Book Review- The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars

By John Green

pp 317, Dutton Books

There are some books that leave an eternal impression on the pages of your mind. There are some that you can read time and again. But won’t you agree if I say that there are books which are highly appreciated but somewhere in your mind, you realize that they are good, but not like those creating an everlasting impact on your mind, in your life and sometimes, on your thinking.

‘The Fault in Our Stars’ in one of those books for me. I won’t call it badly written, lacking emotions, or meagerness of realism but it is just a good book for me that I can read and maybe forget forever. Let me clarify I am not criticizing it.

So, ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ is a book that talks about cancer patients, who are very well cognizant of the fact they are soon going to envisage their impending fates. It talks about two teenagers- Hazel Grace Lancaster and Augustus Waters- who happen to be cancer patients and the protagonists of the book. What next? They meet, fall in love, and spend lovely time together. They embark on a journey to a foreign land and realize some bitter truths of life- at such young age. Finally, Hazel realizes that Augustus is the one who is going to face the fate first, which eventually happens. At last, she finds a letter which was written by Augustus before his demise. All that she understands is that Augustus came like a breeze and changed her notion of life. She realizes that one becomes happy or sad with the choices one makes in life, something Augustus made her realize. The book reaches its climax with Hazel realizing that she is happy with her choice in life.

This, my friends, is ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ for you all.

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This sixth book by John Green is entertaining, funny, realistic, and makes you like it, if not love. It talks about human emotions along with the vulnerabilities it brings. It clearly and closely depicts the agony of not only cancer patients but their parents and friends, and what they go through every day, every moment. Many of you may love it, cry with it, and read it again and again.

For me, it is a good book, just a good one as I said earlier. But I won’t hesitate to say that it is not one of the best books (romantic or tragic one to be precise) that I have read in life, to date. It doesn’t make you (or me, I should say) as wishful to make a person survive to live with the love of life, as Erich Segal’s ‘Love Story’ makes. It doesn’t make one as determined in love as ‘Wuthering Heights’ does. It doesn’t make a great, hugely powerful impact that ‘The Sun Also Rises’ makes.

But still I would not call it bad. It is a good book and readable. Even if you are not a bookoholic, it is one book that you can read to experience one good, sweet, romantic love story.

Hey friends, I have written my debut novel, “The Monsoon Marigolds”! read it and show me some love! 🙂 It will be very special for me!

Book Review- The Grapes of Wrath

The Grapes of Wrath

By John Steinbeck

pp 464

There are books that make you laugh, cry, romantic, some makes you end up being an erudite, but then there are books that propel you- make you angry, sympathetic and compassionate and predominantly make you contemplate what the world is all about, how it works and how it has been working since ages.
This, John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize winner, The Grapes of Wrath, belongs to the second category.

Focused on the family of Joads, tenant farmers in Oklahoma and having a backdrop of “the great depression”, it’s the story of the family driven from their homeland and set out for California. The expedition makes them come across many “Okies” of their genus, withstanding same situation, sometimes worse.
Their hope to get work in California keeps them traveling regardless of ups and downs such as demise of Grampa and Granma, separation from Noah Joad-eldest son of family, Tom-the protagonist,  Connie-son in law of Joad family &c.
At last they reach California- where their hope lied- to work, to earn livelihood, to have their home, food and an easy life away from agricultural crisis, economic hardships, bank foreclosures and of course “Dust Bowl”. But what they realise at the end is the devastated hope and shattered dream they had seen before setting out.

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The Grapes of Wrath is a realist novel which carves out the helplessness, fears and apprehensions of the tenants at the time of the great depression in the 1930’s. It talks about human emotions in the most realistic and lively way without losing the creativity and beauty of the writing.
The on going changes in the behaviour of the people with changing circumstances of life, vulnerability of humans with the determination to live without succumbing to the situation has been depicted in this timeless classic in such a way that it never becomes obsolete in context to human nature.
The struggle to live, to earn bread and to see the family together and happy is the soul of this book.
But the economy of a country and its affects on the working class is something that can’t be neglected while talking about this book. Load of economic disturbances on the farmers and their unpredictable future is not only the part of this book but is a problem rampant worldwide since ages.

Book like The Grapes of Wrath offers not just a thought provoking writing piece but also brings to the notice the economic hardships of different classes and in particular the farmers especially when a situation like economic disturbance breaks out.

John Steinbeck definitely touches the nerves of the readers and tells exactly what might happen to the working class and how upheavals come in their lives suddenly.
This book is definitely one of those books you must read before you die. If you wish to read about a perfect portrayal of human apprehensions and will to survive, you must read this classic and have one of the best and most unforgettable reading experiences.

Hey friends, I have written my debut novel, “The Monsoon Marigolds”! read it and show me some love! 🙂 It will be very special for me!