stains_of_blue

Book 03: Alessandro Baricco – Ocean Sea

 

I have been wanting to try some more of work for a while now, seeing as Silk was one of my all-time favourite books, when I came across this Ocean Sea in a book store. It seemed like the perfect buy: Baricco’s prose and the theme of the ocean, one of my earliest love-affairs.

It’s the story of a sea-side inn and a strange cast of characters that live there for a while for various reasons and the book follows their lives from how they got there to why they leave and where they go.

Unfortunately, though, I was actually quite disappointed. It’s rather too post-modern for me, and don’t get me wrong, I like a good dose of post-modernism, but in this book it was just too much and paired with characters that weren’t really likable and very little actually happening but literary tricks and gadgets all over the place.
He does them well, really, but without a story and real feeling for the characters to back them up, they just stick out too much. Towards the end of the book, where he brings each character to a conclusion, each part is written completely differently. A priest who writes prayers in his spare time is written in form of a prayer poem in first person view. One of them is written only in dialog and a painter’s conclusion is described only by a catalogue of his last pieces. It’s all very clever and well done, but I just felt no emotional connection to the story.

So, in conclusion, I’d tell everybody to go buy Silk and don’t judge the author by Ocean Sea.


Other books read by the same author:
Silk

Book 02: Carlos Ruiz Zafón – The Prince of Mist

 

The Prince of mist was a mostly accidental buy at the train-station. I had forgotten to bring a book and wasn’t looking forward to 45 minutes without any reading materials. I was looking for something not too long and not too complicated, something to work well to take my mind of my finals and my master’s thesis for a bit and because The Shadow of the Wind was so beautiful, I just went for this one.

It turned out to be more of a young-adult fantasy murder mystery book (and boy, it’s been so long since I’ve read one of those!)
It tells the story of young Max and his two sisters who move to a small and sleepy sea-side town with their parents to escape the dangers of a city in war-time. And in that town, the children discover magic – or rather they discover that it exists. Little creepy coincidences lead them to get spooked and when they meet the Roland, a boy of the village, he tells that them he has noticed something too and everything seems to be focused on the face of a clown – a statue in the garden of the old house the family moved to.
When the younger sister, Irinia, spooked by an apparition of him in her closet, falls down the stairs and falls into a coma, Max, Alicia and Roland are left to their own devices to solve the mystery.

It’s a sweet book, a bit too sweet and clichéd at times but the suspense is well maintained and its actually really scary (and not just for kids, either, I couldn’t really put it down at night because I was so spooked).

It doesn’t even approach the genius of The Shadow of the Wind but it was an interesting glimpse into the author’s earlier work. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it but it is a quick read and a nice throw-back into your early teens when this was the general feel of books.

 

Other books read by the same author:

The Shadow of the Wind

Book 01: Haruki Murakami – A Wild Sheep Chase

 

A Wild Sheep Chase is a rather extraordinary novel set in contemporary Japan and laced strongly  with elements of fantasy and myths. The plot is as complicated as it is simple: a man is sent on a mission to find a sheep. Now, the mission is blackmail and the sheep a kind of old-world ghost hungry for power.

Reading Murakami is always rewarding and full of unexpected nuances and A Wild Sheep Chase is no exception. There is a freshness to him that never ceases to give me pause. You just can’t help it; usually in reading a book, very little about it is actually original. I’m not accusing anyone of plagiarism here, but scenarios and metaphors, reactions and ideas feel familiar. Whether from literature or from your own mind and your own life. Murakami regularly makes me want to rub my eyes in wonder because his concepts and his phrasing just feel like something I have never come across or could never come up with myself. This can probably in part be attributed to the different cultural background and I’d easily admit that am only familiar with the work of two other contemporary Japanese authors, but whatever it is, doesn’t lower the level of enjoyment I get from reading his books.

 

I can’t even really tell which of his books I enjoyed most or which I consider the best. I enjoyed this one immensely  and I am sure I will feel the same about the next one. It had wonderfully quirky and interesting characters, wonderful writing and a really driven plot. Where some characters, like the girlfriend with the beautiful ears, J or even the boss’ assistant seem technically not exactly three-dimensional, this doesn’t feel like a flaw in the slightest. Everything about the book feels symbolic and so do the characters that populate it. Their relatively slim scope of personality traits/flaws just supports that feeling in a beautiful way. It is further emphasized by the fact that hardly anyone seems to have a real name and they are referred to by generalities and stereotypes – The ex-wife, the boss, the sheep professor, the rat, etc.

 

If you try to explain the book to someone, they seem to start wrinkling their forehead and shake their heads. This is too complicated, too weird for me, thanks. I might have reacted the same way, to be honest. But it is a really wonderful read and I highly recommend Murakami to anyone who hasn’t had the pleasure of reading his books yet.

 

Other books read by the same author:

After Dark
Sputnik Sweetheart
South of the Border, West of the Sun
The Elephant Vanishes

 

Books 2010


January
-- (Jasper Fforde - The Well of Lost Plots - Audiobook - [4/5])
-- (Jasper Fforde - Something Rotten - Audiobook - [4/5])


February
-- (Walter Moers - Der Schrecksenmeister - Audiobook - [4/5])
-- (Walter Moers - Ensel und Krete - Audiobook - [3/5])
-- (Walter Moers - Rumo und die Wunder im Dunkeln - Audiobook - [4/5])


March
01. kisstheground - As of yet unpublish novel - [4.5/5]
02. Salman Rushdie - The Enchantress of Florence - [3.5/5]


April
03. Ian McEwan - Enduring Love - [4/5]


May
04. Haruki Murakami - After Dark - [4.5/5]
05. Belle de Jour - Further Adventures of a London Call Girl - [3.5/5]


October
06. Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid's Tale - [4.5/5]


December
07. Nick Hornby - Juliet, Naked - [5/5]
08. Julie Orringer - How to breathe underwater - reread - [5/5]



Oh, pathetic count, I know.

Book 06: Nick Hornby - Juliet, Naked

I have liked Nick Hornby for quite a while now (the incredibly dragging and early midlife crisis depression inducing High Fidelity not withstanding) and while I often hear disparaging remarks about him, I could never really see why. Sure, he’s no Ian McEwan or Salman Rushdie but doesn’t try to be and that is not the only way to write a good book. Hornby has that sharp talent for characters - especially those that don’t usually populate novels. He has a fresh and witty voice and this unflinching and interesting perspective on things.

Juliet, naked doesn’t have the most original plot in the world - in fact you needn’t look any further than your basic fan fiction - but it’s sheer brilliance in how it is told. The story follows a middle-aged couple, Duncan and Annie, who while never really wildly in love, are comfortable with other. Duncan is an avid fanboy of a has been singer-songwriter who hasn’t recorded anything since his last and legendary break-up album Juliet. Annie puts up with his obsession, and she does like the musician, Tucker Crowe, but then new developments in his music, namely the release of a new version of the album - entitled Juliet, naked - causes cracks in the relationship and finally they break up, while Annie finds herself in email contact with Tucker Crowe, himself. 

Like all of Hornby’s books, Juliet, naked, has incredibly funny moments that make you chortle and smirk and actually laugh out loud even if you are reading on a full train or in a café. But, like the other books, it is therefor (i think falsely) categorised as comedy, which I don’t think it is. Hornby can be both funny and deeply depressing all at the same time. His characters offer introspection and depression and the tend to hold up a mirror to the reader because there is usually someone you can yourself in - usually in most of the characters to some degree.

Especially his description of fandom and internet communities is terrifyingly astute and hilarious - and especially if you have been part of something like this, quite embarrassing, in a good way. He also one of the few male novelists who write women incredibly well - i.e. as facetted as the men, and without trying to sound like a feminist, that is rare even in really noted authors (like Gabriel Garcia Marquez for instance, only to name one of the most glaring examples).

Its a fun and interesting read and definitely something, I’d recommend.

Other Books read by the same Author: 

- A long way down
- How to be good
- High Fidelity
- Slam

Book 05: Margaret Atwood – The Handmaid’s Tale


The Handmaid’s tale came highly recommended from various sources until I finally caved and gave it a go. I have always been rather fond of dystopias, and this is definitely a different take on them. Maybe in a way it seems even more haunting because it lacks the distance of say, a 1984, which while still of great importance and still moving and thought-provoking, does make you think: “Well, I don’t think in the light of how history turned out since he wrote it, it’s communism we have to be afraid of.”

Written in 1985, The Handmaid’s Tale really doesn’t read like its 25 years old or maybe our world doesn’t move quite as fast as it always seems. Most issues that lead to the dystopian vision of an American society are as prevalent today as they were then apparently: sex-negative feminism, religious bigotry and gender conflicts.

After a coup d’etat in a word of low fertility, the society that emerges is totally ruled by men. Women are no longer allowed to own anything, work or even read. The backbone is a kind of religion that draws a lot from Christianity but is really a political construct (as most religions are, really). Women are either married or, if they are fertile become handmaids, women placed in marriages to deliver children. The story follows Offwarren (the reader never learns her true name), a women born before the change in the regime who has lost everything and submits to what she is put through. She is neither very brave nor surprisingly cunning – she is just a woman in this world and her story is so compelling because of it.

Atwood writes in beautiful prose and while due to stress and other factors, it took me a long time to finish, I always found back into it easily. It flows well but read in too long stretches, I had to put it away because it is heart-breakingly depressing at times, especially in the first half which is mostly a description of the status quo and the past, before the actual plot really picks up.

All in all its definitely a great book, thought-inspiring and beautifully written and while I am always a little suspicious to feminist literature, this one is definitely a great achievement in writing.


Other Books read by the same Author:
none

I've been in such an odd political mood lately, inspired by the zeitgeist movement and by Frank Turner's music and a need for something else in my life other than uni and work and then work for the rest of my life, I guess. So this is where these two songs came from :)

My poor baby camera (a Canon Power Shot SX1000 IS) broke, had it for almost three years and loved it to bits but I suddenly just couldn't turn it on anymore.

At first that almost felt like an almost good opportunity for an upgrade - I mean, 3 years with how fast these things go, are a long time for a piece of technology and I was basically hoping for something even more awesome at a similiar price to what I'd paid 3 years ago (basically like with a computer).

So I decided to stick with Canon and went for the Power Shot SX210 IS. It was shiny and although it felt a bit small, I was excited -- until I looked at the pictures it did on my computer. And it was terrible. Absolutely awful - green mushy pulps for tree-leaves and grass and grey pulps for trees and grey pulps for roads. Really bad.

When I went back to the shop and explained what I hated about it, the shop assistant recommended the Ricoh CX3, which I have now. But while it has some nice features (as the Canon did) my basic complaint is there just as much as before. Well, maybe a slight improvement but not enough to make me happy. And I was supposed to go lower on wide angle and optical zoom for better picture quality and it didn't improve it much - and it was more expensive.

So now it is between just accepting that this is the best I can hope for at this price range (around 300€) and this sensor size, or upgrade to a DSLR. The cheapest ranges there (Canon 1000D, Nikon D3000, Olympus E-450) all range between 380€ and 500€ depending on the kit of objectives and extras they come with and aparently promise drastic improvements. And I mean, if it did give me that much more of what I want, I'd be ok with dropping another 100€.
But at the same time, they are so not handy. I mean you can't just put them into the back-pocket of your jeans and that kind of stuff. And I feel a bit intimidated about all the fuctions and all the things you have to know. At the same time, I love that idea of course.

I'm just wondering whether I'm just too picky. I am used to looking at my pictures on the lower resultion of my laptop screen and after having  acloser look at the pictures I did with my old camera, there are hints of the same problem on the higher resolution of my pc screen. Although not to the degree of the two newer ones. ARGH!

another original song I wrote. Something a little different this time.

Goodnight, world, you’re beautiful
But don’t smile like you’re alright
I won’t forget about the droughts and earthquakes
Just because of this beautiful sunset tonight

Sometimes, I just want to
See world all go to pieces
Just so we can do away with
The old and start over
Ahhhahhhahhhh

I want to live in a world
Without Banks and Politicians
Without a thousand corporations
That try to make need their useless things

So sometimes, I just want to
See world all go to pieces
Just so we can do away with
The old and start over
Ahhhahhhahhhh

Call me jaded but the only
Revolution I can see us win
Is the kind of revolution
Where all we do is spin around

So lets all look inside ourselves
And remember that we’re human
And figure out a way to make
That mean something again again

And sometimes, I just want to
See world all go to pieces
Just so we can do away with
The old and start over
So sometimes, I just want to
See world all go to pieces
Ahhhahhhahhhh
And Sometimes I just wanna go to pieces