Venkat

Author's details

Date registered: October 2, 2011

Biography

maniacal penchant for books, more books, still more books and lot more books - When I am not watching cricket that is! Love my Scotch and scribble for fun!

Latest posts

  1. Captain Marvel in Malaysia – A foreigner’s perception of GE14 — May 11, 2018
  2. Brother Odd – Dean Koontz — April 30, 2018
  3. Girl On The Train – Paula Hawkins — April 30, 2018
  4. INFINITY WAR – VULNERABILITY REDEFINED — April 25, 2018
  5. Imperfect – Sanjay Manjrekar — April 22, 2018

Most commented posts

  1. Rahul Sharad Dravid – Class, Calibre, and Composure — 12 comments
  2. Marvels of literature and auto rickshaws – A unique combination — 10 comments
  3. Controversially Yours by Shoaib Akthar – An aberration of an autobiography — 10 comments
  4. A Baby in a Bore-well – India’s claim to shame — 8 comments
  5. Simply Steve – The end of an era — 8 comments

Author's posts listings

May 11

Captain Marvel in Malaysia – A foreigner’s perception of GE14

Categories:

Freewheeling

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GE14

Any foreigner touring or residing in Malaysia in the month of May 2018, could be forgiven for unwittingly suspecting that Captain Marvel of the Avengers fame had manifested in Kuala Lumpur – taking the capital city by storm – in person and way ahead of the much touted release year of 2019-20. Only, this particular …

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Apr 30

Brother Odd – Dean Koontz

Categories:

Arm Chair Critic - The Joy of reviewing a book

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Brother Odd

Dean Koontz starts off like a sleek and racy Shanghai Maglev, loses momentum in between but still maintaining the look and feel of a Shinkansen, before finally losing steam and sputtering to a huffing and puffing halt like a lumbering freight train. Odd Thomas seeking solace and serenity from a troubled mind, find himself in …

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Apr 30

Girl On The Train – Paula Hawkins

Categories:

Arm Chair Critic - The Joy of reviewing a book

by

 If you intend your work to sell 40 million copies, get translated into multiple languages and even after years of its publication, continue to be the talk of many a town, it better be good. Paula Hawkins’ book is just that – and more! “Girl On The Train” (“the book”) is not just good, it’s …

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Apr 25

INFINITY WAR – VULNERABILITY REDEFINED

Categories:

The Silver Screen

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Infinity War

  Marvel in their latest, biggest and in all probability the most philosophical rendition of the Avengers series, capitalizes on what is arguably the most poignant, abhorrent, and inescapable emotion permeating the mental make-up of humans, super humans and supernatural forces alike – vulnerability. When a pantheon of Gods, super heroes, mystiques and intellectual geniuses …

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Apr 22

Imperfect – Sanjay Manjrekar

Categories:

The Straight Drive

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Imperfect

Overwhelmed and bogged down by a relentless barrage of opinions, reports, suggestions and claims flooding my social media time line – involving two unscrupulous and insensible Australian cricketers one of whom was plainly caught trying to produce some shocks out of his jocks – I decided to divert my attention to less tumultuous stuff and …

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Apr 22

Stuffocation: Living More With Less – James Wallman

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Arm Chair Critic - The Joy of reviewing a book

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Stuffocation

  In this radical and ingenious book, forecaster and researcher James Wallman identifies the one scourge that is plaguing the homes and minds of people all over the world today, before proffering a range of innovative solutions to destroy this specter. The problem is “clutter” – physical clutter as opposed to mental or psychological clutter. …

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Mar 13

Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life – Nassim Nicholas Taleb

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Arm Chair Critic - The Joy of reviewing a book

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Skin

Two footnotes in this book reveal in stark detail the character (of a total lack of it) of the author. I have no choice but to reproduce the two obscene, insensitive and uncalled for footnotes as they appear in the book:  ·       Actually I usually joke that my death plus someone I don’t like surviving, …

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Mar 10

A FEAST OF VULTURES: THE HIDDEN BUSINESS OF DEMOCRACY IN INDIA – JOSY JOSEPH

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Arm Chair Critic - The Joy of reviewing a book

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A Feast of Vultures

Anonymous intermediaries lubricating the political machinery in the country, ingenious and resourceful middlemen greasing a multitude of palms to enhance the positions, potential and power of both the needy and the greedy, entrepreneurs masquerading as politicians and politicians disguised in the garb of entrepreneurs, dreaded underworld dons with inextricable links to businesses run by an …

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Feb 28

When Reporting in India Died a painful Death

Categories:

Freewheeling

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Sridevi

  The Indian media plummeted to a new nadir in wake of the revoltingly voyeuristic and obnoxiously insensitive reporting following the tragic and untimely death of Sridevi, one of the most acclaimed, adored and awe-inspiring actors to have ever graced the silver screen in the country. When news initially filtered in from Dubai about the …

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Feb 18

Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives by Tim Harford

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Arm Chair Critic - The Joy of reviewing a book

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messy-hb-us

Tim Harford’s books are counter intuitive, provocative, contrarian, refreshing and most importantly sheer fun to read. “Messy” is no exception. In this engaging work, Harford demonstrates how people fight against, survive and thrive by bucking the trend of a world obsessed by the rigours of tidiness, structure, norms and conventions. Going beyond mere aesthetics and …

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