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

In an Antique Land by Amitav Ghosh

So this took a bit longer than I expected to finish, and not because the length of the book but due to me committing less time to reading.

I completed the book but there seems to be no ending to it. The book revolves around two larger disjointed narratives one from the personal experience of the hero, and the other one where our hero is doing research for his doctoral thesis.

The narrative keep moving between the two plots, and there are times when the reader can get lost what he was reading (happened to me couple of times actually when I didn't realise that this was a different plot).

The book is full of warmth, and nostalgia. There are some really funny instances of our hero trying to answer the questions from the locals. And this actually highlights the point that we all have our natural curiosity, and prejudices when we heard of the things we're not acquainted with.

Well it was a good read but a lot of the people may not enjoy this style of writing.

If you're an Amitav fan, than just go for it.

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

This one I opted to read because I was looking for something from a Nobel prize winner, and this came around at the right time. However, this one is quite old.

This is one of the amazing read I had. The narrative was so soft, and this remains beautifully poised between a love story and a life story.

The plot revolves around a butler from England Stevens who dedicated all his life to served his master with honor. The whole narrative flows around his life, and the housekeeper Miss Kenton.

There were clear incidences where we can see that Miss Kenton admires or even romanticize her time with Stevens, of course with some tension around it. However, Stevens was so much serious about his duties that he forgot to take note of things around him. His whole life was to keep his duties, and dignity.

Later in his life he starts on a journey post getting a letter from Miss Kenton. When he slowed down a bit in life, and looked back, he realized that he had a chance to be happy, and be with somebody whom he loved/liked but couldn't realize.

He ends up with a thought that taking a pause is actually not that bad, and it gives you an opportunity to look, enjoy, and appreciate things in your life which make it worth one.

Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley's Bill Campbell by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, Alan Eagle

I picked up this book after listening to some real good reviews from the people in my work group.

This is a quick read, and can be labelled as leadership, management etc book from the very first page.

The whole narration revolves around Bill Campbell who was a mentor/coach to almost all the large organizations in Silicon Valley.

Well the whole book is filled with superlatives for Bill, and I couldn't find a single thing which is not so good about him. In a larger perspective this sounds like a eulogy to Bill, and unfortunately doesn't throw much light on Bill's leadership style. The book is mostly filled with all the possible big names of Silicon Valley. It sometimes amazes how he was able to reach out to so many people with equal zeal but than you realize that's why a book was written about him. People came forward to talk about him, and how he influence their lives.

The one thing which comes out really strong is that empathy is the strongest leadership skill. But than this is the single strongest trait to have irrespective which line of work you're in.

For a long time it was believed that only a care giver or NGO worker or humanitarian need empathy but now this has become one of the key ingredient to be successful in anything you do.

A quick read but if you're not much into leadership books, better skip it.

Gods and Robots: Myths, Machines, and Ancient Dreams of Technology by Adrienne Mayor

Another book picked out of curiosity.

Artificial Intelligence is a buzzword, and the whole world is talking about it. Science has made a huge success in cracking it, and if we look around we can see a lot of devices are building intelligence on it's own. We even hear that machines are going to take over the world much before than expected. There are different school of thoughts who are arguing about it but that is not the focus here.

The book is full of ancient myths from Greek, Roman, Indian, and Chinese literature. The oldest reference is the Greek myth of Talos created by Hephaestus, the Greek god of invention. Surprisingly, Pandora was also a female robot. The broader uses of such inventions were slave, security, spectacle, sex, and punishment.

The movies related to artificial life, and robots are also extensively quotes. Not a bad thing but could have avoided the overkill.

In a lot of cases the mythic inventions were compared to the latest inventions. There were even some cases where a detailed design is available was replicated by the modern scientists.

Artificial intelligence, and robots has fascinated the human imagination since long. In different era it has been designed to serve different purposes but the main object was the spectacle, and saving the human efforts. Which still holds good with more sophistication added to it. The scientific researches have made a lot of things possible which was just a myth in early days. We heard the stories of fascinating inventions but don't really have a proof if it really existed which is why the lines between science, and myth gets blurred. It is quite possible that the ancient workman might have imagined the possibilities of things like airplane, and might have even came up with some working models but it was definitely not a success otherwise some remains might have been available.

Well, if you're interested in myths, and would like to have a modern retelling than this is where you can start!

Less by Andrew Sean Greer

I picked this one up when I saw a coverage of it getting the Pulitzer Prize, and it was just there when I was looking to start a new one.

So, the first impression is not so great. I've not read much stories with a gay man as the main character, and this is definitely the first one where the man is getting about to turn fifty.

This is a story of Arthur Less an ageing writer who recently split with his long time boyfriend, who is getting married, and to avoid the invitation Less starts on a journey around the globe. This is a story of journey to unlikely places, and reflections of all your life.

You may escape the events (the whole journey is actually an escape to avoid the wedding of his boyfriend) but you can't escape the thoughts. The idea is to grow over them, and move on.

Not the best one but it's a prize winning for sure.

Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari

I picked this book just because the previous one was a really good one.

I enjoyed reading "Sapiens" a lot, and I was expecting something similar.

However, the book focuses mostly on what lies ahead of us. The fundamental theme of the book is about how the recent developments in life sciences, and technology are going to change the humanity in the near future.

The book has good efforts but I recently finished "Thank You for Being Late" which is also on similar lines, and I felt that "Homo Deus" fall behind.

It has a lot of historical facts, and figures, and you can actually check the mistakes on their website.

You can pick the book, and maybe build your own thoughts. If not, you're not missing much.

The Rise and Fall of Nations by Ruchir Sharma

I've never been interested in economy works but I always look for numbers, and how it can be interpreted to define a real time situation.

Hence, I picked this book. It was a pleasant switch between this, and the previous book which I was reading in parallel. And I must say this has expanded my horizon of understanding how the things lead to a particular result. We can see a lot of things happening around us, and the innovation is keep on adding the pace to our lives which leads to a lot of changes.

One thing which always gets my attention is how factual the book is. There are no crystal ball readings but some profound conclusions from the trends. Not all trends end in same way but they definitely gave us a fair idea of the direction the needle is moving to.

The book broadly gives the 10 rules of  identifying the political, social, economic changes which can predict how the country is going to perform in next five years. It is clearly said that anything beyond five years will be more like a guess work. The forecasts or trends should not be for really long duration. We can work on policies or the basic tenets of the policy but it is better to avoid a long term prediction.

Time is one of those factors which we can't really measure in terms of how much is good enough. But a short term prediction based on historical trends can give us really close results.

The book is filled with a lot of data but not in a overwhelming way. If you're not a data person you can focus on the outcomes, and predictions. In fact, with the help of data you can actually put your thoughts around it, and connect with your own experience/facts from other sources.

Thank you for Being Late by Thomas Friedman

Thomas Friedman was not a new name to me. I've already read The World is Flat so I knew the kind of writing I should expect.

One thing which I was not aware, and which I realized after finishing the book was that there was so many updates from the latest tech world. These updates might have sounded a fairy tale to many readers but I could relate to a lot of these things.

Anyways, the book is more around how rapidly we've increased our knowledge in science which actually transformed to real world. These innovations have immensely affected our daily lives. The changes have been so fast that the human beings are not able to adjust to such speed. This has given rise to inequality in many ways within the society, and country.

These innovations have also hurt the natural resources which we're exploiting on a similar exponential trend. In the recent years the attitude towards such issues has changed as there are more and more researches happening which are trying to help us maintain the equilibrium with mother nature. The consequences of imbalance will be fatal.

Thomas has suggested a framework around how we can maintain the balance with nature, and also how we can create an all inclusive society which works toward the goal of common welfare, and connects the people to build a long lasting bonds which ultimately brings the harmony in the society.

Given the larger topics are covered the book is a bit fat but worth the read.

Peace

Casanova: The World of a Seductive Genius by Laurence Bergreen

Finished two books which I was reading in parallel (one hard copy, and one ebook, this one).

Picked up this book as I wanted some true accounts on the fabled Giacomo Casanova who is said to be greatest lover of all time. So much so that Casanova has moved from a Noun to an Adjective.

The book is based upon the accounts written by Casanova himself (12 volumes in total). So this one is like a quick story but not so quick, about 500+ pages fat.

The chapters are loosely based on different girls Casanova was able to seduce. The original list seems to 100+ but there are 20 chapters in this book.

I read the book, and there were a lot many moments when I felt like not going ahead but finally finished it. The Italian adventurer, as he is called, was established as a poet, writer, gambler, seducer, and what not. The narrative is so set in tone that it kind of started taking the enjoyment in describing all the events in the life of a seducer. All the chapters start with a new woman, and the book moves to the next with a new one. And do mind that there are lot many women coming, and going in between.

I couldn't keep a track of age of all but can safely say that these narratives are enough to establish him as a pedophile, and not really the lover as known in common folklore. A man who always keep a trick up his sleeves, the out right liar, petty cheat, and what not.

And to quote him in his own words, "I have never been able to understand how a father could tenderly love his charming daughter without having slept with her at least once,”.

Venice is portrayed in the most debauched state as full of libertine, gambling, and whoring. I've not read much about European history but on the basis of this one book I can say that Casanova was either super exaggerating his life, or he was actually a serial rapist (pedophile). More like a parasite who lived on sucking life from others monetary or otherwise.

In many instances (girls we say) he has projected himself as the most charming of the man whom no girl can say no. But you read a bit close, and you realize that this was not charm, this was money, lie, deceit, and poverty at it's best.

Don't be fooled by what you hear about Casanova in the pop culture. Casanova, is not a compliment, it's a disgraced title. Watch out when the next time you hear it from somebody or for somebody..

Peace.

And Quiet Flows the Don by Mikhail Sholokhov

Another heavy read from Russian literature about war, and life.

The book is really long so not for the faint hearted or the readers looking for a quick satisfaction. This really needs a lot of attention, and involvement while reading.

As always with the Russian writers the book is very detailed, and covers a very long span of time just prior to World War 1. Surprisingly, the book doesn't have a hero figure, and mostly runs among Melekhov family, war, love, and more war.

Grigori can be considered as the main character but there are many other characters which move in, and out of narrative as the plot moves to sub plots, and further.

The basic theme of the novel is war. Looking at it from the people on whom it has been thrust upon. The people who were busy living their simple/complicated lives were pushed into a senseless war. Eventually, people question the relevancy of it, and how it is going to change their life.

The another plot is of love between, husband and wife or man and a woman. This question the definition of love but gives no answer. A married man/woman having multiple partners in a war torn country for all the different reasons is a situation which can't be right or wrong. This situation stays there, and the life just flies by all the people involved.

We make a lot of choices but our choices depend on our circumstances. We choose family, love, work or war, and each of the choices come with it's own burden. It doesn't matter how well thought or prepared your selections are, the end is not in your hand. You can just choose it, and hope it to work out somehow.

This is the whole struggle.

Happy reading.

Love.

Sita: Warrior of Mithila by Amish Tripathi

I'm sorry I'm putting it here but I did read it quickly.

No words but if you've not read it, don't bother. Not worth the time.

Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan by William Dalrymple

It's a bit difficult to believe that it has been such a long time since I wrote last. The other things are catching up so fast that I'm left with very less time for reading. And since I was not reading I couldn't write. I was juggling between a couple of books but was not able to dedicate time for reading, and finish the books.
So here is one book which was kept in the cupboard for so long that I was surprised to see it there, and couldn't remember when I ordered that. I started with it, and pushed myself to finish it. It was a lengthy read, and having the books in my hand really helped (not the digital one).
The book is about the rise, and fall of Shah Shuja and the subsequent effects of the same on Afghanistan.
I'll not go into narrative but I realized that everybody who got a chance to be brutal took it to extreme. There were a lot of moments when all the insanity could have been stopped, and people could have just let the things go but that was not the case hence this book.
The one single thought that comes out strong is that nobody wins in a war. It's just an illusion that somebody is a winner or looser. Actually, there are only looser, some people just got away with it in the name of winner.

Chekhov in My Life By Lydia Avilov

This was a quick read.

This is a journal (or may be a memoir) of Lydia Avilov and her sad love affair with Chekhov. She was herself a short story writer, and as per her wishes this was published posthumously.

She has broadly described her eight meetings with Chekhov, and her dilemma of choosing between her love, and her duties.

Chekhov was a famous man of her time, and he was known to have affairs with a lot of women (about 33 as per theguardian). So if you look at it this may not really look like a new thing but it is one of the recorded documents (or memoir) from one of those women. A women who was in dilemma, and her relationship with Chekhov never materialized because Chekhov was never really committed.

The lines from Chekhov in the book seems to coming out fluent, and well rehearsed. It is quite possible that if another woman with an affair with Chekhov might have ended up writing the same lines.

It's a quick read not to judge Chekhov but to listen to Lydia, and what she went through because of the hope she had in love.

Love

The Nineteen by Alexander Fadeyev

My readings have become more infrequent and it's becoming a bit difficult to catch with the books I started some 2 months back. Didn't really pick up anything recently.

Given that this was a relatively smaller book (about 180 Pages) this was supposed to be a quick read but took almost 2 months.

Anyways, this is definitely a great read for anybody who is or is not interested in Russian literature.

The book revolves around the difficulties, and circumstances of gorilla revolutionary.

It is difficult to be a leader but it is more difficult to take decisions which may not be of liking for everybody who get affected by these decisions. The bigger problem is that a lot of times it is not humanly possible to gauge the affect of your decisions in advance. Once you're in soup than only you know how hot it is.

But this has life been all about. You make decisions, hope it to turn out well, and if it doesn't you've to make another choice.

War is not good but a lot of times even if you don't choose war, others choose it for you. And you're left with the option either to stay low, and perish or face it irrespective of where it leads to.

Peace

A Bend in the River by V. S. Naipaul

This was a quick read, and honestly I was not aware that it was included in the 100 best novels by The Guardian.
It was a quick read, and given the current time period it is fairly old. The things have changed in Africa but this doesn't mean that this has lost the relevance. That is the whole idea behind a good story, it's always great to read them.
The plot revolves around Salim, who has recently shifted to Africa and his one point program is to survive till he makes enough money.
I'll not delve too much into the story but the plot is not everything here, it is the narrative which gets more attention.
Go for it if you're fine with an open ended story.

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

Again a Russian novel from a master. And as expected it did took a lot of time. I just couldn't run through it.

So this is a satire which is political, personal, ungodly and what not. It was such a great fun but a pain because it was so long (worth the effort).

Plot revolves around Satan, ordinary people (master and Margarita) in extraordinary circumstances, God, Messenger, and Pontius Pilate.

Of course there are 2 plots which are century apart but the connect is so great that you never feel the time leap while reading. It all looks so natural that there is no question of getting lost in the narrative.

It's definitely a great read, and also a platter for thoughts.