Y.S. Stephen - Casual Observer

It’s a sad fact, but in some workplaces, asking for help may have negative consequences. These workplaces lack psychological safety — a shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking. When teams lack psychological safety, people are afraid to bring up problems, ask questions, face tough issues, make mistakes, or do anything that makes them feel exposed and vulnerable (like seek help). Add high performance pressure, and people live in a constant state of anxiety—frantic to perform but afraid to try anything new or ask anyone for help.

All You Have To Do Is Ask focuses on the advantages of asking people for help and what we miss when we do not. The book highlights reasons why most of us don't ask for help and ways of remedying this problem.

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THE BOOK
All You Have To Do Is Ask poses solid answers to the problem of asking. It points to the modern over-emphasis on individuality as one of the underlying problems that get in the way of us of asking for help.

The author also points out that most people underestimate a stranger's readiness to help and thus are reluctant to ask when in difficulty.

DISLIKES
Due to the nature of the subject matter, All You Have To Do Is Ask is a dry book. Reading it for pure pleasure is a tough ask. Also, the book glosses over people and companies who give generously as a pretext for not paying their taxes.

WHO IS IT FOR?
All You Have To Do Is Ask might interest those who are shy and introverted. There are many tips to pick up in this book that might help those of such disposition - a lot of which relates to learning which situations are most suitable for asking (especially in a workplace) and what not to ask, among other things.

Many thanks to Random House for the review copy.

Don't Be Evil summarises how big tech companies have hijacked our data and are using it to amass wealth, influence politics, and manipulate the masses among other things. It foretells the future that awaits humanity if the greed and ambition of tech companies like Facebook and Google are not held in check. Don't Be Evil also recommends steps people can take to secure their data as well as ways governments can curtail the powers of a growing monopoly that threatens to destabilise the world for the sake of profit and control.

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE WORK

Don't Be Evil reads like a horror novel. Almost every savvy internet user knows that Facebook, Google, Twitter, and other similar companies track us online. They use the data we give them freely to make money by selling it to advertisers who, in turn, use our data to sell us stuff. Don't Be Evil shows that tech companies do not care about our wellbeing as they are bent on making money and ruling us us through the shadows by donating money to politicians and allowing unscrupulous people to buy our data for nefarious purposes.

ANY DISLIKES?
None.

WHO IS IT FOR?

This book is for people who want to know the stakes and the price of modern technology. It is for those who desire to understand how to better protect their data. Those in the government or looking to get into politics would also benefit from understanding the scope of what they might be up against and how to fight back.

Many thanks to Random House for the review copy.

Living In A World That Can't Be Fixed touches on the rot that is at the root of today's social, economic and political landscape. The author examines mainstream narratives of competition, individualism and compliance as parts of this rot that is causing unhappiness, destruction, and soul-poverty in the modern world. The book lifts up counterculture as one way of combating this rot and preaches the act of civil disobedience as a tool of freedom from cultural narratives that serves just a few.

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE WORK
Living In A World That Can't Be Fixed did a good job of analysing some of the causes of the world's present upheaval and the despair that comes with it. From climate problems to the rise of fanatics to the gradual decrease in empathy towards those less well-off, the book lifts the veil on how the opinions of a few get imposed on the many by way of money, indoctrination, tribalism, and deceit.

If you are looking for solutions to the problems laid down by the author or ways to start some sort-of counterculture program, this book offers none. This is, in fact, a genius move and in line with the spirit of counterculture that thrives on seeking your own way, filling up a gap within your community and coming up with your own preferred solutions. Like the author posited, "There is no best way to live and knowing that may be the best way to live."

ANY DISLIKES?
The book starts a bit slow and ponderous. However, pieces start to fall into place in the second chapter. This is not a book for speed-reading, at least if you want to get into the marrow of it.

WHO IS IT FOR?
People seeking inspiration to start anything revolutionary will benefit from the author's examples and analyses of successful as well as unsuccessful countercultural phenomena in the United States of America. Folks fed up with the current political climate in their respective countries might gain from some of the perspectives offered by the author.

Many thanks to Melville House for the review copy.

Plagued by a maddening anxiety, the terrible disconnect between his own concept of happiness and the joy of the rest of the world, Yozo Oba plays the clown in his dissolute life, holding up a mask for those around him as he spirals ever downward, locked arm-in-arm with death.

Though it doesn't position itself as such, I would still love to describe No Longer Human as a moral tale of some sorts. The work here lays bare some of the less-trodden (at least in fiction) paths on the nature of human interaction - with the world and within ourselves.

Not many fictional works espoused the demerits of self-subjugation and false humility. No Longer Human, through its protagonist, lays bare the downfall of raising other people's opinions above yours, not following your own intuition, and the societal hypocrisy that surrounds politics and culture.

The art, drawn by the famous mangaka, Junji Ito, is suited to the themes. It is easy to see why he is regarded worldwide as one of the masters of the horror genre.

With the same limitless scope as Star Wars, and the social-political explorations of A Handmaid's Tale, LITTLE BIRD tells the story of a young resistance fighter battling against an oppressive American Empire while searching for her own identity in a world on fire. A gorgeously illustrated epic where one girl risks everything to save her people, their land, and the freedom they so desperately deserve.

I think one of the strengths of fiction is in that it can use symbolism to makes its point to a great effect. The medium does not have to entrap itself with the rigidity of reality in terms of rules, language, and cliches. Because of that, fiction is able to make good points about the real world that non-fiction finds very hard to make.

For example, Goerge Orwell's Animal Farm taught a good lesson about the politics of that time without pretzelling itself with terminologies that would give too much away about what it was talking about. In short, you could enjoy the tale without any political commentary.

Unfortunately, Little Bird fails this test. The point the graphic novel was trying to make - the evils of blind nationalism, power, and religion, falls flat in the sense that there is no cloaking of words, no fallback on symbols, no employment of what makes fiction great. The venom of the writers towards what they consider vices and injustices are made too plain on the page. This error makes enjoying Little Bird quite hard for people they might be trying to reach

The art is lovely. Spectacular in many parts. But the story lacks the maturity the art deserves.

"Cool, talented and transgressive, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s life is just as fascinating as the work he produced. Delve into 1980s New York as this vivid graphic novel takes you on Basquiat’s journey from street-art legend SAMO to international art-scene darling, up until his sudden death. Told through cinematic scenes, this is Basquiat as seen through the eyes of those who knew him, including his father, Suzanne Mallouk, Larry Gagosian and, most importantly, the man himself. Basquiat is a moving depiction of a troubled artist’s life for those interested in both the art and the man who made it."

Those who love Basquiat's art style will want to read this one. For those looking for inspiration or philosophy behind his work... those might come up disappointed. For while there was a desire to be counterculture and question societal values via his art during his early days, the book seems to indicate that Basquiat in his latter career stage was obsessed with fame. This led him down a few crooked roads.

This book also sheds light on those who tried to take advantage of Basquiat, the racism he faced and how the art world works in general.

While I love the historical side of this book, I find the Basquiat's story not to be as unique as I was expecting. He was a talent that got lost in drugs and booze... became taken over with fame and overwork due to the overwhelming influence of people who had no interest in him.

The book is an interesting read, though. Recommended for though in love with anything that has to do with art and similar creative endeavours.