The first impression from the book is the incredible amount of research that has gone into making a book on a person that lived in the late 1400s through till the first quarter of the 16th century. Helped, undoubtedly, by the voluminous notes left behind by Leonardo, Walter Isaacson has weaved a wonderfully chronological and detailed story around the life and times of the arguably one of the greatest geniuses that the world has ever known. Starting from his ancestry, tracing the story of his birth and childhood, through the multiple cities and works of the man leading up to his demise in 1519, it is truly a testament to the work that the author has put in to bring Leonardo’s story to us. For me, what stands out from the entire book is the pure obsession that Leonardo had with whatever interested him. Like the author suggests, even if Leonardo had chosen to write a book or had been
Book Reviews
Lost in Shangri-La – Outdated and insipid
Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff is a story of the survivors of an American plane crash. Set towards the end of the 2nd World War, in Netherlands New Guinea, it recounts the tale of a fun sortie that went pear shaped for all the travelers. Originally published in 2011, I had the opportunity to read it only recently and I found it quite insipid and unlike many other survivor stories that are so awe-inspiring. When survival against all odds comes to mind, I think of the 127 hours – a movie by Danny Boyle. This is definitely not even remotely in that league. The 3 survivors of the plane crash were all in the military, albeit one was part of the Women Army Corps and not a trained soldier by any stretch of the imagination. Nevertheless, following the plane crash, the three of them manage to haul themselves to a place from where the Search and Rescue planes are
Books
One of my hobbies is reading. As long back as I can recall, I have loved reading – started off with the Amar Chitra Kathas of the world, devoured comics such as Batman, Tarzan, Phantom of course and moved on to more comics such as Archies, Tintin, Asterix, etc. Phantom was, and remains, an all-time favorite for me. The various names and the mystique remains a fascination – The Ghost Who Walks, Devil, Walker, Skull Cave and his horse – do not recall that name. The beauty of it was that it transported me to a world where it seemed that anything was possible. Live in the jungles of Africa, fighting the bad guys, move like a Ghost, have a Wolf for a pet and live behind a waterfall, move like lightning, etc. At that age, I could dream of a possibility – maybe even I can become like the Phantom, strong, mysterious, intelligent, fighting injustice and invincible. Books held
Review of "When Breath Becomes Air"
“When Breath Becomes Air” – it is fair to say that I have not read a book like it in my life. There are multiple reasons that the book resonates so strongly with me, not the least because the protagonist (also the author) was of my present age when he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. He was a Neuro-surgeon, just completing his residency at Stanford and like his accomplishments speak for themselves, he was all set to be a very, very good one. Paul Kalanithi’s insights into life as a neuro-surgeon and his ability to talk candidly about everything, starting from his childhood, to his medical studies, to his realization of terminal cancer, is simply stunning and though provoking. The parallels in his story line were simply too much for me to take. This was a book that made me stop reading many a time, if only to contemplate what Paul had written and ruminate over it for a
Mithun's Musings 