Books read by Raju

At times I could barely control my laughter. Though I did not grow up in the US I can connect to Bill's life and times.

Motivated by Al Pacino's movie I dived into this book. After the initial enthusiasm had died down the going got noticeably slower. Nevertheless, I kept at it and am happy I read it from cover to cover. This is therefore my third Shakespeare after Julius Ceasar and Romeo and Juliet which were obligatory in school. The number of characters and their relationships may be confusing but a guide, which my version of the book provided, will be immensly helpful.

It start off with...
Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this son of York

And has delightful lines such as...
True hope is swift and flies with swallows wings
Kings it makes gods, and meaner creature kings

A travelogue of an American who has lived in the UK for over 20 years and who deeply loves the country. Perusing the book, however, one may be led to believe that he is poking fun at the English and is critical of that enchanted isle. Nothing could be further from the truth. The England Bill loves is slowly slipping away with time. It's time that he is homesick for and not the space occupied by that land. This book is side-splittingly funny. I have read certain passages multiple times and every time it brings tears of mirth. It also reveals a deep insight into the English character. It's hard to put down once you have opened it. I do hope to visit some of the places he describes.

The autobiographical story of an escaped Australian convict who lands in Bombay with a fake New Zealand passport and decides to stay on for many years, is fascinating. As an Indian I am intrigued by how others see the country of my forefathers. Roberts, I admit, has seen much more of the country than I ever will. He was privy to a broad cross section of society: from stinking slums, where he lived, and an appalling prison, where he was almost beaten to death, to Bollywood and the Bombay mafia for whom he worked. All these experiences and more are written with brutal honesty. But yet, there is love for the country that makes me cringe at statements like India may not be the country where love was invented but it is the place where it was perfected. India is difficult country and is, at times, inpenetrable but Roberts seems to have glimpsed through the contradictions at the heart of Indianness (pardon my usage of that wrong but often-used term). Be prepared for a fascinating ride if you decide to read it. By the way, it will be made into a movie with Johnny Depp as the main character, Linbaba. Preparations are underway. How in heaven's name are they going to squeeze several experience-filled years into a few hours. Read the book instead.

At almost 1400 pages it is a veritable tome; the language and the lives of the characters will make you forgot that that you are holding a heavy object. Absolutely charming! Set in the 1950's it gives a good impression of the post-independence period. The worries, desires and experiences depicted therein are however universal. The religious conflict between hindus and muslims is portrayed well and it is no less peaceful today. Highly recommended reading. Warning: a moderate amount of knowledge of India is essential though none of the critics on Amazon seem to note that as a problem.

This book has some very important insights but could have done with less bulk. Easy reading and packed with examples.

Beautiful prose from an eminently articulate author!

I admit that I was confused at the beginning; the characters and the incidents appeared in a seemingly haphazard fashion. But Toni Morrison weaves the story around the central characters and it takes until the middle of the book before it becomes apparent what it is all about. It is powerful and told with care.

Enjoyable read from the point of view of language. A bit flowery and times but Dexter draws inspiration from a huge vocabulary and weaves sentences that can amuse the reader. Unfortunately, the plot weaved was too intricate and unbelievable for my liking. The first part of the book was done well.

The basic concept is great but the book was a let down. Many years back someone had praised the movie version with Peter Sellers and hence the book was on my list.

My first book by Mahfouz and it was no disappointment. This is a great book and deserves all the praise that it has got. One can feel the atmosphere, the pain and the pleasure of the characters. It does have a sad ending and I would have loved to know how it went on.

The signs of recovery from a nasty bout of flu made me stretch out my hands to this book. Susanne had waxed eloquent on this book and hence it was high on my list of books to be read. I can rejoice with the millions who have devoured this page turner. The background to the plot is of course not a Dan Brown creation: the secret society that is described in the book has been around for centuries and it is well-known. Nevertheless, a well-done plot.

The history lesson is a science lesson at the same time. Whereas other science books will dazzle you with the amount of knowledge that has been amassed over the years this one will tell you that there is much more left in the realm of the unknown. The books gives you a broad view of science and history. I plan on reading it once more cover to cover.

A short story in book form. This is an elderly fisherman's story of his struggle against the predators of the sea and the sea itself.

A multi-week hike has long been on my list of things to be done before I leave this planet. The Appalachian Trail being the grand-daddy of them all is not one that I would have attempted. Reading the book was much simpler and I have full respect for the author. And even more for his companion who, though unprepared and unsuitable for such an undertaking, did manage to keep up. The book is well-written with historical and geographical anecdotes interspersed with personal experiences. I hope to walk some distance of the route to Compostella someday. The Appalachian Trail I will leave for more hardy souls like Bill Bryson.

A fable of a group of British boys ship-wrecked on a deserted island and how human frailty and obsession for power turns the almost paradisal conditions into a veritable hell.

A very enjoyable book. Well written and at times even poetic. The author's fluid descriptive style makes you want it to go on and on. And it does, for a while! It gives a good description of the Emergency period - a dark blotch in India's recent history - when rights were suspended and the ostensible cleanup only created more corruption. Though it may be a bit exaggerated it does impart the spirit of those days. Tragedy, comedy and everything in between as in real life.

One of the few German books that I have read, Die Physiker is a play that is less than 100 pages. Despite that it took me a while to get through it. I had started it years back and never got to complete it. I finally did it in two sittings. The play revolves around 3 physicists who have been interred in a psychiatric clinic.

Read it during a flight from Switzerland to San Francisco. Well written and engrossing. This is a fictitious tale of the influence of the girl portrayed in Vermeer's painting and the painter's family. In my opinion, the story reads like a film script with events that refer to earlier events in order to connect up seemingly unconnected events. This is not a negative comment on the style. It shortened the long flight somewhat by transporting me to another age. In short, I enjoyed it.

Bought the book after listening to a talk by de Botton in Zurich. He uses the teachings of philosophers to solve practical problems that all of us face. Once upon a time philosophy was a practical subject unlike the recent past where it has turned into an ivory tower subject.

I read this book just before attending the play at Kurtheater, Baden. Eminently readable despite its age. Don't be put off by the quaint language. The subject matter could not be more relevant even though around us we do not see the sort of poverty that is described in the book. One has to just look a bit further to discern that the pertinence of the book has not diminished one iota.

A collection of essays on the impressions of Mr. Tharoor of his native India. Worth reading by any expat Indian. As his roots go back to Kerala just like mine, there are many places where I found myself nodding my head in agreement.

A great book by a user interface specialist. Has lots of examples from the past of technical devices that succeeded or failed and an analysis of each of them. Well worth reading. The central theme is that computers need to recede into the background; simple single-minded fool-proof functions should be what the user sees. Instead of general purpose devices one should mold computers into everyday things that perform one function well.

A very readable account of cryptology over the centuries. The first chapter describes the story encryption played in the life of Mary, Queen of Scots. This, in my opinion, is the best written chapter. It also shows why bad cryptography may be worse than no cryptography. The book ends with quantum cryptography, technology which many of us will not live to see. There is no mathematics to scare anyone off. And yet, the puzzles at the end of the book kept the best minds in the field occupied for a while.

Description of the times and lives of 5 mathematicians (Newton, Bernoulli, Einstein, Clausius and Faraday) and how their discoveries profoundly changed (and continues to change) the world. As a naturalized Swiss I am proud to say that 3 out of the 5 were also naturalized Swiss. Why does Switzerland attract the best minds, me included :-)?

After reading through the book the first time I did not see the correspondence with the title. It had just gone through several myths and author explained the meaning of each. It required a second reading to see that the phrase 'live by' was meant literally. The hero images are meant to get under the skin and operate in the realm of the subconscious. I guess that once upon a time parents told such stories to their kids sitting around the fire and the character types were firmly burned into the minds of the children. Whenever they faced a situation as the hero they knew how they had to react. It built their character. Movies and TV nowadays are the medium through which kids see their heroes. Are they performing such a function? I have my doubts.

"I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space" - From Shakespeare's Hamlet.