A very boring read. The author is clearly convinced by the Darwinians, and spends most of the time in the book writing pro-Darwinism arguments. Although there are parts where he points out flaws in the theory, it is just not balanced enough.
Apart from that, the treatment is not rigorous enough. And there are chapters devoted to find metaphors in the Bible. Basically, he is trying to tread a fine line between ID, creationism and Darwinism. But, he fails o do so miserably.
I am rating it two star only because of a chapter where the anti-Darwinist arguments are laid out succintly.
What can you say about a twenty-five-year-old girl who died? That she was beautiful. And brilliant. That she loved Mozart and Bach. And the Beatles. And me.
Thus begins Love Story, a classic tale of love and romance. It is a charmingly simple story of pure and unrequited love. The novella talks about love as it is, no strings attached. There are no sub-plots involved, no hidden leitmotifs. Segal hits you straight in the face with his witty dialogues and straightforward conversations. It was published in 1970, remains till date one of the most popular romances written ever.
The plot lacks originality and begs to be dismissed as too cheesy by the cynics. Rich Harvard jock- Oliver Barett IV falls for beautiful, smart but poor Radcliffe student Jennifer Cavilleri. What follows is the story of rebelllion against Oliver's parents and how they survive the harsh realities of the world.
Yet another one of those Bollywood movies, one would say. But, where Segal pulls it back is in his powerful narration. The story is a first person narrative, written in a very colloquial tone, thus making it very easy to relate to. Segal writes for the common man , the girl/boy next door, your friend or you. He tells the story naturally, like an everyday thing. Just how love happens, with no thunderbolts or violins in the background!
The main focus of the novella is the relation between Oliver and Jenny and there is no digression into sub-plots. The characters developed are also only those directly concerned with the plot. The only sub-plot is the rebellion of Oliver against his rich parents and that too is kept under the covers till needed. So, you get attached to Oliver and Jenny and remain attached throughout the 130 page novel.
The thing I liked best about Love Story, apart from the brilliant storytelling, are the pleasant dialogues. The conversation between Oliver and Jenny is sharp, charming and at the same time makes you realize the underlying sorrow in them. Another amazing fact is the dialogue does not become poetic anywhere. So, there are no lyrical proclamations of love or sorrow that you have to force down your throat. In the end, this simplistic treatment of their love and Jenny's death distinguishes it from all the factory made romances and makes it an extraordinary tale of romance.
Among the finer nuances of the novel is the disrespect Segal shows to the stereotypes of male superiority and patriarchy. Jenny becomes the sole breadwinner of the family, thus turning patriarchy on its head. Also, Oliver is shown to be the more emotional of the two, further slighting gender stereotypes.
So, all in all, the merits of Love Story are not its plot or its characters. Erich Segal has a gift of storytelling that he exploits to the core. He gives you moments in his novels, like the beautiful wedding that you would simply love to have in your life. You will simply fall for these moments, despite the fact that you may be the ultimate realist in your real life. The feeling is similar to the one we get when we enjoy the small pleasures in our overtly complex life.
There are few love stories like Love Story which you will enjoy throughout. That is why it stands out, as its name proclaims to be the Love Story of its times. So, go get a copy and lose yourself in one of the beautiful love stories ever told.
Well, this is a piece which I wrote when I had nothing better to do other than listening to some friends rant about India,their colleges,cities,home states, and God knows what else. So what I did slightly alleviated my pains : I opened my laptop, put on my headphones, played Summer of 69 at full volume to drown their voices and started hitting the keyboard, having nothing better to vent my frustration on. And the situation forced me to think….
Why are people so obsessed about institutions?? What is it that makes people attached to any institution no matter what it is, a school, a religion, a college, a city, a home state, a country et al…???
I started to think upon it, then I realized a lot of things. The possible reasons for the phenomenon maybe, amongst other things, emotional attachment to the institution due to the good memories associated with it, or maybe the improvements that it brought upon in your life. Or there maybe a thousand other reasons.
Then, the phenomenon intrigued me more, which in hindsight, is quite justified, considering the fact that I, myself, was and am a victim. So I continued wondering…
In fact, allegiances to their institutions have made people do things they themselves probably didn’t imagine doing. Things like Gandhi’s love for India, Lincoln’s conviction in his ideology that led to his assassination, the countless revolutionaries who sacrificed their lives just for the sake of their ideals. It also led to a lot of not so good outcomes. Hitler’s devotion for Nazism, Lenin’s deeply held belief communism are some of the reasons for them. The list doesn’t end for both the sides....and the argument can go on eternally. That is why I decided to play devil’s advocate.
Pessimist that I am(well, for that matter the situation is not that encouraging also), I will start with the cons.
How can you love something more than yourself, is the first question that comes to mind. I mean, it is a thing or maybe an abstract and at times even abstruse concept. Yeah, I do believe in love, but only with homo sapiens and that too, of opposite sexes. Love with inanimate objects and abstract philosophies is, quite frankly, beyond me. And the love is so deep that, despite its being a kind of monologue, with no one replying to you other than some other people who are in love with the same thing. How can somebody be so selfless, that he sacrifices his entire life, his desires, cravings, I mean every damn thing that matters to you for some cause? Or worse still, makes you debate fiercely about the pluses and minuses of your country or your home state de facto? Believe me, it is worse. :P .On a more serious note, you can probably not help being a little individualistic and think about yourself, insteadof wasting your time over debating the pros and cons of something which even doesn’t bother to reply, let alone talk.
Giving it a slightly deeper and more cynical thought, people are being manipulated psychologically. Think of it, you can’t even count the number of people who have sacrificed their lives for their respective countries. Now, man only divides the earth into countries and countries into states and so on. So, what we basically are doing is fighting over something we ourselves have created and even sacrificing our lives for it. Now, that does sound stupid. Veritably, we only have ourselves to blame for it. The whole foundation of our society rests on such loyalties for institutions.
Take religion for instance, and you can’t even start counting the number of wars waged and lives sacrificed over it. The Crusades between Muslims and Christians in 13th-14th centuries, the French Wars of Religion between Roman Catholics and Protestants, the Thirty Years War in Poland and Scandinavia, the Reconquista and the list never ends, in history. Even now, terrorism, survives on these loyalties only.
All religions teach you to be entirely selfless. Selflessness, altruism are constantly hammered into people’s minds over the period of their innocent childhood. Anything that you do for others is good, and anything that you do for yourself is selfish, therefore , evil. Paropkaar is the leitmotif underlying whole of our society. So, till people grow up, their minds are ingrained with benevolence and magnanimousness, which leads to asinine and outrageous results.
Actually loving ourselves is a basic necessity of our lives which we are constantly deprived of. We are taught to love others more. In the process, we lose self-respect and are ready to do anything for any institution, just to feel a little self-worth. Note that, the craving is still there, it will always be there. It is a basic need which won’t die out just because you don’t want to recognize its presence. And we can’t leave the institutions because we are afraid, we fear loneliness. We were never taught to deal with it. We don’t know how to survive. We just know how to go with the flock. Being the lone sheep frightens us because then the flock brands us the black sheep also. So, the conclusion is, love yourself, a little more, so that I am spared the pain of venting my frustration on my readers just because a bunch of ‘loyal’ friends are debating over their institutions and I don’t want to be a part of it.
P.S. :1. This is just a result of my frustration. So, the literature addicts are requested to have mercy on me.
2. BITSians who know about the particular situation or at least can guess are requested to keep their comments on the situation to themselves. You are more than welcome to comment on the rest of the blog….
This is my first blog,so let me introduce myself first.I am a teenager who has just come of age(that was a wonderful experience).I have finished my schooling and am currently pursuing an engineering degree.Enough about the professional part.Moving to the personal side,I am just a normal guy who is kind of shy and more of an introvert.That does not mean that I do not love hanging out with people,but it is always the close friends' company I prefer.I love reading books and am kind of a bookworm.At least that is what my friends say about me. Coming to the blog,I have not yet decided what exactly to do with it,but I definitely do have some ideas.I want to make this a platform for my thoughts.Lastly,I want to thank a special friend who inspired me to start.She already has an active blog that is fabulous.If you are reading this,thanks a lot for your advice.So,it is too late now.I will actively start this from tomorrow.Meet You Then!!!
The Selfless Gene: Living with God and Darwin by Charles Foster
