Paulo Coelho and Michael Moore

A brief review of two books I read last weekend.

Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho is an interesting book. It looks at inmates of a mental asylum in Slovenia (where is that?) and delves into our inhibitions, need to conform to societal norms, and inability to let go. Also, it leaves you wondering if everyone is 'mad' in their own way.

Michael Moore's Stupid White Men is a typical takeoff on George W. Bush, Gore, and all the white men in the U.S. and the world, in general. Very persuasively, Moore argues that the bomb was made by a white man, the internal combustion engine which pollutes our air was made by a white man, people who chucked him out of his jobs were all white men, and ...so on. But the media always portrays the villain as being black men or other non-white men. It's hilariously funny, and also scathing in attacking many holy cows...if Tharoor had done it, he would have been exiled. Rupert Murdoch's company (his US publisher) did try to stop it, but the association of Librarians' raised a stink, until the publisher was forced to publish the book as per their contract.