BOOK REVIEW:THE LOVELY BONES

THE LOVELY BONES
Author : Alice Sebolt

POINTS : 3.5 out of 5

"Beautifully written with a strange and new theme."

The book starts with the central character Susie who is dead and narrates the whole story from heaven.The story starts with the girl's murder.The murderer is mentally disturbed person who has murdered many girls/women in the past and is obsessed with it. What follows is the investigation by the police.The girl's father suspects a neighbour who is actually the murderer himself and he does all he can to collect sufficient evidence against the murderer.The story talks about human behaviour in different circumstances and brings to fore the bonds that exist between the members of a family in wake of a crisis they had never imagined.

It also takes us to heaven and tells a lot about the Soul and its abilities of coming back to life forms.Even though its all about a murder, it doesnt take the shape of  a thriller as the story starts with a murder and the murderer is also known.Its a very new idea and hence could have been rejected given the risk.But that is not going to happen.The intellectual depth of understanding of human relationships and behaviour and its equally great narration in form of words makes it an outstanding read.The out of the box approach and the larger than life characters dont let to put off the book until you finish it.

BOOK REVIEW : THE ALCHEMIST

THE ALCHEMIST
Author: Paulo Coelho
Harper Collin Publication
Price: Rs 180

Points : 4 out of 5

Alchemists were known to turn any metal into gold.The great story-telling approach of author "Paulo Coelho" and the excellent usage of characters makes this book what may be considered one of the best self-help and inspirational writings of all times.The story is set in Andalusian countryside,the African deserts and the great Egyptian Pyramids.The central theme of the story is that "One should always try to follow his/her dreams and move on the path governed by omens, signs from the all mighty." The importance of omens in one's life has been very well established through several instances.

Coelho choses a boy of around 16 years of age as the central character of this inspirational literary masterpiece who becomes a shepherd against the will of his family,who want him to become a priest, because he always wanted to travel.The boy's life changes forever when he decides to investigate the reason for his recurrent dream about a treasure.Some of the most important encounters with other characters also take place during this journey of exploring his dreams that change the course of the story.

What follows is a magical journey through the African continent in search of this treasure.The boy at every stage puts at stake what he has to follow his dream.On his way, he falls in love,learns alchemy,observes nature and finds many omens that testify his path.The author also explains true love as an encouragement rather than as an impeding block to fulfilling one's desires and dreams in a very beautiful way.The rest of the story takes you through a journey of a life time and leaves you amazed by what happens next in the boy's life.

Altogether it makes up for a interesting and 'message riden' read and should be read like a story as it is meant to be.It may be suitably called the beginning of a new genre of self-help books.