Comedic books that I loved and reviewed
Charlie is a teenager who is trying to navigate life, the best he can. He is a wallflower who has just lost his middle school best friend to suicide and his beloved aunt to an accident. He lives in the American suburb of Pittsburgh. And yes, he loves to communicate his deepest and darkest feelings through letters. He addresses his letters to a Dear Friend.
Whenever I think of Jane Austen, the first novel that comes to my mind is Persuasion. I loved it then, when I read it for the first time in school. Or later in college on days, when love and romance in the world seemed fit only for fiction.
In Emma, by using comedy as a tool, Jane Austen highlights the social hierarchy and class divisions prevalent in the Georgian society. Despite being a romantic comedy, Emma emerges as a scathing social commentary, without turning preachy at any point. Through Austen’s thoughtfully implemented sub-plots, it entertains and yet remains realistic and relevant.
Eleanor Oliphant’s (this is not her real name though) story is worth every penny and page. A tale of acute loneliness, it made me weep inconsolably. This is writing at its ingenuous best. I must confess on days, I had to discard the book — it was akin to staring too hard in the mirror.
