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Mike Reads The World
Приєднався 10 січ 2023
I read people's written words from across time and space. Sometimes I write back.
"The Alexiad" by Anna Comnena (Byzantium, 1148)
#literature #annacomnena #byzantine_empire #byzantium #alexiad #booktube #history #booktuber
Переглядів: 171
Відео
The end in sight: Which countries will I read in 2025?
Переглядів 33412 годин тому
With only 8 months and 28 days left of "1001 Nights of Reading the World," I decided to prioritize the remaining books I own for the countries I have not read. These books are not the only ones I plan to read in 2025 so in the event I don't get to all of them, at least the idea of reading them will be recorded here for posterity. #literature #booktube #readingtheworld #worldliterature
"The Bleeding of the Stone" by Ibrahim al-Koni (Libya, 2002)
Переглядів 8019 годин тому
Last video of the year! Check out my appearance on the podcast You Can't Win here: youcantwin.info/episode-160-a-year-in-reading-with-mike-reads-the-world #literature #readaroundtheworld #booktube
"Wizard of the Crow" by Ngugi Wa Thiong'o (Kenya, 2006)
Переглядів 12214 днів тому
Great book worth reading! #wizardofthecrow #africanliterature #literature #booktube
"The Pillow Book" by Sei Shōnagon (Japan, 1002)
Переглядів 13421 день тому
This might be a great video to fall asleep too, but Sei Shonagon is a compelling person to spend time with. #worldliterature #japaneseculture #readingtheworld #booktube #literature #thepillowbook
Reading "The Waste Land" by TS Eliot + others' marginalia!
Переглядів 9928 днів тому
Inky Isabel and Graphite Gary might be the same person writing with different utensils, actually. #tseliot #thewasteland #poetry #literature
"30 Birds" and The Sufi Literature that Inspired It
Переглядів 8428 днів тому
This game was inspired in large part by "Conference of the Birds" by Farid Ud-in Attar, one of my all time favorite works of literature. Another semi-improvised review and essay based on my journal notes about a game that has cultural/literary inspirations - something I want to focus on in future game review videos. I've started a "Gaming around the world" playlist and will continue to search f...
Let's Read Michel de Montaigne (Essays 1-16)
Переглядів 124Місяць тому
The first part of my journey to read all of Montaigne's 107 essays at some point. No timeline for this. I'm wearing my bathrobe so you know it's important. 00:00 Intro 02:45 That Men by Various Ways Arrive at The Same End 09:45 Of Sorrow 13:41 That our Affections Carry Themselves Beyond Us 17:50 That the Soul Discharges Her Passions on False Objects 20:35 Whether the Governour of a Place Beseig...
To Dredge the Wreckage of Our Time
Переглядів 278Місяць тому
Sorry if this makes you seasick. Part of a new project to play indie games developed around the world, from as many countries as possible. This game counts for New Zealand. #dredge #literature #gaminganalysis
2 Kyrgyz Classics - Manas Epic (?) and Aitmatov (Kyrgyzstan, 1980)
Переглядів 124Місяць тому
The titles are: The Day Lasts More than a Hundred Years by Chingiz Aitmatov (1980) The Memorial Feast for Kokotoy Khan (1700's is first record of the Epic of Manas but it is probably older) #literature #booktube #readingtheworld #readingtheworld #readaroundtheworld
"The Magic Mountain" Still Haunts Us - 100th Anniversary Essay
Переглядів 698Місяць тому
Thomas Mann's 1924 novel changed my life. I wrote this essay to explore my thoughts and feelings about it, and come to terms with the themes I found so relevant to the time and place I live now. This is closer to journaling than academia. Still, I hope to have done honor to its core message. This is my first video essay and I hope you will be able to listen past my amateur editing abilities and...
A Life Journey Through World Literature (My Favorite Books)
Переглядів 616Місяць тому
It started as a video to show only my favorites, and turned into a reflection on basically my whole life of reading up to this point. Obviously I am still young but you can only make this type of video a few times in life so why not now? I say it at the end, but thank you to those who reached out to support the new channel direction (whatever it may be) and encouraging me to make whatever kind ...
November was going to be Japanese literature month....
Переглядів 3052 місяці тому
And then this happened. I'll be reading The Pillow Book. Please check out Jorge's inspiring video on it. ua-cam.com/video/QthtpfnMB_E/v-deo.htmlsi=F6EUZnNZDJq5x3A7
"Samarkand" by Amin Maalouf (Lebanon, 1988) + Rubaiyat
Переглядів 1512 місяці тому
Going back to my roots on this one. One take, no aesthetic concerns. Edit: The second half of the book is actually about a fictional "original" manuscript of the rubaiyat that never existed, differing from the true historic edition lost on the Titanic. I feel I did not make this clear when discussing it (and it wasn't entirely clear to me while reading it) and so I felt it useful to add here. T...
"Alamut" by Vladimir Bartol (Slovenia, 1938) + Shahnameh
Переглядів 2402 місяці тому
The video I made a few days after this one covers a book that shows a more nuanced perspective of Hassan i-Sabbah: ua-cam.com/video/RygmUCBWyHo/v-deo.htmlsi=SXwSPn_K4cEd_Ptd I am counting Shahnameh (Persian Book of Kings) for Afghanistan for map coloring reasons but it's really just good for all of Persia. #alamut #vladimirbartol #shanameh #ferdowsi #rubaiyat #literature #booktube #booktuber #a...
"Beyond Sleep" by Willem Frederik Hermans (Netherlands, 1966)
Переглядів 1502 місяці тому
"Beyond Sleep" by Willem Frederik Hermans (Netherlands, 1966)
6 Story Collections from 6 Countries (See description)
Переглядів 1152 місяці тому
6 Story Collections from 6 Countries (See description)
Mork Borg and games as generative literature
Переглядів 2802 місяці тому
Mork Borg and games as generative literature
Tales of Croatia, Chad, Laos, and some bonus items
Переглядів 1323 місяці тому
Tales of Croatia, Chad, Laos, and some bonus items
"Eltonsbrody" by Edgar Mittelholzer (Guyana, 1960)
Переглядів 603 місяці тому
"Eltonsbrody" by Edgar Mittelholzer (Guyana, 1960)
Ramayana by Valmiki (India) - 2 Retellings
Переглядів 1383 місяці тому
Ramayana by Valmiki (India) - 2 Retellings
Books I'm not comfortable discussing
Переглядів 1,4 тис.3 місяці тому
Books I'm not comfortable discussing
"Yo El Supremo" by Augusto Roa Bastos (Paraguay, 1974)
Переглядів 2033 місяці тому
"Yo El Supremo" by Augusto Roa Bastos (Paraguay, 1974)
How not to choose a book, and some poems (South Africa)
Переглядів 1803 місяці тому
How not to choose a book, and some poems (South Africa)
"Quincas Borba" by Machado de Assis (Brazil, 1891)
Переглядів 1703 місяці тому
"Quincas Borba" by Machado de Assis (Brazil, 1891)
"This Blinding Absence of Light" by Tahar Ben Jelloun (Morocco, 2001)
Переглядів 1883 місяці тому
"This Blinding Absence of Light" by Tahar Ben Jelloun (Morocco, 2001)
Eritrea, Benin, Nepal and Slovakia (See description)
Переглядів 1763 місяці тому
Eritrea, Benin, Nepal and Slovakia (See description)
"The Book of Dede Korkut" (Turkmenistan, 1500's?)
Переглядів 1563 місяці тому
"The Book of Dede Korkut" (Turkmenistan, 1500's?)
"Arabian Nights/1001 Nights" (Syria, 1200's?)
Переглядів 1494 місяці тому
"Arabian Nights/1001 Nights" (Syria, 1200's?)
"The Forest of the Hanged" by Liviu Rebreanu (Romania, 1922)
Переглядів 1864 місяці тому
"The Forest of the Hanged" by Liviu Rebreanu (Romania, 1922)
>Living in the apocalyptic decadence of a great civilization, drowning in bureaucracies managing its slow decline. Highly relatable, man. Adding this to my reading list.
Thank you for the review. Now please stop calling the Eastern Romans the Byzantines ... 😉 🦁☀️🐝⚡🦅⚡🐝☀️🦁
YES to the part about how our impact is so outsized that textbooks are soon worthless. :/
I just read a book about salmon on the Pacific coast of Canada, and was amazed to learn how connected oceans--salmon--trees--human are! This one is on my wishlist for Climathon in 2025. Thanks for reviewing.
Could you do a Video about your Favorite Books?
@@lmei7727 I made one about 6 weeks ago
@@mikereadstheworldoh thanks alot!
Hey Mike, great video. I can't tell you how happy I was to see this book covered on your channel. I read it a couple years ago when I was doing a one-year "read the world" of my own, and it was my favourite book I had read that year. I was very excited to hear another perspective on it. I'm interested to know why you wanted to dismiss the book at first and around what point did your opinion start to change. In the video you mentioned other similar books had fallen flat but I was wondering if there was anything in WotC that made it seem like it was going to be more of the same. Anyway, great video. You definitely should read Devil on the Cross when you get the chance. It has a lot of what makes Wizard so great but in a much shorter story. Cheers!
@@MatthewYoung-f6e Hello! Thank you for your kind comments and I'm happy you got something out of my rambling. The main reasons I almost dismissed the book are 1. My recent preference for older/classic works of literature that span the centuries - staying mainly in 20th and 21st century for some time started to feel stale. And 2. There have been a handful of recently published novels I've tried that seemed like they were trying too hard to be long epic masterpieces when the writing and content didn't, in my opinion, justify so much time and energy required on my part. WotC seemed like it might go that direction with a few characters that seemed a bit like tropes I'd read before and some exagerrated elements bordering on magical realism. However, as I mentioned, the book always, without fail, took a slightly unexpected turn to keep me intrigued, and I progressively felt more invested in understanding what it was trying to do, which was never as obvious as the other books I'm thinking of. The way deceit and myth shapes the entire plot is actually rather unique and skillfully done I think. I really would like to read Devil on the Cross at some point!
Hi, thanks for the recommendation, I found this book in Russian. Although I know English modestly.
I had never heard about it, will definitely try to read it this year!
Me neither. Sounds excellent.
I think you should pick out a different book for Malta, something from these should be great! I'm not sure which of them have an english translation but some of them sure do. I mostly just want to know what you think about the literature of this small but a gem of a country, especially since it's literature, although there are not as many works, the work really speaks to you. Classic novels: - Ulied in-Nanna Venut fl-Amerka (Juann Mamo) - Taħt Tliet Saltniet (Ġuże Aquilinà) - Silġ Fuq Kemmuna (Alfred Sant) - Fil-Parlament Ma Jikbrux Fjuri (Oliver Friggieri) - Il-Gaġġa (Frans Sammut) - Leli ta' Ħaż-Żgħir (Ġuże Ellul Mercer) Contemporary: - Is-Sriep Reggħu Saru Velenużi (Alex Vella Gera) - Inbid ta' Kuljum (Ġuże Stagno) - L-Għalqa tal-Iskarjota (Alfred Sant) - Fl-Isem tal-Missier (Immanuel Mifsud) - L-Eżodu taċ-Ċikonji (Walid Nabhan) There's also the "Rajt Malta Tinbidel" volumes. You're looking for "Century" by Refalo which is the English translation. Author is Herbert Ganado.
@@EchoesofThoughtOnYT Thank you for the list. I'm not sure what the availability of these will be in English but if I do not get to them this may be a very useful list to others, or I may mention them in a later video to round out the project
@@mikereadstheworld Fl-Isem tal-Missier (Immanuel Mifsud) this one is in English for sure, it's written by a lecturer of mine, very short and concise, in English it would be "In the name of the Father", the author found a diary of his father (a WW2 Veteran) and reflects on it as well as his upbringing in relation to his father's experience in the war. Thanks for considering mentioning these works, we may be small, but our literary efforts are most noteworthy!
I really really do not recommend the garden of the evening mists. It is a book full of clichés, the writing is also not that great. I finished it hopping for a revelation at the end that didn’t come and I felt like I have learned nothing about the country. It is quite rare that I tell someone not to read a book, but with this one I really felt like I have lost my time with it!
@@cassandrenadler I appreciate the sincere thoughts! I will dig around and see if I can't find something else a bit more foundational for Malaysia
@@mikereadstheworld Please let us know if you find something! I found one by Pierre Boulle (he wrote Planet of the Apes, the bridge over the river Kwai), I haven’t finished it yet but it would be nice to have something by a Malaysian writer.
Another great video Mike. I've been keeping a list of some of the books you've talked about in your videos and now that I'm in the process of closing my channel I won't have to keep rereading books I've already read and look forward to reading many of the books you've talked about. Also, I'm a little reluctant to recommend books because of everybody's different tastes but I hope you give Jamaica Kincaid a try, she's a favorite of mine.
@@oldmanandtheread Thanks Jerry, I'm so happy you have been able to share what you have on the channel, it has certainly helped with my own project. I will definitely give Annie John a read!
Interesting. Could I ask what exactly about the "voice in modern literature" bothers you about it?
@@smolqnbg A lot of it feels like I'm reading the same book, nothing stands out. Not that it's necessarily bad, just less interesting than a lot of things I could be reading. It could be that reading translated literature from all time periods create such a rich variety of perspectives, ideas and voices that modern books, novels in particular, written according to current conventions of chapter and paragraph structure start to seem formulaic. It's something you could talk or argue all day about but in the end it's about taste and what one enjoys about books, and I'm just prioritizing here the ones that seem most interesting.
@@mikereadstheworld I can see that. I'm probably the only person I know who is not that interested in novels in general. Short stories are my favorite genre, but it's hard to find great collections. That's how I "read the world" usually; last year some of the books I read were stuff like "Spanish stories", "Mexican stories" and such.
@@smolqnbg I have definitely found more variety and meaning in world poetry (both epic and short), essays, journals, myth and folklore, and historic texts myself. Experimental writing/novels can be great too, and aren't just a recent invention if we think more widely about the idea. Even the first novels like Don Quixote were self aware and a parody of their own artifice.
Men will never be machines. And if they try that they will pathetically fail.
"Gallants of the old Court" by Mateiu Caragiale (1929)
always look for older translations, preferably those that go back before the 1990s.
In case you've missed it: Sadegh Hedayat's autobiography, told by his nephew. English Captions available. (Just an FYI: Some of the captions are translated in error. For example, @9:48 the narrator speaks of the fact that before graduating high school when Mr. Hedayat wrote the books 'Khayaam's Quartains' & 'Man & Animal', as a result of which he ended up becoming a Vegetarian, he goes on to explain that he did not become a Vegetarian for health reasons, but rather due to his Philosophy. According to Hedayat, If human beings want to put a stop to wars, they must learn to not kill (be kind to) animals.". And @46:12 where he's talking about the 'Tudeh (socialist) Party' turning on Mr. Hedayat he describes it as "I don't know what to call this kind of treachery. It's a kind of unapreciativeness, & i don't what other statements to use. For so long (you, socialists) were hosted by Hedayat, since you could not meet anywhere else, based on ONE CRITICISM (by Hedayat) suddenly he became the bad guy?? You see? This is what Humankind is." @10:55 When the nephew is talking about his father being the older brother of Mr. Hedayat, the captions translate his words to say 'My father was an honest teacher', instead of translating it to "My father, (being the eldest brother) was Sadegh (Hedayat's) teacher'. His statement erroneously gets translated to 'Honest' because the name 'Sadegh' in Persian means Honest. Also, @ around the 45:00 mins mark, (after having already spoken about the time when Hedayat fell out with the 'Tudeh (Socialist/Communist) Party' after seeing the true face of the Party (after his friend gave him an account of what he witnessed in Azerbaijan) & criticizing them for the fact that the party was filled with rapists, murderers, thieves & criminals, he takes us back to the time before this falling out to tell us that about the fact that Mr. Hedayat (having no interest in joining the Tudeh Party) had even allowed the Party to hold secret meetings in his room, during which Mr. Hedayat gave no speeches but would only serve the guests, 'asking them if they want tea, coffee, etc..'. He tells this story, to show how unappreciative & treacherous this Party was for turning on him, the moment he spoke up & criticized them for the wrongdoings & immoral acts of the Party.) P.S.I could not believe my ears, when i heard the bit about 'We can't stop wars unless we learn to be kind to animals' because I knew nothing about Sadegh Hedayat before this podcast & yet I've been making that very same statement, in all of my adult life. Truly amazing. It really touched me. ua-cam.com/video/0JmRpf4HAuo/v-deo.html
Kudos.
Gurnah and Mahfouz are/were the two big names in African literature when I was young. Kudos for this review.
A good review of a good read. You may enjoy Orhan Pamuk novels.
Have you read "My Name is Red" by Orhan Pamuk ? You may enjoy that.
@@Abuamina001 I have it but I haven't read it yet.
Oh, you should read/review "Hadji Murad" by Leo Tolstoy, and "Death and the Dervish" by Mesa Selimovic. Similar ballpark.
Hello! Lithuanian here that had just read the book myself! There is some deeper context of the narrator being thrown into jail. At the time, the soviet union was still thriving and would throw away people like that because they were not useful for society. You can see this one thing mentioned about jail, that it is named "alcoholic jail", although not always alcoholics were thrown into there. We also know that the narrator did work in the millitary, however, he quit, But not simply because he became an alcoholic, he could not handle the unfair way of how the country was ruled. He chose to do nothing as a way of rebelling against the soviets since he realised he can not do anything meaningful, even if he was considered an intellectual person, but did not exactly fit in with other intellectuals, it pissed him off in a way. That is why he chose a bat as symbollism. Bats are typically feared creatures that people tend to stay away from, so it is symbolic in a way that he was isolated from everyone else, even before becoming homeless. Tūla, in her way, is very similar to the narrator. An artist that mainly drew and painted crows and was lonely and isolated. They understood each other in this way and that is what bonded them.
Also, it is kind of of autobiographic to the author since he also lost his loved one by drowning. Tula burned in a fire, but the emotions of loss was very autobiographic
@@kwiwilia Thank you so much for your insight, your comment has actually inspired me to put this on my reread list. It was such a fascinating book and I didn't understand some things but this helps greatly! Also that's really sad, but also interesting to learn about how the narrator reflects the author's life.
@ Im glad! I found your channel just by this video and I really enjoy people analysing books they have read. Keep up with your channel because it is very cozy to listen and hearing what kind of details were noticed. With this book I probably had an upper hand with reading in the original language and having some cultural knowledge of the cities mentioned. The “second city” is referred to Kaunas, and I am not surprised how that would confuse foreigners.
It’s called Michele The Giant: An African in Greenland if you buy it in the UK.
Yooooooo I've read this book 2 years ago and I found it really great. Glad you had the chance to read It too. Great video as usual and Happy holiday Mike!
@@raptorchannel1267Thanks and Happy holidays Raptor! That's great I agree and am happy to hear someone else has read and enjoyed it.
Have you read the Sunjata? Another important book with close ties to the _Wizard of the Crow_ is Narayan's _The Guide._
@@Richard.HistoryLit I like Camara Laye's version of the Sundiata which is called Guardian of the Word, seems rather hard to find these days even though it is my favorite version. I read the Penguin one as well which I didn't enjoy quite as much. Thanks for mentioning Narayan I will look into it.
I'm 8 mins 34 secs in to the video. Here's a deal as they say. If I watch your video, all 40mins of it to the end, will you watch my video on the British Empire? And I invite whatever comments you may have... Straight plain with due respect. Hows about it?
@@Richard.HistoryLit I'd be happy to check out your channel. No pressure to watch anything more than you feel is valuable, I ramble alot.
@@mikereadstheworld done, no worries...
quite an insightful review. I would personally say that I took the novel as being exactly how you described it - what do I take out of this? I think it is this very notion that Salih aims to identify the text with, pointing to a main theme you didn't mention (or perhaps emphasise?) was I guess identity itself. This liminal space in which Mustafa and the narrator both find themselves in is a key aspect of the novel, and particularly the ending for the narrator is a physical embodiment of that - there is undoubtedly a form of existentialism within that. In relation to post-colonial theory, I believe Salih attempts to critique western education in itself, as a form of imperialism, yet he also highlights the immoral actions of the village through the portrayal of women and their roles. I took the ending in two ways: perhaps Salih wishes for us to dissolve the sense of belonging in itself and encourage us to form our own identities, as the narrator decides to do. However, I think the fact that we are not giving an assertion of his survival implies a tragic futility with attempting to exist in a world between these two. But yes that's just my thoughts!
Great thoughts! You are right I did not emphasize identity too much. It's not a lens I am particularly adept or passionate about analyzing most books through. I do agree with you that was a likely intention on part of the author, the romanticization of eastern/western fantasies ties strongly into this identity negotiation. Thanks for the thoughtful comment!
Thre are two works by women you NEED to review. Alexa Wright's Praiseworthy and Olga Tokarczuk's Flights. Period! Theybare amazing. Perios! When you feel very brave you should take on Tokarczuk's, Books of Jacob.
@@johncoffman1841 Thanks, I have a video on Flights that I did early on in the project! Great book that I need to revisit.
I have been looking for a Roman author to read after reading Homer. 😂 like your enthusiasm I will read Ovid Thanks
Is there an edition of this book translated into Portuguese?
@@felipefilosofosamba Not that I can find, unfortunately.
Great video, Mike. I absolutely love finding comments written in the margins of books. They are usually put there by readers who are passionate about what they are reading and offer great insights that I often overlook.
I have a copy of Flowers of Evil and it seems that the previous owner didn't like some decisions taken by the translator. Such a shame that some modern books have next to no margin space.
Montaigne essays is long time on my tbr list. I plan it for 2025. I like your interpretation and comments. One critique, reading in the dark is pleasant esthetically, but light making this video flickering, hard to watching for me. Lucky it can be just listen, visual not that important.
@@crozbocrozbo Thanks, yeah I usually imagine people are listening more than watching, since I do the same.
27:00 hawk explanation
Not reading the Quran itself?
@@aapr-g3p I am, just not doing a video on it.
몽테뉴는 근대철학사의 어거스틴이다 400년 유럽문명 금자탑의 기둥이다 respect !
But with all do respect, Arabian nights is Iraqi not Syria. Kind regards
There are a lot of modern nations that could lay some claim to it.
Enjoyed watching this video game essay. I remember you mentioning video games in your Baron in the Trees review, and this was one of the games I’ve played that reminded me of what you said. Not the perfect game, but Raft was similarly good. Sometimes repetitive from the mindless farming but also with the vast sea and occasional music it can be quite meditative too. Highly recommend you to check out on The Witness if you haven’t played. All these games have something in common and this one’s the most thought provoking. Anyway, hope to see more reviews/essays on games as well.
@@eddsheene Thanks for the encouragement! I have heard of the Witness, and that type of puzzle game does appeal to me - Talos Project is another that's been sitting in my library. I have a few more potential game discussions in the works, still not sure whether it is essay, rumination, or review, or a bit of all of the above.
@@mikereadstheworld I was never interested in puzzle games either, but I after playing I saw why people say it's influenced by Invisible Cities - it's no ordinary puzzle game. Curious to see what games you'd choose next. Cheers.
Where is the Montaigne series, good sir? Cool game btw.
@@zmbo7806I'm working on a new and improved presentation for it in fewer videos - I decided a video for each essay would be a bit much - coming soon!
I've never seen that response to advanced alien civ in storytelling before, but it makes so much sense when you think about governemnt attitudes. Great review!
@@mere7583 Thanks, I agree, it was a fresh and thought-provoking take on what it might mean if world powers were confronted with our relative ineptitude as a dominant species on this planet.
Secret History of the Mongols would be awesome!
Interesting Penguin book!? There is an astonishing movie Russian I think about the Kazaks.
I once thought that book couldn't be translated without losing a lot of its Essence. When I was a student we had to translate Just a few (but very tricky) sentences. It took us 90 minutes.... And our Professor was amused .. and not really convinced. Mann's book is an incredible achievement.
I can imagine. Woods does a fantastic job overall. There are parts I like better in the older Porter one too, though I couldn't say which is more literal or accurate.
Didn't know about these. Thanks for putting me on to some more obscure classics.
Thank you for Your video I would like to get information about how to get this book
Love your content brother! I read Ribeyro , Terra Incognito short story recently. Any idea what that stories about? What’s your take on it?
@@havefunbesafe Hey thanks! It's been a long while (8 years?) since I read many of the stories, and that's one that didn't stand out in my memory. Looking at it again briefly I recall how one of my favorite things about his stories is how many of them seem to describe everyday lives, and everyday people. At the time I just enjoyed them and didn't think too deeply about many of them. I'll have to circle around to this story and hopefully discuss his work more in depth in a future video.
Badass! Not enough videos on this book.
Great mate❤, much love from the uk
Your the man Mike... Love your channel one of the best reviewers out there
@@grahamhudson9995 Thank you, I appreciate you!
Absolutely Beautiful, Thank You.
Hah nice review! I'm reading this book right now for school! It's cool hearing a foreigner talking about it!