleus for a cycle of legends, if one of us had had an epic turn of mind. The Shadow Lines of History (& Geography) It is said that childhood is the font of all stories. No story can be told without getting the child in you involved. Well, that is not quite true. You can tell one without involving the child, except that it wont be a story anymore. It will be an anecdote - a story without the soul. Here, the child, and the adult, and the teenager flit across the shadow lines of time that separates them, blending into each other, becoming one and separate without the slightest effort. One minute the wonder of the child, next the indifference of the adult, next the deliberate inadequateness of the teenager - all assault the reader at the same time. Taking the reader on a parallel journey. The transitions between times is stunning - seamless! Between past and present selves� all shadow lines are sketched in loving detail. This technique is employed partly due to narrative expediency, but also to show the true nature of stories we tell ourselves - they are as fleeting as our memories. Our personal histories are figments of our imagination. Sometimes this shadowy nature of memory revels itself: You might think you know a story, you have grown up with it. Then someone comes along and says, but that could not have happened. You look them in the eyes and say, ‘look, that is what happened.� They will understand. Not so much. Your stories are built on ‘facts� that they are alien to. They belong to another time, one parallel to theirs. To another universe. Did you meet the multi-verse today? Looking-Glass Borders But these lines, these stories, are not just personal, they are spun out and eventually lays siege to whole nations. They become political hallucinations: What had they felt, I wondered, when they discovered that they had created not a separation, but a yet-undiscovered irony: the simple fact that there had never been a moment in the 4000-year-old history of that map when the places we know as Dhaka and Calcutta were more closely bound to each other than after they had drawn their lines � so closely that I, in Calcutta, had only to look into the mirror to be in Dhaka; a moment when each city was the inverted image of the other, locked into an irreversible symmetry by the line that was to set us free � our looking-glass border. Combine this with the opening quote from Proust, where anyone who is unaware of the 'Saturday' becomes 'barbarians' and we can see how history (& geography) are nothing but silly private jokes that we play on each other. (in fact it was stumbling across the passage in Proust that made me turn to this half-formed review among my notes.) The Grand Illusionists But Tha’mma, how can you teach me grammar - you don’t even know the difference between coming and going! The illusions that we conjure out of these shadows, made of boundaries which evidently are, but where there could be none. Lines circumscribing a ‘present, a ‘past and ‘future�, a ‘home�, a ‘abroad�, a country, a family, a property, even an identity - none solid - all melting when not paid attention to. Lacking a centre, we float on our emotions � � The Shadow lines present only when a light is shone somewhere near by - but disappearing in darkness and in light - if paid attention to or if ignored - appearing only at the sideways glance. Such strange places do we inhabit in our personal stories, the ones told to ourselves. It is only apt that one of the sideways glanced characters in the book is called MayaDevi (Goddess of Illusion), and she is in fact the main actor - the dancing shadow line - disappearing if forgotten or if paid attention to - possible (/living) only on the sidelines but impossible to live without. ...more |
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| 9780192806086
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| 3.36
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| Nov 03, 2005
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really liked it
| As the current WTO battleground fumes on in Bali, I thought it might be a good time to get some background on the organization and its history. I went As the current WTO battleground fumes on in Bali, I thought it might be a good time to get some background on the organization and its history. I went into this one bracing for a particularly boring ride since it is hard to imagine institutional histories as being anything more. WTO and its history, however, is quite different since it is the new forum for old battles and a microcosm of much that has gone before. With this very organically constructed presentation, Narlikar, though she comes down unequivocally on the developing country side of things, provides an interesting blow-by-blow on how things came to a head in Geneva (etc). Repeatedly. Narlikar traces out the details of the main issues plaguing the smooth functioning of the WTO and explains how they derive directly from the old-boy club nature of its predecessor (GATT), whose spirit continues to haunt its corridors. She also points out, in great detail, how the minutiae of negotiation framework and organizational structure (and even the informal procedures that form the bulk of WTO’s realpolitik) skew outcomes in favor of the powerful. And dissects most of the fundamental problems that, quite presciently, has continued to inflame issues further, even questioning the very basis for WTO’s continued existence. This VSI stretches only till the Cancun Ministerial or thereabout, and leaves out the important developments that followed post the DDR commencement. The fact that it is a bit outdated is abundantly clear from the fact that Narlikar was still capable of optimism about the Doha Rounds and for a possibility of amity and cooperation. She does predict the increasing tendency for bilateralism that will continue to eat at the roots of WTO. Don't let the fact that this VSI is not fully updated keep you from reading this very insightful short history. It presents a bleak picture but the next few days should help us understand further where things are headed. ...more |
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| 3.75
| 1,029
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| Jun 07, 2011
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liked it
| India: Connect-the-Dots (or not) French divides the book into three neat parts - Rashtra (Nation, i.e., The Politics), Lakshmi (Wealth, i.e., The Econo India: Connect-the-Dots (or not) French divides the book into three neat parts - Rashtra (Nation, i.e., The Politics), Lakshmi (Wealth, i.e., The Economics) & Samaj (Society, i.e., The Sociology). He attempts to sketch a comprehensive ‘portrait� of the country by using this eminently scientific approach. Hard to fault the ambition. Except that India refuses to be divided into such easy compartments. Nor are these sciences ones that can be easily examined without reference to each other. They are not the hyphenated-sisters for no reason. Much of the pleasure in reading the book comes from the tension generated by French trying to wrench and force fit his stories into his compartments, religiously avoiding cross-references (as much as possible). The fact that he keeps the whole thing coherent is an achievement in itself. Rashtra Appropriately the first section is politics which is the fountainhead of much that follows. French here attempts the herculean task of trying to compress the byzantine complexity of Indian politics into a third of a book. He keeps it light and funny and does not lack in insight when it comes to history. But his telling is slightly biased in favor of the current government - lavishing praises on Mr. Singh, Soniaji and on her son, even as he dishes out excessive criticism on almost everything else concerning Indian politics. It must be an embarrassment for the author if it were pointed out now how he was praising Rahul Gandhi as the possible savior of an increasing decadent Congress system while so insightfully highlighting the worst aspects of the party politics. The best analyzed chapter of the book (Family Politics) comes in this section and deals with the minutiae of Hereditary Politics that has plagued India. With the help of some (almost) ad-hoc calculations and excel-plugging, French arrives at a picture of how deep-rotted the problem really is. This depressing analysis points out how low a proportion of non-hereditary political leaders, i.e., people who made it on their own merit are there in the higher (and even lower) echelons of power. As opposed to the ones who didn't need merit - He calls them H-MPs/H-MLAs (Hereditary-MP/MLA). Can’t think of a more stinging slap on the face of ‘democracy�. French ends the chapter with a stirring warning that the route India has taken of entrenched hereditary politics is taking her rapidly back to the era of Kings and Princes. Lakshmi As with any Indian Economic history, French dives with great relish into criticizing the early planning economy, especially Mahalanobis - he even points out how this damaged not just India but the rest of the newly independent countries as well since they looked to India (Calcutta in lieu of Chicago) for economic wisdom and adopted Mahalanobis’s elaborately concocted fantasy as theory. But the fact is that the steady stream of economists who poured into India in that period of exceptional enthusiasm (which Das elaborates in his book) had all certified the plan as faultless, Friedman being one of the few voices to cry foul and that was probably more because it was against his ideology than because of any specific objections to the theoretical framework. Thought experiment: India as an early Keynesian vs Monetarist battleground. Almost, but not to be. Sigh. In addition to the standard fare of criticism of early policies and the run up to the much hyped turning point of the 90s, some interesting flashes stand out in this section to interest even the informed reader - such as: How Keynes� early career and theoretical synthesis was shaped by India; How the at-first-glance stunningly socialistic and idealistic ‘Bombay Plan� was as in fact politically motivated and was a shrewd move to outflank the left-wing; How Mahalanobis was obsessed with the science of skull measurement and concocted dreamy theories on the racial superiority of Bengalis, etc. Samaj Fittingly, this concluding section about Indian Society is the most amorphous and yet most coherent part of the book. He uses it to highlight some of the everyday concerns of the Indian media and the everyday fears of the Indian ‘common-man� - all of which seem mundane but are of stunningly tragic proportions if one could only take a step back and see the extent, depth and sheer depravity of it. The topics he takes on in this section ranges from caste issues, societal disconnects such as the urban-rural divide (where he follows up on the Kafkaesque Aarushi story, in great detail.), religion and its discontents, customs - their origins and current forms, ancient science, philosophy etc and even some tasty anecdotes such as how Mahalanobis (yes he does seem to have an unhealthy obsession with Mahalanobis - just as he can never talk of Keynes without commenting on his sexuality within the same sentence) saved Ramanujam from chilly nights by teaching him the engineering dexterity necessary for manipulating a blanket. Being the manifestations arising out of the Politics and Economics outlined in the first two sections of the book, this final section finds French at his poignant journalistic best. Tracing out moving stories and making almost a travelogue of this, one gets the feeling that this was what French originally wanted to write about and the run up/introduction in which he wanted to show some of the underlying causes to the societal ills of India ended up turning into a two-thirds-of-his-book-long introduction. French should probably have stuck to the original plan. It might have meant that we could have had a profoundly moving portrait, without being asked to do a connect-the-dots puzzle all the time before being shown the stark reality of the picture for a flash and then being blind-folded again. Left alone with the confounding puzzle, most dots still left hanging. ...more |
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Nov 10, 2013
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| 4.26
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it was amazing
| I have not read this book. The policies it talks of have not affected me directly. But it has made some readers whom I greatly respect lose faith in t I have not read this book. The policies it talks of have not affected me directly. But it has made some readers whom I greatly respect lose faith in this wonderful site. I do not know if I will too. I intend to stick with it since it still gives me more than almost any other site has ever done. But that does not mean that I cannot write a small off-topic review as a show of solidarity. ŷ/Amazon, if you are listening, start paying more head - this is not a revolution or a passing anger, this is a growing sign that you are alienating the very core of the community, the part that holds this vast edifice together. It is not as sturdy as you think - ask a hundred other social networks that vanished without a trace. I do not have much to say that has not been said already but this might just be the most important book in/on ŷ right now. Voting it into the ŷ Choice Awards might just be a way to 'make the deaf hear', so to speak. Here is link: /choiceaward... btw, read this, it might be the best thing you read all day: /story/show/... ...more |
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| 4.24
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it was ok
| The best part of this Saga is the hype that surrounds it and invites the reader into the swamp. It is supposed to be Moore's first real foray, it is s The best part of this Saga is the hype that surrounds it and invites the reader into the swamp. It is supposed to be Moore's first real foray, it is supposed to be an environmental hyper-roar. Of course, in the end it turns out that most of the stuff is just trippy. The introductory pages were quite something though - they built this one up unlike any other comic I have read. Moore for instance goes on this vein before introducing the story to the reader: One of the major factors separating comic books from its more respectable cousin, fiction, Moore says, is duration. The stories in the pages of a comic, they never end - not in the way a movie or a book can end. One menace may have been averted, but there is always another in a month's time, say. The characters will continue indefinitely until poor sales or something cancels the series. Even then, Moore says, the character might live on - avoiding limbo by occupying guest slots in other comics. The stories never end once put into a comic. More importantly, Moore goes on, unless you are very lucky, does the story ever begin - for you. Anyone picking up a comic book for the first time is almost certain to find themselves in the middle of a continuum that may have been running before the reader's birth even. And will quite possible outlive him. That was something, wouldn't you agree? ...more |
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| 1563899426
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| 3.98
| 142,222
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| Dec 01, 2002
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did not like it
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Wow, this was particularly bad jumble of random characters with no relation to any so called 'fables'. I am not sure if the series gets better from th
Wow, this was particularly bad jumble of random characters with no relation to any so called 'fables'. I am not sure if the series gets better from the next issue and I am not about to find out. I would be too busy trying to remember who tricked me into reading this by talking it up and figuring an equally cruel trick on him (pretty sure it is not a her - a girl is yet to recommend a comic to me).
...more
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| 3.99
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| Apr 29, 2008
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really liked it
| Dreaming The Perfect LIBRARY The Quest & The Question The starting point, Manguel says is a question. Few today can doubt that the main features of Dreaming The Perfect LIBRARY The Quest & The Question The starting point, Manguel says is a question. Few today can doubt that the main features of our universe are its dearth of meaning and lack of discernible purpose. And yet, with bewildering optimism, we continue to assemble whatever scraps of information we can gather in scrolls and books and computer chips, on shelf after library shelf, whether material, virtual or otherwise, pathetically intent on lending the world a semblance of sense and order, while knowing perfectly well that, however much we’d like to believe the contrary, our pursuits are sadly doomed to failure. Why then do we do it? Admitting from the start that the question would most likely remain unanswered, Manguel embarks on it for its own sake. This book is the story of that quest, “an account of my astonishment�, as Manguel says � and it is an astonishing journey for the readers as well. “Surely we should find it both touching and inspiriting,� wrote over a century ago, “that in a field from which success is banished, our race should not cease to labour.� Dreaming The Perfect LIBRARY THE LIBRARY is a lot of things. And since it is quixotic by definition, this reader will now follow a future dream Library as Manguel traces his past, real libraries. THE LIBRARY AS MYTH � It should be capable of eliciting in this reader the loftiest of all possible sensations, the sense of the sublime. Manguel talks of the two great information-gathering projects of Mankind: The and The . These two tower over the rest of the book, constantly reminding the reader and the writer about the magnificent and utile quest that mankind loves to keep re-embraking on. THE LIBRARY AS ORDER � can a library ever have any meaningful order? Subjects upon subjects, each of these subjects will require a classification within its classification. At a certain point in the ordering, out of fatigue, boredom or frustration, this geometrical progression might stop. But the possibility of continuing it is always there. There are no final categories in a library. For this reader, the only consolation is that a private Library, at best, unlike a public one, presents the minor release of allowing a whimsical and highly personal classification. That is enough. THE LIBRARY AS SPACE � Space is never enough a books never stop coming in Ultimately, the number of books always exceeds the space they are granted. This reader wishes for a Library designed on The Brain, using folds and infolds to enfold a million books. In the second chapter of , Lewis Carroll dreamt up the following solution: “If we could only apply that Rule to books! You know, in finding the , we strike out a quantity wherever it occurs, except in the term where it is raised to its highest power. So we should have to erase every recorded thought, except in the sentence where it is expressed with the greatest intensity.”� His companion objects: “Some books would be reduced to blank paper, I’m afraid!� “They would,� the narrator admits. “Most libraries would be terribly diminished in bulk. But just think what they would gain in quality!� THE LIBRARY AS POWER � The invested power of the written word, thrills this reader. Empires can’t stop building libraries and people cannot stop authoring memoirs. They are the only real sources of lasting power. The Library left behind and the books written, they shall define this reader’s legacy. THE LIBRARY AS SHADOW —� If every library is in some sense a reflection of its readers, it is also an image of that which we are not, and cannot be. Every library is a shadow, by definition the result of choice, and necessarily limited in its scope. And every choice excludes another, the choice not made. The act of reading parallels endlessly the act of censorship. This reader imagines a Library where the censorship is total and the reader is a dictator, a benevolent one. (This chapter includes a sad tour of The History of Censorship.) THE LIBRARY AS SHAPE � “Every librarian is, up to a certain point, an architect,� observed Michel Melot, director of the Centre Pompidou Library in Paris. “He builds up his collection as an ensemble through which the reader must find a path, discover his own self, and live.� This reader has already said that his Library will be modeled on The Brain. THE LIBRARY AS CHANCE � A library is not only a place of both order and chaos; it is also the realm of chance. Left unattended, books cluster around what called a “general intention� that often escapes readers: “the string the pearls were strung on, the buried treasure, the figure in the carpet.� , anyone? This reader imagines a Library where the books are left to cluster by chance and then picked up cluster-by-cluster and put back with their intellectual soul-mates. THE LIBRARY AS WORKSHOP � The place where you read, and the place where you work. A history of the ‘study�. This reader imagines a cozy nook, nudged within the Library, form where the grandeur is glimpsed but not enough for intimidation. At reach, still far enough away. In 1929, Virginia Woolf published her now famous lectures on “Women and Fiction� under the title , and there she defined forever our need for a private space for reading and writing: “The whole of the mind must lie wide open if we are to get the sense that the writer is communicating his experience with perfect fullness. There must be freedom and there must be peace.� And she added, “Not a wheel must grate, not a light glimmer. The curtains must be close drawn.� As if it were night. A study lends its owner, its privileged reader, what Seneca called euthymia, a Greek word which Seneca explained means “well-being of the soul,� and which he translated as “tranquillitas.� Every study ultimately aspires to euthymia. Euthymia, memory without distraction, the intimacy of a reading time � This reader can hardly imagine a more perfect Paradise. THE LIBRARY AS MIND � What makes a library a reflection of its owner is not merely the choice of the titles themselves, but the mesh of associations implied in the choice. This reader too will generally know the position of any book by recalling the Library’s layout. The remembered order will follow the patterns of my mind, the shape and division of the Library ordered just so by me � and the Library will in turn reflect the configuration of my mind. THE LIBRARY AS ISLAND � The Library, each book in it will be a newly discovered island. To be the first to enter Circe’s cave, the first to hear Ulysses call himself Nobody, is every reader’s secret wish, granted over and over, generation after generation, to those who open the Odyssey for the first time. This reader accepts that Libraries are not, never will be, used by everyone. Even in the most fantastically educated and cultured cities, the number of those for whom reading books is of the essence has always been very small. What varies is not the proportions of these two groups of humanity, but the way in which different societies regard the book and the art of reading. And here the distinction between the book enthroned and the book read comes again into play. This reader’s Library will have no books enthroned, but all arrayed to be read. THE LIBRARY AS SURVIVAL � On the destruction of books, by burning, drowning and other means. And On Survival This reader likes to envisage his Library as a magnificent ark that will sail across the ocean of forgetfulness that embraces humanity. THE LIBRARY AS OBLIVION � Oblivion through enforced illiteracy; Lost books, lost libraries; Displaced This reader rejects this possibility. THE LIBRARY AS IMAGINATION � The collecting of imaginary books is an ancient occupation. This reader is sure that his Library will have as many imaginary books as real ones. THE LIBRARY AS IDENTITY � Library can be more than a reflection of just personal identity. In a similar fashion, the identity of a society, or a national identity, can be mirrored by a library, by an assembly of titles that, practically and symbolically, serves as our collective definition. This reader’s Library should be a pride for the community and beyond. THE LIBRARY AS HOME � A library can be as nourishing as a loving home. For this reader, his Library is his umbilicus mundi, the navel of his world, the landscape that feeds his imagination, if not his body. The splendidly cosmopolitan Library of this reader will, in turn, also ensure that the whole world is present right there. He will be at home in his Library and it will also be his World-at-Home To be One With The LIBRARY The conceit that what we can know of reality is an imagination made of language—all this finds its material manifestation in that self-portrait we call a library. And our love for it, and our lust to see more of it, and our pride in its accomplishments as we wander through shelves full of books that promise more and more delights, are among our happiest, most moving proofs of possessing, in spite of all the miseries and sorrows of this life, a more intimate, consolatory, perhaps redeeming faith in a method behind the madness than any jealous deity could wish upon us. Dreaming of the Perfect Library can be therapeutic. Try it. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Apr 24, 2014
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Apr 26, 2014
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Oct 21, 2013
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Hardcover
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| 067008574X
| 9780670085743
| 067008574X
| 3.87
| 2,267
| Jan 01, 2012
| Jul 2012
|
really liked it
| Joe Nye aka “Mr. Soft Power� in 'The Future of Power' has argued that, in today's information age, it is the side with the better story that wins. Thi Joe Nye aka “Mr. Soft Power� in 'The Future of Power' has argued that, in today's information age, it is the side with the better story that wins. This book is Tharoor’s conscious or unconscious attempt to ensure that India is the party with the better story (of course to one’s own eyes one always has the better story). To Tharoor, India is gentle and reasonable and completely justified in all its actions; where they cant be justified, they can be explained away with the excuse that a functioning democracy will take circuitous routes (the elephant metaphor). Thus the benign elephant dances with starry-eyed smaller countries, reluctantly peeping neighbors, a very naughty dragon, a ferocious but almost toothless opponent with a weapon that can't be used, some failed states and a big circus master with a big funny hat. But all that is incidental because the elephant is gentle enough to be above reproach. So, who is the hero of the story? I leave that to your guessing skills. Other than that, this reads like a sequel/update (with even the metaphors not being spared) to Malone’s wonderful book - with all the edges carefully shorn off and decorated in cheerful Diwali lights. The second half of the book which takes a look at North Block and UN and their many idiosyncrasies, arguing for and against continuing relevance is more entertaining - because Tharoor actually has original stuff to contribute here along with many anecdotes which are well-worn but still funny. And though the book's cover boasts that he tries to evolve a grand strategy (which Malone had criticized India of lacking and Tharoor wants to prove exists inside of the folds), it only delivers some passably good platitudes. In the end though, I cannot forgive Tharoor - the primary reason for me picking up this book was my irrepressible curiosity on how the author would justify such a presumptuous title. And Tharoor never bothered to oblige, except for a two line justification which only talks about a redefinition of what the 'pax -ica' latinization means in this new century. Disappointing? Yes. But, perhaps true too - it gels well with Pinker's Angels. ...more |
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Oct 05, 2013
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Oct 08, 2013
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Oct 08, 2013
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Hardcover
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| 9380658346
| 9789380658346
| 9380658346
| 3.79
| 2,314
| 2011
| 2011
|
really liked it
| The Revolution That Was Not "Hello, " is a scary book to read � it shows how organized, serious, wide spread and entrenched the The Revolution That Was Not "Hello, " is a scary book to read � it shows how organized, serious, wide spread and entrenched the really is. This book is an authentic and detailed introduction to the Maoist movement, brought to you through some brave investigative journalism. It is also an excellent introduction to the Maoist viewpoint (yes, ideology) and operational strategies too. Trying to figure out first hand the issues and the conditions that gave rise to and sustains the revolution (if one may call it that, if not please use insurrection), Hello, Bastar goes a long way towards expanding the reader’s understanding of what is really involved. Pandita deserves plaudits for that. This is especially so because, for the ordinary reader, the only access to the movement is through the popular press. To such an ordinary reader of the newspapers (or worse, a watcher of news channels) the key question is inescapably one of violence � the first image that the word ‘Maoist� conjures up is of dense forests, gunfire and knives. But Pandita shows that this is a very selective image, even a censored one that is shown to us � in fact, the question of violence is secondary. The real question is one of inclusive development, human rights and the very core of democracy itself: . The Urban/rural/tribal oppressed are the ones most targeted for recruitment to the movement. They are recruited primarily by giving them human dignity, by giving them a voice � this is a clear indictment on the massive failure of government that afflicts these areas. The question is: In a democracy, why don’t they already have a voice? The very existence of the Maoist movement is a present and clear signal that there is a void, created by a a government that opted to withdraw and leave the people to their own devices. Of a government that left class and caste oppression fester for so long that the tribals and villagers found it safer to opt for violent revolution over democratic option. The are only filling the void created by the Government. But I believe that in spite of this, the movement, at a fundamental level, is still misguided � at least in terms of ideology and methods if not in sentiment. At the same time, while I do believe that the Naxal leaders are misguided, the way they have achieved legitimacy is nothing short of miraculous. To run a quasi-govt for so many years is no mean achievement. Which again points us to the crying need for proper government in the area. In any case, the question is whether it is inhumane to consider a well-intentioned (at least in propaganda) movement misguided? And my answer is, Yes. That is because it is a democratic country, and they could have done the same under the strictures of a constitution that was framed with express intention of social revolution. It could have been an vindication of the revolutionary potential latent in our constitution. It would have taken longer and would not have had the romance and urgency of a revolution. But with enough effort and mass education, they should have been able to command mass support, for the government and bring about change without the massive violence. Revolution too has proved to be interminably long. The same energy invested more constructively could have truly revolutionized the lives of the people in the affected areas, and perhaps beyond. I think the existence of the Maoist movement is a double disaster � perpetrated first by the missed opportunity for a democratic government to rule well; then by well-intentioned revolutionaries who opted to follow the ideologies blindly and visit devastation to the people who supported them, rather than choosing the more practical and productive options available. All that is in the past, the burning question of the day is to bring about a resolution that is politically feasible. The human scale of the tragedy that has been unfolding is unimaginable. And it might be time to accept that it is the needs of the people who live there that has to be the primary consideration, not the race for power by the two sides contending for power over them. It is the obligation of the nation to deliver to the people of the affected areas their due: Participation. They should be allowed to choose for themselves. Looked at in this perspective, the answer should not be to suppress the movement but to empower it and bring it within the overall democratic framework � this is precisely the greatest strength that a democratic framework has. And we should employ that to end the double-fold suffering inflicted on the poor ordinary citizens of the area who are caught in the crossfire. One option that seems feasible to me is this: How about an election supervised by a third party (say UN) in which the Maoists contest along with the other major parties? At the end of which a separate constitutional status could be awarded to places where the Maoists win, which would allow them to institute the major reforms, which they will make part of their campaign commitments. We can also institute safeguards to ensure that the usual aftermath of a revolutionary victory in which the victors in turn become the oppressed is avoided by allowing a of this sort. In my readings, I have not come across such an option being discussed, even though it sounds perfectly obvious to me. I hope it gets political currency soon. I will try to elaborate on this in a separate article, preferably in the mainstream media. Mention of the media brings me back to the book. As I said, the newspapers feed us the story through a perception-filter. The editorials may talk of some of the issues more humanely but the headlines always scream at us, demonizing the Maoists. A book like this is important to read to ensure that the human faces stay with us in the midst of this assault. The civilian society condoning military repression is unpardonable, especially when it is uninformed confinement. The least we can do is to take the effort to understand more and then react according to our won best ideals. Popular pressure is the only way to make the government seek more civilized (and democratic) ways of settlement. As long as we conveniently turn a blind eye, the government cannot see either. As the afterword by the jailed Maoist Ideologue, says, understanding the Maoist viewpoint is important for the furtherance of dialogue. That is an important goal toward which this book is aimed. I would only add that understanding the lives of the people under the Maoist sway is also important � to give moral force and direction to the dialogue, to ensure that it is no longer conducted through spitting gunfire. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Oct 04, 2013
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Mar 13, 2014
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Oct 04, 2013
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Kindle Edition
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| 0307265749
| 9780307265746
| 0307265749
| 3.87
| 95,316
| Sep 24, 2013
| Sep 24, 2013
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really liked it
| Twilight’s Children He had found the letter under his brother’s bed. He had not minded the dust that lit up the damp light of the room. He had read it Twilight’s Children He had found the letter under his brother’s bed. He had not minded the dust that lit up the damp light of the room. He had read it immediately. But now that he was back in his room, he took it out again, wanting to read it one more time, as always. He remembered all the letters he used to receive from India and of how he could hear his Udayan’s childhood voice as he read it, even when the voice was long changed. In this letter he could not. This time he picked up from the third page of the letter, glancing at the parts that did not make sense to him. What defines identity once you are away from your center? What defines the center when you are away from our identity? He wondered why Udayan would take the trouble to write all this when it must have been such a struggle to write at all. With that hand of his� Is it because he wanted to take comfort in talking with me? Or does he just write whatever comes to mind, arrange them in a semblance of order and mail them across the oceans? He looked back at the page. Is it anger in the obvious betterment seen all around you? Is it shame that you were never really part of it? That you were not part of building it? And instead of building one you have just taken the easier path? Is it pride, perhaps, in your independence? Is it the blustering of the intolerable journalist when he talks about the better ‘systems�? Is it just a sense of loss of all that is left behind? He skipped the last few lines and then skipped to the next page. Udayan’s handwriting always used to deteriorate towards the end of a page and now it was almost unreadable. ‘Not that I am missing much,� he said to himself. Wherein lies the center of the modern man’s existence? He was not sure why Udayan had taken to writing to him as if the roles were reversed - as if he was the one who had never set foot beyond his home city and as if Udayan was the one who had roamed the world and thought about a home that had been left behind with such ease. Of course, Udayan wouldn’t have been able to leave behind anything. He had been able to. ‘With ease,� he repeated doubtfully. He had skipped ahead again without noticing it but decided to carry on. He knew he would be reading it over later. Again. What of the constant sense that assaults you of not being part of the ‘real� world - of the world you inhabit - the ones outside your country, your center being somehow artificial? Is it this artificiality that gives you wings? Soaring in a flight of fancy to heights you wouldn’t have dreamed of back where the real things are? It is not as if he didn’t know that this was probably Udayan’s way of teasing him into coming back home. And it is not as if he didn’t know why it was never posted. He started skipping across the letter faster, eager to reach where he was addressed directly. Eager to see if could recapture the childhood voice when he read his brother addressing him directly instead of talking platitudes. He uttered a faint hum as he skipped across increasingly badly scribbled lines. Is it a requirement to step outside the circle to be able to step outside it? He felt a faint irritation with his brother now. What right did he have to lecture? What had he done except read a bunch of books and preach around? Then he checked himself. Udayan had always stopped teasing whenever he got angry. He used to always know why. It is not necessary, of course, that the circle of identity had to be a country or a village or a society or family - stepping outside your circle, outside our reality gives you wings and solutions - but the solutions and the wings are never to be allowed back in - you may step back in but you step back in as yourself, without the fancy stuff. And then you have to forget the dream. You can only inhabit the twilight or the sunrise. Never both. Ah, he remembered, now is when he talks about the book he had asked me to send to Anita. Udayan had ended up reading it first. Mostly because one of the main characters in the book shared his name. He tried to recollect the little he had read of the book before wrapping it. He knew that much of Udayan’s ramblings in this letter might have come from the book. After all, there were some parallels. It was the eternal afterlife of the exile that Jhumpa Lahiri was always expert at dissecting. ‘Maybe it was all a build up towards telling me why I should read it too,� he mused, ‘maybe he was not taunting me at all�. Or maybe he felt the book could do that job much better. There are some books which once read you have a compulsion to make others read - as if the enjoyment is not complete until it is shared. Until you can see the expression of amazement in the other’s face when they have read too - your enjoyment growing in the realization of theirs. He started searching for the book among the shelves. Then under the bed. His brother loved to sleep with a book and let it slide under his bed as one arm arced and drooped. There it was. Almost brand new. Only two pages bent to mark places to return to. He turned back to the letter. We are Twilight’s Children, brother, the Midnight’s Children was still some way ahead of us - we are the ones without definition. We were born before the darkness set in, and the day too far off. He looked at the marked pages of the book again and noticed that both seemed to be underlined faintly on lines that described their city. The language was exquisite. Maybe the time away from his expected times and places put him off the book. Udayan was never one for relishing language. He always wanted meanings and words to speak loud and bold. You had told that you would try to read this before sending it to me. If you managed to complete the book, you must have realized that the book is not very atypical of Lahiri. I am afraid she will find it hard to win another Booker until she breaks out of her own mould or a Booker Committee comes along that doesn’t take the trouble to have read the previous winners. He smiled at his brother’s silly mistake and continued reading. But he found that he was skipping through the lines now, without reading much. Soon he had reached the end of the letter. It did not end with the usual wishes and he knew that it had not been finished. He quietly flipped back to the beginning again. He could hear the milkman cycling outside on his early morning rounds. Their relationship had been stretched - stretched halfway across the world - refusing to break, no matter how much he tried. He walked slowly to the window-sill and lit the candle he had placed here. He watched as the ashes settled nearby and turned away as the breeze started to carry them away. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Sep 29, 2013
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Oct 12, 2013
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Sep 23, 2013
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Hardcover
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| 1586488244
| 9781586488246
| 1586488244
| 3.98
| 1,876
| Oct 01, 1997
| May 11, 2010
|
really liked it
| Is Yunus the only practicing (as in the type who never came across the proverbial armchair yet) nobel laureate in economics? (his field is, if not the Is Yunus the only practicing (as in the type who never came across the proverbial armchair yet) nobel laureate in economics? (his field is, if not the nobel) His ideas and beliefs are rooted in and grown from the experience of running what sounds like hundreds of companies and offshoots and sister concerns - almost all successful, launching an entire industry and redefining one of the oldest businesses of the world. Yet, in spite of full awareness of the credentials of the author, everything inside a reader militates against the seemingly utopian picture Yunus paints. You want to shout at him: all this is fine but REALITY is different! But the reader forgets - Yunus has seen and succeeded in the stark reality of one of the poorest, most torn landscapes in the world and he is proving that the ‘reality� that economics teaches us is a very constrained reality. All the talk of incentives being the fuel of the human growth engine fall flat. But you don’t give in, you keep drilling deep holes in every cheerful statement of Yunus throughout the introductory chapters, after all you have years of economic training to back you up. Finally Yunus gets to the case studies, and you read on with growing astonishment that the very principles outlined earlier, the principles that you had in your economic wisdom so thoroughly cut into pieces, all seem to just work on the ground. You scratch your head and try to figure it out. Then you forget your criticism and congratulate yourself on your own positive outlook towards humanity. Until next time. ...more |
Notes are private!
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Sep 12, 2013
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Sep 20, 2013
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Sep 19, 2013
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Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0199239118
| 9780199239115
| 0199239118
| 3.60
| 5
| Jan 15, 2008
| Mar 04, 2009
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liked it
| More than anything else this collection of essays and papers is a tribute to the sheer range and scope of Amartya Sen’s work. Each author picks up a t More than anything else this collection of essays and papers is a tribute to the sheer range and scope of Amartya Sen’s work. Each author picks up a theme from Sen’s voluminous writings and elaborates on it, usually with a summary of further work done on the theme following Sen’s lead. The papers deserve credit for how they stick to the core principles of Sen’s writings even when disagreeing with him, but are too dry and overly mathematical in comparison to most of Sen’s works. It would be a far more pleasant experience to just stick to reading the original. I will be giving volume two a miss. ...more |
Notes are private!
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Aug 19, 2013
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Sep 05, 2013
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Sep 05, 2013
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Hardcover
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| 0815705018
| 9780815705017
| 0815705018
| 3.29
| 31
| Dec 16, 2010
| Apr 01, 2011
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it was ok
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The authors try to give a comprehensive framework on which to understand how the growing fields of psychology and behavioral economics can be integrat
The authors try to give a comprehensive framework on which to understand how the growing fields of psychology and behavioral economics can be integrated into economic decision making and policy choices. Unfortunately, the presentation is very dry and highly repetitive. A better choice for a primer would be Nudge by Thaler and then it would be advisable to skip directly to advanced texts.
...more
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Aug 29, 2013
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Sep 04, 2013
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Sep 04, 2013
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Kindle Edition
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| 3.98
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it was amazing
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Nov 30, 2013
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Nov 26, 2013
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| 4.66
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it was amazing
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Nov 25, 2013
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Nov 25, 2013
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| 3.88
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liked it
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Nov 25, 2013
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Nov 24, 2013
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| 3.69
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liked it
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Nov 21, 2013
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Nov 20, 2013
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liked it
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Nov 19, 2013
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Nov 18, 2013
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| 3.97
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it was ok
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Feb 02, 2014
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Nov 13, 2013
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| 4.12
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it was amazing
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Nov 12, 2013
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Nov 11, 2013
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| 3.86
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really liked it
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Nov 27, 2013
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Nov 09, 2013
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really liked it
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Nov 07, 2013
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Nov 06, 2013
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| 3.75
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liked it
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Nov 10, 2013
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Nov 04, 2013
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| 4.26
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it was amazing
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Nov 2013
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Nov 03, 2013
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| 4.24
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it was ok
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Nov 04, 2013
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Nov 02, 2013
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| 3.98
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did not like it
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Nov 03, 2013
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Oct 31, 2013
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| 3.99
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really liked it
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Apr 26, 2014
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Oct 21, 2013
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| 3.87
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really liked it
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Oct 08, 2013
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Oct 08, 2013
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| 3.79
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really liked it
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Mar 13, 2014
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Oct 04, 2013
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| 3.87
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really liked it
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Oct 12, 2013
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Sep 23, 2013
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| 3.98
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really liked it
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Sep 20, 2013
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Sep 19, 2013
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| 3.60
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liked it
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Sep 05, 2013
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Sep 05, 2013
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| 3.29
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it was ok
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Sep 04, 2013
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Sep 04, 2013
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