Category: Fiction

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Book Reviews Fiction

Thrall: Twilight Of The Aspects By Christie Golden – Powerful, And Moving

After I have finished reading Thrall in Hong Kong, I said to Cynthia, “Drop everything you are reading now and start to read this!”  It is that good.  Rewind to the day when we were at the airport.  On several occasions, I struggled if I shall read another book written by Christie Golden.  Price is a factor (S$44 in Singapore while you can get a Kindle copy from Amazon for merely US$15).  I have been camping at our library website for quite some time but the book is nowhere to be seen in the catalog.  Christie Golden does not strike me as a great writer, in the genre of fantasy.  Hence that added to my hesitation.  But hack, it is a holiday trip.  On the day of my holiday, Blizzard has announced a new expansion for the World of Warcraft online game: Mists of Pandaria.  On top of that, Cynthia and I have committed for a one year subscription and will get the upcoming Diablo III free.  There were many reasons to celebrate.  So I bought Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects.

The story is epic, even for those who may have no knowledge of the Warcraft Universe.  The book has told the story well, assuming that the readers may not have any background.  In the beginning, Titans (or creators) have entrusted their power to five dragon Aspects (leaders of dragonflights) and these Aspects – together with their respective dragonflights – are tasked to protect our world.  The green dragon Aspect is bound to the waking Dream of Creation.  She touches all living beings, and sing to them the songs of creation and interconnections.  The blue dragon Aspect regulates, manages, and controls all magic that must be appreciated and valued, and not hoarded.  The yellow dragon Aspect keeps the purity of time.  The red dragon Aspect is gifted with compassion for all living things, to protect and to nurture.  Heal those others cannot, birth what others may not, and love even the unlovable.  And the black dragon Aspect is offered the earth, the basis of all things, to manage time, life, dreams, and magic.  Prior to Cataclysm, Neltharion the Earth-Warder (black) was corrupted by the old gods and has become Deathwing who now destroys life instead of protecting life.  Malygos the Spell-Weaver (blue) was destroyed by the dragonflights led by Alexstrasza the Life-Binder (red) due to his genocidal crusade against all magic users in Azeroth.  Since then, the blue dragonflight is left without an Aspect.  Ysera the Awakened (green) has recently come out from the Emerald Dream after thousands of years of dreaming and she is still somewhat dreamy, somewhat confused.  Nozdormu the Timeless (yellow) has gone missing and no one knows where he is in time and space.

In short, Thrall is a story set against the dragonflights and the unique situation the dragons are now at.  For those of you who are mesmerized by the stories of the dragons since the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, this book is going to fill in so many lore gaps that are not featured in a gaming environment.

The world event Cataclysm was launched on December 7, 2010.  In less than a year, Blizzard has transformed one of the key lore character Thrall from a leader of one faction into a protector of Azeroth and more.  Some may or may not agree on such a special treatment of a Horde character (the Alliance certainly is not happy).  But given the unique background of Thrall – an orc who was raised by humans and learned to befriend with and trust other races – is a pivot to the general theme of Cataclysm: The healing of a wounded world.  Christie Golden has done a great job in intelligently describing Thrall’s life history without making this book reads like a history scroll.  Her strength is her story dialog and it remains powerful and moving.  In more than a few counts, I was moved to tears.  To be frank, I rarely cry reading books or watching movies.  But I do have a few soft spots here and there.

Unlike some of her other books, I feel that the plot of Thrall is tighter.  There is an overall build up to climax and a conclusion to a subplot less likely to be seen in the game.  Now that Dragon Soul patch 4.3 is at hand whereby adventurers will be able to experience first hand in aiding Thrall and the Aspects to battle against Deathwing, Thrall is a must read.

Categories
Book Reviews Fiction

My Favorite Quotes From “Aleph” By Paulo Coelho

I enjoy reading Paulo Coelho’s novels.  They are always inspirational.  Or simply put – food for the soul.  To be frank, I enjoy reading some of his earlier works better than his recent ones.  Hence my expectation for “Aleph” was not that high.  This book surprises me on several fronts.  First, it is quite a page turner, which is not usually the case of Paulo Coelho’s books.  Second, it seems genuine, pouring out from author’s personal experience.  After some research (and to my horror as you will find out in just a bit), while “Aleph” may not have accounted for all that has happened, what is written is 100% bibliography based on a true story.  Hence, depending on your moral compass, it could be inspirational for some, troubling for others.

The center theme of “Aleph” can easily be related by many.  Routines wear us down.  Great losses in life too may dip us into an emotional abyss.  We may find faith and then lose it along the way.  Or regrets in our past and worries in our future too can weigh us down.  How then can we get out of this?  A pilgrimage, as suggested by the author, may have the answer we need.

In “Aleph”, the 59 years old Paulo Coelho has taken a trip on the Trans-Siberian Railway to meet his readers across Russia.  During his journey, a 21 years old Turkish girl Hilal has insisted to travel with Paulo and his team of editor, distributor, and translator.  Coelho (who is married) and Hilal became physically, emotionally, and spiritually close that even with my rather liberate mindset, I was finding it a bit uncomfortable to read.  But it is what it is.  Two people performed rituals together in an intimate setting.  And if you buy into the concept of reincarnation, that two lifetimes ago, Coelho and Hilal were lovers, that past and present are one, I suppose it is OK to be that close.  A bit confusing if you are an outsider.  But say for a moment that reincarnation does exist and we do happen to meet with the same people through time and space, perhaps what Coelho and Hilal have done is beautiful.  It is certainly romantic to read.  I love you like a river, said him to her.  That is probably the most artistic thing a married man can say to his admirer (and lover from another lifetime).

There are quite a few quotes that are memorable, that I can relate and would like to share with you.

1. It’s what you do in the present that will redeem the past and thereby change the future.

2. When faced by any loss, there’s no point in trying to recover what has been, it’s best to take advantage of the large space that opens up before us and fill it with something new.

3. People never leave, we are always here in our past and future lives.

I think the first quote is self-explanatory.  What we do at present matters the most.  The next two are to help us coping with losses.

4. Although sometimes, we need to be strangers to ourselves.  Then the hidden light in our soul will illuminate what we need to see.

What it means, I suppose, is that in order to rediscover ourselves, we need to look pass what has become so familiar.  Examine our lives in the eyes of a stranger in a detached manner.

5. Now each morning, when your mind is still empty, devote a little time to the Divine … Inhale deeply and ask for all the blessings in the air to enter your body and fill every cell.  Then exhale slowly, projecting happiness and peace around you.  Repeat this ten times.  You’ll be helping to heal yourself and contributing to healing the world as well.

I have not tried the above method.  It may work out better than screaming out loud into the mirror every morning and say: This is going to be a great day!

6. Walking is doing wonders for body and soul.  I’m completely focused on the present moment, for that is where all signs, parallel worlds and miracles are to be found.  Time really doesn’t exist.

When I was young, I used to walk a lot, in great distance.  My mother used to call me Walkman.  I agree with Paulo that walking does wonders for our bodies and souls.  Ideas do hit me.  But I have yet to encounter lovers from my past incarnations that way.

7. Don’t be intimidated by other people’s opinions.  Only mediocrity is sure of itself, so take risks and do what you really want to do.

8. Anyone who knows God cannot describe Him. Anyone who can describe God does not know Him.

Both quotes are again self-explanatory.  But it does take some time to fully internalize.

9. Love is beyond time, or, rather, love is both time and space, but all focused on one single constantly evolving point – the Aleph.

That, is the Aleph.  You may need to read the book in order to understand what he says.

10. We can never wound the soul, just as we can never wound God, but we become imprisoned by our memories, and that makes our lives wretched, even when we have everything we need in order to be happy.

On face level, this quote can be useful to most.  But after reading the book, I think that the author may refer to memories of our past lives.  I am not ready to believe in reincarnation (as yet).  Having said that, we should be reminded that we have everything we need to be happy.  And those things are within our reach.

11. Is it possible to deviate from the path God has made?  Yes, but it’s always a mistake.  Is it possible to avoid pain?  Yes, but you’ll never learn anything.  Is it possible to know something without ever having experienced it?  Yes, but it will never truly be part of you.

This is probably one of my favorite quotes.  We shall always seek to experience, accept the pain as it comes, and follow God’s will.

Last but not the least, there is one quote to share.  I agree wholeheartedly.

12. Like the children we will never ever cease to be.

Categories
Book Reviews Fiction Linguistic

An Afterthought: El Búho Que No Podía Ulular

Uff.  Finalmente, I have read a story written in Spanish (just yesterday).  Ironically, it is not as Spanish as I would have expected.  It is a story of an owl banished from his own kind and has ended up being lectured by the ghost of Benjamin Franklin together with the rest of the founding fathers of America in ghost forms.  Coincidentally, this entry is published on the US’s Independence Day.  ¡Qué casualidad!

I have always wanted to read stories in Spanish.  Given my level of deficiency (I pondered hard if I shall use ‘proficiency’), I shall realistically start with Spanish books written for the infants or young teens.  But I have seen too much and my mind has long been corrupted by the earthly vices and spices.  These books are simply not as appetizing.  I cannot even bring myself to read “Hairy Porter”.  Since our classmate is so kind to lend us a Spanish book called “El Búho Que No Podía Ulular”, or in English, “The Owl That Could Not Hoot”, I have decided to give it a go.  I was so determined that I would not publish any entry in my website until I have finished with the book.  This explains why you have not heard from me for quite some time.

Fortunately, this book written by Robert Fischer and Beth Kelly is thin.  And it comes with three stories.  That means, even though I have read one story out of three, I felt as though I have achieved something.  Systematically grinding through the vocabulary and the different verb forms was tedious.  Technology is a double edged sword.  The online resources and offline applications have helped me a great deal in finding what each word or even a sentence means in lightning efficiency.  But I do not find myself making an effort to memorize the meaning and the usage.  I end up looking up the same word again and again.  I suppose if I had a Spanish mama, I could always ask “¿qué significa sonreír?” or “¿qué significa suspirar?”  If I was to invent a new technology to help the Spanish learners, I would create a Japanese lookalike Spanish Nanny Robot.  An attractive one no doubt.  I could ask, “¿Qué significa sonreír?” and she would reply, “It is smile, sweetie”.  Or I could ask, “¿Qué significa suspirar?” and she would reply, “It is sigh, sweetie”.  How cool is that?

Back to the story, it starts with an owl that is unable to hoot.  He can say “why” but he cannot say “who” (the hooting sound of an owl).  Because of that, he is asked to leave the habitat.  Soon, he meets a duck that cannot say “cuac” and instead, he says “cuic”.  The two loners, or rather outliners, have then decided to team up and see what the world has to offer.  Their first mission is to study in a university and become a doctor.  Upon realizing that it would take longer than their lifetime to obtain a medical degree, they have decided to embark a journey of searching for the purpose of life.  This involves interviewing random people on the street and finding out what they do for a living.

The owl that can say “why” naturally does most of the talking.  The duck takes note.  After interviewing hundreds of people, they have come to the conclusion that most people do not like their jobs, yet they do not wish to switch.  They do it for the money and the only time they are happy is when they are not working and on vacation.  The duo further concludes that people are happy when they are spending money.  And they observe that most people do not own what they have.  What then should one do with his or her life in order to be happy?  A typical American story, I suppose.

One day, the owl hears a voice that leads them sneaking into a national museum at night.  Inside a gallery where the portraits of the founding fathers are hung, the owl sees something extraordinary.  All of a sudden, the portraits become empty and the founding fathers have materialized in front of the duo’s eyes (?!).  The ghosts of the founding fathers then lecture the duo on how America was originally founded as a place of equality and freedom and how they are disappointed that the America today is all about making and spending money.  I honestly do not see how this is linked to an owl that cannot hoot and a duck that cannot say “cuac”.  At the end of the story, upon hearing the wisdom of the founding fathers, the owl is enlightened.  And he says, “Libre … es lo que soy”, which means “Free, is what I am”.  Perhaps the moral of the story is that we should not see through the lens of social norms on what we are not capable of doing.  Instead, take the opportunity to break out of the mould and be yourself.  We may stand to gain so much more.

I used to think that I write weird stories.  Those who have read my manuscript for that writing competition would have agreed with me.  But this story is weirder.  If I was to rewrite the story, I would turn this owl that cannot hoot into a hero.  I would bestow some bizarre disasters upon the rest of the owls like the attack of the toxic toads.  And our hero would return to this habitat that rejected him and save the day.  Everyone would worship him and begin to say “why” instead of “who”.  The most beautiful owl in the forest would fall in love with the hero and they would live happily ever after.  Oh, before that.  At the altar, when the priest asks, “Do you take this owl as your lawfully wedded wife?”  Instead of “why?”, our hero would finally able to say “who?”  I think it is darn funny.

Humor aside, there are some good takeaway points from this book that is onto its 40th edition (gasp!).  Below is my favorite.  I too feel that the root of many of our problems today could have been solved by filling our life with love.  That way, we leave no space for fear and hatred.

«Aprendiendo a amarte a ti mismo»’, sonrió Franklin. «Y en la medida en que te ames a ti mismo, podrás amar a tus vecinos, a tus amigos y a todas las demás personas que hay en esta gran nación».

My attempt to translate the above extract is as follows.

“Learning to love yourself,” smiled Franklin. “And as you love yourself, you will love your neighbors, your friends, and the rest of the people in this great nation”.

On a side note, while it is not possible to linguistically memorize what the book teaches, I have noted down all the adverbs that ends with -mente for my future reference: profundamente (profoundly), bruscamente (abruptly), sucesivamente (successively or ‘y así sucesivamente’, which means ‘and so on’), detenidamente (carefully), desesperadamente (desperately), fijamente (attentively), rápidamente (quickly), únicamente (solely or only), tristemente (sadly), apresuradamente (hastily), constantemente (constantly), fríamente (coldly), repentinamente (suddenly), tímidamente (timidly), lentamente (slowly), amablemente (amiably), actualmente (nowadays and not actually!), alegremente (happily), completamente (completely).

Categories
Book Reviews Fiction

Hotel Iris By Yoko Ogawa – Beautifully Ugly, Dark And Shocking

I do not suppose what Ogawa wrote is unrealistic.  At times, we read in the news about some women who are victims of domestic violence but yet, they have a tendency to return to the very same man who bestows such violence upon them.  I have read the story of Natascha Kampusch and had a glimpse of the kind of sick things some men do behind closed doors.  I have also read that some couples enjoy S&M and derives extreme pleasure from extreme pain. Mixing these together, we have “Hotel Iris” – almost.

A young girl who works at the front desk of a hotel is seduced by a much older man who appears to be mostly timid and loving outside his house, and someone quite the opposite when he is alone.  The love affair has then turned into a strange game of S&M.  How can a young girl be seduced by such a monster and be convinced that this is OK and that she is shamelessly ugly?  Ogawa has indeed taken a brave move and she presents to the readers the psychological and emotional journey of a young girl in first person view: Her longing to be away from her demanding job at the hotel, her longing to see this old man who does strange things to her body while showering her with words of love and tenderness, and her plunging into the point of no return.  Ogawa’s writing style is neat and elegant.  Deployed to this rather dark and ugly topic, the story reads almost too beautiful.  I must say, it was a strange feeling reading “Hotel Iris”.

Like one reader has pointed out, “Hotel Iris” is very different from “The Housekeeper and the Professor“.  Had I read these two books without knowing who wrote them, very likely I would not have thought that they come from the same author.  The writing style is the same though.  Since I like Ogawa’s writing style, I enjoy reading the two book just the same.  I look forward to reading more of hers.

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Book Reviews Fiction

A Wild Sheep Chase and Dance Dance Dance By Haruki Murakami

By pure chance, I bought both “A Wild Sheep Chase” and “Dance Dance Dance” in HMV during sales on the same day.  Also by pure chance, one of my blogger friend, JoV, once dropped a comment here implying that the stories of these two books are linked.  So before I headed to my holiday, I frantically researched online on which book comes first.  It is “A Wild Sheep Chase” followed by “Dance Dance Dance”.  I read Sheep on the plane and Dance during my holiday.

If you are into the literature of Murakami, reading these two books enabled you to witness an important juncture a writer has encountered in his writing career.  Sheep is the last of the Rat Trilogy, the only one from the series that the author was comfortable in having it translated into English.  Dance was written after he has gained international recognition.  Straddled in between is Norwegian Wood that propelled Murakami to the international fame.  Now you get the picture.

Sheep is unlike some of the Murakami books I have read.  The beginning two-third of the book reads like a detective story.  A page-turner with plenty of dialogs.  The story involves a main character who takes life as it is, seldom plan or have a dream for anything; an ordinary girl with extraordinary ears and she works in three different jobs at the same time; a professor who is obsessed with sheep; a friend who has disappeared a long time ago suddenly contacted the main character via mails.  The story is, for lack of a better word, a wild sheep chase.  According to the narrator, sheep was unseen of in the ancient Japan.  And like – I suppose – dragons and unicorns (my interpretation) – such creatures could be seen as deities.  In the book, there is this notion of sheep-made-man and becomes all powerful or even man-made-sheep that becomes something I am not sure how to put in words.  Because of my Catholic root, such notion appears to have a religious reference, especially when Christ according to our tradition is portrayed as the Lamb of God.  Interestingly, Sheep has no further exploration on the topic of religion.  Only a borrowed image to turn Sheep into a fantasy, and a comedy.  I have thoroughly enjoyed the first part of the book even as I might have questioned the literature value within.

The turning point is the last third of the book.  I suspect that is also the turning point of Marakami’s writing style.  There are more internal dialogs within the main character.  The author’s sense of the surrounding has been heightened and sharpened.  The plot becomes dream-like – a signature writing style that exhibits in his later books.  When the story was ended, I wanted more.  As far as the Rat Trilogy is concerned – Rat being the name of the runaway friend – the story has ended.  But there are far more open questions left behind.  That is when “Dance Dance Dance” comes into the picture.

Unlike Sheep, Dance does not begin each chapter with a title that foretells what is to come; unlike Sheep, Dance does not have the plot progression based on a set of clear and defined clues.  In fact, I would describe Dance as a wandering adventure.  For a majority of the plot, I have no idea as in where the story is heading, and I doubt if the main character does.  The main character (now has a name) is in search of someone he loved (also now has a name).  It starts with vivid dreams that lead him back to Dolphin Hotel, a hotel that is featured in Sheep.  I can see there are a fair bit of parallelism between the two books.  The role of his friend Rat in Sheep is now taken over by his old classmate Gotanda.  The hotel, now being rebuilt, is still the center of the story.  The symbol of authority has morphed from mafia gang into police force.  Some characters from the past have made an appearance in Dance.  Dance is still a detective story at the core, but the plot becomes more subtle, more surreal.

The overall mood of Dance is dark.  In terms of character development, I in particularly like the relationship between the thirty-odd-year-old main character and a thirteen-year-old girl.  It could have gone wrong in so many different ways because knowing Murakami, the topic of sex is always on the table.  Fortunately, the author has threaded the moral boundary as close and careful as he can.  Majority of the materials turn out to be a good inspiration read for the teenagers, even for adults.  Here is an excerpt on a troubled teen regretting on the things she said and done to the one who is now dead.  The narrator is the main character of the story.

I pulled the car over to the shoulder of the road and turned off the ignition.

“That’s just stupid, that kind of thinking,” I said, nailing her with my eyes. “Instead of regretting what you did, you could have treated him decently from the beginning.  You could’ve tried to be fair.  But you didn’t.  You don’t even have the right to be sorry.”

Yuki looked at me, shocked and hurt.

“Maybe I’m being too hard on you.  But listen, I don’t care what other people do.  I don’t want to hear that sort of talk from you.  You shouldn’t say things like that lightly, as if saying them is going to solve anything.  They don’t stick […] It’s not a question of manners; it’s a question of fairness.  That’s something you have to learn.”

Yuki couldn’t respond.  She pressed her fingers to her temples and quietly closed her eyes.  She almost seemed to have dozed off, but for the slight flutter of her eyelashes, the trembling of the lips.  Crying inside, without sobs or tears.  Was I expecting too much of a thirteen-year-old girl?  Who was I to be so self-righteous? […]

Yuki didn’t move.  I reached out and touched her arm.

“It’s okay,” I said. “I’m very narrow-minded.  No, to be fair, you’ve done the best that can be expected.”

A single tear trailed down her cheek and feel on her lap.  That was all.  Beautiful and noble.

“So what can I do now?” she spoke up a minute later.

“Nothing,” I said. “Just think about what comes before words.  You owe that to the dead.  As time goes on, you’ll understand.  What lasts, lasts; what doesn’t, doesn’t.  Time solves most things.  And what time can’t solve, you have to solve yourself.  Is that too much to ask?”

“A little,” she said, trying to smile.

“Well, of course it is,” I said, trying to smile too. “[…] Life is a lot more fragile than we think.  So you should treat others in a way that leaves no regrets.  Fairly, and if possible, sincerely.  It’s too easy not to make the effort, then weep and wring your hands after the person dies […]”

This is quite a long excerpt.  But I like how the two interacted.  And there is an important message for us too.

Besides the main character’s relationship with Yuki, I also enjoy reading the love story between Yumiyoshi – the hotel receptionist – and him.  I would not go in great detail here.  It is equally beautiful that requires patience to appreciate.

In closing, both books are not to be missed and have to be read one after another.  Sheep first, then Dance.  It is rare to spot an opportunity to witness the turning point of a writer’s career.  This is one.

Categories
Book Reviews Fiction

The Last Werewolf By Glen Duncan – Love It Or Love It Not?

Many praise on the literature touch by the author on a topic that is so popularized nowadays so much so that some may ask: do we need another book on werewolves and vampires?  I picked this book for Cynthia to read during our flight to Barcelona.  And I finished reading it in one setting on our way back.  Cynthia adores this book.  As for me, my initial expectation turned out to be a notch too high.

It is a rather unique story.  Werewolves are driven into extinction by the human hunters.  Jake is the last of his kind and has since given up the hope of continue living with the curse.  Or rather, continue killing during full moon and continue running away from the hunters with the silver bullets.  The story then delves deeper into the cause of extinction, the involvement with the vampires, and the birth of a new motivation for Jake to perhaps live on.

“The Last Werewolf” – I admit – has an unique plot.  It is never straightforward and full of surprises with a fair bit of distractions.  Some of the sub-plots do not seem to go anywhere – and hence, a ‘distraction’.  Do all the loose ends have to be tied up in the end of a story?  I would prefer so.  Some readers may think otherwise.

On writing style, his is certainly different from the typical werewolve and vampire books.  Below is an illustration on the description of one of the main characters.

She had the look of a foreign correspondent caught off-guard mid-report by an explosion.  Early thirties, eyes the color of plain chocolate and similarly dark hair in two soft shoulder-length waves.  A single mole or beauty spot at the corner of her mouth.  White-skinned but with a warmth and suppleness that betrayed – surely? – Levantine or Mediterranean blood.  Certainly not ‘beautiful’ or ‘pretty’ but Saloméishly appealing, visibly smudged with the permissive modern wisdoms.  This was a girl who’d been loved by her parents and grown vastly beyond them.

And another one on the first transformation from man to werewolf that by the way, the entire process counting the days leading to the full moon takes pages worth of materials.

A breeze stirred the honeysuckle, the hairs on my ears and delirious wet snout.  My scrotum twitched and my breath passed hot over my tongue.  My anus was tenderly alert.  I pictured my human self jumping the twenty feet, felt the shock of smashed ankles and slivered shins – then the new power like an inkling of depravity.  I leaped from the window and bounded into the moonlight.

I could appreciate a touch of artistic value onto writing a fantasy story, although at times, bulk of the text appears to be too airy for me to digest.  My biggest discomfort is the author’s overly reliance on using parentheses to clarify ideas.  That habit of his inevitably disrupts the fluidly of my reading and frankly speaking, before passing the halfway mark, I gave up reading anything that is written inside the parentheses.  I would prefer to have the clarifications worked onto the paragraphs.  That may require more work, but I think it is worth the effort.

On a positive note, Cynthia has pointed out the fact that some of the fantasy books of this genre are written from the girl’s perspective, on how the girl needs to be protected, and on talking about the emotion of love.  This book is written from the man’s perspective and love has become an action.  This is refreshing because rather than stating the obvious on how vulnerable the female party is, the story focuses on what the male character does.  As for me, I like the raw energy and desire of the main character.  He is, after all, a werewolf.  An animal.  A killer.  The honesty in the main character’s sexual encounters for instance – both conventional and unconventional – is not for the narrow-minded.  Neither is the idea of taking lives without remorse.  Certainly R-rated in my opinion.  Will there be a sequel?  Highly likely so.  Would I read that?  Most likely, for the sake of closure.

Categories
Book Reviews Fiction

Eat Pray Love By Elizabeth Gilbert – Not Just Another Chick Lit

So this is my first entry in Wilfrid’s blog.  Hope it is in line with Wilfrid’s overall blog theme and does not offend anybody, hehe …

I am reviewing “Eat Pray Love” because there is high probability that Wilfrid is not going to finish reading the book.  He bought the book to join a read-along and at that time I was reluctant to read the book as I thought it was just another chick lit which honestly I am not interested in (Shopaholic series, anyone?).  Was not interested in the movie, was not interested in the book.  However, one fine day, out of boredom, I picked the book up from the table, casually started reading the first page, and I got hooked!  Even the preface was interesting.  So I went on, surpassing Wilfrid’s bookmark.

The first part of the story – Italy – was interesting because it was the time she found God.  Her “encounter with God” was believable and it touched me deeply.  She found God said this to her during her loneliness and depression, “I’m here.  I love you.  I don’t care if you need to stay up crying all night long, I will stay with you. … There’s nothing you can ever do to lose my love.  I will protect you until you die, and after your death I will still protect you.” I shed a tear reading that paragraph because it reminded me how that love applies to me too.  To anyone of us.  (I do believe in God even though world-renowned-Nobel-winner scientists claimed that there is no space for God in this universe).  That paragraph was the most memorable part for me about Italy.  I am not really a foodie so can’t share much of her enthusiasm about Italian food.

The second part of the story – India – was even more captivating.  She continued her journey to deepen her spirituality, and she managed to tell her story without preaching how a certain religion is the best.  There are some references to yoga which I found entertaining as well, especially since I picked up yoga about a year ago.  I did enjoy reading India part the most, although there were tons of cliches in there.  For example, there was the “Instructions for Freedom”.   And Richard the Texan always sounded too preachy for me.  He sounded like someone who always had the right answer and a bit cocky about it.

However I respected her struggles to further her spiritual journey there – she managed to conquer her limitations in a realistic way, and I could see how she grew to be a more grounded, happier, and calmer person.  One amusing scene was how she hated a morning chanting ritual called Gurugita, tried all sort of ways to avoid it but in the end she was hell-bent to join the ritual and derived benefits out of it.  We could also see how she managed to finally meditate when initially she couldn’t even hold it for 2 minutes (who could?)

India was good for me.

The third part of the story – Indonesia – unfortunately fell flat.  It was an anti-climax after all the discoveries and growth she had made in the previous places.  I didn’t get anything out of this section – it was simply like reading someone’s letters of having a holiday in Bali.  Not to mention the “holiday” was 4 month long so it was a bit of an indulgence in my view.  The author did not really use this section to conclude the previous 2 sections, and on top of that it was not clear to me how she “pursued the balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence”.  I admire her initiative to help the locals, but I expected more from her 4 month stay in Bali.  I stopped reading the book for a while because the book got a bit boring and there was only that many times I’d like to read how someone “had nothing to do in the island of paradise”.

All in all, it is a reasonably good book.  Wilfrid would agree that I am a picky reader (although not a sophisticated one), so it said something that I finished reading the book.  It is certainly not a chick lit (if we exclude the Bali part) and I did enjoy reading Elizabeth’s personal journey to be a happier person.

Footnote by Wilfrid: This entry is written by Cynthia and is published as it is.  This is a read-along and JoV and J have contributed there entries as well.

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Book Reviews Fiction

Merde Happens By Stephen Clarke – Hilarious! At Least For Most Part

“Merde Happens” is part 3 of the merde series.  It helps to have read the previous installment.  Compares to “Merde Actually”, this one is funnier.  Perhaps because I have done my share of road tripping in US and I can relate the culture shock the main character Paul West has experienced.  To recap, Paul West is a British who works in France, has quite a few extraordinary love affairs with the French girls, and in this episode, he is going to America with his girlfriend (finally) Alexa and his American poet friend Jake who speaks very strange English mixed with French.  A good part of the book is spent on Paul and Alexa on a Mini in America.  It is hilarious to experience the frustration of a couple trying to read map while understanding how the road system works.  Just like in real life when – in general – women don’t like to read map and men don’t like asking for direction.  There is a fair amount of US and European history being used as a plot.  There is also some insanely hilarious moments on outsourcing.  To that end, I would rank “Merde Happens” higher than “Merde Actually” and somewhat on par with “Dial M For Merde“.  I have yet to read the first installment “A Year In The Merde”, and I am looking forward to doing so.

After reading a few of his books, I begin to see a certain pattern.  Initially the story would be like going nowhere, then things begin to get exciting and the story would reach a climax.  After which, it would be like going nowhere again (usually with a breakup of a relationship), with a rather melancholy ending that introduces plot opportunity for the next book.  This book seems to take a little dive towards the end.  But I would say, for most part of the story, “Merde Happens” is a hilarious read.  Not a soul nourishing read, but one you would want to read on a holiday and by a beach underneath a palm tree.

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Book Reviews Fiction

Inés Of My Soul By Isabel Allende – An Eyeopening Read On Chile Conquest

Cynthia and I share a rather limited reading list.  I could spend hundreds and hundreds of words here talking passionately about the books I read but she’d catch no ball.  She could go on and on about the books she enjoys reading but I’d would go, “huh?”  But since we are both studying Spanish, and some parts of South America were colonized by Spain long time ago, I was intrigued by “Inés of My Soul” – a historical novel based on Inés Suárez strongly recommended by Cynthia.  Who is she?  Wikipedia sums up nicely as follows.

Inés Suárez (c. 1507–1580) was a Spanish conquistadora (female conquistador) who participated in the Conquest of Chile, was mistress to Pedro de Valdivia, successfully defended Santiago against an attack of Mapuche people in 1541, and was eventually married to Rodrigo de Quiroga, Royal Governor of Chile.

Initially, it came across to me as a romance story – a story told by Inés to her step-daughter Isabel (who initially I thought the author ‘visualized’ herself as Inés’s daughter but we will get to that a little bit later).  A Spanish women born into a poor family got married once in Spain.  Then with the excuse of searching for her missing husband, she ventured into Peru, met with Pedro de Valdivia – a Spanish conquistador who has the vision to civilize and evangelize Chile.  Together, with a rather small Spanish army and the natives from Peru, they conquered Chile.  Valdivia and Inés have found and governed Chile’s capital Santiago, and defended the city against numerous attacks from the native Indians.  The wars described in the book are vividly harsh and bloody.  I can see a lot of quality research going into the writing of this historical novel.  Four years of avid reading, as mentioned in the author’s notes.  It is less of the romance bits but more of the history bits that gripped me.  Eventually, being a mistress to Valdivia did not seem to be agreeable by the Spanish Royalty.  So Inés married to Rodrigo – a war hero – in the age of 42.  The story is told by Inés in her dying hours, not long after her husband’s death.  I suppose this is an attempt to relive the incident of them passing away in the same year.

For those of you who have heard little about the history of Chile, “Inés Of My Soul” is an eyeopener.  The author Isabel Allende has done a good job in stitching the historical incidents together, with her imagination.  I am usually not a fan of this genre because I would prefer to read a journalistic writeup on the event to a novel that is part history, part fiction.  But I enjoy reading this one.  Isabel Allende was born in Peru and raised in Chile.  How suiting it is for her to write about a story that starts in Peru and ends in Chile.  I can now see where the passion transcribed in the book comes from.

Categories
Book Reviews Fiction

Once on a Moonless Night By Dai Sijie – A More Complex Read, Rewarding Nonetheless

In “Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress”, it is the hunger for the banned foreign book titles in the 70’s China that drives the plot forward.  Similarly, in “Once on a Moonless Night”, it is the hunger for the ‘mutilated relic’ – a missing Buddhist sutra – that sets the story on fire.  In fact, the fire is so great that it breathes life to factual and fictitious characters, civilizations, and traditions; from ancient China to modern Beijing, from France to Africa and Southeast Asia.  So much details and emotions are poured into the historical figures and places, as well as traditional workmanships and crafting techniques, one has to marvel at the depth of research the author has performed.  Unlike “Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress”, this book requires patience to read.  The construct of the sentences appears to be more complex (unsure if it is because of the different translators involved).  The history behind the story is vast.  Although I am from a Chinese background and that most of the translated terms, history, and tradition I am familiar with, there are still lots of details I am not . Fortunately, most of the so-called diversions from the main plot are relevant to how the story develops.  That kept me engaged even some of the materials require a higher amount of concentration to grind through.

The story begins with a piece of silk scroll Puyi has torn into pieces by his teeth – hence the ‘mutilated relic’ – and threw out of a Japanese warplane during his final days as the Last Emperor.  That silk scroll turns out to contain a Buddhist sutra written in a dead ancient language that Emperor Huizong from the Song dynasty tried to decipher and could not, that Puyi tried to decipher and could not.  The tale then spins all the way to a vanished civilization called Tumchooq (it is also a language Buddha preached in, the name of one of the main characters, and more), through the Forbidden City, the Manchuria race, different languages and geographic locations, narrated by multiple characters.  It is remarkable to see how the sutra travels through time and space, linking historical and fictitious characters, vanished and present time civilizations as the search continues for the missing sutra.  And when the final piece of puzzle is solved, after numerous twists in plot (too many to mention), the answer seems so humorously simple.  Yet thinking of all the effort and sacrifice people made in order to find the truth, it is mind blowing.

It is quite impossible to quote a particular paragraph to illustrate Dai Sijie’s writing style, because the entire book is treated with the same poetic touch.  If I may, the following excerpt touches my heart the most.  The narrator, a French girl who studied in China, is in search of her lover – a half French half Chinese – who is in turn searching for the missing sutra.  It is this sense of melancholy that touches my heart.

The sun was only just up, the meticulously swept path with not a single fallen leaf on it glittered beneath my bare feet, and each of my footsteps, I was aware, was an act of meditation.  With its sand and its occasional stones positioned here and there, as if among the extinguished, collected, cooled ashes of our passions, without the least spark of an ember to reignite them, that little path was like the life of whoever walked along it.  Perhaps its maker wanted it to remind us that our footprints, like the happy days of our lives, disappear with the first gust of wind, without leaving any trace at all.

It comes with a pleasant surprise that one of the characters in this book – Ma – is indeed the narrator of “Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress”.  And Ma plays an important – albeit minor – role in this book.  I suspect that a Buddhist may get more from this book than I do.  But I am happy that my horizon has been expanded and am certainly looking forward to read his second book if I manage to get hold of it in our library.