Owner: Literary Jewels URL:http://www.literarybonanza.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Tue, 07 Aug 2007 07:14:31 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: This blog is dedicated to the jewels of literature, including novels, poetry, writers and their writings. It is about American literature, English literature, African literature, Indian English literature etc. I have made an attempt to interpret literatur Site statistics:Click here
Feeling of Alienation in 'The Namesake' 2007-08-02 23:33:00 Jhumpa Lahiri's 'The Namesake
' is a story of Indian immigrants in the United States the effect the immigration has on their offsprings. There is a feeling of alienation, a feeling of being lonely in the crowd all through the novel. Only once does Ashima Ganguli, Gogol mother, feel attached to America because of the memories of her husband after his death. She doesn't want that the house should be altered after it is sold to someone else. Her husband had made his living in this country.The situation of Gogol is no better. He is a child who is born to Indian parents but is brought up in America. He is neither able to become an American at heart nor remains an Indian. He does not fully belong to anywhere. He is a 'nowhere man'.He tries to break away from the Indian traditions followed by his family. Once he had resented the trips made of Calcutta but finally he comes to wonder 'how his parents had done it ...All those trips...how could they have been enough?' This was the realiza Read more:Feeling
Child Psychology in 'The Namesake' 2007-07-31 23:00:00 Jhumpa Lahiri, the celebrated author of 'The Interpretor of Maladies'(a collection of short stories) also penned down the Pulitzer Prize winner 'The Namesake
'. The theme of cultural alienation dominates the whole novel. But what I am going to discuss here is the psychological insights provided into the working of a child's mind by the author. When Gogol, the main character of the novel, is young he responds only to that name. Even in school he refuses to accept 'Nikhil' as his school name. He doesn't respond when he's called Nikhil. It is but natural for a child to do so. Nikhil is not known to him. He only knows Gogol.But he grows conscious about his name later on till a time comes when he finally declares he hates the name 'Gogol' and formally changes it to 'Nikhil'. But for the whole of his life he is unable to detach himself from his former name. The name 'Gogol' keeps propping up at different times.Again after his father's death he feels guilty about the change in
Oscar Wilde's 'The Importance of Being Earnest' 2007-07-29 08:25:00 Recently I was lucky enough to lay my hands upon OscarWilde
's play 'The Importance of Being Earnest
'. I had earlier read this play, I don't know how many years ago. But any way it was a real funny experience. All of us need to have such breaks while reading serious literature.This play was very famous in America also. The play 'The Importance of Being Earnest' is sheer comedy, at moments it is just hilarious. There is a touch of realism too. The conversation that takes place is so natural and spontaneous. It is so close to real life that it could have happened anywhere. The incident - when Gwendolen and Cecily decide to remain quiet when Jack and Algernon come but are first ones to break the silence with their questions put forward the moment the latter two enter - is not only comic but also shows the universal human nature of reacting overenthusiastically, of uncontrollable inquisitiveness.There is a use on irony also to create humour. The word 'earnest' as in the title 'The Read more:Oscar Wilde
Toadstone in Shakespeare's 'As You Like It' 2007-07-25 11:09:00 Shakespeare in 'As You Like It' talked about toadstones in the following lines:Sweet the uses of adversity.Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,Wears yet a precious jewel in his head.Even in earlier literature toadstones have been mentioned and many myths have been woven around them. They find a mention in literature as early as the Roman writer Pliny the Elder. It is a stone that was worn as a charm and believed to have been formed in the body of a toad. Read more:Shakespeare
Harry Potter alive? 2007-07-21 04:27:00 (photo courtesy: SCHOLASTIC)HarryPotter
fans can now heave a sigh of relief. The latest news is that Harry Potter is very much alive in the seventh book 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'. But this news is no substitute for reading and relishing each chapter as you go through the book. So just like the protagonist of majority of other novels, he lives on, victorious over the evil or something else is in store? Let's catch hold of a copy of the novel and find out.Actually the book was leaked four-five days before it was released. It was available for download on some sites. The New York Times even published a review of the final book of Harry Potter on Thursday, that is 19 July, before its official release. These are proof enough of Harry's popularity. What I believe is that all kinds of illegal activities won't deter die-hard Potter fans from purchasing the book. Afterall, we read a book for aesthetic pleasure and because of our literary interest in it. Just know
J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter 2007-07-19 10:04:00 The name of J.K. Rowling
needs no introduction. The character of HarryPotter
has become a rage with not only kids but also with youngsters and grown-ups. She might have millions from the Harry Potter series now. But the beginning was not at all a cakewalk. Before the first book 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' (later published in the US as 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone') was published by the small publisher Bloomsbury, the manuscript was rejected by twelve publishers. The manuscript was accepted because of the publisher's daughter, who was curious to read the next chapter after being given the first chapter. Sincethen there has been no looking back. She has many awards including Nestlé Smarties Book Prize, British Book Award. Rowling is not only a terrific writer but also a philanthropist has done many charity works.She was born on 31 July, 1965 in England. She completed her first manuscript for the first in the Harry Potter series, 'Harry Potter and the Ph
Ted Hughes' 'Old Age Gets Up' 2007-07-18 09:07:00 I would like to quote here a poem by Ted Hughes
.Old Age Gets UpStirs its ashes and embers, its burnt sticksAn eye powdered over, half melted and solid againPondersIdeas that collapseAt the first touch of attentionThe light at the window, so square and so sameSo full-strong as ever, the window frameA scaffold in space, for eyes to lean onSupporting the body, shaped to its old workMaking small movements in gray airNumbed from the blurred accidentOf having lived, the fatal, real injuryUnder the amnesiaSomething tries to save itself-searchesFor defenses-but words evadeLike flies with their own notionsOld age slowly gets dressedHeavily dosed with death's nightSits on the bed's edgePulls its pieces togetherLoosely tucks in its shirtOld is such a stage of life when you have satisfaction of having lived a full life but at the same time prospect of growing old is frightening. This is because of the state of loneliness associated with old age and the unconcerned look in the eyes of others towa
Ted Hughes 2007-07-13 09:25:00 Ted Hughes
was born in Mytholmroyd, Yorkshire,in 1930 on 17th August. Later his family moved to Mexborough. He studied at the Pembroke College, Cambridge. He even met his Sylvia Plath. He studied English there and then switched on to study anthropology and archaeology later. His first poem was published in 1954. He had written his first poem at the age of fifteen. In the following two years he was involved in odd jobs like that of a night watchman, zoo attendant. He also worked as a school teacher and then as a reader for J. Arthur Rank. Later in 1956 Hughes was a part of the team of six, which produced the literary magazine, St Botolph's Review. Another important event of his life that occured in 1956 was meeting Sylvia Plath and marrying her four months later.Hughes' first book of poetry, 'Hawk in the Rain' was published in 1957, and since then over the next 41 years there was no looking back. ONe of his best known works is considered to be 'Crow' published in 1970.There is a
I want to produce a few lines from Toni Morrison's... 2007-07-10 10:41:00 I want to produce
a few lines from Toni Morrison
's masterpiece 'The Bluest Eye':"And now when I see her searching the garbage - for what? The thing we assassinated? I talk about how I did not plant the seeds too deeply, how it was the fault of the earth, the land, of our town. I even think now that the land of the entire country was hostile to marigolds that year. This soil is bad for certain kinds of flowers. Certain seed it will not nurture, certain fruit it will not bear, and when the land kills of its own volition, we acquiesce and say the victim had no right to live. We are wrong, of course, but it doesn't matter. It's too late. At least on the edge of my town, among the garbage and the sunflowers of my town, it's much, much too late."
Toni Morrison's 'The Bluest Eye' 2007-07-07 07:52:00 Toni Morrison
was the eighth American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993. Her novel are characterized by epic themes, elaborately sketched African-American characters and vivid dialogues. She won Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1988 for her novel, 'Beloved'. Her other famous novels include 'The Bluest Eye', 'Song of Solomon'.The last book I read was Toni Morrison's 'The Bluest Eye'. In 2000 this novel was selected for Oprah's Book Club.The story has been narrated from the perception of Pecola, her mother, her father, her friend Claudia and Soaphead Church. This book has been attempted to be banned in schools and libraries because of its controversial nature of its themes of racism and child molestation.The way she begins her story saying that there were no marrigolds that season, suggests that there was something evil happening on that land. It also reminded of T.S. Eliot's line: "April is the cruellest month"('The Wasteland').Morrison writes in 'The Bluest Eye'
'The Outsider' by Albert Camus 2007-07-04 03:56:00 The hero of the novel 'The Outsider
', Meursault is a typical example of an absurd character. His story parallels the story of Sisyphus - stripped of all illusions, extracts a grim acceptance of life from death and defeat, he deems life worth living after all he'd had. This novel without hope, even against hope, ends on a note of hope and promise.When Meursault is condemned to death, he considers the question of beginning life afresh (here Camus
is illustrating the absurdity through the myth of Sisyphus).In a letter Camus wrote: "A man's greatness lies more in what he keeps to himself than in what he says." Meursault is an example of this great silence. During the trial one of the witnesses says about him: "Meursault didn't waste words."Camus writes about Meursault's feelings at the end of the novel:"I realized that I'd been happy, and that I was still happy. For the final consummation and for me to feel less lonely, my last wish was that there should be a crowd of spectators at Read more:Albert
The 'Absurd' 2007-07-03 07:34:00 The absurd is not, says Sartre, "a mere idea; it is revealed to us in a doleful illumination - getting up, tram, four hours of work, meal, sleep; Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, in the same routine." This pattern is horrifyingly similar to the pattern of Sisyphus.The essay 'Le Mythe de Sisyphe' ('The Myth of Sisyphus'), 1942, illustrates Camus' concept of the absurd and accepting it with "the total absence of hope, which has nothing to do with despair, a continual refusal, which must not be confused with renouncement - and a conscious dissatisfaction".According to existentialist philosophers such as Camus and Sartre, "absurdity" is the necessary result of our attempts to live a life of meaning and purpose in an indifferent, uncaring universe. Another quality of the absurd man is that he will never be disappointed with life. He will want to live even if he visualizes a life without hope, without future. (Albert Camus won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 195
Samuel Johnson Prize 2007 2007-07-01 08:04:00 UK's prestigious literary award for non-fiction, SamuelJohnson
Prize was awarded to Rajiv Chandrasekaran, the former Baghdad bureau chief for The Washington Post. His book 'IMPERIAL LIFE IN THE EMERALD CITY' is about Baghdad's Green Zone surpassed the other five shorlisted entries, which include 'Murder in Amsterdam' by Ian Buruma, 'Having it so Good:Britain in the Fifties' by Peter Hennessey, 'Daughter of the Desert' by Georgina Howell, 'Brainwash' by Dominic Streatfeild, and 'The Verneys' by Adrian Tinniswood.
Man Booker International Prize 2007 2007-06-29 22:48:00 CHINUA ACHEBE (courtesy: REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski)Chinua Achebe, the Nigerian novelist, was awarded the Man BookerInternational
Prize 2007. He surpassed the nominees like Margaret Atwood, Dorris Lessing, Michael Ondaatje, Philip Roth, Salman Rushdie. The judging panel consisted of Elaine Showalter, Nadine Gordimer and Colm Tóibin. This prize is an international literary award given every two years. It is bestowed upon a living author of any nationality for fiction published in English or one available in English translation. The cash prize for this prestigious award is $120,000. Achebe himself was not present for the award ceremony held in Oxford on June 28, 2007.Achebe, now 76 years old, is best known for his first novel. 'Things Fall Apart' written in 1958. The other of his famous novels is 'Anthills of the Savannah' published more than 30 years later.Achebe is pained at the misrepresent
Knighthood - the title of 'Sir' 2007-06-29 10:06:00 Salman Rushdie, the controversial author, had been knighted earlier this month. This decision had incited protests in some parts of Muslim world but the judges of the Man Booker International Prize have condemned this attack. They have said that the "appalling reaction" has threatened "the principle of freedom of expression as a basic tenet of justice".The concept of knighthood goes back to the Middle Ages. Today the designation of 'Sir' is conferred upon the person who is knighted. The French use the title "Chevalier" and the German "Ritter" .
'The Good Earth' by Pearl S. Buck 2007-06-27 10:26:00 The main character of the novel 'The Good Earth
' is Wang Lung, a poor peasant farmer. He marries a slave. And after that he gradually rises from being a poor, humble farmer to being a wealthy, landowner. Having support of his faithful wife he multiplied his wealth. His faith in the capacity of the good earth.The novel begins with the lines:"It was Wang Lung's marriage day. At first, opening his eyes in the blackness of the curtains about his bed, he could not think why the dawn seemed different from any other. The house was still except for the faint, gasping cough of his old father, whose room was opposite to his own across the middle room. Every morning the old man's cough was the first sound to be heard. Wang Lung usually lay listening to it and moved only when he heard it approaching nearer and when he heard the door of his father's room squeak upon its wooden hinges." Read more:Pearl
Pearl S. Buck 2007-06-26 08:56:00 Pearl S. Buck was born on this day, that is, June 26 in 1892. She was a prolific writer. Her father was a missionary. She was born in West Virginia but her family was sent to China when she was three months old. Buck began writing in 1930 and her first publication was 'East Wind:West Wind'. She wrote her famous novel 'The Good Earth' in 1931. She experienced a flourishing career in writing. Before winning the Nobel Prize for literature in 1938, she won the Pultizer Prize for the Novel in 1932 for her story of the farmer Wang Lung's life.In 1934 her family returned to United States as they were forced to leave China because of political tensions. She also won the William Dean Howells Medal in 1935.She wrote over 100 literary works. She is best known for 'The Good Earth' in which she had described the life of the farmer Wang Lung. She died March 6, 1973.What I believe that a writer never dies, he continues to live through his words. Literature continues to live on and on. Read more:Pearl
Characters of R.K. Narayan 2007-06-23 07:58:00 The novel 'The English Teacher' by R.K.Narayan is autobiographical. The protagonist of this novel Krishna is a lecturer in English at the Albert Mission college. Earlier he had enjoyed many years of bachelorhood but later his wife and child move in with him. Later one day his wife, Susila is taken ill with typhoid and dies from it. Same was the reason of death of Narayan's wife, Rajam.The death of Krishna's wife in the novel 'The English Teacher', just as Raju's meeting with Rosie and his subsequent term in jail in 'The Guide'(another novel by Narayan), in the most important event in the protagonist's life that changes his perspective about life forever. In most of his novels, through various characters, Narayan has tried to depict the vision of life, how we look at life, how the events of life influence us no end.Narayan has in his novels depicted his characters in different circumstances as a common man. The character of Raju in 'The Guide', Savitri in 'The Dark Room', Read more:Characters
R.K. Narayan 2007-06-21 10:38:00 R.K. Narayan, one of the most celebrated Indo-English writers, was born in 1906 in Madras. He graduated from Maharaja College, Mysore in 1930. His father was a humble school teacher and had a large family to support, so Narayan had to contribute to the family income soon after his graduation. He tried several jobs but his ambition was to become a writer.After about a month he left the job and devoted his time totallyto writing. He created the imaginary town of Malgudi, where realistic characters in a typically Indian setting lived amid unpredictable events.He married in 1935 but his marital bliss was short-lived. His beloved wife died of typhoid fever in 1939, after barely four years of marriage. After this incident he achieved inner enlightenment which increased his knowledge of life. He did not write a novel for six years after this personal loss. His earlier novels were: 'Swami and Friends' (1935), 'The Bachelor of Arts' (1937), and 'The Dark Room' (1938).After the death of hi
We have no time to stand and stare 2007-06-17 11:14:00 How many of us ever spare a minute to glance at the clouds changing their shapes? Sit in the moonlight for a while? Keep a pot of water in the garden for the birds? There would be a selected few who would answer in an affirmative. While watching clouds once, I gave it a thought that it actually sets the reigns of our imagination free. And is indeed an exercise of our brain.W.H.Davies in his poem 'Leisure' wrote:WHAT is this life if, full of care,We have no time to stand and stare?—No time to stand beneath the boughs,And stare as long as sheep and cows:No time to see, when woods we pass,Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:No time to see, in broad daylight,Streams full of stars, like skies at night:No time to turn at Beauty's glance,And watch her feet, how they can dance:No time to wait till her mouth canEnrich that smile her eyes began?A poor life this if, full of care,We have no time to stand and stare.The sight of the full moon is thought provoking and entertaining as wa
'Three Men in Boat' 2007-06-13 07:07:00 JEROME K. JEROME'S 'THREE MEN IN BOAT'Another memorable book I read when I was in school is Jerome K. Jerome's 'Three
Men in Boat'. I still have so many quotations from the book with me. The author writes: "They awe us, these strange stars, so cold, so clear. We are as children whose small feet have strayed into some dim-lit temple of the god they have been taught to worship but know not; and standing where the echoing some spans the long vista of the shadowy light, glance up, half hoping, half afraid to see some awful vision hovering there. And yet it seems so full of comfort and of strength, the night. "
Fred Uhlman's 'Reunion' 2007-06-11 08:49:00 Fred Uhlman was a lawyer by profession. He was a German and of Jewish origin. He was born on January 19,1901 in Stuttgart, Germany. 'Reunion', his novella was published in 1977. Arthur Koestler in his Introduction to the book called it "a minor masterpiece". His other books include: 'Captivity: twenty-four drawings'(1946), 'The Making of an Englishman'(1960). I was reminded of his book entitled 'Reunion' when my eyes fell on a paper in my file on which I had written a quotation from the same book. I had read it when I was in school, probably in eighth standard.I am producing his quotation from 'Reunion' here for all of you:"I don't know where I read that 'death undermines our confidence in life by showing that in the end everything is equally futile before the final darkness'. Yes, 'futile' is the right word. Still I musn't grumble: I have more friends than enemies and there are moments when I am almost glad to be alive. When I watch the sun set and moon rise, or
Poem 'Choices' by Nikki Giovanni - My interpretation 2007-06-09 09:33:00 The poem 'Choices' by NikkiGiovanni
is very beautifully written. The overall impact of the poem is that of reconciliation to whatever life offers. It seems there is only one choice and that is accepting one's fate. But at the end of the poem there is a note of defiance in the cry of a human being. This is the only way a man differs from an animal.The poem presents a very poignant and reality of human lives. We too can identify ourselves with it. Each day, every moment, everytime we have to make a decision we are at crossroads because social constraints weigh heavy upon our minds. So I feel this poem is a cry of a 'imprisoned' human soul. Read more:interpretation
Concept of Time in Literature 2007-08-09 09:02:00 German Nobel Prize Winner, Thomas Mann in his novel "The Magic Mountain' writes: "What is time? It is a secret - lacking in substance and yet almighty" The concept of time has been treated differently in different periods of time. In ancient Greece time was treated as a circle. Hesoid, the Greek historian of 8th century B.C. divided time into five ages of mankind, beginning with the golden age of the distant past when men lived in peace and continuing upto the contemporary Iron Age where fights and warfare prevail. But in medieval and modern times time has been treated as a linear process. Saint Augustine in his "City of God' favoured the linear concept of time and labelled the Greek cyclic time as a mere superstition.Time has been mentioned in literature in different ways. Even the mythical and cyclic depiction of time had influenced many writers such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez ("One Hundred Years of Solitude'), Octavio Paz (his poem "Piedra de sol'). Even T.S. Read more:Concept
, Literature
Beckett's 'Waiting for Godot' 2007-08-14 07:50:00 'Waiting
for Godot' by Samuel Beckett
is one of my most favourite dramas. It is a typical example of an Absurd drama, although Beckett himself would have rejected that tag. The drama moves in circular motion - ending from where it all begun. The second act too is on the same pattern as the first one. The play begins with Estragon saying, "Nothing to be done." This is probably the conclusion of the play. So we have to be alive till we are dead.Normally a play moves from point A to point B but the case of 'Waiting for Godot' is different. Another important part of any play is the characters. But there are no such characters in this play who grow, develop. Then witty dialogues like in other plays are absent here. There is repetition of dialogues, which are more like monosyllables or very short ones. There are more silences. The elaborate stage settings which are a part and parcel of any play are nowhere to be seen in 'Waiting for Godot'. There is a bare trees, country road; but no p
Who is Godot? in 'Waiting for Godot' 2007-08-16 23:45:00 Critics have interpreted the identity of Godot in various ways, ranging from being a saviour and a god to being a rich employer. Critics have the life history of Beckett to establish the identity of Godot but Beckett's own reaction has been that if he knew who Godot was he would have mentioned that in the play. So let's interpret it ourselves. Godot symbolizes hope. It is only this wait for Godot, which is the only ray of hope for the tramps in the play.The most popular and the strongest identity of Godot has been that of God. In the Bible God speaks to Moses, he fulfills the promises, he appears before Moses. But in 'Waiting
for Godot' all this does not happen. Godot never comes, only his messengers appear - the two boys, one of them is treated fairly while the other is beaten up by Godot. So can we say that Beckett has portrayed the negative image of God in his character Godot? Godot is not just, impartial, true to his words. Beckett's Godot is the distorted version of God, so t
Rohinton Mistry's 'A Fine Balance' 2007-08-21 06:56:00 I just finished reading Rohinton Mistry's 'A Fine Balance
'. I have here attempted to present my views about the novel. It is a heart-rending account of the suffering of the poor at the hands of the so-called upper-caste people and those who had the power. The condition of the slum-dwellers is pitiable – the conditions in which they live, the way they are treated. Life takes a turn for the worse for the two tailors, Ishvar and Om, when they are taken away by the officials to a work site mistaking them to be beggars. Even earlier they had suffered too much. First in the village because they belonged to a lower caste; then their struggle in the city. But the torture they have to undergo towards the end of the novel, in the name of the Family Planning Programme, is more than a human can bear. One doesn’t expect them to be alive till the end of the novel. But they are fighters just like their former employee, Dina Dalal. Both Ishvar and Om take to begging as their profession.Even Din
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