--- On Wed, 16/6/10, ss <[email protected]> wrote:
> From: ss <[email protected]>
> Subject: Re: [silk] Ten toughest books to read
> To: [email protected]
> Date: Wednesday, 16 June, 2010, 9:03
> Autobiography of an unknown Indian
> India after Gandhi
> Al Beruni's India
> Atlas Shrugged
>
> At least the first 3 are "tough to read" because of the
> wealth of detail in a
> format that is not entertaining to read. Like a textbook.
> They look good on
> your bookshelf because they are fat and people think you
> have read them.
>
>
> shiv
Oh, no, Shiv! You just wiped out Nirad Chaudhuri. I don't like his views, but
he did write an interesting couple of books, this included. I thought it really
meaty, and loved the way he displays facts and knots them together. Sometimes
in my saner moments, I think that he was not an author to have read at an
impressionable age, but should be read by us once we are more cynical.
I found it entertaining, but then I also found Reorganisation of the Indian
States gripping; you'd probably use it solely for assault and battery, of the
person recommending it to you, at that.
I agree about the others, except that I hated Atlas Shrugged, like anything
else by Ayn Rand. al Beruni was mediaeval; those have their own flavour and
nuances, but he's preferable to others, like ibn Battuta, who was a bigoted
little bastard, and a misogynist of stature. al Beruni probably is difficult
reading because he pours so much into his books. Sometimes such a scholar is
difficult to handle in his diversity.
>
