My Covid Reading List

All has not been a loss. The Covid lockdown of the last  three years has turned my reading list into an opportunity to expand the horizons of my imagination.

1. Lessons by Ian McEwan is winner that elevates its author into the ranks of a Shakespeare in a 'fiction writer's Clothes. To read my review click here.

2. The Bhagavad Gita, Introduced and Translated by Eknath Easwaran, Nilgiri Press, 2nd edition (2007).  This book is a timeless Sanskrit epic poem written over 2100 years ago and is one of the holy scriptures of Hindu religion. It consists of a dialog between prince Arjuna and his mentor and charioteer Krishna. The former wonders if he should renounce war as he would be taking arms against his own relatives. This battleground serve as a stage where we are introduced to many Hindu concepts such Dharma, Karma, Nirvana, Brahman and Atman. Easwaran's introduction offers us a detailed primer to the core beliefs of Hinduism.
    The book is in brief a manual for discovering what is your individual purpose in life. You begin by  practicing meditation in which you learn to renounce the self, your ego, that is set primarily on the results of your actions especially the accumulation of material objects . This will set you on a path to uncover a self that will propel and help you to unravel your karma to set you free to achieve a lasting happiness and ultimately Nirvana.

3. Mr. Bridge by Evan S. Connell. (1959). The author is probably the most talented unappreciated novelist depicting mid 20th century upper middle class mores and values. His 141 concise titled chapters are replete with short vignettes of the Bridge family living a staid upper middle class life.  Led by the conservative mannered and rather stodgy Mr. Bridge, the family is expected to follow his strict adamant morals. His wife is expected to play the role of a stay at home mom to cater to the set ways of her husband. The children are often rebellious in their choice of friends and jobs and when they don't meet dad's expectation, they are put in their place.

     There are many gemstone vignettes that will captivate the reader;  the one that grabbed my attention was Chapter 66: High School Album in which Connell explores the necessity and mode, if any, of punishment when the younger sister cuts out five pictures of one boy from her elder sister's High School album. The latter reacts by grabbing her sibling by the hair and calling her "a dreadful" name. So. Mr Bridge is called upon to render judgment. This episode provided me with a rather lively discussion segue to the punishments that the Bible extracts for various figures such as Jacob, Joseph, Moses, King David to name a few--which you can watch by clicking here.

4.Fallen Founder, Aaron Burr by Nancy Isenberg (2015). This book beckons us to lay all prejudices aside---prejudices that have left us with two centuries of a limited perspectives: Burr as killer of Alexander Hamilton in a famous duel; Burr as U.S. Senator then Vice President turned traitor and Burr as womanizer. Through an extensive unearthing of papers and documents that other authors have ignored, Eisenberg succeeds beyond measure in her mission.

Aaron Burr, Jr.

(1756-1836)

source: Wiki Commons

     Consider these facts: Hamilton was an irascible short tempered challenger who "had a habit of engaging in affairs of honor. Over the course of his lifetime, he was "principal" in eleven affairs, which meant that he either challenged or received challenges from nearly a dozen different men between 1779 and 1804."  By contrast, Burr was only involved in two duels, the one with Hamilton and another in which his opponent apologized abruptly after Burr took a bullet that luckily passed through his coat after first fire.
      Hamilton would us any ruse and vile language to advance his career political career; he called Burr a scoundrel and a man lacking in principle when the latter was in contention for the presidency in 1800. And it was Hamilton (who detested Burr more than Jefferson) who was the kingmaker in the federalist controlled House which swung electors in favor of Jefferson to make him President.
      Burr's rise to prominence was earned through dedicated study at Princeton earning his B.A. at 16 and then a year of post graduate study in theology. He distinguished himself in the Battle of Quebec earning the title of Captain. He served in politics as New York Assemblyman followed by election as U.S. Senator before becoming Vice President.
     The diary that he kept during his courtship of his future wife Theodosia underscores his deep love, sensitivity and the importance of sharing ideas with a soulmate-- reminiscent of John and Abigail Adams written exchanges. And his heartfelt words to their daughter Theodosia about the importance of study and cultivation of good manners ring true even today: "I hope yet by her," he once wrote "to convince the world that neither sex seems to believe that women have soul."