'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.