Book Review: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers.

“The Heart is a lonely hunter with only one desire! To find some lasting comfort in the arms of anothers fire...driven by a desperate hunger to the arms of a neon light, the heart is a lonely hunter when there's no sign of love in sight!”  It touches the solitary beings within us, when we read such a book about lonely people in a lonely town trying to move on with their lives in midst of search for human comfort and longing. The characters are very much memorable and the author develops her really well even though the plot has nothing much to say, like "nothing much is going about". You don't need a well driven plot for a book like this, simply reading about the characters and their inner desires will keep you on your toes, especially with McCullers excellent use of deus ex machina. She will provide a lot of twists amidst simple sentences which will keep you engrossed in reading it. It feels like a tribute to the misfits of our society, to the outcasts, to the people suffering from loneliness and hopelessness and how desperate they are to keep on going with their life. Some are faced with financial problems, some with socio-political, some with relationships, but altogether it provides a wonderful account for people struggling with loneliness (sorry for repeating this word a lot). It will stay with you for a long time I believe. Read some quotes from this book if you want to convince yourself a lot more to read it. “How can the dead be truly dead when they still live in the souls of those who are left behind?” “the way I need you is a loneliness I  cannot bear." “The most fatal thing a man can do is try to stand alone.” “I want - I want - I want - was all that she could think about - but just what this real want was she did not know.” “It was like she was cheated. Only nobody had cheated her. So there was nobody to take it out on. However, just the same she had that feeling. Cheated.” And many more... Highly recommended. One of the best reviews which convinced me to read this : http://101books.net/2012/04/18/book-40-the-heart-is-a-lonely-hunter/

Book Review : The Odyssey By Homer : Oxford Classics

“Ah how shameless – the way these mortals blame the gods. From us alone they say come all their miseries yes but they themselves with their own reckless ways compound their pains beyond their proper share.”

" some things you will think of yourself,...some things God will put into your mind” 

After much study of translations to buy, I chose the prose translation of Walter Shewring, by Oxford. There were choices between E V Rieu , Samuel Butler and Shewring. After comparing the three, I found this translation to be most poetic and accurate. The footnotes were very helpful.The story itself is great, one can learn a lot in dealing with the challenges Odysseus faced on his way. One feels a lot of admiration for the goddess of the gleaming of the eyes- "Pallas Athena"."The Odyssey can divided into two cycles. The first twelve books relates the journey away from Ithaca, while the rest 12 books relates the returing bak to Ithaca. If one has studied the Cosmic Clock Astrology, the first 12 books and the next 12 can be compared with the Clock. The 13th book signifies the 1 o' clock line relating to God Love, where we can find this aspect of God in this chapter."

Oxford World Classics is to be congratulated by keeping Professor Shewring's splendid translation of Homer's "The Odyssey" in print. I  recommend it highly.

Book Review : Book Review: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

"By the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open, it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs." 

"Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay
To mould me Man, did I solicit thee
From darkness to promote me?"

A young Swiss student discovers the secret of animating lifeless matter and, by assembling body parts, creates a monster who vows revenge on his creator after being rejected from society. It is not long before he regrets his creation and woes himself. 

As I was reading Frankenstein, I was behooved. It was very moving and poignant, every sentence seemed to convey powerful images to my mind, and seemed to convey much in a short way. The way Victor Frankenstein spoke and described nature echoed the pantheistic and poetic verse of Wordsworth. It felt like I was reading poetry in prose form. I was especially amazed the way the "fiend" spoke to the doctor. We feel sympathy for the monster, but his crimes make us hate him. He is a tragic here like Macbeth who blames his creator. But I believe Victor was penitent for his sin, and harbored the idea of revenge for the monster. We are a witness to the testings and trials of both. I highly recommend reading this short but powerful work.

It was an awesome book. Thank you Mary Shelley.

Book Review: Macbeth by William Shakespeare.

The play I believe is a wonderful study of the psychology of Evil. It speaks of how Macbeth, in hunger for Power, his vaulting ambition proved to be his doom. Even the witches and Lady Macbeth, proved to provide the catalyst for his downfall. Whenever Macbeth entertained evil thoughts in his mind to commit horrendous crimes, his conscience gave him warnings. But the catalyst of his wife along with the witches' prophecy, made him go forth to commit crime after crime. At the end, we see how he kills his conscience, and has no remorse in doing crimes. We sometimes feel sympathy for him,but his crime of ordering the murder of innocent people make us feel righteous indignation towards him. 

Never fall into the devil's traps, heed thy God within. Never give thine eternal jewel to the common enemy of man,the devil. False faces show what the false heart doth know.

I thank God for making this book a compulsory read for my school and Board exams.

Book Review : The Road Less Travelled

Perhaps, we have to look beyond what we think we have, and what we do. It is difficult to face pain, instead we wind up losing our way, creating a false psychology. Perhaps Dr Peck, can help you through his book, and bring you close to God in a scientific way.It narrates his case studies . It is a must-buy.One of those books where God and science meets harmoniously.

The first sin may be the form of laziness. A grave form of laziness is fear. Perhaps the original sin of Adam and Eve was laziness, lazy enough to ask God the Truth instead of following the serpent and taking Heaven by force. Though more is to be added to this event, but this is the foundation atleast. Evil people resist working with themselves, laziness is predominant in them. The true hypothesis of a loving God who sustains the Universe is one of the most logical explanations for the present world scenario. Our goal is to become God in manifestation, because we are made in his image and we need to outpicture it.

Strategies of Light and Darkness

This is my first book review on the book called : Strategies of Light and Darkness " , compiled by the Summit Lighthouse. The book was expensive, but less than others. The book quality is very nice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IZjpgIlS9g&feature=youtu.be This is my video review.

Strategies of Light and Darkness

 The book is amazing. It lists thirty-three complete strategies used by the darkness and the dark forces, to lure the children of God to false oneness and images of God. It is subtle and many of them seem new to us. For example , Flattery , Sympathy , Imitation and the tar baby Syndrome. But that is not all, it lists alongside 33 counter strategies of the Light, which we as sons and daughters of God can use to slash and burn the evil we witness. Christ discrimination is always necessary. Sometimes we have to resist evil by keeping peace and silence and turn the other cheek, but sometimes we need to stand up for God and Be. Show forth your God Power.Let the Holy Spirit flow through you, use the ruby ray to bind the forces of the Anti - Christ by your right hand. Simply ignoring Evil won't work.

The book also lists four important decrees ( or prayers) which we can use against Evil. So I suggest you buy it, and let it guide you to God Victory.

Books and their reviews

I have been thinking of opening a blog and being active , to support some cause and serve God. Then, I thought, why not start a book blog. I will share here my reviews on books which I read and buy and also about my thoughts in the spiritual path I AM.

Here is my Goodreads account : http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/19820513-chayan-banerjee