Scan barcode
merqri's review
2.0
Countdown is a small book, a mere 88 pages, it speaks about the aftermath of the nuclear tests which India did in Pokhran first in 1974 and then later in 1998. Amitav Ghosh goes around asking and contemplating about the necessity of the tests, and what sort of geopolitical impact it had on South Asia.
It appears to be an echo chamber of a certain thought. The opening with the stories from the village which has faced the highest burn of these tests, tell you the direction the book is going to take and then from there the book rarely wavers from its agenda. The left-leaning nature of the book is clear, and while reading this, it reminded me of a quote which is famously attributed to Winston Churchill, If a man is not a socialist by the time he is 20, he has no heart. If he is not a conservative by the time he is 40, he has no brain.
Most of the book ideology comes from the first sentence of that quote. While it does a good job of highlighting the disastrous outcomes of the power in wrong hands or even the price the world will pay of any misunderstanding, it does not progress from where we stand today.
The idealism of his words is definitely worthy of praise, but there is no clear way forward even suggested on a practical level. After 88 pages, I was left wanting for something actionable, but there isn't any. The book thus remains as just lamentations instead of trying to be something more.
Frankly, I had picked this book as I wanted to dip my toes in Amitav Ghosh's writing. As an acclaimed author of several fiction books along with a few non-fiction ones. Later I realised, that his award and recognitions are mostly for his novels and not non-fiction writing. Bottom line, this book may not be the right judge for his writing so my primary purpose was somewhat foiled.
I would recommend this to be skimmed through over a bus journey for the scary pictures of possibilities he paints are quite dire. But this is still not something worthy of anyone's collection..
It appears to be an echo chamber of a certain thought. The opening with the stories from the village which has faced the highest burn of these tests, tell you the direction the book is going to take and then from there the book rarely wavers from its agenda. The left-leaning nature of the book is clear, and while reading this, it reminded me of a quote which is famously attributed to Winston Churchill, If a man is not a socialist by the time he is 20, he has no heart. If he is not a conservative by the time he is 40, he has no brain.
Most of the book ideology comes from the first sentence of that quote. While it does a good job of highlighting the disastrous outcomes of the power in wrong hands or even the price the world will pay of any misunderstanding, it does not progress from where we stand today.
The idealism of his words is definitely worthy of praise, but there is no clear way forward even suggested on a practical level. After 88 pages, I was left wanting for something actionable, but there isn't any. The book thus remains as just lamentations instead of trying to be something more.
Frankly, I had picked this book as I wanted to dip my toes in Amitav Ghosh's writing. As an acclaimed author of several fiction books along with a few non-fiction ones. Later I realised, that his award and recognitions are mostly for his novels and not non-fiction writing. Bottom line, this book may not be the right judge for his writing so my primary purpose was somewhat foiled.
I would recommend this to be skimmed through over a bus journey for the scary pictures of possibilities he paints are quite dire. But this is still not something worthy of anyone's collection..
asuph's review
4.0
A short collection of essays around India's nuclear tests back in those days. I'm a sucker for Amitav Ghosh, so needless to say, don't expect objectivity from me. It's good to see an Indian author writing about interactions with the similar-minded intellectuals across the border, and how some of the actions are viewed by sane minded people on the other side of the border, and how they judge the actions of their own government. Surprisingly, years after it was written, it seems to be relevant to the India-Pakistan relationship. A good, quick read (although I took almost 2 years to finish it, as I kept on losing it in other books due to its size, and kept rereading for context) .
More...