Starry Messenger

Starry Messenger is Neil deGrasse Tyson's 18th book but the first one that I have read. I didn't know what to expect. I thought that maybe he would make a statement about Christianity being a false religion. This is not a problem for me. I know what his views are from regularly watching his Star Talk TV program. I also wondered whether the material would be over my head. 

I did not see any main point that Tyson was trying to communicate in this book. While there are chapter divisions, the reader sees him pontificating on various social issues with no connection between the material. In the Preface, Tyson states that societal ills could all be solved by people thinking as scientists. If we could just see earth as the Apollo astronauts did, our differences would disappear.  Scientists are the only objective people on the planet. Scientists do not have opinions, they just have facts.

As I was reading I kept looking for the reason that the book was written. I didn't find one. I did notice, however, that there were two ideas repeated in every chapter. First, he is concerned how visiting space aliens view humankind. I don't know why he is upset about this as there is no scientific proof that aliens exist. Remember, all scientists are objective and only deal with facts. Second, Christianity is the reason for all of the problems in the world. Tyson states that the God of the Bible demands competition among his earthlings which promotes racism, colonialism etc..., as well as the idea that Christians are superior to non-Christians. He cites at least one verse from Genesis in each chapter to prove his points. I have to say that he has a psychological complex about the Bible because he has written about it so much in this work. So what if he's an atheist. But when someone can't stop writing and talking about the Bible in this way, he has a personal problem separate from being an atheist.

The material was not over my head. This is not a scientific book. It is about society as a whole from caveman days to the present. With the two main ideas presented in each chapter being ideas that have not been proved by science, why are his "objective" "opinions"  being touted as truth? Also, I got the impression that he feels superior to us regular folks who are not scientists. Superiority runs deep in this work. Again, I had to wonder how he became superior to everyone else since God is the entity requiring superiority from his followers and Tyson is not a God follower.

The book was a disappointment. I expected a scientific book. What I got was unorganized ramblings regarding problems on earth. The writing itself was good but the content was lacking. I am rating it 3 out of 5 stars.

Salt

I read Mark Kurlansky's Salt as a selection for the Nonfiction Reader Challenge. It is a history of the discovery, mining, sale and taxing of salt by cities and nations from 3600 BCE to the present. It is Kurlansky's 5th nonfiction book and here he explains how salt has shaped civilization from its very beginning and how its story is an important part of the history of humankind. For most of its history salt has been used as a currency. It also influenced the establishment of European trade routes as well as cities, provoked wars between cities and inspired revolutions. Civilizations in China, Greece, Egypt and Rome all discovered salt on their own at about the same time. None of them can say that they discovered salt, although all of them make this claim. In each case, salt was discovered when lake and river waters evaporated in the sun. People harvested the square crystals on the surface of the water. Almost immediately it was used to preserve fish. As a necessary commodity for sustaining life, ancient politicians knew that they could make money by taxing the sale of salt. Cities that had saltmines made money from harvesting it while others that did not have this resource made money by regulating it. It is interesting that salt is a rock, the only rock that humans eat.

The book reads like a textbook, which in my mind is a negative. Almost every other sentence contains a new fact and made the book an overwhelming one to read. Kurlansky has found a salt connection nearly everywhere, especially in the modern era. The Erie Canal was built for the sake of salt, which needed to be moved from the upstate Onondaga region to New York City. The West Indian slave trade was primarily underwritten by sales of salt, even more than by molasses and rum. So how did salt encourage revolution?  It was the salt tax in India that inspired Mohandas K. Gandhi to start a rebellion that led to independence.  The American Revolutionary War was partly incited by salt shortages.

While it is pretty cool to amass these interesting facts about salt, the book itself is a hard and sometimes dull book to read. I am rating it 3 out of 5 stars. 

William at 40

My review of Tom Bower's Revenge was a popular read, for my blog at least. I decided to take on another royal family tome, Robert Jobson's William at 40 The Making of a Modern Monarch. I was expecting a few new revelations but, sadly, the only new facts that I am aware of were written in the Preface.  

The publisher's summary:

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, is destined one day to be king. Determined to serve his country as his grandmother, the Queen has so selflessly done for seven decades, William is the epitome of a loving husband to Catherine, and a devoted father to their three children: George, Charlotte and Louis. In public, William appears calm, balanced and determined. He is passionate about safeguarding the environment and helping to protect species under threat of extinction. The Duke and his wife have also worked tirelessly to remove the stigma that continues to mark mental health problems. In private, however, those close to him say that William, while being a dedicated servant of the Crown can defy his calm, family-guy public demeanour. This is the definitive account – insightful and nuanced – of the life of the Duke of Cambridge as he approaches his milestone birthday. Jobson explores the complex character of the man who will one day reign as King William V. It is the story of the making of a king for our times. THE STORY OF THE MAKING OF A MONARCH FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY.

 

If you have ever read any newspaper article about William, or a social media post, then you probably are familiar with the material in this biography. These posts seems to rehash his life in its entirety. There isn't anything new here other than the description of William's temper in the Preface. The book seemed to me to be a fluff piece. It begins with his birth and continues to the present day. I guess readers of a younger generation than mine might find something new here but I did not learn anything new about the future King William V. I also did not read anything to justify the subtitle "the making of a modern monarch." Jobson talks about William's listening skills and his use of modern technology as proof that his dynasty will be modern. Any fortysomething individual is going to use modern technology. I don't see that as a reason to call him a modern monarch. I was looking for other reasons for the use of the subtitle. I am not sure what I was looking for, but more than what I got.

3 out of 5 stars.

Revenge

I rarely read gossipy books about celebrities. A dislike for the Harkles, however, made me want to buy this book. Author Tom Bower shows in great detail the reasons for the war between Prince Harry, Meghan and the crown. This is the first book of Bower's that I have read. I was not even familiar with his name before and was surprised to discover that he has 25 titles to his credit. His typical subjects are the British royal family along with British celebrities and politicians. 

The publisher's summary:

The British Royal Family believed that the dizzy success of the Sussex wedding, watched and celebrated around the world, was the beginning of a new era for the Windsors. Yet, within one tumultuous year, the dream became a nightmare. In the aftermath of the infamous Megxit split and the Oprah Winfrey interview, the Royal Family's fate seems persistently threatened. 

The public remains puzzled. Meghan's success has alternatively won praise, bewildered and outraged. Confused by the Sussexes' slick publicity, few understand the real Meghan Markle. What lies ahead for Meghan? And what has happened to the family she married into? Can the Windsors restore their reputation? 

With extensive research, expert sourcing and interviews from insiders who have never spoken before, Tom Bower, Britain's leading investigative biographer, unpicks the tangled web of courtroom drama, courtier politics and thwarted childhood dreams to uncover an astonishing story of love, betrayal, secrets and revenge.

It was apparent from the first pages that Meghan Markle's current behavior is not anything new. She behaved the same way both before meeting Harry as well as during their courtship. I was surprised to read that her behavior is not due to any racism that she experienced or the royal family disliking her, which is the storyline that she has been putting out in the media. I was also surprised that Harry has always been just like her. They are the perfect couple. 

Bowers presents a ton of information about both their backgrounds and has shown many examples of their erratic behavior throughout their lives. In fact, the last 100 pages of the book are a list of references from where he obtained his information. Another surprise, yes a spoiler, is that Meghan's father Thomas Markle had quite a few conversations with Harry before the wedding. The Harkle's narrative is that Harry never met nor spoke with Thomas but that is not true. Bowers presents every text, email and phone call between them. Also, Harry was quite cruel to Thomas after his heart attack. The level of cruelty was yet another surprise. 

As I said above, Harry and Meghan are two of a kind. When destructive people get together it never ends well. I hate to see how their marriage turns out.

5 out of 5 stars.

The Widow Clicquot

The Widow Clicquot is a biography of Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot. After the death of her husband she became driven to succeed as a champagne vintner and created the Veuve Clicquot brand. Veuve means widow in French. Nicole was called Veuve Clicquot by her contemporaries and that is how the brand got its name. I think it is the best champagne in the world.

The book begins in 1789 Reims with an eleven year old Nicole. When the French Revolution arrived in Reims, Nicole had to leave the royal school she attended and be disguised as a peasant in order to safely return to her home. Soon thereafter, her family was discussing possible matches for a marriage. Nicole was lucky to catch the dashing François Clicquot. François was from a wealthy textile family. He, however, preferred to dabble in the production of wine than working in the textile business. François died early in the marriage. A business competitor, Jean-Remy Moet, told everyone who would listen that François killed himself because his business was failing. However, Nicole vowed to make something from her husband's vines. Moet, though, continued to lie about Nicole to keep her business from growing. He wanted her out of business so that he could buy her land. 

During this era sparkling wine was rare. It was not yet called champagne. It was vin mousseux. I was surprised to read that there were several successful women in the wine business during the 18th century. I always thought Nicole was a trailblazing anomaly but she wasn't. These other women were not from the bourgeois class and had more freedom to become entrepreneurs than Nicole had.

Most of the book discusses the problems Nicole had in building her company. She had to deal with the internal politics of France as well as Russian politics. Russia was where she could sell alot of wine, if she could get her bottles over there. Moet again was a trouble maker. He frequently thwarted her plans to have her bottles put on ships that were headed towards her market in St. Petersburg. It kind of makes me want to ban Moet champagne in my household so I can be in solidarity with Nicole. She is definitely seen as a heroine in the book, almost like a character would be in a fiction book. 

The Widow Clicquot tells an inspirational story that anyone can prosper if they don't give up. It took Nicole a lifetime to reach her goal. I think today people would give up after a few years of poor sales but our heroine had a vision that she could not ignore.

4 out of 5 stars