Indian Readers discussion

Non-fiction is a highly appealing, yet often ignored genre. Suffering from less takers, many good works are pushed into obscurity.

Post any good memoirs, biographies or autobiographies you have read. Also suggest interesting ones that you come across, but haven't yet read (Please do mention it if you haven't read it - rate 'read' ones if possible).

Some memoirs I haven't read but are very interesting :

When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa by Peter Godwin

The Blessing Next to the Wound: A Story of Art, Activism, and Transformation by Hector Aristizabal (The author had been captured by his country Colombia's military as a student of psychology and theatre and tortured and held captive - his memoir recounts these trials - it is his story of surviving arrest, torture, drug cartel violence)

i really like biographies, it is no less interesting than anyother genre, in fact i find it more interestion because they have real facts and not some fiction.

One of the best i have read so far is

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

All the books by Tiziano Terzani. Unfortunately not all of them has been translated in English.
I have read La fine è il mio inizio and I liked it; also read Un altro giro di giostra and I liked also this one; read Goodnight, Mr. Lenin: A Journey Through the End of the Soviet Empire which was very interesting because he talks about the ex Soviet Union and what happened to the regions of the Caucasus, their ancient history and their history in 1991.

dely wrote: "All the books by Tiziano Terzani. Unfortunately not all of them has been translated in English.
I have read La fine è il mio inizio and I liked it; also read Un altro giro di giostra and I liked al..."

The Soviet and the delicate politics that led to its separation into multiple nations is a mystery to much of the world. Went into my to-read list :)

A biography of Che Guevera was wonderful, but it is not listed on GR.

UNREAD:

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time GR Summary : Anyone who despairs of the individual’s power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer who, following a 1993 climb of Pakistan’s treacherous K2, was inspired by a chance encounter with impoverished mountain villagers and promised to build them a school. Over the next decade he built fifty-five schools—especially for girls—that offer a balanced education in one of the most isolated and dangerous regions on earth. As it chronicles Mortenson’s quest, which has brought him into conflict with both enraged Islamists and uncomprehending Americans, Three Cups of Tea combines adventure with a celebration of the humanitarian spirit.

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China GR Summary : Blending the intimacy of memoir and the panoramic sweep of eyewitness history, Wild Swans has become a bestselling classic in thirty languages, with more than ten million copies sold. The story of three generations in twentieth-century China, it is an engrossing record of Mao's impact on China, an unusual window on the female experience in the modern world, and an inspiring tale of courage and love. Jung Chang describes the life of her grandmother, a warlord's concubine; her mother's struggles as a young idealistic Communist; and her parents' experience as members of the Communist elite and their ordeal during the Cultural Revolution. Chang was a Red Guard briefly at the age of fourteen, then worked as a peasant, a "barefoot doctor," a steelworker, and an electrician. As the story of each generation unfolds, Chang captures in gripping, moving -- and ultimately uplifting -- detail the cycles of violent drama visited on her own family and millions of others caught in the whirlwind of history.

The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother GR Summary : The Color of Water tells the remarkable story of Ruth McBride Jordan, the two good men she married, and the 12 good children she raised. Jordan, born Rachel Shilsky, a Polish Jew, immigrated to America soon after birth; as an adult she moved to New York City, leaving her family and faith behind in Virginia. Jordan met and married a black man, making her isolation even more profound. The book is a success story, a testament to one woman's true heart, solid values, and indomitable will. Ruth Jordan battled not only racism but also poverty to raise her children and, despite being sorely tested, never wavered. In telling her story--along with her son's--The Color of Water addresses racial identity with compassion, insight, and realism. It is, in a word, inspiring, and you will finish it with unalloyed admiration for a flawed but remarkable individual. And, perhaps, a little more faith in us all.

Unread:

The Pianist

Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs A part of GR Summary : In September 2007, a packed courtroom in St. George, Utah, sat hushed as Elissa Wall, the star witness against polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs, gave captivating testimony of how Jeffs forced her to marry her first cousin at age fourteen. This harrowing and vivid account proved to be the most compelling evidence against Jeffs, showing the harsh realities of this closed community and the lengths to which Jeffs went in order to control the sect's women.

Now, in this courageous memoir, Elissa Wall tells the incredible and inspirational story of how she emerged from the confines of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) and helped bring one of America's most notorious criminals to justice.

Finding Fish - The Hollywood script-writer's journey from his birth in a prison to suffering abuse in a foster family to his stint as one of the most-sought-after script-writers.

READ :

Beloved Friend: The Story of Tchaikowsky and Nadejda Von Meck - 5/5

Tchaikowsky was a legendary Russian composer living in the 1800s Soviet Russia - Nadejda von Meck, many years his senior and a widow, was an immensely rich (one of her estates was 12000 acres in size). Living in the same era as Tolstoy (they were acquainted), he was born in an era where Russian music had no reputation in the world (then confined to Europe for the Russians), and Russian music had no recognition in Russia itself. His mentors, the Rubenstein brothers established formally the Russian school for music, and introduces him to Madame von Meck, who becomes his patron and then his confidante, as they begin to exchange intimate letters, deciding never to meet in real life.

The letters explore the lives of Tchaikowsky, Madame von Meck, the Rubensteins, and other people that significantly affected their lives.

Their lives, as revealed by the letters, were traumatic. Like Dostoevsky's books, truly tragic. If you like Dostoevsky, you will definitely love this book. These letters were willed by von Meck to her favorite grandson Vladimir (Volichka), and his wife Barbara von Meck corresponded with Bower to publish these letters interspersed with biographical information.

And yes, both of them hid one crucial fact from each other, which invariably colored their whole lives and also their interactions with each other. The best book I read since January this year.

Dostoevsky was fiction - but you cannot escape the tragedy in this case because it was all true.

Unread but interesting:

Dirty Dealing: Drug Smuggling on the Mexican Border and the Assassination of a Federal Judge--An American Parable

Drug Lord: The Life and Death of a Mexican Kingpin

Read:

Wings of Fire: An Autobiography: Mahatma Gandhi

The Story of My Experiments With Truth :
Dr.A P J Abdul Kalam

Unread:
My Life : Bill Clinton

You probably mean Wings of Fire by Dr. Kalam and The Story of my Experiments with Truth by M. K. Gandhi :)

Dreams from my father by Barack Obama!

The bios and auto bios I've liked are
1. By Jackie Chan - read a long time ago, forgot the name
2. Open - Andre Agassi - enjoyed it
3. First darling of the morning - Thrity Umrigar
4. Come, Tell Me How You Live- best ever, read umpteen times
5. Agatha Christie autobiography
6. Princess Diana - forgot the name, read a long time ago, maybe a couple of years after her demise
7. My Days - R K Narayan - another of my favorites

will add on to the list as and when I remember

Lust for life - Biography of the artist Vincent van Gogh written by Irving stone.I would rate it 5/5.
It is the story of an artist who had to go hungry to bed to save money for his easels and he even was sent to an asylum to cure him of his 'madness'. I was totally overcome as I read his struggles to gain recognition as an artist.He was ridiculed by the world for his passion.Even his parents couldn't understand his genius.The only person who stood by him throughout his life was his younger brother Theo.Van Gogh suicides at the age of 37 and his brother died 6 months later.I was moved after reading the book.

I am currently reading I Died for Beauty: Dorothy Wrinch and the Cultures of Science . Half way through. I like Bertrand Russell and so I am liking this book.