My Reads: 2020

 As 2020 makes its way to the rear-view mirror, I share most people’s relief and hope that 2021 marks a return to brighter times. The virus ensured most of us stayed homebound for a large part of the year, often for months at a stretch. While many pursued new interests or rekindled old ones, I went through doing more of the same. The initial weeks of the lockdown  made for prolific reading. As the weeks went by, I experienced periodic bouts of “reader’s block” and could not do full justice to the opportunity that extended seclusion provides.

 

My list this year had a disproportionate share of Sports and World-War II (non-fiction and historical fiction) .  I discovered some brilliant new writers (Erik Larson, Kazuo Ishigoro, Mark Sullivan) and also revisited some of my old favourites (Rushdie, Amitav Ghosh, John le Carre).

 

My picks of the year:

 

Non Fiction : Fire in Babylon (Simon Lister)  

Fiction: Beneath a scarlet sky (Mark Sullivan)

 

 

Non-Fiction:

 

1. Good Economics for Hard Times (Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo): A data-rich body of work.  Helps observe a few thought provoking dimensions especially in developing economies. Reads more like an aggregate of research papers than a single volume publication. One or two central themes could have made it more cohesive. 6/10

 

2. The Cases that India Forgot (Chintan Chandrachud) : An excellent read for a non-lawyer with interest in legal affairs. Broken up into 4 sections- Politics, Gender, Religion and National Security. Shorn of much analysis or needless pontification. The evolution of constitutional interpretation is lucidly explained. 7/10

 

 

3. Narconomics (Tom Wainwright) : A very readable account of the world of narcotics with telling parallels and analogies with the corporate world. The author is a columnist for The Economist and one is treated to the trademark pithy style. I found a co-passenger on a flight reading this and was intrigued by the title. Decent google reviews helped and I ordered this one while taxiing. The initiative was well worth it. 8/10

 

4. Martin Luther King- A Life (Marshall Frady) : Early 2020 seemed like an opportune time to read up about the civil rights movement and leaders like Martin Luther King. Clearly inspired by Gandhi but without the unwavering execution ability. Had more defeats than victories and yet left a legacy that only grew exponentially post his death. The writer could have used less extravagant language. “Brobdingnagian” for instance isn’t a word I follow. (it means “gigantic” btw). 7/10

 

5. Fire in Babylon (Simon Lister) : An unputdownable account of West Indian cricket. Deals a lot with the Clive Lloyd era which was perhaps the most glorious phase of the nation’s cricketing journey. Fleshes out several key players, their struggles, value systems and idiosyncrasies. Captures the cavalier calypso spirit alongside the grit and toil required to be a champion side. The writer also captures the deep rooted impact of the colonial apparatus on the West Indian psyche. This is a must-read. 9/10

 

6. The Art of Thinking Clearly (Rolf Dobelli) This is a compilation of thinking errors that most of us make owing to biases and the power of habit. Compiles a bunch of widely publicized experiments on behavioural science to make his points. If one has read Taleb, Daniel Kahneman or Malcolm Gladwell, a lot will seem familiar. If not, this is a useful summary of their combined works. 6/10. 

 

7. A River in Darkness (Masaji Ishikawa): a  wretched tale of an impoverished Japanese family of Korean origin. Describes their woeful journey to North Korea and the tyrannical misery from there on. 2/10

 

8. Catch and Kill: (Ron Farrow): This is a journalists account of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual predation and the nefarious linkages between Hollywood and the media. 5/10

 

9. The Ride of a Lifetime: (Robert Iger): The memoirs of a hugely successful Disney CEO who rose through the ranks to achieve unparalleled success. Bill Gates put it on his list of highly recommended reads. First time I went wrong with something I picked from that list. Hugely prescriptive and largely self aggrandizing. 5/10

 

10. Commander-in-cheat (Rick Reilly): a shocking string of anecdotes describing Donald Trump’s “tricks” on a golf course. The celebrated writer from Sports Illustrated tries to draw comparisons between his golf course demeanour and business/presidential dealings. 6/10

 

11. The Splendid and the Vile (Erik Larson):  An account of Winston Churchill and his leadership during the German “blitz” in WWII. Exceptional courage, tactful diplomacy and masterful public communication ensured Britain endured the crisis and fought back. Brings out several interesting and endearing quirks in Churchill. 8/10

 

12. The Circuit (Rowan Ricardo Philips): a peek into 4 great tennis stars- Federer/Nadal/Djokovic/Murray. Their styles, strengths and the mental toughness to overcome their respective tribulations. Narrated via anecdotes and a blow by blow account of the crazy 2017 ATP tour. The writing is a bit flowery at times and the writer flits between tournaments a bit too often. Possesses exceptional technical understanding of the sport. 6/10

 

13. Three Days in Moscow: (Bret Baier) : Concise, informative account of Ronald Reagan’s presidency. The narrative primarily focuses on his dealing with the USSR, especially Gorbachev. Anecdotes are used effectively to give a peek into Reagan’s persona. 7/10

 

14. The India Way (S Jaishankar) : Incisive, sharply-written primer on foreign policy in a changing world order. The author has a remarkable strategic bent. Can convey deep, meaningful perspectives in crisp sentences. Mahabharata allegories add an interesting flavour. Scholarship quotient would have been much higher if written purely as a foreign policy expert. A BJP foreign minister makes unwarranted appearances a bit too often. 7/10

 

15. Never Too Big to Fail (Sandeep Hasurkar) : Comprehensive saga of the IL&FS blowup.  Reads like a white collar crime thriller at times. This is an effective tutorial on how not to run a financial services enterprise. The 2008 crisis inspired many great accounts from American writers with detailed analysis and lessons for future. This is a much needed serious body of work on events closer home. 8/10
16. The Commonwealth of Cricket (Ramachandra Guha) : a part-memoir narrated through a series of cleverly woven cricketing tales. From his alma mater(s) to now-forgotten Ranji Trophy games, the writer brings them all alive with some vivid writing. 7/10

 

 

Fiction:

 

1. Quichotte (Salman Rushdie): Deals with the story of an Indian origin salesman who works for his cousin. Transitions fuzzily between reality and fantasy. Rushdie, one of my all-time favouriteauthors seems to be on a steady, irreversible decline. The once smooth, evocative writing has made way for laborious, convoluted prose. The autobiographical obsession with Warden Road has worn painfully thin. 4/10

 

2. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck): a painfully morose and vivid account of post depressionAmerica. Deals with the tribulations of the Joad family as they painstakingly move from Oklahamato California in pursuit of that elusive pot of gold. The visuals are gripping but I struggled to make sense of the message. 5/10

 

3. The Remains of the Day (Kazuo Ishigoro) : a brilliantly written tale of Stevens , a butler with Lord Darlington. Deals with the all-important British concept of “dignity” from many dimensions. Skillful use of language and wit. 7/10

 

4. The Foreign Correspondent (Alan Furst): an espionage novel set in Paris. Revolves around an Italian journalist spying against the fascist forces during WWII.  Portrays inter-country dynamics between UK, Germany and Italy through the pen of a columnist. 6/10

 

5. Beneath a Scarlet Sky (Mark Sullivan): Unputdownable! The real life story of Pino Lella, a Milanese lad during the final years of WWII. Crossed over and got drafted with the Nazis . A curious tale of events led to his appointment as a driver to General Leyers, the point man in Italy for Adolf Hitler. And then unwinds a tale of adventure, macabre war sights, complex emotion and (an overdose of) tragedy. Young Pino gets to sit in as a translator for meetings with Mussolini and also eavesdrop on telephonic conversations with the Fuhrer. My read of the year. 9/10

 

6. An Agent Running in the Field (John le Carre): At age 89, the spy novel king hasn’t lost his touch at all. Her Majesty’s enemies now reflect on contemporary reality. Narrated with the trademark subtlety and wit. (Alas, the author died in December 2020)  7/10

 

7. A Burning (MeghaMajumdar): Debut novel by a highly talented writer. The central character is a young student living in the slums who gets inextricable linked to a terrorist attack. Draws a very authentic sketch of the Kolkata slum life. Characters are authentic and highly relatable. Elegantly framed sentences intermingle comfortably with “bonglish”. 6/10

 

8. A Long Night in Paris (DovAflon): a modern-day spy novel on Israeli counter-intelligence. Covers the complex control-and-command structure with all its skulduggery. The intrigue filled plot is set in Paris and Tel Aviv. 7/10

 

9. The Shadow Lines (Amitav Ghosh): an intricate web of memories that flit between Kolkata, London and Dhaka with smatterings of Delhi thrown in. Deals with some powerful perspectives albeit with a narrative that is at times cumbersome. The prose is spectacular. Sometimes a bit much. 7/10. 

 

10. Netherland (Joseph O’Neill): Tale of a Dutchbanker and Trinidadian wheeler-dealer brought together by the New York cricket club circuit . (You read that right!). Covers a labyrinth of relationships and unconnected insights. Very occasional moments of thought provoking brilliance. The landscape traverses between New York, London and The Hague with ease. 5/10
11. Three Hours in Paris (Carla Black): Hitler spent all of three hours in Paris throughout the German occupation of France. This was apparently due to an assassination attempt by an amateur American lady sniper who came terrifyingly close to success. This novel is a fictional account of that hypothetical event and the gripping hunt for an elusive shooter. 6/10

      

     

 

     Happy Reading!