Sravika's Books - Reviews and Other Trivia

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...

All the light we cannot see  By Anthony Doerr  Rating :4/5  Genres : Historical Fiction, World War 2, Germany, France. Its a beautiful story. Although it has some sad and deeply troubling aspects to it, the overall detached tone the narrator takes makes it bearable and informative. The plot alternates between the years 1940 where preparations for an upcoming war are going on and 1944 when the war is taking place in full force in Saint Malo, France. There are three main characters in the plot - one is a blind girl Marie LaRue whose childhood is shaped and nurtured by her loving father, the second is a mathematical and physics genius Werner who works for the German army but years for his sister and home where things are less violent, third is an old gem collector for the German army/museum and is suffering from a malignant tumor. Their paths evolve separately but there are subtle links occasionally before they get together under one roof battling the same war an...