Book Review: Cry Wolf by Wilbur Smith

Cry Wolf is a war fiction novel by Wilbur Smith. In 1930's when colonialism and fascism was blending and there ran a competition across European countries for gaining maximum colonies out of Africa, that time, in the same pursuit Italy, under the command of Mussolini, sends fully armed army to invade on Ethiopia. On the other hand, the tribal people of Ethiopia are defenceless and listless. They have only spears and stones to withstand the powerful Italian army led by the General Count Aldo Belli.

Gareth Swales, a ravishing personality from Britain, strikes a deal with the Ethiopian prince for supplying old but functional cars fitted with ammunition to fight against the merciless Italians. To get derelict cars in motion and have them fitted with equipment like turret he approaches Jake Barton, an American from Texas State who was in the US military but has turned into a motor mechanic of great knowledge.

After repairing and fine tuning the motor cars and with ammunition trunks for the prince, they start their journey through the secret ways. They also have the company of Vicky Chamber, a beautiful journalist from America, who is in Africa to cover up the cause and suffering of Ethiopian people. After much suffering they make their way into Ethiopia, where they are supposed to return after handing the cars and ammunition. However the prince tricked them to stay there so that his soldiers – all illiterate tribe – can get arms training.

Both white men vie for the journalist but she too is confused about whom to choose. Inevitably, the trio gets involved in the war proceedings but defeating the fully loaded army isn’t only difficult but also next to impossible. As the situation worsens, they arrange a small plane to get lifted away from the battlefield; however, in the end Gareth Swales makes a sacrifice to save them both but in the efforts loses his own life.

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Book Review: The Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond

Among all Ruskin Bond books, The Blue Umbrella has, so far, gathered immense applaud from readers and critics alike. This is a short novel, but the kind of moral lessons it teaches to us are simply overwhelming. This is a story of Binya, a poor little girl living with her mother and an elder brother, Bijju, in a small hilly village of Garhwal. One day while herding her two cows back home, she stumbles upon some city people enjoying the picnic in the valley. She is enthralled to see them well-groomed and rich. She craves to be one like them and among many other things of their, a blue frilly umbrella catches her attention. She begins craving for it. On the other hand, the city people get attracted by her innocent beauty and the pendant in her neck. The pendant consists of leopard’s claw – which is considered a mascot widely in the hills. Binya trades her pendant off with the blue umbrella. The blue umbrella is so much beautiful that soon it becomes a topic of conversatio...

Poem Summary: Where The Mind Is Without Fear by Rabindranath Tagore

Poem by Rabindranath Tagore: Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high Where knowledge is free Where the world has not been broken up into fragments By narrow domestic walls Where words come out from the depth of truth Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit Where the mind is led forward by thee Into ever-widening thought and action Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. Short Summary: This poem is written by Rabindranath Tagore during pre-independence days, when India was a colony of the British. The underlying theme of the poem is absolute freedom; the poet wants the citizens of his country to be living in a free state. According to the poem, we see that the poet is expressing his views there should be a country, like where people live without any sort of fear and with pure dignity…they should ...

Character Sketch of Binya from ‘The Blue Umbrella’ by Ruskin Bond

The Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond is a popular children’s story. It features Binya as the main character, though there are other important characters as well, but the story revolves around Binya and her little beautiful umbrella. The story is widely popular among children, thus it has also been included in the schools’ syllabus all across the country. Since it is often taught in the school, thus the character sketch of Binya is often demanded by students from year to year. Character Sketch of Binya from The Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond Binya is the main character of the novel ‘The Blue Umbrella’ by Ruskin Bond. Her full name is Binyadevi. As in the hills or anywhere in India it is a kind of trend to call children with their short nicknames. Binya’s elder brother’s name is Bijju, whereas his real name is Vijay. Binya aged eleven is a hilly girl. She lives with her small family in the hills of Garhwal. Her father died when she was two years of age. For sustenance, the...

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