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Welcome to the latest section of Alma Matters “Bookshelf” - a platform where people can share their comments, feelings and thoughts about various books they read. From business and economics to SCI-FI, thriller and comedy…please feel free to contribute to this section by writing to us at alumni_relations@isb.edu
Recommended Readings by Abhishek Das
Abhishek is from the PGP class of 2015 and is the Director of the Marketing
and Communications Council on campus. He is an avid reader and an active
foodie who also loves to play Squash.
“The Map and the Territory” by, Michel Houellebecq
A truly postmodern novel and winner of the Prix Goncourt opens with a nod to
the doyens of the modern art world, Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst. Our chief
protagonist, Jed Martins who captures portraits on canvas of a wide range of
professions that becomes the embodiment of the vocation.
In what seems to be a very modern spin on Candide, Houellebecq (not for the
first time) places himself as a character in the centre of the novel. He is
all set to write the catalogue for Jed’s upcoming exhibition.
The novel is split in three parts with the first and second full of
Houellebecq’s trademark takedown of current cultural norms and is
essentially a metaphysical allegory. The final part is what makes the novel
with its dark comedic stance of what a future France may look like.
Euthanasia, gentrification, coming of Chinese age and degradation of art are
some of the themes that Houellebecq explores with the map and the territory
and his take on them is at the very least intriguing. A really enjoyable
novel which produces a strange sense of detachment. A little patience with
the first part is thoroughly rewarded in the latter two third of the novel.
“A Strange Kind of Paradise” by, Sam Miller
The latest in what has now become an established genre of India through
foreign eyes. The difference here is that Miller is tracing the complete
history of India through foreign eyes and not limited to his own experience.
His own perspective and experiences are shared through hilarious footnotes
and intermission.
From Megasthenes who travelled to Patliputra over 2300 years back to Miller
in the present day, he traces the roots of what others have perceived India
to be. Unlike other authors in this genre, Miller is clearly cognisant of
Orientalism and Said and does his best to avoid the tropes that Said aimed
to take down.
A fun read that blends arts & culture, politics, the authors own views and
history in one go. It is this blend that pushes A Strange Kind of Paradise
away from most books in the genre and into a new unexplored territory.