Vanity Fair
A reflection on Thackeray’s world of ambition, appearance and moral compromise, and on the unforgettable contradictions of Becky Sharp.
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The Innocents Abroad
The great American novelist Mark Twain who has written two of my favorite novels; The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has also written ‘ The Innocents Abroad’ which is a travelogue detailing his travels in Europe. The novels have fascinated me endlessly. Tom Sawyer’s life of adventure and Huckleberry Finn’s…
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The Tin Drum
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…
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The Man in the Iron Mask
The Man in the Iron Mask is a sad novel for me. Here there are the deaths of Porthos, Athos, Raoul and D’Artagnan. My first acquaintance with D’Artagnan was in my 7th standard when we had ‘The Three Musketeers’ as our English non-detailed text. Since then D’Artagnan: the fearless warrior, that unrivalled swordsman has grown…
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The Professor
Charlotte Bronte’s novel ‘The Professor’ is a simple and steady novel about the life of Mr. William Crimsworth, a young man from an aristocratic family with no reliable connections or fortune. He is left to find his way in life. Although of not a very handsome nature, and endowed only with simple and plain features,…
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The Guide
The language of childhood is Universal. Is there any writer who does not wish to go back to those happy, innocent days when life was an endless discovery spent in the company of friends. R.K.Narayan’s Swami or Chami as he is affectionately called by his Grandmother in the TV series ‘Malgudi Days’ beautifully recreated by…
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The Tenant of Wildfel Hall
Anne Bronte’s The Tenant of Wildfel Hall is unlike any novel that I have read so far. Not getting into the details of the story which was considered far too liberal or immoral for those times, I shall touch upon the power of the novel for presenting two remarkable characters in Mr. Arthur Huntingdon and…
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Catcher in the Rye
The digression on the length of a novel may be continued for a few more pages, to support my argument that it is not the length that merits the reading of a novel more than once. J.D. Salinger’s ‘Catcher in the Rye’ is a short novel but requires a lot of reader engagement because of…
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Setting in Fiction and Film
The setting in film Noir movies of Hollywood of the 1950s and 60s, portrayed the cynical attitude and dark motivation of the characters. The “Wrong Man, Notorious, Strangers on a Train, Maltese falcon, The Woman in the window, Scarlet street, Detour, Touch of Evil, Diabolique (French), The Stranger, The Innocents (British), Woman on the Run…
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India and the victory at the Gabba
This is going to be only about India and the victory at the Gabba. There are certain things in life which light up your mood, bring a smile to your face, give you a sense of joy which is not epicurean. One feels like living that moment for a long time, although it does not concern you directly; It is not about your personal fame or fortune. Yet it gives you something, adds more value to your life, enriches your experience as a follower, a spectator and eventually goes down into personal lore and collective folklore.