A young lawyer faces many challenges in life and overcomes them. The story tells a good bit about the legal processes in the USA, but it is generally a story designed for a movie. If you watch a series like Lincoln Lawyer, this story will look obvious. Again, you must understand there is a good two-decade gap between the two.
John Grisham's story-telling is profound in the novel.
Confluences is a book about the author's adventures in visiting the whole number latitudes and longitudes of Odisha. Although an Odia, I have hardly visited the state that extensively. Hence, this book was an eye-opener. Unfortunately, the book is out of print now. However, many chapters in the book are part of the degree confluence project. Luckily some chapters are documented here: https://confluence.org/region.php?id=809
The author has also added his other travel experiences of Odisha, its culture, arts, and crafts in the book. Reading the book made me feel how much more I need to learn about my state. Almost unputdownable!
A good family story but not the best of John Grisham.
I like John Grisham because of the depth in which he covers legal matters in his novel. This one is more drama than any significant legal activity. A white supremacist who has murdered African Americans and Jews is undertrial for over a decade. Now, his grandson comes forward to defend him. There are no twists and turns in the plot. Finally, his death penalty is upheld. He confesses and feels sorry for all the wrong he has done. His family is devastated - his son has committed suicide and his daughter is struggling with alcoholism. However, the next generation has accepted the violent times of their grandparents and made a connection with them. Technically, time heals everything.
Good writing and page flipper but not the John Grisham you read for the logical legal arguments.
The book is about the academician Henry Kissinger and not his role as a foreign policy maker. The book covers the whole history of modern diplomacy. A good thousand pages of solid academic work with proper references and examples. You would get a clear understanding of the diplomatic stance of Europe from the time of unification. Some significant milestones covered are:
Reading through the book, one realizes the events that affected the worldly events are influenced by the stance taken by the leaders and their beliefs way more than the people in general. The leaders' perception and world understanding have been seen in many of these decisions. Another leader at another time could have taken a different stance. Woodrow Wilson's emphasis on democratic principles, Eisenhower's no war under any circumstance, Nixon's focus only on national interest, and Reagan's denuclearization and cordial exchange with Gorbachov and the Soviet people have affected how the world experienced conflicts and came over them. Lastly, the book discusses an ideal new world order, which to me is not relevant as it's almost thirty years from the time the book was written. The book is for a scholar of foreign policy or international relations. Not a casual coffee table read.
Simple examples showing value addition and destruction. Overall cannot keep the interest for too long. I skimmed through the book. Some examples are well-known, and in some places, they seem like personal complaints. I did not feel like reading a book on customer satisfaction in a holistic manner.
The book has good common sense examples but does not lead to any substantiative management theory.
India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, served 17 years through three national elections. His actions and policies are scrutinized the most. In the wisdom of hindsight, he has been questioned on his decisions and policies time and again in the last 75 years. When you ask such critics what were the Nehru years like, you realize there is no objectivity to opinions. Nehru wrote a letter to the chief ministers about India, his learnings on various topics, and the experiences he gathered by meeting several people in his life every fortnight. He objectively conveys facts, opinions, and observations without mincing any words. I think this acts as a perfect compendium for the Nehruvian India. Once, Ramachandra Guha opined that the greatest critic of Nehru was himself. Nehru has admitted his vulnerabilities, inactions, and lack of understanding of a situation and stated them in his communications. Others took it up in the wisdom of hindsight to criticize his policies. Madhav Khosla has edited the book into six broad sections.
Overall a great read if you want to get first-hand information about Nehruvian India in Nehru's eyes.
A maverick!!! That is what you feel when you read the book. A person who does not agree to anything that does not meet his line of work or thinking. The theme is moving with no scope of feeling bored. Whatever he dabbled with, he excelled, e.g., physics, mathematics, computing, engineering, hacking lockers, art, teaching, music, etc. He maintained an open questioning attitude on everything, challenging authority.
It's hard to be a Richard Feynmann. Yet, if you read through his biography, you learn a lot from his life. Written 40 years ago, I still consider the book relevant and worth every page.
