The Man who Never was

The Book of Five Rings: A Graphic Novel by Miyamoto Musashi My rating: 3 of 5 stars A good graphic novel adaptation of the simple yet informative treatise by Miyamoto Musashi. It was not as kinetic as you'd expect; but the serene almost Zen like artwork meshes well with the spiritual nature of Musashi's work, especially highlighting the wizened sage like austerity he seemed to imbibe during his twilight years. This would be a good companion piece for those who've just finished reading the original text, to reinforce its teachings. View all my reviews

The Middle Ages: A Graphic History by Eleanor Janega My rating: 3 of 5 stars Going blind into the book, I had no idea or expectations towards 'The Middle Ages' by Eleanor Janega. For the first third of the book, we got a clear, concise, easy to understand, cliff notes version of the medieval world, following the split of the Roman Empire into West & East. I call it a cliff notes version, because a lot of events are summarized, and we get synopsis breezing through some key events which characterized the times. Most of the book deals with what is essentially the histories of Europe, as well as some supplementary stuff that happened when they interacted with Asia & Africa. Despite not being of said cultural background, having had some exposure to the subject, through similar academic works, many of the things described in the works were familiar to me (Although, full disclosure, the only reasons I even know the distinction between various cultu...

They Called Us Enemy by George Takei My rating: 5 of 5 stars Rating 5 out 5 | Grade: A+; A moving cautionary tale What is it about? They called us Enemy is a biographical account of the childhood and life of Hollywood actor George Takei (Star Trek fame). In it, he recounts the time when he was just four years old. It was the time when Japan had attacked Pearl Harbour, and in retaliation the US declared war on Imperial Japan. As an immediate consequence of this decision, a large number of Japanese, over 100000 people were uprooted from their homes across the nation, and taken to forced incarceration facilities, with limited facilities. Men, women, children, elders, who’d committed no formal crime, but the crime of being Japanese, the same ethnicity as the enemy. Series of Events The account starts when George is 4 years old. His younger brother Henry had just been born, and the USA, in retaliation to Pearl Harbour had declared war on the Japanes...