Neeraj Chavan
A very heartwarming and wholesome short read!
However, I found it a bit too naive for adults. This would be a good book to recommend to pre-teens and teenagers or even young adults. Provides a nice perspective on life and some good advice in there with a bit of humour. Loved the chapter on how to be a man and on religion.
That being said, it does sound a bit preachy and typical at times. But then, that's what the book is about; a dad giving advice to his son on what is life and how best to live it.
This is the first ever Maya Angelou book that I have picked up. A short read sort of like a memoir of her childhood to adulthood days. The way she has put down her traumatic experiences of childhood makes you have a lump in your throat. The writing is very intense and emotionally powerful.
I look forward to exploring more of Maya's works.
It's been a while since I read something by Dostoevsky and this rather short novel didn't disappoint. Powerful and intense narration combined with interesting characters! Written from his classic first person point of view, Dostoevsky sheds light on gambling addiction and takes us inside the mind of a roulette gambler. The book explores a lot of other themes about human nature, along with addiction and delves into the very soul of the protagonist. I borrowed the audiobook from the local library via Libby and it was my first audiobook experience. Would surely recommend!
“There is no perfection only life.”
“There is no means of testing which decision is better, because there is no basis for comparison. We live everything as it comes, without warning, like an actor going on cold. And what can life be worth if the first rehearsal for life is life itself? That is why life is always like a sketch. No, “sketch” is not quite a word, because a sketch is an outline of something, the groundwork for a picture, whereas the sketch that is our life is a sketch for nothing, an outline with no picture.”
“Loves are like empires: when the idea they are founded on crumbles, they, too, fade away.”
“And what can life be worth if the first rehearsal for life is life itself?”
“Perhaps all the questions we ask of love, to measure, test, probe, and save it, have the additional effect of cutting it short. Perhaps the reason we are unable to love is that we yearn to be loved, that is, we demand something (love) from our partner instead of delivering ourselves up to him demand-free and asking for nothing but his company.”
This is one of those books which I find difficult to review as while reading this book I experienced a mix of emotions stirring within me.
This was the first time that I was reading Milan Kundera and I had heard of him as someone who's deeply influenced by Franz Kafka. That piqued my interest and I decided to give this book a shot. To begin with, Milan has a very weird and unique style of writing. I found it gripping and fast-paced but at the same time banal and pretentious.
Yes, there are some beautiful metaphors and aphorisms here and there, but overall I didn't quite like his indulgence in philosophical ramblings about lightness and heaviness. It seemed at times like he's overdoing it and I had to bear through some trite paragraphs.
One of the things which I detested the most about this book is the author's portrayal of women and the language that he has used throughout his book. The blatant objectification of women and the way he has described the women characters in this book is utterly disappointing and at times, miserably disgusting. This bothered me the most while reading the book.
Narration and storytelling wise, I would say the book doesn't do that great. Throughout the book, we see his characters struggling between the extremities of “heaviness” and “lightness” of being.
Thomas with his selfish promiscuous adventures and infidelities. Franz with his need to seek validation from the imaginary Sabina in his head. Tereza with her insecurities and jealousy. Sabina with his need to be free from everything and all attachments. The characters are suffering and having their own struggles swinging from one end to another. But at the same time, the characters do nothing in their power to change their situation and their moral ambiguity adds to their woes. As a reader, it makes the book unbearably tedious to read.
The theme of the book is too depressing and melancholic and the last chapter hits the final nail in the coffin. But I guess that's how most existential books are.
I found this book tolerable. Well, it does have some bits and pieces where it excels in terms of prose and its aphorisms but overall, I guess I could have skimmed through it and that'd have been a better choice. If you enjoy reading bleak existential philosophy, you perhaps might enjoy this book. However, there are much better existential fiction books out there. Personally, I found the Unbearable Lightness of Being, an unbearably dreary read!
“The truth is, once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.”
“If you're trying to show off for people at the top, forget it. They will look down on you anyhow. And if you're trying to show off for people at the bottom, forget it. They will only envy you. The status will get you nowhere. Only an open heart will allow you to float equally between everyone.”
“We've got a sort of brainwashing going on in our country, Morrie sighed. Do you know how they brainwash people? They repeat something over and over. And that's what we do in this country. Owning things is good. More money is good. More property is good. More commercialism is good. More is good. More is good. We repeat it–and have it repeated to us–over and over until nobody bothers to even think otherwise. The average person is so fogged up by all of this, he has no perspective on what's really important anymore.Wherever I went in my life, I met people wanting to gobble up something new. Gobble up a new car. Gobble up a new piece of property. Gobble up the latest toy. And then they wanted to tell you about it. ‘Guess what I got? Guess what I got?'Do you know how I interpreted that? These were people so hungry for love that they were accepting substitutes. They were embracing material things and expecting a sort of hug back. But it never works. You can't substitute material things for love or for gentleness or for tenderness or for a sense of comradeship.Money is not a substitute for tenderness, and power is not a substitute for tenderness. I can tell you, as I'm sitting here dying when you most need it, neither money nor power will give you the feeling you're looking for, no matter how much of them you have.”
“I give myself a good cry if I need it. But then I concentrate on the good things still in my life. I don't allow myself any more self-pity than that. A little each every morning, a few tears, and that's all.”
“Because if you've found meaning in your life, you don't want to go back. You want to go forward.”
This is by far the best book I've read in 2019. Right from the moment I started reading it on my Kindle, I had to like highlight almost every word in this book! So to start with, Tuesdays With Morrie is about a professor Morrie Schwartz and his student Mitch, who is the narrator throughout the book.
The story begins with Mitch graduating from college and then promising to stay in touch with Morrie, his favourite professor, whom he fondly referred to as “Coach”
Fast forward a few years and Mitch gets the taste of reality and life outside university doors. He gets busy in the hustle, working as a popular sports journalist, grinding away his days to make it big. Amidst all this, he almost forgets about his beloved professor Morrie and loses contact with him until one day when he spots Morrie on a television show ‘Nightline', where he's giving an interview about his life experiences. The twist here is that Morrie is diagnosed with ‘ALS' and has a very short amount of time left in this world.
Upon seeing this, Mitch is shocked and tries to reconnect with his old professor and eventually succeeds. What follows next is a series of meetings between Mitch and Morrie. They meet on Tuesdays and discuss life in general. Right from society and culture to relationships and death. Every Tuesday meeting is a life lesson from a mentor on his deathbed to his favourite student who's struggling with finding the purpose of his life and existence.
The book is so beautifully written that as a reader you're instantly pulled into Morrie's little world and his wholesome life experiences that he's willing to share. Every word that comes out of Morrie's mouth is pure gold! It's like I found a life guide and mentor in Morrie, through this book. This book is like blended whiskey on the rocks, as you start, you enjoy it gradually but by the time you finish it, you're hit with a wave of optimism and positivity!
Anyway, if I go on writing more, I would probably end up rewriting the entire book as a review here, so I'd conclude this here.
This book is a must read for everyone. In my opinion, it's one of those books that you can't afford to miss out on. Would strongly recommend it especially to young 20 something folks who're out of college and still trying to figure out their lives.
Men marry because they are tired; women because they are curious. Both are disappointed.
To get into the best society, nowadays, one has either to feed people, amuse people, or shock people. That is all.
When one is in love one begins by deceiving oneself and one ends by deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance.
This is one of those typical Oscar Wilde plays, filled with aphorisms in the form of conversations. The story begins with the entire bunch of play's characters gathering together in Lady Hunstanton's garden and the conversations that follow. I have always loved Oscar Wilde's plays its rich prose and the ideas that Wilde expresses in a rather satirical way, through his characters. Every character is interesting. Especially Lord Illingworth and Mrs Allonby.
Set in 1890s, Wilde has attacked the self-righteousness and hypocrisy of upper-class society and how they treat women in the society, in his usual cynical manner. The storyline is basic, however being an Oscar Wilde play, the rich prose and witticisms surely make it worth reading.
Would definitely recommend this one to Oscar Wilde fans!
“Now I have neither happiness nor unhappiness.Everything passes.That is the one and the only thing that I have thought resembled a truth in the society of human beings where I have dwelled up to now as in a burning hell.Everything passes.”
“Unhappiness. There are all kinds of unhappy people in the world. I suppose it would be no exaggeration to say that the world is composed entirely of unhappy people. But those people can fight their unhappiness with society fairly and squarely, and society for its part easily understands and sympathizes with such struggles. My unhappiness stemmed entirely from my own vices, and I had no way of fighting anybody.”
“What is society but an individual? The ocean is not a society; it is individuals. This was how I managed to gain a modicum of freedom from my terror at the illusion of the ocean called the world.”
This is one of the most fascinatingly harrowing books I've read in a while. Based in postwar Japan, to start with it's about the narrator telling the story of this guy called Yozo from his notebooks. Yozo considers himself as a “failed human being”, which is quite literally the title of the book. As someone who always struggles with human relationships and society in general. The book starts with the story of Yozo describing his childhood and how he was abused. He learns to hide behind the clownish persona that he created to cope up with his insecurities.
In college, Yozo wants to be an artist and then meets his frenemy Horiki, with whom he shares a rather unusual bond. Yozo feels that Horiki can understand him and see through his facade. The interaction between them, throughout the novel, is quite engaging and profound.
The story moves on in a rather depressing manner with Yozo's squalid lifestyle adding to his misery. There are several women in Yozo's life, each impacting his life in some way of the other. There's a lot of alcohol, cigarettes drugs and depression in the latter part of the book. The underlying ideas about society and individualism discussed in the book add a unique flavour of the story.
Throughout the book, there's this sense of impending doom about Yozo that makes you uncomfortable yet hooks you to his story. The best thing about this book is that despite the morbid storyline, it never fails to be amusing and is quite fast paced. I ended up enjoying the book.
If you're a fan of existential fiction with a dark and melancholic storyline, then I'd definitely recommend you to read this one. I loved the book and would like to explore more of Osamu Dazai and probably more of Japanese literature.
“That is just what life is when it is beautiful and happy - a game! Naturally, one can also do all kinds of other things with it, make a duty of it, or a battleground, or a prison, but that does not make it any prettier.”
“Once in their youth the light shone for them; they saw the light and followed the star, but then came reason and the mockery of the world; then came faint-heartedness and apparent failure; then came weariness and disillusionment, and so they lost their way again, they became blind again.”
Well, this is another gem by Hermann Hesse. The story revolves around the narrator joining a cult which is on a journey to the east. The entire novel is metaphorical in nature with profound themes running in the background. It follows the narrator through the entire journey with different interesting characters involved. I have always been a fan a Hesse's style of wrting and this book isn't an exception. Surely worth reading!
“But how is one to live, if one give everything away?”
“Each one of us has to save his own soul, and has to do God's work himself, but instead of that we busy ourselves saving other people and teaching them. And what do we teach them? We teach them now, at the end of the nineteenth century, that God created the world in six days, then caused a flood, and put all the animals in an ark, and all the rest of the horrors and nonsense of the Old Testament. And then that Christ ordered everyone to be baptized with water; and we make them believe in all the absurdity and meanness of an Atonement essential to salvation; and then that he rose up into the heavens which do not really exist, and there sat down at the right hand of the Father. We have got used to all this, but really it is dreadful! A child, fresh and ready to receive all that is good and true, asks us what the world is, and what its laws are; and we, instead of revealing to him the teaching of love and truth that has been given to us, carefully ram into his head all sorts of horrible absurdities and meannesses, ascribing them all to God.”
“We can't do without faith. Not, however, faith in what other people tell us, but faith in what we arrive at ourselves, by our own thought, our own reason ... faith in God, and in true and everlasting life.”
I happened to discover this play in my vast e-library of Tolstoy. To begin with, it's a tale of a guy called Nicholas Ivánovich who has read the gospels and has his own interpretations of it. About how he tries to follow his interpretations and behave accordingly, sacrificing his entire private property and living for the poor. And how it ruins his family and the people who love him. The play seems like an an allegorical take on religion, communism, capitalism, Christianity and even spirituality. The most interesting thing about this book is that it can be interpreted in so many ways! Like some people might end up sympathizing with Nicholas while some may detest him for his spiritual pride and balderdash. It's very beautifully written play which unfortunately Tolstoy couldn't finish off. I so want the Tolstoy to come back from the dead just to finish this off!
Overall, it's a wonderful book and a must-read for Tolstoy fans!
“Who is the third who walks always beside you? When I count, there are only you and I together But when I look ahead up the white road there is always another one walking beside you. Gliding wrapt in a brown mantle, hooded, I do not know whether a man or a woman —But who is that on the other side of you?”
“My nerves are bad to-night. Yes, bad. Stay with me. Speak to me. Why do you never speak. Speak. What are you thinking of? What thinking? What? I never know what you are thinking. Think.”
My final book of 2017 and it's T.S Eliot! The Waste Land is a beautiful poem! The poem has five sections. Each section explores a unique theme and what can I say abot Eliot, he is the master of modern poetry! The concluding chapter, What the Thunder Said, is my personal favourite. The last line of the poem ends with the holy mantra, “Shantih shantih shantih”
Just like I wanted the year to end!
Surely worth reading!
“i am a museum full of artbut you had your eyes shut”
“do not look for healingat the feet of thosewho broke you”
“The thing about writing is I can't tell if it's healing or destroying.”
“your artis not about how many peoplelike your workyour artis aboutif your heart likes your workif your soul likes your workit's about how honestyou are with yourselfand youmust nevertrade honestyfor relatability”
Okay. This book is way too intense for a poetry book. At one point I thought I couldn't continue and had to stop. I mean, it literally gave me goosebumps after each stanza.
A friend of mine suggested me to read this and I was skeptical about it earlier since it's a different genre than my usual reads. I do enjoy poetry but this one was one of the most powerful work of modern poetry I've ever ever read. Rupi Kaur is raw and unabashed when it comes to expressing her thoughts.
The book deals with major and delicate themes like sexual abuse, love, trauma, loss, healing and feminism in a rather poetic and beautiful way.
Surely worth reading. I would now love to read ‘The Sun and the Flowers'
“Is something wrong?”“Why–why do you ask?”“You looked so lonely, suddenly. As if you'd forgotten I'm here.”
I came across this book in my e-library, as I haven't explored any of Joyce Carol Oates' works before. And I'm absolutely awestruck.
The book is as unflinching as it's title. Joyce style of writing and the story will hit you like bricks on your head.
It's about how the evil of rape destroys lives and wonderful souls, altogether. About how the society is indifferent towards the victims. All this told through a beautifully woven story. This book sends across a strong message and the words are bound to shatter you.
Would love to explore more of Joyce's works now.
Never have I read such a cynically biting satire on the idea of friendship, Friendship that is toxic and selfish in nature. Only Wilde has that wit to write in such style.
To start with, the story revolves around a poor gardener, Hans and his miserably selfish miller friend.
About how he just strips off everything from the gardener and manipulates him under the guise & promise of friendship and eventually ruins his life, without the poor gardener realizing it. It's a harrowing tale which shows us the other side of the coin. About how the idea of a friend is not the same in everyone's mind.
Wilde is not known to end his tales in an unhappy state but this one is an exception. I'm still annoyed by the character of the miller. The tale manages to take a subtle hit on various issues like capitalism and its evils.
Another brilliant tale by Wilde. Surely worth reading!
Oh, I just love how Wilde can mould two opposite ideas in a single story and even then make it interesting.
This one's a parable about a young King who doesn't want his riches and his crown. All he wants is that the divide between the rich and the poor to disappear away. Ideas like monarchy, greed and poverty are explored in a rather beautiful way. However, such a wonderful tale has been dulled by a fairy-tale like end in which Wilde has a preachy tone regarding Christianity. It could have been avoided. However, the entire story is just brilliant. Definitely worth reading!
This is the perfect tale for how excessive pride and ego bring about the downfall of an individual.
To start with, Wilde weaves this story about a haughty and proud rocket, who goes about boasting of his worth. But life has other plans in store for him. About how his vanity & narcissism reach a point where he can't even realize that he's already in a ditch and there's no coming out of it. I just love how Wilde can teach you so much in so little words. His wit is just unbeatable!
Surely a must-read!
“Then he saw what he was looking for. Below, in one of the little clearings in the brush lay the red pony. In the distance, Jody could see the legs moving slowly and convulsively. And in a circle around him stood the buzzards, waiting for the moment of death they knew so well.”“He saw a hawk flying so high that it caught the sun on its breast and shone like a spark. Two blackbirds were driving him down the sky, glittering as they attacked their enemy. In the west, the clouds were moving in to rain again.”Oh, how I love John Steinbeck. Even though Steinbeck's novels are all raw and bleak, they somehow amuse me every time. And at the end of every Steinbeck book, I'm always left fighting that lump in my throat!The Red Pony is no different. It stars with the story of a young boy named Jody who receives a red pony, Gabilan from his father Carl, as a gift. He loves his pony ardently, taking care of him with the help of rancher Billy Buck. The story moves on with Steinbeck's powerfully descriptive, simple and sparsely wonderful style of writing. As usual, Steinbeck manages to stir up your emotions and totally drags you inside his novel; inside the world of Jody Tiflin and his house near the might and beautiful Gabilan Mountains. Overall, it's a great book and set in the backdrop of Trifin Ranch and is sort of like a fictional sneak peek into John Steinbeck's childhood.I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would rate it a complete 5/5!
“Ah, on what little things does happiness depend! I have read all that the wise men have written, and all the secrets of philosophy are mine, yet for want of a red rose is my life made wretched.”
“Be happy, cried the Nightingale, be happy; you shall have your red rose. I will build it out of music by moonlight, and stain it with my own heart's-blood. All that I ask of you in return is that you will be a true lover, for Love is wiser than Philosophy, though she is wise, and mightier than Power, though he is mighty. Flame-coloured are his wings, and coloured like flame is his body. His lips are sweet as honey, and his breath is like frankincense.”
No one beats Oscar Wilde when it comes to romanticism and drama, with wit and cynicism!
This is one of those stories that show us the dark side of love and romance. About how materialistic love trumps over romantic love. About how reality is bitter than illusion. It explores the ideas of true love & sacrifice in a rather cynically heartfelt way. And the tale is so beautifully written that it's bound to move you!
Surely worth reading!
“You tell me of marvellous things, but more marvelous than anything is the suffering of men and of women. There is no mystery so great as misery. Fly over my city, little Swallow, and tell me what you see there.”
“I am going to the house of Death. Death is the brother of sleep, is he not?” And he kissed the Happy Prince on the lips, and fell down dead at his feet.
So they pulled down the statue of Happy Prince. “As he is no longer beautiful, he is no longer useful.”
I might have stated this many times before, but Wilde is surely a genius. The short story begins when a Swallow lands on a prosperous statue of the Happy Prince, who's studded with jewels and pearls and looms over the his city. He asks the Swallow to fly over his city and tell him what's happening.
The story then moves forward with the Swallow discovering the misery and poverty of the poor people living in the city. And the Happy Prince saddened by all this, little by litle, sacrifices away everything to make his city happy.
It explored various ideas like happiness, beauty and misery. The beauty of this book lies in the fact that the tale is so simple and yet so profound! Classic Wilde!
A must read indeed!
“It's much more easy to have sympathy with suffering than it is to have sympathy with thought. The emotions of a man are stirred more quickly than man's intelligence.”
“A red rose is not selfish because it wants to be a red rose. It would be horribly selfish if it wanted all other flowers in the garden to be both red and roses.”
“To call an artist morbid because he deals with morbidity as his subject-matter is as silly as if one called Shakespeare mad because he wrote King Lear”
“At present, machinery competes against man. Under proper conditions machinery will serve man. On mechanical slavery, the slavery of the machine, the future of the world depends.”
Where was this book all this time! I happened to stumble across this rather precious gem in my vast e-library of Wilde's works. Wilde isn't known to write political books but this one is different.
Wilde explores the idea of how and ideal government should be like. As usual, the book is filled with romantic ideas and thoughts on art, humanity, individualism, slavery. The witty aphorisms and the classic cynicism of Wilde, make it a delightful read. Wilde's every book has that ability to change your perception about things and this one's no exception. The book is timeless and way ahead of its time as it also discusses the possibility of machines replacing humans for degrading jobs. And we're currently living in times of artificial intelligence! To sum up this book in a single sentence, if Hitler or Stalin would have been influenced by this book, maybe, just maybe, the world would have been a better place! This is the book everyone needs to read! This book is indeed Wilde's underrated masterpiece! A must-read!