reviews

Los Niños Buenos Vuelven A Casa - por Tomás García Orihuela

Conozco de la Segunda Guerra Mundial en su mayoría gracias a producciones de Hollywood. Esas que mayoritariamente están enfocadas en las heróicas hazañas de soldados aliados en sus campañas Europeas y en el Pacífico. Montecasino, Normandía, las Ardenas, Guadalcanal, Okinawa, Iwo Jima, Midway, Dunkerque. Grandes y cruciales batallas, con despliegue fascinante de armamento y coraje. Junto con el Holocausto y el sufrimiento del pueblo judío, forman la base de mi conocimiento histórico. Quizá por falta de relatos o gracias a la globalización, últimamente he notado más relatos del lado perdedor: la Alemania nazi. Tomás es mi gran amigo de muchos años. Lector voraz y fanático de la historia, en especial si tiende a la geopolítica. Hablar con él es abrir una enciclopedia de hechos históricos, que sólo pueden llegar a su memoria cuando algo realmente nos apasiona. De esas pasiones que son únicas de cada quien y que a veces pasan desapercibidas. Desde que lo conozco, siempre ha tenido fascinación por la cultura alemana y, desde siempre, me ha hablado de su ex-jefe en Caracas, un ex-miembro de las Juventudes Hitlerianas durante la guerra. Dado la carga histórica del nazismo, es fácil, y sobretodo en una época menos globalizada, pensar en los alemanes con recelo y desconfianza.

Utopia - by Thomas More

Utopia is an idealistic book. A description of a society abiding by a set of rules that promote collectivism over individualism. By organizing a group of individuals into an emergent entity, the entity thrives over others and perpetuates itself across time, in a generalized state of well-being. The rules trump basic instincts of survival which align with individualism. Socialist nations, when attempted, have failed to live up to socialism’s expectations. It’s not wrong or uncommon to think of socialism as an enlightened form of government, where priority to individualism is dropped in favor of the collective. Given humans’ capacity for rationalism, it must be possible to free ourselves from the vices of individualism, live a more practical, spiritual, collective and frugal life. Right? History has proven otherwise. As a collective, we struggle when faced with the reality of these ideals. So far, capitalism and liberalism have provided a functioning, stable society. Not without hiccups and lessons learned. Utopia can be interpreted as a seed of modern socialism. As a rationalist, I find that the country of Utopia practices very interesting. I found some ideas from the Utopian society to be appealing. Health is considered the ultimate pleasure. Without it, all other pleasures become moot.

Metaphors We Live By - by George Lakoff & Mark Johnson

This book is about realizing metaphors as fundamental to perception of the world around us. Like seeing, hearing or tasting, they allow us to understand the truth of our experiences, whether “external” (as in, the physical realm) or “internal” (ideas, thoughts and feelings). They’re a representation of the experiences we live: past, present or potential. They’re information in packages. The combination of both learned language and metaphors, aside from providing perception, drive a lot of our actions. The deeper this book goes into defining, decomposing and categorizing metaphors, the more it mingles in philosophy. Our own personal philosophy is defined by a heavy use of metaphors. This likely happens unconsciously for most. It is also influenced by the culture we live in, which is also defined, in large parts, by metaphors. Since we’re limited in the amount of literal definitions for concepts, we turn to metaphors to expand our understanding. They’re easier to remember, friendlier as components that compose concepts and are instantly relatable. They’re language’s representation of the human mind’s capacity to interconnect concepts. Gateways into ideas and interconnection of thoughts that flow out of our mind. This paragraph was full of metaphors. It’s fascinating. Objectivism is not infallible for understanding the world (both physical and non-physical).

Enlightenment Now - by Steven Pinker

This book was a lot of fun to read. It helped confirm my convictions around science and rational optimism. Science’s mission towards representation of the natural world pushes out any reliance on supernatural beliefs for good explanations. The Enlightenment, as a consequence of science’s philosophy, set the bases for human progress in a way no other form of collective thought had done before. What’s the Enlightenment’s biggest gifts? The promotion of individualism and liberty of thought, which allow ideas to mature in groups. Large-scale problems are solved by rational ideas that spring up from these, not from those that tap into the emotional, like nationalism and tribalism. We take such liberties for granted and rarely acknowledge the historical efforts that have provided them. This book put words to notions I have around factless, rhetoric-fueled ideologies, organizations and rituals. It’s mind-blowing how much information is collated, referenced and structured into flowy, fact-based explanations around the multiple subjects it touches.

Thinking, Fast and Slow - by Daniel Kahneman

Another breeding ground for novel-thinking, self-assesment and of how we think about social behaviour. Concepts are explained from the perspective of behavioural economics and psychology. Some can be found, in different words, in philosophy. It simply enlarges the significance of both areas of study. Individual and social behaviour is evaluated from two ends producing similar conclusions. Behaviour is a product of biology and environment. The mind is a series of electrical impulses that live in the brain and are ruled by physical laws. There’s nothing supernatural about it. Its study from a social science perspective grants scientific method to questions that have been asked by philosophy. “What is the meaning of life?” “What is happiness?” These are historically debated by philosophers. To behavioural economists, they’re measurable experiments. Two selves, the experiencing and the remembering, shape the perception of happiness. They expose how complicated it is to reach a quick, objective answer. Flow state, when seen as the engine of happiness, is a representation of the experiencing self. The more our focus lives in it, the better we feel about anything. This is not what usually happens to us. We struggle to focus on the experiencing self and our focus is pushed by genetics and evolution towards the remembering self.

How To Live - by Derek Sivers

Derek Sivers provides 27 conflicting answers put in gentile, concise words but are packed with philosophy, consciousness and meaning. His words function as an elegant boxer, well-trained and efficient, throwing precise jabs at an opponent. The opponent being our anxious, doubtful or prejudiced thoughts, wondering if any of life’s paths are the correct one.

The Crux - by Oswaldo Zuniga

When starting out learning a new skill, referencing professionals and people at the top of the game isn’t the most efficient way to learn. The skills are so advanced it’s hard to find techniques than can be practiced which are appropriate to the current level. Knowing how to bridge the gap between beginner and expert is a skill of its own. Oswaldo Zuniaga’s The Crux is a book that’s just about bridging this gap. Watching professionals at work is enough for entertainment but should be considered with care as a resource for learning. If so, it can be easy to fall quickly into frustration due to the relatively slow learning and skill-acquiring process. At this stage in my rock climbing journey, I get pretty much the same experience and learning than non-climbers from watching an Adam Ondra video sending Silence or Alex Honnold’s free soloing El Capitan. They’re such highly technical climbs and the mental challenge so large, that it’s hard for me to take notice of something practical that would make me improve. That’s where guys like Oswaldo come in. They provide the substance that lowers the barrier of entry for amateurs and enthusiasts like me, who do this as a non-professional activity.

Factfulness - by Hans Rosling

This book makes a very efficient case that subjectiveness is not only bound to individuals but is also present in our social consciousness. It distorts our world-view on the important aspects that drive progress, and more immediately, help us understand problems. The way we deal with world-wide problems through unsupported claims stems from our primitive brain and tribal thinking. It’s natural for our species. Even if claims are highly technical and based on the rational, if facts are incorrect, we’ll be going down the wrong path. Maps are a great piece of technology but even if we firmly believe in the practical uses of maps, if the map we’re following is faulty, we’d be going the wrong way. What I enjoyed most of this book is its structure. It’s creative for framing the problem but also very efficient on its arguments and facts around them. Books that dwell on technicalities and are meant for a general audience —in this case economics, data interpretation and statistics— should take reference from this one. There’s no absolute need to reveal the technicals behind some arguments. It would make the book diverge from its intention, potentially boring or scaring away readers.

The Old Man And The Sea - by Ernest Hemingway

This story can be interpreted in two ways: a proud and courageous man in the pursuit of an achievement to the very end, defeating odds with discipline and perseverance in spite of risks or, a stubborn and foolish man, filled with wishful thinking, in a fight against his own ego, sense of purpose and external recognition. I lean towards the latter. An old fisherman, haunted by feelings of an unfulfilling life, who goes out to sea on his chore and ends up entering a search for the ultimate rush, a grand prize that would earn him external recognition, set probably by his cultural context but ultimately by himself, in a battle against undefeatable nature. Regarding writing style, I found beauty in how words flow through the old man’s actions and his thoughts. I found myself fully immersed in the character. I empathized with the constant battle between two sides: animal and rational. In this case, it’s the animal side that pulls the old man to the path of survival. The right path. It’s the side that’s constantly reminding him: “you’re tired”, “you’re losing energy”, “go back”, “leave the fish”, “you will die.” On the other side, and which differentiates us from animals, the disregard for survival that can only come from the human capacity to “rationalize” objectives, even if fulfilling them means death.

Flow - by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

I blindly clicked a 5-star rating faster than any other book. It’s the product of an academic that doesn’t feel heavily technical at all. While very well researched and written, my rating mostly reflects the most comforting and pleasant feeling of having read the right book at the right time. Almost everything depicted in it reflects my current frame of mind. The key takeaway is the argument that happiness is achieved by learning to enter flow in any activity we do, whether the activity is part of one’s goals, something mundane or something generally considered boring. It makes emphasis on the fact that entering flow at will —or achieving order to consciousness— is a skill, hence it’s something that can be practiced and improved, making it a habit. It goes through many examples of activities that inherently achieve it: yoga, rock climbing, creating art. However, the key is that flow is not restricted to these type of activities but can be applied to everything else considered less exciting or creative: cleaning dishes, taking out garbage, spending time in conversation, with family. One phrase, very concise, sums up my learnings from this book: The concentration of the flow experience —together with clear goals and immediate feedback— provides order to consciousness, inducing the enjoyable condition of psychic negentropy.

Hell Yeah or No - by Derek Sivers

Like his other recent book ‘Your Music and People’, it’s a compilation of Derek’s blog posts loosely related to the book’s title. Very inspiring droplets, with each chapter standing on its own. Works very well for picking up sporadically, re-reading one or a few from time to time and getting a boost from quick, exciting and potentially life-changing lessons.

Essentialism - by Greg McKeown

Essentialism, or how to discern the vital few from the trivial many. This book is a worthy guide to choosing the right actions, removing obstacles and making execution effortless. In a wider context of books about de-cluttering our life and finding the core intent of living a fulfilling life, this one has served me as a true compilation of the bigger message. It’s practical, full of quotes from other works and real-life situations where either a problem or a solution via essentialism is applied. It feels like a light read —because it’s so well redacted and edited— but it has a depth and very relatable sense to it. Some of my key takeaways: Routines, once in place, are the gifts that keep on giving. Focus on small wins and repetition, rather than the objective. Make peace with the fact that saying ’no’ means trading popularity for respect. When people make their problem our problem, we’re not helping, we’re just enabling. Routinely create space to contemplate and remove the habit of always keeping the mind entertained. This book is definitely a foundational brick for building a house of discipline, fortitude and fulfillment.

Watching The English - by Kate Fox

After having worked day-to-day, for a few years now with them, I found this book’s arguments about the English to be very true and relatable. As I grow older I’ve become more practical in behavior, thought and speak, and after reading this book I realize this collides with the author’s description of English social patterns. In them, there’s a constant tendency towards indirectness, humor, self-deprecation, appearance of modesty and, moreover, moderation when arguing, greeting or expressing themselves. This makes the real intention and meaning behind the words spoken to come from a complex interpretation of voice tonality, context and body language, along with the actual spoken word. This applies for many cultures, yes, but in my opinion, it’s far more present in this one. As the author defines it, it’s due to a ‘social dis-ease’. Culturally, the English don’t seem to be comfortable in social situations and have historically developed a set of mechanisms to constantly ‘save-face’ in social interactions. It’s a culture of ‘coping with’, where appearances of positivism or eagerness for activities are rare. Attitudes seem driven by the feeling of the world being a nuisance that has to be coped with. These mechanisms tilt the emotional bar towards a perception of moderation in everything.

Sum - by David Eagleman

I found out about this book thanks to Derek Sivers’ blog. It’s his highest rated book, and was really interested in it after reading its premise. It’s in a short story format, each of them with a version explaining what happens after we die. They’re unusual, creative and packed with analogies to philosophical thought or existentialist proposals that don’t necessarily change or get resolved after we die. God is often humanised, heaven is often treated as a mundane society filled with similar vices that we endure during life and the afterlife is sometimes a multi-dimensional, uncontrollable and even insignificant existence.

Siddharta - by Hermann Hesse

This was incredibly inspiring. A journey of self-discovery and a mild introduction to eastern philosophy. Moreover, it’s a beautifully phrased, entertaining prose. Siddharta starts out strongly. He’s confident and seemingly incredibly wise for his age. While he’s born in the highest rank of India’s social caste and already in a culture of devotion to the mind and body — which makes him seem like he’s already set up to be the spiritual compass of the story — he’s also rebellious of them. He wants something else. He’s a seeker. This takes him on a journey of exploration and discovery of desires and vices of what’s referred to as the “child people”; experiencing abandonment, lust, wealth, greed or by ceding to the often irrational, instinctive feelings that would come from parenthood. He meets and learns from multiple characters that shape him and who are shaped by him. One of my favourite lessons comes from his meeting with Kamala, in a period when learning the art of love. She asks him: “What skills do you have?”. Siddharta, who’s never done skilled labor, replies: “I can fast, I can wait and I can think”. While seemingly worthless in a world that values status, wealth and material possessions, Siddharta’s self-discipline, patience and wisdom grant him they keys to open all doors to achieving his goals.

The Courage To Be Disliked - by Ichiro Kishimi, Fumitake Koga

A book that showcases Adlerian psychology and philosophy, written in the form of a conversation between an old philosopher and a young, angry and frustrated disciple, who’s facing disappointment from being an spectator of his unchanging and unfulfilling life. It works very well as the philosopher’s arguments are developed, the disciple’s point of view is intended to be a projection of the reader’s doubts, concerns and biased opinions. Lifestyle is the tendencies of thoughts and actions in our life. One of the strongest arguments in the book is that, at all times, we’re in full control of steering our lifestyle. This is because it’s a subjective interpretation of the world around us and being so, we can change it. Lifestyle is not really an objective fact. It’s how we view, accept and relate to things and people. And that’s always within our control. It argues that the root of our frustrations and feelings of inferiority always come from interpersonal relationships and their dynamics. Failure to obtain goals, supposed traumas and feelings of incompleteness are not consequence of past experiences, on the contrary, past experiences are subjective tools we use in the present to justify those feelings. It touches on ‘separating tasks’, which means dealing only with actions, thoughts and feelings that are within our control and nothing else.

Digital Minimalism - by Cal Newport

“Humans are not wired to be consistently wired” An easy read for those interested in habits of de-cluttering our life and efficiently using modern tools, and an eye-opening read for those unaware of how much attention is stolen by digital entertainment, social media and mobile technology. It reminisces of social and personal behaviors from before the modern smartphone era, and its benefits. It doesn’t promote a complete divorce from technology, instead it strongly argues for a more efficient use while providing insights and practical options to achieve it. Some of the more relevant subjects: solitude as a form of liberation, the value of “high-quality leisure”, the difference in value between non-digital, real life conversations and digital connections, or how the author refers to them, high and low-bandwith communication. Time is unconsciously taken for granted. It’s the most valuable commodity we own and the one thing tech giants are eager to take from us. As these tools are more and more invasive of our day-to-day and designed towards attracting our eyeballs, it becomes harder to develop habits for more focused, fulfilled minds and more valuable interactions.

The Beginning Of Infinity - by David Deutsch

A deep dive into big questions on human existence and progress. I enjoyed the technical, academic approach into themes like evolution, culture, philosophy, the physics of it all, and its core theme: knowledge. It’s not always explicit in the text, but it also touches very relevant subjects nowadays like climate change, energy, religion and even social media. Added to more scientific ones like quantum physics, biology and mathematics. Not an easy read, as it sometimes dives too much into technicals and rationalizations that make the text feel like it’s questioning even its own arguments. However, even if there’s some harder chapters, there are many mind-bending and very relatable ones. For me in particular: “Optimism”, “Unsustainable”, “The Spark” and “The Evolution of Culture”. The stronger argument (and mostly central theme of the book) is that humans, after several historical attempts to enter the state of an ever increasing snowball of knowledge, are currently favoring a society that’s increasingly open to change through constant conjecture and criticism of its own knowledge. We are now culturally seeking good explanations more and more. Explanations strong enough that are very hard to be refuted, and these come from the rationalizations of science. As long as there aren’t any proven physical laws preventing it, infinity of existence is merely blocked by a lack of knowledge.

Seeing - by Pedro Saramago

Saramago’s style is not conventional but it’s illuminating. It made me understand that blocks of dialogue, chapter titles, character names and even usual punctuation rules aren’t requirement to convey a thrilling and smooth narrative. The first part details the unusual way in which a town organically comes together to put its government and democractic system on the tip of its toes, in the least conventional but evident: through vote. The rest is an essay on the effects of this premise. The clumsy and improvised attempts from the government of keeping its power quota, to which it’s blindly convinced it’s entitled to. Then the town’s actions in collective rebellion, which are so perfectly and organically synchronized that they manage to set in motion the repressive and dictatorial machinery of a government with a democratic front but essentially autocratic. In the beginning, the story is narrated from the collective point of of view of both the town and the government. Then it focuses on specific characters and on how they react to each other’s actions. With emphasis on cabinet members, but then focus on a police commissar with the task of finding the source, real or fabricated, of the discontent. This leads him on a journey of finding his own clarity, after being exposed to the truth and individual justice.

Zen In The Art Of Archery - by Eugen Herrigel

Archery and fencing are the two disciplines this book uses to explain Zen buddhism’s practices and nature. It does so with the simple narrative. The author’s journey into mastering archery through “art without artifice”. This means learning the act of shooting an arrow to become as natural, unconscious and effortless as an apple that falls from a tree. This practice works very well as a driver to the methods and philosophy behind it, which then parallels to any skill or discipline we can set for ourselves. In short, the main goal is not entirely about learning to shoot arrows with precision, rather creating the habit or achieving the meta-skill of detaching ourselves from the objective when learning something and allowing “it” (the unconscious) to take the reins of the actions.

Walden - by Henry David Thoreau

Rarely have I felt the need to constantly catch my focus in order to follow what I was reading. I didn’t know what to expect from this book and only after the first chapters did I realize there’s no plot or narrative, only reflections and deep philosophical descriptions. With little room for structure, Thoreau describes his presence, at times in painfully long detail, of his days secluded from society in the Walden pond. It’s a strong manifestation of mindfulness and ‘being’. He allows his mind to ramble on what he sees, hears or feels, alongside reflections about society, life and the nature of the human being, colored with references to history, books he’s read or parallels with stories from his experience. Many times I found myself lost in the text, but also constantly found myself striking true gems of wisdom, fulfilling thoughts and very relatable passages. Notable chapters: Reading, House-warming and Solitude.

Deep Work - by Cal Newport

As mentioned in the book, the 21st century’s superpower is simply to have the ability to focus. Mastery of a skill can only come from a sustained and persistent state of distraction-less concentration. Instead, we’re fostering (and living in) a culture of constant distraction, dressed up as “productive” behavior. It’s a culture where visible busyness is valued as productivity, and it’s due to a current troublesome relationship with technology, referred to in this book as “technopoly”. We’re biased to social media and instant messaging as tools where it’s a given, where it’s normal, that they should receive our constant attention. What we end up with is a lack of depth in the work we do. We focus on the shallow ends of work, such as reading and instantly replying to email and messages, making a habit in our minds to be “always available” for an interruption of a flow state. It makes a strong case towards the usefulness and true nature of “leisure” time. When not sleeping and when not focused on a task, our mind doesn’t seek “rest” or what we understand as relaxation like watching TV or scrolling through social media. What our minds are constantly seeking is fulfillment, which can be achieved with well-structured and meaningful leisure time.

The Practicing Mind - by Thomas M. Sterner

Absolutely enjoyed this jewel of a book, specially the first half. It analyzes our patterns and behavior when we set goals for ourselves. We’ve been taught to focus on objectives if we want something meaningful out of life. We measure our worthiness through grades, medals, records. We become stressed and judgemental in the process - consciously or unconsciously - and ultimately frustrated when we unfairly compare ourselves to top levels, and end up giving up. What we haven’t been taught is to find reward in the process. This allows us to find fulfilment in any step of any objective that can otherwise be considered ‘difficult’. It reliefs us from the tension and stress that becomes a distracting factor from being in the present moment. It seems like a paradox, the more we focus on the process and detach ourselves from the desired goal, the quicker and more efficiently our minds can progress, because the things slowing us down are mostly fictitious, self-imposed pressures and expectations.

Effortless Mastery - by Kenny Werner

I expected a more practical approach. Instead, this book is a transformative experience in the way to approach learning, performing and ultimately enjoying music. It’s about learning to channel the artistic expression into mastery through meditation and self-awareness.

The Little Book Of Common Sense Investing - by John C. Boggle

“One man may be more cunning than another, but not more cunning than everybody else.” A Benjamin Franklin quote that aptly summarizes this little jewel of a book. Successful investing is much less about skilfully reading and beating the market in short bursts of savvy, and essentially much more about focusing on the entire market with patience, discipline and common sense. The game ends up being easier to play than expected. It’s the next step after reading and applying the techniques from “financial peace” books like Dave Ramsey, Andrew Tobias or The Barefoot Investor, as it dives deeper in detail of the “growth” phase that all these have in common.

Of Mice And Men - by John Steinbeck

Great storytelling with a concise plot that manages to cover many different subjects. Desires, loyalty, compassion, fear, anger, discrimination and regret. Every character is richly developed. It’s easy to follow their intentions and desires with few dialogues and a lot of subtext, even if their involvement within the story is short. It does so with every chapter, starting with beautiful descriptions of the natural environment that surrounds them and later transitioning back to the main plot. It’s a tale of injustice prevailing even when hopes and dreams lie in small things.

A Guide To The Good Life - by Willian B. Irvine

It takes a certain frame of mind and the experiences that come with age to embrace stoicism as a philosophy for life. This book is an introduction and, moreover, a practical guide. It’s a well paced and informative piece. It discusses common questions and tackles the skepticism that arises when reading about or adopting a stoic life. It’s a base for those unaware of its principles and it’s certainly a first step on the path of discovery and understanding the work of great thinkers like Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus and Seneca. It’s filled with insights on how to balance stoic ideas and behaviours with our day-to-day. Personally, it’s one of the most quotable books I’ve ever read. I found myself making annotations on almost every page. I do feel that it makes for a better experience if whoever reads it can relate to the subjects and stoicism in general on a personal level. These days people may not see the need to adopt a philosophy for life. Instead, we spend our days working with the goal of affording the latest consumer gadget. We resolute to believe that if we buy enough, we will have a life both meaningful and maximally fulfilling.

Into The Wild - by John Krakauer

I’m in the neutral camp when having an opinion about this story and its tragic end. I do believe Chris was egotistic and reckless. But I also agree there’s much to learn from his philosophy and his search for truth. As a fan of Tolstoy myself, I found gratifying to read about someone living and applying his own flavor of Tolstoy’s message. I also believe Chris was smart enough to know what the risks were at all times, he just accepted them as part of “the adventure”. I like the conclusion that, at the very end, he came into terms with the inner beast that drove him. He had tested and proven himself, and was ready to come back from wandering in anonymity, possibly (and hopefully) to come to terms with his family. Sadly, the wild tundra was underestimated. Life’s big challenges are defined personally, they vary vastly from person to person, and the goals can only be met by our very own standards. That being said, there’s no point in judging if Chris’ story was inspiring or stupid. We can just read and learn about passionately following something we believe in and relate to it in the best way we can.

The World Of Yesterday - by Stefan Zweig

A complete journey into European life before and between the world wars. Zweig, as a true cosmopolitan, seems always at the center of history in the making, and more specifically, always close to some of the greatest artistic and literary minds of the time. The book is full of easy historical narrative and deep reflections on society, which come from being so much in touch with the culture of the countries he visited. He had an amazing ability to create connections on his travels, while always reflecting on his ideas of pacifism and wariness of growing authoritarian regimes such as nazi Germany and communism in the Soviet Union. It’s heartbreaking to know this book was basically his final note, having committed suicide shortly after finishing the manuscript and being published posthumously. Specially in the last chapters, it was notable his growing anguish of being forced out of his native Austria and of living as a man without a country, in the face of nazism.

Sapiens - by Yuval Noah Harari

Not only an excellent read, but a complete experience. While reading about our origins and reasons behind our behaviours as individuals and as societies, I couldn’t help constantly thinking to myself: “well, that makes total sense”. We’re hard-wired by our collective knowledge, slaves to our self-created imagined orders, thinking and believing in the rules the human species has set out across generations past. They have come organically as a consequence of progress, technology and our need for expansion. This book shows the biological and completely objective reasons behind culture, ideology, technology, happiness, decisions, and makes a strong case of what our future might look like.

The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde - by Robert Louis Stevenson

Dr. Jekyll found in Mr. Hyde freedom from the restrictions of his life as a scientist and as a member of the high society. It was not necessarilly for being discontent with any of them, but simply because our minds are multifacetic and complex. It’s evident this novel has been the inspiration for many modern stories, not only of personality disorders, but of addiction and excess of quick pleasures. And as in many cases, the person ends up in disgrace when the mind succumbs to these and loses control.

The Death Of Ivan Ilych - by Leo Tolstoi

An exceptional novel for those who have experienced how misunderstood and enigmatic an person’s mind can become when facing day-to-day a terminal illness. The carer tends to consider it simply an illness, and unconsciously fills it with while lies and false optimisms. The ill person, on the other hand, only wants to feel comforted, protected, understood. One of Ivan Ilych’s more valuable reflections is how intrandescent a life “that should be” is. When wishing to go back to the truly pleasurable and good moments of his life, he finds that his joy was always far from what is usually considered valuable by society (money, power). He found the worthy memories on the smallest flashes of happiness like, on his example, the first time he tasted marmalade. A quote that promptly can be used to summarize his reflections on his life: “It is as if I had been going downhill while I imagined I was going up. And that is really what it was. I was going up in public opinion, but to the same extent life was ebbing away from me. And now it is all done and there is only death.”

The Greatest Short Stories Of Leo Tolstoi - by Leo Tolstoi

There are no evil characters is Tolstoy’s short stories, only actions (or lack there of) that leads them in the wrongful paths. Most of the stories set up scenarios where, through compassion, care for others and selflessness, people achieve true happiness, or, in Tolstoy’s eyes, “they find God” From my point of view this means finding joy and fulfillment. And as narrated in “Ivan the fool” or in “Two old men”, it’s not usually the traditionally known path, but the one where the characters have surrendered selfish desires or simply have stopped caring about leading lives according to external factors.

Chess Story - by Stefan Zweig

I was deeply impressed by this short story’s capacity to take on multiple subjects on little text. The remarkable part is its argument of how genius for a certain skill -chess in this case- can have its root in raw innate talent or as consequence of disciplined and frequent practice. And in the case of the latter, as a side-effect of the process -detailed in a highly immersive section of the book- of white torture.

Maus - by Art Spiegelman

A completely immersive experience. We don’t know enough about the Holocaust atrocities and this story relives it as close as I’ve seen, including how much, in spite the war ending, the torment never goes away from the mind of a survivor.

Fahrenheit 451 - by Ray Bradbury

A man in a distopian future where society is controlled by an autocracy and knowledge through books is prohibited.

Letters From A Stoic - by Seneca

I found fascinating how forward-looking these writings were at that time. Also was a bit disappointed to discover they formed the bridge for Rome’s transition into Christianity, which shows how much transformation can ideologies and philosophies suffer over time, and how cyclical they are throughout history.

Billions And Billions - by Carl Sagan

A journey into Carl Sagan’s “shower thoughts”. A compilation of his opinions on multiple subjects, from the origin of the universe, life, the human being, society and mostly on our permanent shortsightedness on our future as a species. I found intriguing his ability to abstract the usually complex scientific knowledge into understandable and relatable text, in which we can realize how insignificant human life is when compared to Earth’s history, let alone the universe’s. “Human beings have just arrived here, barely a few million years ago.” The last chapter and epilogue is the sad but hopeful last note of a truly remarkable human: his final journey into the unknown.

Into Thin Air - by John Krakauer

Just like a mountain climber attempting the Everest summit, this book builds on tension as you progress deeper into it. It has build-up, creating a composition of emotions that would be similar to the experiences of those who faced the 1996 tragedy. Krakauer makes what I consider is a valid argument on the fact that the story is not something out of the ordinary for the average Everest climbing seasons. People die every year while trying to reach the top. It also explicitly states how dangerous the attempt is for amateurs and professionals alike, every year, and it implies that other deaths carry a similar set of causes. It is something I found realistic, accurate, and quite enjoyed from Krakauer’s writing style.

Confessions Of An Economic Hitman - by John Perkins

I’m not 100% bought on the veracity of the facts detailed in this book, which may be due to the narrative, but these are definitely deep insights about modern imperialism in the form of confessions. Which end up making more sense than expected. Worth a read for those that are skeptic of intentions behind ‘good acts’.

Masters Of Doom - by David Kushner

Fast-paced and never boring. Romero and Carmack, as like other duos that have transformed industries and made history, these guys rose via innovation and technical genius only to let the extremes of their eccentricities take over and bring down the companies (and drive) they had created.

The Phoenix Project - by Gene Kim

This is not a how-to guide on DevOps and does not portray a realistic timeline for business change. What it is, is a great resource to understand how the DevOps practices and areas impact business performance, by turning the complex terminology and concepts into a narrative. Basically, if you are in a business that heavily relies on information technologies, operations and development, this is a great book for you.

Just For Fun - By Linus Torvalds

I used to think of Linus Torvalds as a mystical genius that single handedly built a whole revolutionary operating system. It just turns out to be one of the most grounded and simple-philosophy minded, remarkable people, who just worked with passion on something to solve what he saw problems for him. The success of Linux is just a side effect of him trying to fix holes in the road. And what for me is the major side effect of his way of thinking in practice: the rise of open source. Fun story, although it reaches his history to around 2000’s. It would be great to have his continuation of the more recent decade, with the prominence of his other major creation: Git.

Astrophysics For People In A Hurry - by Neil deGrasse Tyson

Not only for people in a hurry, it’s also astrophysics for mortals. “The cosmic perspective”, a concept that we as a species have yet to internalize if we want to perpetuate our kind as part of this universe. The book itself is a great introduction to an exciting -and fundamental- science.

Caracas Muerde - by Héctor Torres

A realistic and entertaining compilation of short stories which describe what people living in Caracas experience almost daily. Each story is portrayed with the city’s colloquialism and with the moral background that constantly threatens to tear the citizens apart. It’s done in a concise way, without unnecessary adjectives. Citizens of Caracas will relate with the overwhelming stories of violence, which are a part of a distorted culture. Recommended read in Spanish.

Man's Search For Meaning - by Viktor E. Frankl

Very little can be argued against Frankl’s viewpoint as it comes validated from 3 years endured at the Auschwitz concentration camp. It’s what the entire first part of the book is about, with an emphasis on the psychological impact and, more importantly, the ways of psychological endurance. Before this book, everything I’d read or seen related to the holocaust had been ultimately superficial. Even after reading Man’s Search For Meaning I realize there’s many layers to it that cannot ever be grasped by most single individuals in modern circumstances. We can only learn, reflect and loosely, clumsily connect dots. The detailed retelling of camp life is a solid base for Frankl’s logotherapy theories. Even one of the most horrific situations that any person has endured, where all traits of personality, individuality, achievement, personal space, and even the most basic needs for survival, even after suffering the psychology of shared and individual loss, there’s still joy to be found by controlling what’s truly and always in our control: thoughts. We’re an infinitely malleable entity if we so want it, if learn how to. On the one side, we’re limited by the capacities of our physical body. If we manage to avoid dying from a violation of a truly physical limitation, the other limit is —quite simply— our mind.