Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh

A novel which was pending from a long time. The only reason why I was not very keen on writing here is that the novel is the first in the series of a trilogy (Ibis trilogy).

But lets talk about Sea of Poppies only.

This is the first novel by Ghosh that I've read.

The novel is definitely a must read and waiting on starting for River of Smoke.

The story line is based on the slave and opium trading in times of East India Company. The narrative is quite full (by which I mean its quite exhaustive and there is no scope of feeling as if something was amiss). It is a story of different people from all walks of life whom the destiny brings together on a ship name Ibis (yes, its a name of a ship) headed towards Mareech (Mauritius). This group consist of a widow (and her escape from Sati), a royalty (who was the owner of a large Zemindary), an orphan gril (who is more Indian but not Indian), a second shipmate (searching for his own identity) and others.

These people who come close because of the circumstances gives a glimpse of human behavior of human endeavor and the whole narrative looks more like a narrative.

Not giving much details of the whole plot as it will ruin your interest in the novel later and if you know it than a large part may seem boring which is actually the writer's effort in developing the characters.

This book is totally dedicated to the development of the characters and the description is so wide that you really feel like connected with the characters and that is definitely a big plus.

Will start with the next book soon. And this is something I don't like about series of novels that you have to wait for the next series.

Hope unpublished book in the series is worth waiting for.

The Bernini Bust by Iain Pears

I am not a great fan of art thrillers but this book caught my eye when I was in the market for old books. The book was published in 1992 and this is not quite old for me to put my hands on. In fact, most of the books that I’ve read were old and if it is one of the latest titles mostly it is borrowed J

The whole narrative revolves around a Bernin bust, a murder and the will of a millionaire. The whole story telling is a lot witty and it humors you in its own peculiar way. The book is small so it didn’t take much time to finish.

As it is a thriller I’m not giving much details of the plot here but if you get a chance read it (it will take some 1-2 hrs) to get to the end. Loved the style of author crisp and fast paced with all the spices of a thriller.

The Chouans by Honoré de Balzac

This is one of the novels that I read just for the description given on the back side of the book about the author Balzac. And I was not really disappointed after finishing it (it took me more than a month).

Balzac is a famous French novelist (I came to know it later) and this novel is considered as his first successful novel. I’ve not read the other titles by him but I can say he is a good writer.

The narrative is quite descriptive (which I think is a kind of style of writing for all the classics). The scenes are described in such a detail that with a little bit of imagination you can actually put the whole scene together and that is a beauty of the writing.

The plot is simple as a love story of lady (Marie de Verneuil) who is trying to find love and respect and a leader ( Marquis de Montauran) with revolutionary idea to change how the things working in the country (the scene is set in 1799 during the post-war uprising of France). The whole story has a lot of twist and turns involving love, betrayal, misunderstanding and an army. The story ends on a sad note but it shows that the doubt is a poison for any relationship. If you don’t believe than there is no escape and future for such relationships.

I loved the overall flavor of the book but I’m sure that most of the readers who don’t have a taste for long narrations and classics may not like it or will tag it as bore.

A good book indeed. Looking forward to read some more from Balzac.

The Sucker’s Kiss by Alan Parker

The writer of this book, Alan Parker, is a film maker and this was his first book. I must say that reading the book seems like reading the script of a  picture as there is lot of visual scenes are there which are described quite well frame by frame.

The story line is simple, there is a pickpocket Tommy, his adventure and a love story weaved around almost all US at the earlier part of 20^th century when the Prohibition was in place and the economy was taking a nosedive.

The book is quite racy in narrative and full of twists and turns as we can expect from a movie. But the main part which was written quite skillfully was the current situation of the country, common outlook towards the economy where the author gives the signs of development can be measured by how much a pickpocket is getting out of a common laborer.

There are some comic moments as well specially Tommy’s encounter with the Blind Sisters and their rendezvous. On the serious note his relationship with his sisters and search for his younger sister were quite a touching moments.

It actually comes out that even when he is unburdening a lot of people (habitually or professionally) he ends up being a good guy but may be that was not enough to have everything he wanted in life.

Life never comes to us the way we want it to. In fact most of the time it will come out from the long forgotten cupboards in the backyard and take you by surprise to the unknown lanes.

Book is a light read and definitely can be taken up.

Jaya : Mahabharat by Devdutt Pattanaik

Another book of myths and history based on the Hindu scripture Mahabharat.

This book is an interesting illustrative retelling of the stories Mahabharat. It strats from the beginning of the yagna by Janmejay and how he was told the story of his ancestors who made the similar mistakes and end up badly.

Devdutt has given a good account of the whole Mahabharat with some additional commentary which I assume is his own view.

The narrative is as lucid as it can be in a translation and the illustrations are very good. The writer has tried to include as many aspects or variations available around the world which is quite interesting. But in the end it lost being a simple précis translation of the epic while covering a large number of stories.

A person who has watched the tele-series Mahabharata can connect to all the narrated stories and it was given in the appendices as well as one of the sources. But it doesn’t belittle the efforts put by the author in finishing the book.

One common thought which reverberates through whole narrative is that whatever we do or say comes back to us and as long as we’re attached with it we’ll keep going through the whole cycle of life and death. Only the complete surrender to God can set us free from it.

If you’ve not heard the stories of Mahabharat and don’t have enough time to read the original text this is quite a good book to start with. But I’ll request all not to harbor any opinion by reading this book only otherwise you will end up with uncooked knowledge which will do more harm. Keep all your options open before coming to any conclusion because it is these prejudices which are the root causes of the all problems.

India: The Siege Within by M J Akbar

After a long time got a book written by a journalist on India's conditions before and after the Freedom.

The book was first published in 1984 and even after repeat prints Akbar refused to make any changes. There are few things that have changed a lot but there is still a lot to know the roots.

I really felt happy and sad together after finishing the book.

Happy that the book was full of information and cleared a lot of myths that I was having in my mind but never had an argument to back that up. Nehru being not so great leader was one of them.

I was sad because I realized that there are so many small things which are negligible in life but because of the personal belief and interest resulted in a disaster which could have  been avoided for sure and India would have been here at least 20 years back where it is currently today.

The narrative is fluent and the points are backed by references rather than being based on assumptions. Akbar’s non-biased tone was a big plus for the book as he was able to put the things together without being biased towards any prejudice whatsoever.

The book is a collection of facts and commentary on the socio-political conditions of India before and after the Freedom.

It talks about three events of Indian history Creation of Pakistan, Separation attempts for Punjab and Kashmir.

I’m not giving details here but one thing that I realized was that there is no really any reason to fight on the basis of Cast, Religion, Community, Nativity et al. It all ends in a disaster some way or the other and the people with the wrong intentions and belief will only benefitted from it and everybody else will remain with the memories that haunt for the lifetime.

There is no opinion like mob opinion. People are simple minded and it is very easy to fish in a turbulent water but the question that arises is why to fish at all. Let the people be what they are (simple) and the things will fall in place. Having the wrong belief and spreading the hatred against the non-believers is a crime and the worst part is that the wrong people never get punished for that. Its only the common people who end up paying extraordinary price.

Let there be knowledge and peace.

Book is a must read.

Typee by Herman Melville

Recently I was becoming an adventure books enthusiast as this was the second book after Solomon’s Mines by Haggard.

Typee is about the writer’s experience with a cannibal tribe in Nukuheva (South Pacific). It is an autobiography with loads of imagination.

He started on a ship and after getting bored (and tormented by captain) left the ship and ran into the jungle with a fellow shipmate named Toby.

The two men walked into the jungle and making way to reach the French army ships. After a run for 3 days they reach to a small colony of Typee (the tribals) hungry and wounded. Both of them stay with them for few months and after that Toby leaves to get the help for him as the wounds were not healing. The writer gives a long narrative on the lifestyle and rituals of the tribe which is neither entertaining nor informative.

The book is ~200 pages and after finishing it there was no real feeling of reading a book. In fact, it was so boring that I wished to leave it and don’t read it further but I did continue and it was very disappointing. Most of the narrative sounds like the imagination of the writer with all the fantasies included in it; from the Royal treatment to hanging out with the tribal beauties at will and even ending with having a sort of Platonic relation with the most beautiful girl on the island (Freud was quite right).

The most irrelevant part and badly written was the narrative around his escape. It was one of the most bizarre escapes that I've ever read or seen in movie.

Apart from it there was never a conclusive reason on why the Typee wanted him stay and serve like a royal (the writer talks about giving some information about the French army which doesn't make sense at all) rather than roasting him and Toby on the very first day of arrival.

Herman Melville’s most famous book is Moby-Dick and I’m so reluctant to read it after reading this one first. Let’s see if some day I can put my hands on this book as well.

My point: go out, pick a hobby or do anything but don’t read. It’s not worth the time.

King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard

It has been a long time since I posted last. I was reading few things here and there and I stumbled over this book. I don't remember when was the first time that I heard this title but stayed in my mind and the moment I saw this book I wanted to read it badly and finished it in one sitting (its not a big one for sure).

So first thing first, the book is not anywhere nearby what I thought it to be.

Its a twisted tale of a tomb raider who is in search of Solomon's mine. The book has some great moments but somehow you will always guess where all the narrative is leading to.

One thing that I'll like to specially mention here is that Haggard has some misconceptions about the people. He claims to have seen all the world and indirectly boasts about it but he is not really good at it. He even sometimes sound biased towards the white. He praise the beauty of a black woman (Foulata) and tries to create a romance between her and a white guy Captain Good but it conclude on her death.

I was definitely looking for more but it was not having that much to offer but definitely it was the starting of new genre called adventure and Haggard can take the credit to be early starter in it.

Looking forward to have some more from Allan Quatermain. But this one is not really a good read.

Teacher Man by Frank McCourt

This is the second book by McCourt  I read, Angela's Ashes was the first one which I didn't mentioned in my blog. Will write about that as well. But Teacher's Man first.
It was a mix of autobiography where McCourt talked about his experiences as a teacher in US in a funny and witty style. It is full of anecdotes how he dealt with all his students and authorities. 

This book reminded me of one of my teachers who was a lot like him and we should admit that after family its a teacher who plays an important role in our life, affect our personality and shapes us in something what we are. The worst part is that not all the teachers are good but it takes only one to make you good.

Don't know what to write about the book as it is something which you can get only if you read it. Only thing I want to say is that I wish I could have been the part of his class.

PS: This thought fall on my conscious lot many times if the movies based on a book or literary piece can really do the justice what an author wants to convey. And I think that even if the cinema is a terrific medium there are few things that it can't propose the way it was meant to be.

The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie

This is the third book by Rushdie which I’ve read after Midnight’s Children and The Satanic Verses. The book is good and narrative has such a catch that if you don’t read it in one sitting it will keep calling you to finish it till the last page. The story is a mix of reality and imagination as some anecdotes of Akbar are quite famous. It makes the book sometimes unbelievable but who wants a history record and it is definitely an entertaining one. There is some lack of seriousness as we’ve seen in some older books by Salman but it still has his signature style. Sex and illicit relations are abundantly used in the whole story (I must say that it has been a major part of all his books I’ve read till now).

The story about a lost princess Qara Köz who is characterized as an enchantress of high capabilities. She is claimed to be enchanting the whole city. The dwellers worship her like a messiah first and later they realize that she was not what they thought her to be. First they think of her like Christ and later an evil enchantress. She went through a lot of trying conditions and always had to make a choice which was a difficult one. It is really difficult to judge her on the basis of her judgments as she was not having much choice. She made the most favorable ones and for this we can’t call her selfish also. Even being an enchantress comes with its own curse.

The book is definitely a good read and entertaining one. But it can’t be taken for the historical characters and events it depicts, Rushdie has definitely taken a writers freedom for using the anecdotes to fit it into a proper narrative and it really fits well which is generally coined as Magic Realism.

What is Weakness?

What is the definition of weakness? It was a long time I was thinking about it but was never sure about how to write about it that it is expressed in words the way I think about it. First of all what exactly is the definition of weakness? It is a symptom which shows that you’re not ready or afraid of doing something or taking a decision. There can be a broader definition but in that case we will have to define the definition of weak first. Most commonly a physical inability to something is called weakness. But does it fits to all the cases. Here I’ll like to add that a weakness can be anything but a physical condition, I’ll say that it is more like a mental state. A state where a person tries to avoid doing something on some pretext. There are always people who fall out of this definition of mine but this is the most common thing we can find if we look closer.

So why this condition rises? The most common one is the reluctance to any type of change. It is the fear of change that makes a person think that the outcome of any action is totally unnecessary or a disaster. Fear is the root cause of weakness. A fearless person will never be weak. Fearlessness comes as a whole package. I may sound like preaching but a fearlessness is the cure of weakness. If the given conditions a person who chooses to swim against the current is the one who will never be weak.

Finally all I can say is that there are some basic tenets we are born with. We can overcome them but these are few of the things that make us human. Weakness is not a bad word but accepting that you can never stand in the trying conditions is more like a problem.

Napoleon by Emil Ludwig

After a long time I read some biographical book (after Mein Kempf). It was good read and a lot of information was there. The best part is the author Emil Ludwig doesn't seem to be giving any judgement. He writes with a flow and without any prejudice. He leaves this task for the reader and I think that was a neat writing.

I was not much aware of Napoleon other than some famous quotes and historical milestone he set. But the book gave more than that and I realized that the things are pretty much clear and the author has done some good research for all the figures and illustrations, he quotes the real letters and other literary material to back up the facts.

Now what I came to know that Napoleon was not exactly a tyrant. He was ambitious and a bit pessimist but he changed everything in his favour by his skills and a bit of luck. He was in wars for most of his life and never had a good family life for his own. He tried his best to favour his relatives and helped them by all means but never got anything in return, not even the loyalty.

Napoleon was a man of character but he also had an other side. He didn't want the old monarchy system but he wanted to be the king with appointing his son as a future king.

He was a man of discreet tendencies but he always wanted to please everybody. This thing finally cost him his life when he was taken as a prisoner of England.

There was an incident where he left his army in Russia and it was said that there were dead soldiers and horses all over the way and he ran out of it to save himself. I'm not sure about it because he doesn't sound like having such character, but I am not the historian.

There was one more incident when he ordered to kill the twenty thousand soldiers of enemy because he was not able to feed all of them and couldn't take them as prisoners. I'm not sure what others would have decided but this was not the right thing to do.

One thing that I want to add here is that England was not right in his conduct when they took Napoleon as a prisoner. I agree that he was always against England but he deserved a fair trial and it would have helped England to keep its hands clean.

For the book I'll say that it is a good read for sure for the readers who want to read history in an unbiased and entertaining manner with the correct details and later on you can have your own views on Napoleon (great or not).

Symposium by Socrates Recorded by Plato Translated by B. Jowett

Symposium is famous because Socrates's name is attached to it and there are different translations available for the same from different authors. I read read the one by B. Jowett and it is the first time I read a book which directly gives the words of Socrates otherwise he was just a name in some brainy quotations.

Anyways the book is about Love. There is a drinking party (symposium actually means that only) and seven participants give their views about Love. These seven speakers whose speech was reportedly recorded by Plato are : Phaderus, Pausanias, Eryximachus, Aristophanes, Agathon, Socrates and Alcibiades.

I really don't remember what each of them said separately but overall I liked below points :

1. That love lies in the synergy and detachment. Love is like the relation between bow and arrow. Both are destined to be separated but it is still the synergy that keeps them together and same is the case of love. Or we can call it the 'Harmony of Opposites'.

2. Love is divine and it has it divine reasons of existence. It was backed by mythological examples.

3. The reason of love is not exactly the human love. It is more like an instrument for getting the highest point in life. It is defined as more like that love is Love of Wisdom rather than the any definition of love.

And the best part in Socrates' speech is that love is the son of Resource and Poverty, which was defined beautifully. Socrates says that love is actually a desire to create which leads to the immortality. In the nutshell the knowledgeable people end up with same desire of Immortality but through the knowledge and leaving behind the pupil who will keep the thought (knowledge) alive.These pupils are more like an intellectual child which carry on the legacy and make the person immortal.

Love is a very flexible word and we can mold it according to our own liking or what suits us most because each one of us is different. For most of the people who think they can talk about love or they know what is love are only quoting the passionate lines from others and it is not actually what they think because there is no thinking process behind the quoting.

Wish I could have read some more translations but it was a Great read anyways.

The Secret of the Nagas by Amish Tripathi

It is the second book in the trilogy by Amish. The book seems to complement its first book and take the story to the new height.

There is definitely a depth in plot but I felt like after reading the first book the sequel was quite predictable.

In search of bad Shiva finds out that Nagas are not really the bad people. They are actually the people who are thrown out of the perfect society to keep it working on its own rules irrespective to the injustice done to the people who were born different than others.

One more thing I'll like to add up here is that Amish has made the character of Shiva very much realistic. He sounds like a dude from the US suburbs.

Anyways the pace of the narrative is undoubtedly very good and keeps the reader on the edge even if it is easily predictable.

Wondering when somebody will pick it up to make it as a film and I personally think that that will be the death of the book.

Anyways, enjoyed it and waiting for the Vayuputra the third and the last of the series.

The Rum Diary by Hunter S Thompson

I came to know about this book after watching the movie only.

I can't speak for the movie but there are some words for sure about the novel.

The main character is Paul Kemp who comes to San Juan, an island, as a journalist. He meets a lot of different people and had varied experiences during his stay.

There is a girls Chenault who is girlfriend of his friend/colleague.

The whole novel is full of inebriated encounters of different types with the local public, police and within themselves.

I really didn't find the novel very amusing or of any specific literary importance but it really showed the feelings of the characters like lust, jealousy, rage, alcohol parties and other emotions, I will include even madness. I will say that the author is quite successful in painting all these emotions.

The novel ends with Paul planning to go some other place and a brief encounter with Chenault.

Small novel and a good read but movie is a much better visual experience.

Being Self-Centered is Bad ?

I read this book 'Snakes in Suits' which mentioned the traits of people who are psychopaths and are not suitable for the organisation. The authors say that the psychopaths are selfish and don't have a moral conscience if somebody's loss is going to help them.

It provoked me to think what is bad in making things work for you even if it goes against you ?

The organisations which really hire people like the authors to check out the psychological state of a candidate sometimes don't have a moral conscience for themselves. I wonder how many big organisations are there in the world who are following the best moral practises and never made any mistake.

One more thing was who gave authority to these authors that they can decide about others? I don't think that education only can grant it.

When you question others morality than they may give a counter argument who are we to ask such questions and who are these guys who think that they are always right or they never fell for anything ?

But these questions can never be answered rationally, no matter who is trying to.

From our point of view all of us are right and we don't care about what others think about us.

So this is going to stay like that but the most important thing is that its good to have a sense of moral responsibility for everything we're attached with (directly or indirectly). It may not sound practical but it will definitely help us to take decisions in real life.

Love

Snakes in Suits by Paul Babiak and Robert D. Hare

This book was published long back and its a well documented record of people who are called

psychopaths (its a mean word in psychiatry). The two authors have a wide experience in working with the big corporations to profile the potential candidates for the key positions.They actually tell which candidate can be harmful for the organzation.

The book has an interesting narrative and it moves like a story along with the inputs from the authors. I must say that even a subject like psychiatry is presented in a interesting manner. It captures your attention when it identifies the traits which a possible psychopath may exhibit.

The whole book is full of live examples how the psychopaths may behave. But the authors warn the readers not to judge the people around them on the basis of criteria mentiond in the book. They say that it should be done by a proper psychiatrist and his results should be based on rationality.

One thing that I understood from this book was that not all the people who are a bit deviant in behavior are not psychopaths. In fact, psychopathic traits can be seen by everybody in some or other way but when it becomes a inherent trait of that person than it may pose a threat to the organization or the people working with that person.

The only thing I want to suggest here is that people who are going to read this book or have already read this book should avoid to be a stereotype and measuring everybody on the given criteria only and calling everybody a psychopath.

The book is fun to read but may not interest the regular readers.

But it has lot many real life examples on psychopaths.

The Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi

This is the first book in the trilogy of Shiva, a Hindu god of destruction.

The plot of book is a combination of Hindu mythology and author's imagination.

This book is about the migration of Shiva from Tibetan mountains to the plain land. He lands in the city of Daksha the king of Suryavanshi. The city is prosperous and it has its own culture of law abiding citizens who live peacefully preforming their responsibilities for the proper functioning of the society.Suryavanshi worship all the Hindu gods and Ram is their god who put the base for the better society and its management.

Shiva is a great swordsman and a warrior but he has his own nightmares.

The legend says that a Savior will come to Suryavanshis who will destroy the evil, Chandravanshi, who are their enemies. Shiva falls in love with Daksha's daughter and accepts that he will lead his soldiers in war against Chandravanshis.

Shiva makes a good war plan and executes it well which results in the victory for Daksha.

After win the Shiva doesn't feel like he had won something or the reason for war was right at all.

There is one more angle of Nagas who are said to be evil and have great powers and they are believed to help the Chandravanshis in their mission against Suryavanshis.

After the war Shiva realises that their was no real reason for war and Suryavanshis are only different from Chandravanshis but not evil. This leaves a big void in his belief. He feels sorry for judging the situation as it was told rather than trying to find out the truth. It leaves Shiva in the dilemma of things being right or wrong, evil or good. And who can decide what belongs to which category.

In the last of the book the Nagas attacked Sati and Shiva in Ayodhya and the story is left from their for the next part 'The Secret of Nagas'.

The book is fast paced and kept me glued to the pages till the end of the book and ends at such a note that you are bound to read the second book. Language is simple and expressive but the author fails to express the emotions of the characters at some places specially at the scene before war when Shiva makes a speech.

Another thing is that the author used the name of a god Shiva and his story and tries hard to show that he was just a man with extraordinary human skills only. But the characterisation of Shiva is like a dude. He speaks a cool language and jokes a lot which doesn't fit to a character like that. It seems like he has tried to create a character from mythology with a flavor of current language (lingo) and Shiva sounds more like a guy-next-door rather than a Savior.

The book is a good read and makes you go for the next book in the series.

Revolution 2020 by Chetan Bhagat

Chaetan Bhagat is a famous name in Indian writers. He is famous for storytelling kind of narrative and common lingo.
I read this book and it is having all those things Chetan is famous for.
Story of three childhood friends, two boys and one girl, who grew up together and have different expectations from life.
Gopal is a guy from poor family who wants to make it big in life and is expected to be an engineer by his father. Raghav is his friend who belongs to a rich family and secures to get admission in a prestigious college. Aarti is the third main character who is also a friend of Gopal and she has some other dreams for her life.
Gopal is a failure in life because he couldn't become what his father wanted him to be and he himself considered it to be a good option but he never really believed that he can make it. His whole character is destined to be full of doubts and lack of self-respect. He always tried to be proven great but he looked at others to approve this. He wants people to be satisfied and in the whole story he is always confused with right and wrong. He is a one sided lover of Aarti but he never believed that he was the right person in the end.
Raghav is a simple character and quite clear about what he wants to be. He left a successful career to fulfill his ambitions. He wants to change the system and this is his only dream. He is very revolutionary in nature and has different thoughts on the revolution will happen. He is the boy friend of Aarti which comes to a happy ending for him after many twists and turns.
Aarti is the third main character in the book she is the love interest of Gopal. She wants to be an air hostess. She loves Raghav but she cares for Gopal. In fact in the whole book she is defined as the most confused girl in the world. She is not sure whether she loves Raghav or Gopal till the end of the story and end sounds more like that she has accepted the things as they are rather than making a choice and fight for it.
Some previous novels from Chetan was adapted to a movie and this started happening that his subsequent novels look more like a screenplay of a movie rather than having a novel like structure. Same thing happened to this novel as well and at many instances it looks like a topsy turvy bollywood movie. And I must say that the he was competing with Sidney at the scenes of intimate scenes between Gopal and Aarti. That was also a low point because it was more like adding spice rather than sensuality.

I am not a fan of Chetan and I think he is a writer by profession rather by choice. He is a famous speaker as well (with a price tag, of course) and he speaks about motivation and other practical things in life.
I'll add one more thing here that all the books by Chetan are said to be best seller (not quite sure about it) but the most important person is a reader and everyone of us has a different taste in books and we as a reader are free to read whatever we like but most important thing is to keep reading because that is the way we can know what we like.
Read it if you like his writings because it has everything what he is famous for but if you didn't read it you are not missing anything

Go Kiss the World by Subroto Bagchi

This one is an autobiography by Subroto Bagchi, an entrepreneur and co-founder of MindTree, an International IT consultancy.

This book is a blend of personal experiences and instructions from Subroto.
Its a small book (about 230 pages) and I couldn't put it down once I started reading it. 

The narrative basically goes around the personal life experience of the author but it never looks like a preaching. It is more like 'I-have-to-say-something-you-can-learn' and if you are not interested you can better put it down.

The author takes the instances from different parts of his life like a child, a grown man, an insecure entrepreneur etc and in the end leaves with a feeling that there are some other things in life more than just earning the money and the best part of life is making choices.

He quoted Buffet as more than $10,000 is enough for the maximum satisfaction that money can bring.

My favourite is 'We're free to make the choices but we should be ready to take those consequences that follow.

The narrative and the language is quiet simple and it is also a good point about the book.

I'm not writing in detail about everything given in the book because I think that this is something which people should read and understand on their own which is quite typical to all the autobiographies.