Pride and Prejudice

Mon 30 December 2019 by Thejaswi Puthraya

"Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen is a beautiful novel which one can read just for it's style. Mr. Bennet has 5 daughters of marriageable age. A rich and eligible bachelor moves into town. Mr. Bingley hosts a ball to acquaint himself with his new townsmen and here takes a …

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Quiet: The Power of Introverts

Sat 21 December 2019 by Thejaswi Puthraya

"Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking" is a a non-fiction book authored by Susan Cain. The purpose of the book is to correct the view that introverts are a bane to the society.

The author starts off with how we got to this stage …

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The Myth of Sisyphus

Tue 10 December 2019 by Thejaswi Puthraya

Albert Camus' "The Myth of Sisyphus" can essentially be distilled into a single question - "Is suicide ethical?". This question has divided philosophers for centuries.

To answer the question, Camus builds upon the arguments of Kierkegaard and Nietzche and comes up with the philosophy of the "absurd". This philosophy states that …

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The Martian

Wed 20 November 2019 by Thejaswi Puthraya

Imagine you were on an year-long space mission to Mars and you got stranded. And your next chance of being rescued is a few years away. How would you survive?

"The Martian" by Andy Weir is based on that premise. Mark Watney gets blown away in a Martian storm while …

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Nine Rupees an Hour

Sat 02 November 2019 by Thejaswi Puthraya

Disclaimer: I know the author personally and have read early drafts.

Why does a livelihood practised over generations disappear? Can "Nine Rupees an Hour" be considered a fair wage for the exquisite skill of the Pattamadai Pai weavers? Would society be richer by the loss of such livelihoods?

Aparna Karthikeyan …

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The Day of the Jackal

Mon 21 October 2019 by Thejaswi Puthraya

Charles de Gaulle is the French President, loved by some but also hated by a few. The few feel he betrayed their cause and want him bumped off. They are hounded out of the country after a failed assassination attempt. Fearing a mole within their ranks, the rebels decide to …

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A Brief History of Time

Wed 09 October 2019 by Thejaswi Puthraya

Science can be hard to write and harder to read. But once in a while a scientist comes along and explains science in an understandable manner. Stephen Hawking is one such scientist. A Brief History of Time is the biography of the universe. It starts with how our idea of …

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One Hundred Years of Solitude

Tue 01 October 2019 by Thejaswi Puthraya

This is the first book in my life for which I had to build and constantly keep referring to a family tree. With so many characters (most with the same name!), the book gets confusing and inter-breeding and incest only adds to the disgust.

"One Hundred Years of Solitude" is …

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Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition

Wed 18 September 2019 by Thejaswi Puthraya

"Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition" is Colin Campbell's book that advocates whole-foods and plant-based diet. A biochemist by profession, the author mostly quotes his own research to try to prove that any other diet has higher incidences of cancer.

There is a lot in the book that is agreeable …

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Adulting

Thu 05 September 2019 by Thejaswi Puthraya

Adulting is supposed to mean "behaving like an adult" but in the book by Neharika Gupta, there doesn't appear to be anyone that matches this meaning. Ruhi, Aisha and Tejas are the only characters in the book and they behave like immature teenagers.

Ruhi is a workaholic who runs a …

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