[Book Review] The Count of Monte Cristo

'The Count of Monte Cristo' is written by Alexandre Dumas. This book is written so beautifully that it left me starstruck reading it. Lowell Bair translated this book written by Alexandre Dumas in his native language of French. She translated and abridged it wonderfully.

Edmond Dantes is the protagonist of this story. This young man had everything. He had a loving father, a good job, a beautiful fiancee, a kind ship owner and a promise of marriage. On the day of his marriage, he is falsely accused of a crime and this turns his world upside-down. He loses everything except his faith in God. He waits and hopes. Finally, his faith is answered by the almighty. After being imprisoned for years, he escapes. He finds knowledge, treasure worth millions and the title of 'The Count of Monte Cristo'. With this he takes revenge on those who were jealous of his promising young life and those who betrayed him. 

The story tells us that money, position and power won't be enough to live in this world of deep catastrophe and troubled times. We need something more than that. We need love, hope, justice and above all, an infinite faith in the all-knowing God. 

This book is fast paced to grab the attention of readers. The story unfolds beautifully reminding us of the graceful manner in which Edmond took his revenge. This book is amazing and is a must read for everyone. This is a classic which one must not miss.

[Book Review] Five Point Someone

"Five Point Someone" by Chetan Bhagat is a fictional novel which is all about what one must not do it in IIT, the college known for its brilliant students. 

The book is centered on the lives of three students who become best pals for life. They soon realise that the IIT they dreamed wasn't what they found. It was just studies, studies and more studies. So they decide to enjoy their college life in a filmy way starting with drinking beer, romancing with their professor's daughter to stealing exam question papers. Throughout their college life they seem to be enjoying but life has other plans for these youngsters and they realise at the end of the year that they could have been better than 'five pointers'. 

The box office hit movie '3 Idiots' is based on this novel. This is Chetan Bhagat's first book that I read and I must say that I am impressed. His writing style is quite simple so if you are a beginner, reading novels then you must definitely grab this but if you are a bookworm, then I doubt this will entertain you. This book is nowhere near my top ten or anything but not entirely crap either. 

[Book Review] Like the flowing river

Well.. This book is an autobiography of Paulo Coelho. The various experiences in his life are printed in short paragraphs not exceeding two pages at the most. Some of them are great while others are okay. After all its his 'experiences', not everything is going to be excellent. 

I really liked 'the day at the mill', 'story of the pencil' ,'my funeral' and 'the funny thing about human beings'. These four of his experiences made me think again.

This is entirely different from 'Alchemist' mainly because 'Like the flowing river' is an autobiography which has been written by Paulo Coelho in Portuguese and translated to us by Margaret Jull Costa. This book gives author's personal reflections on everything from music to archery. This is not only an interesting catch but also a book that will help you to know more about the author's life.