I went to the library and got not one but three that I thought worthy to bring home. Two of them were really good and a third not too bad. All in all pretty good I'd say! I always worry when I search for books in the Library and move along the aisles that if I am passing up little gems as I walk away to the next row. Many a times I had wished that I'd have word of mouth info from a kindred spirit about each of those books. This is among one of the many reasons for this book blog. To give a would be reader a thumbs up or down. Most are thumbs up as I turned out to be lucky in the ones that I latch onto. Let us get to the ones for today:
The Harafish by Naguib Mahfouz
Translated by Catherine Cobham
This Nobel prize winning author was an unknown to me till last week. Our local Library seems to have had a renaissance in quality as well as quantity. Or maybe they are just being shelved better. Anyway this one or rather the author's name caught my eye and I liked what I saw. I am glad his books got translated from Arabic to English. The cover pages make it clear that this book is more like 3 of the author's other popular books - The Cairo Trilogy - and so maybe the rest are different. I am going to find out soon as I can't believe an author with such a deep perception on life can be anything but readable no matter what the style of narration is. Take this book 'The Harafish' for example. 'Harafish' means 'the common people'. It could also mean 'the riffraff'. Think R K Narayanan only he is in Egypt and not in India:-) This is in terms of the theme but in narration Mahfouz has quite a unique and quaint style. I believe his expertise is in being able to tell a saga of depth with as little words as possible. He is able to tell a story spanning many generations of the Al-Nagi family succinctly and in detail. How is this possible? I myself was amazed at the short number of pages written for each generation yet the content didn't lack anything. I could be partial to this style of narration, having been attracted to the stories of the Old Testament not only from a religious view but also for the pure fun of it:-) We used to read a chapter a day at the evening prayers from this large Black Bible. When my tenure started as a real listener and the chapters moved from the sleepy 'Genesis' and the likes to to the more entertaining Juedan Kings I just had to read it all myself instead of waiting for the chapter of the day... Mahfouz's style strongly reminded me of those. Yet just like those Bible stories though the content is very entertaining and light, gems like this are scattered throughout the book : "If wrong existed, right must exist too. It must be constantly renewable, and if it was possible to suffer lapses, it must also be possible to ensure that they didn't recur". Need I say more?
David Long's The Falling Boy
This book looked almost like "Snow Falling on Cedars" which is what brought me to it. Then the reviews on the front and back kind of stood out from the usual jargon that we get. David Long seems to have quite a following among the critics based on his short stories. This is one of his initial attempts at the long form of story telling and I think the expectations did not fall short. I liked the book and how the author presented his characters and the story. It follows an orphaned and amicable contruction worker's - Mark Singer- life with remarkable clarity especially when handling relationships from Mark's perspective. Some female characters lacked depth towards the end but I am sure Long is on his way there or is already there. Will surely read his other books. Read here for more on the book.
When The Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka
Loved the name of the book. Loved what was written in the book unlike two other books that I had put back right away after a few glances and wanted to bring this one home. I was right through more than first half of the book but somehow it fell short in the last half. Not sure what happened as the disappointment was sudden and real. Couldn't really get through the last pages yet the story of Japanese prison camps in the US during World War II is a compelling one. Wish it could have provided a better experience for such a poignant theme. Maybe it is just me being unable to appreciate the depths the author tried to portray.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Ian McEwan's Saturday
After 'seeing' Atonement written by McEwan, I had determined to read some of his books. Didn't think I will get a chance so soon. Sure enough, the author lived up to expectations. In the book McEwan takes us through one particular Saturday in the life of Dr. Henry Perowne of London. One might be reminded of Arthur Hailey's 'Airport' in that respect.
'Saturday' leads us gently and with enough suspense through the lives of everyone in Dr. Perowne's family on that day. I for one was able to completely empathize with all of his characters including even the meanies! The novelist succeeded in transporting his characters into the minds of the reader. Like its name, I finished the book in a day on Saturday. So do pick it up if you need a good but short read any day of the week:-)
'Saturday' leads us gently and with enough suspense through the lives of everyone in Dr. Perowne's family on that day. I for one was able to completely empathize with all of his characters including even the meanies! The novelist succeeded in transporting his characters into the minds of the reader. Like its name, I finished the book in a day on Saturday. So do pick it up if you need a good but short read any day of the week:-)
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Colleen McCullough - An Author of Excellence
I can't seem to get Gaius Julius Caesar out of my mind and Colleen McCullough is why. I had read her 'Caesar's Women' a first time just few years ago and had left it at that thinking it was not quite what I expected from the book. Now during a cleanup I came across it again and before donating it to the Library wanted to read it one last time especially as I was fresh out of books to read. My goodness what a path it lead me to! Reading it this time I understood the author's original intent that it was really all about Caesar and who he is rather than his women. Doing a little more research I discovered that this was quite true! I hadn't known -being a frog in the well as far as McCullough books were concerned- that this is the 4th book in a series that she had been doing on the Master's of Rome. Seven in all. And yes though she did write about the beginning of the end of the Roman Republic I think it is Caesar she really zoomed in on among all that patrician pageantry.
Since the US elections just got over and with the latest senate seat peddling scandals in the mix etc, I just couldn't help but see how everything is just a repetition of history. That is right folks! There is nothing new in this 21st century -all the technological breakthroughs duly acknowledged - that hasn't been done before. Rome was the old 'New World' that Romulus created around 750 B.C to which flocked the enterprising people who wanted to make a new life for themselves.
The Roman Republic came into being with a Senate and a House of Congress to boot - I mean the Plebeian Council - and there were elections and armies and commissions and reports all orderly and recorded to the hilt. All remind one of the political systems of the world we live in now especially that of the US. I bet Thomas Jefferson had imbibed extensively on the Roman political system before he started on the US constitution. The main difference being 'The Consul' - the highest electoral post- was elected only for a year instead of 4 years for the US Presidency. That and the Senate was initially only for those of the patrician families while the Plebeian Council was for anyone. All of this was gradually changing for the worst towards 100 B.C around when Julius Caesar was born.
The Republic was formed around 500 B.C after a revolution of sorts with the last King of Rome executed by none other than - are you ready? - a great great ancestor of Marcus Junius Brutus, the same Brutus who is attributed Caesar's murder which in turn lead to the spawn of the Empire .
McCullough's series is about how the Republic ended and the Roman Empire came to be and revolves around the leaders of Rome who were instrumental in this. The first books tell us about Cornelius Sulla and Gaius Marius, then comes Julius Caesar with Pompey the Great, and finally Marc Antony, Cleopatra and Octavian aka, the first Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar. But Caesar is ever present whose entire lifespan from infancy to death is covered in the first 6 books. The last book talks of Antony & Cleopatra and the formation of the Empire by Caesar's grand nephew Octavian. Caesar and the great orator Cicero were contemporaries. The author has presented Cicero in less flattering terms than one would expect. Maybe because Caesar is said to have been an orator on par with Cicero in addition to his many other qualities and vices. You may not need to read all the 7 books as there could be repetitions galore in such a complex historical series. But do read one or two and it will leave you intrigued and thirsting for more things Roman. I was vaguely aware that the Calendar we use had something to do with Julius Caesar with July definitely being named after him. Didn't know that what we follow today is mostly based on the 'Julian Calendar' that Caesar personally implemented with some important changes added later by Pope Gregory to make it a 'Gregorian Calendar'!
Reading McCullough, one comes off with the unbelievable feeling of an extremely handsome and charismatic military leader who was an astute political leader too. When you see Caesar's statues or busts it will all fall into place. The Roman busts were made from wax molds of actual faces and so they show real physical traits. He reminds one of a Socrates or Plato albeit dressed in military uniform. Whether contemplating political or military actions, Caesar always thought and planned ahead. He was way ahead of his time which didn't endear him to his peers. This link is a must read if you are interested in Caesar's policies and what made him standout so. And if you don't believe me about the history being repeated part just go on over to this page in the link and go down to the section titled 'The Empire' paragraph 3 and tell me if it reminds you of any of the current day economic measures:-)
It is true that McCullough seems to have fallen for Caesar much more than any other 'Masters of Rome' including Pompey but it still is a good read. She is a good story teller which was evidenced by 'The Thorn Birds' I had rather shockingly read oh, so long ago. I am not planning to read any more of the Rome series except maybe 'The October Horse' but won't hesitate if they happen to fall into my hands. I am however planning to read her latest as I thought it'd be intriguing to see how this master storyteller put a spin on one of another master storyteller's rather obscure characters.
Since the US elections just got over and with the latest senate seat peddling scandals in the mix etc, I just couldn't help but see how everything is just a repetition of history. That is right folks! There is nothing new in this 21st century -all the technological breakthroughs duly acknowledged - that hasn't been done before. Rome was the old 'New World' that Romulus created around 750 B.C to which flocked the enterprising people who wanted to make a new life for themselves.
The Roman Republic came into being with a Senate and a House of Congress to boot - I mean the Plebeian Council - and there were elections and armies and commissions and reports all orderly and recorded to the hilt. All remind one of the political systems of the world we live in now especially that of the US. I bet Thomas Jefferson had imbibed extensively on the Roman political system before he started on the US constitution. The main difference being 'The Consul' - the highest electoral post- was elected only for a year instead of 4 years for the US Presidency. That and the Senate was initially only for those of the patrician families while the Plebeian Council was for anyone. All of this was gradually changing for the worst towards 100 B.C around when Julius Caesar was born.
The Republic was formed around 500 B.C after a revolution of sorts with the last King of Rome executed by none other than - are you ready? - a great great ancestor of Marcus Junius Brutus, the same Brutus who is attributed Caesar's murder which in turn lead to the spawn of the Empire .
McCullough's series is about how the Republic ended and the Roman Empire came to be and revolves around the leaders of Rome who were instrumental in this. The first books tell us about Cornelius Sulla and Gaius Marius, then comes Julius Caesar with Pompey the Great, and finally Marc Antony, Cleopatra and Octavian aka, the first Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar. But Caesar is ever present whose entire lifespan from infancy to death is covered in the first 6 books. The last book talks of Antony & Cleopatra and the formation of the Empire by Caesar's grand nephew Octavian. Caesar and the great orator Cicero were contemporaries. The author has presented Cicero in less flattering terms than one would expect. Maybe because Caesar is said to have been an orator on par with Cicero in addition to his many other qualities and vices. You may not need to read all the 7 books as there could be repetitions galore in such a complex historical series. But do read one or two and it will leave you intrigued and thirsting for more things Roman. I was vaguely aware that the Calendar we use had something to do with Julius Caesar with July definitely being named after him. Didn't know that what we follow today is mostly based on the 'Julian Calendar' that Caesar personally implemented with some important changes added later by Pope Gregory to make it a 'Gregorian Calendar'!
Reading McCullough, one comes off with the unbelievable feeling of an extremely handsome and charismatic military leader who was an astute political leader too. When you see Caesar's statues or busts it will all fall into place. The Roman busts were made from wax molds of actual faces and so they show real physical traits. He reminds one of a Socrates or Plato albeit dressed in military uniform. Whether contemplating political or military actions, Caesar always thought and planned ahead. He was way ahead of his time which didn't endear him to his peers. This link is a must read if you are interested in Caesar's policies and what made him standout so. And if you don't believe me about the history being repeated part just go on over to this page in the link and go down to the section titled 'The Empire' paragraph 3 and tell me if it reminds you of any of the current day economic measures:-)
It is true that McCullough seems to have fallen for Caesar much more than any other 'Masters of Rome' including Pompey but it still is a good read. She is a good story teller which was evidenced by 'The Thorn Birds' I had rather shockingly read oh, so long ago. I am not planning to read any more of the Rome series except maybe 'The October Horse' but won't hesitate if they happen to fall into my hands. I am however planning to read her latest as I thought it'd be intriguing to see how this master storyteller put a spin on one of another master storyteller's rather obscure characters.
Monday, December 29, 2008
The Good Earth & Of Human Bondage
Two golden classics! I had read these a while back but wanted to read again when I came across them. I knew how getting on in one's life can change one's reading experience and these two books were no exception.
The Good Earth - By Pearl S Buck
I admit that when I first read Good Earth I knew it was a great book. But it is only when I read it recently that I was able to fully appreciate what Buck was trying to show in there. Not only was she able to portray the life of a farmer enslaved to seasonal weather changes but also the political and normal living conditions in China during the reign of the last emperor. She was raised in China and English was taught to her as a second language which probably accounts for her intuitive characterization of things Chinese. She did her college education in the US but went back to China after that. Buck won the Pulitzer Prize and later the Nobel Prize for her work. Read more about the author here. Wang Lung the farmer and his wife O-lan are such deep and real characters that you will not fail to empathize with them. More so with O-lan if you had been through a childbirth. Read more or rather all on the book here.
Of Human Bondage - By W Somerset Maughm
Another author of great insight who lived in post Victorian England around the same time as Buck and the likes of Faulkner, Virginia Woolf etc. I had read another book of Somerset Maughm before I had read this book long time back but can't remember it for the life of me. None of his book titles remind me of which other book was it. I remember reading it with pleasure but as one gets old I guess memory gets selective in what it wants to keep. It could be 'The Painted Veil' for all I know but 'Of Human Bondage' is the one that I remember from then and when I read it this time I skipped a few pages in between where the story seemed at a standstill. It was around a quarter into the book. Before and after it flowed well, esp after. This is the most biographical of Maughm's books who also lost his parents at an early age and was brought up by his uncle who was a Vicar. Having known this fact, all throughout the book I couldn't fail but see Maughm's face instead of Philip Carey's. Maughm's disability was not a clubfoot but rather that he stammered. Read here for more on Somerset Maughm, here to read the book and here for some details on the book.
The Good Earth - By Pearl S Buck
I admit that when I first read Good Earth I knew it was a great book. But it is only when I read it recently that I was able to fully appreciate what Buck was trying to show in there. Not only was she able to portray the life of a farmer enslaved to seasonal weather changes but also the political and normal living conditions in China during the reign of the last emperor. She was raised in China and English was taught to her as a second language which probably accounts for her intuitive characterization of things Chinese. She did her college education in the US but went back to China after that. Buck won the Pulitzer Prize and later the Nobel Prize for her work. Read more about the author here. Wang Lung the farmer and his wife O-lan are such deep and real characters that you will not fail to empathize with them. More so with O-lan if you had been through a childbirth. Read more or rather all on the book here.
Of Human Bondage - By W Somerset Maughm
Another author of great insight who lived in post Victorian England around the same time as Buck and the likes of Faulkner, Virginia Woolf etc. I had read another book of Somerset Maughm before I had read this book long time back but can't remember it for the life of me. None of his book titles remind me of which other book was it. I remember reading it with pleasure but as one gets old I guess memory gets selective in what it wants to keep. It could be 'The Painted Veil' for all I know but 'Of Human Bondage' is the one that I remember from then and when I read it this time I skipped a few pages in between where the story seemed at a standstill. It was around a quarter into the book. Before and after it flowed well, esp after. This is the most biographical of Maughm's books who also lost his parents at an early age and was brought up by his uncle who was a Vicar. Having known this fact, all throughout the book I couldn't fail but see Maughm's face instead of Philip Carey's. Maughm's disability was not a clubfoot but rather that he stammered. Read here for more on Somerset Maughm, here to read the book and here for some details on the book.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Two Books
Thanksgiving is here. Doesn't look like this is the year I'll finally prepare that Turkey Dinner. No worries since my son is assured one at our friends'. Thus guilt free, I am sitting down to write about two books that I read, each a different experience.
Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
A book I didn't think I'll ever read. I am not one to refuse a book if it comes to me. In this case a friend had it with the others she had for me. Is it not great to have a good book friend who never fails to think about you when it comes to books? She was sure I will like it when I expressed my reservations on seeing the title. She was right. It is so contemporary that I did read it with a certain pleasure till it was finished. But once I was done, that was it. Nothing is leftover from it for me to ponder about or wonder about. Yet, if you want to read it, go for it as it has a certain charm. It has been made into a movie, and since I like Renee Zellweger it probably is a good movie to watch too.
The book is of course about Bridget Jones who tells the story in the form of writing in her diary. If you like Pride and Prejudice (which I absolutely do) then you will find the storyline familiar complete with a Mr. Darcy. Be forewarned that being rather old fashioned I couldn't digest some words that occur throughout the book however perceptive they were. These broke the flow many times till finally I got used to it and glossed over without flinching:-) Read here , here and here about the book, movie and author.
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
Another book that I didn't think I'd read but eager to keep when I saw it. I had seen the movie and had loved it. So it was a little surprising to find the Indian Sikh character (Kip) appears to be as prominent as the English Patient and his lover in the book. The nurse's character too runs central in the story while the movie didn't leave that feeling. The actress won the Oscar for Best Supporting actress though. I was disappointed at first but later figured that both the stories - that of the Englishman and the woman & that of the nurse and Kip - are equally strong and the movie indeed is well made on the side it decided to track. One thing I have to say about the movie is that whoever picked Christian Scott Thomas to play Katherine Clifton made a brilliant choice as she was the perfect fit for that role. She is a personal favorite who reminds me of the Malayalam/Tamil actress Suhasini in acting skills. Read here and here about the book. The movie won nine Oscars, all well justified considering how difficult of a task it was to convert it to a visual medium.
It is difficult for me to get back to the book from the movie. eh? The time the story takes place is during the tail end of World War II when the Germans were retreating and the Allies were advancing slowly through Italy having to wait for an extraordinary amount of leftover bombs and mines that needed to be defused. It is about a completely burnt man being cared for by a military nurse alone in a villa in Italy that was taken over as a wartime hospital and abandoned for all purposes when the war was winding down. The nurse Hana stayed on when the patient refused to move. They all believe him to be an Englishman but as he talks it is revealed that he could be a counter spy named Almasy. Further revelations show him merely to be a man trying to return to his lover whom he had to leave in the desert after an accident. The book is immensely interesting as the Enlglish Patient is a history buff and is able to relate everything in the present day world to something that happened in the earlier centuries. Even through the fire he didn't lose his book The Histories by Heredotus which also served as his jounal. He was a desert explorer charting maps and discovering lost landmarks in the desert for the Geographical Society at that time.
Author Michael Ondaatje is from Srilanka and has lived in the UK and Canada. As I was reading about Kip (Kirpal Singh of the bomb disposal unit) I was amazed at the author's perception of his character and how accurately he was portrayed. Of Indians taking part or not in a war that is not theirs and almost on the cusp of Independence. Kip is a talented engineer learning to assimilate into this new world he is thrown into. I didn't miss a word of his bomb diffusing episodes. The author's adept story telling kept it from getting too mechanical or technical. Kip and Hana slowly fall in love. While Katherine do not really enter the book till almost into 2/3rd of it, Kip is presented much earlier. Both seem all pervasive at the end of the book. Hana is an unusual person who has matured early through her life experiences and her deep sorrow in losing her father Patrick to the war in a burning death. Then there is the one other character Caravaggio who is a spy as well as a friend of Hana's father. I couldn't really define his presence in this book except perhaps to provide the final explanation of the English Patient's story. It is endearing how the Englishman bonds with young Kip through Rudyard Kipling's Kim. The atom bomb that dropped on the Asian continent was what ultimately exploded in Kip who was endangering his life to save mostly European lives. He felt betrayed by that act and eventually returned to India to become a doctor who saves lives.
Almasy and Katherine Clifton were real people and the story uses part of who they were. The similarities end there. These two had never met in real life and their characters and the events in the story are complete fiction. Ondaatje has written a book that will forever be appreciated by the reading public for the incredible depth of its story and characters. I had read his 'Anil's Ghost' sometime back which while a little difficult to follow, also left me with similar feelings. The English Patient won the Booker Prize. Read here for more on the author.
Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
A book I didn't think I'll ever read. I am not one to refuse a book if it comes to me. In this case a friend had it with the others she had for me. Is it not great to have a good book friend who never fails to think about you when it comes to books? She was sure I will like it when I expressed my reservations on seeing the title. She was right. It is so contemporary that I did read it with a certain pleasure till it was finished. But once I was done, that was it. Nothing is leftover from it for me to ponder about or wonder about. Yet, if you want to read it, go for it as it has a certain charm. It has been made into a movie, and since I like Renee Zellweger it probably is a good movie to watch too.
The book is of course about Bridget Jones who tells the story in the form of writing in her diary. If you like Pride and Prejudice (which I absolutely do) then you will find the storyline familiar complete with a Mr. Darcy. Be forewarned that being rather old fashioned I couldn't digest some words that occur throughout the book however perceptive they were. These broke the flow many times till finally I got used to it and glossed over without flinching:-) Read here , here and here about the book, movie and author.
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
Another book that I didn't think I'd read but eager to keep when I saw it. I had seen the movie and had loved it. So it was a little surprising to find the Indian Sikh character (Kip) appears to be as prominent as the English Patient and his lover in the book. The nurse's character too runs central in the story while the movie didn't leave that feeling. The actress won the Oscar for Best Supporting actress though. I was disappointed at first but later figured that both the stories - that of the Englishman and the woman & that of the nurse and Kip - are equally strong and the movie indeed is well made on the side it decided to track. One thing I have to say about the movie is that whoever picked Christian Scott Thomas to play Katherine Clifton made a brilliant choice as she was the perfect fit for that role. She is a personal favorite who reminds me of the Malayalam/Tamil actress Suhasini in acting skills. Read here and here about the book. The movie won nine Oscars, all well justified considering how difficult of a task it was to convert it to a visual medium.
It is difficult for me to get back to the book from the movie. eh? The time the story takes place is during the tail end of World War II when the Germans were retreating and the Allies were advancing slowly through Italy having to wait for an extraordinary amount of leftover bombs and mines that needed to be defused. It is about a completely burnt man being cared for by a military nurse alone in a villa in Italy that was taken over as a wartime hospital and abandoned for all purposes when the war was winding down. The nurse Hana stayed on when the patient refused to move. They all believe him to be an Englishman but as he talks it is revealed that he could be a counter spy named Almasy. Further revelations show him merely to be a man trying to return to his lover whom he had to leave in the desert after an accident. The book is immensely interesting as the Enlglish Patient is a history buff and is able to relate everything in the present day world to something that happened in the earlier centuries. Even through the fire he didn't lose his book The Histories by Heredotus which also served as his jounal. He was a desert explorer charting maps and discovering lost landmarks in the desert for the Geographical Society at that time.
Author Michael Ondaatje is from Srilanka and has lived in the UK and Canada. As I was reading about Kip (Kirpal Singh of the bomb disposal unit) I was amazed at the author's perception of his character and how accurately he was portrayed. Of Indians taking part or not in a war that is not theirs and almost on the cusp of Independence. Kip is a talented engineer learning to assimilate into this new world he is thrown into. I didn't miss a word of his bomb diffusing episodes. The author's adept story telling kept it from getting too mechanical or technical. Kip and Hana slowly fall in love. While Katherine do not really enter the book till almost into 2/3rd of it, Kip is presented much earlier. Both seem all pervasive at the end of the book. Hana is an unusual person who has matured early through her life experiences and her deep sorrow in losing her father Patrick to the war in a burning death. Then there is the one other character Caravaggio who is a spy as well as a friend of Hana's father. I couldn't really define his presence in this book except perhaps to provide the final explanation of the English Patient's story. It is endearing how the Englishman bonds with young Kip through Rudyard Kipling's Kim. The atom bomb that dropped on the Asian continent was what ultimately exploded in Kip who was endangering his life to save mostly European lives. He felt betrayed by that act and eventually returned to India to become a doctor who saves lives.
Almasy and Katherine Clifton were real people and the story uses part of who they were. The similarities end there. These two had never met in real life and their characters and the events in the story are complete fiction. Ondaatje has written a book that will forever be appreciated by the reading public for the incredible depth of its story and characters. I had read his 'Anil's Ghost' sometime back which while a little difficult to follow, also left me with similar feelings. The English Patient won the Booker Prize. Read here for more on the author.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca
The previous post briefly touching my undergrad years brought on a precious memory that is well suited for these pages. In those years when we stayed in the hostel, friendships were never confined to the one particular class you were in. My good friend who was from another class always made sure that I got to read all the books she got too before returning it. Since her class sources had better books I was rather grateful for this habit of hers.
One time I took a fancy to Daphne Du Maurier's 'Rebecca' after reading a glowing review on it. I went crazy through the streets and shops of the college town I was in, looking to actually buy this book and there was no end to my disappointment when I couldn't. Guess what my dearest friend got me as a parting gift at the end of the undergrad years? Yup. 'Rebecca', with a little note for me written in her familiar script. I don't know how much trouble she had to go through to buy the book but the fact that she cared enough to remember my affliction was what mattered. Of course I couldn't wait to read all of it and is a special treasure among all my books.
As for the book itself, what can I say. If you are a fan of Du Maurier's unique style I don't need to elaborate. If not I'd say without doubt that you have to actually read one of her books before passing up. Rebecca is a personal best of hers I'd think. Du Maurier stories tinge on the mysterious and she makes it effortlessly palpable. . "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again". This is how Rebecca starts and I was hooked from this first line. I won't spoil the story for you, but read here , here and here for more on the author and the book.
One time I took a fancy to Daphne Du Maurier's 'Rebecca' after reading a glowing review on it. I went crazy through the streets and shops of the college town I was in, looking to actually buy this book and there was no end to my disappointment when I couldn't. Guess what my dearest friend got me as a parting gift at the end of the undergrad years? Yup. 'Rebecca', with a little note for me written in her familiar script. I don't know how much trouble she had to go through to buy the book but the fact that she cared enough to remember my affliction was what mattered. Of course I couldn't wait to read all of it and is a special treasure among all my books.
As for the book itself, what can I say. If you are a fan of Du Maurier's unique style I don't need to elaborate. If not I'd say without doubt that you have to actually read one of her books before passing up. Rebecca is a personal best of hers I'd think. Du Maurier stories tinge on the mysterious and she makes it effortlessly palpable. . "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again". This is how Rebecca starts and I was hooked from this first line. I won't spoil the story for you, but read here , here and here for more on the author and the book.
Living To Tell The Tale - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Today I am setting out to write about a well known author that people usually can't wait to read. Yes, it indeed is the Nobel Prize winning author of 'One Hundred Years Of Solitude'. I have developed an affection for this author's books that I hadn't when I first read him sometime during my undergrad years.
One of my brothers was home for the holidays and I saw him sitting quite engrossed in this book. Being a book magnet I passed up close enough and found that it was 'One Hundred...". Marquez had just won the Nobel Prize and I hadn't read any of his books before. His name and book's name were all rather intimidating unlike for example 'Ayn Rand' and her 'Fountainhead' which I had no difficulty gobbling up with no second thoughts when it made its rounds in the girls' hostel. Anyway I don't think I read the book right then but I did get to it not too late. A saga full of lively characters, it will not fail to raise your interest in Marquez. I have yet to read his 'Love In The Time of Cholera' but when I came across 'Living To Tell The Tale' at a sidewalk sale, it intrigued me as I hadn't heard of it. It turned out to be one of the best buys yet.
This is an autobiography and is as entertaining as any of his books or more. Reading it enlightens us as to how he came to be a writer through sheer love and persistence. Guess he just couldn't become anything else as he was born to be a writer. The prolific amount of characters, the beloved town of his stories all begin to beautifully fall in place with this book. He credits his Grandfather Marquez on his Mother's side as a pivotal figure in his life. He grew up in his Grandparents' house, you see. When you put the book down you will have developed an affection for young Gabriel who spent his early years in politically troubled Colombia's Caribbean coast so fertile with characters. The cover picture shows Marquez when he was 2 years old. He lives in Mexico City now according to the book. Please don't miss the eventful life of this most beloved writer. I hope he will come up with a sequel to fill in the latter years as indicated. Even if they are better recorded than the early years, I know it will be a treat to hear it all in Marquez's own mesmerizing words.
As always: click away here, here and here for more on the author and his books.
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