Book List

This was such a bad idea - I don't think I read more than a handful of the books I set off to read in January. I got sidetracked with a slew of books by Ken Follett, an Amy Tan one (Hundred Secret Senses - I became an instant fan of the author), and others who escape me right now.

A few days ago, I started reading two books in parallel. They were published roughly at the same time and seem to answer each other. One is "Our guys", published in 1997),an account of the gang rape of a retarded teen by the young elite of an affluent community. It questions the motives and society's attitude towards the crime to understand where America has gone wrong. The other book is "Emotional Intelligence", currently on its 10th anniversary reprint. It was a ground breaking scientific study on the psychological aspects of a social phenomenon viewed as the breakdown of values and the rise of crime in America. In a nutshell (and I am still on chapter 2 so don't quote me), it denigrates the system which equates IQ with success, explaining that IQ tests will show how good an academic you could be while not evaluating human skills such as compassion. It is fascinating to read both books at the same time as they basically address the same issue from a different standpoint.

I find "Our Guys " to be a compelling if gut-wrenching read as it portays real events with little distance (the information is largely tributary to live interviews) contrary to "Emotional Intelligence" which strives to be didactical yet accessible.

A recommended read (4 stars)