Travel With Books!

  I am iffy, if the Irish author, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, wouldn’t have died early, hadn’t he sued Bam Stoker and many others, for blatantly nicking the plot premise of “Carmilla” and replicating into Dracula and so many others (both written and motion)!! 😊   Carmilla, a mid-1800s, first novel on female vampirism, tastefully captures the European wilderness, with the narrow roads, gothic bridge and the drawbridges. This gothic masterpiece, has been classified as one, displaying lesbianism, and accused of homophobia, which is quite vexing and questionable for me!   Can’t two females, devoid of love, with a lacking childhood, find solace and ardour, in each other’s company? Yes, the love between the two, has been portrayed a wee erotically, but I didn’t find anything obscene or smut!   I read the scenes between, the two repeatedly, and didn’t find anything vulgar, but for acute fondness for each other. Laura keeps talking of her antipathy for Carmilla, bu...

  My Views- My incorrigible propensity for books with Biblical references and teachings, decoyed me into this precious work of gracious civility in the midst of hardships! Agnes Grey, delineates, that amidst all the tormenting, hardships, lamentations and broodings, the tenets of love-laden Christianity can flourish life, infallibly! The tenacity of enduring hardships at home and vexations in profession, and abiding by the endearing Christian tenets, earned Agnes a loving husband, home and children! Persistent unshaken firmness, devoted diligence, unwearied perseverance and unceasing care, towards family and profession, qualified Agnes, to earn a happy ending for herself. I applaud the positive ending of this novel, on a happy-note!! We are often shielded by our own obscurity, and secure ourselves, by closing all doors to vulnerability. But Anne Bronte, audaciously, lay her life and views, all naked, in this first novel of hers. Commendable! Isn’t it? Agnes Grey, is a d...

    My Views-   There was once an authoress with a dogged-determination, To give her readers heebie-jeebies, By weaving a plot around a notorious deranged Victorian Hill-House, Standing tall for 80 years, With an impressive long-list of tragedies in it’s honour. We all live and die somewhere, afterall! She constructed a tale of sheer-brilliance, for her readers to construe. Is it a tale of the supernatural? Maybe yes… Is it a tale of psychiatric anomalies? Maybe yes… Is it a tale of the subconscious deciphering the real-life battles and the more? Maybe yes… Is it a tale of self-deception? Maybe yes… Who knows, maybe one of the above or all! Read it yourself, to know! 😊     A middle-aged quizzical professor of anthropology,  Dr. Montague , an occult scholar, invites three folks with telekinetic abilities, to support his research in unravelling the mystery of the Hillhouse, for his research paper.   Out of...

“The Mayor Of Casterbridge” , an intrusive third-party omniscient narration, swamped with disconcert, poignancy and calling out for intermittent perusals throughout, belongs to the 19 th century England, revolving around the county town of Casterbridge (fictional name for Dorchester, in south -western region of England)!   It is about the rise and fall of the fortune and mental health of the protagonist, Michael Henchard (MH) , who becomes penitent, every time he muddles up situations for himself. For me, he is a self-sabotage expert !  But soon enough, he falls into remorse and deep despair. So this cyclic pattern of self-sabotage and falling into despair, enwraps the plot in entirety The story is about his journey from 0 to 1 (with his past lurking him, throughout his success), and then again from 1 to 0!   The part of his rising graph from 0 to 1, was bearable for my puny brain, but the gargantuan and convoluted plot-twists in the second half of his journey f...

  “ Animal Farm ” is a hilarious polemic, anthropomorphic, allegorical novel on the 1917 Russian revolution, but is very much perpetually applicable to the past, current and future political state-of-affairs! It is emblematic of rebellion against dictators and totalitarianism .   It is a story of the Farmer Jones’ animals rising up in rebellion, tired of exploitation, to take over the “Manor Farm”, to build a fairer society for themselves. There are stark similarities between politicians and animal leaders. Power and use of language for controlling minds, has been astutely demonstrated in this novel, by George Orwell. Being a short-fabled fairy-like animal entertainer, it doesn’t render itself into a boring political study for a tad!     A satirical comedy on the inextricability of power and corruption, and their insidious effect on the common public! The corruption of the pigs metaphorically demonstrates the yielding of the politicians (in any age or era) ...

  “ Of love and other demons ”, written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (GGM) , is a fictional story, based constructed around a real event, when a skeleton of an adolescent female with long hair, is discovered from the crypts of a Convent (in Santa Clara). GGM, relates this incident with a legend told to him by his grandmother, about a 12-yr old girl, a miracle worker, believed to have contracted rabies, with her copper long hair continuing to grow post her death! It is a concise plot, a classic work of magical realism, where reality (the excavated skeleton) blends with imagination (the legend) 😊   GGM, has astutely, used this blend to unravel layers of love, passion, half-knowledge, ignorance, superstition and much more!!   The story revolves around the 12 yrs-old daughter of a noble family of Latin America, who was bitten by a rabid dog in the market.   Sierva Maria, the protagonist adolescent, is raised by her father, Don Ygnacio de Alfaro y Duenas, and her Indian mot...

  My views about the story 😊 -   It is, a story of gothic fiction, a story of avarice for eternal beauty and eternal youth, a story of how outside-influence, good or bad, can swerve the direction of an innocent-naive-life, a story of jealousy in love, a story of debauchery , narcissism & hedonism, a story of fight between appearance and reality, a story which edifies- to be accountable for your own choices, keeping all distractions at bay! a story of a yellow book, & aestheticism, It is a story of a lovely, withering portrait, which finally re-gains the lost charm, after exterminating, the rapacity & evil! 😊     Superficial Plot Synopsis 😊 -   A Painter, Basil, confides in his friend, Henry, about his, Obsession, for his muse, Dorian. Dorian, a quintessence of youthful beauty upon seeing his portrait, falls into narcissism. Miraculously, his wish of eternal youth is granted, instead of Dorian, his portra...