The Palace of Illusions

( BOOK REVIEW )

Author– Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Publisher – Pan Macmillan

Genre – Mythological Fiction, Historical Fiction

ISBN – 978-0-330-45853-5

Number of pages – 360 (Paperback)

The best thing about this novel by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is the idea behind the story as it is a story of a woman in a male-dominated world. She took a simple story which is already known to many and presented it with a totally different viewpoint that is rarely considered by people, even in today’s time; the viewpoint of a woman. The woman that is considered as the cause behind the greatest war of her time.

Long before I picked this book to read, I was familiar with the background of the story (or so I thought) – The story of the popular saga – Mahabharata as narrated by Panchaali (or Draupadi). But I did not realise until I picked it to read, that it is not just the story of an age-old saga; It’s the probable-story of the life of Panchaali narrated by herself and not just of the Mahabharata. The could-have-been reasons for various incidents that led her to make certain decisions. How much more there was to her character than mere cause of an epic war since that is how we remember her, don’t we?

But Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni painted a picture of her with a slightly different angle, that gave her more to be remembered by. This captivating narrative begins from her fiery birth to her demise from this mortal world, passing through every phase of her life; her childhood at her father’s palace, her marriage with her five husbands and motherhood. How an adrift and naive little girl changed into a valiant woman of courage and poise. How she brazenly faced every hard situation in her life which leads us to think that how strong a woman is or can be.

Draupadi is shown as a women who is ahead of her own time, which makes it a relatable story even today. There are so many instances from the stories which as a woman I can reflect back to in my daily life. The author has tried her best to make the story more realistic, and thus we see that not much has changed in our society even today. We have become ‘modern’ but sorry! Have we really been able to get ahead? Even today, women face several challenges such as conservatism, discrimination, patriarchy, stereotypes and many more. But is it only the fault of our society? Aren’t we responsible upto some extent? Doesn’t that society consist of women too? But among all these questions is the point of what we act on. Are we a part of that ‘modern’ society which is modern just to say or we really modern and strong enough to stand against society’s injustice just like Panchaali did?

But to be fair, the author didn’t just make her all perfect and good. She also showed the flaws in her Character as no one is all good. And thus we get to picture a realistic woman.

NOTE TO ALL READERS

There are various instances in the story which can’t be considered true, which may put many readers into confusion or even disagreement but it is just a probable-story and not all true. The author has used characters of the epic saga of Mahabharata and knitted a tale around it, so treat it simply as the imagination of a writer and nothing more.

“I had always wondered, how could she be the cause? Why does our elders tell us so? Why no one blames Duryodhan, or any other Kaurava brothers for the same, or other characters that are equally at fault? And that question remains still. But before, I used to get piqued up, and now at least I am at peace.”

To Kill A Mockingbird

( Book Review)

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Author – Harper Lee

Genre – Fiction, Bildungsroman, Southern Gothic

ISBN – 978-0-09-954948-2

No. of pages -309

About the Book

A lawyer’s advice to his children as he defends a black man charged with the rape of a white girl. Through the eyes of 2 young and innocent children, Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with exuberant humor the irrationality of adult attitudes to race and class. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence and hypocrisy is picked by the stamina of one man’s struggle for justice. But the weight of history will only tolerate so much.

A classic written with so much expertise and liveliest sense of life that you want it to be a perpetual story. There are rare books that leave you with melancholy because it ended.

The novel pictures the viewpoint of a six-year old girl of a small town ‘Maycomb’ in the deep south of 1930s. The narrator, Scout, is a delight with an ironic view and innocence for things at the same time thus making the story more entertaining and enjoyable. I liked the idea of choosing the point of view of a child for the story. It helped for the readers to connect to the story more, as a child’s view for things is honest and straightforward.

Secondly, the story not just covers a single topic but a bunch of them. It’s a book with so many layers of meaning that you can get so much out of it. It talks about racism, discrimination, cruelty, growing up – all the topics with which one can connect. There is so much to learn from it and that’s why it’s a classic and the topper of the list of must read books. The book doesn’t give in to the belief that deep down, everyone’s good; There are bad people. But we must still persevere to see things from their perspective, and though we may not justify their ways, we must try to understand them; and if we can’t understand, we must try to be as kind to them as possible.

To read or not…

To kill a Mockingbird is a book that will interest readers who are into classics or love reading for pleasure. The language is very sophisticated which helps in enrichment of vocabulary but at the same time may also prevent readers from understanding and connecting with the novel. The story-line moves slowly but is surely a page turner.

The book requires mature thinking and understanding to comprehend the depths in the story. There are places with ironic comments and dialogues which might not be understood by some readers who are not mature enough to appreciate it. And therefore, the young readers may need a lot of explanations throughout the book to understand.

So, a wonderful book for sure in my view and one must give it a try.

You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.
Atticus Finch, To kill a Mockingbird

THE SHINING

(BOOK REVIEW)

Author – Stephen King

Publisher – Hodder Paperbacks (2011)

Genre – Horror fiction, Gothic fiction, Psychological horror, Occult Fiction

ISBN – 978-1-444-72072-3

Number of pages – 512 (Paperback)

About the Book

Jack Torrance is a fine man. He loves his wife and his son Danny with all his heart but he is a product of an abusive father, and has a tendency to lash out when angry (and drunk)–even at those he loves. His violent outbursts cost him his teaching job, and almost cost him his marriage.

He takes a job at The Overlook, a hotel set high in the Colorado mountains, as a caretaker during the winter months while the hotel is closed, hoping the time of seclusion will help him and his family to reconnect and rebuild.

Danny is only five years old but in the words of old Mr. Hallorann he is a ‘shiner’, aglow with psychic voltage. When his father becomes caretaker of the Overlook Hotel, Danny’s visions grow out of control.

As winter closes in and blizzards cut them off, the hotel seems to develop a life of its own. It is meant to be empty.

So who is the lady in Room 217?

And who are the masked guests going up and down in the elevator?

And why do the hedges shaped like animals seem so alive?

And what is REDRUM?

Somewhere, somehow, there is an evil force in the hotel – and that too is beginning to SHINE…

Monsters are real, and Ghosts are real, too. They live inside us, and sometimes they win.
Stephen King

What I think…

Before anything… I wanted to include an excerpt from F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

Rachel: Hmm. (she opens the freezer) Umm, why do you have a copy of The Shining in your freezer?

Joey: Oh, I was reading it last night, and I got scared, so.

Rachel: But ah, you’re safe from it if it’s in the freezer?

Joey: Well, safer. Y’know, I mean I never start reading The Shining, without making sure we’ve got plenty of room in the freezer, y’know.

Rachel: How often do you read it?

Joey: Haven’t you ever read the same book over and over again?

Rachel: Well, umm, I guess I read Little Women more than once. But I mean that’s a classic, what’s so great about The Shining?

Joey: The question should be Rach, what is not so great about The Shining. Okay? And the answer would be: nothing. All right? This is like the scariest book ever. I bet it’s way better than that classic of yours.

Joey’s view about the book pretty much sums it all up. But since it’s about my views, so, a classic horror by one of the bestselling writers in the world. Why I picked this one was just to know whether reading a horror story can give you the chills, since movies doesn’t scare me much and personally I give more importance to books. ‘The Shining’, considered as the scariest book ever, I went for it.

I got my answers when I read the book. You are not scared but you feel the fear. You quiver when there is even a slightest movement or sound when you are reading it. There were multiple times when that happened with me. But I enjoyed that too.

Stephen King takes you inside the minds of the characters, with his art of storytelling. You feel everything the characters go through, the fear, the tension, the panic, the relief – everything.

The story draws you in and it is impossible to put down. Threatening and unsettling yet you keep on reading. It possesses all the necessary frightening elements that will send shivers down the spine.

But it is not just a horror story and that’s the brilliance of it. The story is somewhere in between the supernatural and psychotic. It tells us that there is a Monster inside us and also an Angel and either of them can win. Often the Angel wins, in spite of all odds, which is another truth. Stephen King has thus made the story more realistic i.e. complex and thus difficult than making it simple. He could have made a competent story with a killer motivated to his crimes by supernatural forces but chose a killer that might be doing it because of personal grief and past experiences as well as the ghostly forces.

Basically, a must read novel for anyone but to those who scare easy, it’s just a story and not real, remember that and read...

To buy a copy click on the cover of the book above. ^_^

THE SILENT PATIENT

(BOOK REVIEW)

Author – Alex Michaelides

Publisher – The Orion Publishing Group

Genre – Fiction, Suspense, Psychological Thriller

ISBN – 978-1-4091-8163-7

Number of pages – 339 (Paperback)

About the book

The story moves around a woman named Alicia, a painter and a loving wife. But, late one evening, Alicia shoots her husband, Gabriel five times and never speaks another word.

The story is narrated by Theo Faber, a Forensic Psychotherapist who is obsessed with investigating Alicia’s crime and thinks he can successfully treat Alicia, make her speak, while all others have failed.

But…

Why did she go Silent?

And, if she spoke, would he want to hear the truth?

Does ‘ALCESTIS’, her last painting, has a deeper meaning to it?

And why did she kill her husband when she loved him truly and couldn’t even bear the thought of worrying him or causing him pain?

What I think…

First of all a Smart, Surprising and Intriguing novel. Brilliantly written.

The story starts with the line “Alicia Berenson was thirty-three year old when she killed her husband”, a straightforward writing with a twisty plot i.e. a Perfect Thriller. And well that is true. Amazingly written. A smooth suspense which has you in its grasp and does not let you go (I personally couldn’t get it out of my mind for a few days).

The story is beautifully designed discussing every detail and towards the end leaves you baffled. An epic ending. The language is easy-to-comprehend, so even if you are not into reading much or this is your first book, go for it.

A note to all the readers, the story will interest you from the start but it will move slowly as it discusses every detail and so you have to be a little patient. But once it catches its pace it becomes ‘unputdownable’ and you read it to the very last page.

“The Silent Patient” has received a lot of praise and hype since its release mainly because of its epic ending so you need to understand that its not important that it will interest you too. If you are new to this genre and expecting thrill or drama its a little less in action and has more psychological depth to it.

So, to sum it up, a must read for anyone in this genre. The novel is meticulous and provides you with enough information to keep you guessing but you never reach the right guess. And even if you guess the ending right (which i think you won’t be able to), you will not regret reading it.

Want to buy?

(Click below to buy a copy )

The Silent Patient

Only she knows what happened.
Only I can make her speak.
-Silent Patient