Blight

Freakonomics

On a recent set of flights I had a lot of time on my hands, and although I carry around an iPod nano with gigs of music and podcasts, and two (2) handheld entertainment systems (a GBA and a DS), I still find that my attention is usually focused on the printed word.

Books (and newspapers) have many advantages over the other competitors for my time. First, and perhaps the most relevant, a book does not pose a threat to aircraft lift-off or landing and thus I'm free to use it at ALL times. Second, there is no dependency on battery life. Third, well, except for some educational podcasts, I feel more satisfied after finishing a book. It's almost like I've learned something, and LIKED it. Yes, actually I suppose it is exactly like that.

The first book that I completed was Freakonomics, a book where an unlikely duo (one writer - the voice, and one economist - the brains) collaborate to explain how economics drive our behaviour. In this case, economics boils down to our actions under the presence of certain incentives or environmental factors.

For example, a swimming pool in your backyard is more dangerous to your child than a gun in your house, the pyramid nature of drug dealing: most drug dealers make less than they could at McDonalds and continue to live with their parents, the steep decline in violent crime after abortion is legalized: less babies born in "high-risk" environments that often result in growing up as a criminal, and even the WWE nature of Sumo battles: despite the honour and strong traditions, the outcomes of the matches are often pre-determined.

The way Steven and Stephen dissect complex systems and use statistics and logic to explain the reason things are the way they are is surprisingly exciting. I didn't think I was in for such an enthralling read but I burned through it within a couple hours.

Check it out if you've wondered what happens with an uneducated minority in the USA decides to name one son "Loser" and the other "Winner", what's in a name? Would your daughter have a better chance getting a job if you named her "Emily" or "Janaeeesha"? Heck, one woman in California named her baby boy "Shithead", pronounced "Sha-thay-ad".

The statistically backed up answer: A name, no matter how stupid sounding, doesn't affect you nearly as much as how stupid the parents are that raise you; usually the stupider the baby name, the stupider the parents. That makes sense.

The second book (which I had to pick up for my trip back) is only half-finished at present, but it has me by the short and curlies - to be willfully crude. It is a wonderfully surreal story that becomes more dream like and intertwined as it unfolds. The allusions from the three inner "stories" to each other makes me wonder which is the dream and which is the reality being reflected and interpreted by the dream.

Kafka on the Shore, by Haruki Murakami. I'm loving every page, from the titilating details of Kafka Tamura's horny thoughts (hey he's 15... ok he's a guy) to the cute ramblings of an old man who thinks he can talk with cats. And I definitely will be checking out some of his other works, as well as some of the more traditionally respected pieces (various philosophy books - some by Franz Kafka) he alludes to in his own novel.

It makes me think back to when Derelict (this one, not this one) and I were working on our own novels... of course they were probably the stereotypical fantasy hack-slash "Dragonlance" wannabe, but I read Derelict's stuff and I read my stuff, and I thought it was good. I think I'd write something different now though. Probably something with more work-life and travelling thrown in.

EDIT: I just realized that Haruki Murakami is the same author of another favorite book of mine, Pinball 1973! - available in PDF format here (and only 80 pages long)

An unfortunate fact is that it is almost impossible to obtain a tangible version of this book anymore. I searched around and see copies going for $300 and up. The first time I read it, I was in university and my Japanese tutor had a copy which he was using to study English. I borrowed it from him and couldn't help but enjoy the twin girls the main character sleeps with (at the same time!) for much of the book.

See, twins! You have to read it now!

Labels: book

posted by Blight @ 8:49 PM