The age-old story of triumph over adversity is one of the most rousing Upsides there is.
We’ve seen it countless times through history, and repeatedly throughout this past year of lockdown: charitable heroism, selfless devotion, scientific endeavour. But now imagine not one year but 10 years of adversity, more than 1% of your compatriots dead, about 50% in flight.
And you still care enough to build a library.
That is Ahmad Muaddamani’s story of creating a secret refuge full of books in the town where the Syrian conflict began 10 years ago this week – Darayya. A repository of knowledge in a town full of rubble may seem unlikely. But as Muaddamani put it: “Our revolution was meant to build, not destroy.”
Time and again, books emerge as a great solace in a bewildering world. There is plenty of evidence that we’ve been reading much more in lockdown than during normal times. (What books would you recommend from your own lockdown reading? Let us know)
Now, our digital team has pulled together a delightful package on the best volumes of 2021. If you’re a digital subscriber you’ll be able to find it in the Editions app, under the icon in the top left of the screen. If not, you could try a free(!) 14-day trial to see what the fuss is all about. And then once you’ve had your fill of the Books of 2021, you can decide whether to retain your new sub or not.
Otherwise, this week we were greatly cheered by:
• The carbon-neutral games … (One-minute sprint)
• Why spring really is good for you (12 hours’ daylight)
• The new craze for growing your own mushrooms (Two-minute read)
• France’s parkour paragons turning off redundant storefront neon (90-second read but don’t try this at home)
• The funniest start to a chess match ever (90-second read, and don’t try this at home either)
• Spain’s big trial of a four-day week (32 hours, give or take)
• And Yo-Yo Ma’s unusual recital (15 minutes of Bach and Schubert)
How is that for variety?
Lucky numbers
Sudan became the 50th country to back a UN treaty against forced labour.
US solar installed capacity will quadruple this decade, according to forecasts.
Oh, and the total mass of electronic waste being chucked out by Americans is starting to decline.
What we liked
Sometimes, the best pieces are written by an outsider, a nonnative, someone who can see the most compelling things about your country with a fresh eye. Like this piece by the New York Times on the sudden popularity of a UK gardening show.
This is pretty random: the family that refuses to change their clocks for daylight saving.
What we heard
We had some great responses to our theory put forward last week that setbacks can make for more resilient young people. Particularly from young people themselves.
Ethan Scott wrote in from the Rocky Mountains in the US:
Oh yeah. I have no doubt that we will be stronger than generations who grew up in relative prosperity. We get called millennials a lot, mostly by those who don’t care about the difference, but we are different. We’ve grown up in two recessions and a pandemic, and our oldest members are only 25! I’d say the future looks bright for Gen Z. Unless y’all screw it up for us with this climate change problem.
In Edinburgh, Milli Crouch, who has written an article on the subject, concurred:
I am a 19-year-old student and really liked your article on lockdown building resilience. I would absolutely agree; even at the moment if something goes wrong, compared to the events of the last year it feels like less of a problem. I wrote an article on a topic related to this, on how lockdown has highlighted society’s fragility, but also human endurance.
When we are all let out of lockdown and back into normal-ish lives, I think we will remember the stress and discontent of these years, and think. “Hey, at least it’s not 2020!”
Where was the Upside?
In a cave deep in the Judean desert, where archaeologists unearthed ancient wisdoms (and the world’s oldest basket) such as: “These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to one another, render true and perfect justice in your gates.”
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