I got the Wise Bucket Challenge / 10 Books Challenge via Archana.
Here are 10 books that I enjoyed reading. I have put down some interesting excerpts from them.
1. The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
From A Study in Scarlet,
2. Godel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter
All the conversations between Achilles and the Tortoise are deep and thought provoking.
I like the small piece on Ramanujan. Hardy summed up his thoughts on Ramanujan with
This is one of the books which feels like an easy read, but every once in a while, Robert would throw in such a weighty paragraph that you will need to put down the book and go on a long think. I have gone back and read parts of this book many times, and it has inspired me to think about Quality and several other values more deeply.
From Page 193, Chapter 18th (of my paperback),
... from Phaedrus' refusal to define Quality. He had to answer the questions, "If you can't define it, what makes you think it exists?"
His answer was an old one belonging to a philosophic school that called itself realism. "A thing exists", he said, "if a world without it can't function normally. If we can show that a world without Quality functions abnormally, then we have shown that Quality exists, whether it's defined or not." He thereupon proceeded to subtract Quality from a description of the world as we know it.
4. Six weeks to words of power by Wilfred Funk
In my 9th grade/standard, my father tried hard to get me to read P.G.Wodehouse books but failed (till today). He did succeed in initiating me to books by Norman Lewis and Wilfred Funk. I enjoyed browsing through many of the vocabulary books, especially if they had stories in them.
From the 21st chapter,
Braggadocio: The English poet, Edmund Spenser, wrote a narrative poem called The Fairie Queene. In it was a vain boaster called Braggadocio. Now when we hear braggadocio we are listening to empty and pretentious bragging. Gasconade is a synonym for braggadocio and also means extravagant boasting. Gascony is a province in France, and the native Gascon by habit is a noisy braggart.
5. Animal Farm by George Orwell
In Chapter 2, the principles of Animalism enshrined in Seven Commandments were laid out:
By Chapter 8, changes started creeping in. The 5th commandment became "No animal shall drink alcohol to excess." By Chapter 10, the last commandment got corrupted as
6. My Best Mathematical and Logic Puzzles by Martin Gardner
I fell in love with puzzles at an early age, but got exposed to some genuinely good ones only after 10th standard. Lateral Thinking puzzles used to be an awesome way to tide over current cuts (power failures) in college. Henry Dudeney, Sam Loyd and Martin Gardner entered my book shelves only after graduate studies.
The 10th puzzle "The Touching Cigarettes" is one of my favourites:
Four golf balls can be placed so that each ball touches the other three. Five coins can be arranged such that each coin touches the other four. Is it possible to place six cigarettes so that each touches the other five? The cigarettes must not be bent or broken.
7. The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson
I loved several comic series (from Champak, Tinkle to Tintin, Asterix and Larry Gonick) in school and college but was introduced to Calvin & Hobbes only in graduate school. I owe it to my swedish apartment mate Daniel Murdin for several hours of induction and mutual laughter.
One sample of the pure genius of Bill Watterson is
8. The Mammoth book of the World's Greatest Chess Games
There are so many interesting chess books, but I find this with all its gory comments to be the recourse for a quick 15 minutes of excitement.
The Immortal Game between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky is a beautiful 22-move game that is bound to give you genuine pleasure.
9. Carnatic Summer by Sriram. V
I have always been curious to know about the lives of eminent people. It is less for self-improvement than for entertainment. Carnatic musicians (especially from the early 1900s) have been extra interesting. This book showcases the lives of several of them.
From the chapter on Chowdiah, when describing life learning from his guru Krishnappa
"Life in Krishnappa's house was not easy. Physical fitness was a fetish with Krishnappa. His students had to be up at 4 a.m., undergo a daily regimen of tough physical exercises, yoga and deep breathing, in addition to brisk walks. A minimum nine to ten hours of practice had to be put in each day, whether they were training to be vocalists or violinists. On some days, classes would go on past midnight and yet the students had to be up at dawn."
Later, when describing his life as a violin artiste,
"Chowdiah's cars were invariably of a sound vintage. He would insist on driving himself and invariably drive to all his performances, even as far away as Kumbakonam, Madras and Tanjore. The cars that broke down en route necessitated considerable probing into their innards and Chowdiah often landed up late for his performances with a liberal dose of grease on his person! All this gave organisers tense moments, but all was forgotten once he got on to the stage."
10. The Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary by Vaman Shivaram Apte
I was exposed to Sanskrit when I was probably 5 years, but fell in love with it only when I was 28. You can jump into any of the pages of this book and get thrilled and informed.
For example, a portion of the entry for hariH (हरिः) gives the meanings (along with usages) as
Vishnu, Indra, Shiva, Brahman, Yama, sun, moon, man, ray of light, fire, wind, lion, horse, ape, monkey, cuckoo, frog, parrot, snake, tawny green or yellow colour, peacock
The real use of the dictionary though, is to read Sanskrit texts, of which I am partial to the Bhagavad Gita. It is one of the most inspiring works that has contemporary relevance.
Here are 10 books that I enjoyed reading. I have put down some interesting excerpts from them.
1. The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
From A Study in Scarlet,
"You don't seem to give much thought to the matter in hand," I (Watson) said at last, interrupting Holmes' musical disquisition.
"No data yet," he answered. "It is a capital mistake to theorize before you have all the evidence. It biases the judgment."
2. Godel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter
All the conversations between Achilles and the Tortoise are deep and thought provoking.
I like the small piece on Ramanujan. Hardy summed up his thoughts on Ramanujan with
He would probably have been a greater mathematician if he had been caught and tamed a little in his youth; he would have discovered more that was new, and that, no doubt, of greater importance. On the other hand, he would have been less of a Ramanujan, and more of a European professor and the loss might have been greater than the gain.3. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig
This is one of the books which feels like an easy read, but every once in a while, Robert would throw in such a weighty paragraph that you will need to put down the book and go on a long think. I have gone back and read parts of this book many times, and it has inspired me to think about Quality and several other values more deeply.
From Page 193, Chapter 18th (of my paperback),
... from Phaedrus' refusal to define Quality. He had to answer the questions, "If you can't define it, what makes you think it exists?"
His answer was an old one belonging to a philosophic school that called itself realism. "A thing exists", he said, "if a world without it can't function normally. If we can show that a world without Quality functions abnormally, then we have shown that Quality exists, whether it's defined or not." He thereupon proceeded to subtract Quality from a description of the world as we know it.
4. Six weeks to words of power by Wilfred Funk
In my 9th grade/standard, my father tried hard to get me to read P.G.Wodehouse books but failed (till today). He did succeed in initiating me to books by Norman Lewis and Wilfred Funk. I enjoyed browsing through many of the vocabulary books, especially if they had stories in them.
From the 21st chapter,
Braggadocio: The English poet, Edmund Spenser, wrote a narrative poem called The Fairie Queene. In it was a vain boaster called Braggadocio. Now when we hear braggadocio we are listening to empty and pretentious bragging. Gasconade is a synonym for braggadocio and also means extravagant boasting. Gascony is a province in France, and the native Gascon by habit is a noisy braggart.
5. Animal Farm by George Orwell
In Chapter 2, the principles of Animalism enshrined in Seven Commandments were laid out:
- Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
- Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
- No animal shall wear clothes.
- No animal shall sleep in a bed.
- No animal shall drink alcohol.
- No animal shall kill any other animal.
- All animals are equal.
By Chapter 8, changes started creeping in. The 5th commandment became "No animal shall drink alcohol to excess." By Chapter 10, the last commandment got corrupted as
"All animals are equal
But some animals are more equal than others"
6. My Best Mathematical and Logic Puzzles by Martin Gardner
I fell in love with puzzles at an early age, but got exposed to some genuinely good ones only after 10th standard. Lateral Thinking puzzles used to be an awesome way to tide over current cuts (power failures) in college. Henry Dudeney, Sam Loyd and Martin Gardner entered my book shelves only after graduate studies.
The 10th puzzle "The Touching Cigarettes" is one of my favourites:
Four golf balls can be placed so that each ball touches the other three. Five coins can be arranged such that each coin touches the other four. Is it possible to place six cigarettes so that each touches the other five? The cigarettes must not be bent or broken.
7. The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson
I loved several comic series (from Champak, Tinkle to Tintin, Asterix and Larry Gonick) in school and college but was introduced to Calvin & Hobbes only in graduate school. I owe it to my swedish apartment mate Daniel Murdin for several hours of induction and mutual laughter.
One sample of the pure genius of Bill Watterson is
8. The Mammoth book of the World's Greatest Chess Games
There are so many interesting chess books, but I find this with all its gory comments to be the recourse for a quick 15 minutes of excitement.
The Immortal Game between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky is a beautiful 22-move game that is bound to give you genuine pleasure.
9. Carnatic Summer by Sriram. V
I have always been curious to know about the lives of eminent people. It is less for self-improvement than for entertainment. Carnatic musicians (especially from the early 1900s) have been extra interesting. This book showcases the lives of several of them.
From the chapter on Chowdiah, when describing life learning from his guru Krishnappa
"Life in Krishnappa's house was not easy. Physical fitness was a fetish with Krishnappa. His students had to be up at 4 a.m., undergo a daily regimen of tough physical exercises, yoga and deep breathing, in addition to brisk walks. A minimum nine to ten hours of practice had to be put in each day, whether they were training to be vocalists or violinists. On some days, classes would go on past midnight and yet the students had to be up at dawn."
Later, when describing his life as a violin artiste,
"Chowdiah's cars were invariably of a sound vintage. He would insist on driving himself and invariably drive to all his performances, even as far away as Kumbakonam, Madras and Tanjore. The cars that broke down en route necessitated considerable probing into their innards and Chowdiah often landed up late for his performances with a liberal dose of grease on his person! All this gave organisers tense moments, but all was forgotten once he got on to the stage."
10. The Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary by Vaman Shivaram Apte
I was exposed to Sanskrit when I was probably 5 years, but fell in love with it only when I was 28. You can jump into any of the pages of this book and get thrilled and informed.
For example, a portion of the entry for hariH (हरिः) gives the meanings (along with usages) as
Vishnu, Indra, Shiva, Brahman, Yama, sun, moon, man, ray of light, fire, wind, lion, horse, ape, monkey, cuckoo, frog, parrot, snake, tawny green or yellow colour, peacock
The real use of the dictionary though, is to read Sanskrit texts, of which I am partial to the Bhagavad Gita. It is one of the most inspiring works that has contemporary relevance.
