Recent Reading !!
After a long long time , I finally started reading voraciously again and its all coz of the fact that now I am paying to read the books and not reading it for free. Someone has said it right, "Anything which comes for free, doesnt hold any value for you".
So, I read , this wonderful writer's novel "Love in the time of Cholera" , by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
It is a story of hopeless, tortured romances. Florentino Ariza's long (half a century!), passionate, and tortured love for the haughty, oppressed Fermina Daza is the stuff of masochists. When the lady of his heart goes and marries another man, Florentino spends his life pining over her. Despite his finding solace in hundreds upon hundreds of sexual encounters, his heart remains true to her. Everything he does, he does with the hope of one day regaining her love. His rise as president of the local shipping company, his redecorating his childhood home, his devotion to the arts -- it's all for her. So strong is his love for her, that his tortured passion resembles the symptoms of the dreaded cholera, the disease that repeatedly ravaged this Caribbean town. And of course, there is also Fermina's husband, the illustrious Dr. Urbino. As the most respected, most innovative doctor in the region, he is beloved by all..... except his wife, who married him more out of convenience than anything else, after she realized that the poor Florentino could offer her very little. One thing which really made me think was the way this guy Florentino has found that all the widows are watiign desperately to be loved and he finds the best opportunity in them to fulfill his passionate desires, though only extending to the physical ones, after he realised that love for Fermina could be replaced by mundane pleasures. Here's the quote stating his thoughts
"At the height of pleasure he had experienced a revelation that he could not believe, that he even refused to admit, which was that his illusory love for Fermina Daza could be replaced by an earthly passion."
So, when he realised that all widow woman are waiting to be loved desperately , at that very moment he realised that Dr Urbino has to die so that he can get his love Fermina for himself as a widow. And it did happen, that Dr Urbino dies in a very funny way , trying to catch the Parrot(its a speaking parrot) , slips from the ladder and dies. And there goes the protagonist looking for his love, who has now become a widow. Here's what he says to her on the day her husband dies,
"Fermina," he said, "I have waited for this opportunity for more than half a century, to repeat to you once again my vow of eternal fidelity and everlasting love."
He still waits fro a period of around 1.5 years , within which he has sends her hundred's of letter , which she has enjoyed reading , before the roamnce comes to live again after 50 years and it comes in the form of a trip on Florentino's trip with Ms Fermina on his Royal Cruise. It is where the love(lust) starts to ignite and this time , Fermina also doesnt stop herself and let the love takes it own course.They do not return, but prepare to sail on forever. These days on the Cruise were the happiest days of life for both Florentino and Fermina. This sad, tragic, often humorous tale is, for me, Garcia Marquez's best novel... a must-read for both fans of the author and hopeless romantics alike.
An amazing writer I must say. The most complicated novel , I have ever read was his novel "100 years of solitude", gosh man , three generations had the same name. How the heck are you going to identify , who is who. Anyways , it was a masterpeice just like "Theory of relativity".
Next in he line was a pretty lite but well formed book , "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" by Richard Bach.
"Most gulls don't bother to learn more than the simplest facts of flight--how to get from shore to food and back again," writes author Richard Bach in this allegory about a unique bird named Jonathan Livingston Seagull. "For most gulls it is not flying that matters, but eating. For this gull, though, it was not eating that mattered, but flight." Flight is indeed the metaphor that makes the story soar. Ultimately this is a fable about the importance of seeking a higher purpose in life, even if your flock, tribe, or neighborhood finds your ambition threatening. (At one point our beloved gull is even banished from his flock.) By not compromising his higher vision, Jonathan gets the ultimate payoff: transcendence. Ultimately, he learns the meaning of love and kindness. The dreamy seagull photographs by Russell Munson provide just the right illustrations. This is a spirituality classic, and an especially engaging parable for adolescents.
And today I end up reading "Five Point Someone", by Chetan bhagat.
At first, I thought , man , any guy with an IIT and IIM-A degree in hand , will get noticed. He would be getting un-necessary publicty and media-hype. But when I began reading , I found the stuff interesting. I mean , though the writing was not as intricate as Salman Rushdie or the likes, but the flow was smooth and the story was catchy.
I am not sure though how much is the truth in the story or if it is all fiction , but my best part was "Hari and Neha" and how slowly slowly they moved so intimate to each other. I literally fell in love with Neha and envied Hari , that fatso for having such a gal. In general, Chetan has done a great job in keeping me glued to his 270 page book.
Next in the line is the Booker Prize winner, homemade book "God of Small Things", by Arundhati Roy. Lets see how it goes.
Time to take a small nap before I open my eyes to the chilly morning here in Banagalore.
So, I read , this wonderful writer's novel "Love in the time of Cholera" , by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
It is a story of hopeless, tortured romances. Florentino Ariza's long (half a century!), passionate, and tortured love for the haughty, oppressed Fermina Daza is the stuff of masochists. When the lady of his heart goes and marries another man, Florentino spends his life pining over her. Despite his finding solace in hundreds upon hundreds of sexual encounters, his heart remains true to her. Everything he does, he does with the hope of one day regaining her love. His rise as president of the local shipping company, his redecorating his childhood home, his devotion to the arts -- it's all for her. So strong is his love for her, that his tortured passion resembles the symptoms of the dreaded cholera, the disease that repeatedly ravaged this Caribbean town. And of course, there is also Fermina's husband, the illustrious Dr. Urbino. As the most respected, most innovative doctor in the region, he is beloved by all..... except his wife, who married him more out of convenience than anything else, after she realized that the poor Florentino could offer her very little. One thing which really made me think was the way this guy Florentino has found that all the widows are watiign desperately to be loved and he finds the best opportunity in them to fulfill his passionate desires, though only extending to the physical ones, after he realised that love for Fermina could be replaced by mundane pleasures. Here's the quote stating his thoughts
"At the height of pleasure he had experienced a revelation that he could not believe, that he even refused to admit, which was that his illusory love for Fermina Daza could be replaced by an earthly passion."
So, when he realised that all widow woman are waiting to be loved desperately , at that very moment he realised that Dr Urbino has to die so that he can get his love Fermina for himself as a widow. And it did happen, that Dr Urbino dies in a very funny way , trying to catch the Parrot(its a speaking parrot) , slips from the ladder and dies. And there goes the protagonist looking for his love, who has now become a widow. Here's what he says to her on the day her husband dies,
"Fermina," he said, "I have waited for this opportunity for more than half a century, to repeat to you once again my vow of eternal fidelity and everlasting love."
He still waits fro a period of around 1.5 years , within which he has sends her hundred's of letter , which she has enjoyed reading , before the roamnce comes to live again after 50 years and it comes in the form of a trip on Florentino's trip with Ms Fermina on his Royal Cruise. It is where the love(lust) starts to ignite and this time , Fermina also doesnt stop herself and let the love takes it own course.They do not return, but prepare to sail on forever. These days on the Cruise were the happiest days of life for both Florentino and Fermina. This sad, tragic, often humorous tale is, for me, Garcia Marquez's best novel... a must-read for both fans of the author and hopeless romantics alike.
An amazing writer I must say. The most complicated novel , I have ever read was his novel "100 years of solitude", gosh man , three generations had the same name. How the heck are you going to identify , who is who. Anyways , it was a masterpeice just like "Theory of relativity".
Next in he line was a pretty lite but well formed book , "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" by Richard Bach.
"Most gulls don't bother to learn more than the simplest facts of flight--how to get from shore to food and back again," writes author Richard Bach in this allegory about a unique bird named Jonathan Livingston Seagull. "For most gulls it is not flying that matters, but eating. For this gull, though, it was not eating that mattered, but flight." Flight is indeed the metaphor that makes the story soar. Ultimately this is a fable about the importance of seeking a higher purpose in life, even if your flock, tribe, or neighborhood finds your ambition threatening. (At one point our beloved gull is even banished from his flock.) By not compromising his higher vision, Jonathan gets the ultimate payoff: transcendence. Ultimately, he learns the meaning of love and kindness. The dreamy seagull photographs by Russell Munson provide just the right illustrations. This is a spirituality classic, and an especially engaging parable for adolescents.
And today I end up reading "Five Point Someone", by Chetan bhagat.
At first, I thought , man , any guy with an IIT and IIM-A degree in hand , will get noticed. He would be getting un-necessary publicty and media-hype. But when I began reading , I found the stuff interesting. I mean , though the writing was not as intricate as Salman Rushdie or the likes, but the flow was smooth and the story was catchy.
I am not sure though how much is the truth in the story or if it is all fiction , but my best part was "Hari and Neha" and how slowly slowly they moved so intimate to each other. I literally fell in love with Neha and envied Hari , that fatso for having such a gal. In general, Chetan has done a great job in keeping me glued to his 270 page book.
Next in the line is the Booker Prize winner, homemade book "God of Small Things", by Arundhati Roy. Lets see how it goes.
Time to take a small nap before I open my eyes to the chilly morning here in Banagalore.
posted by Anil.kumar03@gmail.com at
8:00 AM
1 Comments:
I see that you still dont believe in writing complete words...HUH!! Please do....makes your blog feel little to casual...
I expected you to write a little more about the books, since I have already read them, would have debated on your thought processes...let's see I dont agree with you when you say, one night @ call centre was crap, that crap is making money and a big hit....It's a good read to understand why Bhagat made an impact...he touched a few strings and managed to side step a few...while i am not a follower of Gabriel, I liked the style in the latest (one you mentioned)...though its not my cup of tea ona regular basis...
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