Welcome to August, friends!
I hope the sun is shining in your part of the world. I’m writing to you with July’s reading updates— as usual, a somewhat eclectic collection of books ranging from a history of the Israel-Palestine conflict to a novel about a girl who decides to literally sleep for a year, and a sampling of everything in between. Take a look and let me know if anything strikes your interest— always excited to discuss more!
What have your favorite reads been this past month?
Some more Internet links will be on their way shortly, but wanted to get this edition out on time. The usual reminders— further notes available through linked titles, I welcome all questions/comments/critiques/pet updates, and feel free to forward to anyone else you think might enjoy my reading adventures!
Have a happy Sunday morning!
Cheers,
Maya
Connections
- One of the scholars consulted by the PLO, as described in The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine, worked alongside Edward Said (whose book is on my list), Fanon (whose work my mom and I have discussed), and the FLN in the Algerian conflict at the heart of The Art of Losing. The anticolonial movement is a small world, it seems!
- Discussion of the nature of data and knowledge, in The Science of Can and Can’t, Living in Data, and The Last Stargazers. In the first, knowledge is defined as resilient information, or information that can self-perpetuate, and arises from processes of natural selection or creativity. In Living in Data, Jer Thorp discusses how in non-Western traditions, the direction of flow can go the other way, from knowledge systems down to data, emphasizing the subjectivity of information based on its context and collection. Finally, The Last Stargazers is a wonderfully-illustrative case study on the quirks and intricacies of how data is collected and analyzed in the field of astronomy.
- Wonderworks presents a literary technique derived from Don Quixote that promotes counterfactual thinking— Chiara Marletto should take a look!
Books
- The Anthropology of Turquoise — Ellen Meloy
- Color permeates every page of this book—not just turquoise, but hues, tints, and shades spanning the visible range, beautifully painting the scenes. Meloy writes these flourishing descriptions with a genuine thoughtfulness that I so enjoy reading, the visual imagery somehow driving the narrative arc more than the other way around.
- I usually have trouble staying engaged with, and even following, writing that’s so packed with proper nouns, but not so here—I think because of the vivid pictures of the many names—and this was a welcome surprise. The pace does rise and fall over the chapters, but in a way that’s seasonal more than inconsistent— very fitting for the naturalistic subject.
- Beginners — Tom Vanderbilt
- Inspired by the constant acquisition of skills by his young daughter, Vanderbilt sets out on an intriguing quest to learn to play chess, sing, draw, make a wedding ring, and juggle— in other words, to embrace beginner-hood. At times, the author comes off as trying a little too hard to make his journey more significant than it really is, but he seems genuine enough that it’s more endearing than frustrating. And I do walk away from listening to this quite inspired to learn a few new skills myself!
- The Art of Losing — Alice Zeniter, transl. by Frank Wynne
- In this epic, multigenerational novel set around Algeria and its diaspora (topics I know next to nothing about), Zeniter masters the style of omniscient narration to convey stories at the scale of history, community, family, and individual. I am intrigued and curious, as always, how the translation is affecting my reading. Also, the book is set in a fantastic serif font, which is always a plus.
- Another thing I appreciate: the steady, rolling pace of the novel, which reminds me of waves at sea, somehow. Never still, never pausing on any moment, but constantly moving forward while maintaining a sense of rising and falling action. The intergenerational component is also masterfully managed, which each character inheriting and complexifying the experiences of those who came before in the context of changing cultural and political landscapes.
- Made me think: “She wondered whether she had developed a form of racism common to certain children of immigrants: she cannot imagine having a relationship with someone who comes from the sand region as her family.” And this, about the same girl inheriting her father’s “need to reinvent himself in order to feel he truly exists.”
- Re: the title (also referring to this poem)— Zeniter grapples with themes of of colonialism and oppression as she tells the history of the French-Algerian War and its resulting diaspora through the voices of people on many “sides” of the conflict. In doing so, she highlights what we are juststarting to face in the US: that while we converge on a single history told by the “winners,” we do not erase the truth of the many other realities that occurred.
- Wave — Sonali Deraniyagala
- A memoir set around the author’s experience of the 2004 tsunami that devastated Southeast Asia, and her life. Deraniyagala’s account of the disaster, which she lived through in Sri Lanka, brought to life the absolute terror and chaos of an event I’ve found so hard to imagine, despite having strong memories of many of the affected locales. A heartwrenching, brutally honest read.
- The power of place, of grief and love and memory and meaning and what it’s like to lose everything and then choose keep on living, permeate this story, and my admiration and respect for Deraniyagala’s resilience, authenticity, and strength grow with each chapter— guilty, that her tragedy somehow giving me hope for the human condition.
- The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine — Rashid Khalidi
- Khalidi aims to illuminate recent Palestinian history beyond the popular narrative by highlighting six key points in the past hundred years of conflict, interweaving his personal experiences with academic and research-based writing. An infuriating and essential history that reveals some of the worst parts of humanity.
- The Last Stargazers — Emily Levesque
- In this refreshingly “light” read, Dr. Levesque takes us behind the scenes of astronomy with charming enthusiasm, telling the tales of how the scientists actually do their science. It’s often much less glamorous but maybe more awe-inspiring than we (and she) expect.
- I was pleasantly surprised by how engaged I stayed with this history and commentary on astronomy, a topic I honestly am a little hesitant about (ever since I had months of nightmares after watching Contact as a 6-year-old…), but I genuinely enjoyed the talk of telescopes across the hundreds of pages— a testament to Levesque more than the structures themselves, I believe!
- The Science of Can and Can’t — Chiara Marletto
- Clearly written by a theoretical scientist, this book is a rigorous and dense with defense of the author’s claims on the importance of including counterfactuals into our scientific process. While somewhat overwhelming to listen to as an audiobook (not being able to slow down or digest a statement as easily), I still found Marletto’s explanations cogent and cohesive, tying together basic concepts while grappling with some of the most complex open problems of our time.
- Good Company — Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney
- A typical family romantic drama, and a welcome quick and entertaining story amidst lots of non-fiction. Nothing too memorable, and sometimes that’s a nice break.
- Living in Data — Jer Thorp
- Taking my sweet time to savor this beautifully-printed text, which I’ve been awaiting for several years. It is, thus far, well worth the wait.
- True Story — Kate Reed Petty
- I can’t quite figure out how to describe this novel, with its two narrators involved with the same case of sexual assault but not directly with each other, telling fragments of the story in different forms— and this unique structure was intriguing more than I initially imagined. At first, Petty deeply humanizes both narrators despite their seeming juxtaposition, keeping me engaged in their alternating perspectives, in suspense of a moment of collision. But instead, the plot evolves into a bizarre, disturbing psychological thriller builds its own need for resolution… and what a resolution it turns out to be! Shocking.
- Breath — James Nestor
- Long awaited! As always, I’m a big fan of the genre of participatory journalism, and Nestor’s exploration of the “lost art and science” of breathing is uniquely relatable. In weaving together peer-reviewed science, anecdotal evidence, indigenous knowledge, and his own personal experience, he offers an engaging and comprehensive landscape of the potential and accessibility of breathing to change our lives.
- Dangling Man — Saul Bellows
- To be honest, decided to read this because I came across the author’s name in a few crosswords I was doing as a Pulitzer winner, and thought I should try it out. It’s Bellows’s first novel, short and readable and very introspective— not my favorite, but not a big investment.
- General vibe of the book can be summed up by this lovely quote: “…there are a few green stubs of iris showing, nearly provoking me into saying: ’Go back, you don’t know what you’re getting into.’l
- Wonderworks — Angus Fletcher
- Long awaited! Fletcher weaves a majestic tale as he teaches of literature, neuroscience, and their intertwining histories. I’m savoring his engaging writing and insightful message alike.
- Covering his topic thoroughly, I did get a little overwhelmed by the thirteenth of twenty-five techniques or so, but it was well worth it to work through them all. It’s been so interesting to see these literary themes in much of the other media I’m encountering right now, and I want to try to keep note of them as I notice them.
- The Argonauts — Maggie Nelson
- Quiet and somber, a philosophically personal discussion of the lives experiences of gender. I don’t know what I mean by any of that, either, but those are the words that best describes my experience of the audiobook thus far, which I’ve found surprisingly flat, given that it’s narrated by the author. But perhaps that is her intention?
- Four Lost Cities — Annalee Newitz
- An exploration of four spectacular cases of urban abandonment from the ancient cities of Çatalhöyük, Angwork, Pompeii, and Cahokia. Newitz immersed herself in the modern locales of these so-called “lost” cities, and tells their fascinating stories beyond the conventional myths of how our ancestors lived. By tying their lives to the larger trends of urbanism, she reveals relevant connections to our current urban crises and lessons we may learn to prevent another round of self-destruction.
- My Year of Rest and Relaxation — Ottessa Moshfegh
- A twenty-four year old Millennial pursues a medication-aided, year-long “hibernation.” Absurdity ensues. Simultaneously ironic, eloquent, tragic, and laughable, I genuinely could not stop listening to this. You should give it a try.