Happy Endings...

Hi there! I've been reading The Hunger Games trilogy this week, so currently its my new obsession. I want all things Katniss Everdeen. So, like the stalker I am, I searched for everything related to the book! I found that the second movie, 'Catching Fire' was releasing this year, so I went ahead and watched the promos. During this time I saw a promo for Romeo and Juliet, considered to be one of the greatest romances by the greatest playwrights of all time, William Shakespeare. The movie is being remade for the third time I think, this time starring Hailee Steinfield and Douglas Booth.
All though I am a self-confessed hardcore romantic, I don't understand why 'Romeo and Juliet' was such a hit. What's the point of entertainment if it ends in tragedy? The greatest love story isn't Romeo and Juliet who died for each other, its Grandpa and Grandma who grew old together. Sure I get that the two couldn't live without the other, but killing yourself over it? Isn't that a little extreme? I mean, you are just a bunch of teenagers.
Walt Disney would have never been a success had he not allowed Cinderella to try on the glass slipper, for Aladdin to defeat Jafar and free the genie; for beautiful Belle to marry the Beast instead of Gaston. That's just it, isn't it? Those are fairytales, which in real life, would probably never even come true! These are just stories that little girls like to hear at bedtime. I understand that Shakespeare was just telling us the truth, that Romeo and Juliet, could never be together because of their families, and to them it was a fate worse than death, so they decided to kill themselves over it.
I, for one can't bear it if a romance has a tragic ending. I'm all for the happy endings, where the two lovers ride off into the sunset, preferably singing a duet! I love William Shakespeare, I do. I think he happens to be one of the most brilliant human beings to ever have existed, and I love his works, but I wish, I just wish that he had given Romeo and Juliet a happy ending, even if it was fantastical and nonsensical. Not only Romeo and Juliet; even Antony and Cleopatra, Troilus and Cressida, Othello and Desdemona. I guess, he just wanted to show that even characters in a play don't always have a happy ending. Bitter truth, huh?

My Incessant Rambling!

Hello there again. My mom just read my previous post and told me that, anyone who hasn't read the book will not understand what I am talking about. Apparently, I do this a lot. It's like I delve into the depths of something that no one really knows or cares about and just ramble on and on and at the end of it, people don't really like it. Ah.. the plight of being a writer! Although I have given up on that dream. A bit too risky for me. I don't know if I have the talent to become as big a hit as J.K. Rowling or J.R.R Tolkien, or if I have the depth to write as well as Khaled Hossieni and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. Their words are magic. They weave stories filled with beauty, tragedy, fraternity and so much more!
Big shoes to fill in, if at all they can be filled in!
Either way, getting back to the topic at hand, I started this blog to be heard. But what's the point of being heard if I'm not being understood, right? It's like talking to a mule. Not that I'm calling anyone a mule, of course! If I want to be a voice that matters and makes sense, I have to say something that matters and makes sense! So, if I write about a book I've just read, I should write it in a way that it entices you to read it, not give you half the story! Problem is, I don't know how to do that.
When I write, I write for myself. For my own inner satisfaction.However, I also want good reviews, which can't be guaranteed! I guess this would count as being the plight of a teenager. Not only wanting to do what you want, but also hankering for approval at the same time. My mom is going to call me melodramatic when she reads this and probably give me a piece of her mind! Ah.. Sorry about the rant! 

Dark Sides

Hey there.. It is so hot here in Hyderabad. It's like sitting in a furnace constantly.. Hyderabad summers were never this hot. I guess it's global warming finally hitting us where it hurts. We swelter all day long.. Anyway instead of cursing about the heat, let me tell you about a book that I read. It's called 'Gone Girl' by Gillian Flynn. It's a psychological thriller, where a woman goes missing the date of her wedding anniversary, and the prime suspect? Her husband. The book is told from two points of view. Amy Elliott Dunne, the wife and Nick Dunne, the husband. Amy is telling us her side of the story, through a diary which she has kept since she met Nick, so we learn about her marriage and what happened in the days leading up to her disappearance. Nick talks to us in the present. The marriage apparently is an unhappy one. But both have their own versions of the story. The issue is which one do we believe? Do we believe Amy, the missing wife, who comes across as an understanding, devoted and even a little naive wife? Or do we believe Nick, the husband who doesn't seem very upset at his wife's disappearance and was having an extra marital affair, but maintains this image of a bitter and unsympathetic Amy, who made him feel like a failure?
Gone Girl is a book that shows everyone's darkest sides. There's no one that is truly good, other than maybe  Nick's twin sister Margo. Everyone is manipulative, everyone has a hidden agenda. I couldn't put it down for a second. My mom would constantly irritate me as I was reading by talking gibberish. Although I didn't appreciate the ending, I understood that it wouldn't have made sense any other way. There is no happiness in this book. There is evil. And honestly.. Its more frightening than a horror movie. It's terrifying how manipulative someone can be.. And it makes you wonder what your loved ones are truly like. Are they as loving as they seem, or is it just a facade. Gone Girl is a book that brings out the worst in everyone, and you tend to wonder, if you have such darkness in you.