The Blog of Small Things

  Name : Maverick Commissioner Author : Boria Majumdar     Year of Publication : 2022     Genre : Non-fiction , Cricket     Rating : * (1 star out of 5) Boria Mazumdar plumbs new depths in this PR job of a book that tries to lionize every action of Lalit Modi and for every shady act of Modi, an unnamed source comes to the rescue with conspiracy theories which are (unfortunately) not ready for public consumption yet. Cricket literature is a palace of treasures but Boria Mazumdar belongs to the trash bin outside.

Name : Ambedkar : A life Author : Shashi Tharoor Year of Publication : 2022 Genre : Non-fiction, Biography Rating : ** 1/2( 2 and a half stars out of 5) Shashi Tharoor pens a short and useful biography of Dr.B.R.Ambedkar for readers with time constraints. The book is structured into two parts : a chronological revisit of Ambedkar's life and an evaluation of his legacy. Despite Tharoor's highly accessible style of writing, the book suffers from lack of fresh research and is satisfied with mere precis writing of previous scholarly works on Ambedkar. The author finds Ambedkar's sweepingly scathing dismissal of Hinduism unbearable. Tharoor could do well to reread Ambedkar's "Annihilation of Caste" again to understand where Ambedkar comes from instead of lamenting as to how a "great religion" has been mercilessly denigrated. That Tharoor finds such criticism unbearable is no surprise, after all one of his books is titled "Why I am a Hindu".  

  Name : Nagammal Author : R. Shanmugasundaram Year of Publication : 1942 Genre : Fiction, Novel Rating : **( 2 stars out of 5) A novel based in the Kongu region of pre-independence days, it has attained the status of a classic for it's realistic depiction of the farming community. Nagammal, an indepedent woman, fights to get her share of her dead husband's property yet she remains a pawn in the hands of local strongmen who are supporting her for entirely different motives. The inherent conflicts in this plot point are not sketched properly and hence, the novel feels dated and underwhelming as it does not go beyond skimming the surface. The novel is a must read only for those who wish to understand how the Tamil Novel has evolved over times. 

  Name : Sultan : A Memoir Author : Wasim Akram with Gideon Haigh Year of Publication : 2022 Genre : Non-fiction, Memoir, Cricket Rating : *** ( 3 stars out of 5) Gideon Haigh tries to add literary heft to the story of Wasim Akram who is in the mood for some lethal reverse swing. It is no surprise that a book covering Pakistani cricket shines bright when it focuses on the dark spots of match fixing and intra-team bickering. The ace cricketer gets the "Gandhian award for experiments with Truth" for the open admission of his drug habits. It is a pity that the book of a legendary bowler falls flat in the realm of bowling itself : Akram does not dissect his art much and it reads like in between all the off-field controversies, he has somehow earned himself 900 plus international wickets. To decipher the art of Akram's bowling, we may have to wait for a biography of Akram by Gideon Haigh.