Sravika's Books - Reviews and Other Trivia

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...

 The House of the Spirits By Isabel Allende  Rating 5/5  Genres : Magical Realism,  Drama, Romance, Politics, Fantasy  In some 400 odd pages, the author covers the life history and important events of three generations of the Trueba and Del Valle families. The plot is just awesome and the prose style is magical and very mesmerizing. I just got sucked into the surreal and eccentric world of Clara Esteban who is a dreamy character conversing with spirits and with her head lost in the clouds and wild imagination.  Esteban Trueba is a practical young man who falls head over heels in love with an angelic looking woman Rosa del valle. But before they could get married, Rosa dies in a tragic accident. This breaks Esteban's heart  and he devotes himself completely to the task of repairing his land and setting it up into a successful business center. To quench his sexual appetites, he occasionally turns into a monster ravaging the worker and peasant...

House of Leaves  By Mark Z. Danielezski  Rating 5/5  Genres : Horror, Mystery, Gothic, Drama  The structure of the book is very different. At times I had to remind myself that this is only a work of fiction. It tells a scientific expedition by a group of people along side with foot notes taken from journals, research papers and puts forth different sets of arguments for and against the events and the participants' reactions to them.  Some readers said this is a horror story while some felt it is a love story. I guess I will lean more towards the horror and mystery side than love although their is some deep realization and self sacrifice in the name of true love in the story.  It is very engrossing and I couldn't put it down trying to make out what it all amounts to in the end. I guess the end is a mystery to me although there are some opinions and theories put forth in the unraveling of the plot.  An old man Zampano who leads the life of a ...

The Memoirs of Cleopatra By Margaret George Rating 5/5 Genres : Historical fiction, ancient egypt, Cleopatra, Julius Ceasar,  Marc Antony, Octavianus Caesar It is little secret that I am obsessed with famous personages from Egypt. Starting with the notorious Akhenaten, Nefertiti and to Cleopatra, I never tire of reading different versions of their histories by different interpreters. Like all historical fiction based on actual living person from the past, this book is part fiction and part factual. But on the whole, it is very engrossing and gripping.  I took much longer to finish this than other books but I was savoring every part of its sweetness and mystique of Egypt it contained. Julius Ceasar and Marc Antony are two roman generals and leaders who fall completely and desperately in love with the mighty queen of Egypt, Cleopatra.  She was very young when her mother died and her father is not strong in character - being depicted as a dionysian with exub...

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...

 The Great Alone By Kristin Hannah Rating 5/5 Genres : Historical fiction,Alaska, romance,drama, violence, World War ii. I am not a hopeless romantic or a sentimental freak but this book had me tearing up real bad towards the end. Its a profoundly touching story that is bitter, scary,sad and beautiful all at the same time. It conveys a beautiful message that Love thrives and lasts - in some form or another - through time and forever. Alaska is referred to as the great alone In this story. People from far and away often make their homes in the state to live peaceful, independent and secluded lives. Those who are survivors can make it but those who can't, they go elsewhere. I didn't like Alaska- no, more like scared and horrified by it (although the heroine loves it and calls it her true home) - its a cold and isolated place with no electricity and where people lived entirely to survive the harsh climate and get through dangerous winters. Leni is a thirteen year ...

The Troop  By Nick cutter  Rating : 3.5/5  Genres : Horror, suspense, 2021-read, virus, worms, epidemic, self immolation, investigation. So, its more creepy and filled with literally creeping things- worms - than horror. I guess the plot could have been written better- making it more raw and intense.  At no point during the read did I feel really worried for the boys even though I guessed right of the bat that none of them are going to escape. And the unnecessary animal cruelty and violence felt like an attempt made by the author to make it more horrid but I only felt empty queasiness and skipped parts of the plot where its there.  Its a hard book to finish in one go. I had to take breaks in between and tried to get away from the horror but I just couldn't stop thinking about it. I tried to sleep it off but my dreams are filled with images of crawling multitude of worms. Its an understatement in the least to say this is a disturbing book.  Getti...