Thursday, September 24, 2020

Reviewed: Letters from a Father to His Daughter, Authored by Jawaharlal Nehru

About the Author: 

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India was born on 14th November,1889 at Allahabad, India. He studied at Harrow and Cambridge. He played a central role in India's struggle for freedom from British colonial rule. He was a visionary, scholar and a statesman of international stature. He was also an outstanding writer and his other two major works, apart from this one are- The Discovery of India & An Autobiography, Glimpses of World History.  He left for his heavenly abode on 27th May, 1964.

Fa n t a b u l o u s!  

Presentation:

The book was first published by Allahabad Law Journal Press in 1929 that is over 90 years ago! It is published by Penguin Books India.  The hard bound edition is very easy to hold in hands. The typeset is pleasing to eyes and illustrations by Ms Ajanta Guhathakurta are there to be appreciated. 

It is one classic, that I wanted to read for quite some time. In fact, when my only daughter Apoorva was born in 1990;  I longed to read and some how, could not. Now that I have read it, would share it with my grandson, Raghav in a year or so as he is just 8 month old as of now! Motivates me to read & share.

The books is to be enjoyed as a reference on how to be a better parent, grandparent & as a knowledge sharing friend to children.  The book contains personalised letters from a father to his beloved daughter.  

How a father, who is educating his daughter on various matters to incite the curiosity of a child of 10 years when the book was written and in the present context may be even at 5 years or earlier with human race, having evolved over the period since the book was written nearly a century ago! 

The knowledge and the curiosity that it imparts through the letters on :

#  The Book of Nature ;    #  How Early History was Written ;

#  The making of the Earth ;    #  The First Living Things ;   #   The Animals Appear ;

#  The Coming of Man ;    #  The Early Men ;    #  How Different Races were Formed ;

#  The Races and Languages of Mankind ;    #  The Relationship of Languages ;

#  What is Civilization? ;    #  The Formation of Tribes ;

#  How Religion began & Division of Labour ;

#  The Changes Brought about by Agriculture ;

#  The Patriarch - How He  Began ;    #  The Patriarch - How He Developed ;

#  The Patriarch Becomes the King ;    #  The Early Civilizations ;

#  The Great Cities of the Ancient World ;    #  Egypt and Crete ;    #  China and India ;

#  Sea Voyages and Trade ;    #  Language Writing and Numerals ;

#  Different Classes of People ;    #  Kings and Temples and Priests ;

#  A Look Back ;    #  Fossils and Ruins ;    #  The Aryans Come to India ;

#  What Were the Aryans in India Like?    #  The Ramayana and the Mahabharata

A must read for all who want to acquire knowledge. It is written in easy to understand English. The Author uses punctuation sparingly and conveys the message clearly.  Simply brilliant. 

It is recommended to read from first page to last page lasting about plus 150 pages as the letters build the narrative over the pages. First letter leads to the second and so on. Later one may read any randomly to suit one's liking.

A literary feast of a kind. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and would recommend to all anytime. 

The books is for all - parents, children, grand parents & single parents in particular! 

A book to be kept in personal library - all homes.  And of course to gift to your near and dear ones.

Go all, go for it.....

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Wednesday, September 9, 2020

Review: Eats, Shoots, & Leaves

About the Author:

Lynne Truss is one of the best loved Britain's comic writers. 

Lynne Truss is an English author, journalist, novelist, and radio broadcaster and dramatist.

This book was inspired by a BBC Radio show about punctuation, Cutting a Dash. It was presented by her.



Presentation:

The book is an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers & printed on a FSC certified paper. Font type and size is pleasing to eyes.

The book has 7 sections sans any chapter nos to lend uniqueness to the way Author liked to present. Persuading the readers that each punctuation mark is important.

#  Introduction: The Seventh Sense

#  The Tractable Apostrophe

#  That"ll Do, Comma

#  Airs and Graces,

#  Cutting a Dash

#  A Little used punctuation Mark

#  Merely Conventional Signs

The way it is written for any stickler or not so stickler of the written word is a delight to read. Her witty and humour filled expressions; personification of a punctuation would get even the most mundane reader to splits and admire it; the personification, that is. 

It keeps the reader hooked on. The wit &  humour is used; such that the serious message is nailed in with ease. One needs to read it; to appreciate & enjoy.

Witty, Educative  & Funny !

The simple ? to her looks like a sea-horse. I bet, now when you see one; you would also look at question mark - not as a mere question mark - but a sea-horse looking back at the sentence that precedes.

The author is so dedicated to using the punctuation correctly that she even advocates to form a Vigilante group of Apostrophe society which is armed with- correction fluid, big pens, stickers in various sizes to stick over wrong apostrophes and so on.... Would you like to join her campaign in promoting the correct usage....Be brave go on...it is worth for a noble cause.

The book ends with a Bibliography that reflects the kind of research the Author has done before setting out to pen this remarkable book on a simple yet important subject : the punctuation. Highly recommended book around at present time to save the literary world!

The book invites one to really enjoy the written word and pay attention to the nuances of the written world. As long as we have Authors like her; the print media has a bright future in-spite of the web world encroaching upon it so determinedly. 

Go folks; go for this treasure book and ensure you have one in the personal collection & gifting. Good for all ages. Young, old, & not so old.

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Book Review: T h a r o o r o s a u r u s! by Dr. Shashi Tharoor

About the Author:  Dr. Shsashi Tharoor, was born on 9th March,1956 in London and raised in India. He did his early schooling from Bombay, Ko...