Books I've read. July '24
Brief thoughts on the books I read in the spring and first half of summer 2024.
You can find previous posts below:
This time I have only five books:
- “Ears under your sickle” by Uladzimir Karatkievich
- “The culture map: breaking through the invisible boundaries of global business” by Erin Meyer
- “Homage to Catalonia” by George Orwell
- “The amazing Maurice and his educated rodents” by Terry Pratchett
- “The left hand of darkness” by Ursula K. Le Guin
“Ears under your sickle” by Uladzimir Karatkievich
This is probably one of the most famous novels by the classic of Belarusian literature Uladzimir Karatkievich. It describes the society and the events on the territory of Belarus before the tragic uprising of 1863, which was led by Kastuś Kalinoŭski. I read this book, I think, back in school, and then it was more like a personal story of the main character Ales Zagorski - a young heir from a noble family who realized that he was Belarusian. Now I understand how much deeper and broader this book is - it tells about the formation of the Belarusian nation and raises such questions as “Who are Belarusians?”, “Where did we come from?”, “How are we different from our neighbors?”, “What future awaits our country and do we have a future at all?”… All these questions are still very relevant and resonate in the hearts of many of us.
The book is full of anti-imperialist sentiments and national self-awareness, and I am surprised that this book was freely published in the Soviet Union and is being published nowadays. This is a novel about Belarus, about its culture and soul, about how something inside us hurts.
“The culture map: breaking through the invisible boundaries of global business” by Erin Meyer
This book talks about cultural differences and the behavioral peculiarities of people from different cultures, countries, and regions around the world in the context of cooperative working. This book was created for managers of cross-cultural teams. However, it can be useful for anyone interested in other cultures or who needs to communicate with foreigners. I think this is very relevant for many people these days. The book tells how to better understand people from other cultures, their traditions, habits, and motives, how to solve conflicts based on different visions, and make your communication more effective and enjoyable. The book provides many examples of how problems in communication can arise because the same words in various cultures can have completely separate meanings. Or, for example, how people in other cultures make decisions, share criticism and feedback, and treat hierarchy in teams. All these things can affect the quality of teamwork, relationships with colleagues, and how satisfied you will be with your career. The book talks about all this in great detail and gives multiple practical advice.
“Homage to Catalonia” by George Orwell
These are George Orwell’s autobiographical notes about the Spanish Civil War. George Orwell is best known to the world as the author of the dystopian novel “1984” and other works of fiction, but in this book, he talks about real events that he observed and participated in. He was a socialist and took part in the war against Franco, fighting on the side of the revolutionaries. He talks a lot about the participation of anarchists in that war and what fate befell them later. He describes in some detail the military actions from the point of view of a direct participant, as well as the life of ordinary soldiers at the front. He talks about life in a military hospital, where he was treated after being wounded. He also quite colorfully describes how he eventually had to hide from political persecution after the Workers Party of Marxist Unification (Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista (POUM)) was banned (he was a member of its militia).
It seems, that the six months the author spent there changed his life very much, and he returned to Britain as a completely different person. This book, like any good book about war, is essentially very anti-war. And, unfortunately, it is still a very relevant topic for people.
“The amazing Maurice and his educated rodents” by Terry Pratchett
They said he was amazing. The Amazing Maurice, they said. He’d never meant to be amazing. It had just happened.
This is another story from the Discworld series, more like a children’s fairy tale. This book is about a cunning talking cat, his smart (also talking) rats, and people. It is a funny, cute story that can distract you from the worries of reality. The book is filled with Terry Pratchett’s humor, sarcasm, and satire on our society and is very easy to read. Also last year, a cartoon based on this book was released, which conveyed the plot and atmosphere of the book quite well. I recommend watching it!
“The left hand of darkness” by Ursula K. Le Guin
A rather unusual science fiction novel, which got the Nebula Award in 1969 and the Hugo Award in 1970. The plot tells about the envoy of the galactic union to a cold, distant planet to establish interaction with locals and include them in the community of worlds. The main character faces many problems during negotiations. This is not only a matter of mistrust of the stranger or cultural differences. Although the locals, like the envoy, are described as typical human beings, they have a very significant difference in physiology - all the inhabitants of this world are androgynous. This greatly affects the structure of their society and their worldview. For example, they do not have the gender roles we are accustomed to and there are no wars. Also, their ideas about the world are affected by the unusual habitat - the planet has a very harsh cold climate, and there are no flying creatures at all, so the idea of flight is unfamiliar to them. Additional difficulties are created by the complex political situation.
All this allows the author to raise many complex social questions in the novel - gender issues, problems of trust and mutual understanding between completely different cultures and societies, questions about the nature of power. The book does not give clear answers to these questions but invites readers to think about all this on their own.
Thank you for reading this post. In a while, I will again bring you my thoughts on the books I have read.
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