Carpe diem anyone?

I recently watched Dead poet's society, a movie starring Robin Williams. Its about the profound influence that some teachers have in our life. Robin William's played the wonderful Mr. Keating in this movie, who teaches English (poem) and life lessons at the same time. In one scene, he would mention carpe diem (originated from a latin poem by Horace), which means seize the day.

Carpe diem (seize the day), try saying it, feel it.

The most simplest of all life's rule, lesson, is this. Seize The Day. Make use of your day. Make it your own. Do what you do everyday for yourself, not for your mum, dad, teacher, boss, nosy neighbour, friend and etc. When you feel demotivated during the day, down, uninspired, lazy, moody, just say carpe diem. You are not going to live forever. Seize the day, make it your own and mark your place in this world.

Im back

Its been a while since I posted anything but it doesn't mean i haven't read any books either. I've read a couple of books. Among them, would be, A case of exploding mangoes by Mohammed Hanif, Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie, The Kite Runner and A thousand splendid suns by Khaled Hosseini.

A case of exploding mangoes (Mohammed Hanif)

Its a satirical story of how an army plane carrying Pakistan's general goes down back in the 80's. The author gives various speculations on the reasons for the plane to crash and as the title goes, even exploding mangoes might have a part to play in that historical event. Its a debut novel by the author, and I'm glad that i bought the book as the writing style is pleasant, funny and enjoyable. Those who love fiction and have a sense of humor, you must get this book. Not to be missed.

Midnight's children (Salman Rushdie)

I was eager to read this Booker Prize winner as its about children born at the stroke of midnight , when India gained its freedom. However, i did not like the book so much, contrary to many reviews on the net, which lavishly praised the book. The story revolves around 500 children born on midnight of India's independence and they were bestowed with special gifts like travelling back in time, ability to eat metal, performing magic, change one's sex and so on. However only two children were born at the stroke of midnight and they are, Saleem and Shiva and by bad luck both will be switched to different parents. Saleem who was born to a street performer would be given to a businessman and shiva the rightful son of the businessman will be given to the wife of the street performer. Saleem has the power to connect telepathically to all the midnight's children and shiva has the destructive power of knee (yup knee) since he has very large knees. Saleem will be narrating the story starting from his grandfather Adam Aziz journey from Kashmir to Delhi. The family will go through various troubling times and i gave up towards the end as the calamities seems to go on and on. I realized its not a book to be read in a single setting, like chutney one should devour it little by little to not be consumed by dark despair of the story. Its not a happy, fun read but i persevered with the thought that a Booker prize winner deserves the effort we put to read it. Its a massive volume, about 600pages and i hope to finish it soon.

The kite runner (Khaled Hosseini)

This is an amazing story by a wonderful storyteller. Its not too heavy and poetic but the language is beautiful, to the point and touches the heart. I would highly recommend this book to both, book lovers and non-book lovers. One should read a multicultural fiction to really understand a culture, country and its people. The book might not give the whole point of view but you get a bird's eye view of the culture and its people without dragging the reader down with excessive information. This story is about 2 boys who live in pre-war Afghanistan before the country was invaded by various people. Amir and Hassan are best of friends and are master and servant in social standing, Amir being the son of famous businessman in Kabul and Hassan their servant Hazara boy. I absolutely loved the story, loving Hassan's part the most as he seemed to be such a charming boy, wise beyond his age. Amir meanwhile is not so perfect and he carried the guilt of not protecting Hassan when the time required it. Thus he always seems to be weighed down by the thought of his failure and he could not tolerate the thought that his father would treat a servant boy as equal. Time would give Amir another chance to redeem himself and make him worthy of Hassan's unwavering friendship and loyalty. The books brings you from pre-war Afghanistan, to Russian invasion, The USA, Afghanistan under the rule of Taliban and finally ending in The USA again.