Tag: I-recommend

Mark Goulston “Talking to ‘Crazy'”

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I read the book in Russian, and the main issue with the translation is its title, which became How to Talk to Assholes in Russian. In the original, there’s no mention of “assholes”—the word used is “crazy.” However, to grab attention, the editors took liberties. This may have drawn some readers in, but the reality is the book isn’t about what its cover suggests.

I decided to read this book as a sort of follow-up to Robert Sutton’s The No Asshole Rule. But as it turned out, the two have nothing in common. However, the book was much better than I expected, given its strange title.

The author is a practicing psychologist who interacts with a lot of strange, even insane people through his work. He uses examples to demonstrate how one can communicate with people we find unbearable.

He starts with a brief classification of “crazy” people, explaining possible mechanisms of madness, and then moves on to discuss how to handle each specific case. Interestingly, through these examples, he shows that most problems stem from childhood, from the principles of upbringing. This, in turn, leaves a mark on the rest of one’s life.

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Philip Zimbardo “The Lucifer Effect. Understanding How Good People Turn Evil”

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Many have heard of the Stanford Prison Experiment or watched movies inspired by it, but few know the details or the man behind it. Philip Zimbardo is the one who conducted this experiment about 30 years ago. His book The Lucifer Effect is dedicated to several key questions. A large portion of it is a chronological account of the famous experiment and an analysis of its findings. Another significant part is a detailed examination of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, where Zimbardo testified on behalf of one of the accused soldiers. Between these two sections, the author tries to explain the nature of evil. His main point: no one can be sure that, under certain conditions, they wouldn’t turn into a “Lucifer.” At the end of the book, he offers advice on how to prevent oneself from falling into evil.

Since the book is written by the author of the Stanford experiment himself, it’s hard to imagine anyone presenting the subject more thoroughly or thoughtfully. But this is also where the book’s downside lies. There are too many details, and the same ideas are often repeated. At some point, it starts to feel rather tedious.

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2017 Recap: Best Books

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A lot was accomplished this year, and even more was read. So, my year-end recap for 2017 will focus on books. I’ll choose the best ones and assign categories.

  1. Category “No Comment”: Anna Starobinets “Look at Him“.
  2. Category “A Changing World”: Darren Todd “Pirate Nation” — an excellent portrayal of how digital piracy is reshaping norms.
  3. Category “We Are All Different”: Erin Meyer “The Culture Map” — a book about cultural differences and how they hinder our communication.
  4. Category “A Comic Not for Everyone”: “Saga“ — I rarely read comics, but Saga unexpectedly caught my attention. It’s very strange and definitely 18+.
  5. Category “Strangely About Everything”: Alexey Markov “Hoolinomics” — a look at modern economics through unconventional language.
  6. Category “Games Are a Craft”: Scott Rogers “Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design” — with humor and plenty of illustrations, it shows that making games isn’t magic; it’s something you can learn and apply with enjoyment.

Erin Mayer “The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business”

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Let’s consider an example: an employee (French) and her boss (American) are discussing her work performance. The employee leaves the conversation feeling inspired—she’s exceeding expectations, and she is one of the best. Meanwhile, the boss is left puzzled—he’s tried every way possible to point out how many issues there are in her work, her behavior is inappropriate, but she seems to be ignoring everything he’s said. Think this couldn’t happen? Oh, it certainly can! They’re both acting and interpreting each other based on the cultural codes they absorbed growing up.

I would’ve been just as puzzled myself if I hadn’t interacted with people from all over the world at work. I’ve seen and experienced situations like this firsthand. Knowing just a common language isn’t enough because your personal experiences and cultural background unconsciously shape your behavior, and you evaluate others through the lens of your own cultural perspective.

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Scott Rogers “Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design”

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Although I have worked in the video game industry for years, I never thought I was any kind of a game designer. But it is impossible to avoid all this knowledge after all these years, especially if you have a lot of great professionals around you. This is why you want to know more about a big part of your job and entire life.

One of my colleagues recommended me to read ‘Level Up!’ as one of the best ‘manuals’ of game design.

The book isn’t just a game design tutorial, it is a great handbook. The author explains every type of aspect of game creation, and give a lot of examples of how to document it and keep ideas.

One can say that it most likely too boring to read a step-by-step manual, but there is so much humour and dozens of great artwork, created by the author himself in a very ironic and even cartoonish style. This makes the book easy to read, almost like a comic graphic novel.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in game design. And if it is a part of your job then you have to have it, the book is like a Bible for every game designer (in the words of my colleagues, game designers).

Dawn-Michelle Baude “The Executive Guide to E-mail Correspondence”

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The book provides very valuable advice on writing business letters in general, not just in English. It thoroughly covers aspects such as the structure of a letter, the order in which information is presented, key points of emphasis, and more. English adds its own nuances, which the author addresses separately (as the book focuses specifically on correspondence in English).

The content is divided into thematic chapters with examples, and each is broken down almost paragraph by paragraph. I initially started reading the e-book version but soon realized that this is the kind of book you need to have as a reference on your desk. This way, you can refer to it when necessary and compose a letter with recommendations tailored to a specific situation or topic. It serves as a kind of cheat sheet.

I recommend it to anyone whose job involves a lot of business correspondence. It’s definitely worth getting the paper version and keeping it handy on your desk.

My rating: 5/5

Darren Todd “Pirate Nation”

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This book isn’t entirely about digital piracy. It delves into many aspects of copyright law as a whole, as well as its application in the modern world. So-called “digital piracy” is just one facet of the topic. The author attempts to look at the issues from various perspectives, though it’s clear that they have less affection for copyright lobbyists, as they highlight how outdated this law has become and how it largely benefits corporations more than creators and authors themselves.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking to deepen their understanding of what lies behind modern concepts in this field—how much “pirates” are truly pirates, what drives both sides, etc. This knowledge will help you better adapt to the evolving world instead of holding onto outdated notions.

My rating: 4/5

Anna Starobinets “Look at Him”

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A very poignant, very honest… and very heavy book. Especially for those whose family has experienced something similar—the loss of an unborn child. At the same time, it’s a very necessary book. Necessary for everyone to understand the nightmare it is and how it continues to be perpetuated by modern medicine in the post-Soviet space. And especially necessary for those who have gone through it. We, as husbands (and sometimes as parents), can never truly understand a mother who has lost a child, but such a heartfelt story about this pain can help us come closer to our families and cope with the loss together. Not the loss of a “fetus,” as the doctors call it, but our child. Who will always remain our child.

My rating: 5/5