And the countdown begins. A few days of classes remain. Then two weeks of sheer stress await. Of course, I am talking about exam-related stress, but only partially. There are the other kinds of stress, namely, Christmas-shopping stress. Naturally, as a busy law student, you will not have time to start until after exams are done. Panic will strike when you look at the list of people you have to get presents for. Then your heart will stop for a few seconds when you realize that the funds in your bank account have dissipated. You will find it hard to swallow when you realize that, in order to check everyone off that list, you may have to eat ramen noodles all next semester. This does not end here because you will then have to figure out what would be the perfect gift for each individual. Or even worse, you decide that you will just go to the mall and see what you can find. A move which, in the world of best shopping strategies, would be deadly.
Lets face it, going to a mall at this time of the year is a war and when you go to war, you need a strategy. People become vicious, especially if you leave your shopping for the afternoon of December 24th. After roaming the empty aisles of various stores, you will finally find one sad gift basket at some store which you will finally decide to get after you have examined it for ten minutes and you have visualized in your mind your mom’s face when she opens the present and you have thought about the heartache that you will feel when she tries really hard to pretend that she loved your sad gift basket. You know, however, that it is either this basket, or the set of tea towels that you saw at the other store, so you decide to get it. You look around one last time hoping there will be something else and then bam! A frantic woman takes the sad gift basket and starts walking away with it towards the register. Your jaw drops because, although you were not holding the gift basket, your physical position conforms to accepted social norms regarding asserting possession of something! You then go up to her and politely try to explain that, well, basically, you saw it first. But she will not listen and after you get into what is really a ridiculous and pathetic argument with her, you realize that it is almost closing time, this argument is going nowhere and the store with the tea towels will close in one minute.
Tough times lie ahead. My only comfort is to know that, after all this madness is over, pure bliss follows! I get to spend the entire time in my pajamas. Indeed, the best part of the holidays for me is curling in bed and reading a good book with a cup of hot cocoa and some warm cookies (cliché, I know, but it I cannot help myself). Of course, I know that suggesting that a law student read over the holidays is almost sinful but there are books that are so amazing that are almost life changing. After all, the holidays are also that time of the year when we make resolutions. I offer the following books as an inspiration.
First, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Over time, I have developed the rule of not reading more than one book by the same author. Unless we are speaking of a genius author, I find that most writers tend to gravitate around the same stories and their one good book becomes the template for the rest, just with a few changes. However, when it comes to Hosseini, I am glad I made an exception. I read The Kite Runner back in 2007 and I absolutely loved the book. Aside from the fascinating historical backdrop describing the period of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the story is poignant. There is no way of reading this book without shedding a tear. A friend of mine then suggested that I read A Thousand Splendid Suns. I told her about my rule but she insisted that I just had to read this book. So I did. I believe that I have not read any other book as fast as I read this novel. Although the historical context of both novels is fairly similar, the stories are completely different. They are still poignant stories, but in very different ways. The book narrates the story of various Afghan women whose lives intertwine in one way or another. Their stories depict the hardships that females face and how these are further compounded by the social, economic, religious and ethnic forces that characterize Afghan society. This is the kind of book that will make you develop strong feelings of either compassion or hate for the characters. Just fantastic!
If you feel like you do not want to spend your holidays reading something too emotional and prefer a lighter read, then I recommend A Year in the Merde by Stephen Clarke. The book is hilarious. It narrates the story of an English man who moves to Paris for work for one year. A year which he spends struggling to understand Parisian society, not only because his French is rudimentary, but because he seems to find many aspects of French culture perplexing, unwelcoming, even idiotic. What is so funny about that, you ask? Well, first the book is simply witty. Second, he manages to ridicule what is generally considered to be the best, the finest, the extraordinary: French culture. Third, there is something funny about an Englishman mocking his own country.
For those who prefer non-fiction, I recommend The End of Food: How the Food Industry Is Destroying Our Food Supply-And What You Can Do About It by Thomas Pawlick. The book talks about the different farming techniques used by the industry to produce food in large quantities without regard for its quality. Disclaimer: after you read this book, you will not be able to see tomatoes the same way ever again.
Finally, for those who are thinking about making their new year’s resolution to lose weight and take care of your health, I recommend you read Wheat Belly by William Davis, MD. It is not the most well-written book. In fact, I think that Dr. Davis could have done with half of the stuff he wrote but I guess he wanted to make a point. Now, how will this help you lose weight or take better care of your health? Well, read the book and you will know. Alternatively, you can read a very interesting article appearing in last year’s eighth issue of Obiter Dicta titled “On New Year Resolutions”.