Tag: non-fiction

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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Kornei Chukovsky “Alive as Life”

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The book Alive as Life carries the subtitle “A Conversation about the Russian Language,” and indeed, its structure feels more like a conversation. It covers several topics, all of which are related in some way to the development of the Russian language.

It’s clear that the author had a deep love for his native language, cared for it passionately, and wanted future generations to preserve and enrich it. Perhaps that’s why he begins the book with a chapter discussing changes in the language—how the younger generation brings new elements, while the older generation resists these changes with all their might. Kornei Chukovsky wrote this 55 years ago, and it’s already evident how much the language has evolved since then.

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Robert Sutton “The No Asshole Rule”

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The book is quite interesting. First, the author isn’t afraid to call things by their real names, without falling into political correctness. Second, through several examples, he shows why having assholes in a company is harmful.

The essence of the book is almost fully captured in its title: just don’t work with assholes. In the first few chapters, it seemed like there wouldn’t be much more than examples of why it’s bad to work with them. Yes, there’s a fair amount of fluff, but there are still valuable insights.

The author breaks down what makes a “certified asshole” in his view. This helps apply the criteria to anyone, making it easier to understand how bad a person can be for business and personal well-being.

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Boris Akunin “Between Europe and Asia. The History of the Russian State. The Seventeenth Century”

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The entire series by Boris Akunin on the history of the Russian state is very easy and interesting to read. Perhaps, at times, he adds personal emotions, but I didn’t notice any major discrepancies. Especially when you consider that history is often shaped by the victors , and the emotional component actually benefits the text, making it more engaging to read.

The fourth volume covers the Time of Troubles (after Boris Godunov), the rise of the Romanov dynasty, the annexation of Ukraine, and ends right before the final ascension of Peter the Great (which will be the focus of the next volume).

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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

Erik Spiekermann “Stop Stealing Sheep & find out how type works”

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The description promised a lot of useful information about fonts for those who know little about the subject. The topic is generally very interesting to me, and the book is colorful—so I bought into. However, it turns out that the book is practically about nothing. It’s not even a book, but rather a collection of loosely connected thoughts, heavily sprinkled with images and tons of font names and highly professional terminology. After a while, you start to realize you no longer understand what’s being described. Even the design of the book, in my opinion as a reader, was quite inconvenient, despite the author constantly emphasizing the importance of choosing fonts and design for readability. Ironically, the book itself doesn’t excel in this regard. But the main problem for me is that it’s unclear who the book is for and what goal the author was trying to achieve. Simply put, the book feels like it’s about nothing. I don’t understand where all the praise is coming from.

My rating: 1/5

Igor Ryzov “The Kremlin School of Negotiation”

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I have very mixed feelings about this book, both during the reading and after finishing it. On the one hand, there are many interesting insights worth considering. On the other hand, much of the material felt quite superficial and unlikely to truly help someone become a better negotiator just by reading this book. This becomes especially apparent when you compare it to other negotiation training resources. Even the appendix at the end—on national negotiation traits—seems questionable: my personal experience working with colleagues from various countries suggests that things aren’t as simple or clear-cut as the author presents them.

Do I recommend reading this book? Yes. Will it genuinely help as a training tool? In some aspects—yes, but not significantly.

My rating: 3/5

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

Lawrence Durrell “Bitter Lemons of Cyprus”

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You can’t always trust book blurbs. The book is essentially the author’s account of a couple of years spent in Cyprus in 1953-54. These were likely the last years when the island could still be called both unified and peaceful. At first, you can clearly sense the author’s condescending attitude toward the locals, even though he calls them his friends. Gradually, this tone fades, giving way to reflections on the difficult political situation on the island, which led to tragic and bloody consequences. Had the British made the right and, most importantly, timely decisions back then, we might not have had the bloody history and forty years of division and intercommunal hatred that still exist on the island today. Sadly, history doesn’t deal with hypotheticals.

As for the writing itself, the book is uneven, sometimes slipping into dull recollections of meetings with friends whose names mean nothing to most readers, then shifting to colorful descriptions of the local lifestyle or detailed analyses of the events of those years.