Lily Briscoe's Book Blog

  For two thousand years was written and published in 1934, which itself holds a significance because it is an account of a Jewish person in Romania before the second world war. The narrative starts in 1923 when the narrator is in university. We see depictions of bullying and violence against him and his fellow Jews colleagues. He begins to write a diary to cope up with these issues. The first couple of sections can be rightly referred to as an agonizing account of a young kid who is insecure and feeling alone. He prefers solitude and immerses himself in literature and abstractions without actually facing the world. He meets a mentor who revolutionizes the way he thinks and makes him feel more connected with the surroundings. The book spans over 10/12 years into the narrators life where he works as an architect. The unrest in the 1920s become a thing of the past only to be risen again 10 years later. He finds out that his co-workers who were once his friends, people with whom he sh...

  'To the lighthouse' is an extraordinary work of literature which dwells into the consciousness of the human mind. The basic plot of novel is around a family 'The Ramsay's and there friends and admirers. The Ramsay's have 8 kids and the other acquaintances are Lily Briscoe, William Banks, Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael, Charles Tansley, Minta Doyle and Paul Rayley. This crowd is vacationing in an island in Scotland one Summer. the story unfolds with the young son of the Ramsay's, James wanting to go to the lighthouse and his father telling him that the weather conditions are not suitable for that. The novel is set during a period of 11 years. The first section 'The window' is set before the World War 1 and the final section 'The Lighthouse' is set 11 years later. However the actual scenes of the novel concentrate on 2 days only. One before the way and the other after.  This is not a plot driven novel. As soon as we get into the novel we get dragged int...

This creation of Victor Hugo is a portrayal of a man who is condemned to death as it is revealed by the title itself.   I kind of approached the book with my personal opinion in mind that is in par with the statement that Victor Hugo himself had on the bloodshed of a 'death sentence'. But the excruciating simplicity by which the story unfolds leaves a rancor for a long time after reading it.   What I perceived as noteworthy was the fact that the crime of the man in question is not revealed but we sense that it is murder. But he looks down on other criminals as an outsider in the sense that he himself does not believe that he falls into that category. The first break in his mind and will is when a group of other prisoners are taken into the galleys. He had specifically wanted death sentence, to be hanged than the galleys. But we can see tha towards the nearing of that grotesque moment he wishes for a lifetime of galleys.   "I want the galleys. Five years in t...

Of Mice and Men is a book published in 1937 by the American Author John Steinbeck. One of the shortest novels I've read, 'Of Mice and Men' is a creation which has been able to integrate a lot of the social culture of the post-Civil War America with its take on the freed African Americans from slavery. This is not the center piece of the story though.   'Of Mice and Men' and portrays concisely the relationship of two individuals George and Lennie who are opposites in their temperance but however are thrown together in the hopes of achieving the so called 'American Dream'. George, the smarter of the two basks in adoration of Lennie who is portrayed as someone who isn't bright and is good at following orders but not making actual decisions. Therefore, it is George who actually does the thinking for the both of them. We first see them on their way to a new job. With the conversations between the two we learn that they had to run away from their pre...

The picture of Dorian Gray is considered to be the greatest work of Oscar Wilde and his only novel. It was first published by censoring some of the parts of the story which as deemed to be vulgar and inappropriate. I actually read the uncensored 13 chapter version but could not understand why it was recognized to be not suitable in the early 1900s .   The story revolves around the life of the charming and most handsome Dorian Gray who is invited to the studio by Basil Hallward who is a painter. Basil Hallward captures the utmost beauty of Dorian Gray in his painting so much so that he thinks that he has captured part of his affections for Dorian in the painting as well. Basil reveals this to Lord Henry who is close friend of his and from that moment Lord Henry is eager to be introduced to Dorian Gray.   The first encounter of Lord Henry with Dorian Gray is at the studio. Before their meeting it is Basil who says that "He has a simple and a beautiful nature. Don't spo...