Finance 101 for dummies like me. Very useful for introducing yourself to basic terms and concepts in a practical way, directly linked to real-life advFinance 101 for dummies like me. Very useful for introducing yourself to basic terms and concepts in a practical way, directly linked to real-life advice, although it's a bit gong-ho about stock investment and how wow capitalism is. Well, it's American. Of course, if you don't live in America, you can gloss over the chapters on student's loan repayment and other American quirks. And the one on Adam Smith, and the Invisible Hand. Capitalism unbridled regulates itself. Of course, what can possibly go wrong? Let's say that the book fails miserably at the end, when it leaves the technical solid ground for the mires of the likes of game theory. Still good to have at hand until I grow more confident about the basics....more
Finally someone who articulates my instinctive - and therefore nebulous - reactions to book covers and their relationship to contents. Let's be honest,Finally someone who articulates my instinctive - and therefore nebulous - reactions to book covers and their relationship to contents. Let's be honest, I loath most of the English-speaking markets' book cover choices, what with the colourful palettes, the black-and-white pics, or - anathema - the watercolour gouaches. As a qualified friend of the author comments, they are all the more ugly because they try so hard to be beautiful. Jhumpa Lahiri makes an interesting case for the charm of the uniform, of the elegant series jacket that in Europe embraces both timeless classics and contemporary authors in a dynamic family gathering, compared to the stiff dynastic portrait of the American classics; and at the same time she submerges us in the murky waters of her own prismatic identity, an American of 2nd generation from India who lives in Rome and writes in Italian. The author also confirms many of my suspects about the process of book cover production in the English language market - where the graphic artist never meets the author nor knows the book; indeed, many interesting consequences are born of this, and Lahiri delves into them for a great part of this short essay, that may seem, sometimes, a bit unfocused. Yet there is more to this book than immediately meets the eye. Many reflections on the self and our relationship with our images are now crowding my mind, and Jhumpa Lahiri is quickly becoming a writer whose longer narratives I look forward to reading....more
A short-story, a koan zen. An essay on ethics, a metaphor, a question, an indictment, a poem. What did I just read? Whatever it was, I will keep thinkA short-story, a koan zen. An essay on ethics, a metaphor, a question, an indictment, a poem. What did I just read? Whatever it was, I will keep thinking of it for the rest of my life....more
A great reporter and enquiry journalist is not necessarily a great novelist. Or an average novelist. Or a decent one, as it came out. The global pandeA great reporter and enquiry journalist is not necessarily a great novelist. Or an average novelist. Or a decent one, as it came out. The global pandemic development and the unravelling of the social fabric of the Western world are spine chilling and quite believable. Character, their development and the plot itself when it comes to them, well... I'm not gonna spoil it for y'all; let's just say that I was scratching my head a third of my way into the novel, and laughing by the time the apotheosis of the protagonist reached its plateau. Which, FYI, is situated somewhere a the same height upon sea level as Machu Picchu. James Bond meets maladaptive pre-teenager daydreaming. And yes, it stayed there until the (coherently improbable) ending. Nice disaster thriller though, if taken as brain chewing gum.
Oh, disclaimer: if you are easily triggered by low-key sexism, avoid as the plague. There IS something iffy about the inner worlds of the protagonists and about the value and roles assigned to various characters that I cannot exactly pinpoint, but it's definitely there......more
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