Bookback — 2018

I started 2018 with a Goodreads challenge to read a certain number of books this year. I have been taking this challenge for the last 4 years and I have been consistent in failing badly. Although this year was no different, I was getting closer. Not too bad, all things considered. During the process, I’ve discovered a lot about myself on the kind of books I like reading (and don’t). Sometimes the books I choose to read are really fascinating, other times, my selections are just too bad.

Here’s a ‘book-back’ at the 3 best books which I felt had a bigger influence on me (in no particular order)

Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo

It’s a heartbreaking true story of families living in a poor settlement where they strive every day to a better life. Since the setting of the book was very close to where I lived then, the impact was better and it made me realize in a bitter way how much I took privilege for granted. I wished this was fiction, but this is a shockingly real story. The sub-title of the book says ‘Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity’ but the author brings about a feeling of hopelessness throughout the book. It is a depressing book, but I’d recommend this book to anyone who wants to get a closer glimpse of harsh realities happening around them. More importantly, as certain segments of the society progress, this book will reiterate the fact that it is necessary to not bury your moral consciousness and not be indifferent to the suffering happening around you. If not that, it will at least make you think twice when you say you have a hard life.

Favourite Quotes :

‘ Much of what was said did not matter, and that much of what mattered could not be said. ‘

‘ becoming attached to a country involves pressing, uncomfortable questions about justice and opportunity for its least powerful citizens. ‘

How Not to Be Wrong — The Power of Mathematical Thinking by Jordan Ellenberg

The book claims to explain the hidden math of everyday life and how it helps you see the world from a more informed angle. Ranging from very basic questions like lotteries to deeper philosophical questions like the existence of God or the impacts of nuclear energy, the author tries to give a flavour of how applying mathematics would either give us an answer or at least tell us for sure it is going to be absolutely uncertain. He stresses the fact that playing with that uncertainty is where all the fun is. It’s also quite funny with a lot of interesting titles like ‘ Are you there, God? It’s me, Bayesian Inference’ , ‘If Gambling is exciting, you’re doing it wrong’ or ‘ Out of nothing, I have created a strange new universe ‘. Comparing this with Freakonomics would be unfair because Freakonomics is sold to you like it’s a layman’s book. I don’t think this is a layman’s book, the author nerded out completely in a way non-mathematicians can understand. If anything, it made me much more cynical about the numbers I see around me on a daily basis.

Favourite Quotes :

‘ Knowing mathematics is like wearing a pair of X-ray specs that reveal hidden structures underneath the messy and chaotic surface of the world. ‘

‘ Public opinion doesn’t exist. More precisely, it exists sometimes, concerning matters about which there’s a clear majority view. ‘

Every Time I Find the Meaning of Life, They Change It by Daniel Klein

As a young college student studying philosophy, the author fills a small notebook during his twenties with philosophical quotes and aphorisms, when he was searching for answers on how to live a meaningful life. Now in his seventies, he goes back to the same book and examines how his thought process has evolved over time. The comparison between the time he put the quote in and the time he reflects and how things have changed within himself confirms the notion that the meaning of life regularly changes. Being told that reading philosophy could get dry at times, reading this was refreshing and insightful. If you truly enjoy thinking deeply and want to explore the depths of how a philosopher thinks, this is a good start. The author puts it out clearly that no one philosopher has all the answers and my takeaway from the book is this : The idea should be to think rather than conclude.

Favourite Quotes :

“ The life of man is of no greater importance to the universe than that of an oyster. “

“ I wonder if I have a problem. I definitely have a tendency to seek spiritual inspiration from super-rational thinkers rather than from rabbis and priests and theologians. “

Feel free to check out these books and let me know what you thought of them.

To more experiences,

To more unlearning,

To more learning,

Wishing everyone a very happy new year 2019.

Originally published at http://mumblingmadrasi.wordpress.com on January 5, 2019.