Tuesday, June 12, 2007

The Big 3

They are always on mind and keep coming to the foreground time to time. These are the 3 fictions books I read long time back but they are so close to me that I can never let them go. I'm sure there are books lot better than these, in many aspects, but these are the ones I endear. These are the ones --

1) Prodigal Daughter (Jeffery Archer) - I was introduced to Jeff Archer way back in middle school , but it was in high school that I developed a liking or his books. With good narration and clear setting, the know how to keep the story going. This book is about a daughter of a polish immigrant who goes on to become the president. It revolves around her life, how she takes things for granted, gets hurt in course of the unexpected and learns lessons of life the hard way. Everything she learns and does, she does with passion - from running the Baron group of hotels to running for the president. Its that passion that she displays that endeared her to me.

2) Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden) - First introduced to me by S during my Bachelor's years , this book caught my attention immediately. The detail, narration and the entire setting captured my liking almost immediately. It was so good that I couldn't rest till I went ahead and bought a copy myself. I especially liked the elaborate description about kimono, nobu san and the gradual transformation from cute chiyo to the beautiful sayuri. The book brings out the subtlety of a woman's feeling , her adaptation to the life she is forced to choose, the balance of emotion she tries to get for she loves and those who love her.In all, this is one masterpiece in written word.

3) The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho) - The latest I read of the three, this book took some time to capture my attention. My husband's uncle mentioned about this book in one of our conversations and handed it to me when I went to visit him. He said it was amazing but I wasn't interested til the journey started. Santiago's journey in the desert of the middle east itself set the mood for talk about self discovery and questions about life. The importance and satisfaction one gets in pursuing his dreams, the realizations about life, the philosophical outlook of life , all of them brought home the thought that "simple things are the most valuable and only wise people appreciate them", as reinforced again and again by Coelho. I have no words to describe how I feel when I think of this books , the rush of emotions and thought in my mind make it difficult for me to express the thoughts coherently. But I can say for sure, this book will be remembered for life and its lessons reminded in every step.


P.S : Let me tag Preetam, Snehith and Navisa , who I know read and love books. Anyone else who reads this consider yourself tagged. Let us know what u love.

4 comments:

Preetam said...

hey evn i loved alchemist...simply amazing!! :) will have to consider more options now.

Unknown said...

yeah that was a gud one...think of others u loved and write 'em up

Anonymous said...

so S is me right.
three books is difficult
for me the three would be
GONE WITH THE WIND
HARRY POTTER SEIRES
AND THE PROPHET BY KHALIL GIBRAN

all three are different----they bring differnt worlds --to me. try them if u haven't already.
SRUTI

M'nMs said...

Memoirs of a Geisha definitely tops it! A similar beautiful read is Daughter of a Samurai (I think that is what it's called). It's an old book my MIL gave my husband and I read it instead! :)