Summer is here and it is time for some of us to take a well-deserved break. To help with that, the finews editorial team has hunkered down and put together a choice - and very subjective - selection of their best reads for the hot days ahead.
Books are the best way to look at the world from an entirely different perspective. This year, given the momentous events that are shaping the future of Swiss finance, we brought our editors together to bring you what they believe are the best reads for the summer – from their singularly individual points of view.
What they have come up with is a diverse selection that reflects the breadth and depth of Swiss finance – both domestically and internationally. Take it as an open invitation to think both about the past and the future in new and unusual ways.
York Runne, Editor, finews.ch
«A Biography of a Chance Miracle» by Tanja Malartschuk
What the book is about:
The book comes across as a picaresque novel and it takes place in the fictitious small town of «San Francisco» in the western part of Ukraine. Lena, the main character, courageously and humorously braves a post-Soviet society dominated by sadness, scarcity, injustice, exaggerated nationalism, and arbitrary violence. The attempts to maintain any individual values frequently fail or end up in futile, pointless activism. The so-called «chance miracle» implied in the title relates to the appearance of a flying woman who always seems to appear where help is most needed. The Ukrainian author currently lives in Vienna and received the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize in 2018.
Why I recommend it:
The novel provides a different perspective on Ukrainian society and its problems. The deep dissatisfaction of the first-person narrator is felt on every page. Despite the often tragic and bitter tone, and the occasionally fantastical passages, what remains is an underlying search for miracles and goodness, both of which are the dominating themes of the novel.
Deviana Chuo, Editor, finews.asia
«The Tao of Pooh» by Benjamin Hoff
What the book is about:
It is a classical book that describes the principle of the Chinese religion of Taoism. As quoted by the author, Benjamin Hoff, from the Taoist point of view, the natural result of this harmonious way of living is happiness.
Why I recommend it:
This classical wisdom is never too old to understand, follow, and apply in this modern era of ours. Through this now 40-year-old book, Hoff makes it simpler to understand by using the characters of Winnie The Pooh and his friends.
Teodoro Cocca, finance professor, finews.ch and finews.com columnist
«12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos» by Jordan Peterson
What the book is about:
Jordan Peterson has become one of the most recognized intellectuals in the world after several decades of working as a clinical psychologist and professor at Harvard University and the University of Toronto. The «New York Times» calls him «the most influential public intellectual in the Western world right now». The book contains a broad spectrum of wisdom and knowledge stretching all the way back to Greek mythology, and the Bible. He melds that with the newest research from a multitude of disciplines and draws fascinating links to the texts of Sigmund Freud, Carl Gustav Jung, and Friedrich Nietzsche. Something that at first glance looks like little more than a typical «how-to» book of advice is in reality a deep analysis of our current zeitgeist and an attempt to find some kind of bearing in a chaotic world with collapsing values.
Why I recommend it:
I don't like «how-to» books generally. In truth, until now, I have never really read one. But I stumbled across this one by way of a coincidental YouTube video and I found it a revelation. It links up the different strands of our ancient myths and traditions in a way that creates a solid intellectual fundament that really helps us to think about current themes in a deeper way. It is the perfect book to pick up and read bit by bit on a beach while looking out at the ocean and thinking about life. Peterson is clearly a controversial author but I found his work a powerful intellectual firework and something that I had rarely experienced in that fashion before.
Jade Cano, Editor, finews.com & finews.asia
«The Courage to be Disliked» by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga
What the book is about:
A scientist and his professor discuss how to be happy based on the school of psychological thought embodied by Alfred Adler.
Why I recommend it:
I particularly like the fact that Adler's philosophy is grounded in the future. The book is not only a pleasure to read but it provides us with tools that can help change our pattern of thinking with the ultimate objective of recognizing one's own potential and finding inner peace.
Marco Babic, Editor, finews.com
What the book is about:
Living in Switzerland one is surrounded by shops selling chronometers. Before these hyper-accurate watches became fashion icons and investments, they had a far more important practical use. Even if you are not interested in things nautical, this book is a fascinating read on how one of the most vexing scientific problems of the time was solved: that of calculating longitude.
Why I recommend it:
The story is of two competing theories on how to solve the longitude problem and an Englishman’s single-minded pursuit of it. His invention led to more accurate maps, and the saving of countless lives.
Thomas Pentsy, Editor, finews.ch
«The Devil's Financial Dictionary» von Jason Zweig
What the book is about:
Jason Zweig's dictionary is the spiritual successor of «The Devil's Dictionary», one of the most underrated works of American literature. Satirist Ambrose Bierce published the entire lexicon in 1906 after its droll definition of common terms had appeared for more than three decades as a series of installments for magazines and newspapers. In «The Devil’s Financial Dictionary», Zweig, a highly regarded columnist for the «Wall Street Journal», deconstructs the language of Wall Street professionals in an entertaining and very astute fashion.
Why I recommend it:
Jason Zweig takes the cynical view that all professionals are out there to get the layman. Language is a weapon to exclude those who don't belong. The more sophisticated the jargon is the more chances are out there that someone is trying to hide something. It is a humorous, cynical and pointed survival guide.
Andrew Isbester, writer and journalist, finews.asia and finews.com
«Stiller» by Max Frisch (Written in German with English translations widely available)
What the book is about:
Beyond its universal literary qualities, I still think it is a singularly Swiss interpretation, even fantasy, of mistaken identity and dysfunctional relationships. It encapsulates, even exemplifies, the escapist daydreams of many, including myself. Back then, I and many I knew occasionally felt trapped in a small landlocked country where often too many people knew each other too well, even in a city like Zurich.
Why I recommend it:
When working at a major Swiss bank in Hong Kong, I used to recommend the English translation of Max Frisch’s most famous novel to employees in Hong Kong and Singapore, and farther afield, in the vain hope they might better understand the essence of the country’s character, particularly when faced with confusing tasks that they could not easily decipher or make much sense of.
I had often thought of using Frisch's play, Andorra, or that of another Swiss writer and playwright, Duerrenmatt’s The Visit. Although they were standard school literature texts in the 80s and 90s, I thought that the answers they would provide would either be too obscure when it came to the former, or too simplistic, notably related to the latter.
I don’t think anyone ever took me up on the offer back then and I now realize in hindsight that the concept of actually voluntarily reading a novel in many of the different areas and functions I worked in or with may have been taking things a bit far. Still, I find myself rereading it every few years, sometimes in English, sometimes German, to figure out how distant or not I have become to Switzerland myself in the meantime given it is now well over 15 years since I left.
Now, given that a significant number of employees based in Asia are currently facing the uncertainty of the integration of the country’s two largest banks, I think the novel, as well as the other two works I mentioned, are ideal vehicles to better understand the emotional and cultural background of many of the people who are potentially driving the decision-making.
Richard Otsuki, Editor, finews.asia
«Moneyball» by Michael Lewis
What the book is about:
Traditionally an author of finance-related novels, Michael Lewis tries his hand at sports writing in Moneyball by exploring analytics in baseball. The non-fiction story follows the journey of the Oakland Athletics baseball team in challenging established but flawed notions of player value through the use of rigorous statistical analysis. Using a limited team budget, the Athletics effectively competes with top teams by applying its statistical method and recruiting players that are undervalued by the market.
Why I recommend it:
Moneyball offers an intriguing look into the contemporary use of statistics by Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane, and it is widely attributed for popularizing sports analytics. As an avid basketball fan myself, this has always been an area of interest as similarly flawed notions of assessment deemed as untouchable wisdom exist in the sport, even today, adopted by both casual fans and so-called experts. A film based on the book (starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill) is also available, though with less detailed coverage of the statistical aspect.
Claude Baumann, Founder and CEO, Finews AG
«Diary of an Invasion» by Andrey Kurkov
What the book is about:
In just over 50 texts, Ukrainian writer Andrey Kurkov describes daily life immediately preceding the Russian invasion and all the way up to the summer of 2022. He discusses tradition, habits, and experiences that show just how intertwined both cultures are. The highly personal diary entries have already appeared in numerous major news publications around the world and show how even in Ukraine many were utterly unprepared for the threat of an invasion until the very last minute - exactly because there is so much in common between the two countries. He also shows how there is no simple black and white in the real world.
Why I recommend it:
Until recently, I thought of Kurkov as an excellent Russian writer. I had not known that he was born in St. Petersburg as a Ukrainian. For a long time, that also meant little to me. But, now since the invasion last February, it is clear that nationality in that part of the world has become an affirmation of faith. Right before our eyes, the book shows how pointless and backward this inhuman conflict is and how an isolated political clique can use specific interests as a way of escalating violence in a way that impacts millions of people every day. With that, both societies could easily co-exist, and they are likely again to do so someday.
