Naga's Ruminations and Reviews

Rating 4/5 Genre historical fiction, romance The emperor of Rome, Domition has had many mistresses..he gets tired of a woman in no time and moves onto another..until he comes across a Jewish slave and singer Thea. Thea, a slave to Lepida pollia, was in intense love with a celebrated and undefeated gladiator Arius when they were separated by the hand of her mistress Lepida Pollia. Thea is sold to a pimp by Lepida but she escapes the fate of a prostitute.  She turns a singer and comes under the notice of the emperor. Separated from Arius for 12 years and  craving for him even after becoming the mistress of Rome(Roman emperor)..she eventually meets Arius and sets up for a story of love, vengeance,betrayal and survival.  I thought the character of Arius is just overblown in its valor, his God like power in the arena and his stroke of luck in not succumbing to a fate many others like him have. He has a voice of an inner demon the answer to whose calls for hunger he replies by killing his op

Rating 5/5 Genre: Gothic, horror, suspense  This is a story where two young sisters,under the pretext of desiring safety, turn themselves into ghosts in their tomb like castle/mansion. The story is narrated in the first person account of the younger sister, Mary Katherine. She has a desperate and compulsive need to remain safe and isolated..to have a predictability to things and persons in her life. She cares little for the loss of property,wealth and valuables as long as there is no infringement into her secure world from the outside. I thought at various points that she must be quite mad. Her sister, Constance, is as quirky as her in wanting security but is more open to allowing strangers inside their closed bubble of life. At the start of the story, in the old mansion of the Blackwoods, three people are shown to be living a contented life filled with routine activities and with little to no contact with the outside. Constance, Mary Katherine(called Merricat by her sister lovingly) a

Rating 5/5  Genre gothic, horror, mystery  First published in the late 18th century, this book reflects the patterns of speech, thought,dressing of that time. I liked the style of prose very much which is interlaced with prose and an occasional poem or a ballad. The prose had a subtle Shakespearean quality to it.  Where there is virtue to be found in abundance, the devil attempts to ensnare such a soul through the art of temptation. Some are guarded and rooted in their faith,hence dont fall victims to such entrapment. But the rest being caught unawares become pawns in the hands of an evil mongering demon. One such soul that belongs to the latter category is Ambrosio, the monk. He is hailed as an exemplary priest and a man known for his piety all over Madrid . On Thursdays he usually gave a sermon to which people from far and wide flocked with great anticipation and desire to hear him speak.  Ambrosio is 30 years of age and he had spent all of it within the walls of his abbe

Rating 9/10 Stars John krasinski,  Emily blunt  One of the most frightening films I have watched in a while. I got the same kind of chills I felt watching Evil Dead part 1. This movie is also named as one of the top ten films of 2018 by NBR and AFI.   A family of creatures hunt humans and animals down by sound. They are blind but have highly developed auditory systems. They nearly wipe out the entire human race. A family of four survives(along with few specks of humans scattered perhaps here and there) the onslaught and learns to sustain in this post apocalyptic scenario. The creatures are still there attacking and killing what ever makes a sound. Running and reaching to where ever the sound eminates from.  It is indeed very tough to not make a sound..not even speak to one another.  The family learns sign language to communicate with each other. The woman, Emily blunt is pregnant and the best scene of the movie goes hands down to when she rescues her just born baby