C.L.R. James’ Beyond a Boundary. The book is highly regarded and hailed as one of the greatest sports books ever written. Recording my impressions about this book, may result in unleashing a string of adjectives. Praise and acclaim have been bestowed upon it by thinkers, players and philosophers.
Improving your vocabulary becomes easy when we start observing how language behaves since language is a system which is undergoing a process of continuous evolution. A small example towards this evolutionary nature of language (English in this case) becomes evident when we look at these sentences from Shakespeare, “Bring me to Octavius” in the manner of take me to Octavius where as bring as a verb today means fetching “This thou shall suddenly” in the manner of quickly whereas suddenly today would mean, ‘without notice’. “Let us remove” in the sense, let us leave this place.
It is welcome to be having a feeling of déjà vu now and then. After my childhood of 2 years in Cochin some 50 years ago, I could visit Kerala again. It is Sun and rain which alternate in nearly symmetrical patterns that make me enthusiastic. Far from a land that knows only one season, Summer; I’m in Kerala at that time of the year when the monsoon is active.
The gruesome accident in Pune that was caused by a drunk youth, driving recklessly in his newly gifted Porsche car has literally lifted the seal on the can of worms that is eating into our social fabric. From one serious mistake to another, starting from a father gifting such a luxurious car to his son, the bar serving liquor liberally to a minor boy, the machinery which took a ‘liberal’ view of this atrocious crime, the political machinery which woke up even at ‘2’ in the morning to be on duty for their benefactor’s son, the official bureaucracy in the form of doctors and medical
What intrigued me about the novel was the ending. I could not understand why the novelist had to devote more than 6 pages for the preparations of war going on in France while Nana lies in the hospital bed. Nana leads a life of pleasure and un forbidden freedom. She is the embodiment of sensuality….
A return to Achebe’s landmark novel and the tragedy of an individual, a culture and a social order confronted by disruptive historical change.
I knew nothing about comics until my 7th standard. In my 7th standard I joined a new school in Chennai and I was introduced to Comics by my friends who used to read them on the under desk while bending their heads, pretending to write. They would not lend them to me to take to the hostel. I could borrow only in the school hours.
Little Dorrit has been called a masterpiece among masterpieces by G.B.Shaw. Like many of Dickens’ novels this too is a London novel; the metropolis in which Dickens locates his characters. The urbane, aristocratic, well –to-do citizens of this city in contrast to the struggling impoverished folk from the poorer sections gives an ambience and canvas…
Bleak House heralds the prowess of Charles Dickens at his highest point. Woven around a lawsuit named Jarndyce Vs Jarndyce, the novel bears the distinctive stamp of the novelist, especially his powers of observation and characterization. The range of people who are present in a Dickens novel, makes him no less than a social historian…
A walk does wonders to the spirit. To feel free and relaxed, supple and less lazy one should go for a walk. It is the morning walk that is more exhilarating as we can look at the birds, listen to their sharp calls , see the leaves in a mood of stillness or playfulness depending upon the breeze or await the turn of the wheel when all Nature is about to awaken. The Sun is not yet out and that minute of an interval between night and day, crowns a feeling of mystery.