Books I loved and still love

1. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
2. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
3. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
4. Tale of two cities by Charles Dickens
5. The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
6. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
7. Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
8. The Prince and the pauper by Mark Twain
9. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
10. PS I Love You by Cecilia Ahern
11. Sir Nigel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
12. Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
13. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
14. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
15. Treasure Island by RL Stevenson
16. Kidnapped by RL Stevenson
17. The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas
18. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
19. Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy
20. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
21. The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
22. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
23. Twenty thousand leagues under the sea by Jules Verne
24. Around the world in eighty days by Jules Verne
25. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
26. The witch of Portobello by Paulo Coelho
27. Like the flowing river by Paulo Coelho
28. By the river Pidera I sat down and wept by Paulo Coelho
29. Veronika decides to die by Paulo Coelho
30. The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho
31. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
32. The Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach
33. The Illiad by Homer
34. The Odyssey by Homer
35. The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
36. The Merry adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle
37. Thumbelina by HC Anderson
38. The Ugly Duckling by HC Anderson
39. The Little Mermaid by HC Anderson
40. The Emperor's new clothes by HC Anderson
41. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
42. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
43. The Fruitseller from Kabul by Rabindranath Tagore
44. The Broken Nest by Rabindranath Tagore
45. The white Tiger by Aravind Adiga
46. The God of Small Things by Arundathi Roy
47. The monk who sold his Ferrari by Robin Sharma
48. Right fit wrong shoe by Varsha Dixit

Paulo Coelho - a master storyteller

Having read four of this man's books, namely, The Alchemist, The Witch of Portobello, By the river Pidera I wept and The Devil and Miss Prym, I am struck by his storytelling capacity. The way he drives the plot is amazing. Even more amazing is the message the stories convey. Recently, I came to know that he even advocates P2P sharing of his own books, what those demmed publishers often term as piracy. In my thesaurus Coelho is a free culture advocate.

Well, his free culture apart, optimism blossoms on every page he's penned. Though most of the stories initially take a tragic twist, in an attempt to capture all the irony and injustice in this world, Coelho then turns the plot towards the hidden strength in mankind - the will to go on, inspite of the odds, despite losses and overwhelming circumstances. Coelho also adds a spicy mix of spiritual thought into his well designed plot that makes it more interesting for people with a religious inclination.

His books have never ceased to fascinate his millions of fans across the world, and needless to say, I'm one of them. What is more interesting is his feminist approach to the plot, which in fact, is not so common. Four of his books are to be read this week, Brida, The Winner stands alone, Like a flowing river and Veronica decides to die.

Books always transfer us to imaginary worlds that are never interrupted by the hustle and din of the office or work. They allow us to glimpse at the ideal face of mankind, something we may never really see in our lifetime. But something, that does give us the courage to go ahead, the will to strive, the passion to thrive and above all, the passion to believe in dreams!

Favorite passage from Shakespeare

To be or not to be

To be, or not to be: that is the question:

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,

And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;

No more; and by a sleep to say we end

The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks

That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation

Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;

To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,

Must give us pause: there's the respect

That makes calamity of so long life;

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,

The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,

The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,

The insolence of office and the spurns

That patient merit of the unworthy takes,

When he himself might his quietus make

With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,

To grunt and sweat under a weary life,

But that the dread of something after death,

The undiscover'd country from whose bourn

No traveller returns, puzzles the will

And makes us rather bear those ills we have

Than fly to others that we know not of?

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;

And thus the native hue of resolution

Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,

And enterprises of great pith and moment

With this regard their currents turn awry,

And lose the name of action. - Soft you now!

The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons

Be all my sins remember'd.

                - by William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Most favorite childhood poem

IF

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

- by Rudyard Kipling