“When W. H. Auden said, ‘My face looks like a wedding cake left out in the rain,’ we see something new and true about both Auden’s face and wedding cakes. That sort of good metaphoric language makes our experiences more spacious, expanding our sensibility. In this way, a metaphor is a door that appears andContinue reading “The Four-Dimensional Human”
Tag Archives: book reviews
Davos Man
As the wealth gap and economic inequality widen across the globe, populations are leaning towards far-right governments with nationalist agendas while doubling down on outdated beliefs about immigration, race, class and so on. This book takes an expansive view of these trends and places the blame squarely on the heads of the super-rich class comprisingContinue reading “Davos Man”
Into Thin Air
In 1996, Jon Krakauer, a mountaineer and journalist, was commissioned by Outside magazine to join and write about a commercial expedition to climb Mount Everest. The journey ended in disaster. Krakauer weaves a history of Mount Everest and different expeditions, famous climbers of the past and his present as well as the culture of climbingContinue reading “Into Thin Air”
The Devil’s Highway
“In the desert, we are all illegal aliens” This is the story of a group of twenty six men who set out to cross the Mexican-US border in May 2001. Twelve reached the other side. They people left their families and their villages, took loans and paid large sums to smugglers (called coyotes), to getContinue reading “The Devil’s Highway”
We Had A Little Real Estate Problem
A stand-up comedy special from ten or fifteen years ago featuring an all-indigenous lineup used to have reruns on Canadian television. The author opens with this, relating that at least three different Native comedians told him that it inspired them to take up stand-up comedy. As he notes, this is what a balanced media representationContinue reading “We Had A Little Real Estate Problem”
The Order of Time
In this small book filled with giant ideas, Carlo Rovelli gently teases apart everything we take for granted about the concept of time. That it travels in a linear direction from the past to the future, that it exists independent of us, that we are subjected to it and at its mercy. One would notContinue reading “The Order of Time”
21 Lessons for the 21st Century
“Humans were always far better at inventing tools than using them wisely.” This is essentially the theme of this collection of essays. Not just technological tools but also our social and political systems, our fictions that hold up society and so on. Harari’s strength lies in interlacing ideas from multiple disciplines as though connecting diverseContinue reading “21 Lessons for the 21st Century”
Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui
This is a simple but revelatory guide to freeing yourself from patterns, habits and the past by assessing your relationship with everything you own. It outlines how clutter affects you – from keeping you in the past to making you feel tired and overwhelmed to even manifesting as extra body weight and it explores theContinue reading “Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui”
How to Build a Car
As a new fan of Formula 1, I had never heard of Adrian Newey. Karun Chandok, one of the F1 commentators, mentioned this book on air and it seemed like an interesting way to gain a better understanding of the the sport and its cars. It turns out Newey is instrumental in designing the changingContinue reading “How to Build a Car”
Friends
In the last few years, most of us have taken stock of our relationships and have either strengthened or mourned changing dynamics. Yet, we don’t necessarily understand what creates these changes – whether it’s ultra personal to us or simply the nature of our social fabric. Friends are good for us – they make usContinue reading “Friends”
Ayesha Anna Ninan 