Books, books, books

In the last four weeks, I have bought several books: 1. The new institutionalism in organizational analysis (DiMaggio & Powell) 2. The Other Malaysia (Farish Noor) 3. Islam Embedded (Farish Noor) 4. Setting the people free: the story of democracy (John Dunn) 5. Freakonomics (Levitt & Dubner) 6. The wealth of nations (Adam Smith) 7. Desperately seeking paradise (Ziauddin Sardar) (I blame the last one totally on Abidin as I bought it purely because I read about it on his blog. Let's see if it was a good purchase) I have finished reading Farish Noor's The Other Malaysia. This is an excellent collection of articles and it helped me understand Farish's thinking. I disagree with his almost total devotion to free-will and rational choice (libertarianism) but at least I can understand why. On the whole, I don't think he has the authority to speak about Islam just like I do not have the authority to speak about car manufacturing. The fact that both he and I are Muslims, and the fact that he and I both drive cars do not make either of us an expert in Islam or on cars. But his articles and thoughts on various issues deserve attention and should not be brushed aside. I have also finished John Dunn's Story of Democracy. The text is not easy to understand due to its literary style. The book traces the origin of democracy from the time of Pericles and Thucydides and relates democracy to modern time. It concludes with a discussion on "Why Democracy?". Unless you really want to read an academically oriented critique of democracy, this book is perhaps is perhaps not for you. If I knew better, I wouldn't have bought this book. I am now half-way through Sardar's Desperately Seeking Paradise. What an interesting journey for a man! Another few days and I will be ready to comment. I have a feeling that Islam Embedded and The Wealth of Nations will have to stay on the shelf and collect dust for a few months before I get to read them properly. .