~~ Hate to Read, Try this ~~ Blog-week-athon post # 5

Okay - So we have a blogging challenge doing rounds in my other blog space with a 14 day deadline! I received lot of interesting challenges & one of that was to “Write a post, to convince someone who has never read fiction/books, typically those people who go “Eewww Books! Yuck!!” to read one of your favorite books” 

I knew from the beginning, that the persuasion part was going to be difficult, but what I had not anticipated was the task of choosing ONE favorite book!!!  I scanned through my “Done Reading” list thrice and I just couldn’t choose ONE. I thought at first that I could write a small review about each of those books in a post!! Imagine if I had done such a thing! Poor someone who was yet-to-develop an interest in reading would have just gone into I-am-better-off-without-reading mode!! Phew! I didn’t want to take that risk!

I tried to recall how I had developed the interest in reading so I can illustrate the same and get someone interested in developing a reading habit… But when I looked back, I just couldn’t remember THE exact moment which started it all and inspired me to read. I checked with my parents, with my brother, with my friends – No one knew!! Phew, this wasn’t working!! 

I then tried to remember the first lengthy story book I ever read! And, as you can probably guess by now, I couldn’t remember that as well! My earliest memories are of reading Amar Chithra Katha, Tinkle, Gokulam, Chandamama (Kannada) etc., but I couldn’t exactly remember when I transitioned into reading big stories/novels….I used to read everything that I could get hold of – sometimes even the newspapers which came as packaging for groceries!.. (No, dont roll your eyes yet! You will have your chance)..there were times when I would even read the subsequent year’s detail/non-detail books (English/Hindi etc.) as soon we got them from the school during the summer vacation! (Yeah, see, you have the chance now to roll your eyes !)

And then, I slowly realized, that the first time I ever marked a book as my favorite when we shared scrap books in school was one of the English non-detail book “The Scarlet Pimpernel” by Baroness Emma Orczy…Though I always buy my own personal copy with the intention that I can re-read them anytime I want, I have re-read only a few books/novels multiple times (no, not because I didn't understand it the first time, but because I just absolutely loved reading them) and this is definitely one of those few books!

So now if you are one of those who hate reading and yet have survived the above few paragraphs – give me a high five and read on! Well, why? Because you were READING & you still are READING and hence you are on the right track!!

Ok – Ok – without further ado – here goes my tiny attempt at inspiring you to read one of my favorite book!!

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emma Orczy – is a novel set in the years of French Revolution! It is a period marked by mass guillotine executions of people who are against the revolution. The plot revolves around how the “League of the Scarlet Pimpernel” which is a group of 1 leader, the elusive Scarlet Pimpernel & his 19 followers, seek to rescue as many as possible from these guillotine executions without getting caught! Every time a rescue operation is successful, the leader leaves behind a card with a symbol of a red flower (he derives the name of Scarlet Pimpernel because of the flower).

In order to maintain secrecy & hide his identity, Sir Percy (Scarlet Pimpernel) maintains a social presence which gives an impression of him being a very dull & foolish man. He is married to a beautiful actress who he adores, Marguerite, but then, distances himself from her, when he learns that she played an influential role in sending one of the families to the guillotine! However, he is not aware that his wife wanted only harmless revenge, which later led to an inadvertent result of guillotine execution for the family!

While there are people being saved from guillotine executions by this 20 member league, Marguerite learns from a French representative, Chauvelin, that her own brother is linked to this league!  Chauvelin strikes a deal with Marguerite to spy & provide any information she can gather on the Pimpernel so she can save her brother! Poor Marguerite is quite unaware of the fact that her seemingly foolish husband is the most sought after Scarlet Pimpernel & so keeps leading Chauvelin to him in an attempt to save her brother!

Here’s when it becomes interesting!!

:

:

:

Will Chauvelin be able to reveal Scarlet Pimpernel’s Identity?

Will Marguerite be able to find his identity before Chauvelin?

If yes, who will she save, the brave husband who is seemingly not in love with her, or her brother?

Will Marguerite die trying to save one of them?

Will the Scarlet Pimpernel ever realize that his wife had, in actual, no role to play in the death of a family?

Will he be able to forgive Marguerite and reveal his real emotions for her?

Will they ever live happily ever after?

Go read and find out for yourself :)  :)  

What? You thought I was gonna summarize the whole story for you! Aha! Dream on!