"The word for the World is Forest" by Ursula Le Guin

The next book in the Hainish cycle happens chronologically after 'The Dispossessed' and before all other books. The League of All Worlds has just been formed and the ansible is just starting to get produced. Earth has its own set of colonies where they are pretty heavy handed in exploitation of resources and subjugating or destroying the native races. The same thing happens on New Tahiti, and ocean planet, with mild weather and large islands completely covered in thick forests, something that is worth more than gold to the Terrans as Earth seems to have been completely stripped of any trees or other major vegetation. The Terrans show next to no respect for the natives on New Tahiti, which are 1m tall, covered in green fur and with big black eyes. The emissaries from Hain and Tau Ceti make it very clear that the natives come from the same Hainish stock as any other race in the known universe, and for some reason have evolved further from the base than most of other races on planets seeded by the ancient Hainish. This does not prevent the Terrans from treating them like animals, using them as slave labor, torturing them, killing them for sport, and raping their women which ends in their death. Davison, who is one of the terran officers on New Tahiti is especially brutal and unscurpulous, calling the natives 'Creechees' and propagating 'tough hand' approach for them. He is the stereotypical animal-like soldier that does not want or cannot understand anything beyond brute force, animal pleasure and power play, and reproduction instincts. Le Guin overdid his character somewhat as he is so one-sided, he seems like a caricature, and not a real person.

There is the leader of the colony, the Colonel, who is not as bad as Davison, but overlooks most of his misbehaving in the name of providing the maximum amount of exports to Earth. Here is Raj Lyubov as well, apparently a Russian-Indian (all the races have merged in the Earth's future, and everyone is of brownish color, whites have dissapeared) who is the HILFer, researchign the local people, learns their language and customs and discovers that they are very advanced race in terms of social order with top role of 'Lucid Dreaming' where some trained individuals can dream at will, merging the Dream World and the Real World, both of which have the same reality for the locals.

After some heinous atrocities, mostly lead by Davison, the natives rebel, and although murder and war was unknown to them before, they adopt these concepts from the Terran colonist and use them against them, destroying several camps until all of the human colonies are reduced to rubble and the remaining humans (no females were spared as for the Terrans not to reproduce) are gathered in one place waiting for the ship to come pick them up. When the League learns of all the atrocities committed, proclaims New Tahiti a quarantine zone and forbids any colonization or exploitation of the planet. The ship comes and picks up the remaining humans and the Hainish envoy asks the leader of the local rebellion would they forget the concepts of war and murder after every non-local has left the planet. Sam, as he is called by Terrans when he was their slave, says that they will try to go back to live as they did before the Terrans arrived, but they will never forget murder and war, and it might reoccur.

Le Guin shows her anthropological background in this story, and draws inspiration on many native cultures on our own planet that were destroyed when more advanced civilization, which considers the natives savages and their culture primitive and unworthy, have moved in to exploit resources and bring 'civilization' to the locals. Because of self-righteous individuals who take upon themselves to judge the value of other people and civilization by their own rules and ignorance, unmeasurable harm has been brought upon weaker natives through countless centuries. It is a valuable lesson shown in the book, but it becomes too didactic at times and the character are too cartoonish, so from story-telling perspective is not as enjoyable as some of her other books.

"The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula Le Guin

This is chronologically the fourth book in the Hainish cycle and happens after the Shing are defeated (somehow) and the Ekumen of 83 worlds is formed. The book details the adventures, problems and successes of Genry Ai, a 'mobile' of the Ekumen, and an envoy to Gethen, to try persuade the governments to join the Ekumen. The gethenians are hermaphrodites which are sexually inactive for most of the lunar month, while only being activated for a few days each month, which period they call Kemmer, and when through hormonal negotiations of willing partners, one becomes female while the other male. Every person on Gethen has a womb and menstrual cycle, is able to both father children and bear them to birth.

Genly is amazed by the social consequences of not having sexes. One is that war is virtually unknown, which Genly thinks is because war comes out of male sexual frustration. Genly is black male from earth, as in the future the white race has disappeared, and the black and yellow races have merged into a brown-black one. He is considered a 'pervert' on Gethen because they cannot understand how can one be sexually capable all the time and still be normal. The Gethenians consider all the other planets and races perverts and don't want much to do with them, if they believe they exist at all. The situation is further complicated by the two main nations on Gethen, Karhaid and Orgoreyn, one being a kingdom and the other a communist-like oligarchy, are bitter enemies and both want the other to take the risk first to make contact with the alien federation. Both countries are on a technological level of approximately late 20 century Earth, but have arrived to that level not through industrial revolution, but through a very slow evolutionary path, as nobody hurries for anything on Gethen.

Genly becomes persona non grata after his main friend Estrevan, the prime minister of Karhaid, is exiled because of political power play, and goes to Orgoreyn, where at first he's accepted with great honors, just to be thrown in a labor camp in the north to die of exhaustion afterward. Estrevan, who escaped to Orgoreyn too, helps him escape and they hike over the huge northern glacier area to go back to Karhaid and form a very strong personal bond. Estrevan is killed when they arrive in Karhaid, but Genly is received by the king and Karhaid enters the Ekumen, which was the goal of Genly's mission.

The book is obviously feminist fiction and tries very hard to dissect the different ways women are subjugated in our own society, by exploring the different traits that Gethenians developed. This detracts from the enjoyment of the book, since at times seems too didactic, but provides for the very in-depth analysis of the Gethenian society and interpersonal relationships, and artifacts like 'shiftgrethor' which can be translated as personal prestige or personal shadow. The possibility and meaningfullnes of divination is also explored in the religion of karhaid and their rituals. Love between sexes, whether same, different or non-existent, is explored at depth and the reader is gently introduced to the concept that sexes are irrelevant for love, but only the human beings matter.

One very annoying and very unrealistic thing on which Le Guin obstinately insists, is that the Ekumen, or any very advanced civilization, will send its envoy(s) alone and completely unprotected, on the mercy of the primitive and sometimes very different occupants of the new planet. This is obviously an inheritance from Le Guin's father who was an antropoligist and vocal for protection of the less-developed peoples around the world whose societies are destroyed when the white men (usually) came and introduced their own society and technology. This she calls 'cultural embargo', however it is preposterous to think any self-respecting star-spanning culture would throw some of its own people (highly trained and intelligent) into the jaws of the lions with no protection, to be imprisoned, tortured, even murdered. That would be extremely unethical for the star society itself towards its own people (i.e. it would require some kind of benevolent kamikaze indoctrination), and although the natives definitely should be protected and introduced gradually to the new society, the first envoys will always be sent with enough power and protection to absolutely guarantee their life and well being - at the minimum.

On the whole, extremely well written book, emotional, intelligent and interesting read.

"CIty of Illusions" by Ursula K. Le Guin

The third book in the Hainish cycle, and maybe the most ambitious one, many more characters, plots, subplots and even more unanswered questions left at the end. The book is very short, 160 pages, but intense. I wish she would write a part II to it.

The book starts when a naked human is found in the primordial forest of eastern united states in a very bleak future. The League of All Worlds is destroyed and the Earth ruled and the humans kept in perpetual savagery by the "Shing", an alien race from the depths of the Galaxy, far beyond the limits of the League. They have the ability to lie in MindSpeach, i.e. to mindlie, which is considered absolutely impossible by all the people of the League, which leads to their downfall as the Shing infiltrate them (they look similar to humans) and destroy them.

Falk (yellow), as the naked man is called by the forest people, has no memory of who he is or where he comes from (he's in his 20s) and the people living in the forest, in 'Houses' or individual settlements of about 5-50 people, take him in and teach him to speak Galaktika, and about the Earth and the Shing. Falk looks exactly like human except for his yellow eyes with huge black pupils and no iris. After 5 years the master of the house sends Falk to find his destiny as he hopes that Falk is emissary from another planet which can help the Earth humans free themselves from the Shing.

Falk travels west by foot, to find the city of Es-Toch, which is the only city remaining on earth, ruled by the Shing, and which is built on the edges of the Grand Canyon and across it. He goes through many misfortunes. Angry, scared people are everywhere and everybody is afraid of the Shing. Some have kept much of the technology of the League, while others have fallen into utter savagery like the Prarie nation of Basnasska, while others live in imaginary constructs like the King of Kansas. Falk is helped by a woman, Estrelle, who claims to be a wonderer, and leads him to Es-Toch. However once there she betrays him to the Shing.

The Shing want to give Falk his previous personality, which they themselves mind-razed together with all the crew of the Alterra space ship, because they want to know they coordinates of Alterra, either to destroy it or to persuade the Alterrans that they Shing are humans, who invented the story of the Enemy to unite the different humans who were engaged in interstellar civil war when the League was corrupted. This is the story they tell to Falk and tell him that the price of restoring his previous personality, Prince Ramarren, is that his current personality must be destroyed.

Falk mistrusts them, and senses they are lying, but goes through with it. Unbeknown to the Shing he keeps both personalities and eventually unites them. As Ramarren he has superior mental powers and can tell when the Shing are mindlying, which is probably why the Shing mindrazed all the crew on Alterra. The Alterrans have developed and perfected the techniques of mindguarding much above the League or even the Shing. Falk-Ramarren pretends everything is ok until at a good moment puts one of the three Shing on earth under mind-control and goes to the space ship prepared for his and Orri's travel (though he knows he is to be killed as soon as he gives the coordinates, and only Orri is to return to Altera with the story the Shing implanted in him).

On the ship his suspicions are confirmed. The controls and mathematics on the ship is not Cetian, which is the common math for all League worlds, but thoroughly alien. He finally succeeds and the ship takes off for Alterra, with him, Orri and the Shing Ken inside. Here the book ends abruptly and leaves you yearning for more, however Le Guin never explains what happened, and the Shing are never explained again in any further book beyond what is already mentioned in the 'City of Illusions'. Very unnerving! In the next book 'The left hand of Darkness' the 'Age of the Enemy' is 600 years behind, and the main character remembers it as a dark and cruel age, but no explanation is given as to how it ended, how were the Shing defeated and who or what the Shing were in the first place.

The book is very dynamic, becoming even more so towards the end and reads like thriller or adventure novel. Le Guin's theme of high technology being of not much help and very easy to lose or forget is present everywhere. Many of the humans remaining on earth have either digressed to savagery or intentionally limit the use of high technology to minimum. Savages with spears and axes regularly beat up and capture Falk though he has laser gun with him. The Shing make extensive use of high technology but it brings them no happiness or safety, they are constantly afraid of being exposed, overthrown or killed, which is their largest fear, from which they instituted their only law that life must not be destroyed. That's why they mindraze their enemies instead of killing them and leave them to die in the wilderness, and also eat only vegetarian food, well masked with complex spices.

"Rocannon's World" by Ursula Le Guin

This is the second book in the 'Hainish Cycle' (or the first, as some people consider the 'Planet of Exile' the second one), and follows the later life (and eventual death) of Rocannon, an ethnologist for the League of All Worlds, originally from the planet Hain, of Hainish mother and Terran step-father, but stationed on the planet of New South Georgia before his departure for Fomehault 2, the unnamed planet that will eventually bear his name.

The story begins with a prologue "The Necklace" which is a short story previously published in 'Astounding Stories' and on top of which the entire novel is developed. The prologue tells us about the trip of Semley, a noble woman of the Angyar race from Fomehault 2, to recover a necklace that is kept at the ethnological museum on New South Georgia, where Rocannon works. She gets the necklace, but incurs 'time debt' on her way back (on a starship lent to the Gdemiyar, a race of underground, gnome-like beings with advanced technology, by the League) and her husband is dead and her daughter grown up, which drives her to madness.

Rocannon arrives at Fomehault 2 many years later, Semley's daughter is an old woman now, and ethnological expedition comes with him to explore the varied races of the planet, which was placed in 'exploration embargo' until then by Rocannon himself. However another race from the planet Farradey, who got technology from teh League to help in the fight of an extra-galactic enemy, but instead chose to use the weapons to conquer and subdue League worlds, are using Fomehault 2 for their secret launch base on other worlds, and kill many locals to keep them in fear, also including destroying Rocannon's ship and all his colleagues.

Rocannon is angry and makes it his sole purpose to find the Faradeyan base and send message to the league by 'ansible' and instant-communication device, despite of distance, so that the Faradeyans can be destroyed. On the way he is joined by an Angyar, grandson of Semley, a feya Kia, feya being little, happy fairy-like creatures, and several 'midmen' looking mostly like Terrans (the Angyar being 8 feet tall), riding on 'windsteeds' a kind of flying, carnivorous lions or griffins.

They meet many obstacles on the way, and the novel goes mostly in heroic, a la 'Lord Of the Rings', fashion for most of its length, and many of the members of the 'fellowship' die in the process. Finally Rocannon alone, after getting the gift of 'mindspeaking and mindlistening' gets to the Faradeyan base and sends the message. The base is evaporated few hours later, and Rocannon goes back to the Angyar settlement on the south continent where he dies in 8 years, just short of the 9 years needed for the League ship to arrive from the nearest League world. They call the planet Rocannon's world, or Rokanan, in his honor.

It is a beautifully written book, more in the Tolkien fashion, with heroes, and swords, and beasts, and many races, gnomes, fairies, 'tall' humans and ordinary humans and appeals to the same emotions as Tolkien's books, except for the first and last 10 pages, which is more science-fiction like. One very important thing to note is that Le Guin is much more interested in the sociological and anthropological aspects of the 'aliens' on the planet, than in their technology or science, which puts most of Le Guin's books in the genre of 'soft' science fiction. Another very important theme, both in this book and in 'Planet of Exile' is Le Guin's presentation and emphasis that advanced technology and science is futile when the people are disconnected from the advanced society, and left to themselves they quickly digress into a lower society. An example of this are the Farborn in 'Planet of Exile' who, although from a society that developed inter-stellar travel technology level, are brought down to pre-historic civilization level because they don't have the means to maintain their technology, they forgot their uses, and because of the 'cargo laws' which restricted the use of many technologies.

In Rocannon's world, after his ship is destroyed, and especially after the almost-drowning in the great channel, Rocannon is left only with his impervasuit, and for the rest he's pretty much lowered to a level of a bronze-age hero, with the means only available from the bronze-age period, until almost the very end of the book. Thus, Le Guin, insists and constantly emphasizes, that there is no permanent safety in high technology, and no reason to feel secure, important or even 'above' races with lower technology, as the technological advantage can be lost very quickly and permanently, and then a being is left only to its initial devices and whatever strengths of body and mind alone it possesses. This is very well depicted in the helpless rage of the Farborn in 'Planet of Exile' against the 'primitive' HILFs, a rage that is futile, as the Farborn are already degenerating into the same civilization level and find themselves much less adapted physically and mentally to such life, thus becoming and considered inferior and 'weaklings' by the HILFs who are still at hunter-gatherer level of civilization.

"Planet of Exile" by Ursula Le Guinn

Usually taken to be the first book to be written in the 'Hainish Cycle' by Ursula Le Guinn, the action of the book happens towards the middle of the period covered by the eight (so far) novels within the cycle. Located on the third planet of the Gamma Draconis star, the book depicts the interaction and mutual characterization of two hominid groups on the planet. One group are the native High Intelligent Life Forms (HILFs), who have inhabited the planet for millenniums and are well adapted to the 60-earth-year orbit of the planet around the star with nomadic lifestyles and neolitic level of technology. The other group are the Alterrans, a mix-breed of Terrans from Earth and another species, which arrived on the planed 600 years ago (10 local years) to try to include the planet in the "League of Worlds".

However the League entered heightened state of war at the time of the Landing and the starship that brought them had to go back, tacking with it the 'ansible' and instantaneous communication device regardless of spatial parameters, and pretty much all advanced technology. The people that remained on the planet lost most of their advanced technology, some through 'cargo laws' and some through ignorance, and although living in real houses and cities, are lowered to the level of hunting with spears and knives, as the locals do.

The locals have some strange customs, like never looking directly in the face of another person, and consider the Alterrans and inferior breed, non-humans, which feeling is reciprocated by the Alterrans themselves, however they are much weakened numerically and because of their abandonment of their original superior technology. The Alterrans also have breeding problems; they have very few children and are slowly disappearing. This is exacerbated by the fact that the locals (Tevarans) and the colonists (Farborns) cannot interbreed, though they theoretically have a common ancestor in the people from Hain, which colonized most of the known universe with their own genetic code.

The Alterrans and the HILFs are forced to unite, just before the oncoming of the 15-year long winter, when a barbarian horde from the North comes and destroys the Tevaran city and tries to do the same with the Alterran one as well. The united people, or what is left of them, succeed in defending the new city and become more friendly towards each other, the leader of the Alterrans, Jacob, taking a HILF wife, Rolery. During the battles the Alterran doctor realizes that their bodies started to adapt to the local conditions to the point where they can be infected by local bacteria. This leads him to think that Alterran-HILF breeding would soon be possible and a new race will emerge.

Towards the end of the book, after successfully defending the city, Jacob realizes that they are no more on a planet of exile, but that the planet has become their home too.

"Poodle Springs" by Raymond Chandler and Robert Parker

Yes, yes, I know I said I won't be reading any more abridged Marlowe novels, but since this was the last (eighth) novel and Chandler wrote only the first four chapters, I thought I won't lose much by reading the abridged version. I was right, as after the beginning, which is Chandler's work, the rest is too mushy and presents Marlowe as too much of a softie, which he is, but never shows it in such obvious ways in Chandler's original novels. Parker brings a more modern feel to the novels but also a modern sensitivity and emphasis that should appeal to contemporary readers. This, however, is not a continuation of Chandler's style, and rings unauthentic.

Marlowe is married to Linda and they move to Poodle Springs, which is Chandler's sarcastic moniker for Palm Springs. Marlowe is backed by 200 million dollars from father-in-law and at least 10 million (of 1954 dollars) in his wife's personal wealth, but he insists on working and paying for his office only with his own money. He gets on a case for the local casino runner Lippshultz, who has an IOU from a guy for $100,000. On the way to finding the guy, Marlowe discovers two murders and gets in trouble with the police (again), for helping the guy, Les Valentine aka Larry Victor escape, because he has a soft spot for the young married couple. Another inauthentic detail here is when the tough riverside cop almost breaks Marlowe's knee with a blackjack in front of Bernie Ohls, Marlowe's old friend from D.A.'s office in LA. Although Ohls intervenes, it is doubtful that he would ever let the other cop come close to Marlowe in Chandlers original novels, as they are quite close.

At the end Marlowe's marriage falls apart, but in the last scene Linda comes to his new rented apartment in LA and proposes that they be lovers ... forever. Cheesy, if you ask me, coming in line with the sensibilities of the modern time which Parker aimed to satisfy, but I don't think Chandler would have approved. This book is a good reading, but definitely not on par with Chandler's best Marlowe work.

"Thus Spoke Zarathustra" by Fridrich Nietzsche

I've read this book for a third time now, and I am not sure I understand it more than when I read it for the first time at age 16 in high school, pretty much exactly 16 years ago. Nietzsche's Zarathustra walks around talking to dead men, animals, trees and other men and saints, exposing his beliefs of God, the Universe, the proper way of living, morality and, of course, Nietzsche's favorite topic - the eternal return.

This is the book where Nietzsche through Zarathustra's mouth proudly exclaims "God is dead!". I don't buy much into the bible verse style of writing though. I know other philosophers used it below, and it allowed Nietzsche to claim that it is the 'deepest book ever written' but it is arguable how much questionable depth you can put in piles of bad poetry. Just look at Aliester Croweley, and the piles of verse garbage he wrote, for which he claimed to contain the deepest secrets of magic.

I find other Nietzsche's books, like 'The Twilight of the Idols' and 'Beyond Good and Evil' much more accessible and valuable for getting acquainted with his thought, which was very new and very radical in his time. This book also got me in big trouble with the local librarian when I was 16, but that's another story :)

"Playback" by Raymond Chandler

The sixth novel in the Marlowe series, set in Esmeralda, a city near San Diego, a moniker for La Jolla, where Chandler lived during the last years of his life. The novel is weaker than Chandler's other Marlowe works on the account of the simpler plot, no big twist at the end, and actually having some decent and positive characters in it, primarily from the police.

Marlowe is hired to follow a woman, without being given a reason. During the job he goes south to Esmeralda, where he meets a handful of colorful characters: Ex-gangster turned proprietor, a private eye from Kansas City, a few decent and honest cops, a Mexican-Chinese-black immigrant who likes smoking pot and hangs himself after injecting morphine and a gigolo who blackmails his charges for more money.

There are two subplots going on concurrently: one being Marlowe's following the girl, who is in turn blackmailed by the gigolo, and eventually falls for the ex-gangster for whatever reason. The other is the private eye from Kansas City and the gigolo blackmailing the ex-gangster (who's also from Kansas City) to reveal his past to the exclusive and very rich crowd living in Esmeralda.

The novel is adapted from a screenplay of the same name that Chandler wrote some years ago and was rejected by studios. The screenplay was published posthumously and people who've read both usually prefer the screenplay. Towards the end of the novel Marlowe gets a phone call from Linda from 'The Long Goodbye' who's now in Paris for over 1.5 years but still missing Marlowe and staying faithful to their one night they had together in his office. Marlowe tells her he didn't stay faithful to her, as in this book he sleeps with the lawyer's secretary who hired him and also with the woman he was following, Betty (yes, the panties go down fast as usual). Linda says she doesn't care and she loves him and she wants to marry him. Marlowe tells her to come to LA and they will talk. In the next novel 'Poodle Springs' which is Chandler's moniker for Palm Spring, Marlowe and Linda are married and living in Poodle Springs.

I've read this one in non-abridge version, and although indeed a bit weaker than the other Marlowe novels, it still brims with the hard-boiled dialogue, insightful descriptions and shrewd social observations about people and life in SoCal in the 1950s which is the main allure of Chandler's work today.

"The Long Goodbye" by Raymond Chandler

Another novel that I read abridged. I will definitely stop doing that from now on, since you don't get the real thing. It is hard to recognize them on torrent sites though. But the rule of thumb is that a 300 page novel, coded in speech quality mp3 format should be between 150MB and 250MB. The version I had for this was barely 60MB, and the quality was not insufferably low, thus the small size cannot be blamed on the low quality conversion.

This novel was written while Chandler was nursing his lover, 18-years his senior, who eventually died and was a huge blow for the writer who passed away himself some years later. It has some autobiographical elements, and that is one of the reasons why it should be read in its entirety, without any abridging, when some prof or self-styled expert decides which parts are important and which can be dropped.

The novel is about Marlowe's friendship with Terry Lennox, an alcoholic married to a promiscuous heiress of great fortunes. When she is brutally killed, Terry skips to Tijuana with Marlowe's help and later kills himself leaving a confession. Marlowe doesn't buy this and is roughed up several times by some tough guys who knew Lennox and his dark history from the times when his name was Paul Marston, a british commando in WWII, captured by the Gestapo in Norway.

Another character, an alcoholic writer, comes in the story, initially looking unrelated, but eventually turning out that his wife, who kills him, and also the lady in the beginning of the story, was Marston's first wife, who thought he died in Norway. At the end Lennox/Marston comes back to Marlowe's office as a mexican, after a face-job, but Marlowe sees through him. Lennox offers the peace branch, but Marlowe refuses, saying that he thought they were friends, and apparently he was wrong, and he doesn't want anything to do with him anymore.

The novel won Chandler the Edgar Award, and some critics consider it his best novel, while others say it is not up to the quality of the first two, which I find magnificent. At the end Marlowe has a short affair with the sister of Lennox' dead wife (as all women immediately drop their panties at the mere sight of him), but this time he feels for her something he hasn't felt for any other woman. She is one of the rare fully positive female characters in Chandler's works. She proposes they marry and go to Paris but he refuses. She is significant since Marlow apparently never forgets her, and talks to her again at the end of the next novel, 'Playback' which is next to last. And in the last novel 'Poodle Springs' of which Chandler finished only the first five chapters before he died, they marry.

"The High Window" by Raymond Chandler

I read this book as an abridged BBC radio-drama that fits on two audio cassettes, which not only doesn't do justice to Chandler, but also denigrates the entire story, lowering it to the plot-only variety of the previous British detectives. I have a strong distaste for BBC dramas in general, as I believe they never catch the right feeling of the original novels, and cheat the reader/listener of the enjoyment of the original.

The plot is intricate enough, a rare dubloon stolen from a rich, old miserette's house, implying her son and daughter and law. A private secretary who seems to be tied to the family with something stronger than a salaried job, and a string of murders within the circle of the people that got into contact with the stolen doubloon.

Marlowe discovers the truth, which implicates the old lady and her son, but the detective does not surrender them to the cops, his private dick's ethics having a higher priority, but only deals his own sort of justice by giving freedom to the enslaved secretary living a lie.

The novel was filmed as a movie called 'Brasher Doubloon' which was the only movie with Philip Marlowe which I could not find available on any P2P network, which speaks volumes about its quality and by transference, the quality of the book, which seems to be considered among the lower quality Marlowe stories.

"Farewell, My Lovely" by Raymond Chandler

The second book about Philip Marlowe by Raymond Chandler is equally impressive as his first one. The same hard-boiled style, a cynical and dark representation of Los Angeles in the 1940s which rings more real than most of the Hollywood's make-believe fairy tales. The story is just as complicated, if not more, than in the first book. The characters are just as negative, not even the cops managing to squeeze out much goodness and morals.

Marlowe does not really have a client this time, being at the wrong (right?) place at the wrong time he gets involved with ex-con Moose Malloy, a giant of man, who's looking for the love of his live, Velma Valente. The person who eventually hires Marlowe, as a bodyguard, turns, towards the end of the book, to want to kill him, because he was on track to discovering the identity of Velma, who's now married to a billionaire, and leads the decadent and spoiled life of a rich widow, while her husband still being alive, sleeping around profusely, and apparently wanting to include Marlowe in her collection as well.

One things that bothers me about Marlowe, as I read more and more books about him, is not his hard-boiled style, which at times makes it hard to be believable, but is very entertaining, neither is his apparent ability always to get the upper hand in conflicts, no matter how beaten up he gets, or what odds he's against, but that damn apparent charm, or charisma, or whatchamacallit, that makes every beautiful woman (and they are ALL beautiful in the books, apparently LA in 1940s was teeming with gorgeous ladies) drop down her panties (or desperately want to) as soon as she lays eyes on his 6'3'' frame or hears his hard-boiled voice. A bit over the top, but I understand that it was the fashion at the time.

This is a very enjoyable book. I especially enjoyed the hard-boiled dialogue between Marlowe and various tough guys, cops and tough girls. Some of Chandler's books are not available in audio unabridged (and I almost stopped reading books with my eyes, but only with my ears for years now), and that loses all the charm, since the most enjoyment is to be found in the scenes that are not essential for the plot, but are kind of outlet for Chandler to show off his hard-boiledness and perceptiveness in dialogue and witty and insightful descriptions.

"The Big Sleep" by Raymond Chandler

I discovered Raymond Chandler when I was reading a review of Lovecraft, on of my favorite authors, and the review writer mentioned that 'what Lovecraft was for horror, Chandler was for detective fiction'. This tickled my imagination, and I got all the Chandler's novels and started to read them in their chronological order (just like I read the complete works of Lovecraft). The first novel, which was later made in a great movie with Humphrey Bogart, and even later into yet another great film with Robert Mitchum, this time, being 1979, the movie could be much more explicitly, as the novel has quite a few shocking parts (for the 1940s when it was released). The novel is complex, with many plots and subplots, characters with many layers, which change sides and opinions and allegiances often. Philip Marlowe is the stereotypical 'hard-boiled' detective, somewhat of an ideal for every private eye. The novel is devoid of positive characters, as everybody Marlowe encounters, no matter how likable at first, eventually show their rotten side. Marlowe, for his part, never pretends to be of high morals or ideals, but usually comes on top when compared to the rest of the menagerie.

The book starts with what looks like a pretty simple plot, a blackmail note for rich, old and paralyzed army general who has accrued great riches from oil and two young an beautiful daughters rotten beyond repair. However things evolve pretty fast, and soon we have powerful crime bosses, corrupt police officials, big money protectionism, hitmen and large swaths of areas in LA and the surroundings in the late 1930s. Marlowe is the proverbial tough guy with morals: cynical but with a soft spot, dark humored but going out of his way to help, womanizer but not sleeping around, street-talking but upholding the law more than the police. You can almost see black-and-white images while reading the book. It is told from first person point of view, Marlowe is the narrator and this gives us insight into his thoughts and motivations and makes him very real and almost likable, but definitely admirable.

The women in the book are (almost) all gorgeous, and always rotten, whether by their own choice or by destiny. The more innocent the look at the beginning, the more corrupted and sick they turn at the end, as is the case with Carmen, the general's 20 year old daughter. The style of the book is easy to follow, although the plots and characters might be numerous and complicated. Chandler was one of the first writers to use real, street-level, tough language which spares no insults, both social, moral and racial which is refreshing in today's PC-obsessed world. The plot is intriguing, there are twists and turns which keep you on the edge as a good mystery novel should, pretty much to the last page, but don't expect 'clues' as in Christie's novels that would help you 'find the murderer' itself. This is not that type of detective novel. This is gritty, realistic, down-in-the-gutter novel which is remarkable for its realistic appeal, 'telling it as it is', no english or belgian detectives who play the violin and hang out with the 'high class' here.

Marlowe is a seminal character, better developed than Spade and in much greater length, with more depth and believability. The other characters in the book are only jotted with some well chosen lines, but still ring true, though this mostly goes for the male characters. The female characters are less well drawn, and are mostly there to further the story and to emphasize the 'hard-boiledness'. It is amazing, for someone not familiar with the LA underground and related police business, to hear the words, the sentences, the bullying, the fear mind-games, to see how tough guys evaluate each other, what motivates them, how they relate to each other and other people. Chandler is a master in presenting this, dark but realistic, picture of everyday life in LA.

I am looking forward to reading the rest of the Marlowe novels, and watching the movies (each novel has at least one movie made according to it, some as much as three) and enjoying the no-fluff, spare-me-the-PC, gritty, rough around the edges but with more morals than the police chief, style of Phillip Marlowe.

"Cabal" by Clive Barker

This was the book that really hooked me onto Barker's work for years. I was so impressed by it that I even had 'Cabal__' as my online handle for many years. I read it initially in university, after I read Barker's 'Books of Blood' which I like but wasn't head over hills about them. I was amazed by the world Barker created in this book. The idea that the monsters are the good guys, living in the mythical city of Midian, far in the remote and obscure Canadian north, the psychological background, the concept of 'knowing' you have to fulfill your destiny, that there is a plan, bigger and larger than you and your daily life, all that was immensely impressing for a college sophomore. I basked in the references to Baphometh, the androgynous idol of the Templars, which tied into my own strong interest in mysticism. Also the powers of the Nightbreed, their allure of power and aloofness, remoteness but assertiveness in the same time, was a very powerful metaphor for a young guy who tended more towards the anti-social side.

Alas, this lasted about 6-7 years, until I saw Barker's movie 'Nightbreed' (which is also the name of the novel in the US), which was at about the same time when I learned tha Barker is gay, and very vocal and active in defending gay rights. This is, of course, great, every thinking man knows that segregation and discrimination of people by their sexual orientation is not only wrong, but also deprives the society of large amounts of intellectual and creative potential. However, I am strongly against interweaving fantasy novels with the LGBT message and using them as vehicle for such messages unbeknown to the reader. The movie makes it completely obvious that 'Cabal' is about the plight of the LGBT community. They are the 'monsters' living in Midian's graveyard. They look and act different from the 'regular' people and the 'regulars' hate them for that and try to exterminate them by any means. The Nightbreed are thought of as 'abominations' which is a label frequently applied to the LGBT by the fundamentalist right. The psychologist is the unscrupulous politician, who will use the most negative feelings of the public, and amplify and direct them, to his own advantage and goals, never really having a strong opinion about the matter in reality. Boone is the 'savior' the Christos in the original meaning of the word, with feet in both worlds, and understanding both, and ultimately reconciling them.

That all is great, however the reader should be warned about it. I ended up feeling cheated and with bitter taste in my mouth after analyzing the book from the LGBT paradigm, as it made much more sense than the superficial fantasy/horror paradigm. Don't get me wrong, I still like the book; I actually re-read it recently, but now I 'see through' the elements of the book, and see them as metaphors for Barker's social views. This is something that I feel strongly about, but I would not read a fantasy book dedicated to espousing it, thinly wrapped in fantasy/horror themes. I would definitely recommend the book to anyone who is looking for exciting and powerful story, as long as you don't look too much below the surface. On the other hand, do yourself a favor and don't waste 2 hours watching 'Nightbreed' unless you are interested in the LGBT rights campaign in the early 90s.

"Weaveworld" by Clive Barker

I've read this book early in University when I was discovering Clive Barker as a writer, and getting excited about his fantasy works, not that much about his early horror work. I've re-read it recently and was thinking that I was going to get disappointed by it as I got with 'Cabal' and 'Imajica' when I discovered that Barker is gay, and found so much LGBT stuff in his books that they looked more like pamphlets for gay rights than novels. Weaveworld though was a surprise. Yes, there were some references to 'gender-transcendental sexuality' but they were kept to a minimum, and most of the content is dedicated to the actual content.

It is a complicated book. It is original as well. Few fantasy authors would think of enclosing their world in a carpet, at least I haven't encountered any. The people Barker invented, The Seerkind, are a little less convincing, but still well thought out, unlike the Nightbreed in 'Cabal' which are an obvious LGBT community. The characters, which are usually the weakest part of Barker's books, are comparatively well-developed, especially Mooney, and to a lesser extent Susanna, Shadwell and Immacollatta, which are more two-dimensional The Scourge is especially badly developed, and it seems like it was forgotten for most of the book, just to reappear at the end, in a not very convincing series of events and make a spectacular, but irrelevant, exit near the end.

I liked that the thought life of Mooney is presented to some length, as Barker usually doesn't care much what his characters think, since he is using them primarily as a vehicle for the story. I felt things were left incomplete with Mooney's girlfriend. She appears several times, but we never learn her motivation, or get some insight into why she's acting the way she is. The let-down of Mr.Gluck when he is to understand that all UFO-related phenomena that he's been researched all of his life could be linked to the Seerking 'ruptures' is also forced, and unconvincing. The intensity of the story, especially after the first 50 pages is excellent and reminiscent of Barker's short stories. The chase and search for the carpet, all the comings and goings and the coincidences or the lack thereof is enjoyable and exciting reading.

Barker's exquisite imagination with minute attention to detail shows throughout the book and this is what makes 'The Fugue' believable, and to a lesser-extent, its inhabitants. It is notable that the main protagonist in most Barker's works is a man, developed to a lesser or greater extent, like Mooney in this book. I would recommend this book to any fantasy fan, or to anyone who's looking for a great entry into the work of Clive Barker.

"The Teachings of Don Juan" by Carlos Castaneda and his other books

It is about 15 years since I first read "The Teachings of Don Juan" by Carlos Castaneda, when I was sophomore in High School. It was given to me by an uncle once removed, as something that might interest me, but he's suspicious of. I was, needless to say, totally blown away by the book. It had everything a daydreaming, new-agy high school sophomore could wish for: hallucinogenic plants, sorcery, powerful teacher, promise of power and immortality, exotic locations (for an European), spirits, supernatural forces, etc. etc.

I found it difficult at that time to find the rest of Castaneda's books (there were only 10 at the time), but after I went to college (at an american university)I found several more of his books and was immersed in the fascinating story and mythology. However, by this time the Internet was becoming a force to be reckoned with, and there was much more information available there than in any single library or other media. On the Internet I found that things were not as straight forward as 'Carlito' was describing them in his books.

I found out that Castaneda probably never met anyone like Don Juan, but he's amalgamate of his researches and his wishful thinking. I found that there are multiple contradictions and conflicting timelines in his books, like during the time he says he was at a peyote ritual in Sonora, Mexico, he was actually borrowing and reading books about other people's peyote ritual experiences in the library at UCLA. Most disturbingly though, I've found out that he has built a cult following around him, mostly of female students, with whom he had regular sexual intercourse under the pretense of spiritual instruction and whom he abused, lied to and treated in despicable manner in general. He was a kind of misguided, complexed and definitely less funny modern-day Gurdjieff.

At that time I abandoned his books in revolt, and his 'Cleargreen' company teaching supposed 'Magical Passes' for money (of which there are several claims that the passes were actually modified Chinese techniques taught to Castaneda in Mexico City) did not help at all. Lately, I've found audio versions of several of the Castaneda's books, including my favorite 'The Teachings of Don Juan'. After I read them I decided to do more research and make an informed decision. What I discovered startled and disgusted me.

I knew that Castaneda died in 1998 (of liver cancer), and that his death was kept secret for two months by his cronies 'Cleargreen', but I didn't know that his sex-slaves (or should I say students?) disappeared immediately after his death, never to be heard of again, until the body of one of them was positively identified in 2006 in the California Death Valley, dead of presumed suicide, which fate is presumed for the rest 4 women who disappeared. What kind of sick wacko forms a cult in which he has sex with every female that enters and makes them believe things that make them kill themselves after his death? What is the difference between him and the host of mentally ill cult leaders who make their followers take poison? I mean people have jumped off cliffs because Castaneda had written that shamans will burn their bodies from within with inner fire and will never reach the bottom of the cliff. Needless to say, none of those who jumped burned at all, but their corpses were perfectly whole at the bottom of the cliff.

One of the 'students', who had the good sense to leave while there was time, wrote a memoir of her apprenticeship with Carlos, most of which consisted of having sex with him at a time when she was 19 and he about 60. From the Time magazine article in 1973 and his own references scattered throughout his books, it can be seen that Castaneda had many unresolved issues with his parents and family, especially his father. His cousins and friends in Peru (where he was born and raised) remembered him as a "cheerful person, a big gambler, a big lier and obssesed with immigrating to the US".

I am deeply disappointed by the true nature and deeds of Carlos Castaneda, and I feel cheated and fooled into believing what I thought was a magical world in my teens. His books are a hodge-podge of bits and pieces Castaneda gathered from different sources, and the only wisdom in them is the one he borrowed from various great philosophers. I might still read his books as entertaining fiction, but I have lost all respect for the work and the man he claimed to be.

"Robert Anton Wilson explains Everything" by RA Wilson

I was introduced to Robert Anton Wilson when I was interested in Peter Carroll and Chaos Magick in the mid-to-late 90s. RAW's books were recommended as essential for understanding the modern Magick paradigm. My good luck resulted in me reading 'Prometheus Rising' as my first RAW book and I was impressed. The book mainly details Leary's eight circuit model of consciousness, with which I was not acquainted at the time, and it appeared as a very lucid and intelligible model of what might be going on in people's heads. The second book I read from RAW was 'Quantum Psychology' (I actually purchased both of these books!), which was touted as second part of 'Prometheus Rising'. I was very disappointed with this book, which seemed to me a big pile of hodge-podge (not in the discordian way unfortunatey), lots of light prose, some repeats from the previous book, some perennial 'wisdoms' and common sensical things that you don't need to purchase a book to learn - and little else. I wrote a pretty bad review for it and almost forgot about RAW until last year when I got his notorious 'Illuminatus' as an audio book, and inflicted the, by no means small, pain upon myself of listening to the first 45 minutes. I could absolutely make no sense of anything. I never liked the 'stream of consciousness' books. I still haven't read Joyce. I didn't even know 'Illuminatus' was stream of consciousness book, and that RAW was such a great admirer of Joyce.

Anyway, the audio book titled above consists of 4 sessions where RAW talks to the editor of 'Sounds True', an audio book publishing house, plus 3 recordings from his lectures. The first part is much more entertaining, as I don't find RAW to be a great speaker, though I have read that he even did stand-up comedy. The interview with 'Sounds True' is very genuine, relaxed and informative. The reader/listener gets to hear RAW's stance on plenty of controversial topics popular today as well as reminiscences of people and events inhis illustrious past, and some comments about his own books. RAW never became rich from his books, which actually sold pretty well, but he could live comfortable. That is, he lived comfortable until the last year of his life, when his life-long fight with polio consequences was beginning to be lost. He appealed for funds to cover his medical expenses on his blog and posted a reply after receiving more than he expected about how touched he was that there were people who still cared about him. He passed away less than a week after the blog post.

This audio recording is very easy-listening and very entertaining, and can be seen as the best introduction to his overall work and positions on most issues he wrote and lectured about throughout his life. One of the sessions espouses Leary's eight circuit model of consciousness, to which RAW contributed, in a clear and intelligible knowledge. The lecture recordings that follow concentrate on particular topics in his writings, and there is an interesting question and answer period recorded. I didn't like the speeches as much as the previous conversation parts, but they definitely add value. Although I don't share the excitement about Robert Anton Wilson's writings that many people seem to hold, I do recognize his place in development of modern thought and exploration of fringe areas of science, and would recommend this audio book as a great introduction to the man and his work to everyone.

"Imajica" by Clive Barker

Haven't written for a while. That doesn't mean I wasn't reading, I actually finished 2 books and am currently reading another 3. The times were stressful, new job, new apartment, GMAT, summer, beach, etc. I hope I finish the review of both books I finished today, or otherwise it might be next week , as the weekend should be filled with activities. The first book I finished was 'Imajica' by Clive Barker.

I read 'Imajica' for the first time when I was an undergrad student. I was immensely impressed by Barker's books 'Cabal', 'Weaveworld', and the lovely 'The Thief of Always', although I initially started reading Barker because I was searching the annals of horror literature since Lovecraft, and I wanted to read all of the major modern authors, just as I read all the books I could Lovecraft mentioned in his essay 'The supernatural in the history of literature'. I liked 'The Books of Blood' and 'The Damnation Game' but it was his fantasy novels that really impressed me and put Barker on the shelf of my favorite authors. I can credit primarily Barker, actually, for my primary reading interest during undergrad shifting from horror and 'hard' science fiction to a more fantasy selection, though I have been a fan of Tolkien, Le Guinn, and others since early high school. When I compare what has Barker done with his fantasy novels relative to his horror work, I cannot fail to notice that his fantasy (or as he calls it 'dark fantasy') work is way above in style and creativity, and this fact made me notice that in literature in general, the purely horror works are usually of much 'pulpier' quality than fantasy works.

I remembered, from undergrad, the vast worlds, the many fantastic creatures, the nomenclature, the unknown, the suspense, the seemingly limitless imagination that Barker has invested in this novel. This, if any, should be called his seminal work. Here he presents his worldview, his view of afterlife, God, spirituality, relationships, transcending the customary accepted ones in our modern society, and going well beyond and above them. One thing that struck me as particularly strong, and this goes also for my second reading of my favorite novel by Barker 'Cabal', is his hardly veiled descriptions, apologetics, and actual exaltation, in a sense, of homosexual, transsexual and transgender lifestyles.

This revelation was the biggest shock to me when I re-read 'Cabal' some years ago, being about 5-6 years out of undergrad, and for the first time after I read that Barker is openly homosexual and activist in the community. I saw all the names, relationships and symbols in 'Cabal' completely different. They were not arbitrary gems of a great imagination, but most of them were symbolic of the homosexual society, and the oppression against them, the ways they had to hide in order to survive and what they had to invent to keep sane. The Nightbreed in 'Cabal' are the LBGT community, driven into hiding because of the very thing they are, and mercilessly chased and destroyed by the evil 'townspeople' just for being different, being 'freaks'. In this sense much of the dialogue, person's names and actions become much more obvious and sequential. Boone is maybe Barker himself, sent by Baphometh to free the Nightbreed, that is the LGBT community from the oppression of the fundamentalists, who themselves have much bigger problems, represented by Decker.

But this review is about 'Imajica'. Here too, the themes of transcending sexuality in both substance, as in not having it limited to union of a male and female, but in many other varieties, and in structure, as in the sexual manuscript with outlandish sexual postures, in one the lovers consuming each others bodies, are greatly elaborated and presented in favorable light. Pie-oh-pah is a mystiv, thus Gentle is both heterosexual and bisexual at the same time. Taylor and Clem are very important, very positive and very openly gay characters. Judith has many fantasies of making love with other women. The other creatures that populate the Imajica, they all have their own ways of having sex, and elaborate customs and reasons around them, and Barker intentionally presents all this variety in its wonder and beauty, so to point out to the ordinary reader that the male-female union is not the only one, not even the only valid one, and far from being the best one. I think that the book cannot be understood without understanding the homosexual and transsexual apology interwoven with the main theme.

'Imajica' is also a stage for Barker to show his distaste for the 'One God - and a patriarchal one at that' paradigm. He describes the goddesses and the matriarchal rites and religion in much more positive light than Hapexamendios (only God knows how he came up with that name), who is irrational, infantile, cruel and selfish. Even the fact that Barker named Imajica's supreme deity is a kind of rebellion against the dogma of the real name of God being unutterable in most major religions. Some parts of the novel read as a straight defense and praise of Wicca, goddess-based religions and feminism, to a point that it gets boring. The supreme love of Gentle, a male, toward Pie-oh-pah, a hermaphrodite, putting it above any love he felt for a woman, which is emphasized over and over again, is also in line of Barker's defense of love as a thing in itself (not in Kantian sense though), independent of artificial limits the society has imposed upon it.

There are several faults with the novel. First, it starts way too slow. Nothing really happens for the first 250 pages. Second, didacticism, in a sense of Barker's convictions about sex, love, relationships, God, spirituality, etc., is very present, taking large chunks of the chapters, and can be annoying and superfluous at times. These two flaws I see as major ones, and with some trimming of the said content, the book could lose about 300-400 pages, and be much more readable than in its present state. Another flaw, as I see it, and which appears in many other Barker's books is his treatment of Magic, whether he calls it 'fates', 'ruptures', or something else. All magic in Barker's novels seems to come from the body od the operator, breath, spit, blood, sperm, feces, etc. This is a very modernistic view of magical operations, similar to postulates of 'Chaos Magick' and other modern currents, however he does not give a sufficient context neither in the traditional, medieval pantheon, or in the modernistic currents. Magic seems for Barker to be an afterthought, and ornament, something to 'make pretty' his primary discourses of sex, sexuality, relationships and emotions, primarily in gay homosexual contexts.

This is definitely the greatest book Barker has ever penned. It has its flaws, and is definitely not an easy-reading. There are multiple layers of meanings and most things become obvious only when looked through an LBGT prism. Barker is still described as a 'Horror Writer' but that is only accurate of the very beginning of his career. He has long ago abandoned hardcore horror and has instead craeted fantastic imaginary universes worthy of Lord Dunsany.

"Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared Diamond

Mr.Diamond is a biologist by training and avid bird researcher. It is not surprising that the viewpoint he presents in this book rejects all theories that the moral, religious or social factors were decisive in establishing white man's hegemony over the world, and firmly establishes that geography and ecology were the crucial elements in civilization's rise to power, and if the black Africans were located in Europe or Asia, they would have developed just as advanced civilization and would rule the world. This might be a little of a stumbling stone to many white people who, even subconsciously, feel a little tickle of satisfaction when thinking about the superiority of the white race, but it is cold hard scientific fact, the whites just got lucky to be at the right place at the right time.

The basic tenet of Mr.Diamond's theory is that the advance of civilization was determined by the availability of domesticable crops and large mammals. The Eurasian continent had the largest number of crops that could be domesticated and the largest number of large mammals that could be domesticated. The Americas, Africa and Australia had way less suitable crops, and the large mammal species were extinct very early on, before the humans living there could figure out the advantages and procedures of domestication. This early domestication of crops and mammals allowed for abandonment of the nomadic hunter/gatherer life style. People started to group together, organize villages and cities. The population density increased, since farming could support much more people per squared mile than the very random success hunting/gathering. With large population, densely populated settlements, the precursors for complex social organizations were in place. The complex social organization allowed for specialization of the people in the settlement. Some could become only warriors, other would become scribes and learned man, there would be a chieftain and a set hierarchy. This alone provided for the spare time and resources to develop sciences, literature and advanced technologies. It is that simple. There is no racial, moral or religious reason. Everything is up to what crops are around, how good they are in providing nutrition and domestication and how many large mammals that could be domesticated were around. Bad news for racists of any kind.

Mr.Diamond further explains that most human diseases originated from animal diseases that jump onto humans at a certain point of their evolution. Humans who domesticated large animals early had been exposed to more animal diseases earlier, and after the plagues and epidemics passed, the remaining humans were left with natural resistance to the deadly diseases. Since 13 of the only 14 domestic mammals that were ever domesticated came from Eurasia, the people living in Europe and Asia were the ones most exposed to the deadly diseases and developed immunity to them early on. This proved to be crucial later on when the Europeans colonized the Americas and Australia, as the natives there had absolutely no immunity to the diseases that the Europeans were carrying and their populations were decimated.

The characteristics of Eurasia also had huge impact on developing advanced civilizations as it is narrow in height and wide in width, which allows for larger areas that share the same longitude and thus have similar climate and conditions. The civilization started in the Fertile Crescent, today's Tiger and Euphrates rivers, Lebanon, Israel and Sinai peninsula. When the soil was exhausted there, the population had plentiful of similar space to settle and spread, since the Fertile Crescent was in the middle of Eurasia, and from there spread to Europe to the west and to Persia, India and China to the east.

None of the domestic animals now so popular in Europe and North America are native to the lands. They have all come from the Fertile Crescent, just like most of the crops that Europeans have used for centuries like wheat and rye. The situation of the world today, the haves and the have-nots has primarily been decided by the geography of the originating peoples, but the hand nature dealt them, by pure chance, and not by any kind of imagined racial, genetic or religious differences.

"Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment" by Tal Ben-Shahar

This book was recommended to my by my therapist whom I value, so I had very big expectations about it. The expectations were mostly correct! It will not automatically make you happier, but will give you insights into many mechanisms and patterns that most people are blindly repeating all of their lives. The author has drawn on Freud and Frankl for the theories of the primary motivation of man, stating that both 'pleasure' i.e. immediate gratification, and 'meaning' i.e. future gratification are necessary for a meaningful life. As an admirer of both greatest psychologists of our time, I think the author does a very good job in combining their teachings into one congruent whole.

As the author teaches the 'Positive Psychology' course at Harvard, the book is largely a primer of positive psychology, which is something that makes it even better and adds to its value. Unlike the regular psychology which deals with people with problems, anxieties, phobias, etc. positive psychology studies the virtues, happy, elevated mental states of people.

The author uses the hamburger principle to differentiate 4 different types of people: rat racers (sacrifices present happiness for future gratification - vegetarian hamburger), hedonists (sacrifices future happiness for present gratification - fatty hamburger), nihilist (stuck in the past, no present or future gratification expected - whatever hamburger) and happy people , the happy hamburger which gives both present and future gratification. It is a very catchy and memorable classification. Add to this the lasagna principle (author's favorite food) which says that although something might be the most favorite (lasagna) and important thing in the world to us, we still cannot do/think/be that the whole time, but we need a break and variety.

I found the metaphor of happiness as the 'ultimate currency' very insightful and true. We get stuck into pursuing material wealth and prestige and forget why we are doing all that - to be happy. If we start seeing happiness as the ultimate goal and not money or power or social standing then our priorities change and we become true to our core self. Also the author points out the difference between positive happiness, something that happened that made us genuinely happy, and negative happiness, when we are happy because some hardship is over, like in the case of the rat-racers achieving a hard-won goal or position.

The authors insight that self-discipline is extremely hard to do, and in order to change ourselves we need to introduce habits by ritualizing the things we want to adopt is eye-opening! If we start doing something because we know it is good for us, we cannot keep on doing it for long, like new years resolution as we fall back into our old habits, and there is nobody to blame for it, as it is human nature. No amount of will power and self discipline will help that. However if we introduce a new habit, by patiently ritualize a behavior, very specifically done at very specific time then the habit starts to change us from within. The author also attacks the myth of 'no pain - no gain' as completely untrue, hardship is not necessary for success and happiness, because we are most productive just bellow the level of hardship, and the statement that people work best under pressure is a myth.

The author also explains the concept of 'flow' when we are fully immersed in something that is interesting and gratifying that we lose concept of time. Being in 'flow' is the most gratifying state of mind for a human being. Whatever we do when in 'flow' is gratifying on both pleasure level for immediate gratification and meaning level for future gratification. He also emphasizes that having goals is a pre-requisite for experiencing 'flow' and those goals need to be 'self-concordant' to stem from our inner core and be meaningful to us. Flow is experienced much more at work than during leisure time, and the author speaks against the stigma of work which is mostly seen as a kind of punishment. The author differentiates amongst three types of employment: 1. a job, meaningless, only there for the money, can't wait for the weekend 2. a career, promotion and advance are primary motivators, not much pleasure in the job itself and 3. a calling, the work itself is a reward enough and pleasure, even without any additional rewards.

This book is one of the best self-help books I've ever read, and I've read many, many. It is short, to the point, replete with practical exercises and sound advice, and best of all, it is not an airy teaching of some eastern guru or new age quack, but solid science, psychology based on scientific research and peer-reviewed literature.

"Gandhi An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments With Truth" by Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma) Gandhi

I must preface this by saying that Gandhi is one of the three men that I respect more than anything in the world. The other two are Jung and Einstein. I believe these three men have given more to humanity than any living soul in the last 100 years. I am trying to educate and familiarize myself with every little detail of their lives, with their background, all the writings etc. just to be in a position to better understand their ideas and worldviews.

This book is very important for gleaning the real Gandhi. It is not an autobiography in the standard sense of that word, i.e. as a chronological presentation of events and people. Gandhi skips over large periods of his life, like the struggle in South Africa, and although he does present the events chronologically, it doesn't put equal emphasis on all of them. He talks in length about his veganism, the need to be without desires (brahmacharya) and not hurting any living being (ahimsa), and goes in depth about the different religious exploration and his final conclusion that the supreme God to which everything is subordinated is The Truth. One needs to spend one's life being completely truthful to oneself and to the others.

We learn a bit about Mahatma's early life, how he was married early, about his schooling in India and the subsequent trip to get a barrister (law) degree in England "because it is cheaper, easier, and takes less time." The accounts of his first trip to South Africa and about are very powerful, as he describes the inrooted racism and discrimination within the apartheid society, which sound even more striking when told by Mahatma's calm, compassionate and forgiving voice. He truly practiced what he preached and loved his enemies and felt sorry for them even though when he was physically abused and forced out of a first class compartment because he was a 'koolie' a colored person, and when he wasn't allowed inside a stage coach with the white passengers, but had to sit next to the coachman, outside.

Although there are much better books to learn about Mahatma's life and also the wonderful film, this is a very important book, written directly by The Great Soul himself and explaining the roots of his ideas and behaviors in his own words.

"Of Love and Other Demons" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I am not sure if I can claim that I have read this book, but I have listened to the radio drama adaptation by BBC radio, and as this is the only book which Marquez has ever allowed to be adapted in such a way, my only guess is that it should be pretty truthful to the book itself.

Marquez is a master story teller, and this one is no exception, although shorter than his other novels at about 160 pages. The story starts with an excavation in a Latin American country to make way for a shopping mall build on top of an ancient monastery when bones of a young girl are discovered deep underground in one of the prison cells. Then one of the excavators recognizes the remains as that of which his grandmother told him of the beautiful and damned Maria Cierva. Cierva was a daughter of a spanish nobleman and half-indian woman, spent her childhood living with the black slaves and learned their language and ways. When she is bitten bya a rabid dog she is thought to be possesed by the devil, and a young, book-loving priest is sent to exorcise her. However the young priest falls in love with the beautiful girl and she falls in love with him, although less than half his age.

This love doesn't go undiscovered and unpunished by the Bishop and with the help of the strict monastery's chief nun. The young priest is send to a leper colony as a punishment and the bishop takes upon himself to perform the exorcism. However the priest finds secret tunnels by which he visits Cierva Maria every night and they profess their love until one day the chief nun finds the tunnel and closes it. Soon after Cierva Maria dies during the barbaric exorcism rites or from the torture in her cell, and the young priest spends the rest of his life in the leper colony.

A beautiful love story from a master story teller, and strong political activist, Gabo Garcia Marquez.

"Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor E. Frankl

I must say that I sabotaged my own experience of this book. I was so impressed by logotherapy as reading the other books of Dr.Frankl, I left this one for last, as his most famous book, in order to enjoy it more aided by the fire of expectation. The book was excellent. The part about the concentration camp was deep, moving, genuine and insightful. The detached and in the same time compassionate voice with which Dr.Frankl describes his sufferings, the sufferings of his fellow men, the sadistic behavior of the Kappos, and his psychological explanation of their reactions, his analysis of the guards, the desensitization and mechanisms of dominance and will to torture other human beings are fascinating.

There is much written about concentration camps, most of it forgotten in the 21st century, and much was written from the first person perspective, from the inmates, the lucky few who survived, but there is no other account written by one of the fathers of modern Psychology and the founder of the third school of Viennese psychotherapy, Dr.Viktor Frankl. He is able, if only for a few moments, to abstract himself from his daily torture, the numbing cold, the bone cracking forced labor, the few scraps of food, the cramped freezing quarters, the complete lack of means for personal hygiene, and to rise above it and observe the psychological mechanisms at work, some for coping, some for dying.

Dr. Frankl notices first hand that the will for life equates with the will to meaning. Whoever of the inmates had perceived their lives as having meaning, usually surviving to see a love one, or to perform a task after the war, no matter how mundane, those people would find strength to survive, to somehow extract yet another ounce of energy from their starved, beaten, bruised, wounded, skeleton-like bodies and go on. On the other hand the people who gave up were the people who could not see any meaning at all, nothing to live for, nothing to continue the torture for. These people could be recognized, Dr.Frankl says, because they were smoking their cigarettes, which in the camp were used only as currency for obtaining food or clothing, and only the Kappos and guards would smoke them.

It is from these experiences that Dr.Frankl solidifies his theory of logotherapy which he started to develop already before the war and it is here that he coins the main maxim of logotherapy that life has a meaning under ANY circumstances.

I was a bit dissapointed by the second part, since I was expecting a more in-depth explanation of logotherapy, but by the very nature of the essay it is short, concise and does not go into many issues and concepts in the necessary depth. It is a very good introduction to logotherapy, but having already read several full-length books on the subject by Dr.Frankl I did not extract too much value from it.

It is often mentioned that this book was ranked as one of the 10 most influential books of the XX century by the reader's survey of the Library of Congress. I was never able to obtain the survey and the ranking, so I don't know which are the other 9 books, but this book is definitely a required reading for every human being on this planet.

"Make Yourself Unforgettable: The Dale Carnegie Class-Act System" by The Dale Carnegie Organization

Well, since I read the other two cornerstone Dale Carnegie books, I saw this one as also available in audio format and I thought I will read this one as well, as I have the habit to read everything I can get from an author I like. However this 'book' is not even written by Dale, but by his business legacy the DLO, and is basically a re-hash of his books. Not much new to be learned if you've already read the other books, but if you are lazy it summarizes the most practical and workable points on 6 CDs.

It is well organized and easily internalized for the first time reader of Dale's books. I've also heard that the DLO has a training course, aimed mostly at sales people, that follows this pattern. This CD set was first issued in 2006, so it includes all the new realities like the dot.com bust, the post 911 world, etc.

"How to Win Friends & Influence People" by Dale Carnegie

So I read this 'bible' of self-help books, and I guess I was expecting too much but I wasn't too impressed. At least in the other book about conquering worry Dale talks about some novel concepts (to me) about surrendering your worries to higher powers, having long term perspective, etc. This book seems to me to be about stating common sense and obvious things and some things which are common knowledge, mixed with some sales techniques, which some people might find dubious, as they can be used even if the person using them is insincere.


I didn't like the numbering and groupings of concepts like "three techniques in handling people", "nine ways to change people" etc. I like the format, of stating a technique or principle, and then telling stories about how people have used them, though sometimes it takes an effort to relate them. It is obvious that many years of research and experience went into the book, and the groupings of principles probably came from Dale organizing his notes about different people's ways of doing a certain thing. I find it hard to believe that any of the people mentioned in the book uses ALL of the principles and techniques explained, a subset of them in the best case probably.


Many of the techniques could be derided as subtle (or not so subtle) forms of manipulation, like how to get people to think your idea is actually theirs, how to make them do what you want to without arousing resentment, how to take (or pretend to take?) genuine interest in their private lives and use that to put them at ease for whatever goal you have. Of course, these principles can be used by a well intentioned person, but also the way is free for them to be used by an unscrupulous manipulator. Honestly, to me many of the techniques looked like a bunch of hypocrisy, pretending and outright lying. Dale says it is not pretending if you genuinely mean it, but then again who genuinly likes and takes deep interest in ALL the people they meet?

I like the ideas of trying to see the situation from the other's person point of view and how everyone is always 100% sure they are right, and how one should avoid direct arguments, or contradicting people, even if they are blatantly wrong, but should always leave a door open for them to 'save face'. Also the idea that people mostly like to talk about the most important thing in the world to them - themselves, is useful, and one should be a good listener and let them talk.

I listened to this book in audio format and I wish the summaries of each section were separate files which one can re-listen to every once in a while, without needing to go through the whole book with all the stories and examples. All in all an interesting book, and gives you a good foundation, but I am of the opinion that there are many better books today for personal growth and people skills. However, this one was the first.

"How to Stop Worrying and Start Living" by Dale Carnegie

This is a classic read by a classic author. Although probably not as good as 'How to win friends and influence people' it is still a very useful book. The style of writing is a bit antiquated and it seems that 85% of the book are stories of different people, but the gist is there, and it is useful. The book is wonderfully organized, with chapter summaries and bullet points, which can be read in one breath when one wants to refresh his knowledge of the material.

I like Dales common sense advice, which might be obvious when read in a book, but it is very hard to remember when you are actually engrossed in worry. I also like very much his approach to religion and prayer, which he as a former atheist, doesn't see as a primarily religious duty and ritual, but more of a psychologically beneficial process where one can relinquish control over problems, in which case help often comes from the most unexpected places. Much of the moder worry habit comes from perfectionism and insistence on having control of all the circumstances in ones life, and constant pondering and worrying until one finds a solution, when the best way sometimes is to relinquish control, let go of the problem and admit that there is nothing one can do about it, and then, usually in a most amazing way, something comes along that helps the problem, solves it or makes it irrelevant. Whether this relinquishing of control should be done through belief in God and prayer, or through some other methods, is completely irrelevant, but the prayer has proven its positive psychological benefits for many centuries now.

The writing down of the worries might be an obvious thing to do today, and many psychologists recommend it as a way to organize the thoughts and separate the real concerns from the 'worry noise' in the head, but in the 1930s when Dale wrote this book must have been absolutely revolutionary. Recommendation for one hour nap in the afternoon of each day is probably one of the best ways to extend longevity, and has been long practiced on the Iberian peninsula under the name of Siesta. Not only the body and mind need rest mid-day, but by the very act of relaxing enough to fall asleep we reduce stress and induce a meditative state for stress relief and regeneration.

This is a wonderful book full of 'common sense' advice that is not common at all. The chapter summaries and bullet points should be re-read constantly and used to live by.

"Why Do I Love These People?" by Po Bronson

Since I read his other book I thought I should give it another chance and read this one as well. It was more entertaining than the first, although most reviewers said the first one looks like pulitzer material compared to this one. I was mostly attracted by the story of the woman who has near death experience which changed her life and made her a better person. This story is an outlier compared to the other stories of the book, and although I was not offended by his preaching that everyone should procreate, nor I thought that he has no credentials to preach parenting after only a few years of having a child, but I really did not get the significance of most stories in the book. Don't get me wrong they are nice stories, and nicely written, very sweet and cozy and leave you with a good feeling, but I really did not get anything life changing out of it.

If anything I was immensely grateful that Po did not do the reading on the audio book like on his previous book 'What should I do with my life' because his voice doesn't have the quality for the audio book narration, and sounds squeaky, paltry and distracting.

"What Should I Do with My Life?" by Po Bronson

I read this book an a recommendation of a friend who's opinion I value, however I was disappointed with its contents. The title is completely inappropriate for the book as it is more of a career change advice and examples than anything about the meaning of life itself. Many reviewers at amazon pointed out that the book is mostly concerned with over-privileged, over-educated, reasonably wealthy elite of the Bay Area and West Coast in general. I tend to somewhat agree with this opinion, although I don't want to downgrade their troubles, efforts and pains.

The book tells short bios of 55 people who have made more or less unconventional career change choices. I liked the story about the Harvard graduate turned catfish farmer. Most of the stories are fairly forgettable. I did not get much out of this book, both from advice and insight points of view. Many reviewers at amazon are right about saying that most of the people reviewed in the book never had any real troubles in life and did not have to take any big risks or make really hard choices.

The book is an entertaining read. The only distracting thing are Bronson's ramblings and musings about life, meaning, etc. where he overdoes it in driving some very obvious and common sense points home. One has to wonder about the quality of his spiritual and social life if such simple points impress him so much. Also I found the ever-present parallels he makes with his own life, and how things apply to him, distracting and plain annoying.

Other than that, a good, entertaining and forgettable book.

"Ocean of Theosophy" by William Quan Judge

This book is usually presented as the best introduction to the overall teachings and principles of Theosophy. As such it has it's value, as it spares the reader hundreds of hours in reading the Theosophical bibles like 'The Secret Doctrine' and 'Isis Unveiled'. Judge, who was the president of the Theosophical Society after the death of Blavatsky, is known to write more clearly than HPB, but shares her contempt for science, and the assumed superiority, bordering on snobbery, which can be annoying to the reader.

The book explains Blavatsky's ideas in more clear language, and the chapters were originally articles Judge wrote as answers to questions from theosophists. As most theosophical work, it draws mainly on Hindu scriptures and tradition, with lots of 'original' work by Blavatsky. It is openly resentful to institutionalized religion, mostly Christianity and Judaisms, while Islam is not even mentioned except as not worthy of discussion. The phantasmagoric tales of the 'Ascended Adepts' and races and continents preceding ours, which are offered purely on fate, or for 'examination' by people who can see the Astral Light, are intermixed by constant warnings and cautions about doing anything practical, as the powers you (seemingly automatically) get by any kind of practical work will immediately corrupt one's soul and mind, turning one into a power-hungry, super villain reminiscent of the ones in Marvel comics.

Judge tries to joke about the limited reach of science and how it doesn't have explanation for many phenomena, for which Theosophists have perfectly good explanations coming from the 'highest' source, i.e. Ascended Adepts, through their earthly mediators like Blavatsky and other high ranking Theosophists. He explain gravity as a form of electricity, and thus making levitation possible by 'changing the polarity' of an object or a person. Although it might have been common in the late 1800 to speculate about the electrical nature of gravity, such thoughts have been disproved soon afterwards, and it makes such statements laughable today. Judge tries to poke fun at science in many similar cases, basking in his imagined superiority of Theosophical thought, but the joke is ultimately on him, and on Theosophy, which hasn't updated its views of the world and science significantly in the last 120 years, while science has leaped forward in advances and understanding to the point where the Theosophical allegations and explanations seem like a relic from the past.

While Theosophy has had significant positive social impact, especially under the guidance of Annie Besant, and includes such cosmopolitan ideas like universal brotherhood of all men, the teachings and theories on which it is based, and especially the methods by which Blavatsky and other high ranking Theosophists claim to have obtained such knowledge, casts very strong doubt on its credibility, even questioning the basis for its existence.

"Ultimate Book of Mind Maps" by Tony Bulzan

This is a very interesting book. My only gripe with it is how did the author manage to spend 256 pages explaining a very simple idea? Apparently he has written 82 books on pretty much the same idea, which is astounding. I guess it only goes as a monument to the consumer mentality of the world today.

The ideas in this book are neither new, nor overly original. Although Mr. Bulzan claims copyright over the idea and method, mind maps in their earliest incarnations have been used by Porphyry of Tyros, who lived in 3rd century AD. Mind maps are very similar to cognitive maps or semantic networks, but with less rules and limitations.

Mind mapping is basically a visualization technique for organization of ideas, note taking or decision making. It basically starts from a central problem statement, usually represented as an image, and works radially from it attaching branches with ideas that stem from the previous points. Images and color are used extensively as this makes the map more attractive and interesting to the brain, and research has showed that retention is best when the mind is interested in what is being presented.

The book promotes the old fashioned, and now discredited idea, that people only use one half of the brain, business and engineering and general logical reasoning people using the left brain, while artists, musicians and general creative people using the right brain. The book builds on this by claiming that mind maps force you to use both sides of your brain, the words and concepts coming from the left, and colors and images coming from the right side of the brain. Modern research has shown that we used both sides of the brain simultaneously and in conjunction for accomplishing various tasks, and the increased retention of information using mind maps can be attributed to making the cognitive process more interesting and exciting.

The book is filled with success stories and examples, some of them pretty loosely connected to the main topic of mind mapping, like the full chapter on physical exercise. One gets a feeling that the author did a mind map about the content of the book, and he kind of went wild with the number of branches he considered good ideas. Mind mapping is an interesting idea which might have good use in note taking, and knowledge organization, and thus could be very useful in appropriate situations, but is definitely not a panacea.