The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell is popularly known for his very famous book The Outliers. He is known for bringing out very strange and unpopular references in his books and  justifying  them through very interesting trends.He has a knack for explaining weird and uncommon trends in  a very simplified theory and that is what is his USP.

The tipping point , is a book that looks into social and epidemic trends or things that kick off. For example : an epidemic, a fashion trend or a social trend etc. He tries to come up with why and how certain events/trends are kicked off and explains his results through resounding live case studies of a lot of great things that happened in the USA.

 It gets a little difficult to grab on the previous references as the book progresses. The book , though starts off greatly and seems to be very promising and interesting, somewhere down the middle losses steam.

Malcolm somewhere losses account of the explanation and the examples tend to to pressing the point more than required. The author is unable to bring a new thought into the book and goes a little to deep into certain case studies , even after his point has come across. The purpose of the book becomes predictable and then it just seems to be a compilation of the events triggered by similar thought process as stated earlier.Basically you don't have to read the whole book to get the point that the author is trying to make and this makes it lose its intent.

In the outlier , the intent behind each case was fascinating and was  accompanied with a certain style of writing that made the book a lot more interesting that this one. The tipping point does not  have enough intent to be written as a completely different book and a little more creative writing would have really made a lot of difference.

All in all , its a good read but not as great as the Outliers. It could have been much better scripted. But, I am always a fan of Malcolm Gladwell and so I would still recommend it.

Fallen angel :The making and unmaking of RAJAT GUPTA

Fallen angel or tactfully brought down.This book is exactly about solving that dilemma. The story of the book revolves around the very high profile case involving Mr Rajat Gupta, where he was accused of Insider Trading  in the US Court of Law and here is my take on it.

This book is very similar to a court room drama screenplay,where as the participants of the play are introduced with reference to the case, a back story is provided to facilitate their contribution. Sandipan(The author) has done a very good job of keeping it simple and still covering the complex ideas of the lawyers, the US court system and financial markets.(US).

Though it may seem like a protagonist based story, it in the end turns out to have a lot of key players. It starts with the back story of Mr Rajat Gupta, from his days of IIT Delhi to Harvard to becoming the head of the most sought after company in the field of consulting. After keenly polishing the achievements of Mr Rajat Gupta, the author spottily puts forward his new relations ,bringing into sight the key people and moments that resulted in this case.Here I would like to mention, that the author does not accuse anyone but merely puts the ponds in place for a final showdown. By the time you are ready for the showdown, you know all the players in and out, and can comprehend the impact on each one of them.

The part that I appreciate most about  Sandipan's writing is the way of expressing distinctly not only facts without being biased, but also covering up for the key gaps in the facts stated. The author plays on the supposed positions of the key people associated with the case and defends and convicts them , with equal conviction. In the end, Sandipan leaves you gasping for the truth , where your biggest problem in life is to judge weather Mr Rajat Gupta , did nor did not commit the crime.

All in all, its a really gripping book that provides the reader with a lot of concrete information about the truths and untruths of the case,  while allowing him  to make his own judgement. Its certainly a very good read.