[Evyas]

Originally Posted by DigitalOne

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann.

I picked up this book based on the movie reviews (The English Movies Thread (No Spoilers Please)) in the English movies thread.

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

Read the book last month.

4/5. Just amazing the lengths people will go for money.

On that note, I really liked his way of writing, I picked up "The Wager: A tale of shipwreck, mutiny and murder".

David Grann is a brilliant writer and journalist. If you like his work for sure read ‘The Devil and Sherlock Holmes’, a collection of his articles on true crime for The New Yorker.

https://www.amazon.in/Devil-Sherlock.../dp/0307275906

Another one that is highly recommend is ‘The Lost City of Z’. The movie adaptation was horrible, the book is beyond brilliant.

https://www.amazon.in/Lost-City-Obse...s%2C204&sr=8-1

In the same zone, highly recommend John Krakauer’s ‘Under the banner of heaven’

https://www.amazon.in/Under-Banner-H...s%2C183&sr=8-1

The series with Andrew Garfield is quite faithful to the book but the amount of context you get about the Mormon faith from the book is insane.

[Pythonic]

Interesting thread. Will add some of my favorites, I mostly like non fiction regarding technology, so here goes:

1. Chip War by Chris Miller
A chronicle from the invention of transistor to the giant geopolitical nightmare Taiwan is stuck in present day, all due to computer chips. Very interesting read.

2. ISRO trilogy
2.1 Wings of Fire by APJ Abdul Kalam
No introduction needed
2.2 ISRO: A personal History by R. Aravamudan
A story of an young electrical engineer picked up from BARC training school who goes on to become the one of the founding members of ISRO
2.3 Ready to Fire by Nambi Narayanan
Shocking details of a famous scandal. Author mentions in no uncertain terms that IB has CIA moles!!
ps all 3 are tamilians

3. Skunk Works by Ben Rich
The journey of an engineer navigating through high technology at the peak of cold war. Thriller like. Skunk Works is the place that made SR-71 , the world fastest aircraft fyi

4. Who are we and how we got here by David Reich
Controversial book on genetics which would have impact in Indian politics. Details the prevailing academic view on the peopling of India. P.S. it’s messy. The section on India is particularly interesting.

5. The Tao of Physics by Frijotof Capra
An account of a Physicist’s study into eastern religions and the surprising similarities that arise.

6. The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes
Title says it all

7. The Pentagon’s Brain by Annie Jacobsen
A history of the DARPA Agency of the US government. They invented the internet. Long and detailed read.

Now for some offbeat ones:
7. Passport to Magonia by Jacques Valee
A computer scientist/ mathematician delves into UFO phenomena

8. Phenomena by Annie Jacobsen
A study of studies undertaken by CIA into occult and weird phenomena

9. The Arctic Home in the Vedas by B.G. Tilak
A study on finding the original home of the Vedic people using bits of Astronomy from Vedic texts and nifty calculations by our very own Bal Gangadhar Tilak. The modern scientific evidence suggests that the Vedic people originated in a place called Sintashta underneath Siberia so perhaps he wasn’t too far off!

10. Seven years in Tibet by Heinrich Harrier
Journey of a Nazi officer who came on an expedition to the himalayas, from being imprisoned in a British PoW camp to becoming an advisor to Dalai Lama.

That’s it from me for now, also there seems to have been several tussles in this thread I would just clarify this: If you’re reading theological texts of hinduism go with Gita Press (they have their own issues with omissions etc but they’re more or less the gold standard and cheap!). If you want specific commentaries of certain gurus contact the Mathas/ community groups that follow the guru and they’d certainly have some publications regarding that. Sure it’s not as easy as add to cart on Amazon but that’s the price you pay for authenticity.If you want something easily digestible there are plenty of devotional poems and traditional folk retellings, just ask your mom or her friends

[greyhound82]

My entries to this amazing thread :

Currently reading

1. Statistics and Truth, Putting Chance to Work by C.R.Rao
2. The theory that would not die: how Bayes’ rule cracked the enigma code, hunted down Russian submarines, & emerged triumphant from two centuries of controversy by McGrayne, Sharon Bertsch

[N1Krider_R]

Originally Posted by ValarMorghulis

Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of Mahabharata by Devdutt Pattanaik
Rated: 2/5

My endeavour to read Mahabharata by different authors continues and perhaps this is the one I'm most disappointed with. Keeping aside the prejudices of the author, what bothered me was the fictional stories being woven in the book. There have been different fictional narrations of Mahabharata by different authors as "they perceive" the events to be but they definitely call them out irrespective of how outlandish the tales may be. Pattanaik tries to weave a few of such tales in the mainstream narration, which is shocking to say the least. The most atrocious of these is the chapter 62 "Draupadi admits a secret" which talks about Draupadi secretly loving Karna, which is beyond disgusting and outlandish to say the least.

The book is rife with his own interpretations and deviations (I won't list them all here) which I haven't encountered in any other book by any other author.

Highly NOT recommended (unless you are looking for a fictionalized version of an epic).

People need to avoid Patnaik books and podcasts like a plague. For a writer who claims to write on Hindu scriptures - does not have a formal education in Sanskrit. Take a moment to assimilate that. He just makes meaning of his own for Sanskrit words he comes accross. You can go through the below video where he and his works have been disected painfully by Sanskrit scholars.

If you are to give BhagwadGita readings to young minds, ideally you should start with (IMHO) "The Bhagwad Gita for Millennials" by Bibek Debroy, where he actually shows how to read the original text. It's absolutely amazing!!

http://youtu.be/vhzmydDNUaw?si=zIsgK_XfGDEXLBXs

[iampulo]

I naturally gravitate towards Self Help, Non Fiction, Fianance and Spiritual Genre.

My list is as:
1. Search Inside Yourself-The book got me introduced to meditation. The fact that a Google Engineer explains meditation is very convincing. Rated 4/5 Stars
2. Who will cry when you Die-My first book (apart from textbooks that I have actually completed end to end). This started my journey of reading. Rated 3.5/5 Stars for its lighter note.
3. The Alchemist- Book that teaches you self discovery and belief. Rated 4/5 Stars
4. The monk who sold his Ferrari- Completely transformative biography of a person. This book made me a fan of Robin Sharma. Good book on Meditation and Its phenomenal changes on life. Rated 4/5 Stars
5. Wings of Fire- How can one person be full of so positive energy and aspirations. Salute to People's President.
6. Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda- Although i barely finished half of 1st of the 10 books, here's a mentor for everyone. No wonder his single Chicago Convention's Address has changed the outlook of India to the world. Rated 4.5/5 stars, for it holds the power to unleash your true potential.
7. Autobiography of a Yogi. Been a voluminous book, i have completed its podcast. Its a great great read. Although i am yet to discover its transformative impact on my life as has been for great personalities like Steve Jobs, Virat Kohli, recently Ranveer Allahbadia and more. Rated 4/5 Stars
8. The art of Happiness by Dalai Lama. I don't recall all of the book, but its a book on observing life as pure as just a breadth and yet so short to enjoy the positivities rather than the downside. Rated 3.5/5
9. Think and Grow Rich- I found it too much rich in postivity. Kind of crossing the limit of optimism. Rated 3/5 stars.
10. How to win and influence people- Good book on building relationship but quite cheezy at times, kind of looses practicality. Rated 3/5 Stars.
11. Never split the difference by Chriss Voss- A great skill book on negotiations. I have practised and found it really effective especially in bargaining. Rated 4.5/5 stars
12. Poor Charlie's Almanack- Good book on investing, and how to view life and moral lessons from the late great investor Charlie Munger. Rated 4/5 Stars.
13. One up Wall Street by Peter Lynch- Good book on teaching basic of investing, how you should explore stock matching your core competencies, asset turnplay, etc. Rated 4/5 stars
14. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harrari- Completely changes your perspective on why as hmans we behave as we do. Rated 4/5 Stars.
15. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell- Introduces you why some people, at the right time, at right opportunity have become great. Its not always hardwork. Its hardwork plus opportunity plus luck. Rated 4/ Stars.
16. Five point someone by Chetan Bhagat. Well this was a fetish read of college times for those 3 pages! Rated 3/5 stars only for teen life when adrenaline is high.

I will add more to it as I recall, would love to hear from all.

[deathwalkr]

The Moplah Rebellion and it's genesis: Conrad Wood

https://pphbooks.net/product_info.ph...gjnrshhm4bb4h4

Started reading this book and it's been a good journey thus far. My earlier foray into the rebellion was a book by Gopalan Nair, which was basically a collection of newspaper articles at the time of the riots and few related notes.

Whereas Conrad Wood's book was based on his thesis on the subject. So as expected it is far more researched with clear cut analysis as a thesis would be.

Just a quarter in and already my head is filled with new insights.

Recommended.

[N1Krider_R]

Optionality - How to survive and thrive in a volatile world
By Richard Meadows

This is a gem of a book for readers of all ages. I have been a avid reader of Richards work through his blog deepdish. The blog has many a smashing articles, which I would highly recommend before purchasing the book.

The book is in a nascent stage which will eventually become mainstream. Currently available only on Kindle.
Meanwhile, below are the links - Enjoy !!

1. http://thedeepdish.org/****-you-money/

2. http://thedeepdish.org/throw-away-your-television/

3. http://thedeepdish.org/the-pizza-die...zzas-in-a-row/

4. http://thedeepdish.org/fat-people-are-heroes/

5. End of debate for Law of attraction
http://thedeepdish.org/positive-thinking/

[Pythonic]

To add to @N1Krider_R. Rajaji ( C. Rajagopalachari)’s abridged versions of Ramayana and Mahabharata in english are some of the best books to give an introduction to the twin epics to young adults. Generations of Indians have benefited from Rajaji’s work.

Even for adults not acquainted with these epics beyond grandma’s renditions, these are a great first step.

[ValarMorghulis]

Originally Posted by N1Krider_R

People need to avoid Patnaik books and podcasts like a plague.

Quite agree.

Originally Posted by N1Krider_R

..."The Bhagwad Gita for Millennials" by Bibek Debroy, where he actually shows how to read the original text. It's absolutely amazing!!

Have read this one too. Fantastic book.

Originally Posted by Pythonic

...Rajaji ( C. Rajagopalachari)’s abridged versions of Ramayana and Mahabharata in english are some of the best books to give an introduction to the twin epics to young adults...

I started with these both and completely concur with you. These are the best books to start.

[Fuldagap]

Originally Posted by ValarMorghulis

Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of Mahabharata by Devdutt Pattanaik
Rated: 2/5

My endeavour to read Mahabharata by different authors continues and perhaps this is the one I'm most disappointed with. Keeping aside the prejudices of the author, what bothered me was the fictional stories being woven in the book. There have been different fictional narrations of Mahabharata by different authors as "they perceive" the events to be but they definitely call them out irrespective of how outlandish the tales may be. Pattanaik tries to weave a few of such tales in the mainstream narration, which is shocking to say the least. The most atrocious of these is the chapter 62 "Draupadi admits a secret" which talks about Draupadi secretly loving Karna, which is beyond disgusting and outlandish to say the least.

The book is rife with his own interpretations and deviations (I won't list them all here) which I haven't encountered in any other book by any other author.

Highly NOT recommended (unless you are looking for a fictionalized version of an epic).

Many years back when he started to become famous and a program used to come of his on a particular TV channel, many of friends and family got hooked to it for the stories that he used to tell there. I watched one such of his programs too. It was atrocious to say the least. I never bothered myself to pick any of his books even by mistake.

Before I read a book or watch a movie I do as much research as possible to not waste my time with it and feel cheated afterwards. Devdutt is one such fellow. He does not know Sanskrit but he writes on thousands of years of mythology. Organisations/countries have tried for times immemorial to 'hijack' the original culture of other cultures/countries or at the least dilute and contaminate its original scriptures/books with such tactics through such 'authors'. I could go on with my rant and I really couldn't control responding to your post. With proper marketing and backing just anybody can become a popular author. The other such fellow who comes to mind is the writer of Five Point Someone. I remember when it came out, even fellows who would never pick a book to read were hooked to it.

Books on religious topics are best avoided unless written by a thoroughly reputed author.

Not on religion but The Argumentative Indian, by Amartya Sen is one such book. Boring essay book but what plethora of knowledge and wisdom it holds. I have read it two times in the last two decades and still cant get enough of it.

[deathwalkr]

Originally Posted by Fuldagap

MWith proper marketing and backing just anybody can become a popular author. The other such fellow who comes to mind is the writer of Five Point Someone. I remember when it came out, even fellows who would never pick a book to read were hooked to it.

Isn't that a good thing for the book world in general? And pretty sure Mr Chetan does not claim to write books to win a Booker

Oops, forgot we are in the non-fiction thread and Mr Chetan is fiction as they come.

[Fuldagap]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

Isn't that a good thing for the book world in general? And pretty sure Mr Chetan does not claim to write books to win a Booker

Oops, forgot we are in the non-fiction thread and Mr Chetan is fiction as they come.

The internet exapnded fast because of people loved/love to download content detrimental to their mental health. If we can't bring people to read if not for the likes of Mr Chetan then there is a fundamental problem with what we want and is better for the society.

Children at young age introduced with say Peppa books might not ever pick a Chetan book when they grow up.

Not even the likes of Peppa, there are ample children books in all vernacular languages not just the mainstream languages that can thwart this issue. If destroying first is the way to growth and progress and if it deems fit then why not. The world is crazy as it is.

In this case of Devdutt writing whichever way he wants and people being guided into wrong notions about the subject, then I'd say there is an inherent problem to be addressed. Wrong literature negates the good of the society and culture in a manner that has far reaching adverse effects.

However, I agree to your point in the sense that if a person reads ample right or wrong books all by himself, sanity prevails and he is himself able to correct his course using the god gifted prudence that awakens slowly. He is able to distinguish between right and wrong, good and bad naturally. The problem is, only a handful grow out of Chetan books because reading good literature is arduous even for the pro. Reading cheap and ill conceived literature finds loads of readers.

I should probably stop my rant as it serves little purpose here on the thread.

Here is a book by Alvin Toffler that I read in school library and still keep with me. It is an old book that came out in the early 90s and is about the warfare, technology and industrialism. It still makes sense in the world that has changed a lot since. It is a fantastic read for anybody, any age to make sense of the things that prevailed amd paved way for modernism and also war. Somewhere he says, America lets technology decide strategy much more than the other way round. As a student still in school that was a great way to see things in perspective and after 2 or more decades can still see how his presumptions have been more or less been right if not pinpoint.

[whitewing]

Originally Posted by Fuldagap

.. ...
In this case of Devdutt writing whichever way he wants and people being guided into wrong notions about the subject, then I'd say there is an inherent problem to be addressed. Wrong literature negates the good of the society and culture in a manner that has far reaching adverse effects.

However, I agree to your point in the sense that if a person reads ample right or wrong books all by himself, sanity prevails and he is himself able to correct his course using the god gifted prudence that awakens slowly.

The Ramayana and Mahabharata have so many variations based on local influences and interpretations of the authors. I suppose one does not know which was the original version (if there was that ONE version).

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

Isn't that a good thing for the book world in general? And pretty sure Mr Chetan does not claim to write books to win a Booker
Oops, forgot we are in the non-fiction thread and Mr Chetan is fiction as they come.

Do the great epics - Ramanyana & Mahabharata belong to this thread? I do not know.

I was a teenager/early adulthood is when I read these in parts (not counting RamanadSagar & amar chitrakatha). These, for sure made me reflect on topics like morality which I would otherwise not have perhaps spared much thought.

[Fuldagap]

Originally Posted by whitewing

The Ramayana and Mahabharata have so many variations based on local influences and interpretations of the authors. I suppose one does not know which was the original version (if there was that ONE version).

You are so right!
Valmiki wrote it in 8th Century BC in the form of a Sanskrit poem and is widely considered to be the oldest version.

Tulsidas wrote it in the Awadhi language in the 16th century and it became famous because Awadhi was widely spoken then making it the people's version of Ramayana. He wrote the Hanuman Chalisa too in Awadhi during the same time frame. The two being his most famous writings.

Nevertheless, there are numerous versions of both the epics in different cultures and languages. There is a huge variance in storytelling, the nature of characters and who was evil or who was not. Countries like Cambodia, China too have their own versions. The texts of Hinduism are too wide and spread to be considered under one umbrella. Vedic texts came out a bit late too but are majorly considered to be the oldest and the authority to Hindu mythology, philosophy and so on. Anything that came out later has to be seen in the context of the producing culture and language.

Hindi language is a new language and anything written in pre Hindi era translated into it or English is bound to have a diluting and ill effect owing to personal perceptions and motives.

I am holding myself back to write more on Mr. Devdutt.

A personal tale from Colaba, Mumbai.

My grandfather had a passion to read all possible versions of Ramayana and Mahabharata. In 2010, at his behest, I went to Colaba to find a certain printing press that printed a rare version of Ramayana. I knew very little of Mumbai as I had never ventured out to roam around except visiting and staying indoors at friends'/family's homes, even though I used to visit Mumbai for many years prior. I still don't know anything about Mumbai except a few major places like the airport.

Roamed on foot for a good 8 hours during the day, speaking with tea vendors and local people helped me finally locate it. It was on the 1st floor of a place somewhere in Colaba which I have now totally forgotten. As I reached and visited the press, it was too old an architecture in itself. The wooden doors and furniture smelling of hundreds of years of history. There were 2 middle aged people inside and they were astonished to find a visitor. When I asked them whether they have the said version of Ramayana, they started curiously interrogating me as to who I was, where I came from, who sent me there and how did I find the address. After they were thoroughly satisfied with my answers, one went inside, fetched a very old rusted book from inside a wooden box and handed it over to me saying it was the last copy with them. I phoned my grandfather and he asked me to read anything from it so that he can understand and ascertain whether or not it was the book that he was looking for.

As I tried to read a few lines from a starting page, the duo started smiling at my failure to properly read because it was too difficult for me to comprehend what was written. It was Hindi or so I thought. Never saw such language, seemingly Hindi, written in any of the old books I had ever laid my hands on. A few lines recited with much trouble convinced my grandfather that it was the right book. I paid a paltry sum of money (Rs 7 or so) and went off thanking the two press people.

People who have a knack of religious texts invest their lives to read and only then they are able to comprehend what lies in which version and why.

Leo Tolstoy's works like The War and Peace is also a case in point. It has been translated by many and there is a demarcation of the followers of that book based on which translation they like the most. I have read the Pevear and Volokhonsky one as it was easily available when I had to read it. I still wait for the day when I get the time to read at least Maude.

Originally Posted by whitewing

I was a teenager/early adulthood is when I read these in parts (not counting RamanadSagar & amar chitrakatha). These, for sure made me reflect on topics like morality which I would otherwise not have perhaps spared much thought.

You are lucky to have found a starting point that early in life on these topics.

Originally Posted by whitewing

Do the great epics - Ramanyana & Mahabharata belong to this thread? I do not know.

I would take this opportunity to cite another book that I love a lot. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. In his work he tries to debunk that there is a supernatural being or god who designed the world. He goes at great length, biologically explaining the evolution of species as per Darwin. One of his most famous quotes from the book is, "Atheists know more about God than religious people". I don't remember the exact words to be honest. The way he explains how our eye is a bad design if we were designed by a supernatural being or how our legs are not appropriately designed for the intended action of locomotion, is an intelligent but funny way of putting things into perspective for masses in general.

[Pythonic]

Originally Posted by whitewing

The Ramayana and Mahabharata have so many variations based on local influences and interpretations of the authors. I suppose one does not know which was the original version (if there was that ONE version).
.

Maybe not related to the point you were making, but we do have critical editions of Vyasa’s Mahabharata and Valmiki’s Ramayana. These negate all the regional recensions and get as close to the kernel of the epics as possible.

The Bhandarkar institute in Pune publishes the critical Mahabharata. People interested might purchase it.