Read Arundhati Roy’s debut novel shortly after it was published, was still in secondary/high school then – and came away not fancying the read.

Changed my mind about her writing when I stumbled upon her essays in university as an undergraduate and grew to love her deliciously, sharp wit as an essay-writer and activist full of heart. Her mindblowing “End of Imagination” (available online, too) is a case in point. :)

Am rereading her novel again, as course material for my upcoming graduate module – and I catch myself revising my earlier impressions of it. Been good, by far! :)

One of the best books I’ve read in a while! Amazing dystopic commentary on a society where we keep distancing ourselves from genuine appreciation of all things beautiful in our life – as emotions, love, colours, music & literature.

A definite must-read!!♥

Making a mental note right now to check out the poet Lois Lowry’s other works in prose :)

Watched it for Johnny Depp’s performance, of course :)

Johnny Depp’s John Dillinger’s probably one of the most charming & beautiful outlaws ever immortalised in movie history. Especially loved the poignant closure.. esp. with Billie Holliday’s song!♥

Guess I’d been looking forward to a more strongly Faustian theme undercutting the entire plot, and that didn’t get through.

Despite the stellar cast (Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Christopher Plummer – who looks so reminiscent of King Lear, gosh!, in almost every scene, and Tom Waits were awesome, of course) and gorgeous setting – that in itself, must have been difficult to assemble and create – the movie remains an interesting ride through fantasy, but didn’t quite come close to exploring he legendary Faustian imagination and downfall.

Of course, the fact remains that it remains a beautiful work of tribute though, to the late Heath Ledger, with his friends Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Ferrell, doing their part to finish his scenes for him – possible only because of the fragmentary plot of the movie.

My surprise & beloved find during some pre-CNY shopping!!

Never imagined i’d be able to lay my hands on my own personal copy, but yes!!♥

Of course, i know most of my fave songs from the album by heart now (from the once-regular days of listening to them online), and so all i need to do now, is to sing/hum/sway along to the nectarine-voiced one’s soul-dowsing ghazals. Yummm…♥♥

Awesome tribute to Idealist hearts (yeah!), from start to finish.. :D

Lovely balm to a drained soul, surely.

Deeply moving, funny, and heartwarming take on allowing people to follow their hearts.

Brilliant performance by wunderkind Aamir saab & the main cast, and such lovely songs, too. Surely recommended to all dear souls! :D

Found it too reminiscent of William Golding’s LOTF (that i couldn’t find the courage to read to the horrific finish), too full of darkness, of the grit and despair that clogs up the hearts and lives of those already trapped in poverty. :(

Turf wars aren’t a shocking notion, but so much senseless violence, unnecessary bloodshed, and perhaps worse of all, the unfathomably chilling laughter of the young ’uns who take up the mantle of ’hoodsters.. their sheer schadenfreude that sickens, is truly, downright sad.

Not as good as I’d expected it to be. Perhaps, i’d attended to it with too high a level of expectations?

I catch myself wishing that the text had dabbled more in intellectual liberty (or its lack thereof).

Was okay.

For those readers looking for similarly themed books, do check out Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451,” which deals with book-banning and censorship, besides other pertinent themes.

Brilliant!

Yummy combat moves with a delectably good leading cast (All 3 of them – Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law & Rachel McAdams – of course!)

Found it akin to a well-paced, first-class narrative: As perfect as a delicious novel. Yumm.. :D

Understated genius! Beautiful. :)

Steven Spielberg’s heartwarming “Terminal” would be perfect for mine fave topic/lecture in Travel Lit, an old/ever-fave module.. on themes ever so close to one’s heart, as Identity and Home/Rootlessness, and of course, the crucial heart of literature ~ Empathy.

And, of course, Tom Hanks is lovely, here. :)

For the creation of the stunning airport set alone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=118GmArZW04