Review: Emerson among the Eccentrics: A Group Portrait

Emerson among the Eccentrics: A Group Portrait by Carlos Baker
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

This is a dnf for me, at least for now. I read the book "The Private Lives of the Impressionists" and found it fascinating, despite knowing very little of the impressionists ahead of time. It was enthralling to read how these famous characters were students together and all knew each other before becoming famous. So I thought that reading about Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau, Alcott, etc. and how their lives were intertwined, would be just as fascinating, if not more so. And it probably is, but my impression is that you need to know a bit more about these authors before embarking on this book. It goes into minute detail in terms of many aspects of their lives, but completely glosses over other parts (Emerson's first wife, etc.), which would have helped me in terms of knowing generalities of their lives. 

If and when I'm more inspired to read up on these writers and do my own independent research along with the book, then I may tackle it again, since I'm sure it is an excellent book. 

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Review: Life of a Counterfeiter

Life of a Counterfeiter by Yasushi Inoue
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Each of us holds one or two cards that have been in our hands for years, who knows why, while the cards that should be paired with them have disappeared."

I read one other book by this author (The Samurai Banner of Furin Kazan), but it was very different in style, while these three short stories all have a very similar feel. I really enjoyed this short collection a lot. A book about reminiscences and a study in characters. 

Below my notes:

1. An interesting story. A man is supposed to be researching the life of a famous painter in order to write his biography, but he starts hearing about a man who forged his paintings, and starts to learn more and more about this man who probably doesn't deserve that much insight into his history, and likely would never have gotten it, had it not been for the narrator himself. 

2. Probably my favorite story, all about distant childhood memories.

3. Another story about a family's past (the same narrator's family?). These three stories all have that similar feel, and this story seems to feature the same 'grandmother' (geisha-concubine of the narrator's great-grandfather) as the second story. Regardless, this deals with memories of the grandmother that coincidentally pop up when visiting Nagasaki. 

I look forward to reading more by this author. 

4.5 stars

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Review: Hoover: An Extraordinary Life in Extraordinary Times

Hoover: An Extraordinary Life in Extraordinary Times by Kenneth Whyte
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

One of the more interesting presidential biographies. Hoover reminded me a lot of John Quincy Adams. He was extremely prepared for the presidency in many ways, including a huge amount of international experience, from Shanghai to Burma to England. He and his wife spoke Chinese, and he was in Belgium during WWI and headed up relief efforts to get American aid through the German blockade to the Belgian population. 

However, like with Adams, his presidency was lackluster at best. He was hit with the great depression, which pretty much put a halt to all his plans. 

But after the presidency he went back to work, eventually working closely with Truman, Eisenhower and even Kennedy into his 80s. 

Some of my notes:

Smoot Hawley seems to have been the beginning of his downfall.

It will be very interesting to see how the FDR biography I will read treats the Hoover administration, the great depression and the New Deal. This book seems to infer that the depression was well into reversal by the time FDR entered office, and in fact, he actively kept out of a smooth transition since a continued fall under Hoover's watch would only benefit him later on. In other words, FDR is seen as an opportunist with few scruples, while Hoover's administration is "one of the cleanest" on record, with Hoover refusing to mention FDR's invalid state seeing it as a personal attack (my impression is it would have backfired regardless). 

Regardless, it is true that Hoover was probably the only cabinet member who preached moderation throughout the 20s and was probably one of the earliest to say there would be a reversal in the booming economy. So it is somewhat ironic that it happened during his presidency, and it is unlikely he could have done much more to combat it. In fact an FDR administration "insider", Rexford Tugwell, apparently said "The New Deal owed much to what (Hoover) had begun". Although the author goes on to say how FDR actually went much further than Hoover ever did with these policies. 

Another statement made by this book is that FDR's nationalization (and retreat from the gold standard) sent a message to other countries that they "had nothing to gain or fear from America". So Japan dropped out of the League of Nations and assaulted China, while Hitler assumed absolute power in Berlin. I'm very curious to see what an FDR biography says about that. 

Hoover was also dead against including the Soviet Union in the Lend-Lease act. 

This biography gives the impression that his reputation was vindicated by his death, but I confess all I knew about him before was that the great depression happened under his watch, Hoovervilles and the Hoover dam were named after him, and FDR followed him with a 4-term act. 

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Review: No B.S. Wealth Attraction for Entrepreneurs: The Ultimate, No Holds Barred, Kick Butt, Take No Prisoners Guide to Really Getting Rich

No B.S. Wealth Attraction for Entrepreneurs: The Ultimate, No Holds Barred, Kick Butt, Take No Prisoners Guide to Really Getting Rich by Dan S. Kennedy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Things I hate about the book:

Geez could it look any scammier? I was literally embarrassed to carry this around and even to add it to my list here on Goodreads. I mean, did his direct marketing experience tell him this type of title/cover/look would be best? Regardless, I hate it. 

Things I don't hate about the book: 

Most, if not all, of the advice seems very sound and useful. Some of my notes:

If you understand how you're earning money (from a certain method or tactic), then teach it to others for a fee. 

Don't follow your passion. Find out what drives market demand, and find something you can do within that market that you're passionate about. 

You don't have to be motivated to get your work done. Just do it. 

His Behavioral Congruency point is the "Leading vs. Lagging indicators" point made by Cal Newport in Deep Work.

Other things I hate about the book (Albeit not as much as its overall look):

- He's always upselling his website and his products. It gets to be a bit much. Get me interested, then I'll be the one trying to look you up. 

- A lot of Donald Trump name dropping.

The final section of testimonials (so many of them from people in real estate!) is sort of a waste. One of them mentioned "the power of system", which was not mentioned in this book but that the author apparently covers in his sessions. It sounds like this is more or less the same as the one mentioned in E-myth revisited and Built to Sell, in which case it would have been nice to include that.

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Review: The Factory

The Factory by Hiroko Oyamada
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked it. Sort of. The formatting was very weird and threw me for a loop more than once. 

Otherwise it felt like a bad dream. Three people stuck in jobs at a factory that don't seem to make any sense. Either doing completely menial work, completely senseless work, or being pushed to take as long as possible to complete a job for no reason. The timeline was also odd and jarring at points. I liked all of that. 

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Review: Y: The Last Man, Vol. 1: Unmanned

Y: The Last Man, Vol. 1: Unmanned by Brian K. Vaughan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read graphic novels about once per year, and this was a good one to read. I like the premise, that all men are suddenly gone, and how the world spirals into chaos. Many commenters think that's sexist. It might be, but I think losing 50% of the world's population all at once would be chaotic no matter what, not to mention the fact that there is no more procreation so the human race will end (especially with the gangs blowing up sperm banks). If all women died at the same time we'd have the same issues. 

Anyway, having said all that, it still seemed a tad dystopic, given how often violence and gangs just seem to be misplaced machismo, so getting rid of all the men would probably be good in that respect. 

I might pick up the next volume at some point soon. We'll see. 

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Review: Flappers and Philosophers

Flappers and Philosophers by F. Scott Fitzgerald
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This collection probably works best for Fitzgerald aficionados who wish to delve a bit deeper into his psyche and his beliefs (or meanderings). 

Some of these stories were cute, some less so. My favorite was probably "Bernice Bobs her hair" purely thanks to the ending.

The Four Fists seemed almost as if written by a high schooler. Not due to the writing itself, but due to the story. Maybe Fitzgerald just doesn't understand business and assumes all businessmen are just evil or something. It remains very vague how a rancher who is getting paid handsomely for his property is the victim and supposedly has no recourse. 

Head and Shoulders was an interesting idea, but more in a cute, somewhat amusing way than anything deeper. 

I confess the casual racism throughout (especially the first few stories) really bothered me, so this might have influenced my overall opinion. His sporadic use of the N-word and his very obvious stereotypes rankled.

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Review: Non sperate di liberarvi dei libri

Non sperate di liberarvi dei libri by Umberto Eco
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An excellent collection of essays regarding books (and movies) by Umberto Eco and Jean-Claude Carriere. The Italian version seems to have been translated from French. Another reviewer said this is "perfect between-book fodder", and I agree wholeheartedly. 

I enjoyed the section that repeated the argument from Foucault's Pendulum re: all humans being either cretins, fools, morons or lunatics. Although his example for the fool wasn't Murat, but Chateaubriand, saying of Napoleon: "He won all his battles, but aside from this there was nothing that made him a good general". 

Some of my notes:

We always think the new technology is here to stay while the old (books) will die out. But you can simply pick up a book from 1498 and read what it says, depending on the font and the spelling mistakes. But if you have a cassette from 30 years ago, a VHS from 20 years ago, or even a DVD from 10 years ago, you probably can't play it without acquiring the right machinery. 

Reading certain books might not always be worth it, since then you have to have an opinion (and defend it). Someone who reads Shakespeare now will have a very different experience as compared to someone who read it right when it was published. 

Just as Cervantes likely influenced Kafka, so Kafka influences Cervantes, in that people today read one knowing of the other. 

Collecting books is basically "masturbatory" (sic). No one else will share your exact preferences. People might come to admire your art collection. Much less so your collection of books. This is why most collections are then donated once the owner dies. 

We book collectors don't have to worry about thieves. We are protected by their ignorance. 

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Review: Il cinese

Il cinese by Andrea Cotti
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The interesting part of this was reading about the Chinese communities and triads in Italy. I'm not sure how closely it actually resembles real life, but it seemed pretty convincing to me. 

There were some issues with the story itself. I thought it was over the top in some instances, and gratuitous with its violence, etc., and other points just seemed odd. For example one of the bad guys is killed while in jail, which means that, at best, they have police officers being paid off. And yet, they continue to hold other suspects in jail with seemingly no worries, and we never discover exactly who the corrupt police officer was. 

Also, I don't buy a woman losing her only child and still keeping her mouth shut due to fear. 

And, not be pedantic, but it mentions several times while they are chatting in Wenzhouhua, that they switch to informal tense. As far as I know, no Chinese dialect has a formal tense. 

3.5 stars. Mainly because it educated me on the Chinese communities in Italy. 

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Review: The Art of Learning: A Journey in the Pursuit of Excellence

The Art of Learning: A Journey in the Pursuit of Excellence by Josh Waitzkin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is like a self-help book in the sense that a biography can be a business book by teaching you business lessons. He talks about his experiences and then extrapolates the lessons he learned from different incidences and accomplishments in his life. 

If you are looking for easily digestible to-do nuggets, like "don't check your email first thing" or "never go to bed angry", you won't find them here. His advice requires you to dig deep, but they seem quite worthwhile nonetheless. 

Some of my notes:

Children who are told they are smart, tend to go for results, thereby avoiding any challenge where they might fail, while children who are taught to put more effort, tend to apply more effort to greater and greater challenges (Entity theorists vs. incremental theorists)

He discusses repeating what you learn until it becomes automatic, and then adding to it, and repeating again, and adding again, etc. 

I liked his discussion about how to deal with distractions. Rather than trying to do away with them, increase them, so they don't bother you (he applies this to chess, but it probably translates to many other endeavors)

I also liked his talk about constraints being liberating. He broke his hand, and learned to compete with one hand, deflecting with one so as to attack with another, so that once it healed he almost saw it as an unfair advantage. I like this idea, that average people would see an injury as 6 weeks doing nothing, but professional athletes find ways to take advantage of it. Allow yourself not to be at peak performance, so that you can learn/try new things to improve.

Creating your own trigger: Identify a moment when, or activity wherein, you're in the zone. Find other habits/activities you enjoy. Engage in these in a set routine, then start activity where you're in the zone. Repeat several times. 

At this point, you should be able to engage in the set routine and you'll automatically be in the zone. 

While playing chess he would eat 5 almonds every 45 minutes for alertness. (or bananas/ protein bars, etc.)

Anger: 3 steps: flow with distraction, use distraction, recreate internally

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Review: Almond

Almond by Won-pyung Sohn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. It is a tad reminiscent of the "Curious incident of the dog in the night time", (seeing matters from the protagonist's point of view) but it has a very different flow. 

I know nothing about Alexithymia, so I can't comment on how realistic it all is, but as a story it was touching, and happier than I expected (although there are plenty of unhappy parts within). 

I really liked the afterword by the author. As a new father I could really relate to his feelings there. 

4.5 stars because I think the author will be able to achieve more in future novels. 

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Review: Born To Win: The Ultimate Seminar

Born To Win: The Ultimate Seminar by Zig Ziglar
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

I'm on Chapter 6 (over 5 hours in) and he still hasn't stated anything practical. A very smooth talker who said we shouldn't read horoscopes because they're the work of the devil, and we've had 7 songs so far, by the Zig Ziglar singers (seriously, with titles like "The magic of believing"). A lot of talk like "You're gonna get a lot out of this course, but this course will also get a lot out of you", and "sitting on an acorn is a mighty slow way to get on top of an acorn tree". 

Right at the beginning he stated that we need to help others and we'll start reaping rewards. A tad simplistic, but good advice nonetheless. Since then, however, there hasn't been anything I can follow up on. I can get over the references to how great God and country are if he gives me something to work with. 

To be fair, he is probably the best speaker I have ever heard. 

But seriously, I'm over 5 hours in. Is he going to start dispensing any actionable advice? I know there is a worksheet, so something concrete should be coming up at some point. 

If it weren't for his reputation and the glowing reviews on Goodreads, I would be giving up on this. 

**Update**

I think I'm done. He just told an 'anecdote' about a lady who was being beaten by her husband regularly, and one day told him that next time he beat her she would take photos of the bruises and mail them to the newspapers and all his friends, and that he was "cured of his sickness just like that". And then another story about another man who beat his wife, so her friends beat him up and so he stopped his beating. Really not sure what the point is (I think he is trying to be poignant about wife-beating not being a 'disease' for some reason), but regardless, I think I'm done.

No star review because I didn't finish it. 

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Review: Dinner with Buffett 버핏과의 저녁 식사

Dinner with Buffett 버핏과의 저녁 식사 by Min-gyu Park
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After Pavane for a Dead Princess I can't really say I enjoyed this as much. I feel like it wanted to be much more shocking than it really was, and the story wasn't nearly as nice as PFADP. 2.5 stars.

http://4201mass.blogspot.com/ 

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Upon second reading, I think I might raise my score a bit, say to 3 stars. It is an interesting topic, although by no means original (novels against capitalism have existed since before capitalism existed). What is more original is the way the author goes about it; both the capitalist (Buffett) and the non-capitalist (Ahn) are likable characters and they get along.        

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Review: Untold Night and Day

Untold Night and Day by Bae Suah
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the 4th book I've read by Bae Suah, and I'm still not sure what to make of her. This was probably most reminiscent of Time in Gray for me, but rather than mixing up time throughout the novel, it mixed up a bit of everything. 

After a while I stopped seeing it as a novel, and more like a dream, as in "Well, let's read a bit more of this dream", and that might be a better approach. After a while everything was familiar, yet a bit different, and seemed to fit together in an altered way. 

I can't say it is my favorite by this author, but I didn't dislike it. 

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Review: Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are

Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I found this a great primer on big data. By and large it had somewhat of a "freakonomics" feel, and the author admits that that was his initial inspiration. But what got me excited was how big data could be applied to pretty much any field from now on. The section toward the end, discussing how Karl Popper's quote re: psychology not being falsifiable now finally seems to be incorrect. 

I think the implications are enormous. Take any field, like anthropology in Japan, as a random example. Based on all records collected and collated ever since written records were kept, entire family trees and histories and movements can be tracked and analyzed. Combine this with historical records on weather, harvests, wars, etc., and we can get much much clearer pictures of not only that a migration occurred due to this or that, but which neighbors moved, which didn't, what happened to their direct descendents, and how that affected whoever is alive today. 

Now imagine what else could be accomplished in pretty much any other field. 

Another interesting point that was pretty much just glossed over was that you shouldn't draw general conclusions from A/B tests. For example, if you have a blue button and a red button, and the red one gets more clicks, this doesn't mean people necessarily have a preference for red. It just means the red button works best on this one particular occasion. 

Regardless, an interesting book. I do wish it had concentrated more on this potential than on the quirky Freakonomics-style subjects, but there you go. 

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Review: Q

Q by Luther Blissett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow. This had been on my wishlist for a long time, so when I saw it for sale at 2nd and Charles for a cheap price, I figured it was a sign. Of course, that means reading through all 750 pages, but I have to say, it kept me interested throughout. 

This book delves deep into the post 95 theses years (the Reformation) in and around Germany and Italy. And I mean very deep. In fact, it made me feel like I should have known more about characters such as Thomas Muntzer, Jan Matthys, Melchior Hoffman, Reginald Pole and many others. 

I am also glad I have more of a sense of what a unique time that was. I basically knew Martin Luther posted his 95 theses, and there was a peasants' revolt in Germany. But there was so much more to it. 

It definitely had echoes of Umberto Eco, but with more action. 

4.5 stars

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Review: Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia

Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia by Christina Thompson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a gem of a book. A topic that really needs to be discussed thoroughly, which this book seems to do. A book about a fascinating people, who had spread out more than any others until the British Empire.

The Tupaia section is absolutely fascinating. How is he not more famous?
His map was considered off because it doesn't depict a bird's eye view of NSEW coordinates, but rather it is based on winds (the point toward which the North wind blows) and currents. Also, a bird's eye view is not how they viewed travel (nor how anyone usually does when not using maps).
I remember reading Mau Piailug's obituary in the Economist, which I found intriguing, so I really appreciated being able to read more about the background of what he had been able to achieve here. And now I want to find his obituary again, since I remember it was a really nice one.
In fact, here it is: https://www.economist.com/obituary/20...

I do wish there had been more talk about the origins. It seems like the "out of Taiwan" theory is more or less accepted, but the author concentrated on what happened subsequently. Having lived in Taiwan for a while, I remember hearing a great deal of what similarities they still shared with many of their brethren in other islands, but this wasn't really touched upon.
I also wish she had talked more about Madagascar. I remember thinking it was crazy that it had also been populated by Polynesian people, but it had: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malagas.... This seems just as impressive as New Zealand, if not more so, but it was just mentioned in passing. 

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