Lonely asteroid: BOOKS

BOOKS

Here are some interesting books, with links:
Imitation of Christ
http://www.shvoong.com/books/mythology-ancient-literature/2414413-imitation-christ/The Catcher in the Rye
http://www.shvoong.com/books/novel-novella/2409725-catcher-rye/
Light on Yoga
http://www.shvoong.com/f/books/246714-light-yoga/

100 top books

Literature

The Man in the Iron Mask (Oxford World's Classics) A novel by Alexander Dumas, the supreme story-teller. This is the archetypal novel that takes you back to your glorious adolescent days of flights of fancy and imagination. An unforgettable novel. Do read it, if you have not already done so. If you have read it, I know you will want to read it again.

The Count of Monte Cristo (Penguin Classics) - Duma's most famous and brilliant novel. Personally I feel that few novels can surpass this.(note-- please read the unabridged version if you want the real flavour)

Les Miserables - This novel by Victor Hugo is my all time favourite. One of the most inspiring novels. Timeless

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (Modern Library Mass Market Paperbacks) - AND, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, of course. It was filmed I think, starring Anthony Quinn. Read this for sheer majesty of prose and emotions.

The Brothers Karamazov (Bantam Classics) - Have you ever stood under the Niagara?Read Dostoevsky's these two books and you will know what I mean. His narration, the story, the details, his prose all produce that effect. In my opinion he is the numero uno writer of Russia..
Ada, or Ardor: A Family Chronicle -Talking of language, Nabokov is another unique writer. He is more famous for his 'Lolita'. Of his ADA, the Time magazine once wrote that he(Nabokov)seems to know and to use ALL the words in the English language!! Need say more?

The Summer of Katya: A Novel - One of the most sensitive books on split personality, by Travanian(famous for his Shibumi. The .ending leaves you very very sad. A must read.

Moby Dick (Oxford World's Classics)
An archetypal novel on whale hunting. A most inspired book with unforgettable hero, captain Ahab. An original American novel, a classic.

The Manchurian Candidate
Even good writers write a dull book sometime. Not Richard Condon, the author of this book. ALL his books are eminently readable. You get a taste of good prose, charming style. This original novel about brainwashing is admired and quoted by all. Highly recommended.

Fail Safe
-This book, written by Eugene Burdick is the most brilliant, taut thriller that can possibly be written!! The whole rivetting action takes within a space of minutes, not days or hours! Possibly the best suspense novel about ICBMs and nuclear warheads

Commentaries on Living: Third Series
--If you are reading J.Krishnamurthi for the first time you are usually startled by the new and fresh ideas in these conversations. The prose where it describes nature is beautiful beyond compare. The reader is sure to come out after the reading, with a refreshing view of life.

The Nature of the Physical World
-There have been quite a lot of books on popular science recently. But this book by Sir Arthur Eddington,written more than 40 years back is a classic by itself.A fine in-depth, yet lucid book on modern physics.

Journey to Ixtlan: The Lessons of Don Juan
-All books by Castaneda are a must read! There are a lot of crude imitations of him now-a-days. He wrote a series of books about his meeting a Red Indian sorcerer by name Don Juan. Though the story purportedly starts with the 'old man' knowing a lot about plants and herbs, the narration gradually unfolds fascinatingly abundant with unbelievable incidents. The books by themselves provide an in depth support for a man’s search for the 'meaning of life'. A rich source for deep insights on life. Some important books are, Lessons of Don Juan, Teachings of Don Juan, Journey to Ixtalan, Eagle's Gift, Second Ring of Power. Do not miss these books!

A Tale of Two Cities
In my opinion this novel is the best of Dicken's.The sacrifice of Sydney Carton, the hero is poignant. He exchanges himself to be beheaded under the guillotine to save the life of a Frenchman. The atmosphere of the French Revolution is vividly brought out. Add to it the virility of Dicken's prose. A novel not to be missed!

Beyond Supernature: A New Natural History of the Supernatura
- Lyall Watson writes on science(Nature) in a very lucid and fascinating style delving out rare scenes.The book almost touches a mystical height as you read along. Please do grab the book to taste its flavour.

Magic , Marathon Man
The above two books by William Goldman are superb thrillers. The author uses his rich experience as a film script writer to telling effect. A must read!
The Chessmaster and His Moves, The Serpent and the Rope
Raja Rao, who died recently is a special writer who blends philosophy and story in his novels very skilfully. His unique style of lyrical writing is extremely charming You will really appreciate the way he smoothly blends the highest philosophical thinking in his novels.

The Road to Gandolfo
--By Robert Ludlum is the best rollicking comedy you can get. The sheer intricacy of the plot, the brilliant dialogues will hold you captive. Ludlum at his incomparable best.
The Road to Omaha
Ludlum's this book is three notches above the other. It is a non-stop laughter's roller-coaster ride all the way..Simply BRILLIANT.

Mile High
This, in my opinion is The Great American Novel, Vast, majestic in scope and depth.

Canon Doyle
The Complete Sherlock Holmes: Four Novels and Four Short Story Collections in One Volume
: The creator of Sherlock Holmes is the only author who does not need an introduction in this world!! If you do not know Sherlock Holmes , then you just do not know English !

Herzog
: By Saul Bellow, Nobel laureate. Few modern books reach this level of beauty and bathos of expression.

James Hadley Chase : You may have read thrillers and thrillers. But pardon me, have you read James Hadley Chase? Buy and read ONE of his books and you will not stop till you have purchased ALL of his eighty and odd books !

And Then There Were None – Agatha Christie

Most best-sellers of recent days are usually a big disappointment; they end up as damp squibs. Not so, this present book, by the queen of mystery writing. This book is said to be her masterpiece. Indeed, the book does full justification to its reputation. We should keep in mind that the book was published in 1939, and then we will appreciate the almost perfect technique of this whodunit.

The main idea is to bump off ten people in succession. The beauty is that even after it is all over, the reader is left wondering who did it. There were only ten people (in a closed area, an island) and no one else. Still all the ten are killed! Even the inspector of The Yard is unable to solve the case.

The author takes pity on the poor reader who may bust his veins or something trying to unravel the riddle. So, she provides an epilogue to an epilogue, wherein the mystery is laid bare.

If you like reading mystery and whodunits, this is the perfect book for you. The beautiful taste of the story lingers long after you have finished reading it. Most will be tempted to reread it. A great book, a great read.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being – by Milan Kundera

This is a strange book. It looks like a mixture of fiction, fact and history. The narration of the story is interspersed with comments from the author!

It might have appealed to the generation of readers when it was first published. (about 1984) Sex, shit, love, god, religion, communism, and strange speculations; all have been cooked together creating a gallimaufry.

The book is a combination of story and running commentary on the story (and the characters involved). Perhaps, the commentary part seems to be overbearing.

As if the author became aware of it and wanted to make amends, the last part, part seven has been written beautifully. It is very touching.

The author’s writing style automatically grabs the reader’s attention. The only jarring note, in my opinion, is the constant intrusion of the first-person pronoun in the narration as commentators; I and me. It is like a minor blemish in the artistic value of the book.

How Life Imitates Chess – by Garry Kasparov

Opening move (with due apologies to the great mind): The title should have been the other way round, how chess imitates life, for chess is a part of life.

Well, the book is written by one of the greatest chess players and so you will naturally be filled with great expectations (with due apologies to the great novelist). If you have read your share of self-improvement books and other nonfiction books on life and philosophy, you will be disappointed. There are a few pragmatic thoughts in the book, of course, linking parallels to chess moves. The pages are naturally filled with chess lore and chess talk. One interesting aspect of the book is that at intervals, selected pages with rectangular borders are filled in, offering condensed glimpses about the great legendary chess players, like Morphy, Lasker, Capablanca, Fischer, Karpov and so on. (Personally, this reviewer was sorely disappointed that the bio of Vishwanathan Anand has not been included in such pages. He was a world champion five times. This book was copyrighted in 2007 and Vishy was already a champion uno by then.)

The final chapter detailing the final fight of Kasparov with his famous opponent, Karpov, is interesting. Of course, in the end, one sees that there has been a political angle to the book.

A well written, but not necessarily a must-read book. Life is too vast and deep and, the title of the book may not justify all that, except, may be the commercial angle.

Utopia – Thomas More

Most probably, every literate person would have heard of the word, Utopia and its meaning. That meaning as we know now, has been derived from the book, Utopia, written by Thomas More, in 1517

The book obviously brings to mind the works of Plato. This book is probably the first one in English literature, dealing envisaging an ideal society. The style of writing and the language clearly reflect the period of its writing – about seven hundred years ago!

That said, one must appreciate the clear headed and open reasoning used in presenting the ideas. Utopia is an imaginary island wherein the society is structured in an ideal way. (As if to add authenticity, the author has given a map of the island, and a sample script of the language of the Utopians.) To present a detailed and clear picture of the Utopians, the author has selected various aspects of that society under headings like: cities, magistrates, occupations, social relations, travel, slaves, military matters, religions (note the plural usage), etc and presented relevant details. On the whole he has succeeded in depicting a clear picture of the Utopian society.

One sour note in the above ‘ideal’ society is the existence of slave labour! On the whole, the book reminds you of a communistic way of life, without the suffocating restrictions.

A couple of titbits. Gold and precious jewelry are absolutely worthless there, and held in contempt. They have no commercial value within Utopia! Same holds true of elaborate and showy dress. There is no such thing as individual property – everything belongs to everybody. One can follow any religious belief one likes. Reading is encouraged, but no gambling! And so on, there are some original ideas.

Whether such ideals are practicable in today’s world, is quite a different matter. Not only today, but any day, any period of time. Given the nature of human mind, ideals can only remain as ideals. That is to say, at any time, all the humans in toto cannot live ideal lives; among them, a striving few can.

The Aleph and Other Short Stories – by, Jorge Luis Borges

The author is a famous writer and has got many awards to his credit. So, I dare not write a ‘literary’ review. Yet, after reading the book, I cannot keep quiet. I will jot down my impressions and call it quits.

There were no blogs or Internet in the days that this book was written. The short stories (many are less than half a page) of this book fit the description of blogs better. Some, in fact, are not stories at all, but musings.

One thing remarkable about the author is that the author is highly imaginative; irrationally so at tmes. Past, present, future, reality, the unreal, philosophy, mysticism, existing, non-existing, everything is jumbled up. Again and again, you can see that certain themes are repeated. The author seems to be obsessed by labyrinths. Every alternate story (not literally) has a labyrinth. Frankly, after a while one really gets bored. Thankfully, it is not a thick book.

May be, literature geeks, professors in universities and such, may like the book (writing).