book review on A Thousand Splendid Suns by Swati Singhania

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

The story is set against the backdrop of Afghanistan during the emergence of Taliban. It was a rough time for the women in Afghanistan, whose pleadings and problems were considered to be of no importance at all. It is one of the most poignant stories, about how even in those darkest hours of the two women, Mariam and Laila, hope was replenished giving them strength to continue and endure. The story is so simply written and finely woven that it grips the reader till the last word of it.

Mariam was an illegitimate child and was forced to marry into Kabul. She was troubled right from childhood till she finally met with her tragic end. Laila who lost all her loved ones at a very tender age, had to take a decision at that time which changed her entire course of life. Mariam and Laila crossed each other’s path at a time when Mariam was losing grit on her life. Laila who was one of her reasons of pain, suddenly became her reason of hope. In spite of a big age difference, we feel both of them could empathize with each other really well. They lived for their children bravely, crossing all hurdles till they finally made it to the happy times after years of resistance.

The story is about sacrifice, tolerance, compassion, struggle, optimism, losing your loved ones for perpetuity, and about bonding. Although the two women were relentlessly spited, they became a pillar of strength for one another, and fought till the end. The author, through them portrayed that even women have a right to be happy after all. Subtly written, this novel is inspirational and is a must read as it can be so finely felt by every living soul.

Bacon's essay "of truth"- a review

"Of Truth" is an ssay by Bacon. In this essay bacon reaches out to his readers by telling us what is the significance of truth. What i have understood from this stratling essay is that we all are aware of the vitality of truth, but the application is sometimes tacky and ironic. For instance, in the case of complementing one another, if we are blatant and truthful it might hurt the person. So sometimes even if we talk too much about being truthful we cannot adhere to it all the time. Traders cannot be truthful in their business at times. So we take it for granted that not being truthful to others sometimes is excusable.
Sometimes what we humans do is inexcusable. Even without listening to the entire Truth we start giving our opinions and judgements. This sometimes, rather most of the times proves fatal. Like Bacon mentionn in his essay about justice pilate, who without even listening to the truth passed his judgement on Jesus Christ. This example is a perfect one to understand the vivacity of the word truth. We humans forget to understand the depth of the word truth. It's rightly said that one truth is better than a hundred lies put together. But still we fail to make animpression of this statement on our minds. We invariably fall into the pit of sham, pretense, lies.
It's understandable that sometimes we have to avoid being truthful, in the case of complementing one another, because here the question arises, are we hurting someone's feelings here? this can be brutal so to avoid this emotional scene we have to make the person happy by praising him fallaciously. We have to take help of lies to make people happy. This can also be for a selfish reason. It's natural for us humans to be in the good books of one and sundry, therefore we often hold on to lies to make people happy and give a better opinion of our selves.These are the true facts of life.

The Chrysanthemums- by John Steinbeck

The story is about aspirations. The story is a clash between reality and appearance. Elisa the protagonist in the story is desperate to come out of her frail and womanly appearance to live in a man's world. For instance she takes immense enthusiasm at the chance of helping in the orchard, but her husband undervalues her. The tinker also assumes that because of Elisa's appearance she would not be able to sharpen scissors or fix pots. But little did they know that she could grow apple orchards and could excel in pot-fixing.
The Chrysanthemums represents Elisa's feelings of sexuality, passion, her feminity. Chrysanthemums are unchanging, the same all year round, and it is not enough for Elisa anymore. The fence around Chrysanthemums protects Elisa from the outside world and even from her husband. It is ironic that it is open for the shabbily dressed tinker who brings in a fresh breeze of change. Elisa's hair is tied under a man's hat, and she wishes to be free; to sleep in the open air under the stars and the urge to touch the stranger. She finds a light at the end of the tunnel. But eventually she shudders at the thought of freedom and tries to scrub off these thoughts, she realizes her strength.
This story also tries to provoke a sense of frustration pent up in the author's mind, and a feeling of feminism. Both the time Elisa is rebuffed by her husband's lack of encouragement of her abilities and the tinker's misjudgment of her capabilities. She nurtures the Chrysanthemums as if it were her babies. This indicates her craving for motherhood. Chrysanthemums can also mean Elisa's creativity. The story is an exploration of pent-up creativity, of the frustrations of the writer. It is an outcry for freedom.
by swati singhania