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 Why is 'The epic
of Gilgamesh' consid­
ered one of the world's
oldest books?
'The Epic of Gilgamesh' is one
of the o ld est recorded stories in the
world. It's a bout an ancient king of
Babylonia, Gilgamesh, who lived
aroun d 2700 Be . Accord ing to the
story, Gilgamesh was part god and
part h u man, and had many special
powers. This epic is not a single story
written by one author. It has many
stories and myths woven together.
These stories were first narrated
The Epic ofGilgamesh orally by d i fferent people. Later,
they were combined with ta l es from
other l anguages an d written d own
Gilgamesh's on clay tablets in what is now called
Epic is not only great, the cuneiform script. The written
but it's so stong! One texts were created over a thousand
of its pages i njured year period , a n d remained u n known
me. to the modern world u ntil 1 872,
when stone tablets written in the
Babylonian language were d iscov­
ere d, creating a great d eal of ex-
citement. �------'I--""'"

Book of the Dead

'The Book of the
Dead' is a collec­
tion of different
magical spells writ­
ten down in various
ways bytheancient
Egyptians.
Tell Me Why

Why do 'The Iliad' and
'The Odyssey,' have a spe­
cial place in world litera­
ure?
The I l ia d and Odyssey are
perhaps the most in fl uen­
tial works in the history of
world literature. These two
epic poems were written
nearlythreethousan d years
ago by
The Book ofthe Dead
the Greek po­
et Homer. The Iliad
begins in the middle of
the Trojan War, and com­
memorates the heroic deed s
of the brave warriors of the time.
The story is continued in the Od­
yssey, which narrates the epic
journey home of the heroes after
the war is over. Together, these
epic poems formed the basis of
Greek classical education. For the
Ancient Greeks, the I lia d an d the
Od yssey to ld them how Greece
had come to be the d ominant
power i n the western Mediterra­
nean, and also showed them what
sort of people their gods were,
an d how those gods behaved.
They established literary stan d ­
ard s and conventions that writers
have imitated over the centuries.
Homer
 We are
super st ars from Why are Aesop's fa­
Aesop's fables! bles so popular?
Aesop's fables have been popular
for thousands of years. They are simple
stories, mostly a bout animals, that were
told by a Greek slave called Aesop
a round 620 Be . Aesop's talent for
story telling won him his free d om,
and he travelled wi d ely, narrating
these tales, each of which taught an
important lesson. The stories were
passed d own by word of mouth for
centuries, and were fi rst written
down in 300 Be . They were l ater
translated into Latin, and taught to
Roman scholars. The simple sto­
The First Crossword rylines have a u niversal appeal,
Puzzle Book and the fa bles are important be-
Do you enjoy doing cause they teach children the
crosswords? The first correct val ues in l ife, and help in
crossword puzzle book developing a child's character.
was published in 1924, in These stories are not only our
the USA. It was a compila­ ol d est, but a re sti ll a mong the
tion of crossword puzzles m ost widely read on o u r
from the newspaper 'The planet.
New York World', and was
, an instant success.
 Why is 'The History of Herodotus' signifi­
cant?
Herod otus is sometimes called 'the father of
history'. He lived in Turkeydu ring the fifth century
BC, and wrote about the Greek an d Persian Wars.
Herod otus wanted to record what actually hap­
pened, rather than talk about gods a nd goddesses.
His pu rpose was to d escribe the war between the
Persians an d the Greeks - the struggle for supremacy
between E u rope and Asia, between civilization an d
barbarism, between freed om and despotism.
Herod otus' work is significant because he ha d
travelle d wi d e ly, an d his 'History' is one of the primary
sources for in formation on ancient lan d s an d peoples.
There are extensive d etails relating to the spiritual
practices and beliefs of the Greeks and other peoples.
He d escribed and analyzed warfa re and politics, an d his
writings strongly in­
fl uenced future histo­
rians.

Herodotus
 Why are 'The Analects of Con­
fucius,' a great work?
'The Analects of Confucius', is a
collection of mora l and ethical
princi ples taught by the C hi nese
thi nker Confuci us, in conversa­
tions with his disci ples. There are
a lso poems, stories, and legends i n
this collection. Confucius believed
that Man shou ld lead an upright
life, ed ucate hi mse lf, an d contri b­
ute to the betterment of society.
After Confucius died i n 479 BC,
his followers compi led his teach­
i ngs in the form of dialogues be­
tween hi m an d his stu d ents. The
Analects of Con fucius h ave hig hl y
i nfluenced ed ucational, social, an d
cultural thought i n Chi na an d else­ Confucius
where.

OAATDNOk
nOAITEl.o..)l
Why is Plato's 'Republic'
;. Q."� I
" "III T,

I
special?
11111.\ I) I

Plato was born to a wea Ithy

PLATON1S
1)1. fami ly in Ancient Greece, an d
REPUBLICA was a stu dent of the g reat
tJJJ U STO.
p hi losopher Socrates. After
$1."

1.1111.; ),.

the death of his teacher,P lato

t:DMUNOUS UI\SSEY,
T.w., c,.\!. C"�T�r. A. II
founded the fi rst u niversity,
Tll' ;'1', &M' n.-J,.", ii �....:.��I ·A-iJ.,J�•• called 'The Academy'. P lato
._-_.__.

CANTABRIGI"+':. wrote down his teachi ngs i n

Apooj Ttl ...
T" OI ""'ba"'C'I.

the form of conversations

�'I
WUITI"" ('�"" ". !JI It.
W'L�'"''''C_''' n·v. ,..- Lo ..·
• I", Vt..
�� ;')0("(."HI.

called dialogues. The most

Plato
fam ous of his dialogues a re
Plato's Republic
'The Republic' and 'Th e
8 Tell Me Why
 Why is 'The Nicomachean Ethics,' con­
sidered the most significant work of Aris­
totle?
Aristotle was a b ri lliant philosopher of An­
cient Greece, an d h is work 'Nicomachaen
Et hics' is a collection of h is thoughts and notes The Most
on et h ics. Th ese were record ed by his son Ni­ Expensive
c h omac h us an d h is stu dents. The work is Published Book
consi d ered to be Aristotle's most signi ficant Sold at an
one, since it expresses h is views on a variety of Auction
su bjects, from ethics, reasoning a n d th e pur­ 'Birds of America',
pose of life, to justice an d friends h ip. Many of by John James
Aristot l e's works were l ost after h is death, and Audubon was
many were d amaged by d ampness and i n­ sold on 7th De­
sects. Th e surviving books were discovered cember 1920, at
more than two centuries later, and w hen the Sotheby's in Lon­
Romans captured Athens, they took the don for $ 11.4
b ooks to Rome. The works were later trans­ million, making it
l ated from Greek to Ara bic, and then to Lati n, the most expen­
and thi s created wor ld wi d e i nterest in t h em. sive published
book ever auc­
tioned. lt is a rare
Th is is not a Death of Soc­ book containing
dialogue from our rates'. The Re­ illustrations of
f i l m . I think it's pu b lic de­ 435 birds drawn
one of Plato's! scri b es what and printed by
P lato thought Audubon himself
wou ld b e a between 1827
b etter form of and 1838.
W\ g o v e r n m e n t
A- than the gov- Birds ofAmerica
ernment of
Athens. The
_ work is also fa-
mous for its lit­
erary style.
Books that Shaped the World

Cicero
Why did Cicero's 'On the
Republic,' inspire demo­
cratic republics around
the world?
Cicero was a famous sena­
tor an d orator of Ancient
Rome. He lived d uring the
l ast days of the Roman Re­
public a nd h a d stu died phi­
losop h y, literature, and law.
He spoke out against di s­
h onest rulers, and h is work
'On t h e Republic,' is an im­
passioned plea for respon­
sible government. Cicero
up h e ld t he princi ple that all
citizens s h ou ld have equal
rights. It was t his pri nciple
t h at inspired the American
War of I ndependence, and
the French Revol ution
thousands of years later,
and led to the establish­
ment of democratic govern­
ments around the world.
Why is 'The
Tale of Genji' con­
sidered the world's
first novel?
The Tale ofGenji was written
in the 1 1 th century by a Japa nese
noblewoman, Murasaki Sh ikibu.
She was widowed at an early age,
and became the empress's lady
in waiti ng. Shi ki bu kept a d airy
for two years, recounting h er ex­
periences at court. Later, s h e
wrote 'The Tale of Genji', which is
consi d ered by many to be t h e
world's fi rst novel. It centres on
t h e life an d loves of a handsome
man Hikaru Genji, born to an em­
peror. 'The Tale ofGenji' i s u niver­
sally recognized as the g reatest
masterpiece of Japanese prose
narrative. It h as been trans l ated
into many languages, an d i s
deeply appreciated for its literary
excellence.

The Travels a/Marco Polo
Why did 'The Travels of
Marco Polo,' inspire Euro­
peans to come to the East?
Marco Polo i s probably
the mostfamous Westerner
w h o traveled on the Si l k
Road t o Asia i n the 1 4th cen­
tury. His journey throug h
Asia l asted 24 years, and h e
reached fu r-
ther than any of his
pred ecessors, beyond
Mongolia to C hi na. He then
returned to tell the tale, which
became t h e wor ld 's greatest
travelogue.
Manuscript editions of hi s work
ran i nto t h e h u n d reds withi n a
century after his death. The book
was recognized as the most i m­
portant accou nt of the world out­
si d e Europe, avai lable at the time.
It paved the way for the a rrivals of
thousands of Westerners to t h e
East, i n the centuries to come.
No more
voyages, t i l l I
complete this
travelogue.

hap 00 s
Ryuho Okawa, a
Japanese writer, wrote and published 52 books
between November 2009 and November 201 O.
This feat made him the individual with the
most books written and published in a single
year. He is the founder of a movement called
Happy Science, and has published more than
five hundred books altogether.
Books that Shaped the World 11
 Canterbury Tales
The Canterbury
Tales is a collection of
stories written by
Chaucer, a 14th centu­
ry British poet. The Why is
stories are about a 'The Divine Comedy,' a
group of pilgrims on masterpiece for all time?
their way to Canter­ T h e Divine Comedy i s an epic narra­
bury. The themes in­
tive poem written by Dante Alig hieri.
clude topics such as
Thi s masterpiece was written at the
love, treachery, and
en d of his life, an d finis h ed j ust before
his d eat h i n 1 32 1 . The subject of thi s
long and narrative poem i s a mi racu­
l ous visit to h e ll, purgatory, and para­
dise. l n it, t h e poet journeys from d ark­
ness to divine light, meeting many i n­
teresti ng c h aracters on hi s way. The
characters whom Dante meets on hi s

Shortly
I'm reading
it wi l l become
Divine Comedy.
'Divine Tragedy'!
avarice. Some of the
stories are humour­
ous, others are seri­
ous. The book is im­
portant because it
was the first book of
poetry written in the
English language.

12
 Youngest Person to
Publish a Book
Little Dorothy Straight was only
four years old when she wrote 'How
the World Began', in 1962. It was published in 1 964, making her
the youngest person to have a book pub­
lished. She had written the book for her
grandmother, and her parents loved it so
much, that they sent it to a publisher.

Why does
jou rney 'The Prince,'
through hell have a spe­

/ and purgatory to
h eaven are d rawn
largely from an­
cient Roman histo­
ry, and i nclude
Dante's contempo­
raries, personal
friends, and ene­
mies. The Divi ne
Comed y i s i m por­
tant for its place i n
the history of the
development of the
Italian lang uage,
and remai ns to t hi s
d ay, one of the pi l­
lars u pon which the
European literary
tradition has been
b ui lt.
Books that Shaped the World
cial place
among po-
litical trea- The Prince
tises1
Machiavelli was a writer of power­
ful, i nfluential, and thoughtfu l
prose. He lived d uri ng the Renais­
sance, and was the author of 'The
P rince', which was supposed to b e a
book of i nstructions for rulers.
Mac hiavelli b elieved t h at man had
t h e a bi lity to control his own fate.
Earlier political writers h a d treated
politics as a b ranch of morals. Mac hi­
avelli b roke with this long tradition,
and treated politics i n a practical
way. Mac hiavellian politics d e­
scri b ed t h e world as it was, rather
t h a n what people i magi ned. This
was a big change i n tradition, and
t h at i s why The P ri nce wi ll always
have a special place among political
treatises.
13
 Why did 'The Fabric of the Human
Body,' bring about changes in
medical training?
In 1 500, the most important books
used in the training of doctors were
those written by Clau dius Galen. Ga­
len's ideas h a d been domi nant for
hund red s of years, but were only
Utopia­
An Early
Edition o/the
Book
14
proved wrong for the
fi rst ti me by An d reas Ve­
salius, who wrote 'T h e
Fabric of the H u man
Body' in 1 543. This text­
book of human anatomy
presents a carefu l exami­
nation of the organs and
the complete structure
of t h e human body. Ve­
sali us's work brought
about an i m portant
change in medical thi n k­
ing. He was able to prove
that some of Galen's the­
ories were wrong. Galen,
w ho was only able to dis-
Why did Sir Thomas
More create 'Utopia'?
Si r Thomas More was
an English lawyer, sc h ol­
ar, writer, Member of
Parliament and c hancel­
lor i n the reign of Henry
VIII. He is famous for hi s
book 'Utopia,' which was
written in 1 5 1 5. As C h an­
ce llor to Henry VIII, h e re­
fused to sanction Henry's
divorce of Queen Cather­
ine. He was i mprisoned,
tried , and executed.
Morewrotea tale about
an imaginary island
Tell Me Why
 sect animals, assumed that hu­
mans h ad the same anatomy. Ve­
salius, on t h e other h and, per­
forme d dissections on h u mans,
a n d revea l ed anatomical struc­
tures previously unknown.
Vesali us helped establish sur­
gery as a separate medical pro­
fession, and the popu larity of h is
book meant that greater empha­
sis began to be placed u pon the
study of anatomy i n medical
traini ng.

The Fabric ofthe Human Body

called Utopia, t h at i s d is­

covered on a voyage to
the newly d iscovered
Americas. It is a perfect
state, founded entirely on
reason, w here the society's
i nterests come fi rst, and
there i s religious toleration
and education for every­
one. More wanted to poi nt
out the contrast between
hi s ideal state and the ex­
i sting Engli s h society. In
ti me, the word Utopia
cameto symbolize an idea l
but u nattainable socia l
system.
Books that Shaped the World
Largest Book
The largest book to
be printed measures
4.18 m X 3.77 m and
weighs 1,420 kgs. It is
a book about the Ag­
gtelek national park in
Hungary, and is called
Fragile Nature. It was
created by two Hungari­
ans along with 2S volun­
teers, and published
in 2010.
15
 The Largest Pop-up Book
Do you like pop-up books?
Then you will love a pop-up
book made for a TV commer- ___�
cial advertising Pearle Opti- a��
cians in Belgium.
It was 4m X 3m in size, and
featured pop ups that were
2.35 m tall, making it the
largest pop-up book ever!
A Statue o!
Copernicus
Why did
Coper n i c u s'
book change per­
ceptions about the
Universe?
In 1 543, Copernicus, a
Polis h astronomer, pub-
lished a book about a new idea
h e h ad. Most people i n his d ay
thought that, the Earth was at
the centre of the Universe, an
idea known as a geocentric u ni­
verse. However, i n his book 'On
t h e Revol utions,' Copernicus
put forward a new t h eory. His
theory was that the Eart h rotates
dai ly on its axis, and revolves
yearly around the sun. He also
argued that t h e p lanets ci rcled
the Sun. T his c h allenged the
long held view that the Earth
was stationary at t h e centre of
the u niverse, with all t h e plan­
ets, t h e Moon an d the Sun rotat­
i ng around it. Not many people
liked Copernicus' book- in fact,
they may have put hi m in jai l for
writi ng it, i f h e had n't died
shortly after writi ng it! Of course,
we know today t h at Copernicus
was rig ht. Th e Earth real ly i s a
planet which ci rcles the Sun.
Tell Me Why
 - l"' I��--

Why is Don
Quixote considered
the first modern ovel?
'The Ad ventures of Don Quix­
ote' was written more t h a n 400 years
ago by a Spanis h writer, Cervantes. Cer­
vantes actually began 'Don Quixote' in jail,
w h ere he was put for being i n debt. The
novel, once publi shed, was suc h a hit that
Cervantes did not h ave to worry about mon­
ey the rest of his life. The plot covers the ad­
ventures of Don Quixote and hi s squi re, San­
c h o Panza. Master and squi re h ave many ad­
ventu res, some fun ny, some crazy, sometimes
cau sing more h arm t h an good ! However, the
c h a racters are so lovable that the book became
i m mensely popu lar, and was tra nslated i nto
severa l l anguages. This book is considered to be
the fi rst mod ern novel, because til l then, popular
fiction was all about chival rous knights and d ash­
ing h eroes. Cervantes c h anged that when he
wrote in si mple prose, about a n ordi na ry man w h o
wanted to be a
Our next knight, and
mission is to w h o di d many
explore Mars! foolish but en­
tertai ni ng thi ngs
in the bargain!
 Why is Leon­
ardo da Vinci's work
Treatise of Painting
unique?
Leornardo da Vinci was not
only one of the greatest paint­
ers of all times, but a l so per­
haps the most wi d ely talented
person ever to h ave lived. He
was a consummate pai nter
an d sculptor, a great i nventor,
mi l itary engineer, scientist,
botan i st, and mathematician!
He l ived d uring the Renais­
sance i n Italy, and while work­
ing in M ilan as an a rtist, h e be­ The Pilgrim's Progress
gan writing texts for his stu­
d ents and apprentices. His Why has 'The Pilgrim's
notebooks covered more than Progress' become one of the
1 000 pages of observations most widely read books?
and i l l ustrations. They re­ 'The P ilgrim's P rogress',
mained unpublis h ed for more was written by John Bunyan
tha n a century, and were gath­ in the 1 600's. He was an Eng­
ered together a nd pri nted on Iy lis h preac h er and writer.
after his d eat h . 'Treatise of W h i le imprisoned for preac h ­
Paintings,' is unique in that it ing t h e Gospel wit h out re­
advises aspiring painters on ceiving permission from the
tec h niques on perspective, Established C h u rc h , h e wrote
l ig h t an d shadow, colour glaz­ t h is book in two parts. Part I
ing a n d painting mixing. It u p­ tells of 'Christian' and h is
holds d a Vinci's belief t hat journey to 'Celestial City';Part
painting is notjust an art, but a II tells of the journey of C h ris­
science as well. tian's wife C h ristiana and
their c hild ren to Celestial
City. Th e two

book 'Mathematical Principles of
Natural Philosophy' laid the
parts work together
as a u ni fied whole,
w hich describes and d e­
picts the believer's l ife and
strugg l es. Translated into
over 1 00 language� The
Pi lgri m'sP rogress' is one of
the most famous classics
of literature.
On one level, its simple
style provides entertaining
rea di ng. On the other, it
offers a religious message
to readers to help them
save their souls. Is it any
wonder then t h at it was
read widely throughout
E u rope a n d t he American
colonies when it was pub­
lished, and that it remains
popular to this
d ay?
/
The Principia
Why is it said that Newton's
foundation of modern physics?
Isaac Newton was an English
p hysicist and mathematician,
a nd the greatest scientist of h is
era. Before Newton's ti me, no
one cou ld satisfactori ly explai n
why objects always fell down-
ward s, what caused the ti d es, or
h ow planets remained in thei r or­
bits. Newton came up with nu­
merous theories and contributed
i deas to many different fie lds i n­
cludi ng p h ysics, math ematics a n d
p h i losophy. I n 1 687, with t h e sup­
port of hi s friend the astronomer
Edmond Halley, Newton pub­
lished his single g reatest work,
'Mathematica IP ri nci pies of Natu ra I
P hilosop h y'. T hi s s howed h ow a
u niversal force, gravity, applied to
. all objects in all parts of the uni­
verse. He also d escribed the three
l aws of motion. These concepts lai d
the foun d ation for mod ern physics,
an d remained at the forefront of
science for centuries after.
 Two Treatisesof Government

Why is 'Two Treatises of Govern­

mentl the book that laid the fou nda­
tion for democracy?
John Locke was an English philoso­
p h er w h o was one of the pioneers of
modern t hinki ng. He made g reat con­
tri butions in studies of politics, govern­
ment, and psyc h ology, and is famous
for his book 'Two Treatises of Govern­
Why has
ment,' that was pub lis h ed in 1 689.
Daniel Defoe/s
Locke hoped to poi nt out the defects
'Robinson Crusoel
in the existi ng form of government,
fascinated readers
and lay the g roundwork for a better
around the world?
option. Locke argued thatsovereignty
lies not i n the ki ng or wit h the state, Daniel Defoe was a n
but with the people, an d insi sted t h at Englis h writer, most
people ha d t h e right to overthrow a famous for his novel
tyrannical government. Locke be- 'Robi nson Crusoe'
lieved in the middle class, and its that was published i n
right to freed om of conscience an d 1 71 9. The story is
right to property. He had faith i n sci­ about a s hi pwrecked
ence, an d con fidence in the good­ man called Robi nson
ness of h u manity. Locke's work was Crusoe, an d his a d ­
very i mportant to the writers of the ventures on a d esert­
American Dec l aration of I ndepend­ ed i sland w h ere h e
ence an d Constitution. T h ey bor­ was washed as h ore.
rowed some of hi s ideas, a n d ex­ The book captured
panded on them. His work also i n­ th e i magination of its
spired the Frenc h Revolution, an d earl y 1 8th century
can be sai d to h ave laid the founda­ readers, a n d went
tions for modern d emocracies. through six editions
in j ust its
 ADVENTURES

l\.()llINS�N �lUJ8()�
\)J\:tlltL DS Poe

James Patter­
son, an Ameri­
can writer, be­
came the first
Adventures of author to cross
Robinson Crusoe more than a mil­
lion sales in
first four months on the market.
One reason for its popularity i s that it is
packed wit h excitement an d a d venture,
with sailing ships, stormy seas, guns, and
can n i bals. It is also a vivi d commentary
on the human need for bot h society an d
so l itu d e, on Man's i ngenuity a n d spirit­
ual struggles, and on the so l i d strength
of m i ddl e c l ass values. Without d oubt,
D efoe's electronic
Wow, it's Robi n so n books. 1.14 mil­
against Newton's Crusoe es­
tneory of gravit y! lion units of his
tablis h ed a books were sold
realistic for electronic
style of fic­ devices such as
tion, an d set the Kindle and
t h e tone for iPad. His novels
m o d e r n featuring Alex
novels. Cross and the
Women's Mur­
der Club are im­
mensely popu­
lar.
 Why is
book 'Gulliver's
Travels' a world classic?
G u lliver's Travels is an adven­
ture story by Jonathan Swift, pub-
lished in 1 726. It is an account of several
voyages of Lemuel Gulliver, a s hi p's sur­
geon. Because of a series of mis h aps, Gul­
T RAVE L S liver ends upon severa l unknown islands.
L
1NTO SEVERA
He meets with, and lives with people and
animals of unusual sizes, beh aviour, and
Remote NATIONS philosophies. However, after each adven­
OfT H F.
ture, h e somehow manages to return to his
W 0 R L D. h ome in England, wh ere he recovers from
these unusual experiences, and then sets
In FOUR I'A R TS.
- out again on a new voyage.
W£R.
LE.MUE.L GULL Co'" Ihen
What makes the book a world classic is
BYFirl\. SUlotOJ'f1 .nri
IlS.
of rr\'cul �HJ
•
0

T,..I'"
the treatment. Swift h as represented ideas
-

VOL I.
as grotesque creatures, absurd customs as
-
absurd objects, and the familiar as some­
LON'DON' thi ng new and surprising. T h e book is di­
B MOTTl, at tbt
i. flcct·O,"'·
p;';;,'/t,��ptc�d�,.
M OCC XXVI.
vided i nto four sections, and is part novel,
part adventure, and part satire. It did not
stick to any rules, and is widely considered
Gulliver's Travels to be Swi ft's greatest work, as well as one of
th eindisputabl e c l assics of English litera­
ture.

22 Tell Me Why
 jI \\ II' ')1 t.' Why is 'The Social
Contract' considered to be the
T lll� S () (' 1\ I. Bible of the French Revolutionar­
C: O\T l\\r.T ies?
,,,'11,.,,,,,,.,
"'1\10 "'A� '''"'' r ...,
Aoo:n fir ,,,
'The Socia l Contract' was written by
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, an i mportant
fi g u re in the history of p hi losophy. The
Social Contract was a masterpiece writ­
ten by hi m in 1 762. In t hi s book, Rous­
seau explained hi s political theories,
w h ic h would later in fl uence t h e writers
of the U nited States Constitution as well
as the leaders of t h e Frenc h Revolution.
The book opens with t h e famous word s
'Man is born free; an d everyw h ere h e is
i n c h ai ns'. Wit h its slogan, 'Li berty, Equal­
ity, Fraternity', it became the bi ble of the
French revolu­
Man is tionaries. Today,
born free and 'The Socia l Con­
every where he is
in chains.
tract,' is accepted
as one of the si n­
gle most i m por­
tant d ec la rations
of the natural
rig hts of man in
the history of po-
liti cal p hi loso-
p h y.
 Why is 'Pride and Prej udice' one of the
best loved novels of all time?
Jane Austen was an Engli sh novelist w h o
lived i n the 1 9th century. Her books are set
among t h e Englis h middle and upper class­
es, and are notable for thei r wit, social obser­
vation, and insights i nto the lives of women of
that era. Her novel 'P ride a ndP reju di ce,' was
Pride and Prejudice

Why did 'Inquiry into the Nature and

Causes of the Wealth of Nations,' lay the
foundation for modern economics?
Adam Smit h was a Scottis h economist and
p hilosop h er w h o became famous because of
his i nfluential book 'Inqui ry i nto the Nature
Most Expensive
An d Causes OfThe Wealt h of Nations', written
Book
in 1776. Smith lived in an era when the British
T he original
public a nd Parliament c l ung to a feudal eco­
copies of Chau­
nomic system i n whic h t h e government mai n­
cer's Canterbury
tained control overthe economy. Smith called
Tales were
for economic freed om an d free tra d e. He de­
printed in 1477.
scri bed the workings of a market economy,
Only oneof
the division of la bou r i n prod uction, the nature these copies is
of wealth i n relation to still owned
money, and many other privately. It was
economic concepts, i n­ sold in 1998 for
cludi ng self i nterest and 4,621,500
t h e i nternational aspects pounds-and
of free trade. Is it any won­ gained entry in­
der then that Ad am Smit h to the Guinness
is consi d ered the father of Book of Records
mod ern economics, an d as the most ex­
that his ideas became the pensive book
basis for free enterpri se? ever sold.
24 Tell Me Why
fi rst publis h ed i n 1 81 3. It is the
story of Mrs. Bennet's attempts
to marry off h er five d aughters.
Excitement fizzes through the
Bennet household when young,
eligi ble Mr. Charles Bi ngley
rents t h e fi ne h ouse nearby. One
of his friends, the wealthy M r.
Fitzwi l liam Darcy, annoys t h e
vivacious Elizabet h Bennet, the
second of the Bennet girls, and
s h e a nnoys hi m. The romantic
clash between the opi nionated
Elizabet h an d Darcy forms the
h eart of the story, whi c h i s told
with a wit and sparkle t h at h as
made it one of the best loved
novels of all time.

the novel was publis h ed w h en s h e was

twenty-one. W h en the 'Fra n kenstein
monster' realizes h ow h e came to be cre­
ated and is rejected by manki nd, h e seeks
revenge on his creator's family to avenge
his own sorrow. Mary Shelley fi rst wrote
Frankenstei n as a short story after the
poet Lord Byron suggested to hi s frien d s
that each of them s h ould write a ghost
story. P ublis h ed a l most 200 years ago,
Mary Shelley's Got hic classic sti l l bri ngs
Frankenstein goose bumps to mo d ern-d ay rea d ers.

Why is 'Franken-
stein', an u nforget- Franken-
table book? stein! ! !
Fra n kenstei n is a
novel written by Mary
Shelley a bout a h orri­
ble monster created
by mad scientist Vic-
�
tor Frankenstei n.
Shelley started writ­ �
i ng the story when
she was eig hteen, and
Books that Shaped the World 25
 Fastest Selling
'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hal­
lows' by J.K. Rowling sold more than
8.3 million copies in the 24 hours fol­
lowing its release in the USA, creating
a record. It also had the biggest initial
print run of 15 million copies - anoth-
er record!

Why does
'The Last of the Mohi­
cans' have a unique place in
American Literature?
James Fenimore Cooper is consi d ­
ered to be the fi rst true American
novel ist. His most popular work,
T h e Last of the Mohicans', publis h ed
in 1 826, has remained one of t h e
most wi d e l y rea d novels throughout
the world. Along with his other four
novels, t h is book has h a d a tremen­
d ous i mpact on the way many view
both the American Indians a nd the
frontier period of American h istory.
This h istorical novel h as d istinctly
American c h aracters an d settings,
and starkly portrays the destruction
of the American wilderness by the
colonists from Europe. Wh i le ot h er
writers had often depicted American
Indians as savages, James Cooper
highlighted their d ignified and no­
ble side. The novel became an i n­
stant best seller, and James Cooper
was established as an important l it- The Last of the Mohicans
erary fi g u re.
26 Tell Me Why
 Why is Ralph
Waldo Emerson's book
'Nature' linked with the Tran­
scendentalism?
Ral ph Waldo Emerson, the a uthor of
'Nature', foun d ed the American Branch of a
European movement known as T ranscen­
d entalism. The foll owers of thi s movement
stressed the spi ritual po­
tential of every individual.
Emerson believed that
God cou ld be found by
looking i nto one's own
soul. In h is book Nature, h e
advised the reader to seek
a new world by rejecti ng
organized religion an d
materiali sm, a n d to seek
the Divine through Nature.
Before long, Nature be­
came the g uide for many
rea d ers w h o s h ared Emer­
son's beliefs, a n d the T ran­
scendentalist Movement
gai ned strengt h d u ring
the 1 840s an d 1 850s.

Nature and Selected Essays

 Why is
-
Charles Dick­
ens 'A Christ­
• ....
MJ·I� I mas Carol'
I

II
one of the
best loved
stories?
C h a r l e s
Dickens was a
famous writer
First Dollar who lived in England in t h e 1 9th Century.
Billionaire Author 'The Christmas Carol', is t h e fi rst of five
J.K. Rowling, the books on Christmas t h at were pu blished
creator of Harry in 1 843. The book is a classic about a
Potter, was the first mean spi rited miser Ebenezer Scrooge
author to earn a bil­ w h o h ates C h ristmas. Th e poi nt of the
lion dollars. 400 story is to s h ow how and why h e c h anges.
million Harry Potter Scrooge h as become one of Dickens'
books have been best-known creations. His name h as be­
sold worldwide, come a byword for meanness and hi s
making her one of p h rase 'Ba h, h umbug', h as a l so ta ken o n
the five self made a li fe of its own. The C hristmas Carol h as
female billionaires become one of t h e most love d stories for
in the world.
t h e way it captures the spi rit of Ch ristmas
1. K. Rowling so beauti fu lly.

Yes, I can change,

I decided to spend
one rupee for tea
from today.

Tell Me Why
 The Bronte
Sisters
Emily Bronte had two sisters,
Charlotte and Anne. Together,
they are known as the Bronte sis­
ters and they have charmed, in­
spired, and even shocked readers
from the Victorian Age to today.
Raised in Yorkshire, the three sis­
ters produced classics like 'Jane
Eyre', 'Wuthering Heights' and
Bronte Sisters 'The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.'

Why is Emily Bronte's 'Wuther­ rage against eac h other,

ing Heights' considered different destroyi ng themselves i n
fro m the novels of that time? the process. There is no
Emi ly Bronte was a nineteenth d oubt h owever, that the
century Englis h aut h or who wrote emotional i ntensity of the
just one nove l - Wuthering Heights. novel, t h e gloomy perspec­
The book reflects h er passionate tive, t h e psyc h o logical d ra­
love of the moors, where s h e spent ma and t h e tragic outcome
near l y a ll h er li fe. It i s a sombre, an d make Wuthering Heig h ts a
sometimes d epressi ng tale of love, time l ess classic.
h ate an d revenge, told through the
viewpoi nt of two narrators, a n d Wuthering Heights
span n i ng two generations. Th e
novel is q uite different from others
of that ti me for many reasons. I n­
stead of bei ng compassionate and
h eroic, the h ero an d h eroine, Heath­
cliff an d Catheri ne are selfi s h a n d
petty. Instead of being blissfu l ly i n
l ove, Cat h eri ne marries someone
else and breaks Heathcli ff's heart.
Too prou d to tell each other thei r
true feelings, they fig ht, storm, and
Books that Shaped the World
 How did the
book 'Civil Disobedi­
ence' influence future leaders?
The book 'Civi l Disobedience,' was
written by Henry T horeau, an American au­
thor w h o lived in the 1 9th century. T h e book was
written after h e spent a night i n jail for refusing
to pay a poll tax. 'Civi l Disobedience,' is an analy­
sis of the i n dividual's relationshi p with
the state. It focuses on w h y men obey
governmenta l law even when they be­ Why was
lieve it to be u njust. According to 'David Copper-
T h oreau, i f a law requ i res a person to field' considered a
commit an i njustice to anot h er, then reflection of social
t h e law s h ould be broken. T h e book conditions in 19th
profoundly i nfluenced a young lawyer century England?
in Sout h Africa w h o was protesting C h arles Dickens, the
that government's treatment of i mmi­ great 1 9th century
grant workers from In dia. T he l awyer Engli sh author, is the
was Mo h andas author of the famous
It's .
K. � an d hl . Ga�- book 'Davi d Copper­
difficult to
col l ect tax . Ev ery - d h l foun d I n field'. T h e book is
one is readin g Civi l T h oreau the about David Copper­
Diso bedience. techni ques h e field, an orp h a n, and
would use i n throug h h is h ero,
thesubsequent Dickens d raws openly
struggle for I n­ on his own li fe. It i s a
dian i ndepend­ story of the devel op-
ence, an d civi l
d i so be d i e n c e
became a pow­
erfu l tool for
future leaders.
 No Verbs
Can you imagine a
novel that does not
contain any verbs? It
may seem impossI­
ble, but believe It or not,
French author Michel Thaler
Why is
published a 233 page novel
The Scarlet
'Le Train de Nulle Part' or
Letter considered a
'The Nowhere Train,' which
masterpiece of American
has no verbs. A sample sen­
literature?
tence goes like this 'Fool's
luckl A vacant seat, almost,
'The Scarlet Letter' is a
in that train. A provisional
novel publi shed in 1 850
stop, why not? So, my new and written by Nathaniel
address in this nowhere train: Hawt h orne. Set i n 1 7th cen­
car 12, 3,d compartment, tury puritan Boston, it tells
forward. Once again, why the story of Hester P rynne,
not?' Astounding, isn't It? who g ives bi rth after com­
mitti ng adultery and strug­
gles to create a new l i fe of
ment of a writer, repentance and d ignity. T he
but it is also a portrait of novel s h ows t h e terri ble i m­
Victorian Englan d at mid-cen­ pact a si ngle, passionate act
tury with a h ost of c h aracters h as on the l ives of three
d esigned to s how various social members of a community. It
features like class structure, t h e is a masterfu l exp l oration of
penal system, the education h umanity's unen d i ng strug­
available for poorer children, gle with si n, gui lt, an d pride.
and d i fferent forms of ch i ld la­
bour and abuse.
David Copperfield is a story of
social protest, but it is also about
a young man who must learn to
overcome traged y, an d trust
th at real love and happi ness may
yet be his.
 Why is 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' considered the spark that lit
the American Civil War?
'Uncle Tom's Cabin,' is a novel by Harriet
Beecher Stowe, pu blished in 1 85 2. T he story
begins as two slaves, Tom an d fo u r year ol d
Harry, are sold to pay their owner's family
d ebts. T h e story focuses on Tom, a strong,
religious man living with his wife an d t hree
young children, and Eliza, Harry's mother.
The novel ends w hen both Tom and Eliza
escape slavery. Eliza and h er fa mily reach
Cana d a, but Tom's freedom comes with
death.
U ncle Tom's Cabin c h anged forever
h ow Americans viewed s l avery. It was a

Why is 'Moby Dick' considered Her­

man Melville's greatest work?
'Moby Dick,' is considere d to be the
g reatest work of the America n author
Herman Melville, whose sea going ex­
periences became the subject of this
novel. Hailed as a classic literary master­
piece, 'Moby Dick,' tel ls the tale of one
man's fatal obsession, and his willing­
ness to sacrifice his life and that of his
crew to achieve his goal. Th e story fol­
lows the fortunes of
Help! Captain Ahab and
Mo by Dick's Moby Dick
the crew of th e
here! Peq uod, a 1 9th century
whaling s h ip. T h e
���,�r ;) Pequod is on its last
,,1; voyage in pursuit of
�����;2].-_�fi;� Moby Dick, the g reat
32 Tell Me Why
runaway best­ Why is 'On the Origin
seller, a n d con­ of Species' called the
tributed to the book that shook the
outbreak of th e world?
Civil War by C h arles Darwin's book
opening peo­ 'On the Origin of Spe­
ple's eyes to the cies,' introduced the
harsh realities concept that popula­
of a bout slav­ J tions evolve over t h e
ery, a n d pre­ course of generations,
senting things CHARLES t h rough a process of
in a persona l ­ DARWIN natural selection. He
ized way from wrote the book based
the s l ave's point of on the evi d ence that h e h a d col lected
view. d u ring the course of his voyage on the
ship H MS Beagle in the 1 83 1 . Darwin
h a d encountered t h e extraord inary ani­
w h ite w h ale whic h mal l ife of t h e Ga l apagos Islan d s. On h is
h as been A h ab's bit­ return, h e put forth his theory i n h is
ter a d versary for book. W h en first published in 1 859, its
many years. Narrat­ central theory - t h at the natural ord er
ed by the sole survi­ was not permanent and unchanging,
vor Ishmael, t h e tale but a g radual process of evolution -
combines a wealth s h ook t h e world. It infu riated many
of literary symbol­ people because it challenged the exist-
ism, h i dd en mean­ ing religious be-
ing, and philosophi- 5 i r , we are lief that God cre-
cal debate with a d ­ cousins! ate d man in h is
venture an d gives a own image.
d etailed h istorica l
accou nt of t h e 1 9t h
century whaling.
Without doubt, this
timeless epic is one
of th e g reatest sea
stories ever told.
Books that Shaped the World 33
 Why did Victor
Hugo's 'Les Miserables'
create waves?
Perhaps the greatest writer that
France h as produced is Victor H ugo,
author of Les Miserables. Published
in 1 862, this classic tale is set against
the backdrop of politica l upheaval in
1 9th-century France. It follows the
lives and interactions of several
Frenc h c h aracters over a seventeen­
year period an d focuses on t h e
strugg l es of ex-convict Jean Valjean
an d his experience of redemption.
Th is historical fiction a l so examines
the natu re of law and g race, the
history of France, architecture of
Paris, politics, mora l p h ilosophy,
justice, religion, and d ifferent types
of l ove. It spoke forthose members
of society forced by unemploy­
ment an d starvation to commit
crimes. The poor understood Hugo's
message, an d worshipped him as
their spokesman. Les Miserables cre­
ated waves because Hugo h a d written
a book about the poor and su ffering
peop le, a book that d emanded a
c h ange in society's judgment of its
Longest Novel citizens.
T he longest novel in
the English language is 'Clarissa'. It runs to about
one million words, and was written by Samuel Richard-
son. It was published in 1748, and composed entirely of let­
ters written by the characters, and some of the letters appear
endless to the reader!
34 Tell Me Why
 I':' !'
A I ,l l '
I ..\ N il.
W O 'i II\:\{
\\ f$ l 'i
\1) n�i\ 1' (

�1.
.,

C \ R .l\
� f. " ' �

Why is 'Alice's
Adventures in Wonder­
land,' such a well- loved book?
For more than 1 30 years, c hildren
have revel led in the the delightful fan­
tasy called 'Alice's Adventu res in Won­
derland' written by Lewis Carroll. T his
remarkable story of a little g i rl called Al­ No 'E'
ice, who embarks on possib l y one of t h e Another amazing
most amazing, fantastical a d ventu res in novel is one that is
literary h istory, h as more t h an stood the written without the
test of time. I n it, t h e reader meets not letter 'e' appearing
only Alice, but also the White Rabbit, the anywhere in it. The
Queen of Hearts, the Mock T u rtle, a nd novel 'Gadsby,' by
the Mad Hatter, among a m u ltitu d e of Ernest Vincent has
other cha racters - extinct, fantastical, 50,000 words, but
not a single word
and commonplace creatures.
has the letter
Alice jou rneys throug h this won d er­
'e' in it!
l an d , trying to fathom the meaning of
h er strange experiences ...
but they turn out to be 'curi­
ouser and curiouser'! 'Alice's
Adventu res in Won d erlan d ,'
is full of parod y an d satire.
Ad ults enjoy Carroll's com­
ments on history, po l itics,
and society, while children
simply l ove it for its absurdity
an d magical quality.

35
 Why has
'Das Kapital,'
changed the course
of history?
'Das Kapital,' by Ka rl Marx
h as often been ca lled t h e Bi­
ble of the working class. Pub­
---
---
lished in 1 867, it is a landmark
work that condemns capital­
ism. Kar l Marx was a h ugely
influentia l revolutionary
t h inker an d phi losopher. His
Das Kapital writings formed the theoreti­
ca l base for mod ern interna­
Karl Marx tional communism.
Marx believed that that all
human history h ad been
based on class strugg l es, but
that these wou ld u ltimate l y
disappear with the victory of
t h e masses. His work is now
consi d ered by communists
all over the world to be the
sou rce of absol ute truth on
matters of economics, philos­
op h y, an d politics. 'Das Kapi­
tal,' Karl Marx's masterpiece,
is the book that a bove a ll oth­
ers forme d the twentieth
centu ry. F rom it sprung the
economic an d po l itical sys­
tems t h at in our time, domi­
nated h alf the Earth for half a
century.
 Why i s i t said
that Jules Verne predict-
ed many scientific advances in
Too Lon g 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Un­
Many people at­ der the Sea'?
tribute the longest Ju les Verne, a 1 9th centu ry F rench
sentence in literature author, wrote
to Victor Hugo. The many great J tt" .. (

claim is that, a sen­ books portray­ .>.,,-<" lll L LE t/

tence in 'Les Misera­ ing imagined sci­ ". - ���r·

bles,' has 823 words LES M ERS
entific wonders.
earning it that title.
In 'Twenty Thou­
However, that ap­
sand Leagues un-
plies to French liter­
d er the Sea', h e
ature. Traditionally,
wrote about the
the longest sen­
tence in English lit­
adventu res of Cap-
erature has been
tain Nemo and the
Twenty Thousand
said to be a sen­ crew of an atomic Leagues
tence in 'Ulysses' submarine ca l l ed the Under the Sea
by James Joyce, Nautilus - long before ------­

which has 4,391 submarines or atomic energy were even

words! thought of! In many ways, the Nautilus
isn't all that d ifferent from some mod ern
subs. T he novel also d escribes in realistic
detail, not just the submarine, but its un-
dersea explorations and the places it visits,
incl uding the South Pole, and the lost city of
Atlantis. Amazingly, in the book, J u les Verne
even predicts environmental problems like
the exti nction of w h a les!

that Shaped the World

 Why is
'The Brothers
Karamazov,' con­
sidered one of the
greatest novels of all
time?
'The Brothers Karama­
zov,' was written by Fyodor
Dostoevsky, a great Russian
aut h or w h o lived i n t h e 1 9th
century. It is a compelling,
profound, and complex story
of a murder- and of the four
sons of t h e m u rd ered man
who eac h h ad a motive to ki ll
him. They were Dmitry, the
sensua list, Ivan, t h e intellec­
tual, Alyos h a, the mystic an d
the twisted, and cunning
Smerdyakov, the illegitimate
child. The novel is lu rid,
nig htmarish, and bri llia nt. It
grips t h e rea d er with a sordid
Brothers Karamazov love triangle, obsession, and
a breathtaking cou rtroom
d rama. It is also a searc h for
the truth by the author- about
Man, about l ife, about the ex­
istence of God . It was Dosto­
evsky's final work, his crown­
ing ac h ievement- an d per­
haps, the finest novel
of all time.

38 Tell Me Why
 Why is
'Treasure Is-
land,' a classic
of children's
literature? Crime and
'Treasure I s­ Punishment
land,' written 'Crime and Punish­
by Robert ment' is another
Louis Steven­ masterpiece by Dos­
son, is one of toevsky. lt is the dis­
t h e most ex- turbing story of a
youngman'sdescent
Treasure Island citing adven-
into crime. It is a tale
ture stories
of horror, guilt, and
for children. Published in 1 883, it h as
punishment, a crime
captu red t h e imagination of child ren of
novel without a mys­
all ages across the world with its tale of a
tery which still man­
searc h for buried treasure. The a uthor ages to create almost
h as created a thrilling story of a d venture unbearable tension
and treachery on the hig h seas, a l l seen in the reader's mind.
t h roug h the eyes of a boy name d Jim
Hawki ns. J i m is the h ero of t he story, an d Crime and
h e's a good lad with a stout h eart. Punishment
The story has many colourfu l c h arac­
ters, a n d the most fascinating among
t h em is Long John Silver, the pi rate cap­
tain. The plot moves along very briskly,
with no wasted scenes, an d the suspense
is so gripping, that it ca n be enjoyed not
just by children, but by adults too.

that Shaped the World 39

 Why is 'The Adventures
of Huckleberry Finn' consid­
ered a trailblazer in American litera­
ture?
'The Adventures of H uck leberry Finn,' is a
great American novel, written by Mark Twain,
as a sequel to h is earlier book The Ad ventures
of Tom Sawyer'. Th e book te ll s the story of
'H uck' Finn, his friend Jim, and their journey
down the Mississippi River on a ra ft. Both are
running away- Huck from his d runken fa­
ther, an d Jim as a runaway slave.
The wit an d wisd om of Mark Twain, a 1 9th
century American author, and h is use of
colloq uial language and portrayal of
American t hemes has ma d e this book a
trailblazer in American literature. The
story of Huckleberry Finn
abounds with en d u ring les­
sons and images that s h ine
through in every page. Is it
any wonder then, that
t h roug h out t he 20th century,
the book h as become fa­
mous as one of Twain's
greatest ac h ievements?
 Why is Tolstoy's 'War and
Peace,' considered a monumental
achievement?
'War and Peace' by Leo Tolstoy is a
Challenges
novel that took seven years to write,
Patience
an d spans a period of fi fteen years,
The book that
Published in 1 886, t h e story is a bout
cha"enges the
Napo l eon's invasion of Russia in 1 8 1 2. patience of a
As the invasion progresses, Tolstoy reader the most is
vividly foll ows c h aracters from d iverse one that
backgrounds-peasants and nobility, demonstrates how
civi lians a nd so ldiers-as they struggle to calculate the
wit h t h e problems unique to t h eir era, number pi in 800
t h eir history, and t h eir cultu re. Gradu­ pages. It is titled
ally, these characters take on a li fe of 'Pi: A Source
t h eir own to become some of t h e most Book,' and docu­
moving- and human- figures in world ments the history
literatu re. 'War an d Peace' is a truly of pi from the
monumental ac h ievement for its scope dawn of mathe­
and l iterary style, its historical content matical time to
an d realism and its psyc h o- the present.
l ogica l depth and insig h ts
into t he validity of war.

War and Peace

 Why is Bram Stok-
er's 'Dracula,' one of the
greatest of horror stories?
Bram Stoker's 'Dracula,' is one of the most
magni ficent novels of the 1 9th century. It por­
trays the struggle between good a n d evil, tra­
d ition an d mod ernity. T he aut h or didn't in­
vent vampires, but his novel captured the
pub l ic's imagination an d ma d e vampire sto-
ries the rage.
Bram Stoker's 'Dracu la' is the story of the no­
torious vampire Count Dracula, lord of the un­
dead, who rises from his coffin at night to suck
the blood of the living. The book succeeds in
creating an a u ra of the culture of the Victorian
era. The characters - men an d women - their
be haviour, lifestyle, et h ics an d aesthetics - all
are d eeply an d truly Victorian. A l u natic asylum,
a bleak Transylvanian cast l e, an a ncient ceme­
tery... these are the dark backgroun d s to t h e
even darker deed s portrayed in this most
bloodcurdling of tales. Dracu l a is undoubted ly
one of th e g reatest of h orror stories ever told.

A Writer's Writer
'War a nd Peace,' by
Leo Tolstoy was the longest
book written in the 1 9th cen­
tury. The original text has some 460000 Rus­
sian and French words, and since there were
no computers or copying machines at that
time, it was Tolstoy's wife who copied the
manuscript by hand, seven times!

Why is
Sherlock Holmes
one of the most endur­
ing characters in litera­
ture?
'The Adventures of S h er­
lock Ho l mes,' was written
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
who practiced med icine
until 1 89 1 , w h en h e be­
came a full time writer.
Doyle based t h e c h aracter
of S h erlock Holmes on Doc­
tor Josep h Bell, a surgeon
an d teac h er h e ha d stu d ied
with while attending Edin­
burg h University. Dr. Bell
h a d the u ncanny ability to
reveal a patient's symp­
toms, diagnose patients,
and report on t h eir origins
befo re
t h ey would speak a
word to him about their af­
flictions! This gift was a charac­
teristic of S h erlock Holmes too.
The fi rst S herlock Holmes story,
'A Study in Scarlet,' was written in
t h ree weeks in 1 886, a nd pub­
l is h e d in 1 887. The second Sher­
lock Holmes story, The Sign of t h e
Four,' was written for the Lippin­
cott's Magazine and the later sto­
ries appeared in the Stran d Maga­
zine. Sherlock Hol mes remains
one of t he most loved, and most
famous of fictiona l detectives to
this day, because of his integrity,
trustwort h iness, sensibi l ity, ra­
tional thinking, decisiveness, lack
of emotiona l ism, an d intellectual
superiority.
Mr. Watson,
I am searching for
Dr. Conan Doyle ...
 Why is 'The War
of the Worlds,' a model
for science fiction stories?
'The War of t h e Wor ld s,' is one of
the most terri fying science fiction novels
ever penned . Written by H.G.
Wel ls, and published in
1 898, the novel begins
with a series of strange Tl:\E WAR
flashes in the distant night
sky, that herald an invasion OF THE WOlUDS I The War o!
the Worlds
from Mars.
The Martian attack ini­
tially causes little concern
on Earth. Th en the d estruc­
tion erupts- ten massive al­
iens roam England an d de­
stroy everything in their
path with h eat rays. Very
soon, h u mankin d finds itse lf
on the brink of extinction.
'War of the Worlds,' tells a completely con­
vincing story of alien invasion, and the plight
of h u mans caug h t u p in it. It set t h e trend for
the science fiction stories that a re enormously
popu l ar today, an d raises important ques­
tions a bout mortality, Man's place in nature,
and t h e evil l u rking in the tec h nological fu­
ture- questions that remain u rgently relevant
in the 21 st century.

44
 The Metamorphosis
'T he Metamorphosis/ is a German classic writ­
ten by Franz Kafka. Published in 1 9 1 5, it is a
masterful mix of horror and absurdity. The story
revolves around a travelling salesman's bizarre
transformation from man, to a man-sized insect.
The book became one of the most important
works of short fiction in the 20th century, and is
widely taught in colleges and uni­
versities.

Why does
'The Interpretation of
Dreams/ play a key role in the field
of psychology?
'The I nterpretation of Dreams,' is the work
of Sigm u n d F reu d , w h o is u niversal l y con­
si d ered the 'father' of psyc h oanalysis. In t h is
book, whic h was publis h ed in 1 899, F reu d
analyzes his own d reams as examples to
prove his new theory of the psychology of
dreams. He put forward the theory that all
dreams represent the fulfilment of a wis h
on the part of the dreamer, an d maintains
that even anxiety d reams an d night­
mares a re expressions of u nconscious
DIE d esires. He a l so be lieved that d reams
often reflectt h etraumas of childhood,
T RA U M D E U T U N G a n d that people or objects a ppearing
in dreams are symbol ic of something
else. The book h as become classic text
IY s.KJ M. FRfLD
on d ream analysis and interpretation,
and has introduced many key con­
cepts t h at would later become central
to psyc h oanalysis.

ooks that Shaped the Wor d

,. R A N t D If U t I C K f.

The Story ofMy Life
Why is 'Up from Slavery,' an in­
spirational autobiography?
'U p from S l avery,' by Booker T.
Washington is a book t h at d escribes
h is rise from a poor, uned ucated
slave to the head of an institution,
that h elped other African Americans
to learn a skill, and improve their
status in life. Booker himself was
born as a slave on a plantation in
1 856. He toiled in t h e coal mines,
and packed salt as a child. However,
h e was determined to ed ucate him­
self, which h e did by studying at
night. Finally, he rose to become
the h ead of an institution that
helped others like h im. He believed
that ed ucation was the key to im­
proving economic conditions. His
life, and the book he wrote about it,
became an inspiration for other
d owntrodden African Americans,
and d rew nationa l attention to their
plig h t.
Whyis Helen
Keller's 'The Story
of My Life,' a shining
light for disabled ones?
Helen Kel ler was born
in 1 880. When s h e was a
baby, she was stricken
with an ill ness t h at left
her blind an d d ea f.
In 'Th e Story of My life,'
s h e recou nts h ow s h e
slowly learnt to rely on
h er ot h er senses, bot h
to communicate with
ot h ers, and to sense na­
ture. S h e learnt to rea d
using Brail le- a script in­
vente d fort h e b lind-and
graduated from college.
S h e publis h ed 'The Story
Up From Slavery
Tel l Me
 Why is /The
Call of the Wild,'
both entertaining and
thought provoking?
'The Call of t h e Wild' is a story
set in the Alaskan wilderness. The
author, John Lon d on, narrates a
classic tale of survival from the view­
point of an animal, the sled d og Buck.
Buck's li fe and death struggle for sur­
viva l in the bleak, hostile, icy Arctic en­
of My Li fe,' vironment makes for gripping reading.
in 1 903, an d It's also symbolic of the struggle of th e
became a tire l ess working classes against t h e odds
crusa d er for the stacked u p against them in a capitalis­
disabled , an d the tic society.
un d erprivileged . Is Publis h ed in 1 903, 'The Call of t h e
it any won d er that Wild,' was based on the authors own
h er book h as be­ a d ventu res, and it highlights the sharp
come a shining contrast between the pristine beauty
l ight for disabled of t he Arctic, and the d reary conditions
people all over the of the English sl ums in London w h ic h
world? She proved, had visited shortly before h e wrote t h e
through her ex­ book. 'The Call of the Wild,' was an in­
traordinary trans­ stant h it with rea d ers of all ages ... and
formation, that d is­ remains so to t h is day.
ability was not a bar
My
to ed ucation, or to superb story!
th e joys of l eading a
normal, productive
life.
 Why did Einstein write 'The Spe­
cial and General Theory of Relativity'?
Albert Einstein, one of the greatest physicists the
wor ld has ever seen, is the author of 'Relativity: The
Specia l an d General Theory'. The work was pu blis h ed
in 1 91 6, an d i n it, Einstein attempts to explain the
complex principles of his Theory of Relativity in terms
simple enoug h for a layman to u nderstand. Einstein's
work create d new branc h es of stu d y in p h ysics and
revo lutionized astronomy. Einstein's t h eories of rela­
tivity h ave not only affected our d aily lives in such
basic ways as h ow we h eat our h omes, reac h our
destinations, and measu re our days, but the theories
were also used by p h i l osop h ers, politicians, and ac­
tivists to turn mora l philosop h y u pside-down. Ein-
stein was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in
1 92 1 . Di d you know t h at this bri ll iant mathemati­
cian and physicist got only poor g ra d es in sc h ool,
and dropped out at the age of 1 5
because h e was bored?

Albert Einstein
 Why did
'Siddhartha,' lead to an in­
creased interest in Eastern religions?
'Siddhartha,' by Hermann Hesse is the story
of a young man w h o l eaves h is family for a contem­
plative life. He t h en gets restless, and discard s it for
one of t h e flesh. He conceives a son, but
bored and sickened by l ust a n d greed,
moves on again. Near d espair, Siddhartha
comes to a river w h ere h e h ears a uniq ue
sound. This sound signa l s t h e true begin­
n i ng of h is life-the beginning of suffering,
rejection, peace, and, finally, wisdom. A
mystical and lyrical book, Si d d h a rt h a is a
beauti fu l story of a truly personal quest
toward s the se lf-fu lfilment we all must
strive to attain.
The story is set in I n dia, and the book
sparke d an interest in Eastern religions
w h en it was publis h ed in 1 922. Si d ­
d h a rtha is one of t h e names of the histori­
cal Gautama Buddha, an d while the l ife
of Hesse's c haracter resembles that of his h istori­
cal counterpart to some extent, Siddhartha is by
no means a fictiona l life of Buddha an d h is teach­
ings.

/' The Waste Land

'T h e Waste Land,' is perha ps the most dis-
cussed long poem ofthe 20th century. Written by T.S.Eliot, it deals
with the decline of civilization, and the impossibility of recover­
ing meaning in life. Made up of 434 lines, 'The Waste Land' is a
disturbing poem, marked by the hundreds of a l lusions and q uo­
tations from other texts .

. tw "
� -- - � �. �----
 Why is
'Ulysses,' a ground
breaking masterpiece?
Ulysses is a modernist novel, written
by James Joyce and published in 1 922. lt
is an extremely long story that is funny,
sorrowful, and even suspenseful. U lysses
details the lives ofthree ord inary people
d u ring a single d ay. It is set in Dublin,
I reland, a n d involves subjects suc h as
mythology, European history, religion,
a n d astronomy. Th e book h as fascinated
sc h olars a n d baffled rea d ers for d ecades
with its dense prose, obscure puns and
allu sions to the cha racters an d events of
Homer's epic Greek poem 'The Odyssey'.
Joyce experimented with new literary
techniques in this novel. He omitted
punctuations, exhibited fran k expres­
sions, an d made free use of fragmente d
idea to create a truly g round breaking
masterpiece.

Two Moons
Jonathan Swift, the
author of 'Gulliver's Trav­
els', wrote abouttwo moons
that circle Mars. What is
amazing is that he described
them exactly! A hundred years
later, the two moons of Mars,
Phobos and Deimos, were discov­
ered by Asaph Hall, Sr. on August
1 2th, 1 877, and they matched
Swift's description in eve­
ry way!
 'Book'
'The English word
'book' comes from
Why can 'Mein Kampf,' be said the Danish word for
to be responsible for 50 million book which is 'bog'.
deaths? 'Bog' is Danish for
'Mein Kampf,' was written by birch tree, and the
Adolf Hitler, and is an a utobio­ early people of
graphica l accou nt of h is youth an d Denmark wrote on
rise within the Nazi Party of Germa­ birch bark. The Lat­
ny. In it, he elaborated on his beliefs in word for book is
on race, politics, and the future of 'liber,' and it refers
to the thin layer
the German people. The book re­
found between the
flects his plan to create a master Ar­
bark and the wood
yan race by destroying those whom
which was called
h e viewed as the inferior races- in­
liber, on which the
cluding the Jews. Published i n two
Romans wrote be­
volumes in 1 925 an d 1 927, 'Mein fore they started
Kam pf,' became the political mani­ using parchment.
festo of the Nazi Party. In the book,
Hitlerjustified the military conquest
offoreign lan ds in the i nterests of
creating a master race. The book
was not taken seriously at first,
but in the en d , the i d eas H itler put
forward in the book l ed to World
War II. It was the most d estructive
of wars, and it caused the deat h of
50 million people, incl u d ing mi l­
l ions of Jews who were killed on the
basis of their race alone.
Books that Shaped the World
 Why is the 'Oxford English ----
Dictionary,' a treasure house of
the English language?
'The Oxford English Dictionary,' is t h e
authority on the h istory of the English lan­
guage from 1 1 50, to t h e present d ay. It not
only record s a nd defines all t h e words ever used
in the Englis h language, b ut also i ll us­
trates h ow eac h word h as been used at
t h e various stages of its h istory. Contain­
ing over 600,000 word s a n d 2,500,000
quotations, the 'Oxford English Diction­
a ry,' is without d ou bt a treasure- house of
t h e English lang uage.
The dictionary h a d its origins in the 1 850's
when it was fi rst proposed by t h e P h i lologi­
ca l Society of Lon d on. Th e project got un­
derway in 1 879, with a Scottish Professor
named M urray as t h e principa l editor. M u r-
ray an d h is team d i d manage to pu b lish th e
fi rst part i n 1 884. Over the next four decades, wor k on
the Dictionary continued, and new editors joined the
project. Sadly, Mu rray d i d not l ive to see the comple­
tion of h is g reat work. In Apri l 1 928, the last volume
was pu b l is h e d under t h e imposing name 'A New
English Dictionary on Historica l Principles'. It
contained over
400,000 words and
p h rases i n ten vol­
u mes. It h as b een
constantly u pdated
and modernized
u ntil it has reache d
its present form ,
ma king it a l iving
d ocument.
52
 Why is 'All Quiet on the
Western Front' an unusual book?
'All Quiet on the Western Front,' is
a nove l by Erich Maria Remarque,
pu b lished in 1 929. Remarque b ased
the b oo k on h is own experience as
a young infantryman in the Ger­
man army d uring World War I. His
purpose in writing t h e nove l was
'to report on a generation t h at
was d estroyed by the war-even
w h en it escaped the shells'. The story
is a bout a lost generation, as seen through the eyes of Pau l
Baumer, a nineteen-year-o ld German vol unteer, du ri ng the
last two years of World War I. The b oo k alternates between
periods at the Western front and peacefu l i nterludes, gory
b attles, and scenes of young comra d es passi ng time to­
gether, episod es i n the field hospital, and at home on fur­
l ough. The novel is u nusual i n that it is written i n the form of
a series of s h ort episo d es-in the fi rst person, an d in present
tense. This g ives itt h e feel of a d iary, with entries on everyday
l i fe i nterspersed wit h h orri fying b attle episodes. More than
a million copies of the boo k were sold i n Germany the fi rst
yea r it appeared, followed by mi llions more w h en trans lated
an d d istri b uted in other
nations.

The Tin Drum

Gunter Grass
speaks for a generation
of Germans who grew up
during the Nazi era. H is
debut novel, The Tin Drum
(1 959), took the literary
world by storm. It's the
story of Oskar Matzerath,
who communicates largely
through his toy Tin Drum.

Books that Shaped the World 53


Why is 'The
Sound and the
Fury,' a different
type of book?
'T h e Soun d an d
t he F u ry,' by Wil­
liam Fau l k ner is t he
story of a d ecaying
aristocratic family.
It is set in M ississip­
pi after the Civil
War. The story is
told from four d i fferent
perspectives, eac h ma king up a
d i fferent section with a d ifferent
narrator. Th e fi rst three sections
are narrate d by three Compson
b rothers - Benjamin, Quentin,
a n d Jason - followed by a section
by an omniscient narrator. Th e
cast of d eeply trou b led c h arac­
ters-darli ng an d d aring Caddy,
i nnocent Benjy, tyrannical Jason,
and tortured Quenti n have
haunted readers for decades.
Faul k ner, one of the most i n fl u­
ential of 20th centu ry writers,
casts aside tra d itional aspects of
a novel l i ke p l ot an d c h a racter
d evelopment, an d i nstea d ex­
periments with several new liter­
ary techniques. As a resu lt, 'The
Sound and Fury,' attains h eig h ts
and d ept h s of expression that are
truly b reathta king.
54
Why is 'The Maltese
Falcon,' a different type
of detective story?
'T h e Maltese Falcon,'
was written by Das h ie ll
Hammett in 1 93 1 , and it
became extremely popu­
lar b ecause, it was a d i f­
ferent type of detective
story. The novel was cre­
ated out of t h e author's
own memora b le bac k­
groun d. He too ha d
wor ke d as a d etective for
six years, travelling across
the cou ntry on d i fferent
assignments. The hero of
'The Maltese Falcon,' is a
d etective, named Sam
Spa d e. U n li ke earlier d e­
tectives in fiction who
were modelled after
Sherloc k Holmes, Spa d e
was a h ard b oiled detec-
THE
MAL TESE
FALCON
trt
OASHm.L
HAMMITT
tive who d i d not d e­
l i b erately b rea k t h e
law, b ut was not
a b ove cutting cor­
ners. He had no h esi­
tation in manipulating
anyone, i nc l u d ing the
police and h is clients,
to a rrive at the truth.
Hammett wrote in a
terse i ronic style, an d
t he nu merous twists and
turns of h is plot captivated
reader� an d in fl uenced
aut h ors of other d etective
novels.
Most Valuable
Chi l dre n 'S Book
The most valuable
children's book ever
sold was a rare first
edition of 'Alice's Ad­
ventures in Wonder­
land.' The book was
Lewis Carroll's own
copy. It was sold for
$ 1 .5 million at an auc­
tion.
Books that Shaped the World
Why did 'The
Good Earth,' in�
fluenee Western
attitudes to­
wards China?
Pear l Buc k, the
fi rst American
woman to b e
award e d t h e No­
b el Prize for liter­
ature in 1 938, wrote
'The Good Eart h ,' from her
fi rst hand experience of l i fe, in
C h ina. She had lived there most
of her l i fe and her novel pro­
vi d e d i nsig hts into the l ives of
ric h C h inese l an d owners as
well as the poor C h i nese peas­
a nts. It is the story of the u ps
and downs in t h e life of a poor
peasant farmer who rises to
b ecome a prosperous landlord­
a n d it completely c h ange d the
way the Western world viewe d
China. Ti ll t h en, C h i na had b een
a l a n d of p h i l osop h ers a n d
scholars to the west, and t h ey
k new nothing a b out t h e every­
d ay lives of t h e common peo­
ple. The boo k h ad a tremen­
dous impact on readers - and is
still popular today- for the
glimpses it provides i nto t h e
evolving cu lture of the vast
Chi nese empire.
55
 Why is 'The Why was 'The Story of Civiliza­
Brave New World', tion,' one of the most ambitious of
a warning against literary projects?
u ncontrolled 'T h e Story of Civilization,' is an eleven
technological ad­ volume narrative traci ng the d evolve­
vances? ment of man kin d from ancient times till
'T h e Brave New the early 1 9th century. It was written by
b
World,' y Aldous Will Durant an d h is wi fe Ariel, and the
H uxley was written cou ple spent 40 years writing all the vol­
at a time in the early u mes, wor king 8 to 1 4 h ours a d ay. They
1 930's when great travelled all over t h e world, researc h ing
advances were being materia l for t h eir wor k, w h ic h b eca me
made i n science. In the most am b itious literary project ever
The Brave New unde rta ken. Durant paints eac h h istori­
World,' he alerted cal character as a real h u man being,
people to t h e pro ­ b with the comp lexities of cha racter we
lems that technology all have. While h e doesn't ma ke excuses
could cause, includi ng for villains of history, he ma kes sure h e
overpopu l ation an d h u manizes eac h person mentioned.
psyc h ological b rain Here history is presented not as c h ro­
was h i ng. Th e novel is nology, an d not as a sequence of
a b out a frig htening so­ events, b ut as a progression of people.
ciety, where humans Some of the volumes are more than
are repro d uced in la bo­ 1 000 pages in length, b ut the story is
ratories to perform cer­ told i n suc h an entertaining and col­
tain roles. Those w h o ourfu l manner that the rea d ers are
d i d not conform were entranced, and never b ored.
cast out. Religion was
banned in this society, What
an amaz ing
a n d m ind altering d rugs allowed technology!!
the government total control over
the in d ividual. Today, h is words
seem prophetic, for H uxley h as
warned us that tec h no logy must
be used for the good of man ki nd,
or it will lead to its destruction.
56 Tell Me Why
 Why is 'Gone With
the Wind,' a valuable work?
'Gone with the Wind,' is a h istorica l
romance set in northern Georgia d u ri ng GONE
WITH
t h e d rama of the Civi l War and Reconstruc­
tion E ra. It traces t h e l ife of Scar l ett O'Hara
and h er relations h ips wit h Rhett Butler, and
As hley and Melanie Wil kes. The novel ad­
d resses suc h themes as survival, romantic
love, and the society's structuring of gen d er
an d class. With its detailed atmosp h ere of a
vanis h e d age an d its compel ling c h aracters,
'Gone with the Wind,' contin ues to entertain
rea ders to this d ay.
Pu b lished in 1 936, 'Gone with the Wind,' be­
came an immediate b est-seller, b ringing fi rst­
time novelist Margaret Mitchell a n over­
whelming amount of pu b lic a ppreciation- an d
the 1 937 Pulitzer Prize. As well as b eing a novel
of epic proportions, t h is is va l ua b le as a h is­
torical document too. It is a depiction of l i fe in
th e 1 9th century South, a nd also d ocuments
20th century emotions a b out the region's
past, and memories of a way of l i fe that many
consi dered h ad gone with the wind.

Book
of a Million Poems
T he Book of a Million Poems Raymond
was written by the French po­
/ et Raymond Queneau. It has
Queneau

only ten pages with fourteen with any, from

lines on each page. Every single page is cut the other nine,
into strips, containing a sonnet. These can be giving a million
read combining fragments at your personal different po­
will. Any line from a sonnet can be combined ems!
Books that Shaped the World 57
 Why did 'Grapes of
Wrath,' create an uproar?
When 'Grapes of Wrath' by John Stein b ec k was
pu b lished in 1 939, America was still recovering from the
Great Depression. The b oo k created a nationa l sensation for
its depiction of t h e d evastating effects of t h e Great Depres­
sion of th e 1 930's. It exposed the misery, a b uses and i njustice
t h at migrant wor kers h a d to suffer during t h is period . Th e story
focuses on the trial s a nd tri b- u -
lations of t h e Joad fa m i l y
w hen they leave the d ust Why is 'The Common
b ow l of O kl a h oma for a bet­ Sense Book of Baby and
ter li fe in California. Many Child Care,' popular with
people were shoc ke d by the new parents to this day?
poverty an d h opelessness of 'The Common Sense Boo k
the story. It created q u ite an of Ba by and Ch i ld Care,' was
u proar, and Stei n bec k found written by a famous paedi­
h i mself i mmersed in a g reat atrician Dr. Benjamin
national d e bate over the mi­ Spoc k.The authorof eleven
g rant la b our pro b lem. Amidst b oo ks, h e was a political
the controversy, people who activist for causes that vi­
h a d never rea d a boo k b efore tally affect ch ildren. These
b ought a copy, a nd l i b raries include topics l i ke day
h a d waiting lists for the novel care, sc h ooling, housing,
t h at were months long! an d med ica l care for all.
The boo k covers eyery­
thi ng from p reconcep­
tion to teen h ood. Spoc k
answers the most ele­
mental stu ff - care and
feeding, d iapering and

58 Tell Me Why
 Super Book weighing 1 060 kilograms, with 304 pages
that are 3.85 metres wide and 2.77 metres
tall ... photographer Ayman Trawi's
book holds the largest book's
record.

Whyis'The
Diary of Anne
Frank,' so moving?
'Th e Diary of Anne
issues, Fran k" written by a
an d h ow to answer young Jewish girl,
t h ose toug h ques­ Anne Fra n k, is a pow­
tions from you r tod­ erfu l rem inder of the
d ler. Baby and Chi ld horrors of war and an
Care h as been trans­ eloquent testament
lated i nto thirty-nine to t h e h u man spirit.
lang uages, and has In 1 942, with Nazis oc­
so ld fi fty million copies cupying Holland, a thi rteen-year-ol d
wor ldwide since its Jewis h g i r l Anne and her family fled
fi rst publication in t h eir home in Amsterd am an d went
1 946. into h i ding. For the next two years,
u nti l t h eir w h ereabouts were be­
First read
trayed, they an d another family l ive d
this! Then decide
to punish me.
cloistered in the 'secret a nnex' of an
o ld office bui lding. Anne's d i a ry is h er
one true frien d an d confi d a nt. I n it, s h e
record s the thoughts of a typical teen.
Anne Fran k record e d vivi d i mpressions
of h er experiences du ring t h is period.
By turns thoughtful, moving, and amus­
i ng, her account offers a fascinating
commentary on h uman cou rage.
/

Books that Shaped the World 59

 Why is 'Cry, the Beloved Country,' the
most important novel in South Africa's
history?
Cry, the beloved Country is the most im­
portant novel in South Africa's h istory. This
i m passioned novel by Alan Paton is a b out
a b lac k man's country u n d e r white man's
law. When it was written, Sout h Africa was
b itter l y d ivi d e d by segregation an d preju­
d ice. Power was in t h e hands of t h e minor­
ity wh ites, wh i le the b l ac ks suffered poverty
Cry, the Beloved and humiliation. This boo k gained interna­
Country tional acclaim when it was pu b lished in 1 948.

Why is 'Nineteen lives in a totalitarian state, w h ic h ma kes u p

Eighty Four/ a most of the English-spea ki ng world. In this
thought provoking world, everything is controlled by t h e Party
story? an d Big Brother. Citizens are at a l l times
Nineteen Eig htyfour watche d t h rough the ever-present tele­
is a prophetic boo k screen, w h ic h cannot b e turned off. Every­
written by George one lives i n constant fear of doing some­
Orwell in 1 949. Th e t h ing that might get reported to the
main c h aracter in the Thought Police. Citizens are encourage d to
novel is a man called spy on eac h other, an d c h i ld ren are taught
Winston Smith, who to report their
parents for so­ Punishment
Ninteen Eighty Four calle d 'thought without crime . . .
crime'. Nineteen
Eig h ty four ex­
poses the worst
crimes imagina­
b le-the destruc­
tion of truth,
freedom, an d in­
dividual ity.
Tell Me Why
 Why is Winston Churchill's 'The
Second World War,' remarkable?
'The Second World War,' was written
byWinston C h urchill, a British statesman
an d leader of h istoric proportions, w h o
also possessed su b stantial literary tal­
ents. It is a fi rst h an d account of Wor ld
War II, an d was pu b lished in six vo l umes
over a six year period .
The fi rst volume deals with t h e rise of Somerset Maugham
Adolf Hitler, and ends with Churchill be-
BestTen
coming t h e Prime The The world famous
Ministe r of England. S econ d writer Somerset
The second volume World War Maugham selected
d eals with Eng- is over! the following as the
land's isolation after ten best novels of
the world:
1. War and Peace
by leo Tolstoy
2. Pere Goriot
by Honore de Balzac
3 . Tom Jones
by Henry Fielding
4. Pride and Prejudice
The Second World War by Jane Austen
5. The Red and the Black
the fall of France, while the third, fourth by 5tendhal
an d fi fth volumes descri be the progress 6. Wuthering Heights
by Emily Bronte
ofthe war from 1 941 to the eve of D Day.
7. Madame Bovary
The fina l volume portrays the conclu­
by Gustave Flaubert
sion of the war, an d ironically, how
8. David Copperfield
Ch u rchi ll h imse lf was not in power for its by Charles Dickens
ultimate end. The boo k is remar ka b le in 9. The Brothers Karamazov
that, a man wh o presided over this crisis by Fyodor Dostoevsky
in h istory is a b le to turn h is experiences 10. Moby Dick
into literature. by Herman Melville

Books that Shaped the World 61

 Why Is Isaac
Aslmov's 'I, Robot,' unusual?
Isaac Asimov chronicles the d evelop­
ment of the ro b ot through a series of in­
terli n ked stories in h is b oo k , 'I, Ro bot'. Lord o/the Flies
The boo k is a collection of short stories
l i n ke d by an interview between a re­
porter and a scientist. It traces the d e­
velopment of ro bots from its primitive
origi n s to its ultimate perfection in the
not-so-d istant futu re. The stories in­
clude tales of ro bots who have gone
ma d , of min d -rea d ing ro b ots, an d ro­
b ots with a sense of h umour. Th ere are
also ro b ot politicians, an d ro b ots t h at
secretly ru n the world. Th e boo k is one
of the g reat classics of science
fiction i n w h ic h Asimov set
out the princi ples of ro bot
b e h aviour that we k now as
the Th ree Laws of Ro botics.
The stories are all told with Why Is 'Lord of the Flies,'
the d ramatic b lend of science considered a dark novel7
fact and science fiction t h at 'Lord of the Flies,' is written
h as ma d e Asimov such a pop­ by Wi lliam Gold ing, w ho won
u lar author. the No be l Prize for Literature in
1 983. Th e boo k is b ased on h is
horror at t h e atrocities com­
mitte d by the Nazis d uring
Wor ld War II. 'Lord of t h e Flies,'
is set at a time w h en Europe is
in t h e midst of nuc l ear d e­
struction. The story is a b out
group of boys, who are b eing
evacuated from England to
Australia, and crash land on
�------=I=Bll1l" e wfty
 A Huge Book
The Klencke
Atlas, which
stands at 1 .78
by 1 .05 metres
when open, is
recognized in the Guinness
Book of Records as the world's
largest atlas. It was presented
to Charles II on his restoration
to the British throne, by a
group of Dutch merchants led
by Johannes Klencke. It is so
big that six people are needed
to lift it, and another two to
open it!
tropica l island. Noadults s u rvive
the crash, and the novel is t h e
story of the boys' descent i nto
chaos, disorder, and evi l. Gold­
ing's g ri pping novel explores
the boundary between hu­
man reason and animal in­
sti nct. Th e aut h or ma kes ex­
tensive use of symbolism,
and t h e d ar k tone of the
novel is chi lling. His writing
style is simple, but t h e sub­
ject matter is deep. He uses
a rather comparatively sim-
ple story to convey a
weig hty idea an d tries to
teach us and warn us of the
evil nature of man kind.
Book.�s������
Why is 'The Old Man and
the Sea,' a classic fis h tale?
The Old Man and the Sea is
a classic written by Earnest
Hemmingway, an d pub­
lished in 1 952. Told i n lan­
guage of g reat simp licity and
power, it is the story of a n o ld
Cuban fis h erman, d own on
h is luc k, and h is supreme or­
d eal - a re l ent l ess, agonizing
battle wit h a giant marli n far
out in t he Gulf Stream. Hem­
mingway uses a stri kingly
contemporary and stark
writing style to expand on
the theme of courage i n the
face of d efeat, and of per­
sonal triump h won from loss.
The O ld Man and t h e Sea re­
vived Ernest Hemingway's
career, w h ich was founder­
i ng, an d is in fact, a fis h tale
that h onou rs its author.
 Why is it said that Heller's 'Catch 22,' re­
flects the sentiments of a generation?
'Catc h 22,' by Joseph Hel ler is an anti war
novel, that reflected the sentiments of a gen­
eration after World War II. Heller hi mselfflew
sixty missions in Europe d u ring the War, and
h is experiences deeply affected his outloo k
on l i fe. The novel s ki l lfu lly projects the a b­
s u rd circumstances of l i fe among the Ameri­
ca military d u ring Wor ld War I I . It is t h e story
of a US a i rman's attempts to survive the
ma d ness of t h e Second Wor ld War, shortly
after returning from the confl ict h imself. Using sati re, b lac k
h u mour, an d seemingly u n d efeata b le logic, the b oo k argues t h at
war is insane, t h at t h e m ilitary is insane, an d t h at, q u ite pro ba b ly,
mo dern life itself is insane too. It was so popu l ar that, tod ay t h e
p h rase 'Catch 22,' refers to a situation in
w h ic h any move that a person
Why is 'Pedro Par- can ma ke wi ll lead to
amo,' a one of a kind book? trou b l e.
b
Ped ro Paramo was pu lis h e d in 1 955
by Juan Rolfo and h as since b ecome one of
Latin America's most read b oo ks. It is a
d ream-li ke ta le, which i ntertwines a man's
quest to fi n d h is lost father with the father's
o b sessive love for a woman. In the boo k
,Rulfo uses straight forward narration, mov­
i ng from conscious t h ought to memory,
from the wor ld of the l iving, to t h e wor ld of
t h e d ea d . ,Pedro Paramo,' captures the es­
sence of l i fe in rural Mexico d u ring the last
years of the 1 9th century, an d t h e b eginning
of t h e 20th, l i ke no ot h er wor k of fiction.
Here, in a mere 1 24 pages, t h e aut h or viv­
idly portrays the radica l social and eco­
nomic changes which spu rred t h e dramatic
64 Tell Me Why
 Why is it said that 'Silent Spring',
launched an environmental movement?
'Silent Spring', by Rac h ael Carson was re­
l eased i n 1 962. lt offered t h e fi rst s h attering
l oo k at widesprea d dangers of the overuse
of pesticides, and touc h e d off an environ­
mental awa reness that still exists. The b oo k
too k four years to write. It meticulously
d escri be d h ow DDT entered the food
c h ain, an d accumulated i n the fatty tissues
of animals, inc l u d ing h uman b eings, and cause d cancer an d ge­
netic damage. Carson concluded that DDT and other pesticides
had irrevoca b ly harmed b i rd s an d anima l s, an d h a d contaminated
t h e entire wor ld food supply. Carson, a native of rura l Pennsylvania,
had g rown up with an enthusiasm for nature matc h e d only by h er
love of writing an d poetry. Her b oo k 'Silent Spring', proved to be
t h e spring board for a n environmental movement that led to
tougher govern ment controls over the use of pestici d es.

�
�
migration of the peasants from
ranchos an d villages to the u r b an
slu ms, when t h ey could no longer
l ive off the land, nor fi nd wor k. It is
a shadowy, eerie, h aunting wor k,
and one whose impact on literature
cannot b e over-emphasized .
An Expensive Book
'The Task,' by Tomas Al­
exander Hartmann has only
13 pages, but is priced at
1 S3 Million Euros! This
makes it one of the most ex­
pensive books in the world.
The author explained that
its value stands in its con­
tent, for the book offers an­
swers to some fundamental
questions of humankind in
less than three hundred
sentences.

Books that Shaped the World 65

 Why did 'Understanding
Media- The Extensions of Man,'
challenge old ideas in mass com­
m unication?
Un d erstanding Me d ia- Th e Exten­
sions of Man is a pat h b rea k ing work
by t h e technology g u ru Mars h all
McLu h an. It was pu b lished i n 1 964,
and it challenged the existing notion
t h at the content of a message was
more important than its form. McLu­
han a rgued that the i m pact of a mes­
sage d epen d ed on t h e way that it was
presented , or on its form. He also be­
lieved that the med i u m i n w h ic h t h e
message was presented - that is,
w h et h er it was presented on radio,
television, or print- also affected the
impact that it had. He foresaw the
dominant role t h at electronic com­
munication would play, and how
tec hnology would b ring people closer
Marshall together, to ma ke the world seem
McLulzall smal ler. In fact, h e was the fi rst person
to use t he term 'glo b al vil lage,'- a term
t h at h as become so popu l a r tod ay.
 Why did 'The Quota­
tions of Chairman Mao', play a
major role in influencing the history
of China?
Mao Tse - tung was t h e great leader of t h e
Chinese Communist Party, and th e d riving
force of the revolution that founded The
People's Repu b licof C h ina. He also i nitiated
many social and economic reforms at the
cost of millions of lives. 'The Quotations of
Chairman Mao' was pu b lished i n 1 966, and Mao Tse-tung
was i nten d ed to be the g u ide boo k for t h e
Cultura l Revolution, which was Mao's dream. Th e b oo k
contained Mao's p hi losophies, and was require d reading
for all C h inese people. It b ecame one ofthe most intense l y
stu d ied boo ks in t h e world, and Mao's word s became the
ultimate authority in China.
However, after the death of
Mao's Mao, h is views were d e­
quotations were
nounce d . But h is accom­
sold out . Now, you
can buy my own quo­ plis hments as a leader, and
tations! foun d er of mod ern C h ina
cannot be c hall enged.

Quotations
from
Chairman
Mao
Tse-tung
Books that Shaped the World 67
 Why is 'One Hun­
dred Years of Solitude,' the
crowning achievement of Gabriel
Marquez?
'One Hun d red Years of So l itu de,' tells the
story of t h e rise an d fall, b i rth and death of
the mythical town of Macon do, through
the h istory of a fami l y known as t h e
Buen d fa. lt was pu b lished i n 1 967, and with
this boo k, the author Ga b riel Garcia Mar­
quez i ntrod uced Latin American literature
to the world . It is a ric h a n d b rilliant c h roni­
cle of l i fe and d eat h. In the story of the
Buen d i a family, one sees a ll of h umanity, just as
in the history, myths, growth, an d d ecay of
Macon d o, one sees all of Latin America. Love an d
lust, war an d revolution, ric h es an d poverty,
youth and senil ity are a ll portrayed with the sim­
plicity, ease, and purity t h at are t h e mar k of a mas­
ter, 'One Hun d re d Years of Solitu d e,' is one of the
20th century's enduring wor ks, and the crowning
ac h ievement of a No be l
Prize winning
author.

Why is 'The Gulag Archi­
pelago'importanthistori­
cally?
'Th e Gulag Arc h ipelago',
by Ale ksan d r Solzhenitsyn
is an i mportant historical
document because it c h roni­
cles the imprisonment, b ru­
talization, an d very often,
m u rd er of tens of millions
of i nnocent Soviet citizens.
Th is was d one by
the Soviet government,
mostly d uring Stalin's rule
from 1 929 to 1 953. Solzhenit­
syn's fi rst purpose was to d ocu­
ment for t h e Soviet people, the
real truth of w h at happened. A
survivor himself, Solzhenitsyn felt
o b liged to d o t h is for the sa ke of
'all those tortured a n d m u rd ered',
b ut even more, for l iving an d fu­
ture generations. The boo k was
first pu b lished in France in 1 973,
an d is a l iterary triumph.The word
'gulag' refers to t h e system of
concentration camps, and
Solzhenitsyn used the word 'ar­
c h i pelago' as a metaphor for the
camps, spread throughout the
Soviet Union li ke a chain of is­
lands.

St. Joan
George Bernard Shaw, the
famous English playwright,
wrote a play based on the life of Joan of Arc,
shortly after she was declared a saint. It
was called 'Saint Joan', and over the years,
it has been seen as one of his greatest, and
most important works. St. Joan has been
hailed as being intellectually exciting, and
praised for dealing with important themes,
such as nationalism and war.
Books that Shaped the World
 Why i s Toni
Morrison's book 'Beloved,' liked
by readers world wide?
'Beloved ,' by Toni Morrison is a Pulitzer
P rize winning novel, that is set in O h io in

�(l��(�:
1 873. Th roug h a series of flash bac ks, the
b oo k reveals the h orror of s l avery, an d
com b ines l yrical prose wit h a magical re­
� mn a lism that h as ma de it loved b y rea d ers
I worldwide.
At the heart of the story is an al most un­
spea ka b le act of h orror and h eroism- a
woman b rutally kills her i nfant daughter
rather tha n allow her to be enslaved. The
woman is Set he, and the novel traces h er
journey from slavery to freed om d u ring,
a n d imme d iately following t h e Civil War.
Woven i nto this mesmerizing narrative are
the terri b le truths of Set he's past. The novel
is part g host story, part h istory lesson, an d
part fol k tale, and addresses the issues of
b lac k culture, history, a nd i dentity with
sensitivity an d b eauty.
 Hey!
Where d i d
I come
from?

First Nobel Prize in

Li erature
The Nobel Prize
in Literature is
awarded by the
Swedish Academy,
Stockholm, Sweden.
The very first Nobel
Prize in Literature A BriefHistory of Time

Why is 'A Brief History of Time,' an

outstanding book?
Stephen Haw king, one of the most
b rilliant theoretical physicists in h istory,
wrote t h e modern classic, 'A Brief History
of Time,' to h elp non scientists u n d er­
stand the q uestions being as ked by sci­
entists to d ay. W h ere d i d the universe
come from? How, an d w h y did it b egin?
Will it come to an end, a n d i f so, h ow?
Sully Prudhomme Th ese are t h e mysteries that h ave puz-
was awarded in zled man ki nd from times immemorial,
1901 to the French and Stephen Haw ki ng b rings us c l oser
poet and philoso- to the ultimate secrets at the very heart
pher Sully Prud- of creation, with exciting i mages and
homme, who, in his profoun d imagination. Th e boo k plu ng-
poetry, showed the es us i nto the exotic realms of b lac k
'rare combination of holes a nd quarks, of antimatter an d 'ar-
the qualities of both rows of time', of the 'Big Bang' and a
heart and intellect'. b igger God. All these com p l ex concepts
Books that Shaped the World 71

Stephen Hawking
are explained wit h easy,
good-natured humour, a nd
a n ability to illustrate highly
com plex propositions wit h
analogies plucked from daily
I ife that ma kes the book tru Iy
outstanding.
Desmond Morris
Why did 'The Naked
Ape,' become so popular?
Desmon d Morris wrote
'The Naked Ape,' in t h e l ate
1 960's. His ideas were revo­
lutionary at the time, and at­
tracted a lot of attention
worldwide.
According to Desmond
Morris, of t h e 1 93 species of
monkeys and a pes, t h e only
one that is not covered with
hair is Man- hence the title
'The Naked Ape'.
Morris, an a nthropologist,
studies h u mans from a zoo­
logical perspective, focusing
on origins, behaviour, rear­
ing, exploration, fighting,
feeding, and comfort. Th e
Naked Ape's
 view t hat, the
behaviour of h u mans
was determined largely by
their biology, an d that h u­
mans s h are many cha rac­
teristics wit h anima ls, par­
ticularlyapes,wasoffensive
to many rea d ers, and en­
lig h tening to others.
'The Naked Ape' was first
serial ized in London's Daily
Mirror tabloid, i n w h ic h h e
d escribed humans in t he
same objective, analytical
way t h at zoologists d e-
scribe a nimals.
Morris was t h e curator of mammals
at the Lon d on Zoo, an d a specialist in
primates. His view of Man was that
our species is best viewed as a very
com plicated primate.

2 0 11 Nobel Prize for Literature

The 201 1 Nobel Prize for Literature
was awarded to Swedish poet, Tomas Tran-
stromer. His sometimes bleak, but graceful work
explores themes of isolation, emotion and identity
while remaining rooted in the common place. Mr. Tran­
stromer, 80, has written more than 15 collections of poetry,
manyofwhich have been translated into English, and 60 other
languages.
Books that Shaped the World 73
 Most Successful Textbook Writer
Euclid is the most successful
textbook writer of all time. His 'El­
ements', written around 300 BC,
has gone through more than
1 ,000 editions since the invention
of printing!
• Ranjitha Chauhan

Why does 'Doctor Zhivago'

have historical significance?
'Doctor Z h ivago', by Boris Pasternak
is classic story of t h e life and loves of a
poet an d p h ysician called Yuri Zhivago,
du ring t h e turmoil of t h e Russian Revo­
lution. Th e novel h as h istorical signifi­
cance as it deals with themes like social­
ism an d Marxism, the excesses t h at oc­
curred in name of revo l ution, and th e
Doctor Zhivago
transformation of t h e largest country of
the wor ld from a centuries old system
Boris Pasternak into a fai l ed i d eal. Boris Pasternak h as
written a delightfu l tale whose c h arac­
ters are crafted from all sections of socie­
ty, making this novel a representation of
t h e w hole of society at that time. The
h a rs h ness of winter, the beauty of forests
a n d fie lds, the man d ivided in h is love for
wife an d lover, the poet i n exile, the i deal­
ists seeking to c h ange t h e world, Russian
history and customs, are all conveyed with
power an d poetry that make reading this
book a reward ing experi­
ence.
Tell Me Why

Alexandre Dumas
Why is the 'The Count
of Monte Cristo,' consid­
ered one of Alexandre
Dumas's best works?
'The Count of Monte
Cristo,' is one of the most
popular works of the fa­
mous F rench author Alex­
a ndre Dumas. It is an ad­
venture story with a histori­
cal setting, and is packed
with i ntrigue, great fight
scenes, love, passion, a n d
witty social satire. Dumas
has a wonderfu l grasp of
human nature,
and a talent for render­
ing all the follies of Man in
d e l ightful, snappy prose. Set in
Marseilles, Rome a nd Paris i n the
1 9th century, it tells the story of
Edmond Dantes, a young sailor
who is falsely accused of treason,
and imprisoned in a d u ngeon for
1 4 years. A fellow prisoner tells
him where to find treasure buried
on a Med iterranean island called
Monte Cristo. On Dantes's escape,
he acquires the treasure, gives
h imself the name Count of Monte
Cristo, an d ruth l essly goes about
the slow d estruction of his ene­
m ies. The book p resents a vivid
portrait of France from the end of
the Napoleonic years to the early
1 840's, and generations of read­
ers have thrilled to Dumas's rivet­
ing, romantic tale of revenge.
Its sure . . .
I w i l l find someth i ng
on Monte Cristo
Island.
 Kahlil Gibran
Why is Gi­
bran's 'The Prophet,'
the work of a genius?
Kahlil Gibra n's master­
piece, 'The Prop h et', is one
of the most beloved classics
of our time. Publis h ed i n
1 923, i t is a collection of po­
etic essays that a re ph ilo­
sophical, spiritual, and,
a bove all, inspirational. Gi­
bran covers topics like love,
marriage, ch ildren, g iving,
eating and drinking, work,
T lHl lE JP 1R 0 lPlHl lE l'
K A H L I L G I B RAN
joyan d sorrow,
h ousing, clothes,
buying a n d selling, crime
and punish ment, laws, free­
d om, reason a n d passion, pain,
self-knowledge, teaching,
frien dship, talking, time, good
an d evil, prayer, pleasure, beauty,
religion, and d eat h . Poet, philoso­
p her, and artist, Kahlil Gibran was
born in Lebanon. Millions of Ara­
bic-speaking peoples familiar
with his writings i n that language
consi d er him the genius of his
age. He was a man w h ose fame
an d in fl uence sprea d fa r beyon d
the country of h is b i rth. 'The
Prop het,' is loved by readers all
over t h e world, who fi n d i n it, an
expression of t h e d eepest im­
pulses of Man's h eart an d mind.
Gibran 's Home
in Bsharri
 Albert Camus Anna Karenina
Leo Tolstoy's clas­
sic novel Anna
Karenina tells of
the love affair be­
tween Anna and
Count Vronsky. An­
na rejects her pas­
Why is it sionless marriage
and is forced to en­
said that 'The Plague,'
dure the hypocri­
by Albert Camus is a novel with
sies of society. Set
several meanings? against a vast and
'Th e Plague' by Albert Camus is a richly textured
h a u nting tale of the tri u m p h of t h e hu­
man spirit in the face of unrelieved hor­
ror. Th e novel deals wit h a n epidemic of
bubonic plague that takes place i n the
Algerian port city of Oran. W h e n the
plague fi rst arrives, the resi d ents a re slow
to recogn ize t h e mortal d anger they are
in. Once t h ey do become aware of it, they
m ust d ecide what measures they wi l l take
to fi g h t t h e d ead ly disease. 'The Plague,'
was fi rst published in F ra nce in 1 947,
canvas of the nine­
t h ree years after the en d of World War II.
teenth-century Rus­
Th e novel has several mean i ngs. On one sia, the novel's sev­
level, it refers to t h e German occupation en major characters
of France from 1 940 to 1 944, which cut create a dynamic
France off from the outside wor ld, just as imbalance, playing
in t h e nove l, t he town of Oran must close out the contrasts
its gates to isolate the plague. The plague of city and country
may also be understood as the presence of life and all the vari­
moral evil, or simply, as a symbol of the na­ ations on love and
ture of t h e h uman con d ition. In s h ort, 'The family happiness.
Plague' is Camus's brilliant a llegory of the First published
sprea d offascism. in 1 877.
77
 Why is 'The Tim Machine,' by
H.G. Wells the vehicle for h i s social
a n d political ideas?
'T h e Time Machi ne' is a science fiction
classic, an d H.G. Wells, the author, was a
pioneer of such novels. I n thi s work, Wells
put forward h is social and political i d eas
in this narrative of a nameless time travel­
ler who is h urtled into t h e yea r 802,701 by
h is elaborate ivory, crystal, a n d brass con­
traption. Th e world he fi nds is peopled by
H.G . Wells two races- the d eca d ent Eloi, fl uttery and
useless, are dependant for food, clothing,
a n d shelter on the simian subterranean
M a..chi ne
Th e 'ri me Morlocks, w h o prey on t h em. Th e two
races symbolize Wells's vision of the
eventual result of unchecked capitalism.
'The Time Machine,' is consi d ered by
many to be one of the fi nest works of
Englis h fiction. This h ighly entertaining
novel has had an enormous i nfluence on
English fiction in general, and science
fiction in particular.

Survival by Chance
Several of Aristotle's writ­
ings have survived only by a
fortunate chance. Around 80
BC, the men of a Roman army
invading Asia Minor found a
number of manuscripts of Aris­
totle's works in a pit, and
78 Tell Me Why
 Why is 'Paradise Lost,' a gift to
the English Language?
'Paradise Lost,' by Joh n Milton is an epic poem
t h at tells the story of the fall of Man. The central
figures in t h e poem inclu d e God, Jesus, Satan,
A d am, Eve, an d the a rchangels Rap hael an d
Michael. M ilton's purpose i n writing the poem
was to 'justify the ways of God to Man,' and to
define to the nature of obedience, free will, an d
just a ut h ority. It is not a n easy poem to read
and u nderstand because it was written i n t h e
1 7th century and the Englis h language was d i f­
ferent from what it is tod ay. M ilton was i nnova­
tive with words, and he gave Englis h the gift of Paradise Lost
new expressions, such as the most famous 'all
Hell broke loose', w h ic h was fi rst uttered in
'Paradise Lost'. In fact, there a re many, many
word s w h ich were fi rst used i n English in 'Para­
dise Lost,' with over 9000 lines of some of the
g reatest poetry every written, Milton d oes an
incredible job of using classical and biblical al­
lusions i n a classical format to create a surpris­
ingly modern, and incredibly poignant look at
the nature of God and Man.

brought them to
their general, Sulla.
It turned out that no
other copies of
many of them exist­
ed, and Sulla had
them taken to Rome
and recopied.
Books that Shaped the
 Why did 'The One
Straw Revolution,' by Fuku­
oka trigger a revolution in
agriculture?
'The One Straw Revolution,'
was written by Masano b u
Fukuoka, i n 1 975. F u kuoka was
a Japanese farmer and p h ilos­
op h er, w h o d eve l oped a sys­
tem of natu ra I fa rm i ng t h at h e
believed could be of great
benefit to the world. He did
not ploug h h is fields, used no
agricultural chemicals or prepared
fertilizers, an d d i d not flood his rice
fields as farmers have done in Asia
for centuries. Yet h is yie lds equalled,
or surpassed the most prod uctive
farms in Japan. 'The One Straw Revo­
lution,' was a best-sel l i ng b ook that
d escri b ed his life's jou rney, his phi­
losophy, an d farming tec h niques. It
has b een translated into more than
25 languages, a n d h el ped to make
M r. Fukuoka a lea d er in t he world­
wide sustaina b le agriculture move-
ment.

80 Tell Me Why
 'T H E

Tragicall
Hi!1:orie of
H A M L E T,
Prince oj"Dtnmult!.
By V/iUi.\m Shl.kJpe.lI"e. is
Why
Ncwlr imprin[C(l �oden1:.t,,;('d{o almon ;u much
�;aine�itw;u)accordLng to therruc aod petfca 'Hamlet,' one
Coppic.
of Shake­ Burnt
speare'sgreat­ Literature
est plays? Virgil, one of
'Ham l et,' is the great

I
wit h out ques­ Roman poets,
AT LONDON.
tion, t h e most left instructions
Printed by 1.1\. for N. L aoel be(oJd2(bis famous play in
fhofpt 'I'fIdn S_ DmlIoos Cburdt in
aceto
that, upon his
-...
the Englis h lan­ death, his
Hamlet g uage. Probably manuscript of
written i n 1 60 1 'The Aeneid,'
or 1 602, the traged y is a masterpiece o f t h e should be
famous Englis h playwright William S h ake­ burnt, because
speare. Th e heart of t h e story is the h ero's he had not been
struggle with two opposing forces- moral able to polish it!
i ntegrity and the need to avenge h is father's . Sneha Rao
m u rd er. The play h as all the ingred ients for
a g ripping story, inclu d ing revenge and Bust of Virgil
power, love an d betrayal, d ramatic sword
fig hts a n d dark spooky scenes. It is truly a
supremely rich a nd complex literary work
that contin ues to delight bot h readers an d
a u d iences with its myria d meanings and i n­
terpretations. 'Hamlet' is S h akespeare's
longest play, an d a mong t h e most powerful
a n d influential tragedies in the Englis h lan­
g uage.
 Why has 'The
Rubaiyat' been trans­
lated into most lan­
guages?
Omar Khayyam, t h e
1 1 th century poet, wrote
'Th e Rubaiyat,' w h ich is
ma d e up ofth e most ex­
Why is 'The Jungle Book,' quisite verses. His
by Rudyard Kipling popular rhymes received little
with readers of all ages? attention in their d ay,
'T h e J u ngle Boo k' is a collection of but they were red iscov­
stories written by the British Nobel ered a n d trans l ated i nto
Laureate, Rudyard Kipling. The tales in beauti ful English, more
the boo k are fables, using a nimals, t h a n seven centuries
a n d a re presented in such a manner as later, by a gentleman
to give moral lessons. The themes of an d sc h olar named E d ­
'The J u ngle Boo k,' revolve a round no­ ward FitzGerald.
ble q ualities suc h as l oya lty, h onour, Th e Rubaiyat of Omar
courage, tra d ition, i ntegrity, and per­ K h ayyam then became
sistence. Among the most famous are immense l y popular
the stories of Mowgli, a 'man-cub' world-
raised by wolves i n t h e Indian j u ngle;
that of Ri kki-Ti kki-Tavi, a h eroic mongoose;
and 'Toomai of the Elephants', the story of a
young elep hant-hand ler. I nterspersed wit h
n umerous poems 'The J ungle Boo k' is re­
gard ed as an immorta l classic w h ic h will
enc h ant and ed ucate readers
both young and
old.
Help me!
Shere khan is
here!!

82 Tell Me Why
 wi de, and was
a
transl ted i nto most lan­
g uages. The poem presents the
deep feelings a n d emotions of
the poet on a variety of subjects
such as death, love and rel igion
in fou r li ne stanzas that were
known as 'rubai,' in Farsi, the
Mother of all
Recipes
. The first volume of reci- :
: pes was published in 62 :
: ADbytheRomanApicius. :
: Titled 'De Re Coquinar- :
". ia,' it described the :
.
.

language oft h e poet. ... feasts enjoyed by ..

.. .
. the Emperor ",
"i...�t« omar �yam
Ru"
.

IJ'.'
I� t� I�. .
. .

Claudius.
.
. .
.
.

.-
- .
.
.
. .
. . .
. . • . . . . .

Why is the 'Encyclopae­

dia Britannica' important
in our lives?
T h e Encyc l opaed ia Bri­
The tannica is, without doubt,
Rubaiyat the most comprehensive
encyclopaedia in the
world. It as been provi d ­
h
ing knowled ge an d i nfor­
mation to people for al­
most 250 years. It was first
publis h ed as a three-vol­
ume set, publis h ed in Ed­
inburgh, Scotland, in 1 768.
The Britannica q uickly

Encyclopaedia Britannica
 g rew in size and reputation in
th e years that followed, and soon
boasted artic l es by eminent
scholars. Th e ownersh ip of Bri­
tannica passed to two Ameri­
cans in 1 90 1 , a n d printing was
moved to the States in 1 929, b ut
its engagement with the world's
foremost sc h olars a n d experts
continued . Today, it is written
a n d continuously u pdated by
a b out 1 00 fu l l -time e ditors, and
more than 4,000 expert contri b­
utors. Readers can access quick
facts or immerse t h emselves in
d etai l ed a rticles on almost any
su bject imagina b le, w h ile en­
joying the vivi d a n d b eautiful
images of a rt, geography, sci­
ence, sports, a nd much more, Ripley
making the Encyclopaed ia Bri­
tannica the leader in reference, Why is 'Ripley's Believe It
education, and learning world­ or Not,' a mazing?
wi d e. 'Ripley's Believe It or Not' is
I am an a series of b ooks b roug h t out
Encyc lopaedia by Ripley's Pu b lishi ng, listing
Britannica!
virtually every kind of unusual
person or event. For instance,
Tim Cockerill, known as the
Great In ferno, gargles hot
molten lava. A 6500 year old
ba by mummy is d epicted in a
l ife-l ike pose. Th e a rtist, Dan­
iel Ortega of San Diego, Cali­
fornia, turns ashes of t h e

84
 Why is 'Uncle Vanya'
appealing to audiences even
today?
'Uncle Vanya,' is Russian aut h or An­
ton Chekov's masterpiece of frustrate d
Iceberg in longing and wasted lives. A tragicom­
\ Literature
Since most early
ed y, it was fi rst pu b lis h ed in 1 899, and
is a classic a b out the u n lived life, told
\ literate civilisations
werelocatedaround
through the regretfu l musings of a
\ the warm Mediter­
family. The story revolves around an
elderly professor and h is g lamorous
ranean region, the
\ first mention of an young wi fe Elena. Two frien d s, Vanya
a n d Astrov bot h fall u nder Elena's
iceberg in world lit­
\ erature did not come spell. Sonya, the professor's daughter
until the ninth centu­ is in love with Astrov, b ut h e d oesn't
ryAD. return h er love. Th e ta l e is a so ber
one, and Chekhov's c h a racters are
eac h u n h appy in their own way ...
dead i nto and they are not afrai d to a d mit pre­
b eautifu l art pieces. cisely t h at. W h at makes Chekh ov so
A live picture of lightning appealing to us tod ay is h is remark­
was capture d by a pho­ a b le a b i lity to richly d raw some of
tograp h er as the flash hit t h e most memora b le characters of
the Statue of Li berty on t h e mod ern t h eatre, all of w h om we
22 Septem b er 201 0 . h ave no trou b le i d entifying with
Every page is chock fu ll of numerous people we know in our
facts, figures, an d fu ll col­ own lives !
our p h otos, h ighlighting
some of t h e most b izarre
t h ings t h e world h as ever
seen. Basically, it is a
g reat encyclopaed ia of
weird p h enomena t h at
will catch t he attention
of old and young alike.

that Shaped the World

 Why did 'Twenty Love Poems a nd a Song
of Despair,' establish the author a s a gen­
ius?
Twenty Love Poems an d a Song of Despai r
b y Pablo N eru d a was fi rst published i n 1 924,
when he was only n ineteen. This collection of
romantic poems is h is most popular work.
Drawn from t h e poet's most i ntimate a n d per­
sonal associations, the poems a re a blen d of
youthful passion an d the d esolation of grief. I n
spite of his youth. Neruda was able t o convey
exqu isitely t h e beauty an d nature of love, and
the passions, fears, pain, and anguish of h u­
man existence. Th e book established h is repu­
tation as a literary genius, an d is so popular
that it has been trans­
lated into many lan­
guages.

Twenty Love Poems and a Song ofDespair

Pablo Neruda
86
 The Overcoat Gogol

Why is 'The Overcoat/ a insignificant, copying clerk.

model for other writers?
'The Overcoat,' a short sto­
ry by the Russian a uthor
Gogol, is a remarkable piece
of literary art. It d i splays
Gogol's gift of caricature a nd
i maginative invention. Gogol
is a champion of the poor
an d downtrodd en. He gave
literary life to the 'little man',
usually a minor official
crushed by an insensitive ad­
ministrative system . This is
the theme of 'The Overcoat',
and Gogol's pathetic little
man is Akaky Akakiyevich
Akakievich Bashmachkin, a n
There's a lot i n 'The Overcoat,'
that is as scathingly true i n
modern li fe as i n 1 9th-centu­
ry Russia such as the imper­
sonality a n d casual cruelty of
office life. Gogol knows and
writes a bout poverty - to
save a few kopecks, Akaky
gives up candles and his
evening tea - a n d the way
d reams, even very small
ones, can be life-su pporting.
With 'The Overcoat', Gogol
i ntroduced the short story as
a literary form in Russia, pro­
viding a new model for other
writers of the time.

Chinese Cinderella
The famed story of Cinderella was based on a simil­
iar story first appeared in a Chinese book, in 850 AD.
Books that Shaped the World 87
 'Mother'
Why is Goethe's 'Faust,' Maxim Gorky is the
considered as one of the g reat­ pen name of Rus­
est plays in the German lan­ sian writer Aleksei
g uage ? Peshkov. Gorky
'Faust,' by Goethe is a tragic was a literary gen-
play in two parts. It is his most fa­ ius. 'Mother', his
mous work, an d is consi d ered to most famous novel
be one of the g reatest plays in the has been translat-
German language. 'Faust,' is also
ed into all the lead- V
ing languages of
the play with the largest a udience
the world. His other
n umbers of German language
well known literary
stages. works are 'Lower
Faust concerns the fate of a Depths,' and 'My
learned gentleman named Dr. Childhood and
Faust, w h o offers to sell his soul to Reminiscences'. His
t h e Devil in return for the Devil's novels, plays and
service for a given period of time. autobiographies
describe the woes
Faust of the Russians in
the pre-revolution­
ary days.

Paper Story
Paper was invent­
ed in China around
105 AD, by Ts'ai Lun.
According to the of­
ficial history of the

Why is
'Thousand and
One Nights' unique?
'The Thousan d a n d
One Nights,' is a mag­
n ificent collection of
tales compiled in Arabic.
It is popularl y known i n
English as the Arabian
N ights.
King Shahryar got his
wife executed , d isgust­
ed by her behaviour.
Angry with a ll women
he instructed his advisor
to bring a new bride to
h i m each night, a n d
killed them all in the
morning. The a d visor's
daugh-
ter, Scheheraza d e, ha d
an ingenious i d ea. Becoming
Queen Scheherazade, she enter­
tained her husban d with a story,
breaking it at the d awn, at a crucial
point. Too eager to hear the rest of
the story at night, the king put of
her execution. This went on and
on. The way Scheheraza d e weaves
the web of her stories is a mazing,
often telling several stories simul­
taneously. The collection i ncludes
famous stories l i ke Ali Baba a n d
Forty Thieves, Sinbad the Sailor
a n d Aladdin and the Magic Lamp. lt
was first translated into English in
1 835. Later, the translation by Sir
Richard Francis Burton ( 1 884) ma d e
it more famous a ll over the world.

Han dynasty (3,d century AD).

_
Ts'ai Lun was given "n aristocratic
title after he presented Emperor Ho Ti
with samples of paper. In 751 AD,
Chinese papermakers were captured
by the Arabs at Samarkand, and by
794 AD, several state-owned paper
mills operated in Baghdad. The Arabs
were manufacturing paper in Spain
Ts 'ai Lun
around 1 1 50.

Books that Shaped the World 89

 STATEMENT ABOUT OWNERSHIP AND OTHER PARTICULARS ABOUT MANORAMA TELL ME WHY
FORM IV (See Rule 8)

1. Place of Publication Kottayam

2. Periodicity of its Publication Monthly

Y•
3. Printer's Name V. Sajeev George
(whether citizen of India?) •
Address M.M. Publications Ltd.,
P.B. No. 226, Kottayam - 686 001
4. Publisher's Name V. Sajeev George
(whether citizen oflndia?) Y••
Address M.M. Publications Ltd.,
P.B. No. 226, Kottayam - 686 001
5. Editor's Name Mrs. Ammu Mathew
(whether citizen of India?) Yeo
Address Roopka1a, Mount Wardha.
Kottayam-686 004
6. Names and addresses ofindivi­

001
duals who own the newspaper M.M. Publications Ltd.,
P.B. No. 226, Kottayam - 686
Name and address of share­
holders holding more than one
percent of the total capital as given below:-

Infantry Road, Bangalore- 560 001.

1. Mr. Mammen Mathew, Manorama Mandiram, Manganam. 19. Mrs. Sarah Kuriyan, Empire Infantry, 3rd Floor, No. 29,
Kottayam- 686 018.

2. Mr. K.K. Mammen Mappillai, Indo Bloom Ltd., Empire lnfan- 20. Mr. Rohan Mathew Mammen, Block E-13, Willingdon
try, 3rd Floor, 29, Infantry Road, Banga1ore- 560 ()()1. Enclave, Pandit. Karuppan Road, Thevara, Kochi-682 013.

3. Mrs. Soma Philips, 2211, Grant Road, Bangalore- 560 001. 21. Mrs. Ambika Mammen & Mr. K.M. Mammen, 17,

•. Mr. Roy Mammen, No. 29, lnfantryRoad, BangaJon!- 560 001.

Gilchrist Avenue, OtT Harington Road, Chetpet•

Mr. Arun Mammen, 28, G.N. Chetty Road, 1" Nagar,

Chennai- 600 031.
5. 22. Mrs. Reenu Zachariah, Ashoka House, Mount Wan:lha,
Chennai- 600017. Kottayam- 686 004.
6. Mrs. Omana Mammen, 15, Wallace Garden, 1st Street, 23. Mrs. Ammu Mathew, Roopkala, Mount Wardha,
Chennai- 600 006. Kottayam- 686 004.

Dr. Mrs. Annamam Msmmen, Mount Wardha, Mr. K.M. Mammen, 17, Gilchrist Avenue,
Off Harington Road, Chetpet, Chennai- 600 031.
7. 24.
Kottayam- 686 004.

8. Dr. Mrs. Sarah Thomas, Mount Wardha, Kottayam- 686 004. 25. Mrs. Meera Mammen, No. 6, Riverside Road,
Kotturpuram, Chennai- 600 085.
9. Mrs. Annu Kurian, Ooppoottil, Kawdiar P.O.,
Thiruvananthapuram- 695 003. 26. Mr. Mammen Eapen, IS, Wa1lace Garden, 1st Street,

Mrs. Mary Kurian, Clo. Mr. T.K Kurian, 402,

Chennai- 600 006.

Mrs. Rebecca Jacob, Flat No. lB, 'AUM' Apartments,

10.
27.
Skyline Apartmenta, Langford Road, Bangalore- 560 025.

Mrs. Shirin Mammen, No. 1st Street,

26, Kothari Road, Nungambakkam, Chennai.6OQ 034.

28. Mr. Anand Mammen Katakam, 413 Curley Street,

11. 10, Wallace Garden,
Chennai- 600 006.
Richmond Town, Banga1ore- 560 025.

Ms. Anna Philip, 2A, Cambrae Hall, 172,

Phase I, New Delhi- 110 091.
12. Ms. Shi
l pa Mammen, Con. IFS Apartments, Mayor Vlhar,
Dr. P.V. Cherian Crescent, Egmore, Chennai-600 008
29.

13. Mr. Rohlt Philip,

India Coffee and Tea Distributing Co. Ltd.,
12113, Jeevan Udyog, 278-0, Naoroji Road, Mumbai- 400 001.
Mr. KiranKattukaran, Empire Infantry, IIIrd Floor, No. 29,
Infantry Road, Banga1ore- 560 001.
14.
30. Ms. Maya Kurian, 16115. 8inny Cresent, Benson Town,
Banga1ore- 560 046.
31. Mr. Adith Poulose Mammen, Block E-13, Willingdon
Enclave, Pandit Karuppan Road, Thevara, Kochi-682 013.

15. Mrs. Prema Mammen Mathew, Manorama Mandiram, 32. Mr. Varnn Mammen Mappillai, No. 6, Riverside Road,
Manganaro, Kottayam- 686 018. Kotturpuram, Chennai- 600 085

16. Ms. Oivya Philip, lndia Coffee &; Tea Distributing Co. Ltd., 33. M.s. Aditi Mammen, By M. &; G. Mrs Meera Mammen,
12113, Jeevan Udyog, 278-0, Naoroji Road, Mumbai- 400 001. No. 6, Riverside Road, Kotturpuram, Chennai- 600 085

17. Ms. Aswathy Varghese, B-3, Century Retreat, 23, 34. Mr. Mammen Philip, 4A, Chandika, O.P.Towers, 8,
College Lane. Chennai- 600 006

Mrs. Annamma Philip, 4A, Chandika, O.P.Towers, 8,

Sterling Road, 1st Cross Street, Chennai- 600 034
35.
18. Mrs. Bina Mathew, 'MANORAMA', 57/1670,
College Lane. Chennai- 600 006
Pandit Karuppan Road, Thevara, Kochi- 682 013.

I, V. Sajeev George, hereby declare that the particulars given above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.

SdI­
Dated: Ol'()2-2012 Publisher

90 Tell Me Why
 Since 1 90 1 ,
the Nobel
Prize i n liter­
ature has
been award­
ed annua l ly
to an author from any country.
The Swedish
Academy de­
cides the prize
in any g iven
Man Booker Prize is a prestig­ year. The last
ious British award given a n n u­ ten Nobel
a l ly to a full-length nove l . It was
Prize win-
established i n 1 968 by the
ner's list is
company Booker McConnell.
given below:
Entries, must be written by an
English-language author from • Tomas Transtromer (201 1 )
the U nited Kingdom, the Com­
• Mario Vargas Llosa (201 0)
monwealth countries, I reland,
• Herta Muller (2009)
or South Africa. The last five
Booker Prize novels a re given • Jean-Marie Gustave
here: • Le Clezio (2008)
• Doris Lessing (2007)
2007: The Gathering
- Anne Enright • Orhan Pamuk (2006)
2008: The White Tiger • Harold Pinter (2005)
- Aravind Adiga • Elfriede Jeli nek (2004)
2009: Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel • John M. Coetzee (2003)
2010: The Finkler Question
• Imre Kertesz (2002)
- Howard Jacobson
• Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad
201 1 : The Sense of an Ending
- Julian Barnes Naipaul (200 1 )
Books that Shaped the World 91
 Lost Books
Have you h ea rd of b ooks that made
h istory, because no bod y has seen them?
Some ofthem h ave vanished, or some of
t h em mig ht exist only i n imagination.
Here is a l ist of a few some such b ooks:

• Aristophanes' 'Heracles­ poc h on d riacs a n d cures begun

the Stage Manager,' was one of
t h e playwrights severa l spoofs
t h at d isappeared .
• 'Love' s La b our's Won' ­
this may h ave been a sequel to
Shakespeare's Love's La b our's
Lost. Some also say it might
have b een an alternative title
for the 'Taming ofth e S h rew.'
• Jane Austen's i ncomplete
novel 'San d iton,' was a bout hy-
w h en the aut h or was fatally ill.
• T h e second h a lf o f 'Dead
Sou l s' by N i kolai Gogo!. The au­
t h or b urned it after a religious
conversion convinced h im that
literature was paganism.
• Socrates' version of'Aesop's
Fa b les' was totally d estroyed.
• R.L. Stevenson's 'Weir of
Hermiston,' was left incom­
plete by the author's d eath.

Marco Polo's Writing

Had Marco Polo not been cap­
tured by the Genoese and im­
prisoned for a year, the tales of
his historic twenty-two-year adventure in the Far and Mid­
dle East (at the end of the thirteenth century) might never
have been collected and written down. When he returned
to Venice after his odyssey, he became a 'gentleman com­
mander' of a war vessel striving to hold off Genoese traders.
In a battle of Curzold Island, his galley was captured, and
Marco was hauled off to Genoa and jailed. There he met a
writer named Rustichello, who, after hearing Marco's yarns,
insisted that they be written down.

92 Tell Me Why
 The front cover ofth is issue
features an amusing oil
painting, 'Le Libraire' (Th e
Librarian), by the renowned
artist Andre Martins de Bar­
ros.
The painting shows the
figure of an old man forme d
so l ely of boo ks, gazing into
t h e wor ld of boo ks through
his monocle.
Andre Martins d e Barros
was born in 1 942, in Pau, a
French town in the foothills
of t h e Pyrenees near the
Spanis h bord er.
An dre's style is c h aracter­
ized by a complex imagina-
Books that Shaped the World
Andre Martins de Barros
tion laden with ideas that run
deep, and his works ta ke us
to a world of fantasy, as is
clearly seen in 'Le Libraire'.
His painsta king effort, an d
meticulous attention to de­
tail are also evi dent in this
great wor k of art.
e mail:
amartinsdebarros@gmail.com
93
 Why is 'The Blind
Owl,' considered as a major
literary work in I ran?
Sadegh Hedayat,one of the estab­
lished I ranian writers, is the au­
thor of 'The B l i n d Owl.' Written
in Persian, 'The Blin d Owl,' is his
most enduring work of prose
and a major literary work of 20th
century I ran. It tells the story of
an unnamed pen case painter.
The novel contains a maze of
symbols, recu rring images, so­
cial commentary, contempla­
tions of the h uman condition,
i nterjections on a rt, an d refer­
ences to literary a n d religious
texts, all of w h ic h h ave, for d ec­
ad es, ma d e it fertile g round for
critical interpretation. 'The Blind
Owl,' was written d u ring the oppressive
latter years of Reza Shah's rule. It was
published in 1 937 in a limited edition in
India, where Hedayat was then living.
The novel appeared i n Ira n's in 1 941 ,
a n d went on to have a tumultuous exist­
ence in the hands of I ra n's censors, who
were present everyw h ere. 'The Blin d
Owl,' had found wide acceptance, and
was translated i nto multiple
languages.
 Why is 'The
Adventures of Pinoc­
chio,' very famous? EIIS�iO 'obr�'
a Ccgl1ei m
'The Adventures of Pinocchio,' is
one of the most famous novels for
c h il d ren. Written by Ita l ian author
Carlo Collodi, it is considered a clas­
sic of chi l d ren's l iterature. It narrates
the story of Pinocchio,' an a n imated
puppet, a n d h is poor father, a wood­
carver named Geppetto. The Adven­
tures of Pinocc h io is not set in a tra­
d itiona l fai ry-tale wor ld. It deals with
the h ard real ities of l ife.
The first half ofthe novel was origi­ Ian
nally a serial, but later, it was com­ lindness,' is a
pleted as a book for children. Chil­ novel by Portuguese
d ren's literature was a new i d ea in author Jose Sarama­
Collod i's time, an i nnovation i n the go. It is one of his most
n i neteenth-centu ry. Th us, i n content famous works. 'Blind­
an d style it was new and modern, ness' is set in an un­
opening the way to many writers of named city. It is the
the following century. story of an unex­
plainedmassepidemic
of blindness afflicting
nearly everyone in
the city. The novel
tells about the
breakdown of a so­
ciety, because of
the sudden blind-

Ninu Dixit

Mayan Story
The sole surviving written
record of Mayan history is
three codices written in hier­
oglyphs on bark paper. All
three are now held in Eu­
ropean cities.
• Arvind Bhat
Why did 'Black
Beauty,' break the
sales records after a
few months of its
publication?
Black Beauty is one
of the best-selling
books of al l time.
Written by English
a uthor Anna Sewell,
it tells t h e story of a
h orse name d Black
Beauty. Th e novel
d eals wit h t he hu­
man anima l re l ation-
Tell Me Why

Black Beauty
s h ip, a nd love. It also teaches
how to treat people with kind­
ness, sympathy an d respect.
The birth of this touching story
was from t h e personal experi­
ence of Anna Sewell, By telling
t h e story of a h orse's li fe i n the
form of an autobiog rap hy, and
d escribing t h e world t h rou g h
the eyes of t he horse, A n n a
Sewell broke n e w litera ry
g ro u n d . This best-seller broke
a ll sales records within
months.
Books that Shaped the World
LARIFICATIONS &
I
O R R ECTIONS
It is ourpolicy to correct errors,
andpresent differing views and
clarifications about the contents
in previous issues. Please send in
yourfeedback, mentioning the
title andpage number.
Arvind Goel, from Delhi,
h as pointed out a mistake in
the January issue of Tell Me
Why, 'Historic Lasts'. He
writes t h at on Page 48, It is
given t h at Abraham Lincoln
was t h e fi rst president of the
United States, which is not
correct. George Washington
was t h e fi rst presi d ent of the
United States an d Lincoln
was t h e 1 6 tho
Thankyou, Arvind, for your
valuable feed back. Actually
Abraham Lincoln was the first
president of the United States
to be assassinated.
We were comparing Lincoln
with the last assassinated
president,)ohn F Kennedy ( 3 5th
president of the United States).
The words 'to be assassinated'
got omitted because ofsome
technical error.
- Editor
97
 Aren't there many little things you have wondered about, but didn't know whom to
ask? Send us your questions, and we will give you the fascinating reasons behind the
incredible mysteries of life.

Why do we snore? We often snore when we have a cold,

Biologically, snoring because of blocked nasal airways. We
refers to a vibration i n would t h en breathe through our
t h e airway connecting mouth causing negative pressure be­
the nose,and t h e mouth; h i n d the uvula and soft palate, and this
a vibration t h at can h elps to create the sound of snoring.
emerge through the Uvula is the small piece of soft tissue
mout h , the nose or that d angles d own from theft pa l ate
through both! The an­ over t h e back of the tongue. Snoring
swer to the question can also be cause d i f the nose h as any
'wh y d o we snore?' is d eformities in the nose.
found by looking at the • K.P. Sukumar
tissues withi n the air­
way. This tissue is very
soft, and at night, be­
comes relaxed; it's simi­
larto howsome m uscles,
l i ke biceps, become re­
laxed at night since the
body d oes not requ i re
them. As the throat re­
laxes during sleep, the
wind tunnel becomes
narrower, and hence,
snoring occu rs.

MANORAMA TELL ME WHY - BOOKS THAT SHAPED THE WORLD

Editor: Ammu Mathew Editor-in-Charge: N.M. Mohanan*

Printed and Published by Y. Sajeev George, on behalf of M.M. Publications Ltd,

P.B . No. 226, Kottayarn - 686 001 at M.M. Publications Ltd, P.B. No. 226, Kottayarn - 686 001
and Malayala Manorarna Press, Kottayarn - 686 039 and published from
M.M. Publications Ltd, P.B. No. 226, Kottayarn - 686 00 1 .
f----. * Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
1. Solar System 23. Computer 44. Prehistoric Creatures
2. Birds 24. Egyptian Civilizations 45. World Cup Football
3. Inventions 25. 1 00 Great Scientists 46. Ancient Greece
4. Oceans 26. Continents 47. Story of Firsts
5. Ancient World 27. Revolutions 48. Natural Wonders
6. Cricket 28. 1 00 Great Medical 49. Endangered Animals
7. Animals Discoveries 50. 1 00 Great Writers
8. Plants 29. The Moon 51 .Roman Civilization
9. Transportation 30. Great Disasters 52. Polar Regions
1 0. 1 00 Great Events 31. Insects 53. 1 00 Great Painters
11. The Earth 32. Metals 54. World Wars
12. Communication 33. Money 55. Mammals
13. Indian History 34. Mythology 56. Parliaments
14. Festivals 35. The Mughals 57. Reptiles
1 5. Wonders of the World 36. Mountains 58. Great Women
1 6. Great Explorers 37. Universe 59. Lost Civilizations
1 7. 1 00 Great Lives 38. Mysteries 60. Ancient World's Commanders
18. Weather 39. Sports 61. Amphibians
19. International Organizations 40. Diseases 62. Volcanoes
20. Deserts 41 . Animal Behaviour 63. Countries ofthe World
21. Weapons 42. Water 64. Historic Lasts
22. Olympics 43. Wars 65. Evolution