Book Review Time

India: A Portrait by Patrick French

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Patrick French's 'India' is the only non-fiction book on India that I have ever finished.

I've tried reading John Keay's 'India: A History', Mark Tully's 'No Full Stops in India' and even some Dalrymple, but have never been able to get beyond the first half.

Perhaps, poised as I am to leave this country in a few short months, Patrick French's book was extremely topical.

All that aside, I truly loved this book. Patrick French's point of view on India is that of an outsider who has spent years getting to know and love this country. He is on the inside enough to understand the multitude of cultural idiosyncrasies that almost define this country without being entrenched and unable to see the humor and absurdity of life in India. Although he is Britisher, he does not approach his writing with nationalistic loyalties, but a curious observer of a nation of curiosities.

This approach, I feel, is what makes 'India: An Intimate Biography of 1.2 Billion People' - the contradiction in the title resonates as a theme through the entire book - a page turner. I literally, could not put the book down and found myself reading about the economic history and development of India while I brushed my teeth.

I have not read much non-fiction, so I suppose I'm not qualified to really pass judgement on Patrick French's skill as a writer, but I think that this man has the quiet brilliance (of HTC - haha, just kidding) that is the mark of a great mind. He has the ability to discuss the technicalities of economics and politics without becoming too pedantic and always keeping in mind the contextual, human story that drives political and economic change. I believe that his understanding of society, that it is nothing more than a collection of human beings bound together, loosely, by random historical, cultural and economic events, really frames the way he understands India. And he never, just as he discusses later in the book, falls prey to the Western impulse of categorizing and defining India by rules that have no meaning in it's context.

Patrick French's 'India', is a balanced and ultimately optimistic account of a country's modern history that places you in a much better position to understand the India. As an introduction to non-fiction literature on this country, I would say this book is pretty much perfect. It is a page turner, contains enough anecdotes that are entirely relatable and is sufficiently factual and technical to feed your intellect. For more advanced readers, it may not be a sophisticated or analytical enough account, but for me, it was just perfect. Finishing the book felt as heartbreaking as it will to leave the country two months from now.





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The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Just re-read this book.
It's funny sometimes how timing dictates everything.
When I first read this book at 15, it's story of the decadent, corrupt yet stoic Jay Gatsby irreconcilably holding on to an incorruptible dream meant very little. I don't believe I understood this book or the discussions in class about it. Despite that, it made an impression. Through the years, as life took me through experiences I never expected, I remembered Jay Gatsby and his vision of Daisy.
The image of Daisy in flowing white on a sofa in West Egg on a hot summer's day never really left my mind.
7 years later, today, as I re-read the book, there wasn't a line in that novel that I couldn't relate to.
It was as if the experiences of the last 7 years brought me to the point of understanding the greatness of Jay Gatsby.
Whether in his triumph or tragedy, Jay Gatsby became an every-man of sorts.
The dark side of those things that are considered to be good. Too much of a good thing. The nightmare that lurks within every dream.
I don't really know what I'm writing.
All I can say is that F. Scott Fitzgerald, though he does not inspire joy or beauty, sees events for what they are and shows that to the world on the canvas of a novel with absolute mastery.
A true artist.
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In Intern: A Doctors Initiation

Intern: A Doctor's Initiation by Sandeep Jauhar

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


"Be not afraid of greatness: some men are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them."
William Shakespeare, "Twelfth Night"

What leads a man into the 'noble career' of medicine? The answer to that question is deeply personal and for some of us, has not yet been answered concretely.

Yet, we practice medicine every day. We make the tough decisions demanded of us, work the long hours and give it the focus it demands.

What lies in the transformation from the naive, uninitiated non-doctor entering the profession for reasons stated in his application and repeated confidently at dinner parties, to the young physician, practicing though sometimes, without a concrete, guiding why.

How is it possible to feel lost in what is often considered one of the most meaningful lines of work in society?

These are questions that most young doctors grapple with, though almost never publicly. In my experience, they existed in a plane just above repression. They were the dangerous thoughts, the things that would lead you off the chosen path. Yet, they've remained the most pressing of all questions that come to my mind.

Dr. Sandeep Jauhar's book was a candid masterpiece. Its an accurate chronicle of the struggles involved in becoming a doctor. Its a synergy of his thoughts and the experiences that spurred them on.

It's like having a long heart-to-heart with an encouraging older brother who survived having greatness thrust upon him.

It's a book that every young doctor, especially if you're unsure of what you're doing wearing these shoes, must read.

Simply because it makes you feel at home with all of your feelings, positive and negative, about a profession that demands immersion.



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