Lords of Finance

1. I saved this book for a long time,as if something special to be opened in time of great misery.An elected savior,a rescue.The author introduces four characters,crucial deciders in monetary policy and chronicles their actions leading to the Great Depression.

2. The amount of research done,is evident in the detail: there are quotes from personal letters,journals,and the author has spent a great deal of effort to establish the truth and reality of the story,letting facts take the stage and his own voice an outside entity.

3. The first few chapters are great.He writes in a fluid,easygoing way without skimping on the plot.But somewhere halfway,the momentum is altogether lost.The narrative becomes robotic,unemotional,tries too hard to avoid becoming sensationalist,overly matter-of-fact,LIFELESS.

4. Put simply,it was as if Keanu Reeves was narrating the story.

5. So in the past few months I've made a conscious effort to read more non-fiction,and most of them do help me converse (as an adult) with my own parents,interviewers,more well-read peers and whatnot.But to read a nonfiction piece,that takes its role too literally,is something I'm not prepared for.

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