I have never read this American classic until now, and it was an experience to be had. Not as gripping as Murakami's works, nor as page-turning as Dan Brown's literary offspring, it is nevertheless an interesting and beautiful account. The book depicts the Joad family as the move out of Sallisaw, OK to California along route 66. Tom Joad, the eldest son, just released from prison for homicide is one of the most important characters in the book, though Mother Joad is a striking character on her own.
The book depicts the Dust Bowl disaster of the 1930s, together with the Great Depression forced thousands of people from the south-east to move to California, mostly on promises of great climate and great jobs. The promises vanish when families arrive in California. Even though the family is cheated and hated during the entire trip to California, it is only when they arrive and pass the state police road block - that they realize the extent of hatred that exists in California towards the newcomers. The local gas station attendants call the newcomers 'non-human' and 'animals' and 'different species' because of the lowly poor conditions under which they are forced to travel, eat and live, since their money was taken by the banks back east and everybody on the road tried to get as much money out of them as they could, regardless of the life and death consequences.
Once in California, they realize that the evil local landowners cheated them into coming in huge numbers so they can manipulate the pay rate and pay next to nothing for hard labor, even down to 2.5 cents for a basket of peaches - impossible to even buy food on such wages. Tom Joad gets involved with some local strikers, who are derogatorily called 'reds' by the sheriff deputies and the landowners. Tom gets injured when trying to defend a preacher who gets killed because is helping organize a strike.
At the end of the book Rose Sharon, the eldest daughter of the Joads, who had still birth, after her husband left her, gives her breast milk to a man dying of hunger in an abandoned barn amidst hellish downpours that lasted for weeks - in that wonderful land of California.
Friday, July 4, 2014
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
"The Law of Success" by Napoleon Hill
This is one of the largest self-help books out there (or does it just feel that way because it is so boring?). Hill was a vagabond child, then started and failed at many businesses (great learning experience though) until finally he decided to become a motivational speaker and a sort of a prophet of success (he never says that directly, but from all the hyperbolas, it is easily inferred).
This book was started with an interview with Andrew Carnegie, the Steel Baron of USA, that the Gen.X and Y-ers today barely know about, if at all, except by the names of a bunch of libraries and concert halls. He gave Hill access to his exclusive group of top American businessmen, including Henry Ford, in order to figure out what it is that made them so successful, despite many of them starting from dire poverty and modest beginnings. Although The Hill Foundation makes an argument over and over again that the principles expoused are solid and timeless, many of the actual examples feel out of date and irrelevant in 2014, which is why about 50% of the audio book is a modern commentary explaining things in context.
The commentary is so voluminous (by necessity, as things aren't clear), that this 550 page book becomes over 1,000 pages when commentary is included. The 17 principles (15 in the beginning, but then Hill added the metaphysical "MasterMind" as No.1 which is nothing more than re-stating of the occult "Egregore" and the "Cosmic Habit Forming" as No. 17 which is mostly mambo-jumbo) could be probably summarized in one paragraph each, with not too much of loss of clarity or usefulness, but that would not sell a voluminous correspondence course where each lesson was sold separately and embellished with numerous words of praise by seemingly important people, of whom almost no one is in the sphere of general knowledge today.
The silly things like espousing telepathy and similar superstitions, instead of looking at 'cold reading' and the actual psychology of unconscious cues, detract even more from the perception of the book as a serious, scientific one. It gives an impression more of a self-confirming bias (as Hill constantly claims that he tested everything he says many, many times) than a scientific study. The long exposures on "Ether" as the medium of transference, which was proven wrong even before Hill was born (if he bothered to read scientific books), detracts even more from the reading experience. Hill rightfully points out the great role of the subconscious in people's lives, but he is too lazy and too full of himself and his 'self-made' philosophy of success to bother with reading on the real science of the subconscious which was exposed by actual scientists like C.G. Jung, who was his contemporary and whose books were widely available.
Summa summarum, reading this book is mainly an exercise in patience and persistence, while the actual principles can be gathered just from their titles and short explanations floating around the web.... The rest is just pink noise.
This book was started with an interview with Andrew Carnegie, the Steel Baron of USA, that the Gen.X and Y-ers today barely know about, if at all, except by the names of a bunch of libraries and concert halls. He gave Hill access to his exclusive group of top American businessmen, including Henry Ford, in order to figure out what it is that made them so successful, despite many of them starting from dire poverty and modest beginnings. Although The Hill Foundation makes an argument over and over again that the principles expoused are solid and timeless, many of the actual examples feel out of date and irrelevant in 2014, which is why about 50% of the audio book is a modern commentary explaining things in context.
The commentary is so voluminous (by necessity, as things aren't clear), that this 550 page book becomes over 1,000 pages when commentary is included. The 17 principles (15 in the beginning, but then Hill added the metaphysical "MasterMind" as No.1 which is nothing more than re-stating of the occult "Egregore" and the "Cosmic Habit Forming" as No. 17 which is mostly mambo-jumbo) could be probably summarized in one paragraph each, with not too much of loss of clarity or usefulness, but that would not sell a voluminous correspondence course where each lesson was sold separately and embellished with numerous words of praise by seemingly important people, of whom almost no one is in the sphere of general knowledge today.
The silly things like espousing telepathy and similar superstitions, instead of looking at 'cold reading' and the actual psychology of unconscious cues, detract even more from the perception of the book as a serious, scientific one. It gives an impression more of a self-confirming bias (as Hill constantly claims that he tested everything he says many, many times) than a scientific study. The long exposures on "Ether" as the medium of transference, which was proven wrong even before Hill was born (if he bothered to read scientific books), detracts even more from the reading experience. Hill rightfully points out the great role of the subconscious in people's lives, but he is too lazy and too full of himself and his 'self-made' philosophy of success to bother with reading on the real science of the subconscious which was exposed by actual scientists like C.G. Jung, who was his contemporary and whose books were widely available.
Summa summarum, reading this book is mainly an exercise in patience and persistence, while the actual principles can be gathered just from their titles and short explanations floating around the web.... The rest is just pink noise.
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
"Iron John" by Robert Bly
Robert Bly is primarily a poet, if that sentence makes any sense, as who's a professional poet anymore? Thus, his work to resurrect ancient fairy tales about male initiation and man's role in life. Because of Bly's poetic inclination the movement he jumpstarted in the early 90s has been called Men's Mythopoetic movement. It was similar to the Men Groups that were formed around that time as a reaction to extreme feminism which seemed to wand a society without men, or only with castrate, feminine men, much to their own detrement born out of ignorance and hate.
Bly used the Grimm Brothers collected tale about EisenHans or better known in English as Iron John, to get insight into the proper way of initiating men into society and adulthood while at the same time giving meaning to their lives and determining their place in society. Bly points out that each element in the story is not accidental or random, but it is clearly meant to convey meaning and instruction, something like a mathematical formula where each element is indispensable for the correctness of the whole.
Fairy tales have been used for centuries to glean wisdom from the past, as our ancestors, largely illiterate, but no less intelligent, preserved the main principles of organizing the life of men and women in stories. Freud and Jung both have looked into fairy tales, with differing conclusions. Bly's move adds poetry and mysticism to the Men's movement, which grows and falters in turns, but which is a clear sign of the realization that feminine men will not do for fulfilling the society's male roles.
Bly used the Grimm Brothers collected tale about EisenHans or better known in English as Iron John, to get insight into the proper way of initiating men into society and adulthood while at the same time giving meaning to their lives and determining their place in society. Bly points out that each element in the story is not accidental or random, but it is clearly meant to convey meaning and instruction, something like a mathematical formula where each element is indispensable for the correctness of the whole.
Fairy tales have been used for centuries to glean wisdom from the past, as our ancestors, largely illiterate, but no less intelligent, preserved the main principles of organizing the life of men and women in stories. Freud and Jung both have looked into fairy tales, with differing conclusions. Bly's move adds poetry and mysticism to the Men's movement, which grows and falters in turns, but which is a clear sign of the realization that feminine men will not do for fulfilling the society's male roles.
"How to stop worrying and start living" by Dale Carnegie
Another reading of the classic Dale C. hustling and bustling his way through human emotions. The book is full of "grandaddy" advice with some pretty trivial things given as cures, like religion. Maybe in the 1930s religion was still considered something to show off and be proud off, but in 2014 that is not the case. Religion has been delegated to the category of mass hallucination or consensus deception, for some higher, societal reasons.
The book reads, more or less, like a 12 step program. "Surrender your worries to a higher power." Hmmm, ok, but doesn't that mean substituting your worrying (not a good thing, of course) with a more dangerous delusion that is bound to have detrimental influence on your life unless you keep it extremely narrow and bounded (virtually impossible in the case of religion)?
Lenin used to say "Religion is Opium for the masses." In this case Dale recommends one takes religion, not because one believes in some kind of deity, or for the inherent goodness of many religious principles, but simply as a 'magic pill' that will take your worries away. I guess the same could be said about Opium, or other drugs. And who is to say which is more harmful, having in mind how many lives have been ruined by fundamentalist religion.
The other advices is OK, but probably the same things you heard from your grandfather, and you never paid any attention to anyway. One maxim that stuck in my mind was "live in day-tight compartments." Never allow the worries of tomorrow to spoil today, as tomorrow those worries might still be there to worry about, or they might disappear, or something may happen to make them irrelevant (like you getting hit by a bus).
All in all, worry is a good motivator, but mostly a waste of time.
The book reads, more or less, like a 12 step program. "Surrender your worries to a higher power." Hmmm, ok, but doesn't that mean substituting your worrying (not a good thing, of course) with a more dangerous delusion that is bound to have detrimental influence on your life unless you keep it extremely narrow and bounded (virtually impossible in the case of religion)?
Lenin used to say "Religion is Opium for the masses." In this case Dale recommends one takes religion, not because one believes in some kind of deity, or for the inherent goodness of many religious principles, but simply as a 'magic pill' that will take your worries away. I guess the same could be said about Opium, or other drugs. And who is to say which is more harmful, having in mind how many lives have been ruined by fundamentalist religion.
The other advices is OK, but probably the same things you heard from your grandfather, and you never paid any attention to anyway. One maxim that stuck in my mind was "live in day-tight compartments." Never allow the worries of tomorrow to spoil today, as tomorrow those worries might still be there to worry about, or they might disappear, or something may happen to make them irrelevant (like you getting hit by a bus).
All in all, worry is a good motivator, but mostly a waste of time.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
"Neuromancer" by William Gibson
Neural. Romancer. Necromancer. Neuromancer, Gibson's genre-creating book still holds lots of undiscovered corners for me, and I go back to it's familiar pastures, once in a while. This time the excuse was the .epub version I got for the iPad Air, and the beautiful rendering of fonts and typography in iOS 7.
I found sentences, and even paragraphs, that I completely missed before. New plots opened up, that I completely overlooked before, especially in my audio book version listening. This is the fourth time I am reading "Neuromancer" and only now I completely understand Rio's world, and when he says "when you live here, you live."
Wintermute. Steppin' Razor. Chiba Night City. Midnight in Rue Jules Verne. Maelcum Righteous Dub. Villa Straylight. Molly Millions. Black Leather and Chrome. Eastern Seaboard Fission Authority. The Screaming Fist. Console Cowboy. Tessier-Ashpool. He never saw Molly again.
I found sentences, and even paragraphs, that I completely missed before. New plots opened up, that I completely overlooked before, especially in my audio book version listening. This is the fourth time I am reading "Neuromancer" and only now I completely understand Rio's world, and when he says "when you live here, you live."
Wintermute. Steppin' Razor. Chiba Night City. Midnight in Rue Jules Verne. Maelcum Righteous Dub. Villa Straylight. Molly Millions. Black Leather and Chrome. Eastern Seaboard Fission Authority. The Screaming Fist. Console Cowboy. Tessier-Ashpool. He never saw Molly again.
"Make Yourself Unforgettable: The Dale Carnegie Class-Act" by Dale Carnegie Institute
This book is re-hashing of Dale Carnegie's famous three books, while updating the examples and metaphors for the XXI century, including internet references and all that jazz. If you've read the previous Dale Carnegie's books, this one would seem like a hacked up concoction quickly put together with some annoying jingles in order to extract whatever money is left to be had in the name of Dale Carnegie.
If you are a young reader, or never before heard about Dale Carnegie, this book can serve as a good overall introduction to the material covered in greater detail (but less accessible) in the actual Dale Carnegie books. The book is divided in 12 lessons, each concentrating on a certain topic of what constitutes a "Class Act."
The book begins by explaining that in the modern workplace, it is not enough anymore just to be smart, well-educated and hard-working. Many people today have those qualities. However, very few people are "Class Acts," that is, have the soft skills to be socially successful and popular in their circles, which, in turn, is the basis for life success and overall happiness and fulfillment, according to the Dale Carnegie "System."
If you are a young reader, or never before heard about Dale Carnegie, this book can serve as a good overall introduction to the material covered in greater detail (but less accessible) in the actual Dale Carnegie books. The book is divided in 12 lessons, each concentrating on a certain topic of what constitutes a "Class Act."
The book begins by explaining that in the modern workplace, it is not enough anymore just to be smart, well-educated and hard-working. Many people today have those qualities. However, very few people are "Class Acts," that is, have the soft skills to be socially successful and popular in their circles, which, in turn, is the basis for life success and overall happiness and fulfillment, according to the Dale Carnegie "System."
Monday, March 24, 2014
"How to win friends and influence people" by Dale Carnegie
The mother of all self-help books, published in 1934 for the first time (though the updated 1981 edition is the most widely read today). Dale Carnegie was a hustler, let's be realistic. He was a sly man who knew how to turn things to his own advantage, often without the other person noticing, but not always. He would have made a great used car salesman, just like his more modern follower Jack Rosenberg/Werner Erhardt with est and the Landmark Forum.
The book contains very common sense truths. Smile. Don't be rude. Don't be extreme. Control your impulses. All these things were taught to us by our parents and grandparents when we were children, but most children don't bother to listen. This is my 3rd or 4th time reading this audio book (never read the paper version) and each time I marvel at how simple the truths are and yet how effective. Why would something need to be complicated to be effective?
There are criticisms for the book, of course. It is too simplistic. We already knew all that (but why not use it then?). The anecdotes are about (mostly) irrelevant today industrialists and businessmen from the early XX century. There's too much "brownnosing," Dale trying to show his importance by association, dropping names, describing who he met and how he "handled" them, which comes across as bragging (even humblebragging).
None of the criticisms prevented me from re-reading it once in a while. It is a very loose writing, so it is great for reading (listening) on the train and subway. Even if you miss a sentence in the ruckus, Dale repeats himself so much, you're still fine with the comprehension. Try that with William Gibson's novels - doesn't work.
As one reviewer put it, the whole book can be summarized in one sentence: "Be a good listener, don't take the acute angle on issues, don't disagree violently, talk about things that make other people happy and use every trick in the book to make the other person feel important."
The book contains very common sense truths. Smile. Don't be rude. Don't be extreme. Control your impulses. All these things were taught to us by our parents and grandparents when we were children, but most children don't bother to listen. This is my 3rd or 4th time reading this audio book (never read the paper version) and each time I marvel at how simple the truths are and yet how effective. Why would something need to be complicated to be effective?
There are criticisms for the book, of course. It is too simplistic. We already knew all that (but why not use it then?). The anecdotes are about (mostly) irrelevant today industrialists and businessmen from the early XX century. There's too much "brownnosing," Dale trying to show his importance by association, dropping names, describing who he met and how he "handled" them, which comes across as bragging (even humblebragging).
None of the criticisms prevented me from re-reading it once in a while. It is a very loose writing, so it is great for reading (listening) on the train and subway. Even if you miss a sentence in the ruckus, Dale repeats himself so much, you're still fine with the comprehension. Try that with William Gibson's novels - doesn't work.
As one reviewer put it, the whole book can be summarized in one sentence: "Be a good listener, don't take the acute angle on issues, don't disagree violently, talk about things that make other people happy and use every trick in the book to make the other person feel important."
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