MOTHER by Maxim Gorky

This story takes place on the eve of the Russian revolution. I feel that this is the story of the beginning of the revolution itself.

The mother Pelagea Nilovna and her son are the main characters in this story. Mother who is a typical Russian woman who goes to work by day and returns to her household chores and a drunk husband at night turns in to a revolutionary through Gorkys remarkable abilities.

When Pelageas husband Mikhail dies her son a teenager Pavel starts to go to the factory for work. He also starts to follow his fathers path but soon learns that the workers are the real power that drives the wheel. Some like minded youths gather for discussions and reading sessions at Pavels place. These scenes get the mother suspicious at first because she does not understand their ideas. 

As time goes by although she is barely literate she starts to become the mother of the whole group of revolutionaries. 

There are some other characters in this book such as Natasha, Sasha, Ludmila and Sophia who are presented as brave women. 

Andrei Nakhodka who is called by the mother as Khokhol which is a nickname for a Ukrainian is mothers special among Pavels friends. He also loves the mother and starts calling her Nenko an affectionate term in Ukrainian for mother. 

When Pavel gets arrested for leading some of their co workers in to a revolutionary protest against their salary deductions the mothers role suddenly changes. She is entrusted by the party to smuggle forbidden leaflets and literature inside the factory. She plays her part disguised as a paddler. When the authorities realize that the activities are still going on inside the factory despite the arrest of Pavel they release him.

After this the mother is urged to learn to red by Khokhol, she shies away at first but in the night she takes a book from the collection of forbidden books and studies. Their house becomes the center of revolution, Comrades from distant lands starts to visit them. All of these experiences are described wonderfully through a mothers view.

Then comes the day when they decide to do a Mayday demonstration in which Pavel is to be up front bearing the flag. The mother and the loving Sasha wants Pavel to assign the task to someone else but Pavel insists on bearing the flag.

Finally the big day comes and the rally is attacked by the authorities and Pavel and Andrei gets arrested. Mother continues her work for the party by travelling extensively completing the tasks dutifully which are entrusted to her by the party.

Her son Pavel awaits trial while she is running the revolution which he had fired in his mothers heart.

On the trial her son gives a notorious speech in which he states “We are against the society whose interests you judges have been ordered to defend; we are its uncompromising enemies, and yours too, and no reconciliation between us is possible until we have won our fight… all of you, our masters, are more like slaves than we are. You are enslaved spiritually; we — only physically.”

With this her son is exiled, and the people outside the courtroom are gathering around her and telling her that her sons speech is to be printed and distributed among comrades.

Mother visits in secret the printer Ludmila to get the prints of her sons speech. She goes with heart filled intentions of distributing the copies and gets caught by the authorities in a railway station. While they beat her and choke her she says to them heroically “Not even an ocean of blood can drown the truth”

This is a book I have really loved reading and have felt to the cores of my being.

Leave your comments on this great piece of literature.....

Dear all I thought of doing a scholarly piece  ( ;-) ) on books and literature. Here it goes. You tell me if it was a success.

BOOKS

The Origin of the Word

The word comes from Old English "bōc" which (itself) comes from the Germanic root "*bōk-", cognate to beech.  Similarly, in Slavic languages (for example, Russian, Bulgarian, Macedonian) "буква" (bukva—"letter") is cognate with "beech". In Russian and in Serbian and Macedonian, another Slavic languages, the words "букварь" (bukvar') and "буквар" (bukvar), respectively, refer specifically to a primary school textbook that helps young children master the techniques of reading and writing. It is thus conjectured that the earliest Indo-European writings may have been carved on beech wood.  Similarly, the Latin word codex, meaning a book in the modern sense (bound and with separate leaves), originally meant "block of wood".

Categories of Books

Books can be classified according to their contents and the by the format, method of manufacture, or appearance of the book. Genre refers to the content of the writing in the book. And types of books are defined by the format, method of manufacture etc.

Literature

Major Forms of literature are,

·         Novel · A novel is a long prose narrative that describes fictional characters and events, usually in the form of a sequential story.

·         Poem · Poetry is a form of literary art which uses aesthetic and rhythmic[1][2][3] qualities of language—such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre—to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, the prosaic ostensible meaning.

·         Drama – A drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance

·         Short story · A short story is a brief work of literature, usually written in narrative prose.

·         Novella - A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative normally longer than a short story but shorter than a novel.

Genres,

·         Comedy · in the contemporary meaning of the term, is any discourse or work generally intended to be humorous or to amuse by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, television, film and stand-up comedy.

·         Drama · Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance (As described above.)

·         Epic – A Epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation.

·         Erotic · Erotic literature comprises fictional and factual stories and accounts of human sexual relationships which have the power to or are intended to arouse the reader sexually.

·         Nonsense · Literary nonsense (or nonsense literature) is a broad categorization of literature that uses sensical and nonsensical elements to defy language conventions or logical reasoning.

·         Lyric - Lyric poems typically express personal or emotional feelings and is traditionally the home of the present tense.

·         Mythopoeia · Mythopoeia is a narrative genre in modern literature and film where a fictional mythology is created by the writer of prose or other fiction.

·         Romance · As a literary genre of high culture, romance or chivalric romance is a style of prose and verse narrative that was popular in the aristocratic circles of High Medieval and Early Modern Europe.

·         Satire - Satire is a genre of literature, and sometimes graphic and performing arts, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, corporations, and society itself, into improvement

·         Tragedy · is a form of drama based on human suffering that invokes in its audience an accompanying catharsis or pleasure in the viewing

·         Tragicomedy - is a literary genre that blends aspects of both tragic and comic forms.

LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Love it seems works in really strange ways. The way we feel love differs as we grow.
During our youth its sacred and there's nothing like it, it's what makes our world go around. We listen to love songs, read poetry, read novels write love letters and make vows. But looking at it from a more grownups point of view we see it as foolishness of youth.

In his book LOVE IN THE TIMES OF CHOLERA the author tells us a story about a youthful promise that kept a man waiting for more than 51 years for his true love.

The book describes the blooming of the love between the young girl Fermina Daza who comes from a high family and Florentino Ariza a romantic poet who even can not compose a official letter without putting his romantic ideas in to it.
even though they haven't spoken much with each other their love flourishes through letters and telegrams.

This love does not last long due to the differences of their classes. After a voyage arranged by Ferminas father to make her forget her foolish affair she starts to realize that Florentino does not suit her.

She refuses the love sick young mans love and marries Dr. Urbino. However even the doctor admits that they doesn't have love between them but he gets married hoping that they will find love through living together.

After the doctors death due to a serious accident Florentino rises again with his undying love. He gets rejected due to his bad timings but in the end they get together.

The author unfolds this story infront of us with great clarity and passion. The feelings they feel as they go through various stages of their lives are described intensely.

I have seen the movie which was made from this story however I personally suggest you to read the book.
By reading the book you can feel what they go through as they live each moment.
In my personal opinion the contents of this book cannot be expressed fully within the time frame of a movie.

This is a great read.

For More Garcia Marquez books go to http://www.bookmypdf.com/tag/all-gabriel-garcia-marquez-book-download   

my inspirations

Im going to tell you about a great book today which i loved.

THE ALCHEMIST by Coelho Paulo

This is a book which says so many things in a small volume.

Let me quote some really good ones

“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

this story tells you so many things about life in a unique way. It explains some deep ideas in a simple manner and its unbelievable.

“It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.”

“One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.”

Some great philosophies of life are simplified into lovely words.

The author is a personal favorite of mine and he has given me so much inspiration through his books.

“Don't think about what you've left behind" The alchemist said to the boy as they began to ride across the sands of the desert. "If what one finds is made of pure matter, it will never spoil. And one can always come back. If what you had found was only a moment of light, like the explosion of a star, you would find nothing on your return.”

To truly understand this book keep your mind open

“Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.” 

First Things First

Im just started Blogging !

First of all I love books. so this is going to be all about books..