Skip to main content

A place called Freedom


Sunday,may25,2008,3.12 a.m

After staring around this computer for past one hour, doing nothing, i decided to do something which should have been done with more spare time in hand.I opened up that huge box, where the better part of books collection is kept.I fished out a very great book to write about. Its titled "A place called freedom" and written by best selling author ken Follett. When i had bought this book, i had just bought it, it didn't cost me much, and after reading so many books, now it doesn't matter much which book or author i read.It was 13th January, lohri.this year .i bought this book, a 1996 imprint i guess.

Genre- Fiction

Age Factor- 16 and above [If you wait till 18 its better, but if you are mature enough to read a bit emotionally disturbing sequences go for it]

The book
I haven't read such stirring and a unique story ever before.So for me the experience was wonderful.This was the first book, i read written by ken, so i had no perceived expectations from the author.But he wrote such a though provoking story of a boy,mach, enslaved in coal mines.He wishes to escape to lands unknown, and the female protagonist, Lizzie who is herself in a fixed situation, finds a common chord between mach and herself.This book has,romance,thrill,adventure,politics,slavery and even the living conditions of people years ago has been highlighted well. After reading this book, i was moved, both intellectually as well as emotionally.I write here an example, a very small little one.There is this girl mach likes.She wears an underwear only on sundays.[i write it here because in the story this fact is highlighted]
Now when i read it, the girl is so poor that she has the luxury of an underwear only on sundays,
I was like OMG!!!then again it was mentioned, again it was like OMG!! but later i reflected its just an underwear, there will be lakhs of girls around the world, who don't afford a small undergarment.We talk about so many advancements that human race has made.These little things, provokes you to think back.
Like i wrote before, i have read uncountable number of books in my short life, but only few could hit so hard as this one did.
What is freedom?Now i reflect.What's the price one pays for his/her freedom?I think.
If you can lay your hands on this masterpiece by Ken Follett,do read it,although its a bit thick for not so voracious readers.[450 pages]. A book,every living soul should read in his/her lifetime.

Gifting Ideas
I got no idea,how much it will cost, around 300 rupees is my guess.Since i recommend that everyone once should read it,once,so its a good gift.Especially for those of your friends or family who are fond of collecting books.Those fond of history of America or The united Kingdom
should also like this gift.

A thought to share
Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers. Charles W. Eliot

Jai Sri ram !!!

Comments

Also read

What if you could undo every regret? An uncomfortable conversation with The Midnight Library

Have you ever replayed your life at night, wondering how things might have turned out differently? The Midnight Library by Matt Haig asks you to sit with that question. Through Nora Seed’s quiet despair and imagined alternatives, the novel explores regret, possibility, depression, and the fragile hope that living at all might be enough. Have you ever wondered if one different choice could have changed everything? You probably have. Most people do. Usually at night. Usually when the world goes quiet and your mind decides to reopen old files you never asked it to keep. The job you did not take. The person you loved too late or too briefly. The version of yourself that felt possible once. You tell yourself that if you had chosen differently, life would feel fuller, cleaner, less heavy. The Midnight Library begins exactly there, in that familiar ache. Not with drama, but with exhaustion. Not with chaos, but with a woman who feels she has quietly failed at everything that mattered. Mat...

Epitome of equality

First of all This is not to demean any religion.. I am a Hindu by birth, but yes I respect all religions .I offer my daily prayers , fast on holy days , but there was something that was disturbing me . God as per me was a Friend, someone who was by my side always , someone who was a dear friend , but this is not what everyone else thought , for others he was the Judge who gives his verdict always and punishes anyone and everyone . Walk into any temple and you would see , if you have money , you will be treated in a way as if you are the ONLY disciple of the God . I have had too many experiences where I was treated as a second class citizen in the temple . Why? Well I could not afford giving thousands as donation. This is not how it should be , God looks at each one of us with the same divinity .As I mentioned God for me is a friend, so tell me, do we chose friends based on their bank balances? Do we give our verdict on them ? then how can God do it? I know many of us would ...

Does India need communal parties?

I think, it was Tan's post on this blog itself, Republic Day Event, where this question was raised. My answer. YES. we need communal parties even in Independent, Secular India. Now let me take you, back to events before 1947. When India was a colony of the British Empire. The congress party, in its attempt to gain momentum for the independence movement, heavily used Hinduism, an example of which is the famous Ganesh Utsav held in Mumbai every year. Who complains? No one. But at that time, due to various policies of the congress, Muslims started feeling alienated. Jinnah, in these times, got stubborn over the need of Pakistan and he did find a lot of supporters. Congress, up till late 1940's never got bothered by it. And why should we? Who complains? No one. But there were repercussions. The way people were butchered and slaughtered during that brief time when India got partitioned, was even worse than a civil war scenario. All in the name of religion. And there indeed was cr...