I have never been a voracious reader but yes I am not bad either.I can read anything but self help books. They mention very obvious.If you have not lost your commonsense , you would anyways know those things and will stick to them.In case you have lost common sense ,then no matter how many self help books you read ...you will always be a forlorn figure. I have seldom voiced my opinion as it can be taken as sacrilege.After all people are very sensitive to these books ;-)
Though I do not shy away from novels but what catches my attention the most is anthology of short stories.These are the stories which take you into different cultures and give you different perspective in few pages. Every story offers a distinctive view.I have huge respect for authors who do the daunting task of etching characters in few words and still able to stimulate your thoughts.Many of these stories have made their place in our school books and reading them all over again takes me back into time.
I have read quite a few pieces but stories which have caught my fancy are the ones by Saki(H H Munro).His stories always have surprises at the end and are very well woven.If one speaks of dark humour then Roald Dahl takes the cake.Being from hills , I have special love for Ruskin Bond's work especially his ghost stories based in colonial architecture. Alice Perrin ,Rudyard Kipling are the must haves for lovers of colonial era literature.
Few stories just remain etched in my memory because of their queer endings.Biscobra by Alice Perrin is one of them.It has a macabre ending and not quite enjoyable.It leaves lot to reader's imagination.Reader is bound to get nightmares after reading this but nevertheless the way it has been written and built up is commendable.
Similarly there is a story by Roald Dahl which tells about the super anxious lady who locks her husband in the house before going on vacation. Then there is "Parson's pleasure" by the same author where the super smart antique dealer becomes victim of his own smartness.Saki's "The phantom Luncheon" tells you the story of three sisters who have habit of piggybacking on others and finally gets to pay for that.The "Upper Berth" is the story about the haunted room of ship.And the list goes on....
For beginners who want to get into the corners of this dark alley...Roald Dahl is the good starting point.....Do share your thoughts once you get there.
I have read quite a few pieces but stories which have caught my fancy are the ones by Saki(H H Munro).His stories always have surprises at the end and are very well woven.If one speaks of dark humour then Roald Dahl takes the cake.Being from hills , I have special love for Ruskin Bond's work especially his ghost stories based in colonial architecture. Alice Perrin ,Rudyard Kipling are the must haves for lovers of colonial era literature.
Few stories just remain etched in my memory because of their queer endings.Biscobra by Alice Perrin is one of them.It has a macabre ending and not quite enjoyable.It leaves lot to reader's imagination.Reader is bound to get nightmares after reading this but nevertheless the way it has been written and built up is commendable.
Similarly there is a story by Roald Dahl which tells about the super anxious lady who locks her husband in the house before going on vacation. Then there is "Parson's pleasure" by the same author where the super smart antique dealer becomes victim of his own smartness.Saki's "The phantom Luncheon" tells you the story of three sisters who have habit of piggybacking on others and finally gets to pay for that.The "Upper Berth" is the story about the haunted room of ship.And the list goes on....
For beginners who want to get into the corners of this dark alley...Roald Dahl is the good starting point.....Do share your thoughts once you get there.
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