"That's one of the remarkable things about life. It's never so bad that it can't get worse."--Calvin
The quotes are back!
Aaaah I'm just bursting to post. This one will be long, folks. I bet most of you won't even read the whole thing, but I hope everyone will find something of interest.
Okay, so I guess it's basically a book update. But not only. Oh wait, you'll see.
I started reading The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy in May. Took long enough to finish it, but never got around to posting about it. So now, here it is.
This book was Arundhati Roy's first novel, and it went on to receive the Booker Prize in 1997. (Note to Nids: AR was born in Shillong). The book has been in my house for decades, just one of those books (as Anhiti puts it) that lie around. Still, I can't believe I was idiotic enough to have missed out on it all these years. It's the story of a pair of twins (Estha and Rahel) with a telepathic connection (this is a really lame way to put it), who are submerged in a tragedy that engulfs them and cuts short their childhood; and how they gradually understand it and try to come to terms with it. The minute I started it, I fell in love with the way she writes. It propelled me into my own childhood (super-quick). I could just feel the curiosity of the children leaping off the page, the wide-eyed innocent curiosity that adults have the habit of squashing, the kind of curiosity that leads to proper noun-ed ideas. The book is brilliantly written. It's all about the unconventional, about breaking rules that have been set for generations. And I'd recommend it to everyone, even though it does have some ideas that I still can't deal with.
And it made me watch The Sound of Music for the umpteenth time. Oh, don't I just *love* that movie? I decided to do a bit of research on google, and look what I found.
The von Trapp kids. Then and Now.
Guess who's who? :D
And then there was Calvin. Nids (and Sahana) finally convinced me to read Bill Watterson's comic books, and even though I'm not really into comics I decided to give it a shot. And omg, I *love* it. Hilarious. I love little 6-year-olds with fertile imaginations. Reminds me of the time I was little (wait, I've said something on these lines already...) and had imaginary friends. Imaginary friends, bless me!
And now, the most exciting (for me) part of my post. Before I reveal it, I would like to thank Kevin Sullivan, YouTube and people who take the time to upload stuff for lazy bums like me. Okay okay, I'll end the suspense. But before that, I should warn the guys that they should be prepared for Highly Boring (for them) and High-Cuteness-Quotient (HCQ) Stuff. Or go take a hike.
Anne Shirley! Anne of Green Gables! L.M. Montgomery! Gilbert Blythe!
Ring a bell?
Okay, for the uninitiated, Anne Shirley is the protagonist of Anne of Green Gables, the first book in the Anne series, by L.M. Montgomery. And for the dumb, Gilbert is *obviously* the male lead. :) So don't worry, I won't bore you with summaries. You have to read it to believe it. But its like my favoritest* series in the world. I would've loved to live in those times. I like to think I'm like Anne, you know, imaginative, in love with beauty and literature and Tennyson. Skinny. I suppose only the red hair and Gilbert are missing. Hmph.
Well, now the reason I mentioned all this is that I discovered that there's an Anne movie. (Haha, try saying that aloud). Three of them, in fact. They're directed by Kevin Sullivan, and they're up on YouTube!! *bliss* I just finished watching the first one, and it's amazing. Almost sticks to the book, and Megan Follows is the perfectest* Anne, slim and dreamy and talkative, and has the adorablest* smile ever. *goes into raptures of delight* And oh, thanks Nids for quoting Anne on your blog and giving me the wonderful brainwave of hunting on YT :)
I suppose you've had enough now, so I'll leave you with one of my favorite scenes in the story--the one in which Anne smashes her slate over Gilbert's head because he calls her "carrots", and later she dyes her hair green. Enjoy!
*Yes, I'm aware that "favoritest", "perfectest" and "adorablest" are not words, thank you.
15 comments:
not fair. that pic was on my blog a year ago. you ever bother with the credits, why dont you.
and you didnt mention its my calvin hobbes you're currently despoiling.
n how about letting me take the book to the author's birthplace.
ok, i'm not in a commenty mood.
4hrs of making picture collages doesnt do wonders to your temper.
wow... ur not just pretending to be busy... u really HAVE been busy!
1.God of Small Things- Well written, contemporary, but i dint like the psycho insights of EStha and Rahel... it spooked me how theyr soo unnatural and not innocent.
The Lemondrink Man was SICK
2. Better read Ann of __ again
3. Better watch Sound of Music :S
have fun, obsessing u Lit Geek
well, what made me read this post was the Calvin quote u had right on top.
and as calvin is the greatest and best, i just had to read on through but then soon i reached the later parts(those paragraphs towards the end seemed all PINK and FLOWERY and CUTE and SWEET and UGHH *cant take anymore*)
i havent read God of small things or the Montgomery books.
But, Calvin...hey-ho he's the lord of all. One of my fav calvin quotes is:-
"That’s the problem with life. It rolls along with speed you cannot control. You can’t go faster or slower. Fun experiences always go roaring by while bad experiences never pass quickly enough."
@nids: Credits added. And oh, yea that pic was on your blog, I just remembered!!
And i'm not "despoiling" your book. Hmph.
And OH, you meant GOST. I should've read this comment earlier, no?
You're excused. :) *i'm bursting to praise the collage, but I think it deserves a post :)*
@bab: Call this busy? Oh ok. :)
So tell me, were you innocent when you were a kid? ( I was, still am for that matter, but i'm just curious :P)
And you dont have to mention the drinkman *shudder*
2 & 3=yes and yes.
Okay, you fellow-Lit Geek (or should I say "English buddy"? Honestly! *eyeroll*)
No Nids, I'm NOT posting this separately to increase the no. of comments. Just thought I'd mention it. Human beings can be so dense.
Okay, I think we're killing that joke.
And people, it wouldnt kill you to read a long post for a change! (Dang, where art thou?)
@Thor: Yea Calvin sure rocks!
And oh, you're a guy so...*hint* And I did warn you :) And don't worry, I don't often post "pink, flowery, cute, sweet" stuff :P
Wow, wasn't this like your longest post ever?!
And I'm there yeah, but I'm just being lazy, you know how I am. If you had watched that silly movie called One Two Three, I would've said "Aap toh mera nature jaante hi ho" like Paresh Rawal. But you must not have watched it. You're an intelligent girl, you don't watch stupid movies. Or do you? :P
Calvin is God. No further statements needed. I'm stealing Nids' door while she's away on her holiday. Wanna conspire?
I've been meaning to read Arundhati Roy for a long time. I remember going to my Massi's place and seeing GOST lying there. But I didn't have time then. I'm stuck with this Irving Wallace book which refuses to end. It's an interesting story actually where a Negro becomes the President of US of A by mistake. Very apt now that Barack Obama is all set to become President. But darn, it's too big. And then there's Digital Fortress to read after that. And then I need to start on Jhumpa Lahiri. Damn. I need another life for all this. :/
The reason why I'm writing irrelevant things is that I haven't watched anything else you mentioned. But that before-after picture is nice. The guy between the two girls in the second row in the first picture is the one with spectacles in the second picture, isn't he? Man, people change big time.
I have no idea about Anne of Green Gables so I'll be as dumb as I can be. I don't like the way the guy is looking at the girl in that picture. Isn't he a little old to be looking at her like that? :S
didn't you say that the other two movies of anne aren't quite like the books?
and NO, this won't convince me to read them so there :P
i can recognise three of the kids, btw ... the rest, well, are you quite sure these are the ones :D :D ?
Happy birthday :-)
Do check out the reader's paradise.
God Bless you
Happy Birthday Doe!!
Fellow Sea of Poppies buddy!!
And i'm gonna send u the pics u need pronto
Cheers and many happy returns!!
Hey! Happy Birthday...!
Happy Budday! :D
oooh...who is who????
i'm dying to know!!! the blonde's martha right??
omg soo cute...lol julie andrews shudve been thr too! man they r OLD! but very chic :P
The way AR wrote was certainly more than brilliant, although what she wrote wasn't, intermittantly.
After you're done with Calvin & Hobbes, start with Garfield.. It's almost as good as that. I felt empty after finishing with C&H today!
..And just came to know that it was your birthday a while ago..
Belated Happening Birthday
['Happy' is to cliche and mundane :-D]
OH DEAR!!
Okay..
@dang: Yea, maybe it's long. So? Look who's talking! :P
And no, I don't watch stupid movies. Duh.
And yea, I totally wanna steal Nids' door. I don't need to conspire with you though, since I want it all to myself and I know where she lives. Yay me!
I need another life to read all the books I want to, too. Sniff. But that Irving Wallace sounds fun!
And Ishmeet!! Haven't you ever looked at a girl like that??? LOL!!
And that guy in the before picture is not that guy in the after picture! Hehe, see my reply to Lemonade :)
@sahil: I didn't know that when I posted, okay?
And yes, they are them :P :P
@tsshar, perx, vasudha: Thank you so much :)
@anhiti: yea, you so totally sent the pics pronto *eyeroll*
@lemonade: Okay, let me see. (starting left, top row) It's Liesl (Charmian Carr), Friedrich (Nicholas Hammond), Louisa (Heather Menzies), Kurt (Duane Chase), and (bottom row, left) Brigitta (Angela Cartwright), Marta (Debbie Turner) and Gretl (Kym Karath).
:-)
@michelle: :-) I love these pics! And the movie :-)
@nerd: Haha, thank you :)
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