One of the most delightful autobiographies I’ve ever read. It’s intelligent, hilarious, candid and fascinating. A colorful portrait of the curious, outrageous and brilliant character that is Richard Feynman. Almost like a combination of Sherlock Holmes and Thomas Sawyer. The thrill of puzzle-solving, the exotic adventures, the natural showoff, and great showmanship. What impressed me the most is his inexhaustible curiosity and desire to search out the wonders and beauty […]
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“What Do You Care What Other People Think” by Richard Feynman
A sequel to “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman“, with a moving account of his loving relationship with his wife, who died in a hospital near Los Alamos where Feynman was working on the Manhattan Project. It also provides an insightful, fascinating account of Feynman’s significant role in the Challenger investigation. Childlike Curiosity “I’ve been caught, so to speak — like someone who was given something wonderful when he was a […]
Read more“Blessed Unrest” by Paul Hawken
In this book Paul Hawken not only provides a comprehensive overview of the environmental movement, but also reveals the connection between the environmental movement, the civil rights and indigenous movements. They are all defending the rights of life. When people all over the world are threatened by forces that destroy their livelihoods, such as poverty, corruption, pollution and injustice, they rise up and organize themselves to defend their rights. Man […]
Read more“The Homecoming” by Harold Pinter
When asked what his favorite play was, Harold Pinter would always say it was the Homecoming. “I like the shape of it. It has a kind of authority which I enjoy”. The scene is set in a family house. The family consists of a butcher (father), a boxer (brother), a pimp (brother) and a chauffeur (uncle). The eldest son, a professor of philosophy, comes home for a visit with his […]
Read more“The Nature of Order: The Luminous Ground” by Christopher Alexander
From the Ground Up A mind-boggling work. I don’t know of any other works that provide a more coherent and meaningful worldview framework in which questions about matter, space, beauty, inspiration, value and even life itself are answered, or at least can be discussed. Ever the architect-builder, Alexander dug deep to reach the Ground on which he was able to build a framework that bridges the gaps between science, art, […]
Read more“Celebration and The Room” by Harold Pinter
The first (The Room) and the last (Celebration) plays that Harold Pinter wrote. Never a dull moment in them. Celebration is a “savage farce”, as Pinter himself put it. The scene is set in an upscale restaurant, where a middle-aged couple celebrates their wedding anniversary. The dialogues are revealing at times, hilarious at others, engaging throughout. The Room, on the other hand, is somewhat subdued. The scene is set in […]
Read more“Ashes to Ashes” by Harold Pinter
I first read about Ashes to Ashes in Harold Pinter’s Nobel lecture “Art, Truth and Politics“, in which Pinter revealed the origin of the play, an image. “Ashes to Ashes, on the other hand, seems to me to be taking place under water. A drowning woman, her hand reaching up through the waves, dropping down out of sight, reaching for others, but finding nobody there, either above or under the […]
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