Fiction Lover's Must Read: Jeffrey Archer’s - Only Time Will Tell

It’s been some time since JEFFREY ARCHER released his latest book –“Only Time Will Tell”, but its profuse popularity & widespread readership calls for a mention on the blog.

This is first of the five-book series: The Clifton Chronicles which is acclaimed to be Jeffrey Archer’s “most ambitious work in four decades as an international bestselling author”.

“Only time will tell” is set in 1919 in the backstreets of Bristol & revolves around a certain Harry Clifton’s life. The book starts with Maisie’s (Harry’s mother) side of the story of his father’s tragic but noble death as a war hero. Thereon, the book grips the reader in its ingenious plot of deception & enigma that envelopes his father’s death. However, it isn’t before 21 turbulent years that Harry discovers the truth.

                                                          

What gives it multiple facets is that the different characters give a different picture of the same story. As Harry discovers how his father really died, he is lead on to a bigger question? Is he really the son of Arthur Clifton, a stevedore who worked in Bristol docks, if not who is his father?

Around the destruction of the Great War to the outbreak of the Second World War, Harry must decide whether to take his place at Oxford, or join the fight against Hitlers’ Germany.

                                                              

In Jeffrey Archer’s masterful hands, the reader will be taken on a journey that he won’t want to end, even after he has turned the last page of this unforgettable yarn, because then he will be faced with a dilemma that neither him nor Harry Clifton could even have anticipated….

Special mention to the popularity of the book

This one, like most of Archer’s books climbed to the top of the best-seller charts within days of its release.

Plus, Jeffrey Archer visiting India himself simply helped the skyrocketing numbers that the book sales reached.  On his arrival in Chennai, India, he learned about the overwhelming response that Only Time Will Tell had garnered reaching number one on the bestseller list in India after just two days of it’s release.

A number of articles in leading newspapers and sights only go on to prove the intense regard for the author’s work.

DID YOU KNOW :
The readership of his books is much higher in India, even though sales figures are about the same as in major countries. According to a survey, in India approximately 25 people read one copy of a book, whereas in the Unites States and Europe only 2.5 people read a copy – Thanks to the online book rental services which help more people read.


So, fiction lovers & followers, if you haven’t read it yet, what are you waiting for!
Follow the link & order it now, from librarywala. 

BOOK REVIEW : The Death Instinct by Jed Rubenfeld

‘Death Instinct’ uses a real unsolved mystery as its premise and the author manages to convey a plausible solution to a crime taken place almost a century ago.  In doing this, he also takes us through post World War I Europe – a World where people travelled in horse drawn carriages, lived hand to mouth existences, travelled in planes when the trains were unavailable – A world on the cusp of a huge shift to modernity.

On September 16, 1920, a bomb ripped through New York’s Wall Street killing and injuring many, and also shattering the fragile peace of the World just out of a major war.

The story of ‘Death Instinct’ revolves around this bombing and three main characters - War veteran Stratham Younger, James Littlemore of the NYPD and a French radiochemist Collette Rousseau. If Younger has his sights set on gaining Collette’s affection, Collette herself is striving to solve the mystery of her kid brother Luc’s silence and also the whereabouts of her fiancé Hans Greuber. On the other hand, Littlemore has his energies towards solving the mystery of the bombing. The three stories come together in a climax which reveals the truth about many respected and highly placed individuals of the time.

The premise of the story is fascinating as it has a blend of fact and fiction. As the author’s note in the end says, a lot of the characters in the story, names and all, are real. The situations are also real and in that way, the book is a slice of history. The usage of radioactivity in medicine, the advent of air travel, funnily shaped motor vehicle- all form a part of the tale.

For me, the biggest plus about the book was its being set during the times of World War I. Having read a lot of literature featuring the world around and after the Second World War, this different scenario was refreshing. The glimpses into Madame Curie’s life and her struggle to procure radium for curing people of their diseases is aptly documented as one of the defining events of that era. Also interesting was Sigmund Freud’s analysis of human mind which was gaining prominence during that time. It was he who suggested that humans have two instincts, an instinct to survive as well as a Death Instinct.

JED RUBENFELD

But on the flip side, the book feels inordinately long. Divided into four parts, once can’t help but wish that there were lesser pages to read. The writing is slow at times, thereby testing the reader’s patience. The portions involving Younger and Rousseau are pleasing to read but the parts with Littlemore at centre stage are a little dull. Also, I personally got a little confused at a number of points in the story because there are too many characters to follow.

To sum up, ‘Death Instinct’ is a book which will be liked by readers who enjoy taking a peek into eras gone by. For the more practical readers, it might appear to be long and laborious journey. For me, it is a 3 out of 5 stars book, an average read!

Book reviewed by Srilaxmi Pai

- a Librarywala.com member 

Pink Slips before Publishing

We read books authored by celebrated writers and think they all perfected the art of writing at the very beginning. What we read is incredible, its brilliance hits us the moment we pick up the book.  But do these writers really elevate to this platform without struggling ?  

Let's break the myth. 

You will be surprised to note the number of times, your favorite author was let down before their oh-so-awesome best seller was first published!

Whatever genre the author may choose to weave his book around, there is a need for persistence and resilience to succeed – both essential to an author longing for his work to get its due recognition.
Here are 10 best known authors who treaded this difficult path to success & today, they veritably epitomize the same:

James Joyce

James Joyce's Ulysses was rejected by several publishers given on obscenity basis. It is now proclaimed to be one of the most beautifully written, widely read books.  
       
Jack Canfield & Mark Victor Hansen

The series that has portions with a flavor to suit each section of its audience, Chicken Soup for the Soul received no less than 134 rejections before publication.

Meg Cabot

 

The series most sought after by preteen & teenage girls The Princess Diaries received a mail bag of rejection letters too. Life isn’t a always a fairy tale after all!! ;)

Richard Bach

                                                 

18 publishers thought a book about a seagull was ridiculous before Jonathan Livingston Seagull started conquering the skies with his passion for self - perfection.

James Patterson

The celebrated author, James Patterson humbled the 26 publishers who had rejected him earlier, when his book won the Edgar Award in 1977 .

Rudyard Kipling

In one rejection letter, Mr. Kipling was told he doesn't know how to use the English language. Kipling received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907

J.K.Rowling 

The enchanting series of Harry Potter & his wizarding adventures was submitted to 12 publishing houses, all of who rejected it. From being unbelievable to raking in sales of 400 million dollars is what we would probably call J.K.Rowling’s witchcraft.

Joseph Heller

                                                    

Story after story that he wrote as a teenager were rejected by the New York Daily News. But his work in humor-filled novel Catch-22 Joseph Heller must have given the New York Daily News a run for their money.

Margaret Mitchell

Margaret Mitchell’s popular novel Gone with the Wind was showed the door 38 times before being published. Today, even after 75 years of its first edition, it is one of the most sought after classics.

James Baldwin

Baldwin admitted that his publisher first told him to "burn" the book because of the homosexual theme. However, upon publication Giovanni's Room was ranked number 2 on a list of the best 100 novels compiled by The Publishing Triangle in 1999.

As Flavia Weedn rightly put it “If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again.”  ~, Flavia and the Dream Maker, and that’s the learning curve for the writers & writers to-be fraternity.

Don't give up! If your aspirations are to become an eminent writer one day, the journey is not going to be an easy sail through. Their shall be intense struggle involved. But keep up your chin and you might soon be in the list of best selling authors.
- Librarywala



"Leading characters in fiction" by Nitisha Pande

"Often times when we read, we experience something not short of incredible.

We laugh out loud at a Suppandi joke we’re reading at the train station. We spend sleepless nights over a novel by Stephen King. We are filled with impassioned idealism after reading Rand. We hold back tears while flipping the pages of a Nicholas Sparks novel.

That is the power of words.  It allows us, rather provokes us, to imagine. To let our imagination run wild.What turns a novel from good to great, from forgettable to memorable, is the strength with which the characters are portrayed. Some characters inspire, some make us question, but their most common consequence is, they become a part of our mental imagery. Indelible images are imprinted in our mind of the Howard Roarks’ and Jason Bournes’ of the literary world, which is why avid readers often shirk from watching the film adaptions of their favourite books.  Here’s a bunch of characters that have made their place in fiction, for eternity.

1. Sherlock Holmes

(Adventures of Sherlock Holmes –

Sir  Arthur Conan Doyle)

Detective par excellence, chemist, violin player, boxer, swordsman- these are just a few of the talents Doyle embodied Holmes with.  Even for the non-reader, Sherlock Holmes is the archetypical spy and crime solver. He has cemented his position as the most loved detective in the fiction scene.

Unforgettable Quote: "How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth? We know that he did not come through the door, the window, or the chimney. We also know that he could not have been concealed in the room, as there is no concealment possible. When, then, did he come?"

2.  Howard Roark and Dagny Taggart



The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

If you check on Facebook, Objectivism is a religion. It is a philosophy by Ayn Rand,  that proclaims the virtue of selfishness. The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged have long been cornerstones of the fictional world, and copies of these books can be found on the shelves of every young idealist.



Unforgettable quote: “Man cannot survive except through his mind. He comes on earth unarmed. His brain is his only weapon. But the mind is an attribute of the individual, there is no such thing as a collective brain. The man who thinks must think and act on his own. The reasoning mind cannot work under any form of compulsion. It cannot not be subordinated to the needs, opinions, or wishes of others. It is not an object of sacrifice.”

3.  Hannibal Lecter

(Silence of the Lambs – Thomas Harris)

Thomas Harris's Hannibal Lecter has exquisite taste, is well read, surrounds himself with utter beauty and is the meanest killing machine on the face of the literary earth. Criminally observant, he often sends tickles down the strongest spines.

Unforgettable Quote: “A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.”

4. Lisbeth Salander

She’s the central character in the outrageously popular Millennium trilogy by the Swedish author, Stieg Larsson. A social outcast, a homosexual, covered in piercings, often mistaken for a teenager this pint-sized death-pixie on wheels embodies the “female asskicker,”!
    

(the Millenium series by Stieg Larsson)

5. Atticus Finch:



To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee



With such moral upstanding values, Harper Lee’s Finch has secured his place as our all-time favourite father figure. 

Unforgettable Quote: “The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience,” he says. Amen.



- Nitisha Pande

A librarywala fan 

Librarywala Recommends: 5 Spine Chillers for Mystery Lovers

Here's 5 different kinds of books in the genre of Mystery that have been raising hair for decades. Read on to find out more and dont hesitate to contribute to the list...

The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

(Thriller/horror)

Hannibal Lecter - the ultimate villain of modern fiction.

A young FBI trainee.

An evil genius locked away for unspeakable crimes.

A plunge into the darkest chambers of a psychopath's mind-- in the deadly search for a serial killer...

Read the five-million-copy bestseller that scared the world silent...

The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy 

 

(Neo-noir crime novel)

On January 15, 1947 the severed body of Elizabeth Short was found. Her murder is one of the highest profile unsolved cases. The Black Dahlia uses facts from the case to create a story of mystery & obsession.

James Ellroy's Black Dahlia is a masterpiece among murder mystery novels. Ellroy tells Elizabeth Short's story through Bucky Bleichert, a police officer who is assigned to investigate the murder.

Bucky's negative yet heroic character gets obsessed to the edge of madness, and Ellroy takes the reader along on that journey. 

Double Whammy by Carl Hiaasen 

(Satire in crime)

R.J. Decker a neophyte private eye is fishing for a killer. Thanks to a sportsman's scam there's a body floating in Coon Bog, Florida -- and a lot that's rotten in the large-mouth bass tournaments. Decker teams up with an eccentric hermit with an appetite for road kill. And here his own life becomes part of the stakes. For while the "double whammy" is the lure, first prize is for the most ingenious murder.

The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson

(First person criminal story)

The most chilling and believable first-person story of a criminally warped mind. Lou Ford is the deputy sheriff of a small town in Texas.  The worst thing most people can say against him is that he's a little slow and a little boring.  But, then, most people don't know about the sickness--the sickness that almost got Lou put away when he was younger.  The sickness that is about to surface again.

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

(hard boiled fiction)

Philip Marlowe, the genre's most influential detective & his wise-cracking style and capacity to endure punishment from his foes introduces a new kind of "performance" to hard-boiled fiction, in which victory was more often verbal than physical.

When a dying millionaire hires Philip Marlowe to handle the blackmailer of one of his two troublesome daughters, Marlowe finds himself involved with more than extortion.

Chandler's ironic tone and extraordinary metaphors focused readers on individual scenes, which he excelled at writing.

Women's Day Special- Enid Blyton

Today on Women’s day, Librarywala writes about a female writer  who is accredited for animating millions of childhoods with her skillfully spun stories. 

To the epitome of success in the land of books- Enid Blyton

The famous writer Enid Blyton a.k.a Mary Pollock.whose books many a million have spent their childhoods reading was born on 11th August 1897 to Thomas Carey Blyton and Theresa Mary Harrison Blyton

Blyton's books are completely works of her unbound imagination. Her series of books roof a variety of sorts.

What makes Blyton so successful is her imaginative, exciting and magical style. Her writing has sent countless young readers on thrilling adventures and generations will continue to enjoy her enchanting stories.

The Early Years:

From an early age, she liked making up stories better than anything else. As a child she would go to bed at night and stories would flood into her mind "all mixed-up, rather like dreams are, but yet each story had its own definite thread—its beginning and middle and ending."

The ENID BLYTON approach to writing:

Enid explains in “The Story of My Life” that she simply relied on her fertile imagination rather than on conscious invention. It was like viewing "a private cinema screen inside my head... and what I see, I write down." she adds: "But it's a 3-dimensional screen, complete with sound, smell and taste—and feeling!"

Enid Blyton's writing displays an appealing freshness and spontaneity. Enid has a knack of painting apt, imaginative word-pictures without resorting to lengthy descriptions or complicated phrasing.  If she sometimes fails to stretch her readers' vocabulary, she definitely does not fail in stretching their imaginations.

Inspirations:

She sought inspiration from her favourite books as a girl.  What appealed to her "wasn't so much the story as the strange 'feel' of the tale, the 'atmosphere' as we call it. It hung over me for a very long time, and gave me pleasant shivers."

Her senior school days inspires many anecdotes in her series of books St Clare’s and Malory Towers.

In her times, she was popular, full of fun and threw herself wholeheartedly into school life.

Other sources of inspiration for her books were her pets. She wrote letters for her Teacher's World column about family life as seen through the eyes of Bobs - her fox-terrier.

Her fascination with animals of different kinds is particularly evident in her various books – where fairy tales and fantasies have been spun around animals & creatures adapted from them.

The Ladder to Success

As a teen, Enid received countless rejection slips from publishers. However, that only made her more determined to persevere with her writing.

Enid Blyton took a great interest in children of all ages.  Therefore she wrote for a wide age-range.

Altogether, Enid Blyton is believed to have written around 700 books She earned a fortune from her writing and in 1950 she set up her own limited company, Darrell Waters Ltd., to manage the financial side of things.

Beyond the Writer:

Enid Blyton married Kenneth Fraser Darrell Waters after the sad disintegration of her first marriage to Major Hugh Alexander Pollock. Blyton's second marriage was very happy. Both were immensely proud of one another's achievements and she moved smoothly into her role as a devoted doctor's wife, living with him and her two daughters at Green Hedges – dedicating her life to her family and writing.

Enid Blyton – The Legend:

Several decades after her death in 1968 , Enid Blyton is not forgotten. The best of her lives on in her books, many of which are still in print. Her storytelling is timeless and this result confirms that her books are still a firm favourite today.

In her words,

"Even if you have never met me, you know me very well because you have read so many books of mine... I am sure that you know exactly what I stand for, and the things I believe in, without any doubt at all.”

Librarywala

VALENTINE’S DAY SPECIAL: "LOVE STORY" BY ERICH SEGAL

"The incurable romantic’s favorite read"

“Love means never having to say you're sorry”

One of my favorite lines from an amazingly beautiful love story.  When you have found perfect love in life, it all seems so true, doesn’t it? The narration in the book makes you believe in such thoughts and takes you through to an endless journey of love.

It’s one romantic novel that’s sure to move you. Segal has done a brilliant job in portraying two characters with which generations can identify. He has showcased differences between the love of a father and son & that of husband and wife.

Love Story portrays the right example of “opposites attract” - opposites in terms of status, thoughts & characterstics. The book revolves around the lives of two young college students, Oliver Barrett, heir to the Barrett fortune and legacy and Jennifer Cavilleri, daughter of a poor baker. Oliver was expected to follow in his father's huge footsteps, while Jennifer, a music major, was to go on and pursue her dream. The boy belonged to a fortunate home whereas Jennifer had seen a tough life. But, love as they say knows no boundaries.

And when they meet, the sparks fly and they passionately fall in love with each other that grows deep and strong with each passing day. Oliver turns his back on his family and Jenny gives up her dreams of being a musician. They are happy with their life, until Jenny is diagnosed with leukemia. With just a few days to live, the novel describes the emotional pain they both go through & yet don’t leave each other. It portrays that love has no language and stays on forever.

The characters have been depicted really well & keep you completely engrossed. You might even end up with tearful eyes as the story touches your heart & relates to your emotions deeply.

I’d certainly recommend this book to anyone who believes in love and more so to those who don’t. It’s bound to evoke powerful emotions in you! The story is simple and a far cry from dramatized happenings and unreal situations. I am sure the story shall linger in your heart now and always.

Arshia Dar

A Librarywala fan

"LOVE STORY, the 1970 movie is based on the book by Erich Segal "

Starring:

Ali MacGraw Ryan O'Neal John Marley Ray Milland