Prolific Living

American literature

Louisa May Alcott: “Little Women”

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Reading Little Women on the iPhone

I did not expect to find so much lasting imagery from Louisa May Alcott’s beautiful “Little Women“:

The sisters writing plays and acting them out loudly up in their attic.
Mother coming home to 4 overjoyed girls who hang on her every word and move.
The sisters packing up their Christmas breakfast – tea and hot water included – and taking it for the desolate family next door.
The Pick Wick Paper, their own creation, newspaper layout complete with advertisements and articles.
Jo writing her novels with a pen and ink, the not-so-long-ago days even before the typewriter and the joys of writing on paper.
Laurie proposing to Jo and his bitter shock when she refuses him.
The rush of grief, emotion and anguish from loss of a sister which compel Jo to write her greatest novel yet.

I have been on a voracious consumption of the classics for over a year now, a journey of [Read more…] about Louisa May Alcott: “Little Women”

John Irving: “A Prayer for Owen Meany”

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Reading A Prayer for Owen Meany in the balcony

“A Prayer for Owen Meany” by John Irving is an uncommon story. It is a compelling read but not an easy one. The writing evokes so much anxiety, sadness, pleasure, frustration, and laughter throughout but most of all, you read with unquenchable curiosity about the character whose name bears the title of the book, a character you will be hard pressed to ever forget: Owen Meany.

The themes of Christianity along with discrepancies of various denominations, American politics and foreign policies, Vietnam war, and life in New England small towns among other similar subplots shape the backdrop of this book. Themes and elements which fall entirely outside my general reading genre. Even so, I believe we sometimes should seek diversion [Read more…] about John Irving: “A Prayer for Owen Meany”

Edith Wharton: “Age of Innocence”

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Be it naïveté or lack of insight, I have never understood all the fuss about New York and its self-proclaimed greatness. Try as I might, I cannot recollect a single memory of a warm encounter, a nice experience or a kind human interaction during my visits. Sadly, I do have a few sour such memories, but you learn to write those off as exceptions, especially if the good ones balance things out. After all, the amalgamation of dozens of religions and cultures is bound to produce its challenges anywhere on earth, particularly in big cities. Even so, New York’s inadequate impression on me remains unchanged as yet.

Reading Wharton's Age of Innocence at home

Reading is the best pastime for an active mind! If you like to see the other book reviews, check the index of In Print.

So it is with great reluctance that I started Edith Wharton’s classic short novel on high society life in New York city at the close of 19th century (1870s). Wharton’s Pulitzer-prize winning “Age of Innocence” depicts all the hypocrisy and convention, duty and criticism, propriety and snobbery of the New York elite as it tells the story of protagonist Newland Archer [Read more…] about Edith Wharton: “Age of Innocence”

Henry James: “Daisy Miller” and “Washington Square”

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Henry James

I read “Daisy Miller” and “Washington Square” because Azar Nafisi mentioned them in “Reading Lolita in Tehran“. I had set out to complete the reading list of all the books mentioned in Nafisi’s tales of Iran, and next on my list were these two short novels of Henry James. They came in the same book. I read “Daisy Miller” first, and while it’s a tiny 62 pages, it took me weeks to get past the first few alone. I remember starting out the same way with “Jane Eyre” and fell in love with her gradually. So I stuck it out. I remember hearing about Eleanor Roosevelt’s theory that motivation will come to you if you are already working, so put yourself in autopilot of the task at hand at first, go through the motions, and motivation will come to you then but not any sooner. [Read more…] about Henry James: “Daisy Miller” and “Washington Square”