The fat man's monologue by Aliza Galkin-Smith

A popular history lecturer realizes at mid-life that he is not accountable to anyone, and decides to pursue his great passions: food, women and human history. Traveling through northern Italy, Wales, Devon and other locations, he learns and writes about food and the colorful stories behind it. In a charming, funny and witty monologue, he touches on his cravings for food and women, with detours into history. 

First thing , as much this book feels like a memoir , I doubt this is actually one. But it is still such an entertaining and lovely read , specially if you have any passion for food or cooking. The book is in first person , the story of  a history professor whose interest apart from history is to eat and understand what his food is made of. This love for food makes him meet Aviram , an ex student whose journey was partly inspired by the professor's teaching. Together Aviram & the professor navigate various experiments in food - Aviram cooking them , professor eating and providing critical reviews of them which in turn lead to the beginning of a blog post on history and food of different times and regions.

What I realized reading the book was that we all have a similar association with food - based on phases and places in our life , food is always an integral part of the experiences, whether we realize or not. This book , in terms of the women he meets , also explores different diets and food habits without boring the reader much. Also , the journeys that the professor takes to explore history and food , makes one wish for similar travels and to wonder about the places he eats at. The book is really heart-warming , realistically funny tale of a guy who loves food , history and people who like food. It is a happy world he wants to stay and even his flaws make him lovable.


My rating : 3.5/5

The book is free for Kindle Unlimited users

Scepticial Patriot by Sidin Vadukut

India. A land where history, myth and email forwards have come together to create a sense of a glorious past that is awe-inspiring...and also kind of dubious. But that is what happens when your future is uncertain and your present is kind of shitty—it gets embellished until it becomes a totem of greatness and a portent of potential. Sidin Vadukut takes on a complete catalogue of ‘India's Greatest Hits’ and ventures to separate the wheat of fact from the chaff of legend. Did India really invent the zero? Has it truly never invaded a foreign country in over 1,000 years? Did Indians actually invent plastic surgery before those insufferable Europeans? The truth is more interesting—and complicated—than you think

Review : One should be always proud of the country's past and the achievements but one should never be blind or deaf to register the the limits and boundaries of the facts. This is the one message this book states and presents to the reader with every page. I am not sure if its only recently that authors started mentioning the source of inspiration for the book or I had been skipping that mostly , but the introduction chapter of this book made me sit up, nod at a few places and smile. I liked that finally some one took it upon himself to question the facts and to also try finding the answers too.

The author here explores 7 well known Indian facts that glorify Indians of the past and few of the Indian quotes in another chapter. One of the interesting part in each chapter is the score card at the end of the chapter which is not just the summary but gives you more lines of thoight to pursue if you like. The book states all the referenced material as and when mentioned and that helps in building credibility of what you are reading.

While reading , i could recall some of the history lessons from school and felt sad that no one teaches history of the country in a way that stays with you. Nor do we any more show interest in knowing the same. While more and more people are returning to mythology and are showing interest in that area , I hope this book will turn some of the readers to learn and spread about the nation's history - as true as one can find with the resources at hand. While reading the book, i so many times thought why no one has questioned like this ? Why was I not even aware of even one fourth of the story or base for any "India fact" ! Not just the history , we have forgotten to be curious or sceptical when it comes to any fact. And as the author himself says , history and scepticism alone  can not solve issues but it does help us in being aware in the present. To be well informed and to pass on correct ideas and history to the younger generation and not just our biases.

Rating : 5/5
This is a must read book for all Indians.

The Bridge of Deaths - M.C.V. Egan

THE BRIDGE OF DEATHS
AUTHOR: M.C.V.Egan
Genre:  History, Mystery
ISBN-13:  9781463410414
NO. OF PAGES: 372
PUBLISHER: Authorhouse (2011)
PRICE: Rs. 934 (on flipkart.com)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:   M.C.V. Egan lives in South Florida with her husband and teenage son. She is fluent in four languages; English,Spanish,French and Swedish. From a young age became determined to solve the 'mystery' of her grandfather's death, she has researched this story for almost two decades. The story has taken her to Denmark, England and unconventional world of past lives and psychics. (from http://thebridgeofdeaths.com )

SUMMARY: On August 15th, 1939 an English passenger plane from British Airways Ltd. Crashed in Danish waters between the towns of Nykobing/Falster and Vordingborg. There were five casualties reported and one survivor. Just two weeks before Hitler invaded Poland with the world at the brink of war the manner in which this incident was investigated left much open to doubt. The jurisdiction battle between the two towns and the newly formed Danish secret police, created an atmosphere of intrigue and distrust.
In the winter of 2009-2010 a young executive, Bill is promoted and transferred to London for a major International firm. He has struggled for the better part of his life with nightmares and phobias, which only seem to worsen in London. As he seeks the help of a therapist he accepts that his issues may well be related to a 'past-life trauma'.

Through love, curiosity, archives and the information superhighway of the 21st century Bill travels through knowledge and time to uncover the story of the 1939 plane crash.

The Bridge of Deaths is a love story and a mystery. Fictional characters travel through the world of past life regressions and information acquired from psychics as well as archives and historical sources to solve "One of those mysteries that never get solved" is based on true events and real people, it is the culmination of 18 years of sifting through sources in Denmark, England and the United States, it finds a way to help the reader feel that he /she is also sifting through data and forming their own conclusions.

The journey takes the reader to well known and little known events leading up to the Second World War, both in Europe and America. The journey also takes the reader to the possibility of finding oneself in this lifetime by exploring past lives. (from  http://thebridgeofdeaths.com )

SWARNALI SPEAKS: I got this as an e-book from the author (through FL) to review.  M.C.V.Egan’s book The Bridge of Deaths was a serious read, not something you could start and end in one go. But by “serious” I don’t mean the book isn’t interesting, its that it is not a light read and takes a lot of time to read and comprehend. The book is very intriguing and informative.

The best thing about the book is the amount of research of the background of the World War II that the author has done and the minute detailing that has been paid attention to in the writing of the book. What I particularly liked is how the author has documented each information source in the footnotes,so that the reader can easily refer to them for further reference,if required.

The author has created characters who are individuals with very real fears and dilemmas. One particular instance is that Catalina is somewhat unaware that she is scared of knowing the truth, the fear arising from the fact that the search for the truth which constitutes a major part of her life would come to an end and her life may suddenly lose all the motivation and reason that it had for so many years. Each person in the book has a distinct personality and is etched out individually, both emotionally and psychologically. Another interesting feature about the book is the fact that the author herself is a character in the book. She uses her middle name Catalina in the book to represent the character. 

Several ideas are dealt with in the book apart from the search behind the mysterious crash of the British Airways plane. The religious idea of a previous life, the possibility of incidents from that previous life haunting us in our present life in dreams and a psychological delving into the psyche of the characters are some of them.

The book has romance, history, mystery and psychology all rolled into a great combination. The fiction and real parts in the book are really well blended. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book.

MY RATING: 4.5 / 5

In Black and White by Rudyard Kipling

He was the youngest recipient of Nobel Prize in Literature, the first writer of English language to have that honour conferred on him. My inspiration in writing, Ruskin Bond, found inspiration in his writing. And if I had one regret emanating from the world of literature (which I know is vast and perhaps has no place for regrets), it was that I never got an opportunity to read any work of the great storyteller Rudyard Kipling. However, in a recent set of book Rupa Publications sent me for review, I got my chance to overcome that regret.

In Black and White is my first tryst with Rudyard Kipling, and what a grand, memorable meeting with the master-storyteller it has been. Kipling has been regarded as an innovator in the art of short story writing, and this book is only one of the many examples which lends credibility to that statement. In Black and White is a collection of some of Kipling's finest stories which shed light on the social, cultural and political fabric of India, as it was woven under colonial rule. The imperial conquest of power etched a firm, and almost cruel boundary between the ruler and the ruled - a reality which stories of this book bring out vividly. The language, I will have to admit, was not the easiest to understand. In fact, if anything, it was most abstract, but that is what gave space for philosophical ideas to run parallel to the main narrative of extremely engaging stories. A miner, a priest, a missionary, a betrayed and revenge seeking lover - each character has been drawn deep from within the womb of humble Indian terrain and represent in full the idiosyncrasies of Indians. The tales are endearing at times, witty at others, and scathingly ironical at certain places. Kipling presents both - the inherent innocence of Indians and the corruption which started taking roots under the reign of the Raj in these 8 short stories

The Whole Range of Kipling Special Books 

It is a small book, priced humbly, to invite readers to the enamouring, but critical world of Kipling. My favorite among all is a story called "Dray Wara Yow Dee". Don't ask me what that means. I just know I enjoyed this tale of a lover betrayed, seething with revenge. For the first time, it was not poetry, but prose in which I found an unmistakable lyrical quality.

Kipling has a controversial place in History. He is credited with a doctrine which not just justifies, but glorifies imperial conquests. Given his philosophy of 'A White Man's Burden', I have always wondered how is it that Kipling wrote of nothing but India and its people, so much so, that many literary connoisseurs bracket him in the Indian Writing in English category. A man, not wedded to the sensibilities of this magnificent land could not have possibly written literature which seems like our own. Perhaps this dichotomy in Kipling's writing is best understood in the words of one of my English teachers, who warns with affection - History often doesn't give us the chance to alter our opinions, we must learn to be careful with them.

Its a 3.5 on 5 star book for me.

Book Details - 
Author - Rudyard Kipling (With an introduction by Ruskin Bond)
Source - Review Copy
Genre - Literary Fiction/Short Fiction
Publisher - Rupa Publications
Price - ₹ 140
Pages - 118 (8 stories)
Rating - 3.5/5