Venturing into the Grey Area: A Summer of Reading ‘Uncertainties’
This year, my summer reading list took a peculiar turn, owing to my current writing project. My book in the works delves into the discourse on uncertainty, pointing out that while we endlessly debate the uncertainties of life, we sometimes neglect the more insidious certainties that underpin some of our daunting challenges. Thus, I found myself navigating the body of work around the topic of ‘uncertainty’. It was frustrating to find arguments largely surrounding constant uncertainty, with insufficient exploration of what is considered definite, such as boundaries, property rights, and gender norms.
However, my journey through these writings led me to an engaging book by the mathematician and epidemiologist, Adam Kucharski, titled ‘Proof: The Uncertain Science of Certainty’. It deviated from the usual discourse by focusing on the various approaches and assumptions we as a society employ to create certainty, spanning areas including law, economics, health, and governance. Using captivating narratives such as the instance where Kurt Gödel, the pioneer of contemporary mathematics, tilted the perspective on potential fascism in the U.S not as a shred of the Constitution, but as a consequence of its inherent contradictions.
Another notable book from my summer readings is ‘The Trip to Echo Spring: On Writers and Drinking’ by Olivia Laing. Every revisit since its publication has been rewarding. Laing’s book harbors a unique amalgamation of several genres – it’s an invitation into a splendid labyrinth of literary critique, an ensemble of biographies, and a travel memoir all at once. The book beautifully explores the lives and trials of six esteemed writers who were also known to indulge in alcohol, including the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, while also shedding light on Laing’s own life.
Recently, we commemorated the 80th anniversary of the catastrophic atomic bombing events in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As the horrors of these incidents fade from our collective memory and as international relations turn volatile, it is more pertinent than ever that we revisit ‘Hiroshima’ by John Hersey. This poignant narration was first presented as The New Yorker article in 1946 and exposed the American citizens to the gut-wrenching reality their government imposed on innocent civilians of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Pekka Hämäläinen’s ‘Lakota America: A New History of Indigenous Power’ offers an engrossing, academic perspective on Lakotas, positioning them as the main characters of the history, rather than mere secondary actors. This narrative is quite recommended while journeying across the Upper Midwest and Great Plains. A completely different flavor comes from ‘The Destruction of Palestine Is the Destruction of the Earth’ by Andreas Malm. Malm connects the strategic genocide of Palestinians and the extraction of fossil capital from the region as an integral part of U.S. foreign policy.
In a more contemporary setting, ‘On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer’ by Rick Steves offers insights into Steves’ journey as a less seasoned and more uncertain backpacker before he became the reputable guide we know today. Underneath the narrative of his travels through vibrant and varied landscapes in places like Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan, is a coming-of-age tale and a mirror holding up the innocence and curiosity typical of young travels.
‘Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes’ by Leah Litman provides a gloomy insight into the legal world, illustrating the suspense-filled period lawyers experience as the U.S. Supreme Court winds down its session, revealing a string of rulings, leaving constitutional precedents hanging in the balance.
Alongside non-fiction, novels like ‘The Buried Giant’ by Kazuo Ishiguro engage readers in a narrative that weaves fantasy with an introspective exploration of deceit and betrayal on multiple levels, with resonant echoes of the Arthurian maiden voyage. André Dao’s ‘Anam’ also undertakes a profound personal journey, wrangling with the duality of the narrator’s leftist politics and their family legacy, and the tension between honoring a past legacy and fostering future generations.
In ‘The Sisters’ by Jonas Hassen Khemiri, the protagonist is haunted by a family curse across both time and geography. The narrative places an interesting spin with the inclusion of the author’s name, suggesting how personal stories can blur with the fictional.
Madeline Miller’s ‘Circe’ offering an immersive escape into Greek mythology, has been revisited several times for its compelling storytelling style. From general fiction, we move to ‘The Boy and the Dog’ by Seish? Hase, tracing the adventures of a dog separated from his owner due to a disastrous earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Exploring more experimental narratives, ‘Operation Shylock’ by Philip Roth and ‘Martyr!’ by Kaveh Akbar would make for an intriguing debate – discussing the themes of legacy, generational trauma, unreliable narrators, and the concept of martyrdom.
Another gripping read was ‘The Oligarch’s Daughter’ by Joseph Finder, a thrilling narrative situated in New York, characterised by its fresh take on Cold War espionage. Shifting away from novels, ‘The Essential June Jordan’ curates an emotive collection of her poetic works, dealing with themes ranging from love to politics.
One nonconventional read from the 90’s that comes to mind is ‘Too Negative’, a Japanese art zine that thrives on its cutting-edge, raw, and confrontational style of presentation. The pages feature an exotic fusion of the Chapman Brothers, Manuel Ocampo, and Joel-Peter Witkin, interspersed with unconventional and diabolic depictions from the tabloids and archival illustrations of medical ailments. This audacious zine consistently renders a relentless wave of deformations, conjuring a bizarre spectacle of hyper and non-humanism.