The Trees Are Dead

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Price: Rs 518 Paperback

Pages: 373

Breathe reminds one of George Orwells 1984,with its dystopic landscape and its startling premise: a world where one of the most potent fears of humanity has come to pass,there are no trees left. It is a world plagued by political conspiracy,class hierarchy,corruption and unchecked capitalism. The story follows Bea,Quinn and Alina and their struggle against the system set in place by the Ministry of the Pod. Because of the harsh conditions of the now treeless world,the remainder of the human population now live in pods,giant glass globes within which oxygen is artificially manufactured and circulated in regulated amounts. The constrictions placed on them,from how much they are allowed to breathe to the speed at which they can walk,propel them into a battle to replenish a dying planet. Their struggle leads to a rediscovery of the world around them and an understanding of the beauty of what has been lost. Their resistance uncovers conspiracies and shocking truths surrounding Breathe,the company which now monopolises the supply of oxygen in the pod. The book keeps the reader on the edge. More importantly,Crossan constantly reinforces the humanity of her characters,regardless of how inhumane they may seem to be at first.

Darkness in NY

Pages: 240

Patrick McGraths eighth novel is about a broken relationship between an editor and a professor of poetry,which plays out in 1960s New York City. It is a chiller,a psychological thriller so dark that it is disturbing. Constance and Iris are sisters,equally beautiful but completely opposite in character. While Iris has a bohemian promiscuity,Constance has been scarred by a difficult childhood and her cold relationship with their father. The story revolves round Constance,who is an editor at a New York publishing house,and her marriage with Sidney Klein. When Constance gets to know about a family secret on one of her visits to Ravenswood,the place where her father lives and the girls spent their childhood,her marriage begins to unravel. The novel is preternaturally dark,a McGrath trademark,with Constance frequently likening her mind to a crypt and another character described thus: She absorbed no light and gave none out. Not as good as his previous works Spider and The Grotesque,but worth a read.

Winning ways

Book: The Superstar Syndrome: The Making of a Champion

Author: Dr Myra S. White amp; Sanjay Jha

Publisher: Random House

Price: Rs 399

Pages: 298

Congress talking head Sanjay Jha has collaborated with Harvard psychologist and engineer Myra S. White on this personal success book. That is not necessarily as weird as it sounds,given that Jha runs Dale Carnegie How to win Friends and Influence People Training in India and White conducts leadership programmes for international executives. Come to think of it,wasnt the whole leadership game partly incubated at Harvard?

White and Jhas book is more readable than industrial-strength leadership tomes because of two factors. First,

it uses The Wizard of Oz as a rough guide,a parallel text

that keeps step with the issues explored in every section.

For instance,the authors laud the fixity of purpose of Dorothy,who knows that she must return to Kansas. Near-obsessive focus is indeed a valuable attribute in our fragmented times. Secondly,letting the successful speak for themselves is easier on the nerves than the quasi-scientific theory that usually passes for leadership literature. Now,if only the party that Jha speaks for every night could get its fragmented,many-tongued leadership in order.