Archive for November 2013

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Same book, Another review : </span></span><a href="http://heavybookreview.blogspot.in/2013/04/oliver-twist-abridged.html">http://heavybookreview.blogspot.in/2013/04/oliver-twist-abridged.html</a><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Written by Charles Dickens, this book gives you a sensation of loneliness and despair around you, which is due to the writing style of the author. Although the book I have read is the abridged version, it still causes that feeling.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">So, let’s come to the story. A boy born as an orphan was named Oliver Twist, and sent into an orphanage where children died of starvation. He was many times ‘donated’ or ‘adopted’ by others, but still his gloominess remained almost intact. Unable to face the difficulties in his life, he runs away.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">He sets upon travelling to London to lead a better life, and also gets aided by a same aged boy in the way. However, he nearly tumbles into the dark life of Money and Crime, and soon finds that he was to escape. He gets caught by the police, but fortunately adopted by someone. He is taken care off, until the burglars kidnap him. He makes unproductive attempts to escape, and gets shot during his involvement in a robbery.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">He then begs for help, to the same people whom he was forced to rob. He finds help, and soon recovers. He narrates his story and everyone believes it. The search for robbers begins.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">I would not like to reveal everything, but am sure that reading this would definitely fluctuate the thoughts of joyfulness and despair among you. This story is embedded with little crime, in which innocent humans and animals get harmed.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Enjoy reading this book which represents the unchivalrous life of Charles Dickens during his childhood. I did not choose to read the unabridged book as it was too long, and required a lot of time, which is absent for me at present.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij58M2YdBcPCD2JHrzYVCbycAQrpFcnVqcFuXd8S9x2CAPDgNcy0ayTMZnsP6jNiY3xeOpA5yUJeuY3Hs8EzUQsSt1PCzEfsDK-RdS2LL6gq8LzJwPvxjW_ZMyhIW2A7Od-fsxErnX7f0/s1600/iver.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij58M2YdBcPCD2JHrzYVCbycAQrpFcnVqcFuXd8S9x2CAPDgNcy0ayTMZnsP6jNiY3xeOpA5yUJeuY3Hs8EzUQsSt1PCzEfsDK-RdS2LL6gq8LzJwPvxjW_ZMyhIW2A7Od-fsxErnX7f0/s1600/iver.jpg" /></a></span></div></div>

Oliver Twist - Abridged

Same book, Another review : http://heavybookreview.blogspot.in/2013/04/oliver-twist-abridged.htmlWritten by Charles Dickens, this book gives you a sensation of loneliness and despair around you, which…

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoxX3dYYfMBEsBhff9JDjfTh7bT-EadzE3SUCQj71ANMuE2wJejRYLSgNSPjtY3fnHNVRb4R57jMIJxtkr5tFPogXiBIcEvUeZlJNvVawK1SEBgrUY69Mifre0ab-Imh0f0HMdywXFGVt4/s1600/mahabharat_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoxX3dYYfMBEsBhff9JDjfTh7bT-EadzE3SUCQj71ANMuE2wJejRYLSgNSPjtY3fnHNVRb4R57jMIJxtkr5tFPogXiBIcEvUeZlJNvVawK1SEBgrUY69Mifre0ab-Imh0f0HMdywXFGVt4/s320/mahabharat_1.jpg" width="220" /></a>At last I finished the 444 paged epic (including the glossary it would have been483 pages)! I personally don't have much interest in Mythology but somehow the beautiful and vivid portrayal of the events in this book grasped my attention all the while I read it. It is written by a very famous Indian writer who is popularly known as 'Rajaji', his original name being, Chakravarti Rajagopalachari. I still did not gain the courage to read the original epic written many thousands of years ago by Vyasa which comprises of 18 fat volumes (Parvas which consist of sub- parvas), each being atleast three times (can be more too) of this retold version.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYMA__nlZDE6tB9XhFywxtHZl4J5YPA6JYUehEciLcfbptisYtiHhDBqATugpjNOcU2TMuwo-akgz_5Ovhde0bGb4VvRoVwmxJcZZzM1EMg92tl-aXhXShy9OJRgJHe2axd7QfB4DOqgzf/s1600/Mahadraupadi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYMA__nlZDE6tB9XhFywxtHZl4J5YPA6JYUehEciLcfbptisYtiHhDBqATugpjNOcU2TMuwo-akgz_5Ovhde0bGb4VvRoVwmxJcZZzM1EMg92tl-aXhXShy9OJRgJHe2axd7QfB4DOqgzf/s1600/Mahadraupadi.jpg" /></a>What is the most amazing thing about the Mahabharata, is that, it contains every thing that we come past in our lives. Nothing is left untold, neither drama is missing nor romance nor betrayal, nor jealousy, nor anything . The treasures of the Mahabharata do not limit to India only, but to all parts of the world. However, this fact cannot be denied that the unmatched epic has given a perennial source of spiritual strength to the people of India and is the main reason for some of the most heroic tasks done by them.<br />These are the words given out by the writer- "The realities of life are idealized by genius and given the form that makes drama, poetry or great prose. Since literature is closely related to life, so long as the human family is divided into nations, literature cannot escape the effects of such division. But the highest literature transcends regionalism and through it, when we are properly attuned, we realize the essential oneness of the human family. The Mahabharata is of this class."<br />Books like The Mahabharata enhance human character and embed the best moral values in it. The victory of the Good over the Evil is prevalent in all sectors of life and a better perception of this stays behind, with you after reading the book.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj75cssF7s7PLPt9QIGku1E0j0tvFUSU0C9qPPXbuQEPz2yRunaNAw7dOkewi1z3yMdHhLgNHWjVjFlowJEhvdEiwqYarAS13zKlcXWiVnWPgGP3JzNYb1P2k66F8WO8ow85kN1coRbZXoR/s1600/Maha.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj75cssF7s7PLPt9QIGku1E0j0tvFUSU0C9qPPXbuQEPz2yRunaNAw7dOkewi1z3yMdHhLgNHWjVjFlowJEhvdEiwqYarAS13zKlcXWiVnWPgGP3JzNYb1P2k66F8WO8ow85kN1coRbZXoR/s320/Maha.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The Pandavas become an ideal to all who read the book and so do the Kauravas, but there is a vast difference in their idealism. The poet, Vyasa through his narration shows you that the Pandavas did what we are expected to do and the Kauravas did everything that is not desired and is not expected to be done by anyone.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho8WebmDpNpLZizSdVtKtY71WExzRDoQs8P9OjGc7abSjsCus9VFAaQ83wykH1P7nNoPnenaS8_-956mv7L_avhvJnomgz84QaPuoCJ5R5g6w-IpoDEtiakJa7fxhqSg4jNYk2e2vcJgSQ/s1600/Mahakrishna_arjuna_conchshells.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho8WebmDpNpLZizSdVtKtY71WExzRDoQs8P9OjGc7abSjsCus9VFAaQ83wykH1P7nNoPnenaS8_-956mv7L_avhvJnomgz84QaPuoCJ5R5g6w-IpoDEtiakJa7fxhqSg4jNYk2e2vcJgSQ/s1600/Mahakrishna_arjuna_conchshells.jpg" /></a>Retelling the story in such way that creates an interest in me, a person who dislikes any type of mythology, is truely where the author's real skill lies in.<br />The richness of the Indian culture and traditions and the sweetness of a well civilized Indian life is wonderfully painted by the author.<br />To conclude- The Mahabharata is an evergreen classic whose truthfulness will never perish. Read this translated, retold version to obtain a better life and to learn to distinguish the good from bad. Let modern yet noble ideas come to you by reading this enchanting epic.</div>

Mahabharat

At last I finished the 444 paged epic (including the glossary it would have been483 pages)! I personally don't have much interest in Mythology but somehow the beautiful and vivid portrayal of the even…