Nairb Sivad's Summer Reading
I've been reading a few books this summer that some of you might enjoy. Here's a short list:
1. World On Fire, Amy Chua
I wrote about this book in my first blog entry, titled "No More Hurt Humans". It's an incredible, eye-opening book on current affairs that reveals a lot about how the United States is perceived by non-American world citizens. Yale professor Chua, an American whose family is ethnic Chinese from the Philippines, draws you in from the start with a story of her aunt's murder at the hands of her servants that serves as a base example of the main theme of the book--backlash against market-dominant minorities.
2. How the Scots Invented the Modern World, Arthur Herman
For years I've been focusing my studies on the origins of other people in the communities where I live, to gain greater understanding of their language and culture. Now I'm ready for a little me time. Half of my maternal ancestors are from Scotland. My grandmother lived in Edinburgh, and I've grown up hearing about Leith and the Firth of Forth. This book is a long overdue venture into my own roots. And it's an excellent read whether your Scottish or not as it reveals much about the origins of things we take for granted in our daily lives.
3. Language and Politics, Noam Chomsky
I'm just starting to read this book, which was first published in 1973. Chomsky is considered the father of modern linguistics and his theory of Universal Grammar--that all humans are born with a common grammar inside their brain, the language organ--is still highly debated today. This book is a compilation of interviews dating back to the Vietnam War era with updates of interviews through 2002. He uses bulletproof logic to argue against war and reveals the truth that is so skillfully blocked by rhetoric-spewing politicians and propagandists.
4. Travels in a Thin Country, Sarah Wheeler
This is a light, well-written travelogue that follows this young woman's lone trek from the desert north of Chile to its cold, harsh tip at Patagonia, including its claimed territory in Antarctica. For those who know nothing about Chile you will be amazed to learn about its history through characters she meets along the way. For those who have experienced the wonder of this thin country, tightly bound by mountains and sea, you will read this book with knowing joy.
1. World On Fire, Amy Chua
I wrote about this book in my first blog entry, titled "No More Hurt Humans". It's an incredible, eye-opening book on current affairs that reveals a lot about how the United States is perceived by non-American world citizens. Yale professor Chua, an American whose family is ethnic Chinese from the Philippines, draws you in from the start with a story of her aunt's murder at the hands of her servants that serves as a base example of the main theme of the book--backlash against market-dominant minorities.
2. How the Scots Invented the Modern World, Arthur Herman
For years I've been focusing my studies on the origins of other people in the communities where I live, to gain greater understanding of their language and culture. Now I'm ready for a little me time. Half of my maternal ancestors are from Scotland. My grandmother lived in Edinburgh, and I've grown up hearing about Leith and the Firth of Forth. This book is a long overdue venture into my own roots. And it's an excellent read whether your Scottish or not as it reveals much about the origins of things we take for granted in our daily lives.
3. Language and Politics, Noam Chomsky
I'm just starting to read this book, which was first published in 1973. Chomsky is considered the father of modern linguistics and his theory of Universal Grammar--that all humans are born with a common grammar inside their brain, the language organ--is still highly debated today. This book is a compilation of interviews dating back to the Vietnam War era with updates of interviews through 2002. He uses bulletproof logic to argue against war and reveals the truth that is so skillfully blocked by rhetoric-spewing politicians and propagandists.
4. Travels in a Thin Country, Sarah Wheeler
This is a light, well-written travelogue that follows this young woman's lone trek from the desert north of Chile to its cold, harsh tip at Patagonia, including its claimed territory in Antarctica. For those who know nothing about Chile you will be amazed to learn about its history through characters she meets along the way. For those who have experienced the wonder of this thin country, tightly bound by mountains and sea, you will read this book with knowing joy.
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