Book Review of "From Tryst To Tendulkar"

This is not a bad read, it is just not as good as it could have been, especially if you have followed the writer’s - Balaji Vishwanathan’s - answers on Quora. A 3.5/5 from me.

A book solely aimed to capture the History of Independent India sounded very interesting. I still remember how the school history books would just stop after the Independence struggle, as though anything that happened after that was just not worth teaching the kids. That coupled with the fact that I have been a follower of Balaji Vishwanathan’s answers on Quora increased my expectations. Unfortunately though, my high hopes turned out to be futile and IMO, this book feels like a sequence of good Quora answers stitched together without a cohesive narrative thread. 

The main weakness is its short length. In ensuring that everything fits within 250 pages, each chapter feels rushed and unless you already have some context, you are left catching at straws figuring out the missing details. 

I applaud the writer though for talking about “contentious” topics in our country’s recent past - like the Shah Bano Case, the Mandal Commission, the Operation Blue Star and the IPKF embarrassment - in detail and applauding as well as criticizing the actions taken. Some chapters and/or discussions are true gems -reminding one, unfortunately of the writer’s well researched quora answers. I can’t help but think that this book could have turned out better had there not been a hard requirement to fit everything in 250 pages. Anyway, with all said and done, 3.5/5.

Book Review of "The Mahabharata Murders"

“The smile is the cruelest balm of all. It covers the wound from the outside and keeps it open from the inside.”

The Mahabharata Murders is a gripping, fast paced and a perfect edge-of-the-seat murder mystery novel. It’s fun, it's fast and it's entertaining. No subtext here, nothing deep or philosophical, it delivers on what it promises - an engaging story for one to enjoy. 

The mystery is sufficiently engaging, but it’s the characters, the flawed & the vulnerable protagonist and an equally peculiar antagonist make it a worthwhile read. To me at least, a couple of parallels to the Mahabharata characters seem a bit stretched and drawn out but the rest of them fit fairly well.

This book reads more like a movie screenplay, but a good screenplay, so you wouldn’t be disappointed. All in all, a perfect weekend read - 4/5.

Book Review of "Steve Jobs"

Regardless of whether you an Apple fanboy or not, regardless of what you think about Steve Jobs' legendary management techniques, the autobiography by Walter Isaacson is a superb read. It is thoroughly researched, meticulously crafted and above all brutally honest. There is some sugarcoating no doubt. After all it is an autobiography, so a little leeway is to be expected. 

"Was he smart? No, not exceptionally. Instead, he was a genius. His imaginative leaps were instinctive, unexpected and at times magical."

It has excerpts from more than hundreds of interviews of people that closely worked with him - his colleagues, his bosses and also his not-so-well wishers. Walter Isaacson has done a good job of providing a detailed account of everything and yet maintain an excellent narrative pace with cohesive storytelling.

There are numerous aspects of his work-life that you a glimpse into. His negotiation techniques, his ability to judge a person correctly almost always and willingness to do anything to "get things done" (including crying & wailing in meetings). Despite philosophical differences that you might or might not have, it is fascinating to read about his life story. Especially Steve Jobs' handling of Pixar and the reverse acquisition saga of Disney is mind boggling and you can not help but admire his amazing business acumen.

"When he hurt people, it was not because he was lacking in emotional awareness. Quite the contrary: He could size people up, understand their inner thoughts, and know how to relate to them, cajole them, or hurt them at will."

I am not big on reading autobiographies. But glad I made an exception for this. A definite 5/5 IMO.

"Emotional outpourings are too often reserved for the deaths of drug numbed rock stars and troubled princesses. It was refreshing to see an entrepreneur celebrated"

Book Review of "Good Economics for Hard Times"

There were 2 reasons why I started reading "Good Economics for Hard Times". First - the obvious one - the authors (Dr Abhijit Banerjee & Dr Esther Duflo) have won the 2019 Nobel Prize for Economics with a piquing title "experimental approach to alleviating global poverty". The second reason was the more than usual brouhaha in the Indian News media about this economist couple (apparently at one point, Dr Banerjee had almost campaigned for an Indian Political party and also the fact that he is fairly vocal about his Indian heritage viz. wearing traditional Bengali attire for the ceremonies etc).

Despite being insightful with quite a few "aha, this is interesting!" moments, the book is a mixed bag of goodies and left me with a sense of looking at a half baked product.

The first half deals with very relevant and real problems, "Immigration", "Trade" & "Growth" - taking into detailed consideration the impact of Trump politics post-2016. This makes the first half a perfect balance of analytical commentary (backed by real data from experiments) coupled with presenting the crux of their thinking in an easy-to-understand-but-not-exactly-dumbed-down manner.

The second half, however derails and IMO just rambles on at an abstract level using economic concepts that would baffle someone with no formal economics background. At one point, I had to actually google stuff and had to go back and read a few pages multiple times. To their credit, the authors do have a 2 page "warning" where they come clean about the second half being more abstruse and theoretical. Maybe I should have listened to that warning and stopped.

Anyhoo, I do recommend the first few chapters of the book - especially the ones about Immigration, Trade & Growth. The online literature around such contentious topics is usually highly partisan, so its a welcome change to look at data-backed conclusions. For the rest of the book though, go/no-go based on your liking/comfort with abstract economic discussions. 

Book Review of "Death Comes As the End"

Ok, so this is an adequately fun book. It's another Agatha Christie novel, so there's mystery, there's murder, there's a few interesting characters, some twist and of course an antagonist at the end. What sets this book apart from other Agatha Christie novels - is the setting - the story takes place in Ancient Egypt. A solid 4/5. Recommend if you are looking for a relaxing read after a hectic day.