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! :)

Brida by Paulo Coelho

Brida is about magic and it is a truly magical story. Is it a mere coincidence that just when I wanted to learn so badly about tarot card reading I came across this book? This book has developed a strong urge in me to learn all things magical. It has motivated me to go out there and find out the truth and relevance about all these things we hear but don't believe in. Things like witchcraft and reincarnations. This story narrated by our beloved master story-teller Paulo Coelho is a journey of a young girl named Brida who wants to learn about the Tradition of Sun and Tradition of Moon. She is learning these traditions from two teachers - one male called Magus and one female called Wicca. Paulo as always in his highly simple and engaging way manages to grip us from the start in this fantastic story. At one point I literally felt this is MY story and I WANT TO BECOME BRIDA.

This story also addresses the basic question or one of the basic struggles of mankind 'The Search for a Soulmate.' Is it possible that every person has a soulmate? Is it possible to have more than one soulmate in our life? What if we have to choose between these soulmates? Whom do we choose and whom do we let go? or 'WHY do we let go of people we need the most? When does Duty become more important than Destiny?

To know answers to all these questions you should read BRIDA or you can simply read it because you are a HUGE Paulo Coelho Fan and everything he writes straightaway connects with your soul.

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

I am sorry for posting this late but I have been so busy with job that I had no time to sit down and write about this extra ordinary masterpiece written by Jane Austen 'Sense and Sensibility'. Well, who am I to judge the literary legend? and Who am I to review her works? I am just a fan who love and admire her style of writing so much that I never wanted the book to end. :D

To call Jane Austen writing style eloquent would be an understatement. The book (as aptly mentioned in the description) is about 2 sisters who are on a ‘journey’ to find their personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love.

I remember reading ‘Pride and Prejudice’ when I was 14. Yes! Obviously I had to read it twice to understand it back then :D. You cannot comprehend Jane Austen at such a young age. But now…now that I am 24, I understand it and I am in love with Jane Austen for so eloquently narrating such beautiful and heart touching stories, stories every woman can relate to and stories every woman feels part of.  

Thank you Jane for writing these books! They give immense happiness to girls like me. It makes me feel fortunate to have read and known you through your books and I wish there were more authors like you today who could make me so very deeply happy with their power of words.

Click Here to read some interesting facts about Jane Austen.