The Rule of Four - Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason

This is a story of four Princeton under-graduate roomies - Tom, Paul, Charlie and Gil. Tom (son of a renaissance scholar) and Paul have a passion to decrypt a mysterious 15th century novel, Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, which is supposedly a collection of cryptic clues which lead to a "pot of wisdom".

You might be tempted to classify this as just a treasure-hunting page-turner in which pages have been filled up with some senseless unrealistic connection between destinations. This is nothing like your conventional treasure hunters' tale. It is more like a first person account given by Tom about his life in a period of a few years in his life.

It does not feature just a single minded pursuit of some treasure with other aspects of their lives completely ignored which is what I loved. This has clearly etched out characters. All the aspects of their lives during that period have been depicted in a manner which occasionally almost dwarfs Hypnerotomachia Poliphili.

It’s the lighter moments, the sub plots and deviations in the story line that make the story even better. The reader is always reminded of the fact that these are students and not professionals of any sort, leave alone treasure-hunters. They couldn’t possibly have the same intoxicating pursuit of their goal. They have a life and a friendship which they share. Things would’ve been quite fulfilling even without this 15th century addition.

It’s evident from the writing style and the plot that this book has been written by someone of tremendous IQ. Even the sub plots have been created with great craft. The meandering route of the story really makes you value the journey more than the eventual destination! It would’ve been a really taxing read had it not been for the way in which the story has been told because the way in which the actual puzzle is solved leaves a lot to the reader's understanding, imagination and some degree of intellect.

The reader actually starts living with Tom day after day because he knows so much about this character.When things start to unfold it’s a complex web of solving the puzzle, internal fights, misunderstandings, murders, deceit which lead us to the climax. It does seem a fitting end to a gripping tale.

My guess is this was just a one-off attempt by amateur authors, who also happen to be Harvard and Princeton alumni, since they haven't written before or since this book. I hope I'm wrong!

Cheers!

The Interpretation of Murder - Jed Rubenfeld

The Interpretation of Murder

The reason why I chose to read this book was I love murder mysteries & those in which the criminal is out-thought and not out-run. The thrill of reading how a psychiatrist like Freud solves a murder mystery was really what got me to read this book. Quasi-fiction stories do make quite an interesting read. Or so I had thought.

The plot takes us back to 1909 when Sigmund Freud arrives on his sole visit to the land of opportunities with his then student Carl Jung to deliver lectures at the invitation of his American disciple Stratham Younger. A young woman is found strangled in her apartment the very day that Freud arrives. The next day another attack; again a young woman but not quite murdered. Freud and Stratham take up the task of reviving the memory of the young woman and ultimately catch the murderer.

The story really starts on a high and that is just about as high as things get.

The author does an excellent job in recreating the early 20th century New York. You really get to know a lot about what was happening around that time. A surreal historic thread runs through the story. It also explains quite a few of Freud’s concepts in easy-to-understand manner. So it is a great text to read for history and psychology enthusiasts. But that isn’t all that this book was meant to address. If Rubenfeld forgot this was also supposed to be a thriller!

There are many meaningless sub plots and quite a few illogical twists and turns. I personally don’t have any accurate information but the depiction of Carl Jung as some kind of a shady, negative character was untrue and really uncalled for. It just seems a meek attempt to glorify Freud.

I as a reader hardly felt any connection with the half-baked characters so found myself losing interest quite rapidly. The low point of the book is the climax. A fair guess can be made about how the story would end by summing up the occurances but I dismissed it as to being rather amateurish. I was right and wrong. My guess was correct, dismissing it was the mistake! It left behind a not-so-good taste.

It would’ve been great to see Freud to be a part of the actual investigation and read him working to nab the criminal but I guess he had already done his psycho-analysis and knew how weak the plot was for him to get involved so he just stays in the background!

A decent start for Jed Rubenfeld considering this is his first book. So we could expect better legal/criminal stories from him in future. And after a start like this… he can only improve!

Cheers!

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman - Richard P Feynman

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman : Adventures of a Curious Character (Sequel:What Do You Care What Other People Think?:Further Adventures of a Curious Character)

If you think people with a high I.Q. are not interesting or you are under the impression that scientists spend majority of their time in a lab with no concerns about the external world then this book is an excellent reality check!

The one who worked on the Manhattan project, one who learnt to pick safes on his own, one who took part in the Brazilian carnival as a Bongo player, one who could sketch quite remarkably, one whose favourite hangout was a topless restaurant in LA and one who has many more such distinguished accomplishments was the brightest mind of the 20th century... Richard P Feynman. And when he wasn't doing all these things he found time to win a Nobel Prize for Physics!

The case with this book is since the life of this man is so colourful and so very completely unique that we forget to appreciate the skills of the author. It's different from a conventional biography. It's like a series of posts which Feynman would have had on his blog if he was around to be a part of the blogosphere. Thoroughly entertaining, entirely factual and completely awe-inspiring!

It transcends time and space with ease. At one moment you're in Los Alamos working on the Manhattan project and a couple of pages later you're in Brazil learning to play Bongo! And you actually love the complete switch in context... Every chapter holds a new facet of his personality and I'm not spoiling the fun for those who haven't read it by disclosing more than what's needed.

The stories in these books are amusing enough, but they take on a special resonance because the protagonist was also a theoretical physicist of historical proportions. It's not just about the great things that he did but also about his regrets, weaknesses and frailties which have an even stronger message for all of us. The chapters when Feynman is next to his dying wife are truly moving.

However there are instances where Feynman refers to dropping the atom bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in a strange casual tone (as if he was distributing toffees) and with complete disdain to human life! That was probably the only part which didn't go down too well with me and actually takes away some of his greatness.

On the whole these books are inspiring and certainly taught me a lot of lessons. The most important one being that understanding the concept behind anything is the key to unravel a seemingly impregnable mystery!

In the words of Hans Bethe, Theoretical Physicist and Nobel Laureate... "There are two types of genius. Ordinary genius do great things, but they leave you room to believe that you could do the same if only you worked hard enough. Then there are magicians, and you can have no idea how they do it. Feynman was a magician"

I can't possibly add anything more!

Cheers!

Red -Irwin Allan Sealy

RED -Irwin Allan Sealy

I had bought this book because I liked the style of writing. In short spurts. Like thoughts. The next one comes along before the first ones finished. Thoughts that start midway and end no-where. Raw thoughts.

RED has 2-3 different stories which intertwine in haphazard unpredictable ways. Jerky twists & turns.

The book is written against a background of painting and music.
There are many moments built around paintings of Henry Matisse called “The Red Room” and “The Red Studio”. And now as I look at the same paintings I experience similar sentiments as written in RED.

The book goes into detailed analysis of the paintings. The same book also shows the bond between father and daughter. Between the past and present. Between art and life.
RED talks about robbers stealing oil paintings. About downloading images of paintings on the net. About love and lust. Having coffee with friends at the local café. And the cheesiness of Internet cafés. The book travels. And how!

The book travels an alphabetical journey where every letter of the alphabet represents a momentous incident or a place that’s described in that chapter. The book also literally travels to St. Petersburg and Dehradun. And through letters to New York.

What was wonderful about the book was that every few chapters there are these marvelous sentences that leap out at you. And they stick with you. Such as:

In letters to an estranged spouse:
“Have you seen those missing ads- “Putli beta. Come home. All forgiven. No questions asked. Papa Serious.” --- That’s me.”
Or
“I exercised, had a shower and went to bed. (The beds too wide. Come home)”

Or this one I really loved. After this guys daughter (Manda) has gone away after 2 months with him.
“She left something behind. Manda’s touch on every light switch” :-)

My Epiphany:
Right from the beginning of the book I caught myself trying to make sense of the story. Trying to second guess what would happen next. Trying to guess how the lives of the different characters would meet. How the book would at some point come together.

In the beginning of the book by trying to second guess at every step I forgot to enjoy the book. However after a few chapters I forgot about trying to figure out how it will end. And I let myself get lost in each chapter I was reading. And I found myself loving the beauty of each chapter, each moment of reading the book. And then I had an epiphany. This book was like life. You have to sometimes just let go and enjoy the moment. Stop trying to figure out how your life is going to turn out. Take it one step at a time. And every chapter will be lovely.

The book comes together in the end. And so will life. Stop trying to second guess it.