someday ill be in company of all....

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Sunday post





The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer..It's a chance to share the news...A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received  and share news about what it is coming up on the blog  for the week ahead..

The popularity of speed of reading is so wide that reading is always clubbed to the number of books you read...I too was by this plot when I was young, went on reading without relishing the soul of the book until my mother came to rescue one day by asking what I didn't like in a book, now you can go on and on about what you liked in a book but to answer the later you need to read not just browse through..unfortunately for me I somehow picked it along the way that reading is a habit, a way of life that should be loved to the core, for the customized personal reasons and that could be anything..For me books are my buddies who let me have a dull time, there is always something happening in my horizon in varied shades when I am reading...I get the an edge of years for experiences of a person reading a book which I wouldn't have otherwise could ever experience myself, isn't that a brilliant to go for??? plus it improves a keen observation, wide imagination and reflective analysis..So never force a person to read,that it seem like a chore...Once tasted the sweetness of reading, it becomes a lifelong love, and for me it started with fifteen minutes a day to cultivate the habit in me...Reading like any other habit takes its own sweet time to get into you just like learning to play an instrument, dance or music it has to be learnt to stay there forever..

That being said ,its very important to learn to read a book...Never think twice to abandon a book that doesn't strike a chord in you...Never force to read for great reviews, I have tried that myself but somehow it never works....So have fun choosing the books that appeal you , the ones that flints a smile across your face, that make you think and ponder on...Its great to stand my a horizon with changing vantage with every new book....
I would close my train of thoughts by quoting W.Somerset Maugham:

"To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life"
Have a great ahead..I'll be seeing you around more this week..

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Book Review:The Stoning of Soraya M :A true story by Freidoune Sahebjam

Title:The stoning of Soraya M:A story of Injustice in Iran
Author: Freidoune Sahbjam
Publisher:Arcade Publishing
Price:Rs 741
Page:144
ISBN: 978161145025X
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Source: Borrowed



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Buy The stoning of Soraya from amazon.com

Summary (from back cover)
Soraya M. s husband, Ghorban-Ali, couldn t afford to marry another woman. Rather than returning Soraya s dowry, as custom required before taking a second wife, he plotted with four friends and a counterfeit mullah to dispose of her. Together, they accused Soraya of adultery. Her only crime was cooking for a friend s widowed husband. Exhausted by a lifetime of abuse and hardship, Soraya said nothing, and the makeshift tribunal took her silence as a confession of guilt. They sentenced her to death by stoning: a punishment prohibited by Islam but widely practiced.Day by day sometimes minute by minute Sahebjam deftly recounts these horrendous events, tracing Soraya s life with searing immediacy, from her arranged marriage and the births of her children to her husband s increasing cruelty and her horrifying execution, where, by tradition, her father, husband, and sons hurled the first stones. A stark look at the intersection between culture and justice, this is one woman s story, but it stands for the stories of thousands of women who suffered and continue to suffer the same fate. It is a story that must be told.

Review
Rizana Nafeek was beheaded in Saudi for allegedly killing a baby..Rizana was a house maid from Srilanka who was 17 yr old at that time..After eight futile years of endless effort by many countries and activists the news of execution on January 9 came as a surprise to me..I was reminded of this book then..
For good or for bad, women in Muslim countries do not enjoy the freedom like in other countries.In Saudi men who consider themselves to be their wife's guardian receive mobile alerts when his wife leaves the country.. A girl has to get approval from her guardian for every class she chooses ..Though they sound very strange to me, I cannot really comment on it as I don't know a thing about their culture and tradition..Every community has a culture and tradition that seem to work for them...
That being said The stoning of Soraya..This particularly made me to read more on stoning to death in Iran,
Accordin to which the convicted usually for infidelity is wrapped head to toe in white and buried onto their waist, stoning is a large event where people gather up and there by the stoning begins, stones are chosen in way to cause maximum pain but not instant death.
In this book Shahebjam iterating the life of  Soraya, thirty five year mother of nine, devout and a faithful wife, whose life was taken away barbarously when her husband decides to remarry, and no much details about that woman is given in the book though, he then goes to the extend of  prove her unfaithful to her father and her sons also gains the confidence of the local Mullah who seems to be taking up religion for individual benefit..Though the evidence where not fulfilling yet she was condemned and the stoning took place by a mob that included some of her family members..This book was a difficult one to fathom..The bigotry of a society that carried out such treacherous guile was beyond my horizon of reasoning..How can a religious head carry out such a preposterous act was my thought  reading through, well you cant help much when your own husband is trying all his might to take things against her..Through all this Soraya's aunt doesn't shy away from her responsibilities, she is the only person who tries to defend her and Shahebjam gets his story from her..
I loved the part where Shahebjam writes from Soraya's vantage, her thoughts on the atrocities bestowed upon her for no reasons..Her agony through the monstrous circumstances..Her silence in her inabilty to defend herself were all well done...Shahebjam begins the book giving his reasons and thoughts behind his step to write this book and the approach adopted to channel through..The name of the village is changed for obvious reasons and like I had mentioned before, Shahebjam was not there to witness the death, yet the author leaves no room to imagination, he takes the liberty in detailing the event which is pathetically painful to read through... He takes you through the attitude of the villagers, their reflection and the support to the event..This was again a difficult part to read through..
This book may not be the one you'll end up reading over and over again, but had you read it once you may not find the need to read it again ...

Monday, February 4, 2013

Book Review: The agony and the ecstasy by Irving Stone

Title: The agony and the ecstasy
Author: Irving Stone
Source:Borrowed
Rating: 5 on 5

Buy The agony and the ecstasy from flipkart.com

Read this book and you'll get a Que on how to write a biography that it almost feels like an autobiography..Renaissance is one the most interesting era in history were immense changes took place in the form of art, architecture, music and the whole thinking-thought process and ideologies...It was during the twelfth century spanning across the whole Europe starting from Italy....Leanardo Da Vinci, Isaac Newton, William Shakespeare, Vasco Da Gama are the ones that come into my mind instantly...With all these great men craving a niche for themselves, Michelangelo  stands tall with his masterpieces through his Sistine chapel and creative art... I only wish that I could get a chance to see them in person along with his Pieta at the Basilica...

This book is an extensive attempt to bring about the life of a great artist of all time right from his childhood... Michelangelo is a Renaissance star-vault..Right from his first stroke of art at Ghirlandio's studio to his career in Florence under Medicis, he showcases his brilliance very early impressing his masters right away, but his true love remains sculpture, It was as though he could feel life in cold stone that he created ...It is Ghirlandio's studio he meets Torrigini who stays  his enemy for life..He also meets Contessina Medicis's daughter who has great influence on him till death...His journey shuttles from Vatican to Florence through various turbulent priod where his love for work remains intact...The book not only explores his work but also his relationship with his family..His father who didn't really approve of his son taking up art as career, his step mother who was always kind to him treating him no less than her son, his grandmother who was there to guide him through confusions..Grannici with whom he had a friendship for life, and he shares a strong bond with his brother...

The book slowly unwraps his life in terms of his love for painting, poetry and sculpture..His hatred for imperfection is phenomenal all through..Michelangelo comes across for his sheer excellence at  work , but he is a true artist who knows his limitation and work on it...His talent and wisdom radiates through each perception...The euphoria for his work that he undertakes, the intoxication while working on it, a trance that he relishes surfaces like a perfect sonnet..The anguish, and the melancholy that his passion puts him through is wonderfully portrayed by Stone...

Stone has very cleverly dealt with his love life be it Contessina, Medici or Clarissa , his bisexual life in a politically correct way putting in more focus on art than on his controversial flings..

It is in the Palace under Lorenzo's impact that sets the course of his ideology on religion, philosophy,thoughts, creativity, spiritualism and the nexus of all these...His Christian beliefs also had a great impact on him ...His rebellious actions in the dark dissecting human body to understand them better there by help him excel in his work portrays the agony of the art that puts him through blood and desperation..It is from here his passionate other affairs takes off..

It is in Rome he finds fame rich and success , bringing him close to Pope ..His fame spreads far and wide..It is here he creates Pieta..He also gets a chance to connect to to Da Vinci, Raphael his peers were good ones...His unfinished work of Moses his love with Tomasso his apprentice illustrates how it influenced him for years...

I eagerly awaited to read on his work as the head architect at St.Peter's basilica..The dome of it that still stands tall at 335 feet is for sure true masterpiece by this exemplary artist of all time..Dying in the arms of Tomassa my heart felt heavy wanting to read more about the greatest artist...

The Liebster Award!!!!!!!!!!




I am overwhelmed , another award..Though I have been away from my blog for sometime now, I am thank full that I am still remembered...Seirra Poirier of Dear,restless reader nominated me for this award..and oh my I am super excited...

The rules are..

  • Copy paste the award onto your blog
  • Put forward 11 questions, nominees with less than 200 followers and 11 facts about yorself.
  • Answer my 11 questions
  • Leave a comment on your nominee's blog page telling them about the award.
  • Thank your nominator

Few random facts about me..

  • I am always surrounded by books and papers, it's either my research or my love for books...
  • Call me boring but my love for museum and prehistoric things hasn't left me..
  • I hate pizzas and burgers
  • I can speak four languages ( Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi and of course English), it's a perk of being Indian that comes naturally , but not good at writing Tamil and my mother tongue Malayalam
  • I love history and historic fiction more than anything..
  • I am a travel freak but I like to be organised at it...
  • I can be a night owl and an early bird depending on my schedule..
  • I play side and seek with my niece and nephew..


Let me try and answer the questions by CC

1) Who is your favourite author and why?
Though there are quite many, William Dalrymple and Orhan Pamuk are undoubtedly my favorite.. Dalrymple is a wonderful historian who can bring out the neglected part of an important historic event or place by adding interesting tales so well that , even a boring subject can turn out to be an interesting piece...His love for history comes across through his intense research and writing, while Pamuk has given unique vantage to fiction ..He brings out the shades of human characters so well that I just treasure those..

2) What Kind of books do you like to read?
I love non-fictions ,history  tops the list but  nowadays I experiment a lot with fiction too thanks to the blog tours..

3)Who would be your fictional book boy friend/ girl friend?
That would be Valek of Poison study..He is a sought of character who like a breeze is gentle yet the feel of it is always strong..He is there for his love in spite of odds..I would love to keep Jane Eyre as my girly buddy forever..

4) How often do you read and where?
I read everyday at least for an hour no matter what and I read a lot when I am travelling..

5) What's something important you've learned from blogging?
Blogging has taught me the art of staying organised so that there is always my time for what I love apart from my work...Above all it has given me many friends with such wonderful thoughts and ideas that has only expanded my horizon which would have never happened otherwise..

6)If you could be a character from a book who would you be? why?
That is a difficult question not because I have too many choices but there are none..Though there are n number of memorable characters that I have treasured, I have never really felt like being one..I guess I'll have to think more on that so that I'll be in a position to answer that next...

7)Genres that just don't interest you?
Science fiction, self help and erotica are just not my kind of genre ..Though I have nothing against them, they don't interest me much...

8)Best blogging experience yet?
I got  mails from my friends and few others ,that reading my blog  inspire them to read..I was in cloud nine learning  that I could make a difference..

9)Top 5 favorite books of all time?
1-They go on my top first list...Mother, Jane Eyre, David Copperfield, War and Peace
2-White Mughal
3-No Ordinary times
4-Snow
4-The Argumentative Indian
5-The poison study

10)Two books you're dying to read that haven't yet been released?
1-Mauscript found in Accra by Paulo Coelho
2-Che in Paona Bazar by Kishalay Battacharjee

11)What book(s) got you interested in reading?
Disney Fairy tales kindled my love for stories. Jane Eyre and David Copperfield gave me the taste of pleasure of reading followed by War and Peace and Mother hence they are my all time favorite..

Phew I am done with my questions, 


And here goes my nominations


Congratulations all..
And my questions are:

1)What was the driving force for blogging.
2) Do you have a TBR list which you follow or is it a random read.
3)Do you have a target for every month regarding number of posts and books to be read.
4) Top 5 favorite books and why?
5)Do you see yourself as an author someday ?? Give reasons for either yes or no..
6)How do you manage your time for blogging.3 best sellers that never clicked with you
7) Who is your favorite cartoon character?
8) What is reading and good books to you?
9) Top 5 books you have disliked.?
10) On what basis do you choose a book to read?
11) Top 5 favorite authors and classics of all time.


Have fun everyone.

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Sunday Post




The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer..It's a chance to share the news...A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received  and share news about what it is coming up on the blog  for the week ahead..
I have been missing out my sunday posts continuously for one reason or other...I only hope I become more organised so that I don't miss this meme, because I have come to love it...
Gazing at the stars I was wondering why was this universe created at all?? There have been millions of effort to know how it came to being, but can we ever deduce the reason behind why at all it came into being??? There have been reports and news about UFOs , what if they were true?? What if there existed other living being waiting to be discovered!!! Could we succeed in bridging the gap?? Is our Universe  a part of something even more bigger and brighter, and we a mere junk of it??..There are stars so far,i.e., many light years away that by the time we seem them  they may not even exist there!!! Though theses things interest me immensely, I get entangled in a web of thoughts between philosophy and science..Is there a fine balance between both that could be thinned away?? Or is it just many other random thoughts that just escape us..I have always been taken away by the Time machine, something that can help us travel against the law thanks to the books that took me back and forth in time...Being said that I guess its time that I read more and answer them many myself...


Good week everyone...
Unfortunately I just had one post the last week..
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