Book Review: Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Title: Steve Jobs
Author: Walter Isaacson
Publisher: Little Brown and Co, Hachette Book Group
ISBN: 9781408703748
Genre: Biography
Pages: 627
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4.5/5

Writing a review about a book on Steve Jobs’ life is not easy. It is close to being very difficult, nonetheless here is a review of, “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson. This might sound a bit strange, however I have never owned a single Apple product and yet I am so taken in by the man behind it all.

Steve Jobs at the same time was also a person and not just the man behind Apple and that’s the beauty of this book. The way it unearths the person behind the persona. I will be very honest – I did not want to read the book when I first laid eyes on it. I was skeptical only because technology as a topic has never been of great interest to me, so I was under the assumption that the book would be all about Apple and its making and nothing else. I am glad that my assumption has been put to rest.

The book is spread across forty seven chapters, talking about the man and his life. It is written in form of stories, which is what makes it so interesting. A lot of interesting people are spoken about throughout the book – from Tony Fadell and his role in the development of the iPhone to John Lasseter and the entire Pixar story. About how Jobs created Mac and then was ousted by the company he founded only to come back to it.

What almost took me by surprise in the book was the fact that the emotional aspects of Jobs’ life were also covered and not ignored. The chapters about his illness and his family around that time almost had me close to tears.
What I thought could have been spoken of more was Apple and what really happened there and how Steve helped fix it, after coming back to it. Nonetheless, what was written seemed alright to me at the end of it all.

Steve Jobs as a book is a great read. It is not a PR piece (as the danger might be in an authorized biography most of the time) nor does it try to glorify the person. Jobs at the same time also gave Isaacson complete freedom to write what he wanted to and did not at any point demand editorial control. The book is a treat for all those who want to know more about Steve Jobs and the kind of person that he was. A fitting tribute to a genius.

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Book Review: The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino

Title: The Devotion of Suspect X
Author: Keigo Higashino
Publisher: Little Brown, Hachette Book Group
ISBN: 978-1408703250
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 384
Price: Rs. 499
Source: Publisher
Rating: 5/5

Japanese fiction is a great love of mine. My taste ranges widely from the postmodern antics of Murakami, to the quiet intellectualism of Endo, to the luminous spaces of Kawabata, and to the pent up rage of Mishima. In a culture which traditionally values quietly getting along even when catastrophe strikes, fiction allows a space for readers to wail with those who hurt and lash out at those who would oppress. Japanese novels of mystery and horror provide such a space to ponder the darker recesses of humanity. Mystery writer Keigo Higashino, originally from Osaka and now resident in Tokyo, is currently one of the best selling authors in Japan. Reading “The Devotion of Suspect X” provides understanding of his popularity. Higashino’s prose is both quietly poetic and noir like in its straightforwardness.

Tetsuya Ishigami’s daily schedule is precisely what one would expect of a Japanese mathematics’ teacher. His unsuccessful attempts to motivate visibly bored and apathetic students discourage Ishigami, and his one true passion of solving a complex mathematical formula, lies outside of the classroom within the confines of his small apartment. A barren life carved out of necessity dramatically changes when Yasuko and her daughter Misato introduce themselves as his new neighbors. He imagines a fantasy life with them, listening to mother and daughter through the thin apartment walls, and his daily walk to school includes a stop to purchase his boxed lunch at the small shop where Yasuko works. Within this fictitious context, Ishigami surprisingly exhibits a fierce desire to protect both mother and daughter, and so begins a bizarre tale that originates with the unexpected arrival of Yasuko’s nefarious ex-husband Togashi.

To divulge the minute intricacies of this suspenseful tale would require *spoilers.* Ishigami’s masterful, methodical, and devious scheme demands a skillful exposé by the incongruous, yet highly likeable duo of Dr.Yukama and Detective Kusanagi, the intrepid investigators who are destined to unravel the shocking and mind-boggling conundrum. Imperial University graduates in different fields, Ishigami, Yukama and Kusanagi, seem equally matched; Ishigami, unappreciated mathematical master of a methodical crime committed to protect Yasuko and Misato, and Yukama, preeminent master of rare intuitive observations of human frailties, and Kusanagi, resolute advocate of justice match their unparalleled wits to a stunning unbelievable conclusion. The factual drama predominantly hinges on the intellectual “cat and mouse” chase between Ishigami, “Buddha” at University and Yukama, affectionately known as “Professor Galileo” by the police.

Several protagonists go through significant psychological deterioration as well, and I would have to say that Higashino is a match for Dostoevsky in how he works these transformations.

However, Higashino has a lot to say about contemporary Japan and about the sciences as well. One of the protagonist is a high school math teacher, who has to teach students who seem dumber every year, disconnected from their society. The contrast between the first rate mind of the teacher and his students is quite striking. Additionally, Higashino has a lot to say about the homeless of Tokyo. There is an almost palpable redolence of rot expressed here about where Japan is going. It’s really done very well.

Higashino also has some things to say about the beauty and intricacies of the sciences. In this respect, he reminds me of Borges, the famed Argentinian author, especially his short story collections.

Finally, Higashino has a superb sense of place for Tokyo. There are a number of repetitive paths taken by numerous characters, and by the end of the book, you will feel as if you have walked them as well.

I’m very excited to be exposed to such a great author. I hope this book sells well and his other works are translated soon. By the way, a few reviews have criticized the translation work in this edition. Every one is entitled to their own opinion, but I did not experience this at all. I’ve read a fair amount of translated Japanese literature and been to Japan many, many times. The translation here worked really well for me.

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Book Review: The Arrivals by Meg Mitchell Moore

Title: The Arrivals
Author: Meg Mitchell Moore
Publisher: Reagan Arthur Books
Genre: Literary Fiction
ISBN: 978-0316097710
Pages: 336
Price: $24.99
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4.5/5

Ginny and William Owen are the parents of three adult children who have all moved out on their own. One summer, they all unexpectedly arrive for extended visits. Although spending time together should be a pleasant experience, each of the children is dealing with a secret or a burden which instead leads to chaos and conflict. Lillian has left her husband. Steven is planning on becoming a stay-at-home father so his wife can pursue a lucrative career. Rachel has just broken up with her boyfriend and finds herself in financial difficulty. Although Ginny and William love seeing their children, they long for the peace and quiet that has been lost. They also question whether they are somehow responsible for their children’s unhappiness.

The plot of “The Arrivals” revolves around the relationships between all of the characters. The parents wonder if they have failed to teach their children independence and coping skills. They have difficulty deciding when to take action and when to be patient. The children, who do not seem like bad people, are a bit selfish when it comes to wanting their needs met. But when they all reconnect as adults an important lesson is learned – do not cast judgment on people, especially when you do not know what is motivating their actions.

This book would be a good choice for a book club to discuss. It offers a unique look at the stereotypes associated with gender roles in parenting. It also tackles the subject of how parenting has changed over the last several decades. It explores whether modern parents have become more permissive, set lower expectations for their children, and if they are too quick to bail them out of tough situations.

Good dialogue keeps this story moving steadily through a series of missteps by each family member as tempers flare and space becomes a precious commodity. There are plenty of problems to solve under this roof. Meg Mitchell Moore gently probes at family relationships, how the change and mostly how they stay the same in this entertaining and sweet story. The characters are all likeable in their own way and I enjoyed how they revealed different sides as the story progressed. 3 year old Olivia, caught in the middle, will steal your heart as she tries to figure out what is going on and, in the end, shows everyone with startling clarity what is truly important in life.

“The Arrivals” is an excellent book that will appeal to an adult female audience. Those who have adult children who have moved back home will especially connect with the subject matter. The incorporation of humor, sadness, nostalgia, and healing accentuates the well-developed plot. The characters created by the author and the style in which the story is told come across as a realistic portrayal of a typical family.

Being Polite to Hitler by Robb Forman Dew

The title phrase occurs about halfway through the book. The year is 1953. Lavinia Alton, who has married into the close-knit family of Scofields and Claytors in the mid-Ohio town of Washburn, has committed the cardinal sin of expressing her political opinions (in this case, outrage at the execution of the Rosenbergs) in the midst of a Christmas gathering of relatives and neighbors. She has already offended their dress code; now she flouts their conversational norms that involve, among other things, turning a blind eye to bigotry.

The moment is emblematic of Robb Forman Dew’s approach, as she structures her book in expanding circles. At the center are a few independent individuals like Lavinia and, even more so, her feisty mother-in-law Agnes, a widowed schoolteacher nearing the end of her patience. In the middle are all those relatives and neighbors, so intricately interknit that I needed to spend half and hour drawing up a family tree to keep them all straight. [I now learn, however, that this book is the third in a trilogy with THE EVIDENCE AGAINST HER and THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER, so presumably the author's followers would have less trouble.] Beyond this circle are the events of the outside world: memories of the War, of the first atomic bombs, Eisenhower-era politics, the threat of polio, the doomsday clock, and fallout shelters. Indeed, the fallout shelter is a good metaphor for the community itself, as it tries to maintain an oasis of cheerful normality in a world with a traumatic past and uncertain future. The first two-thirds of the book are the portrait of an era, of a small-town middle America simultaneously turned in upon itself and facing outwards, enjoying the dawn of a new prosperity but paranoid about Cold War threats and Communist spies.

Then suddenly the year jumps forward to 1957, with Sputnik and school integration. It will jump again to 1963, with the Birmingham church bombing and the Kennedy assassination, and end with 1973 and Watergate (only more gracefully). The novel now becomes much more the story of Agnes Scofield, who has now acquired a partner, a dog, and a summer house in Maine. There are more events in this final section, but less connection; the book loses that intense focus on place and time that so distinguished it earlier — again I suspect the change in tone would matter less to those who read the whole trilogy. Is there an element of family biography here? Although given a different name, the nearby college to Washburn is clearly Kenyon, where the author’s grandfather John Crowe Ransom founded the Kenyon Review. Agnes’ brother-in-law Robert Butler teaches at the college, and real-life faculty members Robert Lowell, Peter Taylor, and William Empson make cameo appearances. It must have been a heady, even intimidating environment — but perhaps both Agnes and the author find peace in being able to escape from time to time.

Being Polite to Hitler; Dew, Robb Forman; Little, Brown and Company; $24.99

Rescue by Anita Shreve

A born storyteller, Shreve does a beautiful job in her description of a family in distress, a relationship crippled by a tragedy waiting in the wings. When Vermont EMT Peter Webster first sees Sheila Arsenault, she requires emergency assistance at the scene of an accident. Her blood alcohol signals trouble, but what young man in love reads the signs of impending disaster? Without much thought, Webster and Sheila embark on a love affair, for Webster a wonderful and unexpected gift, for Sheila a time out in a chaotic life. Pregnancy leads to marriage, baby Rowan the center of the couple’s lives until the attrition of time and too many sacrifices causes Sheila once again to seek solace in a bottle. A near-tragedy and the course of a Webster’s future is altered. Eighteen years later, a happy, well-adjusted daughter becomes a moody, angry teenager, Webster unable to communicate with the daughter who has become a stranger.

Shreve explores the territory of single parenthood and the loss of what might have been with her usual deft touch, capturing the difficult choices of a man desperate to protect his daughter from her mother’s excesses, his work as an EMT contrasting the dangers in a quiet Vermont town with the previous serenity of his home life. The real villain of the piece is, of course, Sheila’s alcoholism, the reason for the domestic disharmony, the marital arguments and a daughter’s resentment of her mother. Since Webster never really understands Sheila’s drinking, he has no tolerance for Rowan’s experimentation, as though good intentions could keep such a nightmare at bay. Alcoholism is the elephant in the living room, the source of all Webster’s grief and the threat to his confused daughter.

Whether writing historically or of contemporary life, Shreve has a facile touch, her prose fluid and believable as her characters face the unpredictability of choices that deliver hope and pain in equal measure. The responsible Webster, the tragic Sheila and the dangerously rebellious Rowan are vividly portrayed and culturally relevant. No monsters here, only vulnerable humans who stray from the bright promise of youth into the ragged detours that leads to forgiveness.

Rescue; Shreve, Anita; Little, Brown and Company; $26.99

The Cypress House by Michael Koryta

Arlen Wagner did not speak to the dead but he could see the dead walking among the living. When death was about to happen Arlen saw smoke rising out of the living and knew that someone’s time was up. This ability to understand the consequences of having such a gift had gotten his father killed and made Arlen’s life a nightmare. But he knew how to manage the curse and even through WWI he was able to fight when he needed to and walk away. Arlen was aware that for some of the enemy soldiers he was not going to die today by Arlen’s hands.

When the war is over and he is working his way around the country trying to scrap a living together he finds himself on a train bound for Florida. When again Arlen sees the smoke signals of death rising he jumps off the train that he finds out later was bound to collide head on with a hurricane. Thinking he and his traveling partner Paul have been saved Arlen settles in someplace he never wanted to be again – a small town with corrupt law enforcement.

Through a strange set of circumstances Arlen finds himself in a backwater town in Florida repairing a hurricane ravaged tavern wishing he were anywhere but there. The police are turning up bodies that Arlen and Paul are getting blamed for and the corrupt judge is putting on a show for everyone with him as the puppet master.

Arlen knows he should leave and wants to leave but is drawn to Rebecca, the woman running this broken down place. His friend Paul thinks she can be won over but fails to realize that Arlen has already gotten the prize and Rebecca is playing hard-to-get for a reason. But Rebecca has a lot of secrets she is not sharing and the danger she dances around is making Arlen very nervous. He knows everyone has their past but believes Rebecca’s past is going to end their future together.

When Arlen figures out who the players are and he knows what is really going on in this town he figures out who needs to be removed and Arlen puts a plan into action. Arlen never expected to have someone turn on him but figured out early in life that everyone is not your friend but love does linger if you grab onto it and don’t let go regardless of what you have to do to keep it.

I thought Mr. Koryta’s last book So Cold the River was scary but it is nothing in comparison to this book. I kept the lights on and the shades drawn for fear of what was creeping around in the night. Both Arlen and Rebecca have such complicated pasts you don’t think there is enough time to explain it all but the author does and gives so much more than just character development he gives you Goosebumps. Great book and while this is a standalone every reader should pick up all other books by this author as they are great.

The Cypress House; Koryta, Michael; Little, Brown and Company; $24.99