The Gulag Archipelago Volume 3 by Alexandr Solzhenitsyn

I have finally finished reading Alexandr Solzhenitsyn's life-defining series. Reading all three books is a big achievement, and I feel incredibly pleased. All in all, the series exceeded two thousand pages. If reading the entire series is such a big achievement, can you imagine how big the achievement of writing it would have been? The series attempts…

Advertisement

The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman

The Design of Everyday Things is a lovely book that changes the reader's perspective about the everyday things we use. It is widely considered the Bible of Design, and the author Don Norman is regarded as the father of design. The book is easy to read and looks at the most common tools from the…

The Gulag Archipelago Volume 2

I read volume two of 'The Gulag Archipelago two years after reading volume one. I believe this series is the finest literature I have read until now, demonstrating the monumentality of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's work. The book felt like the personification of the term 'the pen is mightier than the sword'. It was an attempt to…

A Concise History of Australia by Stuart Macintyre

Before writing any thoughts about this book, I would like to give a disclaimer. I don't know much about Australian history and reading the book only made me aware of how much I didn't know and didn't understand. Nevertheless, having read the book, I have gained a feel of Australian culture and perspective. The book…

World Order by Henry Kissinger

I picked up this book to learn about Diplomacy and Foreign Relations. It was a fascinating read, and it provided me with many interesting insights into the world of Global Politics. I have read Deterring Democracy by Noam Chomsky, and in many ways, this book is the polar opposite of that book. This book elucidates…

India after Gandhi by Ramchandra Guha

'India after Gandhi' by Ramchandra Guha is an account of Indian history after Independence from colonial rule. It starts with topics like the integration of the princely states, and the mass migration of Hindus into India from Pakistan post-partition and concludes with the rise of the BJP as the pre-eminent party in Indian politics, displacing…

Deterring Democracy by Noam Chomsky

A small side note A couple of months ago, I was looking at books in a second-hand bookstore with a friend. There are quite a few sizeable second-hand book stores on MG Road in Bangalore, and I go there a few times every year. In the age of Google and e-books, exploring through stacks of…

Army and Nation by Steven I. Wilkinson

Army and Nation is a book focussed on the Indian army and its relationship with the civil leadership of India. The book mostly explores the ethnic composition of the Indian army and the early reforms carried out by the Congress after Independence. It also contrasts these two factors with the Pakistani army and the larger…

The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E Schwab

This was the first contemporary fiction I read in a couple of years, on the recommendation of a friend. It did not disappoint. The Invisible Life of Addie Larue was tragically mystical and beautifully written. Thematically, it spoke to me and the characters were phenomenally deep and memorable. Two major aspects of this book stand…

India’s Founding Moment : The Constitution of a Most Surprising Democracy by Madhav Khosla

I wanted to learn about the conception of the Indian Constitution. I found this book which explored the major predicaments faced by the constituent assembly and the thought process behind the structure of the constitution. It is an interesting book that explores the dilemmas faced by the founding fathers while writing a constitution for a…