Sea of Poppies - Review

Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh

We all have watched many British era’s movies and marveled at the rich history our India holds even then. Anyone of you ever imagined yourself living in such an epic era and felt the desire to experience those intense moments where India’s future is going to be decided?

I have.

And this is the novel I am going to suggest you if you ever have such thoughts again. An intricate work of characters, with all the details which are not too much and not too less. Amitav Ghosh proved himself to be an extraordinary writer through this remarkable novel.

Although a work of fiction, it gently reveals the history of India during 1830’s of British rule. How

Opium used to be an important trade for British Empire during 19th century. Amitav pays a great attention towards the language and slangs used among people which brings the characters alive and thriving in each and every page. With the culture, the smells, the white people who ruled Indians, and Opium being the vital part of this book, you’ll never stop turning pages of the first book in Ibis Trilogy.

Aboard the Ibis, you’re going to get transported into a world of colonialism with a group of sailors and escapees, coolies and convicts as it sails down the Hooghly on its way to Mareech or Mauritius Islands. A book with a web of beautifully interlocking stories and characters. With Ibis as its bearer, people aboard journeying across the Indian Ocean will come across the Black Water and an inevitable fate is awaiting them.

A definite page-turner. As you come to an end of Poppies, you’ll thank god that this is only the first installment of Ibis Trilogy which means there is more to come. Enjoy this grand novel of ordinary lives with extraordinary tales; of rich and panoramic narration of a story.

Norwegian Wood - Review

Where do I start talking about this beautiful gossamer novel? I feel so tiny to describe something so amazing which has happened to me in these few days. Murakami sure knows how to twist and turn those emotions which you chose to ignore and bury deep down in your heart. This book will amplify your hazy memories of teenage. Your love. Your crush. Those deep questions you asked yourself when you were in your teens: ‘What is going to happen to me in the future?’ ‘What is life and death?’ ‘Why does everyone seem like knowing what they are going to do with their life but I feel like I know shit!?’

Norwegian Wood made me feel nostalgic. Sometimes sad, sometimes happy, but most of the time I felt good just lingering with my memories; they felt like the dew drops on a freshly cut grass in my backyard after a drizzle of rain.

One more important thing was that I didn’t just connect to the protagonist, but I could connect with every character in this book. May be not wholly, but at least in pieces. Get what I mean? Yeah. By the time I got accustomed to the characters, and started enjoying the background described in the book, I felt an intense desire to make friendship with these characters in the book. Those limpid souls just struck the right chord in my heart and I don’t want them to stop playing that soft music which started soothing my heart. I didn’t want to stop reading it.

I wish the book never ended. That is the problem with good books. When you finish, you feel like you’re reborn and never want to turn your head from that phase of life. You wish life stopped then and there.

“You make it obvious you don’t care whether people like you or not. That makes some people angry.”

Not only that you connect to this on a spiritual level, you can even relate these characters with the people from your life. And, I’ve a friend who is just like the quote I mentioned above from the book.

I wish I were a character in this book. It contains characters which have beautifully twisted minds and hearts you'll ever come across. Don't miss it.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Review

This is my first fantasy book ever! And, oh how I love this book!

All the while am reading this book, I had only one question: “Why didn’t I come across such a beautiful book when I was a child?”

No wonder, Roald Dahl is one of the greatest writers we had, especially for children, shaping their attitude at such a young age with his awesome characters like Curious Charlie Bucket, the greedy boy Augustus Gloop, a girl who was spoiled by her parents Veruca Salt, and the amazing Willy Wonka, curator of the world’s fabulous Chocolate Factory.

You can find waterfalls of chocolate over flowing between the pages of this book, the great gum machines which will fill up your stomach for the whole day, the square sweets that look round, the crazy lift which not only goes up and down but also sideways with a lightning speed that you’d rather prefer to be on a roller coaster, chocolates which you can snatch right from the Television set and gobble them up, and many other amazing things in this book which will make you dwell in that Fantasy world of Chocolate Factory and never feel like coming out of it!

Roald Dahl made me smell the hot melting chocolate just through his descriptions and quirky words without even having the physical presence of a chocolate! Also, the illustrations by Quentin Blake where just on point! His illustrations gave the essential imagination a child needs to travel through that mysterious Chocolate Factory and enjoy as Mr. Willy Wonka guides us through it.

This book doesn’t teach a child “how to be” but it teaches “how not to be”. And, that’s what I loved the most! We can’t point something is good, because there is going to be a better thing other than that if we just explore. But, we sure can point out that something is bad and in my opinion its more important to learn what is bad at first than to learn what is good.

I suggest this book to both adults and young readers, because a book such as this is timeless and we can still learn a lot from it. If not that, we can still enjoy the fantasy land in which the characters of Roald Dahl live.

Go on and explore Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! I’m sure, you’ll feel like having more of that fantasy by the time you finish it.