Scribbles

Title       :      The Picture of Dorian Gray Author     :     Oscar Wilde Goodreads  :     4.1 / 5 Mine        :     2.1 / 5 Classic . ' A book which people praise  and  don't  read. - Mark Twain   Considered one of the classics of English literature, the book definitely has a wonderful story.  Dorian Gray, a twenty year old lad is friends with a painter Basil Hollaward who is enamoured by Dorian's exceptional beauty. Basil has a friend named Lord Henry Wotton who is a cynical and tends to have powerful influence over all his acquintances. Dorian and Henry meet while Basil is painting a portrait of Dorian, his best work according to the painter. Dorian gets influenced, over a few meetings and many long monologues, by Lord Henry and starts to seek pleasures in every aspect of life. First this Dorian does is gets obsessed over his own paiting and good looks. He claims ...

Have you ever had a journey of thousands of mile sitting at your desk? If you are a reader, you will understand what I mean. This book is one such experience. Let me take you through how I cam in contact with Mr John Grisham and how I got to travel to Camino Island through his imaginations. This is not strictly a book review but an attempt to take you on similar journey. Title - Camino Island Author - John Grisham Genre - Fiction, Novel Goodreads Rating - 3.7 / 5 Status - First time read Since March this year we were waiting to move to our new corporate office in Ahmedabad. Hurdles kept coming one after another and the move eventually took place in June. The new office is a shared space, with three companies occupying same floor as us. Various events like a Vastu puja, a small Katha, a cake cutting etc were getting deliberated and as usual decision making was delayed. Finally in second week of June, few of us were asked too report from the new office and so we d...

This is the hardback cover of the novel as picked from library Title - Chandrakanta Author - Devki Nandan Khatri Genre - Mystery Novel Status - First time read Don't judge the book by its cover, the saying is true for this masterpiece. A few weeks ago I read an article about the upcoming TV serial based on this novel. The writer went on and on about how great the story was and how the first TV serial of some twenty years ago based on this book was blockbuster success. I remembered the 1994 serial but had never read the book. This article spiked my interest and I went in search for it. Finding this book in MJ library was harder than I thought, mainly because very few of his books are actually there. Secondly, the cover is misleading and does not strike as suitable for a classic of this stature. But I found it, obviously, and decided to read it in next two weeks. However, almost a week went by before I even opened it. Story started literally from the first pag...

Title - Siege of Mithila Author - Ashok K Banker Genre - Fiction, Mythological  Status - Re-read Few years ago, browsing through the aisles in MJ Library, Ahmedabad, I spotted a book titled 'Armies of Hanuman'. Immediately I picked up the book and thus got introduced to the works of Mr Banker. AOH was the 4th book in Ramayan series penned down by him. Today's topic is the second book of this series - Siege of Mithila. Obviously, the story is well known to most Indians. The retelling however is tremendously different. The foreword itself is huge compared to most other books of the genre. Although, author has used same foreword in all books of the series; the build up is superb. Story in this book starts after Ram has killed demon Tatka and her minions with help of his brother Laxman. First chapter shows Ram receiving some dire news by a mysterious beauty and some conflict stirs between Ram and his temporary Guru Vishwamitra. While Sita is faced with a v...

Reading is a passion and a cultivated art. And, like any other craft, it demands lots of practice and persistence. I picked up this hobby probably from my “ Baba ” (paternal grandfather) while growing up. I remember he used to devour newspapers and novels. He was well versed with Hindi and Gujarati and possessed decent grasp of English. So, he read in all three. I remember reading a few of his novels back in my summer vacation as well. Thus began my affair with the written word. Coming from a Gujarati medium school of Ahmedabad, we were never encouraged to indulge extra-curricular reading and besides there was such an enormous pressure to read and re-read and again re-read the syllabus that only thing I read other than my school books were a few articles daily from the 'Gujarat Samachar'. During the college years, though, I was at liberty to explore books beyond prescribed course and exam syllabus. Not surprisingly, my favorite subject in college of English even thoug...

Have you ever thought of killing someone? For the sake of all that is dear to you, I hope, you haven’t. But I am sure you have fantasized about the apocalypse or the end of the world. Many scientists and global surveys claim that most people on earth have some time or other visualized of their survival on the Judgement day. It is peculiarly curious that our senses will endure thoughts of a holocaust while struggling at a notion of jeopardizing our own survival. Some may call it as ‘hope’ while others may call it as ‘survival instincts’. No matter what it is called, but for certain this natural feeling is the most crucial contributor to the continuous growth of human civilization. This is 2013 and last year we survived yet another prediction of the ‘day of reckoning’. According to the ‘Mayan calendar’, 21 st December 2012 was supposed to be the end of the world. Hollywood even presented a movie depicting the same fate for our beloved earth. The story pr...