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siddharthagolu's reviews
243 reviews
This was a fun read. Or I should say listen. The audiobook is narrated by the author himself and he is no stranger to comedic scenarios. His narration shows that he's a stand-up comedian - the word "bozo" absolutely cracked up me every time he used it! I'd recommend this one just because of the narrator, although subject matter is no less interesting.
A funny account of 40-something "mountain men" taking on the famous Appalachian Trail - a wilderness of nearly 2200 miles, this book made the dormant wanderlust in me want to go out there and have some adventures!
I will never grow tired of listening to Stephen Fry's voice! Listening to him convey the emotions of every character in his unique voice was an altogether different experience than what you get when you're reading the book on your own.
"Open your eyes and see what you can with them, before they close forever"
What a journey! What an incredible, heartbreaking, beautiful and bittersweet journey! Poetry disguised as prose - the phrase that comes to mind while reading this book. Strangely, I felt the same while reading The Book Thief, another beautiful story set in those grim years of World War II. What is it about wars that is so fascinating to authors - maybe the atrocities that are committed, the inevitable doom that casts its shadow over both the perpetrators and the victims, or maybe how despite living in the worst of times imaginable to them, people manage to survive but however brave they are, war leaves a black hole in their hearts that can never be filled.
All the characters are incredibly well-written, especially Marie-Laure LeBlanc, who I think is probably the most beautiful character ever written. The disruptive non-linear narration only adds to the beauty where chapters flow into one another forming a giant interwoven web of stories that manage to shake you from the core.
I'll leave you all with a quote from the book -
“You know the greatest lesson of history? It’s that history is whatever the victors say it is. That’s the lesson. Whoever wins, that’s who decides the history. We act in our own self-interest. Of course we do. Name me a person or a nation who does not. The trick is figuring out where your interests are.”
What a journey! What an incredible, heartbreaking, beautiful and bittersweet journey! Poetry disguised as prose - the phrase that comes to mind while reading this book. Strangely, I felt the same while reading The Book Thief, another beautiful story set in those grim years of World War II. What is it about wars that is so fascinating to authors - maybe the atrocities that are committed, the inevitable doom that casts its shadow over both the perpetrators and the victims, or maybe how despite living in the worst of times imaginable to them, people manage to survive but however brave they are, war leaves a black hole in their hearts that can never be filled.
All the characters are incredibly well-written, especially Marie-Laure LeBlanc, who I think is probably the most beautiful character ever written. The disruptive non-linear narration only adds to the beauty where chapters flow into one another forming a giant interwoven web of stories that manage to shake you from the core.
I'll leave you all with a quote from the book -
“You know the greatest lesson of history? It’s that history is whatever the victors say it is. That’s the lesson. Whoever wins, that’s who decides the history. We act in our own self-interest. Of course we do. Name me a person or a nation who does not. The trick is figuring out where your interests are.”
"Even death has a heart."
This book is a poetry disguised as prose.
Such beautiful sentences, an unusual narrator (you don't come across death sharing his feelings every day), a phenomenal story - heartbreaking to say the least while also maintaining an air of inspiration, a brilliant depiction of History's one of the most devastating periods - living in Germany during World War II.
I cannot recommend this highly enough, people.
This book is a poetry disguised as prose.
Such beautiful sentences, an unusual narrator (you don't come across death sharing his feelings every day), a phenomenal story - heartbreaking to say the least while also maintaining an air of inspiration, a brilliant depiction of History's one of the most devastating periods - living in Germany during World War II.
I cannot recommend this highly enough, people.
I'd recommend every Potter fan out there to listen to the audiobook version, even if they've already read the books. Stephen Fry's voice is really amazing! And speaking of this book, when I'd first read it, it seemed that Rowling made this book unnecessarily lengthy, and I also was really annoyed by Harry's behaviour. But listening to the book just after finishing Goblet of Fire made me understand and appreciate Harry's angst and alienation. The boy had just seen a friend getting killed right in front of his eyes, and on top of that everyone was avoiding him and telling him a liar - it was bound to have made anyone angry and bitter.
Absurdist classic - that's certainly the best way to describe this book! Kurt beautifully interweaves humor with brutal realities of war, which is aided by the strange storyline of the book. Through the Tralfamadorian philosophy, he points the flaws in us Earthlings' way of living the life. As one of the characters say in the book -
"That's one thing Earthlings might learn to do, if they tried hard enough: Ignore the awful times, and concentrate on the good ones."
"That's one thing Earthlings might learn to do, if they tried hard enough: Ignore the awful times, and concentrate on the good ones."