Prolific Living

fiction

Unforgettable Stories: “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett

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How much of our character is shaped by the time and the era into which we are born? Can we truly think for ourselves without being outcast from the society in which we live or is our only choice to comply with the current times if we want a normal, happy life?

There are far too many periods and places in history that would turn any bright sunny day into a cloud of darkness and despair, if we had the misfortune of living in one. The 1940s in Germany during the unspeakable horrors against humanity for one. The 1790s in France during the horrific period of the French Revolution for another. The 1980s in Tehran at the height of the Iranian Revolution and a reality of my own childhood, for yet another.

And the era in which Kathryn Stockett’s brilliant novel is set: Mississippi, USA, the 1960s, for yet another. [Read more…] about Unforgettable Stories: “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett

Best 18 Quotes From Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest”

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Reading on the iPad in Berlin

You want to write well and never run out of ideas? You want to be inspired, entertained, left in awe and wonder of beauty and learn something at the same time? You want to improve your vocabulary and enhance the use of your English (or other) language? You want to keep your mind sharp and active?

Read a timeless classic!

There is a reason that a classic endures beyond the life of the author and past the turn of century after century. There is a reason that a classic will never go “out of style” and every generation will still be able to pick it up, and appreciate it to some level, whatever their education level may be. [Read more…] about Best 18 Quotes From Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest”

An Unforgettable Tale of Faith in Yann Martel’s “Life of Pi”

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Daisy-Humanity-Gandhi

If it weren’t for my curiosity to find out about the real life whereabouts of Pi, Yann Martel‘s primary character in Life of Pi, I would gone on believing that this shocking tale of survival and courage, of unshakeable faith and conviction, of true desperation and uncanny desire to hold on to dear life, was real, that indeed it took place somewhere on the vastly infinite Pacific.

But the moment that I read Pi had survived 227 days as a castaway on a boat with a 450-pound Bengalese tiger, I could not go on reading without knowing more about this person. Except it turns out [Read more…] about An Unforgettable Tale of Faith in Yann Martel’s “Life of Pi”

Michelle Moran: “Madame Tussaud”

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Madame Tussaud book by Michelle Moran

Good heavens, I have seriously fallen out of my reading habit. I used to read one or two books a month and now I find my mind far too preoccupied to read half as frequently. A tad bit ironic how I had to leave the corporate world to come to understand the real meaning of work, sweat and labor and no, I wouldn’t trade it for a million shining jewels but alas, it is high time to get back into reading.

Are you reading enough? I don’t mean news articles, blog posts, or the stuff in that Inbox. I mean real solid books — or virtual ones that come on your iPhone, Kindle (loved reading Dumas on the Kindle) or iPad or favorite electronic gadget. Books with a beginning, middle and an end. Books that have always been the basis of all education and knowledge, among other things. [Read more…] about Michelle Moran: “Madame Tussaud”

Fyodor Dostoevsky: “Crime and Punishment”

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Ugly Flower in the classics - Crime and Punishment

The Happy Journey of the Classics Rudely Interrupted

“I would like to read you on a complete disaster of a book and why it should be buried!!”

My eccentric Scottish friend sent me these words well over a year ago – and how I have wondered if I would fulfill that request at some point. Well Alastair, you get your wish. This one is for you! Here is why I think Crime and Punishment should be “buried”!

Enough already with the wonderful, incredible, inspiring book reviews! Could I really write a review of a book I loathed, of an author that I could neither comprehend nor appreciate on any level, and could this book even be considered (gasp) a classic? [Read more…] about Fyodor Dostoevsky: “Crime and Punishment”