The Far Pavilions by Kaye, M.M.

Nothing short of a 5/5 to this legendary story, a proper story from start to finish written without any rush, doing a full justice to the particular time and space. There are multiple novels written into this panoramic mega novel. I had the option of watching an adaption on Youtube, reading the novel of listening to an audio version. I went for the audio version and never regretted the experience. I loved Kaye's attention to detail, whether depicting the inside and intrigues of a place life or the cantonment atmosphere. As English, I didn't doubt her expertise on the cantonment life but was amazed about her insight into the Indian court life of the time, of which there is little written anywhere.
For me this novel has raised questions about my own identity, and invoked a strong desire to discover my own kingdom. I am also filled with hope and imbued with a strong notion of striving in good faith. the main positive theme of this magnificent story is constant striving and hoping for the best.

Going south by Larry Elliot and Dan Atkinson

Economists write for specialists, not ordinary lay people like me :( anyway these two did a pretty good job on keeping a number of analogies like football clubs and example of other countries that have done it. One thing is clear, a lot of factors they have picked out are pretty relevant. But it's difficult to see who and how the change will come along this very habit pronged country. Britain has to resort to protectionism in order to compete with the other string economies of the world. Can they do it, remains to be seen.

Basti by Intizar Husain

Man suffers due to three things; a disloyal wife, an over demanding brother, and education gained without any experience. Likewise, any land also suffers from three ailments; the upstart and undeserving achieving rank, intellectuals becoming materialist, and cruel despot kings.
Batin ka gham, siraf sharab hi mita sakti hei. Only wine can assuage the pain of the unknown.

The novel is filled with symbology and analogies, some are brilliant and some were confusing. But I loved the common man view of great events like the Partition and 1971 Partition of Bangladesh and Pakistan. This story has raised an important question about the effects of Partition in a Punjab and Bengal, as really these were the only two very large provinces to be divided in 1947. Years following the bloody partition have had very similar effects on their characters. Their have been wars of succession in Pakistani Bengal and Indian Punjab, effectively reliving the Partition again. This madness has to stop, at some stage as cultures of the severed provinces are exactly the same.

Anyway, I think that this novel should be part of the text books in Pakistan at least, so that the next generation can reflect back with good light.

The Alchemy of desire by Tarun Tejpal

Did I become any wiser after reading this wondrous and captivating novel? Desire and monotony do not go together. Desire has to be followed for life to feel fulfilled. That is in the hope that life may be fulfilled. I loved all the characters in this book , each eccentric and special in their own rank, each following their hearts desire in their unique manner. The best bit for me was that I peaked and deflated along with the story, as initially I was captivated by the sexual depictions but by the end I also grew wary of the excessive sex on offer. I also loved the depiction of religion, race, politics and class by Tarun as here is where he is best in my humble opinion. Hats off to another masterpiece by the Indian Dickons....

Aesop's Fables by Aesop

This is a good book filled with timeless platitudes which makes a pretty insightful reading. Only problem is that I seem to have enough with these cliches. I found it interesting though how from time immemorial, man has been infatuated with animals as almost all of the fables have animals featured. This animal to man relationship has drastically altered in the current age of communications where almost no interaction is witnessed, apart from the little contact between pets and people. Wonder how a new version of these fables will read?

Dresden, a survivor's story by Victor Gregg

I have never read a such a tiny book filled with so much real life war drama. the author cites his chief reasons for writing this book,' The only reason for keeping this atrocity in the public eye is to horrify people so much that they never again allow their representatives to order such crimes. there is no excuse for the men who ordered this terrible event to be carried out.'

I would another subtext to the above, 'and once these representatives finish their allocated tenures, they should be tried for any contentious decisions so that their backers can learn lessons for the next time they go about choosing their representatives.'

Why was Dresden attacked when it was abundantly clear that the Germans were losing?  
Why were civilians continued to be targeted indiscriminately by the Allies? If we are to argue that the results of the Great Wars followed by subsequent wars have seen the emergence of so called cleaner wars using 'smarter' bombs than I would counter that maybe the smarter bomb are instead a result of technological advantages made in the defense industry rather than any specific requirement set out by Government leaderships. Most leaderships will still continue to use what ever agents of force within their grasp, as portrayed by the Iran-Iraq ten year old war.

Man is basically an animal trained by the government to fight for its own policy enforcement. Like the author says, 'My mind was conditioned by military life to accept that killing your fellow man was normal.' Food for thought???

The Gabriel Club by Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya

'The only weapons we have are time, ingenuity and patience, he'd said; they have everything else. We live inside their cage, the bars are invisible, they hold the keys to all gates. But time is a powerful antidote to oppression, and out ingenuity more than matches theirs. We know how to play their game, we know when to take advantage of them and when to draw back, and we can keep them constantly guessing. The joker in the pack is patience, that is the rogue that will determine who wins out in the end.' Sounds just like my workplace to me at least?

A Crossing or the Drop`s History by Anatoliy Obraztsov

Let me save you the trouble of wasting your time with this book. The drop is semen and corridors are crisscrossed just like the Christian cross. The book is trying to justify Christian symbols with scientific ones in a very apologetic manner. I have developed quite a lot of angst for such books as they are not really giving me anything new. What the religious have to understand is that their time is no more. They have had their chance, they have done their bit, and they have been superseded by newer narrative and laws. Law is a law however you may choose to define it. What is the value in justifying demons and angels. The book started to give me a headache even from the first page.

Metamorphoses by Franz Kafka

It's a longish story about exactly what it says, metamorphosis. It presents a pretty grim view of human kind with close family moving away after the protagonist suddenly transforms into an insect. The story somehow reminded me of death, and how family cope with dear departed. Slowly over a period of time life returns to normality as the living slowly fill gapes left by the departed. Frankly I did not find this particular story so stimulating. I also noticed that there was no mention of any faith, which may explain Gregory's predicament. Faith can prove to be a great check in times of great depression. Wonder why Kafka missed throwing faith in the mix?

Tune in Tokyo: The Gaijin Diaries by Tim Anderson

I have listened to an audible version of this book and found it very very absorbing and interesting indeed. The book is written by a very proud and very American gay Tim Anderson, and that for me made the narration rich, funny and captivating. The book in every way is able to easily achieve its objective by selling Tokyo as a vibrant city full of inconstantcies  with the American culture it tries and copies. The book reads like a diary and a travelogue at times going through the authors time spent teaching English to the Japanese people. There are chapters about food, partying, hospitality, karaoke, relationships nicely juxtaposed with similar experiences with the American culture. The narrative comes out very sincere and left a warm after glow. I certainly managed to acquire quite a bit of respect for the gay writer after this listening.

The age of absurdity by Michael Foley

This is my second reading of this great critique of modernity. I love the line and breadth of the extensive critique on offer in this book, ranging from love to corporate cultures. Where the narrative drifts is the author's insistence on value of detachment in this very open and crowded modern life of ours. If detachment was so important to human survival than why has its use receded? For I believe that Human beings are only looking to survive in this world in the best possible manner and evolution dictates their individual and commutative behaviours. My other critique on this piece of critique is that the author is an academic, and thus by definition has to rely on second hand bookish pursuit of knowledge which for me is second best to experience I am afraid. Nevertheless the critique is well presented and articulated.