Classic Book.5. Through the Looking-glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll

For the readers, who follow my blog regularly, you must know the impact of Alice in Wonderland on me. I fell in love with this book and I had to read Through the Looking-glass; therefore, I started reading it the moment I got the chance. On completing my daily chores, I cozied myself on my couch and got ready to be amazed. To tell you the truth, my bar of expectations was set very high. From the beginning, I had a smile plastered on my face, because I anticipated the similar level of humor, if not better, from the characters, dialogues, and the plot of Lewis Carroll's work.

The book started with Alice talking funny things to her cat and the kittens. This conversation was adorable. I, myself, talk to my pets all the time; hence, those dialogues spoke to me. The closeness a person has to their pets is beautifully captured by Lewis.

I’m going to tell you all your faults. Number one: you squeaked twice while Dinah was washing your face this morning. Now you can’t deny it, Kitty: I heard you!

Only a pet lover can find the humor in her conversation. Anyways, the author's imaginary world behind the mirror is worth an applause. This book, like the previous one, is full of weird characters, conversations, and surroundings. Alice is innocent,as ever, and trying to understand what everyone is doing and why they are doing it. Moreover, her lonely feeling that she used to get in Wonderland keeps making an appearance to her in Looking-glass world, too.

The tendency of the characters of Lewis to make rude remarks remains consistent in this sequel of the book. The bluntness of these remarks made me laugh throughout the read.

“It’s my opinion that you never think at all,” the Rose said, in a rather severe tone. “I never saw anybody that looked stupider,” a Violet said

The thought process of Alice is cute as ever. She is my favorite character out of all the books combined. Her innocence, directness, and imagination are fascinating to me. When she meets Tweedledee and Tweedledum, she tries to be diplomatic to ensure that she doesn't offend them:

Alice did not like shaking hands with either of them first, for fear of hurting the other one’s feelings; so, as the best way out of the difficulty, she took hold of both hands at once: the next moment they were dancing round in a ring. 

The word play of the characters of Lewis continued to add a little humor to the overall plot in this story.

Here the Red Queen began again. “Can you answer useful questions?” she said. “How is bread made?” “I know that!” Alice cried eagerly. “You take some flour—” “Where do you pick the flower?” the White Queen asked: “In a garden or in the hedges?”

The imagination of the author is enchanting and interesting; however, it is not as hysterical as the first book of the series. I can't say that I was disappointed. Probably my high bar of expectation reduced the overall impact of the book. I did not laugh as much as I laughed while reading Alice in Wonderland. Nonetheless, this is a lovely book and I enjoyed reading it. As I said, I love the character of Alice and the consistency that the author has kept in her character in both of his books. I can't wait to hear what other readers thought of this book. So, add comments to this post and enlighten me!

A Dark Gloomy World of Hester in Classic Book.4.The Scarlet Letter

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The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a story of hatred and judgment of the society against a woman named Hester, who conceives a child with a man other than her husband. Although this is a frowned upon case in today’s society, as well, the consequences borne by Hester were unimaginable. She was made to stand on a scaffold for a considerable amount of time with her child in her arms and wear a scarlet colored ‘A’ on her robe for the world to see. She carried this symbol with her throughout life. Even after bearing insult and punishment of this horrifying extent, she refused to unveil the name of her partner in crime. Thus, she carried the pain of her punishment, all alone.

“…she turned her eyes downwards at the scarlet letter, and even touched it with her finger, to assure herself that the infant and the shame were real.”

So was the extent of her helplessness! It is quite indulging to read how her husband and the father of her child meet each other long after this incident. Her husband, who has the sole intention of destructing the life of a man who dared have an illicit relationship with his wife, and the other man, who is bearing the pain of living a burdened life of keeping the secret that created a storm of this degree in Hester’s world, are both sinful in their own manner. In the midst of these extreme feelings, Pearl, the daughter of Hester, is giving an impression that she is under the effect of Satan.

Although there are many other elements in the book, the feeling of grief remains the central concept of the book. There are an enormous pain, gloom, and sadness in it. Most of the paragraphs of each chapter are covered with the grief of Hester. At times, I felt compelled to admire the author for portraying the vivid description of the pain; however, after a while, I felt overburdened with reading the same emotion, repeatedly. There was only one escape from the details of Hester’s agony and that was in Pearl’s innocent and – sometimes – devious characteristics. Her dialogues are a happy get away from all the grievous things happening in the plot. My favorite dialogue is when a man asks her if she could convey a message to Hester and she says,

“If the message pleases me, I will.”

For me, Pearl is the soul of the book, and she is the voice of her grieving mother. Although she is just a child, she rebukes the people when they try to hurt her, and she poses honest questions to everyone, irrespective of their position and power. When her father meets her and Hester in the forest and kisses her forehead, she directly asks him whether he would do the same in front of people or he will hold her and her mother's hands only when they are alone. There are so many colors to her character, which kept me motivated to read the book.

The wildly descriptive style of the author has the power to draw a live image of the scenes as if they are occurring in front of our own eyes; however, at the same time, it tests the patience of the readers, too. There are too many details about the feelings of the characters and -- somehow -- each one of them ended up depressing me; of course, this is a book about a tragic life of a woman, but I did not think it would have a never-ending description of sadness at every line of each chapter. Nonetheless, the author’s selection of the words has a pinpoint accuracy, which enables him to convey his intended emotions in the hearts of the readers.

The author picked up the simplest thoughts and then wrote them in a magnificent manner to keep the reader awestruck with his choice of elegant words to deliver the message.

“Let men tremble to win the hand of woman, unless they win along with it the utmost passion of her heart!”

Having said all that, this book would interest the readers, who enjoy a tragic plot decorated with grand and spellbinding words. If you are one of those readers, who like a close and detailed description of every single aspect, character, and emotion then you are in for a treat. As for me, I found it extremely difficult to read lengthy details, only to find the extreme sadness that prevailed around Hester. Moreover, it was a hectic task for me to follow the story without being distracted by overwhelming details of everything. One thing that kept me motivated to read until the last page was my desire to know how it all ends for poor Hester.

A Miserable Attempt at Reading Classic Book.3.Les Misérables

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You know the rush you get when your initial attempts towards achieving a goal are successful? Well, I experienced this feeling when I got the pleasure of reading Alice in Wonderland and Pride and Prejudice. I was on cloud 9 and decided that it was time to pick a book that has always felt intriguing to me. Thus, started my miserable attempt at reading Les Misérables. I cannot dare say any negative words about the book because it consists of the most profound insight into the world. I could read only one story about a bishop  and his life, which was one of several other anecdotes of book.1. This is one of those books that intimidate me with their heavy weight. I could have avoided the volume of the book if it weren't for a too detailed description of the life, room, people, situations, expressions, character, and what not! I did not have enough patience to finish the book, and I dozed off several times -- which may exhibit my immaturity or lack of perseverance, and I am in no way proud of it. 

Although I was having a hard time reading this book, I cannot turn my eyes from the depth of the book. Victor Hugo's intention of preaching the world the power of spreading joy among the poor, women, and children is very powerfully expressed by writing about some of the greatest people of the history. Their dedication towards helping other knew no bounds. While skim reading, I managed to notice the noble cause that this book served. The thickness of the book may have terrified me, but I cannot decline my soul of the wonderful lessons compiled in it. Therefore, this is my resolution that I will pick this book once again in my life -- not today, though -- and finish it until the end. That day will mark the beginning of a new "Me."

Despite feeling overwhelmed with the content and extra descriptive narration of the book, I understood one simple fact that this book is very powerful and enriching. It has a life-changing lesson of helping the downtrodden with everything that you've in your possession. The bishop of chapter.1. lived a life ridden of any worldly pleasures, and yet, encouraged the rich to provide for the poor of the society. He went above and beyond -- in his capacity -- and inspired many people in whichever possible way. His preachings and actions were in sync and that is what makes his life worth following. 

The profundity of the book cannot be disregarded. I could not complete the book, but one day I'll come back to this same book. I cannot insist enough on the fact that my failed attempt at finishing the book has no reflection on the wisdom, quality, and significance of the book; this only reflects on me not being prepared enough to embrace the beauty of this book, at least now.

#LMMLinkup

The Wonderful Journey of Reading Classic Book.2. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

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After gaining unanticipated delight from reading classic Pride and Prejudice, I discovered an unfound courage inside of me to pick another classic. This time, I thought, "Why not give Alice in Wonderland a try! The worst case scenario would be that it would turn out to be a children's book, and I would have nothing to write about this book."However, the first chapter of the book, itself, was capable of showing me the error in my thought process. While falling in the endless depth, Alice talks to herself using various big words, like longitude, latitude, antipathies, and right then -- out of nowhere -- my smile appeared on my face. As the author mentioned that Alice had no idea about these grand words, she was just having fun using them for the first time. I remember how, in my childhood, I used to be happy about using big and difficult words, like cumbersome. Her enthusiasm for throwing these big words around is, something, that most of us did in our childhood; I know, I did! 

If you imagine yourself falling down an endless void, our reaction would be on the similar lines as Alice did. Initially, she was confused and afraid, but later she started talking to herself. Her conversation with herself is hilarious,

'Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats?' and sometimes,'Do bats eat cats?'

The fantastic graphic display of a child's innocent mind is absolutely impeccable. Capturing the purity of a child's head is the most splendid quality of the author. Inside the empty room, Alice's curious mind makes her doubt whether she has, somehow, transformed into any of her friends, whom she believe to be not-so-smart, so to solve the mystery, Alice takes a test of herself in various categories. Her first adorable test was of mathematics,

Let me see, four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen, and four times seven is-- oh dear! I shall never get to twelve at that rate!

As if, she nailed everything before twelve! This book is more than a little girl's dream, it is a magnificent compilation of humor, stupidity, anecdotes, bravery, and imagination. Throughout the read, I could not stop smiling. This is an extraordinary book with full of phenomenal  characters. Whether the author introduces a rabbit with a watch or a baby pig, every character is depicted with perfect exquisiteness. Can you envision yourself having real feelings for talking animals in a fantasy? Well, you will, once you read this book. 

The conversation between various characters in the book is very clever and side-splitting. I have a heap of my favorite dialogues, but sharing the one between a Mouse and Alice,

'Mine is a long and sad tale!' said the Mouse, turning to Alice, and sighing. 'It IS a long tail, certainly,'said Alice, looking down with wonder at the Mouse's tail;'but why do you call it sad?'

You see, what I mean? If you think there is any limit to the hysterical parts in the book, then think again. You know, let me share a lullaby from it, to give you an insight to the unexpected humor,

'Speak roughly to your little boy,And beat him when he sneezes:He only does it to annoy,Because he knows it teases.' 

Just when I thought the plot cannot get any funnier, enters the hatter, the king, and the queen with their weird personalities. The hatter keeps annoying our little Alice with his rude comments, the king gives the readers several remarks to chuckle and the queen of hearts, with her 'off with his head,' makes the readers laugh till they drop. There are many scenes of the courthouse that I found rib-tickling comic; however, I cannot share all of those, therefore, sharing one of my favorite ones, before I publish the post,

'Give your evidence,' said the King: 'and don't be nervous, or I'll have you executed on the spot.'

Ever received these words of motivation? I hope, not!

If you liked this post, you may want to check out the review of the book by clicking here.

Classic Book.1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - Journey from Chapter.47 to the end (*May Contain Spoilers)

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For the readers, who may not have read my previous posts on this book, may start from the first post to the second post, the third, and the fourth one. 

My journey of reading this much-admired classic transitioned from being afraid of picking up a classic to being sad of putting it down in a very small time. I did not know that I was capable of loving a classic tale to this extent. Thanks to the incredible writing of Jane Austen that I discovered my admiration for a well-written tale. This book delivers a full package of human emotions. There is so much going on in the story that if the book was written by a less skilled writer, the reader would have lost track of who did what; however, lucky for us, Jane Austen narrated this wonderful story. 

The characters, who were hidden in the beginning chapters of the book, blossomed to hold an interest of the readers. Lydia, Kitty, Mary, I am sure, did not hold much of the interest in more than half of the book, and yet, by the end of the book, Lydia became a center of attention. Of course, Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth, Jane, and Mr. Bingley captured the interest of my wandering mind; however, I longed to know the result of her stupidity. A few events hold practical lessons for the readers like never take a decision without thinking about the consequences first, but these lessons are not conveyed in a very obvious manner. Jane Austen left the task of picking out the pieces of valued lessons to the wisdom of the readers. This is refreshing because not everyone picks up a book with an intention of learning something. 

Kitty's helplessness in understanding the meaning of Mrs. Bennet is delivered with the most humorous and realistic remark of hers,

What is the matter mamma? What do you keep winking at me for? What am I to do?

This innocent remark took me back to my childhood when I had trouble understanding these weird gestures of the elders. I could never understand what hint to take from these subtle signs. 

There was one statement of Mrs. Bennet that made me realize that the meaning of the words and phrases keeps changing with the time. At one instance, Mrs. Bennet wished to say that Mr. Wickham shows his respect and love to her whole family, but the word that the author selected to deliver this expression made me realize that this book was, certainly, written in different time,

He simpers, and smirks, and makes love to us all.

Of course, make love has a different meaning, as well, but how often is it used, today, to mean anything else than the obvious one. It may sound childish on my part, but I could not help but sharing what I observed.

As soon as, everything was settled in the lives of Jane and Mr. Darcy, I could not help but speed read the rest of one or two pages; however, the story remained interesting till the last page. It was in the end that I decided, I do not like Lydia, at all. She was mean to her sisters after a certain event in her life, and I did not like the way she tried to belittle her sisters.

Anyway, the magic of an excellent book is that it awakens many emotions in the heart of its readers for its characters. This book has achieved just that.

Classic Book.1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - Journey from Chapter.23 to Chapter.46 (*May contain spoilers)

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Oh, how I wish I had a rich vocabulary or rhythm of a poet to describe the beauty of this book! The story flows and events begin unfolding in a flawless manner. I pride myself in understanding the real character of a human being in the first meeting itself; moreover, I can guess the next chapter before the current one even ends, but this is not the case with the much-admired Pride and Prejudice. When the author introduced Mr. Wickham and Mr. Collins, I believed that they are mere distractions -- and dare I say, page filling characters. However, once again the author blinked her eyes and gave them a purpose in the whole plot. I am astonished by Jane Austen's timing to introduce a pinch of humor in the story. Everything is going on in a business-like manner, and she writes something as simple as "Their table was superlatively stupid," and, it is enough to bring a smile on the reader's lips. I am bemused by her creativity and the concrete plot that knows no bounds of imagination.

The girls have received many invitations from their relatives to visit them, and indeed, these visits added a lot to the already strong plot. Jane is deep in the pool of her sorrow but is reluctant to let her mother be affected by her condition. Elizabeth blames everybody, except Mr. Bingley, for her dear sister's broken heart. I, being a sister, can understand the pain of Elizabeth, and I admire the author for capturing the true emotions of every sister in her character, Elizabeth. I believe, this is one of the many reasons of this book's success. 

Finally, Mr. Darcy has expressed his true feelings to Elizabeth; however, her shortsightedness to Mr. Darcy's character and Mr. Wickham's unkind revelations of his conflict with him made her respond to his proposal in a very untasteful manner. Having said that, I am sure that if I was in her shoes, I would have behaved exactly the same. One thing I would like to admit here, I did not like Mr. Darcy, but since his proposal to Lizzy, I envy Lizzy on winning the heart of a man like him. His contradictory attributes of the personality are very hard to resist. He is patient, and yet, intense; he is proud, and at the same time, humble. There is so much depth to his personality that I doubt if anybody could resist his charisma.

Something very tragic has happened with one of the sisters -- or so we are made to believe till chapter.46 -- and I am suspecting that a turmoil of emotions and changes are on the way. I'll be back with the various emotions that are yet to be explored in the next post. Till then, you may browse through the wonderful journey of previous chapters by clicking here.

Classic Book.1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - Journey from Chapter.10 to the End of Part.1. (*May contain spoilers)

Let me tell you that the speed with which events unfolded after Chapter.10 is commendable. A lot has happened in a few chapters. A few new characters have made an appearance. One of them is Mr. Collins, a cousin of the girls, who is supposed to entail their property, as soon as, Mr. Bennet dies in the future. Of course, any mother will be appalled by such a social arrangement, and Mrs. Bennet is no exception to the same. I found no difficulty in connecting with her thought process, and for that, I believe the credit goes to the excellent skill set of the author. Mr. Colins' manner of addressing himself seemed pretentious to me, and sure enough, Elizabeth and Mr. Bennet caught the shallowness of his character. Mrs. Bennet, however, is beyond these minute observations and is enjoying his rain of compliments to her house and daughters. 

My most favorite part of these chapters has to be Mrs. Bennet's out-of-the-world reaction to Elizabeth's refusal to her cousin's proposal of marriage. She reminded me of my mother's reaction. Whenever I turned down any offer of marriage, my mom became a world class drama queen. Her dialogues and Mrs. Bennet's dialogues are so much in sync that I could not help smiling. The beautiful narration of her expression towards this declination shows the time and energy that the author must have spent on making each conversation believable. I think this simple fact makes this book so famous in each generation. I cannot move forward without sharing a glimpse of Mrs. Bennet's tantrum:

...nobody is on my side, nobody takes part with me. I am cruelly used, nobody feels for my poor nerves.

To add to her sufferings, Mrs. Bennet has received the information of Mr. Bingley leaving the town. The inclination of Elizabeth towards ensuring the well-being of her sister at a time like this is very well written. The lengths to which Jane Austen must have gone in writing each chapter, narration, event, and dialogue of this book is evident throughout the read.

Mr. Bennet is, as always, his own calm self. His way of asking a guest not to revisit them soon, the manner in which he takes side with Elizabeth when his wife is turning the world upside down, and his need to be alone in his library are all perfect and quite humorous. Mr. Darcy's increasing inclination towards Elizabeth and her ignorance towards the subject are very exciting to me.

All said and done, I cannot wait to read the next events of their lives. Oh yes, before I forget, Mary, Lydia, and Catherine have also started making appearances in the plot of the book. 

Classic Book.1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - Journey from Chapter.7 to Chapter.10

I know I already mentioned in my previous post about this book till chapter.6 that I like the character of Mr. Bennet; however, I think I adore him. He cracks me up. His dialogues never disappoint me. I was reading very quietly and with full concentration, and then arrived his point of view of his daughters,

From all that I can collect by your manner of talking, you must be two of the silliest girls in the country. I have suspected it some time, but I am now convinced.

Then the comment of Mrs. Bennet was, as close to the reality, as it could be. She is like any mother, who praises her daughters and tries to get her husband to stop being too opinionated about his own daughters. When I read, what followed his remark, I felt as if I was standing in front of my own parents, and my mom is defending me. Of course, my dad never had such strong opinion about me. Anyway, the author has written the dialogues in a manner that, generally, everybody can connect to.

Another one of my favorite dialogues of Mr. Bennet is delivered, when Mrs. Bennet contemplates a plan. See, her plan involves sending Jane to visit Mr. Bingley's house, all the way knowing that it will rain in a while. Her plan is that she'll need to stay in their house, thus, she may get more time to impress Mr. Bingley. Whether that plan succeeds or not, that is for readers to find out; however, his sarcastic comment is really unforgetful -

...if your daughter should have a dangerous fit of illness — if she should die, it would be a comfort to know that it was all in pursuit of Mr. Bingley, and under your orders.

Isn't he is an exquisite character?

On a different note, I was a little confused with the usage of the word "loo-table." Google's kind search enabled me to know that it is a table on which a game of cards — loo — is played. An excellent piece of information!

The conversation of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth are a little complex to my taste. I am using all my brain to try and understand even the topic of their discussion. Probably, I need to pay more attention. However, slightly increasing admiration of Mr. Darcy for Elizabeth and her witty responses to his attempt of approaching her are truly fascinating. As a reader, I cannot wait for them to get together; however, at the same time, I am enjoying the ongoing love-hate plot.

So far, my opinion of Mr. Darcy is same as that of Elizabeth. Whether it changes or not, we shall see soon.

À bientôt!

Classic Book.1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - Journey till Chapter.6

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I picked up the famous classic 'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen. To tell you frankly, I did not expect a lot, because I never thought that this book would have much to offer. Now, I feel like a fool; the dialogues of the books are very realistic and practical. I am particularly enjoying the conversations of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet. As all the married couples know very well, and unmarried people are aware due to their observations of married people, there is a never-ending argumentative style and witty comments in the way a husband and a wife talk to each other. Jane has captured that essence in her book. Generally, wives tend to give updates about every detail about their surrounding to their husbands, whether the husband wishes to know or not. And this is what Mrs. Bennet does in the beginning of the chapter.1, itself. She starts telling Mr. Bennet about the fact that Netherfield has been rented, finally. On observing that her husband is not showing any interest to her piece of information, she asks whether he wants to listen to her information or not; the response of Mr. Bennet matches to the answer any typical husband gives:

You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it.

Just reading his response, I understood that I am going to love this book. The way Mr. Bennet teases his wife, flatters her, and plays his innocent games with her, are fantastic and very genuine. I have seen my own dad surprising my mom, the way Mr. Bennet does with Mrs. Bennet.

The author introduces their five children, gradually and beautifully. So far, I know that Jane is the most beautiful one among her five sisters, and Elizabeth is the wittiest and the most expressive. Mary reads a lot of books. About Lydia and Kitty, however, I have not gathered a lot; I remember that the author mentions in a character's dialogue that Lydia is the youngest, but the tallest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet; and I remember the mention of Kitty only in one place where Mrs. Bennet is angry with Mr. Bennet and scolds Kitty for coughing.

Mr. Bingley's character is of a well groomed, sensible, and handsome man; whereas, Mr. Darcy —a friend of Mr. Bingley — is a little arrogant. The rise of young love in the hearts of Jane and Mr. Bingley is described with the best selection of words.

So far, I am enjoying the hatred of Elizabeth towards Mr. Darcy and his attempts to get to know her better.

See you soon with more chapters of Pride and Prejudice!