I think it is..and i felt the same..i was about 8th grade when i read it. My mother asked me immediately if the author is female, and then said that is what, she is writing about other women like that. There was another Blyton book 'Naughtiest girl in school' too very sexist stuff my mom asked again why not Naughtiest boy. But can't deny those books were fun to read.
enna vamba pochu..no connection between kilu kilu and enid blyton. I think you are confusing sexy and sexist. Sexist is discriminatory to women, not kilu kilu stuff.
Thooka kalakkathila I added one "e" extra !?? Enid blytonla ennathada sexiest paartaangannu yosicheen. But at that age kumudam magazine kooda manjappathrikka maathirithane theriyum
Irukkalam..today's generation more exposure more stuff. Enga kalathula ellam kumudam only during puc. 8th grade was still chandamama, enid blyton vagayara..occasionally intelligent magazines like Kalkandu, then Chinmaya Mission's Bal Vihar and hindu paper supplement for kids.
Of course PS and most of that genration authors like Lakshmi. PS I started in 9th holidays. SS was my first romantic novel ever in 10th, mills and boon around same time.
I didn't much like the Naughtiest Girl thing - it seemed so much a Treatise on How Girls Must Behave tripe that I gave up after half a book. :) Blyton seemed better when she forgot to be all moralistic and goody-goody. I did go on a Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy kick after that - but I never did get into Mills and Boon. Dunno why. The cookbooks seem a great read. Must try them. Speaking of cooking - anyone watch Nigella Lawson's shows? :)))))
It has to be Nandhini scene or manimekalai scene .... 1. Where VD rescues them (nandhini and manimekalai ) from the lake after the cheetah chase ?
2. When VD meets nandhini for the first time at PPV's palace and just before manthravadi comes in ?
3. When parthibendran trips off seeing nandhini in the camp at kodikkarai???
Few instances that I cud think off that the author has avoid any boundless-imagination.. (Why dig sandilyan and compare him hence suggest Boundless-imagination to be used.. Sandilyan bookayum kasu koduthu vangi pandichu magiltheengalla sir ?)
But ur quiz is usually tough - now that I have experienced when we framed it during the PSPV festival I will wait for other thinking souls to jump in :))
> I am wondering why we have not discussed PG Wodehouse! > PG is one of my all time favourites. > I read it when i am between some serious novels.
swaroop just that many of us are not reading pgw in this recession i would rate his 'damsel in distress' as my all time favourite novel along with 'sun bird' by wilbursmith
and just a trivia. just like herge of tintin, wodehouse too was branded as a nazi sympathiser.
not restricted to kilu kilu, if we were to talk of romantic scenes -
Pavithra has sketched it for the PS souvenir - VT in prison, Kundavai holding his hand and confessing her eternal love.
lotus in full bloom, two buds and a fawn in the bank, posing a question to her beloved - mamalla leaving the Vel mark inbetween the lotus and the fawn.
own words) ...her chandiravadhanam. her arched eye brows.
Hi, I was waiting for someone to mention about Asterix.You can read it again and again ,and laugh your guts out esp when Asterix and Obilex beat up the Romans. shanthi
My favorite scene(s) is the time SS and Mamalla have together at Veeranarayana Eri during the storm and then have to part. You really feel for the lovers then and Kalki leaves so much unsaid to the reader's imagination!! Sandilyan or Kovi Manisekaran would have written a few kilu kilu packed chapters on this...
I love how they tie up the bard. And also the community fights, nothing like getting hit on the head with a fish, whts the fishseller's wife name? Plus obelix oogling on wild boar.. Not to mention the pirates!!
I am reading some great historical fiction (never tire of the genre!) by Robert Harris. The 2 books I just finished are
a. Pompeii - a fictional account of a aqueduct engineer who first recognizes that something horrible is going to happen and who, along with his lover, survives the volcanic eruption. It was fascinating to read about the engineering and management of water and the rationing/provisioning of water based on need. Susequently, I found many web articles on the Roman aqueduct system - they had advanced means of diverting water from springs even through tunnel under mountains and storing them in reservoirs, building pressure to reach far areas, etc. Of course, history also points out the influence of rich people, corruption/bribery are eternal :)) Strongly recommend.
b. Imperium - a fictional account of Cicero's rise to power in the Roman republic, told by his slave/secretary, Tiro. Tiro is credited to have invented short hand and the much used "&" symbol. It is a good account of the whole Roman system of governance and the politics/elections. It also marginally goes into Cicero's philosophical thinking.
What struck me in both cases is that though fictional accounts, there is substantial truth to the incidents/characters, because of the physical historical evidence available. Many of Cicero's letters to his best friend, Atticus are available today (translated version available in duke university website). We are talking about 1st century AD here and it is astonishing that these have survived. (I can't help a wistful desire that more evidence of our culture were available to us now.)
On the side, I am also reading great crime fiction by Ngaio Marsh - very Christie-like, but slow-moving, yet gripping thriller!
And I agree, dear old Plum Woodhouse rules the roost.. immense re-read potential and a sure-fire prescription for a gloomy mood :)
Same here, want to read again..although must confess am not as big a fan of asterix as am of tintin..for reasons not entirely clear to me:) can't deny the humor regardless :))
I do agree Sandilyan was king of kilu kilu, Kovi M was not far behind as far as hitoric novels go. Sujatha used more sophistication on the subject, in 'second person' so to speak, through his casanova Vasanth . He had a refreshing, titillating writing style, unparalleled, unconquered in the history of Tamil novels; my all time favorite.
Lustrum is the last in the triology is expected later this year. Robert Harris is now an acclaimed Roman history writer. I loved his Fatherland as well.
Well it wasn't my opinion though !! it was in a novel(whose name i forgot) and I just repeated what was mentioned there and yes I did not have the opportunity to visit paris yet.
Yeah not surprising..France gets a very bad rap from many writers esp more if they are english or american. European cultures are close knit, less diverse and more conservative so the average 'liberal' writer finds that funny many times...am so used to seeing our own culture being treated with so much of contempt and stereotyped opinions why would France be any different for them.
HI Venkat Geriatrix- The old man of the vilage... what naming... By the way, I dint enjoy Asterix the Movie....it was OK Enid blyton, tintin, Asterix, Irumbukkai mayavi, lawence David (Muthu comics- kattril karandha kappalgal- my favoutite)..... When I wa in US- Cleveland, Ohio couple of yars ago, I wanted to introduce my kids to Blyton, unfortnately I couldnt find Blyton in any of the libraries. When I asked about it to the Librarian she told that she has heard about the author and asked me to recommend some titles to the library council.
Hi Sundar, Blyton is not accepted in other parts of the world, including US for her blatantly racist writing. Noddy was allowed some years ago in US public libraries after some editing of racist comments. Some school series like Malory towers show american kids in very bad light. They will not allow that here.
Much as we enjoyed it..makes us think..we indians are the only back boneless, wimpy characters in the world sometimes..
Maloo - wow. Harsh. :) Shanti: You do? Me too. Well, I do watch Kylie too - but there's something about Nigella. :) Maybe its all that chocolate she uses and which i can't have in real life. Hmm.
Hi Venkat, Even me.Asterix and the soothsayer is another one that i love to read.when i used to read these books and laugh, my mother -in -law used to come into my room and ask me what was wrong with me.I used to get either Tin Tin or Asterix for my son (when we put him in Ooty he was 5years old) for the week ends and thank god he loves to read till today. shanthi
Sorry Pav, just wanted to clarify some facts that is all since i went down same path myself - i asked in no less than 3 libraries in states for Enid Blyton books. In the last one a librarian gave me the story - she asked me in fact give me one good reason why i should have books like that that show my country and our kids in such poor light. She didn't argue or fight with me was just asking me a question - she said she has seen that with many countries who have colonial background, you dont even realize what you are reading is so biased and think it is ok.
Sorry but i just had to give you the history that is all.
His trademark phrase is "These Romans are crazy" in the Italian translation, it is "Sono pazzi questi Romani", which can be shortened to S.P.Q.R., (Rome's motto SPQR is an initialism from a Latin phrase, Senatus Populusque Romanus ("The Senate and the People of Rome" or "The Senate and Roman People")
Dear Venkat I have just been away for one weekend and mails galore!!
I have just finished Shantaram by David Gregory Roberts http://www.shantaram.com/ and Inspite of the Gods : The strange rise of Modern India by Edward Luce
and White Out by Ken Follett
Currently am reading our Murugananthams Feroz Gandhi and Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain again
I was amazed at the common ground amongst most of us Asterix,Tin Tin, Rani Comics ...etc...Incidently am trying to get my sons the whole Asterix and TinTin collections from India
Many times, yes. A country where politicians rush to ban 'Da Vinci...' or 'Satanic..' but do not care about western films which caricature Indians and Indian traditions in poor light. We do not care for our traditional wealth and wake up only after somebody patents it and somebody cries about it.
Has got quite a little to do with our colonial past and the political thinking line of the first few decades of Independence, where everything western was taken as great.
Dear Sri, I've been away, too. Didn't you think it was rather unbelievable in "Shantaram", that the author was so badly injured, then just picked up and went on? Kathie
Dear Venketesh, Could the book about an American couple touring India have been by Eric Newby? He wrote several -- one nice one was "Slowly down the Ganges." Is that the man? Kathie
Dear Sunder, Both 'Dennis the Menace' and 'Peanuts' originated in Northern Calif. where I grew up. They were typical of suburban life in single story, spread-out houses built around there. It was easy to visualize families like theirs -- parents appreciated the clean gentle humor. Kathie