Category Novels

Who was Emily Jane Bronte?

English novelist, Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights was the author’s first and last novel. It is widely considered by many as one of the most incredible pieces of imaginative literature in the English canon. Let’s find out what makes it a classic.

About the author

Emily Jane Bronte was born on July 30, 1818, in Thornton, Yorkshire, England. She was the fifth of six children, and the fourth daughter of Patrick Bronte and Marie Branwell. Her father was a remarkable man and a minister of the Anglican church. The author lost her mother at the tender age of three. This was the first great loss the family had to come to terms with. In 1825, Emily was sent to join her sisters Maria, Elizabeth, and Charlotte at school. Following the tuberculosis epidemic at the institution that claimed the life of her two elder sisters, Emily and Charlotte returned home. This incident is also mentioned in her sister Charlotte’s magnum opus Jane Eyre. Emily spent the next 10 years of her life at home, where she played, read extensively, and wrote together with her siblings in an inventive creative workshop. During one of such playful workshops, the four participated in fictional world-making, which resulted in Charlotte and their brother Branwell teaming together to create a fictional land called Angria, and Emily with her sister Anne inventing the fictional Pacific Island of Gondol.

Emily was a meticulous reader. Charlotte in her Preface to the 1850 edition of Wuthering Heights elucidated that her sister “always wrote from the impulse of nature”. However, Professor Karen O’Brien from the University of Oxford says that Emily Bronte’s lone novel is a testament to her extensive reading and understanding of the works of English poets and authors such as Sir Walter Scott, William Wordsworth, and Lord Byron. The first edition of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights was written under the pseudonym Ellis Bell and published in 1847.

Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights is a powerful and complex story of love, obsession, and revenge over two generations. It is narrated by housekeeper Nelly Dean and framed from the perspective of a visiting outsider Mr. Lockwood. This narrative revolves around an orphan named Heathcliff, who is taken in by Mr. Earnshaw and brought to live in Wuthering Heights. The story explores the close-knit bond he forms with his patron’s daughter Catherine.

What makes it a classic?

A treatise on women social conventions were extremely important at the time when Bronte wrote this novel. Italian writer and journalist Italo Calvino, in his book The Uses of Literature, said. “A classic is a classic book because it had never finished what it had to say, and Wuthering Heights stands true to this statement. One might think of it as just a love story. Well yes, but it’s also a story of ghosts, obsession, and haunting. Where Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters predecessor, wrote about the purpose of romance and how it was intangibly linked to or ended in marriage, Emily Bronte’s sole novel is a treatise on women and tries to explore what is important to her gender other than the pursuit of marriage.

Making a statement

Through Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte changed what was possible and acceptable for women to write, and how women and men can be portrayed in fiction. Her characters challenged the social expectation that one’s emotions and how they are expressed or dealt with must be dictated by an individual’s gender. It advocated that all the things that we as people feel are not so different just because one is a man or a woman. It broke away from the tradition that dictated that women must only write about acceptable things (such as love and marriage) and elements of the domestic sphere. It objected to the idea that men (especially heroes) are not capable of emoting grief and passion or being allowed to display any negative emotions such as vengeance. Wuthering Heights is not a moralising novel and calls the hypocrisy of the society that divides people on the basis of gender, turns a blind eye to the violence it inflicts in the name of religion, set unrealistic moral expectations, and is more concerned with respectability, than working towards creating an equal society.

Emily Bronte’s exceptional imagination in Wuthering Heights, says English author Kate Mosse, “makes it clear that a woman who is an artist and a man who is an artist have the same mission-to write what we think is true and to write what we think matters, this makes her sole novel one for the ages.”

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Did you know that some famous literary classics almost ended in a completely different way?

Did you know that some famous literary classics almost ended in a completely different way? If you are fine with spoilers, read on…

Great Expectations

Great Expectations by English novelist Charles Dickens follows the life of Pip, a young orphan who dreams of transcending his humble origins and becoming a gentleman. Through a mysterious benefactor, Pip is granted financial resources, thus fulfilling his aspirations. However, his newfound wealth and status lead him down a path of self-discovery, where he encounters various characters who shape his journey.

Dickens initially penned a bleak conclusion for this masterpiece. However, prior to its publication in 1861, a group of his trusted friends intervened, urging him to reconsider the ending. They proposed a revision that would introduce a glimmer of hope, a chance for the protagonist Pip and his beloved Estella to mend their broken relationship. Although Dickens approached this alteration with a hint of reluctance, he ultimately embraced the suggestion and made the change.

A Farewell to Arms

 A Farewell to Arms by American novelist Ernest Hemingway is a novel that was published in 1929. This classic follows the story of an American ambulance driver named Frederic Henry, who serves in the Italian army during World War 1. The book explores important themes such as love, war, and the feeling of disappointment that comes from witnessing the horrors of battle. Hemingway’s portrayal of how people respond to tragedy makes this book a significant and enduring piece of literature. Interestingly, Hemingway went through extensive revisions to find the perfect ending for the book. In 1958, he mentioned in an interview that he rewrote the ending 39 times until he was satisfied. However, in a 2012 edition of the book, his grandson Sean Hemingway, shared that he discovered an astonishing 47 different alternative endings to the book hidden within his grandfather’s papers.

Rinkitink in Oz

Rinkitink in Oz is a delightful children’s fantasy novel written by American author L. Frank Baum and published in 1916. It is part of the famous Oz series, which includes the beloved classic The Wonderful Wizard of Oz It follows the jolly character Rinkitink from the kingdom of Gilgad, who unexpectedly ventures into the magical Land of Oz with Prince Inga and a talking goat named Bilbil Baum wrote 14 Oz books in his lifetime. However, Rinkitink in Oz the 10th book in the Oz series. stands out as a unique entry. Although it is widely regarded as an excellent story, around 90% of the tale unfolds outside of Oz. Only at the very end does Dorothy make a sudden appearance to introduce the heroes to the wonders of Oz The reason for this divergence is quite straightforward the book was originally written as a standalone fairy tale with no connection to the Oz universe, a decade before its inclusion in the series. When in need of a new Oz book and feeling weary after a busy period of writing. L. Frank Baum repurposed Rinkitink’s story and reworked its ending to integrate it into the popular series. The great news is that despite its deviation from the typical Oz setting. Rinkitink in Oz is considered one of the finest stories in the entire series.

Persuasion

Persuasion is English novelist June Austen’s final completed novel, written after Emma and finished in August 1816, a year before her death at the age of 41 The stony follows Anne Elliot, who is persuaded by her family to decline a marriage proposal from Captain Frederick Wentworth, Years later, circumstances reunite them, compelling Anne to confront her emotions and societal expectations Interestingly, the published ending of the book was not Austen’s original one. In James Edward Austen-Lengths A Memoir of Jane Austen, the authors nephew included the “cancelled chapters associated with the book, revealing Austen’s first ending of the novel. However, she became dissatisfied with it and rewrote the chapters between July and August 1816. These unique pages are the only surviving manuscript of a novel Austen planned and completed for publication The revised ending, was published in the first edition of the novel in 1818. Since the release of A Memoir of Jane Austen in 1871, both readers and critics have agreed that Austen made the right choice by selecting the altemate ending. It is widely regarded as superior for it offered a greater emotional depth and artistry.

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India’s first graphic novel is back in print!

Between 1991 and 1994, Indian graphic artist Orijit Sen drew inspiration from influential works like Art Spiegelman’s ‘Maus’ and Keiji Nakazawa’s ‘Barefoot Gen’ to create India’s groundbreaking first graphic novel, River of Stories. This timeless work serves as a poignant critique of India’s idea of development and political practices. It revolves around the fictional Rewa Andolan, closely mirroring the real-life Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), a people’s movement fighting against the displacement caused by the construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam. Illustrated entirely by hand, the graphic novel delves into a decades-long struggle raising pertinent questions about the notion of development. Though the dam was eventually built, the movement’s core concerns, such as “development for, whom?” remain deeply relevant today.

 Originally published in 1994 and later going out of print, a new edition of this powerful work was released by Blaft Publications in 2022, featuring a foreword by Indian author Arundhati Roy.

River of Stories

This hand-illustrated novel span 62 pages and intricately weaves together two distinct narratives. One revolves around Vishnu, a spirited journalist from Delhi, who embarks on a journey to the valley, documenting the protests of the Rewa Andolan. The other narrative draws upon the rich mythologies of the Adivasis, painting the enchanting tale of Malgu Gayan, a singer whose melodic tunes bring to life the ancient origins of the river.

The new edition

In this new edition, Orijit Sen acknowledges the significant changes that have occurred since he originally penned the graphic novel. The Narmada Bachao Andolan has progressed, and the landscape has evolved. Sen had contemplated creating an illustrated preface. The purpose was to contextualise the scenario of the early ’90s and highlight the changes that have occurred in the Narmada Valley since then.

Additionally, he wanted to shed light on the broader situation of Adivasi and indigenous communities in the present time. However, despite having this idea, Sen had never acted upon it. It was Sen’s daughter who ultimately convinced him to reprint the book. “She reminded me to see it for what it is: River of Stories might be the first Indian graphic novel, but more importantly, it is almost a historical document that represents a crucial moment in time in the Narmada Andolan,” he says.

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What is Thomas Hardy best known for?

One of the most prolific novelists and poets of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, English writer Thomas Hardy had an original style, and his works have remained relevant to this day. A highly diverse writer, Hardy wrote short stories, poems, novels and essays. Let’s read about the writer whose birth anniversary falls in June.

Imagine hanging from a cliff, suspended in the air, as you stare into the eyes of a trilobite embedded in the rock. This was the fate of Henry Knight, one of the protagonists of “A Pair of Blue Eyes”, which was published serially in a publication. And readers had to wait over a month to know if Knight had survived or not.

Sounds like a cliffhanger? Well, indeed it is. The plot device “cliffhanger” is believed to have its roots in English writer Thomas Hardy’s work “A Pair of Blue Eyes”. He was one of the most prolific novelists and poets of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.

Hardy’s career spanned two eras, the Victorian and the Modern. Noted for his unique and original style, Hardy’s work was modern as well as ancient, remaining relevant to this day. A highly diverse writer, Hardy wrote short stories, poems, novels, and essays.

Early life

Born on June 2, in Higher Bockhampton, Dorset, England, Hardy was the eldest of the four children of a stonemason Thomas Hardy and his wife Jemima. Growing up, Hardy spent his childhood in a rural setting, in an isolated cottage near an open heathland (wide, open shrubland). This experience of being accustomed to rural life and oral culture left a profound impact on Hardy and became intrinsic to his later writing. In fact, it was his mother’s love of reading and books that got passed on to the son. At the age of eight, Hardy studied in a village school and then shifted schools.

He continued his primary school education till he was 16 and later apprenticed to a local architect. In 1862, before his 22nd birthday, he moved to London to become a draftsman.

Literary work

Hardy’s job as an architect affected his education. Although he wanted to study at a university and become an Anglican minister, the lack of funds and gradual loss of interest in religion made him abandon the notion and turn to writing.

His first novel manuscript was “The Poor Man and the Lady” (1867-68) and this got rejected by several publishers. But one publisher encouraged him and he changed his style of writing. His writing career picked up after publishing “Desperate Remedies” in 1871, and he was in a good place to leave the field of architecture.

That was when he landed a contract for writing 11 monthly instalments of the serial story “A Pair of Blue Eyes”, in the Cornhill Magazine. The next novel was “Far from the Madding Crowd” (1874). The next two novels, “The Return of the Native” (1878) and “The Mayor of Casterbridge” (1886), helped establish him as a writer.

Hardy himself classified his novels under three headings viz. “novels of character and environment”, “romances and fantasies” and “novels of ingenuity”. “Tess of the d’Urbervilles” (1891) is another famous novel of his.

While the book is appreciated now, it attracted negative reviews when published as it was seen to be at odds with the Victorian sensibilities. This is considered to be one of the reasons for Hardy abandoning fiction for writing poetry, plays and short stories.

Starting 1898 towards his death in 1928, Hardy published eight volumes of poetry. Noted mostly for his lyric poetry Hardy carved a space for himself in the poetic milieu. His poems are known for colloquial diction and intense imagery. He also published a huge poetic drama called ‘The Dynasts” between 1903 and 1908.

With ‘The Dynasts”, Hardy was so ahead of his time and created something that was neither a story, play or poem but rather a shooting script. He was broke free from the norm and invented a work of art that was in accordance with the conventions of the medium of cinema. “The Dynasts” was published in three parts over five years.

Post his death, on January 11, 1928, Hardy’s body was buried at Westminster Abbey. His heart (having been removed before cremation) was buried in Stinson, England, near the grave of his first wife and his ancestors.

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What are the sci-fi novels that successfully predicted the future and inspired the technology?

The fundamental principle or foundation of science fiction (sci-fi) as a genre is to imagine possible futures or alternative presents. The possibility of using fiction to anticipate or inspire the future is what makes reading or writing sci-fi an “essential training” to prepare oneself for what the future might hold. Lets us look at some of the sci-fi novels that successfully predicted the future and inspired the technology we are familiar with today.

The modern electric submarine

Dutch inventor Cornelius Drebbel was the inventor of the first submersible vessel that could remain underwater for a certain period. However, it could only be operated for short distances. Built in 1897 by American mechanical engineer and naval architect Simon Lake, the Argonaut was the first submarine that could perform extensive open-sea operations and salvage cargo from sunken vessels. In his autobiography titled Submarine, the inventor said that the French novelist and sci-fi pioneer Jules Verne’s ‘Twenty Thousand Leagues under’ the Sea was the inspiration behind the vessel.

“Jules Verne was in a sense the director-general of my life,” Lake’s autobiography, ‘Submarine’, quotes him as saying. “When I was not more than ten or eleven years old, I read his ‘Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea’, and my young imagination was fired.”

Google Earth and cryptocurrency

American author Neal Stephenson coined the term Metaverse in his 1992 sci-fi novel ‘Snow Crash’, to describe a three-dimensional virtual space or platform where humans, as programmable avatars, interacted with each other. This novel has been a source of inspiration for many innovators and inventors in various fields.

The virtual reality depiction of the Metaverse in ‘Snow Crash’ is often cited as a source of inspiration for Google Earth, which allows users to explore the world in 3D using satellite imagery.

Mimicking the real world, the economy of Stephenson’s Metaverse was based on a virtual currency called “Quatloos”. This concept is said to have inspired the development of various cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

Solar power

‘Sultana’s Dream’ is a science fiction novella written by Bengali author Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain in 1905, which presents a gender-reversed society where women are in charge and men are confined to the domestic sphere. An ecological invention that was inspired by the themes and ideas presented in this novel was solar-powered houses. In ‘Sultana’s Dream’, the city of Ladyland is powered entirely by solar energy. which is used to heat homes, cook food, and provide light. This novel was one of the earliest works that imagined using renewable energy to promote sustainable growth of the community, without harming the planet.

 It is one of the earliest examples of feminist sci-fi, a genre that explores the role of gender in society. The novella has inspired many works of feminist science fiction, including Octavia Butlers ‘Parable of the Sower’. This novella not only helped spark conversations about gender roles and women’s empowerment in South Asia and beyond, but also served as the inspiration behind noted Bangladeshi filmmaker Rubaiyat Hossain’s 2022 mentorship project called Sultana’s Dream, for aspiring female directors.

In ear-devices like wireless earbuds

The growing popularity of wireless Bluetooth earbuds in recent years has led many researchers to speculate that the idea for this portable audio device was inspired by a gadget called “seashells” in Ray Bradbury’s ‘Fahrenheit 451’. In the 1953 novel by the American writer, seashells are small electronic devices that fit in the ear and play recorded music or other audio content. They are described as being “no larger than a kernel of maize” and having a “thimble-sized” speaker that fits comfortably in the ears.

Although one might argue that Bradbury’s “seashells” are more like tiny radios, than wireless earphones, it does not change the fact that the author imagined them before the advent of the first stereo headphones (1958).

The Moon landing

The French novelist Jules Verne’s novel ‘From the Earth to the Moon’ published in 1865, is often cited as an early inspiration for the idea of space travel and space exploration. While it is not known for certain whether Verne’s work directly inspired the Moon landing, his vivid descriptions of a manned mission to the Moon in a projectile fired from a giant cannon helped to popularise the idea of space travel and may have indirectly contributed to the development of the technologies that eventually made the moon landing possible.

There are many uncanny similarities between the technical aspects of Verne’s narration and the actual lunar landing that was accomplished in 1969 through the Apollo 11 mission. For example, the dimensions of Verne’s (fictional) capsule and the one used for Apollo 11’s mission were startlingly close. Verne’s projectile was launched from Florida, where all the Apollo missions were launched. The book even gave a calculated estimate of the time it should take to reach the Moon as 97 hours and 13 minutes which was pretty close as the Apollo spacecraft took 103 hours and 30 minutes to reach the celestial body.

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Who was Frances Hodgson Burnett? Which was his famous novel?

Frances Hodgson Burnett was born on November 24, 1849, in Manchester, England. Following the death of her father in 1854, her family faced financial hardships. In 1865, the family made the decision to immigrate to the U.S. and settled in New Market, a town near Knoxville, Tennessee. However, the anticipated support from a maternal uncle did not materialise as expected, adding further challenges to their situation.

Driven by the need to support her family, Burnett started writing for magazines at the age of 19. Her first published work was a short story called Surly Tim’s Trouble, which appeared in a magazine in 1868. Burnett’s breakthrough came with the publication of her novel Little Lord Fauntleroy in 1886, which garnered immense popularity and established her as a successful writer. She went on to write numerous novels, plays, and short stories, captivating readers with her vivid imagination and memorable characters. Some of her other notable works include A Little Princess (1905) and The Secret Garden (1911), both beloved classics in children’s literature.

The Secret Garden

The Secret Garden novel was one of his popular novels. The novel centres around Mary Lennox, a 10-year-old girl living in India with her privileged British family. Mary is depicted as a self-centred and ill-tempered child, accustomed to being pampered by her domestic help while receiving little attention from her distant parents. However, her life takes a tragic turn when a cholera epidemic sweeps through the region, claiming the lives of her parents and the household staff, leaving her orphaned. After a short stay with an English clergyman’s family, she is sent to live with her widowed uncle, Archibald Craven, at his Yorkshire estate, Misselthwaite Manor in England.

In the estate, Mary uncovers a fascinating neglected hidden garden. Assisted by Dickon, a local boy, and her cousin Colin, who suffers from a mysterious ailment, she begins to restore the garden to its former beauty.

What makes it a classic?

The healing power of nature

This novel highlights the enduring connection between humans and the natural world, and the positive impact that nature can have on our well-being. In today’s fast-paced and technologically driven society, many people find themselves disconnected from nature, leading to increased stress, anxiety, and a sense of detachment. The theme of nature’s healing power in the novel serves as a poignant reminder of the transformative influence that reconnecting with the natural world can have on us. The story emphasises the restorative qualities of spending time in nature, cultivating a garden, and embracing the outdoors. The process of tending to the garden becomes a metaphor for personal growth and emotional healing. Mary, Colin, and even Archibald finds inner peace, resilience, and a renewed zest for life as they immerse themselves in the natural beauty of the garden.

A novel about self-discovery

The Secret Garden is a captivating tale of self-discovery. Through the enchanting garden, characters such as Mary, Colin, and Archibald undergo transformative journeys. Mary learns empathy and love as she cares for the garden. Colin overcomes his fears and finds his own identity. Archibald finally musters the courage to confront the unresolved issues of his past, which he had been avoiding all this time and embraces healing. The garden serves as a metaphor for their inner landscapes, guiding them towards personal growth and fulfilment.

Their journeys demonstrate the profound impact self-reflection, connection with nature, and meaningful relationships can have in unlocking one’s true potential and finding happiness.

Legal action against copycats

Frances Hodgson Burnett, the author of the beloved children’s book The Little Lord Fauntleroy, did not back down when faced with piracy of her work. When an English playwright named E.B. Seebohm unlawfully adapted her book into a stage play, Burnett took him to court. The court ruled in her favour. declaring that Seebohm had illicitly copied portions of her book for his play. As a result, a legal order was granted, effectively putting an end to the era of British authors being exploited by copycats who freely profited from dramatising popular books.

In recognition of her efforts, Frances received a diamond bracelet and ring from The Society of British Authors, who also held a gala in her honour.

DID YOU KNOW?

  • Originally published in 1910, The Secret Garden made its debut in the pages of The American Magazine, a publication primarily catering to adults. This unique start as a serialised story in a magazine for adults possibly led to some confusion regarding its target audience, as it became one of the first children’s tales to appear in such a medium before being released as a standalone book.
  • The name “Mary” in The Secret Garden draws inspiration from the English nursery rhyme Mary. Mary, quite contrary. In the initial chapters of the book, the protagonist is portrayed as a rude and spoiled child. The other children mock her by reciting the nursery rhyme and referring to her as “Mistress Mary Quite Contrary”. While Burnett initially considered using Mistress Mary as the working title for the book, she ultimately settled on The Secret Garden instead.

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Who was Emily Jane Bronte?

English novelist, Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights was the author’s first and last novel. It is widely considered by many as one of the most incredible pieces of imaginative literature in the English canon. Let’s find out what makes it a classic.

About the author

Emily Jane Bronte was born on July 30, 1818, in Thornton, Yorkshire, England. She was the fifth of six children, and the fourth daughter of Patrick Bronte and Marie Branwell. Her father was a remarkable man and a minister of the Anglican church. The author lost her mother at the tender age of three. This was the first great loss the family had to come to terms with. In 1825, Emily was sent to join her sisters Maria, Elizabeth, and Charlotte at school. Following the tuberculosis epidemic at the institution that claimed the life of her two elder sisters, Emily and Charlotte returned home. This incident is also mentioned in her sister Charlotte’s magnum opus Jane Eyre. Emily spent the next 10 years of her life at home, where she played, read extensively, and wrote together with her siblings in an inventive creative workshop. During one of such playful workshops, the four participated in fictional world-making, which resulted in Charlotte and their brother Branwell teaming together to create a fictional land called Angria, and Emily with her sister Anne inventing the fictional Pacific Island of Gondol.

Emily was a meticulous reader. Charlotte in her Preface to the 1850 edition of Wuthering Heights elucidated that her sister “always wrote from the impulse of nature”. However, Professor Karen O’Brien from the University of Oxford says that Emily Bronte’s lone novel is a testament to her extensive reading and understanding of the works of English poets and authors such as Sir Walter Scott, William Wordsworth, and Lord Byron. The first edition of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights was written under the pseudonym Ellis Bell and published in 1847.

Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights is a powerful and complex story of love, obsession, and revenge over two generations. It is narrated by housekeeper Nelly Dean and framed from the perspective of a visiting outsider Mr. Lockwood. This narrative revolves around an orphan named Heathcliff, who is taken in by Mr. Earnshaw and brought to live in Wuthering Heights. The story explores the close-knit bond he forms with his patron’s daughter Catherine.

What makes it a classic?

A treatise on women Social conventions were extremely important at the time when Bronte wrote this novel. Italian writer and journalist Italo Calvino, in his book The Uses of Literature, said. “A classic is a classic book because it had never finished what it had to say”, and Wuthering Heights stands true to this statement. One might think of it as just a love story. Well yes, but it’s also a story of ghosts, obsession, and haunting. Where Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters predecessor, wrote about the purpose of romance and how it was intangibly linked to or ended in marriage, Emily Bronte’s sole novel is a treatise on women and tries to explore what is important to her gender other than the pursuit of marriage.

Making a statement

Through Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte changed what was possible and acceptable for women to write, and how women and men can be portrayed in fiction. Her characters challenged the social expectation that one’s emotions and how they are expressed or dealt with must be dictated by an individual’s gender. It advocated that all the things.

that we as people feel are not so different just because one is a man or a woman. It broke away from the tradition that dictated that women must only write about acceptable things (such as love and marriage) and elements of the domestic sphere. It objected to the idea that men (especially heroes) are not capable of emoting grief and passion or being allowed to display any negative emotions such as vengeance. Wuthering Heights is not a moralising novel and calls the hypocrisy of the society that divides people on the basis of gender, turns a blind eye to the violence it inflicts in the name of religion, set unrealistic moral expectations, and is more concerned with respectability, than working towards creating an equal society.

Emily Bronte’s exceptional imagination in Wuthering Heights, says English author Kate Mosse, “makes it clear that a woman who is an artist and a man who is an artist have the same mission-to write what we think is true and to write what we think matters, this makes her sole novel one for the ages.”

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What does Jane Austen say in her novel Emma?

English author Jane Austen’s novels employ wit and humour to decipher the sheltered lives of the upper classes in rural England. Her novel Emma explores the baffling collision of emotions and etiquette. Let us revisit this story and see what makes it a classic.

About the author

Jane Austen was born December 16, 1775, in Steventon, Hampshire, England. She was the second daughter and seventh child of Reverend George Austen and Cassandra Leigh Austen. Her father was a rector and a scholar who encouraged and inculcated a love for learning in his children. The authors mother was a woman of quick wit, popular for her impromptu stories in her circles. Austen shared a special bond with her elder sister Cassandra, who was her lifelong companion as neither of them married. She was mostly homeschooled by her father and brothers due to the poor financial condition of the family. However, as an avid reader, she grew up perusing classics by William Shakespeare, John Milton, Alexander Pope, David Hume, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Jane Austen began writing at a very young age. She finished early drafts of Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice in the late 1790s. Her novels shed light on distinct expectations of a woman’s proper role in society and studied the frustrations of her gender, in a society that saw no use for their talents.

Long considered the English authors most perfectly executed novel, Emma is the only one of her books that is named after its heroine. Published in 1815, this titular protagonist is the first and the only one of Jane Austen’s heroines who has something close to power. Emma Woodhouse is generous, smart, rich and in the prime of her youth. She had lost her mother at a very tender her sister is married off, and her father is completely dependent on her. So, she age, runs the household and has the liberty to act according to her will. The novel, many critics argue, is Austen’s homage to Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and chronicles Emma’s near-disastrous meddling in the lives of others. Austen famously said this about her heroine Emma Woodhouse “a heroine whom no one but myself will much like”.

The mould of a heroine

What is a heroine? All six of Jane Austen’s novels teasingly ask this question. The formulation of a typical heroine of the 19th Century as described by Austen was “Heroine, a faultless character herself – perfectly good, with much tenderness and sentiment, and not the least Wit”. Heroines that dominated the English novel before and in Austen’s time had to be morally impeccable. Breaking away from the trope of the pious heroine, Austen, through her rebellious, mischievous, and flawed female protagonists, broke the unrealistic societal expectations that forced women to lead their lives as pictures of perfection.

The Artistry

One thing about Jane Austen’s writing style that sets her apart from her contemporaries is her way of narrating the story through the consciousness of the characters. Modern novelists call it free-indirect speech. Although Austen didn’t invent this technique, according to Austen scholar Juliette Wells, “she’s certainly the one who took it the farthest and established its primacy, its necessariness.”

According to English critic John Mullon, the most sophisticated use of this technique can be observed in Emma, where most of the novel is seen through the eyes of a heroine who is mostly wrong about everything. So while reading it one is sharing her delusions and misjudgement.

This technique makes us as readers fall in love with Austen’s characters for their humanity and the capacity to make mistakes and learn from them.

Janet Todd, Professor Emerita from the University of Cambridge, said, “Emma is the culmination of her career and it is the cleverest, the most subtle and the one in which she thinks about her artistry as well as putting artistry into the book…. think it is her masterpiece.”

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Bond with nature

In her debut children’s novel “Searching for the Songbird”, anthropologist Ravina Aggarwal pens a story about the curiosities of children, of young friendships, and of finding harmony with nature. The book details the exploits of Johnny Raut and his friends as they set out to find Kastura, the missing ‘songbird’ and the prime suspect in a burglary in the Himalayan foothills. In this interview, the author speaks about her new book and why it’s important for children to develop an intimacy with the songs and sounds of their environment. Excerpts….

What prompted the decision to write a children’s book?

My love for books came through mysteries. As a child, the imagined world of clues and detection fascinated me. I had grown up imbibing the experiences of children in England through the works of English authors. The characters in these stories eat scones, live in cottages, and form secret societies in garden sheds. But growing up in India, in Mumbai, that wasn’t quite my experience. So I wanted to write a mystery that is reflective of our Indian context.

“Searching for the Songbird” is set in the foothills of the Himalayas in Dehradun. Why did you choose this setting for your book?

My quest has always been to convey the geography and the experiences of the Himalayan region, which I have loved and studied through various genres of writing. The Himalayas are not static mountains. They are undergoing a lot of change and turmoil. I think cities such as Dehradun capture the complexities of balancing the environment with a desire for growth.

When Johnny arrives in Dehradun, he struggles to deal with his new surroundings as he knows almost nothing about the mountains. Like Johnny, children growing up in urban areas are often unaware about their local flora and fauna. Do you think it is necessary for children to interact with nature?

It is absolutely essential for the children of this generation, who are growing up with the looming cloud of climate change, to bond with nature. Children today are living with the negative consequences of unbridled human growth, and so it is important that our parenting and education systems reflect a relationship with nature. There has to be a curricular shift, along with experiential learning, creating opportunities for children to be with nature. We also need to think of exposing children to alternative, more sustainable lifestyles.

From the crimson sunbird to the slaty headed parakeet and the Indian paradise flycatcher, why are birds central to the story?

When you are in Dehradun, you can’t help but notice different varieties of birds. The book is about listening to the songs and the sounds of the mountain; the birds are part of that soundscape. Unfortunately, we are at a time when there’s a lot of human-wildlife conflict because natural habitats are disappearing.

Kastura, the missing ‘songbird’ is portrayed as a caste musician and the book highlights caste discrimination prevalent in India. Could you elaborate how difficult it was to weave such a complicated topic into a children’s book?

For urban kids, understanding caste- in particular, the prejudices or stigmas that people in their peer group might be enduring- is important. In modern India, you need to know about caste and engage with its history. And how do children grapple with that? I think it’s through social relationships. The protagonist Johnny, although he is from Mumbai and is living in the mountains, has to start understanding these differences to form social bonds and solve the mystery.

After solving the mystery of the missing ‘songbird’, Johnny and his friends form the Himalayan Catchers Society. Can we expect more adventures from them?

Certainly! I intended this book to be part of a series and I hope to write the second part soon.

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Why is Frankenstein novel still relevant more than 200 years after it was written?

More than 200 years after its first publication, English author Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus is still discussed and lauded for its cultural and scientific impact on our world. Let us find out why.

About the author

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was born in London. England on August 30, 1797. Her father was an author named William Godwin and her mother was Mary Wollstonecraft, one of the most popular early feminists, who wrote the influential book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) and championed the cause of women’s education and equal rights. She, sadly, passed away 11 days after giving birth to Mary.

This devastating event heavily influenced Mary Shelley’s writing. Many critics even argue that a biological reading of her magnum opus Frankenstein: or. The Modem Prometheus can help one look at it as a story of a monstrous or disastrous birth. Mary first met P.B. Shelley, her future husband and one of the greatest lyric poets of the age, when she was 14. The poet had come to consult her father after being thrown out of Oxford for writing the essay. The Necessity of Atheism.

The contest and the dream

While on vacation in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1816 with her husband, her stepsister Claire Clairemont, English poet Lord Byron and his doctor, 18-year-old Mary wrote the story of Victor Frankenstein in a friendly novel writing competition that ensued among her peers. Her novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, was first in 1818 anonymously in London.

In the introduction of the 1831 edition of the novel, the author explained that she wanted to write a story that would “speak to the mysterious fears of our nature and awaken thrilling horror. But what really helped her create a narrative around this idea was a conversation she overheard between her husband and Lord Byron, on the new developments in electricity and whether it can possibly be used to bring the dead back to life. That night she had a waking dream of, “a pale student” kneeling next to the monster he had put together.

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus

Recognised as one of the greatest gothic novels, this book traces Italian Swiss scientist Victor Frankenstein’s futile quest to impart and sustain life using scientific means. Plagued by unbridled curiosity, he creates this monster part by part from different corpses and electrifies it into a conscious being. Upon completing the experiment, however, Frankenstein, appalled by his creation, abandons it and flees. Rejected by his creator, the nameless monster wanders into the wilderness, where he takes shelter and eventually learns to read and write. The plot of this story is the chilling chase between the creator and his creation.

What makes it a classic?

The Modern Prometheus

In Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan god of fire. He is best known as the ethereal figure who stole fire from the gods and gave it to mankind and was sentenced to eternal torment by Zeus for this act of disobedience. The authors mention of this figure in the subtitle alludes to her reimagining of what a modern and scientific Prometheus would be like. Through the character of Victor Frankenstein, she explores the jarring and tragic consequences of humans trying to play god.

Perils of being an irresponsible parent

The endurance of Frankenstein can also be attributed to its emphasis on the perils of being an irresponsible parent. A child’s behaviour is directly related to the quality of parenting he or she has received. This justifies why Frankenstein’s monster is looking for his creator to wreak his revenge for the neglect he feels that he has experienced.

“Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay To mould me Man, did I solicit thee From darkness to promote me?”

Paradise Lost by John Milton Mary Shelley’s choice to include these lines spoken by Adam in John Milton’s Paradise Lost, in her novel’s epigraph helps promote the idea of scientific responsibility. The transformation of the creature from a benevolent being to a murderous fiend because of his master’s rejection and failure to take any responsibility can be understood, as Mary Shelley’s warning against the single-minded pursuit of science without an accompanying concern about morality. The tension between Frankenstein and his creation represents the struggles among a parent and child, science, and morality. This story acts as a warning to treat all living things with respect.

Corruption of nature

Romanticism was a movement in 18th-Century literature that promoted the idea of purity in art, and inspiration in nature. It surfaced as a response to spreading industrialisation and scientific developments. Mary’s novel as a text from this period acts as a cautionary tale that narrates the dangerous consequences of the corruption of nature in the quest for glory.

More than 200 years after its publication, Frankenstein’s monster lives on in our collective consciousness as a disfigured mirror of the natural cycle of life and as a warming to not tamper with the laws of nature.

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Who was the Bram Stoker?

Bram Stoker, byname of Abraham Stoker, (born November 8, 1847, Clontarf, County Dublin, Ireland—died April 20, 1912, London, England), Irish writer. Bram Stoker who is best known for the Gothic horror novel “Dracula” was born in Dubin, Ireland, in November. His early years were rife with personal struggles for he was an invalid till the age of 7. He could not stand or walk. But even those difficult times had a profound creative effect on Stoker. “I was naturally thoughtful, and the leisure of long illness gave opportunity for many thoughts which were fruitful according to their kind in later  years.” Stoker would write later.

After making a full recovery. he became an athlete and football player in school. He also earned a degree in mathematics from Trinity College, Dubin.

A passion for theatre

Even as he was in civil service at Dublin Castle in 1876, he doubled as a drama critic for the Dublin Evening Mail. Though an unpaid job, it quenched his passion for theatre. Around this time that he acquainted himself with English actor Henry Irving. Stoker was Irving’s manager for about 27 years until the actor’s death.

Foray into the literary world

It was in 1879 that Stoker published his first book. Titled “The Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland,” it was a handbook in legal administration.

He later turned to writing fiction and published his first novel, “The Snake’s Pass,” a romantic thriller. In 1897 came his masterstroke – “Dracula.”

An epistolary novel – a novel written as a collection of diary entries, telegrams, and letters from the characters – “Dracula” was celebrated and led to a lot of subcultures. The book went through a multitude of incarnations, being adapted for movies, television series, theatre, books and so on.

“Dracula”

The Gothic novel starts off with a young lawyer Jonathan Harker on his journey to Transylvania. His destination – Castle Dracula where he is set to meet Count Dracula, a client of his firm, to finalise a property transaction.

The story features a Transylvanian vampire who survives by feeding on the blood of innocent people. Eventually, after many exploits, Dracula is destroyed.

During the course of his literary career, Stoker wrote a number of short stories and 12 novels, including “The Mystery of the Sea” (1902), “The Jewel of Seven Stars” (1903), and ‘The Lady of the Shroud” (1909).

Personal life

Stoker married actress Florence Balcombe and the couple had their only son Noel in 1879. The final years were difficult, for Stoker had to grapple with financial struggles and deteriorating health. He suffered a number of strokes and renal impairment. Stoker passed away in April 1912.

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WHAT IS AGATHA CHRISTIE FAMOUS FOR?

Dame agatha mary clarissa christie, lady mallowan, dbe (née miller; 15 september 1890 – 12 january 1976) was an english writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives hercule poirot and miss marple.

A crime, a host of suspects, twists and turns, and an unexpected ending, all make this genre a delight for the reader. It’s a genre made popular by British author Agatha Christie

Let me explain how I got introduced to mystery novels, a popular genre.

Some of us in our neighbourhood usually visit each other’s homes whenever we are free. The other day when I went to one of my friends place, he was in his ‘home’ library, which he calls the mini library. There was a good collection of books, and I ran my eyes over them devouringly and pulled out a book at random. The cover page had an attractive design – a huge mansion surrounded by water and had the usual details such as the name of the author and the title – Agatha Christie, “And Then There Were None” – and what caught my attention was – The Queen of Mystery’.

I asked my friend, “Why is the author called The Queen of Mystery?” He thought for a while, but unable to respond, called out his sister. When she came in, I repeated the question.

She started off mentioning that anyone interested in mystery novels would have certainly read at least one of hers as Agatha Christie had written 66 of them. All her novels had the structure of a murder / crime being committed and a detective investigating and unravelling the truth at the end. Although the author was not the one who invented this genre, no one had written as much as she had and popularised it, and for that reason she was described as The Queen of Mystery’. It was a convincing answer to me.

An important fact about Agatha Christie, she added, was that she was the best-selling author as her books sold over a billion copies in English and another billion in translation; this was next only to the sale of The Bible, a rare feat, in fact.

She also told us that she liked the mystery novels very much, which, in a way, intrigued me. So, I asked her why she liked them and how they were different from other types of novels.

My friend’s sister gave an interesting response to my question. She elaborated that all mystery novels narrate a gripping story about a crime and as readers, we all get involved in the investigation, but till the end, we wouldn’t be able to identify the criminal, though we would be led to suspect many of the characters. It was these elements of mystery or the suspense that differentiated them from other kinds of novels, which mostly narrate straightforward stories. “The unexpected twists and turns in the mystery novels further add to our delight,” she added.

She went on to tell us that she had basically been a slow reader but after starting on the mystery novels she has gained speed. Even the textbooks, she could read faster and understand them better now. When she stopped, I pointed out to her that the title was rather unusual, and enquired why the novelist had given such a title.

The title was, in fact, an adaptation from the nursery rhyme “Ten Little Soldier Boys Went Out to Dine”; and it was printed at the beginning of the book. She explained, “You would realise as you read the novel that the writer had drawn heavily from the rhyme.”

She also listed other famous mystery novelists, namely, Stephen King, John Grisham, Dan Brown, and so on, who are widely read all over the world. Finally, she prodded us to read this novel as this has been one of the top-selling novels and made into a movie. She also suggested that we watch the movie along with her.

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