Sravika's Books - Reviews and Other Trivia

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka (2022) Winner of 2022 Booker Prize for Fiction   503 pages (Kindle Digital Edition) Genre : Fiction, Fantasy, Afterlife, Philosophy, LGBT. Rating : 5/5  Mr. Shehan weaved a mesmerizing tale that is simply superb and awesome. I was half way through the book and already making plans to read it one more time!!  He lifted the stigma and heaviness attached to the most gorical elements of war, death, loss and injustice. I didn't cringe or feel obnoxious reading through the numerous homosexual relationships Maali has. This story makes one reconsider their notions of what makes life worth while and wholesome. Why should we waste a life that is blessed to be had by indulging in wastefulness of war and power craving.  Loved it through and through!!  He paints a scary picture of Sri Lanka with race / faction wars in which innocent people are ruthlessly, mindlessly sacrificed. The government tortu...

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 ...

The Midnight Library (2020) By Matt Haig  258 pages (Kindle Digital Edition) Rating : 4.75/5  Genres : alternative reality, fiction, philosophy  A rigmarole and long unwinding ride but it is strangely satisfying. Deeply philosophical and the reader emerges out of this book feeling replenished and cathartic. Matt Haig tries to redefine what it means to be successful and happy. He explains what makes for a fulfilling life and how to not be deluged by regrets.  Most of us beat ourselves up with all the missed opportunities, all the ways things could have been different if a choice in the past was made  differently, all the things that were left undone/unsaid and desires left unexplored. One with such strong proclivity is the main character of this story .. Nora Seed. She has a huge list of regrets and missed opportunities in her life. She struggles with depression and unable to cope with life where everything seems to go against her - her parents d...

August 26,2022 Some thoughts on The Penelopiad (by Margaret Atwood book) Sitting myself by the window sill and pondering on the mysteries of life and human soul, I recollected some interesting facet in Atwood's thinking from her book The Penelopiad which I finished reading recently.  Penelope is dead and her soul is migrated over to Hades. Here she sees her other friends, maids, Helen and husband Odysseus moving in and out of multiple next lives donning different personalities while she just stays put. She justifies this by saying " I know that the past has been bad but who knows how future will be" (paraphrasing). She is referring to her next lives and the uncertain conditions surrounding them. She has seen how her husband and Helen fared. How her friends and maids did. Still, she had a deep rooted fear that was keeping her fixated.  It would be different I guess if this is not fiction and everyone has the same alternative to remain stagnant. But that's not how evolu...

I'm Thinking of Ending Things  By Iain Reid  Genres: psychological thriller, 2022-read, philosophy, psyche, mystery, mental illness  Rating 5/5 ☺☺☺ Terrific. Eerie and ominous. A quick and short read but with a lasting impact. This book is a 2006  debut novel from a Canadian author Iain Reid and he makes a definitive mark with this one. Without giving away the secret/twist in the story,  this is a play of psychological guessing game on the reader till the very end. What the narrator is actually describing is not fully grasped/understood without the full context at the end. Ofcourse there are hints all through but they don't strike home the message.  Getting into the plot, Jake is a student in the preparation to become a professor. He meets a young woman at a pub and they begin connecting. While he is tall and wiry in frame, she is short and a bit roundish - contrasting him. They are both introverted, shy and non social people wishing not to talk...