Biographies are one of my favourite genres to read, so combining the genre with a subject that I have long been interested in is a chance to be a big hit, or a big miss.
               
Muhammad Ali is an inspirational figure to many, and for good reason. He has been a symbol of hope, equality and defiance spanning many decades. A hero of the people, who was a villain to many at the same time and for many years. Before passing away in 2016 the world watched as the once ‘most famous black man in the world’ had his physical capabilities eroded by Parkinsons Disease. Taking his speech, mobility and coordination, but not his sense of humour and charm.

It took over 600 pages to cover the life of this man, so I will not attempt to summarise the story, it is largely fairly well known.

What Ali: A Life does wonderfully is to talk through the major movements that Ali’s life spanned. It is not an open glorification or hero worship, but an examination of a man who had flaws like any of us. Despite his flaws, errors in judgement and the mistakes that Ali made, Eig speaks about how often Ali has been proven to be on the right side of history.

Movie star good looks, charisma for days, outrageous boxing ability and an unshakeable confidence combine in an individual who seemed destined for greatness. Starting from school days racing the school bus as part of a single-minded regimen to become the greatest boxer of all time. Rumour has it that he actually would have failed high school but for the fact that the administrators recognised that he was destined for big things, and they wanted to be able to claim part in his success, rather than be the organisation that failed Cassius!

I don’t demand perfection from all my idols, I know that we are all flawed individuals and it doesn’t prevent us from being able to make outstanding contributions to the world. Having said that, Ali’s consistency didn’t come from conviction in his opinions all the time, there were issues on which he would tread both sides of the fence. The consistent elements of Ali’s personality center more around his unflappable aura of confidence, steadfastness in the face of opposition and his ability to stick to his guns when he did make a stand.

In monotheistic religions the deification involves an infallible, all knowing, all-perfect being who is in charge of all things from the beginning of time to the end of days. Under this kind of definition of god-like, Ali most certainly doesn’t meet the definition. He was ripped off, taken advantage of and confused often, physically phenomenal but certainly not infallible. Under the more classical definition of gods (Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Norse) the gods are beings with tremendous power, amazing abilities…. And human fallibility.

Following the more classical definition, Ali: A Life provides a insight into a modern day deity, a flawed and inspirational man of exceptional power. A man whose life straddled some of the biggest civil rights developments of the modern era. He walked some tough roads, and did so with an attitude and chutzpah that helped shift perceptions in important ways. There is no doubt that Ali helped to create the world as we know it, paving the way for African-American representation on the world stage, and more importantly in the United States.

If you have any interest in Ali the person, in his development and the environment and social situations that he navigated, this is a fantastic read. While it obviously covers Ali’s boxing career, this is not a ‘boxing book’. If you are reading it for that, there are probably better options.

All in all, I enjoyed reading it and come away with a better contextual understanding of how Ali helped to change the world.

I am by no means an expert in Physics. I studied it in my final year of high school, because I thought it might provide some insights valuable on my budding career as a music producer  (A career that never really took off), and frankly I found it insufferably boring. Once I got told that if I wasn’t going to pay attention to the class I should leave, which I did…. Before promptly being told off by the year level coordinator that lunch time!

That was a long time ago, and I have friends who are scientists now, with masters degrees, PhD’s and years of industry experience, and I enjoy hearing about the application of physics in their jobs. The actual day-to-day workings of physics, however fascinating, have never captivated me enough to read about in depth. I haven’t even tried to read anything written by Stephen Hawking, although I did watch a documentary on the Hadron Collider once, which I thoroughly enjoyed….

Regardless; I read Seven Brief Lessons On Physics, and it was a delight! A wonderful overview and explanations of seven lessons that must be important in the field of Physics (I wouldn’t know, I didn’t do that well in Physics at school).
The seven chapters discuss;
               General Relativity.
               Quantum Physics.
               The makeup of space.
               Particles.
               The combination of Quantum mechanics and General Relativity
               Probability, Time and Thermodynamics
               And… humans.

It was really interesting, and at less than 100 pages, it really is a brief set of lessons. I am not greatly inspired to dive deeply into physics right now, but I certainly wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to discuss the practical applications of the theories and lessons discussed by Carlo. There is a strong thread of philosophical conversation throughout the book, and that is absolutely my cup of tea. The intersection of what we know, what we think we know and what we are learning brings up several philosophical dilemmas, the discussions of which stretch back thousands of years.
The emphasis on continually refining the knowledge and testing the theories is one I particularly like and Carlo says;

               To trust immediate intuitions rather than collective examination that is rational, careful and intelligent is not wisdom: it is the presumption of an old man who refuses to believe that the great world outside his village is any different from the one which he has always known.
​
I cannot say how much I appreciate the big brains studying this stuff and distilling it for people like me. The contributions to the development of the world as we know it from this field in particular are undeniable, to get a grasp on what they are studying is truly a gift.

If you are an expert in physics and have read this, I’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’ve never even entertained the idea of finding out more about this intimidating topic, perhaps this is the entry level book for you too!

          Talking to my country is a profoundly readable insight into the Indigenous Australian experience, of living in a country that until the late 60’s counted its original inhabitants among the flora and fauna of this country.

                It is a wonderful discussion of the difficulty of navigating tough conversations, coming to terms with deep cultural connections with the past and being a successful Aboriginal man at the same time. Reconciling anger and frustration. Walking through life with the heavy hand of soft expectations and never being able to truly reconcile the conflicting parts of his identity.

                A deeply personal recollection at times, Stan speaks of fear, anger, confusion. The childhood of constant moving, poverty and seeing hard-working parents unable to find the path to ‘wealth for toil’ promised to all Australians. I don’t know exactly what everyone will take out of these anecdotes, there are elements of them that resonated so deeply with me that I found myself emotional in the reading of them. I turned them over in my head during the 20kms of running I did while in the middle of reading the book… I too remember the tiny triangle holes in the tin of delicious pineapple juice, the mince and onions, the arguments, violence and substance abuse endemic in broken households.

          Stan Grant calls himself a story teller, although it feels like that is a understatement. He is telling stories, but more than that, the writing feels like a conversation with an old friend. A D&M late at night, where someone you care deeply for expresses the history of their feelings. It is controlled and humble, but honest and open. It is not a discussion that is full of answers, but, given the chance, it can take you through an examination of your own latent and dormant biases. The phrases you have no doubt heard, perhaps even used yourself. The feeling for indigenous Australians observing the treatment of Adam Goodes, or remote communities. The feeling of connection with this country, the feeling of their country not being truly ours.

                For those who come across the seas;
 
               We’ve boundless plains to share.
 
               For those who were here when the settlers arrived, there has not been an equal seat at the table. We took those boundless plains. We, the Australians. We invented Australia, and we have not done a good enough job of including the original inhabitants of the land in that definition. Australians were people that came from across the seas, they are people born of those people. The Yorta Yorta, Wiradjuri, Kamilaroi and hundreds of other nations, we lumped together into a class of animal called Aborigines. Largely stripped of their individual nations, viewed as less than human, let alone citizens of the country they have lived in continuously for millennia.

                The time has come for the truth telling, the airing of grievances and the acknowledgement of this undercurrent of negative expectation. It is not solely the problem of the first fleet, it is in the discussion papers of the Herald Sun today, it is in the constitutional amendment passed only 51 years ago. We need to embrace the forward momentum wherever we find it, while working to find a middle ground of forgiveness.

                There is a reluctance to take responsibility, as though accepting fault is to accept a lifetime of having blame thrown at us. We will admit some mistreatment, yet point to the standout examples of Indigenous Australians breaking the mould. We will give them Australian of the Year awards, applaud speeches, fly small red, black and yellow flags. But we determine the appropriate level of Aboriginality that we can tolerate in public spaces. We decide what is an appropriate amount of identification.

                Stan writes beautifully of the struggle to straddle the bi-cultural identity of a millennia long ancestry that is getting harder and harder to maintain with a cultural identity that wants to tell him how Australian he should be, and how much Aboriginality is acceptable in that context. It makes him angry. It should make all of us angry, and we should work to make it better. Focusing on the future is the way to build progress, trust and respect. Acknowledgement and reconciliation of the past is the way to overcome bitterness and loss. We cannot do one without the other.

                I love more easily than I can forgive. – Stan Grant

           The love is already there. The love of country, our country. There is love in progress and opportunity. Love moves forward in time, but forgiveness is shaking off the weight that is dragging behind us. There is no forgiveness without taking responsibility. There is no taking responsibility without acknowledging truth.

             I would heartily recommend that anyone who gets the chance to read this, does. It really is wonderful.

Leigh Sales is a legend. I have always enjoyed her reporting. The no-bullshit, answer-my-question-properly, stop-with-your-political-doublespeak nature of her interviews is a pleasure to watch. In an era where our media is dominated by outlets pandering to the already-known opinions of their audience, Leigh is a voice of logic, reason and accountability.

I wish there were more journalists like this, I loved Aaron Sorkin’s drama The Newsroom for that very reason. It is a shame that it had to be a fictional show that talked about the importance or returning to the good old days of informed, intelligent, neutral journalism. Sales absolutely counts in that pantheon of good old-fashioned journalists, this little number On Doubt talks about how and why she conducts herself in this way.

On doubt is really an essay written about curiosity. A questioning mind that wants to understand the how’s and whys of people, things and issues. While it is autobiographical, it is also an exploration of the elements of good journalism, and the tenets of neutrality and curiosity that underpin Leighs imitable style. It also speaks to a personal doubt, one that has the side effect of endearing humility. Being confident as a journalist, while humble enough to be open to the reality of the world is a juggling act that I think we can confidently say is being nailed here. It is refreshing to see a discussion of vulnerability and doubt that is not in aid of some rah-rah, you-can-do-it metaphor, but simply a discussion about how a healthy dose of curiosity, doubt, humility and stubbornness can result in a confident and exceptional human.

Originally this essay was published in 2009, the edition I read has updated notes reflecting on the time that has passed since. A time of further compartmentalisation, confirmation biased reporting and audience pandering. I didn’t realise the original was written nearly 10 years ago and it is telling that the concerning trends identified by Sales were justified further in retrospect as we sail into 2018 listening to Trump, Bolt, Flat-earthers and climate change deniers still.

It’s not a overly long essay, so if you get a chance to have a read, I would read it. There are many themes in it that I have been concerned with since becoming a Media & Communications major at University, investigating the concentration of media ownership in Australia and the dearth of objective journalism.

Thanks to the Lorne Bookshop for having this one out on the shelves, it’s nice to be able to impulse buy such an engaging read as a fanboy.

You can catch Leigh on Twitter here or on 7:30 on the ABC and on her podcast Chat 10 Looks 3.

This little tome was number two of the Penguin Little Black Classics, and I have to say, I struggled through it a bit.

It’s not particularly long, and for the most part is a collection of poems by Hopkins, followed up by some diary extracts. Born in Essex, England in 1844 and dying in Dublin, Ireland in 1889, these poems were published posthumously by his friend Robert Bridges.

There is a sense of wonder of nature, and he goes to great lengths to describe the world around him, or elements of the world around him; attributing much to the beauty and the grace of god. His diary entries are largely Hopkins waxing lyrical about the scenes that he sees before him while travelling around his home and abroad.

The meter that he uses is difficult for me to follow, it doesn’t scan well to my eyes, or ears (I attempted to read a bunch of the poems out loud). The blurb on the book says that his poems were considered unpublishable in his lifetime and that his verse was ground-breaking and experimental. After a quick google, it turns out that he discovered a poetic rhythm called sprung rhythm.

Regardless, you get the sense as you work through the poetry, which I simply assumed was in chronological order of his writing it, that here was a man who was a deep thinker that ended up alone, somewhat bitter and sad by the end of it all.

There was a word that appeared several times that I did not know – Inscape – and I looked it up and found that, in fact, Hopkins had invented this word! It means;

The unique essence or inner nature of a person, place, thing, or event, especially depicted in poetry or a work of art.

So, even though the reading was laboured for me, I did learn a new word and enjoy various snippets of the extremely descriptive verbal paintings of his surrounds.

If you are interested in checking out the work of a Victorian-era poet that you may not have heard of before, cast your eye over some of these, I will be casting my eye over some other books in the meantime!

Like, Share, Subscribe or comment any books you might like me to put onto the reading list for 2018!