Skip to main content

PATTERNS IN CHAOS

 

Only after reaching the last page of the novel, did I come to know about Dean Koontz's own Golden Retriever. A late realization dawned on me. Only a pet-friendly person who had obviously spent plenty of time with the man's best friend could write a story this thrilling yet heartwarming. This is all because of the portraiture of the Goldens. The story is surprisingly undeterred by the predictable narrative here and there, as the author's turn of phrase while describing a certain scene or a character's emotion or even the canine creatures' responses is engaging to read. "The Darkest Evening of the Year" is about two torn souls finding comfort in each other's company, coming together to fill the space left because of a missing piece in their lives.

A dimension of the supernatural phenomenon is introduced through the instincts of dogs which play a paramount role in the plot. We, humans, try really hard to find meaning in life by attaching faith to a greater unseen force. Be it superstitious or not, the fact that there is something bigger to hold on to is the appeasement we all long for. Between the unreserved love and affection that dogs bestow upon their human friends and the perilous intentions that humans possess to survive by hurting each other, "The Darkest Evening of the Year" captures the complicated nature of human lives successfully and wins as a page-turner. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

THE CASTLE OF HOPE AND FAITH!

THE CHARIOT OF OUR ANGELS!   After so many phases of colour transformations, finally, our bus has become yellow....Yellow????.sigh........ Anyway, I've seen blue with penguins but not this.  Sometimes I hate our buses for chasing us away with our books and lunch boxes during the casual turns...so much remodelling..so many cras.....ssshhhesss... oopsie!!! I didn't mean to say that...Well..now it's a vibrant bucket of bolts...good!                  THE GRAND GATEWAY!   It's hard for me to not keep thinking about our old watchman. Sharp at 8:45 these huge pair of gates would be closed.There would be a little door too...for other people to enter..and the notice board that you see right there always captivated us during monsoons....we'd wait for some holiday notes to be written so we could run back home. Emails or Phones or WhatsApp didn't exist then. Though these gates did scare us a few times...it very well taugh...

MAESTRO'S MARVELS

Da Vinci - The multi-faceted polymath who has been the greatest inspiration for people for aeons. The admirable quality that I found in this Genius is the fearlessness that enabled him to explore and gain expertise in various areas exhaustively. He created the intellectual freedom for everyone to feel empowered to create a society of free thinkers, express without inhibitions and feel confident about choosing the mode of expression in a non-judgmental way.  "I am not good at this thing" is a statement I hear every now and then from my students in class. Some of them would say this spontaneously even without trying out that particular engagement. I had to really push them to give it a go, provide them examples of similar work, share my experiences or give them the comfort to practice by practising along with them. Leonardo never seemed to have this midblock and was very open to being experimental with his thoughts. Sometimes I had even taken the maestro's paintings, r...

DARK AND PUNY

           This is the story of a girl who had the same kind of life as mine except that she is "big" and I am "small". An inferiority complex is a very dangerous and irrevocable impression that can be created by parents on their children. There are certain inconsiderate opinions and treatments that affect those children and become their lifelong baggage to be carried.  Skin colour, facial features, and size are the factors involved. To rub salt in the wound, there are abrasive reminders every single day about the disappointments of the child.          There is no about the maternal and paternal love but how deep is it in comparison to the other things that they are fond of or if there is another kid born with all their expectations gratified, then the former one becomes the tester cake or the sidekick. We've all been on that boat when sibling rivalry takes its toll on our emotions.      ...