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Never by Ken Follet

Book review

Genre- Fictional Thriller

Spoilers- None

For a moment there I was thinking like this is the sequel to the Novel Called Afghan by Frederick Forsyth then I remembered Ken’s great works like the Man from St Petersburg and how he was back into the thriller genre with a bang and how!

Only Ken can make things so interesting that you know there will be something juicy in the coming pages!

The backdrop of the beginning of the novel is the Middle East desert and the Jihadis! Am sure it is sure to raise some eyebrows!

Two chief protagonist are Abdul and Tamara; one Arab turned American and another just another American both working for the CIA! later on major character like Kai a Chinese intelligence officer is added
Then one of the chief characters is the president of US who is a lady! Then after some amazing introductions and routine prez work she is shown to be solving a teen girl problem! It’s endearing how Ken humanises even the most powerful post in the world! Pauline Green is the ever human president who trie to save her marriage and tries much harder to save the world from a nuclear war!

The whole novel goes from one character to another in sequence with closure provided only for two characters while the end is left of a big cliffhanger very similar to the end of sacred games season 2!
Another chief sequence of the novel is the DEFCON levels! Every big section starts with a level and a small note on when it was actually used and then it goes up the level (up or down is for you to read and find out!)

In between he humanises the characters even if that person is the president of US or an agent of the CIA! As far as I was concerned the best part of the novel is the trials and adventures of Abdul the agent and as I mentioned before he was eerily similar to the super character who was an Arab and American in Frederick Forsyth novels (as I remember there were two with this character and both these were so thrilling!). The way Abdul manages to get intelligence and survives the ordeal is simply amazing and I had a feeling that that was the chief direction of the novel! Just at the end of that character plot you have a surprise ending and then there’s that! The whole storyline then changes into the war of words and wits of the two chief leaders, the president of US and the PM of China and how they get influenced by their juniors and advisors and Ken has shown how major decisions are made with not intelligence but with emotions!

In China’s politics you always have the old players who are strictly communist vs young protagonist who is a litte liberal. The flow of information between agencies is a breeze though it’s an open secret but secrets can lead to complications!

Now the whole story starts with a soldier from a major country in another minor country is shot by the guns supplied by it’s major competitor country and then it’s landslide from there! Hope no spoilers here!

With US and China now replacing US and Russia of James bond movies or US vs German of the world war stories; the new war or war stories is between these two apparently!
So many treaties are mentioned which may be true but are just as soon thrown in garbage with great abandon!

US supports South Korea while China is a silent supporter of North Korea who has a supreme leader as it’s president! Both leaders of one side are ladies while of the other are gents!
The leaders speaking to one another is just eyewash! So is the press conference, the regular scandal and the routine barking and nonsense speaking opposition!

All in all a very fast paced racy thriller of recent times till it takes a very dark turn in the end!
Ken Follet Novels are huge but you just can’t stop! In between two audio books I somehow squeezed this one!

Grab it with both hands and NEVER let go till you finish!

Camino Winds by John Grisham

Book review

Rating- 4/5 as a stand alone 3/5 as a sequel

Genre- Fiction whodunit!

Spoilers- None about Camino winds but if you have not read Camino Islands then a summary is first given which pretty much spoils that Novel!

If you have read Camino Island then you would know the characters in the novel! Camino Island was a great novel now for a budding Novel writer and that was the premise. The lead character Bruce was a know it all when it comes to writing a novel and how to make it popular!

How to market the novel and how to go about promoting it! He had even given some insights on rare but interesting topics to write a novel! That Novel had Merkel as the lead female protagonist and she was a budding novelist with one good book in search for another with mounting debts who is ‘enlisted’ by an agency to get close to Bruce and find out about a rare manuscript! Long story short Bruce outwits the whole agency and gets the money and is now the lead of this story! It’s like how Sidney Sheldon introduced that famous lawyer in “another side of midnight” and made a sequel putting many other characters in the lead!

So after getting that background lets move into this island which is over run by a big storm called Leo! The way Grisham describes Leo is simply the best! That kept me hooked to an ebook after a long time since I have moved on to audio books with full gusto!

The premise is that one of the Novelist who had written some good racy thrillers is found dead in the eye of the storm with a head injury under suspicious circumstances! Bruce and his friends minus all the gals of his book club then being the only few remaining residents of the storm raged island then investigate the whole death!

The way they stumble upon one clue to another is real good though it reminded me of a hardy Boys mystery! The way they survived the storm reminded me of how we spent our time indoor during COVID and the dark episodes of Walking dead!

The chief issue discussed in the book is finally how people especially those who suffer from dementia are treated in old age home which is a big business and in true Grisham style they try to find out the facts mentioned in the last novel of this author which he leaves as a hidden manuscript for Bruce and his friends to understand. He also enlists the help in a reversal of sorts from Camino Island of the same group which tried to get him!

It is a good thing that John Grisham in his Gray Mountain or Rooster bar way did not end the novel in a depressing note and the last fifty pages were a thrill run and make up for the slow pace of the start! Just for the satisfying ending and the introduction of a young character with interesting sleuthing skills you can read the whole Novel! With just under 300 pages you can finish it in no time!

Enjoy the holidays!

This was some years back and we were listening to our prized possession, the dangerous audio tape and just when the song black or white song was playing, there came this weird sound as if an eerie ghost has gotten into Michael Jackson! It was the sound you hear from the exorcist girl just before she barfs all over the room and the priest’s face!

Of course our tape was not haunted! It was more serious than that! The tape which was like a prisoner in Papilon was trying to escape the clutches of the plastic of the cassette and had got entangled into the gear system of the tape player! We had to rush to stop the music and slowly take out the tape without causing any damage to the tape reel! (I use the word reel to reduce tape confusion!)

We were like the proverbial doctor in front of the operation theatre of a Bollywood movie telling to the anxious by standees; “we will try our best, just pray”!!

The worst is when the reel gets so looped that the only way to take it off is to cut a piece and reattach it! Now those days all we had was the paper glue or clear ahdesive tape (tape again!) which was good enough but there will be a layer of tape reel with overlap! That portion was always under risk of break and of course you would have lost a part of the song! The most lucky thing to happen is when that position is between two songs! (Which had never happened to us but we had heard stories of it happening to one distant relative of ours and he was a legend in our circle just for that!)

We were not that lucky though and the tape was off in a song called ‘who is it?’
Even now I can sing that song only with a break in between which can be seen only in our tape!
Yes, that song is much later but getting the tape back inside meant that the tape reel has to be carefully replaced without loss of Orientation which means we need to roll back and forth!

Now after sealing with a glue or paper tape, the final test is to let it play and see which sound comes! Many times the sound will be the same music but backwards! That’s the sounds DJ use many times nowadays in their shows and many love it!

Similar thing happens to when you accidentally press the record button instead of play and that portion gets erased! That’s why the first thing we used to do is to break that plastic seal which makes it impossible to record! Of course the humble paper tape again comes to the rescue there when we do want to record over that cassette! Some even stuff small bits of paper which also does the same thing!

This happened to one of my cassette playing Aqua and by mistake my friend took it for his dance act! Just at that exact moment ‘I’m a barbie girl…silence barbie world’ and the whole crowd hooted like there’s no tomorrow!

Karma is a thing since it was the same friend who had spoiled the tape in the first place!

Another thing we used to be experts in was the rewinding and fast forwarding the tape with the pencil! One of the chief reasons we used to buy only Natraj pencils was because it’s size was perfect to fit the hole of the cassette! Then like little Vishnu we used to turn the chakra! Clockwise or Anti clockwise for rewind and forward!

Buying cassettes were an essential part of watching a movie though! Movies like Dil and Aashiqui had songs which were better than the movie itself and in fact in the case of Aashiqui, the music sales would have taken care of the cost of the movie! After a good movie cassette the next thing is to get a cassette with good combination of movies! It was also the time when music albums were a thing but then all the songs were not that good, those times you go for the mixed tape which you either pay or have a friend who has this double tape system! Then all you need is a single friend buying the whole cassette and you can get the best songs from the album!
Since we had the army vehicle and a very music inclined driver, he would get all the cassettes and apparently they also had some system of sharing the cassettes!

Somehow though the songs we played in the car would be faster and would always miss some section or sound which was a little different in our hope cassette player!

It is how the songs of Gentleman in Telugu sounded better than Tamil since the tempo was faster in Telugu! Though the more sentimental songs were better in Tamil for the same reason!

This was especially true for the song ‘beat it’; the guitar riff sounded so different in the car and in our house! Which is when we were introduced to stereo system and right and left speaker!

The next problem was of copying the tape! We used to play two record together but that would always be bad though with our lowered expectations it was good enough for us!
Then came the rich friend who had two tape player exclusive for recording!
A richer friend later on had the CD player and tape recorder!

The first time we heard the CD we never thought it will take off! It used to get stuck and cost a bomb! Of course there was no need to rewind! Then again you could not fast forward a song! It’s either all or none!

Plus we all had those walk man and they were our constant companion! Then some dudes came with disc man! They were bulky, heavy and if you walk fast then the cds used to skip!
Maybe that’s why Audio cds did not make much of a dent in cassette sales initially till the advent of mp3! Anyone with a computer can take your audio cd and rip the songs and use as he likes! That was gold and certain end to cassette! Now no issue of skip or forward track and it was easier to obtain and share!
I knew it was the final straw for the cassette when I took all my old cassette and turned them into mp3 and my last tape player was given without a second thought!

Still remember how before every trip we made mix tapes then mix mp3 in a usb stick and finally now we have Alexa or Amazon or other music apps.

The other day we were planning for a long drive and all I needed was a full charge in my phone and my Alexa auto will take care of everything else!

Of course new problems! We argue which song to select since there are so many!
Sometimes it’s nice to have only two cassette tapes!

The horse, the wheel and language by David W Anthony

Book review

Audio book

Non fiction reference book

Rating 4/5 for the matter but 3/5 for the unanswered questions!

Average listening time in Bangalore traffic! – 16-17 hours!
Language direct and simple but with serious matter…

The introduction is so profound on how it starts with the the thought that when you look into your face you do not just see your face but a museum! The matter in our face is a mixture of generations! Of our ancestors and of our lineage! In the same way language is also a treasure house of history!

The the author dives into the mother tongue and the politics of mother tongue and how there is a new solution for the old problem. He mentions about the last speakers of the Proto Indo European language which he mentions in many places. Shifting between Indo European to indo Iranian to Greek to Yamunaya civilisations he deliberately makes mentions of the language first followed by the wheel then of course the horse!

He mentions about the importance of wool and its role in progress and development. On how sheep first were used for meat and then for wool which can be quantified by the amount of bones in settlement. Now if the bones are of older sheep it means that they have been maintained for wool and not primarily meat.

In the way of Jared Diamond and his Germ guns and steel which he does mention in the Novel, he also states how the hunter gatherer settled down and how the colonies grew.

He mentions the importance of horse in a similar way when first they were used essentially as a source of only meat since unlike cattle they could survive even in cold icy areas because of their nose structure. Later on the horses were used for riding but that was also a temporary stop gap in their use in war when they could invent a weapon which can be fired by a rider.

Then the horse made sure that they can participate or retreat from a battle. They can expand their territory and the horse is thus one of the chief reason for development of progress of certain tribes.

Of course in spite of being an archeologist himself the author does talk about how many things are uncertain or no clear. Even carbon dating is not completely reliable and there occurs changes time and again.

He also tries to get his view of similarity of many rituals and many gods in many civilisation and mentions many such findings and his point of view of the finding.
He mentions how the burials throw lots of light on the rituals and behaviour of a tribe. Like a well decorated or well stocked burial can indicate an important person if that person is old. But seeing such a decoration in a kid means that the importance is lineage driven or family drive.

The other chief discovery is the axle which make the chariot. This is very important because this is much different and more complicated than just a cart attached to the horse. With the discovery of the axle the horse chariot becomes a specialised vehicle which can then be used in war and other places. The typical horse chariot in many civilisations is one riding it with a javelin in hand!

Of course the author does conclude that no one knows when and how this was properly invented and by whom but he does state that the answer is close!

He also states the importance of the lifting of iron curtain which made the result of steppe research more easily available to the western culture and this was a major breakthrough in this field.
He talks of different cultures such as the Cucuteni culture, Khvalynsk culture on the Volga, Nachik and North Caucasian culture, lower don and northern Steppes and the samara culture or forest frontier. Then he goes on to the indo-European and then the Yamnaya culture which was closer to home! He also talks about Rig Veda and the Aryan origin without distorting the hornets nest as much as possible by stating their similarity, the horse and the cart!
In between he talks about different dialects and pronounciation and that’s done with confidence but when you listen to the Indian translation or utterance you will realise that the pronounciation is nowhere close.
The same with the way he describes many similar gods in different cultures.
Of course you must realise this is just an interpretation, it’s a point of view and it’s bound to be biased coming from an archaeologist in America!
Then again in the conclusion he does mention how the history and language is influenced more by political and pre determined variables and that’s not true archaeology!

He talks about the teeth which had no caries because they do not use carbohydrates and had a different diet!
Most of it is highly complex stuff which only a true historian (not me)would properly understand and I don’t want to give an impression that it is easy! It is certainly heavy on the head and it took me close to 16 hours of listening with repeats and reruns!

It is a good continuation if you have finished the simple history novels such as the ones by Yuval Noah and Jared diamond so do give it a go in continuation though it is more detailed than both!
The whole premise is a revelation and if it’s answer you seek then it leaves you with more questions! But the basics of language, the burial site treasures, the importance of animal as a meal or more and the similarity of rituals is digged out for you! Now you make your own deductions!

Happy horse riding!

Language is gold!

The first thing I normally ask most of my patients especially elderly and those who talk hesitatingly is; “what language you speak at home?”

This reminds me of several stories but the first comes to mind of one told by my room mate;
While on a ward round, they saw a patient awaiting surgery slowly moaning; “Oh my god, why this suffering! So much pain!” This was when they knew that the pain was not much; then when the actual pain started she screamed, “entamme! (That means my mother in malayalam!)”

Of course no one including my friend here was belittling the patient; it was just then we understood that you get your true emotions especially the vocal ones usually in your mother tongue!

Another such incident was in my early practice when I was treating an elderly patient for ear pain to no relief! Even when I had tried most pain killers safe for her. Only to see her next day with the same complain. Exasperated I told my sister to give her an injection for the pain since that would at least give her some comfort. The sister came back soon after asking me why I was giving her injection when she was complaining of tinnitus! Apparently the term in Tamil for tinnitus is “errichhcal” and my rustic multi lingual brain which was initially casual in many languages but not adept in many thought she meant “eri Chal” which means burning or burning pain! Unfortunately though there was not much I could not for tinnitus also since there is not instant injection for that!

Once during a medical camp in the tribal area of Wayanad we were distributing medications as prescribed by our seniors and this one old guy had so many problems that the medication list and quantity was a bundle! In my broken Malayalam I explained to him which tablet has to be taken in the morning or night or which has to be taken with or after or before food. He patiently listened to my discourse and took the medication in his hands. Then he went to the door, asked for a glass of water and put all the medicine in one single gulp! In all probability he will outlive me!

Of course just because you are making an attempt at learning a new language does not mean that the person who is the recipient of your language volley has to be good to you! He or she may not think that “wow, someone is learning my language so lets be nice to him or her!”
It is then when even a person who may be ignorant in many things will suddenly become a pundit in front of you since he knows the language!

Once during my Calicut days I suddenly decided that I have learnt Malayalam after one month and said, “enakku verkunnu, poi bhakshanam Kaikyam!”
I was feeling happy that I told a complex word like Bhakshanam for food but everyone started laughing saying that its not “Verkunnu” which actually means sweating or feeling hot but “Veshakunnu!”. I pushed my language learning goals for one more month!
But I was used to it since I have been that South Indian or “Madrasi” for my North Indian friends and they have told me so many times on how inspire of being a “Madrasi” I speak good Hindi though that only rare (the compliments that is!); mostly they would correct me and I would restart my endeavour with renewed vigour!
Once it was half a day and I informed our school driver that he must come at “Sade ek!” Feeling again proud that I told “half’ or ‘Sade” well! Only to hear the whole bunch of drivers laughing at me!
“It is not Sade ek but Dedh baje!” He informed me! Of course I asked him ‘what is dedh baje?’ To which he replied its “Sade ek only! But we don’t say that!” Apparently Sade ek and Sade do or half past one and half past two are ‘dedh and dhai’ respectively! A true Hindi speaker would know of course!

That was of course when I was a kid but once during my residency days I asked a man in Kannada, “belaggeda Uta Aayita?” Which means “did you have food in the morning?”
The man was surprised telling me, “belagge yaru oota Maad taare Saar? Belagge navu thindi madodu!”
Apparently the breakfast is called thindi and what’s thindi you ask, well its the food you eat in the morning but you apparently do not eat food in the morning but you eat thindi which is of course breakfast! Hope you get the drift!

One language which I really tried hard to learn was Bengali since we see many Bengali patients!
A patient once I treated for headache when he used to say “sarpar” though I later realised that he was saying ‘taarpaar’ which roughly means ‘afterwards!’
Also ‘Cho’ is mouth while ‘choktha’ is eye and it many times depends on your speed and expression rather that the actual word on what you are trying to say!
The reason why I try to make so much effort among many other things is that it is really important to get the message across especially after a surgery! But many times I would tell the same thing in his or her language and the interpreter would also tell the very same thing verbatim but the patient would understand much to my amazement and chagrin!
We also have an elaborate ritual for an ear surgery patient where I tell them to take a cotton and dip in coconut oil and squeeze it and place it in the entrance of the ear so that water will not go!
One of my follow patient who assured me that he knew English was having wet ear and it simply did not dry! So I asked him, “what he was doing?”
He told me, “exactly what you said sir, but that coconut is very costly buying everyday!”
I asked him, “why do you have to buy coconut oil everyday? Can’t you use one bottle for at least a month?”
He looked at me alarmed, “oil?!!”

Apparently he though that he was to put the cotton in coconut water! So much for my language super power!

Over the years though I had mastered the local languages including Telugu and most of the time the patient is really happy that I have made an effort to try to understand him or her! I make it a point to elaborate that it is not my native language but it is purely my effort to learn his or her language so that he or she may feel better or make me understand better!
It really helps me many times especially when this time I went to Dubai and met so many who either spoke in Malayalam or Hindi! And at once there was a level of comfort and it was easy for us! So much so that My wife asked me to bargain to the gold seller in Malayalam hoping we get a better deal! Though I draw a line there! Super power comes with responsibility you see!

So remember that it is easy to criticise someone who is trying something new and you may think that you are being frank but you must also try to FRANKLY appreciate the effort he or she is taking so that you will feel nice!
Next stop, “learning Marathi!”

The third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond

Book review

Audiobook

No spoilers

Listening time – over 17 hours

Rating- for non fiction fan 4.5/5 only because I am comparing it to his absolute thriller of a book called Guns, Germs and  Steel which is incomparable of course and the author does mention the same directly or indirectly.

He starts with introduction and premise on how the Homo sapien is very closely related to the chimp and only differs from it by less than 2 percent! He also mentions how in the classification, human will be called the third chimpanzee and hence the heading!

Then he goes on to explain the sexual behaviour of many animals chiefly humans going into details over genitalia and ovulation and menopause which apparently is only limited to humans. He also goes into the differences between apes and gorillas and chimps and how they differ from humans. He also goes on to say how in some animal during the period of ovulation there occurs a colour change and it is not a secret like how it is in humans! In fact he goes on with a hypothetical example on how if humans had visible signs of ovulation and how if the woman consummates with every other human like an animal the complications which would arise! Of course he also states how the size of genitalia or even the existence of similar appendages in many animals offers no evolutionary advantage! Later on though he does a type one error and concluded how it does offer an advantage using different species for example.

The section is described in such details that at one point it feels a lot and that’s when the rating dropped by half a point! I guess the author understood that and he has now written an entire book on this!

He then moves on to world conquest and back on track!
He mentions about about first contact and this is a very important matter especially between either two animals species and between humans and other humans and animals. It is here he introduces the terms of Germs and guns and this acts as a prelude to his next book Guns, germs and steel which unfortunately I read before and inadvertently raised my expectations on this one!
He mentions several examples on these contacts using examples of war and conquest and also linguistic differences. These are one of the best sections of the book where he explains the chief distinction of Homo Sapien; intelligent speech! He also mentions several examples in the animal kingdom of birds and monkeys who have different sounds or grunt to indicate speech!
He also mentions different language where you have difference in vowels and also in pitch! An extension of his could be the very famous book The horse the wheel and the language by David W Anthony which incidentally is my current read!
He also mentions about art and how many animals also practice art though they do not do it for pleasure or fame unlike humans!
The section on how a type of monkey cheats other monkeys makes us realise how we are not that different!

The last section of the book is how mankind is directly linked to destruction! He gives several examples on whenever there is a resurgence of mankind there follows destruction and many times extinction! He tells even though there are examples even in animal kind of killing and  rape, it is so rare and so unique only to the Homo sapien!
In between the whole book he mentions tit bits about his kids (twin boys!) and it is understood that he is in a fatherly mode and he wants a safe and mostly intact earth for his children! He tells about how humans are alone in the vast galaxy and he also talks about development of radio as being the focus of evolution in any planet which means that the species of that planet has reached to that level of evolution!

In a gloomy way he told of the ways we are destroying our climate in a pace which can never be halted even if we start now. He also compares how what the current human is doing is more worse than even the even which wiped out the dinosaurs and other living beings in the planet at the time.
We have reached a level of destruction that is irrecoverable so lets act as soon as possible!
Although having realised the melancholy he does hold back the negativity and gives some home though it is clear that the time for earth is running out and we have to act fast!

The final chapter is a summary of the events of the homo development and in in fact the summary of the next book!

Please listen or read this one before Guns, germs and Steel though it will still stimulate your intellect if you are a history buff and a fan of environment!

Have fun!

Book review

Rating 2/5

Reading an e-book after three months! Ever since I am hooked into audio books, it’s strange going back to reading! But can’t imagine listening to an Audiobook of Chetan Bhagat book!

No spoilers here! So you can continue without fear!

Now there are two types of Indian book readers, one who admit that they do read Chetan Bhagat; you can guess the second! If you are in India then somehow Chetan Bhagat gets one trend right! Or at least it may be a future script of a movie!
This one though in current style is more of a web series! Some saas bahu masala, then a lonely wife, a young defective; err I mean detective! A no good husband, one missing girl and some suspense!

Like I mentioned above about Chetan getting one trend right; in revolution 2020 it was how accurately he described the whole Kota coaching situation including Bansals!
In half girl friend he depicted the language problems of a Bihari in a university campus. In one night he told the problems of deadline and irritating boss! And so on…

He also tries to get either his IIT or IIM educated on the lead protagonist and somehow the lead will be based on him. Maybe that is the reason why the lead bends twists and turns all rules of his so called detective agency to finally sleep with the client one way or the other! If the description of the client or any character in the novel is done with more than three lines then rest assured the lead will eventually get some!

With lots of loopholes we are presented with a kidnapping and a mother who resembles the Disha Patani of Baghi 2 with her missing baby and only one person who helps her! Of course Keshav is no Tiger Shroff and here he supposedly uses his bad timing and his great interaction ability with kids specially not his! To get information and solve the case! The one clue which hits you in the face takes so many pages to reach!

Chetan started as a college student and struggling professionals but this detective agency in this day and age makes not sense when you know that Keshav is neither clever nor technically capable (most computer stuff is being done by his partner!). Every hundred page we are reminded by one of the two that he is a detective! Like in Big Bang Sheldon says, “If you have to ask, you are Robin and not Batman!”

The language is a breeze and there are very few characters so that you will not get confused and the final twist is unexpected which is good in such mysteries! But all the time from getting the case you just want to skip to the end! And just like revolution 2020, here also the hero apparently sacrifices the dessert after having eaten the same (pardon the puns! It’s not to insult or belittle anyone but its the only way to make the point without any spoilers!).

Also I am sure that Chetan would have gone for a tour of Kerala and those cuisines and places are added in the story without any need! In the days of Chetan is still in the saas bahu era and deliberately makes the mother in law as cruel as possible which was not necessary since the daughter in law actually turned out to do everything the mother in law feared! Some dirt about DNA test thrown around for good measure! Of course the result came against mother in law but I wonder what the result would be now! Maybe the sequel those 10 days in Kochi may throw some light!

Read it since eventually you would just want to get it over with! With a good speed you can finish it in a day and move on!

Book review

Audio book

Self help non fiction book genre

Rating- on its own 4/5; as a follow up to power of habits 3/5 (that is also the issue with expectations)

The book begins by describing a Surgeon which instantly got my attention since bird of a feather!
The author talks how this surgeon was a multi talented and extremely adept at handling multiple things at the same time!

Charles was so amazed by this surgeon that he mailed him asking for few minutes of his time so that he could give inputs on his own life! On how he manages to juggle between so many things! The doctor replies initially that he may not have time for him that day which leads our Charles to conclude that even he has limits! But he had actually misunderstood him! That week apparently the doctor was on a vacation with his kids that week but he was free the next!

So the management of time and better habit is what started the book!
Charles previous book on the power of Habit is like the prequel of what’s to come and this one also follows that same pattern!

The book follows some inspiring stories and then makes us look into the chief reasons why someone or something is a success!

The books first story was of a couple who in their seventies in the middle of a very successful personal and professional life went on a vacation and the husband Robert suffers a stroke especially of the basal ganglia region which leads to personality changes! He narrates how he immediately loses all resolve to do any work. He basically becomes unemotional and that makes a huge impact to his life. The author also narrates several such cases of people who had similar brain injury and that made them unemotional and lethargic to start any activity.

Further to this he describes a research using an fMRI machine where the fact that when one has a control of action then that’s the way people would like to go or are happy! Or when you feel you are in control of the decision then you are more happy as demonstrated by the scan!

One story was of a poor student called ERIC QUINTANILLA and basically a misfit who finally joins the marine corps and excels in the training since he has nothing else to do in life! This was the only thing he can do! And how the training was inspired by an officer who in real life wanted the marines to not only follow orders but when the time and stress is high, must also be able to make decisions on their own! The story of the training has been narrated rather well and is a must read!

In a completion of sorts the author also spoke about the struggles of Viola Philippe the wife of Robert who overcame that and much more!

Then the author talks about Julia and how her team in a project where everyone’s idea is welcome and everyone is involved is very effective! That how many companies like the Google also makes sure that everyone in the team is allowed a chance to contribute and every idea is encouraged no matter how small! This was apparently secondary to a project called the project Oxygen; this section is an interesting read indeed which essentially distinguished good managers from everyone else and how they can improve!

Then Charles discusses about Edmondson and how they conducted survey on team work and error rates! They found that strong teams made more mistakes paradoxically which in fact actually means that the team members feel open enough and courageous enough to accept and admit the mistakes in the first place!

The importance of team work is further elaborated in a extensive discipline which was followed during the filming and production of the very popular show Saturday night live in spit of the infighting, ego tussle, romantic liaisons and what not!

Then later the extended project Aristotle by Google is described and some key points are enumerated like how a team must feel that their work is important, meaningful, team needs clear goals and defined roles and dependence to each other and finally most important was psychological safety!

The author then talks about cognitive tunneling which is like a freeze response in tense situation and the importance of team work is enumerated in two separate incidents of plane crash, one which happened because of team failure and one which was averted! The narration of both was epic and tense! In between he also tells about automation which has made our brain lethargic and slow to act!
He also spoke about those who were calm during emergencies like a nurse who picked up a good call!

He then narrated how one single leaders biased opinion in Israel’s military almost bought them to a loss and the loss did happen in form of war which was predicted and in front of them but the general Eli Zeira just could not see the obvious since at this time they wanted concrete evidence and not speculation.

He talks about cognitive closure which for many is a big advantage while for many it is a big disadvantage!

Then comes a very interesting story of General Electric and Toyota and the andon cord! This is one of the best stories for me and you must read the book just for his one!

Thea author in between his stories adds many technical terms and analysis which juice up the narration and this is a very interesting way to learn though sometimes there is an interruption of flow and you just can’t wait to get back to the story!
One thing added were how goals can be specific, or measurable or achievable and if you make them like this then any habit can be formed by being realistic and making a timeline!

He tells then about the goal setting flow chart which is essentially a plan to make a habit work! It is really interesting so to speak!

Then he introduced a kidnapping and the hero is introduced which is a program called the Sentinel which again goes into a sub story how FBI after several such loss making incomplete program got a specialist on team work and made this very successful program which of course saved the day so to speak!

He also talks about star culture, engineering culture, bureaucratic culture and autocratic culture which are the forms of work culture which every management person is familiar with and finally they speak about the best culture for the success of a team or company; the commitment culture!
He then talks about a poker player and how she took care of her nerves by doing what she is good at and which makes her calm! In this case legitimate poker as a champion! He sub goals into how to predict different future and then make a decision!

A vey interesting story is how the story of the popular movie FROZEN had this particular story line and how the music was made and for people who really liked the movie this is a very interesting trivia! You must go through this to realise the effort which goes to make a movie like frozen! He also talks about how a slight change in authority or homeostasis so to speak can make you see the trees from the forest! The same was narrated in the very popular West Side Story where a modification of a familiar pattern gave rise to big dividends making it one of the most successful shows ever!

He then talks about the schooling system and how a plan and goal analysis and careful interoperation of data can make a huge difference! Since there is so much data it leads to cognitive blindness and
Once it is analysed and broken down then you have great result!

He then tells about the golden rule of the engineering design process of defining the Delian, collect data, brainstorming solution, debating approach and experimentation!

As the first book, here also the author tells how he applied the principles of the chapter in his own life and how he managed his time! The best way to demonstrate is self!

All in all a good book to listen!

Hopefully you may learn a thing or two!

Book review

Audiobook

Listening time approximately 11 hours

Self help motivational book

No spoilers but note, if you are planning to skip the book then the review is a summary and  if you do plan to read in the future then it’s a preview of what’s in store for you! Either ways you will not be disappointed…

Rating- 5/5 for the attempt but depends on your mood

It starts with the description of Habit loop and the Craving brain and the golden rule of habit change. But finally the whole book gives examples from the life and episodes of people from all all walks of life and this is probably the best part of the book!

If you want to hear inspiring stories then this is the book for you but having read the heading and you want to change your habit then you can just jump to the end of the book or move on to the next book in the series on how to change your habit to make a difference!

The atomic habits book by James Clear is also like an unofficial sequel to this book so you might want to read that after this and see how the habits are used to make changes! That book takes the whole methodology one step forward with the whole loop and reward.

The book starts with the story of Lisa Allen who now fit and trim was previously an addict and obese individual. He then introduces a term called the keystone habit.

The book is apparently divided into three parts, the first deals with how habits emerge within individuals life, the second deals with habits of successful companies and organisations and finally the third part deals with the habits of society!

The book draws the information from hundreds of academic studies, interviews with more than three hundred scientists and executives and research conducted at dozens of companies.

Then he narrates an interesting story (which is plenty in the book!) of how an officer stopped or prevented a riot in Iraq by simply moving the food carts!

Then he moves on to the this person called EP and how after an encephalitis episode loses his sense but then his habit takes over and here the author gives introduction about Basal Ganglia.

Then he gives an amazing account of how the successful ad campaigner Claude C Hopkins made toothpaste a national and international phenomenon! How the after taste is like the reward in the habit loop of cue, routine and reward!

He then moves on to the story of Febreze and how it finally became a worldwide phenomenon with habit modification!

He also mentions about the golden rule of habit exchange! Where you must replace one habit with another!

He then explains about basic behaviour habit loop developed by the coach Dungy and how that leads finally to great victory!

The same with programs such as Alcoholic anonymous and their apparent consistent success! They also talk about Mandy and her compulsive nail biting! How the basic habit routine and modification and plan gets the work done!

A big part of the book was about Paul O Neill , the new CEO of Alcoa and how his adhrence to safety made a domino effect! One thing lead to another and profits soared much to the amazement of everyone! How he takes responsibilities, makes everyone embolden enough to come to him or their superiors with ideas!

He also talks about the tough childhood faced by Michael Phelps and how he made his challenges his strength and how he has a habit and how it always helps him especially once when his goggles malfunctioned but his habit made him create a world record even if he was not able to see!

Another success story is narrated of a worker and owner of Starbucks and how their training program is one of the best in the world!
These success stories are consistent and finally relegated to habit modification!

The next two episodes were of a hospital in Rhode Island and an underground rail network where every department were under water shed lines and how it gets better when changes are implemented.
He also mentions about how companies like Target and others monitor your buying habits and make a profile of you rather accurately!
So accurate that it’s scary!
The next part of the book is how they made a song famous by inserting in better recall worthy songs!

The next story is about Saddleback Church and the habits designed by the clergy which the author equates to Rosa Parks famous bus boycott incident and Martin Luther King’s rise to fame!
How movements happen by habit changes!

The author then narrates two cases where one husband kills his wife due to automatism and one wife loses control of her gambling addiction.

Finally the book tells how to change your habit from undesirable to good!
This is like an extension of the Atomic habit loop.
You must first identify the routine, then experiment with rewards, isolate the cue and have a plan!

With the advent of audio books, these non fiction books are a breeze! The stories are so real and of course in between it does get repetitive but then once you get used to the flow, it is really nice!

The next book in the series is also by Charles and my optimistic guess is that it is the step two! Lets get back to that in another 10 hours of listening time! Till then try this!

As they say habit, a bit always remains!

Atomic habits by James Clear

Book Review

Non fiction self help book genre

No spoilers

Audible version

Rating- 5/5 for the beginning, 3/5 for dragging in the middle and 5/5 for the nice summary in the endo of each chapter

The book starts with a similar tone as the book Predictably irrational by Dan Ariely which I had reviewed earlier. Like that the book starts with a personal tragedy faced by the author in which he met with a sports accident and was in coma with little hope for some days. Even after recovery he had to undergo multiple sessions of surgery and Physiotherapy and could not play for a while and when he did join it was as a junior. But he made some changes to his life and later on went on to become an ace player and etched a name in the sports!

With that personal victory of sorts the book starts with a good propulsion of sorts! He was also a good student!
The reason for his success he attributes to small or atomic changes he made on his day to day activity and life which in addition and persistence made for huge changes and success!

The whole book is then a summary of these atomic habits!

The first chapter is on making the habits obvious! One of the first things to do is to make a score card on your current habits and classify them as good, bad or neutral! All these terms are of course self explanatory!

The reason why I gave 3/5 for the middle is the fact that the whole book the author narrates his website for further information such as charts, media or even more examples! Of course you cannot put everything in a book but this repeated telling of the website address felt as if the book is only a preview of the Website and not the complete package! So I have a nagging feeling that maybe some points are missing in the book and if that’s the important point then I felt cheated!

So anyway he has told to set your goal and do not think only of the goal but think about your system since when the goal is too far and the success is delayed then you may lose interest in maintaining your goal. Like if you want to run a marathon then start small but think of yourself as a marathon runner in the beginning itself and that will make you achieve your goal easier.

Then some things are useful as calling out your goal and then making sure you stick to it like if you are planning to reduce weight then when you see a cookie then call out that you are trying to lose weight and then maybe you may not be tempted to eat the cookie!

That is a form of negative reinforcement and you can give yourself small wins as positive reinforcements so that you do not feel that you are not wining or near your goal!

He has also mentioned that even the people with the strongest will power can only stick to their goals when they do not have any distractions so the environment plays a major part in your achievements! Like if you are again trying to lose weight and your office is usually full of tasty treats then you must stay away from the office meal room! He also mentioned how addicts become sober when the stimulation and stress which made them take to smoking is removed!

Many books especially self help ones give examples of either Thinking fast and slow by Daniel Kahneman or Guns, germs and Steel by Jared Diamond! It is as if you must read these books first to move on to books like this one! Here James talks about Jared Diamond’s observation how the way continents are shaped influenced the farming again giving emphasis on environment and ease of access!

So if a bad habit say watching TV is a simple task then you can make it difficult or a task which will reduce your craving for the habit! Like how the author’s assistant used to change his Netflix password on weekdays and mail him on weekend!

One of the endearing things about these self help books is that the authors aren’t that different or perfect! They have just made minor good modifications in their behaviour and stuck to it!

Many people think they lack motivation when what they really lack is clarity was one of the comments! He also states that don’t be bogged by the slow pace of improvement! Go slow but don’t go back!
He also speaks about two minutes rule as how good habits must take less then two minutes to follow like keeping the dress ready before a walk! Or the Goldilocks rule where you will do task which is just enough to challenge you but not too easy or too hard!

There are four basic effect and response to any habit and if you want to change your habit then you must modify those. The first is Craving which makes the habit attractive so try to make the habit unattractive! Second is when the habit is obvious so your cue is to make it hidden, the third is that bad habits are easy to learn or get so try to make it difficult! Finally bad habits arer satisfying and rewarding so you can try to make them unsatisfying or unrewarding! How is left to you though many such examples are given in the book!
Another thing is place for a habit! Like bedroom is for reading and stuff so no cross over! If you demarcate zones for habit then they become automatic!

He also mentions how genes matter to a certain extent and most importantly consistency is the key!

The best part of the book is the summary at the end of the book which is like a refresher course of the whole chapter!

Any self help book is like that key which is looking for that particular lock of the person who is looking for a particular type of key to open his or her mind! Some work, some don’t but like how James tells, don’t look back!

One of the first books recommended by the author is the 7 habits of highly effective people which incidentally was the book I finished before this!

So with just 4 hours or so, this is a smooth audible ride! Give it a go at least in a small way! Maybe Atomic!?