the ring, the deathstick, the dollar and 42

As most of you might have guessed by now (how would you??the last one’s quite a bit of a toughie for newbies!!) these are the heights or depths or widths of my reading…

I am actually a fan of fantasies..although sometimes in an elite group that I would admit that I actually like to read non-fiction/ biographies/ autobiographies/ self help/ nothing and I am presuming that none of those elite get to read what I write now.

The primary reason is that in a fantasy novel, there seems a reason for me to go on…I want to know what happens next!! In a non fiction novel read in a very non fictitious kind of a way…there is nothing!! And these fantasies mind you are no work of nitwits like Sidney Sheldon, Tom Clancy or for that matter the booker of bookers Salman Rushdie.

Let me begin by the book that I read first- codenamed the dollar:
The books description talks about a dystopian (whoa!! What??) world where the people who created wealth destroy their earthly possessions and let the world go to ruin. They then come back and rebuild the world as they would like it to be. I would like to state here for the record, that this is my most favourite book till date. I kind of idolize this book and the suthor!! I have gained lots from this book. You can say that it has shaped almost 40% of my thoughts. Whenever I encounter a situation closely resembling the ones in the book…I say to myself….I am the motor of this world. If I stop, everything stops and that has helped me avoid lots of nasty memories.


The second book – codenamed 42:
This book is actually a comedy or as I found it while reading, a sarcasm on most of the more mundane human habits like queuing, following cricket, deodorants, restaurants etc etc etc. without going back into the details of why or when I bought it, I would say that it was the most humorous of the books I read!! Of strange creatures in strange lands- people claiming that earth is actually a computer made to understand the meaning of life, that the mice are actually very intelligent creatures and that they are experimenting on them. That earth was actually a very boring planet according to the guide and that robots who could think would curse themselves for being made to do such boring activities like opening a door!! Nothing to take from this one…this was just pure fun.

The third one- codenamed Deathstick:

This one blew me off!! Quite simply the best of the lot penned by the author. One of the characters especially intrigued me. The one whom I thought would be a villain was shown as the hero at the very last and how!! Things to take away…unending love. Love which could make you lose your life and yet you stick on to it. Never letting the other person know that you were actually his benefactor and stoically going on through life. Some would comment that it was afterall a fantasy, but my dearies…it is fantasy that we should strive to achieve. Who wants to achieve the possible?

And the last and yet unfinished- the ring

This is quite simply as fantastic as fantasy can get. The author invented a language, to support the language he created people. For their staying he created kingdoms. For those kingdoms he gave rivers, deserts, mountains and roads. And for those kind souls who created all that was good in the Arda, he created the Undying Lands. The story of the book is not as fantastic as the mythology. It is exactly this reason why I have put this one and all the others related to it in my sixth five year plan. Hopefully, five years down the line I should like to write a critique on the author in Sindarin and not in English.

PS- I wanted this post because I thought I was really becoming a victim. I hope I shall not be so from now on.