The Woman Who Would Be King

The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut's Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt by Kara Cooney

The history of ancient Egypt has few parallels in the history in terms of the wealth of articles and monuments left behind by its monarchs. And it is actually a lot of detective work to find the succession or why certain things happened or did not happen.

What makes this book different is that this is not clean history in its purest sense. The author makes it very clear at the start that she try to get into the minds of these Ancients and so there are a lot of conjectures and opinions and personal thoughts accompanying the historical evidence.

Hatshepsut is one of the few women rulers from the ancient world (or including the current world) and a successful one too. She leads her country through some of the prosperous years as Egyptian pharaoh along with a young Thutmose iii and leaves the stage securing the country in the hands of him peacefully.

The author goes through a lot of evidence from the huge number of monuments built by her in Karnak and other places and try to put together the story bit by bit. And offers a way to peek into the Kings mind - Hatshepsut was called a King- through her opinions.

However the book offers a number of vignettes of Ancient royal life and to some extent of the life of the courtiers as well. The festival of Sed descriptions from the walls of her temple were constructed beautifully as well as the rituals of her day. The author being an Egyptologist and a historian excels here.

Hatshepsut actually accomplishes a lot for her successor- not easy to hold together a country the size of Egypt and keep it prospering. Why she did what she did remains a mystery - she may have been ambitious or she believed it was the Gods will truly - we may never know. But the fact that she did that and because of that it took another 1500 Year’s for another women ruler to appear in Egypt tells simultaneously her success and the fear of her successors for women rule.

And it will make for some racy fiction - it has lots of intrigues, sex (Senennmut?) , violence - to be a blockbuster.

If you like history, a very good book to read.

உதிரம் கேட்கும் சாமிகள்

சாதாரண நாட்களில்

அசைவம்தான் கேட்பார்

சாமியாடி.

சுருட்டும் சாராயமும்

மாட்டுக்கறியும்

கருப்பசாமிக்கு.

நாட்டுக்கோழியும்

ஆட்டுக்கறி வருவலும்

அய்யனாருக்கு.

வருடம் தவறாமல்

கொடையும்

குத்தாட்டம் போட

தக்சணாவும்

எப்போதும் உண்டு.

எங்களூர் 

குலசாமிகளுக்கு.

இந்த வருடம்

உதிரமும் கேட்டு
இறங்கியிருக்கின்றன 
புது சாமிகள்.

இருண்ட நாட்களின்

ஊளையிடும் ஓநாய்களின்

வெறியாட்டத்தில்

தேரிக்காட்டின் மண்

மீண்டும் ஒரு முறை

சிவந்து கொண்டிருக்கிறது.

24/5/18

தூத்துக்குடியில் வேட்டையாடப்படும் என் மக்களுக்காக .. 

என் துயரத்தை எழுதி மட்டுமே கடக்க முடிகிறது. 

7 Days 7 Books - Book 7 - Caesar

The last book took a lot of time to decide - since there were so many. I decided to keep it light and racy fiction for the last but so many of my other favorite genres get left out. But Historical fiction is what I like most, it would seem by the choice of this book.

The the 'Masters of Rome' series by Colleen McCullough would be rated a great series of novels about an explosive period of history - well written, researched and fantastic to read about. It is impossible not to finish the book once you start it.

As with every other book in the series, I picked the first of this series 'First Man in Rome' at the airport book stall at Omaha in April 1999. I've no idea why I did that. I am more or less a snob when it comes to literature vs the novels written for consumption. The higher levels of reading pleasure associated with literature cannot be obtained by the common novels intent on giving one a high for the moment. So, it must've been some secret pleasure of doing the forbidden that would've made me pick up the first book.

And I am glad that I did. The books chronicle the most intersting period in Rome's history - the decline of the republic and the rise of the monarchy. While the initial series was planned to be 5 books, she wrote 2 more at the end to complete the story.

The story starts from the rise of Gaius Marius in Rome's hierarchy of equals and ends with the rise of Octavian as Caesar - the ending of the republic and the start of the reign of Augustus as emperor. The history of this period, read as is, makes for fascinating read. The fictional narrative - with not much of fiction in it - is made interesting by the discussions that go on between the characters.

The strength of the series is the characters that walk around the story. Marius, Sulla, Pompey, Caesar, Servilia, Cicero, Cato, The Gracchi brothers, Aurelia, Octavian, Antony - and countless others who all lived and left a lot of literature for us to understand their thinking and philosophies. McCullough makes sure to peruse all of that and use their own quotes as much as possible and whizzes through the story like a whirlwind.

While it is interesting to read, the amount of confusion and wars that happened during this period of about 100 years - not to mention the civil strife, the scandals and in between all this, the lives of all the ordinary people and the egos of their leaders, makes one think of the nominally peaceful times that we are in. It is only with the advent of Octavian as Augustus that peace comes to the Roman empire. But only because Octavian ensures that there is no enemy left to breach the peace.

But the hero of the story is the other Caesar - Julius Caesar. Starting his life as a nephew of Marius, he raises slowly through the complicated Roman system of magistracy and elections and reaches his goal of becoming the First man in Rome - in the likes of Marius and Sulla. The first 5 books traverse this journey - from his life with his mother Aurelia to his death at the Senate. His various exploits, travels and the many loves of his life (mostly wives of other senators, earning his their enmity!).

The books are well-written, racy and if there is a slightest interest in history, it is hard not to love this series.

Although I just wrote about the 7 books - but choosing them means I have to drops other books that I considered and had to reluctantly decide against. I may write about them , may be, some day in the future. So the honorary mention goes to the following.

7 Days 7 Books - Book 6 - Cosmos

One of the things that has happened while doing this 7 days thing is that, I've started looking into my book shelf for books that I know were there and just don't know exactly where I put them in. And I come across other books and start reading them. 

The Landmark book shop, when it was operating out of the Spencer Plaza, was a great place to lose myself over weekends. There a many a happy weekends I've spent - walking to the British council library in the morning and from there to Landmark in the afternoon and spend the entire evening there . This was right after my college days were over and when I was discovering Chennai. 

So it was a personal loss when they close down this store a few years back and the one in Ampa mall feels more like a gift shop than a book store. Finding a book store close to heart is very important for every bibliophile and these days my favorite haunts were the Starmark in Phoenix Market City and the Odyssey. 

It was in the erstwhile Landmark store that I got hold of 'Cosmos'. I have read about Carl Sagan earlier in Sujatha's books and that was more of an introduction.  Strange as it may seem, my introduction to this world of popular science books started with Alvin Toffler and his fantastic 'Future Shock'. 

I've read 'A brief history of Time' during college and though I couldn't understand half of it, I was hooked to this genre. 

'Cosmos' is interesting because there is nothing there that is difficult to understand. It is sort of a philosophical musings over Astronomy and other branches of Physical science. There is some science, some history and a lot of musings. That's what makes it a great book.

Carl Sagan speaks directly us and in his own voice, like a gentle professor teaching his students - explaining in simple terms the complex science behind the stars, searching for Aliens etc. It is impossible to put the book down once you started on it. 

It is important to understand the basic of Carl Sagan's teachings from the book - which to me, essentially boils down to - question everything. Scientific approach makes one skeptical of everything and be at awe at Nature.

“Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.” 

The perspective of who we are is very important if we do not self-destruct in a few years (or a few hundred years). But to the universe itself, we are not that important. We are just a small blink in the Cosmic timeline and it is kind of terrifying to think that no one cares whether this planet exists or now.

The television series which was made out of the book - or is it the other way around - hosted by Carl Sagan is surely to be watched, in case books seem terrifying.  

When I was thinking of these the other two books that I wanted to write about were 'A brief history of Time' by Stephen Hawking and 'Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman' by Richard Feynman.

'A brief history of Time' was read much earlier than Cosmos and while I did not understand all the science in that book at that time, it had a profound impact on the way I look at everything around me. Hawking remained a favorite and while I tried to read further books by him, they were - to me - way above my head.

Richard Feynman worked and lived in Los Angeles and he worked out of Caltech. I remember seeing the life-size portrait of Feynman at the Caltech book store - while wandering the streets of Pasadena when I lived there. I think I picked up the book there because he was looking cool in the portrait. It tells something that I started writing about the man when trying to write about the book. 

Feynman's book is more of an autobiography and not exactly a science book. Nevertheless it is an interesting book to understand how a scientific mind works and what curiosity can do to your life. Many years later, I condensed the chapters of the book to be told as bed time stories to the kids and it was easy to see why Feynman is such a captivating writer - the kids loved the stories (Read more about it here -> Bedtime Stories). A few years later, Vanathy read the book on her own and hope took the same learning I've had from it.   

7 Days 7 Books - Book 5 - Twenty Love poems and the Song of Despair

Latin American literature has a strangely seducing allure compared to the literature from other parts of the world. It may be the myriad of history of the region - from the Mayans to the Incas to the Spanish Conquistadors - every one of the story is an adventure and romance. While the continent was colonized, the history of the colonizers became as violent as the ones that were there before.

“I want
To do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.” 

While the countries of the South America are different, the language(s) - Portuguese and Spanish - act as the one thread that connects all its people and the literature they've produced remains the most evocative of human life in any form.

To me, Marquez actually opened up this world. It lead me to read about the history of these people - the struggles, their colorful culture, their poems and writings - all have the same story of human life expressed more colorfully and mystically than anywhere else. Marquez lead me to Mario Vargas Llosa, Borges, Carlos Fuentes, Lorca and many others. It was a world of giants about whom I've never heard of till then.

“Tonight I can write the saddest lines
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.” 

The 1990's ended for me with the discovery of the Latin American literature, their culture and their art. Frida became a personal favorite - who has to be worshiped alongside the pantheon of the world's greatest artists. It is from here I found Neruda - his politics and poems.

Chile has had a violent history - with little democracy and a few coups followed by a dictatorial regime and then the Shining path - followed by a corrupt democracy and what not. In fact, it was Isabel Allende who lead me to the story of her uncle - Salvatore Allende - and whose Chile in the early 1970s which hosted Neruda. The politics of Neruda is as much as part of him as his poems.

“I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,
I love you simply, without problems or pride:
I love you in this way because I don’t know any other way of loving.” 

So it was a surprise to come across this book - 'Twenty Love poems and the Song of Despair' - which was full of love poems. Is it possible for a Communist and a diplomat - to write anything that tender and express himself so much in words that just tug a part of your heart. Along with the '100 Love sonnets', these poems - to me - rank as the highest form of writing achieved.

“I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, 
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.”

To say that this is the poem book which I've read the most is an understatement. I've read it in full, individual poems and one poem in Spanish once to see if I can understand anything. The writing is exquisite and the poems are full of personal references - it is difficult to read them without getting into the poet's head and live there for a while.

It takes a special kind of madness to write or read poetry. Without this madness, poetry resembles words - not feelings. Neruda's poetry is full of this madness. If living life every day cannot bring in this madness, it is impossible to feel it inside. Neruda expresses the hopelessness of this and the madness of the same.

“Tonight I can write the saddest lines
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.” 

Love is a very narcissistic emotion. Its impossible for anyone who does not love one's self to love another. That narcissistic part of it is what make one write - thinking someone might read it someday - and this vanity of human mind is what gets exposed in these poems. Neruda does not write paeans to his love lady - he writes to love and for himself.

The only other poetry books - in fact, there were two - I consider to be on par with these are 'Sonnets from the Portuguese' by Elizabeth Barrett Browning and 'Collected Poems' by Emily Dickinson. It is no coincidence that both of these were women.

Emily Dickinson - whom I consider to be the greatest poet in English - has the voice of the lost girl left alone in the world. That is a voice you hear too often in women's writings. So it is apt that this ends with a great favorite of mine by Emily.

"Wild nights - Wild nights!

Were I with thee

Wild nights should be

Our luxury!

Futile - the winds -

To a Heart in port -

Done with the Compass -

Done with the Chart!

Rowing in Eden -

Ah - the Sea!

Might I but moor - tonight -

In thee!"

7 Days 7 Books - Book 4 - My experiments with Truth

I think this is more of a category of my inspirations. I read 'My experiments with Truth' for an exam during school days, conducted by the Gandhi Museum in Madurai. I read it in Tamil and book was distributed free for the exam and I must've been in 5th or 6th standard at that time.

The book had a profound impact on me - it is what it says in its title. Gandhi's relentless experiments with his own self, his beliefs and his life. And it takes a lot of courage to write a book like that - baring the inner workings of the mind which was philosophizing all the time and also working continuously towards the Independence - slowly but steadily. 

What is Truth and what to do with it? It is a difficult question - to me, who always play the truant with it - to answer. Gandhi talks about cleansing the soul of oneself and being answerable to none but one's own self. And he asks everyone to do it. There is no preaching or formulae here - just an instruction to look into yourself and criticize. 

And I've found that to be the most difficult part to do as you go further into life. The amount of self-importance and hubris felt inside raises and it is difficult to find the will to look critically at one's self. But keeping at it is the only way to go about life, I believe.

And that probably is the reason why the effort to bring him down from that pedestal - it is difficult for most people to look at themselves for what they are and live with what they see. The lack of empathy and the madness of mind can only be satisfied by making sure that everyone around you is the same. This is what we have to resist.

The experiments not only have him treat everyone equally - but also his struggle to ensure that he does that with his adversaries as well. This - the need to look beyond one's religion, caste or any other matter of difference and look at the value of person is what is being eroded in today's India.

I disagree with Gandhi on a few things - his belief in the Varnashrama is something I cannot reconcile with his overall outlook at life. While he took the stand to treat everyone equal, I do not think he did not work towards the elimination of the same.

The other book that need to be written about in the same vein is Mandela's 'Long Walk to Freedom'. Like most of the books I have bought in the last 20 years, this one was also picked up in one of the airports and I spend the long flight to finish reading it in one sitting - it was that good a book.

Mandela's approach to the ANCs struggle for Independence is based on the same principle as Gandhi - in that he did not sought to eliminate his opposition but rather worked towards a world where the space can be shared with his adversary as well ("Democracy meant all men to be heard, and decision was taken together as a people. Majority rule was a foreign notion. A minority was not to be clashed by." - NM).
 The book refers to Gandhi's struggle in SA and how that influenced Mandela's work in the 1960's and afterwards. It is inspiring to read that.

Now, the third person in this trinity whom I've read a little - but has a lot of respect for is, Martin Luther King Jr. Living in US for a few years of life has shown all the difficulties of being in the minority population for once and anyone who tells otherwise, I've seen that, is lying. 

In a way, MLK's story and speeches are more awe-inspiring than Mandela. Because that he was part of the minority population terrorized by a majority population for a few hundred years. The moral courage displayed by him at Selma and Montgomery are something that is not  to be taken lightly. 

I often think what happens when a leader of such stature arise from the minorities and the oppressed of this country? Do we have a civilized response for such a leader? Do we - as a people - have the moral courage to look into us as a society and rid us of those evils? Sadly, I often feel, the answer is no.

7 Days 7 Books - Book 3 - Love in the Time of Cholera

Reading books is an intensely personal exercise. One of the reason why many don’t like it. When you read the book the world outside stops and you are immersed in the world the book creates. A good book actually obliterates the line which separate the real world and the world it creates.

I don’t remember how I started on the Latin American literature. By habit, I read a book and find all the books I can around it’s central theme or author, and read more books around it. This has worked well in terms of exploring what I like in an much easier way. And there was a period where I took stock of the writers in all major languages in the world and came up with a list of authors to read. However, this list does not have Marquez at that time.

And the first book I read is 'One hundred years of solitude' and the world it introduced was just spectacular. The use the city of Macando as a character in the story was something I was mesmerized with. There was nothing like that I've read earlier. And my love affair with Gabriel Garcia Marquez started.

So it was that I ended up reading 'Love in the Time of Cholera'. It was such an unusual book. Just as the city becomes a character, here it is Love and Time which becomes a character of such intricacy and neatness. The love story starts - or continues - when the protagonists are actually in a very old age and goes towards an end through a series of flashbacks into the story of their lives.

The seductive nature of the story lies in its treatment of Love and the narration which itself feels like walking in and out of multiple dreams. The absurdity of a pure love, Ariza hears about the death of Urbino when he was lying naked with a prostitute and rushes of to profess his love to Fermina while she is preparing for the funeral of Urbino, her husband. What is pure here? The physical love or the more complicated spiritual love? The whole absurdity of this first chapter sets the tone for the rest of the book. 

Reductio ad absurdum is what explains love. When reduced to the basic logicality of expression, Love feels like absurdity. And this is what the book brings out brilliantly. As a love story, it cannot be more absurder than that - Ariza waiting in the wings for wooing Fermina again, while she completes a full life with her husband. And Ariza is not chaste in his waiting either, though he professes innocence to Fermina all along, he goes through a series of women like there is no tomorrow and there is no guarantee that he will stop that behavior when Fermina accepts him.

If all that, then what good is the book? The book works precisely because it brings out all that. There is no perfect love - as there are no perfect human beings - what we have only a broken life, where it is impossible to give anyone a perfect love, we make mistakes, fall mightily and try to rise, say or do the wrong thing again and again and yet the only thing that makes all that tolerable to live through is the love we have for the other. Without that tolerable entity to overlook the faults of one, it would be an impossible proposition to live a life of any magnitude. To me, that is the whole point of this book.

Ariza's faults are many - but he survives all that through the love he has for Fermina. Though it sounds cheesy to read that, the book works through the magical writing of Marquez and the witty humor that is spread all through the book. 

The movie version of the book - for those of you not patient enough to read - remains true to the book and is probably one of the best adaptions of film, I've seen. 

The book works for anyone who is a romantic at heart and still have a childish belief in Love being a cure for all the ills of life. There is nothing that can cure that kind of romanticism, of course and for those of us who are such, Marquez is a demi-god.

7 Days 7 Books - Book 2 - Crime and Punishment

My tryst with the Russian literature starts in my school days. 'NCBH - New Century book house' is a famous book shop (still is!) in Town hall road in Madurai, which also happened to be the distributor of the erstwhile Soviet publications of Raduka, Progress, Mir and many more. Many of which books are usually very cheap and used to be of very high quality. I still have most of the books I got from these days. So, it was through this that I got my introduction to Dostoevsky, Pushkin, Sholokov, Gogol, Turgenev, Chekov and of course, Tolstoy.

Except for Pushkin and Chekov, it was mostly reading way above my reading level. But I persisted. Names like Anoska, Natalya, Aksinia, Sofya,Masha use to mesmerize the mind. And a lot of my thinking evolved with these masters.

I must've read 'Crime and punishment' around this time. The date on the book says 1992 (I mark the books with the date I purchased them). And it must've been a drudging read as well. 

I picked up Dostoevsky - after the initial days - again during my first years in US. 'The brothers Karamazov', 'Demons', 'The Idiot' and 'White nights' were all read in quick succession and Dostoevsky , the prober of human souls became an all-time favorite.

The image that always comes to mind the moment I think of 'Crime and Punishment' is that of Raskolnikov, rushing off after murdering the old pawn broker, Alyona. I, somehow, formed an image of this scene and it always retains itself in mind.

It is probably the most vital moment of the story. Raskolnikov falls further in life from here and the moral quandary he finds himself in - becomes messier day by day. His love with Sofya, the prostitute, who teaches him the Christian virtues is another strange affair. Though fallen in the eyes of the society, Sonya is a much better human being than everyone around her and the conflict of values - personal vs the society - cannot be more in contrast.

Raskolnikov keeps dreaming of sequences - his soul is in torment of the murder and thievery he has committed - though the right way forward seems obvious, he has to struggle with himself to get to do the right thing. The terrible cost of doing the right thing is always in front of him, stopping him from doing it.

Dunya, his sister, who was ready to marry the wrong person for the sake of her family, comes in contrast with the values of Raskolnikov and at times, disgust him. His nihilistic view of the world is shaken by the values of the women around him - Dunya and Sofya.

Sofya tries to make him do the right thing - confess the crime but it is difficult for him to do. This personal struggle of being himself is the crux of the story.

'Crime and Punishment' still evokes a strong reaction when read. I found the morally flawed Raskolnikov to be a reflection of self and the torments he puts himself into was very familiar.  The hero is me. The book raises a lot of questions about the definition of the morality and the struggle to conform. 

Dunya was ready to marry for gain and considers herself to be making a sacrifice for the family. Raskolnikov feels disgusted at this and stop her from that madness. What is the moral stance for one here? what is the part of society that put Dunya in that position? - questions, questions and more questions - there are no simple answers here. 

This is the first book that had a deep psychological impact on me. It made me think, question and put to test all the beliefs, I've had. It made me look at the society's morality in disgust and norms as rotten. A lot of the conditions of the 19th century Russian society are still in force here and a lot worse still pervades the society. How do you figure the right from the wrong? Is it even binary?

7 Days 7 Books - Book 1 - Pride and Prejudice

I got tagged to share 7 book covers by a friend. I was not sure what is the point of just sharing book covers - so thought I would rather write about 7 books that made a difference for me in the next 7 days (and that depends a lot on the work schedule!!)

First, I am going to restrict myself to 7 English books and may be later, I might write about 7 Tamil books as well. And I have no set criteria or choice in choosing these books but these are the books that come to mind the moment I am asked to chose. So to the first book.

I read 'Pride and Prejudice' just when I finished college - in fact, most of these books are going to be from that period - when I was flush with money and had nothing else to do in life other than shopping in Amazon (yes, customer since 1998!) and Barnes and Noble, all the time.

And it was not the first Jane Austen book I read - that was 'Sense and Sensibility'. After watching that excellent movie version by Emma Thompson, I picked up the book and was hooked. When I found that Jane Austen has written only 6 or 7 novels in total, I went ahead and got all of them. 

What I loved in 'Pride and Prejudice' is that unending optimism of the story. While her other stories have strong heroines - there is a sense of disappointment and melancholy that pervades at places. You know that those girls are not entirely happy. But Lizzie is different. 

She is full of bonhomie and positive energy. There is nothing that will disappoint her or make her feel bad about herself. She always puts a positive spin on life and lived it. 

I used to wonder what would've happened if she did not end up marrying Darcy. The answer , to me, is that she would've married someone else and be that same girl she always was. Love is nothing but a part of life for her and would not have taken away her spirits.

That sets the tone for the entire story as well. There are no bad endings - even the wicked Wickham marries off (although whining!) and behaves in the end. Everyone ends up living, if not happily, at least rich, which is something. 

But why is it the top book in my list? because it is a romance and all romances are personal. The Lizzie - Darcy love story is not unique or the greatest in the world, but what makes it lovable is that the story is told as a product of their personalities and the events just happens around their personality. That is absolutely what is different from every other story out there. Lizzie does not change or lose her perspective anywhere in the story. Darcy - changes for the better - but is still the proud man we see at the Netherfield ball. And what they despised at the start becomes the one element that they fall in love with at the end. And that is wonderful to read about.

Probably, this is the book I've written more about than any other. And will write more but for now, that is the first book in the series. 

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Astrophysics - by any standards is a difficult subject to grasp. But it is not possible for anyone who, at some point contemplating our position in the universe to avoid reading anything about it. It used to be of such fascination to me during school days that I used to buy books like 'QED' - which I cannot even read , let alone understand.

However, it is this difficulty of comprehension that draws me again and again into it. The philosophical implications of reading Astrophysics aside, the challenge to comprehend the science is much more interesting. However, when one picks up a book like this, it is a tacit admittance that we are not gonna be looking at any equations or formula but looking for interesting information to brag.

That said, deGrasse Tyson's book is interesting and has the same tenor and simplicity of language which defined the other great master's - Carl Sagan- books. This, I do not say lightly, because Sagan is like the great teacher to me who through his many books taught me a lot about, not just Astrophysics but about all aspects of science.

This book is not an introduction - but some knowledge of physics is needed and moreover a curiosity to understand universe is a must. However, what I found going through it also is that though it seems like a light-read, it will take a lot of time to read through the host of terms and concepts from theoretical physics that will necessitate, additional reads as well.

That is what I found interesting - I kept looking up on terms and concepts and though it slows down the pace, it is probably the only way to read this book. That does not mean that the book goes over the mind - but just that it is so much interesting when you've a little of the background to relate.

I found the book to be very small - of course, the name is a giveaway - but there are lot of chapters I would've liked to be a little more detailed which would've made it much more interesting. May be he will write one , a little more detailed than this - for people like me who are not in such a hurry.

Overall, I found the book to be very interesting and if you're curious or have a kid who is curious, probably the best book today to get them.