“Without a sign, his sword the brave man draws, and asks no omen, but his country’s cause”
Often considered the first great book of literature, The Illiad is an epic poem which set the stage for all larger-than-life dramas the creative world has since witnessed.
It tells the story of the darkest episode of the most retold Trojan War. It’s an epic poem, with beautiful lyrical tone, set around an eternal love story, an eternal friendship, and an eternal enmity.
At the centre of the story is Achilles, the greatest warrior-champion of the Greeks, the great principled and morally upright King Priam offering valuable insights to life, the beautiful Helen and all the mistakes one makes in love, war, and life.
The Illiad is a must read for all fond of beautifully strung words that pull at heart strings with a deep sense of catharsis.
“He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.”
Anna Karenina, a beautiful, sensuous, and rebellious young woman, is unhappily married to the wealthy but cold aristocrat Alexey Alexandrovitch. Restless in her passionless marriage, she lives in a society and times where Church rules the order for the wealthy; one wrong can bring down the entire family. Thus, she was floating through life until she met Count Vronsky. They fell passionately in love, convinced they met their soulmates. The story goes through their struggles to get approval for divorce, and their desire to live together in a complex society.
Tolstoy uses his characters to raise complex questions about family’s, egos that become a handcuff, and a society that becomes limiting to individual happiness. His famous novel is seemingly ahead of its times as it questions the inherent bias within people.
“Our memory has no guarantees at all, and yet we bow more often than…justified to the compulsion to believe what it says.”
What are the most common dreams and why do we have them? Does a dream about death, swimming, seeing a snake or flying symbolize something?
First published by Sigmund Freud in 1899, The Interpretation of Dreams is a deep and psychological research into what our dreams tell about our subconscious fears, traumas, and inherent desires.
Freud’s theories delve into the idea of dreams as a means to wish fulfilment, and the significance of childhood experiences on adult life.
Frued argues and insists that if we fully understand dreams, we will fully understand the unconscious mind.
Encompassing dozens of case histories and detailed analyses of actual dreams; this critical text presents Freud’s legendary work as a tool for comprehending our sleeping experiences.
“Of the many things hidden from the knowledge of man, nothing is more unintelligible than the human heart”
Sequal to The Illiad, the story begins ten years after the Trojan War and the Fall of Troy, when Odysseus, one of the war heroes, has still not returned to his kingdom Ithaca.
The Odyssey, which means the story of Odysseus, highlight another universal truth about life which is the desire to return home, the destructions and sacrifices of war.
When assumed dead, Odysseus’s wife Penelope and son Telemachus struggle with a group of unruly suitors who have overrun their palace wanting to marry Penelope and take over his house. But Odysseus is still alive; imprisoned on the island of Ogygia by Calypso, who is possessed by love for him and desires to make him her immortal husband.
Homer’s epic poem, larger than life emotions, and philosophical thoughts is a reminder of the bitter-sweet melancholies and the simplest desires of life.
“It is because I think so much of warm and sensitive hearts, that I would spare them from being wounded.”
A cruel act of fate is disappointing a young heart which has the softest hopes from life. Born impoverished and orphaned at birth, Oliver Twist begins his life in a workhouse an apprentice. He flees to London fed up with the constant beatings by his mentor.
He arrives in London with high hopes for a better life but is met with a series of rude shocks. What happens when he meets Jack Dawkins, goes to work with him only to be taken to the police when mistaken for a thief?
Oliver Twist is a sarcastic, intelligent, witty novel with incredible twists and turns.
The story the strives to overcome the miserable conditions for the lower class, searches for an identity, and a sense of belonging.
“There are darknesses in life and there are lights, and you are one of the lights, the light of all lights.”
A story told through letters, Dracula is the first novel set against the fantasy of vampires. The story that gave popular culture the tropes of vampire teeth, bites on the neck and their aversions to sun retold time and again.
Set in the wilderness of Transylvania, the Castle Dracula becomes a dark hole where visitors become confined to the prisoners of the castle. Count Dracula, the lord of the castle, is trying to move from Transylvania to England, but is unable to because every person who arrives becomes a victim of his uncontrollable vampire seductions.
A thrilling tale of survival of both the victims and victimizer; the Count’s desperate measures to escape a lonely existence. The horrifying twists and turns make it a gripping read and the spooky settings leaves the reader wide eyed.
“So long as you write what you wish to write, that is all that matters; and whether it matters for ages or only for hours, nobody can say.”
It’s the 20th century and Virginia Woolf is invited to speak to a roomful of young writers at a few colleges. She left the room and society at large perplexed with the thoughts she raised. Would Shakespeare’s sisters be given the same room to flourish if she had his skill sets? Can a women flourish if given the physical space to be by herself and ideate? Can a woman find a professional identity if not infrastructurally empowered? As a society do we allow this?
This book, although a work of fiction with a fictitious narrator and setting, is inspired by the lectures delivered by Woolf. As a revolutionary work, it remains poignant and relevant even today as we seemingly progress to an equal society but struggle with conditionings of gender roles. Despite its heavy subject, it’s an enjoyable, funny, sarcastic, and sensitive read; like a conversation with a dear friend.
“It is better to learn wisdom late than never to learn it at all.”
An absolute treat for the fans of Sherlock Holmes or new readers eager to explore his world, this collection is the best Sherlock kit.
A collection of four novels written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: A Study in Scarlet (1887), The Sign of the Four (1890), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902) and The Valley of Fear (1915).
The stories were first published in various magazines and newspapers between 1887 and 1927; and considered the benchmark in detective fiction. Sherlock Holmes does more than solving mysteries and crimes, he has been the ultimate desirable man because of his style, cigars, unattainability, humour, and stoic personality.
The reader is as swooned by the enigma of Holmes as they are engrossed in solving the difficulties of his cases. The friendship between Holmes and his sidekick Watson adds an endearing quality to the stories making them a classic for a reason.
“I wish you to know that you have been the last dream of my soul.”
The storming of the Bastille, the drop of the guillotine blade—this is the French Revolution that Charles Dickens vividly captures in the novel A Tale of Two Cities.
It was the era of suppressed people rising for their rights, overthrowing centuries of corrupt regime; for them the wounds and blood was sweet as it was tinged with the air of liberation.
With compassion and empathy, Dickens writes some unforgettable scenes and memorable characters: the sinister Madame Defarge, knitting her patterns of death; the gentle Lucie Manette, unswerving in her devotion to her broken father; Charles Darnay, the lover with a secret past, and Sydney Carton, whose unlikely heroism gives his life meaning.
In Dicken’s enigmatic world of treachery and heroism, explore the bravest and weakest corners of human nature, and the redemptive power of love and sacrifice.
“I realize now that there’s a lot to be said for traveling if you want to see something new.”
When Phileas Fogg, a wealthy gentleman, impulsively bets that he can travel the globe in just eighty days, he sets in motion an extraordinary chain of events. Leaving behind the comfort of his predictable life, Fogg and his loyal valet Passepartout, embark on a race against time.
Passing through exotic lands and dangerous locations, they seize whatever transportation is at hand—train or elephant.
Their quest for the ultimate adventure is not without its challenges. Fogg has become the prime suspect in a bank robbery, with a relentless detective hot on their heels. As they journey across continents, their race against time becomes a race for their freedom.
Will they conquer the world and prove Fogg’s audacious bet right? Prepare to be captivated by Verne’s masterful storytelling as he weaves a tale of suspense, and a thrilling spirit of adventure.
