Edith Wharton, "Age of Innocence".

Forget the witty dialogue, the elegant prose and the piercing observations. What I love about "Age of Innonence" is the discipline of the narrative. It's a slow burn that only whips out at the end of a long character arc. For the drama of such an inward-looking story to work, you need a rigid society for the hero to rail against and New York in the 1870's was such a society. I was fascinated with the description of the generational clashes in the book, and according to sociologists Neil Howe and William Strauss, the United States has oscillated between periods of extreme social conformity and social anarchy, where there is a strong parallel between the 1870's and the rock-solid 1950's.

Newman Archer, the hero of the novel, lives in a world of veiled truths, a kindling spirit ready to burst into the freedom that would only be freely offered in the next generation. Edith Wharton wrote the book from the vantage of the free-wheeling 1920's, with a castigating eye over the 1870's, an era when the fabulous wealth of the railroads and steelworks had ossified into a generation of nouveau rich, that had coalesced into an unbreakable caste system amongst the elites of New York.

There are delicious descriptions of dinner parties and cocktail parties, vital ingredients of the merry-go-round of social functions of this fungible New York set. It tracks the double-standards of affairs, ill-begotten marriages and shoddy business dealings where the social hierarchy is scrupulously enunciated, and deviations are meted out with exacting punishments. It is a place where it is equally scandalous living in a house too small, as one too big. However, everything works in a breathy whisper over hushed tones, as oversized emotions are pressed into a neat set of acceptable manners. The group-think and outcast rituals are described so well, that they were probably furnished by the raw stuff of Wharton's own unhappy marriage.

The book also opens a little window into the in-bred American inferiority complex as regards to European culture, especially European aristocracy. It is a strangely colonial attitude, where American girls will buy the latest dresses from Paris, only to store them in their closets back home, and wait a requisite two years before wearing the dress out in public.

Gary Taubes, "Why we get Fat"

I used to believe in a balanced diet. It was something that seemed to be common sense. And diet is one of those things that everybody has a strong opinion about because eating is something that everybody does all the habit, and thus engenders strong opinions. But understanding how our bodies work is something that requires the careful use of all our scientific tools. This is something that can't be deduced by opinion or introspective self-analysis. And when push comes to shove, there seems to be very little scientific evidence for balanced diets.

After reading a kaleidoscope of books are diets, I came across Tim Ferris slow carb diet. What made this one stand out from all the others was Ferris' insistence on measuring everything. He measures weight, circumference, blood sugar levels, glucose, triglycerides, LDL, in fact, anything that he can buy expensive machines for. However, whilst Ferris extreme self-experimentations convinced me of the efficacy of his suggestions, I was missing the nitty-gritty biochemical explanation of why the diet works.

This is where Gary Staubes' book comes in. It's a solid book that unpacks the last few decades research on glucose, insulin, carbohydrates. The book describes the trends of the different branches of metabolism, nutrition and medical research. It describes how major trends have criss-crossed and gone in orthogonal directions. The book also traces the evolution of dietary recommendations over the decades, stretching back to well before the 20th century. If this research is true then it is frightening how nutritional advice flipped after the 1950's compared to the solid block of dietary advice before that. Carbohydrates proves to be the key culprit for so much, including diabetes, and even cancer. And it would be but common sense to see the advice flip back once again.

Nathan Haren & Mike Cliffe Jones, "Beyond Blogging"

Bloggers are the new entrepreneurs. Their digital derring-do makes them 6 figure incomes and allows to galavant around the world. And this book peers into the working practices of a whole bunch of them, promising to reveal the secrets of their success. The promise is highly intoxicating, and is largely fulfilled, not be hewing to a single message, but by providing a sweeping view of the possible. The book is generous the choice of bloggers so varied, that there is no simple message, but the age-old one of working incredibly hard, incredibly smart, and be willing to try and fail.

Jules Verne, "Voyage au Centre du Monde"

Whilst reading this book, I flicked past a cable channel showing the recent Hollywood remake of the book. The film showed Brandon Frasier with a blonde and a kid staring at inner sun deep under the ground. At first, this dampened my experience of the book, as there was nothing remotely as lurid as that scene in the book. But then I realized Verne had done something much better, he had made the story believable in a way that no amount of CGI or heart-tugging music could ever do.

This is a classic science fiction, and I mean classic in the sense that it feels quite different to most of the science-fiction I have read in my life. Instead of the reliance on descriptions of machines and big government institutions, the book relies of the careful layering of scientific rhetoric to establish credibility in this otherwise boys-only adventure story (the only woman gets sidelined in the first few chapters). Verne is obviously in love with science, as he laboriously expounds his theories and pseudo-theories throughout the book. More importantly, he masters the rhetoric of skepticism in the science, which works so well, that when we do stray from reality to fantasy in the interior of the earth, the jump is seamless. The detail is built up layer-by-layer until you have a strong accretion of data that when something that is absolutely bizarre is presented, it becomes strangely acceptable. The many pages of minutiae is so convincing, that my eyes started skimming just as I often do when I read real science articles.

What this book leaves behind is a wonderful historical snapshot of the gentlemen scientist of the late 19th century, by creating an idealized version of it. The international renowned geologist Professor Liddenbrock is a man who speaks 29 languages, is master of geology, physics and biology, as well as perfect physical specimen of a man in his middle age, able to endure the rigors of mountain climbing and deep-sea rafting whilst living on barely any food and no water. The other characters are serviceable. But for the ultimate in fantasy, Liddenbrock achieves what no real scientist can achieve – everlasting fame and fortune from the fruits of his scientific endeavor.

Rino Breerbaart, "Song Logic"

Reading "Song-logic", a book of essays of music by Rino Breebaart, I felt a slight twinge of jealousy. Ever since I can remember, I have always wanted to write about my own transcendent experiences in music listening. In these hypothetical essays, I would break down my experiences with stylish wit and irresistible acumen. That I haven't is clear, but if I did then they would look something like these essays.

To write great music criticism, you have to have a sharp ear, a theorizing bent and a poetic tongue. But most of all, you need a sympathetic heart. These essays are written in a mature tone, suffused with a generosity that is absent in much criticism out there. There is no snark, just an honest attempt at trapping the sublime and praising the beautiful. There is little condescension and the essays focus on music that are mostly mainstream (from U2 Radiohead, Elvis).

For the criticism to work, there has to be a tacit agreement by the reader to the central thesis and the central thesis that "the goal of good music is to become pure feeling" rings true to me. These essays are concerned not just with how feeling are generated on a technical level, but how they fit into the scheme of things. There is an intensely personal tone to these essays as Rino traces how his own responses to the music has changed over his own lifetime. Our ears have histories too.

Easy as it is to read these essays, their convivial tone hides an ocean of work, the fruit of years of reflection. Such work is slow baked. And criticism is nothing if it doesn't get down to the minute details. It is here in abundance, the careful dissection of individual bass-lines, guitar riffs, and hi-hat patterns that provide the meat of the argument. They are described with such acuity, that I was compelled, even for songs that I knew well, to stop reading in mid-sentence, and search for the track to play it to myself, before settling back down to read again. I can think of no greater praise for criticism than that.

Tyler Cohen, "The Great Stagnation"

A slight essay that argues that most of America's economic failings is due to the loss of low-hanging fruit. Low-hanging fruit is mentioned many times. Many other things are not.

Mario Vargas Llosa, "Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter"

I read this book because I recently spent several weeks in Lima, and this classic is set in that city. It's a mish-mash of stories, or story of stories, as the main character is ultimately sandwiched between two rather unrelated stories. There is the fascinating story of a 17 year old young boy falling in love with his older divorced aunt. It's an affecting tale, the impetuosity of youth stuck in a convoluted extended family. The tension between Aunt Julia and the main character was done very well.

The other story is an orgy of prodigious invention and involves a Columbian scriptwriting polymath. The book is interwoven with an abundance of chapter-long stories that represent the fertile mind of the scriptwriter. These stories exhausted me after a while, although I loved the gag about men in their fifties. Together, these provided a kaleidoscope of life in Lima but the farce and violence proved tough going.

Henry James, "Portrait of a Lady"

In the "Portrait of a Lady", the phrase "make love" is used a lot. It does not mean what it means today. In Henry James' world of the turn of the 19th century, "make love" is akin to flirting, or courting. That it is couched as the act itself gives an indication of how different a world this book inhabits. It is a world where there is a strange lack of sex and flesh, and everything works on reputation and appearances and surfaces. It was an earlier era of American prudery that almost makes the 1950's feel like a sex party.

Harold Bloom once proclaimed "Isabel Archer" one of the most fascinating characters ever created, and he would rather converse with her than any living person. After reading this a second time, I have to say that I don't. Isabel Archer is somewhat smart, lively conversation, but unfocused, and supremely naive. What makes her fascinating is that James was able to imbue her with one of the central contradictions of his day.

For the first half of the book, Isabel Archer is perpetually figuring out what to do with herself. The thing she knows she does not want is to fall lock-step into the traditional role of wife. She is interested in being free, though she never figures out exactly what she is free to be, other than to be free to be the wife of a man with some importance. She is obsessed with being intellectual without actually thinking about anything, and worries about her soul, without any ability to discern. James places one symbolic man after another in front of her, using her reactions as an exploration of a fracture point in the American sensibilities of the day. Indeed, it is a book where James is struggling with the general American ethos of what to do with all that time and freedom from their recent period of economic boom.

The first half of the book is but the setting of the fabulous second. Because, of course, Isabel Archer chooses poorly and ends up marrying one of the most genius creations ever. The character of Osmond is as absurd as he is entertaining. Made out to be some kind of moral super-villian, he turns out to be a carefully coiffured example of pretentious mediocrity. The conflict in Isabel Archer works only because she holds the contradictory desires of being intellectually free, yet obeying the conventional model of marriage as the perfect submission of a woman to her man.

"Persian Fire", Tim Holland

I had high hopes for this book, an action packed look at one of the great clashes of antiquities, that between the Persian Empire and the fledging coalition of Greek city-states at the edge of the empire. Whilst the period was covered with adequate detail, I was savagely put off by the prose style.

Others who might not be used to this kind of writing in academic history might be excited, but this is very shoddy prose. Holland never saw a cliched metaphor he didn't like, stuffing them in every corner of his prose. He doesn't really have it in him to find a well-judged appropriate figure of speech. Inserting random French phrases seems so odd in this discussion of ancient history. As well, Holland has no sense of epic narrative nor of building suspense. As such, there is no careful building up of a pivotal clash. Rather important characters are introduced after the event. Still, it's pretty hard to get a sense of build as every event is a awesome, or brilliant, or any hyperbolic modifier you can think of.

Holland also has a sophomoric tendency to over-explain, often interpreting his characters actions right after describing what they did in the previous paragraph. And for good measure, he is very good about telling you how to interpret every episode instead of describing the episode with a little more writerly craft. Exhausting to read.

"La Chartreuse de Parme", Stendhal

Why did I read this? Another long and lugubrious tome from the acutely self-ironic Stendhal. It's another clever and pretty boy who wants to climb the social ladder by joining the church. Except this time, he falls in love with a good woman only towards the end. Long on detail for the posturing and machinations of the Parmese court. However it's true, his cousin the duchess is a fascinating character.