Good Books Lift You!

Good Books Lift You!

Saturday, February 16, 2019

Review: A Primate's Memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons

A Primate's Memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons A Primate's Memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons by Robert M. Sapolsky
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read Robert Sapolsky’s ‘Behave’ recently and really liked it for its tremendous insights on human behaviour. And so, as a recently turned fan of his writing, I looked up his other books and chose “A Primate’s Memoir”. This book however is more about his experiences in Africa to study baboons, and not a deep science read like ‘Behave’. This book is interesting in its own way – Sapolsky combines humour while narrating his experiences very well.

Robert Sapolsky has this strong urge to study baboons in their natural surroundings and welcomes a break from lab work. He goes to Kenya (to the bush near Serengeti) and studies a baboon troop closely over several years. He personalises the experience very well – each baboon has a name, and their behaviours are described in ways we can easily relate to. There is a social hierarchy among the baboons and power is attained by the Alpha male after being tested & accepted by the rest of the troop. There is a lot of interesting information on male – female pairing, aggression, emotions and other behaviours. To study the impact of hierarchy and events on baboons parameters, he goes around shooting anaesthetic darts at the baboons and taking blood samples. This becomes more and more difficult as the baboons start looking out for him and recognise the dart gun.

There are large portions of the book on Sapolsky’s experiences with the local Masai tribes, local culture, corruption and conflicts. His interaction with the local tribes makes for great reading. He also makes tribes to Uganda when Idi Amin’s regime falls, survives the aftermath of a coup attempt and makes a difficult trip to Sudan. He critically examines the legacy of Dian Fossey (I did not know about her story earlier), though in a mature way. There is a situation he covers towards the end of the book where a few baboons contract tuberculosis, and he finds it frustrating in battling a corrupt system to save the baboons.

Sapolsky explains his fascination with studying the brain to the fact that his father suffered from brain disease. This is the portion I was uncomfortable with in ‘Behave’ as well, but the issue comes more directly in this book. Sapolsky briefly relates how lab animals live miserable lives – confined and put through great cruelty causing them acute pain & suffering (sometimes for nothing). He goes on to mention that he did not see an alternate to this with the larger good in mind. I do not think this is adequate examination of a very serious issue. There are some tragic incidents as part of his darting experiences as well, however careful he tries to be.

I recommend this for the absorbing writing of his experiences, description of baboon behaviour and new cultures. I found ''Behave’ to be more impressive, but then, just maybe my expectations were too high after reading it first.

Also, this is my first audiobook! I do admit to struggling with it a bit though – I found it more difficult to focus – I was more prone to distraction, and had to invest more time in completing the book (in comparison to reading). However, there are surely other obvious advantages and hope to get better at listening to my next audiobook.

My rating: 4.25 / 5.


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Friday, February 8, 2019

Review: Magic Square

Magic Square Magic Square by Salini Vineeth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Magic Square by Salini Vineeth is a short novel. Coincidentally, I see a trend of many short novels or long short stories (however we want to refer to them) under 100 pages over the past year. While I would have thought that it would be difficult to build depth of characters in such short novels, this book does disprove that view. Magic Square does this with only a few characters and a very focused story. The story is different and holds your interest, well till the end.

Amudha and Dheeraj are doing their PhD and not quite by choice. Dheeraj, her senior is finding the going tough with Prof Murthy and isn’t quite sure when he will complete his PhD. Amudha grows to hate job interviews and the puzzles which have become an inherent part of the selection process, and settles to do a PhD. They grow to be good friends and the incidents around their lives in the lab is good fun to read.

As Dheeraj struggles with a tough assignment, Amudha suggests they visit a bookshop which has many old and less known books which might help. A book finally comes to Dheeraj’s rescue – it has all the questions which Dheeraj has to answer with the solutions scribbled by one “L V Sreenivasan”. Amudha is fascinated by Sreenivasan, as he comes across a brilliant person based on the solutions he has scribbled. Sreenivasan has also written a very short poem in the book.
Amudha goes in search of Sreenivasan – and that is the rest of the story. Where & what did he study, and what is he doing now?

The story is different, original and flows smoothly. The book would have benefited with better editing, though it is a minor issue. While the build up of the story is excellent, it had far greater potential. A lot of the discoveries are very lucky coincidences (quite a few of them) and the last section could have been far better.

An impressive debut novel which I recommend for its good story, and for being a short & easy read.

My rating: 3.75 / 5


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Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Review: Finding Grace

Finding Grace Finding Grace by K.L. Slater
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

‘Finding Grace’ has a good story as well as maintains the suspense right till the end. Life seems to be going well for Lucie & Blake – they are happily married with two kids and Blake has a great career in public life. However, one day their elder daughter Grace goes missing while walking home from a friend’s place which is just minutes away. It all happens in a flash, just about the time Grace would have been seen by Blake after a bend.

The police get involved very quickly, but as the hours pass, very little information emerges. It looks like someone is deliberately putting them through mental agony. Is it due to business dealings Blake has had, or something from Lucie’s past? It is difficult to discuss the story any more without introducing spoilers, hence, will stop here.

While the story is good, as is the suspense, there is a portion in between where it stalls just a little by focusing excessively on Lucie’s mental state. Some of the behaviours of the characters feels unnatural in parts. Nevertheless, the last portion ties all aspects of the story (past & present) logically, and the story ends very well.

This is the first book of KL Slater that I read, and liked the story as well as the tempo she maintains. I certainly look forward to reading more of her books, and certainly recommend this one!

My rating: 4.25 / 5.

I received a free ebook from Bookouture and NetGalley for an honest review.


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Saturday, February 2, 2019

Review: Arranged Love: A Short, Dreamy & Passionate Romance

Arranged Love: A Short, Dreamy & Passionate Romance Arranged Love: A Short, Dreamy & Passionate Romance by P.G. Van
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I picked up this book on an impulse – for light reading based on the story and the reviews I read. It was some of what I expected – it is a short book and certainly a book you can read easily. Yet the story falls short, the characters lack depth and there is a lot of silly stuff in the narrative.

The story starts with the main protagonist Nivri travelling to India from New York. On the flight she meets Avinash who is a successful businessman. She has tremendous flying anxiety and looks to Avinash for support, including jumping onto his lap. As Nivri gets to know him during the flight, they both feel a strong connection. There are further complications in the travel including delays/cancellations, and Avinash accompanies Nivri on an unscheduled trip to her grandmother’s place.

There is a twist towards the end – but the build up is poor, and the end result is akin to eating fast food. However, certainly a quick and easy read.

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