The journey of my engagement with fiction compels me to acknowledge some of the influences and other factors in that journey. On this account this post takes a little personal turn. Reading is an addictive habit. “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than…
This post is about the novel The Tin Drum by Nobel prize winning novelist Gunter Grass. I have read only one of his novels but have preserved a very strong impression of the novel’s style and narrative structure. The Tin Drum is the life of Oskar Matzerath. Oskar Matzerath’s companion through life is his drum…
Varanasi being in the news again, I went down memory lane and refreshed my visit to this eternal city in January 2013. This is more in the form of a travelogue and will be in varying tenses. “I’m travelling to Varanasi by the Ganga Kaveri express. Dry and deserted rural Maharashtra – Men in Dhotis and women too in Dhoti styled saris.
This week’s post about the novel is about the Post modernist American novel by Ralph Ellison Invisible Man – A novel that examines several questions of the African-American identity and individuality from a perspective that was radically different from novels written until then, this novel has been regarded as the American picaresque novel which does…
Figurative expression as an aspect of the novel found in the novels of D.H.Lawrence and Thomas Hardy: Both the novelists engaged intensely with their subject and were also poets. Poems of D.H. Lawrence like ‘ The Snake’ and ‘Ship Of Death’ have a vitality and ardour which can be observed to a greater extent in…
What a delightful novel! What an astounding array of characters. It is remarkable how Dickens does not leave out even one strand unraveled or no character rounded off towards the end. When I finished the novel, I felt I had had a repast. Dickens is truly at the height of his powers; be it the…
In search of new or exotic places,one often tends to overlook the attractions of the neighborhood.Nearly 25 kms from Guntur city, Kondaveedu fort is actually a trekkers paradise. This place has been on my list of places to see for a long time.The extended Vijayadashami holiday period gave me some time to visit. The gigantic rocks and bouders in spectacular shapes that surround this valley of ancience, present breathtaking views and sights.The various ruins and edifices, that dot this vast landscape are to be explored patiently and assiduously.Although it was only 4.30 pm by the time I reached there,I could see a mist descending onto
This week’s post on fiction is about two novels which occupy an important place in the history of 18th century fiction and are the earliest examples of ingenious skill and mastery of the craft of fiction. Both the novels belong to the picaresque tradition of which ‘Don Quixote’ is the most famous example. Humphrey Clinker…
andom reflections on the novel (Part-24) This week my reflections are about one of the most profound novels that I have read –“Brothers Karamazov” In the world not everything is rational. If everything in the world was rational, nothing would happen. So, it would be unwise or foolish to look for solutions, logical outcomes as…
Mark Twain’s. The Prince and the Pauper is an old tale of two people who look alike and change places, to experience life in both the worlds. Here it is King Edward VIII and Tom Canty, the pauper who swap places. The king in his sojourn into the world of his subjects is informed harshly…