“The Ministry of Utmost Happiness” by Arundhati Roy

This book was an unusual choice for me. The author had previously won a prize for her last book, but I hadn’t read that before picking up this one. The choice was entirely motivated by the fact that a friend of mine (who is from Bangladesh) had read this book, thought it was alright, and wrote about it on his blog.

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness always seemed to be lacking something. It starts with the story of Anjum, a Hijra (someone who belongs to a third gender) who moves into a graveyard. From there it goes to Tilo and the various men who have loved her throughout her life, and then finally to the two Miss Jebeens. The first buried in a cemetery, the second found on a street corner.

The most compelling part of the book is probably the way these different storylines are woven together. Life in contemporary India and the impact of conflict is woven through these people’s lives, and in the way the characters intersect. But it doesn’t quite go far enough with it. For example, all of the sections are written in third person, except for a couple chapters from Tilo’s landlord, which are in first person. As far as I can tell, there’s no real reason for the difference. His story could have been told in third person as well, which bothers me. Usually there’s a reason for differences in narration.

The writing style in general is decent, but I wouldn’t say it was distinctive. If you imagine an author writing about India and trying perhaps a little too hard to make grandiose statements about life, then you’ve pretty much nailed this one. It isn’t a bad writing style, it just seems so… typical. It isn’t really unique in any sense. It’s a style more suited for pulling quotes from than really reading.

The general meaning of the book wasn’t quite clear. It ends with Miss Jebeen the Second being raised by a rag-tag group of people, giving them hope for the future. All of the other characters had gone through such hardships though, there is not really any other indication about it. Miss Jebeen v2 also is never developed as a character. All we know about her has come second hand through a letter from her original mother. Not exactly the most compelling for her as a character of hope.

Also, maybe I missed it, but what is the Ministry of Utmost Happiness? There is a chapter entitled that towards the end of the book, but happiness is always something that the characters have to make themselves rather than anyone giving it to them. It only comes once Anjum makes a home for them all to live within the graveyard, bringing together the dead and the living. But as far as I could tell there was no “ministry” involved in any sense. Am I being obtuse or what?

Since Roy did win a prize for The God of Small Things, that book might be more coherent. There are good pieces of this work, they are just buried within a sea of confusion. I do hope that she writes more, since she clearly is good at telling stories, they just appear to be lost in translation (note: this book wasn’t translated, I checked).

“Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline

There’s something about books steeped in nostalgia that just sucks you in. It might be the fact that I know a lot about past decades, but I think it might be more universal than that. The idea that you could create a new world but imbue it with references to things that we appreciate in this one seems to appeal to a wide audience of people.

The world set up in Ready Player One is drowning in references to the 80s, in particular the music, movies, and video games. It’s set in a futuristic world where humanity is falling apart (of course) but there’s an immersive video game called the OASIS that people escape to. In the OASIS, you can choose what your avatar looks like, what your username is, and buy yourself fancy cars and clothes. You can teleport to an insane number of different worlds and go on quests to level yourself up and boost your stats. You can be whoever you want, and are not limited by physics or your location. The only limit is the computer code that runs the system.

Kicking off the story’s plotline though is the death of the creator of this immense system, Halliday. He decides to leave his inheritance to whoever can complete a quest through this game world that he set up. There are three keys, each opens a gate. Whoever finds all three keys and completes the challenges behind every gate wins millions of dollars.

Naturally, everyone starts trying to find the keys. And corporations get involved as well, a group called the Sixers wants to find the keys and then use their resulting power in the game to charge people money to have an account on it. They fight ruthlessly and cheat incredibly well.

Up against these guys is Wade, a poor kid living in the Stacks, which are literally stacks of mobile homes to accommodate people who flooded to the cities in search of work but didn’t have the space. Wade is obsessed with the quest for the keys, but his lack of money prevents him from leaving Ludus, the planet he goes to school on. His online friend Aech is a comparable nerd to him, and sometimes helps him out with a lift. There’s also Art3mis, a girl looking for the keys as well who runs a blog chronicling her quest.

The situation set up in this book seems absurd and far-fetched, but the attention to detail is so incredible that just maybe I could see it happening. Wade mentions in passing how everything manages to function, from the immense OASIS servers to the privacy of the information on it. Clearly Cline thought all of the details through, and has no problem including them to convince us that this is a plausible scenario. As a result it walks a fine line between dystopian fiction, sci-fi, and just a plain novel about our future.

One of the recurring themes is the disconnect between online life and real life. Users change their appearances whenever they want to in the OASIS, and the end when Wade, Art3mis, and Aech finally meet in person is really well done. Cline shows that it really doesn’t matter all that much what you look like, because ultimately it’s the person’s personality that you are getting to know and care about.

There’s also intimacy. Wade goes through a rough patch and tries having sex in OASIS brothels for a while, but then realizes that its really just glorified masturbation. What he needs is real human contact. Art3mis insists that she and Wade can’t date because they don’t really know each other, they could just be lying about who they are. That doesn’t stop Wade from craving contact with her, as he’s fallen for her persona, regardless of whether she really is that or not.

As can be expected, there are references in the book to kids that ignore the outside world and shut themselves inside playing on the OASIS all the time. For a while, it seems that Wade is going to turn out that way as well. But the ending of the book cements it, the real world is far more important than any game because its real. Any happiness gained is more meaningful when it’s based in real life, and not in a fantasy game. The game was created by someone unable to adequately cope with life outside a game, but ultimately, it transforms Wade into someone who doesn’t need games anymore to thrive. The real world holds many more exciting possibilities for him now.

“What is Life? With Mind and Matter and Autobiographical Sketches” by Erwin Schrodinger

One of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century, Schrodinger has written about science and philosophy and made his mark on both fields. Here he combines his knowledge of physics as well as biology to explore the overlap between the two fields. He also goes into the philosophical consequences of his conclusions.

“What is Life?” became a very significant work, it inspired many of science’s greatest thinkers to join the field of biology. Of course it is incredibly out of date, he discusses genetics but at the time of writing DNA had not been discovered as the molecule of heredity yet. So the most he does it talk about chromatin, and not the actual mechanism that passes traits on. Similarly some of his ideas are pretty far-fetched, like his discussion of how organisms stave off entropy by consuming ordered objects such as food. It’s an interesting concept… but I think our consumption of food has more to do with the nutrients inside it rather than any “negative entropy” it passes on.

Where things really get interesting is his philosophical thought. He spends quite a bit of time on free will and the duality between animals as machines and our ability to choose. Of course there is no clear resolution of this, the duality remains a duality, but his deconstruction of these concepts is fascinating.

I picked this up because many other scientists that I’ve been reading about have been highly influenced by this work, and I would encourage others to do the same. In order to understand the thought processes of those that came before us, we have to go back to the source and understand how ideas have changed over time. There is still value in reading texts such as this one, regardless of whether it is outdated or not.

“The Road Home: A Contemporary Exploration of the Buddhist Path” by Ethan Nichtern

Contemporary Buddhist narratives tend to all fall into the same category of how hard it is to live in a modern society, and here are some cheat sheets to work your way out of that. Nichtern does not do that here, in fact he emphasizes just how difficult it can be to bring mindfulness and meditation into your life. As a result, it feels as though a friend is sitting you down and talking you through Buddhism, rather than you going to a lecture on how to be a Better Person.

Nichtern goes through the basics of Buddhism and explains them clearly, while also addressing misconceptions that frequently pop up about karma or other common ideas. He also links them all back to contemporary life, and what that means for someone living in the here and now. His thoughts are all very accessible and easy to follow.

As opposed to holding the Buddha’s teachings on this high pedestal and expecting us to climb up there, the author brings the teachings down to our level, meeting us where we are at. It’s a refreshing change (and I’ve read a lot of books about Buddhism) and offers a unique perspective on it. Nichtern also fuses together many different sects of Buddhism, and touches on whether or not Buddhism could be considered a religion, or a philosophy of thought. This makes the book suitable for beginners or others more familiar with Buddhist thought, and is wonderful reading about mindfulness for anyone interested.

Variations on a Theme: Swing Music

This month we are talking about swing music! This is one of my favorite genres of music, the tunes are just so catchy and upbeat. It’s music made for dancing!

1. “Anything Goes” by Cole Porter

This is a classic song by a classic writer. There are lyrics, of course, but I love the piano only version. It’s soothing and somehow also happy. Porter has written several classic jazz tunes that crooners have loved for years, this seems like the perfect way to open the playlist.

2. “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons

Frankie Valli and co don’t usually cover jazz tunes, but this is a wonderful exception to the rule. “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” was originally penned by Cole Porter, but it has been covered by nearly everyone in the past 100 years. Valli isn’t really a jazz man, but hey 60s boy band is close enough. This particular version of the song is different from most others as a result. Most strikingly are the harmonies that the boys use to accompany the melody. The result is a smooth sailing song that makes you sway every which way.

3. “Mack the Knife” by Ella Fitzgerald

Ella is my queen and I’m obsessed with her voice and everything about her. This is a really wonderful and unique cover of the tune. “Mack the Knife” is originally from “3-Penny Opera” and the whole point of that show is to put on a dingy and gritty opera, to contrast with the high-class ones that are more of the stereotype. It was also originally in German. Anyways so you’ve got this opera for the lower classes (hence the 3 penny part) that opens with a song about an assassin, not the most reputable of people. Anyways, Ella’s cover of this song is awesome and gloriously quirky. She actually forgets the lyrics partway through and just makes them up! I also don’t think I know of any other female jazz singers who cover this piece. It’s just plain fun!

4. “In A Mellow Tone” by Duke Ellington

And here we get to the master Duke Ellington. Ellington made the big band popular back before the Depression. He also arranged all of their tunes especially for the musicians playing any particular part. “In a Mellow Tone” is one of his pieces that isn’t especially complicated (most high school jazz bands play a version of it) but it still is so fun to hear because the swing is right on point. The entire group is so precise and together that it could just be a bunch of robots perfectly aligned.

5. “Fly Me to the Moon” by Frank Sinatra

No swing set would be complete without this song. I think that would lead to a riot. This Sinatra piece has been beloved for years, even by people who aren’t into swing music as intensely as me. I’ve heard a cappella groups perform this arrangement exactly, and jazz bands love to pull this chart out. There’s something about the lyrics that are a genius expression of love (“in other words…”) and the tune is still so upbeat and fun to dance to! Definitely a high point of the playlist as we hit the midline.

6. “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” by George Harrison

While not technically of the swing genre, this is traditionally a swing tune (the more common version is by Ella Fitzgerald). It’s just being given a bit of a more blues-y folks-y treatment here by the incredible ex-Beatle George, who is playing the ukulele! The ukulele was a bit of an obsession with George who fell for the fun little instrument and started collecting them, as well as playing them. Unfortunately I only know of a couple of recordings of him actually playing the instrument, but in my opinion this is the best one.

7. “Pennsylvania 6-5000” by Glen Miller

Glen Miller is another swing staple, known for his big band work. This is another tune that is fairly ubiquitous among high school jazz bands for its simple, yet catchy melody. It turns up at most swing dance events, so keep your ears peeled!

8. “All of Me” by Louis Armstrong

Armstrong has got to have one of the most distinctive voices in the jazz world, you can identify him almost instantly. In my opinion, he was a much better trumpet player than a singer, but you really can’t beat that distinctiveness. This is one of his best known songs, which he treats with a little New Orleans feel. This style is known for having multiple improvised lines through all of the different wind instruments, which you can hear at the beginning.

9. “I Get A Kick Out of You” by Eileen Rodgers

This is the version from the soundtrack to “Anything Goes” (specifically the 1962 revival) (in case you’re wondering the various revivals can be different). It’s the version that I first fell in love with back in high school when we were putting on the same musical with tons of fun tap dancing and singing. If you haven’t seen it, “Anything Goes” is this ridiculous Cole Porter classic about love on a ship with gangsters and cabaret singers! It’s one of my favorites.

10. “Haven’t Met You Yet” by Michael Buble

May as well end on a more modern note, this is that Buble song from a few years ago that everyone was singing for a while! It’s a rare example of a new swing song that still retains the upbeat melody and catchy rhythm. Perfect for the finale, and we’ll see what is yet to come for the swing genre!

So that’s all for this month, next month we will be doing something slightly different and discussing Beatles music! I’ll be putting together a playlist of my favorite Beatles songs from across their albums, so mark your calendars for that!