Orwell wrote the essay Politics and the English Language in 1946. He argued that English language then was in a bad way: It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts. He questioned the common assumption that we cannot … Continue reading Why I Write (Part II) – Politics and the English Language
Month: March 2017
Why I Write (Part I)
This week I read a book by George Orwell titled Why I Write. It consists of four essays: Why I Write The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius A Hanging Politics and the English language. Although the book is named after the first essay, the largest part of the volume is actually … Continue reading Why I Write (Part I)
When Breath Becomes Air
When Breath Becomes Air is written by Dr. Paul Kalanithi. There is a good summary about this book on his website. There are also a lot of reviews that you can find online about this book as well. Here I share with you a couple of my own thoughts on reading When Breath Becomes Air. … Continue reading When Breath Becomes Air
The Human Machine
The Human Machine, a small volume, was written by Arnold Bennett in 1908. A free e-version is available through the Project Gutenberg. However, for me, the pleasure of reading e-documents is not comparable with touching and turning each page of a physical book. This book can come across as challenging to read for some people … Continue reading The Human Machine
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Part Two)
To continue the part one on private victory, the latter half of this book focuses on paradigms of interdependence covering the second set of three habits for public victory followed by the 7th habit of sharpen the saw. However, it is important to note that private victory precedes public victory, self-mastery and self-discipline are the foundation of … Continue reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Part Two)