Calum
It's not often that I read a book and can honestly say it changed my outlook on life, but The Blank Slate is definitely one of them (trite, I know). In the book, Steven Pinker analyzes the current concepts of human nature, of culture and heritability, and reveals why in both popular and intellectual circles the prevailing viewpoints are flawed, and indeed detrimental to both research and society.
Brief summary:
The first section of the book introduces Pinker's three fallacies, which contribute to our misunderstanding of human nature. These are the Blank Slate, the tabula rasa, which considers each human being to be a moldable clay at birth, intrinsically shaped by their environment and culture.
Before I went to sleep last night (harhar), I picked up this book. I ended up not putting it down until I finished it almost two hours later. Despite my doubts about some of the believability of this story, I have to admit that SJ Watson grabbed me pretty thoroughly.
The story concept is based on the viewpoint of Christine Lucas, an “anterograde amnesiac” who cannot form new memories and forgets things as she sleeps overnight. Christine wakes up every morning to find her husband Ben in bed, who she does not recognise, and must look at photos and scrapbooks every day in order to relearn who she is. She receives a call from a Dr Nash, who tells her that she has been writing a journal so that she can retain some memories from day to day. Over the course of the journal, Christine grows ever more distrustful of her husband and Dr Nash - it appears that one or both of them are lying to her about her past. She remembers a son, Adam, whose existence is initially denied then confirmed by both Ben and Nash. An old best friend, Claire, is reported to have moved to New Zealand, and her previous aspirations of being a writer seem never to be mentioned. Aided by sparse recollections of memories, she eventually manages to get in contact with Claire. It transpires that the man she is living with is not in fact Ben, but Mike, a man she had been having an affair with and who subsequently lured her to a hotel and beat her, causing her amnesia. [synopsis to be finished]
I felt that the author succeeded in conveying the fear of the unknown that amnesiacs can face - the reader finds out about Christine's life even as she does. As I mentioned before, the novel succeeds in maintaining the level of suspense throughout the plot, and for a short read it was quite engrossing. I disagree with some of the other reviewers who seem to get hung up on the lack of medical accuracy with regards to amnesia - it is obvious that the premise of Christine investigating herself relies on being able to hold memories for more than a few minutes. It's a fictional novel and I don't think the degree of suspension of belief here is implausible or unwarranted.
My negative points about the book would have to be the difficulty with understanding Christine. Often she appears to break down at a the slightest trigger, then consider the trigger easily and rationally momentarily afterwards - it was a little jarring and disrupted my involvement with her plight. The other was that the way the events panned out was less surprising than I would have liked - I think Watson dropped a few too many clues about what was happening.
All in all, it serves its purpose as an easy-to-read entertainment novel, even if we learn less of value about amnesiacs than the author might have hoped.
I originally picked up this book from the library as it was on a university reading list. As an interesting analysis of the concepts behind chemical reactions, I can say that its presence there is not unwarranted. Why Chemical Reactions Happen covers ideas from entropy to atomic and molecular orbitals to kinetics and energetics. Keeler and Wothers start by introducing the book as intended for those starting a university chemistry/natural sciences course, or for those who have completed A-Levels (high-school) in chemistry as a way of furthering their understanding. I think that they succeed in presenting the relevant topics to the titular question in a straightforward manner: constructing an argument as the chapters progress.
Synopsis of concepts covered
The book begins with the idea of entropy, or disorder in physical systems. The authors show how formulating the Second Law of thermodynamics in terms of net entropy increase can reveal why both endo- and exothermic processes can occur. Water freezing is an example of an exothermic process. Above 0C, the heat given out raises the entropy of the surroundings less than below 0C. Below 0C, this entropy increase outweighs the entropy decrease by the water freezing and becoming ordered. Consequently, the process only occurs below 0C. This is analogous to chemical processes, where reactions will take place only if the net entropy decreases. An endothermic process such as the dissolution of ammonium nitrate occurs because the entropy decrease due to the heat absorbed is outweighed by the decrease in order of the solute. An expression for the Gibbs energy of a system is also derived, which has the advantage that it is derived wholly from system properties. A negative Gibbs energy indicates an increase in entropy, and consequently a possible process. The result is that reactions which reduce Gibbs energy, as opposed to enthalpy, are the ones which will occur (even though many do both.)
Molecules by P.W.Atkins is a surprisingly detailed yet accessible overview of the molecules which are important in our lives. Atkins lays out 160 molecules in these pages, divided into various categories from simple substances such as water to the complicated molecules in lipids, senses and other drugs and hormones. Each molecule is accompanied with an expanded sphere image, as well as a skeletal model for more complex organic molecules. Some education in chemical principles will help in understanding this book, but it is very good at conveying the author's passion for the subject and is a good introductory read to anyone interested in how chemistry underlies our lives. I would not recommend trying to study from the text, however - this is more light science reading. 5/5 for clear presentation and language.
Life of Pi is a odd sort of fantasy, philosophy, adventure story that really puzzled me. Granted, I did read it in one go in about 2 hours in a sleepless haze, but nevertheless I still felt it was trying to be overtly meaningful in a counterproductive way.
Initially, I enjoyed the story. It is presented as a story by a writer who serves as a narrative voice. This writer interviews Piscine Molitor Patel, the eponymous Pi, named after a pool in France, in his middle age in Canada, with his story recalled in the first person.
The first part of the novel deals with Pi's childhood in Pondicherry, India. The two main foci are the zoo which Pi's father runs, and Pi's love of religion. Pi goes into great detail regarding the way in which the animals behave with each other - an example of rhinos cohabiting with goats is an oft-mentioned one in which animals care less for the actual species but more for the role they play. A great deal is dicussed regarding the morality of zoos and the illusion of the proud wild beast. Abruptly, we then suddenly have Pi discover that he wants to be Hindu, Christian and Muslim in quick succession, with little explanation for this devotion than "I just want to love God." I think Martel raises some provoking, albeit not original, points about atheism, morality and human behaviour - most of the time it is just not very subtle. My copy notes in the back that Martel thinks chapters 21 and 22 are particularly significant. All I really got from them is that love is a good thing, and that agnosticism (used incorrectly, as far as I can tell) is simply indecision.
The second part changes tack significantly, detailing Pi's adventures after the ship he is on sinks and he is stranded at sea on a lifeboat. I have to admit, the inital Author's Note fooled me slightly, so I was not wholly sure whether the novel was based on a real story or not. From my ignorant viewpoint, Martel presents an initially fairly realistic description of open-sea survival. Pi wakes in the storm and ends up the next day in the lifeboat with a hyena, a zebra, an orang-utan and a lion called Richard Parker. Pi has a period of fear and shock while the animals devour each other gruesomely, leaving only Richard Parker. Using supplies on the lifeboat, Pi is then able to build a small raft to be safe from the lion as well as collect fresh water and fish for food. Eventually though, he pulls on his zoo experience and establishes him as the dominant "lion" in their relationship. They travel, with vivid descriptions of storms, wildlife, and Pi's feelings. At one point, he notices Richard Parker has gone blind, and he soon follows. He comes across another castaway, who boards and tries to eat him but is mauled by Richard Parker. They then find some kind of floating acid algae tree island, which apparently lures fish to be dissolved and eaten. Eventually they find their way to Mexico.
I mentioned that I found the story initially convincingly realistic. I suspect the absurdity of Pi's adventures towards the end of the novel was intended as some kind of point - when being interrogated in hospital, Pi tells two versions of his story - one without animals and one with, the former being far more acceptable to the shipping company. Perhaps the point is that it doesn't matter whether it is true or not? Pi says only: “So it goes with God.”. The events also seem to conspire at the end to make it impossible to check the veracity of Pi's story - Richard Parker disappears almost immediately on reaching land and the boat shows only some remnant bones.
Other things strike me as odd. The character of Mamaji, or Francis Adirubasamy, seems to me to exist purely to decieve the reader. His entire contribution is to provide a pretext for the author/narrator to find out about Pi's story, and to provide the provenance for Pi's curious name. Teasing related to the name also makes up a portion of the first part. Perhaps it is for “character development”? The initial author's note claims that the story will “make you believe in God”, yet the initial focus on Pi's religious fervor disappears almost completely. Pi makes no thought comments about being driven by God, or inspired by God - he instead places the cause of his survival on Richard Parker. Equally, the “love” that is apparently so important is absent towards the end of the book - who is Pi going to love other than a tiger? Does God work through Richard Parker? Pi does have a delusional episode in which he “talks” to Richard Parker. My impression is that Pi survives because of his own determination, knowledge and tenacity - undermining this divine aspect somewhat. The tendency of Pi to hoard food following his experience - cookies in the hospital, canned goods in Canada - also seems to be meaningless or vague to the point of it.
My final impression is that Life of Pi is a novel which perhaps too hard to try something. Unlike say, Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, I felt like I was having meaning and depth forced at me rather than subtly. It makes it impossible to try to take the novel at face value as an adventure narrative - the fantastical island and similar events mean that the reader ends up having to try and decipher “deeper” meaning from the text. 3/5 for an enjoyable, albeit ultimately frustrating read.
Deep Simplicity is a popular science book about the theory of chaos. As always, John Gribbin presents the subject in a remarkably accessible way - the educated layperson will be able to tackle this book. However, it is not without drawbacks.
The book starts out with a concise history of mathematics relating to chaos. Gribbin begins with the Greeks and Galileo and moves onto Newton, and the issue of the three-body problem (where it is impossible to use Newton's laws of motion to generate analytical solutions to a situation in which there are three bodies of similar size affecting each other under gravity). He then talks about thermodynamics, and the concept of entropy and how this leads to an arrow of time. Gribbin also introduces an idea which he seems to be very fond of, that life is an example of using energy flow to reduce local entropy.The next section introduces some of the mathematics behind chaos. Gribbin describes how the iterative approximation techniques used in finding solutions to can never be exactly accurate. The concept of phase space, where a single point completely describes a system using multiple dimensions, is used by Poincare to deal with the problem of the Solar System's stabilty. Gradually, Gribbin brings the reader to the realisation that some systems, such as the weather, while deterministic in principle, are very difficult to predict in practice because of the non-linearity of their progression. Simply, small changes in initial conditions can lead to vastly different outcomes. Indeed, the impossibility of knowing the precise positions or momenta of anything makes such precise prediction unachievable even in principle.The idea of chaos as deterministic yet unpredictable order comes in the next section with the example of turbulence - a single parameter, the fluid speed, is changing, yet the flow changes from regular to turbulent to laminar. Additionally, the chaotic pattern appears to be fractally self-similar, like the Feigenbaum diagram describing species reproduction. Other fractals such as the Sierpinski gasket and the Cantor set are discussed, as well issues of fractal dimension. However, recognising that completely regular and completely random systems are uninteresting, Gribbin quickly ushers the reader onto the "edge of chaos, where complexity lives."The rest of the book appears to be satisfying some of the author's own interests, however. He takes many aspects of living development, including abiogenesis, Gaia systems, predator-prey relationships and more and tries to recognise chaotic patterns in them all. He notes that any such system that incoporates feedback will generate chaotic behaviour, but often there seems to be little gained from understanding that the behaviour is chaotic - for example, the idea that Ice Ages are chaotic fluctuations in a punctuated equilibrium appears to be difficult to test!
Gribbin succeeds in conveying the history and principles of chaos in his first sections, as well as their relevance to many areas of science - especially the complexities of life. However, unlike some of his other books on quantum physics, among others, I feel like this topic is one that is best dealt with in greater detail than can be used in a popular science book. Gribbin uses examples well to illustrate the points, but without understanding derivations it is hard to avoid feeling like much of the book is assumed. Additionally, it is possible to see how the book has been structured in hindsight, but while reading I felt disorientated as he jumps from one area to another. Again, understanding more about the principles behind chaos would have remedied this somewhat. An interesting read, but not as engaging as I might have hoped.
Having finally noticed that the Paolini has completed the series, after almost a decade, I decided to pick up Eragon again so I could refresh my memory of the names and events of the first two books. As a brief synopsis, Eragon is a fifteen year old boy living in a remote village. Upon discovering a dragon egg in the woods, he hatches it and becomes a new Dragon Rider, with the goal of fighting against the emperor Galbatorix's rule. He journeys away from the Empire to the hideout of the rebel Varden group, in search of sanctuary while he trains in arms and magic.It seems to me that the prevailing opinion among the more “refined” reviewers here is that Eragon is a rehash of old fantasy tropes. Although I agree that the idea of a young hero discovering a magic power/object and fighting an evil ruler is hardly original, I don't think this detracts from the enjoyment of the story itself. My favourite part of Eragon is probably the magic system. In Eragon, magic is tied to an “ancient language”, which describes things as they are - by saying something, it can be made so. The catch is that all magic requires the same effort as the actual task. Paolini has thus created a flexible yet structured magical system, which (I think) is a also a fairly original concept. The drawback is that unlike in, say, Mistborn, magical battles are less than exciting, amounting to rapid talking and thinking.The blurb mentioned that Paolini began the book at fifteen, and it shows: the writing is not often subtle and seems tailored at the young adult reader. He makes an effort at creating vivid landscapes, but too often we lose out on significant details - for example, the fact that Ajihad is black is mentioned only once and is quite easy to miss, giving a very different mental image of him and his daughter. Other problems include the fact that I still have yet to get a good idea of what Farthen Dur looks like: Paolini has a habit of skipping over gaps of space and time as people tend to “travel for three days” and appear elsewhere. Maps help alleviate this, but it still feels a little discontinuous.Nevertheless, I would still recommend reading Eragon, especially as a primer to some fantasy as it isn't a particularly taxing text. I will however be interested to see how the rest of the series goes. 3/5 for promising storyline but slightly confusing presentation.
Unlike some of the other reviewers, I was not lucky enough to be able to read Calvin and Hobbes growing up. Here and there, I might see one or two strips linked to on the Internet, but Calvin and Hobbes had until recently, remained a curiosity to me. Having taken the plunge on this collection, I ended up spending many wonderful evenings working my way through every strip. When I have the time, I look forward to being able to do so again.
For those who don't know much about Calvin and Hobbes, the strip revolves around six year old Calvin and his faithful stuffed tiger companion, Hobbes. Their adventures, both fictional and imaginary, provide a quirky insight into the suburban American life of the eighties and nineties. Don't be put off by the childish setting: Calvin and Hobbes are both capable of some fairly penetrating philosophical insights that will make you sit back and reconsider your life and the world even as you chuckle. I recommend you look up a strip or two to get a feel for Watterson's delightful brand of humour. Some that stood out in my memory are the one where Calvin wears his Dad's glasses and sarcastically mimics him, as well as the one where his dad puts off work to go and play with Calvin in the snow. Watterson uses some recurring jokes that are very evident if you are reading the collection in one go (snowballs/Susie and summer camping holiday spring to mind) but their effect is not diminished. One other thing to be mentioned is the introduction by Bill Watterson at the start of the collection, which helps provide some context for the situation in which Calvin and Hobbes was created and written. The result was that as I approached the end of the third volume, I found many of the panels extremely poignant in the knowledge that they were coming to an end. Dose feels....
In terms of the books themselves: they come as a large three volume box set, reassuringly weighty. The comics are printed in thick, quality paper, vibrant colour where applicable, and with dates attached to each one. The editors have also taken the liberty of rearranging the order of some sets of comics such that a single storyline is always put together, even if you end up with a few Sunday strips in a row - very helpful for the whole reading experience. The set exudes value - it comes strongly recommended.
Ever wondered how adhesives and dyes work? How diesel and petrol engines work? Why do we get swellings, broken bones, blisters and a myriad of other questions?
The Undercover Scientist by Peter Bentley attempts to address the underlying science behind everyday workings through a day in the life of an extremely unlucky individual. The problems described are extremely varied, but the underlying science is sound and well cited. Unfortunately, the level of science is fairly varied, ranging from interesting explanations of lightning to mundane gravity. I appreciate that it is targeted at the non scientist, but the decision to force the events into a fictional day mean that there is little order to the grouping of the problems. There is an index, but I am hardly going to use this as a reference - the contents is useless since each chapter title is not particularly informative as to the matters discussed.
A fairly short and mildly entertaining read, but not challenging or interesting enough to recommend.
Mistborn: The Final Empire presents us with a world in which the Lord Ruler has reigned for a thousand years. Brandon Sanderson takes us through the efforts of Vin, Kelsier and other oppressed skaa to overthrow the tyrant.
The most compelling part of the novel is definitely the clear framework that the magic, Allomancy, is placed into. Unlike say, Harry Potter, the way in which the characters manipulate the basic rules of Allomancy into brilliant fighting is extraordinarily engaging. I like the way that capabilities are generally limited - you never feel as though everyone is missing some obvious strategy, for example.
Looking forward to the rest of the series.
Continues on from Speaker for the Dead. Valentine and her family arrive on Lusitania, even as Starways Congress' Fleet bears down on the planet with the M.D Device. Ender is struggling under the impending doom from the Fleet, the adaptable and destructive descolada, the diplomacy between the three sentient species and the problems within his own family.
Introduces Han Qing-jao, Han Fei-tzu and Si Wang-mu, who live on the Taoist Chinese world of Path. They are given a mandate to discover the whereabouts of the Lusitania fleet after Jane hid it. Raises issues of servility, as well as the nature of religion and faith when it has been engineered into you.
Orson Scott Card expands on his idea of the philotes, indivisible particles that join and create everything real. They use this idea to permit instantaneous starflight by shifting to the Outside and back In. Possible relations to string theory? The concept of an auia, the spirit philote which represents an individual - controlling a network of smaller auias in cells etc. resembles a physical soul. Provides mechanism for Jane's emergence, and for the transfer of memories in the pequenino lifecycle.
Ender
Part 1 of a series of graphic novels explaining some of the story between the end of the war at the end of A:TLA and the events of A:LoK. Great artwork that captures the essence of the TV show. The writing is canon, so this is essential for some knowledge of the situation in the Legend of Korra, although the show stands alone. 4 stars have for some minor quibbles: the story is not long and I think it could easily have been released as a single volume. Now, we will need to get the other parts in order to appreciate the story. The other is that the script does make very overt attempts to distinguish the characters (Sokka with plenty of jokes, Toph really in-your-face etc.) I think having watched some of LoK, I am disappointed that this novel is almost more juvenile than the original show, and has not aged with its audience.
Set immediately after the events of Ender's Game, this sequel narrates Ender's life following the end of the Bugger War. The story deals primarily with the guilt that Ender feels as a result of having killed two boys while at Battle School, and the unknowing xenocide of an entire species.
Ender sacrifices his reputation by revealing the deaths of Bonzo and Stilson to the court martial, even though he is unable to understand why the buggers “let him win.” He travels out into the colonies to find an answer, and eventually lets himself be beaten up, partly to punish himself.
Orson Scott Card provides some further great lore on the wars during Peter's ascent to the Hegemony. I enjoyed the following up of many characters from Ender's Game, as well as the power the jeesh had on the new Earth. Insight into the way the colonies were created was also welcome.
I think this book falls down on the necessity of sticking with the previous timeline at the end of Ender's Game. Card's afterword notes that he is prone to making errors in continuity. The book suffers from spending a lot of time dealing with how Ender sees his parents and sister on his way to Shakespeare, and much less with his own redemption until the very end. Various plotlines on the ship appeared gratuitous to me - enjoyable to read, but not apparently necessary and diminishing from the “point” of the book.
Looking forward to exploring more of Ender's universe.
Sequel to Ender's Game, set three thousand years after its end. Ender is now a Speaker for the Dead, recounting the lives, motives, thoughts and actions of those he is called to speak.
Orson Scott Card wrote Ender's Game almost as an introduction to this book. Although it did not recieve as much recognition, it deals with many more complex issues - especially the treatment of strangers through Demosthenes' groupings of utlanning, framling, ramen and varelse. Much of the story focuses on recognising that the species known as piggies are ramen, the stranger that is human but not homo sapiens, rather than varelse, like the animals. Brings up ideas of how we judge others that we don't know. Neither the Xenocide nor minimal intervention is the right way.
Other characters include Novinha, a xenobiologist, and her children in the colony. They tell us something of fear and guilt, and the way that different people deal with different issues (Ender's speaking is masterful in its comprehension of the events, as well as the audience reaction.)
Enjoyable also due to the concepts of scifi technology introduced. The ansibles enable instantaneous communication, but the ideas behind starflight, protection, genetic engineering, and the unique biology of Lusitania are ideas worth revisiting.
Definitely looking forward to Xenocide, the next book.
Robert H Frank presents a collection of reworked student essays on economics applied to real life situations. Each is short, perhaps a page or more, with titles such as ‘Why do women endure the discomfort of high heels?' or ‘Why did kamikaze pilots wear helmets?'
Good introduction to the way that economists think about some problems. Breaks down many issues in an analytical way, outlining the apparent discrepancy and attempting to explain it. I think it falls down in that it gets repetitive very quickly, and also due to the sometimes speculative nature of the explanations. For example, one question dealing with the varying popularity of text messaging from one country to another resorted to ‘national character' as an unsatisfactory answer.
Useful for those new to economics, perhaps, but may overextend the applicability of economic concepts in some areas. While such uses are plausible, often they are unnecessary and overcomplicate where a simple common sense answer would suffice.
Laura Brown relates her journal of her year in 2015. UK goes on carbon rationing, limits energy usage by citizens. Results in widespread power cuts, loss of water, heating etc. which throws country into chaos. Protests for/against rationing worldwide, police/army violence often resorted to.
Laura is in a band called the dirty angels, who sing about green punky stuff. Her sister, Kim, is trafficking black market carbon, as well as angry at parents. Dad loses job and goes crazy with gardening, Mum joins Women Moving Forward and becomes slightly mad. She herself is trying to get with neighbour Ravi Datta. Other neighbours are Kieran, gay hairdresser trying to launch Carbon Dating, and Arthur, old ex-rich guy who helps with homework etc.
She is generally negative towards politicans etc. Blames companies for waste, forcing people on rationing - in music. Hates the new living conditions, but also hates those who won't put up with it (rich). Eventually ends up living through the disputes of their parents at wolf camp in the forest, before coming back to have a end-book crisis involving London flooding and NDEs.
Shows the impact of carbon reduction as incredibly bad, but suggests slower reforms are possible.
I read Heaney for the first time more than 12 years ago now (thanks Mr. Masterman!) Death of a Naturalist was probably the second poem I can really remember thinking hard about. I wouldn't say I'm a poetry guy, but Heaney's command of sound and imagery gets me. Take Blackberry Picking, or The Gravel Walks; he can pull out feeling from the simplest of scenes. I'll add some thoughts here as I am reminded of particular pieces.
Digging
Mid-Term Break
Requiem for the Croppies
A Call
Conflicted about this one. I came into this only having read [b:Snow Crash 830 Snow Crash Neal Stephenson https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1477624625s/830.jpg 493634] by Neal previously, and a long time ago at that. He has a digressive style of providing oodles of backstory in a convoluted way only to arrive, a few pages later, at the actual point. I think I loved this in the beginning of the book, when we are meeting characters and want to get to know them; it felt like a real understanding of the characters and a unique and fun way of showing who they were and why they do what they do. However, especially at the end it started to bog down the pacing. At a point in a thriller I think I want to just move along and reach a conclusion, but we still get exposition late in the game and it becomes overwhelming. This is despite having so much backstory, the characters still end up following the plot lines in a slightly contrived way, and it isn't clear to me at least why certain pairings or actions are taken except to ensure that everyone is where they needs to be for the book to conclude.That said, the central sequences were brilliant and I enjoyed it mostly because of them. The twists there were great. I wish they had extended through to the end.
At least in my admittedly limited experience, there's a surfeit of queer literature that is heavy or deep in emotional and political scope. My Brother's Husband, instead, focuses on the small things, the everyday interactions that come with being gay in a heteronormative world. I think it's particular interesting that at least in volume 1, we're mostly seeing Yaichi's perspective; Mike is a less developed character. It's not common that we get the internal monologues and worries and decisions and conflicts from the family member who is beginning to deal with and process having a gay brother-in-law. Tagame's writing and art does brilliantly in making these thoughts both poignant and heartwarming. It also succeeds in injecting some comedy, which made reading Kana's reactions in particular thoroughly enjoyable. In the end, I take the volume as a reminder not to catastrophise about these small interactions; that opening up can hurt but reaps its rewards.
I laughed. I cried. I thought I was getting a nice descriptive family history of life in the Salinas Valley. I actually got an incredible allegorical generational story, one that shows people at their best and worst. I learned about expectation, about choice, about what we are given and what we have to take. I don't know how it is that [b:East of Eden 4406 East of Eden John Steinbeck https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1441547516s/4406.jpg 2574991]'s characters can be sometimes so obviously playing out their type, their assigned role, and yet they feel directly and deeply the things that I have or hope to feel in not so many words. They're fictional, but their lives are universal.10/10 would recommend.
What [b:The Prophet 28461875 The Prophet Kahlil Gibran https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1452067735s/28461875.jpg 2938937] might lack in philosophical rigor or depth, it gains in beauty and feeling. I think it misses the point to say that Gibran's treatment of any of his topics, from justice, to death, to good and evil, are complete in the face of centuries of human thought and contemplation on these inherently human questions. I'd tender the suggestion that the Prophet of Orphalese doesn't need to be right, or even for the reader to agree with most of what he says, to have an impact. Yes, that's a little generic and not the most useful, but the takeaway is that I'm not going to judge the Prophet on its content per se but the experience of reading it and listening to it. I love these pieces because it provides a solid counterpoint to many of our prevailing modes of thinking; its tone and metaphor and imagery force you to go “wait, have I been doing it wrong the whole time?” Often I tell myself no, sometimes I tell myself yes, but either way I think it helped my “soul unfold itself, like a lotus of countless petals”.