3 Books That Jumpstarted My 2021
Useful advice about the importance of context and timing
Intro
We are officially one year against the COVID-19 pandemic. Although vaccination is now available, it’s an undeniable fact that the world has changed. A large amount of the human population was ‘forced’ to isolate for long periods of time, and still is. The prevailing zeitgeist is that the pandemic ‘provided’ a special opportunity for people to turn inwards, explore their psyches and reconnect with loved ones.
Personally, I’m the type of person who’s going full ‘Carpe Diem’ in circumstances like these. I grab every chance possible for productive work, be it reading a book or investing quality time in remarkable individuals. So, in this article, I’d like to share with you a few books that made a special contribution in starting my 2021 while I was still in isolation. However, I couldn’t skip the fact that my attitude towards reading has changed. Right now, I value quality over quantity, while taking into account the appropriate context and timing of the book that is in my hands. Let’s begin, shall we?
I. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
Context
I wanted for such a long time to start Yuval Noah Harari’s trilogy. Sapiens is an extremely straight-forward and coherent book, as it provides historical information and predictions for our species in a manner available for the general non-scientific population. Where do we come from? How did we end up here and what are the major events that changed the course of history?
Yuval’s undertaking aims at answering these questions as much as possible.
The author’s attempt reminded me of Stephen Hawkin’s work: A Brief History Of Time. As you can imagine, it’s immensely difficult to fit in the history of humankind or time inside a 500-page book. Even if the author somehow manages to achieve that, he will inevitably be selective on some aspects of history at the expense of others.
Subsequently, the book deals with three major events of human history: a) Cognitive Revolution (70,000 years ago), b) Agricultural Revolution (10,000 years ago) and c) Scientific Revolution (500 years ago). These significant milestones shaped Sapiens towards innovative behavior, like symbolic subjective communication. A few striking examples are religion, politics, and capitalism.
Timing
All in all, I enjoyed Yuval Noah Harari’s work. Nevertheless, I have to admit that I experienced glimpses of cynicism and fatalism, especially when I read about free will and Sapiens’s potential towards immortality.
Despite the fact that philosophy and existentialism have been a strong point of interest for me, Yuval’s book produced an unprecedented feeling. Frankly, I didn’t receive a promising message about the future, although this doesn’t negate the importance of the information. How did this come about?
The book temporarily molded me into a kind of observer, a passive agent of history. ‘Whatever your actions, history will remain unchanged’, I assumed for a brief moment. That’s why I strongly believe that the timing of this book wasn’t correct for me. I could have avoided it if only I read a few reviews earlier. Right now, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, I aspire to be an active agent and also try to have an effect on the course of history. Passivity is not the answer.
II. Freedom or Death by Nikos Kazantzakis
Context
Kazantzakis is one of my favorite authors, so my fingers are already trembling.
It’s a huge privilege, as a Greek, to be able to write and comment on one of his most infamous works. I hope I’ll do him justice.
The author, Nikos Kazantzakis, was born in Crete, in 1883. He is one of the most important Greek writers in history, with global recognition and awards.
The author, having been heavily influenced by his early childhood in Crete, wrote ‘Freedom Or Death’. It is a novel about the Greek Christian Rebellion against Turks in 1889, which expands in heroic and epic realms.
The story follows Captain Michalis, and his relationship with his blood brother Nurey Bey, a Turk, through war, love, and friendship. As it is a general theme in his work, Kazantzakis deals once again with existential and moral issues, using the protagonist Captain Michalis. Throughout the story, the hero struggles between the love for a woman and the love for his country. Which one of them will have the last say? Will the primal motive of lust transcend the symbolic meaning of the country?
It is my view that to get through this book, one has to be extremely patient about its length but also regarding the author’s peculiar way of writing. Besides, it couldn’t be otherwise, as the Cretans themselves are special individuals with their cosmotheories, attitude, and temperaments. Apart from patient individuals, this book will be of great appeal to those who are interested in history filled with mythos and heroism.
Timing
It is an undeniable fact that Greece is under a continuous deterioration of its social and political characteristics. For sure, the long-term economic crisis has taken its toll on the inhabitants of Greece. So, the book’s timing was perfect for me, as it provided a few glimpses of pure Greek culture, reminding me of my grandfathers and their pride. The novel was a voyage to primitive stone pathways, filled with smells of lemonade, arbaroriza, and musk.
Before moving on, I’d like to mention that Sapiens preceded Freedom Or Death. So, I’ve used my previous ‘mistake’ about timing and took great care before starting the next one. Once I’ve realized that the timing for Freedom Or Death was good, then and only then I opened it. Quality over quantity, my friends.
ΙΙΙ. The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud
Context
Sigmund Freud was the founding father of the psychoanalytic theory.
According to him, a big part of the personality is unconscious. Also, Freud suggested that sex is the basic motivation of all human behavior and the principal cause of every form of neurosis.
Freud’s absolute conviction on the role of sex and wish fulfillment in waking and dreaming states was met with enormous controversy by the scientific domain. Personally, I was influenced by Freud’s critics. Perhaps, I was also scared to indulge in a pile of scientific jargon or theories about the interpretation of dreams that were later disregarded.
Nevertheless, the book provided many ‘aha’ but also awkward moments. I can’t hide the fact that sometimes I felt uncomfortable and irritated by Freud’s descriptions of many dreams. Was it that he touched a deep inner truth? Was I just teased by the lack of scientific validity? I can’t tell.
What I can tell for sure is that this book provided a large number of dreams, interpreted from multiple different angles. In addition, despite the frequent awkwardness, I experienced a few enlightening moments too.
Furthermore, like the two aforementioned books, this one was dense, reaching well above 600 pages. It contained a high amount of jargon and information, which the reader might as well not remember. Personally, I decided to read and absorb the information I felt was functional for my current condition. The whole text could easily be an academic book, so one should approach it with cautiousness, open-mindedness, slow pace, and curiosity.
Timing
Right now, I’m in this phase in my life where I made a habit out of dream journaling. It is a fact that one’s subjective experience of dream interpretation is heavily influenced by dream books. Thus, I observed that after finishing this book, I began interpreting my dreams with a bit of Freudian bias. Subsequently, I also noticed that I was also a bit biased towards interpreting my friend’s dream, which reminded me of something that happened upon reading Carl J. Jung.
In conclusion, I managed to observe the gradual change in my subjective experience due to the fact that I was simultaneously cultivating a scientific perspective through other sources and my work. Thus, the timing for me was right as I approached Freud’s ideas with caution and great care for bias.
It’s quite tempting to flirt with pure romanticism, and this temptation can be balanced with a scientific perspective.
Conclusion and Takeaway
Generally, as an upcoming writer, I’m trying to read a plethora of books using alternations. For example, I might read a history book, followed by literature/ philosophy, and then by science. In this way, I attempt to avoid myopia and regression, as I receive novel stimuli from multiple sources. That’s something I would suggest to everybody who’s not involved in a specific/academic domain. I would recommend this to all seekers of wisdom!
Moreover, you already know that I’m a huge supporter of productive work through reading books. However, it’s quite possible for one to lose sight of the tree when exploring the forest, which symbolizes human proneness to drown in quantity at the expense of quality. If we really desire progress and optimization, we might as well give some space to the importance of context and timing.
Thus, my perspective and attitude have changed. Now, before even opening a book, I try to understand if the context of the book is suitable for me and whether I’ll get any value from reading it in this phase of my life. Personally, I achieve that by reading many different reviews online, internalizing my current life situation, and questioning my motives. Am I seeking quantity just to gratify my fear of missing out or am I after true wisdom? Will I become a better individual or will I get paralyzed by the information?
I strongly believe that we shouldn’t read books just to increase our Goodreads ‘Read’ list. On the contrary, we should try to seek wisdom, which is a byproduct of overcoming our own pre-determined ideas and biases about the world.
Thank you for your time and attention
