The Captain's Daughter and A History of Pugachov by Alexander Pushkin

 I read Pushkin, and I thought why didn't I read any of his work till now.

This was a two in one with a lot of author's note. And for the first time I realised how much work goes into a good book before it comes in our hands.

Of course the first one (The Captain's Daughter) is a poet's work. You can see the poetry and imagination that goes into the whole narrative. This is such a happy go lucky story that it leaves you with a smile. You don't believe in all the coincident that happened but one after the other you keep on wishing more to come for a nice closure, and yes it doesn't disappoint you.

The second one (A History of Pugachov) is more of a historical account. It is super prose heavy, and goes into all the details which are available in the archives, and records. I never saw such a detailed story of a historical account, and it gives so much information about a military expedition (or more than one).

Peace

1984 by George Orwell

 There is a reason why some works outlast others. One of them may be that they survived but the major reason is that they hit a chord. This one hits you all over.

I always wanted to read the Animal Farm first but this was never off the list. So, when I saw this one on the aisle, the immediate thought was "Yeah, why not!".

I read it fast as it was too absorbing, and somewhere it echoed the thoughts.

There is no Big Brother or is there. We may never know but the process of changing the past keeps on going. You may not be a part of it but that doesn't mean you're not affected by it.

These day when we see a lot of noise around fake news, changed names, unscrupulous officials/politicians you can easily hear yourself saying what Winston said. And the bigger problem is that the only thing you can do is to survive it. You can't fight the fight but you can survive the fighting. And one day when the truth is out there in full force, nobody will be able to alter or cover it.

They can never enter your head, you just have to give a closer look to keep your sanity, and stay strong in what you believe.

Alas, it never end there and you prepare yourself for the next wave. This is a cycle we're part of. It may change it's flavour but it can't change it's nature.

Peace

Half a Life by V.S. Naipaul

 Why did I read this

I was not sure if I should put a ? or ! (resentment) at the end of the sentence above.

I'm never looking for an adventure in a book, and in fact nothing happening is more of a sign of deeper thoughts. Unfortunately, that's not the case here. I think this is the reason I'm not going to pick up anything from Naipaul anymore.

I'll not go into details but I suggest this is not worth the time (even if it is a short one).

The Story of the Jews: Finding the Words, 1000 BCE – 1492 CE by Simon Schama

 I don't really have to write about what's in the book. The title says it all, and may be I'll pick up the second volume of it too.

This was a bit difficult to read initially because I was not able to understand a lot of words which I didn't see earlier, and the ideas were a bit crude but after half of it I was much better with the overall thought. Plus there are some really good instances which make you smile but when you look closer you realise the gravity of those light moments.

But the overarching thought is that all the calamities are man made irrespective of what they are made of. The whole idea of doing something, and getting away with it is so alarming that it puts you into perpetual fear of what can go wrong. The sad part is that you're not even instrumental for it going wrong.

All the atrocities against fellow humans are not justified irrespective of the reason but there had always been the voices which try to bring a counter point which is on the line of two wrongs making one right (I read on earlier and regretted it). It's always unpleasant to hear all the theories which try to justify any hatred against others but or at least dilute the arguments against it.

The other thought was that end of the day all these can be of power or money everything else is just a cover up for the real reason. So next time you hear of any such thing, keep in mind that it doesn't have anything to do with ideology, religion, cast, creed or colour.

My optimism - we're in the best of the world, and it is only going to be better than this.

Peace

Dune by Frank Herbert

 Ok I read it. I know I read like everyone else who has seen the recent trailer of the movie based on this book.

I prefer books over the movie (Harry Potter was an exception) so even when I'm not a fan of sci-fi, I read this one. This is definitely one of the few that I've read and I marvelled at the gigantic plot and was not surprised that this book independently is just a beginning.

This one has everything that a reader can ask for drama, emotion, action, conspiracy and above all greed! This was meant to be a movie even if the previous one didn't do very well. One thing which also surprised my was the amount of philosophy in the book which is not generally expected in a sci-fi. I think this was the main reason that a lot of people felt connected with the whole narration.

However, I love the book but I'm not going to read the rest of the series (I'm definitely not afraid of picking up 5 more books of about 600 pages each, wink). It's not that it is not interesting but I realised that I'm not into sci-fi. And when I say that I'm not really writing it off. I actually think that sci-fi writers are the biggest dreamers because they can put the things on paper which no body else has even thought of.

I might not be watching the movie also because I can't wait for the sequel to come (Of course they can't finish the whole story in one).

Love

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

Oh I read this. The one which I always dreamed of reading, and now I'm thinking why didn't I do it all this time.

Well a masterpiece in it's own capacity with a cyclical nature. I said cyclical because while reading it there were some sub-plots which felt like you just read a similar one before but no, it was a different one.

Reading it felt like reading a lot of stories which are put together coherently. Most of the plots were so independent that if they are published separately, it can stand as a separate piece of itself. One caution is don't get entangled with memorising the names of the characters, they are all same so remember the narration and the character and forget about the name :)

Macondo is not just a town which started form nothing, and ended up in nothing. It is more like everything living or otherwise which starts from and end in this cycle of creation and destruction. Even the stories of these cycles are not eternal irrespective of being a happy or tragic one, and they will eventually be erased from the Earth and any consciousness.

So while you're living your story make it a good one because you're going to live it, and one fine or not so fine day it will end, and vanish.

Love