Bookish Talks

Author: Faizan

  • Klara And The Sun Novel (Book Review / Summary) – Focus24 Book Club

    Klara And The Sun Novel (Book Review / Summary) – Focus24 Book Club

    book cover klara and the sun novel - focus24 book club

    Book Review / Book Summary

    When you sit down with a piece of literature, that you know has been produced by someone with a Nobel Prize in the field, there comes an added responsibility onto you. Being a book reviewer and avid reader for the past 15 years, I convinced myself to review the novel ‘Klara & The Son’ completely overlooking the fact that it was written by, Kazuo Ishiguor, a Japanese author who holds a Nobel Prize in literature.

    The novel revolves around Klara, who is the main character as well as the narrator of the story. She is not a human being but rather an AF (or Artificial Friend), which gets its energy from the sun. She is a sort of Robot, but different in a way that it has feelings, can think, and makes decisions based upon the thoughts that come to her mind.

    Klara gets purchased by the family of a girl named Josie. Josie has been suffering from a life-threatening illness. The mother of Josie expects Klara to learn all the traits of Josie so that once she passes away, Klara can fill her absence. The mother even gets a dummy of her daughter prepared to make Klara take over her place later on. The disease of Josie, who is a kid of 14 years old, is sort of hereditary and had killed her sister as well in the recent past.

    Klara, however, has a firm belief that if it could perform a couple of tasks, then Josie would be fine again. She had seen in the past that the Sun had given life to a beggar and his dog after they died. She expects the same to happen for Josie. She thinks if she could dismantle a polluting machine, which according to her was making the sun angry over the pollution, the sun would grant her friend health. She creates malfunction in the machine out of some liquid which she takes out of her own body. Neither Josie nor her mother are aware of Klara’s sincerity and sacrifice. Then she requests Sun to give her little friend strength and recovery. The sun is supposed to have listened to the wish of this robot and makes Rosie healthier again.

    During her stay with the family of Josie, Klara observes a lot of characters around her. Like Josie’s mother, her father, her boyfriend Rick, Mr Capaldi and many more. Each of these characters helps Klara understand the human psyche and behavior.

    The passion, love, and sacrifice of Klara do not get any reward to her in the end. People move on in their lives. Klara gets abandoned and thrown to be dismantled in the yard.

    Frequently Asked Questions About Klara And The Sun

    What is Klara and Sun About?

    Klara and Sun is about a humanoid Robot named Klara which gets its energy from the sun. She is a super-intelligent humanoid robot that gets attached to a family. She has an owner, a 14-year-old girl named Rosie. Klara helps Rosie recover from a fatal disease through the power of sun.

    What are oblongs in klara and the sun?

    The Klara is an intelligent humanoid Robot. She is very intelligent but her ability to see around things is through oblongs. The oblongs in the Klara and the sun are visual dimensions or squares that help Klara in looking around.

    What disease does Josie have in Klara and the sun?

    Josie has a fatal disease in Klara and Sun. It is a hereditary disease which had killed her sister in the recent past. However, the exact details of the disease are not given.

    Will there be a Klara and the Sun movie?

    No such movie has been released yet. However, the movie of the novel Klara and the Sun is planned to be made.

    Klara and the sun summary?

    The summary of the novel Klara and Sun is that it is the story of a humanoid Robot Klara. Klara gets purchased by a family. She helps her owner Josie recover from a fatal illness. However, in the end, she gets abandoned and her sacrifices forgotten.

  • Book Review – Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill – Focus24 Book Club

    Book Review – Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill – Focus24 Book Club

    Book Cover Think & Grow Rich - Focus24 Book club

    Today’s book review is my all-time favorite ‘Think and Grow Rich’ Napoleon Hill. I just finished reading this book for 3rd time to write this book review, and trust me I happened to ask myself how come I missed this thing and that, once I read it first back in 2021. The book is such a treasure, every time you get into it, you get some gem. Stay with me for a few minutes and I will share with you all the gems that I could get, with the expectation that you go hunting a few others for yourself.

    Before I proceed, I feel obliged to inform you that this book is the result of 20 years of unprecedented effort from the author Napoleon Hill. His research, analysis, and interviews with 500 of the most successful people in history have made him able to sum up all his efforts into a single book. This entire effort itself makes the book worthy of being read. All that data and research condensed into 280 pages book, which you can finish in a day. How would you justify not reading that book? I would leave that question to you. Moving ahead.

    The book was published in 1937, and since then its sales have never dropped down. Over 15 million copies sold worldwide and the count continues. Before we dive deep into the book, let me clear the confusion over the title of the book. A few amongst us might perceive that as the title mentions the word ‘rich’ this must be the book on financial prosperity. However, the correct way of looking at the title is, ‘think’ & ‘grow rich’ which means, we need to amend ‘thinking’ for growth and richness. That richness does not necessarily mean financial richness only. For financial richness, I will recommend a short book that is far better than ‘Rich Dad-Poor Dad’. The book is ‘Richest man in the Babylon’. Back to Think and Grow Rich.

    The book consists of 16 chapters and I will not bore you with listing each chapter’s name and consuming your valuable time. I will just share with you the concepts that looked fascinating to me. The most attractive thing about the book is that each of the chapters is based on an idea coupled with a real-life example to prove its authenticity. Like, when you read the chapter on Faith, it will be synced with the story of Mr Charles, and his contribution to the giant United States Steel Corporation. Similarly, every chapter would bring with it some great personality whose success was based on those principles. The personalities you will find repeatedly referred to in the book include Henry Ford, Theodore Roosevelt, John D. Rockefeller, Thomas Edison, and many more. Napoleon Hill has tried to reveal the thought process of these great men and to me has succeeded in doing that.

    The concepts shared in the book are so significant, that the author believes that he did not see any of the 500 fortune makers, who did not possess the qualities, and he could not find any single person who had these qualities but was unsuccessful. I will reproduce here what Napoleon Hill writes in the preface ‘Somewhere, as you read, the secret to which I refer will jump from the page and stand boldly before you, if you are ready for it! When it appears, you will recognize it. Whether you receive the sign in the first chapter or the last chapter, stop for a moment when it presents itself and raise your glass to toast your epiphany’

    Having discussed all the brilliance of the book, the one thing which my small mind feels should have been skipped in the book is ‘repetition’. While going through the book, you do encounter certain repetitions of ideas and examples, which could have been avoided. Overall a wonderful book to start with. If you want to give it a try, you can order your book through this link https://amzn.to/40VuTdy . That’s all for today, hope you like the blog. Till next time, stay hard, stay strong, stay focused with focus24.

  • I READ VIRAT KOHLI’S RECOMMENDED BOOK, THIS IS WHAT I FOUND  . . . .

    I READ VIRAT KOHLI’S RECOMMENDED BOOK, THIS IS WHAT I FOUND  . . . .

    An Autobiography of a yogi - pramhansa yogananda book - focus24 book club

    Introduction

    If you have ever been to India or watched videos/documentaries about it, you must have seen several saffron-clad sadhus, with no apparent worldly objective, busy in their world. The mystery for many is: in the world of distractions, competitions, technology, and lust – what are these people up to? The answer to all these queries is this one book!

    Virat Kohli’s Love For Book ‘An An Autobiography Of A Yogi’

    When it comes to reading, everybody has different taste-buds. But when someone you love and respect offers you something which you haven’t tried before – the scenario becomes different. This happened to me when I had to read a book recommended by the famous cricketer Virat Kohli. Virat Kohli spoke so flowery about An Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda that I could not stop myself from picking it up. Having completed this book, this is how I feel about An Autobiography of a Yogi.

    About The Author

    Pramhansa Yogananda was an Indian Monk, born in 1893. He committed his life to preaching his faith as well as Yoga. He introduced the concepts of Yoga and meditation to millions in the West, including people from the United States. He passed away in 1952.

    Main Theme Of The Book

    If you are someone who is inclined to mystic powers, miracles, spiritual powers, and things like that, you are going to love this book. If not, you will have a very tough time finishing it. Sri Yoganada says that disease and health are just states of mind, as both these enter into mind through the window of imagination. If you are ill and you convince yourself that you are healthy, your illness will flee. Will it? He discusses various incidents where he could talk to his deceased Guru Sri Yukteswar, not in a dream but in an awakened state. There also appears to be a Babaji, who is supposed to have remained alive for centuries and would remain so for times to come, and he reveals himself often to interact with Sri Yogananda.

    Convincing Life Lessons From The Book

    Keeping aside the main theme of the book, which we will be discussing in detail, I happened to grasp some of the most convincing quotes from the book, like this one, which says ‘Good manners, without sincerity are like a beautiful dead lady’ and also this one ‘Straight forwardness without civility is like a surgeon’s knife, effective but unpleasant. Candor with courtesy is helpful and admirable’.

    Clear Understanding Of Hinduism

    The book is very, very helpful in understanding Hinduism in its actual form. Various gods of Hinduism, like Brahma, Vishnu, Shiv, Saraswati, and others are repeatedly discussed in the book. I happened to learn traits of gods from this book like Shiva – A divine dancer, Krishna with a melodious flute, & Saraswati as the goddess of wisdom etc. We do hear about these Hindu gods in our daily lives, but to know more about them, this book is helpful.

    Why God Does Not Appear To Prove

    Another beautiful concept that I happened to learn from the book was about centuries old philosophical puzzle,  ‘Why God does not reveal himself and clear all the confusions?’. Paramhansa Yoganada believes that the happening of such a thing will make the trials of hereafter null and void. God only wants to be recognized by his creatures through ‘free will’.

    Difference Between Swami & Yogi

    You will learn through this book the difference between a Swami and a Yagi. A swami, formally a monk by virtue of his connection with the ancient order, is not always a yogi. Anyone who practices a scientific technique of God-contact is a yogi; he may be either married or unmarried, either a worldly man or one of formal religious ties. A swami may conceivably follow only the path of dry reasoning, of cold renunciation, but a yogi engages himself in a definite, step-by-step procedure by which the body and mind are disciplined and the soul liberated.

    Biological & Psychological Impact of Yoga

    I loved the way Sri Yogananda defined the biological impacts on the human body by comparing average breathing to other living creatures. He says ‘Many illustrations could be given of the mathematical relationship between man’s respiratory rate and the variations in his states of consciousness. A person whose attention is wholly engrossed, as in following some closely knit intellectual argument or in attempting some delicate or difficult physical feat, automatically breathes very slowly. Fixity of attention depends on slow breathing; quick or uneven breaths are an inevitable accompaniment of harmful emotional states: fear, lust, anger. The restless monkey breathes at the rate of 32 times a minute, in contrast to man’s average of 18 times. The elephant, tortoise, snake and other animals noted for their longevity have a respiratory rate which is less than man’s. The tortoise, for instance, who may attain the age of 300 years, breathes only 4 times per minute’

    Conclusion

    Though I might not agree with various incidents of spiritual power and things like that. But the psychological discussions are very thought-provoking. If you want to give this book a try, here is the link of the free audiobook (1-month free trial):  https://amzn.to/3CD63XT That’s all for today. Hope you like this blog. Please share your opinion in the comments section below.

  • ‘Trading In The Zone’ by Mark Douglas – Best book to learn Trading

    ‘Trading In The Zone’ by Mark Douglas – Best book to learn Trading

    Book 'Trading in the zone' by Mark Douglas - Focus24 book club

    INTRODUCTION

    If you are into any kind of online trading or are curious about the trading stuff, like Trading Crypto, Forex, or Stocks, this book review is for you. I happened to read one of the most recommended books for online traders and will share my takeaways from the book with you.

    Hello book lovers, and foucs24 family. The book I am talking about is ‘Trading in the Zone’ by Mark Douglas. My aim for this blog is to explain to you what I actually expected out of the book, how good is the trading psychology explained by the author, some recommendations and finally the conclusion.

    I MISJUDGED THE TITLE

    I am someone who is into this trading field, and I wanted to learn some new trading techniques. First of all, let me confess, the book is never about the stuff which I thought it would be about. Keeping the title in mind, I expected the book to help me understand Chart patterns, support, resistance, indicators, volumes, and other stuff that is actively used in online trading. Ironically, there is nothing as such in the book. Instead, the book is all about the psychology behind the trading. I wonder why Mark Douglas gave such a confusing title to the book. The title should have been ‘Trading Psychology’ instead of ‘Trading in the Zone’, which automatically diverts one’s attention to technical analysis.

    NO BOOK HAS BETTER EXPLAINED PSYCHOLOGY OF TRADER THAN THIS ONE

    Now, as far as the Psychology of trading is concerned, this is probably the simplest and most appealing book. The book will hold your finger and introduce you to every feeling and emotion that a trader faces during his trading journey. Each of the scenarios you would recall having experienced at some point of your trading journey. Another word of caution: to get the best out of the book, you need to have some trading experience, at least of a few months, so that when the author talks about various terminologies, you are in a position to relate that with yourself. Without having gone through that, the concepts will be very difficult to grasp.

    EXAMPLES RESONATE WITH TRADER’S FEELINGS

    The wonderful thing about the book is that it covers trading psychology in a way that you would feel and nod your head when Mark Douglas discusses various reasons as to why we commit the mistakes and how we fool ourselves by sticking to those mistakes instead of admitting, and how our ego brings us to the verge of loss. In that field, this book is a masterpiece, which you must not miss out on if you want to become a profitable trader. For those not interested in trading, this book is not for you.
    Amongst various other positives of the book, one which is worth mentioning here is the Q&A session which Mark Douglas has given at the beginning as well as the end of the book. The same set of questions, if attempted religiously at the beginning as well as at the end, will allow you judge the difference Mark Douglas has left on your trading psychology. The reader will find remarkable change in his approach at dealing with various situations during a trade.

    CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS

    Amongst the negatives of the book, the most prominent again is the misleading title. A nascent reader, like me, when reads title ‘Trading in the Zone’, picks up the book with the hope of learning trading skills but ends up reading only psychology of trading. Overall, a good pick for traders. If you want to listen to the free audiobook, you can do so by clicking on this link and signing up for 1 1-month free trial https://amzn.to/3QafO2y . You can order hard copy as well through the same link. That’s all for today, till next review, stay hard, stay strong, and stay focused with foucs24.

  • I call this book ‘BIBLE FOR ENTREPRENEURS’ – BE 2.0 by JIM COLLINS

    I call this book ‘BIBLE FOR ENTREPRENEURS’ – BE 2.0 by JIM COLLINS

    Book Review BE 2.0 by Jim Collins - Focus24 Book Club

    Introduction

    Hello booklovers and the focus24 family. Today’s book, which we are going to discuss, is very very special. I have read hundreds of books on the subject over the past 12 years, but this book has got special place in my heart.

    Authors

    The book is co-authored by Jim Collins and Bill Lazier. Now, as far as Jim Collins is concerned, he does not need any introduction in the field of entrepreneurship. Various masterpieces of entrepreneurship literature, like Built to Last, Good to Great, How The Mighty Fall, and Great by Choice, are all contributions of this magnificent author.

    Background

    BE 2.0 is basically the enhanced version of famous ‘Beyond Entrepreneurship’ and is as good as the original one. Stay for a while as I bring to you the main lessons and takeaways from the book.

    Lessons Learned From The Book

    Financial Incentives: The 1st entrepreneur concept that I learned from the book and which is going to stay with me for the rest of my life is about ‘financial incentives’ to your team and employees. The Financial incentives, according to the author, are the most unproductive reasons for the people in your company and team to perform well. Listen to that once again: the ‘financial incentives’ are the most unproductive reasons for the people in your company and team to perform well. What the author means by this is that you would need to encourage and acknowledge employees’ efforts by rewarding them with financial incentives. However, if that is the only purpose that drives your team to work harder and harder, you have a very weak foundation of your mission conveyed to your team, or probably you need to reconsider your team.

    Different Shades of Leadership:  Another beautiful concept the book has given me is understanding different shades of leadership. I always heard and considered that there set number of qualities whose possession would make someone a good leader and whose absence will turn him or her into a bad leader. The book says that every leader has a unique characteristic and quality to be called a leader. (Do not confuse leadership with charisma. Charisma does not equal leadership, and some of the most effective leaders have very little charisma.) Examine the spectrum of world leaders and notice how much their styles differ: Mahatma Gandhi (frail and soft-spoken), Abraham Lincoln (melancholy and thoughtful), Winston Churchill (the fierce and indomitable bulldog), and Martin Luther King Jr. (impassioned, eloquent). Yet, despite the wide range of styles, each of these leaders was highly effective.

    Every Leader has his unique style. Cultivate your style; don’t try to be someone you’re not or to take on a style that does not fit. Can you imagine Winston Churchill trying to imitate Gandhi’s style, wearing a loincloth and speaking in a soft, almost inaudible voice? Conversely, can you imagine Gandhi chewing on big fat cigars and growling, “Our policy is to wage war, by sea, land, and air, with all our might and all the strength God can give us . . .”? These images are absurd. But they’re no more absurd than if you try to copy someone else’s style. An effective style grows from within you. It should be entirely yours. No one except you should have a style exactly like yours.

    Identifying faults isn’t genius: Another takeaway from the book for me is understanding that it does not take a genius mind to find fault, criticize, and negate other people’s ideas. The hard thing, indeed, is finding enough good things in something to convince a person that he/she has done something valuable. Meanwhile, corrections can be recommended. Sadly, however, most of us have been trained to do just the opposite; we’re well-schooled in criticism, having learned that the way to show how smart we are is to cite all the reasons that something is a stupid idea or doomed to failure. Don’t shoot down an idea by pointing out all its flaws and warts before the idea gets tested. The world is full of critics—critics who never stimulate anything truly great. Don’t be one of them.

    Conclusion

    Dear booklover, if you are an aspiring entrepreneur, do yourself a favor and pick this book. You can thank me later on. Here is the Amazon link to purchase the book: https://amzn.to/4ht4Y40 (affiliate link). That’s all for today. Hope you liked this blog. Till next time, stay hard, stay strong, and stay focused with Focus24.

  • This book is talk of the town – here is why – ‘THE COURAGE TO BE DISLIKED’

    This book is talk of the town – here is why – ‘THE COURAGE TO BE DISLIKED’

    THE COURAGE TO BE DISLIKED BOOK SUMMARY

    Introduction

    Hello booklovers and focus24 family. ‘The Courage to be disliked’, the book which is talk of the town, I just finished this book twice to make this review as i wanted to make it sure that I do not end up recommending something which I am not convinced of.

    About The Author

    The book is co-authored by Ichiro Kishimi & Fumitake Koga. Ichiro KISHIMI is a Philosopher, Adlerian psychologist and translator of English and German languages.

    What Made This Book Unique For Me

    ‘The Power of Now’ by Ekhort Tolle , and this one book in my hand are the only two books in my 15 years of reading non-fiction that made me confused at the end about whether I should have read these or not. Not because the books are bad, but because these books shackle the foundations of your belief systems so much that if you don’t grasp the message exactly as being given, you are under a serious threat of losing your mind. Stay with me for a while as I give you the complete summary of the book.

    What The Book Is All About

    The book is based on the Psychology of Mr. Alfred Adler, a famous Austrian psychologist. The author repeatedly refers to the concept in the book as Adlerian Psychology.

    Style Of The Book

    The book is shaped in the form of conversations between two characters, referred to as ‘Youth’ & a ‘Philosopher’. The youth in quest of knowledge and search of answers on life, visits the philosopher for 5 nights and they discuss various philosophical issues. According to the author, the purpose of giving this book the shape of conversation was inspired from the discussions between Socrates and Plato.

    As you might know, Socrates left no written piece of thoughts behind for generations to come. However, his student Plato wrote down the conversations between him and his master, which are now a big philosophical treasure. The author says that the concepts being discussed were so difficult to understand that there had to arise various questions in the minds of the readers if the book had been written in simple descriptive form. So, he brings up the possible queries that readers might have in the shape of ‘youth’ debating with the ‘philosopher’.

    Our perception is like well water

    At one point in the book, the author says that the state of happiness and sadness is just the perception of looking at things, exactly like the temperature of well water. The water from the well remains at 60 60-degree temperature throughout the year. If you drink it in summer, you would feel its coolness, and during winters it appears to be warm. The feeling of being hot and cold is because of the temperature of the surroundings and not the water itself. Similarly, our reaction to any aspect of our life is based on our society.  Every aspect of our life can be looked at either positively or negatively basing on our state of mind.

    The urge of being important

    A Strange concept that I found repeated in the book ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People, ’ which I highly recommend by the way, is using any means to get attention or superiority – even by showing how weak you are. Yes, gaining superiority by showing weakness. Adlerian psychology portrays that the urge for attention can push human beings to any limits. People use various means and ways to stay important, and one of those is relying on misery. They explain how unlucky they are, how bad the society has been to them, how their life has been full of hardships, and all that stuff is just to remain significant and abnormal. The way a child wants attention of the parents, and if he does not find any suitable way, he would start shouting, throwing things away and becoming a bad child but, would crave for attention at all cost. The same thing continues with our minds as we grow up.

    Out of 10 People, 7 will ignore, 2 will like, & 1 will hate you

    I loved this beautiful concept shared by the author about the perception of society. He says that ‘In the teachings of Judaism, it is believed that “If there are ten people, one will be someone who criticizes you no matter what you do. This person will come to dislike you, and you will not learn to like him either. Then, there will be two others who accept everything about you and whom you accept too, and you will become close friends with them. The remaining seven people will be neither of these types.” Now, do you focus on the one person who dislikes you? Do you pay more attention to the two who love you? Or would you focus on the crowd, the other seven? A person who is lacking in harmony of life will see only the one person he dislikes and will make a judgment of the world from that.

    Conclusion

    You will find dozens of other thought-provoking ideas in the book, which I am sure you would love to read. Overall, an interesting pick and a book worth reading. I highly recommend you consider giving this book a read. Here is the link to order the book online https://amzn.to/3WPAC3p (affiliate link). You can also listen to free audiobooks, having free trial registration. That’s all for today. hope you liked this blog. Till next time, stay hard, stay strong, and stay focused with Focus24.