For the unfamiliar, Anna Katherine Green is considered the ‘mother’ of mystery novel writing in the US. I stumbled upon A Strange Disappearance when an extensive collection of free ebooks was made available on Book Depository a few years ago. It’s also now free on Kindle. The plot of the mystery novel is relatively straightforward. A young maid has disappeared in odd circumstances from the house of a famous diplomat, Mr. Blake. The only who…
Culture
After having read the entire series of LOTR and Harry Potter, and never taking a liking to Terry Pratchett, I naively believed that I had read all there was to be read in fantasy fiction. In the end, there are only so many underdog heroes, dark lords, and imaginary worlds that you can take. But the beauty of fantasy fiction has always been in the power of magic and the belief that such a world…
I almost squealed with delight when I saw The Wreck of the Golden Mary the library. No, I had never heard of it, nor anyone had ever recommended it to me. But what made me happy was that Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins wrote this book. Till I read this book, I had no clue that they were colleagues or even friends!! So what is The Wreck of the Golden Mary about? This novella tells…
This post-modern look at relationships is grounded in reality. The premise is simple – boy meets girl, boy falls in love and the girl..well she does love him..but not so much. Yes, thats 21st century for you. Read More…
I first learned about the Salem Witch trials when I read Robin Cook’s ‘Acceptable Risk‘ way back in 1998. I was immediately intrigued. What would drive intelligent educated people on witch-hunts? What was that hysteria that gripped Europe in the middle ages and the US as late as the 17th century? Arthur Miller’s critically acclaimed play The Crucible dramatizes the Salem Witch Trials and gives a glimpse of what may have happened. The Plot The…
Coming of age story of a teenage Australian boy who ends up spending his last year in school living with his aunt. Read More…
Being a huge fan of 18th and 19th century British Literature, it’s always a pleasure to discover a new writer from the era. A friend of mine recommended that I read Elizabeth Gaskell. So off I went to the bookstore and picked up ‘Cranford and Other Stories’. I loved it. Gaskell’s work although entirely original is at the same time a hybrid of Jane Austin plot-lines and Charles Dickens humor. A few months ago, I…
Majid Majidi’s movies have always impressed me. I was amazed by the simple story about a pair of shoes in Children of Heaven and I loved the depiction of alienation of blind people in The Color of Paradise. I recently watched Baran that delved in the softer aspects of love amidst political turmoil. The Plot Baran depicts the conflicts arising in Iran as Afghani refugees come into the country during the Soviet Union’s war in…
