Review: A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea by Masaji Ishikawa

5 stars for A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea by Masaji Ishikawa.

I have heard of stories told about famine and starvation in North Korea. But it is only after reading this book that I realise how dire the situation was and in all likelihood still is. It is indeed an eye-opener, sadly, a very educational but disturbing true story about the conditions in North Korea that is bound to affect the psyche of any who reads it. You name it. The book has it.

Cruelty
Despair
Desperation
Exhaustion
Fear
Frustration
Hardship
Hopelessness
Oppression
Misery
Starvation

Masaji Ishikawa was born in Kawasaki, Japan in 1947 to a Korean father and Japanese mother. In 1960, at the age of thirteen, Masaji moved with his parents and three sisters to North Korea, where they were promised a new life in a paradise on earth. Instead, they were consigned to a living hell. In 1996, after thirty-six years of struggling to stay alive, Masaji made a desperate bid to escape from that impoverished hellhole that was North Korea. He currently resides in Japan.

This is his story.

I highly recommend this book to everyone. There is so much more in North Korea than nuclear weapons. It makes me appreciate my life and all that I have, right down to the very basic necessities that most of us take for granted. Perhaps because it is my first time reading on North Korea, one of the world's most brutal totalitarian regimes, Ishikawa's story leaves a deep impact and impression. Each time I am reminded of Ishikawa's life, the incredible hardship and starvation, I feel so blessed to be where I am and what I am today.

Review: Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance

2 stars for Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance.

This book follows Elon Musk's life from his childhood up to the time he spent at Zip2 and PayPal, and then onto SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity.

Musk's deep-seated interest in rockets, space exploration, electric cars and solar power technology is astounding. You have got to hand it to him, his optimistic vision and relentless drive to execute.

Well, I am not a car enthusiast nor am I into space travel or Mars or solar energy. I am sorry but not sorry to say it is difficult for me to understand the pursuit of Musk's dreams. But still, I do enjoy reading the first one third of the book before it goes into technical details of rocket making, electric cars, solar panels, funding matters and the ugliness of power wrestling.

This is not a book that I will recommend to just about anyone. Technically speaking, this book is well written and you can tell that the author has done a great background job on all things Elon Musk related. However, unless you are already a fan or staunch follower of Elon Musk, the likelihood of losing interest along the way and skipping chunks of this book is rather high. Read it or not at all.

Review: Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery by Henry Marsh

5 stars for Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery by Henry Marsh.

Henry Marsh is leading English neurosurgeon. He retires from full-time practice in 2015. Do No Harm is a brutally honest account of his life's work, his 40-year career as a brain surgeon.

As with any human, neurosurgeon Marsh makes his share of mistakes in his life. The stories in this book are about his attempts, and occasional failures, to find a balance between the necessary detachment and compassion that a surgical career requires, a balance between hope and realism.

Having read this memoir, I understand better the difficulties that doctors face. But I also view doctors in a different light now.

Review: Admissions: A Life in Brain Surgery by Henry Marsh

4 stars for Admissions: A Life in Brain Surgery by Henry Marsh.

I come to know of this book by chance. The title somehow grabs my attention and I know I must read the book.

This book is about medicine and neurosurgery, more than that, it is about life as a neurosurgeon.

Here, author Marsh reveals much of his inner thoughts and feelings:

• Why he is always a little anxious when waiting to operate and when operating, and why he has to affect a complete calm and confidence, something which he does not inwardly feel

• Why it is important for surgeons to radiate self confidence

• Why surgeons feel easily threatened by their own colleagues

• Why surgeons often disparage their colleagues and even give evidence against one another as expert witnesses.

• Why surgeons carry cemeteries within themselves

• Why medical decisions - whether to treat, how much to investigate - are often not clear-cut.

• Why health care costs are getting more and more expensive, running out of control.

• Why patients or their families have wholly unrealistic expectations of what medicine can achieve, and take it very ill if things go badly.

• Why doctors have to supress their natural empathy, to not learn but unlearn empathy.

• Why it is so remarkably difficult as a doctor to find the correct balance between compassion and detachment

• Why an awake craniotomy is recommended to remove tumour in the brain rather than with the patient asleep under a general anaesthetic, and how it is done

Food for thought.. what is the role of the doctor?

The role of the doctor is not just to save life at any cost, but also to reduce suffering.

If surgeons operate on everybody, without any regard to the probable outcome, they will create terrible suffering for some of the patients and even more so for their families.

Review: Palmistry, Orion Plain and Simple by Sasha Fenton

4 stars for Palmistry, Orion Plain and Simple by Sasha Fenton.

This book covers the basics of hand reading. It shows us how easy it is to read hands for fun and to weigh someone up without their knowledge.

Now that I have finished reading this palmistry book, it may be interesting to practice on my friends to see how accurate I can get to their characters, goals, objectives or even long term destiny. I may even be able to impress them with my hands reading knowledge.

Review: Chakras, Orion Plain and Simple by Sasha Fenton

4 stars for Chakras, Orion Plain and Simple by Sasha Fenton.

I have always been interested to read up on Chakras. This introductory book, plain and simple, is exactly what I need.

What are chakras?
Chakras are invisible energy points in our bodies. They are very much like aura which is an invisible result of our body's energy.

Why chakras?
Many considered Chakras to be a very ancient form of survival mechanism that exists in all animals and human beings. The chakras keep our life force moving throughout our bodies. When this important energy is blocked, the result is illness, both physical and emotional. Thus, it is necessary to understand what each chakra represents so that we can focus our healing efforts on the proper chakra. By identifying chakras that need to be cleared, balanced, aligned, mended and healed, we can hasten the healing process on top of conventional treatment and in turn, maintain health and vitality.

This book is divided into four parts.

Part One explains Chakras and how to work with them.

Part Two discusses the physical and emotional systems governed by each of the seven chakras, mainly:

- the base chakra
- the sacral chakra
- the solar plexus chakra
- the heart chakra
- the throat chakra
- the brow (third eye) chakra
- the crown chakra

Part Three is about chakra healing and Part Four is on additional chakras, that is, those beyond the seven chakras mentioned above.

I will recommend this book to those of you who have an inkling of what chakras are and still keen to find out more. Chakras, Orion Plain and Simple is easy to read and understand. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

Review: Numerology, Orion Plain and Simple by Anne Christie

4 stars for Numerology, Orion Plain and Simple by Anne Christie.

I always have this notion that numbers are boring stuff. But this book makes me think otherwise. It gives a good introduction to the fascinating study of numerology and provides us with some tools to understand ourselves as well as others.

Numerology can be scientific but it can also be simple and fun as it enables us to pinpoint areas that we can work on for our personal growth. One does not have to be a Mathematician nor possess any special talent to understand the use of numbers and keywords for numerology.

There are many variations on getting the numbers, depending on the name you usually call yourself, or your full birth name, or your date of birth.

To name a few, the reading on numbers include:
- name number
- personality number
- heart number
- life path number
- destiny number
- karmic number

While it is fun to calculate the numbers and read up on its interpretation, it will not do any good to become obsessive about it. After all, the most important factor in life is to have a positive attitude. So, let's have fun with Numerology but don't be too affected by the readings.

Review: Medicine Wheel Astrology, Orion Plain and Simple by Deborah Durbin

3 stars for Medicine Wheel Astrology, Orion Plain and Simple by Deborah Durbin.

This book introduces the medicine wheel concept, a concept that is unique to Native American thought and encompasses lifestyle, cultural and spiritual identity. It also looks at totem animals and teaches us how to find our primary and secondary totems. In a way, I am glad that the last book I read is Totem Animals, so I have a pretty good idea about totems already.

As the title goes, readers do not need to know about birth charts, Sun signs and Moon signs, nor do we need any prior knowledge of astrology to delve successfully into the world of Native American Astrology.

Here the word "medicine" is used broadly to mean "putting things into their natural order and creating harmony". It explores each of the twelve zodiac sign in the Native American astrological system, along with the traits and information carried for that particular sign.

Unfortunately, I am actually looking forward to reading about medicine in the sense of medication, drug, prescription, dose and treatment. As a result, I am disappointed that this book is more of an astrology kind of reading instead of what I am expecting.

Note:
This book was previously published in 2009 as Simple Native American Astrology by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., New York.