Finished reading 'Doctors' by Erich Segal a couple of months back. I liked this novel like anything. It was recommended by my friend Neha Bansal from Chandigarh, thanks Neha. Though I am too late at reading Erich Segal's novel as every second person around seems to have read it long back. Not my fault, as I said I am new to reader's world but believe me its an amazing world, world of books. I am sort of obsessed with it, sorry, can't help it! :-)
I had read Erich Segal's 'Only Love', 'Love Story' and 'Man Woman and Child' before. They all were good but Doctors is a class work of Erich Segal. A very good novel on doctors' life. It seems that Mr. Segal must have done a lot of research on doctors before preparing his mind for it. He has used a lot of ultra-technical medical words that went above my head but still I could get every bit of the novel.
This novel is that great that it really doesn't need any review or something. Its a brand in itself, a masterpiece. A fabulous book, indeed. Lead characters are Barney Livingstone and Laura Castellano, friends of each other from childhood. Their friendship takes too many curves in the story but most of the time they kept connected to each other. They studied together in Harvard and became successful doctors. Barney became a Psychologist while Laura turned into a Paediatrician,.
Me. Segal has shown us a clear picture of this profession, he has covered every aspect of it. There are good doctors, bad doctors, scared doctors, Merci-killing doctors and so on. Doctors do need doctors and they need them very badly, I came to know this from this book only. General parents do take care of their kids but they are very far from the fears of doctors. Doctors seem to find every second decease in their kids/families. How hard it is for a paediatrician,to become a mother is shown in this book. 'Doctors' gave several examples how hard is it to become a doctor and live being a doctor.
An amazing book, I guess it must be the best work of Erich Segal.
Book details:
-------------
Doctors by Erich Segal,
Publication: Bantam Books,
Binding: Mass Paperback
Pages: 615
Price: Rs.250/-
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Friday, July 07, 2006
Draupadi by Pratibha Ray
Finished Draupadi by Pratibha Ray this morning. A great book on a great character of Mahabharat, Draupadi! The novel is originally written in Oriya with as 'Yagyaseni', I read its Hindi translation. 'Draupadi' was awarded with Murtidevi Award (worth 51,000 rupees) of Bhartiya Jnanpith.
The central character of the novel (and the narrator) is Draupadi or Yagyaseni or Krishna or Panchali, the wife of five Pandavas. It was the first time I was reading a book written by a female author and narrator was a female as well. It was a entirely different but great experience. It gave me an insight of feelings of a woman. The second most effective character in the book is Lord Krishna.
Novel covers entire life of Draupadi, from birth to death. The novel starts with a letter written from Draupadi to Krishna and finishes when she finishes reading it. Almost complete Mahabharat is covered in the book and it was a great experience to read it through Draupadi's point of view. I noticed one thing special in the book that Ms. Ray hasn't described a single scene of war, even she has cut the Mahabharat war in a couple of pages.
Every time I read Hindu epics, they force me feel how great they are. Every character, story, everything is simply great and has something to learn. They seem to be ideal, just perfect in every aspect. It seems, nothing better is possible. Even the smallest characters seem to inspire thoughts. They make me think and wonder. Ms. Ray has written the book so beautifully that I was lost in thinking from the page one. I enjoyed every page of the book. Her explanations on various things were fantastic.
Special thing about the book was that Ms. Ray has emphasized on Draupadi's sacred love for Krishna I wasn't aware of this fact. Though Draupadi was wife of all five Pandavas but her love for Arjun was different. But it was quite unfortunate for her that she couldn't get some moments of peace with Arjun, so many dramatic events occurred in her life.
We can consider Draupadi as one of the most unfortunate women on this earth ever lived. She was produced from fire just to take revenge of her father. She loved Krishna and she was married with Arjun. When she prepared herself for Arjun, she became wife of five Pandavas. She kept waiting for Arjun for her entire life but he never came to him. She was insulted in front of thousands in Kaurav-sabha for no fault of her. Dushashan, who could never dare to touch her, abused her and not only touched her but also pulled her all the way by her hair to the sabha. When she became mother of five sons, she went to exile and couldn't love her sons, in the end of Mahabharat, her sons too were killed by Aswasthama. I guess, this is the worst a woman can have in her entire life.
Another interesting take on of Ms. Ray was her explanation of Draupadi's marriage to five Pandavas. In Mahabharat, it was told that Draupadi's marriage to all Pandavas was an accident. When all Pandavas came to Kunti after winning Draupadi in Swayamvar, Yudhisthar informed her mother that they have got something special today. Kunti ordered, 'share it all of you'. Ms. Ray has explained the same as: Kunti already knew that Pandavas have gone in the Swayamvar to win Draupadi. When they came back, Yudhishthar intentionally told Kunti that 'we have got something special today' while he could say 'Maa, Arjun has got bride for you' or something. Further as per the plan, Kunti ordered him to share it.
Reason for this peculiar and unfortunate drama was the fact that every single Pandav desired Draupadi as their wife because of she was an extreme beauty. If Draupadi was wife of just Arjun, it was possible that all Pandavas ended up fighting with one another for Draupadi. Since they had to do fight for Dharm, it was necessary to keep them united. Hence Krishna planned this all along with Kunti and Yudhisthar. However it was a great strategy for Dharm-sake but it was unfortunate for Draupadi.
I liked the book like anything and give it full marks. I would like to thank my EI friend Pushpak Karnik for writing a wonderful review of the same book which made me read this book.
Book Details:
-------------
Draupadi by Pratibha Ray,
ISBN:
Publisher: Rajpal & Sons
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 268
Price: Rs.95/-
The central character of the novel (and the narrator) is Draupadi or Yagyaseni or Krishna or Panchali, the wife of five Pandavas. It was the first time I was reading a book written by a female author and narrator was a female as well. It was a entirely different but great experience. It gave me an insight of feelings of a woman. The second most effective character in the book is Lord Krishna.
Novel covers entire life of Draupadi, from birth to death. The novel starts with a letter written from Draupadi to Krishna and finishes when she finishes reading it. Almost complete Mahabharat is covered in the book and it was a great experience to read it through Draupadi's point of view. I noticed one thing special in the book that Ms. Ray hasn't described a single scene of war, even she has cut the Mahabharat war in a couple of pages.
Every time I read Hindu epics, they force me feel how great they are. Every character, story, everything is simply great and has something to learn. They seem to be ideal, just perfect in every aspect. It seems, nothing better is possible. Even the smallest characters seem to inspire thoughts. They make me think and wonder. Ms. Ray has written the book so beautifully that I was lost in thinking from the page one. I enjoyed every page of the book. Her explanations on various things were fantastic.
Special thing about the book was that Ms. Ray has emphasized on Draupadi's sacred love for Krishna I wasn't aware of this fact. Though Draupadi was wife of all five Pandavas but her love for Arjun was different. But it was quite unfortunate for her that she couldn't get some moments of peace with Arjun, so many dramatic events occurred in her life.
We can consider Draupadi as one of the most unfortunate women on this earth ever lived. She was produced from fire just to take revenge of her father. She loved Krishna and she was married with Arjun. When she prepared herself for Arjun, she became wife of five Pandavas. She kept waiting for Arjun for her entire life but he never came to him. She was insulted in front of thousands in Kaurav-sabha for no fault of her. Dushashan, who could never dare to touch her, abused her and not only touched her but also pulled her all the way by her hair to the sabha. When she became mother of five sons, she went to exile and couldn't love her sons, in the end of Mahabharat, her sons too were killed by Aswasthama. I guess, this is the worst a woman can have in her entire life.
Another interesting take on of Ms. Ray was her explanation of Draupadi's marriage to five Pandavas. In Mahabharat, it was told that Draupadi's marriage to all Pandavas was an accident. When all Pandavas came to Kunti after winning Draupadi in Swayamvar, Yudhisthar informed her mother that they have got something special today. Kunti ordered, 'share it all of you'. Ms. Ray has explained the same as: Kunti already knew that Pandavas have gone in the Swayamvar to win Draupadi. When they came back, Yudhishthar intentionally told Kunti that 'we have got something special today' while he could say 'Maa, Arjun has got bride for you' or something. Further as per the plan, Kunti ordered him to share it.
Reason for this peculiar and unfortunate drama was the fact that every single Pandav desired Draupadi as their wife because of she was an extreme beauty. If Draupadi was wife of just Arjun, it was possible that all Pandavas ended up fighting with one another for Draupadi. Since they had to do fight for Dharm, it was necessary to keep them united. Hence Krishna planned this all along with Kunti and Yudhisthar. However it was a great strategy for Dharm-sake but it was unfortunate for Draupadi.
I liked the book like anything and give it full marks. I would like to thank my EI friend Pushpak Karnik for writing a wonderful review of the same book which made me read this book.
Book Details:
-------------
Draupadi by Pratibha Ray,
ISBN:
Publisher: Rajpal & Sons
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 268
Price: Rs.95/-
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