Babel, R F Kuang, 2022

Rating: 5/5

“An act of translation is necessarily an act of betrayal” concludes a character in the book and that essentially forms the crux of this novel — it starts with the hope that translation can bridge different cultures, but the protagonists soon discover that the power of words can tear people apart in a colonial framework.

Babel is a historical fantasy novel set in an alternate version of early 19th century England where the Royal Institute of Translation in Oxford (or Babel) drives the country’s technological prowess and colonial ambitions. Translators use silver bars enchanted with “match pairs” in different languages to do so. Robin Swift, Ramy Mirza, Victoire Desgraves and Letty Price enrol at Babel, longing to belong and grappling with their loyalties to their capitalist masters and their people.

Kuang's writing is accessible, simple, and fast-paced, yet insightful with her detailed exploration of the etymology of words in multiple languages. She liberally uses footnotes throughout the book. These range from pure fiction to reality, are often quirky, but significantly add to the book. However, at times, I felt the plot was somewhat formulaic — she has taken standard tropes such as racism (Robin’s real Chinese name is never revealed), capitalism and callousness (the willingness to profit from opium even at the expense of a generation’s well-being), friendship and betrayal, and same-sex love (with  subtle hints) and checked them against her plot. 

The varied tempo of her writing was another slight gripe for me. While the book is somewhat of a page-turner, the story moves along at a very rapid clip in the first third of the book while it gets stretched out in the concluding parts. Nevertheless, as Robin feels as a young child, “what a pleasure it was to hold the weight of an entire, finished story” in my hands!

Pros: Inventive plot, insightful and pacy

Cons: Slightly clichéd, varying pace

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, Shehan Karunatilaka, 2022

Rating: 5/5

This book, winner of the 2022 Booker Prize, is an incredible combination of an imaginative and almost wild storyline, abundant humor, a scathing commentary on Sri Lankan politics in the 1980s, and thoughtful character sketching of the main protagonist and supporting actors.

The premise of this book bears some resemblance to George Saunders' 2017 novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, that revolves around Abraham Lincoln's deceased son and various other characters, all situated in a realm between life and rebirth. Saunders incorporates real historical events from Lincoln's life into his narrative. Similarly, this book follows the journey of Maali Almeida, a photographer who wakes up dead and finds himself in the afterlife. He has seven days, or "moons," to move on or risk being trapped in the afterlife. Karunatilaka sets his story against the backdrop of the communal unrest in Sri Lanka during the 1980s.

The plot elements are zany and absolutely delightful and include a 42 storeyed afterlife waiting area, wind as the main form of transport, demons and other Sri Lankan mythological beings, a talking leopard and the important role of an Elvis Presley album. Karunatilaka’s writing is half-part humourous, especially when he comments on everday life in Sril Lanka during that period  — “Lankans can’t queue unless you define a queue as an amorphous curve with multiple entry points”, and half part philosophical — “Evil is not what we should fear. Creatures with power acting in their own interest: that is what should make us shudder”. Karunatilka also uses an interesting second-person narrative style which I thought somehow immerses the reader better into the book. There is a fair amount of reference to Sri Lankan events in the 1980s and the roles that various entities such as the government, the JVP party and the Indian army played but that should not be a constraint for a reader not familiar with these events. Karunatilka also helpfully incorporates a cheatsheet early on in the book to underscrore these entities.

But most importantly, Karunatilaka is able to flesh out the various characters really well — Maali’s lover, his lover’s cousin and father, a dead JVP activist, a blind astrologer, and several others. Maali Almeida’s character development through the events over the seven days as well as through flashbacks, is particularly well done. He is introduced to the reader as “Photographer. Gambler. Slut” right at the beginning of the book but we gradually then begin to understand his motivations and principles as the story progresses towards his inevitable redemption.

Pros: Zany plot, humorous writing, fleshed out characters

Cons: Nothing significant

Sakina's Kiss, Vivek Shanbhag, 2023

Rating: 4/5

I picked up Sakina's Kiss with high expectations after reading Shanbhag's earlier work, Ghachar Ghochar. And for the most part, it did not disappoint. While it may seem like a simple novel, it delves into the complexities of human relationships and explores the themes of gender and a patriarchal society with great nuance.

The book is narrated by Venkataramana, an upper middle-class executive, who’s had a reasonably successful career but has felt the need to conform all through his life — at one point he ruminates that his easy acceptance of his shortened name, Venkat, possibly reflects the firmness of his convictions. The narrative covers just a few days but reflects on multiple generations through Venkataramana's reflections. It starts off like a thriller, with some goons inquiring about his daughter and disrupting his idyllic life. However, the focus of the story is primarily on the relationships among his family members and highlights the growing distance between him, his wife, and his daughter due to his outdated thinking.

Shanbhag's writing style is deceptively simple, infused with humor and earthy metaphors, yet carries an underlying sense of foreboding. Like in his previous novel, Sakina's Kiss is superbly translated from the original Kannada by Srinath Perur. The only aspect that puzzled me was the choice of title. While there is a humorous anecdote in the story that refers to the title, its relevance was not entirely clear to me.

Sakina's Kiss shares many similarities with Shanbhag's previous novel, Ghachar Ghochar. However, while the latter leaves room for contemplation, Sakina's Kiss ends somewhat abruptly. Perhaps this is because the book initially sets up a thrilling plot, but ultimately focuses more on its underlying themes than the story itself.

Pros: Superb writing, nuanced exploration of themes

Cons: Awkward ending

Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir, 2021

Rating: 5/5

It is incredibly challenging for an author to successfully blend an intellectually stimulating narrative with detailed discussions on the theories of physics, while also making the book witty, relatable, and a page-turner. However, Andy Weir accomplishes this feat admirably in Project Hail Mary. The story revolves around Ryland Grace, a brilliant scientist and an unlikely hero, who wakes up aboard a spaceship with no recollection of how or why he ended up there or even who he is. As he gradually uncovers the purpose of his mission, the destiny of humanity becomes intricately intertwined with his discoveries and decisions.

The book starts off languidly and humorously, despite the circumstances that Grace finds himself in. Each of the first few chapters ends with an important revelation that helps him piece things together. After that, the narrative swiftly gains momentum, keeping readers engaged with a relentless series of challenges and discoveries, and interspersing these with the protagonist's poignant reflections. Throughout the book, Weir presents a myriad of scientific discussions and explanations that not only drive the plot forward but also explore the worlds of astrophysics, biology, and space exploration. This does create uneven pacing in the middle of the book, but by and large, Weir has succeeded in making complex scientific ideas accessible to readers of all backgrounds.

Above all, it's a testament to Weir's ability to intricately weave together scientific intrigue with the emotional depth of the characters, culminating in a satisfying and poignant conclusion.

Pros: Intellectually stimulating, witty, high emotional content

Cons: Uneven pacing in the middle

Rogues, Patrick Radden Keefe, 2022

Rating: 4/5

“The Empire of Pain” was a key reason for me to pick this book up — Keefe’s extensive research and narrative style made that book an extremely interesting read for me. And, after reading “Rogues”, I was pleased to find out that the quality of research that he’s undertaken for the 12 true stories in this book and his story-telling abilities, even though these were written over 12 years for “The New Yorker”, remain undiminished. “Rogues”, as the title’s byline suggests, is a collection of true stories of grifters, killers, rebels, and crooks.

However, one usual shortcoming of attempts to collate previously written stories or essays into a book (to take advantage of an author’s recent success, as a cynic may argue) is the mixed-bag nature of the quality of the content. Unfortunately, this is true of “Rogues” as well. While some stories stand out for featuring issues that few have heard about, others are on mundane topics and the published and author seem to have chosen them largely to get to an overall round dozen number. The essays on fake collector wines, on Mark Burnett’s role in resurrecting Donald Trump’s image and in his eventual rise to Presidency through “The Apprentice” TV show, the motivations of a defence lawyer in taking up cases featuring the worst criminals and the story of chef Anthony Bourdain and his Emmy-winning travel show were all fascinating reads. On the other hand, the essays on a crime family, mass shooting by a neurobiologist, the hunt for a cartel boss and data theft and whistle blowing were ordinary without any significant new insights.

Overall, I would still rate this book a 4/5 for Keefe’s research and writing style. This book is also an easy read and can be paired with another more serious book.

Pros: Well-researched, interesting narration

Cons: Mixed bag in terms of how interesting the stories are

The Power Law, Sebastian Mallaby, 2022

Rating: 5/5

At the outset, Mallaby lays out two objectives for his book: (1) to explain the venture capital mindset, and (2) to evaluate its social impact (such as in creating meaningful products or ensuring diversity or better corporate governance). He succeeds in his first objective extremely well, covering the history of investments from its early days in companies such as Fairchild (that changed the history of the chip industry) to recent fiascos such as Theranos and WeWork, exploring investors’ changing mindset and approach through that journey. His treatment of the second objective is relatively superficial though, whether in his discussions on the creation of meaningful products or on the diversity in venture funds and their investment criteria or on corporate governance. However, we also get a bonus third objective from the book — the narration of several interesting “war stories” in companies ranging from Atari, Genentech and Intel, to Apple, Google and Facebook to more recent ones such as Uber.

The power law occurs when the winners advance at an accelerating and exponential rate, rather than a linear one. The 80:20 rule such as the one where 20% of the population own 80% of the wealth is one example of this. The book covers the various phases of venture investments in detail, starting with those by rich entrepreneurs to early innovations such as pooled capital (from limited partners) and activism capital (where investors played a key role in choosing managers and strategies), the era of creation of networks and “coopetition” (co-operation and competition at the same time), the no-holds-barred growth-investing style perpetuated by Softbank’s Masayoshi Son in the late 1990s, structured angel investments by the likes of Y Combinator, a tilt in the balance towards founders brought about by companies such as Google and Facebook and finally, the return to activist investing in companies such as WeWork and Uber. The book covers the history in multiple geographies, mainly in the US and in China, and to a small extent, in India as well. It also covers the history of several of the more significant firms such as Kleiner Perkins and Sequoia. 

The role and importance of venture capital is a hotly debated topic. While it cannot be denied that it has played and continues to play an important role in our progress, do venture capitalists create innovation or do they merely show up for it? Could they have done more to avoid some of technology’s adverse social impact or to encourage technologies such as greentech? Mallaby largely speaks out in favour of the venture capitalists but this part of the book is not as fleshed out as the rest of it. He argues that the future can only be discovered and not predicted, and this is the only form of capital that can enable this discovery by willing to take a large amount of risk (it was hence initially referred to as adventure capital). Mallaby argues that venture capitalists succeeded more due to skills than luck and companies such as Cisco and Google became what they are due to extensive coaching. He exonerates the investors from governance nightmares in companies such as Theranos, WeWork and Uber by arguing that more than three-quarters of late-stage venture funding in the United States between 2014 and 2016 came from non-traditional investors such as mutual funds, hedge funds, and sovereign wealth funds.  He does acknowledge the diversity issue however given the fact that a large proportion of the partners in these firms and the founders of their investee companies tend to be white men. 

Overall, the book is well-researched, laid out well and importantly, is easy and interesting to read. While I do have reasonable prior knowledge of the industry, I think a lay person would enjoy this equally. So, a 5-star book for me!

Pros: Extremely well-researched history, several interesting anecdotes, an interesting read

Cons: Superficial treatment of the social aspects

The Gene: An Intimate History, Siddhartha Mukherjee, 2016

Rating: 5/5

The context for the “intimate” part of the title is the incidence of bipolarity and schizophrenia in the male members of Mukherjee’s family — two of his uncles and a cousin were diagnosed with the disease - which would be a constant threat hovering over the family. And this sets the tone for Mukherjee’s fascinating and detailed exploration into the subject of genes. 

He divides the book into six parts, starting from 1865 until the present day, covering the history of genetics ranging from Mendel’s first experiments with peas to genome mapping. He combines significant academic rigour with writing flair while covering the 160-year journey that shaped human understanding of genetics. While parts of the book make heavy reading, Mukherjee keeps most of it interesting and sometimes even manages to convert potentially academic and mundane topics into racy narratives. The section on the race to discover the DNA structure by multiple scientists is one example. Or the race to map the human genome between a private company, Celera and the Human Genome Project. The Book of Man chapter, somewhere in the middle of the book, is particularly interesting with several factoids about human genes. 

The most fascinating parts of the book, as to be expected, cover the debate around eugenics, contrasting the benefits of manipulating genetics to avoid serious disabilities in humans, with the potential violation of individual rights and the marginalisation of certain sections that it could ultimately engender. There have been several instances in recent human history that foretell the significant negative implications of eugenics, such as the eugenics movement of the early 20th century, Nazi Germany’s policies and prenatal genetic testing, we need to tread along this path with extreme caution. While Mukherjee does not provide any concrete solutions, the book does make one pause and think.

Ultimately, The Gene turns out to be a great combination of history, science, personal narratives and some guide rails for the future of genetics!

Pros: Rigorous research and a fascinating look at the history of the gene

Cons: Heavy reading in parts