https://arab.news/8yjer
Authors: Robert Young and Annalisa Berta
Packed with surprising facts, this delightful and gorgeously designed book will beguile any nature lover.
Expertly written and beautifully illustrated throughout with color photographs and original color artwork, “The Little Book of Whales” is an accessible and enjoyable mini-reference about the world’s whales, with examples drawn from across the globe.
JEDDAH: Syrian poet and writer Fadi Azzam’s novel “Huddud’s House,” poignantly translated by Ghada Alatrash, paints a kaleidoscope of Damascene life, from its artists and lovers to its doctors and politicians, during its recent period of great turmoil and destruction.
Beginning at the cusp of the Arab revolution and civil war in Syria, the novel is an epic that delves into the depths and dark pits of the human heart. It is a searing depiction of humans’ capacity to love in all forms, resist and grow, as well as their power to destroy, oppress, and wage war.
Among its central characters is Fadi or Fidel Al-Abdullah, a law student, artist, womanizer, famous filmmaker, or religious extremist — depending on which part of his story you’re reading. His character arc is a prominent thread in the novel’s theme of identity and exile, capturing the nature of identity as perpetually in flux.His married lover, Layl, a doctor, is a complex portrayal of a woman torn between desire and duty.
Anees, a heart surgeon in Britain, sees his life take a swift turn when a phone call beckons him to the homeland. In Damascus, he inherits his grandfather’s property, Huddud’s House, initially poised as a promising windfall.
But the ancient house itself, and the locals who care about its heritage and cultural significance, help the doctor uncover its treasures and secrets such as historical artifacts and documents about Syria and her people painstakingly penned by its former guardians.
In the story, Huddud’s House stands as a powerful symbol of Syrian resistance and perseverance against oppression: “This was the fortieth time that this house encountered destruction, but its history testifies that each time it returned greater than before,” reads an excerpt.
“Huddud’s House” is an emotionally fraught and sweeping story of human connection during war, as well as a harrowing testimony partially based on true accounts of the brutalities endured by the Syrian people during the great upheaval of their homeland.
Azzam’s novel cements storytelling’s pivotal role in preserving truth, history, and heritage.
And at the heart of this particular story is a powerful idea: To love is to resist.
Author: Evan Lieberman
At a time when many democracies are under strain around the world, Until We Have Won Our Liberty shines new light on the signal achievements of one of the contemporary era’s most closely watched transitions away from minority rule. S
outh Africa’s democratic development has been messy, fiercely contested, and sometimes violent. But as Evan Lieberman argues, it has also offered a voice to the voiceless, unprecedented levels of government accountability, and tangible improvements in quality of life.
Lieberman opens with a first-hand account of the hard-fought 2019 national election, and how it played out in Mogale City, a post-Apartheid municipality created from Black African townships and White Afrikaner suburbs.
Author: Dan Ackerman
In the 2016 book, “The Tetris Effect: The Game that Hypnotized the World,” author Dan Ackerman, a radio DJ turned tech journalist, assembles pieces of a fragmented narrative into a neat, fast-paced story.
Each chapter is almost like a tetromino (a single Tetris piece). The story is layered, technical, nerdy and a tiny bit quirky.
Perhaps the most recognizable video game yet made, Tetris has a definitive story all its own. Ackerman, who is an editor at leading technology news website CNET, brought that animation to life.
In the chapter “Bonus Level, Tetris into Infinity,” Ackerman asks: “Is it possible to ‘win’ a game of Tetris? The idea of what constitutes a winning state is an ongoing source of debate among game theorists.”
Ackerman walks us through what the mathematicians say, discussing among other things the limitations of the Z shape in the classic Tetris game.
He asks: “An attentive player with lightning-fast reflexes could easily keep the game going for a very long time, but based on the rules established above, is it possible to continue forever?”
It’s a good question.
If you have been alive during the past four decades, you will have most likely played it yourself or know someone who has. The book deemed it to be “a game so great, even the Cold War couldn’t stop it.”
But how did that come to be? Why?
The book considers a question many have been wondering: How did a quiet, obscure Soviet software engineer create the game on, even at the time, antiquated computers in 1984? And how is it still so popular 40 years later?
Tetris earnings have exceeded $1 billion in sales, the book states, and peppered within its pages, readers will notice additional facts scattered around to make it even more interesting. One such fact states: “Guinness World Records, recognizes Tetris as being the ‘most-ported’ game in history. It appears on more than 65 different platforms.”
Another reads: “The Nintendo World store in New York has on display a Game Boy handheld that was badly burned in a 1990s Gulf War bombing. It is still powered on and playing Tetris.”
That Russian programmer, Alexey Leonidovich Pajitnov, did not change the world, but he did change how we interact with it, by creating that game. Pajitnov was 28 when he developed Tetris in Moscow. Now 68, he is still a significant figure in the gaming world. While he did not initially receive any royalties due to strict Soviet laws at the time, he later got what was owed to him when he formed The Tetris Company in 1996 to manage the licensing rights for the game.
The book follows the author’s story through a decade in the city, and unravels the city’s history through successive reinventions of itself.Eentertaining and accessible, it is the fascinating chronicle of a unique city, according to a review on goodreads.com.
Kathmandu is the greatest city in the Himalayas. it is a unique survival of cultural practices that died out in India a thousand years ago. it is a jewel of world art, a hotbed of communist politics, a paradigm of failed democracy, a case study in Western intervention, and an environmental catastrophe.
Closed to the outside world until 1951 and trapped in a medieval time warp, Kathmandu’s rapid modernization is an extreme version of what is happening in many traditional societies.
Author: Ted Chiang
“Stories of Your Life and Others” is a collection of short stories by Ted Chiang, published in 2002.
The author explores complex themes such as language, time and consciousness.
One of the remarkable aspects of Chiang’s work is his ability to blend science fiction with philosophical inquiries, resulting in thought-provoking narratives that challenge readers to reconsider their perceptions of reality.
One of the standout tales in the collection is “Story of Your Life,” which was adapted into the 2016 film “Arrival.”
It follows linguist Dr. Louise Banks as she attempts to communicate with alien beings who have arrived on Earth. Through her interactions with the extraterrestrial visitors, Banks gains a new understanding of language and its impact on the perception of time.
Another notable story is “Understand,” which delves into the implications of enhanced intelligence.
Chiang’s exploration of the consequences of such a dramatic change in cognition is both insightful and thought provoking.
The story raises important questions about the nature of intelligence, consciousness and the limits of human potential.
Chiang’s writing is marked by meticulous attention to detail and a deep exploration of scientific and philosophical concepts.
His stories are not simply vehicles for technological speculation but rather profound explorations of human nature and the mysteries of the universe.
Chiang has won numerous literary prizes, including the Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards.
