Review: The Invention of Wings

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A book which stays with you well after you have read it.

A story about the Grimke family and their slaves – in particular tracing the lives of Sarah Grimke and Hetty “Handful” in Charleston. Not surprisingly the 19th century is a period where slavery is the norm. Since her childhood – Sarah finds this grossly unfair. She is assigned Handful as her slave and makes attempts to help her – she teaches her to read and write for instance. They are soon found out and both are punished. Sarah's own ambitions of practicing law make no headway either – that is not what women at that time could aspire for.

Handful's mother Charlotte works hard to save money (at times taking risks by working extra hours) in the hope that she can buy their freedom in future. Sarah finds solace and purpose in being the godmother of her sister Angelina, who shares many of her ideals. The risks Charlotte takes leads to her having to run away from the Grimke household. She is united with Handful after many years, by when she has a second daughter “Sky”.

While the years elapse, what does not change is Sarah's conviction that slavery is unfair and must end. She finds others who share her ideals, including her sister Angelina. In the midst of tremendous suffering, and at times tragedy – there is also hope held by determination and conviction.

Other the brilliantly etched characters, the book scores for it's tremendous attention to detail – building an extremely realistic picture of the times. The research which the author describes in the afterword are very evident all through the book. I did not initially know that Sarah and Angelina Grimke are real characters – the fictional characters of the slaves in the Grimke household blend in excellently in the narrative.

The realism in this book reminded me of another excellent book - Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance, though the stories are vastly different otherwise.

This book leaves it's impressions which stay – the characters, the pain of the period and a reminder that what is assumed a normal practice is not necessarily right and some brave people who can leave their conditioning aside can make the difference.

I would ideally rate the book at 4.5, only because the pace of the book slows in parts around the middle.


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Review: You Never Know

You Never Know by Akash Verma
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The primary character in this story are Dhruv, Shalini, Anuradha & Sid. Dhruv is doing well at an advertising agency and is appointed the centre head for Delhi as well. Shalini is his wife who has a busy professional career as a psychiatrist as well, and they have two young kids. Anuradha is new to the company - is bright and outgoing. Dhruv is instantly attracted to her and she soon falls for him as well. The implications to Dhruv's married life is to follow, as also some issues from Anuradha's previous affair with Sid. And we see the entry of corrupt politicians and marital troubles all hitting Dhruv.

The books assembles a very predictable cocktail of lust, corruption and some mystery. The treatment of attraction at first sight is a little silly, and the characters needed more depth. I suppose the author also hopes this will be made into a Bollywood movie, as this combination is so typical. While the story is weak, the book has some positives as well - it moves quickly and it a good one to relax with, the Mojo campaign build-up has some good material though the treatment is simplistic, and the characters of Dhruv and Anuradha are likeable.

You might consider reading this book if you want a quick read, and are willing to leave assessment of the story aside.

I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway.


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Review: Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies

Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies by Nick Bostrom
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the most detailed book I have read on the implications of AI, and this book is a mixed bag.

The initial chapters provide an excellent introduction to the various different paths leading to superintelligence. This part of the book is very well written and also provides an insight into what to expect from each pathway.

The following sections detail the implications for each of these pathways. There is a detailed discussion also on how the dangers to humans can be limited, if at all possible. However, considering that much of this is speculative, the book delves into far too much depth in these sections. It is also unclear what kind of an audience these sections are aimed at - the (bio) technologists would regard this as containing not enough depth and detail, while the general audience would find this tiring.

And yet, this book might be worth a read for the initial sections..

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Review: On Caring

On Caring by Milton Mayeroff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

On caring is a nice little book, which covers in short passages various different aspects of caring. While the larger portion pertain to relationships with other people, it also deals with nurturing your passion. The book is about a "win-win" for both sides - allowing freedom and growth but nurturing and supporting. A child for example needs independence to make his own choices - but needs to be empowered for that to happen.

I liked the fact that the book is simple and practical. It does not get into long winding theoretical discussions and stays focused on the topic. However, possibly more real life examples would have added to the appeal.

A book I definitely recommend reading. It's size is deceptive with respect to the value it carries.

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Review: Sita: Warrior of Mithila

Sita: Warrior of Mithila by Amish Tripathi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the second book in the Rama Chandra series, and as the title makes it apparent, the focus is on Sita. Sita's characterization as a brave princess who her guru regards as capable of being the next Vishnu is extremely good. As a child, she is found abandoned, in a vulnerable position, protected by a vulture. Her childhood is not trouble free but she grows up as a royal princess, with love from her adopted parents – the ruler and queen of Mithila.

The situation in Mithila, and indeed much of India is dire – Raavan has tightened the screws on large parts of the country and wealth declines dramatically. This period sees the rise of Sita in Mithila and Ram in Ayodhya – both of who are potentially future Vishnus. Sita regards it as wise to combine their strengths for the good of the country. A swayamvar is held and they get married, but not without violence and conflict with Raavan. I liked the alternate narration in the book about why Ram goes on exile for 14 years. There are also other good creative variations from most popular renditions of the Ramayana.

I liked the fact that Amish builds his characters with a lot of respect. Yet it feels that he has tried too hard – while he does a good job with Sita's characterisation, there are pockets of the narration which come across as forced. The discussions around adoption by the state at birth comes across as silly. And it is also unclear why he needed to weave in episodes of youth violence against women and bull taming, almost as a lift off from current events.

However, for Sita's excellent characterization as a strong, intelligent and independent woman, and also to follow how the story continues, this book should be read (3.5 stars).


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Review: Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow

Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Having read Sapiens, I had some idea that there would be new themes which Yuval Noah Harari would cover which nobody else has before. With Sapiens, it was about the agricultural revolution and the binding power of stories. And yes - there are brilliant new themes in Homo Deus as well - our delusion of free will and the Sapiens in a future world ruled by algorithms, and it continues excellently from where Sapiens left off. If Sapiens was about how the most powerful species consolidated it's power, Homo Deus is about what is in store for Sapiens.

The theme of the power of stories - to bind and also delude is continued in Homo Deus. Stories - good or bad enables large scale co-operation among Sapiens - even if the story is not entirely logical or fair to other species. This has led to Humanism as a religion, where Sapiens have declared themselves as the centre and primary purpose of the universe. So everything else revolves around Sapiens - and all other life forms are for it's use. This has led to us being extremely cruel with other life forms and farm animals lead miserable lives from birth till death. The story which binds humans regards this as the norm and generation after generation sees nothing wrong in it. How would humans feels if a more advanced species (spawned off by artificial intelligence) should make judgements and kill undesirable humans?

There are fairly long discussions around political systems and the growth of liberalism. I found this to be a little too long, and it could well have been crisper. Humans have acquired a combination of intellect and consciousness which was regarded as necessary for being advanced life forms at the top of the pyramid. Consciousness especially would be difficult to acquire. However, it is clear now that intelligence which is superior is adequate to ascend the pyramid. Already artificial intelligence is winning over humans in several fields regarded as earlier insurmountable such as chess and even the arts. Humans will depend more and more on algorithms and at some point algorithms will be all powerful. One big surprise which the book springs is around our free will. Do we really have free will? - or do we make forced choices based on experience and conditioning? I found this to be the most interesting discussion in the book.

While I do not think the future will play out entirely as outlined, it might still be close. The reasoning and discussions are excellent, provoking us to think & reflect - and isn't that what is most important in a good book?

Yuval Noah Hariri closes the book being thankful to the practice of Vipassana meditation as taught by S N Goenka for allowing him to look beyond conditioning and see things as they are. A sign that there is wisdom which is eternal and will endure, isn't it?


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