2021

2021

 Just don't know when I stopped writing here! I think after iPhones came into the picture and I started jotting down book reviews/movie reviews etc. on the phone as Notes or simply as text messages to some of the interested readers (perhaps Unni & Nicey), I completely stopped writing here. The last published post I see is on Dec 2015 and this is indeed a huge gap of ~6 years! I don't see any Notes in the interim years though! I look at my phone now and I see that in 2021 I do have a couple of reviews in my Notes. I feel I should publish it here also for phones will soon be replaced. So I am just copy/pasting some of my notes from phone to here!

Just Mercy - Bryan Stevenson

A brilliant, heart-touching first-person account of American criminal justice system, racial issues, wrong/unfair convictions; written by brilliant lawyer Bryan Stevenson. Its narrated thru the real lifestory of one of his clients Walter McMillan (who was wrongly convicted for death penalty) along with short glimpses of his other clients/cases. 

The Good Man Jesus And The Scoundrel Christ - Philip Pullman

A brilliant interplay of fact and fiction? played out via the Biblical incidents/stories in the life and times of Jesus Christ. By creating a new character of Christ as Jesus’ twin brother the author is able to explain away one of the core Biblical miracles and provide a natural/physical explanation for the same. He cleverly uses the characters of Christ and a stranger and their dialogues to explain the plausible origins of organized religion/church. The ills and evils arising from the abusive powers of such an organization/church when established is foretold and condemned. Church’s organization/setup and agenda is shown to be clearly different from what Jesus meant or his teachings and in fact that Jesus never endorsed such an organized corporation. On the other hand the necessity of establishing the organized body of church in order to preserve and sustain “the truth” for humanity is also in their dialogues. Thus the constant tension between the real truth/teachings of Jesus and of those that we inherited via Christ’s recording/documentation is illuminated. 

The Great Indian Kitchen (Malayalam Movie)

A slap on the face of male chauvinism that (still?) prevails in the Hindu society (some?) of Kerala. It is played out thru the life of a newly wedded couple. The struggles/tension/daily grind/common kitchen issues which the wife faces is realistically depicted. It also exposes the “untouchability” of a woman practiced during her periods in the Hindu society/families(some?). Ultimately its the woman who is portrayed as standing tall and triumphant and dancing with might and power!

Drishyam 2 (Malayalam movie)

Drishyam 2, the sequel to what many consider the greatest Malayalam crime thriller movie (Drishyam) did indeed do justice to its predecessor. Right from the first scene, the story holds the rapt attention of its viewers as the once considered closed chapter/case is subtly & cleverly opened up with one fading scene. The protagonist Georgekutty & family picks up from where they left 6/7 years back without missing a beat. Superb & natural is the acting display of all the characters. Slowly but surely the director introduces the new characters while portraying the mental and emotional state of Georgekutty & family. The case is considered locked and a done deal this time even as the viewers eagerly anticipate the twist thru which Georgekutty will escape which is revealed in the last scenes. 

There are hints that the story will continue (Drishyam 3?) in the scenes in the middle of the movie - Georgekutty’s dialogue to Rani (wife) saying (loosely translated) “all this will continue till the end of our lives” & also the very last shot where Georgekutty is carefully watching his pursuers from behind a tree before he slowly walks away into the fog. 

Crimes Against Logic - Jamie Whyte

Subtitled Exposing the Bogus Arguments of Politicians, Priests, Journalists, and Other Serial Offenders

The Prayer Of Jabez - Bruce Wilkinson

A short & sweet book based on the little known (had never heard before) Old Testament character Jabez and the verses recorded in 1 Chronicles 4:9-10

Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested. (1 Chronicles 4:9-10)

Regardless of whatever name we carry or sin that we bear the author encourages us to call onto God for his blessings almost as if its our right, the right of a son/daughter, and use these blessings to enlarge God’s territory really. The author reminds us to ask God for his protection always and to be dependent on Him “Because for the Christian, dependence is just another word for power.”  He also encourages us to seek God’s help to flee from temptations/evil rather than fight it out on our own. God will indeed hear such prayers & abundantly bless us. A very nice read indeed & a good Bible verse to commit to memory. 

Sapiens: A brief history of humankind - Yuval Noah Harari

Much has been and will be written about this brilliant account on the creation and evolution of Homo Sapiens. The author traces the origins of humans going back all the way to around 100,000 years ago to the current/21st century “modern” man to the future possible states of man-super human or sub-human. The author explores the life and times of homo sapiens looking through a number of different windows/domains including his social, political, religious and economic life and how it has changed and marched on to reach where we are at the time of writing/year 2014. His history so far has been partitioned into three main categories of Cognitive Revolution (around 100,000? years ago), Agricultural Revolution (around 10,000 years ago) and Scientific Revolution (around 500 years ago) and the lens zoomed in into the lives and times of humans in each of these eras. 

We have no doubt come a long way but the author wonders whether we are any more happier than our ancient hunter-gatherer ancestor. If not what is the use of all these advancements he wonders. This i found fascinating and unique - a historian exploring the happiness quotient of humanity. 

Much more will be written about this book I’m sure; its definitely a must-read for every human alive!