Sravika's Books - Reviews and Other Trivia

 The Return of the Native  By Thomas Hardy (1878)  (396 pages Paperback edition)  Rating : 4/5 👍👍👍👍 Genres : Classics, Fiction. Just wrapped up reading. Closed the book shut and placed it safely away on my book rack. Sat back in my rocking chair and contemplated for a while what my review should be. Everyone knows this is a classic and hence timeless, ageless,applies to everyone, everywhere and at everytime. Edgon - the countryside where this story takes place is a beautiful village. I loved the landscape and the time during which this is written. I wouldn't mind giving up my modern day amenities and life style to move here! Truly!💖🥳 I have read other works of Thomas Hardy and immensely enjoyed them. This doesn't fall short to any. All his books have beautiful descriptions of the greenery and landscapes which take one's breath away. 🤗🤓 Fate is a ruthless master and every minute we are driven into the hands of destiny through the unseen actions of divine.🤘 Cl...

The Kite Runner  By Khaled Hosseini  Genre : Afghanistan, classics,good-prose ,2023-read, Historical Fiction  Rating 5/5  This story spans the time period from 1975 to 2002 threading its way through Afghanistan and America. The story sees the country of Afghanistan peaceful in the early to late 1970s, struggling and haggling under the tyranny of Russia through 1980s and stifling under the overtake and rule of the Taliban. This is one of those countries where going back to a peaceful past is no longer possible. Even those who were acquainted with that period are running in short supply. May God help and provide for the still suffering. There is little that we as spectators know of these countries and the plight of such people unless books such as these - although fiction - are written and Khaled Hosseini is a crusader for their cause!! This book has proved to be a challenge for finishing in one read. I remember vividly the number of times I gave it a ...

Of Mice and Men By John Steinbeck (1994) Genres : Classics, Philosophy, Fiction Rating : 5/5 Absolutely loved that the author had created character masterpieces in such short page count!! The future is unforeseeable and some of the best laid plans fail to turn out. Sometimes those who are the most vulnerable amongst us also turn out to be the most misunderstood and wronged against. Lennie (big man, mentally unsound) and George (small, smart man) move between different jobs and look out for each other. Well, its George saving and rescuing the blubbering and blundering Lennie most of the time. But this time, Lennie does something that even George cannot swing. How do the duo escape a fate that threatens their togetherness and friendship? How does it shatter their plan of owning their own place and living off by their ownselves? The immense pity I felt towards Lennie - a big, strong man capable of great physical labor but mentally challenged/incapable - soon coagulated ...

Therese Raquin  By Emilie Zola  Genres : Fiction, classics, Temperament  Rating 5/5  I am an ardent fan of the works of Emilie Zola. Like his precious books I have read and enjoyed, he didn't disappoint with this one either. Liked this one immensely!!   Its an ongoing and nonstop feature of anxieties and fears between a husband and wife who had murdered an innocent man to get together. Therese and Camille have been brought up together by Camille's doting and caring mother. They were married to each other but Therese had little affection to this sickly man and indulges in a debauched relationship with his friend Laurent. Laurent wants a lazy life where someone takes care of him and his needs. He sees opportunity for realizing his goal with Therese and both of them together murder/drown Camille on a trip. After that they have not a minute's peace and try to find ways to escape each other and also the ghastly act they have committed. The end comes ...

To The Lighthouse [1927] By Virginia Woolfe  (188 pages from the Kindle Digital Edition) Rating 4/5  Genres : classics, human relationships  This book is termed the 15th among the 100 best novels of the 20th century. This plot showcases the complexities of human relationships through interactions among the members of a Ramsay family and guests at their home. Father and mother, Mr and Mrs Ramsay, have their own quirks and marital problems which are laid bare to the reader through someone making an observation but the irregularities are smoothed out through compromise and a burst of love, duty and responsibility.  Mr. Ramsay is a tyrannical and authoritative parent who is needy and desirous of appreciation to his work which he fears doesn't amount to much in the world. He demands sympathy from his wife and others and he usually gets what he wants. He is a rambunctious person whom his children James and Cam (among others) hate the most and they dislike his m...

Laughter in the Dark [1932] By Vladimir Nabokov  184 pages [Kindle Digital Edition] Rating: 5/5  Genres: Tragedy, Classics, Fiction  A happy family unit. A rich man interested in making art and theater, his homely wife and lovely daughter. All this torn up by a sulky, self centered and frivolous young mistress and her lover. Nabokov is a master at creating scary scenes tinged with intrigue. I kept turning pages towards the end to get the bottom of what might happen ... and it ended up as a laughter in the dark...who is laughing and at whom? For what purpose?  Albinus is a rich man who have been married long time to a woman he loved and with a lovely daughter. One day he sees a young girl and falls deep in trance about her. He courts her, gives her little gifts and makes her his mistress. She is a frivolous little thing. Not serious about life but wanting him to divorce his wife and marry her...into this picture enters her former lover who once cheated her...

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest [1962] By Ken Kesey  Rating 5/5  321 pages [Kindle Digital Edition] Genres : classics, mental health, psych ward. The ending is an absolute gut punch. I didn't see it coming. I didn't expect this to cause such an emotional stir within. I guess somewhere along the line, like all the acutes on the ward, we fall in love with McMurphy. He has become One of my absolute all time favorites!! 💗 Totally, totally love the character of McMurphy!  He has taught me something valuable by his way of being himself even in face of adversity. Being tough meaning to be able to see funny side of things .. even in those that are painful and unbearable.  But sadly, I don't see nothing funny in the ending to this book. It is too unfair and traumatic. Did the author intend to make the reader have an painful reading experience? Leaving them in tatters and tears?  Every page from the start till the end was filled with fear and curiosity ....

The Lathe of Heaven (1971) By Ursula le Guin  Hugo and Nebula Awards W inner  Rating : 5/5 🎉 196 pages [Kindle Digital Edition]  Genres : Science Fiction,  Fantasy, Classics, 2022-read. Wow. What did I just read? This is a close your eyes and give it the best rating there is kind of a read. I haven't found myself so engrossed in a while. I couldn't put the book down. Found myself getting up early in the morning and reading to find out what comes next. Great stuff! 🥂 This also brought to mind another book I read recently which is along the lines of altering reality .. Recursion by Blake Crouch .. though in Recursion, where technology is used to navigate between different lines of reality of existence .. in this book, it is the fantasy of a man's dreaming that gets the state of reality altered between different lines. And someone even tries to apply that through technology and it backfires big time!  I liked Recursion but I just love The Lathe ...

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...

Candide by Voltaire  Rating : 4/5  Genres : Satire, Classics, Novella  This is a really short book. But it covers huge ground - i mean literally! The main character in the story, Candide, walks/treads all over multiple continents and lands facing mishap after mishap with a singular pursuit in mind - to reach and unite his lover. It is a satire on the philosophy that says 'everything happens for the best'. The narrative is outright hilarious at places even where one is supposed to be moved to compassion and tears at the bad luck that strikes the main characters in the play. It goes on in a totally un-serious vein where we see people dead in earlier chapters springing back to life in the later ones. 🤣🤣 Candide gets thrown out of his kingdom because he has fallen in love with the king's daughter. He had a teacher who drilled into him the philosophy that everything that happens is for the best and as life takes him through different twists and turns throwing him...

The Count of Monte Cristo  By Alexander Dumas  Rating : 4.5/5 Genres : Classics, Revenge, Counts and Barrons  Edward Dantes is a young sailor of nineteen deeply in love with a girl Mercedes whom he intends to marry after his voyage ends. He is also deeply respectful towards the only other love of his life, his father. A very promising and hard working young man that he is, his master Morrell intends to give him the captainship to his ship even though he is young and relatively inexperienced. This rubs some sailors the wrong way and one man Danglers especially harbors more resentment than others. Upon his return to mainland, Dantes visits  Mercedes  and sets up to be married to her shortly. However, she has a new beau Ferdinand who is her cousin and intends to seize her hand. He is bitter and rankles with hatred for she declares love for no one but Dantes. So on the appointed day of his marriage, Dantes gets arrested on the pretext that he is a suppor...

Foundation's Edge  By Issac Asimov Rating 5/5  Genres : Science fiction, 2022-read,classics. Marvelous! A work of pure genius!! Issac Asimov in my opinion remains the true master and peerless genius of the science fiction genre. I savored every drop of this tasty and twisty nectar that is loaded with a bountiful of surprises and wit. This book is the fourth in the Foundation book series by Issac Asimov and all of them are a huge hit. This book follows the establishment of peace and restoration of sanguinity to the universe after the Mule has been vanquished. It portrays a mind game between forces and people controlling them who are one step ahead the other- holding one knife behind the back of the other.. A little background to the foundation series and this book. Human life which has originated on earth spread far and wide colonizing millions of planets in the universe. Hari Seldon was a psychohistorian who through several algorithms and analytical estimates predi...

Absalom, Absalom!  By William Faulkner  Rating 4/5 Genres: Drama, classics, 2021-read, non linear story telling  This is the first book I have read by William Faulkner and its non linear story telling kept me hooked through out its rather simple  plot. He gives a gist of what had happened in the past and slowly unravels the whys, the whens and the where's by going back from the present into the past opening a window there, closing a window here and so forth. It got a bit tricky to keep track of what point in time he is referring to and who the characters in the context are. To put it mildly, it is a bit challenging of a novel which required occasional back and forth in reading also. He says something and the details or explanation to it come later..so one has to hold on to reading and it all becomes clear eventually.  This book tells the story of the family  of a fictitious Thomas Sutpen narrated by a young man Quentin Compson who got it from mu...

Melmoth the Wanderer By Charles Maturin Genres : Gothic, Horror, Classics, 2021-read,awesome. Rating 5/5 Absolutely loved this! Gothic and horror at its epitome and best! While reading this, I wondered if such souls like Melmoth don't really exist? My conscience and gut feeling tells me there might be some like him wandering trying to fulfill the wishes of the devil just like we have saints trying to convert men to good for the will of God. So Melmoth is a man who made a pact with the devil - sold his soul - to quench his curiosity in the black arts and is thus condemned to walk this wold alone..in search of another person who might take over his pact thereby liberating him from it. He approaches many a bereaved and extremely desolate soul in its stages of utter hopelessness offering this deal in exchange for a reversal of their circumstances and those stories are told in succession. They all reject his offer. He falls desperately in love with an innocent girl Imaal...