Sravika's Books - Reviews and Other Trivia

Valis  By Philip k. Dick  Rating: 4.75/5 Genres: Science fiction, suspense, thriller, good vs evil, theology, mental illness, insanity, novel plot, 2021-read, reviewed. Just like living things have an 'aura'  around them with which some could guess their health/well being, books also seem to have a kind of aura around them. If it's a book written by Philip k Dick, one can be assured that it has some element of surprise, novelty, drugs, madness and a promise of a fun ride. Valis is a pleasure to read.I ran through the pages with my eyes glued to my kindle. I couldn't put this book down. Philip Dick is one of the very established authors in the genre of science fiction but for the first 20-30 percent of the book , I wondered if he diverged into a memoir. Yet, his writing is so hilarious that on the one hand I was telling myself  'what a poor fellow this Horselover Fat( an alter ego of Philip, the narrator) is' and on the other hand laughing my head off...

The Bell Jar  By Sylvia Plath Genre: Suspense, Mental health, madness, insanity, 2021-read, good prose, modern classics Rating: 4/5 A student one minute is pursuing the most envious and successful life and the next minute is undergoing shock treatments under harsh conditions of mental asylums to help cope with her life. What's happened? A fast paced and gripping page turner. Disturbing and strange read which is heart pounding and equally seductive in style. Very thought provoking in its own way. I took my sweet time getting through this book and now I can't seem to get it out of my head. A scene never lingers or tarries at one point or gets too much into detail..it just moves forward into another.. seamlessly blending the two together. The chain of events are broken off and joined by links of continuity that keeps the prose going. But although a book on mental detachment, depression and other mental health issues, it had some strong laugh-out-loud moments and the na...