Category: Reviews

Books that I have read

Aleppo now and during the Armenian Genocide

Posted on By Margot

“in late August (2012) Human Rights Watch reported that targeted artillery shelling and bombing raids on ten bakeries specifically in Aleppo, “killing and maiming scores of civilians who were waiting for bread.”
edition.cnn.com/2012/09/22/world/meast/syria-civil-war/

Aleppo is no stranger to human misery and degradation as a totalitarian regime inflicts its wrath on a people. Today we watch as brutality after brutality is inflicted on the Syrian people for daring to challenge those on power. The Assad clan is supported by Iran and now it seems that it is getting backup and support from North Korea. In 1915, 97 years ago, it was the Armenian people who were the victims as they were marched from their communities into the Syrian and Palestinian desert to be left to die.

The saddest thing of all is that the lessons of this brutal genocide were learnt well by those who wish to perpetuate evil. The shortcomings and inefficiencies of the genocide were analysed by the Nazis, so that there systematic slaughter of the Jews could be more effective and consume less resources. The lesson that brutality can win has been taken to heart by those who run Iran and certainly was learnt by Saddam Hussein and now by Assad in Syria. Can we learn how to prevent such massacres and abuses of human dignity?

When I was a little girl, I was taught the Catechism at school, and we were told that each and every human being is made in the image and likeness of God. If more people truly believed that and let that inform there actions and decisions, then maybe, just maybe, the world would change. It would be very sad to think that genocides are always going to be part of human history.

Aleppo 1915

Picture from the Devolution X Blog article about Armenia

Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian

Posted on By Margot

The Armenian Genocide

After I had read The Thread by Victoria Hislop (see review), my appetite for history was whetted, especially for history connected with the fall of the Ottoman Empire. So I searched out this book, which then had only just been published. And now what can I say about the book?

The Armenian genocide, which even now the Turkish government denies happened. The story centres on a young American aid worker, Elizabeth Endicott, who has gone to Aleppo in Syria as part of an aid mission, and Armen Petrosian, an Armenian engineer who has lost his wife and daughter to the deportations. The barbarity and cruelty of the fading days of the Ottoman Empire are chilling. Some of the worst scenes are seen through the eyes of Elizabeth. I scarcely breathed as the horrific landscape unfurls before the reader. The deportees are women with a few children who are herded from town to town before being left in the “Resettlement Camps”. These camps have no facilities. No food, no shelter, no water. Just guards at the perimeter. They are a place to die, slowly. Suddenly the Turks make the Nazis with their death camps look almost humane, at least they killed their victims, and only removed their clothes just before they died. These Armenian deportees were all naked. All were starving, skeletal figures. The aid that Elizabeth and her father have brought is but a drop in the ocean. The hopelessness of their mission seeps through the pages and stains the soul. The Turks were hell bent on wiping every single Armenian from the face of the earth. The estimate of the number of people kill in the genocide varies – Bohjalian puts it at 1.5 million.

My husband asked why on earth I would want to read such a book? Because it was not all gloom. Little rays of hope. Elizabeth’s efforts could not save a race, but she did what she could to save Nevart, the wife of a doctor and one of the naked deportees that Elizabeth first meets, together with Hartoun, a little girl who has witnessed the brutal death of her family. There is the Turkish doctor, a Muslim, who works tirelessly to bring relief to all including Armenians, the market stall keeper who has watched Hartoun with fondness since she arrived in Aleppo. And also the story of Armen’s survival fighting for the allies against the Turks and the Germans.

Did I enjoy the book – I don’t know. I know that the images will haunt me forever. Often when I was reading it, I longed for the lightness of touch that Hislop bought to The Thread. Bohjalian intersperses the grimness of the mission to Aleppo with the story of Elizabeth and Armen’s grand-daughter as she slowly unravels the story of her grandparents past. This was necessary to give the reader a breather before the horror is continued.

Reading a good novel should be a life changing experience. This book certainly was. But the sad thing is that barbarism, that disdain for the sanctity of human life is still rife in what used to be the Ottoman Empire as we watch Syria descend into civil war.

I, Robot by Isaac Asimov

Posted on By Margot

The story line is simple and reflects the origin of the book, nine inter-related stories first published in Science Fiction magazines between 1940 and 1950. The stories are based on interviews with Dr Susan Calvin, the chief robopsychologist at US Robots and Mechanical Men and chronicle the development of the robots and teh positronic brain.

Asimov invented the robot that we know and love and his legacy is felt throughout the science fiction world. Data in Star Trek: the Next Generation is powered by the positronic brain.

The three laws

These are hardwired into the positronic brain and provide a framework for robotic behaviour.

  1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
  2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
  3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

There is a question that needs to be asked; do these three laws make robots inherently more moral than human beings. This question is explored in the eighth story, Evidence. Given these three laws, how can you differentiate a humanoid robot from a really good man?

Evidence is the prelude to the next question – if Robots are more moral to human beings, should they rule the world?

The benign dictatorship

Suppose super robot brains are developed, brains that are built upon the Three Laws or Robotics – so that they would never harm human beings, and these brains were capable of processing immense quantities of information , enough to run the world. The promise is that war would be eliminated, hunger eradicated and every human desire for self fulfilment could be delivered. Why not, then, allow thaese entities run the world. Heaven on earth? I, Robot ends with this scenario. The earth is divided into 4 regions, and each region has a superbrain referred to as Machines. There is no more war, no more hunger, no more religious intolerance..

The big question : Would you vote in this system? Why (or why not)?

Links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Robot

Now reading in September

Posted on By Margot

September is when we go away, this year to the New Forest. So I need something to read. After the Angel’s Game and The Shadow of the Wind, I have decided to go for something a little less thought provoking.

So this is my reading list for my holiday:

I Robot by Isaac Asimov. This was one of the offerings from Surrey County Council, so I downloaded it. It is an enjoyable read and brings back happy memories of those exam years. When I was revising for my O-levels and A-levels I read avidly, mostly Science Fiction – often several books a week.

Wolf hall by Hilary Mantel. I have listened to this as an audio book an now I shall read the book. The English Reformation is fascinating, for many of the key players, Cromwell, Wolsey, More are not from the aristocracy. More was the son of a lawyer and Cromwell and Wolsey sons of tradesmen. I will argue that England only became great when the English people shed the shackles of servitude to the monarch and took matters into their own hands. Here we see the beginning, a process that reaches its culmination when Oliver Cromwell, great nephew of Thomas Cromwell seizes power. England was never the same again, its people were at last in control.

Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian. I really enjoyed Victoria Hislop’s The Thread. This book covers the Armenian genocide (but the Turks insist that there was no genocide).

The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James

The Shadow of the Wind second post

Posted on By Margot

First published: July 2012

I have just finished reading this book. A delight to read. What kind of book is it? A love story? A historical novel? A thriller. A comedy – or a tragedy. Like all great books, this book does not easily fit into such categories for it is a multi-layered novel.

So some observations

Syria is descending into civil war. The cruelty and brutality will beggar belief. Zafón’s book is set against the recovery from such a civil war. The Spanish Civil War ended finally in April 1939 – Barcelona had fallen to Franco’s republicans in January. The aftermath of the civil war was cruel and brutal. Even 10 years later, the repercussions can still be felt.

Stalking the streets is Inspector Fumero, a psychopath who enjoys cruelty, who glories in prolonging the suffering of his victims and specialises in murder. Is Fumero’s characterisation over the top? Sadly no, for we just have to look at what is happening in so many parts of the world to realise that there are instances of Inspector Fumero in all totalitarian regimes.

The story hinges on lies and the suppression of the truth. The character of Julian Carax, the fictional author of the Shadow of the Wind, falls in love with his benefactor’s daughter, Penelope. But the untold truth is that Julian is in fact his benefactor’s illegitimate son. The love affair is ended tragically and for Penelope, barbarically. Julian is forced into exile. And now the second distortion of the truth – the fate of Penelope is kept from Julian by his closest friend. But when Julian discovers the truth, then another tragedy unfolds. Julian sees himself accursed, the devil, and scours Barcelona for copies of his work to destroy.

And another motif is bought into play – the motif of redemption.The boy Daniel is entranced by the work of Julian Carax, he wants to know about the author, there is no ulterior motive. For so long, Julian had regarded himself as a thing absolutley outside  the decency. Yet Daniel, with his enthusiasm and innocence remins Julian of what he once was.  Slowly Julian changes, and when the pregnant Bea has had to flee from the wrath of her family, it is Julian who takes her it and protects her. The story of Penelope and Julian echoes the story of Daniel and Bea. History does not repeat itself and Bea and Daniel escape the tragedy that engulfed Julian’s life. At the end of the novel we find that Julian has begun writing again.

It is not often that you come across a book that is so satisfying to read and stays with you . This is just such a book.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shadow_of_the_Wind


Updated: July 9, 2012 at 6:10 pm

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Posted on By Margot

Audio book read June 2007, first published July 2012

This is a story of a family caught up in the terrible events of the Biafran War. In the 1960’s we had pictures of terrible starvation in Biafra – the images of skeletal, pot-bellied children stay with me even today. The tragedy was that Nigeria had the potential to be a rich country, and yet the population was starving to death because of the intransigence of a few generals. One wonders if such a situation would be tolerated today.

The book was an eye-opener onto an African world, from an African perspective at a time of appalling suffering. Biafra was a nation state that reached out for independence yet starved into submission and this story follows this process through the lives of Odenigbo, a university professor, Olanna and Ugwu, Odenigbo’s house boy. Olanna is sometimes described as Odenigbo’s mistress, but today we would describe her as Odenigbo’s partner.

There is meat enough in the relationship between Odenigbo and Olanna without a civil war. This begins with a story of middle class Africans, educated in English and treading the line between traditional African and global/British middle-class culture. Olanna and her twin sister Kainene are modern African women from a wealthy family. There is the personal level in this story bringing to life the events that we witnessed through news programmes. What do you do when your partner impregnates another woman (although if Ugwu’s account is to be believed, Odenigbo is tricked into this)? How do you cope when your relatives are massacred in an inter-ethnic uprising? And what impact does it make on you when you have to live in a refugee camp?

Half of a Yellow Sun does what all great literature should do – open the doors into a different world and then reveal a shared humanity. It is worth reading

Links

http://www.halfofayellowsun.com/index.php

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2006/aug/19/fiction.shopping2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_of_a_Yellow_Sun

Audio book: http://www.audible.co.uk/pd/ref=sr_1_3?asin=B004EWB8O2&qid=1342363666&sr=1-3

The spy who came in from the cold by John le Carré, published by Victor Gollancz, September 1963

Posted on By Margot

First Published July 2012

What do you think spies are: priests, saints and martyrs? They’re a squalid procession of vain fools, traitors too, yes; pansies, sadists and drunkards, people who play cowboys and Indians to brighten their rotten lives. Do you think they sit like monks in London, balancing the rights and wrongs? (Alec Leamas in The Spy who came in from the cold)

Spying is a nasty sordid business in a world where there are no good guys – only our side and the enemy. The rules are that the ends justify the means. The individual is expendable for the sake of what is perceived to be the greater good. If you think that spying is glamorous, exciting and even noble, then prepare to be disabused by this book. This is not a romantic fiction, but a grim reality check. When the liberal throws up his or her hands in horror when the news breaks that our Secret Services have been involved in interrogating witnesses under duress or involved in “extraordinary rendition” then this book says get real, the world and the relationships between states is not genteel and good-mannered. John le Carré tackles these issues in the closing chapter of the book. Up to this point the book has been a slow burning firework and now it explodes with raw emotion. This is the point, the climax to which the book has been building and now there can only be one ending as the firework burns itself out and crashes to the ground.

The mastery of this book is the quiet measured prose describing the interaction of the characters. They are all drawn with humanity and the evil of Mundt is thrown into sharp relief against the decency of Leamas, of the East German Fiedler, even George Smiley. But none can escape the strictures imposed by the world of espionage and the demands of the political masters. In many respects the old British state, unfettered by any ideology is more than a match for the enemies behind the iron curtain. Who are the good guys – there are none.

Links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spy_Who_Came_in_from_the_Cold

The spy who came in from the cold by John le Carré, published by Victor Gollancz, September 1963, Penguin Classics (2011) – Paperback – 272 pages – ISBN 0141194529

Also available in audio book format, ePub format and for Kindles

Jesus of Nazareth by Joseph Ratzinger

Posted on By Margot

At last I have been able to get a legitimate copy of this as an eBook – at one stage I thought I was going to have to resort to downloading a pirated copy.

There are some things that I disagree with, such as the absolutism of Ratzinger’s position on the role of women and the priesthood. But in general Ifound the book thought-provoking and definitely has deepened my understanding of my faith.

For some very obscure reason, I could buy this as an audio book, which is how I first came across the book, but not as an ePub book (or even a Kindle book) – it can be sold to residents in Germany, the Netherlands or USA but not in the UK.

Originally this was my Lenten task, to listen to Jesus of Nazareth as I drove to work. I was not expecting too much – after all, this was written by the man known as God’s Rottweiler. But gradually it blew my mind and I can see why he was elected Pope. Gradually Cardinal Ratzinger unfolded the mystery of Jesus, showing how the Crucifixion is the right at the heart of the salvation story. He shows how Jesus is the total fulfilment of all the prophets before.

Jesus is the Son of God. But sons of God were not unknown at that time – the claim to deity was taken up by the Roman emperors. As the centurion at the foot of the cross declares “Truly this man was the Son of God” we have a statement of faith so deep that it cuts through the political world. To declare Jesus as Son was to deny the deity of the Roman emperor.

Jesus is shepherd – so many kings were seen as shepherds of their people – but Jesus takes this one step further.

I think the next book I need is a study guide.