https://arab.news/mjxzp
Edited by John McMurtrie
Extending to the ends of the earth and spanning from ancient Greece to today, “Literary Journeys” is an enthralling book that takes you on a voyage of discovery through some of the most important journeys in literature. In original essays, an international team of literary critics, scholars, and other writers explore exciting, dangerous, tragic, and uplifting journeys in more than 75 classic and popular works of fiction from around the world.
Authors: Jean Jouzel, Claude Lorius and Dominique Raynaud
From the Arctic Ocean and ice sheets of Greenland, to the glaciers of the Andes and Himalayas, to the great frozen desert of Antarctica, “The White Planet” takes readers on a spellbinding scientific journey through the shrinking world of ice and snow to tell the story of the expeditions and discoveries that have transformed our understanding of global climate.
Written by three internationally renowned scientists at the center of many breakthroughs in ice core and climate science, this book provides an unparalleled firsthand account of how the “white planet” affects global climate.
Author: Mencius
C. C. Tsai is one of Asia’s most popular cartoonists, and his graphic editions of the Chinese classics have sold more than 40 million copies in over 20 languages.
In “A Cure for Chaos,” he uses his virtuosic artistic skill and sly humor to create an entertaining and enlightening illustrated version of key selections from the Mencius, a profoundly influential work of Chinese philosophy.
You cannot understand Chinese philosophy without understanding Mencius (fourth century BCE), who is known as the Second Sage, after Confucius, and whose ideas were for many centuries part of the standard Confucian curriculum.
“A Cure for Chaos” is a playful and accessible comic that brings alive the clever stories and thought experiments that Mencius uses to convey his ideas.
Author: Gary Stevenson
Gary Stevenson’s thinly veiled vehicle for launching a political career is an undeniable rags-to-riches story which has captured the attention of “Broken Britain” at a time when living costs are spiraling, public services are in disarray and politicians seem unable to provide solutions.
A math prodigy from a working-class background, Stevenson paints a vivid picture of a career that took him from playing football on the streets of Ilford to becoming Citibank’s “most profitable trader” in the years after the 2008 financial crisis. (A claim, incidentally, credibly rebuked by his former colleagues in a Financial Times report.)
The pugnacious self-starter won a scholarship to the London School of Economics and was hired by Citibank after winning the eponymous trading game designed to jumpstart the careers of graduates based on their potential merit as traders.
He describes the characters he encounters along the way with a mix of bemusement and admiration, and overall his insider’s look at the world of banking has a vicarious pull.
The central thrust unfolds as Stevenson comes to the realization he is making his millions betting against the chances of the world economy recovering.
As his bonuses grow larger, his mental health declines and he decides to commit himself to the cause of fighting inequality— something that has garnered him a large online following and which is starting to look like an entry into politics.
While the book suffers from some of the conceit that puts any autobiographical work at risk, and some jarring editing (the first-person narration, for some reason, switches to using more slang about halfway through), it is still a strong piece of storytelling and the emotional rawness of Stevenson’s style makes a real impression.
While his political takeaways might raise the eyebrows of more conservative readers, his voice still cuts through the noise of British politics and speaks directly to ordinary people from the unique viewpoint of someone who has escaped poverty, lived the life of the ultra-rich, and decided to turn around in an apparent effort to help those less fortunate.
Author: RICHARD REID
Africa’s long 19th century was a time of revolutionary ferment and cultural innovation for the continent’s states, societies, and economies.
Yet the period preceding what became known as “the Scramble for Africa” by European powers in the decades leading up to World War I has long been neglected in favor of a Western narrative of colonial rule.
The African Revolution demonstrates that “the Scramble” and the resulting imperial order were as much the culmination of African revolutionary dynamics as they were of European expansionism.
Author: Alice Feeney
“Beautiful Ugly,” released in January, is a novel by British author Alice Feeney.
The story concerns Grady Green, an author, who is on the phone to his wife while she is driving home. During their conversation, he hears the screech of brakes as she spots an object on the road ahead.
Green’s tries to prevent his wife from leaving the car to investigate the object, before she mysteriously disappears.
To cope with his depression and grief, Green travels to an island in search of solace and perhaps a way to restore his life, particularly after losing sleep and his appetite for writing.
On the island, he is shocked to encounter a woman who resembles his missing wife, and the story takes another dramatic turn.
Although the novel has been rated by more than 87,000 users on Goodreads with an average of 3.6 out of 5 stars, some readers found the pace a bit slow.
“It’s a bit of a slow-burn mystery, which I feel is difficult to pull off since it doesn’t keep you on the edge of your seat the whole time,” one of the reviewers commented.
Despite being a work of fiction, another reader found the narrative unreliable and unrealistic, making it difficult to connect the events. Nevertheless, most readers appreciated the author’s writing style and imagination.
“All in all, I don’t hate the book, but there is too much melodrama and theatrical antics for a thriller. Since this is my favorite genre, I tend to be quite particular about how I like these novels to be constructed,” another reader said.
Alice Feeney is a New York Times bestselling author. In addition to “Beautiful Ugly,” she has also published “Rock Paper Scissors,” “Sometimes I Lie,” and “His & Hers.”
