The Razor's Edge

The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham

A guy returns to Chicago after World War I and has an identity crisis. He decides he would rather loaf. He talks things with a few friends. He visits Europe. He discovers eastern religion. He has friends that want money or other things and seek them out. Everyone seems to get what they want. The content was pretty blah. It was written as if the author was discussing writing about this person with us. I considered bumping it up a bit due to style, but then reconsidered.

Goodness Paradox

The Goodness Paradox: The Strange Relationship Between Peace and Violence in Human Evolution by Richard Wrangham

People are good, but not good. Humans have domesticated themselves, and in the process have come to dominate. Some cultures can appear to be so peace-loving, but also very violent. The death penalty may have curtailed many of the most violent tendencies in society. Homo sapiens have had more feminine influences and less violence.

This book is a hodgepodge of ideas and studies that explore peace and violence. The history of humanity is explored as well as comparisons of other animals. Chimpanzees can be very violent, but Bonobos are much more peaceful. A number of theories are tossed around, but we don't seem to be at a point where one can be declared the best.

Liquid Rules: The Delightful and Dangerous Substances That Flow Through Our Lives

Liquid Rules explores the different liquids that play a role in our lives through a "flight" framing. The author is flying across the ocean to San Francisco. During the flight he observerse the many liquids involved and goes into details about them. The oceans below and the clouds above are the natural liquids involved. The plane is held together with liquid adhesives. The history of adhesives and combination of materials has evolved to the strong, but light airplanes.

The passengers on the airplane are served various beverages. Coffee, tea and wine all have long histories with many unique variations. The way the liquids interact cause different experiences. We don't just "taste" them, we experience them. The "wrong" color of a beverage can significantly impact our enjoyment of the beverage. The experience also changes based on how it is prepared and where it is served. (Thus airplane tea can be exceptionally bad.)

The plane is air-conditioned by way of liquids. CFCs seemed perfect - until they were found to be very bad. Liquid soap is a non-newtonian fluid that has taken the world by storm. The ball point pen is a complex instrument that allows fluid ink to be used for writing - and seems to last forever. It has become so common that it is a largely "non-owned" item.

The author's flight makes it through the fog and turbulence to land in San Francisco. He makes makes a bee-line to the bathroom at his hotel to experience a needed relief of bodily fluids to the fluid plumbing system. (There were also earlier discussion of our relationship of disgust with some bodily fluids.) He finally goes to the conference and noticed the woman that sat next to him was one of the speakers. If only he had spoken to her about her technical research instead of internalizing the details of the fluids around him...

Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms: Journeys into the Disappearing Religions of the Middle East

The Middle East is one of the birthplaces of civilization. Religions have existed for a millenia in the region. Even after Islam came to dominate, minority religions were often still tolerated. Some maintain themselves by mandating marriage within the sect. (Though this is countered in some with a lack of allowing further converts.)

Gerard Russell had worked as a diplomat in the Middle East. In this book he explores the religions from a personal basis. He attempts to meet up with the remaining members of various sects to find out about their believes, history and culture. Some of the religions are very small, with members persecuted and seeking asylum in other locations. Practitioners may be in war zones or other areas of major conflict. 

The Zoroastrian religion was once a major religion nearly 3 millennia ago as part of the Persian empire. They have been persecuted in Iran since Islam came to dominate. They are often accused as "fire worshippers". A more significant population continues to exist in India.  

The Druze are scattered in various middle eastern countries, including Israel. Their religion is very similar to Islam, yet they often do not consider themselves Muslim. This has lead to persecution as infidels. Only the clerics study the religious works, leaving many others as "ignorants". 

Mandaeans believe Adam to be the founder of their religion, with John the Baptist as one of the most important prophets. They are baptized at multiple key times in their lives. They had a key population in Iraq which has disappeared since the invasion.

Ezidis (or Yazidis) are most common in the Kurdish regions. Copts are primarily in Egypt.

While there are plenty of details about each of these religions, most was obtained by personal conversation rather than scholarship. This provides additional insight into how the people really live as well as their future.

The Long Ships

The Long Ships (originally Röde Orm in Swedish) is a viking epic set around AD 1000. The vikings have what would seem today as naive view of the world around them. They have a great sense of loyalty, and take what comes to them. The main goal is to seek out plunder and women to support themselves and their crew. However, with this lifestyle comes the likelihood of death or slavery.

The protagonists of the main religions of the day. A Jew helps lead them to a a great deal of plunder. However, they later fall victim to a Muslim leader who enslaves them. They take what happens. One viking is able to pick up the language. The vikings fight valiantly for their Islamic leader, adopt his religion and save his life. Eventually, the time arises for them to escape and they commandeer a ship to return home.

Back home, there are bouts of armed combat to resolve issues (often leading to the death of the loser.) Christianity has come to Scandinavia and many vikings convert. They often take a practical view to the religion. In Iberia, they convert to Islam as that god seems strong there. Later they convert to Christianity to restore their luck. Sometimes there are bits of confusion with the different religions.  The strong loyalty to family and one's word is often the predominant factor in guiding their life decisions regardless of the current religion.

The book is episodic, with many of the sections easily standing alone. The style seems to have been an inspiration for the Brotherband books by John Flanagan 

The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt

Egypt has a long history. It existed as a continuous political entity for millennia before being absorbed by Rome a little over two thousand years ago. The kingdom generally confined itself to the Nile region. The "upper" and "lower" parts of Egypt would occasionally be separated, but would often be together. The Greeks came in and started ruling near the "end". However, they would adopt many of the Egyptian customs and continue ruling Egypt as Egypt. It was not until time time of Caesar that Rome eventually took over Egpyt and ended the period of self-rule.
Toby Wilkinson presents the history of Egypt as a chronological narrative. The focus is on Egypt and the leaders. Those that we know more about are covered in greater detail. Otherwise, the narrative may skip a few hundred years of history we know little about. The narrative does a good job of bringing in the key events that connect to the outside world. I liked the way the Rosetta stone popped out. The results of a minor campaign just happened to be inscribed in multiple languages, giving us a translation key. For the biblical Exodus, there was no specific Egyptian record. However, the author posits that a period of heavy imported labor may have been when it occurred.
The leaders of Egypt engaged in one-upmanship, building different large tombs and monuments. They were sometimes viewed as gods, while other times they were anointed by gods. Lines were generally hereditary, until they were not. Leaders were mostly men, except when they were women. There was a strong cult of the afterlife, leading to elaborate funeral practices (including mummies and pyramids.) However, it was also common for rulers to dismantle previous structures for their own monuments.
Egypt was a fascinating place. We know very little about the long history. Yet, we probably know more than we know of many other places so long ago.