A Book under the Sun

by Ian Graham When I finished reading Monument , a profound sense of sadness lingered within me. This story is unlike any other fantasy novels which I had feasted upon; this is way darker and within each page, death looms and hope is an optimist's dream. There were no heroes in the story, nor were there villains; everyone carried their own darkness, and it was obvious that everyone was far from perfect. The story revolved around the person known as Ballas - a vagrant, a drunk, a vermin, a scum; in him lied the vices of all men, and while he was the protagonist of the story, he was not a hero. As such, he was beaten to within an inch of his life when the story began, and a priest took pity upon him and ministered to his wound. Ballas was no stranger to disrespect and violent treatment from people around him, but being treated kindly was something new, and he was uncomfortable with it. His nature took hold, and from those who treated him kindly, he stole.

The cover to the graphic novel edition. by Neil Gaiman Well, I guess everyone will have the same impression as I did the first time I read the title - "Shouldn't it be Caro line? Must be some typo there." And that is the same response people gave her. Young Coraline was not happy with her life despite the fact that she was only a kid. The adults around her acted a little weird sometimes, making her the more mature one in her mind and she felt bored about that. Her parents worked all day in front of the computer and nobody played with her. The fact that people kept calling her 'Caroline' didn't help much either, making her felt more that adults were stupid. So when she found the door which usually opened to a brick wall opened to the Other World, with the Other Mother and Other Father on that side, she was quite surprised. The Other World was much fun than this original one, and everyone remembered her name as ' Cora line'; this world was he...

Had you been reading a lot? Ever wonder whether anything which you had read were listed in any list of recommended reading? Well, I saw a post by The Telegraph on a compilation of 100 novels that everyone should read. Here is the link to these literatures: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/4248401/100-novels-everyone-should-read.html So, did you read any of these books? Do share a thought... No, this is not about that  magician... David Copperfield is  written by the same author who wrote A Tale of Two Cities.