Team-BHP - The Books Thread (Fiction)

Currently half way through reading "The Silkworm" by Robert Galbraith (pseudonym of JK Rowling). (Last year had read "The Cuckoo's Calling" by the same author which was an interesting read as well. My view is that there seem to be too many characters and they seem to be there with the intent to distract and make the whole story very convoluted.
Before that finished "Without Fail" by Lee Child (loved this book).
Borrowed these paperback from the Chennai British Council Library.

In 2017 had read two novels

Insulted and Injured - In spite of Dostoyevsky being my most favourite author, had missed this getting a hand on this novel till now. A bit too melodramatic for my liking. Surprised to know that this came after My Uncle's Dream and The Village of Stepanchikovo - both absolute masterpieces. But all the basic ingredients of a Dostoyevsky novels are there

One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Again, though Marquez was a Kerala favorite, got myself to read this book just last year. No words. The sweep and vision of this Magic Realism novel is mind boggling. Absolute masterpiece. Will read it again shortly. Disturbs you (including the banana plantation massacre)

Quote:

Originally Posted by murillo (Post 4386582)

The Hungry Tide - Amitav Ghosh
David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
Charlie and the Chocalate Factory - Roald Dahl
The White Tiger - Aravind Adiga
Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Jeff Kinney
Coolie - Mulk Raj Anand
I'm Not a Supermouse - Geronimo Stilton - Elisabetta Dami

Awesome! Thats quite a spread!

Dickens is a personal favourite (esp Pickwick Papers). Finished pretty much all. I have not seen many pick it up these days.

Some how I have not been able to connect to the new generation authors. Not that I am receptive to new constructs and thought structures, but some how many come across as more forthright. Though its good as that basically breaches through the communication medium and mainly focuses on the content to be communicated. But I sometime feel the play of words is lost and that to me is the joy of reading.

Same feeling on new-age poetry as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ampere (Post 4386584)

Awesome! Thats quite a spread!
Dickens is a personal favourite (esp Pickwick Papers). Finished pretty much all. I have not seen many pick it up these days.

Maybe, Dickens' writing style does not appeal to present readership what with its short attention span and predilection for instant gratification. Dickens writes long, tortuous, and meandering sentences by sprinkling them with several intervening appositions; however, Dickens' themes remain evergreen; his characters are enchanting and memorable; he infuses his stories with the entire continuum of human emotions raised to an apex and adds sparkle with a veneer of humor.

Quote:

Originally Posted by murillo (Post 4388185)

Dickens writes long, tortuous, and meandering sentences by sprinkling them with several intervening appositions; however, Dickens' themes remain evergreen; his characters are enchanting and memorable; he infuses his stories with the entire continuum of human emotions raised to an apex and adds sparkle with a veneer of humor.

Dickens would be happy reading your comments for they are a neat tribute to his kind of writing - in style at least, if not in substance :).

Have always been an admirer; his (same) works triggering different emotions and thoughts at various stages in life, thereby acquiring a kind of universality and timelessness - both of which are signs of a good work of art.

Quote:

Originally Posted by murillo (Post 4388185)

However, Dickens' themes remain evergreen; his characters are enchanting and memorable; he infuses his stories with the entire continuum of human emotions raised to an apex and adds sparkle with a veneer of humor.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dailydriver (Post 4388199)

Have always been an admirer; his (same) works triggering different emotions and thoughts at various stages in life, thereby acquiring a kind of universality and timelessness - both of which are signs of a good work of art.

Another few who fall in the similar category are Thomas Hardy and Somerset Maugham. While Hardy is grandiose in his generous adaptation of "wessexian style of writing", Maugham on the other hand is very subtle in his expressions. Many a times, I have not even been able to detect, when such an expression arrived and left without even announcing itself!

Hardy on the other hand is quite heavier, but nonetheless his themes are simple and evergreen too. Its been a delight to read both of their works; especially Hardy. No wonder why most undergraduate courses on literature refer to his works for their coursework.

Also try Maugham's Cakes and Ale. He has even gone to get one of his characters flavored with Hardy!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ampere (Post 4388212)

Also try Maugham's Cakes and Ale. He has even gone to get one of his characters flavored with Hardy!

Had read Cakes and Ale when I was in school (that's more than 25 years back) and have read almost all of Hardy's work. But don't remember this one. Maybe cos I read Cakes and Ale before I started on Hardy. Can you help me with my memory?

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Originally Posted by mallumowgli (Post 4388314)

Here is a reference in Wikipedia about the same.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cakes_and_Ale

Quote:

Two of the novel's principal characters, Alroy Kear and Edward Driffield, were widely interpreted by contemporaneous readers as thinly veiled and unflattering characterizations of, respectively, the novelists Hugh Walpole and Thomas Hardy (who had died two years previously). In response to a letter from Walpole inquiring about the association, Maugham denied it: "I certainly never intended Alroy Kear to be a portrait of you. He is made up of a dozen people and the greater part of him is myself".[2] In an introduction written for the 1950 Modern Library edition of the book, however, Maugham admitted that Walpole was indeed the inspiration for Kear—but denied that Hardy inspired the Driffield character.

Cakes and Ale and Painted Veil were two books which I kind of had some tough time getting to go through full. Similar to you, even I read them quite many years back. Though before coming to Maugham, I had finished Hardy. But still I could not connect the dots in Maugham's books, because I never got know or read about the real life Hardy, but only his works.

One thousand Splendid sons, Khaled Husseini - Against the background of thirty years of various turmoils in Afghanistan, tells the story of two ladies and their unlikely friendship and never to die spirit.

Husseini is a wonderful story teller - the novels moves at a breakneck speed, never letting up and the lyrical prose makes reading a pleasure. Poignant and moving without being melodramatic.

(Spoiler - ends on a bittersweet optimistic note)

Have not read his Kite Runner - next in agenda