2am things!

There are instances when you read a random book and find it really appealing to your senses,  but for the moment you can't clearly fathom the source of the delight, and you ponder over it casually for a while, and suddenly you are like "hell yeah this was the reason, this is what I was waiting for, this is the type of book that interests me". To realise one's taste in reading, as any other self-reflections, is truly a matter of joy. And this is truly quite a great milestone (or a stepping stone, I'm not sure) in his reading career. In a world where there are millions of books and writers, and countless genres, and a reader who is vexed by the idea of what utilitarian choice he can make, it's truly relaxing to finally fix on one and be able to discriminate among the possibilities and confidently venture into what he chose. 1984 is one such book that helped me in finding my type. With its ominous, dystopian setting, compelling characters and its bold use of various tropes and elements to intensify the plot, such as the Thought police, Telescreens, Newspeak and the different ironical ministries, the book was dissecting the performance and propaganda of totalitarian regimes (no wonder why it got banned once). Such a presentation of brutal historical facts through fictional and symbolic means was unprecedented in my readings until then. My fondness for the book brought me to the realisation that books with a political understructure and those concerning the ideas like power, ideology, identity and the sorts are of my interest. I need my mind to be disturbed than relaxed. I need to delve deep into the harsh realities that those in power, the Big brothers and their bureaucrats, make the fellow citizens to go through, their oppressions, interpellations, the propaganda, and all the sorts of force the state brings to 'discipline' its subjects. What makes 1984 the best of its kind, apart from its subject matter, is the way it emphasises its political and ideological thrusts through its careful introduction of linguistics, sexual, corporeal and psychological elements into the plot. #georgeorwell #1984 #animalfarm #bookstagram #book #writing #october #darkacademia #reading https://www.instagram.com/p/CjU61xNB5HK/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

I am shaken.

Getting interrupted by the postprandial chattering in the living room while reading "One hundred years of solitude", putting on earphones and playing "jeevamshamayi " in a half volume, continuing with the book relieved.

Leaving hair and beard uncut for four months, saving ₹500 and bringing "Twilight Saga" from a second-hand bookstore, reading while brushing the stiff hair with an old stubby apsara pencil.