A History of the Muslim World From its Origins to the Dawn of Modernity (Michael Cook, 2024)

(846 pages)

I'm trying to better understand why Islam-dominated areas of the world - and now Islam-dominated areas of Western nations affected by immigration - seem to have issues, let's say.  This after what always seems like a rather glorious period hundreds and hundreds of years ago.

Certainly no simple answers based on this book; as with the impression from all the other Islam stuff I've read - this is a complex situation with many different actors and outcomes.

Author starts with helpful background.  Arabia area to the south of the two main empires (Constantinople and Persia). Two main empires expending huge energy fighting each other at end of sixth century and into seventh. Harassed by steppe folk from the north - sometimes an ally, sometimes a dire threat.  Desert folk from the south (Arabia area) don't have anything resembling a state, a few minor kinglets; sometimes harass southern fringes of the two main empires. Two main empires occasionally coopt a local Arab-area leader to help control other tribes/clans.  Arab area does have the black rock at Mecca and various local gods but not part of the main religious strands (Christian, Jewish, Zoroastrian).  Lacking political structure and major religion, exposed to these concepts by declining imperial powers.

Ishmaelites = Arabs. Connection to Abraham.

Muhammed and founding of Islam.  Never not inextricably bound up with politics, formation of state, warfare. Fighting to survive in the earliest going.  Fighting to conquer in the following decades. Religious rhetoric is often about who should rule and how - separation of church and state never existed or was even considered in so many of these areas. This seems pretty important! 

Scope of conquered (colonized) territory is astounding. As is pace of colonization - 100 years pretty much did it.

Spread of Islam, spread of Arabic language - population of Arabs compared to populations of colonized territories - how was this possible?

Lots of discussion on this. An interesting idea was a very early decision that in the colonized territories, tax revenue would be collected and soldiers would be paid from this - a path to continued central control. Rather than just giving chunks of the colonized territories to successful generals - a path to atomization, compare feudal Europe. But many other factors mentioned, and scope of centralized control over the colonies was severely limited by distance and communication challenges.

The idea that Arabs - and later Arab nomads - would be placed in the colonies and would need lots of retainers, slaves, etc. These local folks gravitated toward Islam and Arabic. The process continued. Contributed to the long-term change.

Heavy duty taxation focused on non-Muslim populations.  Heavy duty utilization of slaves.

In the early centuries - my impression from this book is that Islamic leadership expended far more energy dealing with civil wars and rebellions than with third party threats. The variations of Islam in various parts of the colonized territories (and Arabia itself) - to a greater extent than I realized - not monolithic.

Early moves into Iraq - Arabia remained special but was not a place to center the Caliphate.

Long discussions of expansion across North Africa and into Spain.  Dealing with Berbers. More than one Caliphate (Spain, Egypt, Iraq).

Moves on to discuss expansion into Iran. India.  Rise of the Turks (in waves).

As more modern times approach - a real failure to keep up with technology, trade, etc.

Author seems to have an incredible knowledge of detail here.  

Good reminder to be very humble what I can figure out about this topic.

Retracing My Footsteps in World War II (Vernon Hohenberger)

The author had given a copy of this book to my parents some years ago; I had paged through it on St. Joe visits, and was pleased to be able to take this from the St. Joe house when we siblings "divided out" things in April 2023.

It's autographed by the author!  Vernon Hohenberger farmed near us in the Luverne/Livermore area though - since he wasn't Catholic - we didn't see him regularly - in fact, very seldom.  I have a dim recall of a very pleasant human being.

The book is fascinating. Partly because I read so few, if any, first-person accounts of the war.

Hohenberger's path overlapped geographically with that of our uncle, Irvin Bormann - North Africa and Italy. But a bit earlier in time (and later). Unlike Irvin, Hohenberger survived Italy and ended up with duty elsewhere after the fall of Rome.

He belonged to the famous 34th Infantry Division - "Red Bull" - an incredibly long combat history - at page 100 he mentions 33 months overseas. Red Bull division is prominent in all the histories of the European theater in WWII.

p. 28 - vivid memories of getting into a theater to see "White Christmas" prior to getting shipped toward N. Africa.

p. 35 - artillery experiences, here in N. Africa - reminds of Irvin's artillery descriptions.

p. 45 - his description of N. Africa "Arab" scenes - again, reminds of Irvin's.

p. 47 - he mentions the soon-to-be-famous 100th Infantry - this is the successful battalion of mostly Japanese-American soldiers mostly from Hawaii - they come up later in his story - Michener covered this in his "Hawaii" novel.

p. 50 - landing at Salerno (Irvin at Naples). I believe this was autumn 1943, prior to Irvin's arrival.

p. 53 - Volturno River - just a terrible area. Lots of detail in ensuing pages about fighting around Rapido River, Cassino. Mentions Christmas 1953.  Irvin killed in action February 1, 1944.  Monte Cassino eventually bombed February 15, 1944.

Additional discussion of finally getting furloughed and a visit home; war wrapping up by the time his overdue leave was expiring - ended up with some duty with occupation troops.

Stories of getting back into civilian life - including a short time working at a store owned by Cliff and Mary Baker (yes, Uncle Daryl's parents).

This is a quick and excellent read.

Farmall Century 1923-2023 - The Evolution of Red Tractors in the Golden Age of International Harvester (Lee Klancher), 2023)

I very much enjoyed routine tractor work - whether in the field or driving the corn sheller from job to job - during my on-the-farm days - from the late 1960s through 1979.  But I definitely was not the gearhead type and remain not-knowledgeable about pretty much anything mechanical, including tractors.

Yet - my dad's 2022 death at age 93 and the subsequent auctioning of all of the farm goods triggered a higher degree of interest for this kind of thing, or nostalgia, or whatever it is.  I'm enjoying seeing various social media feeds and photos of old days tractors. (Dad owned Farmalls until a John Deere 4020 showed up later - so we supported Farmall.)

So I bought this book - thinking it was more of a coffee table item but it turns out that there also is a great deal of interesting history. Much enjoyed.

The foreword portion was captivating - it included a passage about farmers' proclivity for tinkering with their machines - dad certainly did this with the corn sheller, to the point where Charlie put together a mock patent office filing going through his innovations.

The early portion of the book is dedicated to the development of reapers and the like - tractors aren't even on the scene. This part is more interesting to me than lots of the later tractor detail - I never understood very well what was involved in the "threshing" crews that my parents and grandparents talked about; let alone the incredible amount of labor to get anything done during the phases prior to that.  It's easy to see how mechanization depopulated the rural areas.

McCormick family, competitors, reaper wars, early 20th century antitrust, lots of patent litigation, Rockefeller involvement, branding, educating consumers.

Interesting characters - including a John Steward wounded at Vicksburg, started out with John Wesley Powell's second Grand Canyon expedition (1871). Abraham Lincoln hired one of the attorneys involved in the reaper patent litigation for some of his own matters.  

Later hiring a consumer goods artist to design the attractive "letter series" Farmalls - these were the Ms and Super Ms that we were familiar with (followed by the "number series" tractors, such as our 400 diesel). Now that I think about it and see the photos - the design was pretty cool! Designer even put together art-deco type (or was it midcentury modern?) dealership buildings, a few of which have survived.

Replacing horses - early tractors with not much more power than a couple horses. A huge market.

Steam, kerosene, gasoline, diesel, etc.

Lots of pulley work in the early going.  Development of the PTO (something I took for granted).

Did not realize how many Fordson tractors were sold through Ford - it was a great little machine, sold at a low price and a genuine threat to IH (though priced so low that this probably contributed to Ford shifting away from it).

Eventually we get to the F-20, M and then the larger tractors.

I had no idea how much IH was involved in WWII.

Great photography throughout - this will sit on the coffee table for easy access.

The Hound of the Baskervilles (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1902)

Read an electronic version of this classic while flying to and fro Phoenix -> Bangalore.  Perfect airplane reading material.

Much of my memory of the book is intertwined with memories of the 1939 movie starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce - a favorite as we were growing up; the younger siblings made a tape recording and then a typed transcript. The movie also delights, if varying in some respects from the book.

Anyway - the detective is hired to get to the bottom of a mystery on the moors - a legendary, huge hound-like fiend that haunts the Baskervilles over the generations.  Dr. Mortimer brings in Holmes.  Watson stays on the moor.  Stapleton and his "wife" live nearby; he is a naturalist.  Barrymore - butler - and his wife and brother.

Laura Frankland wrote to Sir Hugo - I don't really recall that part in the movie.

I would avoid the Grimpen Mire.

Great read.  

Die with Zero (Bill Perkins, 2020)

203 pages.

Author's premise is that too many people wait too long to spend their money, quit or downsize their jobs, etc.  I think this is true in many cases, but the book would be mostly of interest to folks with a lot of $$.

Nonetheless - a lot of good ideas on a topic that doesn't get enough attention. Quick read.

I thought a little too much focus on the idea that fulfillment in life depends on experiences which in turn are created by spending money earlier in life.  That's not the author's whole focus by any means - he certainly does also mention and emphasize giving away money to charities and/or children earlier.  But it's given more importance than I think it merits.

Interesting read in part because we are in early retiree years and lucky to have good health - go time.

Author mentions connection to University of Iowa college football, his dad played in early '60s.  So I looked up Don Perkins - turns out to be author's uncle.

The High Window (Raymond Chandler, 1942)

265 pages.

Super quick read, and Chandler writes so very well.  Kind of like Wodehouse - sets up a phrase or sentence in a way that seems familiar and the reader can usually anticipate the author's direction - then drops in something unexpected, interesting, clever.

Philip Marlowe.

This was good, entertaining, well-written - but not a favorite.  Characters not particularly likable (probably the author's intention).  Too much talk-explaining about the crime(s) resolution to wrap up the book.

(Seems like I had a similar reaction to the Chandler book previously read.)

The Mayor of Casterbridge (Thomas Hardy, 1886)

Sixth of his works that I've read, all well worthwhile.

Descriptions continue to amaze - agriculture details, market details, local terrain details, personalities in various social sets. This aspect is enjoyable in its own right.

Story line was good but not my favorite of his works. Too many key characters are disposed of via dying (for example).

Michael Henchard the key character - warts and all - he persists despite impulsive outbursts that cause serious mistakes.

No heroic figures in this one - everyone with some issue or the other, Elizabeth-Jane and the Scotsman perhaps less so.  But that is a strength of the novel, not a criticism.

Sugar Street (part three of The Cairo Trilogy) (Naguib Mahfouz, 1956)

Overall comment spanning parts 1-3 - I really liked this. Length (trilogy format) allows author to develop the family characters. Story line nonetheless compact. Brings out a variety of characters, viewpoints, interests, behaviors; brings out the transition in Egypt from traditional ways to 20th century modernity; excellent with dialogue and especially with showing thoughts, reactions, emotions internal to each character.  And it's set in a part of the world that is not normally the subject of novels as least as far as I've encountered. I hope I learned something as well as enjoying the story, though the latter would be sufficient.

_______________

Specific to part 3 - 

(328 pages_

The next generation is growing up.  Yasin's son (Ridwan) getting well-connected; he takes after his father in looks.  We start seeing the parts of the story through the next-gen eyes.

It's now the 1930s. Egyptian nationalists still desiring to throw out the English but now Nazis and Italian fascists are recognized threats.

Khadija's son Ahmad - admires Kamal - disconnecting from traditional religion to Khadija's dismay - good discussions about how that happens.

Ahmad's brother is part of a group of young men who belief in a holy man - circa p. 1064 - a discussion of Egypt (or Arab world writ large) in relation to other countries - this sounds remarkably similar to today's conversations. "True belief" and faith (fundamentalist Islam) against materialistic cultures that won't stand.

This brother is in the "Muslim Brotherhood"; Ahmad seems himself as a Communist.

The health of the father (Sayyid) continues to deteriorate even though he is only in his early 60s; same is happening to his three closest friends - presumably a message about the effect of their habits.

Aisha's sadness.

Ahmad in love with fellow sociology student, then a co-worker.  Kamal getting older, still resistant to marriage. Lots of discussion of his thoughts on not getting married; reverberations from youth.

Throughout parts 1-2, Kamal is working as a writer - but lots of reflections by him and conversations with others about the value of his work - tends to be abstract/pure thought of limited interest.  How long to stick with this? Kamal continues teaching.  Ahmad writes for a magazine.

World War II arrives.

Role reversal - Sayyid is confined to the home (and then to his bed), Amina (the mother) is able to leave every day (visits mosques and her nearby relatives).

There is an air raid - more intense than those that preceded it - author does a really good job communicating this.  The father is forced to walk down the stairs and to a sheltered area, this is very hard on him.  The author does a really good job communicating this also. Sayyid's passing within a day or two - the author does a really good job with this.  Sayyid with outsize influence despite (or in part because of) his domineering and wayward ways - a core of family care that everyone noticed and relied on.

Author does a good job voicing the views of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Communists - same rhetoric as always.  Authorities dislike.

I like that he doesn't wrap up with some tidy resolution of Kamal's marriage or professional status or beliefs.  The world is changing, Amina on her last days, on it will somehow go.

Palace of Desire (Part two of The Cairo Trilogy) (Naguib Mahfouz, 1956)

(445 pages)

[The names of the three sections are names of streets in old Cairo where characters live and much of the action takes place.]

Part 2 of the trilogy starts with the family very sad because of Falmy.

Amina (mother) affected most; she is aging rapidly, still mostly confined to her house but at least can go to the cemetery and mosque pretty much when she wants.

Father is also aging and getting some health scares - had seemed indestructible but behaviors (resumed after a several-years break) take a toll.  Author explores how aging felt to the father, did a good job.

Some looks at the daughters (Khadija, Aisha) who married the brothers.

Yasin not very good at marriage, impulsive, somehow genuinely likeable throughout.

Yasin's tastes overlapping with his father's.  Which creates situations.

Much focus on Kamal (youngest son) - he's growing up, getting educated, falling in love, has a best friend who is brother of his love interest.  Best friend and his sister move out of Egypt, Kamal loses his previously strict faith as he progress in his studies.  The author does a good job exploring how these losses affect Kamal. Modernity invading traditional ways.

Kamal tries alcohol, runs into Yasin in a brothel.

The father has a major health scare toward the end of this work and vows to change his ways.

Aisha's family is stricken with typhus.

The revolutionary leader so admired by Falmy and Kamal passes away as the book ends.  Another loss.

The Bed of Procrustes - Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (Nassim Nicholas Taleb, 2016)

(156 pages)

The content is well-described by the title.

Third book of the five-book Incerto.

Many of the little sayings are valuable; they also tend to repeat or encapsulate the text from the first two books (probably the next two as well, I will be reading those in the not-too-distant future).

While reading, I was thinking that aphorisms overlap with poetry - dense, thus harder to read, thus better consumed in smaller doses.  Taleb himself mentions this comparison in what he called the "Postface" at the end of the book. 

Palace Walk (part one of The Cairo Trilogy) (Naguib Mahfouz, 1956)

(533 pages)

This is the story of a family residing in Cairo.  Story line begins around 1915 - in the midst of WWI.  Not a big direct effect on Cairo, but Australians are occupying certain sections, English are running things, and Egyptian nationalism is roused by the trends affecting so much of the world in those days (Wilsonian self-determination sentiments and the like).

The political stuff gets much less attention than the family.

This first book spends a lot of time introducing the family members.

Father - Sayyid - extremely strict at home (conservative Islam, nationalist politics), boisterous and charming when with his friends.  Highly respected by all family members, admittedly they don't know much about what he does when he goes out with his friends every single evening (wine, women, song). He is a jerk in many ways but strong person, completely loyal as he understands it.

Mother - Amina - dominated by Sayyid but a nice human being.  Not allowed to leave the house except on a supervised basis to visit her mother every now and again. Feel sorry for her.

Yasin - eldest son (different mother than Amina).  He repeats a lot of Sayyid's behaviors. Lacks self-control.

Khadija - eldest daughter - caustic.

Aisha - next daughter - less development of her character - beautiful, likes singing, dislikes conflict.

Falmy - middle son - diligent student, headed for law school, deeply involved in politics.

Kamal - youngest son.

A technique that I really like - the author can convey what it's like when a character in a stressful situation has all sorts of thoughts running through his or her head - fear, humor, non sequitur, absurdity, practicality, etc.  When Sayyid is going to help folks filling the ditch; when he is waiting outside Aisha's delivery room, when Yasin is visiting his mother, etc.

Falmy as the vehicle for discussing political events in Cairo at the time.

Onto part 2!

Cutting for Stone (Abraham Verghese, 2009)

658 pages.

A good story.  Long, but well constructed.  All the pieces fit, including application of medical specialty.

Ghosh as a perfect person. Also Sister Mary Praise. And Matron.

Hema (and others) bringing across many things we saw in India (rangoli, mask, food).

Genet kind of an annoying character; her mother not stable.

Some idea of what it might have felt like to move from India to Aden and then to Ethiopia.

Gave a reader like me some feel of the uncertainty in unstable government situations (I of course have not had to deal with this).  We grew up familiar with Selassie, Mengistu.  And heard of Eritrea. Author speaks to Italian influence here - more than I would have expected.

I found especially striking the part where Marion lands in NYC for the first time.  The sensations of a new world - one could kind of imagine how this might feel. This was a favorite section. (Reminded me, though in the smallest way possible, of returning to that same airport in June 1975 after three weeks in Europe, though my surprise was mostly seeing (being reminded of) the hugeness of American automobiles and the width of American roads.)

Roman Catholic nuns had so many highly valuable, unselfish roles for a few centuries there.  Kind of sorry that went out of fashion.

Matron's idea of "Nurse Sense" - that made sense to me.  Applies in other professions as well.

Company K (William March, 1933)

(260 pages)

Quick read.  Broken into very short chapters, each presented as a reminiscence of an individual (fictional) soldier. Based upon the author's WWI experiences.

Looking at the "Introduction" after reading the book (always read these after!), I learned that this was one of the first books to depict war experiences as awful and too often futile episodes from the perspective of the typically low-ranking soldier.  We've now used to that sort of presentation, but apparently Company K was groundbreaking at its time. The Red Badge of Courage as a sort of precursor from Civil War days.

It amounts to horror. I don't have reason to doubt that this was pretty much how it felt. 

Sometimes prisoners were shot. Officers made bad decisions, perhaps to preserve pride, that cost grunt lives. French villagers - sometimes sympathetic. Soldiers being supportive of, or cruel to, one another.  Encounters with Germans who could have been friends. On it goes.

The cumulative effect is powerful; it catches up with the reader.  In that way it reminded me of Kolyma Stories (highly recommended, by the way) - short snippets that just keep hitting the reader and building in effect.  Not gratuitously. Just trying to bring home what was happening for those of us who fortunately weren't there (and perhaps dilute the effect of all the pro-war propaganda stuff we are hit with). 

Something else I liked: a number of the stories are from the perspective of soldiers back home after the armistice.  The betrothed who no longer wants to marry the soldier drastically changed by his experiences.  The brother who gets all the attention after a slight wound just before the armistice (the brother who saw years of terrible action doesn't get home until a year later and by then the home front folks have moved on).

Recommended.  Gift from PJr/Nedda.

The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien, 1954-55)

(1,032 pages)

Second time I've read this. Beautiful hardbound 50th anniversary edition with maps, etc., gift from Paul Jr. and Nedda.

Such a pleasure even if quite familiar with the story. Tolkien skill well-known and for good reason.

I had forgotten much of the detail of the final chapter so particularly enjoyed rereading that section.

All the sequences are quite wonderful but I think I best like the Shire scenes that begin and end the work.  Tolkien has a great touch with those small-scale interactions. 

Hawaii (James Michener, 1959)

(1095 pages)

This is recommended as useful background for Hawaii visitors - which we plan to be - so I thought I'd give it a shot.  Long (but quick reading); often interesting; in the end not that great - but I think quite helpful for its intended purposes. 

Michener starts with the formation of the islands - very late geologically.  Then arrival of folks from Bora Bora and Tahiti area - this is interesting to think about if speculative.  Then arrival of missionaries - these folks had tremendous influence on the islands, generation after generation of their descendants pretty much ran things.  (The book is fiction, but I think somewhat tracks the trajectory here.). The transit of the missionaries around Cape Horn was quite the adventure.  Cramped quarters; most missionaries married just prior to embarking to brides they just met (missionaries required to be married).  This is in 1820s.

What I'll call native Hawaiians did not thrive - disease, policy, etc. 

Discussion of sugar plantations, arrival of pineapples, arrival of other plants.  Figuring out irrigation. As labor is required - folks are brought in from China (this story centered on the Kee family).  Intended to be temporary workers that would return to China, but most ended up staying.  Founding of Molokai leper colony and arrival of Peter Damian. Later - arrivals from Japan, pretty much the same story (this part centered on Sagakawa family).  Some rise through the system despite intense prejudice.  Being good at (American) football helped.

Pearl Harbor.  Formation of a US army unit of Japanese soldiers - mostly from Hawaii - they end up in intense fighting near Cassino - very much the same time frame as Irvin Bormann, the Japanese unit has the misfortune of being assigned to cross the Rapido River.  Later they are unexpectedly tasked with rescuing the "Lost Battalion" in France - taking way more casualties than the number of folks rescued.

The discussion moves into 1940s and 1950s politics, labor unions, a descendant of Hawaiian royalty who works as a beach bum - this part not so interesting.