Of Human Bondage

     Author                           W Somerset Maugham

     Country                         United States

     Genre                            Fiction: Classic

     Publication Date          1915

     Pages                             680







An effortlessly written real & engaging story; that's how I would describe this age old classic in a few words.

This classic traces the coming of age of Phillip; an ordinary boy who is orphaned at a young age and is consequently brought up by his uncle. Philip is physically disadvantaged (club foot) but is full of passion and an insatiable desire to explore the world. It is this urge to try his hand at new things that takes him to dabbling with arts and accountancy and finally settling in medicine. He travels around the world, makes friends, falls in love (or rather gets crazy while in love) and finally settles down. 

The most likable aspect about the book is that it neither carves Phillip as a hero nor as a villain. Philiip is shown as an ordinary human who makes mistakes and unfortunately, ends up making some mistakes again and again. While his mind elucidates that his passion for Mildred is degrading and destructive, his heart refuses to listen till it is finally too late. However, it's this large heartedness and the desire to help others even beyond his means that make his character so lovable and genuine. 

 

Unlike many other classics, what has truly appealed to me about this one is the fact that it beautifully sketches the beliefs and thought processes of Phillip at various stages of his life. The readers are invited to Philips thoughts at every junction. We see how he is made to believe in religion and God as a child and how he questions religion and morality as he grows up and forms his own belief system, not necessarily Christian. Throughout the book, Philip is constantly searching for the true meaning of life and it's is this search (and the associated deliberations) that makes the book a lot deeper and insightful. 

Reading this book has been a treat like none else. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys going deep.

 

The First Phone Call from Heaven

 

    
     Author                             Mitch Albom

     Country                           United States

     Genre                              Fiction

     Publication Date             2013

     Pages                               323

I find myself reading almost all of Mitch Albom's books. To me, they present a refreshing air of faith and spirituality without bring preachy. "The First phone call from Heaven" continues to do exactly this and thus it's no suprise that I really enjoyed the book!

As the name suggests, this book is based in a small town where a few select people start receiving phone calls from their loved ones in heaven. As the news of this spreads, the entire town is gripped with excitement and apprehension. The messages from the deceased loved ones (that heaven is a beautiful place and that life doesn't end but rather starts with death) are made public and the entire town erupts with faith, love & pure happiness! Through a series of events, it is finally divulged that these calls were being made by someone on earth but the underlying faith and emotion that they have stirred are hard to pass by.

Mitch Albom has once again very assiduously appealed to our innermost desire: the desire to believe in a power larger than us. It is this faith that gives us the conviction to face the hardships of life. While there are believers and non believers; there is hardly anyone who does not "want" to believe or would not welcome a "reason" to believe.

Being a "believer" at heart, I found this book speaking to me like none other!

Madame Bovary

 



    
     Author                          Gustave Flaubert

     Country                        France

     Genre                           Fiction: Classic

     Publication Date         1857

     Pages                            384

This is the story of Emma, who is unhappily married to a devoted but clumsy doctor and hence revolts against the ordinariness of her life in order to find love and excitement. She pursues voluptuous dreams not realizing that her adultery will soon lead to her downfall.

Gustave has done an excellent job with building the character of Emma. She is, by far, one of the most compelling heroines of modern literature. Gustave's story telling style is unique and refreshing. While he uses the voice of a third person narrator throughout the book; the thoughts of one character or the other seamlessly merge into the narration.

The core of the book is Emma's unhappiness and disappointment with her lot and her contant search for something which will help her rise as a Phoenix above this all. These emotions effortlessly built by Gustave into the narration are both depressing and real.

I have found it hard to form a point of view on Emma's character.

While on one hand, I would have expected her to find happiness in what she has, on the other hand, I am reasonably impressed with her genuine efforts to improve her lot; even at the cost of "societal norms and morality". It indubitably is a bold, feminist and a praiseworthy move in an 1857 patriachal society.

While it would be difficult to condone Emma's behavior, her character leads me to the belief that our first and the only true duty is to ourselves and our happiness. Concern for societal norms can never and shall never outshine the former.

The Vagina Monologues

     Author                      Eve Ensler

     Country                    United States         

     Genre                       Drama

     Publication Date     1996

     Pages                        185








I had watched this play years ago with my husband; and hence; when I came across the book at the library; I was more than tempted to pick it up.

An interesting and different perspective is what this book has to offer. It's asks some poignant questions and puts to shame some of our accepted behaviors. The discomfort that most of us as women have with exploring or even knowing our own vaginas is appalling. To make it worse; how many of us have even used this word with our friends or parents? And that's the root of the issue: the belief that this is not such a great thing to talk openly about. 

It's difficult to write a review about this book and do justice to what Eve Ensler presents so passionately in this book after having interviewed hundreds of women.

Eve Ensler's work in bringing vaginas to discussion is exemplary and being a survivor of sexual harassment herself, she has also done some awesome work with her organization 'V-Day' which focuses on women who are victims of such crimes. 

I would, thus suffice myself by saying that this book is an eye opener - go pick it up and if you can, catch the play at your local theatre (they are still running this actively across many countries). 

A feminist at heart (an old LSR legacy), I was put to shame by some of the questions that the book asks and I choose not to reveal those here! 

The History of Love

     Author                              Nicole Krauss

     Country                            United States

     Genre                               Fiction

     Publication Date              2005

     Pages                                252








My book club decided to go romantic in the month of February and that's how I ended up with this book. Having heard raving reviews about the book, I was a little more than disappointed.

The book is about Leo Gutsky who is an elderly Jewish man living in New York and is the author of the now famous book 'The History of Love'. Unfortunately, Leo doesn't know that the book; the manuscript of which he had handed over to his friend while escaping Poland ever got published. His book is about the love of his life who ends up getting married to another man; hence; it is believed to be a very passionate & romantic book.

In a parallel story, a young Jewish girl who has been named after the central character of her parent's favorite book (gifted by her late father to her mom) believes that the secret to her mom's happiness would lie in this book and hence, focuses on getting to the bottom of it. 

All of this leads her to an emotional meeting with Leo in the final climax of the book; where she asks him some poignant questions about his love and the book; leading to Leo's sudden death by a heart attack. 

While the author's writing style is comfortable and free flowing; the book is far too disconnected for my liking. The story line and the concept are appealing; however; the meshing together of disparate stories is far from perfect.

The author tries hard to make this a book of unrequited love and passion, the story; however; fails to stir any emotion in an otherwise emotional and passionate me. I, would, thus not recommend this book to anyone who likes being moved by words!

The Great Gatsby

     Author                             F Scott Fitzgerald

     Country                           United States

     Genre                              Fiction: Classic

     Publication Date            1925

     Pages                              189








They say it's a classic. Am confused since to me classics have always been 'Jane Austen' or something close. But I guess it was my time to dabble with somewhat different.

Much against my initial urge to leave the book unfinished, I managed to complete it. And the fact that it's a less than 200 page book was no small a contributor!

While this definitely doesn't rank as one of the best books I have read, the book gives an interesting perspective of the 'Jazz Age' 1920s America. Ranked as one of the greatest books to read among the myriad listings of this nature, the book tells the story of the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for Daisy and the absolutely lavish, frequent and crazy parties that he hosts on Long Island. 

While the book starts at a slow pace, it gains momentum towards the middle and finally manages to grip the readers. The ending of the book is however, unusually sad and leaves a very dark picture of the society in general. The fact that hardly anyone turns up for Gatsby's funeral is a sad telling on a society which is caught up with money and power. While his parties saw attendance in hundreds, ironically, his funeral is attended only by 3 to 4 people.

To know if you have truly impacted people during your life, look around to see how many turn up at your funeral. That's a true test of a life well spent.

And that's my takeaway from this Amercian classic!

Bridget Jones Diary: Mad About the Boy

     Author                              Helen Fielding

     County                             United Kingdom

     Genre                               Fiction

     Publication Date              2013

     Pages                                386








And there are times when all of us should just read a chic flick! That's how I would define this book. Doesn't take away from the fact that this was a lot of fun and an unbelievably quick read.

Being a believer of 'happily ever after'; I detested the fact that the happy ending of book 2 was completely overthrown by this book which sees our very own lovable Bridget widowed at 51 with 2 young kids. And this book is all about her struggle as a mommy, as a script writer and as a woman who wants a man (desperately). In Helen's own fun way, each page makes one relate incredibly with Bridget and thus, this book makes you want to laugh and cry at the same time.

While most of the book is indeed about internet dating, competing with other moms and so on, one message that the book beautifully communicates at a more profound level is the fact that ones long term emotional health depends on the quality of relationships that she maintains with a range of friends (not just her spouse). Bridget's strong network of friends are the ones who keep her sane and cheerful in the most pressing of situations. 

On a more serious note while one fells terrible for Bridget when she misses Mark like crazy, somewhere the book (like the earlier ones) continues to insist that a woman is incomplete without a man. The feminist in me would have loved Bridget to become a strong, career focused, independent woman who knows that life doesn't end without a man.

But then, who am I to judge? 

Maybe this book is meant to be chic flick and should be enjoyed in that spirit alone.