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Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Why I Loved... Hop, Skip & Jump!

Tuesday, August 30, 2011
TT - Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

"Thus far I have gone, tracing a secure way over the pathless seas, the very stars themselves being witnesses and testimonies of my triumph. Why not still proceed over the untamed yet obedient element? What can stop the determined heart and resolved will of man?"
- Robert Walton (Frankenstein by Mary Shelley)
Frankenstein's one of those books that everyone has heard of. And, Frankenstein's monster, like Dracula, is one of the most famous monsters in pop culture. Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley is my first in the list of always-wanted-to-read classics. I have just started reading it, but I'm already loving it!
TTT - To-Be-Read List for Fall



Monday, August 29, 2011
Musing Mondays


Sunday, August 28, 2011
Loving books... all over again!
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Reading Shakespeare

Monday, August 22, 2011
Characters or Plot?
Do you prefer character-driven stories or plot-driven stories?
I always get more involved in a book that has good, engaging characters. But I also don't like books where you can't make head or tail of what's going on, or worse, when nothing really happens. Honestly, neither extreme is desirable. But if I had to give a preference, I'd give it to the characters. A bad story line can't spoil the book as much as bad characters can.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
A Dog's Tale by Mark Twain


Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Only Love by Erich Segal (Mini Review)

Top Ten Books that make Great Gifts





Stardust on the road!

Starting with this poem, which I'd first read in a Diana Wynne Jones novel, I spent the better part of a fourteen hour journey reading another simply amazing book by Neil Gaiman; Stardust.
When I was reading Stardust, I was actually transported back to my childhood. It is a fairy tale for adults, and a great one at that!
"A philosopher once asked, "Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?"
Pointless, really..."Do the stars gaze back?" Now that's a question."
Stardust is a fantasy novel written by Neil Gaiman in 1998. It is quite different from his usual books, written in a more traditional fairy-tale-like style.
Stardust is the story of a young man named Tristan Thorn. He lives in Wall, a village situated on the border of our world and the realm of Faerie. The village is separated from Faerie by a long and high wall, which no one crosses. One day a distant star falls down to the earth, and Tristan Thorn sets out into Faerie to retrieve this star for the one he loves. But as fairy tales go, this adventure isn't very easy, and Tristan Thorn certainly isn't the only one looking for the star.
"It was a violet, and it chinkled and sang as he held it, making a noise similar to that produced by wetting a finger and rubbing it, gently, around a wineglass."
I absolutely adored the way this tale was written. I was reminded of a quote from Stephen King's On Writing - you must be able to describe things in a way that will cause your reading to prickle with recognition. I think Neil Gaiman does just that.
I liked getting to experience another one of Gaiman's amazingly unique worlds. Faerie is nothing like you expect and everything that you want all at the same time! It is a wonderful play on all the cliches in fantasy. Not to mention, that subtle, makes-you-chuckle humour made this book all the more enjoyable. It's another Gaiman novel that I'd recommend in a heartbeat!
Friday, August 12, 2011
Follow Friday & Book Blogger Hop


Wednesday, August 10, 2011
WWW Wednesdays


Popsy: Nightmares & Dreamscapes

Tuesday, August 9, 2011
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

Sunday, August 7, 2011
Happy "Friendship Day"!
You know, over the years, I seem to have convinced myself that I don't make friends easily. The truth is, I just don't think of friends as "people you only hang out and have fun with." Those can be called 'acquaintances' or just that: 'people I hang out with'. Maybe it is because I am actually lucky enough to have a few real friends who mean so much more than that! While we did have a card-making trend going on for a couple of years, with them 'friendship day' are just two random words. I love them no matter what day!

Friday, August 5, 2011
Too highfalutin for my palate!
"One of the really bad things you can do to your writing is to dress up the vocabulary, looking for long words because you’re maybe a little bit ashamed of your short ones. This is like dressing up a household pet in evening clothes. The pet is embarrassed and the person who committed this act of premeditated cuteness should be even more embarrassed."
- Stephen King (On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft)
I couldn't agree more. Unless it is absolutely essential for you to write a word that most people would need a dictionary to understand, you're only dressing up your language. And by absolutely necessary, I mean, when there is no other word in the English language that conveys exactly what you're trying to convey.
If you're one of those people, who insert big words in their writing and convince themselves that those few words show what a wonderful writing style they have, allow me to tell you it that doesn't work that way. The only thing it does show, is how incredibly ordinary the rest of the writing is!
Don't use words like 'perspicuity' where a simple 'clarity' would suffice, and I won't call your language 'magniloquent' when I can just call it 'pretentious'.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Night of January 16th by Ayn Rand

Bjorn Faulkner, the heart of the gold industry of the world, meets a gruesome death by falling/jumping off the top of a building. Karen Andre, his secretary and mistress is on trial for his murder. The entire book is a courtroom play, with the two sides represented by Karen Andre and Bjorn Faulkner on the one hand; and Mrs. Faulkner and her father, John Graham Whitfield, a prominent banker, on the other.
To someone who hasn't read Ayn Rand before, it might be hard to figure out Bjorn Faulkner – the hero whom we actually never get to meet. To those who have read Ayn Rand before, every character including Bjorn Faulkner is like every other character of hers.
But, this book isn't about Bjorn Faulkner as the ideal man. In fact, Bjorn Faulkner is not the ideal man. The story is about Karen Andre – his secretary-mistress, and what she feels for her ideal man.
Ayn Rand’s characters are black and white – so, even as I was reading the prologue of the book, I knew the end. The end of the play is the verdict: IS Karen Andre guilty or not? And the entire play is written in a way to convince the reader that she is not. Though the factual evidence for and against seems to have been “approximately balanced”, the writing clearly suggests that Andre should end up not guilty. When the play is performed, however, it will be entirely dependent on the credibility of the actors. Which brings me to the reason I would want to watch this play, rather than read it: the jury gimmick.
Most people I know either like Ayn Rand or they don’t. There’s usually no halfway. I guess that’s the reason why the “jury gimmick" worked, during the performance of the play. The jury was actually picked out every time from the actual audience, and the verdict was in their hands. Depending on the outcome, guilty or not, the end of the play was performed. But, of course, whatever the verdict, Karen Andre came off looking stubbornly “not guilty”.
Actually this play would have worked for me much better, if it had a story preceding and following it - like Roark's trial in The Fountainhead or Rearden's in Atlas Shrugged. Also, I'm no expert, but I don't think Rand pulled off the courtroom action all that well.
The play had its flaws, yes – but I still found it pretty okay. It was also the first play I have ever dared to read, and if not anything else, it did ensure that I'll read other plays, now that I managed and liked reading one.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Short Stories by Mark Twain
This week, I read two stories by Mark Twain: Extracts from Adam's Diary (1904) and Eve's Diary (1905).

Extracts from Adam's Diary is a wonderfully hilarious story - told, of course, by Adam, right from when he first meets Eve in the Garden of Eden and is incredibly annoyed by her, till he eventually falls in love with her. It is in the form of "entries" he writes in his diary (which Twain claims to have translated from the original manuscripts by deciphering Adam's hieroglyphics!)
The same is the case for Eve's Diary - right from her first day on earth when she sees "the man" for the first time, till forty years later, after the fall. The story ends with Adam's speaking at Eve's grave, "Wherever she was, there was Eden."
Mark Twain is indescribably amazing. Reading Adam's Diary is a colourful experience; something you would have never thought of - the day-by-day experiences of the first man! It is amusing in most parts and absolutely hilarious in some - especially when Adam tries to figure out what species the little baby, that Eve claims to have found, belongs to (his guesses range from a fish to a talking parrot!) I also love how annoying he finds Eve - especially when she starts crying!
Eve's Diary, on the other hand, was something completely else. It is humourous right from the start; but along with that it's also a wonderful story. She is fascinated by everything she sees and everyone she meets and simply loves to talk! Twain has written beautifully from the point of view of a woman. And call me crazy, but it's actually easy to relate to her. This is, without a doubt, one of the most amazing stories I have read in a while.
Last week, when I posted about the short stories that I read by Kafka, I came across Short Stories on Wednesday, a meme hosted at Risa's Bread Crumb Reads. I'm going to take part in the meme and so, read at least one short story every week!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Cujo by Stephen King

Cujo is a psychological horror novel by Stephen King. It is the story of a rabid St. Bernard. It is also the story of a little boy and his nightmares, a mother and a child, and an almost broken marriage.
Rating: 3.5/5
Summary: Cujo is a big, five year old St. Bernard, owned by the Cambers; a family in the town of Castle Rock, Maine. Cujo is a good, loyal dog; he loves his owners and they love him! That is, until he gets scratched by a bat and becomes infected with rabies. The dog soon loses touch with reality and turns into a crazy killing machine.
Four year old Tad Trenton lives in the same town with his parents, Donna and Vic. The little family has problems of their own - the scariest being the monster that seems to appear in little Tad's closet at night. A frightening, wolfish animal that haunts Tad's nightmares.
Fate brings the two together, when the only thing standing between the rabid dog and the mother and child is the broken down car they are trapped in.
My thoughts: Each book that I read by Stephen King, gives me one new reason to love him. This is not your typical thriller, and there are definitely some side-plots that seem unnecessary. The horror doesn't start till halfway through the book and when it does start, not a lot happens. Still - I loved the book. For two reasons.
Firstly, as usual, Stephen King never disappoints you when it comes to the lives and the thoughts of the characters. Their stories are so intricately built - it is very fascinating. Even without the dangerous dog, there is a lot of evil in the town; just in the ways that people think, what they do. Each of the side-plots is a message on its own.
Secondly, what I love about King's novels is that the monsters themselves are victims of circumstance. I pitied Jack Torrance (in The Shining) and I definitely felt horrible for ol' Cuje when he got infected. I love that King has written parts from the point of view of the dog - the helpless creature, who hurts all over and doesn't know who else to blame but the humans. The animal lover that I am, I really appreciated that King ended the book saying something positive about the poor dog. He wasn't trying to be a monster, he was a good dog.
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About Me
- Priya
- Life is like a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans! You never know what you'll get next! :)
