January 2009 – Page 3

Finally — Book 10

I just realized beating last year’s record of 230+ books will be a challenge this year because I am writing about them too, and that considerably slows me down (Gosh, I never thought I’d be able to sustain writing past a couple of books)… But I will attempt to anyway, just so I’ll have some sort of record of the books I’ve finished reading, and at least it’s a good writing exercise.

Book #10 is The Reader by Bernhard Schlink; I’m also putting it down as a European book for the FFP diversity challenge.

I must admit that I do not read Oprah’s book club selections, because they usually don’t interest me and are often the dramatic types of books, which aren’t really my cup of tea.
I actually only got this copy because it was P40 and it came up as a suggested book for FFP discussion (but no one’s gotten around to moderating it).

Anyway, as my first Oprah book, I think I can safely say I was right to stay away.

From start to finish I found the book boring and tedious and I actually finished the book for the sake of finishing it. The relationship between Hanna and Michael was disturbing (36 year old woman and a 15 year old kid?!?), but not in a way that compelled me to read on.

The main problem for me is that it’s so flat — you know Michael is the persona but it reads as if it were an exposition, rather than a narration, with very little feeling, and it’s hard to see the main characters as real people, because they were never fully developed. The plot is weak too, and it stagnates into limpid pools of rambling most of the time.

At least the hype never quite reached the Philippines — I read some reviews that it was really hyped in the US (heh, blame Oprah) and a lot of people were disappointed.

A few points briefly stirred me, but not enough to elevate my opinion of the book (I wish the author developed these more; maybe that would’ve helped):

1) The book is from the German point of view of the Holocaust, which isn’t very common.
2) It touches briefly on illiteracy, and its psychological effects on the person
3) Hanna on the stand being interrogated, and then she turns to the judge and asks, “What would you have done?” — which for me was the only moral aspect of the book that made any sort of impact on me.

Sigh. This book will probably end up in my mooching inventory, unless perhaps Andi wants it, although that might not be such a good idea, as it might depress him…

Maybe the movie’s better.

***
My copy: Vintage trade paperback, P40 from Book Sale

My rating: 2/5 stars

Photo from illiterarty.com

Bounce Bounce Bounce

Book #9 for 2009: The Pinballs by Betsy Byars

(ALA Notable Children’s Book)

They really don’t make books like this anymore — the stark honesty of the book is the most striking thing about it. I remember checking it out at the library when I was in grade school but I don’t remember that I read it, maybe at that time I was too young to appreciate it.

A story about three kids of unfortunate circumstances (one abandoned as a toddler; one abused by her stepfather; one whose drunk of a father runs over him with the car, breaking both his legs) who meet at a foster home and somehow find the strength to pull through, The Pinballs is a bit somber for my taste but I appreciate the way it deals with grief and domestic issues.

The tough-as-nails Carlie comes up with the pinball metaphor:

“Harvey and me and Thomas J are just like pinballs. Somebody put in a dime and punched a button and out we came, ready or not, and settled in the same groove…“

It’s chillingly realistic, especially in the issues it presents, but it’s laudable because it maintains its credibility, even as the kids find hope and trust in their new home.

***
My copy: trade paperback from the NBS bargain bin for about P20, a bit spotty.

My rating: 4/5 stars

Photo from HarperCollins.com

Meet David.

Book #8 for 2009 – Sock and Glove: Creating Charming Softy Friends from Cast-Off Socks and Gloves by Miyako Kanamori

I’m not much of a sewer (as in person who sews, not drainage), but the cuteness of this book got me hooked as soon as I spotted it up on a high shelf at Book Sale.

I looked it over and decided my powers could take on the amount of sewing the projects in the book required, and started hunting for cast off socks at home.

The book contains a short story showcasing different softie animals. Very minimalist, very Japanese. Then the back of the book contains some pretty straightforward instructions on how to create 13 softie toys, including dog, monkey, cat, rabbit, zebra, panda, mouse, fish, etc., and even how to make clothes for them.

I realize I don’t have to write on and on about the book because last night, I unearthed my sewing supplies and decided to try it out. Voila, meet David the dog! My stitches were a bit wonky because I was in a hurry to finish (took me about three hours all in all) to see what it would look like. But I’m sure I’ll get better with practice.

Can’t wait to make friends for David.

***
My copy: paperback, about P125 at Book Sale

My review: 5/5 stars

The Republic of Dreams: A Reverie by G. Garfield Crimmins

Book #7 for 2009

I’ve always been fascinated with illustrated novels, and when I came across a copy of G. Garfield Crimmin’s “The Republic of Dreams” on bookmooch, I was eager to add it to my growing collection.

I had high hopes as I first skimmed the book, delighted to find that the contents were intact, even the detachable ephemera — maps, a passport, telegrams, a license card, and a whole set of postcards.

But as I read the story, my initial excitement deflated, replaced with that horrible, hollow feeling I get when a book that promises so much turns out to be a big disappointment.

The novelty of the illustrated novel is in seeing two different media — the written word and visual art– meld together in a visual narrative. My beef with The Republic of Dreams is that while the book is lovely to look at (and it must’ve cost a fortune to publish the book too), the story leaves so much more to be desired.

I found the story hard to follow, with a contrived hedonism that made it cheesy.

The author G. Garfield Crimmins finds himself in La Republique de Reves (The Republic of Dreams), where he is known as Victor La Nuage – the alter-ego of his waking self. Victor realizes he is a citizen of the Republic of Dreams, and he was sent on a mission to the “real world” to combat the Republic’s greatest enemy: The League of Common Sense, a movement bent on stifling imagination and pleasure.

(It reminds me of something out of a Jasper Fforde novel except it’s not funny because Crimmins is serious about it, which makes me think he was either a) horny (haha I had no idea this would turn out to be erotica!) b) high c) very very drunk or d) all of the above while he was creating this).

I get the feeling Crimmins wanted the Republic of Dreams to be a place everyone would want to live in, but I think he was trying too hard. He was overzealous in the exposition — “The Republic of Dreams is the true home of every dreamer, noncomformist, artist, eccentric, lover, and poet — all those who have an instinctive dislike of the narrow limitations of common sense. Its citizens love love, youth, old age, beauty, splendor, wisdom, generosity, music, song, the feast, and the dance. The weather is ideal and festivals occur daily” — and that is just in the flap of the book.

He goes on to devote 16 pages (out of 95) to a “visitor’s guide” to the Republic, and it pushes the envelope already.

Adding to the cheese factor are the bad puns throughout the novel — the national ID is called “Licence Poetique,” Madame Ricochet’s salon is a date hotspot located at the intersection of Avenue of Quivers and Shudders and Sweet Tongue Lane (there is also a Street of Sweet Escape); the capital city is Polis Poeton (city of poets) surrounded by Lake Eros — everything was just really hokey to me, too over the top, and it doesn’t help that you can’t make heads or tails out of the story.

I guess I’ll be keeping the book, just for the heck of it, at the very least it would look good (literally) on my shelf, hahaha, but I don’t think I’ll be reading it again.

You don’t believe me? Read the excerpt here http://www.wwnorton.com/catalog/fall98/crimmins.htm, and you’ll see what I mean.

***
My copy: hardbound, mooched from the US

My rating: 1/5 stars

Photo courtesy of wwnorton.com (http://www.wwnorton.com/cover/004633.gif, http://www.wwnorton.com/catalog/fall98/images/rep10.gif)

Rashomon and Other Stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa

Book 6 of 2009

Asian book #1 of Diversity Challenge

My first encounter with Ryunosuke Akutagawa was back in freshman English, in my Intro to Fiction Class, when we read “In a Grove.”

I remember we had small group discussions about it, and I couldn’t concentrate because this guy I was crushing on was sitting next to me (tee hee hee) but I remember someone saying that the story was the same as the Japanese film Rashomon by Akira Kurosawa (The film was based largely on In a Grove, incorporating some elements from the short story Rashomon).

I still haven’t seen the movie, but I chanced upon this Akutagawa anthology at Book Sale and it was a 1970 edition (Liveright paperback) with some notes pencilled in the margins, but it was about P40, and I knew I wouldn’t come across it again. (I googled the name pencilled in the inside cover and apparently she’s an American minister of some religious congregation… Oh, in case you’re wondering, I started doing that sort of thing — googling the names inside old books– after watching Whisper of the Heart, hee hee hee).

Ryunosuke Akutagawa was a writer in the modern period (early 20th century) who was disturbed by Japan’s industrialization, and writing was his way of response, with over a hundred works to his name, before committing suicide at the age of 35.

The book contains six medieval Japanese short stories: In a Grove, Rashomon, Yam Gruel, The Martyr, Kesa and Morito, and The Dragon, a varied collection dealing with different aspects of societal values and human psychology. Authentic illustratiions (by M. Kuwata) are interspersed throughout the text.

In a Grove is easily the frontispiece to this collection — it is a tale of crime (rape, murder and suicide) told from five different perspectives. I like the story’s philosophical exploration into the nature of truth — how it is impossible to know the absolute truth, and how easy it is to blur the lines with memory, human desires and motivations, and personal biases.

The next story features the Rashomon, the largest gate marking entry into Japan’s ancient capital, Kyoto. The gate crumbled with the decline of Kyoto, and the Rashomon soon became a nest for thieves and criminals, as well as a place to dump unclaimed corpses. A recently laid off servant vwitnesses an old hag stealing hair from corpses to make a wig, and the encounter changes his life.

Yam Gruel features a bumbling protagonist whose greatest ambition was to eat his fill of this aristocratic delicacy. When he is presented with an opportunity to fulfill his ambition, however, things do not go the way he imagined.

The Martyr was a surprise because of its Christian (and Jesuit, at that) roots – apparently Akutagawa liked dramatizing existing texts and events, and this one was based on volume two of the book Legenda Aurea. This is the story I least enjoyed — probably because it was less subtle in the moralistic aspect.

Kesa and Morito, I read somewhere, was based on a real affair. Kesa and Morito are illicit lovers, and Morito is driven to kill Kesa’s husband. Here’s the quandary — he doesn’t hate the man and he doesn’t love Kesa but he feels Kesa is compelling him to do it. Kesa doesn’t love Morito either, but is fascinated because Morito mirrors the ugliness she sees in herself. Out of guilt, Kesa switches with her husband on the night Morito comes to kill him. It’s also fascinating how the story tests the very thin line between love and hate.

The Dragon is more of a folk tale, like something out of JK Rowling’s Tales of Beedle the Bard. It was also lighter and more humorous than the rest, dealing with a fellow with a big nose who got so tired of being teased about it that he pulls the prank of the century!

I do not read many anthologies because I like meaty novels I can sink my teeth into, but I enjoyed this book, because while the stories offer a moralistic viewpoint, they pose philosophical questions that encourage the reader to ponder the situations presented and reassess his or her own values.

***
my copy: Liveright paperbound edition, 1970

my rating: 5/5 stars

Photo courtesy of: http://www.redvicmoviehouse.com/images/poster/rashomon.jpg (poster)