Paulo Coelho: The Alchemist
Ever since I’ve attended the Open Forum at the World Economic Forum 2005 in Davos, I wanted to read a book by Paulo Coelho (he was a speaker at one of the debates). Now that I finally managed to do so, I can say I’m in no way disappointed. The book The Alchemist has a truly beautiful story. It revolves around Santiago, a shepherd from Spain, who goes on a journey to Egypt in order to find a hidden treasure he has seen in his dreams. On his trip, he has to find peace with himself and the world, and overcome many obstacles. Most of them are self-made, and a challenge to his commitment, belief and will.
However, this book isn’t only about personal fulfilment. It shows a world full of magic and symbolism. Even though I don’t believe in such a world, I was still able to enjoy the book. I don’t believe in fate, but I can agree that one should try to achieve their dreams.
Off-Topic: Fate Vs. Destiny
I draw a distinction between fate and destiny, and I think that’s one of the reasons I liked the book nevertheless. Fate is something which one cannot escape, a story which is already written and which has no alternative turns, and excludes free will. Destiny is more like a goal one can achieve if he decides to take the right steps, and thus does not rule out free will and different outcomes.
As I see it, Paulo Coelho’s idea of a ‘personal legend’ everyone has is more closer to my destiny than to my fate. At any point during the story, Santiago would have been able to give up and return home. But he didn’t choose to do so. Despite this, I do disagree with him on whether one can choose his destiny/personal legend or not. I’ll write more on that in another entry and just leave it at that for the moment.
Off-Topic, continued: The beauty of fate?
Judging from many books and movies on that topic, it appears many people are somewhat drawn to stories of fate. I guess fate adds grandness
and sense to life; fate is an escape from a world which many people perceive as small and cold; fate offers an explanation for the world, and gives everything a greater meaning. Or is it that fate takes away the burden of decision? That it eliminates all the haunting questions about past actions? If fate dictates everything, there can be no mistakes, no false decisions anymore. But is such a world really more beautiful?
Is a story more beautiful when two people come together because it was ‘meant to be’? Or when they choose so? Me, I certainly prefer the second variant. I find it more beautiful if two persons choose to be together, overcome obstacles by their own will, have to fight, and are ready to sacrifice part of themselves for the other person.
Raymond Carver: What We Talk About When We Talk About Love
The book is a collection of short stories, all written by Raymond Carver. His stories are well written, and it clearly shows that the author understands his craft. Unfortunately, he decides to stick to only one kind of people. While this makes his characters authentic and allows for a greater insight into their minds, the novelty of reading about ever so similar people wears out with time. I don’t questions his abilities as a writer and observer, but some diversity would have certainly helped. Because in the end, I can’t connect to all these characters who seem to consist of (*takes deep breath*) midlife crised, screwed-up and sex-obsessed drunkards who all have their hidden dreams and feelings but fail to express them and are now drugged, depressed, screwed-up, drunk or sex-obsessed. There, with this formula you too can construct your own Raymond Carver story!
Note: Reading through the above text again, I feel compelled to stress that I did, in fact, enjoy the book. But it could have been so much better.
Syriana
Syriana is a 2005 movie dealing with the Middle East politics of big oil companies and their influence in US foreign policy. While the story itself is fictional, the plot is based on the book See No Evil by former CIA operative Robert Baer. The movie’s tagline reads ‘Everything is connected’, and it does a fairly good job at showing how even small, local events can have a big influence. It’s also interesting to see the relation between the interest of oil companies and undemocratic and corrupt regimes in the Middle East, and the alleged part industrialised countries play in all this. Another thing which is done quite nicely is how the movie makes it clear that everyone just knows a small part of the ‘big picture’, yet has to act nevertheless.
On the bad side, some scenes were useless and only made the story more complicated without advancing the plot. These scenes also didn’t add any more background to the characters, even though I guess that was the reason for including them in the first place. Speaking about characters, their background felt rather thin, and their motives a bit superficial. This shows especially in the case of the young Pakistani man who becomes a terrorist.
To me, it feels as if the movie succeeds at making it clear what point the director wishes to express, yet fails to back up his message with more background and comprehensible information. Oh, and people in Iran speak Persian, not Arabic. Gosh!
From fiction to reality: Foreign Affairs
I’m a subscriber to Foreign Affairs, in my opinion one of the most insightful magazines out there. Its current issue (May/June 2006) features some excellent articles again. I haven’t read everything yet, but would like to use this opportunity to direct your attention to two outstanding contributions:
This issue’s main article - Saddam’s Delusions: The View From the Inside - by Kevin Woods, James Lacey, and Williamson Murray provides an interesting insight into the former Iraqi government. It shows how Saddam lived in a self-constructed world of lies and illusions, caused by his own delusion of grandeur and incompetence; most of his inner circle was only chosen by tribe and kinship, and the few competent people in the higher command staff were too afraid to speak their minds. Thus it comes as no surprise to learn that Saddam’s main goal was not to counter the US-led invasion, but rather to avoid them and be prepared to strike against inner unrest. The article can be read online at the Foreign Affairs website, and is available in its full length.
Another interesting article is The New Middle Ages by John Rapley. The 500 words preview over at Foreign Affairs’ website only gives an inadequate introduction to the article’s main thesis, which follows the development of the role of states and national sovereignty through the emergence of capitalism and trade to the current globalised economy. Two following two small excerpts do a good job at describing the main notion:
The shift toward knowledge-intensive products, reductions in the transport costs of both goods and labor, and the rapid acceleration of technological change have loosened the state’s hold on its traditional resource base.
Because neoliberal policies have done more to free the movement of capital and goods and services than to reduce barriers to human migration, the balance of negotiating power has shifted in favour of the managers of multinational or even global firms.
Source: ‘The New Middle Ages’ by John Rapley. Foreign Affairs, May/June 2006, Page 101.
While hardly saying anything new at frist glance, the article offers an interesting look at the history, causes and effects of the global world order, and its impact on the shift of power away from modern states.
