We would still be reading this 200 years later…Age of Reason by Thomas Paine…

Just finished reading Thomas Paine's "Age of Reason"

What can I say?

That a book written more than 200 years ago could find so much resonance today is something that is needs to be read to be believed

Thomas Paine was a man who was so far ahead of his time that he would be called far ahead of his time today!!

The moral courage and the personal integrity that exemplified his entire life marks his written work. Age of Reason was a book that caused such an explosion in its time that it did two things - immortalized him for posterity and condemned him during his lifetime. 

Yet at the end of his life, when he was dying a painful death, deserted by friends and shunned by people who had hailed him a hero once, he stuck to what he had believed in and displayed the same sense of sarcastic humour that he showed in his work. A life lived as written

Age of Reason is an all out attack on the system of organized religion - more specifically Christianity, this being the religion that Paine encountered in England, France and America, the places where he lived and fought all his life. Paine was a brilliant pamphleteer and so was used to laying out his ideas concisely and clearly without using any dense logic or arguments. He uses the same technique in his writings.

Reading this, even 200 years later, feels like a stirring call to arms. And the fact that a large part of this book was written and completed at a time when Thomas Paine was under the belief that he could be executed anytime makes you appreciate the book more...

There are two important aspects of the book that stands out - the material of the book and the way it is written

The material of the book is based on a simple premise - Organized religion is a sham at best and dangerous at worst. This is because the purpose of organized religion is to make us act contrary to our innermost feelings, filling our head with impossible and fantastic things that has no basis in reality. The only true religion is that of Deism and the true bible is Nature.

Because, as Paine explains so beautifully, God has anyway given us an abundance of miracles in everything around us, in existence itself. Why do we need foolish miracles or religion? This was the first time that material like this was published in a direct and plainly written attack, even though the thoughts on which Paine based his work had been around for some time - in the work of David Hume and Spinoza for example.

The book is divided into two parts - the first is a general discussion on religion and on Paine's personal beliefs. This is where he puts forward his most compelling and beautiful arguments for the religion of the mind and the heart. He explains what he feels and why he feels so. The second part deals directly with Christianity. Deals is a wrong word actually. Rips apart is perhaps more appropriate. Paine takes some of the implied and maybe even cherished beliefs of Christians and literally rips them to shred...

Which brings me to the fascinating way the book is written. He is attacking organized religion in open field, which at that time was immensely powerful and controlled almost every aspect of life. Yet, he never uses any circular arguments, does not hide behind any one else and or any other theory. His attacks are straight to the point and argued so logically and beautifully that the modern reader will still find the reasoning fascinating, no matter how many Richard Dawkins he may have read.

When he is attacking Christianity, he maintains his good quality acerbic humour to mock the beliefs and at the same time gives irrefutable proof of why he considers the beliefs to be wrong. He picks up different aspects of Christianity - the bible and its different books, the characters of Moses, Joshua, Jesus and the significant events on which Christianity is based - most importantly the resurrection of Jesus. This was written to make perfect sense to a complete layman on the street. And this it does brilliantly!!!

The style has a wonderful sense of a person who is simply trying to wake up the reader to things which seem painfully apparent once explained...

This is a book that I hope I will be revisiting many a times. The book that has inspired people from Mark Twain to Christopher Hitchens is not something that can be digested in one reading...

This a book that cannot be reviewed enough, Instead I will leave the reader of this post with some of the sentences in the book that are so powerful and beautiful that they need to be read again and again...

Quotes from “Age of Reason”...Read below...

Labels: america, banned, Books, controvery, deism, England, historical, history, religion

posted by Protik Basu @ 3:59 PM 0 Comments

(Book) Fatherland written by Robert Harris

I had read Harris’ Pompeii before and had found the setting fascinating. So the first thing that drew me to Fatherland was the setting – an alternate history world where the Nazis had won the war. And pretty soon, you realize that in Xavier March, you have a hero in SS uniform who stumbles upon one of humanity’s greatest kept secret, a secret always suspected but one so horrible that its almost impossible to believe!!!

If the setting is fascinating, so is the pace of the story.

Labels: alternate history, Books, germany, history, science-fiction, World War

posted by Protik Basu @ 2:12 AM 0 Comments

(Movie) Chevolution directed by Luis Lopez, Trisha Ziff

 

It is the story of the power of a single image

Everyone has seen the image. Some may have wondered who he is, some of us know but everyone has been struck by it – the image of a man wispily bearded, hair flowing like a mane, looking intensely, penetratingly over the shoulder of the photographer as if into infinity.

Arguably the most reproduced image in the world, the image has adorned everything from the ubiquitous T-shirts, coffee mugs, key chains, vodka bottles, swatch watches, protest marches. It can be found painted on the walls of ghettos of Miami, in the guerrilla headquarters of the Zapatistas in Mexico, in the insurrection in Palestine and Philippines and as a tattoo on the arm of Maradona. It can be equally found as a backdrop of a swish bar in Bangalore to a free clinic in most rural Bolivia.

No other image in the history of images has been used so widely in so many, often contradictory, settings. No image has  been able to evoke the sense of empathy among such a diverse group of people cutting across geography and time as has this image. No other image has spontaneously come up whenever there has been a conflict – from Sarajevo to Iraq.

Labels: che, Cuba, documentary, history, media

posted by Protik Basu @ 9:41 PM 0 Comments

(Book) Empire Of The Moghul - Brothers At War written by Alex Rutherford

This book is the second in the Great Moghul series. The Mughal empire falls into the hand of Humayun after Babur’s untimely death just after he had conquered Hindustan from the Lodhis.

Though a fearless warrior, Humayun is a dreamer of sorts, preferring to watch the stars instead of court activities. He finds himself thrust with a legacy that he feels he needed more time to get adjusted to. Babur’s death had left the fledgling empire vulnerable with enemies closing from all sides. But as the new emperor soon finds out, its the enemy within that is much more lethal.

Babur had left the whole of the new empire in the hands of his eldest and favourite son. This left a lot of hearts broken, but the one who is most affected is Kamran, his half brother who is only a few months younger. Askar and Hindal were to follow Kamran’s lead, though Hindal, the youngest, was always a reluctant conspirator.

So begins this book, which, as is readily apparent, is much well written than its predecessor, Raiders from the North – about Babur. The action is more gripping and seems less like a tract of historical text. The characters have much more flesh. Of course some of the old characters from the previous book make an appearance – especially Khanzada, the pillar for Humayun in the most difficult of times.

And as you progress, you realize that the old cliché – truth is stranger than fiction is well, so true. The story of intrigues, love affairs, battles, betrayals, the incredible turning around of fates and an end that any fiction writer would have been proud to have come up with. The book is so packed with so many twists and turns that you literally have to keep reminding yourself that this is in fact historical fact (of course with liberties taken from a writers point of view).

Humayun’s dreamlike character, his addiction to opium (encouraged by the scheming mother of Kamran), his haywire schemes of running his court according to the stars, the titanic clashes with Sher Shah Suri, Humayun’s miraculous escapes, his fleeing across half of northern subcontinent seeking refuge (at one time reduced to a handful of men in rags pursued by armies), his reversal of fortune, the constant betrayals by his brothers, the constant battles when one battle has been won, his love of the women in his life – especially Hamida (the mother of Akbar).

All these read almost like a potboiler. I mean, for it being a novel based on history, I found myself on the edge of my seat many times as the book was polished off in a couple of readings.

For me, as with the first book, the appeal is in knowing more about the Mughals in a way that Wikipedia can never teach me – learning while being entertained. It is strange how little we really know of our history. As we witness the early Mughals struggling to reserve a vision that Babur had nurtured, we almost see modern India in the making as one of the greatest empires in modern world begins to take foothold. You get to know more about other characters – like Sher Shah, who are dismissed in a couple of sentences in most school books.

Importantly, it brings into focus a Mughal who is so often overlooked in history with almost everyone else hogging the limelight, even though it was him who actually set a firm foundation in India for the Mughals. Humayun was emperor in actuality for a very short time and died almost in a bizarre tragedy when he tripped and fell down stairs after he had secured his kingdom after long gruelling years. We see a man who in more peaceful times would have become more of a poet rather than a king. His acts of benevolence especially in forgiving his brothers again and again is a feature that is almost impossible to imagine in his times when kings eliminated rivals at the first chance. Humayun comes as irritable personality  possessing all faults but more than compensating for them with his more generous qualities.

All in all, a gripping and enjoyable read. And hopefully the writing would keep on improving with the next one – on Akbar. Cant wait for that one…

Labels: Books, historical, history, india, mughal, period peice, series

posted by Protik Basu @ 9:07 PM 0 Comments

(Book) Bandits written by Eric Hobsbawm

This was a book that i wanted to read for a very long time but this is one book that is not easily available. I finally was able to get hold of a copy from the online site “Friends of Books”.

Hobsbawm literally pioneered the study of bandits as a social phenomenon. Bandits as a popular form of resistance. Bandits was first published in 1969 and the field has expanded greatly since then, with many theories (some complementary and some opposing) coming forth on the subject.

This book, however, remains a seminal one. And for that reason, this book is simply must read for anyone who is interested in this fascinating topic.

The book starts by explaining who and what a social bandit is. The earliest form of banditry is the example of the mythical Robin Hood (who in all probability did not exist as a single individual). The late examples include bandits like Salvatore Giuliano (whom Puzo immortalized in international popular culture in “The Sicialian”) and bandit turned revolutionaries like Pancho Villa.

Hobsbawn prepares the basis of the definition of bandits by describing the political, social and economic reasons for the rise of bandits and why they still exist in some forms even to this day. He goes on to describe some forms of banditry that persisted for a long time in some countries (like Haiduks in the Balkans).

He describes the environment under which they flourished and gives explanations for the reasons why some bandits are eulogized and become legends, even in their own lifetime and why some other bandits are not (and the latter are not a part of his description of social bandits). He explains why the social bandit enjoyed extensive support in the rural and marginal areas even when they may not have actually lived upto the Robin Hood principle of robbing the rich to give to the poor.

Later he ties up the bandit phenomenon with revolutionary and independence movements in the countries and he explains the various relationships that bandits had with the nationalist movements. He brings in the role of women and their relationship to the bandits.

As I said it is a fascinating topic and it is an interesting book. But I was expecting and hoping for much more. From a purely academic point of view, the book is excellent since it brings forth its theories well. But from a reading point of view, it falls short of expectations.

To be an enjoyable read, you need more description of the bandits. You get the theory but you dont get to know the bandits. You dont quite get the smell of the world that they lived in. You dont get many examples for the different theories that are given to you. You cant quite relate to the bandits and you feel an itching want to do so. The author whets your appetite that much.

Another point is that the book is almost exclusively devoted to European or South American bandits. Eastern ones (from India or China) get only passing reference.

To be fair, the author concedes as such in the introduction. The author explains that he intends to give this book as a primer and the reader must read other books to get more meat.

So, read this book as a window to a world that is not easily accessible. But be ready to trawl the internet to delve deeper.

Labels: bandits, Books, historical, history, social

posted by Protik Basu @ 12:09 AM 0 Comments

(Book) The Ascent of Money written by Niall Ferguson

The first thing that flashed through my mind as I started reading this was – this book has got extraordinary timing. Coming on the heels of one of the most severe market contraction seen since the Great Depression, this book aims to clear the air with a very interesting history lesson.

At a time when people are flummoxed by CDOs, swaps and other exotic financial products that seem to be beyond most of our understanding (which is why it hurt even more!!!), this book provides a background to how it all began – in other words, the evolution of the bank, the bond market, the equity and finally to the present system of high finance. From Mesopotamia to the republic nation states of Italy to present day Chimerica.

Evolution and innovation in finance has paved the way for the extraordinary abundance of goods we see around us and indeed without the advance in finance, civilization would not have progressed the way it has. That is the core message of the book.

We are taken on an adventure trip in history and see how important events that shaped the world as it is today were influenced by changes in financial fortunes – among others, from the French revolution, to the American civil war, Dutch East Indies, East India company, Waterloo, America’s rise and the Great War (WWI).

Its a fascinating view since seldom do we consider finance to be an important factors in political developments of the past, preferring to look at cause and effect of events. We realize how finance (and financiers) act as a powerful background force and which we seldom get to appreciate as finance is considered by laymen to be esoteric at best and not a relevant force as worst.

This book aims both to give a historical understanding of how ancient  Mesopotamia is linked through millennia with the sub-prime crisis of the present century and to help us appreciate the central role that finance plays in our lives – paradoxically as with its rising importance in our lives, its understanding has stagnated among the public, with finance considered the domain of whiz kids.

As I said, the book is timely – a reminder that we disregard the understanding of finance at our own peril.

But other than the message that the book aims to send out – this is a rollicking ride. Written with clarity and with the layman in mind, the book is fast paced, almost like a thriller, with events of past unfolding like picture flip-book, with the events shown in a different light than the usual history lessons. Of course, there are numerous other events that could have been covered but in order to remain focussed, the book takes care of some pivotal events.

I cannot imagine a more accessible book on finance in the market right now.

I cannot find a better way to end this review than by quoting the last words of the book itself -

“It is not the fault of the mirror if it reflects our blemishes as clearly as our beauty”

Finance, like the nuclear energy, depends on the wielder – a sub-prime crisis and the ability to buy your dream home are the two sides of the same balance sheet…

Labels: Books, economics, finance, history

posted by Protik Basu @ 12:18 PM 0 Comments