biblomania

Title:ALCHEMIST Author: Paulo Coelho Nature: Fiction Some books you read and they tend to haunt you throughout your life. You tend to find these images in different walks of life. The book I am going to talk about is of same category i.e “ALCHEMIST”. It is a story of a young shepherd in Spain who dreams of finding a huge treasure near pyramids of Egypt. So begins his odyssey in which he meets a gypsy who tells his future but promises from him, half the treasure. The omens which tend to direct him towards the treasure. His journey takes him through Sahara desert where he meets his lady love and finally the ALCHEMIST, who hands him a piece of gold for his journey backwards. The boy is astonished because while returning he will have loads of treasure so why this gold piece? The most fascinating part of story is it’s climax. Paulo Coelho’s book is really a best seller, although his another book “FIFTH MOUNTAIN” I found boring. Other Books : Fifth Mountain, Zahir, Pilgrimage,Twelve Minutes

Title: MOTHER Author: Maxim Gorky Nature: Non-Fiction An old classic and that too it praises Communism which has lost it’s shine of what it had in late 50’s or 60’s. But it still is one of the master pieces of Russian literature and probably English too. The story revolves around a woman called Pelagea Nilovna who is a worker in a factory at the start of 20th century. Her husband, a worst kind of alcoholic is dead, and the only hope she has in life, is her son Pavel. She is a typical woman who has lived her life in the tyranny of her husband without realizing that her son has grown, not only physically but mentally too. Pavel comes into contact with communism and becomes an instant devotee. Due to Pavel, Pelagea comes in touch with comrades who visit their houses frequently to preach among factory workers. Earlier she is worried about her son but later on herself becomes a comrade. The metamorphosis of a age old woman from a typical house wife to fearless comrade is brilliantly portra

Title: MAHANAYAK Author: Vishwas Patil Nature: History (Marathi) One of the best biographies Marathi literature has ever seen. This IAS officer opens many new areas of NETAJI's life by his extensive research of archives from Japan,Burma & India. The book describes the interplay between different characters in NETAJI's life mainly Gandhiji & Nehru.And how Chitranjan Das was his mentor in political life, his love life with Emile, finally his readiness to take herculaean efforts just to see his beloved motherland free. The only drawback is book is very long, but epics are long and still they are worth reading is'nt it? Other book: RANANGAN (by same author)

Title: The Mossad inside stories: Israel's secret intelligence service Author: Dennis Eisenberg+Uri Dan+Eli Landau Nature: Political/Thriller Probably no country in the world has followed "Offence is the best defence" as closely as Israel. Many times it is justified because of it's hostile neighbours. But to be offensive one has to have in depth knowledge of enemy's moves. It is where MOSSAD comes into picture. The book narrates story of the rise of MOSSAD from a hotch-potch days of WW-II to the second most dreaded intelligence agency in the world after CIA. The contribution of Isser Harel in carving out MOSSAD from different agencies and making it responsible for Jewish interests. The successful plot of capturing Adolf Eichmann and bringing him to gallows. The story of Eli Cohen who almost became Defence minsiter of Syria or when the whole of the agency was just obssesed for finding a simple teenager boy make it a exciting reading. The other plots are as lucid

Title: Giants of Enterprise: Seven Business Innovators and the Empires They Built Author: Richard S Tedlow Nature: Management A great read fo someone who is interested in how eneterprises are built from just ideas. They are then scaled up and probably become market leaders around the globe. The book takes a chronological view of these giants, starting from the earliest Andrew Carnegie to the latest of Rober Noyce. It is a book mainly about these people and not the enterprises they built.Still it is great to read about the great salesman "Thomas Watson", best Retailer "Sam Walton", man who was close to Nobel "Robert Noyce",man who created cosmetics "Charles Revson" and others to watch out for are Carnegie,Eastman& Ford.The book goes in detail about the whims and fancies of these people, which can sometimes be boring.

Title: Tipping Point Author: Malcolm Gladwell Nature : General Although the book can't be classified in a particular category, still it's effects on a person are far reaching. The book starts with crazy phenomenas like explosive sales of Hush Puppies from near bankruptcy, sudden dissapearance of NY crimes. Then the author goes on explaining the phenomena on principles like law of few & power of context. These are then supported by different cases like Paul Revere ride, making of the Sesame Street etc. A must read for management students becauser of lot of focus on marketing,consumer behaviour, psychology etc. Other book : Blink (by same author)

Title : The Eagle Has Flown Author : Jack Higgins Nature : Fiction The novel is set in background of WW-II. It revolves around the audacious plot of SS ( Nazi wing) to assassinate Churchill. The SS team led by Col Kurt Steiner lands secretly in England but is stalled in a major skirmish with villagers. The whole team is annihilated but with 2 survivors Steiner who is captured and Liam Devlin an IRA revolutionary who miraculously escapes. As soon as the SS comes to know of Steiner’s imprisonment, a brilliant plan is made to rescue him with lead as Devlin. Whether Devlin succeeds or not, is something to be read for. A must read for a fan of fiction novels. Prequel : The Eagle has Landed

The purpose of the blog is to discuss about books I have read on some subjects. If you find some related books please do comment and give the name. It is said about Jonathan Swift that when he finished reading some wonderful book, he would leave it in some garden, so that other people can read it. We can't afford that much generosity but definitely could exchange names and views about books and read them. There is no joy like reading a good book. so HAPPY READING