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Review : Post American World
Post American World
Since I read the books The World is Flat and Confessionals of An Economic Hitman, I have been suggested by many to read Post American World by Fareed Zakaria. Finally I got a chance to finish it, I took long because I did not like the start of the book. The book starts with “Rise of the Rest” which is a series of facts, which were related but did not make much sense. There was coherency in the facts, but I found lack on analysis. May be because it was an Audiobook and was read by Fareed Zakaria himself and he could not deliver the same depth as many of the artists provide.
Once he moves out of those initial series of facts, he starts connecting the dots between India, China and United States. The way each of the country has grown in past few centuries and what differences makes them behave in certain ways. His analysis of how each of the cultures grew, fell and grouped again is mesmerizing. Many scholars like to show a snapshot of society, but Zakaria was able to give a proper perspective from different areas.
His analysis of Great Britain and US and an effort to draw a parallel between these two superpowers (of different times) is excellent. He has chooses the facts wisely, not getting overwhelmed by different theories and kept the book simple. That’s the beauty of the book, it keeps the flow, and guides the reader in direction of his thinking.
The book ends with his suggestions towards US and how it can cope with rise of the rest. He has a set of suggestions, which he has concluded from the facts provided in the book. It’s a very good book for people who likes to understand modern growth, differences between east and west, and how each culture has risen and fallen because of its strengths and weaknesses which again are relative to time.
If someone is interested in questions like why a country like India who was rich enough to build great wonders like Taj Mahal, but could not rise with west, then this is the book you should be looking at.
Surely Your Joking, Mr. Feynman – A Fanboy’s Take
More than 5 years ago, I got my first salary and the first thing I did was head to bookstore. 
I was surfing the books and found the book – Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character). I had no idea who Feynman was or what he did, but Geo Philips introduced him as Nobel Laureate in Physics and the book as a FUN autobiography.
I started the book with not great expectations but by the time I finished chapter one I was blown away with the awesomeness. The book is simple, straight forward and filled with adventures which range from designing Atom Bomb to safecracking, being at particle accelerator to topless bars, travel to brazil or to subconscious. At no point it is a book from physicist to physicist or common men. It is a series of anecdotes by a common man, that Feynman describes but albeit being simple these are very important lessons.
I am a big fanboy and always wanted to adopt several of his characters in my life. Few weeks back I sat down to write a letter to a friend who I was gifting this book to. I was overwhelmed by the fact that I have too many things to write? So to make things clear I read the book again. After reading I could write nothing less than – “He has been the greatest influence in my life, and I thought I would share that experience with you.”
The book of stories is so simple that it directly affects your life. There are no complexities, just simple facts that anyone can understand. His experiences helped me realize nothing in this world is complex enough to understand, it just need a new perspective and by breaking things into parts everything becomes simple. His life is a lesson and he has pictured that beautifully in this book. I would recommend everyone to read this book once, you don’t need any knowledge of physics or any science to understand this book. That is one of the great qualities of Feynman that everyone understands him.
Over five years I have read a lot of books by Feynman but this remains my favorite. After this book, everyone grows.
PS: Now there is a new edition of the book which combines Adventures of Curious Character with it’s second part Further Adventures of Curious Character. I would recommend people to get that book (Classic Feynman: All adventures of Curious Character) as it comes along with an audio CD.
Feynman’s popularity cannot be summed better than this XKCD
Alt Text: Maybe someday Science will get over its giant collective crush on Richard Feynman. But I doubt it.
Daemon & Freedom – Excellent Set of Techno-thrillers
This weekend I finished two books from Daniel Suarez – Daemon and it’s sequel Freedom. These are the first novels written by Daniel Suarez but at the same time best techno-thriller I have read. It was a 27+ hour listen (= read) from Audible but not for a single minute one looses interest in story. Page after page it was an exciting thriller that maintain the grip.
This is story about a computer daemon that is triggered after death of a genius game designer, Mathew Sobol. This book is the journey of the daemon; people who are trying to fight it and how our perception changes when new facts come in light. Sobel tries to take over the world by utilizing the game engine he has developed and which has matured over years. The book is fairly technical in terms of how things take place but author does an excellent job simplifying things. Sometimes there are complex things like API, Encryption algorithms, Buffer overflow, Dictionary hack etc but the book never goes beyond a level where common person cannot understand, but at the same time it uses all of the technologies perfectly.
These books not only cover technology but blends in the current scenarios, world politics, and financial situation very well. Daemon is trying to resolve the entire crisis and on other end there is a set of people who are trying to save themselves from this deamon. The best part about book is Daniel Suarez makes everything believable. He is always using commercially available technologies in a creative way, which makes us think that its not far when we see some of the things he is talking about in book.
As one of the reviewers wrote, these books are Dan Brown’s books done right and I fully agree with that viewpoint. I would rate it 5/5 and highly recommend to all fiction (not only sci-fi) readers.
As always Hollywood has jumped over this story and planning to make a movie, I am glad Walter Parkes of Wargames fame is involved in the project.
Confessions of an Economic Hitman: Review
This Thanksgiving break I got a chance to read Confessions of An Economic Hitman, by ![confessions_of_an_economic_hitman[1]](http://veetrag.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/confessions_of_an_economic_hitman1.jpg "confessions_of_an_economic_hitman[1]")
John Perkins. This book is about author’s life and his work all over the world. In a nutshell, his job was to go to a country with resources (oil, minerals, etc) and develop plan such that his companies will get contract work for “development” of that country. In turn that country falls under debt and future resources can be "utilized more efficiently”. It was great to read about this because we know about a lot of facts and conspiracy theories but no one has ever provided conclusive evidence for such things. This book also lacks in evidence (specifically numbers) but first hand perspective of person from field helps us in better understanding of world.
This book not only focuses on how author used his skills to develop those plans but also deals with kind of resistance provided by specific countries, how techniques had to be modified, strengths and weaknesses of system, “lobbying” or relationships among top diplomats of countries, different kinds of pressure by governments etc. Overall it gives a clear picture of the agenda behind development plan and how it was executed (and how it backfired in few cases). Author also gives a good description of natural resources of different countries, specifically South American countries and how over time these resources exhausted. It is a pain striking story of exploitation of natural resources and destroying the beauty.
Another point that made this book interesting was history of Latin America. History fascinates me but my knowledge was limited to Northern Hemisphere only, this book gave me place to start looking into fascinating history (modern) of counties like Panama and Ecuador. Author also talks a lot about his friend and leader of Panama, Omar Torrijos.
Last thing that interests me is author’s viewpoint on his job. He provides an overview stretching over twenty years – starting with a glorious job and over time realizing the ‘real’ work as ‘economic hit man’, thus the name ‘confessions’. At this point of my life when I am evaluating different career paths, this book acts as eye opener on how and what should be considered before choosing any specific path.
I have been told that this book only gives one side of the story and to balance I should read The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria. That book is on my reading list and once I finish it, will share my viewpoint.
R.I.P. Michael Crichton
The news of Michael Crichton’s death came as a big shock to me. He is one of my favorite authors and someone who I waited for to release a new book. I can’t believe it, just 3 days back I was checking his site and was excited to find out about his latest book to be out on sale this December. Sadly we will not have any more books from him.
It was during my engineering days that Geo gave me ‘Airframe’, this was the book that made me fan of Crichton. After that I only had one aim, whatever he wrote either as Crichton or John Lange or Jeffery Hudson, I will read it. In just 2 years I was able to read The Andromeda Strain, Congo, Disclosure, Timeline, Rising Sun, Sphere, Eaters of the dead, Terminal Man, Binary, Great Train Robbery, A case in need, State of Fear, Prey and Next. Out of all his books, State of fear will remain my all time favorite. His work was so good that almost everything he wrote was made into movies. Most of the people who do not read much or watch movies still know about his famous work Jurassic Park and ER. He was my favorite for trivia question too, who has achieved #1 Book, #1 Movie and #1 Television series at the same time?
He is gone now, but his work will always remain with us.
Book Recommendation : Animal Farm
Animal Farm – one of the best books I have read, the book that brought tears into my eyes (12-13 years back).
Animal Farm, A political fable based on the story of the Russian Revolution and its betrayal by Joseph Stalin. In this book a group of barnyard animals overthrow and chase off their exploitative human masters and set up an egalitarian society of their own. Eventually the animals’ intelligent and power-loving leaders, the pigs, subvert the revolution and form a…
- Source : Animal Farm@Britannica