Book Post 7 : "Saladin" by John Man.

Book Name : Saladin

Author : John Man

Genre : Non-Fiction

What is it about? : Life of Sultan Saladin, focusing mainly on the crusades and the buildup to the Battle of Hattin.

How I came to read it : I had first heard about Saladin while playing the video game "Age of Empires 2" as a kid. It featured a whole level with Saladin as the main character. My interest in him piqued after that but I never actually made an effort to read a book about him. Recently my brother sent me a youtube video clip of the movie "Kingdom of Heaven" which shows a conversation between Saladin and Balien (Defender of Jerusalem) during the Battle of Hattin. This clip roused my interest again and promptly I requested my friend, who is a member of the Vancouver Public Library to get it for me which he did.

Did I like it? : Liked it. But I couldn't help but compare John Man's writing with that of William Dalrymple's. I felt that Dalrymples's writing has a dreamy quality to it which Man's writing lacks. On that note, I would suggest any history fan to definitely give Dalrymples's 'City of Djinns' a read. Delhi will never look the same again after that book.

Why/views/summary  : 

I am a history fan. That's one of the reasons I picked this book. And John Man beautifully traces the life and times of Saladin nicely. 

Before I go further let me just give a brief overview of who Saladin was for those of you who are unaware of his life. Saladin was a king of Egypt and Syria during the 1170s. He was the founder of the Ayyubid Dynasty. 

The book starts off with explaining the situation of the lands before the birth of Saladin, then during his childhood and later as a young man. Then the author details how Saladin gained experience of battles and administration. And finally the penultimate chapters details the build up to the Battle of Hattin, which was Saladin's greatest achievement. The last 2 chapters are devoted to explain what made Saladin great and about his leadership qualities.

Why should you read it? :
In these times of religious strife the book gives a better understanding of the dynamics of the Crusades and brings forward the story of one of Islam's most famous and righteous king. 

AECS Manuguru Diaries.P2. The Kings of Summer

As a kid I was never into sports. I played cricket occasionally but it did not interest me much. I was more into watching English movies and reading books. And among movies, adventure genre was my favorite. One of the things from these movies which fascinated me was a tree house. I always wanted to build one. One summer in my Eighth grade I started working on it.

Our school had a vast open land in front of it. It was dry with shrubs and bushes all around, punctuated with some trees here and there.It was something like the grounds in the videos of Serengeti that they show on the Discovery channel. This was a perfect place to build a tree house I thought. At that time I was good friends with a kid called Harsha. He was a strong healthy kid whose one goal in life was to become a soldier or as he called himself 'Army Man'. So everyone else did the same. So one fine day I told army man my plan to build a tree house. He was readily up for it and added in his own ideas.

It was the summer season then and summer is the season when magic happens. Our colony was transformed into a dry and desolate land every summer. The roads wore a deserted look in the afternoons, evenings were spent outdoors, rasna and roohafza were the order of the day and school used to finish early in the afternoon.

One fine summer day we decided to put our plan for a tree house in action. First we did several recces of the area after school time and identified a tree. But try as we may, we could not figure out a way to make a house on top of that tree so, in true kid logic, we decided to make one at the base of the tree itself.  So slowly everyday after school we made our way to the tree and built the house. First the foundation and the skeletal structure, which didn't take much effort.We gathered four stout sticks and rammed them into the ground at four corners. We built a mound of soil around the sticks to reinforce it. Next step was to build the walls. This we did by gathering many slender sticks and holding them in place by cords we got from home. Soon we had the house almost ready.  The roof of the house was also made in the same fashion. We covered all the walls and the roof with branches and leaves. So finally our tree house was ready.

But all of this was not without some hurdles and hiccups. This whole adventure had one of only two instances where I got into a physical fight with another kid. I don't remember how it started and what led to the fight. All I remember is me hitting him in the stomach and he landing a few blows on me. It ended as soon as it began. The funny thing about all of this was that later we became good friends and he even helped me in building our tree house.

Our tree building was interrupted briefly after two of my favorite teachers saw Harsha and me wandering off into the fields after school one day. I still remember the scene. Standing on the footpath which separated the road and the field they shouted our names and called us back. There we got an earful about the dangers of the field and the animals which roamed there. This stopped our visits for sometime but we soon resumed as soon as the matter was forgotten.

After our tree house was finished we spent some time visiting the place and spending some time around the house now and then. Gradually it was forgotten and we moved onto other stuff. Years later the whole place was cleared and there now stands a number of new quarters. Whenever I walk past that road I cant help but recall those carefree days when the top most priority of my life was to build a tree house in a dry field.

Book Post 6: "Let it Shine'' by John Perlin

Book Name : Let it Shine

Author : John Perlin

Genre : Non Fiction.

What is it about? : The books traces the History of Solar Power since the start of Humankind. There are very few books which trace the history of how the Sun's power was harnessed for humankind's use and this is one of them.

How I came to read it : In one of our University subjects we had to study about Solar Power. I wanted to know how solar power evolved over the years and a little bit of googling(yes its a word now) pointed me towards this book. I searched if the local VPL branch had it and fortunately they had and I got it the next day.

Did I like it? : Yes, I liked it immensely! Over the course of some 450 pages the author takes us on a journey from the Chinese in 6000 BC who sometimes built their homes keeping in mind the Sun's trajectory over the year (to make the optimum use of sun's warmth in winters) to the recent years when newer improved photovoltaics that have come up. The book is packed with many interesting and surprising bits of information that I had no idea about.

Why?/Summary/My views :
It is a general perception that solar power is a recent phenomenon but it is surprising to know that one of the first proper use of solar power devices was in 1860s. This book is packed with so many such details that at the end of it I wondered how come I never knew of Solar's rich history.

In brief, the book talks about five main areas: Solar architecture, Solar motors(for motive work), Solar water heating, Solar House heating and the recent photovoltaics. In each of these five main areas the author traces back the developments as far back as possible. In the architecture part, the story starts from the era of the Chinese in 6000 BC who used to build their houses in such a way that they could make maximum use of the sun's warming rays. It then traces the works of other civilizations like the Romans and Greeks. The second part talks about the works of two American inventors who did some pioneering work in developing solar motors: Augustin Mouchot and John Ericsson (Its the same guy after whom the thermodynamic Ericsson cycle is named). This part also describes what is called the World's first solar power plant built by Willsie Sun Power Company in 1904 (Its output drove a 6hp engine). Incremental upgrades led to much bigger and better plants soon. One of the surprising things that I learned here was that the concept of energy storage was in vogue from around this time. Another visionary about whom the book mentions is Frank Shuman who did a lot of work in the field of solar power plants.

The third part is about the evolution of Solar water heating from the 1800s when some of the earliest solar hearing companies were setup like the Climax Solar Water Heating company and the Day and Night Water heating company. Around the 1900s till the World War 2 it was a good time to be in the Solar industry. Most of the major developments described in the book happened in the UK and USA. The major developments which happened in other countries are also covered but they pale in comparison to the ones in UK and USA. The fourth part is about Solar House heating from the ancient times to the systematic work done by Bernhard Faust and Gustav Vorherr and to the revival of interest in solar house heating in the United States.

The fifth and the final part finally leads us to the Photovoltaics. The part I was waiting for the whole time I was reading the book.  This part starts off by describing the work of Willoughby Smith, The Chief electrician of the Gutta Percha Company in the 1860s. He observed the peculiar behavior of selenium under light and had published a paper about it. From here the phenomenon came under the spotlight and soon enough an inventor named Charles Fritts made the first photovoltaic array. Some years later, the next revolutionary step was made in the legendary Bell laboratories where the solar transistor was developed. This discovery was game changing. Also that was the time of the space age where there was a need for technologies that could help in solving the problem of providing power in space and this need was filled in brilliantly by the solar cells. This step actually saved the solar industry. The next few pages talk about the recent developments in this field. The last chapter summarizes and provides an update about all the above five parts. 

Overall this is a brilliant book which covers all the aspects of the history of solar and also provides detailed stories wherever its required like in the case of the work on solar transistors in Bell Laboratories. That is a story that needs to be heard by many.

Informative and enjoyable at the same time this book is a must read for all those interested in Solar.

Book Post 5 : "Shackleton: Antarctic Odyssey" by Nick Bertozzi

Book Name : Shackleton: Antarctic Odyssey
Author Name : Nick

Genre : Graphic Novel.

What is it about? : The book tells the story of Ernest Shackleton and his crew when they undertook the Trans-Antarctic Expedition in 1914.

How I came to read it : Lately I have been reading a lot of books related to my current studies and I wanted to read something different. I wanted a light read so I headed over to the Graphic Novel section of my local VPL(Vancouver Public Library) branch. I am a fan of exploration and expedition stories so when I spotted this book I picked it up without any hesitation.

Did I like it? : Yes I did. Its a simple retelling of the bravery and the conditions the men of that expedition faced.

Why?/Summary/My views : Ill keep this pretty  straightforward and short. The graphics are nice and the story-line is engaging. Theres a lot of humor thrown in but that may or may not work for everyone. For me, I prefer stories like these to be gritty and serious. But overall the book is a good read and I believe a very good read for kids. 

Book Post 4 : "Clean Car Wars" by Yozo Hasegawa and translated by Tony Kimm

Book Name : Clean Car Wars

Author : Yozo Hasegawa. 
                Translated by Tony Kimm

Genre : Non Fiction.

What is it about? : This book is about, as the name implies, clean cars, meaning eco-friendly cars and how the major companies have shifted their focus to the clean cars segment as the future of the Automobile Industry.

How I came to read it : I was browsing the Sustainable Energy section of one of our university libraries and stumbled upon this book. I was interested to know how the clean cars segment shaped up over the years so I borrowed it immediately.

Did I like it? : No, I did not. The tone was dry and it was more like a series of articles stitched together. It lacked a proper narrative.

Why?/Summary/My views : I am going to keep this one short. The book is mostly about two countries Japan and USA. The first chapter is about Toyota, how,in 2009, it usurped General Motors as the biggest Auto company in the world. This moment was huge in the Auto Industry. To topple GM from its top position was no joke. Part of the reason for Toyota's exponential growth over the years was its line of green cars. It was one of the first companies to focus on this and also it gave the World its first popular green car the Prius. There is background information in this chapter about Toyota and how the Prius came to being.

The next chapter is about another Japanese Giant, Honda. While Toyota was focussed on hybrid technology Honda was intent on improving its diesel engines which it did quite successfully.It also came up with a breakthrough emission technology and also came up with its own hybrid cars.

The next chapter is how the big 3 of the west strike back at this Japanese offensive. GM, Ford and Daimler all unveil their own plans and ideas for the green cars market. Here it is where it begins to get a bit repetitive and should I say the word, boring.

The next chapter is about other green alternatives like Bioethanol, natural gas and purely electric cars. By this time I was just gliding along the words no longer interested and I finished it somehow.

Overall the initial Toyota and Honda stories were much better than the rest of the book but I did learn a lot of new stuff so no regrets.

Once upon a night dreary!

One night,as I was walking back to my home I passed by this strange house on our street. It was quite late in the night and quite windy. The wind was making the branches of the trees shake and shiver as they crashed against each other.

This strange house looked empty and lifeless but it had a wind chime at the front door. Now, I don't like wind chimes because of the constant and sometimes jarring noise they produce. But this one was different. It produced the most melodious sound I have ever heard a wind chime produce. I stood there for a while transfixed.

The overall effect this whole scene had on me was quite unnerving. The late hour, the rustling of the leaves in the wind, the stillness of the house itself and the melody of the wind chime. Blame it on my love for horror stories but the house looked like the perfect setting for a classic Gothic horror tale. With these thoughts in mind I quickened my pace and left the spot with the melody of the wind chimes fading out behind.

Book Post 3 : "The Castle of Otranto" by Horace Walpole

Book Name : The Castle of Otranto

Author : Horace Walpole

Genre : Fiction, Gothic

What is it about? : This is the book which started off the Gothic genre in literature.It was first published in 1764. Its about Manfred, Lord of a region called Otranto, who is struck with a series of events starting off with the death of his son who dies when a mysterious helmet appears out of nowhere and falls on his head.

How I came to read it : Having the read 'The Moonstone' and 'The Woman in White' recently my interest in Gothic literature revived and I thought why not go back to the root of it all and give the book that started it all, a read. I got it for free form Project Gutenberg and read it on my Kindle.

Did I like it? : No, I did not. It fell much below my expectations. Or maybe I was expecting too much.

Why?/Summary/My views  : 
I am going to keep this one short. The Castle of Otranto, has most of the stock characters of the Gothic genre like the evil villain, the spotlessly good maidens and others but when it comes to creating the atmosphere of dread and evil it fails miserably. At times, it even feels comedic with its exaggerated absurdity of some of the characters like those of the servants. The story itself is not interesting and there is only one scene in the entire book which I liked. It promised much but the rest of the book never lives up to that one moment. Spoiler Alert here. The scene I am talking is when a giant hand appears in one of the rooms of the castle. No other part of the body of the creature, whatever that is, is shown. Just the hand reaching out for something. The servants looking at this unearthly scene flee the spot so no more of the action is described. The brilliant suspense created here fizzles down as the novel proceeds.


The only saving grace for me was that I finally ticked off one of the earliest books of the Gothic genre.