Book Review - "The Gene: An Intimate History" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

I originally bought this book as a gift for a friend. Genetics is right in her wheelhouse, while I've always found biology rather intimidating.

There's still a while before I'll be able to present it, though. And the book, after all, is about history – scientific history at that – which I've always found fascinating. And although biology isn't exactly my thing, genetics is as relatable as it gets for me –  a professional coder. I decided to give it a read.

The author of this book, Siddhartha Mukherjee, is an Indian-American physician and biologist. Perhaps his academic background and time spent abroad among are to credit for his English, which has the kind of impeccability few Indian or Indian-origin writers seem to have these days. (He does show an unfortunate partiality to a few odd phrases, but that is quite forgivable). Second-rate language has always had a huge disincentive effect on me while reading anything. So I'm happy to report that this book is not likely to offend people like me.

He has won the Pulitzer prize for his previous book –  The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer. Dr. Mukherjee tells us in the acknowledgements that this book, The Gene, is meant to be a prequel to Emperor. It might seem a tad unusual to assign continuity to non-fiction books. Nonetheless, the man has a flair for narrative which convinces me that he's right; and I intend to read this next book as soon as I can get my hands on it. (I was recently diagnosed with a benign tumor in my right hand; so that might have spiked my interest in the topic.)

Now, let's talk about the book. A blurb on the dust jacket quotes a reviewer as calling it "perhaps the greatest detective story ever told." Other reviews have pointed out that the 'intimate' in the title refers to the stories form the author's personal life, which are 'woven through the narrative'. That part confused and deterred me initially. Was I about to read a book on science, or a biography? Rest assured, the personal stuff makes up for only about 5% of the narrative: small episodes punctuated at irregular intervals. And it doesn't distract from the science. On the contrary, it actually helps us appreciate the importance of the subject matter, and Dr. Mukherjee's stakes in it.

The book tells the story of the gene. It is structured chronologically, for the most part. Sometimes, the clock is turned back when we're learning about a new sub-discipline, but it's never confusing. The author uses an anecdotal approach, but manages to cover the topics quite comprehensively (or so I think).

For the sake of covering all bases, I should mention that the book is complete with a glossary, a timeline, author's notes, a bibliography and an detailed index. Also, there are eight colored pages containing key photographs.

On the whole, I found the book extremely informative and entertaining. There are three big reasons for that.

Firstly, in addition to his excellent command on the English language, Dr. Mukherjee also demonstrates a penchant for prose writing and narrative structure. He appears to be extremely well-read. Metaphors and quotes from Greek myth to Shakespeare to current pop culture are peppered throughout the book. This is not a dull collection of scientific facts. This is a story. A journey. Dr. Mukherjee makes the characters from history come alive. You can almost see Darwin collecting fossils in a wasteland and Mendel in his vast fields of pea. The tragedy of Mendel not being recognized during his lifetime is right up there with the any tragedy you might encounter in high literature.

Secondly, the narrative assumes nothing and imposes nothing. You don't have to be a biology expert to understand what the book is talking about. It is pretty accessible. At the same time, the never does the book claim that biology better than all other sciences or genetics is better than all other disciplines. Nothing is glorified. Dr. Mukherjee presents the facts with the conscience of a good journalist. He shows us the miracles of the discovery of DNA, and the massive undertaking of Human Genome Project, but he doesn't shy away from showing us the horrors of Nazi eugenics, or experimental genetic treatments gone wrong due to doctors misguided by ambition.

Thirdly, and perhaps more importantly, Mr. Mukherjee isn't a passive storyteller. He helps us understand the significance of what's happening and the moral/ethical dilemmas it poses. He has the conscience of a journalist, but not the detachment of one, which is understandable. The book is opinionated, and I found myself agreeing with most of the opinions.

Having read the book, I realize the staggering amount of research and effort that must have gone into writing it. This book is a monumental achievement. I can't recommend this enough.

Rating: 9.5/10

PS - There's a reason I didn't talk much about the contents. I aim to include a chapter-wise summary of the book as soon as I can.