|
Post by darkme on Feb 9, 2007 10:43:59 GMT -6
We have this Arabic proverb that says 'reading is the food of the soul'. reading is very fun, exciting, informative! it provokes our thoughts and gets our minds thinking! wheather you are reading a novel, a history book, a magazine, etc! everyone loves to have something in their hands to read! so I would like dedicate this thread to reading.... tell us what book are you reading? what is the general idea of the book? what do you think about it? and if you recommend us to read it! and you must not forget to mention you favourite books! this thread will be our little book club! share with us your books and tell us anything you would like! I also encourge you all to write reviews on books that you choose!
|
|
|
Post by darkme on Feb 9, 2007 10:59:20 GMT -6
I wud like to start in here, this is my review on the book 'The Portrait Of A Lady': Title: The Portrait Of a Lady Author: Henry James Publisher: Penguin Popular Classics
Taking the lead in this great novel, our heroine Isabel Archer, a younger American lady who comes to England on her aunt's request. She begins her life with great hope in life and in what life beholds. The writer Henry James shines in this novel. It is indeed one of the best books I have ever read. Isabel takes great risks and therefore must accept the consequences. She does it with total grace, life uncovers its true self to Isabel when the time was too late. She gets herself in trouble, marries the wrong man, steps over herself, and many other things that all leave her weary. You will find truly great characters and you will not fail to notice the perfection of the them. The heroine takes the lead in her life at first as an independent lady whose only concern is to gratify her curiosity, but then suddenly you find her taking a supporting role, a helpless role trying to satisfy her husband. The true misery in life may reavel itself as glimpses through Isabel's eyes. Money plays a big role in this book, for as Isabel recieves a great amount of fortune from her aunt's husband, at first it plays a great part and it helps our heroine alot, but as the story revolves she falls a victim for a greedy man whose only concern is money. She at last realizes that money is the worst enemy of man kind if not known how to deal with it best. Money ruins her life and spoils her pure soul. However the ending wasn't very detailed, a simple open ending where you let your mind wander to imagine Isabel's future. I wish the author would have wrote a more detailed ending for people like me who like to know which direction I should take in thinking of her end. He could have at least lead me to the beginning of the road that Isabel will walk on, then I might imagine how she will end. But nevertheless such an ending only adds more greatness to the book. I truly believe -after reading the book- that Isabel's life actually represents lives of women around the globe, they may not be as fortunate as Isabel was or as miserable as she was, but still I believe some one -or more- had to go through what she went through. At last I would like to quote fom the book these lines: "To whom under the sun do we owe anything? What is it that holds us-what is it that has the smallest right to interfere in such a question as this? Such a question is between ourselves- and to say that is to settle it! Were we born to rot in our misery- were we born to be afraid?"
My rating: 9/10
|
|
|
Post by AK on Feb 10, 2007 4:03:42 GMT -6
Your idea is great Noor! I'll definitely participate here!Karma for you!
|
|
|
Post by darkme on Feb 10, 2007 4:21:57 GMT -6
ah thank u! can't wait to see ur posts in here!
|
|
|
Post by Zach on Feb 10, 2007 19:11:49 GMT -6
WOW NOOR! Terrific Idea; Lots of Karmas from me ;D I stickied this thread; I think this will get allot of responce. Again, AWESOME Noor!
|
|
|
Post by AK on Feb 11, 2007 0:21:58 GMT -6
ah thank u! can't wait to see ur posts in here! Sure sure!Zach's right.This will get a lot of response!
|
|
|
Post by SoHuda on Feb 11, 2007 6:30:07 GMT -6
yes, I have to give you the credit Noor the idea is really good and we now have a place to say what we think about the books that we read
|
|
|
Post by darkme on Feb 11, 2007 10:36:41 GMT -6
why thank u all! ;D glad u liked the idea, now let us get down to it, let us start talking about books!
|
|
|
Post by Zach on Feb 11, 2007 17:06:40 GMT -6
So what is everyone's favorite book (s)?
|
|
|
Post by SoHuda on Feb 12, 2007 3:17:02 GMT -6
Pride and prejudice by Jane Austen.
|
|
|
Post by darkme on Feb 12, 2007 4:05:14 GMT -6
mine are: Harry Potter 1,2,3,4,5 by J.K.Rowling!! The Da Vince Code by Dan Brown, Persuasion by Jane Austen, The Portrait Of A Lady by Henry James!!
|
|
|
Post by Zach on Feb 12, 2007 20:33:39 GMT -6
Mine is Inkheart/Inkspell trilogy and the Theif Lord all by Cornelia Funke. I also like a Series of Unfortunate Events (1, 2, 3, 6, 13) and most of the books by Gordon Korman and Dan Gutman (some of my favorite authors since 11!). As I was telling Anu, I really enjoy reading biographies and books about the American Revolution. I'm sorta a history geek sometimes, so wohoo
|
|
|
Post by darkme on Feb 13, 2007 2:20:36 GMT -6
lol, good 4 u Zach.. ;D
|
|
|
Post by AK on Feb 13, 2007 6:30:02 GMT -6
Well, I like most of the books I've read and there's no particular favorite.Recently, I read "Ignited Minds" written by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the President of India.I was really inspired by it!
I'll describe the book later.I'm really into classics & biographies.And I'm a die-hard fan of Sherlock Holmes.Tagore's poetry & plays are simply marvellous!
There's a lot to be discussed and described when it comes to books!
|
|
|
Post by darkme on Feb 13, 2007 13:18:14 GMT -6
Well, I like most of the books I've read and there's no particular favorite.Recently, I read "Ignited Minds" written by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the President of India.I was really inspired by it! I'll describe the book later.I'm really into classics & biographies.And I'm a die-hard fan of Sherlock Holmes.Tagore's poetry & plays are simply marvellous! There's a lot to be discussed and described when it comes to books! sounds good! its added to my must-read list ;D
|
|
|
Post by darkme on Feb 13, 2007 14:11:38 GMT -6
My review on the book 'The Well-Beloved' by Thomas Hardy: Title: The Well-Beloved Author: Thomas Hardy Publisher: Wordsworth Classics The book describes one man's journey on this earth to see his Well-beloved as it moves from one body to another. At the begining I was stunned by the author's ability in making the book seem very interesting. But the more pages I read the less and less I liked the book. I felt as if the writer was talking about a pervert, even though the charechter was a very decent man. But let me first tell you the baseline of the book. Jocelyn is a talented sculptor who first falls in love with a beautiful young lady. But then his feelings move to another lady whose more beautiful and even richer than the first one -Avice- but he doesn't stay too long attached. Then at the age of 40, he learns that his first well beloved -Avice- died. He is then devastated and goes back to attend the funeral. He sees her daughter and falls in love with her. But certain events take place which prevents the wedding. At the age of 60 he sees the grand daughter and falls in love with her, again he plans to marry her but again 'certain events' take place and he goes back to his second Well-beloved and for a twist in the story, he marries his second Well-beloved and they live together at the age of 60. This being said, you must now understand where I am coming from. I disliked the book to a really high extent and with the last pages I couldn't wait till I finished the book. Why would someone love a person for the way they look? Isn't love supposed to be more than that? And the language that the author used was not persuasive. I am afraid that I don't recommend the book to any of you. But I must say something at the end: even though I disliked the book, I am very gratful for the writer because this book gave me a better judgment on how books should be. So it wasn't a waste of time that I read the book, as a matter of fact it is the entire opposite. The book improved my taste of books. So thank you Mr. Thomas Hardy for writing this book.
My rating: 2/10
|
|
|
Post by Zach on Feb 17, 2007 18:44:26 GMT -6
Hey Guys, lets use this following format:
Title: __________ Author: __________ Publisher: __________ (also add year when published)
Summary here
My Rating: __ / 10
---------- When replying, you can also type the title in the "Subject" field and you can use the Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down in the "Message Icon" field. You can view my first entry and example here:
|
|
|
Post by Zach on Feb 17, 2007 18:45:10 GMT -6
I also want to take part in this Noor! Here is my review of the book I just finished today:
Title: New Boy Author: Julian Houston Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005
Rob Garrett, a black teen, lives in the segregated south in the segregated 1950s. His parents, both professionals, enroll him in a all-white private boarding school up in Connecticut. While in this fancy high school, he meets some friends, gets a girlfriend, and deals with being the first African American to attend the school. This story is all about his efforts to change the world into a non-discriminative environment. You'll just have to read the book to find out how he achieves this.
My Rating: 7.5/10
|
|
|
Post by darkme on Feb 18, 2007 9:04:02 GMT -6
I also want to take part in this Noor! Here is my review of the book I just finished today: Title: New Boy Author: Julian Houston Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005 Rob Garrett, a black teen, lives in the segregated south in the segregated 1950s. His parents, both professionals, enroll him in a all-white private boarding school up in Connecticut. While in this fancy high school, he meets some friends, gets a girlfriend, and deals with being the first African American to attend the school. This story is all about his efforts to change the world into a non-discriminative environment. You'll just have to read the book to find out how he achieves this. My Rating: 7.5/10 hey thats rily COOL!! I love, the book sounds good, and the baseline u put wud rily help and make this look even better! I'll modify my reviews once I have time! ;D
|
|
|
Post by Zach on Feb 18, 2007 14:04:28 GMT -6
k Thanks! That would be great, heres another karma for creating this thing!
|
|