Bits And Pieces

Target:    100 books Current:    23 books Where's book #22 you ask? It was The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. I thought it was okay, and I'll write about it soon. It's just that I wanted to get this one out while I could. I read The Fountainhead about three months ago, and I think I'm finally ready to talk about it. #23 The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand Loved it, Idealistic, Intense I feel as if anything I might write about this book will sound trite and pretentious. There really isn't much to say other than that it moved me like not much else has. I don't care for architecture, or for books about architects. I don't usually care for authors whose views are borderline offensive and polarizing . I'm not sure what Ayn Rand was hoping I'd get out of The Fountainhead, but that's not really up to her, is it? No. Her part ended when she penned the words, and now I've made the book mine. It is quite possible that I have, for lac...

I find myself often contemplating things that have no apparent immediate effect on my life whatsoever. I just can't help it. These aimless mental meanderings help me constantly erase and redraw regions of my personal morality. On one such journey I came up with a simple thought that helped me explain the purpose of my own life to a certain satisfiable extent - Help Einstein. I define Einstein as the stroke of genius that can reside in one or more human beings living in this universe. Einstein will help humankind break barriers, and will help us understand more about the universe we live in. Einstein will take us forward in our quest for that thing which we don't even know we are looking for. Einstein could just as well be silly and kill us all. Einstein's mind could be dulled with hunger. Einstein could be a girl or a boy, or neither. As we speak, maybe Einstein is being raped, or being forced into marriage, or being forced to rear children. Einstein might not have ...

Target:    100 books Current:    21 books I've read one other George Orwell novel before this - Animal Farm. I loved it! It is a small book with the story line being that anthropomorphic animals have taken over the running of a farm. Masquerading as a slightly twisted children's book, what it really is is a full blown political satire that makes sharp jabs at the Soviet Union that came into being after the Russian revolution of 1917. While you can definitely read and enjoy the book without noticing any of the hidden meanings, an understanding of the then political climate adds to the overall experience. It wasn't my intention to "review" Animal Farm, but looks like I sort of did it anyway. The bottom line is that I have fond memories of reading George Orwell, and I figured I'd give his other famous book, 1984, a shot. #21 1984 - George Orwell Liked it, Dystopian, Political, Censorship, Social hierarchy I'm going to go out on a limb here an...

Target:    100 books Current:    20 books I found this one while walking around in the book store. The title piqued my curiosity. The covert art helped. Before I knew it, I had picked it up, and was reading the little blurb at the back. The reviews were all glowing. I thought I'd give it a shot, and proceeded to read the first few pages right then and there. That's something I do - reading the first five, or ten, or twenty pages at the store before deciding whether to buy a book or not. I feel like I didn't have much of a choice here. The style of writing was one that I'd never encountered before. It was far too intriguing to ignore. That I'd be buying the book was a foregone conclusion. #20 A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing - Eimear McBride Liked it, Fiction, Tragic, Heavy themes, Irish Catholicism, Stream of consciousness writing style I mentioned that the style of writing was something I hadn't experienced before. It felt like the entire book was a jumb...

Target:    100 books Current:    19 books Don't you dare judge me! The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy IS a collection of five books. It's not fair to ask me to count it as one huge book. In fact, I think I deserve some credit here. I did not count Young Zaphod Plays it Safe as a separate book. I figured it was too short a short story to do so. #15, #16, #17, #18, #19 The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 1) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 2) The Restaurant at the End of the Universe 3) Life, the Universe and Everything 4) So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish Short Story) Young Zaphod Plays it Safe  5) Mostly Harmless - Douglas Adams Liked it, Science fiction, humorous, English, Aliens I'll admit it - this genre is not for me. I knew that I wouldn't be picking up very many books like these in the future, and so I decided to give this one my all. I cruised through all five books with relative ease, and what's more,...

Target:    100 books Current:    14 books Remember when everyone changed their Facebook profile picture into a beautiful rainbow? This was just after the US Supreme Court ruled in favour of gay marriages. Great thing, absolutely great thing, if you ask me. As far as I am concerned, your freedom stops with your nose. It goes no further. And it definitely cannot encroach upon another's freedom to marry. This is all the more relevant today, what with the case where a county clerk in Kentucky refused to issue a marriage license to a gay couple, and was subsequently jailed for a few days for contempt of court. My personal views are that you don't let your faith interfere with your work. If it does, and if the differences are irreconcilable, then you either quit your job, or you rally enough support to overthrow the government ruling through proper legal channels. Thankfully for us, support for marriage equality is something that more people, not less, are advocating. ...

Target:    100 books Current:    13 books This one is a timepass book. Hahaha! I just realized that people who aren't from the Indian subcontinent might not be familiar with the word. It's pretty simple, and I'm sure you can make at least a half decent guess as to what it might mean.  Urban Dictionary: Timepass meaning #13 The Leopard - Jo Nesbo Liked it, Fiction, Norwegian, Serial killer, Mystery, Harry Hole, Steig Larsson-ish  Crime thrillers, serial killers, psychopaths, and murder investigations have always been an integral part of my literary staple diet. All thanks to my blood-thirsty mother. In real life, she's quite the sweetheart, but when it comes to books, blood and gore are what she thirsts for. All in all, not one bit surprising that she has passed on those genes to me. When I first read Jo Nesbo's Snowman, it reminded me a little of Steig Larsson (the one wrote Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). Larsson was Swedish, Nesbo is Norwegian,...