Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Another English classic I picked up this year  - 'Jane Eyre' is a novel by English writer 'Charlotte Brontë', published in 1847 under the pseudonym 'Currer Bell' to disguise the fact that the author was a woman.

An enduring love story and undisputed classic, 'Jane Eyre' is full of passion, mystery, tragedy, and most importantly a strong-willed beloved heroine.

it is ironic that at a time when the Charlotte felt compelled to hide her true identity, Jane Eyre provided a story of individualism for women.

This masterpiece introduces one of fiction's most memorable protagonists ie Jane. As a child, orphan Jane Eyre suffers under cruel guardians and harsh schooling, but her indomitable spirit shines through against the greatest odds. When she takes up a position as governess at Thornfield Hall, she meets and begins to fall in love with mysterious and brooding master of the house, Mr Rochester. The secrets of the house and from Mr Rochester's past are soon revealed causing a heartbreak for Jane. Her life takes few turns in the course and as they say takes a full circle at the end.

Though it falls under genre of romantic classic, the romance is very very suttle and deep without any explicitly. A novel of intense power and intrigue, Jane Eyre dazzled me with its passionate depiction of a woman's search for equality and freedom.

The classic has been adapted in many other forms like opera, film, theatre plays. The most recent film adaptation was released in 2011, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, and starred Mia Wasikowska as Jane Eyre and Michael Fassbender as Mr. Rochester.

The Second Lady

 'The second lady', written by famous American author Irving Wallace, is a fascinating USA-Russia cold war thriller.

When I read this book for the first time, I was in 9th or 10th standard and ofcourse I read the translated version back then.

The plot of the story was so intriguing that I had to look for original book when started reading English novels.

The story goes like this - To grab an inside information over a politically critical matter, KGB (Soviets intelligence agency) plots an unbelievable plan to replace the American First Lady with a look alike, a Russian actress with  strong resemblance who has been tweaked and trained to perfection over the period of three years.

The replacement happens as planned but un-foreseen hurdles keep cropping up in the secret mission.

We have to keep in mind that this book was released in 1980. The secret services of the time had been small force then. The internet, mobile phones were atleast fifteen years away from becoming mainstream reality. So the story has to be lived in the period it has been told.

This book has everything that a perfect novel demands - gripping plot, love, drama, action, entertainment.

Irving's writing style is not very tricky but the overall storyline and continuous twists keep readers hooked till the end. 

The nail biting and unusual climax left me absolutely stunned.

Certainly an entertaining and unput-down-able page turner read, wonder why it didn't get converted into movie or TV series.

#2023readinggoals

आम्ही मुंबईकर

आम्ही मुंबईकर कारण  - 

* 'अ ' ठिकाणाहून  'ब' ठिकाणाचं अंतर किती आहे हे आम्ही मिनिटं -तासात मोजतो , किलो मीटर मध्ये नाही 

* ५-१७, ८-४२, ७-२४ ह्या वेळा कशाच्या आहेत हे कळायला आम्हाला अजून काही स्पष्टीकरणाची गरज नाही 

* वडा - पाव ही आमची अत्यंत आवडती डीश आहे आणि तो नाश्ता , दुपारचं जेवण किंवा 'असच काहीतरी ' ह्या सर्व कारणांसाठी खाऊ शकतो 

* संकट काळी आम्हाला सिद्धी विनायक , हाजी अली  आणि माउंट मेरी ची एकत्र आठवण येते 

* मुंबई च्या वरचे सगळे ;नॉर्थ इंडियन ' आणि खालचे सर्व  'मद्रासी ' हे आमचं अर्वाचीन मत आहे 

* जगातली सर्वात शांत, आत्म परीक्षण करायची  जागा म्हणजे मरीन ड्राईव्ह चा गजबजलेला कट्टा 

* मुंबई च्या स्वतःच्या अशा खास भाषेत - ज्यात बॉस , घंटा , निकल ले , जुगाड, मांडवली  असे विविध अद्वितीय शब्द आहेत - आम्ही पारंगत आहोत 

* आयुष्यातील नकार पचवायची दैवी शक्ती  आणि मनोबल वृद्धिंगत करण्यात इथल्या रिक्षा वाल्यांचा मोठा हातभार आहे 

* जगात कुठेही असो , 'गणपती बाप्पा ' ची आरोळी कानावर पडली की लगेच  'मोरया ' असा जयघोष मनात उठतोच 

* एकदा तरी 'ताज ' मध्ये जेवायला नाही तर किमान चहा प्यायला  तरी जायचं हे आमचं बालपणाचं स्वप्न असतंच