Book Reviews
East of Eden by John SteinbeckMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
It is my firm belief that East of Eden is arguably one of the best books ever written. At its core, the novel reimagines the biblical story of Cain and Abel, exploring themes of jealousy, free will, and redemption. Steinbeck's brilliance lies in his ability to take a story as old as time and ground it in the very human experiences of the Trask and Hamilton families.
Steinbeck's prose is as expansive and evocative as the Salinas Valley itself, which serves as both the backdrop and a character in its own right. The valley’s duality—fertile yet barren, nurturing yet unyielding—reflects the contradictions within the human soul. Few authors have the ability to balance the grand and the intimate so effectively, and Steinbeck accomplishes this with stunning clarity.
One of the novel’s greatest strengths is Steinbeck’s insistence on taking even the seemingly minor characters seriously. Figures like Lee, Samuel Hamilton, and Abra are far more than supporting players; they are fully realized individuals, each with their own philosophies and struggles. Lee, in particular, transcends the stereotypes of his time to become one of Steinbeck’s most compelling voices of wisdom and reflection.
All of the characters except Cathy defy archetypal characterisation. The "good" characters are flawed, the "evil" ones are complex, and the moral ambiguity leaves the reader questioning not only the characters’ decisions but their own understanding of right and wrong. Cal Trask’s struggle to overcome his darker impulses and his yearning for love and acceptance make him one of the most relatable and heartbreaking characters in literature. This moral complexity is where Steinbeck's genius truly shines, as he avoids didacticism and instead invites the reader into a dialogue about human nature.
His exploration of timshel is not just a thematic element but the beating heart of the novel. It reminds us that while we may inherit the sins of our predecessors, we are not bound by them. The power to choose our own path—to strive for redemption despite our flaws—is the most powerful gift of all.
If East of Eden has a flaw, it is the weight of its ambition. Some readers may find the biblical allegories heavy-handed or Cathy’s villainy almost too extreme. Yet these elements feel deliberate, as if Steinbeck is asking us to confront the extremes of human nature, without overlooking everything that lies in between.
Ultimately, East of Eden is a book that demands reflection. The best works of literature resonate because they speak directly to our shared humanity, and Steinbeck achieves this with exceptional mastery. This is not just a story about the Trasks and the Hamiltons—it is a story about us. It is our story, and one of the greatest triumphs of this novel is the uncanny way Steinbeck seems to know us so intimately, exposing our fears, hopes, and contradictions with unflinching honesty.
Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Ivan Turgenev is one of the most underrated authors among readers today, overshadowed by other Russian authors such as Tolstoy, Chekhov and Dostoevsky, who were undoubtedly great in their own way. In my view, Turgenev is one of the silent geniuses of Russian literature.
In Fathers and Sons, he employs a simple narrative structure and writes about the inter-generational conflict between two sets of fathers and sons, with the subtlety of his brilliance coming out through individual scenes and conversations between the characters. His depiction of the conservative, Russian nobility as well as that of the younger, liberal generation stands equidistant from his own views, yet retains the charm of nuance.
Turgenev leans towards a progressive mindset, as is evident from his expression of sympathy for the downtrodden and his criticism of serfdom, but his views are not based on any illusions of a utopian society achievable with the abolition of such institutions, nor do they seek to foment resentment towards the upper classes. Instead Turgenev, regardless of the side of the political spectrum he represents, is not unlike Alexandr Solzhenitsyn or Viktor Frankl, both of whom believed that it is the choice, consciousness and moral strengths and failings on the individual level (rather than the group), that matter in the final analysis. It is worth noting that both of these authors lived in, and suffered at the hands of totalitarian regimes and witnessed the worst cruelties in the concentration camps of the Stalinist and Nazi regimes, and yet they renounced moral relativism.
Turgenev does not straw-man his characters. Even Bazarov, who is not without redeeming qualities, evokes the reader's sympathy, especially as his cognitive dissonance surfaces at several instances in the book. This is the greatness of Turgenev. He portrays the best and worst of his characters in the most evenhanded manner. The arguments that the nihilist, Bazarov has with the traditional aristocrat, Pavel, or even with the romanticist, Arkady, are not meant to nudge the reader towards any particular viewpoint that Turgenev himself might uphold. Instead each character's views are presented persuasively and articulately, so that the reader sees different sides of the picture without dismissing any particular one owing to weak presentation of the argument or detestability towards the character that espouses it.
On the whole, the book is a brilliant piece of literary work that conveys the best that a reasonable left-wing political viewpoint might have to offer.
1984 by George Orwell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
1984 is the most nuanced and famous piece of dystopian fiction ever written, and perhaps, the most relevant one in the times we live in.
In my view, the rise of the dystopian imagination was a consequence of many factors, chief among them being technological advancement, which promised a quality of life so exponentially enhanced and an alleviation of human suffering and disease so substantial, so as to be previously unimaginable by historical standards. In that, science and rational thought dethroned the erstwhile highest ideal (religious faith), while promising a utopian dream, not unlike what the religions had promised man, except that this time it was sold to a much more enlightened generation and branded as much more attainable by the commonest of men. The void left behind with the collapse of religion ushered in several pernicious political ideologies such as fascism, communism, nihilism and anarchism that took various shapes across the different nations and sought to put new ideals on top (such as the State or the community), in claiming to strive for some ultimate good.
Dystopia is a tricky enough category for an author to attempt, in that it should be sufficiently tied down to the realities of the world inhabited by the author (the nightmare must be plausible enough) and at the same time, it should also stoke the worst fantasies of imaginative thought. Needless to say, Orwell is the master of the genre, in that he achieves this, and much more by way of a narrative that depicts his hero's dehumanisation in the face of a totalitarian government that goes to horrifying lengths to efface objective truth, free expression and individual identity.
A 21st century reader of this book cannot help but feel uneasy at some of the uncanny similarities between the Orwellian nightmare and the present society with the new-fangled notions of political correctness, indoctrinated class-based guilt and virtue signalling. The text also bears stark resemblance with the Stalinist regime described in Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago, right from the destruction of books, the warping of news events, the arrests and torture methods, to the depiction of capitalists by the government.
Thankfully, while the threat of Stalinism may be over, Orwell's book does remind the modern reader that we erect, at our own peril, a society where thought is crime and language is reformed to make certain ideas inexpressible.
Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
While some existentialist authors like Nietzsche and Kierkegaard can be hard to read, it is not the case with Dostoevsky, who writes in much simpler language and yet manages to get his point across in the most incisive manner.
This novel is quite brief, and shines light onto the musings and grumblings of a resentful, cynical, intellectually condescending misanthrope. The most striking element of the text is its commentary on the subject of free will, as Dostoevsky's protagonist gives a somewhat emphatic confession about the tendency of man to act irrationally, and even against his self-interests, in order to preserve his free will and individuality.
Self-inflicted suffering, alienation, contempt, indecision, lack of confidence, bitterness and confusion characterise the Underground Man (who is not named in the book) and we see him giving in to whichever of these impulses seizes him at that moment and acting to his own detriment in the process of carrying them out to their ends.
Dostoevsky's genius is brought forth in all its glory in this brilliant novel, which makes a most persuasive argument to refute the idea that rationalism can lead to a utopian state of the world.
Mythology by Edith Hamilton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A great collection of virtually all of the most important Greek and Roman myths, along with an overview of Norse mythology as well. Tales of the Gods, mortal heroes and beasts, creation myths and stories of wars, quests and adventures are presented in well-organised chronology.
Hamilton begins by first introducing all prominent Gods and heroes, before venturing into the ancient myths in which they played central or marginal roles. She has taken the painstaking effort to compile material from several of the Greek poets including, but not limited to Homer, Hesiod, Virgil and Ovid.
The best part about the book is that it contains all this mythology in one place in easy language. Besides the occasional mythology enthusiast, the book can serve as a great reference for writers of fiction who might need to study examples of the archetypal idea of the 'hero narrative'.
Our Culture, What's Left of It: The Mandarins and the Masses by Theodore Dalrymple
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
An exceptionally insightful book of essays covering Western decadence and its consequences of increased criminality, drug addiction and cynicism, which are rampant in modern times. A number of controversial ideas are not only tolerated, but expounded by the author including but not limited to:
Moral relativism can lead to self-deception.
Absolute free choice and unlimited alternatives lead to chaos and hedonism, rather than independence and well-being.
The Welfare state is the cause behind diminishing individual responsibility.
Political correctness is a mark of intellectual insincerity.
The suffering caused by one's poor conditions of life might be the result of poor choices made by one, instead of arbitrary tragedy that can be alleviated by mere compassion.
This book gives strong arguments on why a conservative stance is not unreasonable in the 21st century, and makes the reader curious to read the other texts written by Dalrymple.
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I personally do not like D.H Lawrence's works much. As for this particular book, it is one of the most controversial books of its time. Truth be told, I feel if it wasn't for that, Lawrence wouldn't have such a following, especially considering that the book almost entirely thrives on its shock appeal and display of sheer hedonism at its ugliest.
The lead character, Lady Chatterley, has barely any personality, besides her impulsivity. Moreover, the characters are not very realistic, despite Lawrence being classified as one of the realist authors of his time.
Crudity is the defining feature of all humour, dialogue and love confessions in the book, and is upheld in the name of literary endeavour. There was much scope for tact and nuance in a topic like the one this book strives to cover, however, Lawrence seems to be clumsily getting his point across through his equally clumsy and unsophisticated characters. For instance, the use of the expletive f-word countless times throughout the text is testimony that Lawrence undervalues his audience enough so as to make no distinction between artistic achievement and tasteless frivolity in the name of art and aesthetic.
Great literature is timeless, but had Lawrence published this book in today's era or even a few decades later, it would hardly have joined the ranks of literary canon, because its themes are hackneyed and current writers would surpass its vulgarity. In that regard of course, Lawrence is a trailblazer, although whether that's anything to boast about or not, I remain skeptical.
Systemantics: How Systems Work and Especially How They Fail by John Gall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A book that will make you chuckle on more than one occasion. That's uncharacteristic of most non-fiction books, much less of one that strives to cover a subject like 'Systems theory'.
The book is written in easy language, which means that you do not need to have any prerequisite knowledge of the topic to read it. Also, it is a brief read yet manages to covers a lot of ground.
Despite being a book about systems in particular (economic, social, cultural, legal) it cuts to the heart of some very human problems such as corruption, failure and incompetence. It uses amusing and parodical acronyms while laying down the general rules and axioms, an excellent trick used by Gall to make a heavy subject lighter for the everyday reader.
Faust, First Part by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Goethe is a fantastic muse for many writers. The fact that I have quoted one of the lines from this text in the introduction of my own blog is testimony to the fact that Faust is one of the most inspiring pieces of literature I have ever read: "Follow the ancient text, and the snake thou wast ordered to trample! With all thy likeness to God, thou'll yet be a sorry example!"
In my opinion, one of the most remarkable features of Faust is that it alludes to the Book of Job, though to say that is necessarily intentional would be presumptuous. Not unlike in the Book of Job, Mephistopheles (a demon) strikes a deal with God that he would corrupt his good follower, Dr. Faust.
The character of both Mephistopheles as well as Faust is developed as the poem progresses. What is interesting is that the main hero, Faust is an intelligent and analytical man, not the typically foolish or gullible person you would expect to be corrupted by the devil. Mephistopheles has his own charm as well, one of which is his verbal sparring that amuses the reader every now and then.
Goethe provokes thought on the themes of good and evil, existence, tragedy, betrayal and morality on the level of the individual, and opens a window into the soul of the most intelligent, capable and in every sense, the 'highest' man who sells his soul to the devil purely voluntarily.
Animal Farm by George Orwell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A wonderful piece of text; I only wish it was longer. But that is perhaps just a reader's desire, because great authors often convey the deepest ideas in the least amount of words that are needed.
Reading this book hurls one into a brief sense of terror as one becomes aware of the fragility of the systems that we take comfort in. The insidious nature of the indoctrinated socialist society set up by the pigs is very well brought out in the way each event in the novel segues into the next.
Such societies have existed in the past, and continue to exist in the modern era as well (North Korea), and a reading of some of the other works that focus on life in such societies such as Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago, Yeonmi Park's In Order to Live (to name two off the top of my head), would do well to complement one's understanding of such systems from without. Orwell's lighthearted touching upon profound concepts of equality, well-being, propaganda and socialism, along with his nuanced and almost witty representation of the society under the Stalinist regime leaves one aghast at the depth that such authors are capable of achieving in a mere 100-150 pages.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A interesting book that serves as an excellent example of the idea that fiction is sometimes more real than reality itself. Not unlike numbers which are abstract but very real, fiction represents a form of hyper-reality, which expresses in condensed (and hyperbolic form) a theme that appears far too often in real life. The conflict between the Freudian id and (super)ego, consciousness and unconsciousness, Nature and Culture, and competing impulses (or personalities, as the psychoanalysts would say) on the battleground of the psyche has been explored in this book. The last chapter "Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case", is particularly nuanced.
A very short, somewhat underrated novel, it is great for light reading for enthusiasts of psychology who wouldn't say no to a book that encapsulates some of the deeper ideas of the psychoanalysts in story form.
Needless to say, Stevenson's work would have done Carl Jung proud.
The Gay Science by Friedrich Nietzsche
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The first time I read this book, I was much younger (in my teens), and I did not do justice in the slightest to this wonderful work by Nietzsche. The second reading happened almost ten years later, and I am not sure yet again whether I did justice to the book, but I daresay that I did better than the first. It is for these reasons that I am undecided as to whether or not I am deserving enough to read Thus Spake Zarathustra, which I've heard is Nietzsche's best and most well-known book. I do not wish to do it disservice by distorting his ideas and philosophies to fit into existing templates in my head, and that is far more likely to happen with his later books.
Coming back to this book, it contains a fair bit of poetry, both towards the beginning and at the end. Now, I am not a big fan of Nietzsche's poetry, at least at this point. However, the five chapters in the book contain much wisdom, especially the fifth one, We Fearless Ones. Nietzsche's famous quote "God is Dead" appears for the first time in this book. It is a well-known quote of Nietzsche, but many people who quote Nietzsche's words take his declaration to one of triumph, which is a rather weak misreading of Nietzsche's sentiment. His full quote was: "God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him! How shall we console ourselves, the most murderous of all murderers? The holiest and the mightiest that the world has hitherto possessed, has bled to death under our knife,—who will wipe the blood from us? With what water could we cleanse ourselves?"
Although this is not my favourite work of Nietzsche's, it is indeed one of the books that throws much light on the existential condition of mankind, and would have definitely found a place in my List of Recommended Books, if I were to compile such a list.
Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Undoubtedly, one of Nietzsche's best works. It took a substantial amount of time to read, considering that it was not a particularly lengthy text. But every other sentence is so thought-provoking, that one cannot read much of it in one sitting if one wants to retain and truly understand the depth of the words. It is one of those books which you don't just read; it is a book you interact with. The best bits of the book (and there are so many) will make you want to stop, read that part again, and mull over it for some time. Nietzsche has a way with words which he uses to communicate the most insightful ideas in words that couldn't possibly be better chosen to explain them. He also makes some very startling predictions in this book about the wave of modernism and infantilism that has swept over much of Europe and the implications this will have in coming decades.
Symbols of Transformation by C.G. Jung
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A very long book, but unbelievably profound. It took me over two months to complete it, although that is partly because I was reading another book alongside this one. If you are reading it online, it would be prudent to open the footnotes in another tab beside it, because the book has a lot of references, and will need you to keep track of ideas being discussed by other philosophers and psychologists.
Nietzsche has been quoted extensively throughout the text, so some prior knowledge with his works might be useful, but not essential. In long books with so many references, one runs the risk of getting distracted by other texts cited in the book, so it might be worth consideration to make notes of texts quoted in the book that you would like to explore further. A range of very subtle but profound ideas have been discussed in very simple language so users whose native language is not English can easily understand.
All in all, a really great book, and one that might need to be reread in order to fully grasp the depth of concepts discussed. For maximum retention, one can write notes in reference to specific quoted lines in each chapter followed by one's own interpretations. This book will help you understand the core of life dramas across cultures.
View all my reviews
Fathers and Sons by Ivan TurgenevMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Ivan Turgenev is one of the most underrated authors among readers today, overshadowed by other Russian authors such as Tolstoy, Chekhov and Dostoevsky, who were undoubtedly great in their own way. In my view, Turgenev is one of the silent geniuses of Russian literature.
In Fathers and Sons, he employs a simple narrative structure and writes about the inter-generational conflict between two sets of fathers and sons, with the subtlety of his brilliance coming out through individual scenes and conversations between the characters. His depiction of the conservative, Russian nobility as well as that of the younger, liberal generation stands equidistant from his own views, yet retains the charm of nuance.
Turgenev leans towards a progressive mindset, as is evident from his expression of sympathy for the downtrodden and his criticism of serfdom, but his views are not based on any illusions of a utopian society achievable with the abolition of such institutions, nor do they seek to foment resentment towards the upper classes. Instead Turgenev, regardless of the side of the political spectrum he represents, is not unlike Alexandr Solzhenitsyn or Viktor Frankl, both of whom believed that it is the choice, consciousness and moral strengths and failings on the individual level (rather than the group), that matter in the final analysis. It is worth noting that both of these authors lived in, and suffered at the hands of totalitarian regimes and witnessed the worst cruelties in the concentration camps of the Stalinist and Nazi regimes, and yet they renounced moral relativism.
Turgenev does not straw-man his characters. Even Bazarov, who is not without redeeming qualities, evokes the reader's sympathy, especially as his cognitive dissonance surfaces at several instances in the book. This is the greatness of Turgenev. He portrays the best and worst of his characters in the most evenhanded manner. The arguments that the nihilist, Bazarov has with the traditional aristocrat, Pavel, or even with the romanticist, Arkady, are not meant to nudge the reader towards any particular viewpoint that Turgenev himself might uphold. Instead each character's views are presented persuasively and articulately, so that the reader sees different sides of the picture without dismissing any particular one owing to weak presentation of the argument or detestability towards the character that espouses it.
On the whole, the book is a brilliant piece of literary work that conveys the best that a reasonable left-wing political viewpoint might have to offer.
1984 by George OrwellMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
1984 is the most nuanced and famous piece of dystopian fiction ever written, and perhaps, the most relevant one in the times we live in.
In my view, the rise of the dystopian imagination was a consequence of many factors, chief among them being technological advancement, which promised a quality of life so exponentially enhanced and an alleviation of human suffering and disease so substantial, so as to be previously unimaginable by historical standards. In that, science and rational thought dethroned the erstwhile highest ideal (religious faith), while promising a utopian dream, not unlike what the religions had promised man, except that this time it was sold to a much more enlightened generation and branded as much more attainable by the commonest of men. The void left behind with the collapse of religion ushered in several pernicious political ideologies such as fascism, communism, nihilism and anarchism that took various shapes across the different nations and sought to put new ideals on top (such as the State or the community), in claiming to strive for some ultimate good.
Dystopia is a tricky enough category for an author to attempt, in that it should be sufficiently tied down to the realities of the world inhabited by the author (the nightmare must be plausible enough) and at the same time, it should also stoke the worst fantasies of imaginative thought. Needless to say, Orwell is the master of the genre, in that he achieves this, and much more by way of a narrative that depicts his hero's dehumanisation in the face of a totalitarian government that goes to horrifying lengths to efface objective truth, free expression and individual identity.
A 21st century reader of this book cannot help but feel uneasy at some of the uncanny similarities between the Orwellian nightmare and the present society with the new-fangled notions of political correctness, indoctrinated class-based guilt and virtue signalling. The text also bears stark resemblance with the Stalinist regime described in Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago, right from the destruction of books, the warping of news events, the arrests and torture methods, to the depiction of capitalists by the government.
Thankfully, while the threat of Stalinism may be over, Orwell's book does remind the modern reader that we erect, at our own peril, a society where thought is crime and language is reformed to make certain ideas inexpressible.
Notes from Underground by Fyodor DostoevskyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
While some existentialist authors like Nietzsche and Kierkegaard can be hard to read, it is not the case with Dostoevsky, who writes in much simpler language and yet manages to get his point across in the most incisive manner.
This novel is quite brief, and shines light onto the musings and grumblings of a resentful, cynical, intellectually condescending misanthrope. The most striking element of the text is its commentary on the subject of free will, as Dostoevsky's protagonist gives a somewhat emphatic confession about the tendency of man to act irrationally, and even against his self-interests, in order to preserve his free will and individuality.
Self-inflicted suffering, alienation, contempt, indecision, lack of confidence, bitterness and confusion characterise the Underground Man (who is not named in the book) and we see him giving in to whichever of these impulses seizes him at that moment and acting to his own detriment in the process of carrying them out to their ends.
Dostoevsky's genius is brought forth in all its glory in this brilliant novel, which makes a most persuasive argument to refute the idea that rationalism can lead to a utopian state of the world.
Mythology by Edith HamiltonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
A great collection of virtually all of the most important Greek and Roman myths, along with an overview of Norse mythology as well. Tales of the Gods, mortal heroes and beasts, creation myths and stories of wars, quests and adventures are presented in well-organised chronology.
Hamilton begins by first introducing all prominent Gods and heroes, before venturing into the ancient myths in which they played central or marginal roles. She has taken the painstaking effort to compile material from several of the Greek poets including, but not limited to Homer, Hesiod, Virgil and Ovid.
The best part about the book is that it contains all this mythology in one place in easy language. Besides the occasional mythology enthusiast, the book can serve as a great reference for writers of fiction who might need to study examples of the archetypal idea of the 'hero narrative'.
Our Culture, What's Left of It: The Mandarins and the Masses by Theodore DalrympleMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
An exceptionally insightful book of essays covering Western decadence and its consequences of increased criminality, drug addiction and cynicism, which are rampant in modern times. A number of controversial ideas are not only tolerated, but expounded by the author including but not limited to:
Moral relativism can lead to self-deception.
Absolute free choice and unlimited alternatives lead to chaos and hedonism, rather than independence and well-being.
The Welfare state is the cause behind diminishing individual responsibility.
Political correctness is a mark of intellectual insincerity.
The suffering caused by one's poor conditions of life might be the result of poor choices made by one, instead of arbitrary tragedy that can be alleviated by mere compassion.
This book gives strong arguments on why a conservative stance is not unreasonable in the 21st century, and makes the reader curious to read the other texts written by Dalrymple.
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. LawrenceMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
I personally do not like D.H Lawrence's works much. As for this particular book, it is one of the most controversial books of its time. Truth be told, I feel if it wasn't for that, Lawrence wouldn't have such a following, especially considering that the book almost entirely thrives on its shock appeal and display of sheer hedonism at its ugliest.
The lead character, Lady Chatterley, has barely any personality, besides her impulsivity. Moreover, the characters are not very realistic, despite Lawrence being classified as one of the realist authors of his time.
Crudity is the defining feature of all humour, dialogue and love confessions in the book, and is upheld in the name of literary endeavour. There was much scope for tact and nuance in a topic like the one this book strives to cover, however, Lawrence seems to be clumsily getting his point across through his equally clumsy and unsophisticated characters. For instance, the use of the expletive f-word countless times throughout the text is testimony that Lawrence undervalues his audience enough so as to make no distinction between artistic achievement and tasteless frivolity in the name of art and aesthetic.
Great literature is timeless, but had Lawrence published this book in today's era or even a few decades later, it would hardly have joined the ranks of literary canon, because its themes are hackneyed and current writers would surpass its vulgarity. In that regard of course, Lawrence is a trailblazer, although whether that's anything to boast about or not, I remain skeptical.
Systemantics: How Systems Work and Especially How They Fail by John GallMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
A book that will make you chuckle on more than one occasion. That's uncharacteristic of most non-fiction books, much less of one that strives to cover a subject like 'Systems theory'.
The book is written in easy language, which means that you do not need to have any prerequisite knowledge of the topic to read it. Also, it is a brief read yet manages to covers a lot of ground.
Despite being a book about systems in particular (economic, social, cultural, legal) it cuts to the heart of some very human problems such as corruption, failure and incompetence. It uses amusing and parodical acronyms while laying down the general rules and axioms, an excellent trick used by Gall to make a heavy subject lighter for the everyday reader.
Faust, First Part by Johann Wolfgang von GoetheMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Goethe is a fantastic muse for many writers. The fact that I have quoted one of the lines from this text in the introduction of my own blog is testimony to the fact that Faust is one of the most inspiring pieces of literature I have ever read: "Follow the ancient text, and the snake thou wast ordered to trample! With all thy likeness to God, thou'll yet be a sorry example!"
In my opinion, one of the most remarkable features of Faust is that it alludes to the Book of Job, though to say that is necessarily intentional would be presumptuous. Not unlike in the Book of Job, Mephistopheles (a demon) strikes a deal with God that he would corrupt his good follower, Dr. Faust.
The character of both Mephistopheles as well as Faust is developed as the poem progresses. What is interesting is that the main hero, Faust is an intelligent and analytical man, not the typically foolish or gullible person you would expect to be corrupted by the devil. Mephistopheles has his own charm as well, one of which is his verbal sparring that amuses the reader every now and then.
Goethe provokes thought on the themes of good and evil, existence, tragedy, betrayal and morality on the level of the individual, and opens a window into the soul of the most intelligent, capable and in every sense, the 'highest' man who sells his soul to the devil purely voluntarily.
Animal Farm by George OrwellMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
A wonderful piece of text; I only wish it was longer. But that is perhaps just a reader's desire, because great authors often convey the deepest ideas in the least amount of words that are needed.
Reading this book hurls one into a brief sense of terror as one becomes aware of the fragility of the systems that we take comfort in. The insidious nature of the indoctrinated socialist society set up by the pigs is very well brought out in the way each event in the novel segues into the next.
Such societies have existed in the past, and continue to exist in the modern era as well (North Korea), and a reading of some of the other works that focus on life in such societies such as Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago, Yeonmi Park's In Order to Live (to name two off the top of my head), would do well to complement one's understanding of such systems from without. Orwell's lighthearted touching upon profound concepts of equality, well-being, propaganda and socialism, along with his nuanced and almost witty representation of the society under the Stalinist regime leaves one aghast at the depth that such authors are capable of achieving in a mere 100-150 pages.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis StevensonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
A interesting book that serves as an excellent example of the idea that fiction is sometimes more real than reality itself. Not unlike numbers which are abstract but very real, fiction represents a form of hyper-reality, which expresses in condensed (and hyperbolic form) a theme that appears far too often in real life. The conflict between the Freudian id and (super)ego, consciousness and unconsciousness, Nature and Culture, and competing impulses (or personalities, as the psychoanalysts would say) on the battleground of the psyche has been explored in this book. The last chapter "Henry Jekyll's Full Statement of the Case", is particularly nuanced.
A very short, somewhat underrated novel, it is great for light reading for enthusiasts of psychology who wouldn't say no to a book that encapsulates some of the deeper ideas of the psychoanalysts in story form.
Needless to say, Stevenson's work would have done Carl Jung proud.
The Gay Science by Friedrich NietzscheMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
The first time I read this book, I was much younger (in my teens), and I did not do justice in the slightest to this wonderful work by Nietzsche. The second reading happened almost ten years later, and I am not sure yet again whether I did justice to the book, but I daresay that I did better than the first. It is for these reasons that I am undecided as to whether or not I am deserving enough to read Thus Spake Zarathustra, which I've heard is Nietzsche's best and most well-known book. I do not wish to do it disservice by distorting his ideas and philosophies to fit into existing templates in my head, and that is far more likely to happen with his later books.
Coming back to this book, it contains a fair bit of poetry, both towards the beginning and at the end. Now, I am not a big fan of Nietzsche's poetry, at least at this point. However, the five chapters in the book contain much wisdom, especially the fifth one, We Fearless Ones. Nietzsche's famous quote "God is Dead" appears for the first time in this book. It is a well-known quote of Nietzsche, but many people who quote Nietzsche's words take his declaration to one of triumph, which is a rather weak misreading of Nietzsche's sentiment. His full quote was: "God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him! How shall we console ourselves, the most murderous of all murderers? The holiest and the mightiest that the world has hitherto possessed, has bled to death under our knife,—who will wipe the blood from us? With what water could we cleanse ourselves?"
Although this is not my favourite work of Nietzsche's, it is indeed one of the books that throws much light on the existential condition of mankind, and would have definitely found a place in my List of Recommended Books, if I were to compile such a list.
Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich NietzscheMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Undoubtedly, one of Nietzsche's best works. It took a substantial amount of time to read, considering that it was not a particularly lengthy text. But every other sentence is so thought-provoking, that one cannot read much of it in one sitting if one wants to retain and truly understand the depth of the words. It is one of those books which you don't just read; it is a book you interact with. The best bits of the book (and there are so many) will make you want to stop, read that part again, and mull over it for some time. Nietzsche has a way with words which he uses to communicate the most insightful ideas in words that couldn't possibly be better chosen to explain them. He also makes some very startling predictions in this book about the wave of modernism and infantilism that has swept over much of Europe and the implications this will have in coming decades.
Symbols of Transformation by C.G. JungMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
A very long book, but unbelievably profound. It took me over two months to complete it, although that is partly because I was reading another book alongside this one. If you are reading it online, it would be prudent to open the footnotes in another tab beside it, because the book has a lot of references, and will need you to keep track of ideas being discussed by other philosophers and psychologists.
Nietzsche has been quoted extensively throughout the text, so some prior knowledge with his works might be useful, but not essential. In long books with so many references, one runs the risk of getting distracted by other texts cited in the book, so it might be worth consideration to make notes of texts quoted in the book that you would like to explore further. A range of very subtle but profound ideas have been discussed in very simple language so users whose native language is not English can easily understand.
All in all, a really great book, and one that might need to be reread in order to fully grasp the depth of concepts discussed. For maximum retention, one can write notes in reference to specific quoted lines in each chapter followed by one's own interpretations. This book will help you understand the core of life dramas across cultures.
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