Prolific Living

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Dan Brown: “The Lost Symbol”

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Finally, I broke the sweet spell of Anna Karenina! Not counting the wonderful short read of Alice in Wonderland on my iPhone, I managed to finish a respectable book following Tolstoy: Dan Brown’s “The Lost Symbol”. Truth be told, I pre-ordered my copy last September (can you tell how I felt about The DaVinci Code, not to mention Angels & Demons?) and let it collect dust, waiting for inspiration to hit me (A Washington DC setting? Really? After Italy and France?), and I kept waiting. After seeing this book featured in every imaginable book store window everywhere during my recent travels (Montreal, Seattle, DC, Argentina, London, Hawaii, you-name-it), my curiosity got the best of me and two weeks ago, I cracked open this 509 page hard cover, determined not to stop til all lost symbols were found and clearly explained!

Reading the Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

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Travels for the Soul: Florence, the Renaissance and Italian Gelato

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Brunelleschi Dome Florence Italy

I fantasize about living in Florence(Firenze) in the 15th century Renaissance period in Italy. I try to imagine walking, observing and absorbing the explosion of Renaissance from a roof top and a street corner. What lofty reverie to witness the brilliant hands of Michelangelo sculpting and Leonardo da Vinci painting timeless masterpieces. How would you watch a genius at work? How do you take it all in? [Read more…] about Travels for the Soul: Florence, the Renaissance and Italian Gelato

John Irving: “A Prayer for Owen Meany”

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Reading A Prayer for Owen Meany in the balcony

“A Prayer for Owen Meany” by John Irving is an uncommon story. It is a compelling read but not an easy one. The writing evokes so much anxiety, sadness, pleasure, frustration, and laughter throughout but most of all, you read with unquenchable curiosity about the character whose name bears the title of the book, a character you will be hard pressed to ever forget: Owen Meany.

The themes of Christianity along with discrepancies of various denominations, American politics and foreign policies, Vietnam war, and life in New England small towns among other similar subplots shape the backdrop of this book. Themes and elements which fall entirely outside my general reading genre. Even so, I believe we sometimes should seek diversion [Read more…] about John Irving: “A Prayer for Owen Meany”

“The Last Station”: One year in the life of world’s beloved novelist – Leo Tolstoy

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Leo Tolstoy Quote | Everything I love

Reading Anna Karenina has been so overwhelming and gratifying that I chose to walk away from it for a short while. I decided to take time to digest the scope, the breadth, the depth in this masterpiece of a novel. It is of course an overly ambitious task to ever digest it all. This is only my first reading by the Russian novelist, Leo Tolstoy, but most definitely not my last. So it was especially fortuitous when we chose to watch “The Last Station” about his life on a girls’ night out celebrating Russia’s International Women Day on Monday, March the 8th. [Read more…] about “The Last Station”: One year in the life of world’s beloved novelist – Leo Tolstoy

Why to Read the Classics: Celebrating our Literary Heritage

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Aside from a handful of reading assignments in high school and a few beloved thick classics which slipped through, I turned my back to literature and the classics for the sake of science, engineering, and a career in technology.

“How on earth would English Literature or any other classic help me toward excelling in grad school or getting the next promotion?”, I thought, tossing aside even the remote possibility of engaging in such an activity. Quite rightly, it probably would not have helped me. Jane Austen or Emily Brontë would have never been instrumental in writing my thesis on “Effects of pulse shape on performance of Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum Multiple Access communication systems“! Or in getting that next promotion, for that matter. [Read more…] about Why to Read the Classics: Celebrating our Literary Heritage

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