Saturday, July 19, 2008

Quest for Classics

When I was 10, I visited a cousin. He had a bound book which contained a series of Illustrated classics. These included volumes such as Taras Bulba, With Fire and Sword, Won by the Sword, Men of Iron, Julius Caesar, Robin Hood, Kidnapped, Treasure Island, Frankenstein, Count of Montechristo, Hayawata, Around the World in Eighty days and many more such works. Being a romantic soul, I read these avidly, till some of the phrases became deeply implanted in my brain. The book eventually passed out of my hands, but not before it left a deep love for classics.
Ever since I started working, I started searching for these illustrated classics. I had forgotten many of the titles. None of the bookshops had any illustrated classics. I serached for 20 years. Google came to my rescue in identifying the titles- I did a search with the phrases i remembered and it came up with the correct titles. Today I am collecting these books. I have picked up Count of Montechristo, Taras Bulba, With Fire and Sword, Kidnapped and Men of Iron. I am sure I will find the rest soon. And the stories from the 30 year war, the war between the cossacks and the Poles and many other wars will unfold in front of me.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Taras Bulba

This is a book i have been searching for for 20 years. Finally got it thru BalC, my cousin.
What an amazign description of the Cossacks and those lawless times. Cruel, bloodthirsty, glor-ious and gripping. Feel sorry for Andreii. Wonder which exact period the story is based.