Big Money - P.G. Wodehouse

Berry Conway and Lord Biskerton make for very different kind of Wodehouse heroes. While we are used to the suave and glb talking PSmith, and the helplessly dependent on the faculties of his buter, Bertie, these are very likeable guys whose characters are without a blemish.
The same can not be said about Berry Conway. Because playing an imposter of an officer of the law is a serious criminal offense. Though he had good reasons to play the part, but that does not excuse him of his felonies.

And Lord Biskerton, or Biscuit as he is called, is worse off. He is one of those money swindling characters who can never have a meal of their own sweat and toil. And he seems to have inherited that from his father!

There is a Patterson Frisby who is the miserly employer of Berry Conway, who is interested in a copper mine held by Conway. And he employs his aide, more of a sniveling, servile, yes man who performs any duty a rich man will ask him to perform to be in the rich man’s good books. But the yes-man, Hoke, gets his brain cells working and spots a money making opportunity of a lifetime in the mine.

And if you are thinking Big Money is only about the money, you are gravely mistaken. What would a Wodehouse book be if there was no love at first sight and angels singing romantic songs on their harps? There is an Ann Moon the girl who makes men weak in their knees wherever she goes, who Berry Conway loves like a dog loves his master. But she is engaged to the Biscuit and Conway is not a friend who can inflict misery on his pals. Biscuit and Ann came in contact through Biscuit’s aunt, Vera (somehow there are a great many Vera’s in Wodehouse books, possibly the only name he has ever repeated) who is playing chaperone to the American Ann in London. And Ann is also Frisby’s niece which brings Aunt Vera and Patterson quite close.
The fundamental problem however, remains that Berry has no dough and Biskerton is an impoverished Lord, and for their love tangles to be sorted they will need some lucre in good time. And the copper mine, while an asset is a dud hole in the ground, which Berry can not get a lot of cash for, but Frisby’s acute money making mind has some different plans with the “Dream come true”. Oh that’s the name of the mine.

And in resolving this problem come the hilarious tangles and misunderstandings and violence which will leave you with an aching tummy. This is one of Wodehouse’s best!

If - Neeru Nanda

I have always found short stories very appealing. And while I started writing them, a very naïve prejudice, that a short story is simple to write, has been rethought of. It is extremely difficult to build characters, show relationships and narrate a story.

Neeru Nanda, through various settings, achieves that end goal quite satisfyingly as a reader. But if you are the kind of a reader who likes reading a short story with a traditional framework of a beginning, a twist and a conclusion, then If might not be the book for you. Because while the stories are beautifully depicted, they are meant to touch your emotional sensibilities rather than introduce a problem and take it to a logical conclusion.

The writer explores different settings in her stories with the flair of an accomplished writer. You’d expect a debutant writer, to stick to his sphere and write stories on them. If I ever came out with a book, it would be difficult for me to write a story about a monk and do justice to the character and the story.

The writing is definitely that of an accomplished writer. A lazy writing style turns me off immediately and getting through the book feels like reading an essay of a twelve year old boy has written it simply out of the fear of a cane snapping on his knuckles if he didn’t write it.

If you are the more sensitive sorts, then you might run the risk of getting into a depression for some time going ahead since the stories in the book talk about solely the rough side of the protagonist’s lives. Some stories are hopeful, like Lonely, Not Dead, and The Ghost Writer. But those are all. The rest of the nine are so grim that they will rub away all silver linings you are capable of seeing.

The book is a quick read that you would get through in a 3-4 hour journey between cities or something. And the book will keep you entertained for the duration. On the other hand it is nothing too spectacular to rave about either.

The Girl in Blue - P.G. Wodehouse

I imagined The Girl in Blue, knowing Plum’s romantic side, to be that angel of his dreams conjured up in words. It turned out to be a miniature statue of some sort of an ancestor of a certain Will Scrope with enough money to waste on such cravings. Not that I was disappointed, since there were other pretty girls to take her place! And while one of them was Vera Upshaw, a devil in Prada so to speak, the other was an airhostess going by the name Jane, with her figure and her heart in the right place. Our protagonist, Jerry West, falls in love, and as always, in first sight, with the airhostess, but is deterred in making a move by the fact that he is engaged to be married to the former girl. Jerry, also happens to be the nephew of Will Scrope, and by extension, the poor Scrope brother, Crispin.

If only the cast stopped there. But it’s good that it doesn’t.

Tying all of them together is a kleptomaniac American woman, Barney and her rich lawyer brother Homer Pyle, who know Will Scrope. And they travel to England, the brother for a writer’s gathering, and the sister, to get away from the shopkeepers whose wares Barney might have inadvertently stolen.

And then, the pricey, or priceless if seen from the rich Scrope’s eyes, goes missing. And the ensemble gathers at the poor Scrope residence, which is a Mellingham hall, which is kept above the red financial line through the money doled out by guests who can acquire the status by paying a fee. And adding some spice to the story is the fact that Homer Pyle, like many other men before him, falls in instant love with the lovely Vera Upshaw. And while he has no greek God body to boast off, his financial muscle is considerable and enough of an incentive for girls to take him seriously. And then there are some other miscellaneous characters, like Vera’s mother, and a broker’s man posing as a butler, and a hefty policeman which bring as much delight in their limited roles as any of the other prominent members of the story.

This is a tale of treasure hunting, mystery, and as usual, love, both pure and adulterated.

So go ahead, find the Girl in Blue for Mr. Scrope. Two Hundred Pounds reward is up for grabs!

The Plot to Get Bill Gates - Gary Rivlin

There must be sundry books on Bill Gates. And most books on other Information Technology luminaries will have a mention of their tussle with him. Bill Gates is an extremely well marketed a commodity. Not that he needed much marketing with his tagline of ‘the richest man in the world’. But one of the four P’s of marketing, packaging, was a crucial element. And that is one of the things the author dwells in in one of the chapters.

The book, if you really go to see about it, is about the success of Microsoft, and Bill Gates, with a twist. It focuses on the adversaries and builds the identity of hero by describing the foes he fought. And while it is up to the reader to decide this, but I genuinely felt that it wasn’t a book written with the Microsoft agenda at the back of the mind. Or it could have been the part of Bill Gates ver 4 that the author talks about. You never know.

The book starts at 1994 with ‘The Agenda’ an annual technological event which attracts the who’s who of the technology world, and where Bill Gates is a constant celebrity despite the power quotient of the attendees. From there the book goes back to the genesis of Microsoft and the a rapid coverage of Microsoft’s ascendance in the industry. Again, the spotlight is not on Microsoft as much as on the competition of IBM and Digital Research and Novell and the rest of them, which gives a fresh perspective to the battles of the bytes. Maybe it would have been more fun if the duel between Microsoft and Apple had been brought out better. But it probably wasn’t as much of a duel as Apple as a corporation and its cult followers believe it to be.

The second phase of the book is about the race in the internet-world where Microsoft was a late starter. Scott McNealy of Sun, Larry Ellison of Oracle and Marc Andreesson of Netscape were the primary enemies with their Java, NC (Network Computer) and Netscape browser. Again, the book livens up with the flamboyant lifestyle of Ellison, the raw aggressiveness of McNealy, and the arrogance of folks at Netscape as Microsoft bulldozes through the competitors.

The last section is an acknowledgement of the sheer dominance of Microsoft in the industry, a detailed write up on the anti-trust suit against Microsoft, and an actual Anti-Bill fund set up by his competitors. Well, it was actually called the Java Fund, but thwarting Bill Gates was the whole point of it!

The book is fascinatingly entertaining, as it narrates the anecdotes and the interviews. Anyone with a flair for business and interest in the computer world will surely love the book. Having been published in 2000, maybe it’s lost a lot of its relevance in 2009, but it sure would have made a great read the year it was published. Not that I regretted reading the book, but it does feel a bit incomplete to read a book which talks about Operating Systems, and internet and leaves out Google. A question of timing I suppose. But that does not make this book, considering the subject it was written on, any lesser a read. I would rate it highly, if not for its recentness, then for its historical perspective. (20 years back is almost dinosaur age in the hi-tech)

Lastly, the book is not all about gushing praise for Bill Gates. And Gary Rivlin doesn’t mince words when he paints a portrait of Bill Gates from Microsoft Co-founder to the Chief Software Architect of his company. And neither is the author overly critical of the business ambition that drove Bill Gates to be what he ended up being. The quote that the books opens with, says it all. And it was a delightful read throughout.