100 BOOKS | 100 Books To Read 2008 PRIME

For 2008, along with the literary classics, I am adding more fantasy and science-fiction, some books on Japanese culture, some biographies into my reading list. As always, this is an aspirational list - the key is just to try to read as many as I can.

1. A Voice From the Attic: Essays on the Art of Reading • Robertson Davies
   [13/11/2007 ~


2. In Search of Lost Time Marcel Proust
   Swann's Way
   In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower
   The Guermantes Way
   Sodom and Gomorrah
   The Prisoner & The Fugitive • Marcel Proust
   [Translated by Carol Clark & Peter Collier]
   [26/11/2007 ~
   Finding Time Again
   [Translated by Ian Paterson]


3. The Histories • Herodotus
   [24/04/2007 ~


4. Kristin Lavransdatter • Sigrid Undset
   [Translated by Tiina Nunnally]
   [27/08/2007 ~


5. The Three Musketeers• Alexandre Dumas
   [Translated by Richard Pevear]
   


6. The Book of Disquiet • Fernando Pessoa


7. The Awakening • Kate Chopin


8. Good Morning, Midnight • Jean Rhys


9. After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie • Jean Rhys


10. Mrs. Dalloway • Virginia Woolf


11. Orlando • Virginia Woolf


12. The Napoleon of Notting Hill • G.K. Chesterton


13. Rebecca • Daphne Du Maurier


14. Jane Eyre • Charlotte Bronte


15. The Masterpiece • Emile Zola


16. The Plague • Albert Camus


17. The Myth of Sisyphus • Albert Camus


18. Cheri and The Last of Cheri • Colette


19. Earthly Paradise • Colette


20. Temptation of Saint Antony • Gustave Flaubert


21. Flaubert In Egypt • Gustave Flaubert


22. Bel-Ami • Guy de Maupassant


23. Gargantua and Pantagruel • François Rabelais [translated by M. A. Screech]


24. Don Quixote • Miguel De Cervantes


25. Assassin's Apprentice (The Farseer Trilogy, Book I) • Robin Hobb


26. Royal Assassin (The Farseer Trilogy, Book II) • Robin Hobb


27. Assassin's Quest (The Farseer Trilogy, Book III) • Robin Hobb


28. The Stress of Her Regard • Tim Powers


29. A Canticle for Liebowitz • Walter M. Miller Jr.


30. Riddlemaster Series • Patricia McKillip


31. Cyteen • C. J. Cherryh


32. Her Smoke Rose Up Forever • James Tiptree, Jr.


33. Chronicles of Amber • Roger Zelzany


34. The Once and Future King • T.H. White


35. The Book of Three (Chronicles of Prydain, Book I) • Lloyd Alexander


36. The Black Cauldron (Chronicles of Prydain, Book II) • Lloyd Alexander


37. The Castle of Llyr (Chronicles of Prydain, Book III) • Lloyd Alexander


38. Taran Wanderer (Chronicles of Prydain, Book IV) • Lloyd Alexander


39. The High King (Chronicles of Prydain, Book V) • Lloyd Alexander


40. Bloodchild and Other Stories • Octavia E. Butler


41. Slow River • Nicola Griffith


42. The Art of Peace • Morihei Ueshiba


43. Wabi-Sabi: for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers • Leonard Koren


44. In Praise of Shadows • Junichiro Tanizaki


45. The Book of Tea • Kakuzo Okakura


46. Vermeer In Bosnia: Selected Writings • Lawrence Weschler


47. Out of Sheer Rage: Wrestling With D.H. Lawrence • Geoff Dyer


48. The Last Temptation of Christ • Nikos Kazantzakis


49. Pashazade [Arabesk Trilogy Book I] • Jon Courtenay Grimwood


50. Effendi [Arabesk Trilogy Book II] • Jon Courtenay Grimwood


51. Felaheen [Arabesk Trilogy Book III] • Jon Courtenay Grimwood


52. Fledgling • Octavia E. Butler


53. Bloodchild and Other Stories • Octavia E. Butler


54. The Fortune of War • Patrick O'Brian


55. The Surgeon's Mate • Patrick O'Brian


56. The Ionian Mission • Patrick O'Brian


57. Treason's Harbour • Patrick O'Brian


58. The Far Side of the World • Patrick O'Brian


59. 三国演义


60. Under the Volcano • Malcolm Lowry


61. Love Medicine • Louise Erdrich


62. Molloy • Samuel Beckett


63. Love • Stendhal


64. The Red and the Black • Stendhal


65. The Charterhouse of Parma • Stendhal


66. Walden and Other Writings • Henry David Thoreau


67. Essential Writings • Ralph Waldo Emerson


68. The Twelve Caesars • Suetonius


69. Candide • Voltaire


70. Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape • Barry Lopez


71. The Little Prince • Antoine de Saint-Exupery


72. An Unexpected Light • Jason Elliot


73. The Carpet Wars • Christopher Kremmer


74. The Shadow of the Sun • Ryszard Kapuscinski


75. The Worst Journey in the World • Apsley Cherry-Garrard


76. The Places in Between • Rory Stewart


77. Between the Woods and the Water: On Foot to Constantinople: From The Middle Danube to the Iron Gates • Patrick Leigh Fermor


78. A Time to Keep Silence • Patrick Leigh Fermor


79. The Power and the Glory • Graham Greene


80. The Heart of the Matter • Graham Greene


81. The Solace of Open Spaces • Gretel Ehrlich


82. A Match to the Heart: One Woman's Story of Being Struck By Lightning • Gretel Ehrlich


83. Bleak House • Charles Dickens


84. With Billie • Julia Blackburn


85. The Looking Glass Wars • Frank Beddor


86. The Iliad • Homer


87. Three Bags Full • Leonie Swann


88. Praeterita • John Ruskin


89. The Stones of Florence and Venice Observed • Mary McCarthy


90. Venice • Jan Morris


91. Darkmans • Nicola Barker


92. The Married Man • Edmund White


93. The Salterton Trilogy • Robertson Davies


94. The Leopard • Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa


95. River of Gods • Ian McDonald


96. • Rebecca Solnit


97. • Jorge Luis Borges


98. House Rules • Heather Lewis


99. Ghosts of Spain • Giles Tremlett


100. Animals in Translation • Temple Grandin & Catherine Johnson

Books Purchased But Are They Read 2007

Tally: 37 Read/134 Purchased

**********

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

**********

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

**********

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

**********

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

**********

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

**********

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

**********

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.

**********

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.

**********

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

**********

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

**********

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

**********

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

**********

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

**********

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

**********

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

**********

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?

100 BOOKS | 100 Books To Read 2007 Version 4.5

1. The Man Who Was Thursday G.K. Chesterton
   [25/11/2007 ~ 07/12/2007]


2. The Moon and Sixpence W. Somerset Maugham
   [03/11/2007 ~ 25/11/2007]


3. Fathers and Sons Ivan Turgenev
   [translated by Richard Freeborn]
   [18/11/2007 ~ 24/11/2007]


4. At Large and At Small: Familiar Essays Anne Fadiman
   [07/11/2007 ~ 17/11/2007]


5. The Bacchae Euripides
   [04/11/2007 ~ 17/11/2007]


6. Dracula Bram Stoker
   [20/10/2007 ~ 29/10/2007]


7. Away Amy Bloom
   [18/09/2007 ~ 20/10/2007]


8. The Razor's Edge W. Somerset Maugham
   [14/09/2007 ~ 07/10/2007]


9. The Mistress's Daughter A. M. Homes
   [02/10/2007 ~ 05/10/2007]


10. Ten Thousand Miles Without A Cloud Sun Shuyun
    [01/07/2007 ~ 29/09/2007]


11. A Perfect Hoax Italo Svevo
    [Translated by J.G. Nichols]
    [06/09/2007 ~ 16/09/2007]


12. The Stone Gods Jeanette Winterson
    [15/08/2007 ~ 26/08/2007]


13. The Essential YogaSutra: Ancient Wisdom For Your Yoga Geshe Michael Roach & Christie McNally
    [27/12/2006 ~ 14/08/2007]


14. Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady Florence King
    [18/07/2007 ~ 30/07/2007]


15. The Painted Veil W. Somerset Maugham
    [06/07/2007 ~ 08/07/2007]


16. This Cold Heaven : Seven Seasons in Greenland Gretel Ehrlich
    [01/05/2007 ~ 17/06/2007]


17. The Color Purple Alice Walker
    [03/06/2007 ~ 10/06/2007]


18. A Midsummer Night's Dream William Shakespeare
    [09/06/2007 ~ 10/06/2007]


19. The Winter King Bernard Cornwell
    [23/04/2007 ~ 09/06/2007]


20. Ultramarathon Man Dean Karnazes
    [18/05/2007 ~ 20/05/2007]


21. The Cornish Trilogy Robertson Davies
    The Rebel Angels [1981]
    [26/03/2007 ~ 04/04/2007]
    What's Bred In the Bone [1985]
    [04/04/2007 ~ 07/04/2007]
    The Lyre of Orpheus [1988]
    [07/04/2007 ~ 22/04/2007]


22. After: Poems Jane Hirshfield
    [13/03/2007 ~ 15/04/2007]


23. The Mauritius Command Patrick O'Brian
    [26/12/2006 ~ 13/01/2007]


24. The Last Unicorn Peter S. Beagle
    [03/03/2007 ~ 19/03/2007]


25. Don Fernando W. Somerset Maugham
    [30/11/2007 ~


26. My Life Anton Chekhov
    [Translated by Constance Garnett]
    [27/11/2007 ~


27. In Search of Lost Time Marcel Proust
    Swann's Way
    In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower
    The Guermantes Way
    Sodom and Gomorrah
    [Translated by John Sturrock]
    [31/12/2006 ~ 24/11/2007]
    The Prisoner & The Fugitive
    [Translated by Carol Clark & Peter Collier]
    [26/11/2007 ~
    Finding Time Again
    [Translated by Ian Paterson]
    


28. A Voice From the Attic: Essays on the Art of Reading Robertson Davies
    [13/11/2007 ~


29. The Idylls of the King Alfred, Lord Tennyson
    [05/11/2007 ~


30. The City in Crimson Cloak Asli Erdogan
    [Translated by Amy Spangler]
    [03/11/2007 ~


31. Journal of a Solitude May Sarton
    [01/09/2007 ~


32. Zeno's Conscience Italo Svevo
    


33. One Thousand Roads To Mecca Edited by Michael Wolfe
    [05/09/2007 ~


34. Kristin Lavransdatter Sigrid Undset
    [Translated by Tiina Nunnally]
    [27/08/2007 ~


35. The Southern Gates of Arabia Freya Stark
    


36. Nightwood Djuna Barnes
    


37. The Comedians Graham Greene
    [06/08/2007 ~


38. Where the Stress Falls: Essays Susan Sontag
    [01/08/2007 ~


39. The Dud Avocado Elaine Dundy
    [01/07/2007 ~


40. King Lear William Shakespeare
    [29/06/2007 ~


41. Freedom from Fear: And Other Writings Aung San Suu Kyi
    [28/05/2007 ~


42. Bhagavad Gita Translated by Stephen Mitchell
    [07/06/2007 ~


43. River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West Rebecca Solnit
    


44. Don't Look Now and Other Stories Daphne du Maurier
    [07/05/2007 ~


45. The Histories Herodotus
    [24/04/2007 ~


46. In Patagonia Bruce Chatwin
    [14/01/2007 ~


47. The Bone People Keri Hulme
    [11/03/2007 ~


48. The Bastard of Istanbul Elif Shafak
    [21/01/2007 ~


49. Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette Judith Thurman
    [09/12/2006 ~


50. The Reader Ali Smith
    [19/12/2006 ~


51. The Late Mattia Pascal Luigi Pirandello
    


52. Weight Jeanette Winterson


53. The Three Musketeers Alexandre Dumas
    [Translated by Richard Pevear]
    [16/12/2006 ~


54. The Crusades Through Arab Eyes Amin Maalouf
    


55. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek Annie Dillard
    


56. Earthly Paradise Colette


57. Cheri and The Last of Cheri Colette


58. Emma Jane Austen


59. Leaves of Grass Walt Whitman


60. By Grand Central Station I Sat Down And Wept Elizabeth Smart


61. Beware of Pity Stefan Zweig


62. Skating to Antarctica Jenny Diski


63. The Garden of Departed Cats Bilge Karasu


64. Mysteries Knut Hamsun


65. Running in the Family Michael Ondaatje


66. House Rules Heather Lewis


67. A Match To The Heart Gretel Ehrlich


68. Nine Gates: Essays Jane Hirshfield


69. The Twelve Caesars Suetonius


70. Candide Voltaire


71. Out Of Africa Isak Dinesen/Karen Blixen


72. Venice Jan Morris


73. The Leopard Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa


74. The Name of the Rose Umberto Eco


75. The Power and the Glory / The Heart of the Matter Graham Greene


76. Walden and Other Writings Henry David Thoreau


77. Essential Writings Ralph Waldo Emerson


78. 三国演义 [English Translation: Romance of the Three Kingdoms]


79. Arabian Sands Wilfred Thesiger


80. Love Stendhal


81. The Red and the Black Stendhal


82. The Charterhouse of Parma Stendhal


83. Tigers in Red Weather Ruth Padel


84. Color Victoria Finlay


85. The Divine Comedy Dante Alighieri


86. My Wars Are Laid Away In Books: The Life of Emily Dickinson Alfred Habegger


87. Molloy Samuel Beckett


88. The Plague Albert Camus


89. Love Medicine Louise Erdrich


90. Kitchen Confidential Anthony Bourdian


91. The Ice Museum Joanna Kavenna


92. A Pelican In the Wilderness: Hermits, Solitaries and Recluses Isabel Colegate


93. Red: Passion and Patience In the Desert Terry Tempest Williams


94. Travels With A Tangerine Tim Mackintosh-Smith


95. Les Liaisons Dangereuses Pierre Choderlos de Laclos


96. The Paris Review Interviews Volume 1


97. Bel-Ami Guy de Maupassant


98. 射 雕 英 雄 传 金 庸


99. How To Read A Book Mortimer J. Adler & Charles Van Doren
    


100. The Art of Eating M. F. K. Fisher
     Serve It Forth [1937]
     [21/01/2007 ~ 24/02/2007]
     Consider the Oyster [1941]
     [24/02/2007 ~ 18/03/2007]
     How To Cook A Wolf [1942]
     [18/03/2007 ~ 07/05/2007]
     The Gastronomical Me [1943]
     [07/05/2007 ~
     An Alphabet For Gourmets [1949]
     

Sugar High Bear

My colleagues are watching me with the anticipation of hyenas for blood this Christmas; They are hoping to be entertained.

Let me explain: Last year on an impulse I piled on the candies, cookies, log cakes and brownies. It was too much too fast and the result was a mind firing on warp-speed. I couldn't stop talking and I was talking so fast no one understood what I was going on about. For two straight hours, I was running around the office like ADHD on speed -- I was on a sugar high and the entire office was there to witness the alarming comedy.

Thankfully that didn't last forever. By 4pm they found me suddenly slumped at my desk, the hood of my jacket pulled over my head. I had crashed. Even this was funny.

This Christmas, the office is speculating on whether I was going to ride on the sugar high again.

I was at my desk yesterday, and I did this to my beanie bear.

What do you think?

seven random and/or weird things meme

I've been busy this December, trying to show up for daily yoga classes and trying to meet up with old friends for dinner -- because I am usually so lousy at staying in touch the rest of the year ;p

Let's just do a pooterish meme today, shall we?

If I understand the rules correctly, I just list 7 random or weird things about myself? Cool.

1) The Most Astonishing Thing I Have Ever Seen? My Naked Face in the Mirror. It's not that I'm narcissistic. Really.

I started wearing glasses when I was 10 years old; my eyesight is so bad that I have to put my face several inches away from the mirror to see my face clearly without glasses.

Then one day I switched to contact lenses. I went into a public restroom and I caught my own reflection in the mirror. For a second I did not recognise my own face without glasses. I haven't really seen my own naked face properly for many years because of my eyesight. It was the most astonishing sight.

2) I Look Like A Vampire On Photos. I have very fair complexion that tends to show up somewhat luminescent on photos. That, complimented by my black hair and a penchant for black clothes, I always end up looking like a vampire.

3) I Do Not Step Out of the House Without Showering/Bathing. Really. If proper shower facilities are available, I am psychologically incapable of leaving the house without a shower. Even when I'm late for work I still take time to shower before I step out of the house.

I think the world is a better place with me well-scrubbed and properly deodorised.

4) I Am Scared of Pink. If a lady in pink is walking towards me on the streets, I would actually move to the side to avoid her. Pink is a colour I associate with bad tasting medicine and vomit. Not sure why.

And Dolores Umbridge is EVIL.

5) I HATE Chihuahuas. One of my ex, The Aquarius, had a nasty Chihuahua named Playboy, that used to bark at me EVERY TIME I visit. I hated that sorry excuse for a canine. I think toy dogs like Playboy suffer from low self-esteem and too much inbreeding. Why are their eyes so BIG when their bodies and heads are so small?

That said, my favourite dog is the Pembroke Welsh Corgi. Just looking at pictures of healthy Welsh Corgis makes me happy. Beagles, Jack Russells and Golden Retrievers are also excellent dogs.

6) If You Feed Me, I'll Do Your Dishes. I'm better brought up than I allow people to believe. Growing up, my mother taught us to help wash up after meals -- especially if we're at someone else's place. It's so programmed into my system that I would feel uncomfortable if the host doesn't allow me to help with the dishes. Once, my friend WW invited a whole bunch of us to her place for dinner, I ended up doing the dishes for everyone.

So, feed me. I'll wash up for you. Gladly.

7) I Celebrated My 30th Birthday By Asking Someone Out For A Date. It's embarrassing now that I think about it. Several years ago, I had a major crush on G, who was dating my friend at that time. I tried to play it cool by acting aloof and even unfriendly towards G. When G and my friend broke up, we lost touch.

Then several weeks before my 30th birthday I ran into G. We exchanged phone numbers, and later I invited G to watch Russian Dolls -- a movie about turning 30, and not being ready to grow up just yet.

Nothing came out of it, and we haven't spoken to each other for a year now. But I was glad I finally asked G out after all these years. Even if it was in a moment of desperate panic about turning 30. ;p

Random Stuff from the Clutter of Dark Orpheus

Chris started it, when he posted the picture of his TBR pile/shelf. Then Jean Pierre went and posted his TBR shelf.

So, now it's my turn -- *drumroll* -- welcome to the chaos that is my bookshelves, along with other random stuff. I can't even begin to separate the books read from the books unread -- so it's ALL there.

I have to warn you though -- the pictures are not neat and pretty. What you have are some images of raw, gritty (and occasionally grimy and often dusty), (almost) uncensored Dark Orpheus living space.

If you want to ask how often I dust my bookshelves -- the answer is: any time I happen to be holding the duster in the general vicinity of the shelves. Which is not a frequent phenomena.

Ten Thousand Miles Without a Cloud II | Impermanence

This is my second post on Ten Thousand Miles Without a Cloud because there is really a lot in this book that I want to share. I have mentioned earlier that Sun Shuyun's book really picked up for me when her narrative reached India.

Sun tells the story of the destruction of the Sakya clan, ruled by the Buddha's own father. (The Buddha would have been king of the Sakya clan if he had not chosen the spiritual path):

The Buddha sat in the middle of the road under the scorching sun. The king who led the attack stopped and asked him why he did not seek shade under a leafy tree nearby. The Buddha replied: 'My clan is like the leaves. Now you are going to cut them off, I have no shade.' Three times he managed to persuade the king to turn back. But the fourth time, the king swept past him. He killed all the men, buried all the women and burned down the capital of Kapilavastu. For all his power, the Buddha was powerless to prevent it. Nothing is permanent, he would say. A thousand years of Buddhism, a thousand years of Islam. The only inevitablity is change.

A part of me wondered: if the Buddha had been king, would he had been able to prevent the destruction of his clan in his own lifetime at least? For when the Buddha was still a child, old man told his fortune and said he would either be a great teacher or a great king - but perhaps it would only have delayed the process. Nothing lasts forever.

India was the birthplace of the Budddha and Buddhism. Yet by the time Xuanzang reached India, Buddhism was already in decline. By the 11th century, the Afghan invaders dealt the final blow: jungles swallowed all the thousands of Buddhist monuments, and mosques or Hindu temples were built on their foundations.

According to Sun, until 150 years ago, both the Indians and people in the West had little idea who the Buddha was. She cited the Encyclopaedia Brittannica from 1942, with its entry on Buddhism - it defines Buddha as "one of the two appearances of Vishnu". It baffles the mind that Buddhism could have been forgotten in the land of its birth - and yet it is. We imagine that society and culture advance naturally as time progresses, and knowledge is incremental. We are blind to the fact that as we push forward in some areas, many things are also lost through neglect.

The story behind the rediscovery of the Buddha in India is remarkable, because it seems to bring the story full-circle to Xuanzang. In the 1850s, Fa Xian's Record of Buddhist Countries and Xuanzang's Record of the Western Regions were translated into French an English. The two accounts had always existed in China, and they were suddenly 'discovered' by European orientalists. The two books mapped out a thousand years history of Buddhism, with all the significant sites and their importance, with details of monastries and the monks who inhabited them. Heinrich Schliemann found the location of Troy through a close reading of The Iliad and Alexander Cummingham, the first Director of the Archaeological Society of India -- decided to use the Chinese monks' records as guide to shed light on the history of Buddhist India. So his quest led to the excavations of Bodh Gaya in Bihar, where the Buddha became enlightened; Sravasti, where he spent most of his life teaching and many other important sites in Buddhist history.

When Xuanzang set out on his journey to India, his intention was to bring back to China the true teachings of the Buddha. He felt that over the years, Buddhism as it was practiced in China has been diluted and he had questions that had to be answered. How was he to know that one day the Buddhist faith itself would be erased from India, the land of its birth? Or that Xuanzang's records would be the catalyst to bringing back Buddhism to India?

Nothing lasts forever. Yet paradoxically, nothing is ever truly lost.

"...the point of travel is to come back changed..."

From Worldhum's interview with Susan Fox Rogers:

Somehow I don’t think tourism will diminish there. Antarctica has a powerful pull for some people, doesn’t it?

Yeah. I saw a blogger ask why people have to go there. Well, it changes how you see the world. That’s why people have to go there. When you’re thrown into such extremes, at least where I was in McMurdo, the sensory deprivation is extraordinary. Colors are reduced to white, blue, and suddenly blue has 9,000 variations you didn’t see before. And there’s no sound when you’re standing on the Ross Ice Shelf. There’s always some kind of noise around us when we’re at home, even the hum of the refrigerator. Suddenly you can be in a place where there’s no sound at all. You realize that’s not an experience you can have many places in the world. It’s spooky. Now, I don’t know whether anyone on these cruise ships is having that experience.

What’s more, all things are frozen so there’s almost no smell. And where I was the diet was really limited. So your taste is kind of reduced, too. When I left—I didn’t want to leave, but my time was up—and got to New Zealand, I was just assaulted by the warm air. I went out to dinner and ordered a salad and just chewed and chewed. I was so delighted and thought, how could I have not wanted to come back to this? I was on this sensory overload when I got back. It made me see the world differently.

With anything that’s as extreme as that, you have to be changed. To me, the point of travel is to come back changed. I am a pilgrim. When I go out, I want to return to where I’m from and see things differently from when I set out. Antarctica does that to you.

Susan Fox Rogers is the editor for the Traveler's Tales: Antarctica: Life On the Ice

Yoga on Youtube

For those interested in yoga, check out this YouTube video -- yoga against the wall -- with soundtrack. Can I do it? Of course -- the only thing stopping me is the fear of falling off and dying!

Then there is Ana Forrest -- one of the strongest yogini I have ever seen. In the Youtube videos below (broken into 2 parts), you can see Ana Forrest demonstrating various advance yoga poses -- showing the kind of strength and flexibility that set me in awe.

Part 1

Part 2

Why am I posting these? The truth is, my practice has been flagging lately. My favourite teachers have left the studio where I practice, and it has been difficult trying to find the motivation to keep showing up for yoga classes. So I seek out these Youtube videos of some of the yoga teachers who inspire me, just to remind myself why I need to show up on the mat.

Maybe it's a short-term fix, but I'm just giving myself a good kick out of my complacency. Inspiration to practice isn't going to just fall on my lap while I'm sitting here mopping.

The Dark Knight Teaser Poster

Anyone seen the new The Dark Knight teaser poster?

Elizabeth Hardwick Passes

Elizabeth Hardwick -- critic, essayist, fiction writer and co-founder of The New York Review of Books, died on Sunday in Manhattan. She was 91.

From the The New York Times:

In a 1984 interview in The Paris Review, the writer Darryl Pinckney asked her about her feelings about getting older. “Its only value is that it spares you the opposite, not growing older,” she said, adding: “Oh, the dear grave. I like what Gottfried Benn wrote, something like, ‘May I die in the spring when the ground is soft and easy to plough.’

Her titles published by NYRB Classics are Sleepless Nights -- a semi-autobiographical novel signified by "love and alcohol and the clothes on the floor" and her collection of essays on women and literature -- Seduction and Betrayal.

I read Sleepless Nights earlier this year and it was a book I find difficult to write about. What do you say about a book that is inherent diffused in its structure? It defies the conventional narrative of coherence and meaning, more like a journal of a life lived in moments and memories -- but haven't I read enough Proust to realise that our lives are lived in intermittent memories?

I was -- dare I say, impressed -- by Sleep Nights with its elusive, smoke-like narratives. I wish now to read Seduction and Betrayal. Why does the death of the author drive us to read their books more?

Records for 2006

100 Books To Read 2006 Version 4.0

100 Books To Read 2006 [Original List]

Books Read 2006

Films Watched 2006

DVDs Watched 2006

Spain Readings and Other Library Books

I know I've just returned from a holiday, and I should be well-rested. But my eyes are already scouting for possible travel destinations for 2008 (or 2009). Is it premature? Maybe. But the world is immense, and there will always be places we have not seen -- or might never see. (I would like to visit the Antarctica -- but everything I have read about it scares me. I guess there lies the appeal.)

One of my colleague is saving for her Spain trip next year. I am envious, as Spain is one of those places I want to visit.

Then I discovered something unusual on my library account yesterday: I had no books on loan -- AT ALL. I had returned all my library books because I wanted to avoid the overdue charges when I am on holiday, and I have not borrowed anything since.

Still: no books at all? That is something I felt I have to rectify. So, I sauntered down to the library last evening and bagged myself some books:

• DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Spain - I usually go for the Lonely Planet guides when I'm planning a trip. DK guides tend to be more expensive and they are also heavier -- less handy to carry around. That said, I still I enjoy looking at the pictures inside the DK guides. They give me a sense of what I might want to see in that country. I wouldn't buy them unless they are on sale, but I love the library for making them available.


• Don Fernando by W. Somerset Maugham - I find myself addicted to Maugham's writings. It also helps that the blurb at the back says Graham Greene (another of my literary favourite) considered Don Fernando to be Maugham's best work.
  Don Fernando is a collection of essays by Maugham on Spanish culture and civilisation. It begins with the tale of Loyola, and moves on to discuss the writing of St. Teresa, the paintings of El Greco and other Spanish artists and writers.


• The Spanish Bow by Andromeda Romano-Lax - Jenclair first wrote about this book, then Sharon. It has been on my radar for a while. Last night at the library, a copy of The Spanish Bow was sitting in plain sight on the New Arrivals Highlights. Fate had decreed I read this book. I obey.
  

What else did I borrow? Edmund White's Hotel de Dream was sitting right next to The Spanish Bow, so I swiped it. I also picked up Anne Fadiman's Ex Libris and Re-readings because I thought it would be nice to re-read some of the essays.

I am a happy puppy this weekend.

CHALLENGE | Graphic Novels Challenge 2008

I was all excited when I found out Dewey was hosting a Graphic Novels Challenge.

A glance at my sidebar (where it says "Comics & Manga Read 2007") will tell you I read manga and graphic novels from time to time. So, what can be easier?

Even the rules of participation are flexible:

To participate in the Graphic Novels Challenge, simply choose at least 6 graphic novels to read from January 2008 to December 2008. You may overlap with other challenges. You may also change your list of titles at any point if something comes up that you want to switch around.

I thought I could do a nice well-structured reading list with themes and stuff. But I'm afraid my reading habits has always been chaotic. So, without further ado, here is my list:

1. Cairo Written by G. Willow Wilson with art by M.K. Perker
   My director just read it and he recommended it to me. Cairo is a modern magical-realism retelling of the Aladdin story, rendered in stark black-and-white illustrations by Turkish artist M.K. Perker


2. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier Written by Alan Moore
   I loved the first two volumes of LOEG written by Alan Moore. It has been long delayed, but thankfully, it's finally arrived. From what I know of the story, the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen have been disbanded and disavowed, and the country is under the control of a tyrannical regime. Now, after many years, the still youthful Mina Murray and a rejuvenated Allan Quatermain return.


3. The Complete Persepolis Written and illustrated by Marjane Satrapi
   Satrapi's memoir of growing up in revolutionary Iran. I read an interview Satrapi gave a while back and she seemed like an interesting, fiery personality indeed.


4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Long Way Home by Joss Whedon and Georges Jeanty
   It broke my heart when Buffy finally went off the air. Season 8 of Buffy continues in comic form.


5. The Death of Captain America by Ed Brubaker et al
   This is actually pretty out of place on my usual reading list for comics, because I have tried very hard to avoid the Marvel Civil War series since it came out. These crossover series always involve too many titles and if I try to follow the entire story-line, I will have to buy over 30 trade paperbacks. But I'm going to try this one, because the story reads like the death of an icon.


6. Seven Soldiers of Victory Vol. 1 Written by Grant Morrison
   Once again, I've been hearing all these praises for the series, which brings in Grant Morrison to tie in several unrelated characters in their pursuit against a common foe. I think. Honestly, I have no idea what this series is about. The challenge is to go into this series blind.


7. Batman: Death and the City Written by Paul Dini
   I am a Batman fan, and I have too many Batman T-shirts for any respectable adult. I'm throwing this into the mix as I have heard good things about Paul Dini's run on the Dark Knight mythos. This one features Zatanna.


8. Birds of Prey: Dead of Winter Written by Gail Simone
   Gail Simone is one of my favourite comic book writer. She revitalised the Birds of Prey franchise, made convincing heroes out of B-list characters like Huntress and Black Canary. This will be her swan-song on the BoP series.


9. Crime Bible: Five Lessons of Blood Written by Greg Rucka
   The spin-off from 52, and it features one of my favourite DC character, Renee Montoya – who has taken the mantle of The Question towards the conclusion of the 52 series.

Other Titles (too many to list all)

• Shortcomings By Adrian Tomine


• Welcome to Tranquility: Volume 1 & Volume 2 by Gail Simone


• Fallen Angel Vol. 4 by Peter David


• Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 By David Petersen


• The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman


• B.P.R.D. Garden of Souls by Mike Mignola et al

Paste's Best 50 Films of 2007

Paste Magazine has listed their top 50 Films of 2007:

1. Juno [Jason Reitman]
2. Once [John Carney]
3. Eastern Promises [David Cronenberg]
4. Away From Her [Sarah Polley]
5. Margot at the Wedding [Noah Baumbach]
6. Michael Clayton [Tony Gilroy]
7. The Wind That Shakes the Barley [Ken Loach]
8. No Country for Old Men [Joel and Ethan Coen]
9. The Kite Runner [Marc Forster]
10. Syndromes and a Century [Apichatpong "Joe" Weerasethakul]
11. Ratatouille [Brad Bird]
12. Ten Canoes [Rolf de Heer/Peter Djigirr]
13. Great World of Sound [Craig Zobel]
14. Ghosts of Cité Soleil [Asger Leth/Milos Loncarevic]
15. Offside [Jafar Panahi]
16. My Kid Could Paint That [Amir Bar-Lev]
17. 2 Days in Paris [Julie Delpy]
18. Waitress [Adrienne Shelly]
19. Manufactured Landscapes [Jennifer Baichwal]
20. The King of Kong [Seth Gordon]
21. Sunshine [Danny Boyle]
22. This is England [Shane Meadows]
23. Knocked Up [Judd Apatow]
24. Hanna Takes the Stairs [Joe Swanberg]
25. Bella [Alejandro Gomez Monteverde]
26. The Darjeeling Limited [Wes Anderson]
27. Grindhouse [Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez]
28. Paris, Je T'aime [Various Directors]
29. God Grew Tired of Us [Christopher Dillon Quinn]
30. No End in Sight [Charles Ferguson]
31. The Bourne Ultimatum [Paul Greengrass]
32. Hot Fuzz [Edgar Wright]
33. 3:10 to Yuma [James Mangold]
34. Year of the Dog [Mike White]
35. The Simpsons Movie [David Silverman]
36. Hairspray [Adam Shankman]
37. Sicko [Michael Moore]
38. Rescue Dawn [Werner Herzog]
39. The Short Life of José Antonio Guitierrez [Heidi Specogna]
40. Forever [Heddy Honigmann]
41. Persepolis [Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud]
42. Talk to Me [Kasi Lemmons]
43. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead [Sidney Lumet]
44. Superbad [Greg Mottola]
45. Zodiac [David Fincher]
46. The Savages [Tamara Jenkins]
47. Rocket Science [Jeffrey Blitz]
48. The Signal [David Bruckner, Dan Bush, Jacob Gentry]
49. The Lookout [Scott Frank]
50. American Gangster [Ridley Scott]

I have not caught Juno yet, but I really want to. It stars Ellen Page, whom some of you may remember as Kitty Pryde on the lacklustre X-Men 3, and also the scary girl in Hard Candy. "Ratatouille" -- I loved it. But the truth is, I haven't watched most of the films on this list!

Line-up For 2008 Sundance

The line-up for the 2008 Sundance Film Festival is up.

Among the line-up are some book-to-film adaptations: "Choke", adapted from the Chuck Palahniuk novel, and "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" -- from Michael Chabon's first novel. "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" stars Jon Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Sienna Miller, Mena Suvari and Nick Nolte. I think I'm going to read the novel first.

My eye will be on "Patti Smith: Dream of Life," directed and written by Steven Sebring. It's a documentary that offers a portrait of my favourite poet-musician-prophetess.

I want to be there.

Not Feeling Very Inspired to Write

So I bring you "SPARTAAAA!"

[Via This Sign Has Sharp Edges]

Can you just tell that this really cracks me up everytime?

Looking at Sweeney Todd

I'm looking at the publicity shots for Tim Burton's latest feature, Sweeney Todd, and they look so good. Tim Burton has this eye for capturing a mood, a murderous thought.

Some of you may already know the story, which was based on the musical about the murderous barber (and featuring meat pies), Sweeney Todd, who was wronged by a judge and who returns for revenge. He shaves his victims, who are never seen again, although one wonders what Mrs Lovett put into his meat pies that give them such a taste.

The movie stars Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd, and Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs Lovett -- his amoral paramour who owns the meat pie shop. It also includes Alan Rickman and Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat!) as supporting actors.

I like this picture in particular, because the two leads both look suitably sinister, and kind of dead:

Burton knows how to use the gray palette to great effect.

Just Uploaded my Hanoi Photos

On flickr

Back from Hanoi

Hi Everyone. I'm back home, safe. First order of business is most mundane: laundry. Oh joy.

I'm glad I had time to catch up on my reading this week. Finally finished Sodom and Gomorrah, The Moon and Sixpence and Fathers and Sons.

On the downside -- I have neglected my NaNoWriMo this whole week. Argh! I'm going back to work tomorrow.

It's 3:21 am and as I'm waiting for the laundry to be done, I've just picked up The Prisoner and The Fugitive -- the next volume of the Proustian epic. Things seems to really be picking up again with the Albertine episode. I'm wondering if I can finish the epic before the end of this year. I only have about a month to go -- but you think it's do-able?

It's Saturday!

I'm doing a count-down to my return. My flight is tomorrow night, so I will reach home the next morning. I have taken Monday off, so I have some time to get laundry done and catch up on sleep.

I will probably be down with the post-holiday blues.

Oh a reading note: I have finally finished Sodom and Gomorrah! Yay! It has only taken me 11 months! What a book! What a whiny prick of a narrator!

The narrator makes me want to smack him for his whiny jealousies for Albertine. It's not that he loves her, but rather, he wants to possess her for himself alone. When he is assured of his possession over her, he is bored, and he sends her away, claiming it is a mistake and he will not marry her. But the moment he is informed of Albertine's association with Mlle Vinteuil and her "professional Sapphist" friend (pray, do tell: what is a "professional Sapphist"? It's a career choice, like say, a professional plumber, a professional footballer? They get paid?) -- he is wrecked with jealousy and he breaks into tears. He lies to her about a woman he was supposed to marry, and he packs Albertine off to Paris.

The book ends with him telling his Mama he wants to marry Albertine.

This man is sick. He is obsessed with the bittersweetness of the unfulfilled desire. It's a kind of emotional masochism. It's almost like a soap-opera. I give it 3 out of 5 stars for sheer melodrama. I can't wait to pick up the next volume though -- I heard the action really picks up from there on.

Meanwhile, I am about 118 pages into Turgenev's Fathers and Sons.

Just Came Back from Halong Bay Tour

Hello. Can't believe it's Friday already. Where did the time go?

I have just returned from my 1 night, 2 days tour down Halong Bay -- and I regret not signing up for a longer trip. The scenery there is beautiful. You spend the night on a junkboat, and if you wish, you can choose to sleep on the upper deck under the stars (of course there is the risk of catching a cold). My shoulders are aching from my kayaking trip yesterday morning -- which could have been worse, but thankfully I was with a kayak-partner who was a big, strong six-feet tall guy (who is incidentally a BIG Lakers and Dodgers fan) who looked out for me. He did most of the work paddling, I believe. (Thanks, Jack!)

We went out in the kayaks around the bay, past many very small islands. At one point we were surrounded by high cliffs and the shrill, crackling cries of monkeys from the islands. We couldn't see the monkeys; they were probably well-hidden within the islands. But I loved looking up and watching the eagles soaring, circling above us. It's the kind of scene that makes you just stop and watch, drink it all in. And you are glad you have come to this place, because you would not have been able to see this back home.

I do recommend a trip down to Halong Bay if you ever make it to Hanoi.

While I was on the junkboat, I met some of the other people on the tour. There were a group of five French nationals travelling together. Their English were weak, so conversation was difficult. Then there was Joe, and his sons Jack and Ezra. Joe is 90 years old, and he is in Vietnam for Ezra's wedding (Ezra married a Vietnamese girl). Everyone is in awe of Joe's feisty spirit. He is 90 years old, for goodness sake, but he doesn't seem to let anything stop him.

There was also this Swiss girl, Seriana, perhaps the most interesting one on the tour. She's 25 years old, and she has been travelling around for 7 months. She still has about 3-4 months to travel until her money runs out. (For the year before she started on her journey, she worked as a hair-dresser, she worked other odd-jobs in a bar and in a boutique on the weekends to save money). Everyone is in awe of her, the girl who actually took the Gap-Year and travelled. I guess deep down inside, there is always this desire for adventure. I think I admire her enthusiam, and I wish I can be like her.

I happened to share a cabin with her, and during one of our chit-chats, she showed me the marks on her body from the bedbugs and leeches earned from her travel. This is where the romance of wanderlust sort of comes to halt.

Adventure is nice and good, but the reality is that they have to be endured. The question is: Am I really brave enough to throw aside the comforts of home for this kind of experience? Maybe I have become too settled for my own good.

On the bus journey back to Hanoi, some of the people on the tour group started comparing everyone's passports. What was interesting was how many pages I had on my passport -- 64 pages -- as compared to those of the other countries: Canada, USA, Switzerland, England and France. I was also the only one who did not need a VISA for Vietnam, coming from Asia as I did, and Vietnam being part of ASEAN. (I was also exempted from VISA application for Turkey and China.)

What this tells me is how well-placed it is for me to travel, and I still don't seem to do it enough. One could really take a page from Seriana and her free-spirit ease -- she was the sort who opens up to people easily, something I don't do well.

Alas. Alas. Alas.

Proustian Rambling in Hanoi

Hello all. I am safe in Hanoi, having made it to the plane on time. It's wonderful not having to work, although I am feeling a little guilty about waking up late (at 9:30 am!). I'm sure I will get over this sense of guilt the moment I have to wake up on time for work next week. Sheesh.

The most strenous part of the day is having to decide where to go for breakfast, lunch, coffee and dinner. Oh, the decisions! The decadence! I suspect there will be weight-gain when I return - but what the hell.

I have been faithfully reading Sodom and Gomorrah. I suspect Robertson Davies will disapprove of the way I am reading though. I am approaching it with a sort of "end-gaining" attitude, where everyday I do page-count of my progress. There are 522 pages of Sodom and Gomorrah to conquer, and I am currently only on page 267.

I know I ought to just lie back and allow the waves of Proustian rumination to wash over me - but the fact is, the narrator often just goes on and on and on.

I'm on some juicy bits though. Narrator is now jealously guarding Albertine from insidious lesbians. His obsession with her sapphic adventures is amusing, though a little perverse.

I remember reading the biography on Natalie Clifford Barney, that Proust wanted to meet Barney to research the Female Inverts for his epic. It took forever to arrange a meeting, and when they did meet, Proust just spend the whole time talking, not listening. His portraits of the Parisian sapphos suffered from inaccuracies, as it was mainly from his own imagination.

Oh, M. de Charlus has reappeared. He has just hit on Morel. Oh, there he goes again.

M. de Charlus seemed to me to be one of those potentially tragic characters in the story. The narrator has begun describing his decline - his bloat of a paunch, the vulgar rouge on his lips and powder on his cheeks, all to disguise the toil of age. Yet his desire for virile, younger men is acute, unfulfilled. It cannot end well, I tell myself as I was reading it.

Maybe I should be reading happier books.

At the Airport - Departing

I'm at the airport now. Just checked in, and waiting to board the plane. Free internet access is available here, even if it's only for 15 minutes.

Just an update on the books I actually brought with me:

1. Sodom and Gomorrah, Marcel Proust
   Obvious choice, since it is the first book I packed.
2. The Man Who Was Thursday, G.K. Chesterton
   It's packed nicely together with Proust in a zip-lock bag. Just in case.
3. Fathers and Sons, Ivan Turgenev
   It's a library book that will be due around the time I return. I decided to pack it along and read it on the way. I'm actually a little paranoid that I might lose it on the trip.
4. The Moon and Sixpence W. Somerset Maugham
   I just packed it in. Forgot about it until I unzipped my backpack - and lo and behold - it is here.
5. A Voice from the Attic, Robertson Davies
   I was reading it before I set out for the airport. The truth is, I couldn't bear to put it down as I just packed it along for the trip

Cheers, all. I have about 5 minutes left on the free internet terminal here.

Blogger Christmas Exchange

I want to post this before I leave.

Nymeth has very generously organised a Secret Santa Exchange for book bloggers. I think it's fun and a great opportunity for some gift-giving/sharing among the community (We have a community!)

How is goes is like this:

Each participant is randomly assigned as another participant’s Secret Santa, and they are also assigned as somebody else’s “Santee”. What you have to do is send your person a little something – it can be a book, a pretty journal or bookmark, a box of homemade Christmas cookies, a Christmas mixed CD, or whatever else you can think of. Nothing pricey, of course. Second hand books are perfectly acceptable, as are homemade gifts. And of course, it should be something light, so it doesn’t cost a fortune to mail. Each person won’t know who their Secret Santa is until they get their package in the mail.

Christmas postage being the way it is, Nymeth proposes that we try to send out the gifts by Friday the 7th of December. So if you're interested in being somebody's Secret Santa, and receiving something from a mysterious Santa, please sign up by Friday, the 23rd of November.

To sign up, just drop an email to untuneric at gmail dot com, indicating your interest. You should also include:

1. Your mailing address, so Nymeth can pass it onto your Secret Santa.
2. Say something about the kind of things you like. The info will be forwarded to your Secret Santa to help them pick out something for you.

If you're interested, email Nymeth now. I wonder who will I be sending my gift to? Hmmm... Oh, and if you can, please help spread the news!

As I Trawl the Net for Movie News

Net access has resumed for the time being. So as I surf the net today, I found a few entertainment news that I thought I would share.

"Get Smart" Film Poster:

Anyone remembers the 60s spy-comedy TV series, Get Smart? I used to watch the re-runs on TV every week when I was young. I love the lame-brained humour in it, how Maxwell Smart, the totally clueless spy, and his assistant, 99 -- how they always manage to foil the plans of evil network KAOS. It was a spoof on the outlandish James Bond, but so endearing, because it never took itself seriously.

Next year, they will be releasing a film remake of the TV series. The film will star Steve Carrell and Anne Hathaway. Cinematical has just released an exclusive poster:

I like this poster. It sort of captured the buffoonery of the original series.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - Film Casting Finalized:

Oh, it seems Naomi Watts is not going to play Narcissa Malfoy. Instead, the role will be filled by Helen McCrory.

Who?

"Entertainment Weekly" Photos for "The Sarah Connor Chronicles":

From big-screen to small-screen. EW magazine has released the official posters for The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

I've always been a fan of the first and the second Terminator movies. But what I'm really looking forward to for the TV series is Lena Headey and Summer Glau. Check them out here:

Robertson Davies on the Art of Reading

I'm having some trouble with my internet connection at home, so I have not been able to blog as freely this week. My discomfort with this lack of net connection may be a sign of a cyber-addiction. Right now I'm using my dad's laptop to surf -- and I feel like I'm ten years old, surfing the net under parental supervision.

I am trying to finish packing for my Hanoi trip. The flight will be this Sunday (18th November). Not sure about the availability of internet connection over there, so I may be offline for a while.

I had a replacement day-off this Wednesday. I had planned to spend the whole day working on NaNo, but it was such a nice day, so I went out to a cafe instead -- one that overlooked the sea. The view was not as nice as it should be because of the construction that mars the horizon. Still, I had a full day of restful leisure. I wrote a little, but I don't think I can use what I wrote; I drank a lot of coffee, watched Factory Girl -- but most of all, I read a book. Not just any book -- but an out-of-print Robertson Davies that I have been looking for the past year.

I recently logged on to Abebooks and ordered a secondhand copy of Robertson Davies's A Voice from the Attic: Essays on the Art of Reading. The postage costed more than the book (a pencil scrawl indicates the book was priced at 50 cents) The question of course, was it worth it?

Oh yes. Oh yes. Oh yes.

The book was first published in 1960 and reprinted with a preface in 1971. This revised edition in my possession right now was reprinted in 1990. In a nutshell -- this is a very old book.

There are some details in the book that feels out-dated, like Davies describing the process of listening on a gramophone. Yet, in his preface he made this bold claim: "This is, after all, a book about reading, and the kind of reader I am addressing does not care primarily about being in fashion." And yes, his message is still highly relevant.

Davies calls these readers the "Clerisy". So, who be these clerisy?

The clerisy are those who read for pleasure, but not for idleness; who read for pastime but not to kill time; who love books, but do not live by books. As lately as a century ago the clerisy had the power to decide the success or failure of a book, and it could do so now. But the clerisy has been persuaded to abdicate its power by several groups, not themselves malign or consciously unfriendly to literature, which are part of the social and business organization of our time. These groups, though entrenched, are not impregnable; if the clerisy would arouse itself, it could regain its sovereignty in the world of letters. For it is to the clerisy, even yet, that the authors, the publishers, and the booksellers make their principal appeal.

The Clerisy is Us. And our name is Legion.

This is Robertson Davies's call to the clerisy to reclaim the art of reading for readers, and not to allow the "experts" to determine taste and opinions. He pointed out that too many of us do not think of ourselves as artists, and often we have little faith in our interpretative skills. So we defer to the critics, who are paid for knowing something and giving public expression to his/her opinions, while we are stand as mere laymen in the world of books and reading.

Davies was particularly annoyed by the term "layman" -- which he found somewhat derogatory, as it "meant simply one who worshipped, as opposed to a priest, who had knowledge of the sacred mysteries." It is arrogance for the experts to assume that the amateur is by default not as well-informed or as sensitive as they are, and Davies reminds these experts of the need for humility which art imposes, so as to "avoid the harlotry of a cheap professionalism."

As I was reading the book, I can't help but think how pertinent this book is to the argument between the professional book critics and the litbloggers. How often the critics have accused litbloggers of diluting the standard of book criticism -- blah blah blah blah. (Oh god, I am mature) Imagine this: Davies wrote this book more than 40 years ago, and we are still fighting the same battles on new grounds.

But wait, Davies doesn't let us off that easily. We the readers have a duty to reading -- at least, we owe it to ourselves to work at being better readers -- "if they do not mean to make the most of their faculty of appreciation, why are they reading? To kill time? But it is not time they are killing; it is themselves.

Reading is a personal interpretative art -- like all art form, it takes effort and it takes time. For we may read qualitatively, but we do not always read qualitatively. One of the reasons we read with this poverty of mind is the "end-gaining" attitude to our books. Many of us dash through a book -- because we want to "have done" with the book so that we can move on to the next one. I admit this is something I am guilty of -- I also enjoy making reading lists, just so that I can tick off against the list what I have "done".

How many times have I felt that I need to re-read a book, because I seem to have missed something the first time? I don't think of myself as a good reader. Often, I think I do not allow the book a fair chance to make its effect on me. It's like I consume books, perhaps just so that I can claim to have read Moby Dick or some other great literature.

I am only about 20 pages into the book, so what I can share right now is limited by the brevity of my own reading. Davies continues to talk about how a reader could work towards better appreciation and better reading. One of his more interesting point is to develop "the inward ear" -- for reading is as much about a Voice. I think about what he said, and I agree -- my favourite authors are writers whose prose are so powerfully lyrical that I find my breath slowing down to match the rhythm of their sentences. It is when I slow down to take note of the language, the poetry, that they start to make their emotional effect on me.

But that is a post for a later date, I think.

NaNoWriMo | Not Even 5000 Words

I'm still working on NaNoWriMo, and last word-count is at 4701. I'm almost 2 weeks into the project and I am not even halfway to the 10,000 mark. ARGH.

I was on the bus recently and it hit me that while I am so concerned about plausible plots and convincing characterisations with my own story, I don't seem to practice the same critical analysis when I read. Maybe I am a lazy reader.

That said, I sort of have an idea plot-wise of the "Great Evil" that will challenge our young hero and his allies. I think I am also getting a better sense of young Julian, reluctant hero. I've been throwing more supporting characters into the mix, and writing outlines of his interactions with the different characters help me "figure him out". It's amazing how we are defined by our relationships. I have also decided the fate of young Julian's much admired older brother, Hugh. Poor Hugh -- heroic, but you need to serve the plot.

To get the word-count, I have been cheating by writing short scenes that are supposed to fit into the story later. Instead of a linear progression, I skip between scenes, elaborating each scene as I feel like it. It's sort of like trying to string together different coloured beads. It's working, it's getting me to write -- but eventualy I will have to make them more coherent overall. Maybe I should worry about that in December.

I still have no idea how the young hero will eventually meet the femme fatale -- the beautiful, enigmatic vampire sorceress, Cristiane, who has her own agenda, but who will of course be absolutely irresistable to young Julian.

Of course, the One Million Dollar Question: Should Cristiane the vampire and Julian the Shadow Hunter have sex? Can I write it? How does one do research for this sort of thing? Should I attempt to write it, or just do a chapter-break between sex?

My mind is just in the gutter, isn't it?

Rambling on my Grandmotherly Music Taste and Carrie Brownstein's Blog

My director is a gentleman in his early fifties, and he could not quite bring himself to believe that I actually listen to Suzanne Vega. He thought I was too young to remember Suzanne Vega -- to which I can only reply, "Thank you for telling me I am still young!"

Of course, I neglect to tell him I think of Patti Smith's "Dancing Barefoot" as the anthem to my life.

Or that I think of Patsy Cline's "Never No More" as my personal heartbreak song. (A fellow colleague -- who is only one year younger than I am -- thought my taste in Patsy Cline was a little "grandmotherly". I couldn't manage any polite way of responding to a statement like that, so I just gave her a flat stare)

I admit my choice in music can be a little eclectic -- I sample a lot, listen to a lot of trash --but along the way I picked up a few things I enjoy.

By my director's estimate, I am definitely too young to remember Sleater-Kinney -- but I do enjoy playing them really loud. There is a raw energy in their voices, in their guitar cries that tears me up inside. Sometimes, the music just hits you on a visceral level -- and you just surrender to its power. Damn it if no one else around you have heard of Sleater-Kinney. Even if your friends make fun of you for listening to "old-ladies-rock-bands" -- just let it go. You know what you like, and you know how the music makes you feel -- just let it be.

Regretfully, I have never seen Sleater-Kinney live -- which I've heard is spectacular. The band lasted 11 years -- a miracle in itself -- but even miracle has to end. But what happens to rockers who call it quits? Not everyone move on to solo careers.

I found out recently that Carrie Brownstein (guitarist/vocalist for Sleater-Kinney) is blogging at the NPR Music site. The tone of the blog so far feels suitably irrelevant, with a touch of self-awareness but maybe a little too verbose. But then again, don't we all ramble a little on our blogs? (Well, I do)

I have bookmarked the blog, oddly entitled 'Monitor Mix'. I suspect I will be a frequent visitor. I smiled when I read how Carrie Brownstein described her blog:

It aims to be an entertaining, insightful, and not too serious take on music and culture. I think fellow cynics and curmudgeons will relate and optimists will learn how to tone it down. Feelings of hopefulness will be encouraged but not nurtured.

With "fellow cynics and curmudgeons" I suppose that's how she identifies herself -- although I have always believed there is a difference between the real cynics (those poor souls who truly have zero faith in the world, and they are instead called "realists") and the disillusioned idealists -- the ones who are disappointed time and again, because in spite of their hard, bitter shells, they still hold a lingering hope and expectation that we can, and should behave better.

That said, I read what she wrote after she watched the film, "Too Tough To Die" and how it set her down a nostalgic spin on The Ramones and what they meant to her musically:

I sat on my couch watching this movie, listening to this music, and the songs filled me with a restless inspiration. How had I forgotten about The Ramones? I own nearly all of their albums, I might even consider them one of my favorite bands, but I rarely listen to them. Suddenly this oversight, this forgetfulness, felt disastrous. I think of The Ramones as a starter band, one you have to know, one you have to love, one you have to discover in order for them to lead you elsewhere. But then you go further away and sometimes you forget to ever go back. You find post-punk, you listen to Wire, Gang of Four, The Slits, you find reggae and dub. Then you embrace classic rock, first ironically, maybe at a karaoke bar, and then for real....Really? Really these are our favorite bands? The ones that got us out of bed in the morning on a sunless day? Sure, sometimes they really are favorites, for a day, a week, maybe longer. But watching the Johnny Ramone film I was reminded that for all of the wonderful and complex paths The Ramones' music had led me down, not too many led me to a place better or more satisfying than the point from which I started.

Who can say why we like a certain band, or even a certain book? Imagine if one day we really examine the music or books in our lives -- will we then be able to map the DNA of ourselves?

Brownstein wrote: "for all of the wonderful and complex paths The Ramones' music had led me down, not too many led me to a place better or more satisfying than the point from which I started."

Because the point where we started will always be home.

Ask me what music I am listening to right now and I will tell you about the new Radiohead, St. Vincent, Nightwish, and Bat for Lashes. But nothing will make me disavow Patti Smith, Patsy Cline, REM and all the other "old-people" music that I listen to. And I still want to marry Slash.

Ironically, a part-timer once called me a "teeny-bopper" when I confess to being a fan of Evanescence.

More Deserving Authors

From The Guardian, Chris Power on one of literature's unsung heroes: Alasdair Gray.

I guess my concern boils down to not wanting it to be Gray's death (he's 72, and not in the best health) that prompts a more widespread appreciation of - excuse the overused phrase, but it isn't hyperbolic in this instance - one of Britain's best living authors. At the same time I'm aware that, as well as most likely preaching to the converted, every person reading this will probably have an alternative writer in mind; one whose work I don't know, or undervalue, just as I believe Gray's is undervalued.

Imani's Outmoded Authors Challenge was a great opportunity to shine the light on many of these similarly out of fashion writers who deserve to be more widely read. I do recall when it came to making the list of authors to be read though, there was the problem of capping – because far too many authors have fallen into the fate of obscurity and neglect - and then their books go out-of-print.

It's a vicious cycle, because when an author's works goes out-of-print, access to their works are restricted to libraries and second-hand bookstores -- it thereby forces them into further obscurity. This is why I adore the endeavours by publishers such as NYRB and Virago that kept many of these deserving authors in-print and available.

Often, the reason authors fall into obscurity is because of the sheer lack of coverage. Look through the book reviews of any newspapers these day and you see mainly frontlist titles (and not necessarily fiction). Sometimes, it seems like everyone is reviewing the same book. (That said, I admit I was thrilled that many of the major newspapers, like The Washington Post and The New York Times gave rave reviews for Amy Bloom's Away. I adore Amy Bloom, so I have no problem if all the newspapers in the world only talks about her book)

I have no problem with newspaper writing about new authors/new titles. I believe it is important to support living writers who will be able to benefit in this lifetime from the sales of their books -- although the irony is that Alasdair Gray is still alive and already he is considered "undervalued". Perhaps Chris Powers is right, perhaps the only way to give Alasdair Gray that boost to his readership is death. But surely we can do more for him right now?

If the newspapers and "legitimate" media is not doing enough to highlight these deserving, obscure, out-of-fashion authors -- what can we do? I believe all readers have some personal under-valued authors that we have come to love, and think they deserve better. For all the criticisms against book-bloggers, I think they are doing a lot more for the literary underdogs than the newspapers would ever admit.

Dostoevsky, With Feelings

Eduard Artemyev, soundtrack composer for 150 films including Andrei Tarkovsky's sci-fi thriller "Solaris," -- has adapted a new rock opera version of "Crime and Punishment." It's a labour of love, and it took 28 years for him to compose the 2 1/2 hours of music. [Complete report here; via the Literary Saloon]

Apparently Tim Rice (wasn't he on the "Rocky Horror Show"?) was in the audience, and it has been rumoured he is interested in staging "Crime and Punishment" on Broadway.

Also worthy of note:

Meanwhile a new Bollywood musical, "Saawariya," or "Beloved," based on the short story "White Nights," is set to make a splash in India this month.

Dostoevsky in Bollywood?

I have no words.

On Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

In case you have not been following the recent series of essays on Jeanette Winterson's Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit for The Guardian's Book Club -- here's the essay Winterson wrote on the conception of the book that many believe is autographical.

I wonder: does it matter if the story is autobiographical? Aren't all books eventually about the writer and his/her world? What is more interesting in the essay, I felt, is when Winterson points out the miracle of story-telling and how it helps us recreate ourselves, our identity:

I believe in stories, in story-telling, because a story can answer a question without reducing that question to banality. "Who am I?" is a huge question, and the answer develops, unfolds, reveals itself throughout the whole of our life. At birth, we are only the visible corner of a folded map. The geography of the self is best explored with a guide, and for me art is such a guide. I write fiction because I want to get nearer to the truth.

Finally, she ends with this note:

The trick is, the gift is, the miracle is, that what begins as private notation becomes language other people can use. The books we love speak for us and speak to us. I am always in dialogue with the books that have affected me. Stories start other stories. That's how it is.

How true, that all writing eventually becomes a dialogue. The books we read somehow becomes a part of us. Have you ever experienced that moment, when you read something -- and it hits you, like a knife to the heart, that it is about you?

Related:

• John Mullan's essay on the Bible as source of structure and meaning in Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit.
• Round-up of the Book Club.