Who's reading what,when & the experience

capt_mahajan

The Last Mughal was a bit of a disappointment to me... too academic.

He is an excellent writer, though. Besides his books on India, I really enjoyed "In Xanadu"

TimMakins

'A Moment in Time' by H. E. Bates. He is an amazing author, so varied, with a prolific output. Very few of his books have the same style, except a continuing undercurrent of excellence and accomplishment. In my view, one of the greatest of English authors. As I read his books I continually feel a moment of sadness that I will never experience that sentence for the first time ever again.

Tim in England

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Quote:

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. Mark Twain

cyberhippie

Any news on the follow up to Shantaram????

Nick-H

The Aspern Papers by Henry James. Just reaching the last pages; quite gripping!

I like to stick with one author until I have read everything I can get or until I really need a change.

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gollum

Gandhi´s self-biography "my experiments with the truth"

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crvlvr

Just started reading The Man who knew Infinity now scheduled to be shot as a movie http://ia.rediff.com/movies/2006/mar/31ram.htm

mani

Brethren - John Grisham - interesting
Demons & angels - Dan brown - Thrilling
next - Da vinci Code - Dan brown
Alchemist - Coelho
ASAP - Shantaram - When I can lay my hands on it.

I am noting the books recommended here and am going to try and read as many as possible.

thanks for this great thread
mani

capt_mahajan

Om, and Indian Pilgrimage by Geoffrey Moorhouse

sam371

Capt Mahajan,

Would you mind sharing your reviews on Last Mughal and other Dalrymple books?

Thank you.

capt_mahajan

Damn, I just lost my entire reply!!! Some timeout thing, I think.

Oh well, encore.

I make a poor reviewer of books. my tastes are too eclectic, and i often dont like books which many people like, and vice versa.

I can only tell you what i liked out out whatever i have read of Dalrymple.

City of Djinns: Delhi’s history, part of it at least, beautifully unveiled. Had recently seen a series on BBC (haunting background music, too) of the same name hosted by Dalrymple. He moves between the anti sikh riots, sufis, eunuchs, mughals and much more very smoothly and very well.

From the Holy Mountain: Eastern Byzantium, following the footsteps of (to me) an unknown monk. Interesting, but I had to concentrate too hard on the various monasteries and customs of an area foreign to me

In Xanadu: Very well written and perceptive. Following marco polo, this time, from jerusalem to xanadu. Liked it also because it gave me insights about parts of the world I will probably never see.

The Age of kali: An anecdotal (and, in a typically British way, understated and sometimes scathing) review of contemporary India. Set across large parts of the country, it is, if anything, as good or better than city of djinns.

White Moghuls: mentioned in my earlier post. Started of well, but I found myself losing attention when the details of his research started to overwhelm the story.

Finally, what I like about authors such as dalrymple and tully is that, unlike other historians, they often write anecdotally, sensitively, with no cultural baggage (almost none, given the British history in India) and with an obvious love for the country. Some Indian authors are too close to everything to write like that, though I enjoy Ramachandra Guha too (Lives in the Wilderness)

batistuta

Himalaya written by Michael Palin .A travelogue where he travels around 5 countries.Nice book laced with wit.

icetea

Lynne Truss "Eats, shoots & leaves" (amazingly witty)
Freakonomics (very smart insights)
Lance Armstrong's autobiography (a bit of a lot of cancer & lots of cycling. No, the other way round)

skell

"A Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela. Everyone should read this book!

queenkaji

Currently reading "La Poupee Sanglante" by Gaston Leroux. The reason I am reading it is because when I was a child I had seen the French TV serial based on this book. I remember being fascinated by it. It aired on Sunday nights and all the extended family would turn up at my grandfather's house to watch it. While it is not a great book, I am reading it more for "nostalgic" reasons.

sam371

Capt Mahajan,

I actually did read City of Djinns and Age of Kali. Liked them a lot - lot of rich detail. Unsure of whether I want to read this latest one.
Funny you should mention Tully - I love his writing style. Read a couple of books by him:
The Heart of India
Amritsar: Mrs. Gandhi's Last Battle
India in Slow Motion

Can you recommend any other books by Tully? Primarily I am interested in learning more about the 1980s period, politics, culture, etc. I was a little kid growing up in Punjab during the 2-3 years surrounding the Golden Temple debacle, heard a lot of stories and have always been interested in learning more about that time period.

Also, I heard of an author by the name of Shashi-something who is supposed to be a great author on Indian political history post independence. Would you know who I am talking about?

Thanks for the reviews.