I do not pride myself as being well read. Rather, I consider myself an average reader. The realization makes me sad :-(! So many books being written everyday? so less time to read! My life has endless distractions! Intense involvement with my family is the biggest impediment. Then there is the mad ad world to which I contribute my own bit of madness.
I also own a rectangular magic box from which I catch up with the world?s madness every evening! Weekends are worse! They lure me to movies, eateries or social happenings whatsoever and when I return home happy and content, I suddenly remember the list of ?to be read? books and my frustration creeps back:-(!
Now that you know about my pathetic status as a reader, it will be easier for you to judge this review with more sympathy;-).
- Wisdom for others-George Mikes
I was introduced to George Mikes by the owner of a book shop which I used to frequent during my lecturer days. I an indebted to him till today for making me acquainted with this matchless Hungarian humorist. A journalist by profession, George Mikes had travelled to different countries and always aptly detected some national idiosyncrasies of that country and presented them in his inimitable style. His books are mostly collection of short pieces, more like the columns written in papers, which are laden with endless humour and gentle sarcasm that generates no ire or fire. The short witty articles not only make good reading but are thoroughly entertaining. They invariably enliven one?s spirits on a bad day!
Some excerpts from the book:
Physics teaches you that the nearer you go to a seemingly small object, the larger it looks. Quite the reverse is the truth in the case of great men. The nearer you go to them, the smaller they seem.
(How to be the centre of the universe)
Our society is a free society.
In a free society you are allowed to say what you think.
But you are not allowed to think.
(The utility man)
The worst possible insult to any person is to tell him that he has no sense of humour; the second worst is to declare that he is not a shrewd judge of human nature.
(On judging people)
- The Woman Destroyed- Simone de Beauvoir
I?m afraid I am driving pretty rash with unmanageable jerks and bumps! Yes, it is difficult to digest Simone de Beauvoir immediately after George Mikes. But I felt you were getting a bit too frothy and it was time to anchor you on to some serious stuff! This book is a collection of three long short stories- The age of discretion, Monologue and The woman destroyed. All of them deal with the vulnerability, loneliness and complex psyche of women past their prime--the first on the process of aging, the second on loneliness and the third about the growing indifference of the loved one. My favourite is the title story which marvelled me when I first read it as a teenager and keeps amazing me till today! The art of story telling, psycho analysis and use of lucid language has been blended together with unique mastery in these three superb stories!
Some excerpts from the book:
You cannot transform your life without being transformed.
All women think they are different; they all think there are some things that will never happen to them; and they are all wrong.
The telephone is not a thing that brings people nearer; it underlines their remoteness.
- The prophet-Kahlil Gibran
This book is my bible. I first read it in my post grad days and the author?s musings on different subjects created a deep impression on me. It contained a philosophy that was so rich and fascinating that I read and reread till I learnt it by heart! The text flows in a graceful rhythm, like the melodious chanting of mantras. It is a discourse on every aspect of life in the most poetic language. There is no other book I can remember of which has spoken such profound wisdom with such brilliant ease.
Some excerpts from the book:
On marriage
Love one another, but make not a bond of love.
Fill each other?s cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone.
Give your hearts but not into each other?s keeping?.
Stand together yet not too near together.
For the pillars of a temple stand apart
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other?s shadow.
On time:
Yesterday is but today?s memory and tomorrow is today?s dream??So let today embrace the past with remembrance and the future with longing
On religion
He who wears his morality but as his best garment were better naked??Your daily life is your temple and your religion.
- The Honorary Consul-Graham Greene
This is an exceptional tragicomedy about an aged honorary counsel in a provincial Argentinean town. Charley Fortnum, the ?Honorary Consul? is mistakenly kidnapped by a group of revolutionaries. The man is an obsessive drinker and of dubious authority. Eduardo Plarr is a local doctor who negotiates for his release and soon the corruption of the revolutionaries as well as the authorities become evident. Greene, with his characteristic wry humour, explores the morality of a political system that turns priests into killers. The plot also contains an affair between Fortnum?s newly wed wife (a nineteen years old P*stitute whom the consul met at the establishment of Senora Sanchez) and Dr. Plarr, and the irony of the doctor negotiating for the consul?s release. Greene gives a cynical view of the contradiction and comedy existing in the fabric of human life. While reading this sparse tense novel, one cannot escape the subtle humor with which the characters and situations are etched to perfection!
Some excerpts from the book:
In a wrong society, criminals are honest men.
'There has been a lot of talk (about his marriage). And Humphrey (the doctorate
in English) cuts me.?
?That?s lucky for you.?
Charley Fortrum hesitated. ?Well, she is very young?, he said. It was
not clear whether he was excusing his critics or apologizing for himself.
Dr. Plarr said, ?Lucky again.?
In a real love affair, you are interested in a woman because she is someone
distinct from yourself; then bit by bit she adapts herself to you, she picks up your
habits, your ideas, even your turns of phrase, she becomes part of you, and then
what interests remain? One cannot love oneself??.
