three days for Two Lives

Two months after I had been to the most interesting reading/book-presentation of my life, I actually got down to read the book in question, Two Lives, the fascinating double-biography of Vikram Seth's uncle Shanti and the latter's German wife, Henny. Thanks to ...uhm... a rather manageable workload here in my air-conditioned office it took me all of three days to devour the 503 pages.

Apart from the fact that it is a particularly well-written and apparently just as well researched piece of writing, I was deeply moved by the sheer amount of emotional strength that the protagonists showed in spite of great adversity. I don't want to give anything away, but even if you - like me - are not usually the biography-reading type, I daresay the ingredients of love, adventure, friendship and drama, not forgetting a pinch of unexpected twists, are enough to satisfy readers of all tastes. Unless you're made of concrete or your heart is covered with an impenetrable teflon-coating, it's impossible not to be touched by this (real) story.

I'm now tackling the book my Mum bought me the last time she was in Vienna - a psychologist's attempt to explain the phenomenon of love. I'm eager to find THAT ONE out, you can believe me...