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!