This is a professional book about writing software by Joel Spolsky, he of the “Joel on Software” fame. It’s a compilation of articles and blog posts about writing software and contains some good advice. Arguing about style is so pointless, the entire problem can be circumvented by simply making the style part of the language. No more holy wars about braces and spaces and indentation. Moving on, what makes a great hacker? Is it an all-consuming sense of wonder and curiosity or just a superb talent at getting things done? All of that is true but also really just loving what you do. It’s rare for someone to excel at a job they hate, after all.

Several other gems exist in this book and we learn why REST won out over WSDLs, and the intricacies of designing social software. What should you do when faced with your first crisis as a development manager, and why you should never hire certain people, no matter what. Read this one for some good gems on software development, you might get a chuckle out of some of the stories.

ISBN: 1-59059-500-9

Snow in August is a strange book in the sense that it veers between two different genres so rapidly, it’s almost as if the agent insisted that the ending match some marketing expectations that had been laid out but not fulfilled. It is Brooklyn after the war and Michael Devlin is the son of Irish immigrants, in stereotypically post-war America. Michael is a normal kid, who befriends a refugee, a Rabbi from Prague who fled the Holocaust and ended up in America. As the entire neighbourhood is content to wallow in a miasmic anti-Semitism, Michael learns that the Rabbi is one of the smartest people he’s ever met and a quick learner, despite his seemingly advanced age. When the neighbourhood gang decides to teach the Rabbi a lesson for his Jewishness, Michael pulls out the ultimate weapon in the Hebrew mythological arsenal: a golem. The golem is unstoppable and restores order to the neighbourhood, avenging all the wrongs and humiliating all the wrongdoers in typically juvenile fashion.

This book started off really well and maintained its momentum until almost the end. Bad people exist and bad things happen to good people, something we have learned to expect, regardless of a belief in any sort of supernatural deity or not. What’s not expected is the deus ex machina of the Golem at the end, who turns the preceding sections into a farce. If one was going to summon supernatural powers to defuse a situation involving street toughs, why not do it right from the get go and avoid all the ensuing pain. Seen as a fable that brings myth to life, the book is fine, but seen as an existentialist work that’s chronicling the reality of life in postwar Brooklyn, the ending is a disappointment.

ISBN: 0446-67525-3

What if you were an anti-slavery tomboy in the United States, in the years leading up to the Civil War, and lived in a pro-slavery state? Things would get pretty hairy pretty quickly and that’s just what happens in The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton. Lydia Newton is married off to Thomas Newton and sets off for Kansas, where slavery is condoned and defended with deadly force. Lidie discovers that the innocuous-sounding “goose question” is a hidden allusion to the question of slavery to decide which side of the fence someone lies on. The new life in the expanded territories is good, despite all the pioneer hardships and dearth of creature comforts. Eventually, the Newtons run afoul of their pro-slavery neighbours and things go awry, with her husband being murdered. Lidie resolves to dress as a man and avenge the death of her husband.

The book examines a pivotal point in American history, marked by immense violence and ideological divides, based on very fundamentally different views of human beings. Jane Smiley does a good job of conveying the sense of abhorrence someone would feel after moving to the South from New England before the Civil War. While not as condescending as one might expect her to be, Smiley’s protagonist has that one trait most slavers lack, compassion. This sets her apart from her Southern brethren who are determined to perpetuate the institution of slavery at all costs, even if it means tearing the nation asunder. All in all, a very revealing and interesting book, one you’ll enjoy as a precursor to the feminist movement that oversaw the emancipation of women to a greater degree.

ISBN: 0-449-91083-0

This is a novfel of ancient Ireland, according to the title’s subtext and it is extremely efficient as a vehicle of the lore and lexicon of old Eire. Sister Fidelma is a sleuth who is faced with a murder mystery and has to get to the bottom of it. A ship comes under fire from pirates and is forced ashore, with Sister Fidelma aghast that an envoy of the king has been murdered in cold blood. Tracking the enigmatic emblem of the ship, a white dove, the indefatigable sister stumbles upon, what else, a plot to dethrone the king.

The plot itself is fairly thin and predictable, but the book is interesting at times, with insights into the old words that make up the Gaelic language. The tale is wrapped in the history of the time, with the Roman colonials coming and going, disseminating their knowledge and religion. The pagan beliefs die hard and the church can do little but adapt its rites to the older customs prevalent in the native land. You’ll learn a fair number of Latin phrases, as well as Gaelic words long since vanished.

Verdict: Educational and mildly enjoyable.

ISBN: 978-0-07553-5762-8

Gregory David Roberts lays a doozy of a book on us in Shantaram. An Australian convict flees maximum security incarceration in Australia. En route to Munich, he gets off the plane in Bombay and disappears. But how can a foreigner survive the mean streets of Bombay and avoid the law? David tells us everything in this book, a thinly veiled autobiography, wherein he goes by the name of Lindsay, or Linbaba as he ends up being called. Linbaba sees the usual dope haunts and dens that the hippies go to, but is far too intelligent to be reduced to a cabbage in this, one of the world’s densest cities, a city that truly never sleeps. He makes a living selling drugs to other clueless foreigners and even plays the part of benevolent saviour by living in a slum, but ultimately gets sucked into the whirling maelstrom of crime that lurks just below the pitted veneer of Bombay.

One thing leads to another and Linbaba journeys west to fight in the holy war against the Russians, as part of the Mujahideen, an organization not unknown to the crime kingpin who’s recruited him. This is on top of the usual black market dealings of forged passports, money laundering and general mayhem that Linbaba is responsible for. The war doesn’t go too well for Linbaba and he ends up back in Bombay, where the recounting ends.

At first, the book seems a little simplistic, even vapid. But it rapidly grows in substance and stature, until you realize that David is a writer of no mean ability. The book is well crafted, and though aided by an extremely strong plot, Roberts’ talent shines through in spades. There are parts where you shake your head and wonder what the author is thinking, as blinded by emotion as he is. But underneath it all, Roberts is a thinking man with insights into what makes us tick. One hardened violent criminal plus the modern people of an ancient land equals a book you will find hard to put down.

ISBN: 978-0-312-33053-8

Here’s the singular classic by Thucydides, the pre-eminent historian who chronicles the war that ended the Golden Age of Greece. In this translation by Thomas Hobbes, he of the ‘Omnium Bellum Contra Omnes’ fame, we are treated to a superlative translation of the original, with the few errors present highlighted and corrected in the footnotes. Athens is powerful and has gradually built the Athenian empire, something that causes envy in militaristic Sparta. It has been half a century since the famous stand at Thermopylae and the war grows inevitable. The book covers all the usual episodes of warfare and spates of peace in detail, some of it witness firsthand by the author.

Thucydides himself is mentioned in this tome, with a fleeting note about his failure that made this book possible. I found several parts of this book to be tough reading, with my eyes glazing over at the mention of innumerable Greek tribes and their peculiarities. Chalk this one up for another re-read soon, it looks as though this is another Ulysses-style candidate for numerous passes. In comparison to Herodotus, I would have to say that Herodotus is the better writer, though of course, Thucydides scores major points for factual integrity. All in all, this book is a great classic and should be read end to end, no excuses. Fifty trillion points if you can actually read it in Ancient Greek.

Here are four plays from Classical Greece that should delight you with their ribaldry and make you laugh even today, 2500 years after they were written. Women in Power is a look at feminine usurpation of power, in a time that was not so kind to women, but not as bad as some others. The women steal out in their husbands’ robes and finish the business of handing over power to themselves in the guise of men before the men have awakened. Under the new rules, the women get to choose their sexual conquests, and all laws and courts are abolished in favour of communal rules. The play breaks the fourth wall towards the end, with the judges being addressed in cajoling tones to award the best prize to this play.
Wealth sees Pluto, the god of wealth wandering the Earth blinded by Zeus for his altruistic motives. Using logic and persuasion, something the Greeks were superb at, Pluto is convinced that he is superior to Zeus himself, since people tire of everything but wealth in the end. Pluto accepts his eyesight back and all hell breaks loose when people accept that they don’t have to sacrifice to the gods any more, since sacrifices cost money and Pluto will now decide who gets riches and who doesn’t. The situation is defused by Hermes in the end, and Pluto is resigned to spending the rest of his life in the Treasury.
The Malcontent is by Menander and deals with a grouch who despises everyone and is a pretty solid misanthrope. However, he has a pretty daughter and sure enough, her comeliness ensnares a farmer, who sends his friend over to plead his case for the crotchety man’s daughter. When the old man falls down a well, the young suitor has a chance to win his hand, and does so through his friend, who actually hauls the crabby coot out of the well. The old man is convinced that cantankerousness is ill-deserved and is castigated for his sourness, as the play ends.
Finally, we have The Woman from Samos, a funny play about a man who gets his neighbour pregnant and then persuades his father’s mistress to nurse the baby instead, to avoid the wrath of the girl’s father. To make matters worse, his father had ordered his mistress to get rid of her child and when he returns from his trip and sees her with a child, he assumes that the child is theirs. Further misunderstandings follow and several comic scenes ensue, with a happy ending after all.

These plays mark the boundary between old comedy and new comedy, with Aristophanes being the last of the Old Guard, passing the torch to Menander of the New Guard. The Peloponnesian war had ended and Aristophanes had successfully bridged the gap between pre-defeat Athens and the new Athens. Menander carries on a much more jocund fashion, with the gods receiving lesser emphasis than before. These are more great classics that you should read.

ISBN: 0-413-67180-1

A Greek tragedy by Aeschylus, The Oresteia builds on the story of the Iliad, and deals specifically with its longest-surviving alpha male, Agamemnon. The first part of the trilogy is called Agamemnon and begins with Clytemnestra’s wife impatiently waiting for her husband to return from the decade-long siege. A warrior as mighty as Agamemnon could but return home with a booty worth talking about, the beautiful Cassandra of Troy. Of course, this enrages Clytemnestra, the sister of Helen, who has been plotting Agamemnon’s death ever since he sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia to the gods for a favourable wind at sea. Overcome by rage, Clytemnestra slays both Agamemnon and Cassandra, and the first part ends with the chorus reviling her for her actions. Note that this is a different interpretation of the fate of Kassandra, as described here.
In the second part of the trilogy, The Libation Bearers, Orestes, the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra is seen at the grave of Agamemnon. He is eventually reunited with his sister Electra, who tells him about an oracular dream she’s been having. Convinced that the only way to ward off the ominous sign is to avenge Agamemnon’s death, Orestes journeys to his mother’s palace, where he kills both her and her new husband, Aegisthus. Wrapping their slain bodies in the same sheet his father was wrapped in, Orestes flees the palace, pursued by the Furies, those Greek deities who torture those who have spilled familial blood.
The Eumenides, the final part of the trilogy, deals with the Furies as they seek to avenge the death of Clytemnestra at the hands of her son. Orestes flees to Apollo, begging him to save him from the Furies, arguing that though he did commit matricide, it was to avenge mariticide. Apollo in turn sends him to Athena, who placates the Eumenides and persuades them to set Orestes free. The Furies oblige, thanks to a mixture of reverence and flattery on Athena’s part, and the play ends.

Another great Greek tragedy, and one everyone should assuredly read.

ISBN: 0-14-044333-9

Sophocles is one of those ancient Greeks you hear a lot about but probably have never read. Building on the story of Oedipus, the first play in the Theban trilogy, is Oedipus Tyrannos, or Oedipus Rex in Latin, or Oedipus the King in English. Oedipus is now the king of Thebes, having unknowingly killed his father and bedded his mother. Desiring to help his subjects beat the plague, he sends for a prophet, who advises Oedipus to drop his inquiries, since no good can come of them. However, Oedipus gets to the bottom of the tale and horrifies with what he has learnt, rushes into the palace to kill himself. He comes upon the body of his mother who has just killed herself and in an extreme fury, blinds himself. The play ends with Oedipus exiling himself.
In the second play, Oedipus at Kolonos, he wanders Greece with his daughter Antigone, and ends up at Kolonos, ruled by Theseus, who is soon to be embroiled in a struggle with the Thebans. Originally reviled by the Kolonians, they relent when he tells them he is someone sacred. Meanwhile, Oedipus’ sons have started a bloody war, inadvertently setting off down the road to fulfilling their father’s prophecy that his sons would die by each other’s hand. Since the outcome of their battle depends on where Oedipus is buried, Oedipus exhorts Theseus to never reveal the location of his dying place to any mortal. Theseus accepts and Oedipus is reclaimed by Zeus.
In the final part of the trilogy, Antigone, the battle has been fought between the sons of Oedipus and Eteocles has killed Polyneikes. Kreon decides to have Polyneikes’ body left unburied, for the worms and vultures to consume, as the ultimate punishment for disobedience. Antigone is not pleased by this disrespect being shown to her brother’s corpse and under the cover of night, she erects a tomb for Polyneikes. Kreon is furious when he finds out and orders Polyneikes exhumed and Antigone buried instead. Tiresias, the blind prophet decrees that Kreon’s actions will cause him to lose his own son. Kreon is too angry to care but finally relents after the Chorus makes its displeasure with Kreon’s edict known. However, it is too late to change his mind, since Antigone has already killed herself. Haimon, the son of Kreon, who had initially taken Antigone’s side, sees this and kills himself as well. In the wake of this, Kreon’s wife, Eurydike also kills herself. The plays end with the Chorus reminding us that those who puff themselves up with big words are soon seen to by the Gods, with a terrible judgement swiftly meted out.

These plays really have to be read to be believed. Written around 450 B.C., these 2500 year old plays have lost none of their vigour and impact. Sophocles is a master playwright who conveys emotion tersely, without a single excess word. Using all the classical Greek techniques, he gives us a glimpse into a raw world, a world that had brutality, but also immense beauty. To not read these plays would be truly tragic indeed.

ISBN” 0-571-19535-0

This is a book I came across in the History section of the library and am I ever glad I picked it up. This is Cairo as I have dreamt it would be, and this book really makes you want to go there. Halfway through the book, you too will wish you were in a souk in Cairo, sipping wine as the desert wind blows in from the Sahara and coats everything in a sheen of dust. Max Rodenbeck, linguist and Cairene gives us the history of Cairo as it evolved over the ages, from the Pharaonic era to the rise of Islam to its current role as a pivot in the Middle Eastern peace process.

Rodenbeck traces the rise and fall of Cairo as it sits at the center of the world, between Europe and the Far East, a ripe plum that’s caught the eye of many a conqueror on his way East. Alexander, Caesar and then the Mongol Horde in the form of the Turks, all swept down from the fold to leave their imprint on this jewel of the Nile. Cairo has survived and flourished, in a manner befitting a truly cosmopolitan city, though each successive generation would barely be recognizable to the previous. A liberal society where women dressed in the latest fashions after freedom from Britain would be hard pressed to recognize the fundamentalist garb worn by many believers today. We are lucky in that Rodenbeck has traced the roots of many words present in English today to Arabic or older tongues, all originating from Cairo and its environs:

fustian – qutn
dimity – Damietta
damask – Damascus
gauze – Gaza
muslin – Mosul
tabby – Atabi
mohair – mukhayyar ‘chosen’
chiffon – shafaf ‘transparent’
crimson – kirmiz
azure – azraq
blouse – Pelusium
camisole, chemise – qamis
ream = ruzma
sash – shash
sequin – sikka
mattress – matraha
sofa – suffa
jar – jarra
camphor – kafur
syrup – sharab
sherbet – sharbat
sugar – sukkar
candy – qandi
cinnabar – zunjufr
caraway – karawiya
carob – kharrub
cumin – kammun
sesame – simsim
magazine – makhzan ‘storehouse’
arsenal – dar al-sina’a ‘House of Industry’
tarriff – tarifa
admiral – amir al-bahr ‘Lord of the Sea’
almanac – al-manakh
carafe – gharrafa
elixir – al-iksir
atttar – itr
jasmine – yasmin
zenith = samat
massage – masaha
drub – daraba
mizzen – mizan ‘balance’
lute – al-’ud

The list goes on and on, and trust me, you’ll love this book even if you’re not interested in etymology at all.

ISBN: 0-330-33709-2