Born Free: A Lioness of Two Worlds by Joy Adamson

I found this book during my recently concluded vacation. It belongs to my relative. I just picked it up while lazing around at my  relative's place. I did not know what to expect. Not being a big movie buff, I was not aware that there was a movie based on the book. Apparently, this 1960s movie was a well known one.

This book is about a real life account of author and her husband, who adopt 3 lion cubs and their lives with them. Of the 3 cubs, they name the smallest one Elsa and domesticate it. The 2 other larger cubs are sent away to a zoo. The author's family lives close to an African forest (if I remember it correctly...sorry getting a bit forgetful) and her husband, George, works as a Game Warden in Africa. Anyway, Elsa and Joy, the author, develop a close bond with each other. Elsa is initially tamed, however, as time progresses her natural instincts come to the fore but her domestication has trained her to be ignorant about things which are otherwise natural to her species. For example, she kills another animal, but she does not know what to do with it. She was always given her meat cut up, so she could not associate it with any animal. It was done, so that she does not go about attacking cattle of the African tribesmen who lived in the vicinity. The first part of the book is all about taming Elsa.

The second part of the book is about the adult life of Elsa. As she grows up, Joy and her husband observe Elsa. During the mating season, she disappears several times and seems to be alone and not a part of the pride. Joy and her husband think it is best to free her into the wild instead of sending her off to a zoo as she has grown up in that environment. The challenge then begins for Joy and George. They had trained Elsa to be tame and as a consequence, she was not completely fit to live in the wild where one has to protect and feed oneself. So, begins the journey of Elsa, Joy and George to help unlearn and prepare for her life in the wild. Being her foster parents, they train her to hunt and protect herself to the best of their ability, something which her biological parents would have probably taught her. The book is the story of her journey to freedom.

The book is written in a very simple language. Parts of it is humorous and parts of it is heart-rending. I specially felt very sad when, in their attempt to help Elsa live all by herself, they abandon her in the middle of the night, only to find her waiting for them in the very same place. The book is a good reflection of the loyalty and love of animals towards their caregivers. Even after years of living in the wild, Elsa would never forget the love she received from the Adamsons. It is kind of a slow-paced book but you will savour every moment of it. The book has several pictures of Elsa and her human family and adds to the enjoyment of the read.

Coming to the movie, I have not yet watched it but I have viewed the trailer. Based on the trailer alone, I think the movie is way too dramatic than the book. Also, the reasons to free Elsa appeared to be different. It is just my perception. I am looking for the movie and will watch it when I find a good print of the same.

On a scale of 5, I will rate the book 4/5.

Skipping Christmas by John Grisham

This is another book that I read during my recent vacation. I found this book in the room I was staying in during my vacation.

All books of John Grisham that I have read so far have been legal dramas. This book came as a surprise to me as it was not one. When I picked up this book for reading, I did not know that and kept waiting for some event to unfold which would lead to a lawsuit but that never happened.

The book is about a couple Luther and Nora, whose only daughter of 18 years, Blair, moved to Peru on a humanitarian mission around Christmas time for a period of a year (I think). Luther and Nora decide to take a cruise during the Christmas break to the Caribbean. So, they decide to save up all the money that they would have otherwise spend on Christmas (parties, presents, cards etc) on the cruise and the preparation for the cruise. Now, they live in a close knit neighbourhood where Christmas is a big deal. Luther and Nora manage to fight their temptations to do anything Christmassy even at the expense of disappointing, if not offending, their neighbours. On Christmas eve, the day before the planned cruise, Blair calls and informs them that she will be home with her fiancé- a Peruvian doctor. The book then shortly dwells on the dilemma that Luther and Nora are in before moving on to what they do next. Read the book to know more :-).

The book serves as a reminder of what Christmas has become and what it is supposed to be. Grisham has attempted humour but it is not very funny, it would probably extract an occasional smile from the reader.

It is a small, simple book with very simple language, a quick read. I appreciate Grisham's attempt at something different. It was not his best book though. I like his legal drama much better. It is a good book to read just before Christmas, reading it in northern hemispherical summer probably did not have the same kind of effect. I rate this book 3/5.

The Class by Erich Segal

I bought "The Class" by Erich Segal from The Book Point in Himayatnagar in Hyderabad. It was on my bookshelf for a long time and I never got around to reading it. I started reading it slightly before my recent vacation but read a big part of it during my vacation and on the flight to my vacation destination.

I picked up an Erich Segal after a long time. I have previously read his "Man, Woman and Child", "Doctors" and "Love Story". "Doctors" is my favourite Erich Segal book. I am quite amazed by the variety in his writing ranging from lives of doctors to intricate and complex relationships. 

This particular book is about a few Harvard students and what they live up to be 25 years on. The book has 2 parts, which in turn has 2 been conveyed in 2 ways. The book focusses on the lives of a bunch of students in the Harvard's class of '58, mainly- Andrew Eliot, Daniel Rossi, Jason Gilbert, George Keller and Ted Lambros. The story of the book is conveyed in 2 ways as mentioned earlier- one is through the writer and another through the diary of Andrew Eliot. 

The book starts with an introduction to the background of these 5 students and how they managed to get into Harvard and then moves on to their lives at Harvard. 4 of the 5 students- Daniel Rossi, Jason Gilbert, George Keller and Ted Lambros are portrayed as exemplary students with several achievements under their belt, while Andrew is shown to be this everyday, average guy whose only achievement is the influential family into which he is born into. There are a few other friends and some girlfriends/wives of these characters that also make a significant appearance in the book by virtue of their relationship to the main characters. The second part of the book focusses on how these students have made it in a life after Harvard which culminates in their reunion after 25 years. This is the gist of the book and any more information would definitely be a spoiler.

Erich Egal has beautiful woven the key current affairs of the time into the story and characters. He has boldly used real people as characters of the story, such as Henry Kissinger, Ron Reagan, Yonathan Netanyahu etc making the reader feel very close to reality and wonder if this is a true story. These are some of the characters which have a significant appearance in the book. What struck me was the kind of prejudices that have been said to have existed in the US/Harvard at the time, such as - prejudices against Jews. It was kind of strange to think it could have existed in institutions like Harvard. Of course the story is based in the 50s and reading the book in 2018 startled me a bit and made me realise how much life has changed. 

Most of the characters have been developed quite well with several aspects of their personalities being explored. However, at the end of the book, Andrew Eliot is declared as the best man in the class of '58; somehow I felt his character could have been built some more, different facets of his life could have been shown which could make the readers convince that he was the best in a more whole-hearted manner. I think this was one character who could have been explored more.

The language in the book is nice and fluid. It is not a slow book but not too fast either. I would not call it "unputdownable" but it was quite engaging. Considering the time at which this book was published, I would say, this was not a very common concept for books so I can imagine how enjoyable it must have been to the readers in the 80s as it must have come to the readers at the time, as a whiff of fresh air. Even to this day, I cannot think of too many books with such a concept. 

There are several female characters in the book and play a significant role in the book. They have been portrayed as strong and intellectual, with opinions they do not fear to voice.

I enjoyed reading this book immensely and would rate it 4/5.