What is a person’s greatest desire in this world? Happiness? Wealth? Health? Peace of mind?

The world’s greatest secret then undoubtedly, is the talisman to attain these. And it is a fairly simple one, or so says Og Mandino. Just remind yourself each day that, “I will win, and I will become a great salesman for I am unique.” That, in short, is the age old secret to “lasting wealth, health, happiness, and most important…peace of mind,” that Mandino shares through his motivational The Greatest Secret in the World.

This is no regular “how to” book. Nor is it a discourse on philosophy or mind control. Though Mandino maintains that this book contains the great secrets handed down to young Hafid (of The Greatest Saleman in the World fame), 2000 years ago, frankly these “secrets”  are oft repeated and oft heard. The greatest secret in the world then is not how to find the road to success, but rather how to journey on it and not go astray. And this is what makes this book unique.

Mandino does not simply preach. He offers you a crash course on success, one that requires 10 minutes of your time, each day of your work week for 45 weeks . If you can do it, it’ll change your life and if you can’t, then in Mandino’s own words, “the money spent on this book has been wasted.”  A burning desire to succeed is not enough. We all dream of a great tomorrow, but that tomorrow never does come.

So Mandino extorts you to sit up and make today great. And you can do it because, “You are nature’s greatest miracle….you are rare and unique and the ultimate product of several million years of evolution.  Both in mind, and body, you are far better equipped than Solomon or Caeser or  Plato to make something beautiful and meaningful of your life. You have a greater potential than anyone who has ever lived before you! ” Of course that also means that anyone born after you will always have greater potential than you, but let’s not get cheeky here.

The Greatest Secret in the World is truely an inspiring book because it relentlessly eggs you on. It is engaging, it is colloquial and it is challenging. It even contains a success recorder diary to enable you to gauge your progress. It is designed as a lesson. You read, you follow and then you record your actions. When Mandino believes that you are on the right track, he takes you to the next lesson and once again you read, follow, record. So it continues for 45 weeks. Of course most people will admit that they read the book in one or two sittings, at least for the first time. It is difficult to pause and wait patiently for the next lesson but it might just be worth it.

Through this book, Mandino teaches you to self examine, to identify your bad habits, to focus on your strengths and to control your moods. He takes you back to the basics -Don’t take others or yourself too seriously. Don’t procrastinate. Live each day as if it is your last- only this time, he ensures that you don’t just preach, but you practice. He constantly questions you, taunts you. Can you do it? Do you have the discipline, the self control? Will you give up? And in proving that you won’t give up you gradually become adept at mind conditioning, which Mandino believes is central to success.

I have just one grudge against Mandino. It might be that at the time he wrote this book, professional women were a novelty but did he think that only men desire success? Only they want health, health and happiness? His books are all addressed to men (Greatest sales man, not woman or person). He tells you to decide what job title and salary you want to achieve at the end of your 45 weeks crash course and share it with no one but your wife.  Disastrous, especially in a world where one has to at least pretend to be gender sensitive.

That apart, The Greatest Secret in the World is one of those rare books that focuses on action, rather than on mere words. Follow it and success is guaranteed because, “failure will never overcome  you if your determination to succeed is strong enough.”

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“A fool’s brain digests philosophy into folly, science into superstition, and art into pedantry. Hence University education.”

“There are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart’s desire. The other is to get it.”

“If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience.”

A little bit of wit, a lit bit of wisdom, loads of sarcasm and a bunch of socio-political messages, delievered in simple English  through a series of well crafted and memorable characters. Born in Dublin, Ireland on July 26, 1856, George Bernard Shaw is the only person to have been awarded both a Nobel Prize for Literature and an Oscar. The son of a singer and an unsuccessful grain merchant Shaw made a living by writing about music and engaging in literary criticism. However he is best known as a playwright and has over 60 plays to his credit, most of which are liberally sprinkled with his political and social philosophy.

Did you know that Shaw:

* Was a committed socialist and a member of the Fabian society, dedicated to spread socialism through peaceful means

* Wrote 5 novels, all of which were unsuccessful. Immaturity was his first novel.

* Hated schools. he said, “Schools and schoolmasters, as we have them today, are not popular as places of education and teachers, but rather prisons and turnkeys in which children are kept to prevent them disturbing and chaperoning their parents”.”

* Married an Irish hieress and fellow Fabian Charlotte Payne-Townshend

* Started earning by ghost writing the music column for his mother’s music teacher

* Was among the founders of the London School of Economics and Political Science

* Bought his first camera in 1898 and was an active amateur photographer.

* Wanted to refuse the Nobel prize but was persuaded by his wife to accept it. He donated the money for translating Swedish books into English.

* Died at the ripe old age of 94, due to renal complications.

Here are some famous quotes form the author. Enjoy these “Shawisms” and be sure to add any oter that we might have missed

“Happy is the man who can make a living by his hobby!”

“Would the world ever have been made if its maker had been afraid of making trouble? Making life means making trouble.”

“The great secret, Eliza, is not having bad manners or good manners or any other particular sort of manners, but having the same manner for all human souls: in short, behaving as if you were in Heaven, where there are no third-class carriages, and one soul is as good as another.”

“A little learning is a dangerous thing, but we must take that risk because a little is as much as our biggest heads can hold.”

“A man of great common sense and good taste – meaning thereby a man without originality or moral courage.”

“All great truths begin as blasphemies.”

“Soldiering, my dear madam, is the coward’s art of attacking mercilessly when you are strong, and keeping out of harm’s way when you are weak. That is the whole secret of successful fighting. Get your enemy at a disadvantage; and never, on any account, fight him on equal terms.”

“The test of a man or woman’s breeding is how they behave in a quarrel. Anybody can behave well when things are going smoothly.”

“Men get tired of everything, of heaven no less than of hell; and that all history is nothing but a record of the oscillations of the world between these two extremes. An epoch is but a swing of the pendulum; and each generation thinks the world is progressing because it is always moving.”

“Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.”

” . . . the difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she’s treated.”

Reviewed by Ruth Zothanpuii

Twilight is the story of Edward and Bella’s romance. The story is told in first person from the viewpoint of Bella. This is the reason why we only ever get to know what Bella knows and thinks; Edward and his family a mystery to the reader.

At first I was a little biased about the novel which kept me from reading it. I mean, it is a story about vampires; the idea of reading a story on vampire is really truly beyond me … I was thinking that we all fan over fantasy stories a little too much.

But somehow I wanted to give the book a try just out of curiosity. I mean it was all over the place.

To be honest, after reading it, I feel Twilight is simple yet beautifully written. And, it is a page turner for sure. Meyer’s description of Forks is truly amazing. It makes you think you can almost smell the cold damp air, and hear the rain falling outside the window. The romance between Edward and Bella is especially touching, fascinating and appealing, all in equal measure. One of a kind. I’ve read quite a few romantic stories before but this surely is a breath of fresh air.

People say Twilight is “a vampire story for people who don’t like vampire stories.” In my case, this proved to be true. I understand now why different people of different age groups savored this book.

A definite must read!

ERNEST HEMINGWAY

(July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961)

Pulitzer and Nobel prize winning American author, Ernest Hemingway is known for his great characterisation and simple prose style. After graduating from high school in 1917, Hemingway worked briefly as a reporter. He then became an ambulance driver during the first world war. His experiences during these days became the basis for his classic novel, A Farewell to Arms. His first novel however was the Sun also rises, written in 1924.

Hemingway was married four times before he finally committed suicide in 1961.

Other popular titles by Hemingway include

For whom the Bell Tolls

The Old man and the Sea

Islands in the Stream

Snows of Kilimanjaro

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MICHAEL CONNELLY

Born in Philadelphia on July 21, 1956, Michael Connelly decided to become a writer when he read the works of Raymond Chandler during his college years. The love for mystery novels and crime fiction was however, instilled by his mother, who was an avid reader. Connelly went on to become the crime reporter for Los Angeles Times. Three years into his beat, he began writing his first novel starring LAPD Detective Hieronymus Bosch. His debut novel won an Edgar award for the Best First novel and since then he has received a series of awards. Between 2003 and 2004 he was the President of the Mystery Writers of America. Connelly’s books have been translated into 35 languages.

Some of his best selling award winning books include:

The Narrows

Crime Beat

The Poet

Lost Light

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MARSHALL McLUHAN

(July 21, 1911 – December 31, 1980)

“The Medium is the Message.”  How often have we heard this expression? Today is the birth anniversary of teh Canadian educator and professor of English literature who coined this phrase. Marshall McLuhan is also credited with the term “global village,” and continues to influence media discourse even three decades after his death.

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Erle Stanley Gardner

(July 17, 1889 – March 11, 1970)

A decade ago, anyone who grew up on mystery novels, would know Erle Stanley Gardner. A self taught American lawyer (he chose boxing over Law School), Gardner took up writing to deal with the boring routine of legal work. Thus was born Perry Mason, the fictional lawyer cum detective who featured in over 80 novels and a number of Hollywood movies, television series and radio programmes. By 1933, Gardner had given up legal practice all together to become a full time writer. He moved to Temecula, California and stayed there till his death in 1970.

Gardner also wrote under a number of pen names, including A.A. Fair, Kyle Corning, Charles M. Green, Carleton Kendrake, Charles J. Kenny, Les Tillray and Robert Parr. In 1952, he won the Edgar Award in the Best Fact Crime Category

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LaVyrle Spencer

Born on July 17, 1943 in Browerville, Minnesota, LaVyrle Spencer is an American author famous for her historical and contemporary romances- many of which have been made into movies. Spencer stopped writing in 1997 and has been living at Stillwater, Minnesota with her family.

It was in her thirties that Spencer read Kathleen Woodiwiss’s novel “The Flame and Flower” an d that inspired her to start penning a recurring dream she had about her grandma’s life on a Minnesota farmhouse. Thus, The Fulfillment, her first novel was written.  Till date twelve of her books have been New York Times bestsellers; Spencer has won 4 RITA Awards, 3 Golden Medallion Award and a Minnesota Book Awards and in 1988 she was inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame.

Some of her popular works include:

That Camden Summer

Forgiving

Small Town Girl

A half Brit New York Times reporter desperate to save his kidnapped wife, a cabal of fanatics, an age old prophecy and series of murders. This in essence is the plot of Guardian reporter Jonathan Freedland’s debut thriller novel, written under the pseudonym Sam Bourne.

Young New York Times reporter Will Monroe strikes gold when he makes it to the page one of the newspaper with his debut crime story. As he moves around the country, trying to discover the “face behind a crime statistic,” he realizes that good men are being murdered. Suddenly Will must find out why because his wife, Beth, has been kidnapped by a religious cult and the way to his missing wife lies “in his work.” What follows is a series of fabulous twists and turns, of fast paced action, laced with more murders, as Will teams up with his ex-girlfriend TC to rescue the woman he loves. While formulaic, especially in the post Dan Brown age, what distinguishes Bourne’s work is its pace. The reader has no time to sit back and pause. And keeping the book down till you reach the end is near impossible. What the book lacks in novelty, it makes up for in sheer speed. Each page seems to hold a new clue, the promise of unravelling the mystery and yet at least till the end of the first half, you keep coming up with dead ends.

Freedland has made good use of his Jewish background. The book is full of information – most of which the author claims is true and verifiable- on Jewish customs and religious beliefs. Therein lies the book’s other strength. So little is known about Judaism that the insights provided by Freedland are both intriguing and absorbing. Some may claim that the author overdoes the explanations, and yet the novel never seems to be dragging. Not even when you finish one chapter after the other but find yourself no closer to solving the mystery than Will, simply because of your lack of theological knowledge. The lure of ancient mysticism is too strong. After the first half the big picture begins to emerge and you start making educated guesses about the good guys and the bad guys, but till the very end, you have to keep wondering if you are on track. And that keeps you hooked.

Freedland’s years as a newspaper journalist have taught him how to hold his audience’s attention and hold it well. The book may not be a stellar piece of writing, but it is easy to read. Freedland’s one big weakness, however – and this may again be attributed to his journalistic writing skills which concentrate on the story, not on the characters – is the lack of depth in his characters. People come and go in the novel, but you never get to really meet or understand any of them, not even the main protagonist. As such it is difficult to experience their emotions or feel for them even as one tragedy after another befalls them. And the main protagonist is no super hero; not even a brainy intellect “whose mind works faster than the speed of computer.” No Will Monroe is a regular ambitious guy who just happens to find the right people to decipher the clues for him. Some might find this endearing – it makes the character more human;  others might wish for a more inspiring “hero.”

The Righteous Men found itself in mired in controversy,not because of its cultural stereotypes, but because The Guardian refused to publish a critical review of the book. Instead, the review appeared in The Times and the book made headlines. Bourne is often compared to Brown and The Righteous men has been labelled by many as the Jewish Da Vinci Code. Yet, this is not the case. Brown’s cryptographic thrillers often carry powerful political message – be it the DA Vinci Code (an organised attempt to use religion to dislodge women from the mainstream) or the Digital Fortress (who will protect us from the protectors? The Big Brother mentality). there are no such burning political or current issues hidden in The Righteous Men. But there is an important moral message articulated by a Jewish rabbi, “So goodness is not about rules. Or wearing a hair shirt. Or praying hard. Or knowing every word in the Bible. It’s about how we treat each other. Bein adam v’adam. Between man and man. That is where goodness, even divinity resides. Not in the heavens, but right here on earth. In our relations with each other….” The other intriguing concept is that of the tzaddikim, but therein lies the key to the mystery of The Righteous Men and it can’t be discussed without spoiling the book.

So if you are looking for a racy thriller to relax with on a lazy Sunday afternoon, pick up The Righteous Men. It may not be a memorable book, it is enjoyable while it lasts.

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“I recently turned fifty, which is young for a tree, midlife for an elephant, and ancient for a quarter miler whose son now says, “Dad, I just can’t run the quarter with you anymore unless I bring something to read.”

Fifty is a nice number for the states in the Union or for a national speed limit, but it was not a number that I was prepared to have hung on me. Fifty is supposed to be my father’s age, but now Bill Cosby, Junior is stuck with these elevated digits and everything they mean.”

Thus begins Bill Cosby’s second book which he wrote when he hit the half century mark. Our parents are already there. Someday we will get there too; maybe some of us are already there. The time when birthdays are no longer happy events; when the number of candles on the cake begin to weigh it down; when every morning we look at the mirror in horror, desperately trying to hide that strand of white hair, or the wrinkles on the forehead.

Ageing is not easy. After having lived life to the fullest, after having experienced the speed, the momentum, to slow down is not easy. And yet, it is inevitable. All of us will age. And while we can continue to remain “young at heart” and “remarkably fit for our age,” we will invariably not be able to  do as many things as we did previously.But there is no need to despair. It’s natural and Cosby helps us realize this by taking up the everyday annoyances of growing old and laughing at them in his own flamboyant style.  The sagging love handles, the inability tie your own laces, fading memory, declining eyesight,  receding hairline, poor digestion, Cosby shares them all and laces each irritant with a healthy dose of humour.

Written in a chatty, colloquial style, the book is easy to read and relate to. The worries and anxieties described by Cosby are all too real. For those approaching or already past their fifties, Time Flies may well be a tool of acceptance; of learning to laugh at themselves and live with the inconveniences brought on by time. And for those who still happen to be “young,” it might provide a better understanding of what their parents and elders go through. Yet, many a times, one can’t help feeling that Cosby is exaggerating. Often one is tempted to shake him up and say, “Seriously dude, fifty isn’t that old and you definitely don’t go bonkers at that age.” The other thing that jars a little is the overly long introduction by Poussaint. It is way too preachy to be in sync with the rest of the book because for all his grumblings not once does Cosby turn prescriptive. Pouissant, on the other hand, is full of advise and observations which baffle. For instance, he takes President Reagen’s re-election into the White House at the age of seventy three, as a mark of turning attitudes towards the elderly. Seriously? Then we Indians must be really good at respecting our elderly because seventy seems to be the average age of our leaders.

These aberrations aside, Time Flies is a light read that you will probably finish in just one sitting. Pick it up if you are looking for a healthy dose of the All American humour.

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On July 11, this week, two award winning authors of Indian origin celebrated their birthday. Join us as we try and learn a little more about these writers who have done INDIA proud and who have kept us engaged with their thoughts, observations, creativity and writing skills.

AMITAV GHOSH

Born in Kolkatta on July 11, 1956, Ghosh studied at the Doon School and St Stephens College New Delhi before getting a D.Phil in Social Anthropology from Oxford University. Ghosh’s first job was with the Indian Express in New Delhi. In 1986 he published his first novel, the Circle of Reason and won the Prix Medici Estranger, one of France’s top literary awards. In 1999, Ghosh joined the faculty at Queens College, City University of New York as Distinguished Professor in Comparative Literature.  Since 2005, he has been a visiting professor at Harvard University.

Ghosh is married to writer Deborah Baker and has two children, Lila and Nayan. He commutes between Kolkatta, Goa (where he has bought a house) and Brooklyn.

Often categorised as historical fiction, Ghosh’s works show an intense understanding of human nature.  His characters are living, breathing people whom his readers, meet, understand and befriend. His prose, original. His themes, unique and cross-cultural. In his own words, “My work is about people who find themselves in many different kinds of predicament, historical and contemporary…my most important characters are never those who see things in black and white; nor do they resort to easy judgements. In my view all important ethical and political judgements are difficult; what is more they are always specific to the situation at hand.”

Ghosh’s  novels bring alive different times and places and provide readers with rich cultural and sociological experiences. Where does reality end and fiction begin? The blending is so perfect, so seamless that it is almost impossible to tell. This perhaps explains the string of awards won by him. The Shadow Lines won the Sahitya Akademi Award, India’s most prestigious literary award.The Calcutta Chromosome won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for 1997. The Glass Palace won the Grand Prize for Fiction at the Frankfurt International e-Book Awards in 2001.  The Hungry Tide won the Hutch Crossword Book Prize in 2006. In 2007 Amitav Ghosh was awarded the Grinzane Cavour Prize in Turin, Italy. Sea of Poppies was shortlisted for the 2008 Booker Prize. In 2007, Ghosh was awarded the Padma Shri.   Earlier this year Ghosh along with Margaret Atwood was awarded the Dan David prize, which found him in the midst of a huge controversy.

JHUMPA LAHIRI

Born in London on July 11, 1967, Jhumpa had been writing stories in her notebooks since her school days. However, it was only when she took up a research assistantship with a non-profit organisation in Cambridge, that her life as a writer began. In her own words, “For the first time I had a computer of my own at my desk, and I started writing fiction again, more seriously. I used to stay late and come in to work on stories. Eventually I had enough material to apply to the creative writing program at Boston University. But once that ended, unsure of what to do next, I went on to graduate school and got my Ph.D. In the process, it became clear to me that I was not meant to be a scholar. It was something I did out of a sense of duty and practicality, but it was never something I loved. I still wrote stories on the side, publishing things here and there. The year I finished my dissertation, I was also accepted to the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, and that changed everything. It was something of a miracle. In seven months I got an agent, sold a book, and had a story published in The New Yorker. I’ve been extremely lucky. It’s been the happiest possible ending.”

In 2000, her debut short stories collection, The Interpreter of Maladies won the Pulitzer Prize., the PEN/Hemingway Award and The New Yorker Debut of the Year. She wrote her debut novel, the Namesake in 2003 and it was adapted into a popular movie, directed by Mira Nair. Her second collection of short stories, The Unaccustomed Earth, was released in 2008 and debuted as number 1 on the New York Best sellers list.

The daughter of Bengali Indian immigrants, Jhumpa was born as Nilanjana Sudeshna but became known by her pet name as it was easier to pronounce.. Her family moved to the US when she was just three and Lahiri considers herself to be an American. She obtained a number of degrees from Boston University including a Ph.D. in Renaissance Studies. She is currently a member of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, appointed by US President Barack Obama. Jhumpa is married to journalist Alberto Vourvoulias-Bush and lives in Brooklyn with her two children.

Jhumpa’s stories are often autobiographical and dwell upon the dilemmas, trials and anxieties of her parents, friends, neighbours and other immigrants.  Written in simple English, her stories are popular for their sensitivity and their exploration of immigrant psychology and behaviour.

CLIVE CUSSLER

Born in Aurora, Illinois on July 15, 1931, Clive Eric Cussler is known for his thriller novels starring Dirk Pitt. They have been on the New York Times best seller list 17 times. An American marine archaeologist, Cussler has discovered over 60 shipwreck sites. He is the founder of the National Underwater and Marine Agency. This perhaps explains the presence of sunken treasures and high sea adventures in his works.

Interestingly, the man who has become a best selling author when it comes to fantastical thrillers with outlandish plots started writing to kill time. When his wife started night duty at the police department, Cussler would put the kids to bed and wonder what to do next. So he started writing. AMong other things, Cussler has a huge collection of classic cars that often feature in his works. So the next time you want to check out some custom coachwork or a 50s convertible that features in his thriller novels, visit the Cussler Museum in Colarado.

Cussler’s books are published in more than 40 languages in more than 100 countries with a readership of more than 125 million avid fans. SOme of his famous works include:

Fire Ice

Polar Shift

Medusa: A NUMA files novel

Treasure

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If Jane Austen had a brother who wrote about the Navy, this is what those books would sound like.

The book opens with Jack Aubrey’s mental impressions of attending a Polite Society musical concert- something that wouldn’t have a place in any other seafaring tale, but is indispensible for this particular story. Readers will then follow Jack Aubrey and the physician Stephen Maturin through various adventures and misadventures of the naval life during the Wars with the French.  Through the course of their journey, the brave duo deal with everything, from the dissection of a dolphin to the etiquette attending relations among naval officers and their responsibilities. While taking up on naval engagements of every size and scale, they encounter rip roaring adventures with their enemies which also happen to be quite technically revealing of history.

However, this is not simply an adventure tale. The characters both outwardly and psychologically deal with a range of issues that torment them in various ways. O’Brian is a brilliant illustrator of character and particularly of the inner life of the mind, and is able to express everything about his characters that needs to be said through a combination of thoughts and action that both move the plot along, and bring give us depth into the life of the men and women who populate this novel. All of the major characters come across with life and personality. The author does not seem to go out of his way to make them “multifaceted” or “complex” but they don’t suffer from it.

One of the first thing readers are sure to like about this book is the engaging, yet efficient style that keeps the story moving along at a steady pace The plotline is interesting for its rises and falls of tension. This is a book which has been written in a cinematic style with quick cuts to scenes that propel the narrative briskly.  In fact, what makes reading much more pleasurable is the language and terminology used which reveal that the author is an expert on England’s nautical history. O’Brian manages to pack in enough detail to keep naval aficionados happy, and yet makes the story was accessible to landlubbers with minimum effort. A word of caution though,if you saw the movie by the same name, be aware that it pieced together scenes from several books in the series rather than following the plot from the actual Master and Commander novel.

For anyone who loves historical fiction, and especially books on naval warfare, this book may be the next best thing to being there and living the experience. Though generally serious in tone, O’Brian injects the right amount of both humor and social commentary to keep this an enjoyable and thought-provoking read.

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