Good Books to Read Review
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La Casa de Bernarda Alba by Federico Garcia Lorca Play Review
Lorca was a Spanish writer. He wrote during the early days of Franco's regime. His ideology and his sensual orientation did not match Franco's agenda. Thus, Franco disappeared this writer. No one has yet discovered whereabouts of Lorca's body.
Anyhow, Lorca is mostly known for his poems and for his tragic plays. This play starts in medias res. It is the funeral of Bernarda Alba's last husband. The play introduces the main character in a terrible light.
Basically, Bernarda Alba is a tyrannical matriarch. She has all her daughters on lock down because she wants them to marry upward.
Not only that, but she also keeps her own mother on lock down. She thinks her mother is crazy because she wants to get married again. Bernarda got to have fun in her younger years. Now in her old days she controls the bodies of her daughters.
I think this play has a lot of significance even today. Government bodies, the religious figures, society and family members are always using their children's body for their own means.
They imagine that they have the right to control their bodies just for bringing them into this desolate world. For this reason, I recommend this play to all readers.
The Eyes of my Brother, Forever by Stefan Zweig Book Review
Early in the 1900s, traveling was pretty popular. Stefan Zweig visited India during this time period. He liked the civilization but was appalled at the stratification of social classes. Only in India was the caste system grotesquely visible.
This novella is set in ancient India. Zweig spend many months in India and got to know their history pretty well. The main character is Virata. He is from the warrior caste. At the start of the book, Virata slays his brother without knowing it.
In his quest for peace of mind, he travels across all social castes. This book gives you a good idea of the society of India.
This novella is really quite dandy. Zweig has a knack for trimming down the fat of all his stories. Thus, you will get a great story in less than 40 pages.
Fear Novella by Stefan Zweig Review
This novella has a very common storyline. The story begins with a married woman departing her lover. She is really afraid of being discovered by her District Attorney husband.
While she is going down the stairs an old hag blocks her path. The old woman threatens to expose her illicit relationship to her husband. To keep her quiet, the lady gives the old hag all the money she is carrying. From then on, the Lady lives in fear of the old hag.
Today, men and woman cheat on each other all the time. Divorce is not a big deal anymore. However, divorce back in the 1920s meant loss one's children and financial stability.
Stefan Zweig gave us a good insight to the Fears of the Lady. He did not say, she was afraid of this or that. Rather, he described the sensations of one who is afraid. Fear is something we are all familiar with.
Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig Novel Review
Beware of Pity is the only work of Stefan Zweig that is long enough to be called a novel. The story is about a romance between a cavalry soldier named, Hoffmiller and an invalid rich girl name Edith.
He met this girl at a party. Like any soldier, it was his duty to show politeness to all. He noticed that he had not danced with the daughter of the host. This was considered to be extremely ill manner. Thus, he went to look for her. Edith was sitting on a chair in a little corner.
He went up to her and asked her to dance. When the girl trying to rise went to tears, he realized his blunder. The poor girl had not walked properly for a very long time. Instead of staying like a good soldier, his cowardice made him flee.
Hoffmiller felt pity for the girl and went to see her the next day. He feels himself pushed to a romance with the girl due to pity. This novel is about the things we do for pity's sake. It warns us to be wary about pity.
This is Stefan Zweig's masterpiece. It is one of the best novels I ever read. It made me think twice about the pity I showed others. Sometimes pity is worse, than disdain.
If you want to read a book that makes you think, feel, Beware of Pity is the book for you. Truly, a masterpiece about the trails of the human spirit. This book got turned into a movie five years after it was published. It considered one of the Turner Classic movies.
Maria Antonietta Biography by Stefan Zweig
Maria Antonietta is a misunderstood historical figure. She was simply a carefree princess thrown into a world of politics and lies. Her ignorance was not her fault. The one's who is to blame for the French Revolution is the Sun king.
He isolated himself in his Solar Palace. To make matters worse, he made enemies of all the nobles. He kept them in cells inside his Versailles. When his son took over, he could not fill the Sun King's tyrannical shoes.
This is one among the many events that Stefan Zweig sheds a little light. More importantly, the finals chapters are amassing. Maria Antonietta finally acted like a Queen in her last days when she was fighting for her head.
Mary Stuart Biography by Stefan Zweig Review
Mary Stuart is another misunderstood Queen. The case of Mary Stuart was used in order to Justify the guillotine execution of Mary Antonietta and her husband.
This biography explains many mysteries about this queen. She too was spoiled in the court of France. When her first husband died, she was forced to return to Scotland.
In those days, Scotland was a terrible place to live in. While the rest of the world was in the Renaissance, Scotland was just getting out of the Dark ages.
Scotland was not a place for a fair maiden. All this poor Queen wanted was to enjoy the finer things of her rank. However, she had to deal with politics and the warlocks of Scotland. This biography analyzes this tragic history in a new light.
Sabriel by Garth Nix Fantasy Necromancer Book Reviews 5 Stars Worthy
Today, I wanted to review one of my favorite fantasy books. This one is called Sabriel. It is the story of a cool necromancer chick.
The world she lives in is half science, half magical. Science does not work beyond the borders.
Anyhow, one day Sabriel travels to the magical half to try to save her father. There she masters her necromancer powers.
The story line is not too complicated. What I liked best was the necromancy, with the bells, the ghost cat and the runeblade.
The eight gates scene was pretty creepy. Nix painted a proper vision of the other life. Frankly, it is no wonder the dead there refuse to stay dead. The black cat was pretty odd.
It is a bummer what necromancers do with the greater undead. The only thing that I did not like about the book was its two sequels.
Laughter in the Dark by Nabokov Vladimir
I finished reading Laughter in the Dark. It is a novel written by Nabokov Vladimir. The book is kinda cynical and bit evil with its characters. Right off the bat, the beginning spoils the ending.
The book is about a guy who left his wife to chase after a chick that did not love him. In the end, he died because of the romance he had with that chick. On that note, Nabokov starts the book.
He spoils the ending at the start of the book. Very early, we know what is going to happen in the end.
Still, one is left with the expectation as to how the girl caused the main character's death. I recommend it to all who love bad romances. I think it got made into a movie.
The Golden Compass Book Review
The Golden Compass has often been described as the Harry Potter for older kids. The book was made into a movie around 2007. Based on the way it was cut, the movie will not get a second part. Frankly, the ending of the Golden Compass was pretty messed up.
Anyhow, in the world of this book people are all born with familiars. If they get too far apart from one another, they start to die or something like it.
Children’s familiars are unique since they change shape. However, once they reach puberty the familiars start settling down.
Before leaving to find her father, Lyra gets a Golden compass. She can use it to find her father and discover the truth.
Using the compass is sort of complicated. It took her half the book to figure out. Along the way, she meets gypsies, witches and a giant polar bear.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Book Review
Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus is another important work. It was a horror book written by Mary Shelley. Most people think Frankenstein is about the monster. However, the book is about the monster’s creator. In the earlier editions, the monster was called Bruno.
The second title makes reference to Frankenstein’s discovery. He found out how to create an artificial life form. His discovery was akin to Prometheus’ mastery of fire. The element of fire plays a predominant role in the story. The monster Bruno is afraid of fire.
Frankenstein also critiques humans and God as well. When humans took the role of God, they abandoned their creation. This sense of abandonment is also felt by humans as well. They live in a big wide world, at the mercy of the elements.
The book got only interesting around the middle, when the monster was finally created. The book is told in epistle format. It draws inspiration from a famous expedition to the North Pole. At the start of the book, Frankenstein is rescued from up North.
He was tracking down his monster. They were stuck in a deadly hunt. Since Frankenstein felt he was dying, he decided to share his story with someone. He wanted someone to carry on his burden. The rest of the book follows an autobiography format.
