2021 was a high-opportunity year with restricted activity thanks to a continuing pandemic. One began the year well but got distracted as it progressed. I managed to read more on Sports than I usually do. Could certainly have done better on History and Technology. This wasn't my best year on choosing novels. I did manage to cover some celebrated writers : Tolstoy, Jhumpa Lahiri and Coetzee but most works flattered to deceive. A couple of translations were brilliant.
My picks of the year:
Non Fiction:
The Master (Christopher Clarey)
The Piano Shop On The Left Bank (T E Carhart)
Fiction:
Disgrace (J M Coetzee)
There Is Gunpowder In The Air (Manoranjan Byapari)
The List:
Non Fiction:
- No Filter (Sarah Frier) : The story behind Instagram . Reads like most bay area stories. Starts well but loses its way largely by obsessing over pointless detail. Worth a read only if one has keen interest in startups. 6/10
- Harold Larwood (Duncan Hamilton) : Excellent biography of one of the best fast bowlers ever. "Bodyline" was a Australian TV series one watched when in school. This is an excellent account of that series from the other end of the lens. The pronounced social divide and its consequences on the working class sportsmen is captured articulately. 7/10
- How To Be A Dictator: (Frank Di Kotter) : Topical narrative around the personality cult in the twentieth century. Takes one through some of the more despotic leaders of the time. Slightly unidimensional. Given the personalities selected, the writer could have added a lot more colour. 6/10.
- Hot Seat (Jeffrey Immelt): this was a much awaited business biography in 2021. Largely flattered to deceive . Remarkably low on introspection or strategic perspective. 6/10
- The World For Sale (Javier Blas & Jack Farchy) : tells the story of little known commodities traders. Covers their modus operandi and significant (but low visibility) impact on geopolitics. Very well-written and highly recommended if one follows global trade. 8/10
- The Piano Shop On The Left Bank (T E Carhart): Memoirs of a piano-obsessed American writer courtesy a chance visit to an "atelier" in Paris. The writers personal journey largely via a strong bond with an expert repairman who also doubles up as a "music philospher". Myriad elements of piano making are narrated with romantic flourish. One also learns about moods of a piano and idiosyncracies of western composers. Highly engrossing. 8/10
- Killing Rommel (Steven Pressfield) : An anticlimactic description of the British Long Range Desert Group's failed attempt to hunt and kill Field Marshal Rommel aka "The Desert Fox". Offers little or no portraiture of the chivalrous military general. Comes short on promise. 5/10
- AI Superpowers (Kai-Fu Lee) : Cogently explains the AI big picture albeit with disproportionate best on China. Insightful perspective on the market-driven entrepreneurial spirit of the Chinese. Brings out the sharp contrast with the mission driven spirit that American institutions seek to be (or purport). 8/10
- Bjorn Borg And The Super Swedes (Matts Holm and Ulf Roosvald): Delves into history and background of the Swedish tennis system that churned many a superstar with assembly line frequency. Covers many idiosyncratic personalities who played in arguably the most colourful era of modern tennis 8/10
- The Tatas, Freddie Mercury And Other Bawas (Coomi Kapoor): Brilliant chronicle of the "sui generis" Parsi community who have impacted significant cross sections of society: industry, music, science, law, philanthropy etc. Has an optimal mix of history, perspective and anecdotes. Disproportionate focus on the Tatas but there is advance warning. 8/10
- The Master ((Christopher Clarey): an absolutely masterful biography of Roger Federer. Supremely balanced and very comprehensive. Covers his game, personal habits and philosophy in equal measure. A great tutorial for anyone seeking to understand the perspiration behind a seemingly effortless genius. 9/10
- Talking To Strangers (Malcolm Gladwell): a typical Gladwellian work . Cross-section of counter-intuitive data points stitched together with brilliant storytelling. 6/10
- Premonition (Michael Lewis): detailed research and racy writing on the exhaustive body of work in the American medical system toward pandemic control. The context doesnt begin with Covid but leads well into the disaster and its aftermath. 7/10
Fiction :
- The Death of Ivan Ilyich (Leo Tolstoy) : a dark short tale narrating the suffering of a judge in his final days. Morose and dark. 4/10
- Homeland Elegies (Ayad Akhtar) : Poignant autobiographical essay of a Pakistani American playwright. Deals with the impact of post 9/11 America on Muslims. The plot is avoidably convoluted. Apologies to Barrack Obama who seems to have rated this one way higher than I did. 6/10
- Whereabouts (Jhumpa Lahiri) : Reads like an autobiographical compilation of diary entries or blogs. One half reads like a travelogue while the other is largely psychobabble. The prose is effortless and languorous. 5/10
- There's Gunpowder In The Air (Manoranjan Byapari): Heart rending, incisive novel set in Naxal Bengal. A group of Naxals plotting a jail break to send an anti establishment message. Offers a thought provoking glimpse into the ethos of the (misplaced) movement. The author was a rickshaw puller who came into contact with naxals in prison. He was encouraged to take the pen by Mahasweta Devi. 7/10
- Home Fire (Kamila Shamsie): deals with the complex existence of Pakistani immigrants in London. The conflict between "blending in" and "retaining roots" that grips successful 2nd generation immigrants is brought out lucidly. 7/10
- The Bookshop (Penelope Fitzgerald) : An ageing, single lady decides to solve for the palpable absence of a bookshop in the fictitious British town of Hardborough. The municipality has all-conspiring naysayers, a smattering of literary nobility and opposed commercial interests masquerading as art patrons. The writer has an easy quaint style with periodic bursts of sophisticated humour. The novel has a damp tone and that isnt exactly up my street. 6/10
- A Week In December (Sebastian Faulks): a vivid , comprehensive portrait of London. Brings together very diverse characters and situations into a suspenseful and intriguing plot. 7/10
- Disgrace (J M Coetzee): This classic deserves all the literary acclaim it has received. Powerful portrait of apartheid from an unconventional viewpoint. Racial tensions, class dynamics and politics are smoothly interwoven. 7/10
- The Moon And Sixpence (Somerset Maugham) : A glimpse into Charles Strickland a middle-aged stockbroker who mysteriously abandons his family to pursue his artist ambitions. Maugham breathes life and soul into London and Paris of that era. The end is a bit morbid . 7/10
- The Lincoln Highway (Amor Towles) : the story of 3 juvenile convicts after their release. The narrative is set in Americana of the 50s and has occasional bits of the writer's trademark punch. Meanders a fair bit as seemingly needless characters get introduced with periodic frequency. The novel could have been much tighter. 6/10
- Cakes and Ale (Somerset Maugham) : a tongue-in-cheek take at London's literary elite. It is one of Maugham's most celebrated works. Alas, went completely over my head. 5/10
