Sémantique

As a  full-time student of literature, I am supposed to read several books a week. Most of the time, I read them out of sheer
compulsion. I peruse through them, taking in the gist and moving on. Books, like clothes, are changed ever so often, so my attention span lasts for around a week. That’s why, if a book grabs me by the collar, shakes me out of my readers-zombie-like-state, I can confidently say, it’s a book worthy of being reviewed.

The White Hotel is the kind of book I hunt for - multi-layered, non-linear and oh-so-complicated. Although every once in a while, I enjoy getting what a book gives, with no trouble; but mostly I love to be teased. It’s like a foreplay between the writer and the reader, before you get to the climax actual act of enjoying what the book has to offer.  The White Hotel plays with your senses, your imagination, your understanding of the world and yourself. Revolving around literary world’s favorite  theorist  - Sigmund Freud - this book will be a treat for anyone who finds psychoanalysis fascinating. This is a thinking person’s book, and it will twist your way of thinking. I love the way D. M. Thomas turns the narrative upside down and then throws it out in the open, leaving your to grab the pieces and put the puzzle together. He takes your by your reins and doesn’t let go till the end of the book. If only reading every book was such an adventure, students of literature would die happy!

Test your vocabulary at the  Free Rice website. For every correct answer you give, the site will donate 10 grains of rice to the hungry. I played for 5 minutes and donated 500 grains of rice.

The Snopes people say the site is legit.

When I heard that Doris Lessing won this year’s Nobel Prize for Literature, it did not immediately strike me that I’ve read one of her books and also reviewed it.

Wouldn’t mind reading more by her, when I have the time.

This blog has been unfairly ignored. Ever since the new semester started, with a load of three classes and two teaching classes, I have had no time for leisurely reading. I’ve been reading, of course, but forcibly. Not all readings are as bad as I might make it out to be - but I hate to read three books a week. Among many, these are a few books I read (and liked).

Hemingway’s Sun Also Rises

Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby

Taylor’s The Veiled Garvey

Smedley’s Daughter of Earth

Wright’s Native Son

Helen Fielding is one crazy gal. For after all, an author who has created a character like Bridget Jones, has to be a little kooky herself. And that’s exactly why I love her style. But Bridget Jones and Olivia Joules, even if they’ve sprouted from the same mind, are completely different characters. They might have a few similar shades of eccentricities, but while on one hand Bridget is down-to-earth as far as her appearance and insecurities are concerned, Olivia is confident, beautiful, and has no difficulty landing herself a man. So for a reader like me who loves Bridget for her close-to-real problems, would not completely identify with Olivia’s stunning looks and near-perfect-ness. However, Olivia is not proud, and has characteristics that makes you think that she could be your scatter-brained friend. She wins you over in the first few chapters with her morals and bravery, and you can’t help but cheer for her to have the right intuition.

Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination begins with Olivia being sent to Miami to cover a beauty related event for her freelance stint with a newspaper and a magazine. There she comes across an attractive so-called Hollywood film producer Pierre Feramo who wishes to court her. But Olivia’s hunch tells her that there’s more about this smooth-talking man than appears on the surface. She goes with her intuition, nearly missing death, and in a series of adventures ends up working for the CIA as a spy in order to stop terrorists from another attack on the United States.

Olivia Joules is Fielding’s attempt to break-free from the Bridget Jones mold by creating a semi-realistic post-9/11 world. By no means does Olivia leave the same impact as Fielding’s previous cult work, but the book is a fun, quick read that at times leaves you in giggles. You’ve got to give that to the Brits - they have a whacky sense of humor.

Long ago…even before you were born (virtually speaking) I began blogging. My first blogging steps were right here, on blogger. But one thing lead to another, and I deleted my blog. Then some idiot took over my url; and I regretted it. But as the pendulum of my mood swings, I wish to be back. I wish to be able to write again, at a place where no one (or not many) will read my words. Like an invisible friend; or a secret hiding place.

So get ready. Some movie and book reviews are on your way.