A Novel Novel

After months of waiting for the paperback version of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, it finally made its debut in bookstores last month. Based on the reviews made on it and also the fact that it topped the Malaysian's (and worldwide) best seller's list for weeks, my expectations were running high and I have to say that I was not disappointed.

I take my hat off to Dan Brown for being able to weave a story out of things that are factual into a wonderful work of fiction. I can only imagine the work and effort Dan Brown must have put into connecting the facts and fiction together to make the whole story seem so convincing and believable. On top of all that, he also created symbols and cryptic notes, which in itself must have required even more research, to add an aura of enigma to the story.

I for one, enjoyed reading the novel. I can easily differentiate between a book that I like and one that I love. A book that I like would take me one day to complete. On the other hand, one that I love would take me at least a week to finish, because I just don't want the story to end. Even though The Lost Symbol is a story that I like, I feel it is nowhere nearly as interesting compared to The Da Vincci Code, which I love!

My Favourite Book

One of the late author's many books!

No, this book has nothing to do with The Prince of Persia, though I am happy that Sidney Sheldon thought of the title much earlier before the aforementioned film came out earlier this month.

Sands of Time by Sidney Sheldon is one of my favourite books by this author which tells about the plight of a group of four women who come from totally different backgrounds. They have to put aside their differences to survive and stay alive. Set in Spain in 1976, this book describes the turmoils of Graciela, who harbours a mysterious secret; Teresa, who eventually betrays her new found friends; Lucia from Sicily who is wanted for murder and Megan who, after living for many years in a monastery, eventually finds out that she is the heiress to a multi-million dollar conglomerate.

Sheldon couldn't have made this book more interesting with four diverse characters to make the story spellbinding. Of course, my favourite character from the novel is Megan. It is nice to dream about an existence void of wealth and later to fall into the lap of luxury. One can only dream. But then again, that is the master that Sheldon is. He lets you dream through his characters!

Novels

I have to say that the best novel that I have ever read, and my first, is The Other Side of Midnight, by the late Sidney Sheldon. Being a novice reader at the time, I found the story so spell-binding that it was impossible to put the book down, or as people who reviewed it said; "unputdownable"!.

The most interesting aspect of the story is that Sidney Sheldon managed to transport me, who has never been anywhere outside my own country ever, to countries all over the world and especially Paris, where most of the story is based. Little did I know that later in the course of my life, I eventually had the wonderful opportunity to go to Paris myself.

His interpretation of the main character was so realistic that you had no choice but to sympathise with her and hate the people who mistreat her, even though the ending was something I did not expect at all. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful read, and I have read it four more times since then, and have also watched the film version of the movie; and on top of that, uncensored, too!

Since this is a lovely story, besides all the other novels written by Sidney Sheldon, I recommend anyone who wants to start with a captivating read, go the bookstores and buy this book! Better still, make a collection of his books!! Happy reading!