The Battle for God: A History of Fundamentalism by Karen Armstrong

 My choices are getting more and more towards books related to religion and history (mostly around wars and colonisation). Its not good because this narrows down the topics to a very limited subjects, and after a point it looks like that the new books are not adding anything to what you've already read.

About this book, this is absolutely amazing and the only thing anyone could have asked for it an updated version. This one stops at 1999 as this was published in 2000.

It largely covers the changes in the three main monotheistic religions, and tries to paint a picture of how the different sects of practitioners and preachers responded to the immediate circumstances. People were led to believe in alternate truth, and how the acts of change between orthodox model to not so successful attempts of modernisation, and then back to fundamentals.

The larger thought is that religious ideas which were conceived long back couldn't respond to the changing environment. It was not able to answer the questions which came up with the rise of science and reason. A lot of things which were taken for granted by these ideologies were challenged in the light of new scientific findings. The problem was that those ideas were more to do with faith/belief rather than the reason, and eventually they were less accommodating to the reason.

This lead to the conflict between mythos and logos. So, this came down to the point where the fundamentalists (this word has nothing to do with the militant connotations attached to it in the modern lingo) wanted to create a society which was present at the ancient times which was a difficult task. The nostalgia (which was not even a first hand experience for anyone) passed over the generations became a mythical world where everything was great, and moral, and anything which suggests otherwise is treated as something suspicious or enemy.

The other big factor was the politics, ego, misguided understanding and greed of a lot of people who had vested interests in how the things came up. It may not have been the first intention but eventually it became so big that it was out of anybody's control.

There have been many points that have been put to the argument of why this became so but there can't be any one reason that can justify it. It is more of a mix of various reasons, circumstances, and choices which led to it.

This is worth a read for the history even if it is not up to date.

Peace

Faith, Science and Understanding by John C. Polkinghorne

 Don't fall for the title. It sounds so broad but in the first ten pages you can see how narrow this whole book is.

The religion is going downhill, and it is difficult for the preachers (not the practitioners) to keep the people. Finding the new one is relatively easier by casting a wider net but the problem is with the keeping the people who are believed to be the worthy followers(?).

There is also some larger attempts to dilute the vocabulary and replace the more conventional words to something more obscure like faith. Since, religion can't stand a reasonable argument so it hides behind the idea of god (yes, small g is not a typo) which is projected as something which is not conceivable by human faculties.

There is whole new narrative which is hellbent (choice of word because of hell) to put the religion on top of science and reasoning. Their simple argument is that since science can't give all the answers, religion is the right place to be. They summarily reject the idea of rationality that science never claimed to be the last word unlike religion. Science was always open to scrutiny, challenge, proof, and advancement. While the religious texts were the soul truth for such followers. And yes, science will have to prove everything. Remember, Copernicus waited for 400 years to be accepted.

I never heard of this author, and after reading first ten pages I knew why I didn't. One thing which is very evident from the whole narrative is that the author was trying to nullify the scientific theories, and was actually taking the ammunition from the other scientific discoveries to prove that some didn't stand for long. While he completely overlooked the fact that the science was always open for these changes and challenges. Another thing is how frequently he quotes himself to the man of science. Well, it looked like all the science has put to the efforts of justifying a pointless argument. It all goes down to create new words which look scientific or rational like Theology, Natural theology, Revealed theology. And yes the whole science is well written off as vicissitude. Brilliant!

One interesting thing I saw for the first time is the Templeton Prize. It is GBP 1.1 Million which is awarded for - "Outstanding contributions in affirming life's spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works". Digest it!

Well, I'll avoid reading anything else from him.

Haunted: On Ghosts, Witches, Vampires, Zombies, and Other Monsters of the Natural and Supernatural Worlds by Leo Braudy

 This is a big title. The title is so big that this should be considered as a chapter, and should be included in content table :)

Joke apart, this is not what I actually thought it to be, and it lies with me for misunderstanding the title. I expected that this will largely based on how the ghosts, and other horror elements came into existence and survived over the time.

However, this is more about how some of the older myths around such entities ended up in the media channels which are largely film, and television.

This does briefly talk about the fear, and the nature of fear but eventually delves more into movies. So, if you're looking for a guide on how ghosts, monsters, zombies etc got into the movies then this is a right reference book.

I was not looking for the above but I still enjoyed it.

Maybe not worth reading 260 pages but can give you a lot to explore further.

Love

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

 Classic again, and no surprises. Amazing from the page one. Special effects with the old english I missed. Thou, thee, orderest and what not :) Sad part is that a lot of obscenities are given as "obscenities" so that it doesn't corrupt your eyes but to your mind. I'd be glad to have these out rather than left for the imagination.

This is the story of love in war. This a story of three days of a mission in Spain where Robert Jordan, an American (addressed as Ingles) is sent to blow a bridge with the help of an antifascist guerilla unit in the mountains of Spain.

The beauty is that story can be summarised in maybe 5 or so sentences but the narration lasts for about 450 pages. So, largely this is covering the thoughts, dreams, fears, and future plans. Yes, this is full of dialogues also.

It helps you connect with the characters closely. Nothing else is worth adding here because when you read it you will understand it.

Worth a read in the memory of those good old days when the writers were writers.

Love!

The Lost Executioner by Nic Dunlop

 This one I picked after reading the news of death of Duch in September.

I was not aware of such a trial earlier, and when this news came to public I looked for something about him or Cambodia in general, and ended up with this.

I read this, and this left the same impression of anger and despair. This book largely covers the Cambodian situation during Khmer but it is largely focused on the infamous Tuol Sleng prison. 20,000 people entered it, and nobody left alive. The mass graves were found later, and they were found when nobody was looking for them. Like they were having some sort of solitary existence of their own until an outsider disturbed them.

The details of torture and the common condition of prisoners is difficult to go through. It also tries to recreate the situations how the guards, and the people working there handled it. The worst part is how they treated the children just for the sake of saving themselves some trouble.

Duch was always of the opinion that he did wrong but he was merely following the order. This was not surprising as this is the most common line of defence in such cases. The narration always gets shifted from the crime to helplessness of the perpetrators of these crimes. The whole thing is projected as a doing of an organisation where anyone caught is innocent.

Survival is the most basic of the instincts because it is same in animal and human. This is one of the most quoted point to describe animal behaviour from migration, food chain, to be alpha, marking the territory or even monopolising the whole chain of offsprings. However, when it comes to human a lot of these are considered to be off limit. There is a whole cognition in process which defines how we behave. No doubt humans are also genetically designed to have that survival instinct but what separates us from the animals is that cognitive ability to assess the consequences of our actions.

If we're talking about the kind of execution that happened in Tuol Sleng, than you can argue that you were just the cog in the wheel. But unfortunately, you're cog of a wrong wheel and bear the same responsibility as wheel. And, by any definition Duch was not just a cog.

Peace

The Trial by Franz Kafka

 So, the first thought is that this is an incomplete work, and it is written all over it. Another point is that the sequence of the chapters also doesn't come from Kafka. Which I believe is the reason that it sounds so incoherent. All the characters doesn't seem to have developed enough including Josef.

But that doesn't diminish the brilliance of Kafka. If you look at different plots in isolation than you can see his style of surrealistic narration. Pity that he couldn't complete it because even the draft itself is so promising.

Finally, if you're looking for a story this might not be the best of his works (due to incompletion) but if you're looking forward to some of his master strokes than this is worth a read. It's not complete but is about 200 pages so not to worry!

Love

Untimely Meditations by Friedrich Nietzsche

 This is literally a textbook from his initial writings.

Honestly, I missed most of the references and quotes in the book because I was not aware of a lot of people mentioned here. I did look them up later but still will not comment about it.

However, it gives you enough food for thought, and some amazing lines which you will not see from any other writer. It may sound like Nietzsche was critical of everything but look closer and you can see that he was very open for the challenges to his thoughts. Rather than criticising he seems more like examining. And yes there are some lines which I found funny (I'm not sure with those were sarcastic also) but I'll not know.

Not much on this as I'm still digesting it. Fun fact, I wanted to read "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" first but it has been more than a decade since I'm thinking of reading that, and maybe now is the time.

Peace!

Keeping the Jewel in the Crown: The British Betrayal of India by Walter Reid

 This one talks about the last few decades of the Raj in India.

I've read on this topic, and everyone of them has given some insights on the situation, and aftermath of those times. However, this one gives a more factual records quoting some of the reports which were not quoted earlier. So this comes up with a deeper analysis of the British policy of colonialism. You can take a look and you can see that the only policy was procrastination. Just to delay any action as much as possible. And unfortunately, nobody had an idea what this delay was for.

Now when more details are out, we can look at this decay of majestic level where the delay was the only recourse to keep the colonies under British for as long as possible and for the sheer non-sensical pride of it. This also stress the point that to delay any action, the policy which was employed here was to pit the two communities against each other. The seeds sown at that time are still bearing the bitter fruits of hatred even today.

Another point was the self assurance of superiority of British culture. It was never a point of consideration, forget about the discussion, that the indigenous people have the ability to run their own country. It was portrayed that keeping the colonies was more of an act favour, and not the denial of the rights which people had the claim to. But this was the age old race supremacy idea which still has a lot of takers.

Even if you've read something on the similar lines earlier from other authors, this one is still worth the time.

Peace

The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World by Catherine Nixey

 The title may sound scandalous but the book is not. In fact, a lot of reviews which I read afterwards are more of scandalous in nature.

It was surprising to see that a lot of readers (?) mentioned this book to be written to take a ride on anti-christian narrative. Another accusation was that this mentioned only the bad things of Roman days but if you read the introduction it stated very clearly that the songs are already sung on high notes in the praise of those good things, and this book tries to find a balance between the two extremes, which it did well.

Not everything can be proved by the records, and books of which only the few survived. And it is not an understatement that zealots always tipped the balance in favour of the stronger one who was left behind to tell the story. A lot things had be read in the peripheral texts, and signs of demolition.

Faith is not a bad thing in itself but it can drive people to do the unimaginable deeds. Specially, when it is against any type of reason, argument or rationality.

Banning the common practices, and persecuting the people for what they believe in was approved by law. There was a selective bias behind what is to be kept safe, and what is to be burnt. And later what is left to be used as a proof point of good intentions which were never there. Also, a lot of things were brushed under the carpet for the saints. If in doubt take a closer look at what they  preached.

Peace

The Pianist: The Extraordinary Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939–45 by Władysław Szpilman

 This is one book where I watched the movie first, and later read the book.

I watched the movie long back but after finishing the book it felt like the movie did a justice to the book. However, reading the book was still a better experience.

While reading the story there were points where it sounds like that the writer was not talking about himself but about someone else. The narration was so plain that it doesn't really creates any passion but that simplicity is the beauty of the book.

There are many instances which could have been a strong statements of accusations but somehow this got clouded by the human grit or like he mentioned the animal instinct of survival. But that was a bit crude or should I say emotional way to take the blame. This sounds almost like a result of self pity conceived by the helpless situation of saving your loved ones.

Well, even if you've watched the movie, try this book. Worth the time.

Peace

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez

I read this. And this has been one of the good reads after the recent serious books.

By that I don't mean that this is not serious. It is pretty serious if you look at it. The whole plot can be summarily written in 5 sentences but then it's not always about the story. It has more to do with how it was told and that's where a classic differs from a contemporary book.

The book is about love, and perseverance. Young lovers who got separated at very young age but were united after 50 years. This is the time when someone might not be thinking about the lost love, forget about finding that lost lover. However, Florentino never lost his love. He was always waiting for it.

This has a lot of sex, infidelity, stupidity, and travel. Which summarily describes any normal life. The only thing which is not normal is how long love can last. A common thought among the readers about this is that this book is full of sex. Somehow, people are not able to accept the fact that the protagonist was having a lot of sex while he waited for all those fifty years. This can be due to the fact that a lot of people don't see the two things (love and sex) separately. It is a common belief that one precedes another. This can be attributed to how the idea of love and sex has been taught and understood by the larger society. What it will look like if we remove all the pieces of his going to other women. Imagine, Florentino might have chosen to be a priest which might have made a lot of people happy, and I don't think it's impossible that there might be a novel version of it where he devoted all his life to charity, and died of cholera. And all those readers who objected to the real version might actually cheer it up!

A second doubt is about the reality of love as defined here. This is very much obvious that for all practical matters the kind of love shown here is not something which we encounter everyday (or maybe in a lifetime). But a lot of time the idea of love is lost on Florentino. People ignore the love of Fermina and her husband which endured the most difficult obstacles of a real life love. The mesmerising story of longing overshadowed the real story of a married couple.

If you're a fan of GGM's other works, you may be disappointed because it doesn't have the magical realism of "hundred years of solitude" but a reader should be glad that it doesn't have it.

This is a bit long one but worth a read.

Gun Island by Amitav Ghosh

 Of course you're an amazing story teller. His stories are full of life, and grit of the characters.

However, Deen doesn't seem like the strongest of his characters with all his dual mindedness, and habit of giving up so easy. But what a character he is. And I think he looks like more realistic, and hopelessly romantic.

One thing for sure is that this is full of dramatics, by which I mean that this has so many twists and turns and of course so many co-incidents. It was on a borderline of dream sequence in lot of subplots but as always, all the things fall in place.

One thing which I couldn't connect with, unlike his other works, was the pace of the story. It did increase the pace a lot like a thriller which looks like more of a style of Dan Brown. Maybe it was for me since I was habituated to a particular pace of your other books.

Anyways, must read, and yes a lot of Italian.

Love

The Sea by John Banville

 I do accept that I picked this one when I saw the Pulitzer prize winner. I didn't know the writer earlier but after reading this I might pick some of his works.

About the book, this is a memory of a kid who is now an old man. The narration revolves mainly around three major parts of his life which are one childhood summer, marriage, and the current situation.

The whole plot is full of deaths of so many people that it becomes a bit depressing by the end. You do feel like connected with the characters, and their disappearance is not something which you can digest easily.

I'm not saying that this is not for faint hearts but it can make you feel low for a couple of days specially if you're sensitive about death.

Worth the read, and a quick one too.

Love

One True God: Historical Consequences of Monotheism by Rodney Stark

 You can't judge a book by its cover, and neither do I.

I picked this one, and thought it to be interesting which it is "partially". However, this is one of those books where the writer has quoted extensively himself. I don't really mind it but this really got on my nerves when in a lot of instances it was only "like I mentioned in my other works". I was not really looking for a compendium or a cheat sheet of your work.

As far as the rest of things this doesn't offer anything new. In fact, I was surprised how it tried to low ball some of the casualties in the history. I never fall for numbers but the extent to which it tried to normalise the things was on a border of dehumanising a lot of historical incidents.

And yes, if you look closely you can find the bias in the whole narration. There were things about other religions like Buddhism, Hindu etc which were summarily rejected in a line. So much justification of missionary work, and there was a whole dissection of strategy why it didn't work in some countries/communities. Also, I was also surprised with how frequently the words barbarians and pagans were used in such a derogatory reference.

There is no theology in it (don't fall for the title), and there is definitely no place for rationality.

Peace!

The Myth of Nations: The Medieval Origins of Europe by Patrick J. Geary

 This is such an amazing account of historical Europe. And more than that it gives you some new thoughts.

If you're interested in the facts than this has a lot of details. However, the more important thought which is rightly emphasised is that the history of countries is not a fixed idea. It's evolving and keep changing. Anybody who puts it in just one perspective is most probably trying to gain something by its improper projection.

A larger thought is that the people who are trying to write the historical account for a country or culture etc have a grave responsibility of staying neutral and recording only the facts or hypothesis which can be proved independently. However, the sorry state is that a larger chunk of such exercises were completed based on half truths and rest on imagination. This was a dangerous mix because this gave the people a fake sense of belonging or being biased against others who were or could be left out of it.

This thought corruption in the records lead to so many conflicts that there was a whole army of such writers who were/are hellbent to provide people with the wrong/imagined detail. And once this was out, it was difficult to disprove it. Not because this was right but because this was repeated and realigned so many times that it become a truth in itself which was a dangerous situation.

Unfortunately, it's not easy to judge between real and imaginary accounts, and eventually it lands on the consciousness of the people to decide. It is not an easier task but can be done with some proper training of faculties. The key is that you look at everything with an open mind and filter out the undesirable elements.

Definitely a great read, and yes a quick one.

Peace

The New Religious Intolerance: Overcoming the Politics of Fear in an Anxious Age by Martha C. Nussbaum

 Someone once said that the good books are the one which teaches you something new. But the better ones are which give you a feeling that you already knew it but this book gave the words to it.

Well, this is that kind of book. I definitely got stuck with a bit of legal history where some older cases were mentioned but apart from that it more or less echoes the thoughts.

Let's agree to the point that a narrow vision doesn't get you the right picture. All we need is empathy, and we'll understand everything from than onwards.

Just because we don't know the rituals, and traditions of the other culture is not a good enough reason to oppose it. In fact not knowing it should be treated as an opportunity to know something new.

People should have to follow or observe what they want to, and everything else should be treated as law and order problem if it poses one (which is unlikely the case).

Peace!

The Captain's Daughter and A History of Pugachov by Alexander Pushkin

 I read Pushkin, and I thought why didn't I read any of his work till now.

This was a two in one with a lot of author's note. And for the first time I realised how much work goes into a good book before it comes in our hands.

Of course the first one (The Captain's Daughter) is a poet's work. You can see the poetry and imagination that goes into the whole narrative. This is such a happy go lucky story that it leaves you with a smile. You don't believe in all the coincident that happened but one after the other you keep on wishing more to come for a nice closure, and yes it doesn't disappoint you.

The second one (A History of Pugachov) is more of a historical account. It is super prose heavy, and goes into all the details which are available in the archives, and records. I never saw such a detailed story of a historical account, and it gives so much information about a military expedition (or more than one).

Peace

1984 by George Orwell

 There is a reason why some works outlast others. One of them may be that they survived but the major reason is that they hit a chord. This one hits you all over.

I always wanted to read the Animal Farm first but this was never off the list. So, when I saw this one on the aisle, the immediate thought was "Yeah, why not!".

I read it fast as it was too absorbing, and somewhere it echoed the thoughts.

There is no Big Brother or is there. We may never know but the process of changing the past keeps on going. You may not be a part of it but that doesn't mean you're not affected by it.

These day when we see a lot of noise around fake news, changed names, unscrupulous officials/politicians you can easily hear yourself saying what Winston said. And the bigger problem is that the only thing you can do is to survive it. You can't fight the fight but you can survive the fighting. And one day when the truth is out there in full force, nobody will be able to alter or cover it.

They can never enter your head, you just have to give a closer look to keep your sanity, and stay strong in what you believe.

Alas, it never end there and you prepare yourself for the next wave. This is a cycle we're part of. It may change it's flavour but it can't change it's nature.

Peace

Half a Life by V.S. Naipaul

 Why did I read this

I was not sure if I should put a ? or ! (resentment) at the end of the sentence above.

I'm never looking for an adventure in a book, and in fact nothing happening is more of a sign of deeper thoughts. Unfortunately, that's not the case here. I think this is the reason I'm not going to pick up anything from Naipaul anymore.

I'll not go into details but I suggest this is not worth the time (even if it is a short one).

The Story of the Jews: Finding the Words, 1000 BCE – 1492 CE by Simon Schama

 I don't really have to write about what's in the book. The title says it all, and may be I'll pick up the second volume of it too.

This was a bit difficult to read initially because I was not able to understand a lot of words which I didn't see earlier, and the ideas were a bit crude but after half of it I was much better with the overall thought. Plus there are some really good instances which make you smile but when you look closer you realise the gravity of those light moments.

But the overarching thought is that all the calamities are man made irrespective of what they are made of. The whole idea of doing something, and getting away with it is so alarming that it puts you into perpetual fear of what can go wrong. The sad part is that you're not even instrumental for it going wrong.

All the atrocities against fellow humans are not justified irrespective of the reason but there had always been the voices which try to bring a counter point which is on the line of two wrongs making one right (I read on earlier and regretted it). It's always unpleasant to hear all the theories which try to justify any hatred against others but or at least dilute the arguments against it.

The other thought was that end of the day all these can be of power or money everything else is just a cover up for the real reason. So next time you hear of any such thing, keep in mind that it doesn't have anything to do with ideology, religion, cast, creed or colour.

My optimism - we're in the best of the world, and it is only going to be better than this.

Peace

Dune by Frank Herbert

 Ok I read it. I know I read like everyone else who has seen the recent trailer of the movie based on this book.

I prefer books over the movie (Harry Potter was an exception) so even when I'm not a fan of sci-fi, I read this one. This is definitely one of the few that I've read and I marvelled at the gigantic plot and was not surprised that this book independently is just a beginning.

This one has everything that a reader can ask for drama, emotion, action, conspiracy and above all greed! This was meant to be a movie even if the previous one didn't do very well. One thing which also surprised my was the amount of philosophy in the book which is not generally expected in a sci-fi. I think this was the main reason that a lot of people felt connected with the whole narration.

However, I love the book but I'm not going to read the rest of the series (I'm definitely not afraid of picking up 5 more books of about 600 pages each, wink). It's not that it is not interesting but I realised that I'm not into sci-fi. And when I say that I'm not really writing it off. I actually think that sci-fi writers are the biggest dreamers because they can put the things on paper which no body else has even thought of.

I might not be watching the movie also because I can't wait for the sequel to come (Of course they can't finish the whole story in one).

Love

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

Oh I read this. The one which I always dreamed of reading, and now I'm thinking why didn't I do it all this time.

Well a masterpiece in it's own capacity with a cyclical nature. I said cyclical because while reading it there were some sub-plots which felt like you just read a similar one before but no, it was a different one.

Reading it felt like reading a lot of stories which are put together coherently. Most of the plots were so independent that if they are published separately, it can stand as a separate piece of itself. One caution is don't get entangled with memorising the names of the characters, they are all same so remember the narration and the character and forget about the name :)

Macondo is not just a town which started form nothing, and ended up in nothing. It is more like everything living or otherwise which starts from and end in this cycle of creation and destruction. Even the stories of these cycles are not eternal irrespective of being a happy or tragic one, and they will eventually be erased from the Earth and any consciousness.

So while you're living your story make it a good one because you're going to live it, and one fine or not so fine day it will end, and vanish.

Love

Such a Long Journey by Rohinton Mistry

I picked this up from the library while my casual browsing. The reason I remembered it because of the controversy when it was pulled out of a college syllabus.

Of course curiosity got the better of me even when I was not interested in reading it for the propaganda.

Well this was a quick one (don't let 300 odd pages deter you). It has all that a normal Indian life has to offer. drama, emotion, comedy, tragedy and a lot of hope (even some black magic remedies if you're interested). And of course a lot of Parsi life and rituals in Mumbai. This also was a really thought out novel when a lot of sub plots ended up joining in the larger narration.

I could have avoided a lot of metaphors but then I'm on the other side of writing. 

But if you miss this one you're not going to miss much :) 

Love

Age of Anger : A History of the Present by Pankaj Mishra

 A lot of my choices these days are influenced by what is available in the library.

So here is the one which was I saw last week and I picked it up on a whim. Well, this was not the best pick but I don't feel bad about taking it.

The reason why it was not the best because there were a lot of references in the book which are directed from philosophers to revolutionaries to thinkers to political/social commentators. I heard the names of most of them but unfortunately didn't know their larger writings so in the back of my head I was telling myself not to get biased because this might be a one off quote :)

But I did like the overall perspective of the book, and it did give me a lot of references which I would be glad to pick in my future readings.

One thing about the rise of individualism is that it was always there. Those hungry, dissatisfied, hothead revolutionaries and politicians were always a part of the history. The modern technology has just equipped the current generation to move their thoughts and actions faster than their predecessors but that is visible in every field so why this one is expected to remain the same.

Worth a read if not for a new perspective but for a different one.

Peace

Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India by Shashi Tharoor

 I was not looking for it but when I saw it in the library I said "why not?"

As the author mentioned that this came out in the continuation of his speech in Oxford, I could just smile at the irony of it, don't worry if you don't see it.

And like the title suggests it puts a lot of thoughts around the data and other sources from those 200 years and beyond. I will say that anybody who is looking at the positive sides of Raj or bent on showing that this was after all for the welfare of the colonised should look at this book. It summarily gives you all the details about what was wrong with British colonisation.

The worst part is not that this happened but that this was justified later or suppressed from public memory.

Repatriation is not the answer but keeping it alive in memory of people from both side is more important. If we forget it or remember a diluted/altered version of it then that will be the gravest of the injustice.

Peace

Kashmir - Behind The Vale by M J Akbar

 After my last read this was something I wanted to read.

This is a real good account of Kashmir from its history to what it is today. It covers a lot of topics and a larger portion is dedicated to the narrative around what caused its current state.

I'll not go into details but I can see that it has almost the similar causes that has catastrophic results historically irrespective of the event/country/civilisation. These are ego, greed, apathy, indolence and doubt.

I wonder how it would have been if any one of these factors were avoided. A ego won, greed removed, apathy understood, indolence acted upon, and doubts cast aside. Well that would have lead to a completely different book and what an amazing book it would have been to read.

But we can't turn back time and undo things and should look forward to the future.

Peace!

Our Moon Has Blood Clots: The Exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits by Rahul Pandita

 This a memoir of growing up in Kashmir as a Kashmiri Pandit.

It all goes like a narration which doesn't sound very coherent on a timeline but once you put the book down you realise that the sequence automatically falls in place inside your brain. You've the building blocks thrown at you but you don't need a blueprint to know which one goes where, it always falls into it's place.

It is a bit difficult to put yourself in those shoes when you don't have anything similar of your own. It's easy to connect with a narration which talks about moving out of your place for your job, business, dreams or what not but when you're rooted out of your home and take up a tag of a refugee than it's a different kind of movement. It's not what you wanted to do or destined to do but this was something which was forced upon you.

There can be million opinions why or how this happened and who was responsible for it but in a retrospective this doesn't mean anything. You realise that what is done can't be undone. You can't just put the clock in reverse to wish it away.

However, this gives us the opportunity to contemplate on what we can do or how we can react to it. And if possible what everybody can learn from it.

Peace

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson

This one came on my radar recently, and I thought of picking it up.

This was a really good read as it gives a commentary from the author's point who happens to a journalist which I'm mentioning to make a point about her amazing writing skills.

The whole book is full of so many small anecdotes/incidents which are personal or historical but gives us a big picture of how the whole discrimination works. There are a lot of incidents which are from US before or after the civil war but those are true for any discriminating society.

One thing which I kind of disagree is that in today's world the discrimination is still there but the rightfully your's can be delayed but can't be denied which is true for all.

We've made progress and from here on it's going to be way forward only as the new normal settles down.

Another thought which came as an after thought was that the imbalance of power is always going to stay in one form or another. Discrimination is something which we can't just wish away and only the conscience with discipline can deliver the larger goals in the future.

Peace!

Saigon: An Epic Novel of Vietnam by Anthony Grey

 To start with, this is hell of a book and rightly called an epic novel. Pun intended.

This one is huge with 900+ pages and took a lot of time (or maybe I'm getting slower). The plot covers around 50 years of Vietnam unrest (war/struggle) with a lot of family, friend, and love involved.

I'll not go into the plot but some how I believe that to make it an epic the same plot got repeated with multiple characters. It was even so common that I actually started waiting for the moment when each of the characters will die. And there is barely anybody left by the end of it!

Of course it has that charm from the colonial era but I would have loved to miss a lot of niceties.

But I'm just an ordinary reader, and this was not written only for me. I completed it (which is an accomplishment itself) but I'm sure this had a lot of thoughts and moments that I truly appreciated.

The size of the book is a bit intimidating but given the coverage of half a century, and if you're interested to learn about how it was in Vietnam, it is worth a read.

Love

Sex, Drugs, Einstein, & Elves: Sushi, Psychedelics, Parallel Universes, and the Quest for Transcendence by Clifford A. Pickover

No prizes to guess that I picked this one up just because of the title.

Don't go with the title. It doesn't really have much to offer apart from the great things the author has done or written. Well it's not bad but I know which writer I'm not going to pickover again :)

The only good thing with this book is that it reminded me of my long due Marcel Proust's "In Search of Lost Time" but I'm still unsure if I should start it.

Not worth the time.

The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang

I picked up this book after reading about the tragic life of the author.

I never heard about this particular war atrocity but than we never know everything, and I'm glad that Iris put a sincere effort to bring out the story.

Of course, this is not a story that anyone would like to remember but forgetting it will be a bigger crime. This book is a record of what the people of Nanjing went through during the Sino-Japanese war. The crimes are unspeakable and there were some convictions too. There were a lot of stronger ones who got away with their wrong doing.

When I finished it my first reaction was that all the wars are dirty, and their real reasons dirtier. But this can't be the reason for not knowing the history of these wars. In fact, these are more of a reason to know this so that we remember it in future even if we all have a failing memory.

Peace

No Turning Back by Rania Abouzeid

A serious one after so much soft reading.

This is about wartime Syria but unlike a commentary it talks more through the real people who have been in different situations since this all started.

War is bad and the worst thing about it is that it puts the humanity out of all the equations, and everything sounds like a number.

I'll not try to put the details here but I believe one thing that nobody comes unscarred out of it irrespective of being a part of it or not.

May those scars heal, and only peace remain.

Peace

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

I picked this up for a light read, and as expected it was.

The author is best known of his plays so reading this one gives you the feel of a play. There is a smaller set up, and all the characters keep moving in and out of the same place as the story moves ahead.

This is also similar to those dream like romantic Japanese movies, and in a lot of places it feels like repetitive.

However, the best thing is that it keeps you engaged, and curious to know what happens next. And yes it does leave a lot of things unanswered which I think is a good thing.

Quick and fancy read if you're into romantic things.

Love

A Burning by Megha Majumdar

I picked up this one because this was recommended by Amitav Ghosh not that I'm blaming him for his recommendation. You always hear it from somebody and pick up the book. If it lives up to your expectations or not depends on the dynamic between the writer and the reader because somebody who is recommending had been a reader once but a different reader.

This is a debut novel and you can see it in the first ten pages.

It felt like the whole plot is taken from the recent headlines, and was put together to get this. If you follow the news you can see the connection with most of the characters.

Megha has a long way to go and it is definitely not the best debut novel but I'll be looking forward to more.

Peace

The Opium War: Drugs, Dreams and the Making of China by Julia Lovel

I was looking for something on Opium war and remembered this was mentioned somewhere.

Well, since I was curious I finished it fast. And as expected this was not a really scholarly sketch of what happened during those years. However, it suffices to give an overview of the situation.

I'm not quite convinced with the rational of Chinese inaction but the point of business reasons of selling opium and less effective Chinese measures in the latest warfare was driven very well.

Like any historical war this had more to do with business rather than nationalism, patriotism or the all time favourite liberate them. In fact it was clearly an attack on the sovereignty of a country to maintain it's business and geopolitical interests.

Of course in a detailed account which include internal conflicts, territorial issues or even the communication gaps/military mismanagement we may come up with more reasons on why China lost it but eventually the reason why it started in the first place will always remain same - greed of business and the blind support to this greed.

The whole scenario did build the atmosphere of mistrust, and we never know how long will it take to get over it.

This is not best of the books but you can definitely build some initial thoughts around this, and definitely beware of the pitfalls before believing anything.

Peace

The Synagogue of Satan by Andrew Carrington Hitchcock

There are some books which give you a feeling that you shouldn't have picked it. But this book gave it away in like first ten lines.

I should have never picked it up but then we all fall for those curious titles.

If this ever gets mentioned anywhere just don't fall for it. Not worth a thought.

Peace

The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell

I don't even remember where I got the reference for this book, and how long it was lying there.

Finally, I picked it up and finished but not so fast.

This is about how the mythologies are created, and specially how the heroes are created in it. It tells that on a larger level the journey of hero in any culture can be broadly divided into three stages Separation, Transformation, and Return.

The examples in the book are really covering the whole world and they do make you think that all the heroes in the mythic lores have similar journey. Even if these myths look different from outside, a closer look will bring all the similarities right into your face. These stories created the heroes as saviour or gods or even created a whole new religion or cult. But all this boils down to a same pattern.

The whole narrative is not really judging any story or hero but throws light on the overall narratives. It doesn't verify or reject any of them but look at them from a holistic point of view to understand what they want to tell us.

Worth reading!

Peace

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

This one is a novella or short novel but I'll like to call it a long story. I don't remember where I got the reference for this one but this was on shelf for quite some time.

This was real quick, and I was wondering why I didn't pick it up earlier.

This is one of those stories that go a long way with you after it is over. I read it fast, and honestly I can still see the two main characters George and Lennie in my head.

It's a story of constant struggle in life, loneliness, dreams (seen, broken, and killed). We all have a dream of owning that life of contentment and peace, but like Crooks said this world is full of such dreamers but no one ever finds such a place.

We'll be fortunate if we get a chance to live our dreams even for a brief time but the worst thing that can happen is the death of those dreams. And unfortunately death of those dreams is something that we all can relate to.

Peace

Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction by Philip E. Tetlock, Dan Gardner

This is also the one which was on shelf from quite some time. And glad that I finished it.

As the title suggests this is about how anybody can predict the future based on the knowledge of current events, and a little bit of digging. This gives the confidence that you don't have to be a maths genius or global policy expert or a head of so called think-tanks to predict about some future events.

The best thing about this book is that it gives you a framework, and gives a lot of examples how the actual participants benefited or found a solution.

I'm not really a fan of Tom Friedman but I did read two of his books which are around future predictions. He has an excellent writing style but I will agree to the point that a lot of things can go either way.

For a lot of people prediction is a full time job, and it can damage the reputation if their predictions turn out to be incorrect. The point is that this is not an absolute science, and even if there are signs in the favour of an event it can still not happen due to a lot of complexities being involved.

So you make them, and own them even if they turn out to be incorrect. Use them as an opportunity to fine tune your understanding.

Prostitutes and Polygamists: A Look at Love, Old Testament Style by David T. Lamb

No prizes for guessing that I picked this up only for the title.

This was a fun read, and positively honest about the stories in Old Testament around prostitutes and polygamists.

It puts emphasis on the point that due to the timeline differences we can't real justify the pros and cons of a controversial laws of the olden time. But it is always beneficial that we know them and try to treat them reasonably. Rejecting them without any thought is as bad as accepting them. Also, the golden rule is "do not imagine", if it is not there it's better to leave it as is rather than putting a lot of imagination.

Really good part of the book is that it shows the controversial stories around a lot of the prime characters from the Old Testament like David, Solomon etc as is, and doesn't really try to euphemize or sweep them under the carpet.

Definitely a worth read, and surprisingly quick!

The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

I don't know why I picked this up but let's just say I read this book.

No thoughts!

The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology by Ray Kurzweil

A lot of the books end up being classified under the category Science-Tech, or Nonfiction or futurism (which is a relatively new in the market).

 I didn't care much about such classification but this particular book is not an easy read. It needs relatively much open mindedness, and critic. All the beliefs that have been the way of life or very close to your heart are challenged here in the most rational way possible.

The problem with such a topic is that not all the readers have the level of awareness required to understand some complicated topics covered here (in the very plain language with minimum to no jargon). A lot of people who don't have it may end up rejecting everything as a work of fiction.

So if you have an open mind to explore new ideas, and hypothesis plus some patience for fat books than this one is for you.

You don't need to be a super techie or even a tech enthusiast to follow a lot of content but be prepared to be challenged. This may end up changing your way of looking at future.

Peace

Simply Tolstoy by Donna Tussing Orwin

This was one of the occasions when I felt like cheating. I wanted to read Tolstoy's biography, and this one seemed like a quick one. And yes this was super quick.

It was so quick that Anna Karenina, and War and Peace got just ten odd pages. And I immediately regretted picking this up.

So if you're not a student in trouble who is looking for some quick content to write that stupid exams of your's on your favourite writer (which happened to be Tolstoy) than don't read this book.

This is going to spoil you to get over with things faster which actually need more time.

Looking forward to an actual biography or autobiography.

Love

Quichotte by Salman Rushdie

Not a fan of Rushdie but I do enjoy his writings, and yes I've read all the good ones (and some are still on list).

This was on the list for sometime, and was not a quick read.

It's full of Rushdie's signature style magical-realism, and a modern take on Cervantes' Don Quixote (one of may all time favourite).

I'll not get too much into the plot because more than the storyline it's the whole book itself which needs to be read.

Well it will not disappoint you but 400 pages may exhaust you :)

Love

Jesus or Muhammad? by Steven Masood

My reading has improved these days.

So this is what you picked when the title sounds scandalous. I thought this to be on of those propaganda books that try to prove their points against the others.

I'll say this in not really propaganda but yes this is heavily biased. The narrative is stretched a lot for driving the same point, and after finishing it I realised that I could have just read the epilogue to save the effort without missing out anything the author wants to drive.

You can read this with an open mind as it has a lot of good comparison, and points covered.

However, I'd recommend Reza Aslan (Zealot and No God but God) for the better understanding of things. I read them long back but looks still a good read on similar topics.

Peace

Why I am a Hindu by Shashi Tharoor

I always liked him speaking, and tweeting because of the style but I never read any of his books.

So I picked up this one not because this has a catchy title but I guess this was the one which was available.

I can say that I really liked the way whole narrative flows specially in the initial part which explains Hindu. This puts forward a lot of rational points, and calls out the absurdities in the same breath.

The later part condemns the current status of Hinduism, and sounds like a political commentary on government in power.

Religion is a very personal choice and state should not have any say into it. But then there is a thin line where politics get into the religion and vice versa. To cross it or not is a very important question and there is no right answer to that. But if you have to choose, choose one which is more human.

Peace

P.S. - Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan, and Mahabharat are not the right references if you're looking for answers.

Koh-I-Noor: The History of the World's Most Infamous Diamond by William Dalrymple, Anita Anand

The first memory that I had was that of a condom and a basmati brand Koh-i-noor. And for quite some time I believed that, that was what it meant.

Over a period of time I realised that these products were named after the biggest diamond the world has ever seen. Which got busted later when I came to know that there are at least 80 more diamonds which are known to world, and bigger, brighter, better than Kohinoor.

So what makes this diamond such a legend? The most common reason is that the myth which were told around it by the owners of this diamond.

As in case of all the historical things the history of Kohioor is also not very clear, and it does comes in bits and pieces from different sources reliable or otherwise.

This book tries to put all the myths in a sequence which make the book legible but doesn't really guarantee a lot of points where we can't separate facts from fiction.

One thing which this book points out is that Kohinoor was the reason of a lot bloodshed, and it changed many hands before it ended up in London. The value of this stone was also calculated differently by different owners.

But one thing we can be sure of is that most of the people who had it in their possession were not really poor. They owned enormous amount of wealth. So when there are incidents of its theft or fight for its ownership it was not because of the value of it but the status attached to it. They didn't want it because this was valuable but this give them the satisfaction of owning something which other people can never aspire for. It fulfils the ego of ownership, and nothing else.

Worth a read if you're into history otherwise the larger part of Kohinoor's journey can be filled into a well written article.

When We Were Vikings by Andrew David MacDonald

After so much heavy lifting recently I just wanted to tone down the things so I picked this one up.

I didn't read the reviews but was interested in the name "Viking". Of course I was not expecting Norse mythology but this did meet my expectations.

The story is a 21 year old girl Zelda (Zee) who was born on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Spectrum (this is a new word I learned).

Since, she has this cognitive issues she is supposed to be having problems in growing up, and living independently without any support.

The whole plot revolves around how a believer of Viking heroes ended up rising to heroism in her own sense.

It's a feel good read, and if you're feeling low or think that life is not treating you well, this will give you some reason to cheer up!

Love!

The Evolution of Desire by David M Buss

So this is one book which came as a suggestion when I was reading "Sex at Dawn".

This is one of those things (why I don't call it a book???) which are supposedly came out of a lot of research which I disagree.

But here it is and what I feel after finishing this book is that this is written backwards. You might have heard of reverse engineering. This one is written with in the same way.

The conclusions are reached first, and than the arguments were cherry picked to prove them right.

The most common things (there is not much beyond that) are these:

V-shaped torso (this is a super personal choice)
Mating markets (like a fish market)
My lab (sounds like go to some shady place, mix three chemicals in a test tube and I made my results. I didn't really get them)
200 college going students said (I'm not a statistician but really your whole argument is based on what the supercharged young people think about sex)

My points are V-shaped torso has more to do with our evolution to walk on 2 legs. There is no mating market, this is how you demean the whole desire of a person which is really beyond getting laid, and make babies. You can't really compare it with our dietary habits for sure.

The last thing that I would like to say is that this book was not worth the read but if you want to understand what the whole narrative mean than you can read just the last chapter, and save efforts of reading rest of it.

And yes, this is super repetitive.

Khrushchev by Edward Crankshaw

I don't know why I started with this one but I think this might have been mentioned somewhere, and got stuck in my head.

Anyways I finished it, and the first thought is that this is a bit biased. This doesn't mean that I'm in favour of Khurshchev but this put the other world leaders in a brighter light which was a bit far from the truth.

As the name suggests, anybody who follow a global politics, and trend will know that this is about Nikita Sergei Khrushchev. This is not really a biography, and more like a commentary of his career. The rise and fall of Khurshchev, and the conditions of Soviet Empire in the first half of 20th century.

The narrative moves around the Khurshchev's rise from a child of peasant to become a close aide of Stalin, and eventually surpass him in taking up the highest power in contemporary Russia.

He took up various roles, and successful or not he did take the advantage of the situation to get whatever he could to advance himself. Given the situation in Russia at that point of time where Stalin was changing the whole Russia. and everybody who was part of the apparatus was trying to grab as much as they can, he was not very different from his peer.

There are a lot of instances where he is portrayed as a mastermind who was plotting unimaginable things but I think that he was more like a person who stood up when he saw the opportunity, and took his chances, and came out successful. Given the history was bloody, marked with many purges but immensely significant, he could have been simply written him off but he made his place as a statesman who ushered his country in a new age which he himself could not witness.

Superior: The Return of Race Science by Angela Saini

Science is believed to be the best field given it's strong basis in logic, and proof of subjects.

It is the fundamental block of everything that we understand, and it puts the rationality in all the discussions.

However, as it evolved it grew into multiple branches and each of these branches started defining their own rational. This was largely due to the inexplicability of few aspects which were more qualitative in nature, and can't be measured in exact numbers/logic.

There was nothing wrong in it as the whole phenomenon was still developing but this give way for a lot of people pushing their own ideas to be approved as science.

The problem started when some of these people started propagating their hidden agenda in the name of science. That's how race science came into the picture. Something which started as to identify the differences between different cultures and nationalities ended up being the science of proving which one is better than other.

This was more like an anthropology or biology but the largest of the voices came up to prove their own justification or claim to genetically or otherwise inherited greatness.

The scientific community which was true to it's founding principles opposed any such deviation but there were a lot of powerful people involved to prove the things otherwise.

I believe that calling such differences in the name of science had more to do in terms of building that myth, and creating the acceptability of such ideas. This has nothing to do with logic, and reason. Somehow people ended up believing that if their ideas get some credibility as scientifically accepted truth than they can put some rationality in their stupidity.

Time and again they were proved wrong but they keep coming under different names. I don't see this stopping in the future given the line between the real and fake/made-up getting blurred day by day, and it will depend on the rationality of the people who choose to be or not be driven by these.

Beloved by Toni Morrison

This is one I picked after I heard about death of Toni Morrison last year.

I was planning to read this and "Tar Baby" next but it took too long to finish this one.

The primary reason for the delay was that this one was a bit difficult to read. Not that the plot is difficult to follow or the language is cryptic. This is a story of African American slave, and her hardships in life after she got her freedom.

This is a real tragic one, and leaves you with the thought of what slavery did to those "Sixty Million and more" people. It was over but it left the scars that even time can't heal. You can be anybody but you can't leave your past behind you. It stays with you, and reminds you what you have been through. This makes you who you're today.

Specially, the bad things in life are difficult to forget. The best thing is to learn how to live with them.

Sethe could never did it but by the end you wish that Denver will turn out to be better than her about the things you can or can not forget.

A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth

So here is one of the longest novels I've been through. It took like 44 hours which I guess is slow given there are 1300+ pages, and 600K words.

Unfortunately or otherwise the whole narrative doesn't go very well which may be due to the length of the book. There is one main plot of Lata's marriage, and there are a lot of sub, and sub-sub plots too. Some of them complement, and gel well while other looks more like random musings.

But definitely there could have been some editing, and this could have cut down by at least 200 pages if not more.

I wouldn’t really recommend it. But I'd just point out that I picked up in peer pressure. There were a lot of people in my circle were talking about it (some of them have just read the summary) but I went to go ahead with it, and yes, I did regret.

Finally, this will be a mini series on TV and I think that would do more justice to it.

It has drama, emotion, comedy, tragedy, poetry and what not (it got some sex too). It would have better been a TV series or a movie rather than a book.

Peace