Kanak D

Kanak D

PhD student at the Division of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Ahmedabad University

Movies+Books

The plan here is to keep track of the books I’ve enjoyed reading and the movies/series/anime I’ve enjoyed watching since August 2023. Re-reads and re-watches are marked with an asterisk.

Non-Math Books:

  1. The Metamorphosis (1915) by Franz Kafka
  2. The Stranger (1942) by Albert Camus
  3. The Idiot (1869) by Fyodor Dostoevsky
  4. Letters To Milena (1953) by Franz Kafka
  5. Siddhartha (1922) by Hermann Hesse
  6. 1984 (1949) by George Orwell
  7. Animal Farm (1945) by George Orwell
  8. The Bell Jar (1963) by Sylvia Plath
  9. Crime and Punishment (1866) by Fyodor Dostoevsky
  10. On The Emancipation Of Women (_) by Vladimir Lenin
  11. The Brothers Karamazov (1880) by Fyodor Dostoevsky
  12. What is Philosophy? A Marxist Introduction To Philosophy (_) by Howard Selsam
  13. The Principles of Communism (_) by Friedrich Engels
  14. Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (2009) by Satoshi Yagisawa
  15. Walking with the Comrades (2011) by Arundhati Roy
  16. Caste, Occupation and Politics on the Ganges: Passages of Resistance (2017) by Assa Doron
  17. The Trial (1925) by Franz Kafka
  18. The Story of Israel (2020) by Martin Gilbert
  19. Measure for Measure (1603) by William Shakespeare ( fun remark: read this while preparing for my qualifier exam on Measure Theory :) )
  20. Masala Lab: The Science of Indian Cooking (2020) by Krish Ashok
  21. Bombay Stories by Saadat Hasan Manto (translated by Matt Reeck and Aftab Ahmad)
  22. Mother Mary Comes to Me (2025) by Arundhati Roy
  23. Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom
  24. One Part Woman by Perumal Murugan

Math Books (An incomplete list):

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but rather a collection of math books that are not typically included as recommended readings in standard math courses in India.

  1. Abstract Algebra by Marco Hien (Having read this book cover to cover, I prefer it over many of the standard books for a first/second course in Algebra.)
  2. Introduction to Lie Algebras by Erdmann and Wildon (The first 12 chapters cover much of what Humphreys covers in the first two chapters of his book without being unnecessarily terse.)
  3. Topology: A Categorical Approach by Terilla, Bradley, and Bryson (I’ve only referred to some parts of the book for my Topology qualifer. Not a replacement for Munkres’ and/or Hatcher’s texts but a good read nonetheless.)
  4. Measure Integration and Real Analysis by Sheldon Axler (I’m not sure if this one really is non-standard, but I much prefer it over, say, Papa Rudin.)
  5. An Introduction to q-Analysis by Warren Johnson (Worked through chapters 1-4, including select exercises. My notes and solutions to said exercises are here)

Essays and Short Stories:

  1. Books v/s Cigarettes (1946) by George Orwell
  2. Politics and the English Language (1946) by George Orwell
  3. The Great Wall of China (1930) by Franz Kafka
  4. A Report to an Academy (1917) by Franz Kafka

Movies:

  1. Awakenings (1990) dir. by Penny Marshall *
  2. The Intern (2015) dir. by Nancy Meyers
  3. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (2019) dir. by Chiwetel Ejiofor
  4. Maharaja (2024) dir. by Nithilan Saminathan
  5. The Green Mile (1999) dir. by Frank Darabont
  6. Seven (1995) dir. by David Fincher *
  7. Laapataa Ladies (2023) dir. by Kiran Rao
  8. Goyo (2024) dir. by Marcos Carnevale
  9. Schindler’s List (1993) dir. by Steven Spielberg
  10. The Dictator (2012) dir. by Larry Charles
  11. Delhi Belly (2011) dir. by Abhinay Deo
  12. Beautiful Boy (2018) dir. by Felix Van Groeningen
  13. mother! (2017) dir. by Darren Aronofsky
  14. Fight Club (1999) dir. by David Fincher *
  15. The Truman Show (1998) dir. by Peter Weir *
  16. Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (2003) dir. by Sudhir Mishra
  17. Requiem for a Dream (2000) dir. by Darren Aronofsky
  18. Women Talking (2022) dir. by Sarah Polley
  19. Pulp Fiction (1994) dir. by Quentin Tarantino *
  20. Tumbbad (2018) dir. by Rahi Anil Barve *
  21. Newton (2017) dir. by Amit V. Masurkar
  22. The Hotel Room (2015) dir. by Rudi Gaul
  23. Vivarium (2019) dir. by Lorcan Finnegan
  24. Colette (2018) dir. by Wash Westmoreland
  25. Jojo Rabbit (2019) dir. by Taika Waititi *
  26. Hereditary (2018) dir. by Ari Aster
  27. Verónica (2017) dir. by Paco Plaza
  28. Perfect Days (2023) dir. by Wim Wenders
  29. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) dir. by Michel Gondry *
  30. Little Miss Sunshine (2006) dir. by Johnathan Dayton and Valerie Faris
  31. The Menu (2022) dir. by Mark Mylod
  32. The Others (2001) dir. by Alejandro Amenábar
  33. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) dir. by Ron Howard
  34. Silver Linings Playbook (2012) dir. by David Russell
  35. Klaus (2019) dir. by Sergio Pablos
  36. The Children’s Train (2024) dir. by Cristina Comencini
  37. Atonement (2007) dir. by Joe Wright
  38. Poor Things (2023) dir. by Yorgos Lanthimos
  39. Anatomy of a Fall (2023) dir. by Justine Triet
  40. A Complete Unknown (2025) dir. by James Mangold
  41. The Mehta Boys (2025) dir. by Boman Irani
  42. American History X (1998) dir. by Tony Kaye
  43. The Life of Chuck (2025) dir. by Mike Flanagan
  44. Kindergarten Cop (1990) dir. by Ivan Reitman
  45. Weapons (2025) dir. by Zach Cregger
  46. Yesterday (2019) dir. by Danny Boyle *
  47. Pratidwandi (1970) dir. by Satyajit Ray
  48. Frankenstein (2025) dir. by Guillermo del Toro
  49. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025) dir by Rian Johnson
  50. The Great Flood (2025) dir. by Kim Byung-woo
  51. Monster (2023) dir, by Hirokazu Koreeda
  52. Wall To Wall (2025) dir. by Kim Tae-joon
  53. Bugonia (2025) dir. by Yorgos Lanthimos
  54. Munich (2005) dir. by Steven Spielberg
  55. Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam (2022) dir. by Lijo Jose Pellissery
  56. Captain Fantastic (2016) dir. by Matt Ross
  57. Nuremberg (2025) dir by. James Vanderbilt
  58. Oldboy (2003) dir. by Park Chan-wook ( remark: a deeply disturbing watch )
  59. Hamnet (2025) dir. Chloé Zhao

Series/Documentaries:

  1. Eva Lasting (2023) dir. by Dago García *
  2. The Office (U.S.) (2005-2013) dir. by Greg Daniels, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant
  3. The Cuba Libre Story dir. by Kai Christiansen
  4. 3 Body Problem dir. by David Benioff, D.B. Weiss
  5. Griselda dir. by Eric Newman, Ingrid Escajeda
  6. Baby Reindeer dir. by Richard Gadd
  7. Maamla Legal Hai dir. by Sameer Saxena
  8. The Naked Director dir. by Masaharu Take
  9. The Spy dir. by Gideon Raff
  10. The Boys dir. by Eric Kripke, Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen
  11. Panchayat dir. by Chandan Kumar, Deepak Kumar Mishra
  12. While We Watched dir. by Vinay Shukla
  13. Old Enough! (1991) dir. by Junji Ōuchi
  14. Maniac (2018) dir. by Patrick Somerville
  15. Beef (2023) dir. by Lee Sung Jin
  16. The Hunt for Veerappan (2023) dir. by Selvamani Selvaraj
  17. Adolescence (2025) dir. by Jack Thorne, Stephen Graham
  18. Breaking4 (2025) dir. by Suemay Oram
  19. Midnight Diner dir. by Joji Matsuoka (and others)
  20. Crashing (2016) dir. by Phoebe Waller-Bridge

Anime/Animation/Other:

  1. Grave of the Fireflies (1988) dir. by Isao Takahata *
  2. Spirited Away (2001) dir. by Hayao Miyazaki *
  3. Naruto Shippuden (2007-2017) dir. by Hayato Date
  4. Rick and Morty (2013-ongoing) creators Justin Roiland, Dan Harmon *
  5. Inside Out (2015) dir. by Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen
  6. Sakamoto Days (2025) dir. by Yuto Suzuki
  7. Hercules (1997) dir. by Ron Clements, John Musker
  8. The Road to El Dorado (2000) dir. by Bibo Bergeron, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Don Paul
  9. #1 Happy Family USA (2025) dir. Ramy Youssef
  10. Haikyuu! dir. by Susumu Mitsunaka, Masako Satō
  11. Kotaro Lives Alone dir. by Tomoe Makino