The Shining by Stephen King

The fact that I was able to complete this book in the midst of my crazy schedule is truly an achievement for me. This was my first horror novel. I honestly refrain from reading anything that’s too negative or anything that triggers negative emotions like fear or anxiety. But still I had heard so much about this book and about the movie based on this book that I decided to read it. And yes I mean obviously I didn’t regret it a bit. It’s a fantastic story narrated by Stephen King in the most striking manner. I totally understand why he is considered as a genius. This book is not just a horror story but it is rather about ‘dysfunctional’ behavior. How suffocating it is for a child when he is a part of a dysfunctional family with an insensitive father and a helpless mother! Add a dash of a secluded haunted hotel to it and you get yourself an engaging plot. I wasn’t scared by the book to be honest (not how much I expected to be). There are some scary moments though. But again that’s what I liked about this book. A good horror book is not just supposed to shit scared you it is also supposed to deliver convincing story and characters. And The Shining does exactly that. There are so many things that remained unexplained though like ‘who was tony?’ or ‘what was in the attic?’. Anyways. Those things might be explained in the sequels I guess. Well, what this book didn’t change is that it hasn't made me a fan of horror fiction. I prefer reading books with morals and not just books which add-on to our anxieties and fears. So, I am glad I pushed my boundaries here and did managed to read and finish this book. However, I won’t be reading its sequels or any other horror books anytime soon. Thanks. Love. Please comment and tell me what do you think about this book.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

“It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.” 

This book is definitely something else!!

Lewis Carroll was a genius who exactly understood what goes inside a little girl’s mind.

I re-read this book after an era. It intrigued me a lot as a kid.  The last time I read it, I was in grade 1 I suppose. Anyways! It seemed more rational back then! It seems to me like a sarcastic outburst on the other preachy children books that existed in those days. The movie (by Disney) seemed ‘over the top’ though. There are many versions of this book that exist. But the version that I read was probably the original one. You can get it here for free.

I do want to read ‘Through the looking glass’ however, I guess not anytime soon. This was enough dose of ‘uncommon nonsense’ for a month! I will survey the looking glass sometime later. We tend to become less ‘curioser and curioser’ as we grow up, don't we?!. I want to be Alice again and talk to annoying creatures and befriend a Mad Hatter! There is no turning the clock back and no gaining that innocence again.

*sigh*

Anyways!

Please let me know your thoughts too!  I am dying to know them!

P.S. There are many interesting facts related to this literary epic which you can read it here. They add more to its fascination.

Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

“This is the story of what a woman's patience can endure, and what a man's resolution can achieve…”

Reading woman in white was a truly a heart touching experience. Written in 1859, it is an extremely progressive and fascinating book. Although it begins as a mystery novel, it turns out to be so much more than just that. The best part about this story is the unfaltering friendship between Miss Halcombe and Mr Walter Hartright. The way all the characters come alive in front of you, you can almost touch them and talk to them. It’s as if you are not reading a book but having a one-to-one conversation with the people inside it. The unpredictable twists, live characters and engaging narrative are the winning elements of this reformist book. I think it’s extremely difficult to build a good story if you don’t know where you characters stand. I have never read a book where the people in it are more interesting than the actual story. It’s enthralling! Although, towards the end I felt that the narrative became too long and the author could have spared us a few pages. However, he does manage to give us a holistic story where nothing and no one is left out. Every element and every character serves their purpose efficiently. It contains some beautiful and memorable quotes. If nothing else read it just for that!

“My hour for tea is half-past five, and my buttered toast waits for nobody.”

“The best men are not consistent in good—why should the worst men be consistent in evil?”

“Women can resist a man's love, a man's fame, a man's personal appearance, and a man's money, but they cannot resist a man's tongue when he knows how to talk to them.”

“Any woman, who is sure of her own wits, is a match, at any time, for a man who is not sure of his own temper.”
I rate it 4 stars.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Have you ever read a book and hated it? But then slowly after a while, say after two three days you finally understood its depth and hated it lesser? This is exactly what happened with me when I finished reading ‘Wuthering Heights’. My hate for it now has almost diminished. Ok, let’s be honest I still don’t entirely love it (because I started this book with lots of pre-conceived notions, like it’s a passionate love story blah blah blah! And it’s going to be all goody like ‘Mansfield Park’ or ‘Northanger Abbey’….Boy! I was SO wrong).

So, these were my initial thoughts:

WHAT DID I JUST READ? How did this dark, bleak, convoluted book happen to become a classic? Why would anyone (and that too especially a woman) consider writing such a horrendous tale? Why these characters are so narcissistic and why do they lack depth and emotions? And ofcourse, ‘How in the world are first cousins allowed to get married?’ I mean I had no idea that this notion was so commonly practiced in olden days. ANYWAYS.

So yes, I mean if you are a Jane Austen fan like me who represents the term ‘Classic Romance’ in a very endearing manner. THEN mind you, this classic is not endearing. This romance isn’t endearing AT ALL. Nothing about this book felt endearing (to me atleast).

And now my after-thoughts:

This book was never supposed to be endearing. It wasn’t supposed to represent any classic romance. It was meant to be BAD and HORRIBLE. That is the catch. Wuthering Heights is a place you would never want to visit if you are sane and normal person. But, if you are somewhat like me, you would definitely like to go there and wander in its cursed, mysterious world!

In the end I would just say that:

This book will stay with you for a long time. I know it’s going to stay with me for sure. It has evoked some of my deep hidden fears and passions. This is the catch. This book throws something at you which you are not willing to handle, your sane mind is repulsed with its narrative, you want to run away from Heathcliff, from Catherine and from that illiterate Joseph. You despise them, you want to forget them as soon as possible and yet you can’t, yet you keep reading, yet you want to know what happens next because secretly you know these people exist inside every single one of us. This is the catch. You eventually understand that this book doesn’t represent classic romance however, what it does represent is ‘Human Nature at its worse’.

THAT IS THE CATCH.

Let me know what you guys felt after reading this book. Keep reading, keep smiling. Take care.

Reading Goals for 2016

1. Emma

2. Persuasion

3. Northanger Abbey


4. Mansfield Park


5. Pride and Prejudice


6. Wuthering Heights


7. Great Expectations


8. To Kill A Mockingbird


9. The Notebook


10. Gone with the Wind


11. Jane Eyre


12. Anything by Jude Deveraux

Emma by Jane Austen

Perhaps before I tell you how I felt after reading this book you should read Lora’s review here.

How I felt after reading Emma? I can’t put into words. Really I can’t. I am not yet so wise like Jane to put all my feelings and turmoils and expressions so beautifully into words. Just to summarise however I would say that Emma is the most flawless, most beautiful and most mesmerizing book I have ever read. It would be unfair to call it just a romance novel because there is so much of social commentary otherwise which Jane manages to integrate with her romance plot that you are struck with her intelligence and her deeper understanding of the society and its flaws. To speak about Emma, Emma is the obsessive, adamant, rich young girl who is blind to others feelings and often selfish in her behavior. These qualities don’t make her a bad person however, they just make her more REAL and depicts her lack of experience due to her young age. Emma allows us to reflect on our behavior and so when the book ends you are more determined and more enlightened about what kind of human being you ought to be and what is it that you should expect from yourself and from others around you (like your friends and especially your soul mate). And I am not just speaking about Emma’s character but everyone including Mr. Knightley or Miss Bates or Mrs. Weston are all the ideal characters which we have so much to learn from. Mr. Knightley is undoubtedly and unarguably the most perfect and ideal romance hero of all times.

I personally feel that classics like this shouldn’t be adopted into movies but should be read and enjoyed and worshipped. You cannot do a judgement to a book by making a movie out of it. This book is a piece of an ART I would say. The language, the characters, the flow of story everything bounds together to form a piece of this classic masterpiece. Read this book to know Jane, her thoughts and intelligence. Read this to know Emma and most importantly read this for the most gorgeous or in Emma’s words the most ‘superior’ and ‘far superior than any other man’ Mr. Knightley.

There have been lot of adaptions of Emma into television series and movies. Here is one such trailer.

Home For Christmas by Nora Roberts

'Home for Christmas' is a perfect holiday read. Short, sweet and romantic! Predictable? Yes. But I loved it nevertheless. This is a story of an estranged couple who find their way back together during Christmas time. (Praise Jesus!) A couple named Jason and Faith. Faith is such a beautiful name. I mean how can you not fall in love with a girl named 'Faith'! I wish I could name MY daughter something so beautiful. Do read it on a cold, wintry night when it's snowing outside and there's a christmas tree shining in your living room. Damn! This book gave me the FEELS. Looking forward to reading more stuff by Nora Roberts. Till then, Happy Holidays everyone! :)