bookreview

South Africa: Born a Crime

For #booxploringtheworld July, I went to South Africa with ‘Born a Crime’ by Trevor Noah. “We spend so much time being afraid of failure, afraid of rejection. But regret is the thing we should fear most. Failure is an answer. Rejection is an answer. Regret is an eternal question you will never have the answerContinue reading “South Africa: Born a Crime”

Chile: The House of The Spirits

“…she did not believe the world was a vale of tears but rather a joke that God and played and that it was ridiculous to take it seriously if he himself never had.” “My son, the Holy Church is on the right, but Jesus Christ was always on the left.” ‘The House of the Spirits’Continue reading “Chile: The House of The Spirits”

Korea & Japan: Pachinko

“because she would not believe that she was no different than her parents, that seeing him as only Korean—good or bad—was the same as seeing him only as a bad Korean. She could not see his humanity, and Noah realized that this was what he wanted most of all: to be seen as human.” “PatriotismContinue reading “Korea & Japan: Pachinko”

Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos: The Dragon Apparent

It’s 1951. Most of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos (together called Indo-China) is under French colonial influence and the rest under Communist supported Viet Minh rule. There’s a full blown war going on between the French and the Viet-Minh. Three more years till France officially quits Indochina and four more years till the 19 year longContinue reading “Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos: The Dragon Apparent”

Peru: Turn Right at Machu Picchu

“On a globe it looks like a swollen California. Within that space, though, are twenty-thousand-foot peaks, the world’s deepest canyon (twice as deep as the Grand Canyon), unmapped Amazon jungle and the driest desert on earth.” The book talks about the author’s weeks long trek to Machu Picchu and other Inca sites around Cusco, retracingContinue reading “Peru: Turn Right at Machu Picchu”

Nigeria: Half of a Yellow Sun

“There are two answers to the things they will teach you about our land: the real answer and the answer you give in school to pass. You must read books and learn both answers”.I’m halfway through ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ and loving it as well as feeling a little frightened, because it showcases communalContinue reading “Nigeria: Half of a Yellow Sun”

If We Last

“Our life is a chronology of upshots influencing us till our last breath or beyond that. And all our perceptions, thoughts, ideas and assumptions get stirred up whenever the causes of those effects are outside the tangible circle of our limited knowledge about our life and the universe of half known mysteries. Sometimes life showsContinue reading “If We Last”