This Time is Different

This Time is Different

By Carmen M Reinhart &

Kenneth S Rogoff

Princeton University Press (2009)

  

I picked up this book because of its subtitle “Eight Centuries of Financial Folly” thinking it will shed light on why the world is currently embroiled in one financial disaster after another.  On this I was disappointed.

The book contains data for 66 countries across the five continents covering eight centuries and this makes for some very dizzy reading.  I’m no economist; so, much of the data didn’t have meaning for me.

Various types of crises are defined and covered in the book – inflation, currency crashes and debasement, banking crises and debt defaults.  To me the unifying thread though all these crises is debt.  An interesting case is that of independent Newfoundland which had to form a federation with Canada due to default – even democracy is subordinate to debt.

While it seems near impossible to predict a crisis, rising real estate prices seem to precede many a financial crisis.

This is not an easy read, but if you are into data – go for it.

The Emperor of all Maladies

The Emperor of all Maladies

By Siddhartha Mukherjee

Forth Estate (2011)

When I was a kid, cancer was not so common and only talked about in hushed tones as anyone diagnosed with it was considered as having been handed a death sentence.  Today, so many of my friends and family have been diagnosed with cancer in one or another of its forms.  Some of them are still around after having undergone treatment, including chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

I’ve been curious about this ‘sudden popularity’ of cancer, Is it something to do with what we eat and drink? Is it our lifestyle? Am I going to be the next one?

This book, ‘A Biography of Cancer’, traces the history of cancer from Imhotep’s Egypt (2500 BC) to the present.  So cancer is not a scourge of modern living but a very old disease.  It’s just that people used to die of various other illnesses that have been eradicated today, long before they could contract cancer.  By the way, cancer does not seem to be a contractible disease like most other diseases.  It’s more of like our own cells have forgotten how to stop multiplying and to ‘die’ naturally.  (Maybe the stories of people who, for themselves to remain immortal, had to take the lives of others are actually based on cancer.)

The book also traces the people who have dedicated their lives to finding a cure for cancer.  Often times it has just been trial and error.  The old maxim that every medicine is a potential poison has been turned around to there is potential medicine in every poison, thus the use of cytotoxic drugs in chemotherapy.

One of the main stumbling blocks to finding that cure is determining the cause of cancer, what triggers the cells to misbehave.  It is known that that there is a correlation between smoking and lung cancer, yet why is it that not all smokers contract lung cancer.

The book is well written (did I mention, the author is an oncologist) and is a worthwhile read although whether you will be any closer to understanding cancer is debateable – I am no wiser about cancer even after reading the book.

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

By William L Shirer

Simon & Schuster Paperbacks (1990)

One of the longest books that I have read – the text is 1147 pages.  It is a very informative and reliable history of the rise and fall of Hitler and the Nazi party in Germany.  It is readable too – I completed it.

To me, the book portrays Hitler as a very shrewd politician who was able to make full use of the gullibility of human nature to his absolute advantage.  His downfall was when he began to believe his own lies and think himself as invincible.

While reading the book, I could not help linking the methods of the Nazi party with the methods of today’s politicians, and I would urge everyone to read this book to, at the very least, be aware of what is happening around us.

After all that is said of Hitler and his methods, one thing to be remembered about him is – he had not used his power to amass a vast private fortune, as did many around him.

GUINEA PIG B - The 56 year experiment

Guinea Pig B

R Buckminster Fuller

Critical Path Publishing (2008)

This is the first book by Bucky that I have managed to finish.  Before I congratulate myself, this book was first published as the introduction to “Inventions - the Patented Works of R Buckminster Fuller” (1983).  So what I have done is merely finished reading the introduction to one of Bucky’s books.

As the title and subtitle ‘The 56 year experiment’, of the book suggests it is about Bucky’s experiment “to discover what, if anything, an unknown, moneyless individual, with a dependent wife and newborn child, might be able to do effectively on behalf of all humanity that could not be accomplished by great nations, great religions or private enterprise, no matter how rich or powerfully armed.”

In the more than half a century this experiment was being documented until then, Bucky had to expand his knowledge a great deal and unlearn a great deal more.

As can be expected, I ended this first read wondering what I had actually read, but for now I’ll just reflect on this: “...the fact that we are designed to be born naked, helpless and ignorant is, I feel, a very important matter.  ...we are quite clearly designed to be inexorably driven to learn only by trial and error.  ...that being the only way ...‘how’ we can take advantage of what we have learned from our mistakes.” (from Page 22)

And I just love the way Bucky ends it with, “I hope this book will prove to be an encouraging example of what the little, average human being can do if you have the absolute faith in the eternal cosmic intelligence we call God.”

If you are interested in reading Bucky, this would be a good book to start with.  I have not seen the book at the stores and had to order it from Borders at Berjaya Times Square.  It cost RM50.40 including shipping charges and I had to wait about 6 weeks for it, but it was well worth the wait, and it is money well spent.

P.S.  The book contains a listing of all of Bucky’s patents and honorary doctorate citations.

MINDSET - The New Psychology of Success

Mindset – The New Psychology of Success

By Carol S Dweck, Ph.D.

Ballantine Books (2007)

This is definitely one of the better ‘motivational’ books that I have read.  The cover states that the book is about how we can learn to fulfill our potential in such areas as parenting, business, school and relationships.

In this book, Dr. Dweck explains that our beliefs about ourselves are just as important, if not more so, than our abilities and talents.  These beliefs are what constitute our mindset, and this can be classified into ‘fixed’ and ‘growth’ mindsets.

There are lots of examples throughout the book of both types of mindsets - like how praising our children’s abilities and talents doesn’t necessarily foster self-esteem, but may actually jeopardize their success - and how to achieve success with the right mindset.

The book teaches us how to recognize our own mindset and if necessary how to change it to ensure our success.   We can also learn to recognize the mindset of others and how to deal with them.

This is one book that I would recommend to anyone that has to deal with themselves as well as other people, i.e. everybody.

The Leadership of Muhammad

The Leadership of Muhammad

by John Adair

(Kogan Page Limited - 2010)

  

What better to read during Ramadan then something about the life of the Prophet (PUBH).  While I didn’t expect this book to be about a biography of Muhammad (PUBH), I was hoping to acquire some knowledge about his leadership style.  In this, I was a tad disappointed.

I’m not very familiar with John Adair, but his biography inside the book makes him out to be a leadership guru and with over 50 books to his name.

Having served in the Arab Legion, he has acquainted himself with Bedouin culture and he uses this knowledge to piece together desert life in this book.   To me this book is more about how these Bedouin beliefs have influenced the leadership style of the Prophet which would, at best, be considered ‘Tribal’.

Anyway it still is an interesting read.

Welcome...

Recently I started to catalog my collection of books.  I realize that I have not even attempted reading many of them and many others I've already forgotten what they are about.  I thought therefore, that this would be a good place to record my take on the books that I read and maybe, just maybe, it would be of help to anyone who is thinking of reading the same.