‘The Devil and Miss Prym’ by Paulo Coelho

A stranger arrives at a sleepy village high in the mountains and shows the disillusioned barmaid, Miss Prym, a bar of gold he has hidden in the woods and tells her of another nine nearby. She must inform the townsfolk of his offer – if one person in the village is murdered by the end of the week, the village will receive the ten bars of gold.

This book is based around choices, two of them. The first is Miss Prym’s – she can choose to steal the one gold bar she knows the location of and run off to the city to pursue her dreams. This would not only help her live the life she always dreamed of, but also protect her neighbours from having to make an agonizing decision. On the other hand, the more moral choice would be to not steal the gold, and not to tell the villagers of the stranger’s offer so that all concerned could preserve their moral integrity. However, should Miss Prym start down this path, the stranger has promised that he will inform the citizens himself and they will likely resent the barmaid for hiding this information and choose her as the sacrificial victim.

The second choice is obviously that of the villagers – whether they should accept the gold offered to them to save their dying village and murder an innocent inhabitant, or let their home wink out of existence, but stay on the side of righteousness.

Paulo Coelho is an immensely talented author who somehow manages to get right inside characters. He did it magnificently with the stranger who is trying to convince himself there is still good left in the world and with Miss Prym, who is facing the most terrifying decision she has ever had to make. Somehow, nobody in the book felt to me like a bad person – some were unlikeable.
To me, the essence of this book is good vs evil, and that perhaps it’s not always as clear cut a choice as it seems. There have been many books on this topic already, but not like this one. This is a very specific, very personal look at what people can do when pushed. Religion occasionally comes into it, as does the Devil, but it’s more in a spiritual way.

Reviewed by Arshia.V

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‘In the Orchard, the Swallows’ by Peter Hobbs

In the novel the orchard  the swallows a stirring novella by Peter hobbs.  In this novel a nameless person is love with the  daughter of a wealthiest person in the village . For that he is send to the prison where no access to fresh air and sanitation. 

 

A QUOTE  OF THIS NOVEL :“love must be shared or else it is just a madness “.

CHARACTERS  :A nameless person ,Saba, Abbas, Alifa

I liked this book very much because it is about justice for love

More over it is very special for me.

I recommend this book to all especially those who like love,romantic and fiction.

Everybody should read this book because l am sure,  you like it.

‘Origin’ by Dan Brown

Nothing is invented, for its written in nature first.

Originality consists of returning to the Origin.

By Anthoni Gaudi

Origin is the fifth and latest thriller involving Robert Langdon, the Harvard University professor of Symbology and religious iconology. and a famous art historian. He arrived at Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao in Spain to attend an event hosted by his friend and former student , Edmond Kirsch, a forty year old computer wizard and tech magnate,  specialized in game theory and computer modelling. A well known atheist and one of the wealthiest men on earth, his predictions have made him one of the most controversial figure around the world. That evening Kirsch was going to announce a scientific discovery which will shake the very foundation of religions as he claimed , in the presence of a few hundreds of  selected guests. Langdon one among them which  also live streamed to the world.

Before  the programme the guests were given a guided tour in the Guggenheim museum which houses modern art work and installations. Langdon learnt that his British accented docent, Winston, guiding him through the special two way head set ,was actually not human but synthetic intelligence devised by  Edmond Kirsch himself. Even though Langdon had a dislike for the modern art , he enjoyed his tour in the museum as each artefact was well documented to him by Winston. At the end Winston guided him to meet Kirsch who informed him that the presentation is about unveiling of two universal mysteries ,’where do we come from? and Where are we going?’ that is human creation and human destiny. Science and religion , from time immemorial is trying to find the answer to these questions.  Kirsch made a scientific breakthrough which answers the age old mysteries , but will have serious repercussions on religion. Considering Langdon’s earlier advice to consult religious leaders before going public on predictions involving faith and religion ,he had a meeting with religious leaders representing three major religions, Bishop Antonio Valdespino, a deeply conservative and powerful figure in Spanish Catholic church and confidante of King of Spain, Allamah -al- Fadl, a scholar of Islam and Rabbi Yehuda Koves a prominent Jewish philosopher. He had presented before them his discovery which challenges the existence of God. Kirsch now feared for his life as Bishop Valdespino was against going him public with his discovery and had sent him a warning message.

The meticulously choreographed event went berserk before the discovery being announced with the brutal assassination of the futurist Edmond Kirsch in front of the whole world, watching the presentation.  Langdon embarked on a mission to unveil his friend’s discovery along with Ms. Ambra Vidal , the Guggenheim museum director, with whom Kirsch had planned the evening’s  proceedings. Ambra Vidal is the future queen of Spain as she is the fiancée of Prince Julian , the heir to the throne of the ailing king of Spain. Together they fled to Barcelona assisted by Winston on a perilous quest to locate a cryptic password by which Kirsch’s discovery can be revealed to the world. The paranoid computer wizard had told Ambra that the password is of 47 letters long and it is his favourite line of poetry which he never forget. Apparently by some people did not want the discovery come to light , Langdon and Ambra had to fight an enemy one step ahead of them at every turn. With Langdon’s knowledge of History, Art and symbols and Winston’s help succeeded  to fulfil Kirsch’s wish. Who was behind Kirsch’s murder? and Why? What is Kirsch’s scientific discovery? To find out answers to these questions read ‘Origin’.

All Dan Brown novels are well researched and give the connection between Science , Art and History.  ‘Origin’ is also no exception and the fight among Science and Religion is also prevalent. Not only the potency of artificial intelligence but its ruthlessness is also important in the matters of  decision making. I doubt that ,if we visit those places , monuments and Cathedrals, for example, The Sagrada familia, can we find this much finer details as given in the book? Even though the suspense factor is not as gripping as in Da Vinci Code or other Dan Brown novels, it is one of a kind. The perfect combination of Science , History and fiction makes this book a must read for everybody.

Reviewed by Valsalakumari M S, PGT(Physics)

 

‘The Adventures Of Robinson Crusoe’ by Daniel Defoe

The name of the book that I read as part of FAB challenge is “The Adventures Of Robinson Crusoe”.It is one of the world’s most popular adventure novels written by Daniel Defoe. The Adventures Of Robinson Crusoe is a classic tale of shipwreck and survival on an uninhabited island. It is based on a true story. This is a very interesting book.

Even though Robinson Crusoe is a fictional character, he has crossed over from fiction to fact in the minds of many people. The book ends with a hint about a sequel that would detail his return to the island, which has since been discovered. This is a book full of surprises in it. This book contains 238 pages in 24 contents. You can buy this book for  ₹150 or you can get it from our library. I Ansa Fathima personally recommend this book to you.

Reviewed by Ansa Fathima

Book Talk:’Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows’ by Apsara Jose

Book Talk: ‘Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone’ by Aparna Jose

‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’ by J. K. Rowling

I chose ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’ by JK Rowling for my this year’s FaB challenge. This is the second book of the Harry Potter series.

The main characters of the book are Harry Potter-a young wizard, Ron Wesley -Harry’s best friend  who steals his father’s flying car to take  Harry  and himself  to Hogwarts and Hermione Granger -Harry’s another best friend who is the smartest student of their year.  The story starts with number 4 private door where Harry leads a miserable life with his uncle aunt and cousin. Harry waits for the vacation to come to an end so that he could return to Hogwarts. But a house elf named Dobby warns him not to return to Hogwarts. Harry  expects it be a normal year but things happened beyond his expectations, a Chamber of Secrets is opened and oncemore Harry has to put his life in danger. At last Harry wins but the mysteries are not over for ever.

I liked this book very much. I suggest it to all who love to read fantasy and action  stories.I give it a rating of 5/5.

Reviewed by Navneet Anand