Too Big to Fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin
I had mixed expectations from Too Big to Fail. Considering we are still very much in the thrall of one of the worst financial crises of the past century, it is unfair to expect a single book to provide a complete perspective. Andrew Ross Sorkin does not attempt to explain how or why we got into the events of 2008. The book's objective is very clear - to chronicle what was happening in the financial markets during 2008. At this task, the book succeeds. It has an impressive cast, from Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to the CEO of Lehman Brothers, Dick Fuld.

About three quarters of the book is about the Lehman collapse. The author seems so focused on the investment bank that you get almost no visibility into what was happening at say Citibank or AIG, though AIG does get some attention. The book refuses to be technical with Sorkin sticking to a journalistic tone. That I think is this account's greatest shortcoming - if you hope to understand what specific problems were being faced by Lehman Brothers before its failure, the reasons it found itself under attack by short sellers, you won't find the explanation here.

Ultimately, this book is a good record of what happened but I think my reading list needs a lot more books to understand the why. I'd give the book a half hearted recommendation

Labels: 2010, andrew ross sorkin, book review, february, finance, financial crisis, lehman brothers, non fiction, review, wall street

posted by ubaid - Thursday, February 25, 2010 at 11:54 PM - 0 comments - post anonymously

Book Review - Tales of the Alhambra by Washington Irving
I just returned from a trip to Andalusia and one of the books I should have read before I went is Tales of the Alhambra by Washington Irving (the other is South from Granada by Gerald Brenan). I was too overwhelmed by work and planning to get hold of these but I managed to finish the Tales on my way back from Spain. A little history of the book is in order here - Washington Irving was an American writer and diplomat. He wrote a biography of Prophet Mohammed and is also responsible for the short story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow which was adapted into a movie by Tim Burton. Mr. Irving stayed in the Alhambra in Granada for a few months in the 1820s. Copies of Tales of the Alhambra are on sale everywhere in Granada and the author is much celebrated in that town. I saw a statue, a special exhibitions on Irving's life and explored his living quarters in the Alhambra palace, carefully preserved by the palace management. The reason for Irving's celebrity is this book - widely credited with having put Granada and its beautiful palace on the map. So is the book, and by extension, the writer worthy of such adulation? I think not.

Tales of the Alhambra is a loose collection of legends about the palace and essays by Irving on his experience of living in it. I found two main themes in the legends narrated by Irving, hidden Moorish treasure and forbidden love between the Muslim Moors and the Christian Spaniards. Some of the author's reflections are revealing and his description of the beautiful Palacios Nazaries is precise but the overall perspective is excessively romantic. A worthy read if you are planning to travel to Granada and the Alhambra, not otherwise.

Labels: 2010, alhambra, andalusia, fantasy, february, fiction, granada, review, spain, washington irving

posted by ubaid - Tuesday, February 16, 2010 at 8:25 PM - 0 comments - post anonymously

Book Review - To the Ends of the Earth by Paul Theroux
To the Ends of the Earth is a selection of Paul Theroux' writings from six of his previous books. I have been reading Mr. Theroux' books in reverse chronological order so all the material in this collection was new to me. I've often wondered about Mr. Theroux' formula. What drives him to travel through frightfully uncomfortable and bleak environments? The writer reflects on this in his introduction to the book. Alluding to his first work, The Great Railway Bazar, he says "It is often the case that only when someone asks you specific questions do you begin to think clearly about your intentions. In my mind this travel book had something to do with trains, but i had no idea where i wanted to go - only that it should be a long trip". The author's next trip, described in The Old Patagonian Express was inspired by nothing more than the desire to go on a journey. There was no destination, he wanted to take trains all the way to Patagonia and then turn back. I find these reflections invaluable.
The collection here is a trip around the world, the typical characters and places and the sometimes acidic style I've come to know and enjoy is evident from the beginning. I found the chapter on the author's meeting with Borges particularly surreal. I wondered if that was an accident? But no, it couldn't be. Great writing is deliberate. In the chapter we meet a large white cat, a blind Borges showing off his library and the author reading to the story writer. There is this memorable paragraph -
"The restaurant was around the corner-- I could not see it, but Borges knew the way. So the blind man led me walking down this Buenos Aires street with Borges was like being led through Alexandria by Cavafy , or through Lahore by Kipling. The city beloved to him, and he had a hand in inventing it"
The author's experience with Borges reminded me of his account of meeting Paul Bowles in Tangiers, narrated in Pillars of Hercules.

The author's stated ambition when this book was published was to "complete a shelf of travel books, which, between bookends, will encompass the world". In a minor way, that goal is accomplished within the covers of To the Ends of the Earth. Highly recommended.

Labels: 2009, anthology, book review, paul theroux, travel

posted by ubaid - at 7:44 PM - 2 comments - post anonymously