Guns, Germs and Steel is a seminal book by the ethnographer Jared Diamond. At its core, it is a multi-disciplinary study of why the west has overtaken the world. Jared Diamond starts off with a simple question—one that was posed to him by a Papua New Guinean politician, Yali—”Why is it that you white people … [Read more…]
Amongst all the books on Tibet (and Tibetan Buddhism), Tibet, Tibet holds a very unique position. It’s part travelogue, part history text and part socio-political analysis. Patrick French—in a very risky fashion—ventured into remote locations of Tibet. With all the security and the active efforts of the Chinese troops to veil their internal situations to the … [Read more…]
This book has changed the way I look at food. I accidentally came across this book in Blossoms while I was busy picking up some books on business. I had my hands full, so I promised myself that I will pick it up later. In recent years, a lot of my acquaintances and friends have been … [Read more…]
Ready Player One is a dystopian, science fiction novel by Ernest Cline. I had picked this title up on a whim after I had read the blurb on a Goodreads list. If you call yourself a geek, and come across a text like this, how can you not resist? My connection with this book Personally, I … [Read more…]
Exchanging books related to Himalayas with Nabyendu Last Sunday, I paid a visit to Nabyendu. He had lent me Ed Viesturs’ biography earlier and I wanted to return it. (If you want to read my thoughts on that, please click here.) I had also packed another book for him. This one to be precise: Nabyendu shares … [Read more…]
Ed Viesturs is a great thinker. Well, he is a great climber, too. Reading through his book, I could realise how much of a mental fortitude and clarity one needs to do tasks that are superhuman. In his case, it was climbing all fourteen eight-thousanders in the world. A few days ago, I had borrowed his … [Read more…]
