Nomad's Bookshelf

            Years ago, when I was little, I remember being frightened by the dread of death. Even though I was just a kid who craved for chocolate and ice cream, there were times when the thought that me, my loved ones, and everyone around me will one day die and be buried cold. What happens next? Where do we go? How scary is it, that one who firmly existed simply perishes away in such short notice? The sudden influx of these philosophical speculations always drove me insane and I would run around the hallway, yelling some stupid song to flush my nightmares out. Fortunately, I am no longer seized by those terrors but instead developed an attitude, an inward question that approaches me time to time: Death is inevitable. Then how must one live to die in true contentment?             Demian is one of the books that gave a glimpse to my question. To clarify, it poses a quest...

                          What makes humans so special? What makes us stand on top of every other species and renovate the plant more palatable to us? The answer is, nothing. Although we are just one of a myriad of species constituting the world, we tend to forget and act as preeminent beings. Ernest Hemingway portrays the humbleness humans should equip through an old man fighting his way within nature.             Santiago, the old man, is a veteran fisherman in an unlucky streak. Although he has an apprentice that looks up to him and secures his side, his pride compels him to go further to catch a big fish and redeem his position. Fortunately, he meets his prey in short notice. However it didn’t take long to figure out that the fish tugging the line wasn’t some mediocre creature but an opponent worthy to give all he had. For...

            I remember my first encounter with this book; a short story it seemed, and I picked it up without hesitation. But the story was much more complex than my expectations, and there were analogies and rhetoric beyond the understanding of a 14-year-old. But now, after six years past, I finally had the chance to read it again.             The story unfolds by juxtaposing two incompatible values, which is represented by Rivière and Fabien. Riviere, with a stern and austere nature, exacts punctuality from his workers which would promise the success of the night flight business. He thrusted away the gentler joys of life including love and friendship and used all his energies for work. While pitying his deprivation of humanity he also acknowledges that he is “responsible for all the sky,” and such weakness of his cannot be tolerated. On the other hand, Fabien is lost in ...

Hans Rosling, the Swedish physician and statistician, gives 10 reasons why the world is better than we think. To summarize, they are 1.  Gap Instinct: We tend to resort in dichotomy and imagine two polarized groups. However the reality is almost never that extreme, and we should always notice the majority in the middle. 2.  Negativity Instinct: When we receive negative news, we remember them very clearly and fear they would affect us. This overly negative impression is created by the media as it does not report good and gradual improvement but announces provocative news. 3.  Straight Line Instinct: A line is hardly straight. They have S-bends, slides, humps, etc. 4.  Fear Instinct: The world seems scarier because it is filtered by the media to grab our attention. 5.  Size Instinct: A lonely number tells nothing. We should always compare and get things in proportion. Looking at rates rather than the amount can help. 6.  Generali...