What I Read This Month – August 2022

In Altre Parole – Jhumpa Lahiri (non-fiction, ebook)

Lahiri is a successful, Pulitzer-winning American author of Indian (Bengali) origin. Then, about 10 years ago, in her 40s, she decided she would learn Italian and write in it. This book is an autobiographical work in which she traces her journey in learning Italian, and her decision to move and live in Rome for this purpose. I read it in the original Italian, but the Kindle edition is a dual Italian-English version, which is very convenient. Lahiri’s love story with Italian is infectiously lovable, and I found it very relevant to my own experience of learning the language while living in Rome (albeit at a much younger age). Bottom line: a beautifully-written book, about language, east/west, foreignness, and much more.

הספר האדום – אסף ענברי (non-fiction, ebook)

Israel was founded just as the world was settling into a new bipolar, geopolitical equilibrium during the Cold War. The country’s leaders needed to pick a side: the US or the USSR. At heart, many of the country’s founders were socialists, especially those on the left side of the political spectrum (the majority back then). In this book, Inbari traces the personal and ideological lives of three of these leaders: Tabenkin, Yaari, and Sneh. The brutal reality of Communism under Stalin shook their beliefs to the core, and each responded in a different way. Bottom line: Inbari write history that reads like a novel.

The Happiest Man on Earth – Eddie Jaku (non-fiction, audio)

I stumbled across this book after watching a TED talk given by Jaku in 2019, when he was 99 years old (he since passed away). He tells his story as a Holocaust survivor, and the title is indicative of the lessons he learned from his horrific experiences at Buchenwald and later at Auschwitz. Not once does Jaku fall into the trap of self-pity or blind hatred; but his puzzlement at the behavior of the Germans he grew up with has not left him until the end of his days. His “lessons learned” are something everyone can learn from. Bottom line: a iife-affirming book if there ever was one.

Better Off Dead – Lee & Andrew Child (fiction, paper)

I can’t count how many Jack Reacher novels I’ve read. I’m not sure even Lee Child himself knows how many he has written… In this book, written with his younger brother, Reacher is helping an FBI agent track her brother, who got mixed up with some dangerous people. Reacher needs to fake his own death in order to lure the bad people out of their lair, so he can punch them as only he knows how to, and – needless to say – emerge victorious. Bottom line: not the best Reacher novel; read like a re-hash of many previous ones.

The Selfish Gene – Richard Dawkins (non-fiction, audio)

British philosopher and biologist Dawkins needs no introduction. Many years ago I read The God Delusion, in which he sets out to disprove all proofs f of God’s existence. I finally got around to one of his earlier works, in which he provides a modern take on evolution. The name “selfish” does not imply any moral or human attitude; rather, it means that the progress of any living form is done by replicators (e.g., genes) which have only one goal: maximizing the number of genes passed on. From this derives a whole theory about altruism, genetic ties, human culture (he introduced the term “meme” in this book), and more. Bottom line: a classic work from one of the most provocative thinkers of our time.

The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine – Alexander McCall Smith (fiction, paper)

Traditionally-built Mma Ramotswe agrees to take a few days off, after having worked non-stop since founding Botswana’s first ladies’ detective agency. But she is not the kind of person to relax completely, so she surreptitiously monitors a case being investigated by her deputy, fancy shoes-loving Mma Makutsi. After some awkwardness after being found out, the two ladies solve the case. Bottom line: another most agreeable installment in this never-ending but never-boring series.

Sourcery – Terry Pratchett (fiction, ebook)

This is the fifth book in the Discworld series. Everyone knows that wizards are boys born as the eighth son of an eighth son. But what happens when the eighth son of an eighth son of an eighth son is born? Well, he wields that rare and all-powerful brand of magic reserved to sourcerers. Coin is such a sourcerer and his appearance on the scene throws the familiar world of magic and wizardry into chaos, literally leading to the creation of new worlds. Bottom line: Pratchett continues to comment on power structures through his wonderful fantasy tales.

Slauthghterhouse-Five – Kurt Vonnegut (fiction, paper)

I read this classic many years ago, and thought it was time to re-read it. Vonnegut’s ultimate anti-war novel follows the life of Billy Pilgrim, who served as a chaplain’s assistant during WWII. He is captured by the Germans and witnesses the Allied firebombing of Dresden – four raids in February 1945 that turned the city into rubble – as a prisoner of war locked up in a deserted slaughterhouse. Irony and humor move the narrative along, and pieces of Billy’s life are used as commentary against the senselessness of war. The repeating phrase “so it goes”, which Vonnegut attaches each time death is mentioned, highlights this insanity. Bottom line: I can see clearly now why this book is considered a classic.

The Sympathizer – Viet Thanh Nguyen (fiction, audio)

This Pulitzer-winning novel is narrated by a North Vietnamese mole during the Vietnam war, who continues to live among South Vietnamese in the US after the war. His life is a mix of his mission as a mole and his experiences as an immigrant, a mix that reflects his own personal duality as the son of a Vietnamese mother and a French father. He works as a cultural advisor for Hollywood movies on Vietnam, and through his lens we learn how the East is depicted in the eyes of the West. He returns to Vietnam on a guerrilla mission, is captured, and learns things about his past. Bottom line: an interesting novel that opens a window into the life of immigrants and their torn loyalties.

Tell Tale – Jeffrey Archer (fiction, audio)

Lord Jeffrey Archer is one of England’s foremost contemporary authors, famous mainly for his monumental epics that span several books and tell the story of several generations (the Kane and Abel trilogy, The Clifton Chronicles series, etc.). But he has also published several collections of short stories. This collection has 15 stories, the first a mere 100 words long. Some are good, some are mediocre, and some rather boring. Bottom line: Archer fans will delight in his wit in some of these short stories.

Congo – Michael Crichton (fiction, audio)

Crichton is a prolific author, mostly known for Jurassic Park. In this novel he follows an expedition of researchers looking for the lost city of Zinj in the Congo, in search of diamonds required for the semiconductors industry. But the expedition also tries to find out what happened to a previous expedition, whose members were viciously killed by what appears to be gorilla-like animals. Accompanying them on their journey is a mountain gorilla, Amy, who grew up in captivity and communicates using sign language. They are also in a race against time, because another team is also out searching for the diamonds. Bottom line: a masterpiece of fast-paced science-fiction, hard to put down.

Breakfast of Champions – Kurt Vonnegut (fiction, paper)

Reading one Vonnegut (see above) led to reading another one. This novel follows two main characters: Dwayne Hoover, a car dealer who is going crazy, and Kilgore Trout, an author whose works never made it beyond being printed in erotic magazines. It is a scathing criticism of American society, exploring themes such as social and economic woes, racism, free will, mental illness, and more. The novel is peppered by illustrations by the author, who wry sense of humor helps smoothe the harsh realities depicted in the story. Bottom line: not as good as Slaughterhouse-Five, but still a great book.

Sparring Partners – John Grisham (fiction, audio)

After Grisham’s rise to fame with The Firm, he went on to write many bestselling novels, most of which are legal thrillers. This is a collection of three shorter novellas. In the first, a lawyer who purportedly stole his clients’ money and ran away, leaving his family behind, makes a homecoming that doesn’t go according to plan. The second is a narrative of the last hours of a young death row inmate, whose final request is to see the moon one last time. And the third (and longest) is about a feud between two brothers, partners in a declining law firm they inherited from their father (who is in jail after killing their mother), and their exposure by the only person they both trust. None of the novellas offer any interesting insights or plots. Bottom line: when my son heard I was reading a Grisham, he said: “I didn’t know Grisham was still a thing”; he was spot on.

36 Views of Mount Fuji – Cathy Davidson (non-fiction, audio)

Davidson wrote a book about her experiences living in Japan for a few years in the 1980s, working in that quintessential job for foreigners here: an English teacher. The book is a collection of episodes that, read together, paint a picture of Japan as seen through the eyes of a visiting American. Most of it is pleasantly readable (although she tends to go on too much about some personal family issues), but she falls into the trap of many books of this genre: generalizations. “The Japanese do/don’t this”, “This is not done in Japan”, “He/she behaved as a typical Japanese”, etc. In a country of 125 million people, such generalizations are nothing more than a form of Orientalism, albeit a benign one in this case. Bottom line: an OK book if you’re not familiar with Japan.

Wyrd Sisters – Terry Pratchett (fiction, ebook)

This is the sixth novel in the Discworld series. It features three witches, a king murdered by his cousin (on advice of his wife) who becomes a ghost, and a duke going insane. By now you should recognize the Shakespearean themes. Bottom line: Pratchett continues to build his imaginary world, exhibiting masterly authorship.