Hat Rin

I stepped into Borders at Berjaya Times Square to kill some time.

The movie only started at 5pm. 1 more hour to go.

I wandered from shelves to shelves at in fiction section but I couldn't find any interesting things to read. 

So in the end, I thought I would make an early exit. As I was crossing out from the entrance, I noticed a new section of books. Fiction books but more like popular fiction books and I thought I saw a familiar cover.

Sands, a beach, peaking hills and a blue sky. It was one of my favourite book. Alex Garland's the Beach.

As I still had the time to kill, might as well. So I picked up this book and simply flipped the pages. 

I landed on a page. A chapter titled 'Hat Rin'. I tried to read a passage or two. The stale bodies sunbathing on the beach, the beer, the smell.. All of this were too familiar to me.

At the back of my mind, I recalled Hat Rin. It was a place that I had been to. A beach that is famous for its full moon parties.

When I was reading the book many years ago, I had not been to Hat Rin yet. However, when I went to Hat Rin last year, I did not realize the 'Beach' story was set there too.

I noted Koh Pha Ngan being the stopover island before Richard arrives at the 'Beach' but I completely forgot about Hat Rin.

It was all too surreal.

Magicians

As I was entering the KLCC after having just exited the Lrt station, I saw a young guy holding a book.

I tried to take a peek at the cover of the book but I couldn't. He was walking too fast. As he ascended on the escalator, I only managed to see a sliver of the book. He was gripping it while I was having a hard time discerning it. Finally, what I saw were the familiar bees dotting the spine. I recognized it. It was the Magicians by Lev Grossman.

Seeing someone reading this book did bring up some good memories that I once had when reading it. 

It also brought up some joy in me that someone was actually reading such a quite obscure book. Never could I imagine someone was actually reading this book in my home turf (in Kuala Lumpur, let alone in Malaysia). Moreover, a Malay guy.

Not to say people in Malaysia are not reading these days. They seldom bring their reading materials outside. Lately, I have seen quite a number of people reading books in the public. 

Once, in Starbucks (Borders, Gardens Mall), I saw people reading some business-related books and fiction too. On Lrt, I saw someone reading a Haruki Murakami. Finally, hope is abundant. They are actually literary people who exist in KL!! ;)

A Dream About A Bookish Friend Of A Friend..

I had a dream about a bookish friend of a friend of mine yesterday night.

In my dream, I couldn't tell who my friend was but she was a girl. We were happily chatting away while we were apparently having a dinner. Then, her friend emerged from nowhere, from behind me and she told me while gazing at her friend as if she was illustrating a point that her friend was also a Haruki Murakami's fan and that he had finished reading all Murakami's books.

At that moment, I was deeply impressed by him. No one had ever claimed to have done that. It was really an amazing feat. He was really a fan, undoubtedly.

She told her friend that I was also a Murakami's fan but I had only managed to finish one of Murakami's books i.e. Norwegian Wood so far despite my slight embarrassment at her comment.

This was my first time being introduced to an unreal friend, an imaginary one too, as a bookish friend, moreover in a dream  as I don't have many bookish friends in my life (may be I'm not that sociable :P). It was a very COOL experience indeed :P

The Accumulation of Books..

Why do we keep on buying books despite knowing that we won’t be able to finish reading them? Why do we still feel the urge to keep accumulating them? 

Reading is a pleasure only a reader would comprehend. Are you an avid reader yourself?

We don’t buy books knowing one day we will be reading them. We don’t buy books because we know we have an addiction of collecting them.

We buy books merely for pleasure. We buy books because although we may not be reading them anytime soon, we may be reading them one day. Even though we may not be reading them, we buy books because we know we can own the stories.

The stories speak to us desperately at many levels. Before we choose to buy that book, we already know what the book is going to be about.

We know the summary of the story in the book. As such, it is ok if you are not going to read the book one day. This is because the summarized version of the story of the book will stay in your heart (whilst the longer version of the story you will know should you choose to read the book).

In your mind. In the shelves. In your vision. They are always in your company. Within your reach ;)

Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

I think this has gotten to be one of the toughest book I have ever read.

It is nothing like the books that I have ever read before. If this book is to be assigned to a shelf, it could be designated to its own shelf. No books can be put on par with this book. It's not that other books are not up to par with this book. It is just that this book is the most bizarre book that I have ever come across and it has managed to provide experiences that I have never encountered elsewhere before. It is completely unique on its own.

I first started reading this book in late 2010. At first, I had problems reading this book. I found it too experimental. Especially certain chapters in which the narrator delves into what happened in the past.

If I persevered and still found it hard to read, I might even give up and abandon it. Not even close, I might even give up reading other experimental fiction from the likes of Dave Eggers, Mark L. Danielewski, etc. whom I still have not read their works yet.

Worse still, I might even be giving up reading other Jewish authors (as Foer is a Jew). In the end, due to the Jewish-ness of the book (I don't quite understand Jewish culture as this book does really require the reader to understand Jewish culture to a certain extent or in other words, Jewish readers would find reading it easier), I stopped reading the book altogether.

However, recently, as I have started to read another Jewish author's work again i.e. David Benioff's City of Thieves which also happens to be related to Holocaust experience, I thought why not give this book another shot again, might as well.

As I stumbled into another reading slump (yet again), I seriously thought of giving reading a break. It's not that I found books or reading itself no longer interesting, it was just that I had continuously read a couple of books of great quality lately and these books had managed to "absorb" all my emotions and draw up all my "energy" and experiences reserved for reading (if you know what I mean :P). 

Besides, I am planning to go to yet another trip again and I would like my reading to be continuous and not be interrupted by these events. I had been planning to read Everyday by David Levithan in coincidence with this trip as I felt tired after reading so many books at one shot (i.e. within a few months) as a YA-ish book could be apt :P. This is because I am no longer working, it's not that I have just retired, it is just I am taking a break, so might as well read more books now :P (Planning to be working soon though.. On my own..).

Actually, the number of books that I have read so far this year has almost surpassed what I have read last year. Last year's number was at 13 but within just almost 4 months and half this year I have managed to recoup 12 books. What a great feat right? :P

Ok, back to the book, this is why I chose to read Jonathan Safran Foer's Everything is Illuminated again. As of now, I think I have gained enough experience as a reader as well as to read difficult books. I have read George R. R. Martin's Games of Thrones which is a very long book and certain parts may not be making any sense (hence may be boring) at all, just like this book. I have learnt to just carry on reading those difficult parts i.e. soldier on regardless of the complexity of the plot or the writings.

Besides, like my previous read books, I think I have gained enough experience to tackle other tougher experimental books. I have had enough of my own experience to draw from in order to enjoy these so-called difficult books (at my current age i.e. after the 30-year-old point).

At first, the difficult part did not make sense to me at all. There are three narratives in this book and as mentioned before, one of them delves on what happened in the past. As I read further and further into the chapters, actually one narrative helped to make sense of the other narrative. As the clarity of the difficult part had been brought to light (from reading), the book started to make sense.

Because of this, I think the book is just simply AMAZING. It is heartbreaking and achingly BEAUTIFUL like how the other reviewers summed it up. I can't talk much about the story of the book here as it would contain spoilers. A reader has to find his/her way to understand the book and immerse themselves into the book in order to enjoy the book immensely. I think you can catch my drift.

When I reached that part where everything is brought to light, it was so captivating. I couldn't believe it and at certain points, I think it did manage to move me to tears, almost!! Like I said, it is heartbreaking, just simply awesome.

Without disclosing any spoilers, I have gotten this to say: This book is about repression of memories and how it would affect the next generation. How the succeeding generation would perceive the memories repressed by the elders and how to make sense of the absence of memories or even worse, the absence of the sense of the existence of your preceding generation and what happened to them.

It was an AWESOME read. Thank you Jonathan Safran Foer. Totally recommended (but not for the easily faint-hearted ones :P)

Star Trek Into Darkness

Star Trek Into Darkness has gotten to be one of the best movie I've ever watched this year.

It is just simply... MIND-BLOWING, ACTION PACKED, FUN, and every other thing that has been associated with a good, satisfying movie. I like it!!

Although I am not so much a Trekkie, as far as a Trekkie is concerned, I am simply blown away by Star Trek's philosophy, myth, etc.

The story line is as best as ever. The banter between the characters is simply witty and nerve-wrecking!!

I really love how Spock like to repress his emotions and in this installment we see him confess his reason why he always keeps his emotions. He even tried to be emotive in this movie and unleashed some of this emotions towards his friend, Captain Kirk!!

Although according to some critics, this movie is dark and fun but it still lacks some of the ingredients that make "middle" movies in a series or franchise shine like the Empire Strikes Back, I still think this movie is so apt, fab (as in fabulous), so relevant and current.

Many moral issues have been broached such as repression of emotions (as mentioned just now), and most importantly, it talks about whether we should influence someone's judgement and culture by interfering and intervening into their daily life or sharing some dark secrets. This is really a pivotal topic and it is very connected to the repression of emotions.

This movie is a testament that the director, J.J. Abrams is a wisest choice as a successor to helm the Star Wars' franchise.

This Star Trek, to me, has managed to hit all the benchmarks of a galaxy-saga movie.

As I was watching this movie in the movie, I was kept at the edge of my seat and I think I gasped at some of the scenes. Fear of height is exploited to its max!! Simply marvelous!! Just like Star Wars' movie, we were shown one action-packed scene after another in a seem-to-be endless sequence. 

In one scene, we were shown the characters dangling at certain height and next, explosions, explosions, explosions. I also notice that J.J. Abrams has an affinity for running scenes. Almost all of his movies feature the main characters running LOL. 

I also like the scene in which the Enterprise is flying in a what seems to be like a galaxy-ish tunnel at the speed of light and being pursued by another Enterprise. I also like how Enterprise being hit by laser (or whatever) and men being thrown into space. So Abrams' trademark. I was simply bowled over and blown away.

Benedict Cumberbatch is simply awesome in his role as John Harrison (he is no longer a stranger after playing this character)!! Simply twisty..

Well, in this time, I do find that this movie does make some references to Patrick Stewart who played Captain Picard in Star Trek series. This is because Patrick Stewart's character i.e. Prof. Xavier is in a wheelchair. And it so happens that Captain Kirk this time in this movie is also exposed to a certain danger that has led me think of Patrick Stewart. Weird, I know :P

Well done, Captain Abrams~~ Hat off!!!

The Great Gastby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I can't really believe that I could finish this book so soon.

At first, I thought it was going to be another book featuring an outsider that is drawn to rich people, somehow gets himself attached with the elite friends and is finally preoccupied with the riches. 

Don't get me wrong, it's really an amazing book. I like the narrative, the settings, and the characters very much. Well played out. The story line is complex but well-connected.

Before I proceeded to read this book, I had already known this was going to be a very tough book. This is what deters me from reading "heavy books" like the Catcher in The Rye, Catch-22, and On The Road in the first place. Such books would always demand you to have certain experience in your life as they are the type of books that requires you to fill in the "gap". 

There are certain parts in the book in which you are required to fill in the blanks. The narrator, Nick Carraway, purposely leaves certain details out so that you wouldn't know what is going on. You get the idea.

In the beginning, I thought Dr. T. J. Eckleburg is a person who always stands beside the road!! It turned out later that in fact, it is a giant advertisement showing a pair of eyes of an oculist. I was so naive to think about that! This shows how the narrative can be quite misleading at times.

One thing I do know is that Jay Gatsby, one of the main characters, is fond of Daisy because he is preoccupied with wealth and as Daisy comes from a rich family, he views Daisy as a symbol of the rich, and if he manages to attain her, he can finally elevate his status as part of the riches as a success of finally entering the rich club.

Meanwhile, Nick, in some of his lapses, at some points may be interested with Gatsby as he is the epitome of coolness. Gatsby likes to throw parties and he is always seen around the elite group of friends. How Nick manages to find out all about this is because Nick lives next-door to Gatsby's mansion. However, the reason why Gatsby throws such lavish parties is not because he wants to show off his wealth, he has another reason which is revealed in the book.

Some part of the books can be quite surreal: Gatsby's preoccupation with the green light from another shore and Dr. T. J. Eckleburg's eyes for example. As I have mentioned above, it is a book that requires you to fill in the gaps as in interpret the meanings itself using your own experiences.

I managed to finish this book in below 3 days. What a feat?!! It was a fast read. Totally unexpected. Over all, it is a fantastic book. Totally recommended.