Top Three Books Read by A Few Tweeters in 2016

So, yesterday on Twitter, I asked people to name the best three books that they've read in 2016 and this is the list:

@PunsNProses 




@mindkhichdi




@Romaticize 




@Kerouacrow




@kapilk1210




@samosawallah




@selurus




@retardEngineer




@idealistIdiot




@shutchup




@Munchin_JugHead





@supaarwoman




@salonimunot



@Pushkarr



Thanks a lot to all those who responded. Apologies for the shitty formatting. Tried to link the books to their respective Goodreads but didn't happen. Enjoy your 2017!

'The Last King of Scotland' by Giles Foden

Pages: 345
Goodreads, Amazon

I picked this one at a second-hand books store. The discount was really good and quite honestly, among all the books, this was the only title that I had heard of.

The book is an account of the Scottish doctor Nicholas Garrigan who is appointed as the personal physician of the Ugandan dictator, Idi Amin. The book recounts his journey from being a general doctor to that of being a close confidante of Idi Amin. The doctor gets a close encounter with the lives of people in Uganda who initially look forward with great optimism to living a better life under Amin's rule after he overthrows the previous President Milton Obote but are finally left languishing to a bad fate under the abusive rule of Amin. Besides painting a picture of the landscape of Uganda as well as the lives of people, the author does a commendable job of giving a close up view of the chaotic mind of Idi Amin.

Throughout the book, Dr. Garrigan is shown as someone who is averse to take even the slightest of risks. This is understandable given how unruly Amin is. But given the circumstances in the book, it is difficult to imagine that someone will always be as timid as Dr. Garrigan. By the end of the book, the character of Dr. Garrigan is simply so frail an attitude, that any incident without Amin in it, seemed like a pushover to read. It is also difficult to understand why Amin will even confide in someone like Dr. Garrigan just because he is his doctor albeit blessed with a superior skill.

Until quite late in the book, I kept believing that the entire narration is entirely based on facts and that a Dr. Garrigan really exists. It took me a while to realize that the book is a fictional account based on news reports. The book could have been much shorter had it focused on Amin rather than the non-events in the life of Dr. Garrigan. I am sure a biography of Amin would make a better read. 

'The Unexpected Guest' by Agatha Christie

Pages: 287
Goodreads, Amazon

I read 'The Unexpected Guest' on a lazy day with nothing much to do. I shortlisted it brilliantly by going by its cutesy little length as I wanted something light to read and wanted to be done with it in a day.

The book reads rather like a play what with the setting of the house described with a handy map at the beginning. It begins with the much-cliched scene of a stranger having his car stuck in the rains and he arrives at a house only to discover that a murder has been committed at the house. The stranger finds the murdered man's wife and suspects her of having committed the crime. However, as more and more characters emerge (including a servant, the murdered man's wife's lover, and a rather obscure old enemy of the man), the mystery deepens.

Written with the fast no-nonsense speed of Agatha Christie, there is never a dull moment in the plot. There is an incredible amount of planning gone in writing this short page-turner. There are many twists all through the book and the most important one is when the most suspected characters are revealed to be innocent. However, the motive behind the crime lacked the essence as I had expected from the entire buildup.

Overall, the book is a fun read and can be a great companion on an off day.

[WHOA! It just struck me while writing this post (the second paragraph) that the 1973 Hindi movie 'Dhund' is based on this book. Googled and Wikipedia confirmed. Filing this sudden realization under 'Benefits of writing'.]

'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Pages: 180
Goodreads, Amazon

I don't really remember exactly when I had bought F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby' though I remember that I had bought it from a second-hand book store and most probably around the time when its latest movie adaptation (2013) was released. The intention, as always, of course, was to read the book and compare it with the movie. Like every reader, I consider myself an authority on certifying whether every movie adaptation lives up to the quality of its book. After three years of ripening in dust, I finally picked it as a quick read between books.

'The Great Gatsby' is set in USA during the 1920s - the era of tremendous excesses and a foreshadow to The Great Depression. It starts on a very promising note with the narrator, Nick, quickly introducing himself (someone who preserves his judgment according to his father's advice), the main characters and the main parts of the location of the plot. There seems to be an undertone of being an underachiever to the narrator's description with the constant comparison of himself with the rest of the characters.

The plot involves the narrator's mysterious neighbour, Mr. Gatsby, who keeps on hosting opulent parties seemingly for no real reason but really to gain attention of Daisy, the narrator's cousin and his friend, Tom Buchanan's wife. It turns out that, before her marriage, Daisy had promised the then poor Mr. Gatsby to wait for him after the war but ended up marrying the wealthy Mr. Buchanan instead. Thus, a throbbing romance (at least throbbing in the heart of Mr. Gatsby) is at the heart of the book. The plot speaks about how people have evolved into collecting material possessions while getting alienated from their true emotions. The descriptions of the frequent parties bring forth the opulence and the grandeur in the lifestyle of the characters while they themselves are hollow and struggling from within.

Though the author has not dedicated a lot towards character building, he succeeds in bringing forth the qualities of the main characters. My favourite character was the narrator who finds himself torn between his friends and their lives while aspiring to make a mark in his career. He is the only one who seems to undergo a transformation throughout the book's length - initially desiring to be like the rich and famous but finally learning that riches do not arrive without the company of misery.

The author's style of introducing sarcasm and dry humour in dialogue is very appealing. His writing is poetic and reminded me of 'The Grand Budapest Hotel'. Though the book is known for bringing out the American way of life, it seems to have a wider timeless appeal that concerns any person in a capitalist world. The book ends on a sad note that seems to suggest that though wealth can be achieved, the real dreams remain distant. Heavy heavy stuff. 

Liu Cixin's "The Three-Body Problem" translated by Ken Liu

Pages: 400

Goodreads, Amazon

Liu Cixin's "The Three-Body Problem" is a widely popular recently published book in the science-fiction genre. It spans across several decades and planets and captures many important aspects of the Chinese history. As most of the action in the plot is based in China, the book was an introduction to Chinese sci-fi for me.

The plot revolves around two scientists - Ye Wenjie and Wang Miao. Ye is a pioneer scientist who has seen her father die during the revolution for his path-breaking ideas. She takes up a position at a secret army observatory. With the passage of time, Ye realizes that the unit is not a mere observatory but is a powerful communications centre whose reach goes beyond earth.

Wang Miao is a present day scientist who has stumbled upon an inconvenient truth and must play a game to unravel the mystery of it all. While he meets emperors, scientists and philosophers in the virtual world, he meets a myriad of people in the real world. The meeting of both the worlds is when Miao completes the game and is made privy to the secret of the existence of another planet complete with intelligent creatures (Yay! Aliens!)

The book is a grand in its setting - in terms of both time and space. The journey from the first to the last page is as if witnessing history unfold with lots of politics and drama sprinkled along the way. There is also a healthy dose of science talk that speaks in detail about black holes, relativity and time travel.

Though the translation is excellent, the only loose bits seemed to be when the action takes place on the other planet. The entire strategy of contacting and attacking humans seems sort of comical. 

However, I loved the lyrical prose of the book. Even the plot was interesting enough to make me feel like picking up the next two books in the series.

'Gahire Pani' by Ratnakar Matkari

Pages: 206
Goodreads, Amazon

Last month, I asked my Twitter followers if they'd be interested in gifting me a book for my birthday. Though a few fell prey to this sentimental yet evil appeal, I backed off thinking that it wasn't too nice of me to do something like this and didn't go back to this request until the day arrived. However, Abhijeet insisted on sending a book even though the birthday had almost left the calendar. Many thanks to him for gifting me 'Gahire Pani' ('Deep water' in Marathi).

After the heavy duty Hindi dose of Rashmirathi, I was a bit uncertain about whether to read 'Gahire Pani' without a Marathi dictionary. The author's introduction wasn't too helpful either since, strangely, he had written only about the TV show based on this book.

The book is a collection of horror and thriller short stories. The author is blessed with a weird mind (which I like!) that has him all sorts of supernatural ideas. The stories belong to various genres predominant among which is horror.

Though the stories aren't very scary, they are definitely thrilling. I found myself thinking about a few stories long after I had read them. The first story about a boy being able to predict anybody's date of death when he is told that person's birthday is definitely one such story.

Though most of the horror stories score high on the thrill quotient, the ones about time travel. murder plot and witchcraft are forgettable. An impressive narrative in this maze of thrill is the story of a girl who keeps getting flashes about an assault in her previous life. Though the plot's climax is not much to speak about, the story has been told in the form of letters from the protagonist to herself. It was a really interesting way of unfolding the events.

Overall, I enjoyed reading the book and will gladly read anything else by the author. I thank Abhijeet again for giving me the chance to read something so out of my reading span. Without this gift, I would have been a stranger to a Poe-sque Marathi author. 

'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' by Jack Thorne, John Tiffany and J. K. Rowling(?)

Pages: 327
Goodreads, Amazon

The "Harry Potter" series holds a special place for me because it introduced me to the world of fantasy. I read the series quite late after all the books were released. I even ignored all the movies considering them as imbecile. Credit to a niece who challenged me to give the first book a try and then stop myself from reading the rest of the books. Like innumerable people across the globe, I was smitten by the wonderful world of Harry Potter.

The buzz around the new play in the Potter series was quite strong since last year. Of course, it would have been wonderful to watch the play especially since it featured actors besides the ones in the movies. However, since the play is currently playing only in UK, one had to take solace in the next best option - the play's screenplay. Having read the main series and having watched all the movies based on them, I bought the screenplay without reading about its reviews. 

The plot revolves around Harry Potter's son, Albus. It portrays Albus' pain of bearing the burden of expectations that the world has thrust upon him simply because he is the son of a famous hero. In his journey of finding his own identity, Albus comes across and befriends Draco Malfoy's son, Scorpius. While Albus is nothing like Harry when it comes to magic, Scorpius' personality is extremely different from that of his evil (until the previous book) father, Draco. The villainous touch to the plot is lent by Voldemort's daughter, Delphini. 

The plot relies heavily on time travel in order to take the readers and the characters back to the plots of the previous books. Like the characters in the main series, Albus and Scorpius are consistent at making mistakes, stick to love and friendship, and recover from their setbacks after receiving help from unexpected quarters. Finally, they also overcome their opponent and everything ends up being well. The added theme of children trying to find themselves by coming out of the shadows of their parents has been well portrayed. 

As the book is a screenplay (not sure what 'special rehearsal edition' is), it obviously doesn't read like an ordinary book. However, my main complaint is regarding the characters. While a play may not give the writers the liberty of developing characters as well as they'd like to, there was a distinct disconnect in this book from how the characters behaved in the main series. Especially, Ron was presented as a joker who is mocked by everybody. I found myself saying, "This is not something this character would say," several times. Though I have my set of complaints about the main series, this botheration about characters in this books, shows how well the previous books were written and presented in the movies. 

I'd like to forget this book quickly and let the special place of the main series remain intact with me. But will I miss the chance to watch the play? Book the best seats please. 

'Fahrenheit 451' by Ray Bradbury

Pages: 227
Goodreads, Amazon

I rarely add books to my Goodreads "To-read" list because, firstly, I'm too lazy and, secondly, I try to read books based on chance encounters and leisurely discoveries rather than as a plan. Besides, being almost always confused about things doesn't help a reading plan much. But there are a few books in my "To-read" list based on someone's kind recommendations or the times when I stumble upon a book and liked it so much that I had to keep it in the list (only to be forgotten at a later time). Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 found a place in the list based on one such quirk.

Yamini was kind and smart enough to look up the list and gift it on my birthday after I quite shamelessly and repeatedly kept on asking her for a gift. By the way, I am so ignorant towards my "To-read" list that I deduced that this book existed in my list based on Yamini's tweet on blessing these lists for helping one decide a gift.

The fast-paced book is based in the year 2052. The world has achieved advancements in technology (there are four-walled televisions and TV shows in which one can participate as a character right from the comfort of one's home) but not so much ideologically (people are busy having fun by indulging in TV shows but nobody has any individuality of actions or thoughts). The administrative state seems to have grown extremely powerful in its endeavour to clamp down on any form of questioning thinking. There is a team of Firemen which is always on its toes promptly performing its duty of visiting homes and burning books. (451 degrees Fahrenheit is the temperature at which paper burns.)

The book is about Guy Montag, a Fireman who is on the verge of awakening from his ideological stupour. Deep down, Montag knows that something is wrong with everything. His wife is happily floating in the pleasures of TV and the company of her equally brain-dead friends. Montag's world changes when he comes across a free-minded girl (Clarisse) and an old man (Faber), both of whom are free souls, and who psychologically shake Montag up and inspire him to revolt against the system. Montag runs away from everything with the ambition of reestablishing a freedom of thought in the world.

Bradbury doesn't devote many pages to world or character building. He is out there to convey an emotion and he does it well succinctly. Montag seems torn between two worlds but we don't know much about him till the end. I didn't really feel much for Clarisse when she disappeared whereas Montag was terribly disconsolate.

The book touches upon the aspects of a grim future world, freedom of thought and most importantly, how books shape people. It is an expression of the author's love of books and I was blown away by the way that has he chosen to pour it into the words. It kept reminding me of the Matrix trilogy with Montag as Neo, Faber as Morpheus and Clarisse as Trinity.

The 60th anniversary edition of the book (with the above cover) has a history, context and criticism section which makes it a far more interesting read. Since the book itself is shorter than 200 pages, this section is not worth skipping as it has views of the author himself and famous reviewers about the book itself and its adaptation as an audiobook, a play and a movie.

Since the book was written and published in the 1950s, the narration is somewhat different from what I have come to know as modern literature. There seem to be occasional bumps in the flow of the narration because of the jumpy nature of the plot. There are a few instances, especially when Montag moves from one location to the other, when the characters seems to be daydreaming or on a psychological trip. I lost the narration completely at these points, however, it didn't matter much.

I loved every bit of the book and the fact that it makes books seem all the more important to people made it even more special to me. 

'Red Seas under Red Skies' by Scott Lynch

Goodreads, Amazon
Pages: 558

'Red Seas under Red Skies' is the second book of the Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastards series. [I have written about the first book 'The Lies of Locke Lamora' but it's in my writing journal and I'm too bored at the moment to transfer it here.]

The series is about thieves who want to win over the world through their many deceptions. The setting of the series reminds of the world and period of 'One Thousand and One Nights'. The world is all about ports, traders, rich people with palatial homes, and there's a little bit of magic amidst all the chaos. After the adventures of the first book, the group of thieves has been badly wounded and has been reduced to just two people - Locke and Jean.

The book begins two years after the events of its prequel. The prologue makes the reader jump right into action with Locke and Jean under an attack and Jean is about to betray Locke by crossing over to the attackers' side. Once the actual book begins, the narration alters between the present and the period of rift between the this book and its prequel.

'Red Seas under Red Skies' introduces us to new characters and a new place (the port of Tel Verrar) though villains from the prequel make scanty but important appearances. In the initial part of the book, Locke is unwilling to get back to his old deceptive ways and Jean tries measures, which are extreme but also adorable, to bring him back. Eventually, the duo gets into its groove and finds a new target for duping through many layers of masterful scheming - Requin, the shrewd and powerful owner of a gambling den. However, there's another dominant character in Tel Verrar, Maxilan Stragos, who knows a lot about the duo's past and threatens to harm them fatally unless they act according to his wishes.

In order to gain political points, Stragos makes Locke and Jean travel by sea, in their mission to become pirates and stir trouble in the region around Tel Verrar. After a hurried training through the lovable ex-seaman Caldris, Locke and Jean are pushed off in the sea. They come across the pirates Zamira Drakasha (who pirates around with her toddler kids in the tow) and her lady-lieutenant Ezri Delmastro. Loaded with lots of characters, witty lines, naval terms and interesting tricks, the plot proceeds towards a thrilling climax.

I had great fun reading this book. There are hardly any dull moment throughout the 600-odd pages. Locke is so funny especially when he gets angry that I'd love to be around the angry Scott Lynch. The many lies of Locke left me guessing about his true intentions throughout the book. The world creation is not very dense except while describing buildings. My imagination failed to keep up with the scenes intended to be created by the author. However, he must be credited for achieving the rare feat of having more than one major female character in a fantasy book.

My only complaint about the book was about the overdose of twists that Lynch supplies throughout. A few of them seem just too forced and, in order to accommodate them, he seems to take the characters out of their painfully built personalities. The tedium of traversing through the complications spiked towards the end of the book. This was entirely consistent with what I had experienced while reading 'The Lies of Locke Lamora'.

I'm totally in for reading the remaining (five?) books in the series but a Gentleman Bastards reading spree seems tiring. See you later, Locke.