So this is for all the booklovers out there? What is your fallbook? As in which is the book you read when you don't feel very good, or need to take a break from the Universe?
Zen and the art of motorcycle repairWow! This IAS prep keeps throwing up surprises every day.
Not to be condescending or anything, but I genuinely didn’t think I would meet someone here who’s read this book.
To be honest, it was a good book but it scared the shit out of me! But the father-son relationship in that book is heart-wrenching to say the least.
You have no idea of what the best of forum is capable of doing. We had the glory once when we had a clean forum with clean discussions. We will have it again. We want a small but meaningful community.
I am no knight. Do not call me Sir
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
I stumbled upon this book when I was going through a really bad phase of my life. I knew I had gotten into a complicated maze of bad habits, but I was not able to find my way out of it. Then, Charles Duhigg’s masterpiece came in my life! It would not be exaggeration if I call it a watershed event of my life. It brought me back from getting lost to oblivion in terms of personal, professional and romantic aspects of life.
This book aptly captures the iconic quote from ‘Shawshank Redemption’, No good thing ever dies. Good things remain in abeyance only as long as one is not ready to grasp the goodness in them. As soon as one gets rid of the vision mired in bad habits, they can be seen conspicuously present everywhere.
It still think about this book. I still revisit a few pages that are my favourite<3
When I need a pick-me-up, I go to The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear. Gorgeously lighthearted and wonderfully complex, a bit like The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
When in existential crisis(cough), I find reading Siddhartha by Herman Hesse or Ikigai or anything by Thich Nhat Hanh clears my head.
For a push, a few pages of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance.
But really, about any writing that is beautiful to read( not to imply there’s non beautiful writing, just that some writing is more beautiful than some others) does it for me.
I had very high expectations from Ikigai. I bought the hard copy as well. While I am of the opinion that every book teaches you exactly one thing ( not because they don’t have other lessons, but because our limited faculty let’s us observe one thing in the end ), and I did get that one thing from Ikigai, I was honestly greedy for more from the book.
Maybe, I will need a second read some months / years later for a second revelation.
Anyway the same book appears to give a different message depending on when we are reading it - which influences our capacity to absorb things.
I am no knight. Do not call me Sir
Harry Potter or Hitchhiker’s Guide to Galaxy
Harry Potter is one of the first few books I picked up, and probably why I have a reading habit of sorts in the first place. As a kid, reading them was nothing short of a magical experience, and I find going back to them again and again - each time I interpret them in someway new. Especially the later books which are more complex.
I find people developing contrarian attitude towards ubiquitous things such as HP. When something goes too mainstream, people like to avoid it, like Game of Thrones. If that’s keeping someone from picking these up, then let this be the push you need :P The series is very engaging and I thoroughly enjoyed Rowling’s writing, so much so that I have read all her work (including her adult works such as The Strike series which is perfect for someone into mystery). Harry Potter is the perfect immersive experience.
Then comes Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, the thing about the works of Douglas Adams is that they make no sense whatsoever. So if you want a quick witty, funny absurdist adventure - look nowhere else. Ever since I’ve begun reading up on philosophy, my appreciation for Adam’s work has skyrocketed. We humans like to rationalise things and think so much...but is there really a pattern to things? Don’t most things just happen? Is the world supposed to make sense?
@TheSherlock
If you're looking for books to push you specifically on days you don't feel like doing anything, try 1) Can't Hurt MebyDavid Goggins2)Discipline is FreedombyJocko Willink3)RelentlessbyTim Grover.Goggins is a retired Navy SEAL and long distance runner. Jocko is a retired SEAL and naval officer. Tim is a personal trainer with former clients like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant etc. All three are extremely intense fellows. (Goggins is called the world's toughest guy for a reason)
Their worldview isn't something I'd hold on normal days (It's too dark). But when you need to push yourself beyond your limits, these three are the masters. Check out some of their interviews on various podcasts before you dive into their booksAnother way of inspiration is reading biographies of people doing what you want to do. So if you want to be an IAS officer, check out some memoirs of retired IAS officers. I haven't read much in this genre so better wait for someone else's recommendations
Advice and Dissent by YV Reddy is something I would recommend. It takes us through the life of the man in the most humorous manner.
An excerpt (from memory)
A journalist asks YV Reddy, the then Governor of RBI: “Sir, how independent is the RBI?”
He replies: “I am very independent. I have the permission of my Finance Minister to tell you that!”
1.Mrityunjay - Shivaji sawant (marathi book on Karna. the conversation at the end with krishna is the best)
2.Rashmirathi (bas naam hi kaafi hai)
3.Atomic Habits- James clear (good book to develop sustainable habits)
4.Deep work- Cal Newport ( for focused and digitally minimalistic work ethic)
5.God Talks with Arjuna- Paramhansa Yogananda (will provide a unique way to understand Gita)
How old were you when you read Rashmirathi? I was in sixth class when my father gave me the book. It was for my elder sister, who was applying for Navodaya Vidyala , where they asked questions from passages of the book. And then all kids in the family used to recite it.
last year, when i was 23😅. i know its unfortunate to get introduced to this great work of Dinkar ji so late in life. but tbh here in maharashtra i think very few people know about hindi authors and poets. the regional literature is dominated by marathi. and being from eng medium school reading hindi and even marathi was not my forte. it was recently that i decided and understood that reading the literature in its original language is the best way to understand what the author has to convey. so i started with marathi 'kadambari' on karna, Ch Shivaji and Ch Sambhaji maharaj, works of v.s.khandekar, shivaji sawant,etc
long story short....i was introduced to rashmirathi through youtube recommendation where kavi sandeep dwivedi is reciting rashmirathi, and manoj bajpayee reciting krishna ki chetavani.straightaway bought the book😄
1 suggestion: you should start with your best books of the year (like bill gates). would be helpful to all community members here.
I badly want to. But I read a very wide range of books. So I am not acceptable among non UPSC friend circle because my libarary has some upsc type books. And I am not acceptable among the upsc crowd folks because some books will be too capitalist / business books for some people”a taste and may attract a backlash. :(
Here is a look at one corner of my room.
Take a look and I am sure at least one book will offend you as being in my library.
I am no knight. Do not call me Sir
Oh oh oh !
Raag Darbari by Sri Lal Shukla.
If there is only one Hindi book I have picked up in past 6 years, it is this.
The humour is bone / bone marrow / soul tickling.
दूर से देखा तो लगा की कुछ गठरियाँ पड़ी है। नज़दीक गया तो देखा औरतें घास काट रहीं है !
Very typical scene of Hindi belt where rural women wear colourful sarees and take away grass for cattle. And the way they sit, with head and faces covered it actually looks like a baggage. Also because the baggages are made of old sarees only and there is no dissimilarity !
There are many more such lines. In fact the entire book is made up of such 'chota packet bada dhamaka' types.
Two of which I could fondly recollect :-
1.Definition of intellectuals
2. Palayan sangeet.
I recommend everyone to read the preview of SHANTARAM, free on Google Books (I shared you the link), atleast some 5-10 pages.
I was instantly pulled into that book when I started reading it's 1st page itself. Trust me, you'll love it. The writing was irresistible to me.
https://books.google.co.in/books/about/Shantaram.html?id=5JaxSJlpGmAC&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&newbks=1&newbks_redir=1&redir_esc=y
A sample of 1st page
What's your fall back book sir...?
Don't judge me, but its Doctors by Erich Segal. Its preface still gives me goosebumps. I read it as an adolescent, and it has stuck with me.
With a single exception they were all white. And with five exceptions all male.
Some were brilliant bordering on genius.
Others, genius bordering on madness.
One had played a cello recital at Carnegie Hall, another had played a year of professional basketball.
Six had written novels, two of which had actually been published.
One was a lapsed priest.
One was a graduate of reform school.
All were scared to death.
What had brought them together on this bright September morning in 1958 was their common status as first-year students at Harvard Medical School.
They had gathered in Room D to hear a welcoming address by Dean Courtney Holmes.
His features could have come straight from a Roman coin.
And his demeanor gave the impression that he had been born with a gold watch and chain instead of an umbilical cord.
He did not have to call for quiet. He merely smiled and the spectators hushed.
‘Gentlemen,’ he began, ‘you are collectively embarking on a great voyage to the frontiers of medical knowledge – which is where you will begin your own individual explorations in the yet-uncharted territory of suffering and disease.
Someone sitting in this room may find a cure for leukemia, diabetes, systemic lupus erythematosus and the deadly hydraheaded carcinomas …’
He took a perfectly timed dramatic pause. And with a sparkle in his pale blue eyes he added, ‘Perhaps even the common cold.’
There was appreciative laughter.
Then the silver-haired dean lowered his head, perhaps to signify that he was deep in thought. The students waited in suspense.
When at last he looked up and began to speak again, his voice was softer, an octave lower.
‘Let me conclude by disclosing a secret – as humbling for me to reveal as for you to hear.’
He turned and wrote something on the blackboard behind him.
Two simple digits – the numbertwenty-six.
A buzz of bewilderment filled the room.
Holmes waited for quiet to return, drew breath, and then gazed straight into the spellbound auditorium.
‘Gentlemen, I urge you to engrave this on the template of your memories: there are thousands of diseases in this world, but Medical Science only has an empirical cure for twenty-six of them. The rest is … guesswork.’
And that was all.
With military posture and athletic grace, he strode off the podium and out of the room.
The crowd was too dazzled to applaud.
I am no knight. Do not call me Sir
1.Mrityunjay - Shivaji sawant (marathi book on Karna. the conversation at the end with krishna is the best)
2.Rashmirathi (bas naam hi kaafi hai)
3.Atomic Habits- James clear (good book to develop sustainable habits)
4.Deep work- Cal Newport ( for focused and digitally minimalistic work ethic)
5.God Talks with Arjuna- Paramhansa Yogananda (will provide a unique way to understand Gita)
I also loved Kite runner by KH. Some of its lines have stuck with me.
In fact, I always been attracted to books that have good opening lines.
Like “I became what I am when I was 10 years old” from the kite runner.
Or , “Eddie lay in the sand dying in the sun. Most endings are new beginnings, it is just that at that time, we don’t know”
”This story begins at the end. Most endings are nee beginnings”
Nay guessed which book ?
I am no knight. Do not call me Sir
Dont know what exactly does a fallback book mean.
But these days for fun and to get over anxiety momentarily I would pick
1. Raag Darbaari- It also fitsthe genre of great opening lines.@Neyawn
2. Discourses In Hindi- almost all are also available in the form of books- by Rajneesh.
Oh oh oh !
Raag Darbari by Sri Lal Shukla.
If there is only one Hindi book I have picked up in past 6 years, it is this.
The humour is bone / bone marrow / soul tickling.
दूर से देखा तो लगा की कुछ गठरियाँ पड़ी है। नज़दीक गया तो देखा औरतें घास काट रहीं है !
Very typical scene of Hindi belt where rural women wear colourful sarees and take away grass for cattle. And the way they sit, with head and faces covered it actually looks like a baggage. Also because the baggages are made of old sarees only and there is no dissimilarity !
I am no knight. Do not call me Sir
Rashmirathi by Dinkar ji
It is indeed a masterpiece. It is a must-read for all Hindi-speakers! Dinkar ji's name is taken in every Bihari household. I had already listened a lot of it from my Grandparents before reading the actual book. I'd love to read it again sometime as I do not recall most of it. The choice of words and their usage is peculiarly amazing and amazingly peculiar!
"Papillon" - don't watch movie. Reading this book is not parallel to movie. Theme: Ambitious young man in his twenties imprisoned on forged charges. He makes plan to fly from prison. Every time is plan don't get success. For each failed attempt to escape, punishment get stricter. At last he imprisoned on isolated island. With a brilliant plan he successfully escapes.
But main catch is here, Those who had helped him in his 18 years of imprisonment, he wanted to pay back. He gave gold ring to one prison mate, some dollar cash to other, likewise... One who helped him in his master plan, he wanted to give him more. He decided to escape that friend also. So, both get escaped, travels about 32 days from handmade small ship. After a month, they reach nearby shore. They were hungry, thirsty, impatient to jump to shore. Papillon could maintain his calm and patience. His friend was impatient to touch soil. about couple of feet from shore, his friend jumped in sea to reach shore............... BUT, that place was marshy..... his feet stuck there. Big wave came and escaped him from life..... Papillon later settled in other country, made indian wife in his 40s. opened restaurant and lived happy life. Takeaways: Work hard (made about 20 escape attempts); be optimistic (even after many failures, injuries he believed one day he will escape) help friends , believe in spirit of cooperation, pay back gratitude. Have a patience. Who knows you may be very close to success (like his impatient friend who jumped out of impatience just few feet away fro destination) AND this story compels to believe in fate
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