Reflecting on the “Popular novels” that I have read, I have identified a few novels which need a special mention.
Papillon by Henri Charrière.
A modern day classic, it is described as a man’s quest for freedom. It has also been described as the greatest adventure story ever written but I would rank the Count of Monte Cristo ahead of Papillon. Nevertheless, the story has deep similarities with the acclaimed film “Shaw shank Redemption.” where the Shawshank prison cannot curtail the spirit of Andy. The film goes to prove that freedom is an aspect of the mind. There are people whom the most inhuman prisons cannot incarcerate. Papillon describes the undaunted struggle of the protagonist to escape from a French penal colony. Excitement and expectation grip the reader at the turn of every page and it is a novel that cannot be missed.
The story of Don Corleone and the Italian mafia clans in the United States in the novel ‘GodFather’ by Mario Puzo intrigues every reader and the film version by Francis Ford Coppola gives the impression that the Don Corleone smirked, smiled, nodded and cried just like Marlon Brando. The film created magic from the story and has been a cinematic benchmark for many aspects of film-making. But the basic plot of the film comes from this block-buster novel and this novel more than others, initiated an interest into the customs and traditions of the mafia. More novels like “The Sicilian, Omerta” expanded on these themes.
The next work is from one of my favorite authors, Jefferey Archer. His novel ‘Kane and Abel’ delights the reader with its mix of plots and counterplots, intrigues and conspiracies. From the pen of a modern-day Dickens this novel like many of his other novels such as “The Prodigal Daughter, As the Crow Flies, Honor among thieves, Shall we tell the President, First among equals, Paths of Glory” has high entertainment value but is also about dignity and resolve. William Kane and Abel Rosnovski, two people born on the same day in different parts of the world have their paths crossed in a high voltage battle of financial wizardry and subterfuge. When their battle of honor ends in a stale-mate, they discover that they have been with each other all along, at every turn in their life.
A chilling suspense thriller from Frederick Forsyth, ‘The Day of the Jackal’ describes the failed assassination attempt against the French President Charles De Gaulle by a hired assassin code named Jackal. How the Jackal plots his attempt, the exhaustive preparations for the forthcoming shot is narrated in minute detail. When the Jackal cannot be traced, he remains a face-less entity who came very close to accomplishing a dangerous and diabolic mission. ( To be continued)