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A JEWEL OF A CAPER

This is one of my favorite Wodehouses which does not star Emsworth. It's not as well-known as his other works, but a laugh riot nevertheless.

Packy Franklin, an American millionaire and sportsman, is engaged to Lady Beatrice Bracken. A chance meeting with the famous Dry legislator Senator Ambrose Opal causes all hell to break loose when a letter written by Senator Opal to his bootlegger, falls into the hands of Mrs Wellington Gedge, who uses it to blackmail him to appoint her husband Ambassador. Packy helps Senator Opal's daughter Jane to sweeten her father by posing as her fiancee and visiting the Gedges' home, Chateau Blissac, to recover the letter.

Hot Water is one of the lesser known Wodehouse novels, but there is nothing less in terms of the writing. As usual, it's a comedy of errors, with Packy in the thick of some laugh-out-loud impersonations. He is a younger version of Galahad, "spreading sweetness and light" wherever he goes. Also starring in this novel are a pair of safe crackers, "Soup" Slattery and "Oily" Carlisle, who have their eyes on Mrs. Gedge's jewels, and who join the motley crue at Chateau Blissac. Add to that a perpetually drunk Vicomte, and a timid, America-loving Mr Gedge, and you have all the trappings for a good show. Everybody falls in and out of totally ridiculous situations, engaging in the mischievous but good-natured antics that are typically Wodehousian. This has been one of my most frequent re-reads, a book I return to again and again.

Have you read this book? What did you think about it?

CHOCO-MAGIC

I have a zillion books in my TBR and I go and read a book I’ve read so many times. Why? Because I love this book so much; it was, and still is, one of my favorite books.

Charlie Bucket is a poor boy living with his parents and four grandparents in the same town as Willy Wonka, the most famous chocolatier in the world. When Willy Wonka announces a never-before opportunity for five children to visit his Chocolate Factory and learn his secrets, Charlie’s family pool in to buy him a Wonka’s Whipple Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight for his birthday, but there is no Golden Ticket in there. But one cold winter day, Charlie finds a fifty-penny in the snow and uses it to buy a slab of chocolate, and lo and behold, it turns out to have a Golden Ticket. Thus begins Charlie’s journey into Wonka’s factory, a paradise of chocolaty delights, a trip that will bring him more than just a lifetime of chocolates.

If there is anything I can say against this book, it is that it made me HUNGRY! I mean, with all those delicious chocolates popping up at every instant, how can my mouth not water?

Mr Willy Wonka can make marshmallows that taste of violets, and rich caramels that change colour every ten seconds as you suck them, and little feathery sweets that melt away deliciously the moment you put them between your lips. He can make chewing-gum that never loses its taste, and sugar balloons that you can blow up to enormous sizes before you pop them with a pin and gobble them up. And, by a most secret method, he can make lovely blue birds' eggs with black spots on them, and when you put one of these in your mouth, it gradually gets smaller and smaller until suddenly there is nothing left except a tiny little pink sugary baby bird sitting on the tip of your tongue.

Is that all? No, you have Hot Icecreams for Cold Days, Fizzy Lifting Drinks, Cavity-Filling Caramels, Wriggle-Sweets that wriggle delightfully in your tummy, and much much more. The book is an exercise in creativity, it’s a joy to read Dahl’s imagination run amok as he creates this fantastic little world every child (and adult) will love. I read that Dahl lived close to a Cadbury factory and dreamed of creating a new chocolate that would win the appreciation of Mr. Cadbury himself. Looks like he put all that inventiveness in this book. However, I must include a statutory warning. After reading this book, you will suffer serious hunger pangs and an urge to run to the store and buy up all the chocolates on display. Read at your own risk!

But this book is not all fun and games. Dahl subtly inserts some social messages into the story. He warns parents against spoiling their children sick, against giving in to their every whim, whether it be food or television. There is an air of a favorite uncle dispensing out wisdom to little kids, the feeling of him taking you on his lap and telling you how to be a better person. In a non-preachy way, he gets his message across. The book is as much about morals as it is about chocolates; it tells you that you can triumph all odds if you retain your values. A scrumptious book, a gem in children's literature.

BILBO THE BURGLAR

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.

What can I say about this book that hasn’t been said before? Nothing, except that it’s a fantastic read, a book that will make you fall in love with fantasy all over again.

Bilbo Baggins loves his cozy little Hobbit hole, with his pipe and his cakes. But when the wizard Gandalf comes a-knocking, with thirteen dwarfs in tow, he becomes the first Baggins to have an adventure. The search for gold guarded by a dragon leads them into goblin-land, has them chased by wolves and captured by wood-elves. Amidst this all, dear Bilbo manages to snag something “preciousss”, a bit of cold metal that will change his and his descendant’s lives forever.

This book introduces you to Middle-Earth, and like other Tolkien books, gives a vivid and intricate portrayal of the land. The mountains and valleys just come alive before your eyes, as do the meals that he describes so thoroughly (I can’t tell you how hungry I felt). Bilbo is the reluctant hero, the hobbit who would like nothing better than his little home with his second breakfasts, but is instead thrust into adventure with a bunch of other un-hero-like dwarfs. And he steals the show (with a little help from the Ring), sneaking in and out of trouble and saving his friends an awful lot of times. I especially loved his riddle game with Gollum, it was smart and witty. The poems spread throughout the book are delightful, sometimes funny and sometimes somber. My favorite are these two: the first a comical one when the dwarves dine with Bilbo, and the second a lovely wistful song for the road.

Here's this

Chip the glasses and crack the plates!
Blunt the knives and bend the forks!
Thats what Bilbo Baggins hates-
Smash the bottles and burn the corks!

Cut the cloth and tread on the fat!
Pour the milk on the pantry floor!
Leave the bones on the bedroom mat!
Splash the wine on every door!

Dump the crocks in a boiling bowl;
Pound them with a thumping pole;
And when you’ve finished, if any are whole,
Send them down the hall to roll!

That’s what Bilbo Baggins hates!
So, carefully! Carefully with the plates!

And this

Roads go ever ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shone,
By streams that never find the sea;
Over snow by winter sown,
And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass and over stone,
And under mountains in the moon.

Roads go ever ever on
Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green
And trees and hills they long have knows.

To people who haven’t read any of Tolkien’s books, I recommend you start with this one before going on to the LOTR trilogy; to those who have, read it again. It’s warm, funny, and light-hearted and worth many rereads.

GRIM SHADOWS

I fell in love with this book the moment I turned the last page. It is my favorite of the entire series, and in my top 5 fantasy books as well.

Harry returns for his third year at Hogwarts, in the shadow of an escaped mass murderer and the scary Dementors. Sirius Black, Voldemort's right-hand man, has escaped the supposedly inescapable fortress of Azkaban and is baying for Harry's blood. But life at Hogwarts goes on, despite everything. Disappointment on the Quidditch field, the best Defence against Dark Arts classes he's had yet, a couple of new subjects, Harry's hands are full. But then he learns an earth-shattering secret, a secret that will change his life forever.

I have lost count of the number of times I have read The Prisoner of Azkaban. The series takes a darker turn with this book, with Harry and his friends maturing and learning that good always doesn't win. This book doesn't have a happy ending like the two previous ones, setting the tone for the ones to come. The Dementors are probably Rowling's most inspired creation in the entire series. The idea of a faceless fiend who can suck all joy out of you with its mere presence is chilling. Of course, there is some fun, but the darkness and edginess play a more prominent role. You are on the edge of your seat most of the time, and the twist ending makes it all the more memorable.

I think this book sort of sets the foundation for the entire series. It is from this book that events accelerate, the Dark forces get a boost. Voldemort does not make an appearance in this book, but that somehow adds to the danger. Also, the relationships between James, Lily, Sirius, Lupin and Snape are established, relationships that are crucial to the plot of this and later stories. A fantastic story, it's probably the most thumbed book on my bookshelf.

Which is your favorite Potter book? What do you like about it?

SANDS OF TIME

This is one of my favorite Bengali books, one I read after I had just learnt to read Bengali. It has a special place on my bookshelf- a book I read again and again.

Pradosh Mitter a.k.a. Feluda is a private investigator hired by Mr. Dhar to protect his son, Mukul. Mukul is a young boy who has visions of his past life, and Dr. Hajra, an eminent parapsychologist deciphers the place of his dreams to be Rajasthan, and takes him there, hoping to shed light on such matters. Feluda, along with his cousin Topshe, travel to Rajasthan, and thus begins a adventure in the golden sands.

This is a really enjoyable detective story, simple in its plot yet elegant in its construction. There is a wealth of information and I learned a lot about Rajasthan. The writing is humorous, though many jokes are best rendered in Bengali, and I am not very sure how they can be translated without losing the essence of the joke. Ray's Feluda books are a must-read for lovers of detective fiction and if you can get your hands on a copy, please do read them. A movie has also been made on this book by Ray himself, and captures its essence well on celluloid.

ALL ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS

My dad got me this book when I was in seventh grade, a time I was knee-deep in Frederick Forsyth and Jack Higgins and the like. I saw the title Animal Farm, and was like, Dad, seriously, I'm way out of my kiddo reading phase! He was like, it's 150 pages, just read it and we'll talk about it later. I reluctantly did, and am I not glad I did!

Inspired by the boar Old Major's words, the animals of Manor Farm drive out the alcoholic Mr. Jones and rename their farm Animal Farm. The Pigs, with Napoleon and Snowball in charge, speak of setting up an environment where all animals are equal, and the other animals, notably the horses Boxer and Clover loyally do as they say. But slowly Paradise turns ugly, when Napoleon drives Snowball out on charges of spying for the humans, the dogs come in and life becomes harder for everyone except the pigs.

Animal Farm is a searing look at Stalinist Russia. Orwell wrote this novel at a time when the world was courting USSR, and had great difficulty publishing his anti-Soviet satire. After I was told that this novel symbolised the events in the Stalin era, I could identify a few of the characters: Napoleon was Stalin, Snowball was Trotsky, Boxer was the common man. This book marked the beginning of my interest in world politics and actually got me started on Russian literature (though this novel was written by an Englishman). Animal Farm has all the hallmarks of a classic: simple writing, thought-provoking storyline inspiring a gamut of emotions, and a cast of characters that stays with you a long time after you've turned the last page. A lump forms in my throat every time I read about Boxer's death, Napoleon's actions will cause even the mildest of people to fume with rage. They say that good things often come in small packages, and this slim book is among the best you can get.

A MENAGERIE WITH A FAMILY

Durrell first came into my life as the author of a short story "My Donkey Sally", in our seventh-grade English textbook. That summer, when I went to Kolkata, I found this book lying in a corner of my cousin's bookshelf. I brought it with me when I returned, and since then, this book has been an important part of my life. Most of my train journeys have been with Durrell as company, and when I'm down, Durrell's brother, Larry, never fails to cheer me up.

My Family and Other Animals is a saga of ten-year old (I think) Gerry Durrell's stay in Corfu, with his eclectic family, which includes a gun-mad Leslie and a beauty-conscious Margo. His good friend, Dr. Theo Stephanides guides the nature-loving Durrell in his soujourn through the Greek island, and their fiercely protective, lovable Greek driver Spiro completes the extended family. Durrell studies and brings back many animals to his house: the Magenpies, Quasimodo the pigeon and Ullysses the owl to give company to his dog, Roger, and each pet has a story of its own.

The book provided me hours of pure, unadulterated fun. The conversations of the Durrell family are hilarious, the situations they fall in and out of are laugh-out-loud ones. Some of my favorite situations are when Gerry brings home a family of scorpions, Margo's reaction when her crush (who happens to be Jerry's tutor) is let go unceremoniously, and the final party the family throws. Larry is my favorite character; his reactions to Gerry's pets are hugely entertaining. The book is peppered with eccentric characters, notably Larry's literary friends. Durrell has an endearing style of writing, with an eye for detail and an impeccable comic timing. The book gives the feel of a quaint town by the coast, where life proceeds languidly, and daily occurrences acquire a certain charm. It is this feel which brings me back to this book time and again, which has made it an integral part of my bookshelf.

BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU

I first read 1984 in Class 9, and I admit, I was not exactly at my perceptive best. I missed many of the allusions, didn't really get the bleak ending. But in the aftermath of 9/11, with the U.S. government using its sweeping powers and world sympathy to "protect the country from the evil forces of terrorism", I identified a watered-down version of the novel. Since then, I have read bits and pieces of this book over the years, but it was only a few days back that I actually sat down and read it from cover to cover, and decided that it would make a perfect post for my blog's one-month anniversary. Many of the elements of this novel, written in 1949, are visible around us today, though not to the extent portrayed in the book ( and I hope it'll never reach that state). This novel presents a searing description of a revolution gone wrong, a totalitarian regime which permeates every living moment of the citizens.

Winston Smith is an insignificant Party member working in the Ministry of Truth, erasing and editing records to fit the Party's version of events. The year is 1984 (or so he thinks), and the Party's control rests on three main pillars: Newspeak (reducing human vocabulary so that people can't think rebellious thoughts); thoughtcrime and doublethink (accepting two mutually contradictory beliefs). There are four departments: Ministry of Truth which concerns itself with news and entertainment, Ministry of Peace concerned with war, Ministry of Love which maintains law and order, and Ministry of Plenty responsible for economic affairs. Winston secretly rebels against the Party's doctrine, and finds a soulmate in Julia, another Party worker. In a world where romance is an offence, their love is destined to be shortlived.

1984 has many thematic similarities to Animal Farm, namely a failed revolution, individuality crushed under collective power, and mind control. Though based on Stalin's rule, many concepts are similar to what we see after 9/11 and have come to accept today: censorship, intrusive surveillance and government encroachment on individual rights. The Party slogans are chillingly familiar: War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery and Ignorance is Strength; slogans which are the cornerstone of many dictatorships. If you haven't read this book, go buy a copy. You'll find something new in every reading.