Reading 'Anil's Ghost' by Michael Ondaatje
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Reading 'Anil's Ghost' by Michael Ondaatje
Quote:
Originally Posted by shambhavi
coincidently,i have been reading this book too. it was really refreshing.esp. the river analogy.but must say i am still trying to get around the essence of the book tho it's so full of insights.any opinions?
regards,
rain
i think he is kinda trying to say knowledge is everywhere only if we choose to look and listen, i thhink everything in this universe can teach us only if we stop a moment and listen, this is wat i gathered wat say?
Experience is the best teacher? As one of the key lessons...I think it was the redemption that he felt after experiencing and realising the limits of very other comfort/desire/pleasure before his relization of faith is crucial...good points Shambhavi :D
Anil's Ghost is a good read...not fully satisfying as I would have liked it to be and of course Ondaatje's fragmentism isn't any less....of all his books i've managed only to read a few...I liked his "coming through slaughter" the best...pure skills...do try and read it when you can
thanks, guys! for the pointers. yes,it's true.i mean wat else is wisdom in man but knowledge and experience.but was actually intrigued how not just learning but unlearning too which contributes to this wisdom.it is really endearing------siddharta's trial and redemption again and again.
are his other works as good?some Hesse facts from the book-----he won his nobel prize for Magister Ludi but Siddhartha is his "most influential work".(he was very taken in by the East).Narziss and Goldmund is supposed to be "his greatest novel".Steppenwolf is another interesting work as an"account of man torn between animal instinct and bourgeois respectability"
will be a couple of chapters more to the end of this book.hope to catch up during the weekend :)
regards,
rain
I reread Pankaj Mishra's "Edmund Wilson in Benares". I think that this story will resonate for anybody from small places who left for for big cities or abroad. The story appeared in 'The New york Review of Books' and was reproduced in one of the Picador books on Indian literaure.
swarup
Am reading John Connolly's books. Good mix of everthing, and the writer is not 'casual' about his fiction-he researches well into his subjects and then with a good dollop of imagination sends you on an exciting roller coaster ride!
Shoba
Anyone has read Tash Aw's Harmony Silk Factory?
It is a very depressing novel written by Tash Aw.
The writing itself is not extraordinarily splendid, but the way it unravels deserves the Booker nomination.
"The theme of surface appearance belied by deeper reality is so relentlessly explored that it becomes schematic (...) (T)he crisp promise of the initial narrating voice has not quite been fulfilled. Nevertheless, this book begins with such brio that Tash Aw’s second outing will be eagerly awaited." - Maggie Gee, Sunday Times
Read this only if you have read the book
Review By A Blogger-Same As Above
Hi! Would appreciate comments on the "Known World" - a book highly recommended by Oprah on her show recently.
Haven't had time to browse any leading book-stores yet. So, I would love a synopsis of this book, if anyone had read yet.
Thanks Guys and Ratchasi for starting a thoughtful thread!! :D
Welcome back, Niro!
Welcome back Niro!
And A.R.....congrats for still keeping this thread alive...!!
My latest are not new books, rather old ones which i've never come across before! 2 by Jeffrey Archer, "Sons of Fortune" and "Honor among thieves". I enjoyed reading both!
I'm currently reading Family Album by Margaret Scott, a good one about tracing the family tree..i've always wanted to do that..you never know.....i might find we're really related, A.R :lol: :lol: remember HHW?? :wink:
Hi NM Good to see you! :D Unfortunately I've been unable to read anything extra-curricular :( my list of "must reads" is just growing and growing...
queri...good to see you too! you see i've been staying at home ever since coming to melbourne ..so have been going to the library and read......mostly about shares, health and cooking. Satretd working a month ago and decided to read while on the train..hence the three of my latest reads.....can't remember the other one i read.
Sometimes, I just like to read some of the books i've enjoyed before (read My sweet audrina by VC Andrews again!) and Thornbirds, too! :D
Hello NM. It is all in your blessings!! :D
Btw, keep me updated, the laughing walrus might be right afterall, some way or the other! :wink: :D :D
Hi!
When I was in College, I had this habit of carrying a small notebook with me wherever I went. I would carefully sharpen a Nataraj Pencil with a shaving blade broken in half, and stick it down the spine. In this book I would record my thoughts -books that beckoned my imagination; experiences that evoked meaning; impressions of food, friends, sunsets, indelible instances of exquisite fancy and the odd girl that desperately made me want to make a fool of myself if only for the sake of being noticed...even for one brief shining moment.
I just finished reading through a notebook from Junior Intermediate when I was a bit naive to the ways of the world and though not entirely virtuous, was without a vice. Sad to say, I have noticed that though I have accomplished a little more than I had expected of myself, I have become more cynical, more un-trusting, easier to irritate and harder to please, quick to criticize, slow to apologize, too pre-occupied with problems -those that I create for myself, allow others to manufacture on my behalf or devise for others- to figure out the shape of a cloud, soak in the rain, savor the earth after a sudden downpour, or sink my toes in the sand by the sea...
I would love to read more...hopefully recover the youthful exuberance, the near naive sanguinity and above all the reckless abandon with which I had dreamt of the future. I am determined to find the dreamer who had the courage to defy the world and design his destiny.
:DSenor - With all that poetic ammo, I'm surprised that you haven't started writing your sanguine observations for publications yet!! Or have you???
Rather than tightly curled up between those bound pages of teenage angst - pardon me!! - would love to at least hear if you had made an effort for the rest of the world to take a peek into that trusty journal of yours!!
I'm reminded of course of Adrian Mole - (hope I got that name right, A R!)!!
Hi Nirosha:
A compliment speaks volumes about the person who had offered the kind word of encouragement more than it does of the person to whom it had been generously offered. Thank you. Tightly curled up I entirely am not, though shelled, deveined and cooked shrimp I most certainly resemble at times. As for inviting the world for a polite peek into my 'trusty journal' I do not dare.
I've been reading some of the thoughts offered along this string and have to confess that sharing anything more than the occasional stray musing would make me look the mad mendicant in gossamer rags gone knocking on a majestic masquerade with but a forged invitation and a frostbitten right foot.
But for now, I would love to find out more about Adrian Mole.
Whoa!!!! :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:Quote:
Originally Posted by SenorJalapeno
Hi Obelix!
Still mad at Getafix the Druid for not offering you a sip of the magic potion? Lol. I love those comics. Still read them. Favorite one is Mansion of the Gods. That bard could really erm sing. Thanks for making me laugh.
SenorJalepeno, you may find many kindred souls around you. The creeping in of the cynicism is only temporary. Your basic idealism will surface above against all odds & will keep alive green realms of sweet fantasy & offer immense solace!
i read ... THE BROKER by john grisham and Awaken the gaint by anthony robbins
i am starting Chill Factor today
John Grisham ..... a gifted writer .... He takes you into the life of a bar at law .... his Rainmaker, The Client, The Partner were some of his works that i ve read .....
hows this The Broker ?
Today I read Shiv Khera’s “You can win”. Wow! What a moral booster! A must-read for everybody! Recalls what Bacon said:
“SOME BOOKS ARE TO BE CHEWED,SOME ARE TO BE SWALLOWED AND SOME ARE TO BE DIGESTED”
An excellent mantra for all: Winners don't do different things. They do things differently.
I started reading 'Walking With God On The Road You Never Wanted To Travel' by Mark Atteberry today. For those of you who have a powerful aversion to reading books with strong religious themes, you may want to stay away. Personally, this book has helped me recover a few rampant strands in the '...woof and the warp of the tapestry...'(Gabriel Garcia Marquez, The Autumn of the Patriarch) of my life. I lost a brother when I was eight and had some serious issues with God and the world. I wish I had found this book then.
Well ...u will be surprised to know ....he himself told in a conference that his ideas are all waht he has learnt from other people's books ...Quote:
Originally Posted by pavalamani pragasam
i attended his seminar .... yea yea ....he was really good ...
but the guy is making good money out of his books and seminars ....
he concentrates on corporate customers ..
there is another personality developer from singapore called Pon Elangu ...... he is really enthusiastic .... he is truely wonderful
and genuine ... he listened to all the teens ..and young adults and talked to us ....just like we do :wink: ...
His seminar was called the "Inner Mind "
Coming back to BOOKS ..
some of my related recommendations are dale carnegie 's " How to win friends and Influence people " and his "stop worryign and start living "
and also Antony robbins " Awaken the giant within ".
Shiv khera doesnt give much that BOOST ......
It is better than all of his earlier stuff ..Quote:
Originally Posted by bingleguy
i like the client. ...though it not as popular as pelican breif or the firm
i like the way they concentrate on the kid .....
and the way the neophyte lady lawyer smartly out does the FBI guys ..
THE BROKER is got a different style ....
there isn't too much law ...
and it is different fro mthe usual GRISHAMS..i liked it really
but some aspects of it are hard to believe ..if u read it .... u ll see when he talks about neal backman .... the son of joel backman (who is the BROKER )... he talks abt him as an obedient son cares for his father and who's wife is truely devoted .....
the description is weird coz ... i always get the picture americans dunt really care ....and to hear about a devoted wife and an obedient son ....is hard to believe ..especially being the son of the BROKER ...who makes millions in the day and chases skirts at night , ...it is nice to see ...his son (from one of his wifes ...) turns out so well and he is nice to his father ....(even though his father barely cares for him ...and ruins his career ...)
Has anyonr read NINA'S JOURNEY by Nina Makovna published by REgenery Gateway?
This is a memoir which deals with parting of Nina from her father during the Russian War.
Has anyone read the trilogy of Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman. Its really gud. Its about racism only she's changed it a bit. Its the blacks who r rich and powerful while the whites r suffering under there rule. Ive read the 1st 2 books in the trilogy. I just cant find the 3rd one. :(
Speaking about racism, I just finished
"Cry, The Beloved Country." - By Alan Paton.
A Very Good Book! Supposedly also a movie now.
It's about a black guy called Kumalo who goes to Johannesburg in search of his son. The book shows the state of the Blacks in South Africa, and the rate of Crime, in Johanesburg, and the Racial Sentiments of the blacks, Afrikanners (White - Dutch), and the White Britishers through different expierences Kumalo has while looking for his son. Very Deep! :(
Has anyone read The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason?
read about 4-5 months ago, the only thing i liked in that was the ending and his black friend (i dont remember his name).Quote:
Originally Posted by a.ratchasi
i read a book called "rebecca" it was even made into a film, and my librarian highly recommended!
have any one read "shadow of the winds"?
Ive read lesson before dying. Good story.. but didnt finish reading end.
Hmm...thanks. I better hold on to the purchase then!Quote:
Originally Posted by crazy
I just finished reading "The Death of Vishnu" by Manil Suri.Really enjoyed reading it,though I cant say I loved the book.The book was too disturbing and weird but I couldnt put the book down.I was hooked from page 1.Its very well written.Give it a try if you happen to see it somewhere :).
the child called it :cry: :cry: such a sad...but horrible in the sense...that there are horrible people....the book is good...very gd....but v horrible...the stuff tht happen in the book are vbery horrible :cry:
reading a travel book by tim cahill, very funny and quite a bit of fun
iam reading a book called
the historian by elizabeth kostova!
I just finished reading The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. A very short book with so much insight into life. It influenced me to the point that I started wondering who my five people would be... :lol:
i read this for 2-3 years ago, isnt about a worker in an amusing park........not sure, get killed in an accident or something and goes to heaven and meet his father, mother, the girl he saved, his wife .................isnt?Quote:
Originally Posted by Sadhana
its just a great book, i loved it!