Travel With Books!

  A story of a destroyed but undefeated thin, old, gaunt man, Santiago , with an unlucky boat. A story of a decrepit man with deep wrinkles in the back of his neck, Everything was old about him, but for his cheerful and infallible eyes! With no fisherman luck for straight 84 days/salao, For 40 days accompanied with a boy, Manolin , but now alone in a skiff, But the boy with an empathetic heart, Would be sad to see him come back every day with an empty skiff! Few made fun, others were sad for him! The bond between the two is way too adorable! Both have sincere love and care for each other . Deciding to stake the outer lying areas of the sea, He ventures rowing early dark morning, Lost in his musings, a gigantic fish, Marlin , eats his sardine bait, Breaking his reverie ! The line gets stretched taut, almost to the breaking point, But the fish stays parallel to the boat, and sails along! He keeps wishing fervently for the boy, And feels alone, keeps cursing his diminishing strength! ...

  I  HAD TEARS AND SMILE THROUGHOUT.   Warning - This novel is endearing and filled with ardour to a dangerous level, that one can risk into crooning and canoodling with the novel throughout! Nothing could put the 2 of us asunder! 😊 Reading this was like finding a niche in the middle of this gruesome reality!   Quick Plot Summary- Trying to bring together all the broken pieces of life, coming out of the fear of living, after knowing she has only a year left to live (coz of a fatal heart disease), the 29-year old Valancy Stirling (labelled as an oldmaid) no longer cares about the society, and family members. In short, she decides to stop impressing others, and takes an avowal to start living for herself and experience what all she had dreamt till date for herself! She wishes to experience being with the man of her dreams and be in her dream house, which she refers to as “ Blue Castle ”. Taking the reins of her life in her hands, she decides to live, ...

  Summary- While killing crabs in the courtyard during a rainstorm, A couple discovers a wearied, old and disoriented man, He is peculiar and an outcaste, Shabby with large wings, and unaware of the local language, Latin! Concluding him to be an ANGEL, as their sick daughter recovers, upon his arrival. They decide to keep the old man alive and not butcher him! But they butcher him in ways far more treacherous than a one-time slaughter! ☹ They throw him in the chicken coop, to suffer incessantly! People from far-off places visit to see him, The couple makes money from every visit, Villagers pelt stones at him, pluck his feathers, and disregard him in every way possible! ☹ A day comes, when the coop collapses, The old man starts wandering from room to room in the house, infuriating the wife! Finally, a day comes, when the old man stretches his wings, And takes off, escaping the ceaseless cruelty imposed by the humans. The wife sees him go, till he disappears over the horizon!!  ...

  An efficacious story on “ revenge with impunity ” and “ premature burial ”. For me, it is a perfect “story of VANITY! ”. A revenge which laid hidden for half-a-century, and is revealed to the readers by the redresser & narrator (the main character), Montresor. We as a reader turn into a confidant, to his macabre tale of revenge ! The victim, Fortunato , unaware of the sinister scheming against him, is sealed in the walls of the moist family catacomb.   The story begins with the main character, Montresor , mentioning about his silent endurance of 1000 injuries and vowing a revenge with impunity- “THE thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.” “I must not only punish, but punish with impunity” Here, the insult borne, is related to the prideful knowledge of Fortunato on wine. We notice that Montresor, can get easily insulted/offended!   Montresor is quintessential of patience . Searing...

  There is a tempestuous storm outside, husband and son are stranded in a store, drenched in mud. Calixta, the wife, is back home, busy with the household chores, not disconcerted about the storm or their well-being. The ex-lover drops-by seeking shelter, they share an erotic moment, and disperse! Post that they all live happily ever-after! 😊   All characters remain stolid, irrespective of the events in their lives, or their current situation, the storm! The husband and wife are proclaimed as dutiful and conscientious, but nothing about their chemistry/biology has been revealed 😊   Omitting the adultery, passion, the story has a strong message of how fulfilment of ignored needs, can infuse new life and make the present more colourful and vivacious! The storm brings two married people into a transient fleeting affair. With no repercussion, everyone involved (including families) live happily ever after. Kate Chopin, having composed the concept of extra-marita...

    “ A Rose for Emily ”, a gothic story, opens with the townspeople reacting in awe over Miss Emily Grierson's death, post which the story travels in flashback. The entire story is narrated from the townspeople point of view and not in Emily’s purview. Emily, a burden for the people, was send a notice for the due taxes. She sends a note in an old handwriting/archaic shape, mentioning, that she doesn’t go out anywhere anymore! Emily is domineering and menacing. The town calls for a special meeting of the Board of Aldermen, to figure out what to do with the lady not paying her taxes. She downrightly and sternly refuses to take the ownership of the due taxes, and sends them back. The people had issue with her smell , they complained about it to the leaders, but not wating to argue with the intimidating Emily, they take care of the smell on their own, by sprinkling lime in the house. Emily had a very protective controlling father (like father, like daughter! 😊 ), and he ...

  It is a plaintive story of a poor farmer, Ethan Frome, a man with thwarted desires and meagre resources. His entire life (past, present and future) is allegorical of hardship, austerity and distress!   I was expecting it to be focused around passion (as from the blurbs), but I found it to be everything else but passion. Maybe had I read it a few years ago, then I might have exultantly and emotionally rated it high, but a mindset smacked with experiences, derives loopholes, and studies books with a different lens!   The synopsis - A poor farmer ( Ethan Frome ) of meagre resources, Of bleak and stiffened appearance, Frozen by his tragic past, Imprisoned in a forever mortal silence, Having accumulated the cold, of many Starkfield winters! Living in a mute melancholy, Having lost his parents, Expecting a brief reprieve post marriage with Zeena , But both fall into a forever ghastly silence, No love, no communication, Just doctoring his sickly wife! The birds start twitterin...