Thursday 30 November 2017

The Count of Monte Cristo .. By Alexander Dumas


One of the classic novels in the history of English Literature, The Count of Monte Cristo is adventurous in its crudest sense. A story of love and revenge with a bitter-romance drama from the times when Nepolean returned to power after his exile.

A young sailor, Edmond Dantes, when returns from his voyage to marry his beautiful fiancee - Mercedes, he is falsely accused of a crime by his supposed friend, who is also in love with his fiancee.

He is cast in prison for fourteen long years in the Chateau d'If, far out on an island. Dante is on the verge of suicide when he befriends a fellow prisoner, also known as the Abbe Faria (Mad Priest), who had dug an escape tunnel that ended up in Dantes' cell. On his deathbed, Faria tells Dantes about the location of a hidden treasure and when he dies, Dantes breaks through and takes his place in the burial sack that is thrown into the sea and is rescued by a smuggling ship that stops at Monte Cristo. 

Escaping from prison, Dantes finds the treasure, buys himself the title of Count and returns to France to put into effect his long-nurtured schemes of revenge.

Alexander Dumas, the author of The Three Musketeers, has definitely created a literary masterpiece with this immense feat of writing an intricately plotted tale of vengeance. Even though the book is very long (1000+ pages), I never felt the need to put it down once. Engrossing at the highest level, it is a classic fusion of French Impressionism and English Romanticism.

I recommend this book to all, especially to them who are looking for a historical-classic fiction with a gripping tale that would hook you up till the end.

Happy Reading!!!


Monday 20 November 2017

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone .. # 1 .. By J.K. Rowling



The first ever book series that I started reading as a child or the book series that I have read more than twenty times till date or the book series I will continue to read till I die...is none other than Harry Potter!!!

On the occasion of celebrating my half-century on Bloggers, I would like to share my views on my favorite book series' first novel and will continue the tradition of posting the review of all its sequel.

So here goes....

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was introduced into our lives by the famous fantasy novelist J.K. Rowling in 1997. The entire series is the second most read book in the world after Bible... couldn't imagine a higher praise than that! 

The story is about a young orphan boy named "Harry Potter", bullied and mistreated all his life by his relatives, discovers the truth about his magical heritage on his eleventh birthday and facts about his horrific past of his curious encounter with the evilest dark wizard - Lord Voldemort when he was just a year old. Voldemort killed his parents and when he tried to kill Harry, the curse rebounded and removed all his powers, but baby Harry gained immense fame among the magical community due to this mysterious occurrence.   

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

He is surprised to find himself the center of attention in his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hated by some like his archenemy - Draco Malfoy and Potion's Master - Severus Snape, but loved by many, like his best friends - Ronald Weasely and Hermione Granger, he discovers a new home in this strange land of magic and finds himself extremely happy for the first time in his life.


Harry with Ron and Hermione

His first year at Hogwarts is filled with plenty of magical learnings in the most interesting, but bizarre classes. He not only becomes the youngest person to be chosen as a Quidditch (Magical sports played in the air on broomsticks) player in a century. His encounter with fantastic beasts like giant three-headed dogs, trolls or dragon that becomes a nightmarish experience for him. He also faces the Dark Lord yet again in his gallantry attempt with his friends to save the theft of the Philosopher's Stone.

Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall with baby Harry

It is a brilliant book and one of its kind to be published in many centuries to come with a content that any reader could easily fall in love with. It is a heartwarming and perfect story to capture your interest right from the first line and the reason that I read it so many times is to simply forget the real world around me and jump into that magnificent sphere full of childhood memories and a remarkable magical journey with a story that comforts me and reminds me so often that words are in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic.


Don't let the Muggles get you down!!!


Saturday 4 November 2017

A Mutiny In Time .. Infinity Ring # 1 .. By James Dashner



A truly adventurous children's novel about time travel - a concept that is not unfamiliar but has an altogether different level of obsession, especially among children.

This is a story about two kids, Dak and Sera, in the futuristic USA, which is controlled by a group called SQ. Dak is obsessed with history and Sera loves science. When they find their way into Dak's parents' lab, they end up making a discovery that could save the world, or if let into the wrong hands, worsen it further. With the help of the Hystorians and a techie boy named Riq, Dak and Sera must righten history and find Dak's missing parents.

I found the story has the perfect length for the age group it was written for and the way it was described was fascinating.

There was an unusual concept called "Remnants", that people experience in the story, which, from what I understood is something that occurs in the mind which is shadows of what should have happened instead of what is happening. Not sure if I understood that correctly or not, as I feel that it was not properly explained in the book. 

On the whole, the book was meant to be read by children, so from their point of view, it was very entertaining, but to us adults, it would seem a little predictable.

I am definitely going to go for book two of this series and will bring you the review of it soon as well.

Happy Reading!!!