Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-Zi – Translated by Lin King (Read by Sarah Skaer) - Review

                         

Why should I write a review of a book I have read? Is it for the sake of all those who follow my blog, or is it for my own personal satisfaction? I think the answer is both. Every book creates an emotional bond with the reader because we spend quality time immersed in its pages. Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-Zi was with me for two months. I ‘read’ its 293 pages in multiple formats: as an audiobook, in print, and as an e-book on iBooks. I am writing this blog 20 minutes after finishing the book, for which I gave five stars on Goodreads.

Of course, I particularly enjoyed the last few chapters of the book. The audiobook version was simply marvelous. The narrator, Sarah Skaer, does a great job of transporting me to the world of Hakka cuisine, mochi soup, shrimp tempura, soba noodles and much more. Since the book contains so many references to Taiwanese culinary traditions and food items, it was wonderful to hear their original pronunciations. But the novel is not merely about the food of the island; it is also about the personalities of its two main characters. Sarah Skaer’s voice is still lingering in my mind. The subdued and submissive personality of Chi-chan contrasts sharply with the dominant and inquisitive personality of Aoyama-san, and Skaer brings both characters vividly to life through her narration. Apart from these two female characters, there is also a male character, Mashima-san, whose voice is handled with equal ease by the narrator.

As the two characters eat their way through Taiwan, the reader is presented with a culinary feast. Through Chi-chan and Aoyama-san, the novel brings to the forefront the differences between Mainlanders and Islanders. Aoyama-san’s realization that she had been maintaining a condescending attitude towards Chi-chan throughout the journey elucidates how power dynamics are very much a part of even the most intimate relationships.

The novel is also an ode to the great art of translation. Lin King provides a brief account of how the book was translated, offering insights into the journey of the text across languages and cultures.

I wonder why more Indian writers have not attempted to write novels about the wonderful culinary histories of the different states of India. I am sure there will be someone who will be inspired by this novel and attempt something similar soon. Abraham Verghese’s The Covenant of Water, for instance, celebrates the Syrian Christian culinary tradition, and some of the recipes mentioned in the book have even featured in vlogs and newspaper reports.

The ending of the novel, where the two characters sit in an old Taiwanese shop eating dried sunflower seeds, is beautifully written. Aoyama-san’s realization that her love of reading and writing had been with her since her school days—reading what she wanted to read and writing what she wanted to write—is particularly inspiring.

Creativity, Inc.: Lessons on Creativity, Teams and Leadership

Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace is not merely a book about Pixar. It is about creativity, leadership, teamwork, failure and creating an environment where people can do their best work.

 

The Importance of Honest Feedback

Hierarchical structures can prevent people from speaking honestly. When employees fear authority, problems often remain hidden. Pixar’s Notes Day created space for employees to identify problems, share concerns and find solutions. A good organisation needs a culture where pointing out a problem is seen as responsibility, not disloyalty.

 

Learning from Failure

Fear of failure often prevents people from trying new things. But creativity requires experimentation, and experimentation inevitably involves mistakes. The safest route is not always the most successful one. Mistakes should become opportunities for learning rather than reasons to stop experimenting.

 

Leaders Should Accept Their Limitations

Leaders do not have all the answers. They must be willing to acknowledge their shortcomings and listen to information that challenges their assumptions. Confirmation bias can make people accept only information that supports what they already believe. Good leadership therefore requires humility and openness.

 

Making Everyone Part of Excellence

Employees should feel that they are part of the organisation’s pursuit of excellence. Pixar’s founders’ passion for excellence became part of its culture. The experience of Toy Story 2 demonstrates how a difficult situation can become a collective lesson when everyone works towards the same goal.

 

A Great Team Matters

A great team can be more important than a great idea. Every creative product is the result of the hands and minds of many people. Different skills and perspectives allow people to complement and learn from one another. Creativity is often a collaborative process rather than the achievement of a single individual.

 

Trust Your Employees

Managers need to trust people who are experts in their work. Constant interference can affect morale and discourage initiative. Good managers provide support and guidance while allowing employees the freedom to use their expertise.

 

Learning to Recover

Things will go wrong in every organisation. A manager’s job is not to prevent every mistake but to help the team recover and learn from it. Pixar’s iterative approach encourages experimentation, reflection and improvement. Nobody is perfect, and organisations must create room for learning.

 

The Workplace Matters

The working environment can influence creativity and productivity. Employees should not be burdened by unnecessary hierarchy and seniority. Individuality should be appreciated, and people should feel that they have ownership of their workspace and their work.

 

Let People Create

The central lesson of Creativity, Inc. is that creativity cannot simply be demanded. It has to be supported by a culture of trust, openness, experimentation and teamwork. A good team needs freedom to function without unnecessary interference. Perhaps the most useful question is not “How can we make people more creative?” but “What are we doing that prevents people from being creative?”

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg – Book Review

The importance of Keystone Habits: Although achieving lasting change in life is difficult, it can be done by focusing on habits. As many as 40 per cent of the actions we perform each day are based on habit. Not all habits are equal; some, known as keystone habits, hold more significance because adhering to them produces positive effects that extend into other areas of life. Keystone habits can also aid individuals in making changes. Keystone habits function by offering small wins –early successes that are relatively easy to achieve. Developing a keystone habit fosters the belief that improvement is possible in other aspects of life, which can trigger a cascade of positive changes. That's why the golden rule for quitting any habit is not resisting the craving but redirecting it. 

The Power of Willpower: Willpower is the most critical keystone habit. One keystone habit you can easily adopt is to start each day by making your bed. Research has shown that this can increase your general well-being and productivity. An experiment involving kids and marshmallows found that those who had exhibited the most excellent willpower and waited had the best grades in school. Schools and colleges should design activities that will strengthen students' willpower. This can be known as a willpower workout. The lack of autonomy also negatively impacts willpower. When people act because they are ordered to rather than by choice, their willpower diminishes much quicker. 

Habits and Organisation: While working in an organisation, developing a few habits beyond the prescribed paths is essential. Under the surface, most organisations are battlegrounds on which individuals clamour for power and rewards. We should develop certain habits to keep the peace, which will help us mind our business. 

LATTE and Starbucks: Starbucks developed the LATTE method, which outlines steps to take in a stressful situation. By repeatedly practising this method, Starbucks baristas learn precisely what to do when a stressful situation arises, allowing them to remain calm. 

 L is Listening to the customer. 

A is Acknowledging their complaint. 

T is for Taking steps to resolve the problem. 

T is Thanking the customer, and, lastly, 

 E is Explaining why the issue occurred. 

Brain and Habits 

Maintaining habits occurs in the basal ganglia, a small neurological structure deep within the brain. Even if the rest of the brain is damaged, the basal ganglia can still function normally. Habits penetrate the human brain and psyche profoundly, influencing our lives in numerous ways. By learning how habits work, you can begin to utilise their power. 

What is Chunking? 

Transforming a series of actions into an automatic routine is known as “chunking,” and it is foundational to habit formation. “Chunking” is a concept from cognitive psychology that plays a decisive role in forming habits. It involves grouping individual pieces of information or actions into larger, more manageable units (chunks), making them easier to remember and execute.

Make Your Bed by Admiral William H. McRaven – Book Review

Something as simple as making your bed daily can significantly impact your quality of life. A tidy bed allows you to commence your day positively. Accomplishing your first-morning task is the most effective way to kickstart your day. 

Never evaluate someone by anything except their character. This principle also applies when deciding whether to trust a stranger blindly. 

U.S. Navy SEAL training includes various gruelling trials. One such test is the sugar cookie ritual, where trainees plunge into the Pacific Ocean and immediately roll in the hot beach sand. These exercises cultivate strength and resilience among SEALs. 

Another crucial lesson is the value of having trustworthy teammates. Everyone faces moments when they require support from someone who believes in them. You can't navigate life solely on your own. 

Embrace your failures, and don’t hesitate to take risks. Even setbacks can be advantageous with the right mindset. One effective way to learn from failure is by being open to risks. Be brave as you continue to chase your goals. Everyone has fears, but you shouldn’t allow them to hinder your progress. 

 Constantly strengthen those around you, offer support, and never give up. Remember that life is beautiful despite its painful chaos. Your choices shape life, and life will return the efforts you invest in it.

The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less by Richard Koch – Book Review

The 80-20 principle indicates that 80% of our desired results stem from only 20% of our activities. You can accomplish more with less effort by pinpointing what truly brings you joy and focusing on those elements. 

Many believe that putting in long hours boosts productivity; however, the 80-20 principle reveals that working fewer hours can lead to even greater success. For instance, a freelancer given a week to complete a project may procrastinate, while limiting himself to just one day encourages greater focus and efficiency. 

Embracing an 80-20 lifestyle requires prioritising key areas in both personal and professional spheres. Consider how to focus your efforts on these areas to maximize results with minimal input. It is essential to act, as progress is key. The concept of time often feels overwhelming. Time is a valuable and finite resource, making many feel they don't have enough hours to chase their passions.

Start by identifying your " “happiness islands"- the moments when you feel your happiest and when you're most creative or productive. Richard Adams illustrates this approach well. As a mid-level bureaucrat in the British civil service, he found his job dull and the working hours lengthy. Nevertheless, he cherished moments spent sharing stories with his daughters. By emphasising these joyful intervals, he ultimately turned them into his renowned book, Watership Down. 

Interestingly, 80% of our relationship satisfaction is derived from just 20% of our relationships. Focusing on vital connections, particularly with romantic partners, is essential to nurture a fulfilling life. 

Simplicity is at the heart of a good life, but what exactly defines such a life? This question has been pondered by philosophers for generations. One answer from the Greek philosopher Epicurus aligns with the 80-20 concept. He highlighted food, shelter, clothing, friendships, freedom, and the quest for knowledge as the fundamental aspects of a meaningful existence. Living with seven friends in a commune, they cultivated their food and rejected the pursuit of wealth, dedicating their time to writing and exchanging ideas. If you aspire to adopt a similar lifestyle, eliminate anything that does not enhance your happiness.

Book review - Extraordinary Delusions and the Madness of Popular Opinion

 

Charles Mackay's 'Extraordinary Delusions and the Madness of Popular Opinion' is a study of crowd psychology that remains relevant even in this post-truth age. The book is a classic example of debunking fake news and rumors. Initially published in 1841, it continues to serve as reference material. Kurt Vonnegut cites it in his novel Slaughterhouse-Five. 

The book primarily seeks to answer some fundamental questions such as: Why do people believe the unbelievable? Why do intelligent individuals believe in bizarre ideas? The author discusses Tulipomania, a phenomenon that captivated the Netherlands during the Dutch Golden Age, when contract prices for sure bulbs of the recently introduced and fashionable tulip soared to extraordinarily high levels. The significant increase began in 1634 and dramatically collapsed in February 1637. The same pattern applies to the collapse of the South Sea Shipping Company’s stock. It is noteworthy that Albert Einstein purchased shares in this company. According to the author, all mania follows a similar pattern: initial excitement fueled by greed leads to a cycle of good news, which encourages further buying, culminating in a crash. 

Essential questions are ignored, and the inner voice of caution is silenced. This also underpins modern pseudoscience. The more we wish something to be accurate, the less inclined we may be to accept reality or seek evidence. Alchemists claimed they could turn metal into gold, deceiving even royalty for money. False narratives can shape reality despite being untrue. The urban legend of the Slender Man serves as another example of how an internet sensation can tap into human fears and desires. These stories or rumors resist rational explanation. 

Witchcraft in Scotland resulted in the deaths of over 4,000 people between 1563 and 1736. People desperately sought someone to blame for failed crops, sick livestock, or dying children. Suspicion often fell on social outcasts such as elderly women living alone, healers using traditional remedies, or anyone who appeared different. Notably, even educated individuals supported these trials. Today, social contagions have spread from coffee houses to smartphones, but the underlying psychology remains unchanged.

Do What You Are - Book Review

Your personality can influence your work. Some people may enjoy it, while others might not appreciate the tasks assigned to them. Personality traits influence this reaction. Understanding personality can help you discover a job you enjoy. These are the main criteria for a personality test:

 1. Likes and dislikes 

 2. Behavioural tests 

 3. The way we interact with the world 

 4. The way we process information 

 5. Make decisions 

 6. Plan our lives 

According to the Myers -Briggs Personality Type Indicator (MBTI), there are 16 personality types. 

 1. Extroversion and Introversion – E & I 

 2. Sensing and Intuition – S & N 

 3. Thinking and Feeling - T & F 

 4. Judging and Perceiving – J & P 

The next step is determining your personality type: INFP, ESTJ, ENFJ, ESTP, ENTP, ISFP, or INTJ. 

There are four basic temperaments: 

 Traditionalists 

1. Sensing judges 

2. Early to Bed 

3. Early to Rise 

4. Order 

5. Stability 

6. Conformity 

 Experiencers 

1. Eat, Drink, and be Merry 

2. Adventurous 

3. Outgoing 

4. Impulsive 

5. Will make a difference in the world 

6. Courageous and Resourceful 

7. Change, adapt and take chances 

8. Sensing Experiences 

9. Good with tools and instruments 

Idealists 

1. Intuitive feelers 

2. Truthful to oneself 

3. Personal growth 

4. Gaining knowledge 

5. Authentic 

6. Integrity 

7. Pitfalls – Moody, Over-emotional, Poor at Handling Criticism and Artists 

Conceptualisers 

1. Be excellent in all things 

2. See great possibilities 

3. Agents of change 

4. Planning and Designing 

5. Innovative Solutions 

6. Pitfalls for individuals with this temperament are Arrogance, disregard for authority, and being too complex for others to understand 

7. Lack of interest in small things 

Applying this to a hospital scenario 

• Finance – Highly organised person – Traditionalist 

• Marketing and Planning Department – Future Minded person like a Conceptualizer 

• Director of Operations – Focus on Here & Now – Experiencer 

• Skills and Abilities are constantly changing 

• Career Path – What are you good at? / What are you interested in?

No Mud, No Lotus - Thich Nhat Hanh

The ideas are drawn from the book by Thich Nhat Hanh, a global spiritual leader, poet, and peace activist known for his impactful teachings and bestselling writings on mindfulness and peace. Pain is inevitable in life, but suffering is not. When life becomes complex, we often avoid confronting it; instead, we escape into distractions. Mindful presence can help us become more authentic and peaceful. We should refrain from falling into the trap of avoidance. The distractions we seek only provide temporary numbness to our problems. We are merely masking symptoms while the underlying injury continues to worsen. The more we escape, the greater the damage done. 

The author encourages the creation of 'bells of mindfulness' throughout the day. We must use these moments to engage in mindful activities. One suggested action is to inhale and exhale while placing a hand on your belly, allowing you to feel its rise and fall. This practice should be performed daily, whether you feel sad or happy. 

As mentioned before, pain is inevitable, but the choice to suffer rests with us. The Buddhist concept of 'two arrows' deepens our understanding of this. The first arrow signifies life's unavoidable pains: failure, loss, injury, and rejection. The second arrow is entirely self-inflicted. While you may experience a stumble because of the first arrow, the second arrow can make you experience a fall. It all depends on the narrative that we create for ourselves. Mindfulness can come to your aid in this situation. When you think only of the sting of the first arrow without dwelling on the second, you can recognise that you have cultivated a sustainable relationship with suffering. 

Another source of mental trauma is the comparison trap. Some of us may feel superior, while others feel inferior. Both attitudes stem from the belief that we must defend our identities. Today's victory may become tomorrow's forgotten memory, while today’s defeat transforms into next year's valuable lesson. Mindful walking is another technique to consider. This practice turns our everyday steps into moments of stillness. Walking and breathing (inhale and exhale) can seamlessly integrate into any environment.

A Wonderland of Words - A Review

 

Shashi Tharoor believes in the philosophy “Words are Power: Words are Magic.”  Chandran Tharoor, to whom the book is dedicated, is described as the ‘author’s author’. Tharoor, in the Introduction, talks about the two word games that were part of the family vacations - 'Scrabble' and the early version of the now famous game 'Wordle'  Tharoor defines his father as a 'milver', an individual who shares a strong interest in words with another person, particularly an interest in usage and wordplay. Most of the 101 essays in this book have appeared in the 'World of Words' column of the Dubai-based newspaper Khaleej Times. It is no wonder that some of the examples used are contextualised in the culture of the U.A.E. 

 

Sample this one:

 

"It's pretty safe bet that there won't be too many readers of the original version of this piece, which appeared in the Gulf newspaper, who suffer from ‘xerophobia’ - an abnormal fear of dryness and dry places such as deserts." 

 

Another one: 

"We don't have too many turkeys around either in India or the UAE, but we have the word, if not the bird." 

 

The book is well-researched, and even though the book ends on page 403, the Notes section extends to 442 pages. Every section has more than 50-60 references. Tharoor acknowledges the help rendered by Professor Sheeba Thattil, who did most of the research for this book. He describes her efforts as 'indefatigable' and ends the acknowledgement with these words. “In many ways, this book is as much to her credit as to mine."

 

According to her X profile, Professor Sheeba Thattil is a consultant copyeditor at Aleph Book Company, Delhi, a Professor of English, and a researcher. The excellent illustration before each section is by Priya Kurian, the Bengaluru-based illustrator and comics maker. I started following her on Instagram because of the beautiful cover and the charcoal illustrations she designed for Manu Pillai's "The Courtesan, the Mahatma & the Italian Brahmin." 

 

The book has thirteen sections covering topics like punctuation, spelling, literary tools, and language of inclusion. I plan to take up some of the book's topics for the next 100-day challenge. 

 

The book inspires me to take non-academic research more seriously. It always amazes me that a busy bee like Shashi Tharoor finds time to write books, deliver well-crafted lectures, and attend literary festivals. The same can be said of Manu S Pillai, who has written his latest book, "Gods, Guns, and Missionaries," which is more than 600 pages long. It is all about the time taken and the quality of research that makes the work great. 

 

Tharoor recently published three books about the power and magic of words. The first one, "Tharoorosaurus,” came out in 2020. The second book, published in 2023, is "The Less You Preach, the More You Learn," a collaboration with Joseph Zacharias. The latest book about the magical world of words is "A Wonderland of Words." As an English teacher, I welcome this shift in the content from arid and squally political topics to much more enriching and inspiring content.

Calm, the app and the book - Review

                                    

Today I would like to introduce the book ‘Calm’ as part of the ‘Books and Authors’ series @ RR. The author is Michael Acton Smith. It is a book which is based on the mobile app by the same name. We can roughly label it as a workbook for the ideas presented in the mobile app. The book (along with the app) is pitched for the sleep-deprived and stressed human beings. I remember posting a note in this blog long back about the significance of sleep in the modern world. 

https://premjithmathew.blogspot.com/2018/11/of-memory-dreams-and-sleep.html

Like Macbeth yearning for sleep, there are many sleep-deprived souls in our midst. How to sleep is only one area that is explored in the book. 

The innocent sleep, 

Sleep that knits up the ravelled sleeve of care, 

The death of each day's life, sore labour's bath, 

Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course, 

Chief nourisher in life's feast.

The book is part of a new self-help project which has a book, digital version of the book and the mobile app which contains audio clips and short videos. The book deals with mindfulness, relationships, workplace, happiness. The book begins with a beautiful quote - ‘Calm the mind and Change the World’. In the short introduction to the book, the creator talks about the need to develop a calm mindset for acting responsively rather than reactively. They say that attaining this state of calm is one of the greatest challenges of our times. The book is designed in the form of a journal in which the reader can add handwritten notes and jottings. The book heavily borrows from literature in terms of quotes from Wordsworth, William Shakespeare and even from music - George Harrison. If you are interested, you can check out the mobile app to experience 100 + guided meditations and life-changing master classes by world-renowned mindful experts like Pico Iyer and Elizabeth Gilbert. (The premium features are available only for subscribers)

Paulo Coelho - Inspirations - Book Review

I would like to introduce a book from the author of Alchemist which is a collection of selections from classical literature. The collections are arranged in four sections – water, earth air and fire. It is a collection of extracts from classic books that have inspired him. The works are as diverse as The Art of War, Lady Chatterley’s Lover and Frankenstein. Paulo Coelho talks about the way he received a book from his friend when he was getting ready to compile this book. The title of the book was 'The Book' by Jorge Luis Borges and it was written after Borges lost his vision. Coelho describes the style of writing in the book as conversational and he further adds that ‘the text had the fluidity and closeness of a talk’ Borges also describes the importance of the spoken word and how the ancients did not revere the book – the written word. They had this feeling that the written word ‘imprisoned the spirit’ of the oral teachings. 

Most of the great teachers of antiquity never wrote a single word. The teachings of Buddha, Pythagoras, Socrates or Lao Tzu were all oral. The sacred books in the written form became extensions of memory. The Ten Commandments was inscribed to make the human beings understand the divine stipulations. The written word enables us to remember and at the same time, it perpetuates the loss of memory. Just like Emerson who believed that a library was a magic cabinet and in books, we find the best demonstrations of the human spirit but to bring them to life we need to open the books and read them. Paulo Coelho is attempting to compel his readers to go to their magic cabinets and re-awaken their imagination. The collection or anthology has gems like the ‘Hymns to Agni, God of the Sacrifice’ - Rig Veda, from Bhagavad Gita, and Rabindranath Tagore’s selected poems – Brahma, Visnu and Siva. 

Robin Sharma - Daily Inspiration - Book Review

Continuing on my journey of introducing books from my personal collection, this week it will be self-help books. To start with the series, today I would like to introduce a small book by Robin Sharma which provides you with daily inspiration. The quotes are culled from the books in the Monk who sold his Ferrari series. For the sake of sampling, I am giving you the daily inspiration for February 10. I hope to add it as a regular feature in Morning Mantra series in the coming days. “If you really want to improve your outer world, whether this means your career, your relationships or your finances, you must first improve your inner world. The most effective way to do this is through the practice of continuous self-improvement. self-mastery is the DNA of life mastery. Greatness is an inside game.” Excerpt From: Robin Sharma. “Daily Inspiration from The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari.” Apple Books.

James Patterson - Along Came A Spider - Book Review

This week we have so far covered Japanese, Swedish, Malayalam crime fiction writers. Today we are looking at the American crime writing scene. The author is James Patterson and recently I read his book ‘Along Came a Spider’ which introduces us to the detective Alex Cross. The series based on Alex Cross has been running since the 1990s and is ongoing with the latest book which came out in 2019. What is so evident in the book is the life of Alex Cross who is an African American detective who has to face the social inequalities of the times. He is also a psychologist and a family man, and the novel can very well be termed as a psychological thriller. It is a mind game just like a game of chess. The events in the novel are based on a historical event which happened in the year 1932 when the infant son of Charles Lindberg was kidnapped and murdered. James Patterson has made it a point to make his detective humane. This is achieved through the interactions of Alex Cross with his grandmother and family. He is also close to his partner John Sampson. There is one line which is said by Alex Cross describing his long-standing friendship with Sampson. “Sampson knows me better than my own kids “The tribute he pays to his grandmother is also quite poignant - “She made a homicide detective, with a doctorate in psychology, who works and lives in the ghettos of Washington, D.C.”. The book was made into a movie and Morgan Freeman donned the part of detective Alex Cross.

Lajo Jose and Esther - Series Review

In today’s Books and Authors, I would like to introduce an author who is just 3 books old. He has already become a sensation in the world of Malayalam Crime Fiction. His name is Lajo Jose. I have read his first two novels - Coffee House and Hydrangea and I am listening to the third one ‘Ruthinte Lokam’ (The World of Ruth) using the Storytel app (Thanks to KLF20 delegate kit for the three-month free subscription) There are three reasons why I was attracted to these books. First one involves the childhood memory of reading the novels of Kottayam Pushpanath, Batton Bose and Ettamannur Sivakumar. These three are considered to be the doyens of Malayalam Crime fiction. They ruled the literary scene in the ’80s and ’90s. It is through them that I developed a flair for reading and also the passion of seeing places in the world. Kottayam Pushpanath wrote about the Egyptian Pyramids and Amazon forest and even Hitler’s bunker. So, when I heard that there is a new kid on the block writing like Kottayam Pushpanath, I immediately ordered the two books and I was even lucky enough to meet him in the Author’s lounge of KLF20. The second reason I love Lajo Jose is that he introduced a female detective Esther who worked as a journalist. She debuts in the first novel as a journalist who drawn into this case and later becomes a full-time investigator. She doesn’t have a companion only a friend Aparna who is also a journalist. Lajo Jose is different because he had the guts to introduce a female sleuth when the world of Crime Fiction is dominated by men. The third reason why I appreciate Lajo Jose is because he followed his passion to be a writer. He was working as an investment banker and he quit his job to become a full-time writer. He has found what he wants in his life and is diligently pursuing it. As I write this short note, Lajo Jose is working on his fourth novel in the Esther series. 

Henning Mankell - Wallander - Review

                                               

Inspector Wallander who is the sleuth in Henning Mankell’s novel is a casual being who doesn’t have the urgency or excitement of Holmes. He is prone to all sorts of human follies and foibles. A middle-aged and melancholic male detective who returns to his empty home every day. The home reminds him that he once had a family. “Every time he came home in the evening after a stressful and depressing workday, he was reminded that once upon a time he had lived there with a family. Now the furniture stared at him as if accusing him of desertion,” (The Troubled Man, 2009) In a way, the corruption and decay found in the hero is an echo for the corruption and decay of the society around him. The first novel which I read in the Wallander series was Sidetracked which was followed by Dogs of Liga and Faceless Killers. My fascination towards Swedish crime thrillers began with the Girl with Dragon Tattoo series by Stieg Larsson. When we read a series, we get so used to the characters and their life. We know the characters inside and out and it creates a kind of fascination. Maybe that’s the reason why Henning Mankell wrote nine novels which were all made into movies. The BBC series Wallander made the author famous in the English-speaking countries along with the translated works. This crime novel is about the deaths of three young Swedes and the death of Wallander’s colleague. 

The Devotion of Suspect X - Review

This week ‘Books and Authors’ will feature crime and mystery novels from my library. The first novel that I would like to discuss is ‘The Devotion of Suspect X’ by the Japanese author Keigo Higashino. I got introduced to this author 2 months ago through an old friend of mine from MCC. Keigo Higashino is known for his mystery novels. Most of his books have been turned into films and T.V series. He started writing novels while still working as an engineer at Nippon Denso company. The book that I am introducing today is the second highest-selling book in all Japan. It won the prestigious Naoki Prize for Best novel which is the Japanese equivalent of the National Book Award and the Man Booker Prize. The story involves a mathematician and his neighbours. The life of Ishigami, Yasuko and her daughter Misato get entangled in this novel. The reader also is treated to some valuable insights about Mathematics and Education. There is also the celebration of academic camaraderie between two mathematicians, Yukawa and Ishigami. There are references to mathematical geniuses like Arthur Cayley and Paul Erdos. There are some interesting insights based on the art of teaching and learning. Sample these lines – ‘Yet too many teachers refused to answer simple questions of relevance from their students. No, Ishigami thought, they probably aren’t able to answer them. They taught without really understanding their subjects, simply following a set curriculum, thinking only of coaxing a passing grade from the students so they could send them on their way to make room for next year’s flock. Questions like Morioka’s would have been nothing but an irritation to them’.

You can also trace the true ‘inspiration’ for the Malayalam movie ‘Drishyam’ which was later made in Tamil as ‘Papanasam’. This book inspired the Japanese director Hiroshi to make a movie titled – Suspect X which in turn inspired the Korean movie – The Perfect Number (2012) and since most Indian filmmakers watch Korean movies, Drishyam came out  in the year 2013 followed by Papanasam in 2015. 

Enigma - Hugh Sebag-Montefiore

Like a good book, a visually rich film mesmerizes the human mind for some days. The movie I am referring to is 1917 which I saw yesterday. Based on the WW1, the movie is a good ‘textbook’ for both history and literary lovers and is also technically perfect as the whole movie is composed of a single camera shot. Today’s Books and Authors present a book which is based on the Enigma machine which was used by the German navy to take out the English ships. The book is titled as Enigma - the battle for the code. The book delves deeper into the story of the Enigma machine and it will be an interesting read for individuals who are curious about the past. The book takes us beyond the scenes from the movie - Imitation Game which chronicled the life and times of Alan Turing. It is a commonly held belief that Alan Turing broke the code and saved hundreds of British U-boats and ships. The book tells us that the encoding the Enigma machine happened due to the sacrifice of ordinary British seamen who risked and sometimes lost their lives in the battle for the code. They are the ones who captured Enigma codebooks and manuals which led to the team at Bletchley Park to break the code. The capture of the Enigma spy, Hans Thilo Schmidt also was also an important step towards the cracking of the code. Bletchley Park is an important historical site and to quote from the website https://bletchleypark.org.uk. ‘Bletchley Park is a place of exceptional historical importance. It remains highly relevant to our lives today and for the future. It is the home of British codebreaking and a birthplace of modern information technology. It played a major role in World War Two, producing secret intelligence which had a direct and profound influence on the outcome of the conflict’.

Fluid by Ashish Jaiswal

A book for both educators and learners. It is based on ‘Vishnudharmottaram Puranam’. The book begins with the story of Malvina Reynolds. She, in her early fifties, attended the University of California, Berkeley to study music theory. The society always told her that she cannot go to the universities at the age of fifty. Malvina wrote on upholding the rights of women, equality against nuclear testing, protecting civil right, shopping wars and many such themes. In her seventies, Malvina was doing around 20 concerts a year ago and against the advice of many, she continued to perform until shortly before her brief illness and death. 

Malvina didn’t act as per the perceptions and myths of the world. Malvina was more than what she was taught to be. The book also has some interesting references. There is a reference to The Fountain Head by Ayn Rand and the character Howard Roark who refused to become a mere follower or ‘the second handlers – those who simply copy and do not have the courage to produce original designs. There is also reference to the Ramones and their song- It’s not my place (in the 9-5 world) - I took a 3 minute and 23 seconds break to listen to the song.  There is also reference to the spinning doctors to check whether you are a left-brained person or a left-brained person.

The literary reference to V.S Naipaul is quite interesting. He said that he would have become a better person if he had studied profoundly. The author, Ashish Jaiswal also talks about the life and times of scientist and novelist Charles Percy Snow who is the author of ‘The Two Cultures and Scientific Revolution’ – Snow had a very interesting lifestyle. In the morning he would interact with scientists and evening he will discuss ideas with a circle of friends. The book Fluid is all about challenging boundaries. The book contains stories of people who refused to jail themselves inside the boundaries of one or the other island. They built their own hypothetical boats and sailed in search of new knowledge. The author calls them – ‘fluid thinkers. These were adventurers, unafraid to weather the stormy oceans, which existed in the form of threats and mockery from those who remained stuck with their existing learning. These wanderers travelled from one island to another without a set path, without a map, without the fear of failure – learning freely, challenging the existing world views and eventually changing the course of human history. 

Jack Kerouac - On the Road - Book Review

 

The book contains a detailed introduction about the creation of this novel. Bob Dylan paid rich tributes to this novel when he said, “It changed my life like it changed everyone else’s”. The introduction is prepared by Ann Charters who started collecting books written by Beat writers when she was a graduate student at Columbia University. She was part of the audience which had gathered to listen to Allen Ginsberg when he gave the second public reading of ‘Howl’. After completing her doctorate, she worked with Jack Kerouac to compile his bibliography. She is the one who first wrote the biography of Jack Kerouac (pronounced as care-ooo-ack) The introduction begins with the description of Joyce Johnson and Kerouac waiting near a newsstand on the midnight of September 4^th, 1957 for the New York Times. Jack was informed that the review of his novel ‘On the Road’ will appear in that day’s newspaper. Standing under a street lamp, they read the review which described ‘On the Road’ as ‘an authentic work of art’ which is ‘beautifully executed’ and contains ‘the clearest and most important utterance’... ‘of the beat generation’. Jack Kerouac was described as the ‘principal avatar’ of the Beat generation. The ‘Village Voice Reviewer’ describes the book as ‘the rallying cry for the elusive spirit of rebellion of these times.’ The introduction continues to describe the way the novel was written. ‘On the Road’ is all about how Kerouac found ‘a personal voice’ and he was thirty-five years old when the novel was published. Just like Benyamin met Najib and wrote The Goat Days, Kerouac met Neal Cassady who is the inspiration for his character Dean Moriarty. The first version of the novel was a cheap imitation of the style of Theodore Dreiser. Kerouac wanted the novel to be a quest novel like Cerventes’s ‘Don Quixote’ and John Bunyan’s ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’. 

TRS Sharma - Reflections and Variations in The Mahabharata

 

The book is based on the papers read during the International seminar on the Mahabharata: tests, Contexts, readings held by Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi as parts of its Golden Jubilee celebrations. The book contains 24 essays and articles The Mahabharata is described as a leviathan of an epic which is three times the size of Iliad and Odyssey put together. The epic is not treated as history but as a literary work which contains various complementary and contradictory elements. The epic in its first stage of growth called ‘Jaya’ contained some 8000 or so verses and its second stage expanded to 24,000 stanzas. The third stage it grew into what we now have with nearly 100,000 stanzas. The book also explores how, Siva, Rama and Krishna have become not only Indian cultural icons but are also part of the Hindu collective imagination. Various rewritings of the epic in various Indian languages are also discussed. The re-readings of the epic in Bengali was done by Buddhadev Bose with his well-known version known as ‘Mahabharater Katha’. The two novelists in Malayalam who tried to re-write the epic are P.K Balakrishnan and M.T Vasudevan Nair. There are also essays/articles about the Konkani version and Kannada version of the epic. In Marathi, one prominent work of interpretation is ‘Astika’ by Sane Guruji. In Hindi, the play by Dharmavir Bharati titled Andha Yug presents a modern version of the epic. The Kannada novel ‘Parva’ by S.L. Bhyrappa, and ‘Grandmother’s Desires’ by Kumudini (Real Name: Ranganayaki Thatam) are also mentioned in the book.