Best Books I Read in 2019

Before half a year elapses again, and taking advantage of another night of insomnia, let me quickly recapitulate the best books I read in 2019. The usual caveat applies: this is a list of books I read in 2019 and liked/loved the most. I wish I could keep up with the newest releases every year but I never do.

1. A House for Mr Biswas

As a soon to be released book review will explain, VS Naipaul's passing away two years ago reminded me that I had not read his supposed magnum opus. The book, about one Mohun Biswas, is a tragicomedy and a deeply perceptive tale of pre- and post-colonial Indian societies in the Caribbean. Mohun has lived his childhood and youth in wretched poverty and humiliation. He seeks redemption and he seeks dignity. His life is spent in the fevered dream of building his own house. Will he do it? A House for Mr Biswas is a poignant story. It is dark comedy. It is an insightful glimpse into the dynamics of "joint-family" politics in that era and speaks to the politics of relationships even today. It is, in sum, very well-written.

2. Culture of Encounters: Sanskrit at the Mughal Court

This is a fantastic book that has sadly never been mass published. Audrey Truschke is most commonly known for her Aurangzeb book -- a lucidly written, fast paced, and informative account that is not without contestation, both (fair) nuanced academic and (obviously) rabid lunatic. I would recommend reading that book but not before Culture of Encounters, if you can get your hands on it.

The book covers the fascinating history of Sanskrit scholars during the times of several Mughal emperors, most notably Akbar and Jahangir. The first chapter is a stultifying chronology of all scholars who took patronage over the dynasty's time. The book then picks up and soars with its description of Akbar's efforts to integrate Sanskrit literature and its rich cultural history into his reign. The most brilliant chapter is his project to translate the Mahabharata into Persian calling it Razmnamah or the Book of War. There is much to learn and admire in this syncretic and beautiful time in India's history. Here's a review I wrote last year:

"The book itself has been on my TBR for a long, long time. Audrey Truschke first came on the Indology map with this book that is basically her PhD dissertation at Columbia. I waited quite a bit for the book to become cheaper but that didn't happen. In a fitting move - Columbia History PhD writing a book published by Columbia University Press - I borrowed the book from the Columbia University Library. 

Before I talk in detail about the book, a caveat. Whether you're on the Aurangzeb-was-terrible side, or the Aurangzeb-was-a-great-king end, or somewhere in the convex combination between these two points, this book is NOT about Aurangzeb. So hold your tongue.

The book. The book is gorgeous in its own way. It captures a rich history of the cultural and aesthetic interactions between the Indo-Persian and Sanskrit schools of thought at the Mughal court. For instance, one learns about the representatives from the Tapa Gaccha and Kharatara Gaccha at Akbar's court (and later Jehangir) and how Jain Sanskrit scholars sought to integrate the Mughal court into traditional Sanskrit accounts and histories. 

The book can be deceptively off-putting because Truschke starts this book - quite unlike her later Aurangzeb book - with typical academic caution and dryness. In fact, the introduction and the first chapter - a kind of an encapsulation of all major Sanskrit scholars at the Mughal court across several kings - is very boring. She does this, I assume, because she wants to set the context and the stage as one would do when writing an academic paper. 

It's in the chapters that deal with Akbar's reign that the book soars, and how. The second chapter deals with the different kinds of Sanskrit encomiums addressed to Akbar written by different Sanskrit scholars. The praises throw light into the unique reign of Akbar, when the best artists and scholars of the era held residence at the Mughal Court, many of whom are part of contemporary Indian lore. Truschke shows off her hold over these many written works and describes many of them in rich detail. 

The third chapter contains a gripping and very interesting account of how Akbar commissioned some of the best Persian and Sanskrit scholars to sit together to translate the Mahabharata into Persian, called the Razmnamah (Book of War). This is a glorious chapter and talks about many details about this unprecedented mission undertaken at the behest of Akbar, and executed by his grand vizier Abu Fazl. There are many interesting tidbits here, including the focus and attention that the translators gave to different books of the grand epic, and the way the translators made sense of the content for an (ostensibly) Persian speaking audience. 

There are far too many details for me to put out here (watch out for my blog) but one does come away with one conclusion. The moniker of Akbar the Great (I hasten to add that Truschke NEVER uses or suggests this term) is well-deserved. 

The other chapters deals with aspects such as how Persian thought was introduced into Sanskrit texts and vice versa. Richly detailed. 

There is the overarching question that Truschke grapples with: why did the Mughals do this in the first place? Her main contention is that the Mughals sought to integrate themselves culturally and aesthetically with the Sanskrit history of India mainly because that is how they envisioned their place as being in a long line of kings of India. This was, in other words, their way of becoming a fabric of the land. This makes sense to me. However, the added motivation for doing this can be seen in a emotional sense or in a transactional sense. My own reading is that the prolific investment in Sanskrit based culture made by the Mughal court (including by Akbar, Jehangir and Shah Jahan) must have involved a mix of both factors. Truschke doesn't enter these waters of trying to disentangle the two sources. 

There are some minor errors but really trivial ones that escaped proof-reading efforts. They have absolutely no bearing on the substantive content of the text."

3. The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer

Siddhartha Mukherjee writes extremely well. If you haven't read this book, and if you can stomach some unease, you absolutely must read it. Mukherjee presents cancer as our greatest and -- persuasively argued -- hardest battle. The latter because the occurrence of cancer is linked with deeper questions about mortality. Cancer happens by hijacking the very processes that keep us alive and healthy. It does so with chilling and ruthless efficiency. But unlike the more modest normal cell the hyper efficient cancer cells fail to incorporate the externality of their growth on the body ultimately consuming it. (This last sentence was brought to you by my economics education.)

That said, the book isn't by any means exclusively focused on the biology/genetics behind cancer. It is so much more. My short review:

"One of the best works of non-fiction in the past decade, SM's Pulitzer Prize winning book deserves all the plaudits it gets. It is at once a medical history of the disease the Greeks named karkinos because of the resemblance of swellings to carapace; a story of generations of doctors coming to grips with its mystery over several centuries; a throwback to the many individuals who mounted a prolonged, attritional, and ultimately humbling war on the disease, their character sketches delightfully fleshed out; an account of human hubris and a very good demonstration of the frustrating role of paradigms in the sciences with many wrong turns and dead-ends. Lastly, it gives a cellular biologist's recapitulation of the slow but fruitful progress of genetic research in understanding cancer's genesis. This research program led to the most commonly known drugs treating cancers today. It also sets the stage for his next book.

Above all, the book is a compassionate and poignant glimpse of the courage and resilience of the countless unnamed patients who have had to fight the disease. SM speaks of their willingness to experience complete uncertainty while embracing new forms of treatment. He speaks of their boldness in demanding experimental methods which would leave them drastically changed physically and psychologically. And he speaks of their grace and determination in accepting the merciless, slow stream of information that often accompanies different phases of treatment. SM thus imbues the narrative with humanity and transforms the battle against this most ancient and sinister of enemies into a deeply personal tale.

It is a book on cancer and therefore one cannot help be a tad squeamish at times. Some chapters can be morbid. Despite that, it's a wonderful book. Extremely well written. 

A rewarding and highly recommended read."

And that's that! Oddly enough, I could only shortlist 3 books. 2019 had a lot of disappointing reads and my resolution for 2020 is to avoid bad reads as much as possible. Wish me luck!