January Reading List
Hey friends,
With February nearly finished, I’m finally sending out my long overdue reading list for January. A combination of forgetfulness and procrastination has resulted in me only sending it out now.
Hopefully, the wait was worth it and you’re inspired to read one or all of the books below! :)
Why Marx Was Right - I was underwhelmed by this book, which is a shame because I was looking forward to reading it. While it offered some interesting thoughts, it was hard not to see it as a fawning apology for the policies of regimes related to Communism. While there’s no doubt Marx had a lot of interesting points to make about capitalism and society in general, I felt the author was trying too hard to push Marxism across without addressing the elephant in the room.
Again, this is a shame. I’m a social democrat and am sympathetic to a lot of Marx’s criticisms. But I felt this book was a poor attempt at trying to shoehorn Marx’s critiques into the modern world. The title of the book gives away a lot of what you’ll find inside. Marx was right, yet those who implemented his ideas in practice strayed, but he was still right. Interesting read, but you need to take the conclusions with a decent pinch of salt.
Metamorphosis – A brilliant set of stories by Kafka. I can’t recommend this book enough. Kafka has a genius for making even the shortest of stories gripping and has a fantastic ability for conveying the absurdity of life. This was the first of Kafka’s work I read, and it will not be the last.
If you can, get the Penguin Modern Classics version, as this has multiple short stories as well as Metamorphosis.
Heroic Failure – Brexit is the single biggest mistake in British foreign policy in my lifetime, and arguably since the end of the Second World War. That’s my view, but it’s one held by a lot of people, and by the author of this brilliant book, the Irish writer Fintan O’Toole.
It’s interesting seeing Brexit from the Irish perspective. They are our neighbours and we have a longstanding connection with Ireland, that’s been rough for the Irish especially . What you get from O’Toole’s book is a bafflement as to how a prosperous and vibrant country could vote for something as insane as Brexit. It’s a lament at a country that’s lost it’s sense of self in delusions of grandeur and self-pity.
The Power of Geography – A timely book to read considering the invasion of Ukraine that took place today. Tim Marshall takes us through the geography of nine countries and outer reaches of our planet that could shape the coming century. What’s interesting is not the countries included such as Ethiopia, Spain and Greece, but the ones left out of the book altogether, such as China and Russia. Still, it’s a brilliant book for those interested in geopolitics and will inform you as to why we may see more trouble between countries as the years progress.
I hope you get around to reading a few of these selections. Whether you read them in the next month or year, I’m not bothered. The idea of my reading lists is to encourage you, the reader, to read more.
If more of us read, and read books outside of our comfort zone, the world would be a better place. You don’t know what you don’t know. Reading is one of the best ways to fill in those gaps in your knowledge.
If you have any comments about the books, maybe you’ve read one before. Or if you have some recommendations for me, I’m all ears. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Until next time,
Tom