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... pages flipped thru the days gone by... leaving behind an indelible mark
allsmiles2023-08-30T22:23:53ZThe Bridge across Forever
http://blogs.fullhyderabad.com/showblog.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=1153&blogId=59
<p>This is strictly for the musho-maniacs or those who have a romantic side(dormant or otherwise). Those who view the opposite sex as a curse on humankind kindly skip reading this and go to the 'Current Music' section where you will be further dis-appointed. </p>
<p>Written by Richard Bach, in an autobiographical style, the book really pulls your heartstrings and leaves you with a wonderful warm fuzzy feeling. Its bound to do that every time you read it.<br />Through the author's eyes, we experience the quest for true love and feel our own heart opening. And realise that the search for the true soulmate actually begins within us.</p>
<p>It starts when Richard has a fleeting glimpse of his true love. And therein begins his quest. As time passes on he loses focus and vision and gets caught up in a web of deceit and betrayal on his professional front. In such trying times, he meets Leslie Parrish and a new friendship is born. She turns out to be a wonderful woman and great companion with whom he loses track of time over long chess games, music lessons, ice cream and conversations. He realises he is not ready for the commitment(not surprisingly). To put it in his own words, he feels chained by his own freedom and Leslie steps in and together they discover how much promise the future held. Not without a struggle though. Leslie Parrish has a theory on the two most important ingredients for a healthy relationship being..intimacy and a capacity for joy.</p>
<p>From the inside flap:- If you've ever felt alone in a world of strangers, missing someone you've never met, you'll find a message from your love in The Bridge Across Forever. </p>
<p>To end with, an extract from the book:</p>
<p><em>Months rippled by, and as I lost interest in love, the place reserved for my hidden soulmate was taken by a different idea emerging, an idea as rational and flawless as those upon which my business affairs now turned.</em></p>
<p><em>If the perfect mate, I thought, is one who meets all of our needs all the time, and if one of our needs is for variety itself, then no one person anywhere can be the perfect mate! The only true soulmate is to be found in many different people. My perfect woman is partly the flash and intellect of this friend, she</em></p>Books2004-11-18T18:54:02ZallsmilesThe Diva Inc. Code
http://blogs.fullhyderabad.com/showblog.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=926&blogId=59
<p><strong>Book:</strong> <font face="courier new, courier, mono">The Da Vinci Code.<br /></font><strong>Author:</strong> <font face="courier new, courier, mono">Dan Brown</font></p>
<p><strong>Location:</strong> <font face="courier new, courier, mono">Louvre Art museum.<br /></font><strong>Victim:</strong> <font face="courier new, courier, mono">Jacques Sauniere a well known and famous curator.<br /></font><strong>Clues (last written by the victim):</strong> <font face="courier new, courier, mono">13-3-2-21-1-1-8-5</font> <br /> <font face="courier new, courier, mono">O Draconian devil!<br /></font> <font face="courier new, courier, mono">Oh, lame saint! <br /></font><strong>Motive:</strong> <font face="courier new, courier, mono">A dark secret presevred for centuries<br /></font><strong>Suspect:</strong> <font face="courier new, courier, mono">Robert Langdon(Harvard symbologist)<br /></font><strong>Aide:</strong> <font face="courier new, courier, mono">Sophie Neveu (aide, but she has a lot more stake)</font></p>
<p>A set of riddles, leading to famous paintings, a ghost-like insane monk, a mysterious Teacher, a desparate Bishop, a Historian, his man-servant all intertwined in a murder mystery. And it isnt just that. </p>
<p>There is so much of history too and definitely not the kind that made your history teacher kick you out of the class. Brown talks extensively about the hidden meanings behind some of Da Vincis famous works like the perfect anatomical Vitruvian Man(said to be a wonderful combination of art and anatomy) , The Last Supper(You actually have to see it to believe there is a lady in the picture) and the lady with the most enigmatic smile, Mona Lisa. Brown also delves extensively into history of Christianity and the premise of the Holy Grail. You found yourself believing everything that was written at the same time wondering "Did this actually happen?".</p>
<p>So in the end, I would call the book a seamless integration of well researched facts, suspense, religion and fiction. It is very intelligent and re-defines words like riveting, un-put-down-able and the likes. Story-telling taken to dizzying heights.</p>
<p>Personally, as a rule, I never buy fiction (good enough to read only once, I say). I bought this one and didnt regret it one bit. You might think I have told you most of the story but you would know better(and appreciate the title of the post ;) ) if you've read it. </p>
<p>Quirky fact(put here only bcoz it seemed relevant): The officials at the Louvre Art museum have placed a sign that requests public not to ask questions based on some best selling novel :)</p>
<p>My Rating 8.5/10</p>Books2004-09-17T20:41:21ZallsmilesThe Essential Calvin and Hobbes
http://blogs.fullhyderabad.com/showblog.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=691&blogId=59
<p>Was just checking out a few books I thought I'd add to CnH collection[the best one being the Tenth Anniversary Special] and came across the review on amazon, I totally agreed with. Read on.</p>
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<p>The Essential Calvin and Hobbes, first published in 1988, is chock full of early Calvin and Hobbes comic strips. No cartoonist, not even Charles Schultz, has captured the magical essence of childhood the way Bill Watterson did in this strip, and it should come as no surprise (although it did to Watterson) that Calvin and Hobbes quickly developed an incredibly loyal following. This strip went way beyond mere popularity. While I was in college, the campus newspaper decided to stop running Calvin and Hobbes (I think this was during one of Watterson's sabbaticals) ? this resulted in nothing less than a furor on campus, as countless students immediately demanded the return of C&H. In a matter of days, Calvin and Hobbes were right back where they belonged.</p>
<p>How does a comic strip featuring a mischievous six-year-old boy and his stuffed tiger attract a fiercely loyal following of adults? Most adults would love to be children again, to know the freedom and sense of wonder that somehow withers inside the human soul after the onset of puberty. Calvin and Hobbes vividly recreates the feelings and emotions of the very essence of childhood. It brings back memories of things we forgot far too long ago, and it thus reawakens the deepest parts of our ever-hardening souls. Reading this comic strip is the next best thing to being a child yourself. Calvin does everything you used to do: he takes time to stomp in mud puddles, he lets his imagination run wild to make thrilling adventures out of even the most mundane tasks, he ponders the same deep questions you are now, as an adult, afraid to ask, he goes for the gusto no matter what sort of risk is involved, he is in every way a perfect specimen of childhood. Who, as a child, didn't pretend to be a dinosaur, walk around with a hideous expression in hopes of your facing freezing that way, tease the girls (or boys) you claimed to hate, journey to distant worlds unseen by human eyes, etc.? </p>
<p>Of course, Hobbes is just as important to the comic strip as Calvin. Hobbes is a tiger, Calvin's best and constant friend, a fellow partaker in the joys of childish innocence. To Calvin, Hobbes really is all that, and that is how we see him as well ? until, that is, someone else comes into the frame, when he suddenly becomes nothing more than a stuffed animal. Watterson is a fantastic comic artist, and there is just something captivating about the way he draws Hobbes in his stuffed animal form. Everything about Watterson's art is fantastic, though, particularly the way it captures the emotions of its two principal characters. </p>
<p>Sadly, we have only ten years of comic memories in the form of Calvin and Hobbes, as the inscrutable Bill Watterson retired (around the age of 37) in 1995 and quite obviously has no plans of returning to the public arena. Watterson is actually frighteningly private and seems to be living a life of unmatched solitude. I find this extraordinarily sad: here is a man who captured the essence of childhood so vividly in the form of Calvin and Hobbes, a world bursting with life and possibilities, yet now he seems to have withdrawn from life itself. We must be thankful we do have as much Calvin and Hobbes material as we do, and The Essential Calvin and Hobbes, with 255 pages of black and white daily strips and color Sunday strips, features much more than just a chunk of it in and of itself. </p>
<p> </p>General2004-08-04T10:09:18ZallsmilesStray Birds
http://blogs.fullhyderabad.com/showblog.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=487&blogId=59
<p>A beautiful collection of snippets translated from Bengali to English by the author, Rabindranath Tagore. </p>
<p>Pick it up anytime, read a few lines and its bound to leave you lost in thoughts. Short verses with profound meaning. Refreshes, if you are tired or dejected.</p>
<p>The opening lines:</p>
<p><em>STRAY birds of summer come to my window to sing and fly away. <br />And yellow leaves of autumn, which have no songs, flutter and fall there with a sigh.</em> </p>
<p>You can read this online too. But the book doesnt really cost much. Rs 30 or 50. I'd say definitely worth it.</p>General2004-07-09T00:11:49ZallsmilesTo kill or not to kill? A mocking bird that is....
http://blogs.fullhyderabad.com/showblog.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=451&blogId=59
<p>This one ranks right up there in my faves. </p>
<p>Jean Louise 'Scout' is the main protagonist, and the whole story revolves around her. It is said the character Scout is somewhat autobigraphical. There are many things that arouse her curiousity- school, her neighbours, 'Boo Radley' [who keeps to himself and never steps out]. She has an aunt who is bent upon making her more lady-like, where as she loves to run play around with her brother and his friends. She loves to have her father read out stories to her and gets upset when her teacher asks her to stop reading as she is way ahead of her classmates. [Surely she would have grown up to be a voracious reader] </p>
<p>Atticus Finch, a defence lawyer living in the small southern town called Maycomb, is Scout's father. He brings his children up with unbiased and unprejudiced views. He is not afraid to tell the truth to his two young children. He brings them up to have their own opinions and to see people equally. Atticus tells them not to judge people until they "<em>climb into their skin and walk around in it</em>". </p>
<p>He is assigned the case of defending a black who is wrongly accused of rape of a white lady. The town expects only a token defence and residents of the town do not look on him kindly when he tries his best to see that justice is meted out. He guides his children to stand up for what they believe in by setting an example himself.</p>
<p>Apart from the central theme, the narrative is very lively, something all of us can definitely relate to. There are few more interesting characters but if I told you everythin, you prolly wouldnt read the book.</p>
<p>This one could do without my rating.</p>
<p>On a parting note, my fav quote from the book, Atticus's words to Scout </p>
<p><em>I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. Its when you know you</em></p>Books2004-07-01T19:32:39ZallsmilesA Walk in the Woods
http://blogs.fullhyderabad.com/showblog.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=358&blogId=59
<p>Talk a lot about 'Walks' dont I? Rather funny that the first book I mention here is about "walk" too. But then its not strictly about walks. </p>
<p>Its a very funny yet informative narrative of a journey spanning 14 states in the US of A. Its all about travelling the whole Appalachian trail which stretches from Georgia right upto Maine, covering 2100 miles of American wilderness. Bill Bryson and his middle-aged college buddy Stephen Katz, equally under-prepared and overweight, [but with a penchant for beer, food, women and trouble] embark on trail on a col March morning. Together they scale the mountains ranges, sparkling streams, astonishing landscapes, as well as encounter a weird assortment of typically funny characters. </p>
<p>For Bryson its a journey about rediscovering his native country after 20 years. Bryson dwells a good deal about the history of the trail and also makes a plea for the conservation of wilderness. His keen eye, however doesnt miss out on observing deficiencies in human nature. In short, it can be described as an adventure, a comedy, and a celebration of nature.</p>
<p>My Rating: 7 / 10</p>Books2004-06-24T19:24:28Zallsmilesexperimenting with blogs
http://blogs.fullhyderabad.com/showblog.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=349&blogId=59
<p>Welcome to my book shelf on-line.</p>
<p>Here I dedicate posts to the books I have read. Its really an attempt to resurrect one of my fav pastimes.</p>
<p>I keep reading every once in a while. These books that I read, they may not be the latest best sellers or classics, they might be some I should have read long ago ...there may be some I would like to read over and again, whatever be the case, I would like to make a small note here...</p>
<p> </p>Books2004-06-23T18:19:32Zallsmiles