through books, many kingdoms i have seen

GOD OF SMALL THINGS ...
it is a rather small book with an attractive cover depicting lilies sunken in a pool of water ... the main protagonist is a woman named rahel and his twin estha ... they are said to be twins from the same egg but fertilized by a different sperm ... this i guess serves as the main plot for the story with rahel being able to telepathically know whatever estha goes through including an incident in which the latter is abused by an orange juice seller ... my most comical scene is where they go with their aunt to the local police station to report a crime and the policemen keeps hitting their aunt's breasts with a pen like fruit buyer picking mangoes in the market ... ok, that is rather uncouth but arundhati roy has a way with words ... the book won the precious Man Booker Prize and it is the only book that the author has written so far since it was launched in 1997 ... i guess it deserves a consideration or two ...

ANGELA'S ASHES ...
The true story of frank mccourt childhood when his family emigrated from america to settle in ireland ... it is one of the most painful books you could ever read ... the author completely detaches himself from unearned emotion and sentimentalism when he delves you into the silent anguish and pain that the poor go through ... watching his siblings die one after the other, caring from his sick mother, having to assume fatherly roles after his alcoholic father abandoned the nest and the singular pressures of having to be an american outcaste in an irish slum really takes a toll on young frank as the book depicts ... but at the end of it all he is able to save enough money (some of it he stole from the house of the moneylender after the latter died of a heart attack) to go to america where his life is depicted in the novel 'TIS ... i have not read 'Tis though ... oh, the book did win a pulitzer

THE MAMMOTH HUNTERS ...
I bought this book thinking it was really going to sink me into the challenges that the stone-agers went through hunting bison, mammoth and mastodon ... i thought it was going to take me into this otherworld with sabre-toothed tigers and six foot tall wart-hogs ... indeed, it is no more than a misguided soap opera that would not have earned much at the ratings ... Jean Auel (the author) seems not able to free herself from the entrapments and the endearments of the modern world when she takes her mind back to over 30,000 years ago .. the main protagonist Ayla, is a stereotypical testerone-driven femme fatale whose amazing skills at anything including lighting a fire, are supposedly so ingenious that the whole race of humanity and neandertals are almost ready to worship her ... i found that rather pitiful

HARRY POTTER ...
fascinating book ... exceptional ... deserving all the billions that j.k. rowling, the author, made ... it is not escapist fantasy as many might think ... it does not avoid death or pain and harry potter is not insulated from calamity as many other protagonists are ... he is also just an average kid ... he is not a sports hunk neither is he a pock-marked wizkid poring through manuscripts with glasses or writing impressive software programmes ... he is just a normal boy who happens to be a wizard and is supposed to attend the hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry despite having to live with his muggle relatives who are just nothing but a pain in the ass ... an evil snaky-looking evil lord called voldermort is also after the life of this poor boy ... any teen will identify with the book ... and they do identify for they are the ones who have bought so many copies of the book that if they were laid on the ground in three layers they would cover the whole of brazil ... and if they were to form a trail they would go round the world thrice! .. j.k. is one storywriter!

WUTHERING HEIGHTS ...
completely ancient book of the 19th something ... written by emile bronte whose personal life was just as interesting as the novel ... it is a rather dreary tale about a certain dubious character healthcliff who roosts in one of those dreary castle where the sun never shines brightly enough on anything ... the story is so creepy and gloomy that after reading it i felt something eerie and wierd about the atmosphere that i could not put my finger on ... reading it is more like listening to one of those far-off death-themed soundtracks as found in the lord of the rings ... you might not necessarily understand the words but something very haunting about it keeps captivating you ... yea, i am not a really got plot outliner but this is just a blog and not an advertizing campaign

RICH DAD, POOR DAD ...
Fascinating book ... some very financially sound tips when it comes to investing your money ... loved the way he defined assets as things that bring money in and liabilities as things that expend your money ... this robert dude is really suave ... this reminds me that i have to get my copy back from a friend who has kept mum after borrowing it like many moons ago

THE ALCHEMIST ...
it starts as a rather simple tale about a shepherd boy looking for treasure buried beneath the pyramids ... it becomes a tale about the incredible possibilities of the human mind, the power of positive thinking and above all why we should all believe in our dreams ... loved the quote 'Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.' ... powerful book!

i will try to more to this list of my favourite books