Review: Virtuous Women: Three Classic Korean Novels

Virtuous Women: Three Classic Korean Novels by Richard Rutt

My review of A Nine Cloud Dream here: 

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4896347956

Queen Inhyon was a good story, although to be honest she seemed much too overly obstinate, even considering the time, place and circumstances. 

Ch'un-Hyang was a good, entertaining story, although the trickery at the end seemed excessive. 

Still, it's sort of annoying that the women in these stories seem to have no agency, and all decisions need to be made by the man. The only moral for the women is that if they are obedient and chaste, good things will happen to them. 

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Review: Wine Simple: A Totally Approachable Guide from a World-Class Sommelier

Wine Simple: A Totally Approachable Guide from a World-Class Sommelier by Aldo Sohm
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My main issue with this book is that I wanted to buy half the bottles he mentions. All in all this was extremely interesting and broad, covering pretty much all the main types of wine any of us will encounter. 

I'm guessing I'll be referring back to this book often, when discovering new wines and/or traveling to the regions they're from. 

Some of my (random) notes:

Alto Adige has Italy’s best white wines and Trentino has great reds (he mentions Schiava)

A town called tramin in alto adige has the best Gewurztraminers in the world

Traditionally Chianti was Sangiovese blended with Canaiolo nero and a small amount of Trebbiano (white). In the 80s they started blending it with Cab and Merlot. Then in the 90s they started using oak barrels to make them more marketable worldwide. So now it's difficult to find the original variety anymore.

Old world wines are going to have problems due to climate change, since their accreditation (appelation, denominazione, etc.) depends on strict rules, and the European governments won't be able to keep up with the changes in climate, etc. 

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Review: Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World

Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World by Jack Weatherford
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time and time again, while reading this book, I read the title of the chapter, thought "Well, this is going to be a stretch", but then was pretty much convinced by the end of the chapter. 

Some of the points ended up being a stretch (The Pilgrims didn't go from Leiden to the New World purely for profit, but also because of changes in the Netherlands, the "younger generations" becoming too Dutch, being more rural and not as used to city life, etc. But sure, profit was one of the points). I also found the connection to the industrial revolution, etc. a bit indirect. 

Some others I knew in theory, but hadn't wrapped my mind around how pervasive the native american influence actually was, such as with food. From Russian/Irish potatoes, to Italian tomatoes and zucchini, to cashews, peanuts, corn worldwide, etc. etc., these (and a lot more) all came from the Americas. 

By the way, he asserts that the Sichuan peppercorn originated with peppers in the Americas, but that sounds very odd to me. 

And some others actually surprised me. I was sure the chapter on Native American influence on liberty, democracy, and the American constitution would be a complete stretch, but the chapters made a lot of sense. The Iroquois had a league, based on majority votes and caucuses (a Native American word), which Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, among others, quoted directly when writing about the American government structure. Everyone mentions Greek democracy, but odd that it didn't influence the world for 2,000 years until people went to the Americas. In fact, even the fact that the Iroquois league could vote new member states in was the only prior example of something similar for admitting new states into the union (rather than colonizing them and absorbing them that way). 

Extra plus, I found out this is a signed copy! I had no clue (I ordered it used from Abebooks)!

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Review: The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you

The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you by Rob Fitzpatrick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is basically a book about getting feedback about your business, whether from your customers or the public at large. 

I used these points to create three different questionnaires for three different audiences (current customers, non-clients, and people whom I've contacted/pitched to but haven't made use of my services). We'll see how it goes. For now, however, most of the advice seems sound. 

I like the idea of trying not to mention what your business (or end goal of the survey) is, at least as long as you can. This way the respondent won't be biased in any form and will just concentrate on their point of view. 

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Review: The Fourth Turning: What the Cycles of History Tell Us about America's Next Rendezvous with Destiny

The Fourth Turning: What the Cycles of History Tell Us about America's Next Rendezvous with Destiny by William Strauss
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Following my trend of reading old books trying to predict the future, this was a pretty good one. 

The first thing that struck me was how wrong the authors seemed to be simply about the 1990s (when they were writing). They saw it as an "unraveling" and a wasted, lost decade in pretty much every sense. Now, decades later, we look back on the 90s with nostalgia, as a time of innocence, growing markets, and optimism. This makes them sound like your average old person bemoaning the times. 

Of course, they go more into detail, with some VERY wrong predictions. At first I was wondering if 9/11 just delayed the entire process, or possibly fast forwarded it (they predicted something big would happen around 2005), but neither scenario really fit. 

Some of the more amusing predictions:

"Early next century young generations will be overwhelmed by age denying old people.  To support their lifestyles in old age boomers will have to impose confiscatory taxes on younger people. This will be enormous deadweight, if it happens. It won't."

It then goes on to basically say Boomers will be very hippy-types and "wisdom keepers" and "healing our beleaguered planet". Well, so much for that. Pretty much all that first part happened exactly as they said it wouldn't. 

"Under (Boomers') leadership, Hollywood will establish standards of taste, while making definitive works of great literature and biography." Uh, ok. Now I'm guessing the authors are boomers and this is all wishful thinking. 

But something interesting:

"From here on, the Boomers will face the unfamiliar challenge of self-restraint. Having grown up feeling GIs (the previous generation) could always step in and fix everything if trouble arose, Boomers have thus far pursued their crusades with a careless intensity. In the 4th turning, GIs will no longer be around as a backstop". 

There may be some truth to this. Once Boomers became the oldest generation in the US, we saw political parties suddenly chasing their own crusades with no self-restraint, and as far as I know we're not stepping on the brakes in terms of social security spending, environment, benefits for the young, etc. To hell with the other generations. 

Also, it does make one realize that different responses work differently in different times. For example, if Lincoln were running now, would he win any elections? Even if he did, would he be remembered the same way he is now? This isn't because the old times were better and the young are dumb, or anything like that. But times do change, and they may well go in cycles. Just not the cycles the authors had in mind. 

I'm curious as to what the authors currently believe and how they've revised their thinking, but I haven't found any updates to this book (or any new books of theirs). 

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Review: The Catholic Church in Korea: Its Origins, 1566-1784

The Catholic Church in Korea: Its Origins, 1566-1784 by Juan Ruiz de Medina
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A rather fascinating look into the origins of the Korean Catholic Church. Of course, pretty much zero percent of the book actually deals with Korea. It discusses how the first Korean converts were Koreans in exile in Japan (several thousand of them apparently), and how they brought the religion back to Korea. And then, several monks in China were trying to go to Korea to convert people, but apparently never made it. From then on, any information re: actual Catholic converts in Korea is pure conjecture. It seems like they existed, and even now several Catholic families date themselves back to the early 1600's apparently. But still, unfortunately we don't really have any concete information about the start of the Catholic church within Korea. 

Also, the fact that the author doesn't seem to speak/read Chinese or Korean seems like a weakness. I can't help wondering if he's missing anything. 

Having said all that, I did find the book to be a very interesting look, and I was rather amazed at how much documentation we have about these monks and priests around East Asia in the 1500s and 1600s. 

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Review: Billion Dollar Loser: The Epic Rise and Spectacular Fall of Adam Neumann and WeWork

Billion Dollar Loser: The Epic Rise and Spectacular Fall of Adam Neumann and WeWork by Reeves Wiedeman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this a year or so ago, but, after watching WeCrashed, I wanted to read it again. I was annoyed at how Omega the series made Miguel out to be, so I wanted to get a refresher and see how the book felt after the series. 

I have to say, obviously the series changed many points, but it got the overall feel of most people pretty much right (Miguel excepted, and I assume Elishia Kennedy was supposed to be Julie Rice, and there too many points were changed). So sort of like Boardwalk empire in that sense. 

Still, after having read it again, I'm more amazed at how everyone talks about how Adam duped so many people into following him, but hardly anyone seems to care that he took so much money out of the company, and leased office space to the company, and even bought the copyright to WeWork and sold it to the company for 5.9 million. How is any of this legal, let alone how did he remain in the company after this?? 

Original review:

**********

After having read about Uber and Airbnb (The Upstarts), it was fascinating to read this book. There were many instances of deja vu, but all in all this was much more intense and crazy. 

The author did an excellent job in documenting all the facts and people, places and companies involved, at times even going through daily schedules of events from years ago. He obviously did his homework. 

On the other hand, you get the impression that he set out with a certain goal in mind (to show how ridiculous the whole situation was), and at times it makes him seem a bit biased. I will also admit, however, that there was a certain amount of schadenfreude on my part when reading as well. Adam (and Rebekah) just seem to be like those ultra-privileged celebrities who have lost all touch and deserve some sort of comeuppance. Although to be fair, if Masayoshi Son hadn't invested that much in the company it probably would have never gotten so bad (as the author mentions toward the end). 

Regardless, an excellent foray into what happened at wework. I heard there is a Hulu documentary out now, but I feel like it cannot go as much into depth as this book did.

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Review: The Clairvoyant Countess

The Clairvoyant Countess by Dorothy Gilman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A pretty fun book if you're looking for a break from intense or complicated/serious books. More than an overarching mystery, this has a series of small adventures, sort of like different sitcom episodes. 

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Review: The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future

The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future by Kevin Kelly
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Why am I reading all these outdated books recently? 

Anyway, this book is (just?) 6 years old, but is already starting to show its age. 

For example, on page 104: "Propaganda is less effective in a world of screens, because while misinformation travels as fast as electrons, corrections do too." As we've seen, with recent elections in the US and Europe, but more importantly with the Rohingya, with Russia, and with China, this simply isn't true. 

Still, what I find most interesting is Kelly's long-term perspective, since he's been here longer than most in the tech world. So I think he's at his most interesting when he looks back, and makes comparisons or notes the progress since then. 

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Review: The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal

The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal by Jared Diamond
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm really not sure why I owned this nor why I read it in its entirety. For some reason I thought this book came out after Collapse. 

I guess it was rather interesting to see what we knew back in the early 90s, and what our goals were (pretty much the same as now I guess). 

Still, his topics are dealt with more in-depth in Guns, Germs and Steel and in Collapse. And (especially after having read Who we are and How we got here, by David Reich) I noticed how many of his points were out of date (also, did he really say we evolved from Apes?)

Probably 2.5 stars at this point, since it's a 30-year-old book. 

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Review: Taiwan Literature English Translation Series - Special Issues on New Generation Fiction Writers of Taiwan

Taiwan Literature English Translation Series - Special Issues on New Generation Fiction Writers of Taiwan by Kuo-ching Tu
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A decent collection of stories, although I can't say it was my favorite.

I thought the best ones were:
Tiger God, by Wu Ming-yi
Mystery Train, by Kan Yao-ming (I couldn't find his name in Chinese characters. I'd love to read more by this author)
Low Season, by Wang Tsung-wei

Hiding, by Hsu Jung-che was a bit disturbing, as was Hua-Jia, by Yang Fu-min. And I didn't really get "My Late Grandpa", by Tong Wei-ger.

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Review: Top Hoodlum: Frank Costello, Prime Minister of the Mafia

Top Hoodlum: Frank Costello, Prime Minister of the Mafia by Anthony M. DeStefano
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I appreciate the old-time mobsters who prioritized laying low, going legit, and trying to blend into society. So obviously Frank Costello was pretty high on the list (as is Carlo Gambino, so I'm itching for a good biography of him). 

The book itself was actually better than I imagined it would be. The research conducted by the author was extensive, even though there were still some seemingly elementary mistakes (including calling Vito Genovese a Sicilian, when his being Neopolitan was what kept him from being part of the commission initially). 

However, as with any of these old-timers, there is unfortunately not that much about his youth, and the kids he ran with, how he initially met Luciano, Lansky, Adonis, etc. 

Still, probably the best book about him. And a great book for those who see him as quite underrated (he hardly ever appears in movies or in any cultural references, as opposed to Capone or Luciano, etc.)

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