THE MAN-EATER OF MALGUDI

           

The Man-Eater of Malgudi released in 1961 is considered by many to be RK  Narayan’s finest work. It is a short novel showing that evil is self-destructive. In this novel, Narayan employs the Bhasmasura myth. The title of the novel is ironic for man-eater in the novel is no tiger, but a mighty man, Vasu.The story is narrated in the first person by the protagonist, Nataraj, a printer of Malgudi. In his printing work he is assisted by Mr. Sastri, 

The smooth and peaceful life of Nataraj is disturbed by the arrival H. Vasu, a taxidermist who comes to stay with them as a tenant in a room in the upper floor of Nataraj's printing press. Vasu, a man of about six feet, with bull neck, hammer fist and aggressive behaviour creates fear in the hearts of Nataraj and his friends. Nataraj tolerates him in his room upstairs till he makes himself unbearable by robbing Mempi forest of its wild life and collecting dead animals in his room for stuffing them.

When even Nataraj’s neighbours complain to him about the unsanitary conditions of the neighbourhood, he requests Vasu to find a new house for himself and leave Nataraj alone. The taxidermist treats this as an insult and sues him for harassing him and trying to make him more out by unlawful means. The timely help from his clients, an old lawyer, saves Nataraj from the clutches of the law.

The crisis, however, comes to a head when the pitiless taxidermist threatens to kill Kumar, a temple elephant who is to be taken in a  procession organized to celebrate a poet’s completion of his religious book on Lord Krishna. Nataraj is very fond of the elephant, Kumar. He becomes upset and worried the moment he learns Vasu intends shooting it on the night of the proposed procession. Nataraj tells  the evil intentions of Vasu to his friend, the poet, the lawyer, and other important people of the town. The matter is reported to the police authorities but they say they cannot  take any action against him until the crime has been actually committed.

Nataraj constantly thinks of the danger awaiting Kumar. As the procession passes in front of his printing press, he feels uneasy and scared of hearing the fateful gun shots and cries of innocent people. He is surprised when the procession passes away without any harm being done.

Nataraj goes to his office in the morning.  He learns that Vasu, is dead. The police authorities of the town start investigations. Murder is suspected. However, medical reports say that Vasu had died from a concussion in his head received from a blunt instrument. Nataraj later finds out from one of Vasu's friends that he had died due to his own hammer-fist that he used to hurt other people with. 

The story's moral is that evil is self-destructive and will always meet its end.

THE 39 CLUES

The 39 clues is a series of adventure novels written by a collection of authors including Rick Riordan, Gordan Korman, Jude Watson etc. The series' first book- The maze of bones was published on 9th December 2008. The story revolves around two Orphan siblings Amy and Dan Cahill who discover that their family, the Cahills, has been the most influential family in history. The main story arc is about Amy and Dan's quest to find 39 Clues related to creating a serum that could create the strongest, most intelligent, craftiest and skillful person in the world.






The book has a great mix of fantasy, science fiction and realism to it. The Cahill family, which is one of the most influential families in the world disintegrated a long time back. It was divided into five branches each having a special skill that they mastered and led by the children of Gideon and Olivia Cahill

• Lucian- Smartness and ruthlessness (founded by Luke)
• Tomas- Strength (founded by Thomas)
• Ekaterina- ingenuity, creativity (founded by Katherine)
• Janus- Artistic in everything they do (founded by Jane)

• Madrigals- The secretive and thought of as the most dangerous branch (founded by Madeleinine)

In the 1500's, Gideon Cahill, created a serum that would create the strongest human on the earth. His children wanted the power that it would bring to them and wanted to control the world. The serum was initially made by Gideon to cure Black Plague. However, it had adverse effects on Gideon and made him younger, physical and unusually strong. His children were persuading Gideon to hand over the serum to them. But Gideon, aware of the hazards of the imperfect serum gave only a part of it to each one of them.


The children drank their parts of the serum and inherited skills that would be passed down to their future generations forever.




Present day:
The caretaker of the Cahill family Grace Cahill dies of old age and before dying, writes a will inviting all the branches of the Cahill family to take part in a Do or Die clue hunt for the perfected serum. She specifically tells her two grandchildren Dan and Amy to take part in the clue hunt as she believed they were the only ones who had it in them to prevent the world from being run by greedy and ruthless fiends of the Cahill family.


Dan and Amy understand what their grandmother meant and with the help of their guardian Nelly face the wrath of the entire Cahill family who won't hesitate to eliminate them from not only the clue hunt, but also to kill their own relatives for the sake of the serum!

The First Phone Call from Heaven........A story of belief & trust

The First Phone Call from Heaven tells the story of a small town on Lake Michigan that gets worldwide attention when its citizens started receiving phone calls. One morning in the small town of Coldwater, Michigan, the phones started ringing. The voices said they were calling from heaven. Is it the greatest miracle ever? Or some cruel hoax?

Albom’s novel is no supernatural mystery; there are no paranormal visitors. Instead, he creates the fictional town of Coldwater in Michigan, USA, and traces how a series of phone calls from the dead affects the lives of their relatives or associates, and then the citizens of Coldwater, with a story that could touch the world at large. 

More interesting, is the way Albom balances the fictional story with accounts of the history of the telephone itself, positioning the telephone as a device of love and communication. “But the very first telephonic conversation, between Bell and Thomas Watson, standing in separate rooms, contained these words: Come here. I want to see you. In the uncountable human phone conversations since then, that concept has never been far from our lips.”

A disgraced pilot named Sully Harding returns to Coldwater from prison to discover his hometown gripped by “miracle fever.” Even his young son carries a toy phone, hoping to hear from his mother in heaven. Not content to accept these proclaimed “miracles”, Sully begins to investigate the incidents. Only Sully, convinced there is nothing beyond this sad life, digs into the phenomenon, determined to disprove it for his child and his own broken heart.

A story about the power of belief, moving between communication through telephone and a world obsessed with supernatural communication,  and a page-turner that will touch your soul--Albom's masterful storytelling has never been so moving and unexpected.

The Mortal Instruments... Indulge in the thrilling life of Clary Fray

 The Mortal Instruments is a series of six young adult fantasy  novels written by Cassandra Clare, the last of which was published May 27, 2014. The Mortal Instruments is chronologically the third series of a proposed five in The Shadowhunter Chronicles. It is fascinating series based on the life of a young girl named Clary Fray , how she finds out her true destiny is to be a Shadowhunter ( half human half angel) and help keep the earth safe from demons and in the end her own father and brother. She has to make many life changing decisions and goes through a lot. To find out more about Clary read the series starting with MORTAL INSTRUMENTS : City of Bones. ENJOY READING!!!!