![Happy Birthday Stephen King!]()
Authors |
Love him or hate him but you can not get enough of him. He is everywhere these days – cinemas, Netflix and of course his books. We love his films as much as his books. We adore his quotes and novellas as do we his chilling book. Yes, I am talking about the one and only Stephen King. He turns 70 today, September 21, 2017. So what better way to celebrate his birthday than talking about my experience with him and sharing some of his quotes that I love.
My relationship with the King of Horror has not been smooth. I read my first King, Gerald’s Game
when I was about twelve. Yes, yet another of those books I had laid my hands when I was not supposed to. I had just then ventured out of the Sidney Sheldon
‘s, and the book was something I was not prepared for then. Or ever would be. I thought the plot was grotesque and horrifying. But the writing stuck to me, and I willed my way till the end courageously and was smart enough to avoid any of his works for a long time.
Years later, my then boss gifted me a copy of the Four Past Midnight
, a collection of novellas for my birthday, and I used it as a bookend, terrified of the size of the book as well as the possible nightmares it might evoke for a while. As my fate would have it, someone placed a bet daring me to read the book. I read the first one One Past Midnight
and had to drop off the challenge thanks to the terrifying nightmares.
It took another three years to convince me to try another King and this time the greed of getting more books pulled me in. A friend of mine, an ardent King’s fan, offered to give me some of his books if I read one of his favorites, Rose Madder
. Read this to find what I thought about the book. And like they say, the rest is history. From then on there was no stopping me, and in the past two years I have read quite a few of his seventy, yes you heard it right 70, books.
Until I read Rose Madder, I had associated Stephen King to the horror and supernatural elements and the nightmares that follow, but this book made me fall for the writer that King is. I feel in love with his writing style, his attention to details and more than everything else, the way he can captivate the attention of the reader all through his crazy imagination spell. I admire the way he can make us adore a character that is necessarily sinister and make us realize it is the human nature that is more sinister than the supernatural elements.
With his success as a commercial writer who has a large following, his take on writing and writers have become even more famous than some of his books. His book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
should be on the compulsory read list for any budding writer. Here are some of my favorite quotes of his:
The road to hell is paved with adverbs. – On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.
Humor is almost always anger with its make-up on. Bag of Bones
A little talent is a good thing to have if you want to be a writer. But the only real requirement is the ability to remember every scar.
We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones.
Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule.
If being a kid is about learning how to live, then being a grown-up is about learning how to die. Christine
It ain’t the blows we’re dealt that matter, but the ones we survive. Rose Madder
Reading a good long novel is in many ways like having a long and satisfying affair. Skeleton Crew
Come to a book as you would come to an unexplored land. Come without a map. Explore it, and draw your own map…A book is like a pump. It gives nothing unless first you give to it. Hearts in Atlantis
If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the tools to write. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
God grant me the serenity to accept what I cannot change, the tenacity to change what I may, and the good luck not to fuck up too often. ‘Salem’s Lot
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. When you find something at which you have talent, you do that thing (whatever it is) until your fingers bleed or your eyes pop out of your head. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
For a King fan, it is a good time to be. This year has been great with the IT and The dark tower on the cinemas and The mist and Gerald’s Game (soon to be) on Netflix. So let me know what you think of the king of horror. Did I include all your favorite quotes? Wanna add anything? Share in the comments please.
Happy B’day Uncle Stevie!
![Happy Birthday Stephen King!]()
Drama, review |
One of the many reasons we read fiction is to escape the reality called life. Reading a memoir is like reading fiction for me, as it doesn’t happen to me or anyone I know. For instance, I didn’t realize Memoirs of a Geisha was an actual memoir until I completed it (yeah I kinda missed the point while reading the title) and it did feel like a fiction while reading it. Rarely does a memoir make me feel that the writer did go through these, and they know what they talk about. So when I received Meet Me in Paris from the author I did not expect anything different. So how did it fare on the scale? Read on.
About Meet me in Paris
Book Name: Meet Me in Paris
Author: Juliette Sobanet
Genre: Fiction – Drama, Memoir
Characters: Danielle (Juliette), Nick
Setting: Paris, France
Disclaimer: Thanks to the Author for the free copy of the book, in exchange for an honest review.
This review has been published in the CBC Magazine
Plot Summary of Meet me in Paris
The memoir traces about two to three years of the author’s life, who is a successful romance writer, someone in love with Paris. She is married to her high school sweetheart and their marriage is beyond salvage. Despite their love for each other, she feels she is trapped in her marriage and is seeking an escape. That is when Nick enters into her life and shows her what is to be adored and loved in the two days they spend together away from their spouses.
Yes, Nick is married and has no intention to leave his wife, despite their open relationship. Yet for Danielle it is an eye opener, and she finally decides both she and her husband deserve better, they proceed to separate. Danielle travels to the only place that could offer her the solace and the excitement she needed in her life, where Nick travels just to spend two weeks with her. What happens then? Do the star-crossed lovers spend their lives together? Or is Nick just a rebound?
Book review of Meet me in Paris
I should start with how amazed I am at the author’s courage to wrote about her personal life, especially one that talks about her separation and an affair with a married man. The memoir talked about the period when she was at her most vulnerable when she was in love with someone who would never leave his wife and she has left her husband, albeit not for her lover. Though I didn’t like Danielle’s nor Nick’s character as a person, I understand that is how life is. There are no black and white squares to peg people in. Her memoir takes us through her heartbreak, divorce, hopelessness, depression and also falling in love, figuring out the future and of course travelling, baring her emotions as it is, it can not get truer than this.
Juliette’s writing shows that she is a seasoned romance novelist. I was resonating with her plight to be stuck in a suffocating loveless marriage and having an affair before and during her separation even though it is such a taboo. I think it was only due to her writing style that she made me empathize with her and even, justify her actions. Her love for Nick and his for her could not have been captured any better. Even the intimate scenes were beautifully written and honest to say the least, (Note: not suited for young audience – PG rated.)
A few days ago, one of my friends was saying (read as complaining) that he dropped a book mid-way as it had too many characters while none of them had impact on the storyline. I was genuinely shocked and kinda miffed as well. But I was able to relate to this emotion when I was reading this one. Wow Juliette, you do have so many friends! While I am happy for you, but after a while, it became hard even to remember anyone at all, and you know what, it still didn’t matter as far as the plot was concerned.
Did I relate to her? No.
Did I like her actions and choices? No.
Did I understand her? Yes, and I think that is where a writer in her shone her best.
And yes there were times that I wanted to throw the book at her, for her choices exasperated me but again, that is people do in real life – mess it up and pick the dust to move on. We all mess up, we all do things that in reflection understand we should not have. But to gather what is left and move ahead to make better choices is what Juliette did. That is what I feel about the memoir, a brave and honest attempt.
Bottom line
If you like Eat, Pray and Love – you might like this.
The plot about discovering oneself through travel post-separation might be vaguely similar, but give it a chance you will find it grow on you.
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Let’s chat
Have you read Meet me in Paris by Juliette Sobanet? What is your favorite memoir? Do you like memoirs more than fiction? Let us talk.
review, Thriller |
Last week a friend was discussing in one of the forums about how if a plot had identical twins, then it somehow it involves a case of mistaken identity in most regional movies for ages now. We though proved to him otherwise, had to agree it was the case of the majority. Now if there were identical twins, it could be acceptable that there could be some confusions due to their appearances, but how different can they be based on their interests, personalities or habits. If you have ever wondered how siblings who are born and brought in similar conditions have entirely different personalities, can twins vary so much given that they have been together even prior to birth? This precisely brings us to the crux of this book Mummy’s Little Angel by JW Lawson.
Book Name: Mummy’s Little Angel
Author: JW Lawson
Characters: Annie, Maggie, Joanne (Kristy) Stokes, Jonathan Davies
Disclaimer: Thanks to the iRead Tour for the free copy of the book, in exchange for an honest review.
The story begins with the confused diary entries of the mother Joanna and followed by the twins Annie and Maggie, all talking about mis-fortunate and horrific events that has blown the family apart. Joanna is mobility impaired, her husband is shot and is labeled a pedophile, one of her twin is disfigured and suffers from amnesia due to a fire accident and the other twin is blamed for it all and is imprisoned. Both the daughters love their mother and the mother loves both of them unconditionally and equally, though the daughters do not agree on that. They both have been competing for being ‘Mummy’s Little Angel’ all through their lives, even while they were particularly close to and fond of each other – or were they really?
Joanna does not want to seek the truth but she is pushed to, because one of the twin is lying and the other is innocent but how does one find out when both her daughters have the capability to manipulate everyone around them and get away with it as well? Or are they both equally guilty and trying to hide some more dark secrets? Timing could not be any worse for her schizophrenic mother who had abandoned her twenty years ago, to come back to their lives. Is the Gran somehow connected to all these incidents? It is up to Joanna and her brother Rob to face theirs fears and find the true culprit.
The writing alternates between the diary entries and narrations of the the main characters and their mother . It took me a while to get into the story because of the variations in the voices and these changeovers were too soon for my taste. But once I got into the plot after about 30 pages, I did not drop the book even once for the next two hours. The story thrusts upon the reader mystery after mystery and holds the same suspense and thrill till the last page. More than once I changed my guess on the guiltier person, and the plot thickened even after I completed about 80% of the book, which is highly commendable.
I felt the book could have had some dates to help the reader to form a timeline of the events in his mind, especially since these were diary entries. Though the author had the clarity regarding her plot, there were some untied knots or rather some knots needed better explanation. I wish there had been a clearer narration of what happened on the fateful, yet all I received was biased view from both the sides. Okay, now I am just nitpicking, the last chapter or epilogue could have been done away with and a slightly open ended narration could have let the reader’s imagination run riot.
There may have been places that made me feel the writing could have better but hey the making-me-sit-on-the-edge-of-my-seat plot makes up for everything else. Also be warned of the explicit contents like gory violence and rape, scenes related to pedophilia, ritualism and BDSM and mildly abusive language involved. The first book that I could relate this book to is the Gone Girl, though the plots and the writing are nothing similar. If you liked the Gone Girl and you are in the look out for your next psychological thriller, then here is your next book.
Watch out the space for the review of a popular memoir soon!
![Happy Birthday Stephen King!]()
Quotable quotes |
The last stretch before I reach my milestone of #100daysofbookquotes. Stay back and take a look at how things have been around here.
Like our page to be updated as and when it happens – Our FB page is here
092
There were always in me, two women at least, one woman desperate and bewildered, who felt she was drowning and another who would leap into a scene, as upon a stage, conceal her true emotions because they were weaknesses, helplessness, despair, and present to the world only a smile, an eagerness, curiosity, enthusiasm, interest. – Anaïs Nin
093
“The battle you are going through is not fueled by the words or actions of others; it is fueled by the mind that gives it importance.”
― Shannon L. Alder
095
“We cross our bridges as we come to them and burn them
behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and the presumption that once our eyes watered.”
—Tom Stoppard, Rosencratz and Guildenstern Are Dead
095
“Of course it’s possible to love a human being if you don’t know them too well.”
― Charles Bukowski
096
“I was born good but had grown progressively worse every year.
Scout”
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
097
“When people don’t express themselves, they die one piece at a time.”
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak”
098
“The road to hell is paved with adverbs.”
― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Drama, review |
After a long time, I am writing a review… In fact, after a long time have read a book worth reviewing – Eat Pray Love… Not that it is a classic or must read… But it just is closer to my heart in many terms…
Title: Eat, Pray, Love
ISBN: 0143038419 (ISBN13: 9780143038412
Author: Elizabeth Gilbert
Genre: Memoir
Setting: Italy, India, Bali
Simply I loved the way the term GOD has been dealt with… My philosophy of God is also more similar to Liz’s, maybe less compulsive and more forgiving… But that’s how God is supposed to be… I hate the clutter around the term GOD and since there was none found in her world, things seemed more acceptable…
Secondly, the lucid style in her narration that wasn’t too hard to imagine, yet very pleasant… Her stay at Bali as well as India were just as fresh in our mind as hers… I simply loved the cheeky Richard from Texas and the plumber/poet though they had not much to give the story in terms of substance or the usual clichés…
Wayan and her simple daughter would easily touch anybody’s heart but the reality in them, in terms of being practical enough to squeeze whatever one could from Liz, was much needed in the “too good to be story”… Because this what is the real life is all about, isn’t it?
But again a year taken as sabbatical, is too much to dream of even, so I am happy enough for Liz… God knows none of us could afford it…
Bottom-line: I loved it – not for the writing style or for the wonderful language or any of the technical stuff – but for the realism maintained in an unrealistic environment… J I could not stop imagining Julia Roberts in every scene, even when I have not seen the film yet, So definitely an “one time read” rating for the surreal fairytale…
