![The Perils of Being Moderately Famous [Paperback] [Dec 01, 2017] Soha Ali Khan](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1511791008l/36672019._SX98_.jpg)
0143439960
9780143439967
0143439960
3.43
2,269
Dec 17, 2017
Dec 12, 2017
it was ok
While she acknowledges her privileges by birth, one would be lucky to have what she calls her 'problems'. Atleast she's honest about things she choose
While she acknowledges her privileges by birth, one would be lucky to have what she calls her 'problems'. Atleast she's honest about things she chooses to reveal, but I can tell she's left much out.
...more
Notes are private!
0
1
Aug 21, 2024
Aug 25, 2024
Oct 30, 2024
Paperback
0385515995
9780385515993
0385515995
4.20
60,466
Feb 12, 2008
Feb 12, 2008
really liked it
Of late I am going through this phase of checking out old popular books which I never bothered to read before. Divakaruni's book on Draupadi is the la
Of late I am going through this phase of checking out old popular books which I never bothered to read before. Divakaruni's book on Draupadi is the latest in this endeavour. Mahabharata is chock-full of characters, bequeathing a willing author with an enticing opportunity to present the epic through a multitude of lenses. Divakaruni holds on to such one perspective and attempts to make the reader feel what Draupadi might've felt going through her life situations.
First of all, as is my habit with dissecting books, problems. Even before that, something else. And that is. Did you feel something off in the previous three statements? They communicate what they set out to do, but you could feel in your bones the syntax went to take a hike. This is what the author inexplicably indulges in at some points in the book. If it'd have been a one-off, I wouldn't have bothered to nitpick, but here there's an obvious pattern of other grammatical mistakes too, especially in dialogue attributions and structuring.
There's a cardinal rule in first-person narratives you don't break come hell or high water - you don't tell the reader what the character doesn't know. It's easy to hold steadfast to this rule in creative writing; you simply come up with a way to let the character be apprised or you simply ignore the slippery slope, but it becomes difficult in a retelling. You have to tell the whole story, but you can't, as your central character has no way of knowing things outside of his/her immediate circumference. To sidestep this obstacle, Divakaruni takes the easy way out. Dreams. I counted atleast four instances when distant events simply unfold in her sleep. Now I know the back cover says 'historical fiction', the writer is not making any claims of accuracy, but come on! You are supposed to be an experienced veteran of creative teaching at a high-profile American University, surely you could've come up with some interesting ideas.
The point of no return from this lazy showcasing of writing came when Divakaruni simply altered an event for the purpose of overcoming the aforementioned hurdle. For the most part she remains true to the canonical version, but near the end, when the Great War is just about to start, she chooses to give Draupadi divine eyesight (divyadrishti) through Vyas, which we know the latter only granted to Sanjay in the commonly accepted version. Maybe the author could've chosen to write that part in the past, or she could've employed something else that simultaneously remained faithful to the story. Choosing a sharp diversion from the script missed the mark entirely.
Now, the good. You already know the story, why should you care for sitting through a billion billionth retelling? The unique selling point of this book is its brilliant representation of Draupadi's emotional journey. Some argue that Karna collectively had all the five qualities Draupadi's individual Pandava husbands had. Divakaruni holds on to this belief, and holds tight. She draws from this belief throughout, making Karna a recurring theme of the story. Personally, I related a lot to the way this relationship was portrayed. Draupadi's other relationships with Krishna, Kunti and Dhrishtadhyumna are also explored.
Draupadi was not Sita, she did and said some things she probably shouldn't have. Divakaruni tries to reason why she possibly must've chosen to conduct such seemingly inappropriate behaviour. She isn't rationalising her decisions, or worse, whitewashing her faults, but offering us an alternate perspective while simultaneously strictly adhering to the canon. The ending she imparts to Draupadi is also worth a clap.
It's not easy to take a beloved and much-revered story and make it your own, but Divakaruni does a masterful job. This retelling feels fresh and sharp, giving a modern feminist take to the story, while also being faithful to the original. It isn't so much what happens as the way it's written. Visceral and gut-wrenching, it builds in power and emotion until I was good and blubbering. It gave me the feels. ...more
First of all, as is my habit with dissecting books, problems. Even before that, something else. And that is. Did you feel something off in the previous three statements? They communicate what they set out to do, but you could feel in your bones the syntax went to take a hike. This is what the author inexplicably indulges in at some points in the book. If it'd have been a one-off, I wouldn't have bothered to nitpick, but here there's an obvious pattern of other grammatical mistakes too, especially in dialogue attributions and structuring.
There's a cardinal rule in first-person narratives you don't break come hell or high water - you don't tell the reader what the character doesn't know. It's easy to hold steadfast to this rule in creative writing; you simply come up with a way to let the character be apprised or you simply ignore the slippery slope, but it becomes difficult in a retelling. You have to tell the whole story, but you can't, as your central character has no way of knowing things outside of his/her immediate circumference. To sidestep this obstacle, Divakaruni takes the easy way out. Dreams. I counted atleast four instances when distant events simply unfold in her sleep. Now I know the back cover says 'historical fiction', the writer is not making any claims of accuracy, but come on! You are supposed to be an experienced veteran of creative teaching at a high-profile American University, surely you could've come up with some interesting ideas.
The point of no return from this lazy showcasing of writing came when Divakaruni simply altered an event for the purpose of overcoming the aforementioned hurdle. For the most part she remains true to the canonical version, but near the end, when the Great War is just about to start, she chooses to give Draupadi divine eyesight (divyadrishti) through Vyas, which we know the latter only granted to Sanjay in the commonly accepted version. Maybe the author could've chosen to write that part in the past, or she could've employed something else that simultaneously remained faithful to the story. Choosing a sharp diversion from the script missed the mark entirely.
Now, the good. You already know the story, why should you care for sitting through a billion billionth retelling? The unique selling point of this book is its brilliant representation of Draupadi's emotional journey. Some argue that Karna collectively had all the five qualities Draupadi's individual Pandava husbands had. Divakaruni holds on to this belief, and holds tight. She draws from this belief throughout, making Karna a recurring theme of the story. Personally, I related a lot to the way this relationship was portrayed. Draupadi's other relationships with Krishna, Kunti and Dhrishtadhyumna are also explored.
Draupadi was not Sita, she did and said some things she probably shouldn't have. Divakaruni tries to reason why she possibly must've chosen to conduct such seemingly inappropriate behaviour. She isn't rationalising her decisions, or worse, whitewashing her faults, but offering us an alternate perspective while simultaneously strictly adhering to the canon. The ending she imparts to Draupadi is also worth a clap.
It's not easy to take a beloved and much-revered story and make it your own, but Divakaruni does a masterful job. This retelling feels fresh and sharp, giving a modern feminist take to the story, while also being faithful to the original. It isn't so much what happens as the way it's written. Visceral and gut-wrenching, it builds in power and emotion until I was good and blubbering. It gave me the feels. ...more
Notes are private!
1
Oct 19, 2024
Oct 24, 2024
Oct 24, 2024
Hardcover
1408848147
B00CS0X58E
3.93
112,229
Aug 13, 2013
Jul 04, 2013
liked it
None
Notes are private!
1
Oct 22, 2024
Oct 22, 2024
Oct 22, 2024
Kindle Edition
8125014241
9788125014249
8125014241
4.16
2,966
1967
2008
liked it
Reading this book just after Chitra Divakaruni's The Palace of Illusions, I can appreciate that book better and understand what was fiction and what w
Reading this book just after Chitra Divakaruni's The Palace of Illusions, I can appreciate that book better and understand what was fiction and what was not. Some passages/subplots in Divakaruni's book clearly stood out to me as fictional, while this book shed further light on the facts.
You think you've read the epic so many times what could you possibly learn from yet another book about Mahabharata, but you'd be wrong. Karve's text analyses some main characters' deeds from their viewpoints and attempts to grasp their reasoning. It also pays heed to the Critical Edition of the Mahabharata, patiently explains which parts can be overlooked as they might be later additions and raises some new questions which you probably never had an inkling of before, like the probable filial relationship between Vidura and Yudhisthira. I read somewhere that Mahabharata is more than 10 times in volume than The Iliad and Odyssey combined. Now I know why. It has so many layers even hardcore enthusiasts of the story are bound to get confused or overlook some critical aspect.
That said, stuff does get repetitive. It provides you novel angles to look at things, but obviously the context remains the same in each charater analysis and you tend to skim after a while. ...more
You think you've read the epic so many times what could you possibly learn from yet another book about Mahabharata, but you'd be wrong. Karve's text analyses some main characters' deeds from their viewpoints and attempts to grasp their reasoning. It also pays heed to the Critical Edition of the Mahabharata, patiently explains which parts can be overlooked as they might be later additions and raises some new questions which you probably never had an inkling of before, like the probable filial relationship between Vidura and Yudhisthira. I read somewhere that Mahabharata is more than 10 times in volume than The Iliad and Odyssey combined. Now I know why. It has so many layers even hardcore enthusiasts of the story are bound to get confused or overlook some critical aspect.
That said, stuff does get repetitive. It provides you novel angles to look at things, but obviously the context remains the same in each charater analysis and you tend to skim after a while. ...more
Notes are private!
1
Oct 23, 2024
Oct 28, 2024
Oct 20, 2024
Paperback
1608463869
9781608463862
1608463869
3.83
84,167
Apr 14, 2014
May 20, 2014
really liked it
Although the decorous title gives away the content, the eponymous essay is written in a style that is anything but. The voice is urgent and irascible.
Although the decorous title gives away the content, the eponymous essay is written in a style that is anything but. The voice is urgent and irascible. Also, there are six other essays apart from the chief title - which arguably had a significant role in birthing the term 'Mansplaining' - all exploring feminism from various angles.
This was my first full-fledged exposure to feminist literature, though I've come across the ideas often before. The text doesn't delve into much depth as it should've, it's basically Feminism 101, but still vital reading. ...more
This was my first full-fledged exposure to feminist literature, though I've come across the ideas often before. The text doesn't delve into much depth as it should've, it's basically Feminism 101, but still vital reading. ...more
Notes are private!
1
Oct 08, 2024
Oct 12, 2024
Oct 11, 2024
Paperback
0375831002
4.39
2,769,081
Sep 01, 2005
Mar 14, 2006
liked it
It gets on my last nerve when books that come preconfigured with heavyset reputation fail to mesmerize me the way they seem to enchant nearly everyone
It gets on my last nerve when books that come preconfigured with heavyset reputation fail to mesmerize me the way they seem to enchant nearly everyone. And by god this one came with a reputation! I did not expect this one to go down (literally) like that. Such a shame!
About the plot. What can I say that hasn't been said already? It's a story of love and hope in a time of death and despair. Nazi Germany, 1939, the time and setting you can unquestionably rely on for a good tearjerker.
I bet you've seen and read this stuff before. Soldiers in the middle of a war, witnessing unbearable sights or being unfortunate enough to be a victim of said sights. Some serendipitous war stories, some bittersweet subplots involving a heartbreaking tragedy and a whole lot of mush. Yes, that's the perfect word to describe such books. Mushy. They seem to go for a certain tone; you can't miss the inescapable conclusion it was deliberately written that way to tug at your delicate heartstrings. Of course all stories are written with a set purpose in mind, but there's a difference between one that connects organically with you and the one that's trying too hard.
Or maybe it's the other way round. Maybe it's not the book's fault, but mine. Maybe I've read too many war stories. Maybe my heart has gone numb and too cold to feel any vicarious pain. Maybe I've incriminated myself to a point where I've gotten used to the blood and sob stories. If that's indeed the case, then dig into it wholeheartedly.
There's certainly some good reasons why you might want to do that. It's narrated by Death personified, so you know there's going to be a ton of creative writing. Also, the narrative structure itself is quite creative. If 'creativity' in art is defined by observing patterns and then breaking them, then The Book Thief is a winner. The writer constantly keeps breaking the fourth wall and telling you what's about to come in no uncertain terms. Big events of the story are spoiled straightaway for you. Future developments are thrown casually your way before it's time. But somehow, it works. It's one of the few things that do. Lastly, not only Zusak's writing style is creative, it's pretty intense as well. The man knows how to crank up the tension with fitting use (and sometimes non-use) of words.
I hate it when it happens, when a much-loved canon book rubs me the wrong way. Much of it can be attributed to getting weighed down under a bulk of expectations, but a substantial part of it is the book itself. Or me. I don't know. It just didn't work. ...more
About the plot. What can I say that hasn't been said already? It's a story of love and hope in a time of death and despair. Nazi Germany, 1939, the time and setting you can unquestionably rely on for a good tearjerker.
I bet you've seen and read this stuff before. Soldiers in the middle of a war, witnessing unbearable sights or being unfortunate enough to be a victim of said sights. Some serendipitous war stories, some bittersweet subplots involving a heartbreaking tragedy and a whole lot of mush. Yes, that's the perfect word to describe such books. Mushy. They seem to go for a certain tone; you can't miss the inescapable conclusion it was deliberately written that way to tug at your delicate heartstrings. Of course all stories are written with a set purpose in mind, but there's a difference between one that connects organically with you and the one that's trying too hard.
Or maybe it's the other way round. Maybe it's not the book's fault, but mine. Maybe I've read too many war stories. Maybe my heart has gone numb and too cold to feel any vicarious pain. Maybe I've incriminated myself to a point where I've gotten used to the blood and sob stories. If that's indeed the case, then dig into it wholeheartedly.
There's certainly some good reasons why you might want to do that. It's narrated by Death personified, so you know there's going to be a ton of creative writing. Also, the narrative structure itself is quite creative. If 'creativity' in art is defined by observing patterns and then breaking them, then The Book Thief is a winner. The writer constantly keeps breaking the fourth wall and telling you what's about to come in no uncertain terms. Big events of the story are spoiled straightaway for you. Future developments are thrown casually your way before it's time. But somehow, it works. It's one of the few things that do. Lastly, not only Zusak's writing style is creative, it's pretty intense as well. The man knows how to crank up the tension with fitting use (and sometimes non-use) of words.
I hate it when it happens, when a much-loved canon book rubs me the wrong way. Much of it can be attributed to getting weighed down under a bulk of expectations, but a substantial part of it is the book itself. Or me. I don't know. It just didn't work. ...more
Notes are private!
1
Oct 06, 2024
Oct 11, 2024
Oct 11, 2024
Kindle Edition
0385350716
9780385350716
0385350716
4.46
11,879
May 24, 2016
May 24, 2016
it was ok
I had really high hopes from this one. Alas, it turned out to be my first dud of the year!
The only good thing I found about the book is it gives voice I had really high hopes from this one. Alas, it turned out to be my first dud of the year!
The only good thing I found about the book is it gives voice to people who've been obscured in the sands of history. To remember those who were killed by the atrocities of Germans during and before WWII and to talk about their justice, atleast legally, is a noble intention. But good intentions don't automatically translate to good books.
My major bone of contention with the book is the minutest level of detailing the author took the troubles to go to. I don't think he needed to give us street names, addresses, designations or family trees, etc. in almost every other line. After a point, it starts to feel like a directory, really. The scope of the book is rather narrow and the author doesn't have a lot to actually share except a core concept or two, to which he keeps coming back to in different words.
Read the blurb on GR and it's as good as reading the book. Nah, I am not exaggerating. I was so vexed from constant repetition that after 200 pages or so, I just started skipping pages at random and found myself reading the same things, except street numbers and character names had changed. If you want to read the book, read the blurb instead, and you're done. ...more
The only good thing I found about the book is it gives voice I had really high hopes from this one. Alas, it turned out to be my first dud of the year!
The only good thing I found about the book is it gives voice to people who've been obscured in the sands of history. To remember those who were killed by the atrocities of Germans during and before WWII and to talk about their justice, atleast legally, is a noble intention. But good intentions don't automatically translate to good books.
My major bone of contention with the book is the minutest level of detailing the author took the troubles to go to. I don't think he needed to give us street names, addresses, designations or family trees, etc. in almost every other line. After a point, it starts to feel like a directory, really. The scope of the book is rather narrow and the author doesn't have a lot to actually share except a core concept or two, to which he keeps coming back to in different words.
Read the blurb on GR and it's as good as reading the book. Nah, I am not exaggerating. I was so vexed from constant repetition that after 200 pages or so, I just started skipping pages at random and found myself reading the same things, except street numbers and character names had changed. If you want to read the book, read the blurb instead, and you're done. ...more
Notes are private!
1
Jan 16, 2025
Jan 21, 2025
Sep 27, 2024
Hardcover
1982172002
9781982172008
1982172002
4.42
34,976
Oct 04, 2022
Oct 04, 2022
it was amazing
"Apple sold over 100 million iPhone 12s, each powered with a microchip with 11.8 billion tiny transistors carved into its silicon. In other words, TSM
"Apple sold over 100 million iPhone 12s, each powered with a microchip with 11.8 billion tiny transistors carved into its silicon. In other words, TSMC's Fab fabricated well over 1 quintillion transistors in a matter of months - that is, a number with eighteen zeroes behind it. Last year, the chip industry produced more transistors than the combined quantity of all goods produced by all other companies, in all other industries, in all human history. Nothing else comes close."
When you read an introduction like this, there's no way you aren't gonna get hooked. To say this is insane would be an understatement. This is the type of stuff you would've to read for yourself to believe it. This is probably the only book I've rated full house in 2024. With the year at the verge of departure, it will remain my only 5-star rated book of the year. ...more
When you read an introduction like this, there's no way you aren't gonna get hooked. To say this is insane would be an understatement. This is the type of stuff you would've to read for yourself to believe it. This is probably the only book I've rated full house in 2024. With the year at the verge of departure, it will remain my only 5-star rated book of the year. ...more
Notes are private!
1
Dec 2024
Dec 11, 2024
Sep 18, 2024
Hardcover
0143034901
4.30
687,490
Jan 01, 2001
2005
it was amazing
Since last year, I have consciously whittled down my fiction intake. Once in a twilight when I do seal the deal on a fiction book, I do it after much
Since last year, I have consciously whittled down my fiction intake. Once in a twilight when I do seal the deal on a fiction book, I do it after much contemplation and scouting tons of reviews. Fiction is a rare occurrence for me nowadays, and I want the pick to at least be my heart's delight , if not perfect. Imagine my jubilation then when I chanced upon a near-perfect novel!
You know how people understandably become tongue-tied when asked to pick up their favourite book. They will usually give you a long list, not able to pin 'the' favourite of them all. To my surprise, many of the reviews I read categorically labeled this book as 'the favourite', hook, line and sinker. Popular opinion is my number one red flag; I usually make a run in the opposite direction as soon and fast as I can. So I went in with raised suspicions and measured expectations.
Daniel's father takes him to The Cemetery of Forgotten Books on his tenth birthday. When a library disappears, or a bookshop closes down, when a book is consigned to oblivion, those who know this place, its guardians, make sure it gets here. He has to choose any one book from the vast collection. The theory is, as long as even one person remembers the book, its spirit remains intact and the author lives in someone's memories, even after death. "We buy and sell books in shops," Daniel's father says, "but the truth is, books have no owner. Every book here has been someone's best friend." Daniel chooses The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax and his destiny is irretrievably linked with the author from that moment.
Someone called Lain Coubert is searching for Carax's books with the goal of burning each and every copy. Interestingly, Lain Coubert is the name of a fictional character in The Shadow of the Wind. He has no lips, no eyes, no nose and his facial skin is completely burnt, charred flesh, described as The Devil. The real life Lain Coubert Daniel encounters has the same features! Apparently, it seems like a character from the novel has sprung to life to wipe off his creator's name off the face of the Earth.
None of what I've told you here is a spoiler. In fact, it's just an extension of the blurb. The plot then metamorphoses into a tale of love, betrayal, revenge, and a classic good-vs-evil narrative. It has humour, romance, action and claptrap dialogues. It's a coming-of-age story, a love story, a story within a story, a mystery thriller, and at times, verging on a supernatural thriller. It has a number of shocking twists. The prose is so poetic and flowery (in a good way) you won't stop underlining sentences (sit with a marker in hand at all times). It has an army of characters, and surprisingly, all of them, each and every one of them is thoroughly developed. What's more, each of them have gone through a beating from life in some way. In other words, each of them has a 'shadow'. I think whenever the word 'shadow' was used in the text, it alluded to a symbolical reference to death in a physical, metaphorical or moral way. The translator has put much thought in strategically using the word throughout.
Not everything is top-notch though. The pace is slow and remains slow for the first half, taking its own sweet time to come to the point. In hindsight, I now recognize the
build-up was truly essential; you get an unforgettable pay-off at the end, it was worth it. But trudging through those parts might bog down one's interest. The final twist, the big reveal of them all, it's so satisfactory and unexpected! It's not like it came out of the left field, but even then, I had no inkling of an idea this was coming, until it did! I literally put aside the device and clapped when the moment came.
Also, the bit before the climax, Nuria Monfort's 50-page letter to Daniel, is to watch out for. It's so heartwrenching some readers will definitely cry.
As if this praise wasn't enough, here's more: I love books in which a setting plays the role of a character, and this book is highly atmospheric. Forget about other plusses, the florid prose, witty aphorisms, ingenious zingers, sometimes fustian but mostly brilliant idiolect of the author, the rhythmic and seamless flow of the language is enough in itself to pick this up without batting an eyelid!
The book has its faults, and a 4-star rating was soundly placed in my subconscious the entire time, but Monfort's letter made me overlook the faults. To top it off, the final twist compelled me to rate it a perfect score. It's a rare occasion when I could recommend a book unconditionally. Something I know will stay with me until the cows come home, something that makes me feel proud I read it, an excellent piece of literature. This book is one of them. It knocked the socks off my every expectation. ...more
You know how people understandably become tongue-tied when asked to pick up their favourite book. They will usually give you a long list, not able to pin 'the' favourite of them all. To my surprise, many of the reviews I read categorically labeled this book as 'the favourite', hook, line and sinker. Popular opinion is my number one red flag; I usually make a run in the opposite direction as soon and fast as I can. So I went in with raised suspicions and measured expectations.
Daniel's father takes him to The Cemetery of Forgotten Books on his tenth birthday. When a library disappears, or a bookshop closes down, when a book is consigned to oblivion, those who know this place, its guardians, make sure it gets here. He has to choose any one book from the vast collection. The theory is, as long as even one person remembers the book, its spirit remains intact and the author lives in someone's memories, even after death. "We buy and sell books in shops," Daniel's father says, "but the truth is, books have no owner. Every book here has been someone's best friend." Daniel chooses The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax and his destiny is irretrievably linked with the author from that moment.
Someone called Lain Coubert is searching for Carax's books with the goal of burning each and every copy. Interestingly, Lain Coubert is the name of a fictional character in The Shadow of the Wind. He has no lips, no eyes, no nose and his facial skin is completely burnt, charred flesh, described as The Devil. The real life Lain Coubert Daniel encounters has the same features! Apparently, it seems like a character from the novel has sprung to life to wipe off his creator's name off the face of the Earth.
None of what I've told you here is a spoiler. In fact, it's just an extension of the blurb. The plot then metamorphoses into a tale of love, betrayal, revenge, and a classic good-vs-evil narrative. It has humour, romance, action and claptrap dialogues. It's a coming-of-age story, a love story, a story within a story, a mystery thriller, and at times, verging on a supernatural thriller. It has a number of shocking twists. The prose is so poetic and flowery (in a good way) you won't stop underlining sentences (sit with a marker in hand at all times). It has an army of characters, and surprisingly, all of them, each and every one of them is thoroughly developed. What's more, each of them have gone through a beating from life in some way. In other words, each of them has a 'shadow'. I think whenever the word 'shadow' was used in the text, it alluded to a symbolical reference to death in a physical, metaphorical or moral way. The translator has put much thought in strategically using the word throughout.
Not everything is top-notch though. The pace is slow and remains slow for the first half, taking its own sweet time to come to the point. In hindsight, I now recognize the
build-up was truly essential; you get an unforgettable pay-off at the end, it was worth it. But trudging through those parts might bog down one's interest. The final twist, the big reveal of them all, it's so satisfactory and unexpected! It's not like it came out of the left field, but even then, I had no inkling of an idea this was coming, until it did! I literally put aside the device and clapped when the moment came.
Also, the bit before the climax, Nuria Monfort's 50-page letter to Daniel, is to watch out for. It's so heartwrenching some readers will definitely cry.
As if this praise wasn't enough, here's more: I love books in which a setting plays the role of a character, and this book is highly atmospheric. Forget about other plusses, the florid prose, witty aphorisms, ingenious zingers, sometimes fustian but mostly brilliant idiolect of the author, the rhythmic and seamless flow of the language is enough in itself to pick this up without batting an eyelid!
The book has its faults, and a 4-star rating was soundly placed in my subconscious the entire time, but Monfort's letter made me overlook the faults. To top it off, the final twist compelled me to rate it a perfect score. It's a rare occasion when I could recommend a book unconditionally. Something I know will stay with me until the cows come home, something that makes me feel proud I read it, an excellent piece of literature. This book is one of them. It knocked the socks off my every expectation. ...more
Notes are private!
1
Jan 18, 2025
Jan 27, 2025
Sep 18, 2024
Paperback
B0DWV1F54M
3.63
6,106
Sep 10, 2019
Jun 06, 2019
really liked it
A prolegomenous look at the text will apprise you it's a decent work of cli-fi, which it first and foremost indubitably is, but it's also so much more
A prolegomenous look at the text will apprise you it's a decent work of cli-fi, which it first and foremost indubitably is, but it's also so much more than that.
Firstly, I should inform you that all the prominent characters from The Hungry Tide, Ghosh's earlier work, make a reappearance here. Some like Kanai Dutt and Nilima Bose show up only in a scene or two, while others like Piya, the cetologist, and Tutul (now Tipu) have a fairly larger role to play. Its not a sequel per se, my guess is that the characters have been summoned here again because the plot before the halfway point is set in the mangrove forests of Sundarbans, the same setting for The Hungry Tide, so it made sense for the author to reel us back into this world through perspectives of characters we are already familiar with. The central point of both the novels is same: to alert us to the rising threat of climate change.
As for the plot, a centuries-old Bengali folkore legend puts our protagonist Dinanath Dutta (aka Dino), an antiquarian dealer of rare books and old artifacts, on a mysterious globetrotting trail to solve the riddle. Here I should say that there are just too many coincidences that conveniently drive the plot. The author is almost testing your suspension of disbelief. The fantastical elements - visitations from the dead, premonitions of the living, bizarre behaviours of animals -push the novel firmly in the territory of magical realism. At one point, the sheer number of coincidences amount to so much that the author not only acknowledges its role in the plot, but also gives us an extended monologue masking as explanation for the coincidences through the main character Dino. Okay, but that doesn't absolve you from taking the easy way out, does it?
There are also too many encounters with the wild. A phalanx of reptilian horrors like spiders and snakes are unleashed on characters. Furthermore, there are some elements in the story that don't make sense at all, atleast plot-wise - they do nothing to further the plot - but are deliberately inserted for the sole purpose of reminding us how climate change is disrupting the global order. If this is the first cli-fi book you are reading and happen to be unaware that climate fiction serves as an alternative way to wake us from our slumber about the immediacy of the threat, you'll feel stranded in the plot, thinking it's just a waste of pages, but it has a larger purpose to serve, even if it violates the basic tenets of storytelling.
Apart from climate change, immigration (and by extension, human trafficking) happens to be a recurring theme. Ghosh draws parallels between human and animal migrations, resulting from climate change, underlining the novel's emphasis on multispecies climate justice. The episode of the Blue Boat, the vessel carrying migrants from various countries which is not allowed to land on Italian shores, is inspired from a real-life incident, as are some other events in the book. Though it is technically fiction, in a sense, you could say the book shows us a mirror of our present circumstances.
A couple of poignant, deeply impactful conversations are worth looking out for. There's one between Dino and Cinta about how humans are responsible for global warming, the other between Dino and Palash being about how books, and nowadays the unceasing stream of videos and images, fuel insatiable desires and make us run after ultimately detrimental fantasies.
At times it reads like a Dan brown thriller. Our protagonist has to solve this centuries-old Bengali folklore legend and make some sense of it in today's context. It's interesting to see how the grounded, very real meaning of the obscure fantastical legend slowly emerges as Dino peels it off layer by layer with the help of allies. But don't be fooled by the adrenaline-pumping thrill of the plot. The book's primary job is not to whet your appetite for entertainment, but as I said previously, it's a clarion call for the terrors of climate change. The story just serves as a garb, or rather, masala, to help our short attention-span Bollywoodized brains eat the bitter pill. It's a pill worth swallowing. ...more
Firstly, I should inform you that all the prominent characters from The Hungry Tide, Ghosh's earlier work, make a reappearance here. Some like Kanai Dutt and Nilima Bose show up only in a scene or two, while others like Piya, the cetologist, and Tutul (now Tipu) have a fairly larger role to play. Its not a sequel per se, my guess is that the characters have been summoned here again because the plot before the halfway point is set in the mangrove forests of Sundarbans, the same setting for The Hungry Tide, so it made sense for the author to reel us back into this world through perspectives of characters we are already familiar with. The central point of both the novels is same: to alert us to the rising threat of climate change.
As for the plot, a centuries-old Bengali folkore legend puts our protagonist Dinanath Dutta (aka Dino), an antiquarian dealer of rare books and old artifacts, on a mysterious globetrotting trail to solve the riddle. Here I should say that there are just too many coincidences that conveniently drive the plot. The author is almost testing your suspension of disbelief. The fantastical elements - visitations from the dead, premonitions of the living, bizarre behaviours of animals -push the novel firmly in the territory of magical realism. At one point, the sheer number of coincidences amount to so much that the author not only acknowledges its role in the plot, but also gives us an extended monologue masking as explanation for the coincidences through the main character Dino. Okay, but that doesn't absolve you from taking the easy way out, does it?
There are also too many encounters with the wild. A phalanx of reptilian horrors like spiders and snakes are unleashed on characters. Furthermore, there are some elements in the story that don't make sense at all, atleast plot-wise - they do nothing to further the plot - but are deliberately inserted for the sole purpose of reminding us how climate change is disrupting the global order. If this is the first cli-fi book you are reading and happen to be unaware that climate fiction serves as an alternative way to wake us from our slumber about the immediacy of the threat, you'll feel stranded in the plot, thinking it's just a waste of pages, but it has a larger purpose to serve, even if it violates the basic tenets of storytelling.
Apart from climate change, immigration (and by extension, human trafficking) happens to be a recurring theme. Ghosh draws parallels between human and animal migrations, resulting from climate change, underlining the novel's emphasis on multispecies climate justice. The episode of the Blue Boat, the vessel carrying migrants from various countries which is not allowed to land on Italian shores, is inspired from a real-life incident, as are some other events in the book. Though it is technically fiction, in a sense, you could say the book shows us a mirror of our present circumstances.
A couple of poignant, deeply impactful conversations are worth looking out for. There's one between Dino and Cinta about how humans are responsible for global warming, the other between Dino and Palash being about how books, and nowadays the unceasing stream of videos and images, fuel insatiable desires and make us run after ultimately detrimental fantasies.
At times it reads like a Dan brown thriller. Our protagonist has to solve this centuries-old Bengali folklore legend and make some sense of it in today's context. It's interesting to see how the grounded, very real meaning of the obscure fantastical legend slowly emerges as Dino peels it off layer by layer with the help of allies. But don't be fooled by the adrenaline-pumping thrill of the plot. The book's primary job is not to whet your appetite for entertainment, but as I said previously, it's a clarion call for the terrors of climate change. The story just serves as a garb, or rather, masala, to help our short attention-span Bollywoodized brains eat the bitter pill. It's a pill worth swallowing. ...more
Notes are private!
1
Sep 14, 2024
Sep 16, 2024
Sep 15, 2024
ebook
059373422X
9780593734223
059373422X
4.18
28,263
Sep 10, 2024
Sep 10, 2024
liked it
It's not a bad book; certainly deserves more than a 3-star rating. And you're bound to rate it higher if this is the first Harari book you're reading.
It's not a bad book; certainly deserves more than a 3-star rating. And you're bound to rate it higher if this is the first Harari book you're reading. But compare them with his previous 3 books, and the shortcomings galore. I expected a much better book from a writer of his stature.
If Sapiens focused on the past, Homo Deus on the future, and 21 Lessons on the present, this book focuses on the near-future of humankind. Or you could also say it juxtaposes certain past events with present developments in the context of AI and tries to predict (and at times, speculate) the economic, cultural and political ramifications in the near future.
My biggest gripe with the book has been length. I acknowledge length has been perhaps my most common, long-standing bone of contention with many books, but here it is glaringly obvious. It's not that I harbour a general aversion to thick titles; I'll read a bulky tome with relative ease if the plot (or the author's message in non-fiction) justifies the page-count. But if you just repeat the same things in different words time and again, then we've got a problem.
Here, it's not just the matter of repetition, it's much worse, which, ironically, also acted as a hook for me. Now I know the last statement sounds perversely ambiguous, so let me expound. To be clear, repetition is a recurring problem of the book. But, in the course of repeating things, the author sometimes takes elaborate detours in order to emphasize his point. It was severely annoying at first, but then these digressions grew on me, and I actively began to anticipate the next divagation. For example, to stress his point how new information technologies could sometimes lead to negative consequences if handled unwisely, he launches into a discursive disquisition on witch hunts in medieval Europe, which were partly facilitated by printing presses and easy information dissemination. Or the time when he diverges into a protracted discourse on Stalin's regime. And, my favourite of all, when he unwinds the history of Jewish rabbinate and Christian theology, explaining how Bible was canonized and the long history of seemingly absurd interpretations by rabbis of supposedly sacred texts.
An evident observation is bound to dawn after a point - the author is essentially trying to hit the wall with anything and everything he can latch on to, and see what sticks. This feeling of unnecessary filling up pages is bound to creep, but atleast for me, these diversions were a blessing in disguise. Especially if you haven't read about the history of Jewish religion in detail before (or any other detour he launches into), you are bound to enjoy these sections, even if they do nothing to ultimately extend his point in a meaningful direction.
Another thing that drives me up the wall is when authors continuously foreshadow or downright explicitly tell us about the things they are about to write. Statements like 'We will learn how...' or 'We will examine how this point relates to something else I'll be writing later' are absolutely a turn-off for me. Thank you for reminding us of your unvarnished, unfathomable, unconquerable super-intelligence, now I bloody bought your book to read your arguments so can we please just get the hell on with it?
In the final tally, I'd still recommend this book despite its obtrusive drawbacks, but I'll also advise you to skim certain parts. They say examples are the first thing you should skim if your goal is to get the essence of a book, but examples were exactly what sustained me to keep reading in this particular instance. For you it could be different. I'd strongly recommend his previous books if you haven't read them, and if you have already, then go into this one with the caveats in mind. ...more
If Sapiens focused on the past, Homo Deus on the future, and 21 Lessons on the present, this book focuses on the near-future of humankind. Or you could also say it juxtaposes certain past events with present developments in the context of AI and tries to predict (and at times, speculate) the economic, cultural and political ramifications in the near future.
My biggest gripe with the book has been length. I acknowledge length has been perhaps my most common, long-standing bone of contention with many books, but here it is glaringly obvious. It's not that I harbour a general aversion to thick titles; I'll read a bulky tome with relative ease if the plot (or the author's message in non-fiction) justifies the page-count. But if you just repeat the same things in different words time and again, then we've got a problem.
Here, it's not just the matter of repetition, it's much worse, which, ironically, also acted as a hook for me. Now I know the last statement sounds perversely ambiguous, so let me expound. To be clear, repetition is a recurring problem of the book. But, in the course of repeating things, the author sometimes takes elaborate detours in order to emphasize his point. It was severely annoying at first, but then these digressions grew on me, and I actively began to anticipate the next divagation. For example, to stress his point how new information technologies could sometimes lead to negative consequences if handled unwisely, he launches into a discursive disquisition on witch hunts in medieval Europe, which were partly facilitated by printing presses and easy information dissemination. Or the time when he diverges into a protracted discourse on Stalin's regime. And, my favourite of all, when he unwinds the history of Jewish rabbinate and Christian theology, explaining how Bible was canonized and the long history of seemingly absurd interpretations by rabbis of supposedly sacred texts.
An evident observation is bound to dawn after a point - the author is essentially trying to hit the wall with anything and everything he can latch on to, and see what sticks. This feeling of unnecessary filling up pages is bound to creep, but atleast for me, these diversions were a blessing in disguise. Especially if you haven't read about the history of Jewish religion in detail before (or any other detour he launches into), you are bound to enjoy these sections, even if they do nothing to ultimately extend his point in a meaningful direction.
Another thing that drives me up the wall is when authors continuously foreshadow or downright explicitly tell us about the things they are about to write. Statements like 'We will learn how...' or 'We will examine how this point relates to something else I'll be writing later' are absolutely a turn-off for me. Thank you for reminding us of your unvarnished, unfathomable, unconquerable super-intelligence, now I bloody bought your book to read your arguments so can we please just get the hell on with it?
In the final tally, I'd still recommend this book despite its obtrusive drawbacks, but I'll also advise you to skim certain parts. They say examples are the first thing you should skim if your goal is to get the essence of a book, but examples were exactly what sustained me to keep reading in this particular instance. For you it could be different. I'd strongly recommend his previous books if you haven't read them, and if you have already, then go into this one with the caveats in mind. ...more
Notes are private!
1
Oct 2024
Oct 06, 2024
Sep 11, 2024
Hardcover
0316156116
9780316156110
0316156116
4.18
52,495
Dec 13, 2005
Dec 13, 2005
really liked it
Reading DFW for the first time can be overwhelming. His language is exquisite, his attention to detail astonishing, his declamations insightful. On th
Reading DFW for the first time can be overwhelming. His language is exquisite, his attention to detail astonishing, his declamations insightful. On the other hand, I also found his prose marked by several drawbacks - especially, and most annoyingly, his rampant footnote abuse (and the eye-straining font), having to keep a dictionary at hand at all times, and a distinctly American setting his writing employs which tends to alienate non-American readers (or was it just me?)
Despite it all, I announce this man a certified genius. Read him once, and you'll rather prefer to read him over anyone else. ...more
Despite it all, I announce this man a certified genius. Read him once, and you'll rather prefer to read him over anyone else. ...more
Notes are private!
1
Sep 02, 2024
Oct 23, 2024
Sep 02, 2024
Hardcover
0446539473
9780446539470
0446539473
3.75
2,053
2011
Dec 05, 2011
liked it
Completed Weiner's oeuvre with this one. He's not what you'd call a 'literary genius' but his flair and sense of humour provides an entertaining quali
Completed Weiner's oeuvre with this one. He's not what you'd call a 'literary genius' but his flair and sense of humour provides an entertaining quality to all of his books.
In Man Seeks God, Weiner decides to travel around the world - again - this time for, you guessed it, finding his God. I was certain from the very outset there'd be no definitive answers, but nevertheless I was excited to read the inevitable insights and partake of his comic timing. He did not disappoint.
Weiner flirts with eight faiths, or some fragments of them, as he clarifies, like Kabbalah (Judaism), Sufism (Islam) and Fransciscans (Christianity). Some faiths are well-established and need serious consideration, like Taoism and Buddhism, others are 'off-beat', if you are being kind, or a joke, to be honest, like Shamanism, Wicca and Raëlism. For the sake of experimentation, the guy hilariously shaves his legs and cross-dresses as a woman at one point, as the faith demands, and attends a not-so-secret coven where people liberate their breasts. I am not even kidding. At another, people dive into a deep trance and make up stories about netherworlds, what with unicorns and flying groundhogs. Yeah, no joke.
Eric does manage to give us lessons worth remembering though, and not in a preachy way. His funny writing style is a tight hook and never lets you go. He even manages to find a nugget of wisdom in outlandish Raëlism.
Overall, not a scholarly work, but one that you should not miss, especially not if you liked other works of the author. ...more
In Man Seeks God, Weiner decides to travel around the world - again - this time for, you guessed it, finding his God. I was certain from the very outset there'd be no definitive answers, but nevertheless I was excited to read the inevitable insights and partake of his comic timing. He did not disappoint.
Weiner flirts with eight faiths, or some fragments of them, as he clarifies, like Kabbalah (Judaism), Sufism (Islam) and Fransciscans (Christianity). Some faiths are well-established and need serious consideration, like Taoism and Buddhism, others are 'off-beat', if you are being kind, or a joke, to be honest, like Shamanism, Wicca and Raëlism. For the sake of experimentation, the guy hilariously shaves his legs and cross-dresses as a woman at one point, as the faith demands, and attends a not-so-secret coven where people liberate their breasts. I am not even kidding. At another, people dive into a deep trance and make up stories about netherworlds, what with unicorns and flying groundhogs. Yeah, no joke.
Eric does manage to give us lessons worth remembering though, and not in a preachy way. His funny writing style is a tight hook and never lets you go. He even manages to find a nugget of wisdom in outlandish Raëlism.
Overall, not a scholarly work, but one that you should not miss, especially not if you liked other works of the author. ...more
Notes are private!
1
Aug 10, 2024
Aug 18, 2024
Aug 18, 2024
Hardcover
0385493622
9780385493628
0385493622
4.30
32,441
Apr 12, 1997
Sep 08, 1998
it was amazing
At some point in the story, Mhysa knocked on my door when she saw the lights switched on. I looked up and realised it was 2 a.m. already! She urged me
At some point in the story, Mhysa knocked on my door when she saw the lights switched on. I looked up and realised it was 2 a.m. already! She urged me to go to sleep and I tried, I swear I did. For a full 24 minutes... before sitting back up to pick where I left off.
What's a good story? Or rather, what's a perfect story? One definition could be that it must contain a little bit of everything - an inciting incident, purpose, drama, action, surprising turns, escalation, one final stand against the problem, the 'all is lost' moment before the final sweet taste of victory, the ultimate pay-off.
Now what if I tell you there's a real-life story spanning centuries that fits this model. You've got to do nothing but tell it honestly. Don't try to dramatise it or overdo it, just tell the story matter-of-factly, because everything that a good story needs is inherently present in the story itself. You'll ruin it if you try to fictionalise it. Simon Singh understood the assignment. He remained faithful to the facts, and the facts are enough to steal your sleep.
The heart of the book is deceptively simple: In 1637, Pierre de Fermat scribbled in the margin of a book that he had a "truly marvelous proof" for a seemingly straightforward equation� one that no one else could crack for centuries. That casual boast became mathematics� greatest cold case, and Singh unpacks it with the pacing of a detective novel. The way he weaves together the stories of the mathematicians who tried and failed—some tragically, some absurdly—makes you feel like you’re part of the hunt. My favorite? The 19th-century amateur Paul Wolfskehl, who was so consumed by Fermat’s puzzle that it literally talked him out of suicide.
I have been bad at math since time immemorial, so much so that I vividly remember a childhood incident when I literally tore up the math textbook in frustration. I remember my very first lecture of CPT, the CA entrance exam, when the professor instructed everyone to solve some equations after explaining them. I didn't pick up even a whiff of what was said, but to my astonishment, wherever I looked in the classroom, every single student seemed engrossed in their work, and I remember breaking down, silently crying in a corner, confiding in my parents maybe it was a wrong decision to enrol.
For a no-holds-barred math-hater, if the book could make me feel maybe I lost something precious all these years, something I didn't expect to say in my entire life, a kind of regret I didn't know I had the ability to feel, then I guess there's a speck of truth in "you haven't found the right book yet." I guess it's somewhat true when they say there are no bad students, only bad teachers. There's a reason a stereotype becomes a stereotype.
Let me clarify my statement about 'getting' mathematics described in the book. I am a complete idiot when it comes to mathematics, no questions asked. It's only because the author went the extra mile of making the technical stuff as accessible as possible that I was able to follow through. It's not my victory, but the author's. On the other hand, he is careful not to dumb it down. He trusts the reader to follow it, and why not, the man has done everything in his power to make you follow it! If it were any other book, I would have labelled repetition a 'flaw', but I think Singh was aware about his audience. The book is meant to be read by a layperson. In fact, when mathematics gets overly complicated, Singh chooses to relay the essence of the problem (and that too, using an analogy) rather than getting all technical about it. By all accounts, this is not a 'mathematics' book. If you want a detailed proof of the problem, look somewhere else.
What it's about is the story, and Singh absolutely shines in that department. It's impossible not to get swept up in Andrew Wiles' obsessive seven-year journey. You don't need to understand the abstract algebra and modular forms to feel the weight of what's at stake here. I could feel the palpable tension when the mathematics community at large finds a fatal flaw in the solution when at last Wiles does publishes the proof. (It's not a spoiler, you know how the story ends. Yet you'll keep reading it, take my word.) A problem worthy of attack proves its worth by fighting back. And this one, after all, was a giant 350-year old monster. Generations upon generations of brilliant mathematicians had failed to solve it. What did we expect?
Go for it if you love a damn good story! ...more
What's a good story? Or rather, what's a perfect story? One definition could be that it must contain a little bit of everything - an inciting incident, purpose, drama, action, surprising turns, escalation, one final stand against the problem, the 'all is lost' moment before the final sweet taste of victory, the ultimate pay-off.
Now what if I tell you there's a real-life story spanning centuries that fits this model. You've got to do nothing but tell it honestly. Don't try to dramatise it or overdo it, just tell the story matter-of-factly, because everything that a good story needs is inherently present in the story itself. You'll ruin it if you try to fictionalise it. Simon Singh understood the assignment. He remained faithful to the facts, and the facts are enough to steal your sleep.
The heart of the book is deceptively simple: In 1637, Pierre de Fermat scribbled in the margin of a book that he had a "truly marvelous proof" for a seemingly straightforward equation� one that no one else could crack for centuries. That casual boast became mathematics� greatest cold case, and Singh unpacks it with the pacing of a detective novel. The way he weaves together the stories of the mathematicians who tried and failed—some tragically, some absurdly—makes you feel like you’re part of the hunt. My favorite? The 19th-century amateur Paul Wolfskehl, who was so consumed by Fermat’s puzzle that it literally talked him out of suicide.
I have been bad at math since time immemorial, so much so that I vividly remember a childhood incident when I literally tore up the math textbook in frustration. I remember my very first lecture of CPT, the CA entrance exam, when the professor instructed everyone to solve some equations after explaining them. I didn't pick up even a whiff of what was said, but to my astonishment, wherever I looked in the classroom, every single student seemed engrossed in their work, and I remember breaking down, silently crying in a corner, confiding in my parents maybe it was a wrong decision to enrol.
For a no-holds-barred math-hater, if the book could make me feel maybe I lost something precious all these years, something I didn't expect to say in my entire life, a kind of regret I didn't know I had the ability to feel, then I guess there's a speck of truth in "you haven't found the right book yet." I guess it's somewhat true when they say there are no bad students, only bad teachers. There's a reason a stereotype becomes a stereotype.
Let me clarify my statement about 'getting' mathematics described in the book. I am a complete idiot when it comes to mathematics, no questions asked. It's only because the author went the extra mile of making the technical stuff as accessible as possible that I was able to follow through. It's not my victory, but the author's. On the other hand, he is careful not to dumb it down. He trusts the reader to follow it, and why not, the man has done everything in his power to make you follow it! If it were any other book, I would have labelled repetition a 'flaw', but I think Singh was aware about his audience. The book is meant to be read by a layperson. In fact, when mathematics gets overly complicated, Singh chooses to relay the essence of the problem (and that too, using an analogy) rather than getting all technical about it. By all accounts, this is not a 'mathematics' book. If you want a detailed proof of the problem, look somewhere else.
What it's about is the story, and Singh absolutely shines in that department. It's impossible not to get swept up in Andrew Wiles' obsessive seven-year journey. You don't need to understand the abstract algebra and modular forms to feel the weight of what's at stake here. I could feel the palpable tension when the mathematics community at large finds a fatal flaw in the solution when at last Wiles does publishes the proof. (It's not a spoiler, you know how the story ends. Yet you'll keep reading it, take my word.) A problem worthy of attack proves its worth by fighting back. And this one, after all, was a giant 350-year old monster. Generations upon generations of brilliant mathematicians had failed to solve it. What did we expect?
Go for it if you love a damn good story! ...more
Notes are private!
1
Mar 26, 2025
Mar 29, 2025
Jul 27, 2024
Paperback
0385495323
9780385495325
0385495323
4.30
28,257
Jan 01, 1999
Aug 29, 2000
really liked it
For someone who has no prior knowledge of cryptography, reading this book with its flood of new information and interesting stories was really excitin
For someone who has no prior knowledge of cryptography, reading this book with its flood of new information and interesting stories was really exciting. If I had to complain, I'd say it's become outdated since it was published in the year 2000. I'd like to read a more recent book for follow-up on quantum cryptography and see where things stand today.
...more
Notes are private!
1
Apr 02, 2025
Apr 09, 2025
Jul 27, 2024
Paperback
061871166X
9780618711666
061871166X
3.99
19,434
Jun 07, 2004
Jun 07, 2006
it was amazing
At one point in the novel, Piya and Kanai run into an attacking mob on an island village. The angry surge of people are trying to hurt a tiger stuck i
At one point in the novel, Piya and Kanai run into an attacking mob on an island village. The angry surge of people are trying to hurt a tiger stuck in an enclosed pen with pointed bamboo sticks. Piya implores Kanai to do something and stop them. The tiger apparently killed two people of the village, Kanai says, they shouldn't intervene or the mob will turn on them too. Piya goes on to state something that will be stuck in my head for long, a declaration utterly simplistic and profoundly thought-provoking at the same time. "This is an animal, Kanai," she says, "you can't take revenge against an animal." It conveyed loads in such few words.
Hidden beneath the fictive story of the book is its message of environment conservation and the pesky questions that come with it: where do you draw the line between development and conservation? How do you choose between people and nature? The author has also tried to subtly convey the undercurrents of class-divide through the character of Fokir. I am not sure if the ending was what it needed to be, but on second thought, I think it was better, if not perfect, for I can't envision an alternative ending with as much impact.
For most of the first act of the book, a song kept coming back to my mind.
Tere sheher ka, kya hai naam?
Jannat hai, jannat hai.
Sab logon ka yaha, kya hai kaam?
Mohabbat hai, mohabbat hai.
Kar lun main� tujhko salaam?
Izazat hai, izazat hai.
Beautiful. So beautiful.
I liked the alternating viewpoints in chapters. I admired Piya's character and I loved to virtually spend some time with a cetologist, see how they go about their work. I loved the budding friendship between Piya and Kanai and their serious talks about environmental conservation in the third act. I enjoyed the mythical stories of Bon Bibi, the forest goddess, and many tidbits of factually correct information thrown in about the islands of Sundarbans. Watch out especially for the scene where the character of Kanai gets stranded on an island and goes under transformation.
A little late to the party; my first Amitav Ghosh book, but it certainly won't be the last. ...more
Hidden beneath the fictive story of the book is its message of environment conservation and the pesky questions that come with it: where do you draw the line between development and conservation? How do you choose between people and nature? The author has also tried to subtly convey the undercurrents of class-divide through the character of Fokir. I am not sure if the ending was what it needed to be, but on second thought, I think it was better, if not perfect, for I can't envision an alternative ending with as much impact.
For most of the first act of the book, a song kept coming back to my mind.
Tere sheher ka, kya hai naam?
Jannat hai, jannat hai.
Sab logon ka yaha, kya hai kaam?
Mohabbat hai, mohabbat hai.
Kar lun main� tujhko salaam?
Izazat hai, izazat hai.
Beautiful. So beautiful.
I liked the alternating viewpoints in chapters. I admired Piya's character and I loved to virtually spend some time with a cetologist, see how they go about their work. I loved the budding friendship between Piya and Kanai and their serious talks about environmental conservation in the third act. I enjoyed the mythical stories of Bon Bibi, the forest goddess, and many tidbits of factually correct information thrown in about the islands of Sundarbans. Watch out especially for the scene where the character of Kanai gets stranded on an island and goes under transformation.
A little late to the party; my first Amitav Ghosh book, but it certainly won't be the last. ...more
Notes are private!
1
Jun 02, 2024
Jun 09, 2024
Jun 09, 2024
Paperback
0765377101
9780765377104
0765377101
4.41
153,664
Nov 2010
Sep 20, 2016
really liked it
The sheer number of insane ideas in here is insane! I am putting dibs on the idea of gifting a star. To someone, someday. It won't be real, of course,
The sheer number of insane ideas in here is insane! I am putting dibs on the idea of gifting a star. To someone, someday. It won't be real, of course, but the book's given me enough of minutiae to plan how to go about it. What an absolutely romantic, lovely gesture it was!
Science Fiction and Fantasy are two genres that have unlimited untapped potential waiting to be unlocked. The possibilities are literally endless. If done right, it could elevate one to the heights of literary success, commercially and critically. It couldn't have been done more right than Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy.
If you are a habitual devourer of pages and being fed up from the regular plots and tropes, sometimes asked to none in particular, "Okay, can you give me something new?", Liu Cixin is here to save the day. "You want new?" he seems to be saying, "I'll give you new. In fact, I'll rewire the definition of 'new' for you. Keep your neural cogs constantly on the run, okay, try to catch up with me.'
In this concluding volume of the trilogy, you get thwacked (yes, that's the right word, 'introduced' sounds too lame, too Earth-ly) with one idea after the other in quick succession - the Nuclear Staircase project in outer space, the Swordholder episode, the Great Humanity Resettlement tragedy, the Cosmic Safety Notice, living in the Fourth Dimension, Curvature Propulsion for lightspeed ships, it was madness! Capital M Madness!
Cons. I'd have liked the ending to be different. I am not saying it was bad, but I'd've preferred if Liu Cixin hadn't gone down that path. I hate it when authors give us a tragic ending just because they can, especially when a happy ending was one-hundred-percent possible here. I won't go into details and spoil it, but come on! It was absolutely gut-wrenching to imagine it. Which brings me to my final point.
The justification given here for the alternative ending, and by extension, the last twenty pages it entailed, is downright lousy. It's grand, it's spectacular, it's never-read-before bullshit, I get it, but it's still bullshit. I could and I did suspend disbelief for the entirety of three books, I was willing to believe in all the outlandish ideas, but try as I may, I just couldn't do so in the final twenty pages of the book. It was just too inconceivable for me.
That said, you need to go down on this one. Right now. It will be the most satisfying reads of the year. It will raise the concept of Science Fiction so high for you that you won't be able to help but compare everything you read afterwards in the genre to this benchmark. ...more
Science Fiction and Fantasy are two genres that have unlimited untapped potential waiting to be unlocked. The possibilities are literally endless. If done right, it could elevate one to the heights of literary success, commercially and critically. It couldn't have been done more right than Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy.
If you are a habitual devourer of pages and being fed up from the regular plots and tropes, sometimes asked to none in particular, "Okay, can you give me something new?", Liu Cixin is here to save the day. "You want new?" he seems to be saying, "I'll give you new. In fact, I'll rewire the definition of 'new' for you. Keep your neural cogs constantly on the run, okay, try to catch up with me.'
In this concluding volume of the trilogy, you get thwacked (yes, that's the right word, 'introduced' sounds too lame, too Earth-ly) with one idea after the other in quick succession - the Nuclear Staircase project in outer space, the Swordholder episode, the Great Humanity Resettlement tragedy, the Cosmic Safety Notice, living in the Fourth Dimension, Curvature Propulsion for lightspeed ships, it was madness! Capital M Madness!
Cons. I'd have liked the ending to be different. I am not saying it was bad, but I'd've preferred if Liu Cixin hadn't gone down that path. I hate it when authors give us a tragic ending just because they can, especially when a happy ending was one-hundred-percent possible here. I won't go into details and spoil it, but come on! It was absolutely gut-wrenching to imagine it. Which brings me to my final point.
The justification given here for the alternative ending, and by extension, the last twenty pages it entailed, is downright lousy. It's grand, it's spectacular, it's never-read-before bullshit, I get it, but it's still bullshit. I could and I did suspend disbelief for the entirety of three books, I was willing to believe in all the outlandish ideas, but try as I may, I just couldn't do so in the final twenty pages of the book. It was just too inconceivable for me.
That said, you need to go down on this one. Right now. It will be the most satisfying reads of the year. It will raise the concept of Science Fiction so high for you that you won't be able to help but compare everything you read afterwards in the genre to this benchmark. ...more
Notes are private!
1
May 15, 2024
May 30, 2024
May 15, 2024
Hardcover
4.41
198,046
May 2008
Aug 11, 2015
really liked it
If I had to describe this book in a single phrase, it'd be this: a flurry of unabashed Reverse-Uno cards. Before I expound on this thought, I'd like t
If I had to describe this book in a single phrase, it'd be this: a flurry of unabashed Reverse-Uno cards. Before I expound on this thought, I'd like to clarify a couple of things. One, this book (and the trilogy) is best experienced blind, so my primary suggestion would be to ignore reviews, avoid looking up anything online before time, and delve right into the books. You were advised, and advised well. If you are still here, then two: I am considering early set-up of the plot as fair game, so shouting 'Spoiler!' just won't do.
Now that we're past the preliminaries, come. Lets geek out together. What did I just read?? What. The. Heck. !!!!!
As always with my reviews, I'll come to the merits afterward and discuss the cons first. What was up with the first 200 pages? Cixin Liu delivered me THE best science-fiction novel of all time in the form of Three-Body Problem, a book unprecedented and unparalleled in its imagination and story-telling, it set my expectations sky-high for the rest of the books, and then this? The first act of the book was such a colossal disappointment I seriously considered abandoning the book at one point. How could a story fall this steep this fast? It was like Hulk-Smash personified!
To tell you the specifics, are you familiar with the fridging phenomenon in story-telling? It's when a certain character, typically female, exists solely to be killed, to serve as an inciting incident for another character, typically male, to take action. I am guilty of resorting to this hackneyed literary trope in my book too, but I hate the concept. John Wick comes to mind, where they cleverly tried to conceal the trope, killing John's puppy instead of his wife, who was already dead and the puppy was her last gift to him, thus prompting him to launch a killing spree against the bad guys, but it was fridging nonetheless. We have to have broader conversations around the topic and come up with creative alternatives to these plot devices, but what's especially jarring in this particular case is the author LITERALLY fridged the protagonist's wife! You read that right. Luo Ji's wife and child are literally cold-stored into hibernation so he could start work to save the world from alien invasion! What?
Even before the fridging comes in play, the love story between Luo Ji and his to-be wife has to be the weirdest I've ever read. Not only weird, but sexist. The guy imagines what a perfect girl, an 'angel' should look like, and later uses his Wallfacer status to literally order his subordinate to find that girl for him! What's more, the author fulfils this wish of the protagonist and portrays the girl as a childish, subservient caricature of a woman who needs to be 'protected' from the 'real world.' Again, what??
It's not only weird and sexist, but the first 200 pages are one hell of a snoozefest. Nothing, nothing happens at all. The plot doesn't progress even a step. Maybe Three-Body Problem was a one-off, a fluke. The author played his first reverse-uno card on me; you don't capture the lightning twice in a bottle. It's only the rave reviews on this site that kept me going. And sure enough, once you step into the second act, voila! Cixin Liu is back! A reverse-uno card again, one of the many good ones that were yet to come.
Things only go uphill from this point. Plot-points rain like cats and dogs. Surprises await you at every nook. While I won't label it with the oft-cliched 'twists and turns,' - because it's pretty straightforward, linear, no suspense-building - the revelations will shock you nonetheless. The author neatly puts breadcrumbs for you in place, paving the way for utterly satisfying pay-offs later on. One particular breadcrumb I encountered, the so-called 'oil film' had me nonplussed. Where is he going with this, I thought, especially after the said plot point was swiftly forgotten after the problem for which it was presented as a solution, solved itself on its own. Huh? It was clearly a Chekhov's Gun! Why mention it when you don't need to? And sure enough, it comes into play in the end. Again, the pay-offs in this book were mind-blowing!
You'd imagine a book about alien invasion to have grand spectacles of set-pieces, large-scale battle sequences, but there's nothing of this sort here, except for one that happens before the climax, the only one grand action set-piece in two books combined. It goes on and on for like, twenty pages and it's the most amazing, nerve-wracking, adrenaline-surging scene I've read in eternity! To call it a 'battle' would be misleading, but lets not go there, lest we enter the spoiler territory. I am only giving you this - Cixin Liu has his own Games of Thrones' Red Wedding moment, or the one akin to Scythe trilogy's Sinking of Endura scene, when shit hits the fan and you'll be left with your jaw dropped mid-air. Seriously, I need to go under the knife to have my jaws reattached.
If all of this wasn't enough, here's the ultimate reason for you to start reading this trilogy asap. Cixin Liu presents us with a possible solution to the bewildering Fermi Paradox in this book. The Dark Forest Hypothesis- which was named after the book - is quite convincing and scientifically sound. If you don't know about it beforehand, good, please don't go on searching it online, as it's the crucial plot-point of the book and may ruin your experience.
A brief note about the translation. The way the characters speak in this book isn't organic, like how you and I may interact in real life. The characters talk as if they are aware they are characters, as if they know they need to explain things to someone who is reading about them on a page. In other words, it's glaringly obvious that you are reading a translation of the original text. I don't know whether to pin it on the oft-cited concern about the very act of translation altering the intended essence of the text, or on the fact that the translator of this sophomore outing is different than the one who translated the first and final volumes, but any of this is not to imply that the book is not translated well. I am just saying it doesn't come off as natural, but you get used to it after a while, and it's a rewarding experience.
Finally, it deserved not the four stars I gave it, but more than five stars. The rest of the book was so frickin' good I don't know what was going on with the first act. So I'll be recommending this book with a caveat. If you are fine with absolutely nothing happening for the first 200 pages, then please read it. In fact I implore you to read it, for what comes next is simply worth it and you'll thank me later. The Three-Body Problem was the most exciting book I read, and I didn't think it was possible for the author to top it. But he did, and I am so glad. What's more, friends who've read the entire trilogy say the final book is even more richer and grander than the first two. How? Just how is it possible to set the bar so high and still keep pushing it higher every step of the way? I am eager to find out. Death's End, here I come. ...more
Now that we're past the preliminaries, come. Lets geek out together. What did I just read?? What. The. Heck. !!!!!
As always with my reviews, I'll come to the merits afterward and discuss the cons first. What was up with the first 200 pages? Cixin Liu delivered me THE best science-fiction novel of all time in the form of Three-Body Problem, a book unprecedented and unparalleled in its imagination and story-telling, it set my expectations sky-high for the rest of the books, and then this? The first act of the book was such a colossal disappointment I seriously considered abandoning the book at one point. How could a story fall this steep this fast? It was like Hulk-Smash personified!
To tell you the specifics, are you familiar with the fridging phenomenon in story-telling? It's when a certain character, typically female, exists solely to be killed, to serve as an inciting incident for another character, typically male, to take action. I am guilty of resorting to this hackneyed literary trope in my book too, but I hate the concept. John Wick comes to mind, where they cleverly tried to conceal the trope, killing John's puppy instead of his wife, who was already dead and the puppy was her last gift to him, thus prompting him to launch a killing spree against the bad guys, but it was fridging nonetheless. We have to have broader conversations around the topic and come up with creative alternatives to these plot devices, but what's especially jarring in this particular case is the author LITERALLY fridged the protagonist's wife! You read that right. Luo Ji's wife and child are literally cold-stored into hibernation so he could start work to save the world from alien invasion! What?
Even before the fridging comes in play, the love story between Luo Ji and his to-be wife has to be the weirdest I've ever read. Not only weird, but sexist. The guy imagines what a perfect girl, an 'angel' should look like, and later uses his Wallfacer status to literally order his subordinate to find that girl for him! What's more, the author fulfils this wish of the protagonist and portrays the girl as a childish, subservient caricature of a woman who needs to be 'protected' from the 'real world.' Again, what??
It's not only weird and sexist, but the first 200 pages are one hell of a snoozefest. Nothing, nothing happens at all. The plot doesn't progress even a step. Maybe Three-Body Problem was a one-off, a fluke. The author played his first reverse-uno card on me; you don't capture the lightning twice in a bottle. It's only the rave reviews on this site that kept me going. And sure enough, once you step into the second act, voila! Cixin Liu is back! A reverse-uno card again, one of the many good ones that were yet to come.
Things only go uphill from this point. Plot-points rain like cats and dogs. Surprises await you at every nook. While I won't label it with the oft-cliched 'twists and turns,' - because it's pretty straightforward, linear, no suspense-building - the revelations will shock you nonetheless. The author neatly puts breadcrumbs for you in place, paving the way for utterly satisfying pay-offs later on. One particular breadcrumb I encountered, the so-called 'oil film' had me nonplussed. Where is he going with this, I thought, especially after the said plot point was swiftly forgotten after the problem for which it was presented as a solution, solved itself on its own. Huh? It was clearly a Chekhov's Gun! Why mention it when you don't need to? And sure enough, it comes into play in the end. Again, the pay-offs in this book were mind-blowing!
You'd imagine a book about alien invasion to have grand spectacles of set-pieces, large-scale battle sequences, but there's nothing of this sort here, except for one that happens before the climax, the only one grand action set-piece in two books combined. It goes on and on for like, twenty pages and it's the most amazing, nerve-wracking, adrenaline-surging scene I've read in eternity! To call it a 'battle' would be misleading, but lets not go there, lest we enter the spoiler territory. I am only giving you this - Cixin Liu has his own Games of Thrones' Red Wedding moment, or the one akin to Scythe trilogy's Sinking of Endura scene, when shit hits the fan and you'll be left with your jaw dropped mid-air. Seriously, I need to go under the knife to have my jaws reattached.
If all of this wasn't enough, here's the ultimate reason for you to start reading this trilogy asap. Cixin Liu presents us with a possible solution to the bewildering Fermi Paradox in this book. The Dark Forest Hypothesis- which was named after the book - is quite convincing and scientifically sound. If you don't know about it beforehand, good, please don't go on searching it online, as it's the crucial plot-point of the book and may ruin your experience.
A brief note about the translation. The way the characters speak in this book isn't organic, like how you and I may interact in real life. The characters talk as if they are aware they are characters, as if they know they need to explain things to someone who is reading about them on a page. In other words, it's glaringly obvious that you are reading a translation of the original text. I don't know whether to pin it on the oft-cited concern about the very act of translation altering the intended essence of the text, or on the fact that the translator of this sophomore outing is different than the one who translated the first and final volumes, but any of this is not to imply that the book is not translated well. I am just saying it doesn't come off as natural, but you get used to it after a while, and it's a rewarding experience.
Finally, it deserved not the four stars I gave it, but more than five stars. The rest of the book was so frickin' good I don't know what was going on with the first act. So I'll be recommending this book with a caveat. If you are fine with absolutely nothing happening for the first 200 pages, then please read it. In fact I implore you to read it, for what comes next is simply worth it and you'll thank me later. The Three-Body Problem was the most exciting book I read, and I didn't think it was possible for the author to top it. But he did, and I am so glad. What's more, friends who've read the entire trilogy say the final book is even more richer and grander than the first two. How? Just how is it possible to set the bar so high and still keep pushing it higher every step of the way? I am eager to find out. Death's End, here I come. ...more
Notes are private!
1
May 05, 2024
May 11, 2024
May 08, 2024
Hardcover
1501129015
9781501129018
1501129015
4.14
3,839
2020
Aug 25, 2020
really liked it
That's 3 Eric Weiner books in a row! Might as well check out the remaining one and cover his entire oeuvre.
The author sets out on yet another globetro That's 3 Eric Weiner books in a row! Might as well check out the remaining one and cover his entire oeuvre.
The author sets out on yet another globetrotting trip, this time not for the search of happiness or genius, but wisdom. Where else to find it but from great philosophers of the past? The very word 'philosophy' literally translates to love of wisdom.
From Socrates to Gandhi, Eric chooses 14 philosophers on the sole criterion that the wisdom imparted by the philosopher in question should be practical, or actionable, and elegant. In other words, that typical meaningless jargon-heavy mumbo-jumbo (which most philosophers fall prey to) just won't do. Philosophy is life education; it needs to be taught formally in schools, especially here in India. Philosophy gets an undue bad rap, but I understand why. One of the factors contributing to this general aversion from the subject is specifically these meaningless endeavors that at best, confuse the reader, or at worst, repels and kills a budding interest. I remember a professor who once remarked a doozy in an opening lecture, 'Philosophy as a subject shares an idiosyncratic trait with Mathematics: after this session is over, either you'll fall head over heels in love with philosophy for eternity, or you'll hate the subject for life. There's no middle ground.' Fortunately, the former has held true for me since.
So practicality and elegance, great. Add to the mix the author's lucid prose, his hilarious sense of humor and you've got a winner. If you aren't familiar with the subject, you won't regret if this is the first book of philosophy you ever lay your hands on. But, as one review mentioned, this is not the substitute for reading the actual books of chosen philosophers. You just get an average of 25 pages per philosopher, and even this horrendously scanty space is not solely dedicated to their ideas, but blended in with the author's personal experiences and some selected details of personal lives of the philosophers. To say the author did justice to the philosophers would tantamount to saying Trump was the best President America ever had. Okay, not a good analogy, but you get what I mean. It's not a bad book, not at all, but thoroughly inadequate.
Arthur Schopenhauer and Simone Weil, those are the two philosophers I liked best. I might check out their work in future someday. I lost all respect for Thoreau, not because the author rampaged him, but I happened to read the article he mentioned about the man, the points of which he argues against in the text, but the article convinced me otherwise. Also, I was impressed and inspired by the likes of Nietzsche and Simone de Beauvoir. I was hoping for more details about de Beauvoir's life and work, her unique relationship with Sartre, but as I said before, this is not the book for details. I understand the author couldn't have possibly reported exhaustively on every philosopher.
A good book, in the final tally. I'd definitely check out Man Seeks God, the author's only book that remains unread for me. But before I do that, I'll prefer a brief interlude. His writing style, though propitiously palatable, is losing its grip on me due to repetition. A change of genre will do just fine. ...more
The author sets out on yet another globetro That's 3 Eric Weiner books in a row! Might as well check out the remaining one and cover his entire oeuvre.
The author sets out on yet another globetrotting trip, this time not for the search of happiness or genius, but wisdom. Where else to find it but from great philosophers of the past? The very word 'philosophy' literally translates to love of wisdom.
From Socrates to Gandhi, Eric chooses 14 philosophers on the sole criterion that the wisdom imparted by the philosopher in question should be practical, or actionable, and elegant. In other words, that typical meaningless jargon-heavy mumbo-jumbo (which most philosophers fall prey to) just won't do. Philosophy is life education; it needs to be taught formally in schools, especially here in India. Philosophy gets an undue bad rap, but I understand why. One of the factors contributing to this general aversion from the subject is specifically these meaningless endeavors that at best, confuse the reader, or at worst, repels and kills a budding interest. I remember a professor who once remarked a doozy in an opening lecture, 'Philosophy as a subject shares an idiosyncratic trait with Mathematics: after this session is over, either you'll fall head over heels in love with philosophy for eternity, or you'll hate the subject for life. There's no middle ground.' Fortunately, the former has held true for me since.
So practicality and elegance, great. Add to the mix the author's lucid prose, his hilarious sense of humor and you've got a winner. If you aren't familiar with the subject, you won't regret if this is the first book of philosophy you ever lay your hands on. But, as one review mentioned, this is not the substitute for reading the actual books of chosen philosophers. You just get an average of 25 pages per philosopher, and even this horrendously scanty space is not solely dedicated to their ideas, but blended in with the author's personal experiences and some selected details of personal lives of the philosophers. To say the author did justice to the philosophers would tantamount to saying Trump was the best President America ever had. Okay, not a good analogy, but you get what I mean. It's not a bad book, not at all, but thoroughly inadequate.
Arthur Schopenhauer and Simone Weil, those are the two philosophers I liked best. I might check out their work in future someday. I lost all respect for Thoreau, not because the author rampaged him, but I happened to read the article he mentioned about the man, the points of which he argues against in the text, but the article convinced me otherwise. Also, I was impressed and inspired by the likes of Nietzsche and Simone de Beauvoir. I was hoping for more details about de Beauvoir's life and work, her unique relationship with Sartre, but as I said before, this is not the book for details. I understand the author couldn't have possibly reported exhaustively on every philosopher.
A good book, in the final tally. I'd definitely check out Man Seeks God, the author's only book that remains unread for me. But before I do that, I'll prefer a brief interlude. His writing style, though propitiously palatable, is losing its grip on me due to repetition. A change of genre will do just fine. ...more
Notes are private!
1
Apr 28, 2024
May 06, 2024
May 06, 2024
Hardcover
1451691653
9781451691658
1451691653
3.79
4,203
Jan 05, 2016
Jan 05, 2016
really liked it
Three and a half stars
Like Weiner's previous book I read, The Geography of Bliss, here too the author's out on a hunt, this time for the places of gen Three and a half stars
Like Weiner's previous book I read, The Geography of Bliss, here too the author's out on a hunt, this time for the places of genius, times in history when genius appeared en masse at a particular place and vanished after a sojourn.
The idea sounds extremely interesting on paper. Something felt amiss though in the final product. It could've turned out so much better.
If you haven't read about the Italian Renaissance or fin-de-siecle Vienna or Scottish Enlightenment or Hangzhou's moment in the sun or Ancient Greece or Bengal Renaissance before, this book will appeal much to you, as it did to me. The author has identified some pointers that historically led to spurts of genius in these places, namely chaos, shifts in power hierarchy, heavy odds placed against such a possibility, etc.
I wouldn't have minded some extra pages, as I felt he didn't elaborate enough to give me a detailed context and mood of the times. It's anyway difficult to capture a zeitgeist in words, but in a book whose sole aim is to do just that, it becomes even more important. I truly enjoyed each and every chapter, but again, it could've been so much more, in terms of quality and quantity both. I am especially thankful to the man for dividing up the part about Vienna in two chapters, reserving an entire chapter just for the musical genius that was turn-of-the-century Vienna. Before this book, the only encounter I had with the likes of Mozart and Beethoven was through random name-dropping in books or videos. It was refreshing and inspiring to get a little close to them.
If only it could've fulfilled the humongous potential it so clearly had! Something felt half-hearted, just like this review feels half-hearted to me. ...more
Like Weiner's previous book I read, The Geography of Bliss, here too the author's out on a hunt, this time for the places of gen Three and a half stars
Like Weiner's previous book I read, The Geography of Bliss, here too the author's out on a hunt, this time for the places of genius, times in history when genius appeared en masse at a particular place and vanished after a sojourn.
The idea sounds extremely interesting on paper. Something felt amiss though in the final product. It could've turned out so much better.
If you haven't read about the Italian Renaissance or fin-de-siecle Vienna or Scottish Enlightenment or Hangzhou's moment in the sun or Ancient Greece or Bengal Renaissance before, this book will appeal much to you, as it did to me. The author has identified some pointers that historically led to spurts of genius in these places, namely chaos, shifts in power hierarchy, heavy odds placed against such a possibility, etc.
I wouldn't have minded some extra pages, as I felt he didn't elaborate enough to give me a detailed context and mood of the times. It's anyway difficult to capture a zeitgeist in words, but in a book whose sole aim is to do just that, it becomes even more important. I truly enjoyed each and every chapter, but again, it could've been so much more, in terms of quality and quantity both. I am especially thankful to the man for dividing up the part about Vienna in two chapters, reserving an entire chapter just for the musical genius that was turn-of-the-century Vienna. Before this book, the only encounter I had with the likes of Mozart and Beethoven was through random name-dropping in books or videos. It was refreshing and inspiring to get a little close to them.
If only it could've fulfilled the humongous potential it so clearly had! Something felt half-hearted, just like this review feels half-hearted to me. ...more
Notes are private!
1
Apr 14, 2024
Apr 21, 2024
Apr 29, 2024
Hardcover
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