sugandha's reviews
110 reviews

I am so glad Maus was one of the first graphic novels that I read because it made me truly appreciate the art work.The thing with most of the holocaust stories is that they are always very impersonal (except maybe Anne Frank).I could never relate to those thousands of faceless victims, but in this book the visual illustrations are so accurate and intimate that I felt as if I was right there in Poland witnessing all the events-the black market trade, the gas chamber executions, the freight trains.

I loved how Spiegelman has added so many layers to this story-the horrors of the holocaust, complicated dynamics of a father-son relationship,the after-effects of holocaust faced by the children of the survivors. The protagonist’s survival tale can be summed up in one sentence (which I feel is the most powerful dialogue of the book)- “To die, its easy. But you have to struggle for life”.

This book can surprise you even if you have read a  plethora of holocaust novels and if you haven’t ,then there is no better place to start.

So I have finally finished reading the Holy Grail of graphic novels. To be honest, I was not very optimistic about this one. I never really got the “holier than thou” masked crusader concept; but Watchmen is so different. This book is not just about fancy costumes and superpowers; it’s about ethical dilemmas and complex morality. The alternate history approach was pretty amazing too.

The “comic inside a comic” idea was innovative but I have to admit that its significance was totally lost on me. (I am not very good at picking up metaphors and symbolism).The only reason I rated this one 4 and not 5 is that I was pretty disappointed with the way Alan Moore has handled the female characters in the book. Laurie’s character did not have any depth to it and I felt she was used a sex symbol.

It’s one of those books which leave you with more questions than answers .It is not an effortless read like few other graphic novels(Maus,Persepolis) but in the end ,it’s worth the time and endeavor.

This book is a fresh and modern interpretation of Mahabharata, one of the two oldest epics of India. I think Divakaruni deserves a lot of credit for being brave enough to write about a saga which has been reconstructed innumerable times over centuries.
       I remember when I first read Mahabharata as a child, I was in awe of Draupadi.She was the perfect daughter, perfect wife and the perfect queen. This story takes away all the enigma surrounding Draupadi’s character and makes her very approachable. I enjoyed reading about her childhood, her dreams and aspirations before her life became a series of tragedies. The sibling bond is very well portrayed.It made me want to read more about her brother, Drishtadhyumna(I had never really paid any attention to this character before).
                                   The writing is not very sophisticated. In fact, the prose gets repetitive at times. Overall, a quick and easy read. Any Indian mythology lover will definitely enjoy this.

It just breaks my heart when a fresh idea is implemented in such a crude manner. It has really been a while since I came across such a terrible piece of writing and it really disappoints me because the story had so much potential. I guess it serves me right for expecting so much from a book.
                                                             From the very first page, the book spews hatred against the Brahmins and Aryans way of life. There came a point in the book where I felt I was reading some Pro Dravidian propaganda, which is not what I had signed up for. I believe the author wanted to showcase the evils of caste system but the whole point is lost when the entire book is full of anti-Aryan/fair skinned overtones. I do not know if it was intentional but the narration itself is very self-contradictory. The protagonist,Ravana says that the Asura  clan respect their women because unlike the white skinned Devas, they don’t  force the widows to practise Sati; but earlier in the book the same protagonist is shown raping a maid just because he was pissed off with his wife.(I mean what the hell!!!)
                                                 In my opinion,Ravana was a great emperor and deserved a much better story-a story that was at least proofread(I really don’t want to get started on the innumerable grammatical and vocabulary usage errors). The traditional version of the epic does more justice to this magnificent character.

A very detailed, detached and witty account of the first month of World War 1.
Read my complete review here.