"A Long, Long Way", by Sebastian, fiction about Irish in
WWI - first gas attack, etc. Read Feb 2007.
"The Haj", by Leon Uris.
"Collapse" by Jared Diamond; about why some societies
destroy their environments while others manage to sustain them, examples such as Greenland,Easter Island, the Dominican Republic,
etc
"Alfred the Great" the Wessex King who fened off the vikings and set the foundations for the English state
"Popular
Music" by Mikael Niemi (trans from Swedish) (July 2006)
"Out of the Sand", the story of General Leclerc and the Free French
forces
"Plain Tales From The Hills" by Rudyard Kipling
"The Road To Hell" (History of the Hells Angels in Canada)
"Lord
Jim" by Jospeh Conrad (read May 2005)
"The Thief and the Dogs" by Naguib Mahfouz (read April 2005)
"George Orwell, a Biography" by Gordon Bowker (read Jan 2005)
"Nickel and Dimed" by Barbara Ehrenreich. Non fiction, writer's
experiment living on minimum wage jobs in the US (read 5/2004)
"Crazy Horse and Custer" by Stephen Ambrose (read 4/2004)
"The Pillars of Hercules; travels around the Mediterranean" by Paul Theroux. Fascinating description of various places
all round the Mediterranean that were visited by the author.
"Band of Brothers" by Stephen Ambrose. The bestselling true
history of Easy Company in the 101st Airborne (US) in WW2. There is a TV series based on the book that I watch recently too.
(Read 3/2004)
"Motoring With Mohammed: Travels in Yemen" by Eric Hansen. This is a true story that begins with the yacht
on which the author was sailing being beached on a small island in the Red Sea off NorthYemen.(Read2/2004)
"Dude, Where's
My Country?" by Michael Moore. Asks a lot of questions about the reasons Bush gave for going to war in Iraq, and brings up
a lot of issues that are worrying, especially the erosion of civil rights. (Read 10-11/ 2003)
"A Perfect Heresy: the Cathars"
by Stephen O'Shea. Medieval History. Describes the brutal and successful campaign waged against the Cathars, a sect whose
beliefs went against the orthodox views of the time. The story takes place in Languedoc, France in the 13th Centuay. (Read
10/ 2003)
"What If" Edited by ... Essays in "counterfactual" history speculating about what would have happened if the
Persians had defeated the Greeks at Salamis, if the English had not defeated the Spanish Armada, and if the Americans had
lost certain battles in the War of Independence, and so on. (read 10/ 2003)
"Reefer Madness" by Eric Schlosser. Has three
sections dealing with contoversial US topics: the illegal marijuana industry; the strawberry industry and illegal workers;
and so on. (read 9-10/2003)
"Animal Farm" By George Orwell. (read 9/2003)
"The Hero's Walk" By Anita Rau Badami (Indian
author living in Canada)(read 9/2003)
"Les Miserables" By Victor Hugo (read 8/2003)
"The Year Zero: the True Story
of Life in Britain 2000 years ago" By Kleinmann & Davies (read 8/2003)
"Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe"
(1991) By Bill Bryson(read 6/2003)
"Fast Food Nation" By Eric Schlosser. This is enough to turn anyone off hamburgers
and french fries. (read 6/2003)
"Stupid White Men" By Michael Moore. Sometimes humorous critique of the state of current
US government policies. Makes George W Bush look pretty bad. (read 5-6/2003)
"Ben Hur" By Lew Wallace. For me, this classic
had quite a few unforgettable scenes, particularly the ocean battle and the chariot race. The main theme is the revenge of
prince Ben Hur against the Roman oppressors. I was impressed with the depth of Wallace's knowledge of the ancient world. (read
April 2003)
"Life of Pi" By Yann Martel (Canadian). This Booker Prize-winning novel is about how an Indian boy survives
being stuck on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger in the Pacific. The witty writing style is just as interesting as the ingenious
plot.
"The Power of Babel" By John McWhorter. A readable history of the world's languages. Borrowed from Bob S.
"The
Pickup" By Nadine Gordimer. A novel about the relationship between an English South African woman and an Arab man.(gift from
Mom, read Feb 2003)
"Guns, Germs and Steel" (A Short History of Everybody For The Last 13,000 Years) By Jared Diamond.
Explains why there are such huge differences in culture and technology on different continents as being due to environmental
and geographical factors rather than race. (Borrowed brom Bob S.)
"Treason By The Book" By Jonathan D. Spence
A true
historical account of a treason case in China of the 1700's against the Manchu Emperor. This book rekindled my interest and
respect for ancient Chinese culture. (Gift from Mom)
"El Alamein" By Field-Marshal Lord Carver. About how a modern tank
battle and pivotal WWII event was fought in the desert. (Sept 2002)
"The Alchemist" By Paulo Coelho. About an Andalusian
shepherd boy's spiritual quest. Unfortunately this book did not do much for me -- too didactic. (Sept 2003)
"The Old Testament"
and "The New Testament" Enlightening reading. The Quran is next, although I have read parts of it. (Ongoing)
"Paradise"
by Toni Morrison. Race, religion, love, violence in a fictional African-American community in the rural south. (Aug 2002)
"The Absorbent Mind" by Maria Montessori, 1967. Educational Psychology. "...growth comes from activity, not from intellectual
understanding..." (June 2002)
"The Muslims in Spain" By Stanley Lane-Poole. A detailed account of how the Moors (Berbers)
and the Arabs established an Islamic outpost in Europe that was characterized by its scholarly and liberal outlook.
"Battles
in Britain: 1066-1749" This book helped fill in some of the gaps in my knowledge of British history. In particular I learned
a lot about the Wars of the Roses and the English Civil War.
"Reversing Heart Disease" by Dean Ornish, MD. (I don't have
heart disease but Cornish is also author of "Eat More, Weigh Less", which appealed to me. This book motivated me to become
a vegetarian as of March 2002. (After a year of this regime I went back to eating meat, but only in small amounts and avoiding
steaks, etc.)
"Looking for Dilmun" by Geoffrey Bibby, 1969. Dilmun is the ancient name for Bahrain. The book provides
information about the archaeology of the Arabian Gulf, inlcuding sites in the UAE, such as Al Ain and Umm an Nar Island. The
descriptions of some of the rulers of the Emirates in the 1950s and 1960 were interesting.
"The Lexus and the Olive Tree"
by Thomas Friedman. About globalization. He explains the origins of globalization and what societies need to do to prevent
themselves from being left behind.
"Creating Web Pages for Dummies" - gave me some pointers on web page creation and helped
me learn some HTML.
"Lawrence" By Michael Asher. This biography of TE Lawrence, the so-called Lawrence of Arabia, delves
in to the personality of the war hero and refutes some of the claims made in his book "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom", without
denying Lawrence's bravery. The author, Asher, himself is an intriguing character who was an officer in the SAS, is a fluent
Arabic speaker and has travelled across the Sahara on a camel.
These are some of the books I read earlier in my time in
the UAE:
George Orwell: The Road to Wigan Pier, Animal farm, Burmese Days, Inside the Whale and Other Essays
Joseph
Conrad: Almayers Folly
Yukio Mishima: The Temple of Dawn, Runaway Horses, The Decay of the Angel
Timothy Findley:
The Wars
Daniel Defoe: Moll Flanders
Elizabeth Gaskell: North and South
Peter Mayle: A Year in Provence
Halldor
Laxness: Independent People
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
