Dear reader, how would you react if someone you respect were to show you that one of your friends, whom you’ve liked and trusted for many years, is in fact a coward, hypocrite, backstabber, rapist and murderer? Troubled, offended, confused, shocked, sad? That was my reaction when I read this book. That someone is Victor Hugo, and that friend of mine is the Ocean. Introduction Growing up on the coast, […]
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“Ninety-Three” by Victor Hugo
Synopsis “Ninety-Three” reminds me of “Iliad” and “The Trial and Death of Socrates“. There’re memorable adventures and battles at sea, a ferocious siege that leads to a battle to the death, and finally, in the face of death, a contemplation of meaning, duty, freedom and destiny. Echoes of these contemplations are found in Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”, especially the Epilogue. If you’ve read “Les Misérables”, you would notice the year 93 […]
Read more“Les Misérables” by Victor Hugo
In his book “What is Art”, Tolstoy gives a few “examples of the highest art”. “Les Misérables” is one of them. “Les Misérables” is not so much a novel as an immense commentary of the world, of society, human nature, religion, history, revolution and progress, the Infinite and the minute, the beautiful and the ugly, the wise and the stupid, the noble and the base, sufferings and triumphs, love and […]
Read more“Hadji Murad” by Leo Tolstoy
During the last years of his life, Tolstoy told the story of a freedom fighter, whose vitality and tenacity he admired, though he denounced violence. He perhaps sensed in himself the strength and growth of an inner life despite the deterioration of his health. Quote: I gathered myself a large nosegay and was going home when I noticed in a ditch, in full bloom, a beautiful thistle plant of the […]
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“Resurrection” by Leo Tolstoy
The last major novel by Tolstoy. According to Wikipedia, Vladimir Nabakov heaped superlatives upon “Anna Karenina”, but questioned the reputation of “War and Peace”, and sharply criticized “Resurrection” and “The Kreutzer Sonata”. My opinion is the exact opposite. To me, this is a more mature and riveting work than “Anna Karenina”, because it contains deeper spiritual and social insights, the upshot of the author’s personal struggles and growth in the […]
Read more“The War of the Worlds” by H. G. Wells
A speculative, apocalyptic tale in which Martians landed on earth and almost wiped out the entire local population. According to the nebular hypothesis, Mars was more advanced in the life cycle of the planet than Earth, and therefore the Martians were evolutionarily more advanced than humans, having a superior intelligence and no sex or digestive organs. When their planet was no longer habitable, and they were facing extinction, they invaded the […]
Read more“Complete Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde” by Oscar Wilde
A compilation of nine fairy tales from “The Happy Prince and Other Tales” The Happy Prince The Nightingale and the Rose The Selfish Giant The Devoted Friend The Remarkable Rocket and “A House of Pomegranates” The Young King The Birthday of the Infanta The Fisherman and His Soul The Star-Child I remember reading “The Happy Prince”and “The Selfish Giant” when I was a child. Sad but beautiful stories about miseries […]
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