Some more books

Hi!

In past I posted here a little of Faiz’s poetry. It may not be completely out-of-context to talk about his life now. Love and Revolution-Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Faiz’s biography is written by his grandson, Ali Madih Hashmi. I cannot say this is one of the better biographies I have read, but it does give a comprehensive life-history of Faiz, without much fanfare and hero-worship. This is not a small achievement when writing about a giant public figure. I would be sumptuously happy if a stray reader -a rare fan of poetry, amongst the infinitesimally insignificant number of people who read these posts- stumbles across this reference and picks up Faiz’s life story. It will provide some joyful reading experience.

Nothing about China is ever dull. Intrigue invests all news and aspects of this vast country. China is again in news for a sad reason. Tragedy of Corona virus epidemic is compounded by the speculation how Chinese government stifled the news of virus spread and how even WHO fell for the ruse. China also boasts of a great prehistoric civilisation, one amongst four in the world. It has one of the oldest recorded history too. John Keay, a Scot, is a maverick historian. He is an Indophile and an expert on south Asia. He has written many books on the history of this region. I have read many and all are brilliant. I post here his history on China, China-A History.

Somerset Maugham’s novel Cakes and Ale, published in 1930, is one of the finest specimens of how a story should be told. It is actually a satire, a spoof on the snobbish world of writers and their insincere mentors. It also cogitates on the subject of the real muse of a writer, but inconspicuously. It is unbeatable in its taut structure, trenchancy and steadfastness of the author’s grip on the theme. Book-devourers would have read it. It would be good to know their opinion.

Existence of unimaginable, unmitigated and infinite misery in the world seems a proof enough for the absence of a supernaturally powered caretaker, God. Arun Shourie in his book, Does He Know A Mother’s Heart, examines this argument in light of a personal tragedy.

The first book on the physics of cosmos I read was Brian Greene’s Fabric of Cosmos. I was knocked down by the incredible reach of science. I had been abysmally ignorant about universe till then. I had some vague notions about Big Bang, but believed that true nature of universe could perhaps be revealed only by philosophy. I had stumbled across rationalists like Richard Dawkins, Steven Pinker, Bertrand Russel around that time. As I read their books I was drunk with the new knowledge and revelations about world and ourselves. It was the renaissance of my intellect. I have since read many books on astrophysics. I am never tired of this knowledge. Steven Weinberg’s The FirstThree Minutes, is not only the best book  on cosmology that I have read, but also the finest in the genre of Science books for laypersons. Steven Weinberg writes beautiful prose. This itself is a rewarding experience of reading his books. I am reminded of the twentieth century Mathematician G.H. Hardy’s ineffably beautiful prose in his memoir A Mathematician’s Apology. I will recommend First Three Minutes to every fan of science books. It is a great book.