Rich Dad Poor Dad

rich dad poor dad robert kiyosakiRich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money–That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not by Robert T. Kiyosaki, 3/5

Using simplistic diagrams and entertaining anecdotes, Kiyosaki preaches a financial message that is as appealing as it is suspiciously pat: don’t just work for money, make money work for you.  By this, I gather that he means to focus on acquiring income-producing assets instead of the more traditional approach of focusing on increasing your salary, only to spend it on ever-growing liabilities and expenses such as taxes, a too-big house, or expensive junk.  Additionally, Kiyosaki points out that it is the hardworking self-employed and 9-5 rat racers who are, unfairly, the ones most gouged by taxes (a point to which I can personally attest)–the passive income and strategically-formed corporations of the financially literate are much less susceptible to taxes.

That said, I am very suspicious (I could end the sentence there but I’ll continue) of the advice of someone who makes money partly by selling hyped-up books, games and seminars about making money.  It seems that there is an inherent conflict of interest or, at least, an unhealthy circularity similar to a career adviser whose own career is giving career advice.  However, Kiyosaki’s basic ideas seem sensible and I could imagine them successfully directing the energies of someone who has set their mind on working hard to become very rich.  (Of course, this is the kind of person who would likely become wealthy with or without the help of this book.)  People looking to get rich quick will be disappointed–Rich Dad Poor Dad is more philosophical than practically helpful.  I think its main value is to provide some context and an engaging introduction to Kiyosaki’s financial strategies.  I plan to read his other books, which will hopefully substantiate his claims with rather more technical information and fewer generalities.

[Why I read it: I think I read this once years and years ago, but it came up again recently because my brother is researching the idea of investing in rental properties and mentioned reading it.]

Inherent Vice

inherent vice thomas pynchonInherent Vice: A Novel by Thomas Pynchon, 4/5

Late 1960s Los Angeles provides an atmospheric setting for the investigations of pot-smoking private eye Larry “Doc” Sportello.  Kidnapping, murder, organized crime, a host of unsavory characters, a lot of sex and drugs, and a wise-ass protaganist (think the “The Dude” crossed with Sam Spade), are all part of a convoluted plot that might have been written by Dashiell Hammett if he hadn’t died right as the 60s were spooling up.  Pynchon’s writing style is witty and dense, at times requiring (and rewarding) a pause and a bit of deciphering on the part of the reader.  I enjoyed his portrayals of speech patterns and slang through creative spelling and sentence structure.  Unsurprisingly, there was a heck of a lot more vice in this book than I am comfortable with, but I hope I can recognize good writing even if the content makes me uncomfortable.

[Why I read it: I saw the movie trailer and though it looked interesting, but my friend AJ recommended I read the book before watching the film.]

The Talent Code

The Talent Code: Greatness Isn’t Born. It’s Grown. Here’s How. by Daniel Coyle, 4/5talent code daniel coyle

Exploring the manifestations of talent in diverse subjects that range from Brazilian footballers to the Brontë sisters, Coyle proposes three factors that give rise to all the athletic, musical and mental skills that seem so innate and unattainable to us otherly-gifted: deep practice, ignition, and master coaching.  Of these three elements, I found the first to be most interesting because it provides a description of the physical effects of concentrated practice.  Now, I have logged numerous hours of piano practice (though, admittedly, somewhat fewer hours of “deep practice”), but never understood that this kind of focused skill-development was actually wrapping nerve fibers in my brain in layers of an insulating substance called myelin.  This magical myelin affects the timing with which neurons fire electrical impulses and the speed with which these impulses travel, resulting in an increase in whatever skill is being practiced, regardless of the nature of the skill or the “natural talent” of the person involved.  The implications are immense: suddenly it seems that real genius is the drive to perform thousands of hours of deep practice, not to have a high IQ, innate ability, or access to top coaching from the beginning.  Also, it definitively establishes the value and efficiency of that painfully-focused, mentally-exhausting style of practicing that might otherwise cause discouragement when it does not generate immediately-impressive improvement.

Coyle’s writing style is entertaining and easy to read, but is somewhat lacking from a scholarly point of view; he is, after all, no neurologist or scientific researcher.  Some of the studies he references and examples he uses seem questionable, and his sources are rather casually collected in sparse end notes.  All in all, this book’s value is more in its descriptive powers than its prescriptive ones: lacking any of the three elements of talent (deep practice, ignition or master coaching), you are unlikely to become a world-class anything, whether you read it or not.  However, lots of Coyle’s observations and claims resonated with me because I am fascinated by the learning process and hunger for accomplishment in a variety of areas.

[Why I read it: a friend, Joy, mentioned that she was reading it and got me interested.]

Ready Player One

ready player one ernest clineReady Player One: A Novel by Ernest Cline, 3/5

A dystopian setting in Planet Earth’s near future provides an interesting contrast to the steady stream of 1980s trivia in this homage to geek culture. It is, perhaps, unreasonable to complain about the preponderance of cliches and stereotypes in this novel, since Cline uses them effectively to create an exciting, page-turner story. However, the complete lack of character development, increasingly contrived plot, clumsy foreshadowing, excruciatingly poorly-written “love” angle, and lightweight ending complete with deus ex machina ultimately kind of killed it for me.

[Why I read it: I waited so long for this book to come in at the library that I’ve completely forgotten how I heard about it.  Perhaps a friend told me about it?]

The Histories

histories herodotus aubrey de selincourtThe Histories by Herodotus, translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt, 3/5

At its best, this fifth-century B.C. account of cultures and conflicts in the areas surrounding the Mediterranean tells epically ferocious tales of questionable veracity. At its worst, it reads like the dryer, more tedious parts of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (just substitute Greeks and Persians for fish and seaweed).

[Why I read it: Found it in the thrift store and it seemed like a good tool with which to combat my [gradually lessening] ignorance of Classical literature.]

The Constitution of the United States of America

constitution of the united states of america barnes and noble osterlundThe Constitution of the United States of America, 5/5

It is tax season, so perhaps I can be forgiven for expecting “the supreme law of the land” to be as ludicrously bloated and unreadable as the Internal Revenue Code.  Fortunately, it is not so–the fifty-five delegates to the 1787 Philadelphia Convention crafted a document of startling elegance, simplicity and practicality (probably marking the first and last time such adjectives could be used to describe a piece of legislation).

[Why I read it: I planned to send this copy to my brother after reading it myself, but it sat in the pile of books by my bed until it became assigned reading in my business law class.]

As You Wish

as you wish cary elwes joe laydenAs You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes with Joe Layden, 2/5

This underwhelming book, written by “Wesley” from the movie The Princess Bride, does contain some entertaining stories but consists mostly of uninteresting prose meant more to beef up the word count than to communicate anything insightful.  Along with intensely boring descriptions of how many chairs were at the first table read and exactly what kind of sandwiches were provided, is a tiresome quantity of trite tributes to the general awesomeness of everyone involved with the film.  And Elwes is not the only one spouting sweet nothings about the rest of the cast: there are also numerous interviews with relevant people who mostly seem to have nothing very meaningful to say and say it in a very generic way.  Even worse, these interviews are set apart from the main text in grey boxes that fragment the reading experience, making it disjointed and annoying.  All in all, I’d say the few really interesting anecdotes it contains make the book worth reading for fans of the movie, but they shouldn’t expect too much.

[Why I read it: I saw the title while ordering The Princess Bride novel at the library.]

 

Small is Beautiful

small is beautiful e f schumacherSmall is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered by E.F. Schumacher, 4/5

Schumacher eloquently weaves together the topics of economics, environmentalism, philosophy and spirituality in a very thought-provoking way.  He makes the case for a smaller-scale, more personal, moral, holistic and sustainable approach to the business of business, in contrast to the soul-crushing materialism of a modern society that worships wealth, serves mega-corporations and demands growth at any cost.  He envisions a world where men are not unhappy cogs in giant money-making machines, but are engaged in work that is fulfilling, promotes their physical and spiritual well-being, and benefits their communities.

I fear that, in stripping Schumacher’s ideas of context and rationale, my summary makes them sound a bit like trite hippie-talk.  They are not so.  Schumacher makes an intelligent, efficient case for most of his beliefs and almost every page is quotable.  It is because of the vast quantity of insightful ideas and observations that I have refrained from quoting any at all and have instead bought a copy of the book for future reference.

My favourite parts of the book are the more philosophical sections in which Schumacher looks at what it means to be human.  (I especially enjoyed Part II, Chapter 1, which focuses on metaphysics.)  His visions of a human existence that transcends the rat race is inspiring and encouraging.  In general, the author places significant value on both Judeo-Christian and Buddhist morals and makes the kind of powerful case for spirituality that seems to come naturally to intelligent former-atheists like himself.  This is refreshing, since society nowadays seems largely unwilling to acknowledge the numerous positive effects of religion, focusing instead on, say, the Crusades or sex scandals involving pastors.

My least favourite parts of the book involved Schumacher’s proposals for actually putting his ideas into action.  It is one thing to attempt to influence someone’s personal beliefs and quite another thing to merely inflict your own on them.  I believe that the kind of morality and radical changes that the author wishes to see enacted on a massive, economic scale can only come from personal conviction at a grassroots level.  Anything else infringes on that necessary human freedom to make your own decisions, even if they are bad ones (addressed by Dostoyevsky in Notes from the Underground).  Also, at times, the author seems to wish for a happy, hobbit-like society, where everyone is a subsistence farmer except for Fred, who makes shoes, and Sally, who weaves cloth.  He doesn’t seem to leave much room for human nature or for people who think differently than him, such as innovators, scientists, entrepreneurs and visionaries.

[Why I read it:  I think I saw the title in an article about The Times Literary Supplement‘s list of 100 most influential books published since WWII.]

 

Jumped, Fell, or Pushed?

jumped fell or pushed steven koehler pete moore david owenJumped, Fell, or Pushed?: How Forensics Solved 50 “Perfect” Murders by Steven A. Koehler, MPH, Ph.D., with Pete Moore, Ph.D., and David Owen, 3/5

The informational portions of this book are simplistic and likely won’t add much to any knowledge of forensics you might have already picked up from watching entirely too much TV in the police procedural genre.  However, the case studies are fascinating and represent an interesting variety of locations and eras (not just modern, American crimes like you might expect).  The book’s layout is good and manages to achieve a varied, magazine-style page format without requiring the reader to jump around from one disjointed text box to another.

[Why I read it: came across it while browsing in the library.]

Adventures in the Screen Trade

adventures in the screen trade william goldmanAdventures in the Screen Trade: A Personal View of Hollywood and Screenwriting by William Goldman, 5/5

This book is everything you would expect from the screenwriter responsible for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President’s Men and The Princess Bride: funny, irreverent, surprising, insightful and, above all, well-written.  It might not be a step-by-step, how-to manual for aspiring screenwriters, but it is an education.  Even the book’s layout is a great illustration of one of Goldman’s main points: “SCREENPLAYS ARE STRUCTURE” [capitals his] (195).  The author brilliantly organizes what could be a very rambling, amorphous topic into three main sections: 1) aspects of the film industry, 2) his experiences with specific movies, and 3) an example of a short story converted to screenplay, along with commentary from industry experts.  Each of the three sections contains a limited number of logical subsections, with subpoints under those.  From the table of contents, this all seems very organized and textbook-perfect and, you would think, creativity-quashing.  But here is the interesting bit: on the subpoint level, Goldman is anything but conventional.  He cuts loose, telling anecdotes, making jokes, communicating via bits of custom-written scripts, and utilizing unconventional text layouts (the one page devoted to the topic of directors consists of one sentence and a large P.S. written in all caps).  This is all extremely entertaining but it is also effective; even at his craziest, Goldman makes sure you always know where you are and what the point is.  And because there is a point, you don’t feel that your time is being wasted, no matter what seeming tangent the author might go off on.

Now, it’s difficult to know how far to trust claims made in a book that was written over thirty years ago and contains the words “personal view” in the subtitle, but Goldman’s experience in the industry and the examples he provides support some claims that I found surprising.  Most notably:
1) Major stars will generally not play characters that seem “weak” or “blemished,” no matter how fantastic the writing or compelling the story.  They will either demand that the script be altered to make their characters more sympathetic, or will leave the roles to character actors, has-beens and up-and-comers (37).
2) “NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING” [capitals his] (39).  By this, Goldman means that no one in the movie industry can reliably predict what film is going to be a hit and what is going to flop.  He mentions dozens of promising, big-name pictures from the 80s that were inexplicable failures, while other films became hits for equally inexplicable reasons.  It felt surreal to see so many unfamiliar movie titles and recognize the time, effort and money that went into making films that no one wanted to see then and no one remembers now.
3) I knew that film-making wasn’t a tidy process, but had no idea of the sheer insanity that can occur in the early stages of a movie’s development, from writers being hired and fired, willy nilly, to stars being first in, then out, then in again.

Another thing I was shocked to find out was how much specialized training and experience Goldman had before being approached to write his first screenplay.  The answer?  Zero.  He was a published novelist, yes, but had not the first clue how to write a screenplay.  According to his account, he hadn’t even read a screenplay before being asked to write one (166).  It seems that his expertise has been gained not through expensive schooling or mentoring, but through experience, the courage to accept a challenge first and save the panicking for later, and having the tough skin required to see his hard work critiqued, altered or destroyed by a variety of people and unforeseeable circumstances.

Goldman doesn’t spend a lot of time complaining or making dire predictions about the future of the film industry, but he does point out a trend toward producing more and more “comic-book movies” (he uses the term figuratively, but it is hilariously literal now)–movies that are shallow, predictable, lack resonance, and deal with an idealized, sanitized version of life (153).  Now, I don’t know much about the 1980s films he was talking about, but I’d be willing to bet a lot of money that the trend is worse now than ever before.  Likewise, I would agree completely with his thirty-year-old statement that most commercial films fit into the third of these categories:
1) movies that aspire to quality and succeed
2) movies that aspire to quality and don’t succeed
3) movies that never meant to be any good at all (127).

Near the end of Part One, Goldman predicts that “…for the present [1983], I think we may as well prepare ourselves for seven more Star Wars sequels and half a dozen quests involving Indiana Jones” (158).  Though the most recent Indiana Jones movie directly led to the creation of the term “nuking the fridge” to describe the decline of a franchise, there’s no denying that the number of post-1983 Star Wars sequels listed in the franchise’s Wikipedia article is…seven.  Spooky.

[Why I read it: saw the title in Goldman’s The Princess Bride and thought it looked interesting. Surprisingly, my library didn’t have a copy, but I was able to get it through interlibrary loan.  I’ve also requested the 2000 sequel, so fingers crossed that some library in the network will have it…]