A Dominant Character

Jacob Koshy, in The Hindu, wrote that the work is an "exquisite literary expedition" into J.B.S.’ boyhood, his family history, his schooling.^[3] Koshy wrote that many facts of Haldane's life are well documented in the book and concluded that Subramanian gave compelling context.^[3]

Shobhit Mahajan wrote that the book is a "comprehensive account" of Haldane's life in a review for Outlook magazine.^[2] He noted that the biography grapples well with a great life and found the book well-researched, with extensive use of Haldane's diaries and private letters.^[2] He praised the author's "lucid writing" and described the book as a "page-turner" with brilliant asides.^[2] He further wrote that the book does a decent job of explaining complicated scientific work in simpler terms, but points out that the author leaves out some details of the work done by Haldane.^[2]

Vineetha Mokkil, writing for The Hindu Businessline, praised the work and called it a "major contribution in modern intellectual history as well as an insightful and moving biography".^[4] She wrote that the author did a "fine job" in bringing Haldane to life.^[4]

In a review for The Wire, T. N. Avinash also wrote that author did "admirable job" describing Haldane's life and how political scenarios formed his worldview.^[5] However, he criticised the omission of some of the scientific responses to Haldane's work, such as Ernst Mayr’s critique of ‘beanbag genetics’.^[5] R. Prasannan, writing for The Week Magazine, called the work an "honest biography", but noted that there are few details about Bhubaneswar, a city where Haldane settled in later life. He also lamented the lack of an index.^[6]

Firstpost listed it in the Books of Week on 11 January 2020.^[7]

The book has been selected as one of the 100 Notable Books of 2020 by The New York Times.^[8]

• The New York Times review of A Dominant Character