Lord Of The Flies

Book Name : Lord Of The Flies
Author : William Golding

What is it about : A survival story about a group of British school boys aged around six to mid-teens, stranded on an island. Simple enough, but the story soon turned dark as the menacing ignorance of human instincts came into play with the loss of rules and order and the emergence of crooked logic and wicked justification started to dominate. The story came to an abrupt end as our heroic teenage leader, Ralph was saved from the pursuing bloodthirsty "tribes".

Some thoughts after having read the book : I had come across other books which had been called page-turners, tour-de-force and so on but believe me, the latter half of this book was truly a Master-At-Work. I was reluctant to put the book down even for a minute, as I read astounded at the speed with which the innocent boys turned to killers. The parallel which could be drawn from this story, of our own human experience of the lust of waging wars and the longing of peace was only too clear - any reason to start a fight - don't you find that in our present world ? By the way, my favourite passage was the description in the book about the parachute man which was exquisitely written !

Would I recommend this book to you : As I read, I had wished that I had read this book during my early secondary school years as this was a book about quite an adventure of the boys lost on an island. But having said that, reading the book now with a bit more life experience would be more rewarding as the meaning of war and peace came through more obviously which I would have found it difficult to grasp if I had read it during my school years. The book had been turned into movies around the world and the book could be read as easily as watching a motion picture and I would recommend the book as a challenge to a Primary Six student and to be read again later in adult life.

The Master And Margarita

Book Name : The Master And Margarita
Author : Mikhail Bulgakov

What is it about : A fantasy fiction about the havoc wreaked on Moscow when Satan and three sidekicks came to town - one of whom was a walking and talking malicious tom-cat ! Anyone who unfortunately crossed paths with these guys ended up either in the madhouse, had his head cut off by a tram, had their clothes disappeared and walked the streets naked or turned into a witch - basically Moscow burnt down and Muscovites running around for their lives as they watched ! The legend about the betrayal by Judas for 30 pieces of silver, supposedly all those years ago, made an interesting interlude of "a story within a story".

Some thoughts after having read the book : Crazy, surreal or pure magic - take your pick on deciding the book's nature. I would go for all three. It was hard going to get used to the style and translation to start but I actually ended up liking the book for the choice of words, structure and composition. The interlude as I mentioned above was vivid and electrifying and felt as if I was right there to witness the execution of the three prisoners. I thought that this historical interlude wrapped up nicely and intelligently towards the end of the book with the passing away of the Master (title).

Would I recommend this book to you : Ever watched Bettlejuice, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Harry Porter etc. - yeh that line of movies; well the book was a bit like that. Crazy, mind-boggling, unsettling and even fun sometimes. To that I would add poetic as well because the book was written beautifully. Free your pre-conceptions and let the book take you for a fantastic and crazy adventure and you would enjoy the ride.