5 books that disappointed me

Here is a list of five books that I read this year and was put off. 

1) My Gita, Devdutt Pattanaik

Date read: April 7th, 2015

The cover was what excited me the most. Three years of reading, watching, and listening Devdutt Pattanaik made me fall in love with India's best mythologist. His interpretations and his on-stage presentation always inspired me and to be honest, even entertained me. As soon as I heard that a book on the Bhagavad Gita would be released I was eager to read it and this April, I did read it. It turns out that there isn't so much glamour in his writing as it seemed to me earlier. Also thanks to the two other books by him that I read : Seven secrets of Vishnu and Seven secrets of Shiva.

What exactly went wrong? The attitude was what disappointed me the most. He constantly suggests in this book that through 'My Gita' he is producing a never-before synthesis; he is creating something that has never been attempting and that he is bridging a gap between the epic and the ordinary reader in the most remarkable manner. As a result he places himself and his interpretations on par with the epic itself. It wouldn't be an exaggeration if I were to say that he proclaims to the world that 'My Gita' is The new Gita. This attitude is very new in this field.

Coming to the specifics, in the beginning, though he presents the thematic structure of the book, as he progresses, within each chapter his ideas lose flow. All this simply makes it harder for the reader to follow. Pattanaik could have used conjunctions and prepositions better. At the end of each chapter, the read might end up asking him/herself, "What did I just read?" Devdutt Pattanaik tried to argue, as in other books, his grand thesis. Sadly, he kind of failed.

(Just saying. Perhaps, it's me who failed. Those who are really interested should read this book.

2) India Unbound, Gurcharan Das     

    Date read: March 2nd, 2016

I picked this book with heaps of expectation as a lot of my friends had suggested it to me. Twenty pages into it, I was disillusioned and came to accept that this is one of those over-rated commentaries on contemporary India. This is pure propaganda, so as to say. This is basically an Indian capitalist treatise, a poor one. A bad choice. It argues right from the start that socialism is an enslaving doctrine that expects citizens to be subservient to the country, In this book, Das credits Jawaharlal Nehru for bringing political democracy to India but criticises him for executing a regressive economic system. Das tries to build a very dark image of a welfare state and a state that involves itself in economic activity so as to empower the bulk of the nation. Alongside, he weaves a romantic image of free market capitalism and equates it with freedom. After a certain point this book is almost gory. Ambition and aspiration are portrayed as the highest values, sitting on the pinnacle of human civilisation. He looks away from the miseries of globalised India and hardly ever talks about public needs. Surprisingly, I couldn't put the book down. Why? I did find my answer. The book was hilarious and entertaining. It is for this purpose that one should read this book. I would rate this book 3/5 for that treat that it gave me. Thank you, Das. 

3) 2014 - The Election that changed India, Rajdeep Sardesai 

 

Date read: February 11th, 2016

Just failed to impress me. Yes, this too - I couldn't put down like the last. The book is fine.

4) India - The road ahead, Mark Tully     Date read: January 6th, 2016

  This book is pretty good actually. It touches upon many issues that concern India's civil society. Why didn't I like it then? This is a tricky question. The best answer I can think of is that it has nothing new to offer. Tully's done a decent job. 

5) May fool! Only four.