Category: Books

  • Fortune’s Favorites (Masters of Rome #3)

    Colleen McCullough 

    The third book in Colleen McCullough’s “Masters of Rome” series, after “The First Man in Rome” and “The Grass Crown”, begins just a few years after the latter. Sulla gets back to Rome, the beauty of his early days giving way to a toothless self with a hideous wig and an addiction to wine, and true to character, wreaks terrible vengeance on his enemies – Young Marius, Cinna and Carbo- and becomes Dictator of Rome.

    The seeds of Rome’s Republic days were probably sown that early as Sulla changes laws that had persisted for years. But what he also aids is the rise of the two other “Fortune’s Favourites”. He gave enough room to Gnaeus Pompeius, who, very early in life gave himself the title Magnus and sought to play down the other moniker Kid Butcher, and was the wealthy provincial whose military machinations and continuous search for military glory finally made him senior consul without being a member of the Senate. Though not easily, Sulla also helps free Gaius Julius Caesar from the position of flamen Dialis, the yoke that a bitter Gaius Marius had hung on his neck before he died. And then, true to his promise, Sulla makes an exit, on his own terms.

    In this book, through the later years of Sulla, and the early years of Caesar and Pompey, the author brings to life the character of Rome and its citizens. The presence of other familiar characters like Cicero, Spartacus and Mithridates add to the excitement. With a few eventful campaigns, the author also gets to pace the book well, allowing the characters to build slowly. Pompey’s supreme confidence in his own abilities, his showiness, the ignominy he suffers at the hands of Sertorius, and his tantrums when things don’t work his way all give us a glimpse of his character, a stark contrast to the confident yet subtle-when-required Caesar, whose diplomatic and military coups at an early age showed that he was destined for greatness. The brilliance of Caesar’s mind is on display as he brings a truce between Crassus and Pompey, uses his aunt’s death to show Romans that he is indeed Gaius Marius’ true successor and explains how time was his greatest ally all point to him indeed being the “greatest prime mover of them all”

  • Chanakya’s Chant

    Ashwin Sanghi

    Ashwin Sanghi’s second book in the history-fiction genre after The Rozabal Line. The book follows two narratives, one 2300 years in the past – following the lives of Chanakya and his protege Chandragupta Maurya, drawing heavily from actual history, and the other, a modern day version of the same tale featuring fictional characters – Chandini Gupta and her mentor Pandit Gangasagar Mishra.

    Despite the similarities in the overall plot, the difference in characters and situations ensured that I didn’t have a constant feeling of deja vu. The author also manages to bring in the machinations and possibilities in modern day politics – the nexus between politicians, businessmen, media, the creation of vote banks, alliances of convenience etc, and weaves in contemporary political events into the story, thus adding to the interest. Though slightly predictable, the storytelling is racy enough to constantly make you wonder what happens next. Unlike The Rozabal Line, this plot might be relatively familiar to Indian readers, but the flip side is that you won’t be easily confused despite the huge list of characters.

    There are a couple of things that put me off in this book. One was the lack of nuance in the use of language in the two narratives. The words and expressions used in the ‘past’ narrative are contemporary in nature, and it was difficult to imagine a Chanakya use (for example) ‘bloody’ quite regularly. The other was the use of clichéd quotes and wordplay. To his credit, the author provides an exhaustive list of credits, but if you’ve heard them before, it is difficult to imagine its usage by the character. Many a time, they also seem very forced, seemingly creating elaborate but unnecessary conversations just so the quotes can be used by the character.

    All things considered, it is a decent read, and like it or hate it, you’re not likely to be bored.

  • Anthony and Cleopatra

    Colleen McCullough

    The seventh book of the Masters of Rome series. I have read the first three, but unfortunately skipped the three before this (just couldn’t find them at my regular places!) but the book thankfully works stand alone too.

    This book marks the transition of Rome from a republic to an empire with the principal character, despite the book title, being Octavian, heir to Caesar’s name and fortune, over the other hopeful Mark Antony.

    The book spans the period from 41-27 BC, beginning with the aftermath of the Battle of Philippi and the formation of the second triumvirate with Antony, Octavian and Lepidus. The uneasy alliance between Mark Antony and Octavian is short-lived as both long to be the sole power in Rome. (more…)

  • The Algebra of Infinite Justice

    Arundhati Roy

    For a few years now, I have heard everyone – from sections of media to people in my social stream call Arundhati Roy everything from a Naxalite lover to a development hater to a deranged person, the last instance during the happenings in Kashmir. In fact, these days whenever there’s an issue of national interest with a scope for polarised opinions, I find many people asking about her take, just so they can heap more ridicule. And though I have never really been a fan of her award winning work of fiction, I have admitted to myself, and to a few of my friends, that I have found it difficult to objectively fault her arguments. After reading this book, I have realised why it is easy to hate her – she holds up a mirror in front of us, the kind of mirror that tells us how our apathy and desire to follow the path of least resistance is responsible for the larger problems we see around us.

    And she does that not just in some moral high ground, philosophising sort of way. She does so with historical perspectives and economical contexts and most importantly, hard data. And therefore, it is not easy to ignore her when she talks about the Narmada Bachao Andolan, the costs of what we call progress and the greater common good, the background games played behind the ‘developmental’ activities we see around us, America’s war against terror, the beginnings of fascism in India and how all of these are linked. The writer in her is in full flow, using sarcasm and wit to telling effect, to (ironically) show the seriousness of the issue. There is something very vulnerable about her when she talks about her dislike for the ‘writer-activist’ label.

    So the next time, I hear something said against her, I am going to ask the person if he/she has read this book. They may not agree with her, but at least this will give them perspective and basis their interest, they can look for counter arguments. What I seek from them is exactly what I seek from myself – an acknowledgment of one’s own role in the issues of today and developing the strength to not look away.

  • Bombay Tiger

    Kamala Markandaya

    A posthumously published work authored by Kamala Markandaya, with an introduction written by Charles Larson that sensitively portrays the life and work of the author. Actually, that turns out to be a story in itself – about an author whose first work was acclaimed, but who was later found hunting for publishers, trying in vain to understand a literary world that seemed to have changed.

    The novel is set in the 80s in Bombay, with a self made industrialist as its protagonist. Much as the author uses him to hold together the story, and drives it forward through his relationships with different characters, she also switches the narrative consistently to show a side of the story from the perspective of these characters.

    Sometimes this causes a deviation, but the author manages to rein it in more often than not. Though she might have wanted her protagonist to epitomise the changing nature of the Bombay (or even Indian) business world, the story rarely explores that frontier and is happy discovering nuances in human relationships. That’s probably what harms the novel, because it vaguely promises a vast canvas but leaves many parts blank. It’s as though the author changed her mind after the first couple of chapters. But it has to be said that the quality of prose and the narrative switches ensure that the reader doesn’t tune out. Honestly, I was more touched by the introduction (the life of the author) and wished that the author had had more successes. Rest in peace, Kamala Markandaya.

    As a birthday present, I got featured in the Top 100 Book Related blogs to follow as well! 🙂 Scroll down to #55 (that happens to be a favourite number as well)

    Top 100 Book related blogs to follow

     

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