Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

"I don't read to gain knowledge about people, places or customs; I read because reading takes me to a new high where my imagination knows no bounds and I am a free spirit without any apprehensions ."

It was on a friend's suggestion that I picked Lolita and it did make a wonderful reading - one of my best so-far. The theme of the book was definitely a revolutionary one and that's why this masterpiece had to wait a good number of years before it finally got published. But then if writers are not free to pen down their imagination without any inhibitions then who else will be.

Our protagonist Humbert, is a forty year old gentleman who loved and lost his childhood sweetheart when he was a kid. The memories of her remained so deeply engraved in his mind that he ended up having several broken affairs and marriages. His life however takes a u-turn when he meets Lolita, a 12 year old girl (actually his step-daughter) and he falls madly in love with her.The story revolves around how he tries to win Lolita, how she goes missing and how he finds her three years later and realises that his love had gone wrong somewhere.

While reading the book, I was shocked and angered to start off, understood the sentiments of the characters as the story progressed and finally felt sympathy and pity towards both Humbert and Lolita (although anger towards Humbert still persisted). What I liked the most about the book is the simplicity in which such a confound subject is presented to the reader.And not to mention the beautiful poetic style of the author which made this book un-put-downable:-).

The Importance of being Earnest

Categry : Play (Romantic comedy)
Author : Oscar Wilde

It was the first time that my entire team (well almost entire team) went out for a play together and what fun it was!!Rangashankara and Evam were showcasing a very famous play by Oscar Wilde - "The Importance of being Earnest". After having read it in high school (this time as part of the curriculum:-)) , I was more than willing and too excited to watch this play . Here is the story.....

In one line, the play is about how two gentlemen win their lady loves and how it unfolds into a comic revelation. The plot is set-up in Victorian era and seems to have come straight out from Jane Austen's novels (in Deepika's words). Jack Worthing, a countryman shuttles between country-side and the city of London for both work and pleasure.To preserve his social standing and due to societal pressures, he takes up the false name of "Earnest" when in city . However to be able to come to London oftener he pretends to have a brother named Earnest in the city .In one such trip to London he falls in love with Gwendolin. Jack has a friend called Algernon, who happens to find out the truth about Jack , goes to Jack's home pretending to be Earnest and ends up falling in love with his ward, Cecily.The tragedy however is that both Gwendolin and Cecily are in love with Earnest (or so to say just the name "Earnest" ). Further spicing up the situation is Aunt Augusta, Gwendolin's mother and Algernon's aunt, who wont allow the matrimony of Jack and Gwendolin, becuase she doesn't consider Jack to be of good socio-economic prominence.How Jack and Algernon convince their lady loves and how the situation unfolds into several comic revelations is what follows..

The play is filled with hilarious moments and witty dialogues.Although the plot is predictable, there is never a moment when you get bored or not feel connected to the characters. In fact we all were too much into the play that the first thing we wanted to do during the interval was to treat ourselves to muffins and tea cakes :-) . And ofcourse if not more, for a split second each one of us thought of going for the auditions which were going to happen the next day :-). A must watch for all theater lovers .....

Watched with my team (Adithya , Anil Ram, Deepika, Jagadish, Karthik, Nithilan, Vivek , Me) on 10thJan2009 at Rangashankara, B'lore.

The Citadel by A.J.Cronin

First published in :1937

Category : Contemporary classic.

Sub-category : Fiction

The Citadel is the story of the journey of a young doctor, on his way up from medical school to becoming a successful doctor. The author A.J.Cronin, himself coming from the same background, presents the situations and weaves the characters in such a way that they appear almost real and relevant even today.

Andrew Manson, a bright medical student, is appointed assistant to Dr. Page in the small valley town near London. Due to his idealism and perpetual strife to stand for the truth, he is not very well recieved in the professional world. The story revolves around how he gets moulded by his profession and is forced to leave behind his ideals to attain success, his moments of self realization and his ultimate triumph.

The best thing I liked about the book is the intricate detail with which each of the chracters and situations is carved and presented. Also unlike the heavy vocabulary that usually gets associated with classics this book is very easy and pleasant to read.