3 books
Three books, I do not recommend are-
Between Two Worlds Escape from Tyranny: Growing up in the Shadow of Saddam by Zainab Salbi and Laurie Becklund
Two Lives a memoir by Vikram Seth
blink The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
Zainab Salbi grew up in Iraq under Saddam Hussein and her family were part of the privileged elite in Baghdad. The book is intent on painting Saddam as a womanizer, murderer and evil. The writing is not very interesting, its more a personal memoir of the writer.
Vikram Seth’s book is about his uncle Shanti Behari Seth and his wife German Helga Gerda Caro. The book also incorporates his own story as a graduate student and world traveler. I personally did not find the two main characters very interesting. I think Vikram Seth has to go beyond his family to look for new, engrossing stories. The over 1000 page The Suitable Boy was more than adequate, to get an idea of his family.
The main premise of Blink, was the idea of thin slicing- filtering the very few factors that matter from an overwhelming number of variables. The decisions and choices one makes on an instinctual level are more accurate than those made at an intellectual, well thought out level. He then goes on to show how often this thin slicing leads to rapid decision making leading to fatal consequences, like the shooting of innocent Guinean Immigrant in the Bronx Amadou Diallo by the Police. I am not sure I understand the point of the book.
Between Two Worlds Escape from Tyranny: Growing up in the Shadow of Saddam by Zainab Salbi and Laurie Becklund
Two Lives a memoir by Vikram Seth
blink The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
Zainab Salbi grew up in Iraq under Saddam Hussein and her family were part of the privileged elite in Baghdad. The book is intent on painting Saddam as a womanizer, murderer and evil. The writing is not very interesting, its more a personal memoir of the writer.
Vikram Seth’s book is about his uncle Shanti Behari Seth and his wife German Helga Gerda Caro. The book also incorporates his own story as a graduate student and world traveler. I personally did not find the two main characters very interesting. I think Vikram Seth has to go beyond his family to look for new, engrossing stories. The over 1000 page The Suitable Boy was more than adequate, to get an idea of his family.
The main premise of Blink, was the idea of thin slicing- filtering the very few factors that matter from an overwhelming number of variables. The decisions and choices one makes on an instinctual level are more accurate than those made at an intellectual, well thought out level. He then goes on to show how often this thin slicing leads to rapid decision making leading to fatal consequences, like the shooting of innocent Guinean Immigrant in the Bronx Amadou Diallo by the Police. I am not sure I understand the point of the book.
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