Survival of The Sickest - Dr. Sharon Moalem with Jonathan Prince

The first impression of “Survival of the Sickest” is that it’s a book that elucidates the positives of the diseases that ail the mankind. But the book really is about how our body works at a macro level of cells and enzymes (really, that is macro in the context of the book) and a micro level of the very basic genes that make us who we are.

The book traces the origins of certain diseases like diabetes, and why should such conditions be genetic in nature when evolution tells us that the genetic weaknesses of an organism should get eradicated over generations. Some of the theories are proven and accepted by the medical community. Some are not. Regardless, it still teaches a lay reader a lot about how the body works.

Subsequently, the book transcends to genetics with only a remote relevance to the premise proposed in the opening chapters. However this does not make the book a least bit boring, or uninformative. The language is lucid, and medical jargons are used as sparingly as possible. And when it is used, sufficient explanation is provided to ensure the reader does not feel lost.

In the end, the purpose of the book is to educate. It does not mean that having that knowledge will enable us to take steps to correct some flaws or avoid passing them on to our children. But it at least helps us be aware of how our body works, which is really the essence of the book, and helps us be prepared in the wake of a sickness. You still will have to go to a doctor if you fall ill. But if you are one of those people who are paranoid about the multitude of things that can go wrong with the body, reading this book will help you realize the incredible mechanism by which your body ensures that you are fighting fit as far as possible.

Had this been a larger volume, it would have been difficult to digest all the information. As it is, retention levels of details for such books are low. Therefore, the 200 odd pages of the book just about strike the balance between leaving the reader with a strong message by retaining his focus and concentration, and leaving the details which while would have been good to read, would not have added too much value for the casual readers.

As it is, this book ranks high in my list of recommendations.

SLAM - Nick Hornby

Sam is a regular teenager, with a talent for Skateboarding. And SLAM is his story, told by him. And if you think about it, the story is perhaps not that monumental in itself. He gets a girlfriend. Gets her pregnant, ‘accidentally’. And his girlfriend, Alicia, decides to keep the baby. Disturbing? A little, perhaps. Disrupting for Sam? Definitely. But is it really that extraordinary? Maybe not. Maybe not even if you consider Sam’s weird time travel. I say weird time-travel, because this is not comic-book stuff save-the-world-time-travel. It’s just Sam going into the future through some unexplained force, seeing what it’s going to be like, and then returning back to present. And all this is completely out of his control, and happens pretty much on a whim. Yes, this angle does introduce a bit of scope for drama, but Nick Hornby uses it more as a story telling mechanism than for dramatic effect.

Yet, SLAM is one of the most outstanding fictional stories I have read. It is easy to stereotype teenagers and write about them. But Nick Hornby manages to go much deeper… deep into the skin and soul of Sam as he narrates his story in the book in first person. There’s no single thing which is very moving or life-changing. But the narrative takes you with the flow and you truly enjoy the ride. Sam’s interactions with his mother, his girlfriend, his girlfriend’s parents and his friends are well described. It’s hard for a writer to keep the atmosphere real. Inadvertently he will slip into poetic imagery or needless suspense or irritating cockiness. Keeping it real adds a lot of charm to a story. That’s perhaps why I love Dick Francis books so much. And that is why I am increasingly liking Nick Hornby’s books as well.

But then, while Dick Francis’ books will have a proper conclusion of whatever mystery or adventure the protagonist is involved in, Nick Hornby’s books since they are mostly about normal people like you and me (no horse racing world shattering scams here) the ending, in the vein of being real, could be a little boring. But then, SLAM was never about the ending or a edge-of-the-seat climax. It was about a young boy’s journey. And it makes for a very engaging read. It’s just hard to explain the quality of the narrative, or the dryness of the humour which makes you latch on to the book. Highly recommended, is all I can say.

Millenium Series - Stieg Larsson

This very popular fiction series, are the translated works of Stieg Larsson, published posthumously. The orginial books were in Swedish. It comprises of three hefty books – The girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. Honestly, I would have switched the names of the 2^nd and 3^rd book. All the playing with the hornet’s nest actually happens in the second book if you ask me.

The books tell about a complicated journey of Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander. Blokvist is an investigative journalist at Millenium, a monthly known for its ruthless scrutiny of the sundry things in the Swedish economy. Lisbeth Salander on the other hand is social retard, and a certified punk. At the outset, interesting characters to tie up as lead protagonists. It builds up into a rather fantastic series of novels, where the greatness is not really in the epic story arc, or brilliant characters, but in the narration itself which really respects a readers intellect and does not feed her unnecessary poetic flourishes, or silly twists and suspense, or u-turns of character traits, and the other sundry tools that writers resort to for “interesting” writing.

The first book – The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo – is a straightforward who-dun-it. While it’s a complete book in itself, I strongly suggest that you do not read only this book and stop. There is a reason I am reviewing the series and not individual books. In the first book, we just about start knowing Mikael, Lisbeth, and other lead characters in the novel. Whether it’s the translation or the style of Larsson himself, we will never know, but the writing is extremely crisp, purposeful and all about the story. As a reader, that’s what I like. The story itself is logical with no plot-holes that I could identify, and no meaningless twist ending. The book, in short, gets the job done. We are introduced to the case where a young girl, Harriet Vagner, has gone missing some 40 years ago. Her grandfather has been trying to locate her, trying to find out if she is dead or alive for all this while. As a last ditch effort, he hires Mikael to do some extra investigation. Get an outsider’s opinion, so to speak. Of course the case gets solved. One would imagine that the author would have a tough time stringing together a reasonably realistic story where a 40 year old case which wasn’t solved by the police force and a very rich man with numerous resources happens to be solved by, of all people, a journalist. Let me allay those concerns. The story is extremely sensible. The threads which lead to Mikael solving the case, and which were earlier missed by everyone else are believable and rational. There’s the matter of Lisbeth Salander as well. She, while classified as socially inept, is good at “researching”. She is good with computers, and lands up alongside Blomkvist on the Harriet Wagner case. For how central she is in the series, she plays, at best, a peripheral role in the first book. In fact the first “story” is not really related much to the second and third books apart from the fact that we get to understand the Blomkvist-Salander association. Consider the first book as a huge backstory to the second and third books, while being a story in itself. Apart from that, Lisbeth’s own backstory is dwelt in significant detail in the first book. It doesn’t have much to do with what’s happening in the first book. As a reader, you will be a little flummoxed with all the details. All that turns out to be central in the 2^nd and 3^rd books. Lisbeth Salander is shown to be declared as “socially incompetent” and is therefore mandatorily supposed to have a state appointed “Guardian” who is responsible for her life decisions. Salander had a “good” Guardian, one who understood the underlying reasons for her rebellious streak and knew how to manage it. But he has a stroke and is replaced with a guardian who prefers raping his charges instead of guarding them. He discovers, as do we the readers, Salander is not the one to be messed with. On to the next book.

The Girl Who Played With Fire – Here the proverbial plot thickens. A whole lot of unrelated things – Girl trafficking, biker clubs, national security police, journalists, international boxers, and ofcourse Blomkvist and Slander are thrown in the ring and everything is tied together with a coherent thread. Not an easy task that. We discover how the whole “Guardian” business of the first book is important. It’s difficult to not give away spoilers, but Millenium, the monthly Blomkvist works for, has latched onto a story of Girl Trafficking. They are about to run an expose, when the journalist who was working on the story gets shot. Salander turns out to be the lead suspect. Again, it’s not some ridiculous twist which exculpates Salander of her charges. It’s made amply clear from the beginning that she is not the guilty one. So really, it’s not a spoiler. Salander, now a fugitive, goes underground. In fact, Blomkvist and Salander meet only twice in the whole book. Details about Salander’s past coming hurtling out. What begins as an attempt to thwart a journalist, rapidly becomes an unlikely story of revenge. Salander, for the jerk she is, gets a lot of help without ever asking for it. The loyalty she commands from very bizarre corners is strange, but at the same time, absolutely believable. That is a sign of good writing. Turns out Lisbeth’s jack-ass guardian was her guardian not by coincidence. The national security police, or CBI or NSA equivalent of Sweden administered the move. Not that the guardian knew it. Neither did Salander. But it becomes a royal mess by the time the book ends… with a bullet lodged in Salander’s head.

The third book is all Blomkvist. Salander is mostly in a hospital bed. She plays her part from there. But it’s Blomkvist who carefully orchestrates a guerilla war on the security police. It doesn’t take a Jason Bourne to go rogue and live to tell the tale. Mikael shows how it’s done in a very (I cannot stress enough on this word) believable manner. This book is pure brilliance in storytelling. The main villain of the first book, Zala, is in cahoots with the security police, or rather, a small section within security police. The only way this Section can get away with violating Salander in countless ways since she was 13, is by violating her some more and ensuring she is incriminated in a whole list of murder charges, and qualified as a danger to society. Lisbeth’s only hope is to rely on Blomkvist. The case strapped on Salander is mightily complex. The only way to get Salander acquitted is to prove the wrong-doings of the Section. Filtering away all the accoutrements, that’s the simplicity of the plot.

So what do I think of the overall series. In four words, it’s one helluva ride. Salander, or Blomkvist might not be Dorothy and Potter who will stand the test of time. But they are very well written, and intelligently casted. They are very real. Their thoughts are their thoughts, and their individuality is striking. It’s rare for a book to have 2 protagnists who hardly meet. In that situation, it’s even more difficult to make a reader care for both the protagonists. But Blomkvist achieves that. The stories themselves, especially the 2^nd and 3^rd books are immensely complex in a single, unbroken chain. Unlike most suspense-thrillers where bits and pieces of thrill is added to make a sum-total of a plot. Once you have read through the series… you realize that it’s perfect and you wouldn’t change a thing. It takes a lot of reading to get there for sure. But believe me, it is interesting as hell. Heaven forbid, if you ever pick up reading the book at 11 in the night… doesn’t matter which part., you are going to be awake for a long time.

Shane Warne: Portrait of a Flawed Genius - Simon Wilde

When you think cricket, and think of some names – you might think of several – Shane Warne is likely to be one of them. Shane Warne has given Cricket one of it’s finest moments with his “ball of the century”, which by no means is the only good delivery, or perhaps not even the best delivery that he has bowled. But it is a legendary moment nonetheless.

There are several cricketers who have penned their autobiographies, or have biographies written on them. But few would appeal to me as much as Shane Warne’s. For both the right and the wrong reasons! Shane Warne is of course a fantastic cricketer. The best ever leg spinner perhaps. And then, he is also the bad boy with respect to his flings, alleged drug intake for which he was banned from International Cricket, and then his bookie contacts which again led him to troubles. One way or the other, he is one of those, love them or hate them but can’t ignore them characters.

Shane Warne is one of those happy go lucky guys who goes all out in the spirit of being happy go lucky. Perhaps that is the greatest flaw that he had. Drawing a line. But then, what would Shane Warne be if he started drawing lines. Would he have reached 600+ test wickets if he had? How much of a rebel streak that he had enabled him to achieve that in the first place. And how much of that streak was an excess? Guess there is no way to find out.

The biography charts out his career, and his personal life along with it with satisfactory details. A good thing is that the author does not present it like a history book or a Wikipedia entry. The book therefore is an entertaining read, providing glimpses into Shane Warne’s life, that one might not have otherwise. Another highlight of the book is that that author does not choose to harp either on the flaws part of the title, or the genius part. Facts and inferences are presented as they bear out. The lack of bias is refreshing. If one wanted a biased opinion, the book might as well have been a collection of tabloid articles on Shane Warne’s life. The author does a fair, balanced job of presenting Shane Warne’s life to us.

I wish that the book was written post-IPL first season, where Shane Warne shepherded his team to a victory – a brilliant feat considering that everyone had written them off for the kind of team Shane Warne had with Rajasthan Royals. That one tournament gave a fresh air to a fiery discussion about the tag line closely associated with Warney – ‘the best captain Australia never had’. It would have been nice to have a chapter on this episode in the book.

The book is not too long or boring to tire you out with needless details. And therefore it is a good read for anyone who enjoys cricket. I certainly enjoyed it.

A Study in Scarlet - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

I have read a bunch of Sherlock Holmes stories, and have unfailingly enjoyed them. But that was a long, long time ago.

And then I saw Sherlock Holmes the movie, and enjoyed it for what it was. RDJ probably doesn’t look very Sherlock Holmes going by the description in the books. But he acts the part perfectly. Jude Law, as Watson, is a lot more dynamic and involved in the movie than Watson is in any of the stories. But the visual rendition of one of my favourite fictional characters made me want to read whatever Sherlock Holmes stories I had not read. So when I set my eyes on a two-stories book, featuring A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four, I picked it up without hesitation.

A Study in Scarlet

A Study in Scarlet, as it turned out is a sort of a Sherlock Holmes, The Origins. It is after all, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s first book. And the genesis of Sherlock Holmes is as interesting as he himself, which is explained in the lovely introduction by David Stuart Davies (an established Sherlock Holmes fan and researcher).

In ‘A Study in Scarlet’ J.Watson is introduced to Sherlock Holmes in their mutual quest for a room-mate and an apartment to live in. And thus they discover the legendary 221B, Barker Street. Watson, after a long drawn confusion about the ends to which Holmes did his esoteric chemical experiments, discovers that Holmes is a private detective, and that too, the best there ever was.

The first case that Watson finds himself involved in is the mysterious death of a Drebber in an empty house. And the rival policemen, Lestrade and Gregson, invite Holmes for his opinion. And Holmes, having gone around the place tips the Yard with the probable appearance of the murderer. And thereafter, in three days, no more, hands over the murderer to the Police in handcuffs.

Then, there is a back story given to explain the lead up to the killings (yes, plural) that Sherlock Holmes solves. Perhaps the narrative style is more conventional for this section in itself. But given the context of the book, I did like the way that the author breaks away from Watson’s perspective and takes the role of the narrator himself. The alternative was to have the murderer explain the background story. But that robs the writer of the freedom in explaining the context as well as he’d like to. So while you do miss Sherlock Holmes and Watson in this middle section, it serves a purpose. And plus it is not some 200 page story with a known ending that you have to read. It is fairly short and crisp narrative and keeps you engaged. Eventually, Sherlock Holmes comes back and ties up the loose ends, explaining his deduction methods to an impressed, and inspired, Watson.

On to The Sign of Four…

The Sign of Four

The Sign of Four, in its essence, is not very different from A Study in Scarlet. It has a lot of similar elements: long history behind the present mystery, revenge as core motive to the crime, a victim stalked patiently for a long time and an elaborate back story. What is different about The Sign of Four is, unlike most detective fiction, the story doesn’t start with a stray dead body.

It starts with Miss Mary Morstan, approaching Holmes to assist her while meeting strangers who claim to offer knowledge of her missing father. There are several perplexing facts around the disappearance of her father, amongst them being that Miss Morstan was being delivered a single expensive pearl every year. The meeting, that Holmes and Watson go to, along with Miss Morstan, has been requested by the son of Major Sholto, who was a friend of the lady’s father. Then as the story progresses, the other son of Major Sholto is discovered dead in his house. Oh there had to be a dead body somewhere! And as usual, despite Holmes giving helpful clues to the police, they arrest the wrong people, and it is up to Holmes to nab the criminal and serve justice.

The story has plenty of unusual elements that keep adding to the mystery and really makes you wonder about how is it all going to be tied up. But the author does a great job at that. And it’s another Sherlock Holmes hit for you!

The English Teacher - R.K. Narayanan

The English Teacher is about Krishnan, an English teacher who is living a close to perfect life in his idyllic town, with his loving wife and an adorable daughter. Krishnan, after having enjoyed his pseudo bachelor-hood because his wife stays away from him, eventually becomes a family man and starts appreciating the little joys that come along with having a wife and daughter in his life. The day to day squabbles with his wife, the making up after the quarrels, the playful stubbornness of his child, and all the other things become an essential part of his life. All that changes when his wife falls sick, and despite reassurances from his doctor, eventually succumbs. Krishnan’s entire life breaks down, and despite doing his best as a single father, is perpetually unhappy. He receives his strength from his ever loving wife, when she finds a way to communicate with him from the other side. And that spurs Krishnan to lead the life he always wanted, but was too scared to pursue with his own petty concerns hounding him. From being suicidal after losing his wife, he finds new meaning in life as he breaks away the shackles that tied down his meaningless existence. The little joys, laughter and pain from his life are well captured by the author of Malgudi days. But then, while the environmental serenity are extremely well written, it can not really make up for a real story. The English Teacher, as far as my opinion goes, lacks severely in that department. No, I wasn’t expecting a Ludlum-like edge of the seat thriller. An ordinary story of an ordinary man can be quite profound in some ways. And The English Teacher probably would have worked for me as a short-story, but as a full-fledged novel, it seriously lacks content, and then the author resorts to depicting the mundane happenings of the protagonist’s life. Some trivial incidents are required to give the reader an idea about a character, his setting and his lifestyle. But page after page of every little detail gets tiring.

Do not get me wrong. The story, in itself, is not bad. It does well to portray the insecurities and the unpredictability in life of the most un-happening and simple individuals. But then, the writing style, which works so well in Malgudi Days, at times, leaves you a little confused about what really is going on in a character’s head. Eventually, the book is about its conclusion though. And coming from R.K.Narayanan, a tight slap to our education system probably speaks volumes.

But as I said, the story was more suited for a shorter version. But if someone is really a fan of ‘Indian-writing’ (don’t ask me what I mean), I don’t think there will be too many complains for The English Teacher.

Hot Money - Dick Francis

I can’t remember the last time I read a who-dun-it. It probably must have been another of Dick Francis’s book, Longshot. And that, while it had a murder to be solved, and definitely had some parallels with Hot Money, did not have as much a detective-novel flavor as this book did.

Hot Money begins with a family tree; nothing as complicated as Bagginses or Took family tree from LOTR, but quite a long list for your usual family. At the head sits Malcolm Pembroke, the affable, lucky, brilliant and spectacularly rich gold-trading man, who has a strange disposition to get married all the time. He has five wives. Not simultaneously, but one-after-another, and each of them have kids and some of the kids have kids. The last two wives, Coochie, the best of the lot it seems, and Moira, the last one, are dead. And Moira has been murdered. And then, someone tries to kill Malcolm. Hot Money, especially in the volumes that Malcolm owns, is a much desirable target. And everyone in the family stood to gain from Moira’s and then, Malcolm’s death.

Malcolm approaches his estranged son, Ian, to be his bodyguard. And the relationship with Ian and Malcolm really lights up the book. The protagonists are the highlight of any Dick Francis book. And this one has two of them, and in a father-son pair, and their banter and arguments and just about any interchange, makes the book quite delightful.

Ian is an assistant horse trainer and an amateur jockey. And Malcolm seems to have discovered a passion for horses, and goes about spending millions of pounds on colts, much to the anguish of his family, most of them who badly need the cash. With such hostilities brewing for his father, Ian knows that the only way his father, and himself, can be truly safe is buy nabbing the killer.

The plot of the book is quite tight. And the chemistry between various characters extremely well written. Even though every individual family member doesn’t get too much page-time, so to speak, their characters are handled quite well, considering the number of characters and overall book-volume.

Hot Money was the second book of the omnibus containing Flying Finish. And Hot Money has as well and truly wrapped a conclusion as Flying Finish’s is incomplete. The mystery is solved eventually (obviously) and there are no over-dramatic twists, and it’s pleasing to read a very well balanced and a real detective story. Not that Agatha Christie style of detective fiction where every page and paragraph is about that body that was discovered is not fun. But in the real world, where solving murders is the responsibility of the police really, real people do not quit their jobs and stop racing horses trying to come up with schemes to arrest murderers. And the worldly treatment of a murder story makes the book a very interesting read.