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George Eliot !!

George Eliot was a leading writer of Victorian Era in the same league as Thomas Hardy and Charles Dickens. On the first thought, from the name anyone will think that the author is a man. But in reality it is the pen name of Mary Ann Evans. From her pen name everyone is likely to think that George Eliot was a man. She wrote seven novels:  Adam Bede, The Mill on the floss, Silas Marner, Romola, Felix Holt, The Radical, Middle March and Daniel Deronda. Why did she adopted the masculine pen name? She had adopted this name to keep her… Read More »George Eliot !!

How much Land does a Man needs?

Leo Tolstoy is considered as the greatest writer. His mammoth novel “War and Peace” is considered as the masterpiece. I read it long ago when I was doing my master’s degree. One of our friends gave me the jacket version containing two volume. At first its sheer size was so domineering as to deter me from attempting the reading. I went first for Anna Karenina and some of his stories. He hailed from a aristocratic family. In his youth he is said to be a spoiled youth. But in the later life, he relinquished all his possessions, handed over the… Read More »How much Land does a Man needs?

Leo Tolstoy and His Nagging Wife

The fame, popularity, money, property and genius is not a guarantee for a happy married life. As it was true in the case of Albert Einstein, it is true in case Leo Tolstoy, one of the world’s greatest writers. He wrote masterpieces like War and Peace and Anna Karenina. War and Peace ranks amongst the first 5 greatest novels of all time. It deals with the condition of aristocratic society of Russia at the time of Napoleon’s attack. Tolstoy’s early life was full of gambling, boozing and licentiousness though a struggle in his inner mind for shunning this life was… Read More »Leo Tolstoy and His Nagging Wife

Ek Chaddar Maili See

Rajinder Singh Bedi was a big name in Indian Film industry. He belonged to the period when films were dominated by Urdu.  North Indians  were at the helm of Hindustani film industry. Almost all the heroes were from North and heroines from South and Bengal. Story dialogues were loaded with Persian words. I bet if most of Indians except from North India followed any of the dialogues. Even these days the humor shows make fun of those dialogues by trivializing them for simple and cheap babbling. They are not at fault either because those were the times when communication was… Read More »Ek Chaddar Maili See

Gems From Catch-22

Catch-22 is a novel that is widely acclaimed as a master piece  by Joseph Heller. The story is set in Pianosa, Italy and the period is second world war. It highlights the plight of men of US army and air force sent there to take part in the war. It ridicules the working style of bureaucracy in the army where no logical thing happens. Heller himself was a pilot in the second war in that theater and has closely observed the war and the working of government machinery. In a nutshell it highlights the absurdity of the war and its… Read More »Gems From Catch-22

A tale of two movies

Booker award winning books: Salman Rushdie’s Booker of the Booker novel “Midnight’s Children” & Yann Martel’s  book “Life of PI” were turned into Hollywood movies. Life of Pi was made in 2012 and directed by Ang Lee. Midnight’s Children was made by Deepa Mehta in 2012. There is no need to emphasize the caliber of the books. Midnight’s Children is a book written by Rushdie at his creative best. It draws inspiration from his own family life. The main protagonist of Midnight’s Children is born on the night when India becomes an independent nation once again notwithstanding some pieces being… Read More »A tale of two movies

Moors Last Sigh!!

Last of the Moors to rule Granada was Boabdil (Arab. Abu-Abdallah or Ez-Zogoiby, the Unlucky). In 1491 the Moorish capital fell to Ferdinand, though Boabdil fought with a courage strangely at variance with his infirmity of purpose. As he rode away to the coast he halted on a ridge at Padul, still called El Ultimo Sospiro del Mora (The Moor’s last sigh), to take a farewell look at the Alhambra, and burst into tears at the sight. Whereupon his mother is said to have thus reproached him: “You may well weep like a woman for what you could not defend… Read More »Moors Last Sigh!!

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