Reviews
Little Women:
True Before, True today
-Naila Puri
A poster of 'Little Women'
One of the sisters who caught my attention was Amy, the youngest of them all. Throughout the movie, she was crying out to her older siblings, needing their help to get out of tough situations, and realistically, got jealous of her older sisters. One night, when Meg and Jo were going to a royal ball, she got envious of them and ended up burning Jo’s pages of a book she was writing. That was when everyone, including me, hated her and saw her as a babyish, bratty person. However, with this movie, I saw her side of the story. She was the second choice for her husband and she never got as much attention as she wanted to.
A shot taken from 'Little Women' of the four sisters
I think this is a must-watch for everyone of all ages because it’s beautiful and well put out a movie and I really think Greta Gerwig did an amazing job adapting a book all the way back from 1860 into a live-action movie, and did it astoundingly.
It was a grey Sunday evening. My holiday was over and school started the next day. As I didn’t want the school to start, I felt grey too. I stepped into the cinema, I wondered what the big hype over this movie was. Noticing that there weren’t many people in the theatre, I didn’t have high expectations from this movie.
​
However, the movie proved me wrong, having a beautiful storyline about sisters who fought for freedom and most importantly, each other. Each of the sisters had amazing talent, but they didn’t always get to showcase it. Jo was the author, Meg the actress, Amy the artist and Beth the pianist. The characters seemed real, and each of them had a remarkable story to tell.
The Book Thief:
The story of a girl, and the World Wars
- Snigdha Dhameja
My tryst with this book began when I was in fifth grade, when my mother handed me her battered copy, with its peeling covers and old-book smell. I was immediately drawn to it; it gave a silent sort of promise to me, almost whispering into my very ear, that it would not disappoint.
‘The Book Thief’ has graced itself on every Young Adult reading list, and is recommended to every single high schooler to read. This book is worth more than, far more than what everyone makes it out to be. The original conception of someone reading the title of the book is that it is about someone who steals books. That makes up a lot less of the story than you would imagine.
The cover of the edition I possess
When I first read this book, it was all too much to absorb and assess. But again, I was ten years old. I read it again. And again. The beauty and sadness of the book, compiled into a punching blow that hit harder each time I read it. I was wonderstruck. Baffled. Left speechless and poring over each idea and thought that crossed my mind. I truly understood what the book was about when I read it for the fifth time, in seventh grade. It is not a story about bloodshed, or war, or grief. It is not about Liesel. Or Max. Or anyone else. It is about curiosity, hope, and optimism. How books changed Liesel’s life was like how this book changed mine. In hardship and difficulty, in the midst of a war, with ourselves and with the world, Liesel and I have always had books.
The way things have been written, and ideas have been conveyed in this book is what truly makes it a masterpiece. While the book is narrated by Death himself, you can hear through the words how he is captivated by Liesel, and almost fond of her by the end of the book. (Notice that I said ‘almost’).
When a writer sets a book during a critical part of history, one torn with war and bloodshed, it is easy for them to only focus on such aspects of the story that complement the setting of havoc. However, Zusak had strayed away from such norms and has provided a story where war isn’t everything. He introduced the theme of foster care when Liesel goes to live with the Hubermanns. When the writer could have stuck to focusing on the bombings and the Holocaust, he introduced complex emotions and circumstances, that when combined with the bitter taste of carnage and battle form not just a story, but a full-blown experience.
In books about World War II, writers create characters that are easy to victimise and are ideally of Jewish descent. Again, Zusak broke barriers with this and centred his book around a German girl, who was supposed to take the side of those that begun the discrimination.
After I read this book, I embarked on a quest to find more books about the Holocaust and the World Wars, but all of them could only emit utter sadness. But this book? This book radiates hope.
A journey that began almost five years ago, with a book that changed my life. I urge everyone to not just read this book but to revel in it. To enjoy it, and savour the story, as I did.