Strictly or even loosely speaking, the following post is hardly a weekly roundup. I've been on the move for a month now with little or no internet access. I did manage to finish a couple of books. John le Carre's The Spy Who Came in from the Cold was a well written espionage novel. It was the only copy left in the Carre section at a stall in the World Book Fair (I beat some good friends to that last book). The book is about an agent of the British secret service who's out on a mission, his final one, to discredit and ultimately eliminate his counterpart on the Red End. It's less of James Bond in terms of action and rather heavy with the tribulations of the battered and weary protagonist.
The highlight of 2012 will also most definitely consist of Roger Federer's 17th Grand Slam title, allowing the Swiss maestro to reclaim the rank 1 spot and further emboldening his place in the pantheon of sporting greats. I had written a post on him not so far back as a fan and it's a great privilege to see him play for some more glorious years.
Here, then, is a list of links and articles I found interesting:
- Allow me to begin with a must read article on the state of Federer's mind before Wimbledon. Positive and slightly cautious in its outlook, it's worth a few minutes of your time.
- This one's a really #longread. A mammoth 12000 word essay on Gandhiji.
- I intended to write a long piece on the state of morality in the corporate world but then there are several articles on the Libor case already, including this one from HBR.
- The demise of Rajesh Khanna closes another memorable chapter of Bollywood's history. Open magazine published an excellent story on the rise and fall of RK a month ago. Do read it.
That's it.
H
I searched for both 'The Spy who came in from the cold' and 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' in the Carre section at a stall in the World Book Fair. I wonder if you know I am one of the friends who missed out on the last copy.
ReplyDeleteI had you in mind too, my friend. Penguin book stall? Check.
DeleteAye, the very same.
DeleteI read all these during my Le Carre euphoria(sem 4-2). Spy who came in from the cold is probably my favorite, owing to the fact that it's protagonist is a common man with feelings after all, and not the one to take everything like a shaken and not stirred beverage.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I agree with you totally. I haven't read any other Le Carre book but I really liked the way he put in a spy in a highly realistic and therefore frustrating situation. I'm picking up Tinker, Tailor as soon as I hit a book store.
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