Sravika's Books - Reviews and Other Trivia

The Age of Innocence  By Edith Warton  Rating : 5/5 💗💘 Genres : Classics, 19th Century, Romance, Pulitzer Prize winner 1921 , Generational Fiction.  (Setting out to write this review, I was not sure what to say and definitely didn't think that I will write so many words! )  The character development is spectacular in this book. Infact, a person is not identified for his physical appearance/features but mostly segregated and defined by their inner natures. Overall I think this is not a tragedy..even it is not a wonderfully happy story with a happy ending. It has a tinge/touch of melancholy which is inspired by things unattainable but most wanted.  The story brilliantly portrays the inner conflict a man goes through as he tries to upend the conventions and status quo of the society he has been part of since birth to follow the passions of his heart versus adhering to the dictates of an orthodoxical/ traditional society/family and suppressing his desi...

Dead Souls By Nicolai Gogol  Rating : 5/5 Genres : Classics,Social Message, Satire,Humor,Philosophical Fiction, Russia This is a story with profound spiritual and philosophical message. I loved it so very immensely. For a deviation, the main character (the hero) of the plot is not glorified as a man of all virtues but is exposed for all his deep flaws, dishonesty and his very imperfect soul is laid bare to the reader so that he may become the one important lesson of how not to behave/act in life - with immorality. It depicts so well that what one should try to save and cherish cannot be stolen by another person - because it is not of a materialistic nature but rather spiritual. It is also a call to each one of the humanity to awaken their sense of self justice and honesty and not fall into the temptation despite peer pressure. 💜 So, so, so enchanted with the depth of human character and nature the author was able to uncover through the several other different personali...

Nausea By Paul Jean Sartre  Rating 4/5  Genres : Classics, Existential Reality, Satire, Freakish. This is not the kind of a novel that we come across everyday. It has some very weird thoughts expressed in real honest ways and they are rather abstract and hard to grasp. The protagonist seems to be fast spinning down a spiral of insanity and is also fully aware of this fact. He rambles at length without making much sense and then becomes extremely lucid and clear like glass. To really understand what he is saying, to really feel what is he going through, I think one has to stand in his very shoes and walk the length and bredth of his existential reality. Otherwise is is just plain insanity and nonsensical. :(  For my part, I understand him completely. I could figure exactly what he is trying to convey and although he is only perhaps a figure fiction, I sympathize with him.  The protagonist is a thirty year old man who finds no meaning and purpose to his lif...

The Great Gatsby  By Scott Fitzgerald  Rating : 4/5  Genres : Classics, Magnum Opus I dont know why I have put off reading this book for so long. Its not very long but the characterization of Gatsby is so clear and impactful - it proves that the length of a novel is no requirement to make up a great story/plot.  Jay Gatsby is the man who has dreamed big and achieved what he has always wanted in life. He wanted to hold onto something tangible in the form of an idealized lover Daisy but the choice of his lover and the motives for holding her onto him turn out disastrous in the end. Is he a victim to wanting and aiming for the unattainable? I think he didn't and couldn't read the evident signs in the character of his lover because he held onto his dream too tight that rendered him blind to the reality.  :/ Coming to the story.  There is a lot of myth and hype surrounding the persona of Jay Gatsby and his millions of wealth. No one knew where he cam...

The Awakening  By Kate Chopin  Rating: 4/5  Genres : Classics, Sexuality, Novel Edna is a married woman to a loving and devoted husband with children that fill her life. She is expected to take care of the basic responsibilities of a wife and mother by her husband but she feels a void within herself with her well set family life. She yearns for an all encompassing romance that stirs her soul and wants to follow the guidance of her own self rather than listen to those around her - become a trailblazer and a rebel so to speak. As the change slowly starts seeping into her thoughts and actions, her husband becomes disturbed and rightly concerned. He tries to force her into the old ways but she only breaks free.  She has multiple suitors to keep company in the absence of her always working husband. One of them is Robert whom she falls deeply for but is elusive for her to capture. The other is a man with a notorious reputation of beguiling ladies and she has no...

The House of Mirth  By Edith Warton  Rating :5/5 🤩😈 Genres : Classics, Romance, Historical. When I read the first few pages, thought this is going to be an inconsequential and boring read. But the story caught up with me as the events churned out Miss Lily Bart the protagonist down the social ladder that she so desperately wished to ascend. It is a story with a deeper moral in it that even if one doesn't possess the wealth and superfluous fame that everyone craves for, what really matters to keep a person happy despite everything else is solid rooting in the form of a cherished family and love. I am very touched at how Lily comes into realization of this but at the very brink of her setting on a real journey, life is cut short. Perhaps there is a lesson in this - true happiness is not meant for all. :/  Lily Bart is a young, attractive socialite that is highly admired by men and adored by women. She is adopted by her aunt after the death of her mother who di...

Sentimental Education  By Gustave Flaubert  Rating : 3.5/5  Genres : Classics, France, Romance, Revolution. An ok,ok read. I thought that throwing in elements of revolution and strife into an otherwise peacefully going romantic story created some discord in my mind im relation to the intactness of the plot. This is a story with elements of idealization of love which is unrequited, betrayals and debauchery, unfulfilled desires and aching hearts coming to terms with things as they turned out to be.  So, a young man Frédéric meets a married woman on a boat trip and falls instantly in love with her. Where others find her quite plain and of mediocre attractiveness, he attributes all the traits of Venus to her. He establishes a connection to her husband M.Arnoux who is a passionate businesses man but also a swindler and prone to getting into several shady deals unknown to his family. He also has several adulterous relationships among who one is notable - a...