Matilda by Roald Dahl

Blurb (from GoodReads):

Matilda is a little girl who is far too good to be true. At age five-and-a-half she's knocking off double-digit multiplication problems and blitz-reading Dickens. Even more remarkably, her classmates love her even though she's a super-nerd and the teacher's pet. But everything is not perfect in Matilda's world. For starters she has two of the most idiotic, self-centered parents who ever lived. Then there's the large, busty nightmare of a school principal, Mrs. ("The") Trunchbull, a former hammer-throwing champion who flings children at will and is approximately as sympathetic as a bulldozer. Fortunately for Matilda, she has the inner resources to deal with such annoyances: astonishing intelligence, saintly patience, and an innate predilection for revenge.

She warms up with some practical jokes aimed at her hapless parents, but the true test comes when she rallies in defense of her teacher, the sweet Miss Honey, against the diabolical Trunchbull. There is never any doubt that Matilda will carry the day. Even so, this wonderful story is far from predictable. Roald Dahl, while keeping the plot moving imaginatively, also has an unerring ear for emotional truth. The reader cares about Matilda because in addition to all her other gifts, she has real feelings.

Carrie by Stephen King

Blurb (from elsewhere):

A modern classic, Carrie introduced a distinctive new voice in American fiction -- Stephen King. The story of misunderstood high school girl Carrie White, her extraordinary telekinetic powers, and her violent rampage of revenge, remains one of the most barrier-breaking and shocking novels of all time.

Make a date with terror and live the nightmare that is...Carrie.

The Guide by R. K. Narayan

Blurb (from the jacket): 

Railway Raju is a disarmingly corrupt tourist guide, who lives by his wits and falls in love with a beautiful dancer. More by chance than skill, he seduces her away from her husband, a lonely writer who is obsesses with local rock-carvings, and transforms her into a celebrity courted by wealthy and influential dignitaries wherever she performs. Raju makes and loses a fortune, finds himself in jail, and - through a series of hilarious, ironic circumstances - become one of India's great holy men.

The history of his success and unexpected fame has all the excitement of a suspense story, told with Narayan's customary tolerance and delightful humour. At the same time it raises many profound and disturbing questions.

THE GUIDE floats as gently as a lily pad on the surface of Indian life and yet suggests the depths beneath. It manages to describe a saint who is neither born nor made but simple happens, almost like a weather.

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

Blurb (from the jacket):

Every weekend, in basements and parking lots across the country, young men with good white-collar jobs and absent fathers take off their shoes and shirts and fight each other barehanded for as long as they have to. Then they go back to those jobs with blackened eyes and loosened teeth and the sense that they can handle anything. Fight Club is the invention of Tyler Durden, projectionist, waiter and dark, anarchic genius. And it's only the beginning of his plans for revenge on a world where cancer support groups have the corner on human warmth.

The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan (Richard Hannay #1)

Blurb (from the jacket):

'My guest was lying sprawled on his back. There was a knife through his heart which skewered him to the floor.'

From that moment Richard Hannay's own life is under threat. A few days before, the dead man had told him of a political assassination that was shortly to take place in London and which would have terrible repercussions around the world. In mortal danger he sought refuge in Hannay's flat. Now he had been murdered and Hannay had to move quickly if he was not to suffer the same fate. 

Pursued by both police and killers he heads for Scotland. There, among the Scottish moors, a deadly game of cat and mouse ensues, and Hannay needs all his resourcefulness and courage to stay one step ahead. His only hope is to persuade someone in the British Government of the impending danger. But will he be able to get to them in time and save the country from certain ruin?

The Thirty-Nine Steps is the most famous of the five novels featuring Richard hannay and established John Buchan as one of Britain's finest writers of suspense stories.

Perfume by Patrick Süskind

Blurb (from the GoodReads):

In the slums of eighteenth-century France, the infant Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born with one sublime gift: an absolute sense of smell. As a boy, he lives to decipher the odors of Paris, and apprentices himself to a prominent perfumer who teaches him the ancient art of mixing precious oils and herbs.

But Grenouille's genius is such that he is not satisfied to stop there, and he becomes obsessed with capturing the smells of objects such as brass doorknobs and frest-cut wood. Then one day he catches a hint of a scent that will drive him on an ever-more-terrifying quest to create the "ultimate perfume"—the scent of a beautiful young virgin.

Told with dazzling narrative brillance, Perfume is a hauntingly powerful tale of murder and sensual depravity.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Blurb (from the jacket):

The compelling story of two outsiders striving to find their place in an unforgiving world.

Drifters in search of work, George and his simple minded friend Lennie have nothing in the world except each other and a dream--a dream that one day they will have some land of their own. Eventually they find work on a ranch in California's Salinas Valley, but their hopes are doomed as Lennie, struggling against extreme cruelty, misunderstanding and feelings of jealousy becomes a victim of his own strength.

Tackling universal themes and giving a voice to America's lonely and dispossessed, Of Mice and Men has proved to be one of Steinbeck's most popular works, achieving success as a novel, a Broadway play and three acclaimed films.

V for Vendetta by Alan Moore, David Lloyd (Illustrator)

Blurb (from GoodReads):

"Good evening, London." It's nine o'clock and this is The Voice of Fate... It is the Fifth of the Eleventh, Nineteen-Ninety-Seven...

"The people of London are advised that the Brixton and Streatham areas are quarantine zones as of today. It is suggested that these areas be avoided for reasons of health and safety...

Police raided seventeen homes in the Birmingham area early this morning, uncovering what is believed to be a major terrorist ring. Twenty people, either of them women, are currently in detention awaiting trial...

The weather will be fine until 12:07 A.M. when a shower will commence, lasting until 1:30 A.M... 

Have a pleasant evening."

A frightening and powerful tale of the loss of freedom and identity in a chillingly believable totalitarian world, V for Vendetta stands as one of the highest achievements of the comics medium and a defining work for creators Alan Moore and David Lloyd.

Set in an imagined future England that has given itself over to fascism, this groundbreaking story captures both the suffocating nature of life in an authoritarian police state and the redemptive power of the human spirit which rebels against it. Crafted with sterling clarity and intelligence, V for Vendetta brings an unequaled depth of characterization and verisimilitude to its unflinching account of oppression and resistance.

"Remember, remember the fifth of November..."

If on a Winter's Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino

Blurb (from the jacket):

You go into a bookshop and buy If on a Winter's Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino. You like it. But alas there is a printer's error in your copy. You take it back to the shop and get a replacement. But the replacement seems to be a totally different story. You try to track down the original book you were reading but end up with a different narrative again. This remarkable novel leads you through many different books including a detective adventure, a romance, a satire, an erotic story, a diary and a quest. But the real hero is you, the reader.

No One Writes to the Colonel by Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez

Foreword:

My first ever exposure to the work the Nobel laureate, Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez. I am sure, it is not just me who can't get the the latter part, the part after 'Gabriel', right.

Well, I inform you, reader, beforehand that me reading this book had got nothing to do about the author's recent death. In fact, it might sound bizarre, I completed reading the book that very Thursday - the day the author died. Seriously, I am not lying!

You can't imagine how moved to the core I was when I came to hear the news. Well, I guess, I wouldn't have been so moved if I hadn't read his that very day. When I looking for a read, something off the tbr shelf, some new author to dwell, someone remarkable, Gabriel caught my eye. Then here it is.

It is not essential why I chose this book of all his books. Yeah, I had choice. Perhaps, various options at that. The options even included the author's best work. But I chose this one. Obviously, because of its slender size. This novella was not more than 69-pages!

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Foreword:

The Great Gatsby. What must I say? What can I say, perhaps? Name a book list featuring top books and you will find this book in it.

Even the author, is considered one of the most celebrated authors of Classic Literature.

Though I had in my possession the '94 edition of the classic, I stalled it for a long time. The blurb and everything else about the book just gave me the impression that it was just another overrated classic. You know, those classic which are overrated only for the fact that they had been written way back in the history. Or portrayed some extinct culture followed by people of that time - like, in the case of this book, the Jazz Age. 

Until, the movie starring DiCaprio, titled the same, found its way to the theatre. To watch the movie, I had to read the book first. That was an age-old resolve I had taken during the start of my reading days. So, basically, it is DiCaprio who had made me read this book. 

And, in that case, I would love to thank Leonardo immensely for it! Or else, I would have missed so great a book.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Foreword:

If you are a regular follower of my reviews/blog you would be already aware of my fetish for Dystopian novels.

I have already described for fascination for Dystopian novels by stating, I don't read them out of fear of running out of them. Or something like that. That exactly defines my obsession for them.

Well, that doesn't mean that I love every Dystopian-themed story. For example, consider my Dystopian favourites - Anthem, Fahrenheit 451 and The Road, for now. Though they all are based on some Dystopian future, they all have a hidden meaning and a worthwhile twist at the end.

And then, there are other Dystopias, too. Like Hunger Games - which I haven't read yet, but hate it anyway for its romance and all. I haven't seen the movie yet, so I can't be certain about my ideology, but I could comment by its blurb.

My kind of Dystopias are the movies like The Road, The Colony, Equilibrium, etc...

Other Dystopias you could find here... (regularly updated)

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Foreword:

I didn't expect I would read this book. At least, not this soon. With that never-ending stack of books, I wouldn't read this book for coming quarter of a year, by when hopefully, I would be done reviewing the entire stack of tbr and would be as free as a flying seagull. (God, how poetic have I become! Well, this book is to be blamed for that!)

Now that I finally read it, how do I feel? It is not the emotion that could be literally described in words, so I decided to write this review with help of various .gifs and I hope that this review marks the start of the .gif influenced reviews I aim to write.

Plot (as per the back-cover):

Guy Montag is a fireman. In his world, where television rules and literature is on the brink of extinction, firemen start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden.

Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television “family.” But then he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people didn’t live in fear, and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television.

When Mildred attempts suicide, and Clarisse suddenly disappears, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known. He starts hiding books in his home, and when his pilfering is discovered, the fireman has to run for his life.

The First Men In The Moon by H. G. Wells

The First Men In The Moon by H. G. Wells

Rating: 5 out of 5

ISBN (edition I've read): 9780460873048

Read Between: 08-03-2013 to 04-04-2013

Review:
It almost took a whole month for me to complete this book. I wasn't even reading any other book. It took 4 days or, at most, a week for me to complete reading a book of this volume, but it took 27 days to complete this book. What was the reason? Was the book/story/narration boring? Was I too busy to read this novel? In search of the answer the review follows below...

Plot:
An aspiring bussinessman stumbles upon Cavor, an eccentric genius. In a world still struggling to accept X-Rays and Radio Waves they construct a Gravity-Defying Sphere- and man finally lands on the dead surface of the moon. But with the first light of the day the surface bursts into life. From the caves below come the Selenites, protean creatures, horrific in appearance, who adapt their shape to their function. Over them riles the Grand Lunar, a creature that is almost entirely brain ... a brain of awesome power.

Only one of the earthmen will return to tell the tale.

About the edition:
"The only edition with introduction, text summary, selected criticism and chronology of Well's life and times." So it says on the back cover of the book.

My take on the book:
I have been a big fan of Jules Verne ever since I came to know that the movie, 'Journey to the center of the Earth' was based on a novel by him. From some search I found out that Jules Verne is called as 'Father of Science Fiction; and also read that, and so is H. G. Wells called.

When I looked into his best books, I had choice between 'The Time Machine', 'The War of the Worlds', 'The Invisible Man' and 'The First Men in the Moon'. Somehow, for reason I don't fathom, I got 'The First Men in the Moon'. It lay with other books for about four months before I picked it and started reading it.

Add to that, a extra month before I complete reading it. Perhaps, this is the slowest read I've ever read.

If the story was boring, I wouldn't rated it a 5 star. Perhaps, the very imagination of the author swept me off my feet. The very concept, of space travel without a rocket, can't be any more brilliant.

Bedford, the narrator, is a businessman visits Lympne for writing a play in seclusion, where he meets Cavor, who was a weird (like many of them are) scientist. Cavor expresses his research on a substance called Cavorite, named after himself, to the author, which has a magnificent effect of Gravity-Defying. Beford like anyone in his place was too excited to accompany him and both of them take off in a sphere built of Cavorite.The very idea was very brilliant. The gravity-defying substance used to space travel and detail of how they navigated in the infinite space and landed on Moon was excellent. With the first light of the day, the dead surface of the moon breaks out with life. There were wild trees growing in every possible direction. There was a light breeze hinting at the presence of air.

The following details Earthly life on Moon was awesome. The idea that it was effortless to leap on moon due to its low gravitation pull and Lunar day consisted of 14 Earthly days, everything that followed about the Moon was awesome. All the while I kept wondering how it was possible to write a story of such brilliance. The imagination of the author mind blowing.

Overall, my slow progress turned out to be because of my lacking interest in reading, but not the story/narration of this book.

Hats off to H. G. Wells. Expecting to read more of his books...

Recommendations:
To every sci-fi lover.

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Rating: 3 out of 5

ISBN (edition I've read): 9780141036137

Read between: 27-01-2013 to 29-01-2013

Review:
Note: This book is best if the reader has the fundamental knowledge of the Russian Revolution and Stalin era.

Plot:
Tired of their servitude to man, a group of farm animals revolt and establish their own society, only to be betrayed into worse servitude by their leaders, the pigs, whose slogan becomes: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” Published in 1945, this powerful satire of the Russian Revolution under Stalin remains as vivid and relevant today as it was on its first publication.

My take on the book:
This book is part of the 'ALL-TIME 100 NOVELS'.

I always had a notion to read this book. The name, Animal Farm, was too much for me to resist. I have always been a animal-enthusiast. (Yeah, I pay more heed to the name of the book than the plot. In fact, I had very little idea about the plot of the book.)

The other reason was the thickness of the book. It is damn difficult to resist a well-known classic novel which is seldom 100-pages thick.

There was a fact in the 'A NOTE ON THE TEXT' section of the book. My mother tongue is Telugu and, I learnt from the note, that this one of those few classics which were translated to Telugu. It also states that many versions of this book has been freed of the original subtitle - 'A FAIRY STORY'. The statement goes like this: "Only in Telugu, of all the translations made in Orwell's lifetime, was A Fairy Story retained."

It was only after I came to know that the fundamental knowledge of the Russian Revolution was needed to understand the satire in the novel, I felt disheartened and thought that I should have paid a little attention during my history classes.

To speak of the language, it is the best. No hard words. No undecipherable sentences. Everything was straight-forward. Every was easy to understand. Awesome language, I would like to call it.

Actually, I enjoyed the story even when I know nothing of the Russian Revolution and Stalin era. Though the story was indicating satiric actions equivalents of the happening of a historic event, it was as good as a good fiction novel. Of course, pigs learning to read, talk and dictate over other animals seemed absurd, but it was pretty entertaining. Perhaps, I would have had a better experience of the book, if I had a minimum knowledge of the historic event.

Also there were more than one instance, when I was reading this book and I fell asleep...

Recommendations:
I recommend it to people who have the essential knowledge of the Russian Revolution and Stalin era. I don't know what you would feel during the read.
I also recommend it to those who are in search of a quick, entertaining read.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Rating: 5 out of 5!!!

ISBN (edition I've read): 9781862302914

Read between: 28-12-2012 to 04-01-2013

Review:

Heard a lot of praise about this book. Started reading it with a lot of expectations. And at the end, I was well satisfied. It is probably the last book I started reading last year and the first book I completed this year...

I am certain that you might've heard of the types of narrations - first person and third person. But this book is in a new type of narration. No person narration. The person - or rather, thing - who narrates the story is Death. Yeah, you read it right. It is Death. And the way the author conveyed is much intelligent. The tagline, "When Death tells a story, you really have to listen," can't be more apt...

Plot:
Death has never been busier, and will become busier still. Liesel Meminger's life is changed when, by her brother's graveside, she picks up an object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever these books are to be found. But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down.

My take on the book:
I don't think anyone might pick up this book by reading the plot or the description of the book. They - the plot - don't give a minutest hint of what the book has got in store for the reader.
Maybe the 'Death narrating the story' part will attract few curious readers but others who merely depend on descriptions and plots will certainly overlook this book. It is only after watching the online ratings of this book that they realize what great a book they've missed.

After reading 50 or so pages, one would understand that the story doesn't follow a particular plot. No certain rhythm. It is evident that author started writing the story and the story made itself up.

When I sit down and think of writing a review about the book, I don't know what to write. In the case of all other books I've read, there was a certain rhythm in the flow of the story. Then I would high-light few things which I liked and disliked about the book. That is how I write a review. But that isn't helping me in the case of this book. All I could say is,

Go, read the book. You will in no way regret it.

There is no particular reason to hate this book. There isn't for liking this book, for that matter. The book is good. It just is. No reason at all. It is kind of a book which is slow, yet not boring. One couldn't rush through the pages. One couldn't risk missing a single word. It feels like each word of the story is thought for days and got printed.

Recommendations:
Don't expect me to point out a group of people. If you read books, you should read this one.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Reasons, why, I read this book:

* I watched the movie trailer “The Great Gatsby”. I was simply awe with wonder. The trailer is full of life -grandeur, opulent, with lights, parties, music, singing, dancing and sudden spasms of uncontrolled emotions. I thought if a trailer is like that, then, how would be the movie? Most important, how would be the book on which this movie based?

* Because of what I heard - “the book is widely regarded as a "Great American Novel" and a literary classic.”

* The Modern Library named it the second best English-language novel of the 20th Century.

* This book is a part of “Time's List of the 100 Best Novels”.

* Several Goodreads friends of mine immensely liked and highly rated this book.

* I am a little behind in “Goodreads Book Reading Challenge, 2012”. So I am reading only short books and this one has a mere-200 pages.

Beginning Line:

“In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.”Whenever you feel like criticizing any one," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.”

Read, mind said wow, such an intriguing line, yes, you are absolutely correct, Mr. Fitzgerald. Sometimes we forget this and what we do? Just picture the people in a way we want, attribute the characters we seen not in them, but in our eyes only, not ready to understand them, not ready to give a least shit on them - suppose we do, that is also the way we feel, began to criticize them. We criticize them saying this, that, every bullshit but not ready to accept that he/she is not me and he/she hasn’t had the advantages that we have had. 

The Great Gatsby isn’t great instead it’s a tragic tale, simple but well composed, finely narrated, about Jay “Great” Gatsby, who came from rages into riches, who orchestrated opulent parties, but himself absent in most of them, who loved a single woman till his death, for that he was killed. 

I must appreciate the author. The writing is intense, full of life in detailing the things, describing the scenes with a realistic aura that looks like a painter painted an ordinary hut but with so much precision and passion that it is looking like a villa in a countryside.

The best thing about this book is Nick as a narrator who observed every virtue of the Gatsby. Other characters are empty. The story started and ended very quickly which, might be avoided the unnecessary details, but left the story incomplete. Gatsby is good, but he could have been great only if didn’t choose Daisy. Daisy is a woman with a fiery burning passion. She chooses Tom to marry over Gatsby. But she wants Gatsby’s love. About Tom, I don’t have any specific opinion. Actually I don’t consider him much as a part of the story much either, even Tom was the reason for the tragedy. Tom and Daisy, as Nick said, are simply careless people who do things carelessly for which people like Gatsby are needed to pay, a high price, sometimes with people lives. In the end, what happened between Nick and Jordan, I didn’t understand. 

“Can’t repeat the past?…Why of course you can!”.

This is what Gatsby said. At that moment my reaction was “what fuck he thinks he is doing”. Recently, I just failed in that. But, whole heartily, I wished he could do that; change the Past and make Daisy love him. Is it possible to change the Past? I, myself want to do that; undo the things I did and do the things I didn’t. I know Gatsby is not only the one and will not be the one who tried to repeat the past. But, all these for whom? For the people like Daisy who took the careless decisions for which Gatsby needed to take the blame. When he said that, I am totally afraid of the thought that is Gatsby inspiring me to repeat the past which is almost succeeded in erasing myself out from my own life. In the end, Gatsby failed, no defeated by his love for Daisy, most accurately Daisy herself made Gatsby to be defeated.

Ending Line:

Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter - to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther ... And one fine morning ---”

“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

Mr. Fitzgerald again bewildered me with unimpeachable words.  I completed the book. Just sitting there, thinking this phrase only. What I was feeling, didn’t know. I didn’t get the answer why did Daisy leave Gatsby? May be I will never know the answer.

Lord Of The Flies by William Golding

Lord Of The Flies by William Golding

Rating: 4 out of 5

A plane crashes on a deserted island. The survivors are only few school boys... That's what the plot claims. It gives a picture of a adventurous story. Yeah, of course the story is adventurous, but the narration has a lot more than that.

It is not the story of how they survived on the island and got rescued - if they are. It is the story of how kids - eldest being 12 yrs and youngest being 6 yrs - at the time of crisis. It deals with the depth of civilization and savagery. It deals with the depths of mentalities of different people. Different kinds of human beings. And their nature...

The narration is that of prolonged one. With every tiny detail in the background. Author has got a great imagination, I would say.

And the last chapter, it was a adrenaline busting one. When I was reading it - the last chapter - my heart beat literally rose. Narration at its best..

Before reading this book, I got the movie. I argued that I would watch the movie after reading the book. But when reading the book I always had an urge to watch the movie. I wanted to know what happens the end. So was the narration!!

Hugely moving and intriguing...