Federer

Chris Bowers, John Blake Publications Ltd, 2013

After having read through glowing reviews about this biography, here is my take on it:

What should a book about your greatest role model be like? It should be able to have you riveted to the anecdotes and to the words and ideas of the mind behind the force you are so dependent on. Chris Bowers fails to impress. With the book being divided into five parts, of which one of them is called “Nadal the nemesis”, I was put off. For someone who has followed Federer’s life with as much adoration as I did, having Nadal feature in a substantial part of the book was irritating, to say the least. While Federer won titles, and worked on excelling upon the perfection of his game, I would have loved to know how he dealt with life off court, at practice and with his role as being IC President and the UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and not only on how his matches against Nadal panned out; no thanks, I watched them Live.

It is unfortunate that Chris Bowers could not access more information. Indeed, this is a biography that has been written independently, as Federer turned down requests to contribute towards an authorised biography.

The good thing about the book is that it feels like an interesting article in a sports magazine. With quirky quotes picked from press conferences and sports magazines, the quilt made by Bowers about Roger is endearing. But, I’m willing to bet my last penny that Roger’s own account  will eb superb; especially those of his childhood, those days he spent blasting through opponents in the junior and the ATP level, when he courted the love of his life, when he injured himself, his work with Roger Federer Foundation and the epic battles at the Majors!

Being an ardent Roger Federer fan and someone who followed his career, I could keep up with the names thrown about in the book. Also, the book made me relive those days when I would scout the newspaper for an article and picture of him. Unfortunately, that is mostly all it does. It is neither earth shaking, nor quotable. This is a book for his fans. His fans will read it, and enjoy it while it lasts. I don’t see myself reading this one again. But I’ll keep it, simply because it probably is the best account of the tennis life of the man I have looked up to. I might even read it again, who knows; for, the title itself will make me.

Chris Bowers, if you’d chosen any other subject for a biography, you would not have sold.

Ebook friendly? I read the paperback. But the language is simple, so it should be okay.

3. Give it a read.

Book Review: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
It's been a long time since a book truly creeped me out (the last one was Crooked House by Agatha Christie) but this book had me glancing over my shoulder every few minutes. Hyperbole aside, here's my review.
The story opens with a scene that could be straight from a Nicholas Sparks novel: Amy Elliot Dunne, the 'girl' from the book's title, is making crepes for her husband on the morning of their 5th anniversary. By noon, she has vanished. When evidence of violence is found, suspicion falls squarely on her husband, Nick, who apparently has the looks, charm and calm demeanor of a killer.
Information is dealt to the reader in bits and pieces, and each new tidbit made me (in armchair detective mode) change my theories about the case. While this was gripping for most of the book, I lost my patience with a twist that happens three quarters of the way in (spoiler: the psycho ex boyfriend is- guess what? - psycho). The book ends in a sort of insane dynamic equilibrium that was, to me, very unsatisfying.
Coincidentally, a movie has been made based on this book, and it's releasing on October 10, 2014 (tomorrow!) in India. A Google search tells me that it has been directed by David Fincher, who previously helmed Se7en and Fight Club, which are two of the best psychological thrillers made in the recent past, in my opinion. This kind of adaptation seems to be his specialty and I'm sure he won't disappoint. Looking forward to this one!
Rating: 3.5/5
eBook friendly: This book is a bit on the long side, around 450 pages. Read the hard copy if you can.

Pulping non-fiction: "I dare you, I double dare you!"

Here's a book that has not been read, for reasons that you will know and probably fail to understand, like I did. This is us, at booktulead, voicing our problem with banning scholarly books. The book we are discussing here is The Hindus - An Alternative History.

Wendy Doniger, an American Indologist (someone who studies India), is a Professor of History of Religions since 1978 in the University of Chicago. Doniger’s book The Hindus – An Alternative History was published in 2009 by Viking/Penguin. It was received well, in India as well as America, by topping the bestseller list in the non-fiction category in the week of October 15^th, 2009 in the Hindustan Times [1].

Doniger’s work, like every other work that challenges the religious fabric of India, was soon met with ‘crusaders’ of the religion who filed a lawsuit in a dingy Indian district court. The Indian Penal Code outlaws acts that “intend to outrage religious beliefs.” This was the premise for filing the case. The plaintiff is one Mr. Dinanath Batra (a retired school teacher at the helm of Siksha Bachao Andolan Samiti [2], he is an RSS pracharak – a member of the Hindu fundamentalist group).

The Ban Man, as he is known, Dinanath Batra, has at his disposal the cadre of RSS. This very force of people have allegedly threatened books into being pulped and are responsible for reducing the space for well-informed debate on culture, tradition, Hinduism. Upon his decree – he sends out legal notices to publishing houses to inform them of the ‘hurtful’ books that they are publishing – books deemed unfit for an Indian audience are taken off shelves. It speaks volumes about the disturbing reluctance of the said publishing house and the supposed guardians of Hinduism (who want to inculcate its values into young children via, hold your breath, books. Books penned down by the all-knowing scholar Batra himself. I can’t wait to review one of them) to admit anything in a religion that was meant to espouse, well, everything.

The anger towards publishing the book came out in the sagely belief of being the custodians of the faith. Their authority is not questioned by anyone seeking to have a debate that goes beyond vandalism and the threat of having one’s publishing house suffer from physical damage. Writers and publishers have been here, seen this, and have chosen to withdraw their efforts to stimulate intellectual debate and to truly appreciate freedom of expression as promised by the Land. India is the land in which they have seen freedom being taken away more often than being practiced.

Doniger’s work looks at India’s tryst with Hinduism and she tells this tale by looking at the ‘alternate’ practitioners and beings of the faith, namely, women, untouchables and animals. The Hindu reviewed it when it was released, and it was one that appreciated the scholarly work that has gone into writing it, although it does criticise it for being a little over-indulgent when it came to anecdotes and for being a tad bit too American. [3]

The lawsuit was settled out of court and the case never saw the light of day; in effect, it did not give the writer an opportunity to defend her work. She knew she'd face trouble with, in getting published in India, due to which she even changed some of the text in the book. The out of court settlement also did not give an opportunity to the knowledge and opinion starved folk (the mighty guardians of the faith, indeed) to learn something more than a prayer song or two, or a dozen nationalist (not to mention, loosely worded and offensive) slogans. 

Here is an excerpt from the book, one which you and I cannot read, because alas, it is blasphemous work (gasp!) in the pure ether of India. The excerpt acts as the scholar’s closing statement quite well.

To the accusation that I cited a part of the Hindu textual tradition that one Hindu "had never heard of," my reply is: Yes!, and it’s my intention to go on doing just that. The parts of his own tradition that he objected to are embraced by many other Hindus and are, in any case, historically part of the record.

The  Hindus - An Alternative History is available online. It is educative, provocative and most importantly, it gives you a different perspective of the Hindu faith. This charade of asking for it to be banned garnered a bigger audience to the book, much to the fundamentalist group’s chief's chagrin, I hope. Readers in India were curious, and rightly so, when this book was deemed NSFIndianAudience. Don’t we have the ability to read, understand and debate? Don’t we have the right to do so? If only the penguin had more spine and didn’t have cold feet, it needn’t have gone south.

References:

[1] The Hindustan Times http://www.hindustantimes.com/lifestyle/books/top-authors-this-week/article1-465565.aspx

[2] http://deshkosh.org/S/Shiksha_Bachao_Andolan_Samiti.html

[3] The Hindu Centre http://www.thehinducentre.com/the-arena/article5779995.ece

The Fault in Our Stars

What started out as a sad story, took me through a smooth ride down the lane of the life of a girl who is brought up in the arms of cancer, and who falls in love with a boy she meets in her cancer support group. The sad story transforms itself, with hilarious parts and heart wrenching paragraphs that describe the pains and joys of being in love, and in the throes of cells that are taking her away from the life she is leading, with every second; into a love story, and ultimately, into a story of hope.

It may not match up to the shadow of a Dorian Gray, but what the heck, it is worth a mention in the halls of the best quotes ever. Take, for example, “I called it a nine because I was saving my ten.” It Is something she says when she’s talking about how broken she is, emotionally, that it supersedes the pain even cancer can give.

In the romance front, she is a beautiful girl and falls in love with a great guy. Both have their flaws, but their lives revolve so much around the disease they breathe, that it is hard to point out those flaws in one read.

Give it a read. If you like it, you will read again; if you don’t like it, well, shame. But last I checked, hope is a universal subject.

Four.

http://thefaultinourstarspdf.com/ Yes, e-book friendly.

...Because Alaska sounds so good

When my friend suggested that I read Looking for Alaska, I did not go tearing into a book store to buy one, as he expected me to do; instead I downloaded the e-book that this maniacal reader suggested, like the equally voracious book reader that I am, after reading which I vowed to buy a copy. Alaska is a girl who seems to live as though she were perpetually preparing for something life changing. She studies in Culver Creek Preparatory High School in Alabama where Miles Halter, the protagonist, joins to attend junior year – “...to seek a great perhaps.” 

He has a fetish for people's last words. Endearing in a morbid way, really, even to the other characters in the book.

Miles Halter makes friends, one of them being Alaska. As a fivesome, his friends and he pull off pranks- an annual tradition- at the school. The fun and frolic, with the smuggled alcohol and cigarettes, and the smart conversations they have around their 'coffee table', funnily enough, will resonate with teenagers and adults.

With extensive quotes from beautiful poems by great poets, in typical John Green fashion, the book keeps your curiosity alive, while it taps at your witty bone, with it not-so-parliamentary jokes and subtle humour. Looking for Alaska certainly shows you how and why John Green, the world historian and the charming writer can steal many a heart away with mere words.

Alaska steals your heart away. @John Green: Well done, with the character building.

I will leave you with what my friend said when I asked him for more such book recommendations “I just read it, I want it to sink in, it’ll take a while before I think about a next...”

Four and a half.

The Dystopian Novel

In a sudden burst of enthu-ness, yours truly will be reviewing three dystopian novels in a single post. Here we go.

The Hunger Games

by Suzanne Collins

This trilogy (yes, an actual trilogy!) is pretty popular right now, and was made into a movie as well. And for good reason. They're short, easy to read, and work on many levels. Action, 'cute' romance and sharp political commentary, they have it all. Don't miss the jibes at media, advertising, and popular fashion squeezed between the near death battles and starvation/torture.

Rating: 4                        e-book friendly: yes

*Whatname will review this again, later.

A Handmaid's Tale

by Margaret Atwood

This is a famous contemporary British novel. The story is very slow and not very gripping, but the thoughtful writing style makes up for all this book's shortcomings with respect to plot and pacing. Set in a dystopian future where women are no longer respected , the story follows Offred, the official 'mistress' of a high ranking official, as she begins to rebel against the oppressive and cruel society that took away her freedom.

Rating: 3                        e-book friendly: yes

A Clockwork Orange

by Anthony Burgess

The movie based on this book is a classic, and you can see why. The opening few pages will horrify you, but keep you hooked. Alex is a not-so-nice teenager, a juvenile delinquent in fact. Murder, assault, vandalism and rape are part of his daily routine. What happens when classical conditioning (an old psychological trick, remember Pavlov's dog?) is used to turn him off to the idea of violence? You get one of the most epic novels of all time.

One warning though: the narration uses a good amount of made-up slang, and it takes a bit of getting used to.

The novel gets its name from an old Cockney phrase, 'Queer as a clockwork orange', which refers to 'a queerness so extreme as to subvert nature'. 

Rating: 5                        e-book friendly: no

Other novels of this genre you should try: 1984 (classic!), The Giver, Fahrenheit 451.

State of Fear

Michael Crichton is known for his bizarre stories. Bizarre and blockbuster. Not to forget, superbly researched and gripping. State of Fear is built around the theory of global warming. It debates the threat that carbon-di-oxide emissions could have. The techno-thriller follows a rich philanthropist who invests heavily in a law suit filed against the State, demanding compensation and measures to check losses caused by global warming and to prepare for the expected bleak future. He strays when he detects the fishy doings of the law firm. His secretary, lawyer and a charming scientist follow suit. Soon they unravel the law firm's plot to terrorize the world in the name of global warming, to establish a State of Fear.

A three. Read it for the extensive research that has gone into writing the book.

Michael Crichton