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DUBAI | Books Bought in Dubai 2008

DUBAI | Books Bought in Dubai 2008

Originally uploaded by Dark Orpheus

It's quite a stack. Can't believe I allowed myself to buy so many books.

[ Click here to enlarge and read the titles.]

Books I Feel I Need to Buy

I know some of you will laugh when you read this. For the past month I've been trying NOT to buy anymore books.

The way I figured it: If I'm really leaving the country for a year, I wouldn't be able to read them anyway. It's just not practical to ship books over. So, why buy books? In fact I've also stopped going to the library, in case I forget to return them and come back with a massive overdue fines.

But for books, it's always more than just about the reading of them. For many of us, there is the compulsion to possess - you guys know what I'm talking about. Last week I've picked up two books I had my eyes on: Wild, by Jay Griffiths (I have been waiting for the paperback after reading about it in The Guardian), and Nancy Mitford's Love in a Cold Climate and Other Novels, recommended by Ovidia. (Can you believe my local library do not have a copy available for this title?)

But I have more. Here's a picture of a small stack of books I have been keeping on reservation - waiting for the day I bring them home:

List of books, from the top:

1. Stoner, John Williams
2. Afloat, Guy De Maupassant
3. The Summer Book, Tove Jansson (NYRB Classics)
   
4. A Winter Book, Tove Jansson
5. The Summer Book, Tove Jansson
   (I'm still of two-minded on whether I should pick up the UK edition, published by Sort Of Books instead of the NYRB edition. Sort Of Books has published Tova Jansson's A Winter Book, The Summer Book and Fair Play, with foreword by Ali Smith. As a collection they make a nice set. But my personal partiality to NYRB is making it difficult to choose. Even with books we have brand affiliation.)
6. The Italian, Ann Radcliffe (Oneworld Classics edition)
   

New Addition to My TBR Piles

Just a short note today on new additions to the mountains of TBR books.

I've finally picked up my copy of The Paris Review Interviews, Volume 2. It collects interviews with Philip Larkin, James Baldwin, Harold Bloom, Toni Morrison, Alice Munro, Graham Greene and even Stephen King.

With anthologies, collections of short stories and interviews like these, there are different approaches to reading them. Sort of like how different people eat Oreo cookies -- some twist the biscuit off and lick the creamy goodness first, some bite into the whole cookie, and some dunk it into milk before the bite.

I digress, as always -- though it's a fun question to ask: how do you eat your Oreo cookies? I stuff the whole cookie into my mouth. So if any kid is going to fight me for the cookie, it has my spit all over it. Ha!

Yes, I am one kid that don't play well with others.:p

Back to topic at hand: I bought one book, but ended with two free Uncorrected Proof Copy to bring home.

Some of you may have read Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma. Pollan has a new book out this coming January, In Defence of Food. As he described the thesis of the book so tersely, "Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

It's about how our concept of what is food have evolved through generations -- how complicated and warped the idea of "real food" has become because of the distortion of marketeers from the food industry. Who knows if this would be a good read? Knowing the truth about the food industry -- will we still be able to eat in peace anymore? I guess we owe it to ourselves to find out as much as we can, and then make informed decisions.

Next freebie is the English translation of Wolf Totem by Jiang Rong, which won this year's Man Asia Literary Prize. But you know what's the irony? I have a copy of the original Chinese edition still unread. Oops.

Wolf Totem was inspired by Jiang Rong's (a pseudonym) journey to Inner Mongolia where he lived for 11 years during the Cultural Revolution. In the story, a young intellectual, Chen Zhen, witnesses the complex relationship between nomads, living simply and maintaining their livestock herds, and the wild wolves of the plains. There is a rich spiritual relationship between native and wolves, until the arrival of fellow Han Chinese from the cities. The city dwellers with their imported ideas of modernity and progress destroyed the fragile balance between wolves and humans.

Did you guys realise I just talked about books I have not read? Heh.

I'm keeping my hands off them at the moment though. I'm trying to keep the Books In Progress down.

Meanwhile, picture of the books in a stack. Click to enlarge.

Books Purchased But Are They Read 2007

Tally: 37 Read/134 Purchased

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Books Purchased on 19/12/2007

134. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: A Long Way Home by Joss Whedon et al
133. Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers Leonard Koren
132. Daughter of the Desert Georgina Howell
131. Sunflower Gyula Krudy

Books Purchased on 17/12/2007

130. The Paris Review Interviews, Volume II

Books Purchased on 017/12/2007

130. The Paris Review Interviews, Volume II

Books Purchased on 03/12/2007

129. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neil

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Books Purchased on 28/11/2007

128. The Gift: How the Creative Spirit Transforms the World Lewis Hyde

Books Purchased on 27/11/2007

127. 52: Voume 4 Geoff Johns et al.126. Buffy: The Vampire Slayer: The Long Way Home Joss Whedon & Georges Jeanty
125. Girl Meets Boy Ali Smith
124. Everything That Rises: A Book of Convergences Lawrence Weschler
123. A Time to Keep Silence Patrick Leigh Fermor

Books Purchased on 26/11/2007

122. Dostoevksy: The Mantle of the Prophet, 1871-1881 Joseph Frank
121. Dostevsky: The Miraculous Years, 1865-1871 Joseph Frank
120. Rabelais and His World Mikhail Bakhtin
119. Problems of Dostoevsky's Poetics Mikhail Bakhtin

Books Purchased on 13/11/2007

118. A Voice From the Attic: Essays on the Art of Reading Robertson Davies

Books Purchased on 12/11/2007

117. Sakhalin Island Anton Chekhov [translated by Brian Reeve]

Books Purchased on 07/11/2007

116. My Life Anton Chekhov [translated by Constance Garnett]
115. First Love Ivan Turgenev [translated by Constance Garnett]
114. The Devil Leo Tolstoy [translated by Louise & Aylmer Maude]
113. Ilario: The Lion's Eye Mary Gentle

Books Purchased on 01/11/2007

112. My Swordhand is Singing Marcus Sedgwick

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Books Purchased on 26/10/2007

111. War and Peace Leo Tolstoy [translated by Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky]

Books Purchased on 22/10/2007

110. Oblomov Ivan Goncharov [translated by Stephen Pearl]

Books Purchased on 19/10/2007

109. The Shadow of the Sun Ryszard Kapuscinski

Books Purchased on 05/10/2007

108. 色 , 戒 张 爱 玲 {Lust, Caution Eileen Chang}

Books Purchased on 02/10/2007

107. First Love Ivan Turgenev
106. The Kreutzer Sonata Leo Tolstoy

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Books Purchased on 29/09/2007

105. In Praise of Shadows Junichiro Tanizaki
104. The Cossacks Leo Tolstoy
103. The Hall of a Thousand Columns Tim Mackintosh-Smith
102. The Places In Between Rory Stewart
101. Passage to Juneau: A Sea & Its Meanings Jonathan Raban
100. Journey Without Maps Graham Greene
99. The Lawless Roads Graham Greene
98. The Temptation of Saint Anthony Gustave Flaubert
97. The Married Man Edmund White
96. The Collected Stories Grace Paley
95. Foreign Devils on the Silk Road Peter Hopkirk
94. The Great Game: On Secret Service in High Asia Peter Hopkirk

Books Purchased on 28/09/2007

93. The City In Crimson Cloak Asli Erdogan
92. A Life Italo Svevo

Books Purchased on 20/09/2007

91. 52: Volume 3 Geoff Johns et al.

Books Purchased on 18/09/2007

90. The Music of Razors Cameron Rogers

Books Purchased on 15/09/2007

89. Manhunter: Origins Marc Andreyko et al.
88. Fallen Angel: To Rule In Hell Peter David & J.K. Woodward
87. Checkmate: Pawn Breaks Greg Rucka et al.

Books Purchased on 14/09/2007

86. Hellboy: The Troll Witch and Others Mike Mignola, et al.

Books Purchased on 13/09/2007

85. That Summer in Paris Abha Dawesar
84. Three Bags Full Leonie Swann
83. The Looking Glass Wars Frank Beddor

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Books Purchased on 30/08/2007

82. Novice to Master: An Ongoing Lesson in the Extent of My Own Stupidity Soko Morinaga

Books Purchased on 24/08/2007

81. 30 Days of Night Steve Niles & Ben Templesmith
80. Strangers In Paradise: Ever After Terry Moore
79. Fallen Angel: Back In Noire Peter David et al.
78. The Last Wish Andrzej Sapkowski
77. Seduction and Betrayal Elizabeth Hardwick

Books Purchased on 23/08/2007

76. Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire Mike Mignola & Christopher Golden

Books Purchased on 20/08/2007

75. Birds of Prey: Blood and Circuits Gail Simone et al

Books Purchased on 16/08/2007

74. Owls Do Cry Janet Frame
73. Out of Sheer Rage Geoff Dyer

Books Purchased on 01/08/2007

72. Where the Stress Falls:Essays Susan Sontag

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Books Purchased on 27/07/2007

71. 52: Volume 2 Geoff Johns et al
70. Storming the Gates of Paradise: Landscapes for Politics Rebecca Solnit

Books Purchased on 21/07/2007

69. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows J. K. Rowling
68. The Blue Place Nicola Griffith

Books Purchased on 18/07/2007

67. Sleepless Nights Elizabeth Hardwick
66. Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady Florence King

Books Purchased on 11/07/2007

65. Non-Violence: The History of a Dangerous Idea Mark Kurlansky

Books Purchased on 06/07/2007

64. Liza of Lambeth W. Somerset Maugham
63. The Confidential Agent Graham Greene

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Books Purchased on 22/06/2007

62. The Illusionist Francoise Mallet-Joris
61. The Dud Avocado Elaine Dundy
60. 倾 城 之 恋 张 爱 玲

Books Purchased on 21/06/2007

59. Travels with Herodotus Ryszard Kapuscinski

Books Purchased on 20/06/2007

58. 52: Volume 1 Geoff Johns et al

Books Purchased on 19/06/2007

57. Daphne du Maurier Magaret Forster

Books Purchased on 13/06/2007

56. The Wisdom of Yoga Stephen Cope

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Books Purchased on 26/05/2007

55. Bound to Please: An Extraordinary One-Volume Literary Education Michael Dirda

Books Purchased on 21/05/2007

54. Bamboo Palace Christopher Kremmer
53. Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings Abolqasem Ferdowsi

Books Purchased on 18/05/2007

52. Europe: An Intimate Journey by Jan Morris
51. Reindeer People by Piers Vitebsky
50. Angels & Visitations: A Miscellany by Neil Gaiman

Books Purchased on 17/05/2007

49. Eternals by Neil Gaiman & John Romita Jr.

Books Purchased on 05/05/2007

48. Gargantua and Pantagruel Francois Rabelais [translated by M. A. Screech]
47. Across Arctic America: Narrative of the Fifth Thule Expedition Knud Rasmussen

Books Purchased on 04/05/2007

46. The All New Atom: My Life in Miniature Gail Simone et. al.

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Books Purchased on 26/04/2007

45. Lectures on Russian Literature Vladimir Nabokov

Books Purchased on 25/04/2007

44. Kristin Lavransdatter Sigrid Undset
43. The Wisdom of Solitude: A Zen Retreat in the Woods Jane Dobisz

Books Purchased on 20/04/2007

42. Secret Six: Six Degrees of Devastation Gail Simone et al.

Books Purchased on 18/04/2007

41. Stardust Neil Gaiman & Charles Vess
40. Manhunter: Trial By Fire Marc Andeyko et al.

Books Purchased on 10/04/2007

39. Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser Howard Chaykin et al.

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Books Purchased on 21/03/2007

38. A Coney Island of the Mind Lawrence Ferlinghetti
37. Black Lamb and Grey Falcon Rebecca West

Books Purchased on 13/03/2007

36. After: Poems Jane Hirshfield

Books Purchased on 10/03/2007

35. Vermeer In Bosnia Lawrence Weschler

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Books Purchased on 23/02/2007

34. Arts and Letters Edmund White
33. Manhunter: Street Justice Marc Andreyko, et al.
32. Birds of Prey: Perfect Pitch Gail Simone, et al.

Books Purchased on 21/02/2007

31. Ice Vladimir Sorokin

Books Purchased on 07/02/2007

30. The Prisoner & The Fugitive Marcel Proust

Books Purchased on 02/02/2007

29. About Alice Calvin Trillin
28. Threshold Caitlin R. Kiernan

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Books Purchased on 30/01/2007

27. The Ice Cave: A Woman's Adventures from the Mojave to the Antarctic Lucy Jane Bledsoe

Books Purchased on 25/01/2007

26. Birds of Prey: Between Dark & Dawn Gail Simone, et al.
25. Birds of Prey: The Battle Within Gail Simone, et al.
24. Bloodchild and Other Stories Octavia E. Butler
23. Her Smoke Rose Up Forever James Tiptree, Jr.

Books Purchased on 22/01/2007

22. Fledgling Octavia E. Butler

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Books Purchased on 20/01/2007

21. The Red and the Black Stendhal
20. By Grand Central Station I Sat Down And Wept Elizabeth Smart
19. Birds of Prey: Sensei & Student Gail Simone, et al.
18. Batman/Huntress: Cry For Blood Greg Rucka, et al.
17. Fallen Angel: To Serve In Heaven Peter David & J.K. Woodward
16. Fallen Angel: Down To Earth Peter David, David Lopez & Fernando Blanco

Books Purchased on 14/01/2007

15. In Patagonia Bruce Chatwin

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Books Purchased on 13/01/2007

14. As Meat Loves Salt Maria McCann

Books Purchased on 12/01/2007

13. A Winter In Arabia: Journey Through Yemen Freya Stark
12. The Lycian Shore Freya Stark

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Books Purchased on 06/01/2007

11. A Visit To Don Otavio: A Traveller's Tale From Mexico Sybille Bedford
10. Portrait of a Turkish Family Irfan Orga

Books Purchased on 02/01/2007

9. B.P.R.D. The Universal Machine Mike Mignola, John Arcudi & Guy Davis

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Books Purchased on 22/12/2006

8. Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects Vol 1 & 2 Giorgio Vasari
7. The Story of Art E. H. Gombrich
6. Finding Time Again Marcel Proust
5. Time Was Soft There: A Paris Sojourn at Shakespeare & Co. Jeremy Mercer

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Books Purchased on 19/12/2006

4. The Essential YogaSutra Geshe Michael Roch & Christie McNally
3. The Paris Review Interviews Vol. 1
2. The Reader Ali Smth
1. Gotham Central: The Quick and the Dead Greg Rucka, Michael Lark & Stefano Gaudiano

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What is this about?

Warehouse Haul

It's Saturday -- so guess what I did? I bought books.

There was a warehouse sale -- by invitation only. Fifty percent off all books. Yes, 50% off all books.

My haul:

[Click to enlarge]

1. In Praise of Shadows Junichiro Tanizaki
2. The Cossacks Leo Tolstoy
3. The Hall of a Thousand Columns Tim Mackintosh-Smith
4. The Places In Between Rory Stewart
5. Passage to Juneau: A Sea & Its Meanings Jonathan Raban
6. Journey Without Maps Graham Greene
7. The Lawless Roads Graham Greene
8. The Temptation of Saint Anthony Gustave Flaubert
9. The Married Man Edmund White
10. The Collected Stories Grace Paley
11. Foreign Devils on the Silk Road Peter Hopkirk
12. The Great Game: On Secret Service in High Asia Peter Hopkirk

There was immense self-restraint -- considering the circumstances. Besides these, I was also looking for some Maugham novels, but they're out of stock. How can anyone be out of stock for Maugham?

Also picked up an uncorrected and INCOMPLETE bound proof copy of Michael Chabon's Gentlemen of the Road. Yes, it's incomplete. But I suppose if I don't like the first 170 pages, I'm not going to continue reading the book anyway.

Penguin Great Loves and Books Awaiting Purchase

The bookstore recently received the Penguin Great Loves series: 20 titles -- novellas, excerpts or short stories by famous authors that centre on love. You have Thomas Hardy, Anais Nin, D.H. Lawrence, Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov -- and surprise, surprise, Sigmund Freud.

I was attracted to the covers, but will probably pass on most of them. I would prefer the story in its entirety, rather than the excerpts packaged with a pretty cover. I'm picking up two of the Russian novellas for my A Year of Russian Reading challenge next year though.

Incidentally, while I was picking through the titles on what to buy, Boo came along and picked out Stendhal's Cures for Love. She waved it at me, and remarked how it reminded her of blood cultures or something you find under the micro-scope.

I was highly amused, especially with the title -- Cures For Love.

"Do you think we can be innoculated?" I asked. Falling in love has caused me a few unpleasant pains through the years. Somehow an innoculation against love seems like a good idea.

Boo and I chortled. The truth is, neither of us are the cynics that we would like people to believe. Only someone who believes in idealised love can grow cynical about love; it's impossible to disappoint someone who never had hope in the first place.

And a collection of great love stories is a dangerous collection indeed, for failed romantics like myself (or Boo.)

So, I'm a sucker for the Penguin Great Loves afterall. I'm picking up two of the titles, which I will purchase when I receive my next paycheck. (When one has limited income, one has to stagger the purchases, and try to keep below the budget -- in case of any last minute expenses.) Just for fun, these are the books I have lined up for purchase for the month of September:

1. First Love (Penguin Great Loves)
   By Ivan Turgenev
   Translated by Isaiah Berlin


2. The Kreutzer Sonata (Penguin Great Loves)
   By Leo Tolstoy
   Translated by David McDuff


3. The Summer in Paris
   By Abha Dawesar



I read Abha Dawesar's debut novel, Babyji last year and I found a smart young writer whose wit sparkled on the page. I had my eye on this book when it first came out in hardcover last year. I wanted to see if she has developed as a writer since Babyji. Now, it's finally available in a more affordable paperback.

4. The Book of Air and Shadows
   By Michael Gruber



I've read some of Michael Gruber's earlier supernatural thriller. He's good at creating suspense and developing some really memorable characters. Book of Air and Shadows is a conspiracy thriller about a possible lost Shakespearean manuscript.

5. Three Bags Full
   By Leonie Swann

This one is really fun: A shepherd is murdered and his sheep -- these are intelligent sheep, mind you. One of them is even named Miss Maple (get it?) -- set out to solve his murder. Everything through the point-of-view of the sheep. It's so absurd I need to read it.

Left Many Books Unread

You know that column Books Purchased But Are They Read? 2007 on the sidebar? I did that to keep track of the number of books I bought this year, and which one I actually read in the same year.

So it seems I bought 72 books this year (and it is only August!), but read only 23. I swear, they should carve it on my headstone when I die: "Left Many Books Unread".

The Books Purchased But Are They Read? 2007 list is just evidence that I desperately need to curb down the book-buying. We will be moving out of our apartment soon - when the new flat is ready in about two years time. The thought of moving house with the amount of books I have is daunting. I have books on floor, fighting for space with my yoga mat. I bruised my little toe walking onto The Art of Eating twice this week. Books are becoming a safety hazard. Death by Books; now, that could be the title to the story of my life.

Chris recently wrote about losing some of his books because of Katrina. Part of his lost collection was the Lords of the Rings trilogy. His excitement at receiving a new set of Tolkien was palpable. It made me appreciate that I still have my library. I started looking at my bookshelves, wondering which are the books I can afford to give up, and which are the ones that will break my heart to relinquish. I find it harder to give up certains books than I realise. I am possessed by my possessions - how un-Zen of me.

Chris's story reminded me of the 2004 Tsunami when people lost their lives and their homes in a single day - Boxing Day 26th December. Back then, we were bombarded by the images of death and loss everyday. I happened to be attending a Buddhist meditation course then. Our teacher spoke of some of his students who went over to help out at the tsunami stricken areas, and what they witnessed.

One of his students was a dental specialist, and her team was in charge of identifying the bodies through dental records. They had to process hundreds of bloated corpses everyday, and some of the members on the team find themselves breaking down emotionally.

They were dentists, and nothing in their training prepared them for such a brutal confrontation with death: The bloated, rotting corpses. Nameless bodies unclaimed. This is what lives had been reduced to in an instance. Nothing that these people did or owned matters anymore. In the end, this is all that we are: A pile of rotted skin, flesh and bones. My meditation teacher taught us to meditate on this.

In the Mahabharata, there was a riddle: "Of all the world's wonders, which is the most wonderful?"

Yudhishtira, the wisest of the Pandava brothers, replied, "That no man, though he sees others dying all around him, believes that he himself will die."

It is this recognition of transience that monks relinquish possessions and focus on their spiritual learning. Recognising that all shall pass, why hold on to things? My books, CDs, DVDs are overwhelming my life. Why not let them go, to leave space for more important things in life?

Partly because of my blue-collared upbringing, I grew up with an aspiration to learning. My book-buying habit is as much a syndrome of this desire to acquire knowledge. Each book I buy speaks of a hope, a dream of one day reading it, and learning something. But I wonder: with so many books unread, and more coming, will I ever truly get to them? It is just hoarding, isn't it? Do I need these dead-weights in my life?

I'm not going to stop buying and reading books of course. If anything, awareness of transience means appreciating what you have now. It demands that we live it more fully, instead of always looking ahead for the next "better" thing, or dwelling in the past for what you have lost.

And I should be appreciating the books I have now, instead of buying new ones all the time. In fact, each time I pick up a book from the bookstore, I should ask myself - do I really need it? Could I perhaps find it in a public library? Will I miss it if I lose it in a fire? And perhaps, I could extend this reasoning to all the other material possessions in my life.

If I lose all I own in a fire, what are the things I will miss, and what are the ones I could do without?

BOOKS | Books to Look Forward To

I've recently placed special customer orders for some books I'm interested in, because the bookstore I work for don't carry stocks for them. It's ironic, because I used to be the buyer for that section, but since my transfer, the people in charge of the buying have some difference of opinions with what should go on the bookshelves.

So, the choice is to buy the book elsewhere, or do a special order, like any normal customer. These are my orders:

1. Out of Sheer Rage by Geoff Dyer.

   I read Dyer's Yoga For People Who Can't Be Bothered To Do It recently and I enjoyed his meandering style which can be insightful and funny, because he is blessed with occasional bursts of brilliant self-awareness. Out of Sheer Rage is his signature blend of memoir, travelogue and essay as he writes about trying to write a book on DH Lawrence. He traveled to some of the places Lawrence had been to, all the while meandering in his thoughts.

   What I like about Dyer is how he illustrates that the straightest, shortest route is not always the best way to a destination, and wandering off the straight and narrow path can often be a lot more fun and enlightening. I'm hoping for some entertainment from Out of Sheer Rage, but I also hope to learn a few things on the way.

2. Daphne Du Maurier by Margaret Forster.

   The whole Du Maurier centenary and the various write-ups on her "Venetian tendencies" got me curious, although sometimes I wonder if human creativity can be so easily summed up with the modern psycho-babble: she wrote these dark tales because she was a repressed lesbian suffering from unrequited love. Huh?

   I'm hoping to read the biography after I finish some of her novels, like Jamaican Inn, My Cousin Rachel and of course, Don't Look Now and Other Stories. I've always been a fan of gothic novels, of books that explore the deeper horrors of the human psyche. Meanwhile, I've received a free copy of the Collector's Edition of Rebecca, published by Orion. I have all intention of reading Rebecca soon, but this hardcover edition is a little unwieldy ― not to mention a little too "girly" for my taste.
   

3. Bound to Please by Michael Dirda.

   The paperback collection of Michael Dirda's book essays is finally released. It collects some of his better book essays published for The Washington Post where he was Book Editor for many years. Among his gems are the literary profiles from his reading of literary biographies ― what he wrote after reading the biography on Samuel Beckett inspired me to want to read all the Beckett works, and his treatment of Colette was wonderfully respectful ― which I appreciate. But my favourite essay in the whole collection is that very heartfelt admiration he expressed for A.S. Byatt's Possession. It's a great reminder that the best book reviewer is someone who is personally and emotionally engaged with books, and not just someone doing a job because he/she needs a paycheck. I want my book reviewer to be capable of geeky adoration, because it is true, that sometimes a book hits you so hard, the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about it is just "Wow".

   I'm waiting for my copy to come in, and the A.S. Byatt essay will be the first thing I will reread.

Meanwhile, some new releases I'm looking forward to:

1. Away by Amy Bloom

   Another novel by the author who opened my eyes to the splendour of short stories. The truth is, I didn't like her last novel as well as I adore her short stories. Amy Bloom seems to work better when she leaves things unsaid with the brevity of her stories. But I am still looking forward to this novel, as she is still a writer capable of making me feel like her characters, even though I have never been in those situations myself.
   

2. At Large and At Small: Familiar Essays by Anne Fadiman

   Everyone should be familiar with Fadiman's Ex Libris by now. If not, where have you been? Ex Libris is her paen to books and reading, and now Fadiman is tackling the art of essays. I am prepared to be dazzled.
   

3. War and Peace, the Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky translation of Tolstoy.

   One could say I waited many years for this translation. These translators brought Dostoevsky to life for me about ten years ago. Now I await the Tolstoy experience.
   

4. Travels with Herodotus Ryszard Kapuscinski

   I have been reading Heordotus slowly these days. Kapuscinski had a copy of The Histories as a gift from his first boss, and he carried it through out his travels. According to Kapuscinski, Herodotus was the first "globalist" ― the first of the literary reporter.

This post was written while listening to Patti Smith's Twelve.

BOOKS | Bought Rabelais and Rasmussen

I went back down to Borders to take a look, hoping something may turn up that will allow me to use my 35% off coupon. I finally settled on the new Penguin Classics translation of Gargantua and Pantagruel. I am interested in Rabelais partly because of Mikhail Bahktin. And recently, The Rebel Angels with its ribald spirit further aroused in me the desire to read Gargantua and Pantagruel. Rabelais was also called the "Laughing Philosopher." I like that idea.

Also picked up the hardcover version of Knud Rasmussen's Across Arctic America: Narrative of the Fifth Thule Expedition from another bookstore. Last month I watched a pretty good film, The Journals of Knud Rasmussen. It planted a seed of interest in Rasmussen's Arctic expeditions, and it made me look further to This Cold Heaven, that I had planned to read for the Non-Fiction Five Challenge. I need to post on This Cold Heaven soon. I'm on a juicy bit, where Gretel Ehrlich is telling the tale of Rasmussen's trials and tribulations and the many tales of the Inuits that he has collected. It is a book to be enjoyed from afar, preferably somewhere cozy and warm.

I'm looking at the list of books I've bought this year alone, from January 2007 onwards. We're not even halfway through the year and I already own 40 new books. No wonder I have not enough shelf space.

BOOKS | Borders 35% Off and Nothing to Buy

The people at Borders have done it again ― they've sent out a 35% off print-out discount coupon for a limited period. I went down to the local unfriendly Borders for a quick peek ― coupon(s) in hand. Wow. There is nothing I want to buy. Not even at 35% discount.

Is there something wrong with me? Or have the virtues of saving and recycling finally hit home? Oh please. Of course not. The backlist stocks at the local unfriendly Borders is abysmal.

I had a shopping list with me actually:

1. Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings Abolqasem Ferdowsi, translated by Dick Davis
   I've been waiting for this Persian epic to be available in a more affordable format. Penguin has recently released it in their Classic Deluxe edition, with the french flaps and deckled edges.


2. Across Arctic America: Narrative of the Fifth Thule Expedition by Knud Rasmussen
   I'm currently reading This Cold Heaven, where Gretel Ehrlich writes about her seven years (on and off) visiting the Artic. She brought the journals of Danish-Inuit explorer Knud Rasmussen along with her. It became a kind of currency, as the people living in Greenland still speaks of Ramussen as though he was still alive.


3. My Cousin Rachel or Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier
   The recent Guardian write-up on Du Maurier got me interested again. You know, I never got around to reading Rebecca either.


4. Europe by Jan Morris
   I have a Jan Morris thing

Borders doesn't have any of these books in stock. But I am now more reluctant to buy the books that I know will be available at the library. Maybe I have become more money-conscious about books. Maybe that's a good thing. But it's such a disappointment, to have a 35% off coupon with nothing you want to buy. *sigh*

Meanwhile I have to head down to the library. I thought I had Raymond Carver's Cathedral for Literate Kitten's Short Story Challenge. Turns out the collection I have at home is What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. While I'm there, I need to pick up Alice Munro's Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage: Stories; I'm dying to read the short story The Bear Came Over the Mountain.

BUYING BOOKS | Ferlinghetti and West

Trying out my dad's camera, so here's the book purchases of the day (the duckie is just something sitting at my desk):

1. A Coney Island of the Mind: Poems, by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
I've been hoping to pick up Lawrence Ferlinghetti for the longest time.This is the first collection of his that I'm finally going to read. There's something I admire about his bohemian spirit and his insistence that poetry and literature are mainstream and relevant in our lives. Now into his 80s, he's still very much engaged in the arts and culture scene. You can say his whole life is the arts.

I've set aside 24th March to read this collection - because it is Ferlinghetti's birthday - as it is mine.

2. Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: A Journey Through Yugoslavia, by Rebecca West
A lot of book bloggers have been raving about Rebecca West for a while. Since Penguin Classics has a new edition of Black Lamb and Grey Falcon out, so I thought I check it out. I was not prepared for all 1181 pages of it though. Amazon described it as "[p]art travelogue, part history, part love letter on a thousand-page scale" - and something of a Balkan Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. I love history on an epic scale, and I'm waiting to set aside time for this.

Books Purchased 22 December 2006

The local Borders was offering a 40% off promotion for every 4 full-priced books bought. It's mind-boggling, the kind of promotion they have. From the business angle I think they are nuts to cut the profit margin like that - but as someone who buys too many books, I loved it.

My 4 titles purchased - and recorded at the sidebar are:

1. Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects Vol 1 & 2 Giorgio Vasari
2. The Story of Art E. H. Gombrich
3. Finding Time Again Marcel Proust
4. Time Was Soft There: A Paris Sojourn at Shakespeare & Co. Jeremy Mercer

I was hoping to pick up the remaining 2 volumes of In Search of Lost Time that I need to complete the collection. Alas, Borders was out of the specific edition of The Prisoner & The Fugitive. Meanwhile, since reading Jonathan Harr's The Lost Painting, I've picked up a renewed interest in learning about Caravaggio and other old masters. So I've picked up the authoritative The Story of Art as well as Vasari's Lives of Painters, Sculptors and Architects. Michael Dirda recommends the latter as one of the "must-reads" for a lifetime of learning about arts.

Then there is Jeremy Mercer's account of his stay at the famous Shakespeare & Co. bookstore in Paris (not THE Sylvia Beach bookstore, but an old bookstore of the same name.) They filmed bits of the Ethan Hawke/Julie Delpy movie, Before Sunset at old Shakespeare & Co.