L'eleganza del Riccio (The elegance of the Hedgehog) by Muriel Barbery

Ah, France! This novel, with such French attitude, scoffs at the wealthy for their shallowness, as well as their unmerited sense of cultural superiority over the social classes below them. Barbery does this by focusing her story around two central characters: the door-woman of an elegant resident building in central Paris and the twelve year old daughter of one of the families living in the building. Both of these characters are made to be the most culturally and intellectually astute individuals in the novel, much more so than the barbarians that grace the floors of the building.

It would be easy to dismiss the stereotypes portrayed of French society as cliche', however, they are made so apparent throughout the novel that their blatancy somehow makes them comical. Instead, the subtler aspects of the book touch on more philosophical arguments regarding such subjects as art, beauty, the purpose of life, and human existence - shall we say the pain et beurre of French intellectual thought.

The story is simple and for this reason pleasurable. The door-woman, Ms. Michel, lives what at first glance appears to be a monotonous life, ignored by the inhabitants of the building. However, she finds comfort in this solitude and actually makes all efforts possible to draw as little attention to herself as possible. To do so she must hide all her intellectual pursuits as not to raise any questions in the eyes of the pseudo-intellects around her. However, they are probably too stupid to pick up on them anyway. When Ms. Michel is not reading Russian literature, she is hammering away at the shallow and miserable lives of the rich around her. There is a certain sense of irony here since the pursuits such as shopping, shampooing hair multiple times and wearing make-up are looked down upon by her that is until she catches the eye of a new resident to the building - Mr. Oke, a retired Japanese.

Mr. Oke, being someone truly steeped in culture and intellectual capacity is quickly able to see how the door-woman is not a typical type. He then begins inviting her to various activities much as Richard Gere did to Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. The response of Ms. Michel is not much different in that those superficial activities of the wealthy become appealing as soon as someone comes along who is interested in her.

When compared to modern American novels, this book is more layered in that it offers a straightforward story of its characters but also dives deeper into more philosophical discussions. There are a lot of cultural references as well. What I see as being the major difference when compared to modern American novels is how Barberry writes to a more educated, cultured audience than most writers do in the States. As this book was the bestselling one in France over the last couple of years, we can assume therefore, that it was read by people of all socioeconomic backgrounds. Heaven help us if it had only remained in the upper echelons of French society!

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Remix by Laurence Lessig

The subtitle is "making art and commerce thrive in the hybrid economy"

I do not want to start off this post by saying something cliche' like any working in ecommerce, new media, or Internet services should read this book though the temptation is there. Instead I will say that in my own line of work this book has already given me a new way to approach certain arguments and a new way to conceptualize how the Internet and its economic and sociological implications are developing at present time.

Remix is a comfortable, insightful and at times funny read. It is written by a Stanford law professor with a very strong background in Internet and commerce. He presents the book with simple language and clear examples which tend to favor a more business or political audience than one specialized in law.

The central argument of this book is that our copyright laws in the digital economy are outdated and ineffective - ineffective for both consumers of copyrighted content and the suppliers of it. It is a system that penalizes the small actors on stage but also complicates matters for big business who spend endless amounts of money policing those who abuse the current laws. There needs to be news ways to tax the revenue generated by the sale of artists' goods.

The copyright laws in place were developed in an analog world when sharing a record meant physically giving the copy to someone else thus taking the copy away from yourself. Later on with the advent of cassette, records and photocopy machines, it became possible to make lower quality copies of music or books while keeping the original. However, the situation has changed dramatically with digital technology. The "copy" has a new definition. Now an MP3 file copy is identical to the original. When a copy is made the original is not effected. The Internet and high-speed data networks make the dispersal of these copies simple and fast.

One argument that resonated with me is how outdated copyright laws are impeding the development of a new forms of culture and expression. The way users in the digital world paste a collage of photos, sample music or piece together multimedia presentations is something new that needs to be promoted as a new form of cultural expression. Copyright laws which make a DJ ask for permission to use a 10 second sample of someone else's music slowdown this development. Not only do they restrict the spawning of new culture they also punish these "aggregating artists" as well as other smaller businesses and entrepreneurs lacking the resources to battle the legal bureaucracy of copyright. It is essentially another way the US government is picking winners alla GM. Large record labels, for example, benefit at the expense of smaller players. By supporting these traditional, established players we risk missing out on the birth of new, unknown industries which would result from this cultural innovation.

Lessig's book was a bit thin on alternative ways artists could be properly paid for their work. One suggestion was to add a tax onto Internet access. This tax would then be divided among artists based on what percentage of the total volume of file sharing traffic their songs made up. However, the lack of alternatives does not hinder the book in my eyes.

What I appreciated most about Remix was how it attempted to address an issue we are facing now in modern society. It is a book for the business community that does not heap praise on past "heroes" but instead provides means to better conceptualize the digital economy and how it is developing before our eyes. It also reminds us of how such an economy is blurring the lines between business and society in a way that has not been seen for a long time.

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Herzog by Saul Bellow

"I think I can say, however, that I have been spared the chief ambiguity that afflicts intellectuals, and this is that civilized individuals hate and resent the civilization that makes there lives possible. What they love is an imaginary human situation invented by their own genius and which they believe is the only true and the only human reality." Saul Bellow

The above quote was taken from one of the hundreds of letters, never sent, that were written by the protagonist of this novel - Moses Herzog. Herzog's letters are rich with philosophical insight and show the depth with which Bellow was able to write.

However, the purpose of this post is to turn to the readers of my blog to ask their own interpretation of Herzog. The book centered on one character the entire time. We are provided access to his writings, conversations and thoughts. Yet, even with such insight I struggled to understand him and therefore could not fully appreciate the book. What was driving him? How enraged was he by the divorce with his wife? How did he view modern society? I am curious for answers to these questions. Fresh insight from others is always appreciated.

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Separati in Patria (Seperated within the same Country) by Giovanni Floris

Giovanni Floris, a journalist by trade, hosts one of the best weekly programs on Italian television. The format of Ballarò is just varied enough not to bore the viewer. The majority of the transmission is centered around five or six guests, made up mostly of politicians but also professors, business leaders, and journalists arguing with each other in typical Italian fashion. It is Floris' role to weave together the questions, responses and debates into something cohesive. He does a fine job. There are interludes in the arguing in the form of 5-10 minute investigative journalism pieces put together from various locations in Italy.

Seeing how Floris often has little occasion to state his own opinions, I was curious to read his recently published book on one of the most significant issues affecting Italy, the enormous economic differences between the north and south of the country. The subject is of personal interest to me for several reasons, one being that a large part of my undergraduate thesis was dedicated to the Southern Italy's economic difficulties. And like most things in Italy, it is not an easy matter to unwind due to the economic, sociological and historic factors all at play. The largest failure of Floris' book is that he touches on each of these fields but fails to sufficiently address any of them.

The first part of the book looks at the socioeconomic statistical differences between northern and central Italy compared to the South. For starters, removing Southern Italy, the GDP per capita of the country would be higher than Germany, UK, France or Spain. The vast majority of business leaders and politicians at the national level come from the North. Residents in the North read more books than those South and supposedly speak more Italian and less local dialect - though I missed any figures supporting this claim. It appeared to me that his main thesis was built on the belief that the differences between the regions of Italy are strictly economic and less cultural as many people are likely to believe.

One example which proved to be most interesting in supporting his central thesis was the favorable benefits five autonomous regions - regione a statuto speciale (Sicilia, Sardegna, Valle d'Aosta, Trentino-Alto Adige and Friuli-Venezia Giulia) received, i.e. money. While the island regions of Sicilia and Sardegna are part of the south, the remaining three are located in the north. These three regions receive more money from the state than they delve out in taxes. Other northern regions instead are left fitting the bill, receiving or spending much less than what they generate in tax revenues and seeing enormous amounts of capital flow south as well to these smaller, northern regions. It was not clear to me Floris' position on the matter. Certainly their are cultural idiosyncrasies in these special regions, for example the majority of residents in Trentino-Alto Adige speak German as their mother tongue. However, Italy in itself is made up of very local cultural entities. Is Floris claiming that these regions play up the cultural distinctiveness in order to protect the economic benefits they receive? Though the example was a fascinating one, I missed his message.

Another point Floris touches on, though briefly, is that the northern regions are in a geographically favorable position as they are much closer to other, rich, European markets. Though Floris did not mention it, it is important to see how on the other hand many parts of Southern Italy are closer in distance to countries such as Croatia, Tunisia, Albania, and Libya - not exactly enormous consumers of foreign goods and services - than they are to Milan.

What was lacking was a discussion on more of the geographic and climatic aspects present that greatly favor the north. If only Floris had seen my thesis paper! The land in the north is much more fertile compared to the south. Anyone who has seen The Passion of Christ (filmed in Matera) or remembers the scenes of a young Al Pacino in The Godfather walking through the arid country side, can recognize it to be a difficult place to grow stuff. Also, it is simply more difficult to work in hot weather.

These points are not meant to serve as excuses for southern Italy's inability to improve its condition. All indicators for me see the situation deteriorating. The infrastructure is far below average European levels. Investing in the region is risky (and costly) which makes the decision to put a new factory in Croatia as opposed to Puglia a more sensible decision. This same argument also loosely applies to tourism, an area which should be one of the foundations of the the southern Italian economy. However, without a clearly defined strategy for this industry most parts of the south are left in a dangerous middle position. Unable to compete on cost with other sunny destinations such as Egypt or Turkey and lacking the infrastructure to support a more high class type of tourist, an area with incredible food, beaches and people sees the majority of tourism from other European countries go elsewhere.

As the length of this post continues to grow, it becomes apparent the difficulty an author has when writing about such a broad subject. Focus too much on one field and you find yourself in a silo ignoring other equally important factors. Attempt to touch on all of them and leave the reader with more questions than answers as interesting arguments are raised only to be quickly hurried through to get at the long list yet to be addressed. Floris chose the second approach and was not successful in putting together a well-structured and well-argued book.

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Couples by John Updike

The characters in Couples sure do drink a lot - cocktails, often gin based. Though gin came from the UK, I consider it to be the red, white and blue of spirits. Even though the main focus of this wonderful novel centered on adultery, I was more intrigued by the role alcohol played in American life from post World War II up until today.

I have the impression so much of the dionystic fury during the booming post-war decades was fueled by booze: the 5 pm cocktail on the porch, the late summer neighborhood BBQ kicked off with martinis , or the boat drinks while idling on some vessel in the harbor. The cocktail in se represents this period of iconic bliss which is not as prevalent now as it was before. Though the consumptions of spirits is certainly something better done without, I do see a small reflection of our society in the splinters of ice floating atop of stub glass.

Couples was written in 1968, long before I was even born. Yet, it still brought back memories of my own childhood spent in the late summer months on the East Coast.

The story is based on a series of families living in a small community south of Boston. These young, educated couples spend incredible amounts of time entertaining each other with dinner, drinking, and pick-up basketball games that then lead into beers then dinner and more drinking. The stresses of long commutes, grueling travel schedules, or duel working parents, did not seem to be too relevant in these carefree times. Instead, the majority of the characters mental resources were dedicated to plotting their next extramarital affair. The detail and description of these sexual encounters is risque at times, hilarious at others.

The setting in the small town above the long beaches of the Atlantic accompanied my own sand filled vacation very nicely.

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Cathedral by Raymond Carver

The stories in Cathedral are longer compared to those in the previous two collections. I am not the first to say it, but after having read through a series of Carver's works, one can see the development he made as a writer. There were many Carver readers who saw signs in Cathedral of something larger than a short story ready to come out if we had not lost this great American writer at such an early age.

After having read through several dozen stories, I was eager to settle down with a more substantial piece of literature. John Updike's Couples proved to be exactly the type of novel which I was in need of.

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