DIARY OF A WIMPY KID - Jeff Kinney

-
Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Wikipedia

I happened to come across this book at a bookstore sometime back and the first thing that caught my eyes was the stick figures along with big fonts that mimicked handwriting. I knew it was for kids, but picked it up anyway (the cover does play a role at times!). And the book is pure pleasure!

 Greg Heffley, the protagonist, is a kid in middle school who is subjected to bullying at home by his elder brother and at school by his peers. He is the typical weakling, the middle in a family of three kids and a coward with a lack of perseverance. So throughout the books, he tries to become someone who can't be bullied. In the process, he tries for shortcuts to success; takes advantage of his best friend’s simplicity, bullies his own younger brother, lies to his parents and teachers to name a few. He is not a character everyone would like, but you definitely end up empathizing with him. Also, the book is meant for kids and hence, the good part is it retains the goodness when all of Greg's plans backfire and he has to/is made to do the right thing.

 The writing is extremely simple and colloquial, believable to have been written by a kid in his 'journal' (not a diary; as he makes clear in the beginning of the book). The most fun part is the situational comedies that wonderfully capture the workings of a child’s mind. Also, the storyline makes you reminisce your own school days.

 Anyhow, the best part of the book is the illustrations. The witty doodles do a great job at aptly representing circumstances. Although it is over 200 pages, the jocular incidents like ‘Zoo wee Mama’ cartoons, thank you cards for unwanted Christmas presents and The Cheese Touch, and the doodles make you finish the book too quickly.

 Yes, it is meant for kids; but is good to pass away time when all you want is to have a good laugh!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

JAYA - Devdutt Pattanaik

-
Image
JAYA An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata There's something about the biggest epic of the world that makes people come back to it time and again. Mahabharata is probably the most retold story in the world; and deservedly so. Of all the stories I've read of the characters of this legendary epic, this version by Devdutt Pattanaik has got to be one of the most detailed and thought-out ones. There's been neither the humanizing of the demigods of the tale, nor any attempt to make the story more realistic. He has presented the same story in all its beauty, keeping all its strengths and flaws alike. Almost everyone is familiar with the story of the Mahabharata. This book is written as a flashback; as Astika, king of the Nagas and Vaisampayana, guardian of Vyasa's great tale, tell Janamejaya, the son of Parikshit, the grandson of the Pandava, Arjun, the story of his forefathers just before he was about to perform the Sarpa Sattra, a sacrificial ritual...
Read more

THE SONGSEEKERS -Saswati Sengupta

-
Image
With its  subversive feminist thrust and persistent questioning of what constitutes religion, tradition and  culture, Saswati Sengupta's debut novel  The Song Seekers is sure to strike a chord. It is a poignant exploration of the lives of women in Indian society transcending time and space. Weaved around mystery and laced with beautiful poems throughout, this makes for a perfect unputdownable read.  Set in the turbulent 1960s in Bengal, the novel revolves around the life of newly wed Uma, an  English Literature graduate from Miranda House, as she steps into the threshold of her marital home  Kailash, the ancestral mansion of the highly reputed Chattopadhyay family of Calcutta. Even as she  tries to find her footing in a new, unfamiliar world, Uma is intrigued by the shadows that seem to  linger in the sprawling mansion; her husband’s silence about his mother’s death, the presence of the  enigmatic green-eyed Pishi, a few old letters ...
Read more

BORN A CRIME - Trevor Noah

-
Image
BORN A CRIME Stories from a South African Childhood Born A Crime is Trevor Noah narrating his own story- about his life in South Africa under apartheid to the country’s lurching entry into a post-apartheid era in the 1990s. In essence, the book is a lesson of the inequities of the past and a warning for what is still possible to happen again in our world. But it isn’t heavy-handed; it’s fun, insightful, and very compelling. Not contrary to his Daily Show monologues, the book is filled with humor and biting social commentary. The title of the book was the first thing that intrigued me. For those also curious, he explains early on in the book-  “On February 20, 1984, my mother checked into Hillbrow Hospital for a scheduled C-section delivery. Estranged from her family, pregnant by a man she could not be seen with in public, she was alone. The doctors took her up to the delivery room, cut open her belly, and reached in and pulled out a half-white, half-black child...
Read more