Review: Karna's Wife: The Outcast's Queen

Karna's Wife: The Outcast's Queen by Kavita Kané
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have been wanting to read Kavita Kane's books since long, and finally have started with Karna's Wife. Karna’s Wife represents imaginative Indian historical fiction writing.

Mahabharata is an epic of immense complexity. While the summary rendering is that of the fight of good vs bad/evil, the situations and moral dilemmas which the characters face is extremely complex. A situation and dilemma which the Mahabharata raises, has found no easy solutions even today - what if those at the highest seats of power do not have the right values / behaviour and lead the entire kingdom to disaster (as Duryodhana / Shakuni and the Kauravas did), dragging many upright and moral citizens (such as Dronacharya, Bhishma, Karna and others) in the flow.

Karna is a character who is one of the most fascinating in the epic. He fights an uphill battle right from birth – is given away and brought up by poor parents (his father being a charioteer) at a time when your parental heritage mattered a lot. He is up against a lot – his upbringing, devious friends and being bound by loyalty, blunders due to feeling mistreated since long, others seeking to disarm him by taking advantage of his generosity…..

The story is told from the eyes of Uruvi, who is Karna’s second wife. This is a character you do not encounter in mainstream narration of the Mahabharata. Though of royal heritage and also close to the Pandavas, she chooses to marry Karna – impressed by his personality and skills. This is not exactly an ideal situation – being a second wife (Karna’s first wife being Vrushali), and more importantly a man scorned as one not worthy of intermingling in the highest circles. While she loves him deeply, she watches helplessly as she sees their life entering turbulent times. Especially after Karna’s taunts Draupadi leading to Duhasana’s attempt to disrobe her. Uruvi is wild with Karna – how could a man for whom righteousness of conduct was important, do something like this, despite the fact that Draupadi insults him during her Swayamvar. Each person is the sum total of his experiences – Karna bears the brunt of discrimination right from his birth. Uruvi realizes, as does Karna, that war is certain to follow, which will almost certainly mean Karna’s death, standing by the one friend Duryodhana who gave him the respect almost everyone else denied.

There are portions which deviate from mainstream narration – Uruvi’s character & marriage to Karna itself, Kunti’s characterization, Bhishma’s motivation for keeping Karna away from the battlefield, and aspects of Draupadi’s character, and her relation with Karna. I was a little disappointed at some of the characterization – especially Kunti’s, and also Arjuna & Draupadi.
And yet, the book largely maintains the ethos of the epic. The writing is good, as is the strong buildup of Uruvi’s character. Some of the characterization on the Pandavas side could have been better. Krishna’s advice to Arjuna and his finding his balance could have found mention as well.

If Indian historical fiction interests you (specifically the Mahabharata), this is a great book to read.

My rating: 4.5 / 5.


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Review: The Friend

The Friend by Teresa Driscoll
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a story which packs great pace, as good thrillers should. Sophie is on a train and distraught as her son Ben is one of two boys in hospital. Her husband Mark is on the train as well.

The story alternates between the present and the past. The story in the past starts off when Emma moves into town with her son Theo. Sophie likes her immediately and they get along very well. A shocking murder follows unnerving the local residents. While it seems an open and shut case initially, there is a hint that there may be more to it than meets the eye.

As story progresses, it is clear that Emma has a past which Sophie and others do not entirely know about. But does any of it matter today to her friend Sophie?

There are some twists in the story, as one would expect towards the end. The book is a very easy and engrossing read, especially due to the fast pace and good characterization. And yet, the story in the later part of the book could have been much better.

My rating: 3.75 / 5


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Review: The Ape That Understood the Universe: How the Mind and Culture Evolve

The Ape That Understood the Universe: How the Mind and Culture Evolve by Steve Stewart-Williams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Behavior is an interesting field to explore – be it human or animal. I read Sapiens and Homo Deus sometime back and liked them for how the books traced the history of how we Sapiens got to where we are. I very recently read the brilliant ‘Behave’ by Robert Sapolsky, which is far more detailed science writing. “The Ape that understood the universe” was a good book to read shortly after. While Behave explores the genesis of individual motivation and behavior, this book in contrast looks at aggregate behavior based on evolutionary psychology and it does a great job at that.

The book starts off on an interesting note with an essay on how an alien species would look at us. There are a number of things which would come across as strange and difficult to explain. For instance, while many humans fear the dark, we are comfortable with fatty and junk food which is where the real danger to us lies! Steve makes some excellent points – if we studied animal behaviors, we would much better understand our own. Most psychologists however assume humans start as a blank slate and that all explanations for behavior are to be found in the learning from environments. The case for evolutionary psychology which the book builds is extremely strong and convincing. Nurture cannot explain a lot of the examples the author cites. While the simple rule of natural selection is propagation of genes, there is a lot more to this when studied in detail.

The book explores the subject in a lot of depth. The sex differences section is especially interesting as well as well written. Be it the animal kingdom or humans, there is a pattern to behavior between the sexes (in most species the relative sizes provide clues). There is a danger here – especially since this could be taken as a stepping stone to prejudice against women among humans. The book explores natural selection with examples of how traits got selected and passed on. At times, it is a struggle for our genes to catch up with the rapid changes in the environment. There are various examples of group selection, altruistic behavior and culture which are discussed at length. As it turns out, a lot of what humans are can be explained with evolutionary psychology. Humans are unique in many ways certainly, and yet the story of what we are is common with much of the animal kingdom.

The concept of memes (similar to the concept of stories in Sapiens) follows towards the end of the book. Humans behave so as to propagate memes to others in the species and to their descendants (eg: religious beliefs). Memes collide with other memes, and there are winners and losers.

There are parts where matter tends to repeat and slows down the pace of the book, Nevertheless, this is an excellent book on evolutionary psychology and definitely recommended reading.

My rating: 4.25 / 5.

I received a free electronic copy of this book from NetGalley for an honest review.


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Review: The Truth About Animals: Stoned Sloths, Lovelorn Hippos, and Other Tales from the Wild Side of Wildlife

The Truth About Animals: Stoned Sloths, Lovelorn Hippos, and Other Tales from the Wild Side of Wildlife by Lucy Cooke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a book filled with very interesting information about a select set of animals including sloths, bats, penguins, hippos, frogs, eels, pandas, chimpanzees, hyenas and others. Lot of the information is lesser known, and makes for engrossing reading.

For instance, hippos genetic makeup shows a closer match with whales rather than any land animal. How do vultures promptly appear when animals die? And so many other interesting bits of information.

Lucy Cooke closes the book with some excellent passages about how in our thinking we have distanced ourselves so much from animals. We think of them as things which exist for our use, and have license to perform cruel experiments on. The passages in the book on the cruel experiments performed on bats to satisfy our curiosity on how they navigate and using frogs for pregnancy tests is sad to read. Pandas for their cute appearance have become a political industry where they are artificially birthed in captivity and don’t lead very satisfying lives.

While the book for the large part makes for excellent and very engrossing reading, it would have benefited from some more material on what motivates the behavior of each of these animals.

I received a free ecopy from NetGalley to provide an honest review.


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Review: For Better and Worse

For Better and Worse by Margot Hunt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Will and Natalie meet in law school, and later get married. After a few years, and a son Charlie, life seems to enter a phase where their relation seems to be losing its shine. Their life comes under severe strain when Charlie’s principal is accused of molesting a child. Will and Natalie have known him well and are not sure what the truth is. The student who has made the accusation has had problems in the past.

Very quickly Will and Natalie find themselves getting involved more deeply. They are concerned on the impact all this will have on Charlie. Natalie especially is determined that she will do anything to keep her son safe. Very soon Will and Natalie find themselves in a very complex situation and possibly on the wrong side of the law. Will has a few things to hide which complicates things further. It is tough to add anything more to the story without introducing spoilers, and hence I stop here.

This is an extremely well written book – a strong storyline, great characterization and very fast paced. Highly recommended!

I received a free ebook from Netgalley for an honest review.

My rating: 4.5 / 5

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Review: Sidney Sheldon’s The Silent Widow: A gripping new thriller for 2018 with killer twists and turns

Sidney Sheldon’s The Silent Widow: A gripping new thriller for 2018 with killer twists and turns by Sidney Sheldon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Tilly Bagshawe continues Sidney Sheldon’s legacy, and does a decent job of it. A strong woman character – this time in Nikki Roberts who is a psychologist. One of her patients is brutally murdered, and her assistant at work meets the same fate soon after. Nikki is just picking up the pieces of her life, being widowed less than a year back, with her husband passing away in a car accident.

It looks like she is the person a killer is after. Very unsure of whether the police are taking the threat seriously, she hires a private detective Derek Williams. The case takes Derek back to over a decade earlier when an American au-pair Charlotte Clancy disappears in Mexico. Just when Derek makes progress, he is forced to leave Mexico abruptly. He soon realises he is against a very powerful adversary – a cartel of drug dealers. Nikki is left confused on who she can trust, and there are some secrets associated with her ex-husband as well.

The story provides a good amount of twists and turns. However, there are far too many characters and incidents which need to be tied together at the end. While Tilly Bagshawe does do it – it comes across unnecessarily complicated. There is also very little real novelty in the story except for the connection to incidents in the past.

This is however, a good book to relax with – and an easy and fast moving read.


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Review: Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism's Greatest Thinker

Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism's Greatest Thinker by Pavan K. Varma
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

While exact details of the period Adi Shankaracharya lived are not entirely known, the impact of his philosophy and commentary is immense. He was certainly one of the greatest philosophers the world has seen. Joseph Campbell wrote many years later on how we need to see beyond the literal in religious traditions, myths and ancient texts. Adi Shankaracharya did just that – writing impactful commentaries and establishing traditions based on his deep knowledge, analysis and understanding of the Vedas, Upanishads and other ancient texts.

The most striking aspect of this was his unambiguous assertion that all is one – Brahman is the all-pervading connection between everything in the universe. He points out that if this is true, there is no basis for any discrimination (by caste / gender / other life forms or any other basis) which must have been a well-entrenched practice at that time.

Pavan Varma’s book has a very good flow. It starts with some context on what we known of Adi Shankaracharya’s life and work. It then follows with three broad sections:
- His travel to the places where Adi Shankara stayed or visited and current knowledge and practices of the local residents
- Impact of Adi Shankara’s philosophy and relevance in modern times, including alignment with scientific knowledge
- Excerpts from some of Adi Shankara’s work

As it turns out, Adi Shankaracharya’s commentary on Advaita Vedanta has stood the test of time including scientific scrutiny. While the section on latest scientific advances is a little too long, the point is made that this is a philosophy which is practical, fair and very meaningful. While he died very young in his early thirties, his achievements were staggering – traversing a large country largely by foot, engaging in debates, and establishing four mathas to preserve tradition and serve as source of knowledge to explain the philosophy. Just maybe, if he had lived longer, he could have turned around a lot of the discriminatory practices which caused pain to so many.

The book is backed by research and has good narration of the personal experiences of the author’s visit to many places across the country. As he points out, a far better job needs to be done to maintain many of the places and sites which are of great historical importance. The section on the advances in science, could have been compressed a little though.

This is a great book to read if the subject is of interest.


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