Its not about biking :Lance Armstrong

Its is one of the most inspiring book . Lance is a man of inner strength and his story is not an inspiration only for athletics but whole humanity . For those who do not know about Lance Armstrong , he is a six time winner of "Tour De France " competition and he is the legend in cycling sports. He has been honored with awards such as ABC sportsman of the year and many more . He grew up in Taxas , brought up by a single mother. He has talent right from childhood. He trained himself fiercely in Europe for the Cycling competition and when he was just to peak his career, he was diagnosed with a stage three testicular cancer that had spread upto lungs and brain. Its the true story about a man who fought with cancer and won over it . And later on he made a come back and won six titles at Tour De France .

This is a story of inspiration which will bring tears to your eyes of compassion , joy and triumph. The book is not about biking ...it is about a man's struggle with the death called cancer . It is one of the finest triumph of man over nature. He refused to surrender before the death and instead fought with it like a warrior. He never left the dream to recover again. He was not shattered by the reality instead he decided to go aggressively over his disease. I admire his love and respect for his mother which continues to be his inner strength . He is lucky to have some close friends who never give up during his darkest hours .

"The one thing the illness has convinced me of beyond all doubt - more than any experience I've had as an athlete - is that we are much better than we know. We have unrealized capacities that sometime only emerge in crisis. So, if there is a purpose to the suffering that is cancer, I think it must be this: it's meant to improve us."

The book is true portrayal of the what cancer patient faces everyday. Armstrong tells about the entire story , not just the triumphant ending. He takes you through the surgeries, the seemingly endless days of profound chemotherapy induced illness and the rehabilitation. The most traumatic chapters are those where he described the chemotherapy and the rehabilitation .

I think each and every cancer patient is a hero . Some of them are able to make out of this disease. The treatment for this disease is truly awful . Its like entering poison in your body to kill the cancerous cells. We meet Jim Ochowicz who is Armstrong's friend and he tirelessly tries to keep his attention away during the chemo sessions in the hospital. Heroes abound in this book. If we need to give examples about friendship and compassion, these are the true one.

"I will always carry the lesson of cancer with me and feel that I'm a member of the cancer community. Anyone who has heard the words You have cancer and thought, 'Oh my God, I'm going to die,' is a member of it. If you've ever belonged, you never leave." Later on lance opened the foundation to help those who are suffering from agony of this dreadful disease.

"We each cope differently with the specter of our deaths. Some people deny it. Some pray. Some numb themselves with tequila. I was tempted to do a little of each of those things. But I think we are supposed to try to face it straightforwardly, armed with nothing but courage. The definition of courage is: the quality of spirit." Even during our darkest hours one should never give up his strength and courage that enables one to encounter danger with firmness and without fear.

"The truth is, if you ask me to choose between winning the Tour de France and cancer, I would choose cancer. Odd as it sounds, I would rather have the title of cancer survivor than winner of the Tour, because of what it has done for me as a human being, a man, a husband, a son, and a father." Crisis is true test of personality. Never, never, never give up.

The Alchemist

This book by Paulo Coehlo is one of the philosophical marvel . Dreams , omens , adventures and signs follow the reader through out the story like a ghost . It is a story for all generations to read and have fun. It goes from the medieval Spain through the great desert to Egypt ..........the land of pyramids ..symbol of the ancient civilization. It has all emotions from love to fear .

Paulo Coehlo urges the authors to follow their dreams , to discover their potential and not to avoid their destiny.

Its story of a man who is determined to fulfil his dreams . How he fall in love and how he rediscover himself ? The story revolves around the central character Santiago a shepherd boy. How his life changed by following his dreams and omens. I do believe all of our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them. The boy dreamt of a hidden treasure behind the pyramids . These pyramids were thousands of miles apart from him. Still he believed in the dream and decided to quest for it . His journey was not easy . He transformed himself from a shepherd to a traveller. The author talks about the omens and its importance in life. God sometimes convey their message through these omens. Santiago was a normal kid who have learnt a lot while taking his sheep to nearby forest . Like a normal kid he was busy in his own life.

He had a dream one night about the treasure in far east . But he believed in his dream . He started to think how he can go to Egypt. In his quest to success he met many challenges , but it was his determination which made him successful. At the end of journey he realised the " treasure lies where your heart belongs ". The treasure was his journey ..........the wisdom and knowledge which he acquired during one of the greatest exploration.

The Alchemist is a simple , exciting and optimistic novel. The core philosophy of the novel is that you can achieve what you want in the life . As the old king said "when you really want something to happen, the whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true". But you have to believe in yourself and you have to do everything possible in order to achieve what you want . "YOu must always know what you want to do and never stop dreaming in the life"Time will come and you will succeed and the fruit of the hard labour is always sweet . Do not allow anyone even your love to come between you and your destiny. Life is very generous to those who pursue their destiny.

Cohelo also says that those who do not pursue their dream are never happy in their life . They are those who do not quest for their dreams because of fear of the failure . As the old crystal seller is doomed to a life of emptiness , void and sadness.

"No matter what he does in life every person on earth plays a central role in the history of the world. and normally he does not know it". These were the words of alchemist. You never think that you do not have the capability to quest for your dreams. Keep your dreams high and you will make a mark in the history.

The novel "Alchemist " combines the words of Philosophy, believes , omens , confidence and dreams in a simple language. everyone can identify himself with the central character because each one of has dream.................... Throughout the journey reader is inspired and motivated.

ATLAS SHRUGGED

It is one of the classical novels. The first question which comes tom my mind after reading the novel - Is people's State is such a failure ???
Dany and Readen are portrayed as hard working businessman. Dany is woman with tremendous dedication towards her . She had only one aim to lead the Taggert Transcontinental to sky of success. The description of the way she finished the John Galt line shows every thing about her character. I salute their character . The author had thrFranscisco together with them represent the pillars of the modern capitalist free market. The love triangle between them creates some remembering moments in the novel.

The aspect which is shown of Peoples movement is too incompetent . I do not believe incompetent persons like Jim , Mouch , Ferris and Boyle would ever be so successful. The model which they implemented is worst and author had done injustice while he portrayed the peoples movement. They were not sure of their own policies . How can be the leaders of Peoples state can be so unjust and rude to common people. The way in which life of farmers of Mennisota were ruined, cannt be part of any government's policies.

The author had created the mystery Who is John Galt ? .



I do agree with author that government should have minimum interference in economical matters of free market . But policies like no income tax and others cannot be implemented . A hundred percent free market had its own demerits,

ANIMAL_FARM

This is one of the classical novels of 20th century. It goes deep into the very concept of the revolution. What makes a revolution successful ?

Rebellion or uprooting the existing system is the first step .And this is the easiest one. Within a week after it was decided by the animals that existing system led by humans was exploiting them,the system was uprooted by them . This was the first step and easiest step . But for a revolution to succeed the most important part is to come up with an effective system then the earlier one and to be ready to die for your principles .The later step cannot be accomplished by making a seditious speech and an arm uprooting . This is the real litmus test for the leadership.

The story has the irony- animals fought with humans for better life but at end they ended with a more miserable life. The animal leadership lead by the pigs failed. Power corrupts people . They forget their same commandments for which they fought . This is mockery of the reforms led by the supreme soviet leader Stalin. Stalin made USSR one of the most powerful nation. But at what cost ?

At the cost of lives of more then 60 million people . Was this the soviet union for which Lenin and million of people fought with Czars and gave their blood . Jones symbolizes the Czars and old Major represented the leaders like Lenin who laid down the principles of the socialism ..........a dream of society based on equality and redistribution of life . Napolean portrays the autocratic socialist leader Stalin. At the end Animal Farm was successful but what about the animals .

Is there dream fulfilled . No

The author believes that socialism combined with democracy is best and much better then one part autocratic rule . Many incidents directly refers to the injustices done during Stalin period........like killing of those who confess their fault of committing mistake , 8 dogs circle around Napolean symbolises the secret Red army of Stalin who were ready to slaughter their own people on orders of Stalin.

The suspicious nature of Stalin that" most of people betrays him " is shown when Napolean ordered to kill his fellow pigs . Stalin showed the world only one side of USSR ...............the glamorous one.........a nuclear power , pioneer in space technology , largest military. This was same when Napolean showed the outside world the windmill and the harvest. But they never showed the outside world the real misery of the people . Today there is even no record of those who were killed by him. People like the animals in the novel were left with options to follow whatever Stalin explains them. The song of the revolution of socialism .....becomes the admiration of Stalin. The whole government machinery projected that Stalin is good and whatever he did ................is for the betterment of the society . Whoever opposes him whether a farmer, writer or politician , he will be slaughtered.

Animals in the end were slaves ....................the thing changed that there master was Stalin not Czar. Every incident in the story has some linking with Stalin and his rule .

The message is lucid the revolution succeeds when the principles are followed till the end and leadership is the most important part of a revolution.

In todays relevance , the democracy in Afghanistan will succeed only when the life of people will be improved. US need to make sure elections are free and fair in Afghanistan and genuine aspirations of people are filled . If not after someday there will another Taliban but with different name. Already US had made a mistake when it left Afghanistan, after uprooting Russians but never thought "Is the alternative provieded by them better then Russian".