five BOOKS TO READ - April 2020
The Chains of Heaven: An Ethiopian Romance
by Philip Marsden
HarperCollins
Philip Marsden first went to Ethiopia more than two decades ago. It "shocked me, revolted me, awed and terrified me", he writes. It also made him a traveller. Ever since, he has found himself "drawn to remote and restive minorities, to the passionate fringes of religious belief. I am convinced now that if I had not chosen Ethiopia ... I would not have lived the life that I have, would not have travelled quite so obsessively [to Armenia, Lebanon, Cyprus, Belorussia], would never have begun to write." But, having begun, he has woven himself into a strain of bookish, very English wandering and has been described as an heir to Patrick Leigh Fermor and been bracketed with Bruce Chatwin.
The standard description of Ethiopia is "the rooftop of Africa", and the highlands really are high - sometimes 4,500 metres above sea level - but they are also runnelled with plunging gorges. The result is ambas, unassailable, flat-topped mountain fastnesses that used to be handy pens for regicidal princes, and are still dotted with Orthodox Christian monasteries. "This rocky region helps to solve the riddle at the heart of Ethiopia's history: how has it sustained its sovereignty? Why did it not, like its neighbours, become Muslim? Why was it the only African country to resist the European colonial adventure? The glib answer is mountains - and perhaps it really is as simple as that. Landscape has translated its spirit to produce a deeply religious and bellicose people." Much of Marsden's considerable lyrical firepower is reserved for these mountains, and the birds that fly through them, such as the hooded vulture he sees "gliding along ... the sandstone a blur behind it. Then it was clear of the mountain and the sun was bright on its underwing and it was soaring into a milky sky."
But he has to climb. Debre Damo is the most famous monastery that must be approached in this manner, but he also visits Abba Salama, which requires the supplicant to walk along a narrow ledge halfway up a cliff, climb a ladder placed in a rock chimney, and then, over a drop of hundreds of feet, forgo all support in order to reach a chain, with which to drag himself over an overhanging lip of rock. "Reaching these places," Marsden observes breathlessly,"is a rite in itself." It is an interesting observation - not because it is necessarily insightful about approaches to remote monasteries, but because it goes a little way to unlocking this book, with its uneasy clash between tone and content, personal quest and historical celebration.
The latter is well done. He has been thinking about the country off and on for 20 years (he has even written a book about it before), and it shows. He has ferreted through archives, done time in the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, studied Amharic; he is particularly good, and particularly interested in, Ethiopia as a place in the western imagination. So, using the landscape and people he encounters as triggers, he revisits the medieval legend of Prester John, king of a glorious Christian kingdom "beyond the Islamic cordon"; Thomas Burnet's 17th-century claim that, according to an "Aethiopian philosopher" and books in a grand Abyssinian library, the earth's surface was originally smooth; Samuel Purchas's placing of this library on Mount Amara (actually Amba Gishen). Coleridge fell into an opium dream with Purchas's book open on his lap - and an Abyssinian maid, and Mount Amara (as it is in the original MSS), stole into "Kubla Khan". And so on. If the mountains meant that the country was militarily unassailable, they also meant dreams could be projected upon them without much fear of contradiction. The peaks and valleys of northern Ethiopia really were - for centuries in the western historical imagination, and decades in Marsden's own - mountains of the mind.
Which is perhaps why the people he meets are not as vivid as the places or the history. There are many of them, sketched quickly and economically, but they remain oddly distant. The photographs that stud the book begin to seem increasingly appropriate: they often look obliquely past shadowed, indistinct faces to landscape. Late in his travels, observing yet another complex of miraculous chambers cut into a mountainside, Marsden says: "Not for the first time, I was overcome with awe at the thought of these places and what it took to create them - not so much the labour or the expertise or even the thorny problems of working with reverse space - but the why?" It's a question that could just as well be applied to his book, because apart from a section at the beginning in which he describes first falling in love with the country, and a section at the end, where he looks back on what that love has meant, he seems as distant as they are. His tone is often jocular, staccato, with a fondness for the absurd - and yet I don't think he intends to mock. He has a natural and underlying seriousness; this journey means much to him. On his first visit, in the early 80s, "Teklu [a tour guide] had told me about Debra Damo ... 'You have to climb up to it on a rope - it is like an island in the sky!' That image had grown with the passing years into something impossible and otherworldly. Now I was here, I found the image's work was done, and it too had vanished."
Resting at a hotel after his long walk, Marsden suddenly feels "a sense of dislocation so intense that before long I couldn't remember how I had got here, or where I was". The Chains of Heaven thus becomes a kind of parable, about sustaining fictions and the risks of looking at them too closely. Like other parables, it also becomes part of worship, a rite in itself.
I Don't Want to Die Poor: Essays
From the New York Times bestselling author of I Can’t Date Jesus, which Vogue called “a piece of personal and cultural storytelling that is as fun as it is illuminating,” comes a wry and insightful essay collection that explores the financial and emotional cost of chasing your dreams.
Ever since Oprah Winfrey told the 2007 graduating class of Howard University, “Don’t be afraid,” Michael Arceneaux has been scared to death. You should never do the opposite of what Oprah instructs you to do, but when you don’t have her pocket change, how can you not be terrified of the consequences of pursuing your dreams?
Michael has never shied away from discussing his struggles with debt, but in I Don’t Want to Die Poor, he reveals the extent to which it has an impact on every facet of his life—how he dates; how he seeks medical care (or in some cases, is unable to); how he wrestles with the question of whether or not he should have chosen a more financially secure path; and finally, how he has dealt with his “dream” turning into an ongoing nightmare as he realizes one bad decision could unravel all that he’s earned. You know, actual “economic anxiety.”
I Don’t Want to Die Poor is an unforgettable and relatable examination about what it’s like leading a life that often feels out of your control. But in Michael’s voice that’s “as joyful as he is shrewd” (BuzzFeed), these razor-sharp essays will still manage to make you laugh and remind you that you’re not alone in this often intimidating journey.
Pillars in Ethiopian History Vol. I: William Leo Hansberry African History Notebook
Taken from William Leo Hansberry's private papers the four essays in Volume I, better described as narrative histories, decipher and remove from the entanglement of myth, legend and spurious historical documentation the pillars of Ethiopia's unity. The editor, Joseph Harris, is the former chairman of the Department of History at Howard University. AFRICA AND AFRICANS AS SEEN BY CLASSICAL WRITERS, The William Leo Hansberry African History Notebook Volume II Edited by Joseph E. harris volume II of the William Leo Hansberry Notebook interprets, classical comments about Africa and Africans. William Leo Hansberry is considered by many to be the father of African Studies in the United States. During the thirty-seven years that Hansberry taught at Howard University, he laid the foundations for the systematic study of African History culture and politics.
Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter Hardcover
For the first time, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson opens up about his amazing comeback―from tragic personal loss to thriving businessman and cable’s highest-paid executive―in this unique self-help guide, his first since his blockbuster New York Times bestseller The 50th Law.
In his early twenties Curtis Jackson, known as 50 Cent rose to the heights of fame and power in the cutthroat music business. A decade ago the multi-platinum selling rap artist decided to pivot. His ability to adapt to change was demonstrated when he became the executive producer and star of Power, a high-octane, gripping crime drama centered around a drug kingpin’s family. The series quickly became “appointment” television, leading to Jackson inking a four-year, $150 million contract with the Starz network―the most lucrative deal in premium cable history.
Now, in his most personal book, Jackson shakes up the self-help category with his unique, cutting-edge lessons and hard-earned advice on embracing change. Where The 50th Law tells readers “fear nothing and you shall succeed,” Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter builds on this message, combining it with Jackson’s street smarts and hard-learned corporate savvy to help readers successfully achieve their own comeback―and to learn to flow with the changes that disrupt their own lives.
by Sarah J. Maas
Bound by blood. Tempted by desire. Unleashed by destiny.
Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life—working hard all day and partying all night—until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded, and alone. When the accused is behind bars but the crimes start up again, Bryce finds herself at the heart of the investigation. She’ll do whatever it takes to avenge their deaths.
Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose—to assassinate his boss’s enemies, no questions asked. But with a demon wreaking havoc in the city, he’s offered an irresistible deal: help Bryce find the murderer, and his freedom will be within reach.
As Bryce and Hunt dig deep into Crescent City’s underbelly, they discover a dark power that threatens everything and everyone they hold dear, and they find, in each other, a blazing passion—one that could set them both free, if they’d only let it.
With unforgettable characters, sizzling romance, and page-turning suspense, this richly inventive new fantasy series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas delves into the heartache of loss, the price of freedom—and the power of love.
Creative Strategy and the Business of Design
“Douglas wears a lot of hats–all stylish and functional. There’s a huge disconnect happening right now in the industry and Douglas’s book is a means to bridging that gap.” —The Huffington Post
The Business Skills Every Creative Needs!
Remaining relevant as a creative professional takes more than creativity--you need to understand the language of business. The problem is that design school doesn't teach the strategic language that is now essential to getting your job done. Creative Strategy and the Business of Design fills that void and teaches left-brain business skills to right-brain creative thinkers.
Inside, you'll learn about the business objectives and marketing decisions that drive your creative work. The curtain's been pulled away as marketing-speak and business jargon are translated into tools to help you:
–Understand client requests from a business perspective
–Build a strategic framework to inspire visual concepts
–Increase your relevance in an evolving industry
–Redesign your portfolio to showcase strategic thinking
–Win new accounts and grow existing relationships
You already have the creativity; now it's time to gain the business insight. Once you understand what the people across the table are thinking, you'll be able to think how they think to do what we do.