Reading has always been my favorite hobby since I was introduced to the magical universe of books. I love reading books as it improves our vocabulary as well as enhances our creative mind. It gives me a sense of peace and satisfaction in quenching my thirst for knowledge. It helps to know the world around you better. It is an excellent method to mitigate your pressure, much the same as a natural therapy. I love the power of books to explore our past, present, and future. Books are immortal and I can’t envision a world without books.
I was an ardent reader during my school days. But during my college days, I got busy with my college life schedule. So, I wasn’t able to focus much on reading. Apart from that, my procrastination also occupied a great role. But this lockdown has cleared me an approach to return to my old reading days and I am so happy with that. There are many tips to help cultivate your reading habit. You can always carry a book to wherever you go, by reading at least 10-15 pages per day or read books that excite you. However, there’s more you can do. The habit of reading cannot be compelled to anybody. You ought to consistently allow yourself to stop on the off chance that you are losing interest. Before you want to start reading, ask yourself why? The answer may vary according to the personal interest of a person.
During the lockdown, I had pretty much free time. So, I thought of reading a book titled ‘Ikigai; The Japanese secret to a long and happy life’ by Albert Liebermann & Hector Garcia. It is a life-changing book. I cherished the book deeply. I completed the book in one go. One thing that I loved about this lockdown was getting on track with my reading habit. Before lockdown, I just read fiction books. But now I read many genres like non-fiction, self-help, crime & thriller, etc. Though it was a slow process, I loved every bit of being on track again. Also, I am a quote lover person.
Some of my favourite quotes from books are:
“You will never be able to escape from your heart. So it’s better to listen to what it has to say. That way, you’ll never have to fear an unanticipated blow.” – The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
“Confidence doesn’t mean that everything will go our way. It simply gives us the ability to accept failures that we will inevitably meet on our path and move forward with hope.” – Three Thousand Stitches by Sudha Murthy
“if you have not made somebody’s day happier, if you’ve not appreciated something good that has happened to you and if you have not felt thankful to be alive, then you have wasted that day of your life on earth!” – Life Is What You Make It by Preethi Shenoy
“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” – Animal Farm by George Orwell
“The words that come out of our mouths do not vanish but are perpetually stored in infinite space, and they will come back to us in due time.” – Fourty Rules Of Love by Elif Shafaf
Earlier, I felt really bad staring at large piles of unread books on my book-shelf. Reading a book after many years was a herculean task for me as I couldn’t concentrate much. However, it was worth it. Reading books is a good quality that a person can possess. They are truly your companion because you can rely upon them, regardless of what your state of mind is.
The book “The 5 AM Club” is written by “Robin Sharma” and it’s never been wanting to buy this book for a long time than you would know that there are mixed reviews about this book everywhere on the internet from the amazons, some people have a very mixed reaction to this a book so you wouldn’t know if what should you expect from the book because a lot of people are saying that this book is life-changing.
On the other hand, some people are saying that this is just the idea of waking up at 5 p.m. that I love this book a lot and that book is life-changing it can change your lifestyle to a great extent but only if you are willing to do that if you are willing to bring change your life then this book can do that so 60% of the book is devoted to developing meaning in your life and developing a purpose in your life that why you should wake up at 5 a.m. and I think that is a very an integral part of the book. This book tells you that society has given you a narrative where they ask you to live a very ordinary life where they tell you that you are an average and that you are not meant to do great things a very few people amongst us think that they are great and they are born to do great things most of us saying that we average people and that we are going to leave an ordinary life because that becomes a common thing that most of us do that is what the society wants to do you want us to live a life that everyone lives and they do not promote something greater than that they cannot accept the fact that a person can get higher than the standard that the society has set for them so this narrative is something that we have consumed right after birth and this has built a mentality in an away from where we cannot think that we can do anything greater than the standard Society has set for us so we spend most of your life has no the purpose at all within that only purpose that we have to settle down and have a normal life a book tells you that there is a potential Hero inside you and that you should believe in your heroism only then you are going to achieve a great heights in life.
The rest of the 40% of the book is devoted to these models and frameworks that you need to follow and you cannot just wake up at 5 a.m. not do anything you should have a plan and you should follow that plan so that the beginning of your day is perfect for that the entire day goes by in a very smooth and productive way so there is thus 20 20 20 model which divides the Victoria of 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. into three parts of 20 minutes each and in the first 20 minutes to work out and do something that makes you sweat in the next twenty minutes you meditate and journal something with which you can reflect on your own emotions and take care of your mental health in the last 20 minutes is all about growing yourself into a better person and that you can do by reading some good book or you can do it by listening to an audiobook something that will make you grow as a person you can also listen to podcasts and with these three things you can start your day on very good note so that the entire day goes by in a very smooth and very productive day so I think that this book has been extremely useful to all whenever since I started reading this book also the only part that stays is not very perfect about this book is the last 20% of the book finding the 80% of the book is perfect the last 20 people of the book felt a little stressed like it was not necessary. The 80% of the book is great from this book is written in a way that there is a fiction story used to tell you different lessons and guide you fighting most of the problems that people say has been expressed in this great book.
You should read this book is going to add some real value in your life and this is one of the best self-help books ever also Robin Sharma is a very experienced person he has written many great books it has to experience he took four years to write this and just put in a lot of effort and research in this book is not very Shallow and that is written just for the sake of it. There is a lot of work in a lot of the dedication that Robin sharma has put into writing this book.
Book Cover of Novel, Devdas. (Photo Credits: Goodreads)
There’s a certain notion among Indians that every sad lover in the country is a real life Devdas. But deep down, let’s analyse, was Devdas really a lover or yet another male chauvinist?
Plot:
The story starts with two childhood family friends Devdas and Paro, both belonging to rich households and immediate neighbours. Both of their families are well connected to the each other as well. The story revolves around Indian state of Bengal.
Slowly, Devdas and Paro grow up and start developing love for each other. However, Devdas was a spoilt rich brat and this is the reason his father sends him to London for higher studies. Paro becomes sad on knowing this and waits for his return. Devdas returns home after 10 years of studies and is now a well grown up. Paro, on the other hand, exceptionally beautiful, fantasises about her childhood love Devdas.
On his return to Bengal, Devdas and Paro meet and resume their fairy tale love story. However, Dev’s family isn’t happy with their relationship as Paro was from a lower caste background. Things go worse when Devdas’s mother insults Paro’s mother for offering her daughter as a bride to Devdas’s family. This was followed my Paro getting insulted by Devdas’s father who calls her “characterless” as she went on to meet Dev at late night. Devdas seeing all this, refused to accept Paro as his family was against the relationship.
Paro’s mother, unable to bear the insult, vows to get Paro married in a family which would be lot more rich and influential than Devdas. And she does so! A week later Paro marries a rich old man from a nearby village. However, just before her marriage, Devdas suddenly arrives and offers his hand to Devdas to which Paro refuses. Devdas gets angry at the refusal and hurts Paro with a gold necklace and thus Paro suffers from an injury.
Months later Paro’s marriage to the old man, Paro pays a visit to Devdas where it’s revealed he’s completely alcoholic and lonely. Paro requests him to come with him but Devdas doesn’t agree but promises her that he would come to Paro once before his death. Devdas also meets a courtesan, Chandramukhi with whom he develops loves but leaves her yet again.
Finally, the story ends with Devdas fulfilling his promise of coming to Paro but Paro’s husband refuses to let her meet Devdas. At the end, an alcoholic Devdas passes away leaving Paro sobbing.
Character of Devdas.
1) Devdas was never a lover.
I wonder, how people have beautifully whitewashed the ignorant and abusive nature of Devdas. When Paro went to meet Devdas late at night putting her dignity at stake, Devdas refused to go with her fearing about his own family honour. If this is the case, how can he be called a lover? If family and society was more important to him, it shows he never actually loved Paro.
2) Devdas was a male chauvinist.
Devdas suddenly offered his hands to Paro when Paro was just about to marry. Paro taking into consideration her self respect questioned Devdas that why is he so late and why didn’t he come when Paro went out to meet him at his home the week before. She also asked Devdas about the reasons why her parents and she were insulted by Dev’s family. Devdas couldn’t tolerate a woman questioning him and instead of apologising to her, he shouted at her for being “too arrogant”. Devdas cared about his family honour but didn’t care about Paro’s family honour: This shows his ingrained patriarchy.
3) Devdas tries to justifies abuse!
Perhaps one of the most problematic chapters of the book was when Paro refuses Dev’s offer of running away with him on her wedding night with the old man. On getting a rejection from Paro, Dev goes intolerant and beats Paro with a gold necklace. Paro suffers from an injury and her head starts bleeding. Devdas asks Paro to keep this injury with her for life as it would always remind her of Devdas. Paro agrees to this and throughout the book she is shown to love that injury. This also shows how much the book has normalised and romanticised a brutal abuse and also definitely brutal abusers!
Robert Kiyosaki, in his book Rich Dad, Poor Dad, has significantly changed the way people think about money. This book teaches that you do not need to have a high income to become rich. Ironic? So let’s dive into the ocean of thoughts the author shares through this book.
The author, initially, narrates a story of his childhood where he and his friend Mike aspire to earn money and end up meeting Mike’s dad who offers them a job as laborers. Apparently, they are too small to fit in the job, besides, the labor laws too did not permit minors to work as laborers. Despite, Mike’s dad makes them work very hard and pays relatively less remuneration. The world would’ve definitely called this as exploitation. But the boys kept working day after day, week after week. One day, the author’s father, who is a government official, comes to know about this. It was obvious that he would get furious. He suggested the author to quit ASAP and also went to the height of saying that the man should be criminally charged for child labor.
Later the author goes to his employer (Mike’s dad) and was about to file his informal, oral resignation. But Mike’s dad said something. Explained something. Taught something. That moment was trailblazing and revolutionary for him. Those words proved to be life-changing. Those preaching made the author as well as his friend Mike very rich. I would suggest you to read the book to end your curiosity of knowing as what was it that the man told these boys.
On becoming rich, the author shares, with us, the key aspects of making, sustaining, and making more money. The author has presented a rather unconventional idea that your house might not be an asset. On the contrary, for most people, their house is an asset. But the author says that anything that drains money out of your pocket is a liability. And anything that makes money to get into your pocket is an asset. Many people find loans as the best option for buying a house. Hence, every month a large part of your saving is paid out as EMI. Besides, the bank charges hefty interest as well. Then how is your house an asset?
The author materially emphasizes and criticizes the habit of spending your own money extravagantly on frivolous desires. The author doesn’t say that do not buy luxury. But he, instead, suggests that do not buy them on your salary. According to him, ‘you should not work hard for the money but money should work hard for you.’ Your salary and other incomes should be invested somewhere so that your investments make more for you. And only this extra money should be spent on buying whatever you wish.
Further, the author talks about the need of working for yourself. Many people hunt jobs, work there and think that they are working in order to make themselves rich. This is an illusion. When you work at a job, you work for the owner of the company. You work hard day and night to make him rich. Secondly, you work for the government. The rich also pay taxes, but they have numerous ways of escaping from taxes. But in the case of a job-going person, tax is already cut from the salary even before it reaches his hand. Thirdly, a person doing a job works to make the banks rich. Every luxury you buy, mostly can’t be afforded out of your savings. So you choose to take loans. A loan for a car, a loan for a house, etc. The banks enjoy sitting and watching you working hard and making them rich by paying heavy interest. A solution to this is mentioned in detail, in the book. The author, further quotes the need to become a ‘jack of all trades’. Having said that, you need not be excellent at everything but you should definitely know a lot in many fields. This will make you self-reliant and capable of taking better decisions in your business or any other venture.
This is an amazing book and I would highly suggest you read his one to get insights into healthy money habits and start your journey to becoming a rich person.
“Haider” is a movie based on the setting of the insurgency-torn Kashmir of 1995, where there was a massive dispute between India and Pakistan. This movie is an adaptation of one of the classic plays of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”.Although the director Vishal Bhardwaj tried to portray the original play as it is with excellent cinematography but there are several incidents which contrast with the play, but many instances make this movie worth being called an adaption of the Shakespearean play.
The contrast in setting:
If we begin with the setting of Hamlet, we see it begins in the ancient fortress of Denmark in the late middle ages of the 14th and 15th centuries. Whereas in the Movie Haider, Set in Srinagar in 1995, during militancy and a brutal Indian counter-insurgency. The setting itself changes a lot of cultural and linguistic widegap that made the play and movie different.
The contrast in Cultural, linguistic, and Religion:
Since Haider is a Bollywood movie and the director tried to make this movie in favor of the Indian audience to make it more likable and hit it was essential to be relatable to the Indian context. When we investigate Hamlet, it has all those autocratic lives of kings and queens and has a lavish livelihood.
Linguistically also there is a widening between the 2 as one is in Hindi with a mixture of Urdu dialects, whereas Hamlet is in old English which also shows that the movie is culturally different in all terms.
Hamlet has been portrayed through the Reflection of Christianity, on the other hand, Haider portrays the political mishappen with Islamic reflection.
At certain times when there is a contrast in culture and norms the effects are often visible and here there are certain differences in the plot whereas the relationship is portrayed in both.
In context to Plot:
There are several events that have been edited in the movie from the play. Such as the major ones counted as: The play shows us the King of Denmark is already dead and the ghost of King Hamlet tells the truth to Prince Hamlet about his murder, as when we investigate the movie it is the character Roohdaar who tells Haider about the culprit of his father’s murder.
Also, the relationship between Gertrude and hamlet is not much affectionate as the way it is shown in the movie about Haider and Ghazala.
All Shakespearean Tragedy Plays has this element of all the characters die in the end. But in the movie, we see that some of the characters like Roohdaar, Khurram, and Haider himself were alive in the end.
If we compare the Themes then substantially all the themes like Revenge, Corruption, Religion, Politics, women, Madness Vs. Sanity is the major theme portrayed in the movie exactly like the play.
One of the most striking scenes is the equivalent of the “to be or not to be” scene in Shakespeare. Haider turns the “to be or not to be” soliloquy into a confessional and motivational speech in front of a crowd in the market square. It is decidedly more public and more political. He uses the hangman’s rope around his neck as an imaginary microphone. Haider also carries a boom box with a cassette player. The first question he poses points to an existentialist inquiry: “Hello, mike testing 1, 2, 3. Hello. Can you hear me?” Like Hamlet, Haider has longed to be heard. He urges the crowd to reflect on Kashmir’s political crisis: “Do we exist or do we not? Chutzpah is our problem.”
Haider Vs Hamlet – A contrast to the Characters:
Hamlet Vs. Haider: looking into the character analysis of the play Hamlet, prince hamlet is an idealistic knowledgeable person who is very Melancholy, cynical in nature and is having a huge amount of Hatred for his own uncle Claudius who has married his mother Gertrude and hamlet has a repulsion towards his mother’s sexuality.
A similar portrayal is in the movie where Haider is a student of “Revolutionary poets of British India” who studies at Aligarh University comes to find his Missing Father (Doctor Hilaal Meer), there he comes to know about his Mother Ghazala having illegitimate affair with his own uncle Khurram.
We can bring to a point that both Haider and Hamlet are closely similar in their character whereas due to some contrast in the context both the characters differ in some situations, but one thing is certain is about both characters becoming insane and the theme of sanity vs madness gives highlight due to the death of king hamlet/Dr.Hilaal Meer.
Ophelia Vs. Arshia: Since the play/movie is also about the tender love story of Haider- Arshia/hamlet- Ophelia, this portrays the role of love which leads to the death of people due to the brutal conspiracies done by Polonius and Claudius for taking an avenge from prince hamlet. Love is taken as a key to a dark plot of killing hamlet by making Ophelia as a medium/ messenger of hamlet.
The same plot goes into Haider too where Arshia was a journalist and was in love with Haider, but her love became a tragedy where her own father Parvez used her daughter to keep a track of her whereabouts of Haider when he was trying to find his father’s murderer.
Both Arshia/Ophelia can be a contrast because Arshia on the one side was a stern woman who took her own stand despite all the barriers of her being a woman in a patriarchal world, whereas Ophelia was very sensitive, and a woman suppressed by other men and did what her father told her to do.
In the end, both die out of the madness of losing their father and love at the same time and commits suicide.
Claudius Vs. Khurram: The evil of the play who dies in the end, whereas in the movie he does not, as Haider changes his ideology for not killing his uncle due to his mother notions that “Intekaam se Intekaam Paida hoti Hai!” In the play and the movie Claudius/Khurram is the one with all sinister mind and political ambitions who wanted to kill his own Nephew and wanted to have full rights on Ghazala/Gertrude. His lust for women and power goes in the end when he was in the verge to die.
Polonius Vs. Parvaze: Father of Ophelia/Arshia who was good close friend of Claudius/ Khurram and was giving a prominent contribution in the dark conspiracy made by Claudius, but later gets mistakenly killed by Hamlet when hamlet losses his sanity. Polonius had the greed of power and money and was as sinful as his friend Claudius.
Parvez in the movie was the police inspector which was helping Khurram with his own daughter Arshia who was in extreme love with Haider.
Gertrude Vs. Ghazala: Married to the new king of Denmark who was hamlet’s uncle. Often as a woman there where many questions raised on her married and love life as she remarried a man which was against the ethics and she had a very fragile relationship with her own son Hamlet, and they did not have an ideal mother son relationship.
In the movie, we see that Ghazala and Haider had an affectionate relationship despite all the hatred between them in the end Ghazala even sacrificed her life for Haider by killing herself with a bomb explosion.
Roohadaar: He was an ISI agent but considered to be the ghost of hamlet and in the play, we do not have any character related to Roohdaar as the ghost of king hamlet himself tells the truth to prince hamlet about his brutal murder, whereas in the movie Roohdaar and the militant group himself tells the murder of the doctor.
Indeed, he was a good friend of the doctor and was in the prison with the doctor and he was the messenger to stimulate an urge of hatred in Haider’s mind towards his own uncle.
Horatio (A good friend of Hamlet): This character is missing in the movie as he was a good friend and played a positive supportive role for hamlet. Also, a reason why the movie and play are somewhat out of context from each other due to some change in the character appearance.
Fortinas: A close acquaintance of hamlet who had faced the same pain of losing father just like hamlet, but we do not know which character will fit the best for this. so, we can consider that this character is not available in the movie as Haider in the movie was often a loner in the movie and beacme distant from his close ones in the later part of the movie.
Conclusion:
Though the tale is somewhat similar in the movie and play but also certain characters and stories are invisible as this makes the movie or the play incomplete. Since it is an adaption so we cannot expect to be the twin of each other.
From in critic’s point of view, this movie can be rated 7.5/10 as it has all those elements of Shakespearean plays and the cinematography of Vishal Bhardwaj which is perfectly splendid!
Taken all the consideration the story is well portrayed in the movie in spite of all the cultural and religious differences with all those political contexts.
Themes of Revenge, women, corruption, religion, politics, madness are common in both the movie and play.
WHO is bringing the world’s scientists and global health professionals together to accelerate the research and development process, and develop new norms and standards to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and help care for those affected.
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Literary awards – National book award nominee for translation(2015)
Paulo Coelho’s enchanting novel has inspired a devoted following around the world. This story, dazzling in its powerful simplicity a inspiring wisdom, is about an Andalusian shepherded boy named Santiago who travels from his home land in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buriek in the pyramids.
Along the way he meets a gypsy women, a man who calls himself king, and an alchemist, all of whom point Santiago in the direction of his quest. Noone knows what the treasure is, or if Santiago will be able to surmount the obstacles along the way. But what starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns into a discovery of the treasure found within.
Lush, evocating, and deeply humane, the story of Santiago is an eternal testament to the transforming power of our dreams and the importance of listening to our hearts.
The book “How to win friends and influencepeople” written by “Dale Carnegie”. In 1936 only 500 copies were published in that edition as they never expected this book to be that famous but today August 16 million copies of this book as it is sold the first part of the book is about the fundamental techniques of handling people.
“DaleCarnegie” is not asking you to go in manipulate them is basically asking you to become a more genuine and kind person and do not treat people unnecessarily when it is not even require there is a thin line between criticism and you always have to understand that if it’s feedback and its positive it’s ok but just unnecessarily criticizing someone not be welcomed and you may not come across the person who is positive for even if your intentions are good it will not be welcome so if you are want people to like you when you have to become a person who goes out in this feedback in a kind and a more subtle manners and not in a very rude way or you just do not have to become all straight forward and plant if it’s not necessary because there is a difference between being rude and being straight forward a lot of people think that if they are plant then is it tell honestly how they think about a certain things they think that it is a good quality but it might not be welcome.
The second part list down six ways to make people like you and the best point I liked in this part is that he asked you to be genuinely interested in other people so if you want other people to like you you have to be first interested in them in their life and their personality usually give ourselves a lot more important than we give other people we think that whatever we are feeling is most important but if you go out and see and see how different people are there you will know that you not the only one stories to tell if you look in a more deeper manner then you will see that those people are not just people they are stories in themselves you would never know that a person whom you find going save someone’s life could be a person who has played.
Very important role in someone’s life you do not know what a person has to offer to you until and unless you go and talk to him and listen to that was obviously you cannot just go and force the person to tell his stories to you but you have to create an atmosphere where they are comfortable and they can find me so Dale Carnegie also uses a lot of the examples in his books to tell you how you can actually implement these stories in real life here are just not discussed these and the points but here also made sure that he tells you how you can actually incorporate those points in your own life so it really willing to make changes in your life you can actually looked towards example and used examples as and when it is required in your own life how to win people to your way of Thinking there will Carnegie has spoken about communication and how you can go out and about in talk in a way that people agree with you and they know that you are willing to do with them it’s all about communication and how you can mitigate the barriers to communication and if you think that you lack in that aspect and this part will be really good for you
The fourth part is all about being a leader and if you are someone who wants to be a leader then what are the qualities and how you can gain those qualities on those things are given in this part and this is very important for those people who are going out toward a career or a place where they would want to be leaders are they want others to follow their orders for their Ideas mainly their ideas.
Also, the language used in this book is written normal not very fancy or not
very gym it is moderates even if you are not an avid reader you can still read this book and be able to absorb the ideas so do not worry about that this book is not written in a language that is too heavy for everyone it is a very simple book so it’s written in a way so that anyone can learn things from this it’s mostly about learning and how you can improve yourself as this is a self help books and it will make you know how to how to just get along with people in a better way. It will dealing with the problem of socializing but obviously only after practicing it for a long time in one day after reading this book is can’t do that you have to continue the practice. all I think how to win friends and influence people is a really good book and it is written so many years back and even after the get it is just as relevant today as a student it is today a lot of Forward depends on team leadership and corporation and coordination so it becomes even more relevant for you to be able to influence and communicate your ideas in a better way Dale Carnegie give you some examples that are very evergreen future going to a mental Rattan you think that you are not confident enough to go out and lead people or just communicate your ideas in the better than other than reading this book will bring you out of that and it will help you to rebuild your space in your this book will be helpful for a lot of people.
Women are capable of accomplishing anything. Create great ideas, build businesses, and make a great difference in the world. Nonetheless, we don’t see enough of this message in mainstream media. However, the realm of literature has provided us with many incredible stories of women’s perseverance, knowledge, wit, boldness, and drive.As such, here are some excellent novels written by women authors for women.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The caged bird attempting to escape has long been a symbol of resistance to injustice. Maya Angelou employs this sign to express her desire to leave a life of strife, racism, and misogyny. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an autobiographical novel about Angelou’s childhood in the 1930s.
We encounter prejudice, rape, and rejection from her community, even from her own mother, as we follow this impoverished, disenfranchised black girl. Maya Angelou discovers as an adult how her own strong spirit, compassion, and generosity to others is the greatest way to be free. The book is a strong and beautiful storey of courage and breaking free from one’s captivity.
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
We Should All Be Feminists is an interesting piece on women’s rights and equality. This book-length article discusses how the term “feminism” is sometimes connected with misunderstandings and prejudices like brainwashing.
To counterbalance this, Chimamanda Ngozi Aidchie provides the reader with a simplistic yet compelling description of feminism: equality for women in social, political, and economic terms. She confronts common feminist misconceptions front on. Even after her own friends called her a terrorist supporter, Aidchie continued to clarify that the term “feminist” has little to do with hostile, resentful, and men-hating women. The central theme of this novel is a narrative of a life-long battle to achieve equality between the sexes.
According to the author, feminism is important since it helps to tackle women’s silence and exploitation.By how successive generations educate their children, the concepts of gender equality and feminism continue to struggle with all these terms.
The Terrible by Yrsa Daley-Ward
The Terrible is a novel about a lady attempting to manage her life on her own. Yrsa Daley-Ward recounts personal aspects of her childhood without her father and the terrible facts she had to discover in this stunning piece of painfully honest prose.
These realities are referred to as “the terrible.” As a young lady, the writer couldn’t comprehend the mental strain of having encountered tremendous pessimism and tribulations so early on in life. Having grown up as the only kid of colour in a white area, she was educated by a family of radical Christians, and witnessed her mother being devastated by several bad relationships.
Later in the book, the book relates Daley-Ward’s life as an adult, when she, too, had to deal with “the terrible.” She discovered it was continually expanding and having a much more huge psychological strain on her as she became hooked to narcotics and experienced repeated mental breakdowns.
The author reaches the climax and confronts “the terrible” after suffering all of the negative stuff that has occurred to her. She can only break free and recover if she recognises the consequences of her trauma and embraces her self-sustaining positivity.
The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré
The title of this novel hints at the main character. The tale of Adunni, a young Nigerian girl who aspires to acquire an education but ends up in an arranged marriage, is told in “The Girl with the Loud Voice.” As she escapes her violent husband and her native town, her resolve to attend school, which her mother encouraged Adunni to accomplish, triumphs.
The plot follows Adunni on her trip, which is packed with perilous, life-changing, and remarkable experiences. On her journey, she gains access to literature such as English dictionaries when she finds herself working as a maid in Lagos. Eventually, she comes upon an opportunity to learn. Her irrepressible attitude and perseverance drive her on the path to the “louding voice,” making this book a fantastic piece of how battling for your ambitions will be rewarded.
Notwithstanding the many difficulties in her journey, she never quits on her aim of escaping poverty. The end result reminds readers of the author’s message: pursue your goals, and you might just bring about change.
Wow, No Thank you: Essays by Samantha Irby
Wow, No Thank You is an essay collection in which Samanth Irby describes her life as a married woman in her forties. She compiles a fantastic series of stories in which she finds herself in situations that many people can relate to. All throughout the novel, humour is a recurring motif, as Irby makes amusing comments on her own behaviour and life choices.
The author’s inner voice, however, is at the heart of the book, pushing us to be more sensitive to things. That discourse also enables us to notice these things that no one else notices, which frequently results in pretty funny circumstances. Irby demonstrates how her internal thoughts influences her clothing and footwear, food preferences, cleansing items, and so much more.
Author : John Green Genre : Young Adult Novel, Realistic Fiction Publisher : Dutton Books Publishing Date : January 10,2012 Pages : 313 Price : 399 ISBN : 0-525-47881-7
This bestseller book is an absolute treasure that will break your heart in the most beautiful way possible. This book is one of the most intriguing reads of my life. The title comes from the quote “the fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, for we are underlings.” From ‘Julius Ceaser’ by William Shakespeare. This simply means that people are in charge of their own destiny.
It is written in a coherent narrative style. The story revolves around Hazel Grace Lancaster who narrates the story and is experiencing stage 4 thyroid malignancy and Augustus Waters who lost his leg to osteosarcoma. Their first gathering turns out to be at a Cancer Support Group. They become hopelessly enamoured knowing their life wont last more. They talk about a ton of things including films and books. They exchange their favourite novel and agrees to read it. Augustus gives Hazel ‘Prince Of Dawn’ and Hazel proposes ‘An Imperial Affliction’, a novel about a malignant growth stricken young lady Anna. Augustus reads the story and is disappointed as the story is incomplete. Subsequent to battling a ton they meet Peter Van Houten, the writer of the book. However, they are stunned by the horrifying conduct of him towards youngsters and the story goes on.
My favourite character in the book is Hazels mother. She is sincerely solid and kind lady. It was she who enrolled Hazel to Cancer Support Group to cause her to mingle. She wants to be with Hazel all the time with an end goal to make her life additionally satisfying and fun. John Green takes you on a journey both awful and wonderful. He shows the significance of family and wellbeing. The characters are so genuine and wonderful that the reader will feel an extraordinary association with them. TFIOS is brimming with light and wealthy in feelings. It additionally teaches you to be glad even in the haziest circumstances.
Some of my favourite quotes from the book are ;
‘My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellation’ ‘Some infinities are bigger than other infinities’ ‘That’s the thing about pain, it demands to be felt’ &
“Without pain, how could we know joy?’ This is an old argument in the field of thinking about suffering and its stupidity and lack of sophistication could be plumbed for centuries but suffice it to say that the existence of broccoli does not, in any way, affect the taste of chocolate.”
Based on the book, a Hollywood movie with the same name was released on 2014 starred by Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort in main roles. Later in 2020, ‘Dil Bechera’ a bollywood movie was made based on the same starred by Sushanth Singh Rajput and Sanjana Sanghi in lead roles.
Each word, each sentence of this book is mystically woven. I would recommend this book to all readers as it will remain in the core of them until the end of time. You will not regret picking up this book,for sure.
“The Sun is also a Star” is written by NicolaYoon and this is his second book.
The Sun is also a Star is the young adult novel it is really popular like it one of the best selling books and a lot of people having talking about this book.
The character in this book or Nathasha and Daniel both of them or going through their own set of problems at one hand Nathasha is going through the crises were her family will be devoted from the USA because they are legal immigrants who came to the USA illegally and now they will be sent back to Jamaica and everything is very terrifying for them because they have to not be to Jamaica for long years now she tries her level bed so that she can do or arrange something for her family so that she does not have to be devoted so she tries and goes to all the administrative office to talk to the officer something and other can happen. she does not have to go back to Jamaica and she gets to live her
On the other hand, Daniel is going through this problem where his family has extreme expectations from him that is mainly because his family was having a lot of expectations from his elder brother now somehow his elder brother fail his exams and now all the expectation have come on the soldier of Daniel and now he is really terrified because all he thinks about it how he will get his life figure out.
Both Natasha and Daniel are going through their own set of problem personalities of Nathasha is someone who believes in science and logic. she does not believe in dreams and romanticism. On the other hand, Daniel is someone who likes all these things something that has other meaning other than logic. This is the main personality of both the character and now somehow this two life these two people came across each other and in 12 hours they fall in love with each other, and a lot of new Adventures had a lot of things happen. This is the basic outline of the story of the book.
The writing style of Nikola is used it very simple very plain if you are someone just starting to read that it is if you are a beginner then this book will be good for you. At a story is nat a boring at all lots of things are happening so it will give to engage to the story and you will not just lead the book just finished a book you will get to know what will happen until this is a love story you interested even more because the story quite interesting and predictable the outline of stories tell you what going to happen the amount of creativity and thought process that were put into creating this book cover. For a person who just getting into reading it will be good because you have no read many books don’t have many expectations through the sun is also a star book is good for beginners. Advanced level leaders stay away from this book.
Herman Melville (1819-1891), the author of Moby Dick, is recognized today as one of America’s greatest writers, although there was a time when critics as well as readers rejected his writings. He wrote more than ten major novels, based on experiences that he had gone through himself. Some of his adventures in real life were more exciting than the ones he describes in his novels, but none was as strange and thrilling as the story he tells in Moby Dick. Melville was born in 1819 in New York City. His parents, like many other Americans, were of mixed nationality, being partly English and partly Dutch. The Melville family was a well known one, but had become poor at the time of Herman’s birth. He was forced to give up school at the age of fifteen in order to earn his living. He tried his hand at various jobs: farming, teaching at schools, working in offices-in fact, any work that he could find. Finally, in 1839, he went to sea as a common sailor. His first voyage took him to the port of Liverpool, in England. He found life at sea so attractive that he decided to remain in this profession.
In December 1840, Melville joined the crew of a whaling-ship, the Acushnet, and went on a long voyage to the Pacific. After sixteen months on board, he and a shipmate ran away from the ship when it stopped at Nukhera, an island in the group of islands in the Pacific known as the Marquesas. They spent several weeks on this island, where they were in danger of being killed and eaten by cannibal tribes, before returning to America on another ship. Melville described these adventures in two of his novels which became instant hits-Typee and Omoo.
Between 1840 and 1843, Melville worked on two other whaling ships, the Lucy Ann, and the Charles and Henry. His experiences on these ships were used by him in writing Moby Dick. He gave up his sea-going life in 1844 and devoted himself completely to writing. In 1850, he met the great American writer, Nathaniel Hawthorne, who encouraged him to write Moby Dick, and to whom this novel was dedicated.
About the book
Moby Dick is a book with several layers of meaning and can be read at different levels. At one level, it is an exciting tale of adventure. There are many other well known stories of adventures at sea, but what makes Moby Dick special is the fact that it provides a rare glimpse into a particular kind of life-life on a whaling-ship, or whaler, which Melville knew at first hand.
This is the story of Captain Ahab, the captain of a whaling-ship, the Pequod, and his unending battle against a white whale, to which sailors had given the name Moby Dick. Because of its unusual colour and its great size, Moby Dick had become a valued prize for all whale-hunters. But in the case of Captain Ahab, there was an element of personal enmity and a desire for revenge as well. In an earlier meeting with Moby Dick, Ahab had lost one of his legs, which was bitten off by the whale. Thereafter, he had only one goal in life-to kill the white whale. After months of pursuit through the oceans, the man and the whale came together at last; the battle is resumed. The story is narrated by a sailor called Ishmael, who becomes a witness to the battle between Ahab and Moby Dick.
MOBY DICK as an Allegory
It becomes clear from the beginning that the author wants us to read his story as an allegory-a story with hidden spiritual meaning. Almost everything in the book has symbolic value and represents something abstract. The names of the major characters in the story are taken from the Bible, which was a source of inspiration for Puritans, a religious group.
Moby Dick can be read, at one level, as a tale of adventure. However, the fame of this book rests chiefly on the complex spiritual and religious elements that Melville wove into the story. Moby Dick is regarded as an epic, like our own Mahabharat or Ramayan, or the Iliad and the Odyssey, which were written by the Greek poet Homer, thousands of years ago.
An epic is a long tale which presents before us a vast, many-sided picture of human life and nature. Everything in an epic is on a grand scale there may be hundreds of characters, engaged over a long period of time in numerous exciting adventures. Most epics are stories of great battles, in which human beings perform heroic, almost superhuman deeds. These battles often represent wars between the forces of good and those of evil, with the former becoming victorious in the end.
Moby Dick is also an allegory in which ordinary objects, characters and events become ‘symbols’, representing abstract qualities or emotions. In poetry, for example, the rose is often used as a symbol to represent beauty and love, both of which are abstract things. Another common example of a symbol is the national flag of a country-though only a piece of cloth, it can give rise to the powerful but abstract emotion of patriotism. Many men and women have sacrificed their lives to protect the honor of their national flag.
The early American writers were mostly Puritans from New England. The Puritans, who became powerful in England in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, belonged to a Christian group which believed that God had created man only to serve and obey Him and that it was the duty of every human being to lead a pure and strict life, avoiding all forms of temptation. For a Puritan, life was a constant struggle against Evil. They believed that they were the only true Christians. In the sixteenth century, a group of Puritans left England and sailed to America, because they felt they did not have the freedom to lead the kind of religious life which they wanted. The part of America where they settled was known as New England.
Herman Melville was brought up as a Puritan and was deeply influenced by other Puritan writers. It was natural for him, therefore, to see life as a struggle between the forces of good and evil. Moby Dick is a powerful expression of this Puritan view of life, although there are other elements in it as well, taken from other cultures and religions that Melville became interested in. When we read Moby Dick as an allegory, symbolizing the battle between good and evil, it is not always easy to decide which qualities a character represents. Is Ahab a symbol of Goodness, and does Moby Dick symbolize Evil? This is what one might think at the beginning of the novel, since Ahab is shown as a heroic character, possessing superhuman courage and determination, while Moby Dick, the whale, is described as a killer. But gradually, we begin to see that there are many sides to both Ahab and Moby Dick. The whale turns into a mysterious supernatural power, which is beyond human understanding, while Ahab appears to become inhuman in the way he ignores the pain and suffering of others in his thirst for revenge. The line separating good from evil is not clear; both good and evil are seen to be parts of a larger design, balancing each other. Here, Melville seems to move away from a Puritan view of life and may have been influenced by other religions such as Zoroastrianism (the religion of the Parsis) as well as Buddhism and Hinduism.
Devastation in a life of a Human being comes in various versions which ultimately hollows a person psychologically, emotionally, and sometimes physically too. Kafka’s one of the most popular novellas to date is “Metamorphosis”, which is the best example of Human abandonment from their own society. This novella portrays how a human is outcasted by their own family and left to die.
A Tragic Story of Gregor Samsa –
The Novella begins with a setting of a bedroom where the protagonist is first introduced to the readers, as “Gregor Samsa”, who wakes up from his bed and sees himself transformed into a bug which brings him into a state of perplexing situation of his sudden body changes. He started to anticipate many assumptions of what had really happened to his body in one night but he failed in vain with the running thoughts.
Gregor Samsa was a salesman and a sole breadwinner who had a bunch of family responsibilities piled upon him. Even in the state of his physical transformation, he was concerned about his job and how would he be able to go to his office and catch his train at 7am.
Shock to the family –
When Gregor’s family members came to know about his physical transformation there were abashed and terrified by his transformation and avoided him mostly due to his nasty appearance. They were least bothered about Gregor, rather they were trying to avoid him by looking in this room and treating him like a real bug. Gregor’s father who never had any emotion and concern for his son only treated Gregor as someone who is paying off his debts. Gregor’s mother who loved Samsa dearly couldn’t be able to see his own son’s face as he looked disgusting and she was horrified with his appearance.
The only member who had a little bit of concern was Grete ( Sister of Gregor), who used to feed food to Samsa, but later on, in the story, she also loses interest in taking care of his own brother.
Family becomes Rebellious and Abandons Gregor :
This novella highlights the Fractured Family Relationships and the ill consequences which happened to Gregor after his transformation. His family, in particular, treated him like a disgusting insect which they wanted to get rid of, as the days were passing, Gregor who was once taking the responsibility for every member of his family now became a burden to them.
His father, Mr. Samsa even tried to kill Gregor with an apple, as he hated his own son so much. His mother though loved his son so much but never tried to visit him due to his condition.
The transformation was just a physical pain to Gregor, but the emotional and mental pain he received from his own family who was betraying him every day and alienated him in the end.
Tragic death Of Gregor:
“He thought back of his family with emotion and love. If it was possible, he felt that he must go away even more strongly than his sister. He remained in this state of empty and peaceful rumination until he heard the clock tower strike three in the morning. He watched as it slowly began to get light everywhere outside the window too. Then, without his willing it, his head sank down completely, and his last breath flowed weakly from his nostrils.”
This quote mainly reflects the tragic death of Gregor which created a sense of happiness for his family members. Profoundly, Grete is portrayed as responsible for Gregor’s death, but as we look into the story, we can’t blame only one character as responsible for his death, it is the whole family which should be blamed. Gregor was suffering from a state of identity crisis which brought his suicidal thoughts.
If we look into the story from a critical point of view, we can find that Gregor was depressed and was suffering from a breakdown. Unlike, other men of his age, he was different, he never enjoyed his life and never went to hang out with his friends, rather he was a workaholic and loner who used to be distant from socializing.
As we look into the story, Gregor died in his own room due to the burdensome of his own existence. His family made him feel like an outcast who should be dead and that made him demotivated to even live in this world.
His death was tragic because he died emotionally, mentally and when he was dead from inside his physical state couldn’t bear his body and left him abandoned, so he died tragically.
The ill fate of Gregor – An Alienated living being.
Gregor as a young salesman and even as a son, brother played all of his responsibility in an admirable way, he never disappointed anyone but rather always worked hard in spite of any situations.
When his life became upside down when he became a bug and his transformation made him realize that he has no one in this real world. His family was a mirage of happiness that abandoned him in the end. All his family urged was the money. They were happy with Gregor till he was capable of earning, the day he was of no use his family changed their attitudes towards him which made Gregor feel alone.
The author tried to make understand through the situation of Gregor to his readers that, when a person is physically able, they are treated as a prominent part of the society, but when they have any flaws or deficits in their body, they are discriminated against by there looks and appearances and left alone by criticizing and judging them, which makes the person hollow from inside.
A fractured family basically lives a materialistic life where emotions and understanding are not prominent instead there is always a motive of taking advantage of each other. Gregor’s family were money-oriented people who only urged for money and not didn’t worried about Gregor’s crisis he was going through.
Metamorphosis is the best work Novella which tells about Humans and their family relationships that, if a person is dead their life doesn’t stop as like the flowing water their life moves on and people forget there past like the dawn of other days.
Game Of Thrones is an American television series created for HBO by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss released in 2011. This series is based on a novel ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’, a series of fantasy novels by George R.R. Martin. The show got popularity soon after it is released. This show is shot in UK, Canada, Croatia, Malta, Morocco and Spain. It was released as TV show but now available in online at HBO website. The show is full of fantasy, and best for viewers to imagine and feel the fantasy world.
There are total 10 episodes of approximately 55 minutes. HBO had ordered a television pilot in November 2008; filming began the following year. However, it was deemed unsatisfactory and later reshot with some roles recast. In March 2010, HBO ordered the first season, which began filming in July 2010, primarily inBelfast, Northern Ireland, with additional filming in Malta.
There are total 10 episodes of approximately 55 minutes. HBO had ordered a television pilot in November 2008; filming began the following year. However, it was deemed unsatisfactory and later reshot with some roles recast. In March 2010, HBO ordered the first season, which began filming in July 2010, primarily inBelfast, Northern Ireland, with additional filming in Malta.
The story is primarily upon continent Westeros, with one storyline occurring on another continent to the east, Essos. Like the novel, the story focuses on Nobleman Eddard Stark also called Ned, the Warden of North and ruler of Winterfell. He asked to be ‘Hand’ of the King of Seven Kingdoms Robert Baretheon, also he was his best friend. They won many battles together before Robert became King, and only one Robert trusts is Ned. Later on Ned seeks to find the mystery behind the murder of his predecessor Jon Arryn. He also finds out that the son of Robert is not actually his. He uncovers the dark secret of Lannister family, which includes Robert’s queen, Cersei, that his predecessor died trying to expose. Ned fooling tells this to Cersei(Robert’s wife), and this leads to the murder of Robert. But Robert before dying orders a letter to make Ned the king of Seven Kingdoms till his son(Robert’s) come to a proper age. Ned is killed at the order of Cersei’s tyrannical teenage son, King Joffrey Baratheon.
Meanwhile, in Essos, the exiled Viserys Targaryen, son of the former king, forces his sister Daenerys to marry a Dothraki warlord in exchange for an army to pursue his claim to the Iron Throne. The season ends with Viserys dead and Daenerys becoming the Mother of Dragons.
The story is not only this much, I have given a very very brief from all 10 episodes. There is more to find out by seeing this show. Game of Thrones features a large ensemble cast. Critics praised the show’s production values and cast.
The first season won two of the thirteen Emmy Awards for which it was nominated: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (Dinklage) and Outstanding Main Title Design. It was also nominated for Outstanding Drama Series. U.S. viewership rose by approximately 33% over the course of the season, from 2.2 million to over 3 million by the finale.
However this show is also criticized for its foul language, nudity, high violence and sexual violence. So this is show is highly recommended for adults and one who can see violence. Here violence is not only killing, but it is like to see a surgeon operation. These have showed organs after being cutted by swords, what a head will look if one cuts into half. So I recommend not to watch if you start screaming just seeing blood as there is lot more than just blood.
But this show is must watch. For its locations, natural beauty, fantasy beauty and more.
Eduindex 
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