I wanted to write a book-by-book review of novels where I elaborately explained each one of them. Then I thought, what is the point? Therefore, I decided to offer a collection of books that has the ability to touch your soul and at the same time gets you thinking about it. I hope you enjoy these suggestions.
1. The Color Purple:
If I have to encapsulate this book in just a few words, I would say that this book is a tight slap to sexists and racists with both the hand simultaneously. This book was a good read, which touched my soul and made me feel a little alive on the inside after a very long time. Of the few books that would shake even the coldest and the most stone hearted people, the color purple definitely makes the list.
In this book, a black woman itinerates the ongoing of her life along with the ones around her- first to god then to her sister, while her sister does the same through letters. The book begins with the woman reciting one horrific event after another and is echoed by her sister at another level of existence entirely, but not any less horrifying. The happenings make your heart cringe at several places for most part of the book. However, eventually after several years everything falls in place and provides you the closure you need. While this book is one emotional roller coaster after another it definitely has the power to provoke extreme sensations out of us.
2. Anne Frank- The Diary of a Young Girl
Anne Frank is a girl we all were once, or the sister/daughter we have/had. This book resonates with each and every one of our lives.
This book was once a journal of a young girl who, with her family and others lived in hiding during Hitler’s up rise. She recites day-to-day incidences that happen with her from when she had freedom until the day she was captured. Despite the chaos around her, Anne Frank managed to keep her spirits up and stayed positive throughout. She talks about her relationship with each of her family member, her crush with one of the fellow hider and so forth. Towards the end, you can truly recognize Anne growing into a mature independent. Contemplating about the on goings outside, she decides to take a stand once all this is over for the betterment of humanity. She talks about finding purpose amongst other things and this boo in itself is complete even if she ideally did not complete it.
SPOILER ELERT! For those of you who do not know about Anne Frank, she was a Jewish girl who went into hiding during Hitler’s period and despite their attempts was captured and eventually killed.Although most of us are aware of this information, her death does not fail to bring tears. This book will surely touch your soul and make you think.
3. Palace of Illusion
The book "Palace of Illusion" is a mythical fiction that summarizes Mahabharata from Draupathi's point of view a.k.a from a woman's perspective. It explains the ongoing of the events of Mahabharata beautifully while also elaborating on how Draupathi’s thinks, behaves mischievously and above all shows the stubbornness and helplessness that the woman possess sometimes, not because they are not equipped to handle the situation but just because of the situation. However, this book goes on to show how a woman can be a very strong catalyst for the beginning of any great even in a supremely high male oriented set up. The book depicts Draupathi’s and her thought process so precisely that all woman can relate to it and all the men can understand. Although not all woman are alike, a certain traits reverberates among all of them, which may be caused due to the male dominated society.
I may have not done justice to the book or may have made it sound boring, but the book is definitely something everyone must read to understand women, if not in depth at least at the surface and this book is definitely not a religious one. So, go ahead and pick this one up and read it!
4. A Thousand Splendid Suns
If this book does not bring tears into your eyes, you are probably not a human and you're a monster.
The book revolves around the lives of woman in Kabul, more specifically two women. The story line begins with depicting the events occurring in the first woman’s life, which is brutal and is filled with sufferings. It is just one heartbreak after another in the poor girl’s life. The second part of the story is focused on a younger girl from the next generation, who is definitely more privileged then the first woman in the initial stages of her life. However, because of a few horrific events followed by the interference of the Taliban, both the woman’s lives become interwoven. The woman begin their relationship with a certain amount of hatred but eventually end up being friends and begin to support each other in their hard times. As new events unveil and your heart begins to crush, well your heart is crushed a little more.
I do not want to give away a lot more and take away the essence of the book. But, at the end of it all, at the very far end, the book ends on a slightly good note. However, what’s the point? You’ll be crying your eyes out anyways.
5. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
A partial implication of the major effect of the Holocaust is shown in this book. The book describes the prohibited friendship between an eight-year-old German boy and a Jewish concentration camp prisoner in World War II-era Germany.
The young innocent German boy during WWll unintentionally finds out about all of the inhabitants there are curiously clad in striped pajamas in a place where his dad is promoted. But, while the boy’s mother plainly trusts that the "farm" to be an imprisonment camp, her husband has promised never to disclose that it is in fact a slaughter camp explicitly designed to achieve the Nazis horrific idea of a “Final Solution”. Around this point, the German boy wander around his backyard and comes upon a boy of his age in stripped pajamas behind barbed wires. An unknown friendship is kindled between them and the German boy begin to meet his Jewish friend every day without the knowledge of anyone. But the closer these two boys grow, the more the German boy becomes stirred to the revulsions relating all around them. His mother is catching on as well, a truth that causes strain in her marriage. When the father announces that the young boy and his mother will be going to live with their aunt, the boy takes a shovel and makes his way to the camp, setting into motion a disastrous and disturbing order of happenings.
The end will definitely break your heart. But some could even call it Karma. This book is definitely bound to stir your heart.