Rage of Angels

by Sidney Sheldon

I started reading this book 2 days ago and finished this morning. I must say Sheldon books always read like soap dramas, and they are really easy to read and finish. It was 500 pages but they are such quick books. Feels a bit like junk food, in the sense that you just keep munching and munching away and when you finish you still end up with a slightly empty feeling like you didn't eat much at all. The content doesn't feel all that feeling, but that doesn't mean that the ride wasn't entertaining.

This book is about Jessica Parker, a lawyer and she gets intertwined with the lives of Michael Moretti, a Mafioso and a Adam Warner, an aspiring lawyer and politician. Their lives become complicated when Jessica Parker struggles to hold her ideals while dealing with the reality of the real world.

Actually, I was 200 pages in when I asked myself whether I read this story before. Sheldon's story set ups are quite similar for most of his books and it read very much like other stories I have read from him. But about midpoint, I realised that no, I have never read this story. The pacing of the story is decent and character development is mainly focused on Jessica while less focus is given to the other characters. This isn't a criticism of character development, just an observation. As a whole, it just felt like a run-of-the-mill Sheldon story of a heroine's initial struggle, rise to power and eventual falling back in to reality. Nothing more and nothing less.

Tuesday with Morrie

by Mitch Albom

This is the second book I read by Mitch Albom. First was Five People You Meet in Heaven. This is a sort of autobiographical book about Mitch's time spent in the final days of his former university lecturer Morris Schwartz, Morrie. These meetings occurred mostly on Tuesdays, hence the name of the book.

It is wonderful story about life, how to live and how to die. It puts into perspective the things in our lives and what is really important. I would recommend this book to anyone who feels lost in their lives and wish to discover for themselves and ask themselves what's really right for their lives. Also, this book is a pretty short read. Took me about 3 hours to finish. So it is really one to keep and read through again and again as the book's lessons are timeless.

Aftershock

by David Wiedemer, Robert A. Wiedemer and Cindy S. Spitzer

This economics book on the US Bubble Economy is a good read. Seems pretty comprehensive and plausible on the events occurring during the housing market crises, and also predicting the ensuing things to come in the economic sphere.

The writing itself is quite hard to read at times as the writer seems to treat it's audience like idiots and repeating things over and over in an overly simplified manner. I do agree with the analysis made but it just seems to be a very abrasive way of writing that will not please anyone, even those who agree with them. The writing tone could have been more diplomatic. It is a very pedestrian way of writing.

Well, any advice from books like this should be taken with skepticism and so one should do their own research and study economics and the market for themselves before agreeinf with this sort of thing too completely.

What Every Body Is Saying

by Joe Navarro

Finished reading this several days ago, recommended by a friend. A rather good book on reading nonverbal body cues and what they signify. It is written by Joe Navarro who is an ex-FBI agent specializing in this area. It teaches one how to recognize the emotion others are feeling and also what you yourself are feeling given how you react.

I bet I won't remember all the stuff in this book and may warrant several re reads. Some of the things are quite insightful and the techniques in general I believe to be very useful. Well, it gives me an extra thing to do now when I find conversation boring. I do however believe some of the things are not right, as I have caught myself in some certain physical position that are mentioned in this book and I am not feeling how the book says I am supposed to feel. So there are lots of variables that needs to be put together to have a holistic view of what one is feeling.

Overall a good book and really useful if just for one's additional knowledge.

Dune

by Frank Herbert

Just finished reading this book again. Really good, I sort of forgot the latter bits of the books, and there were some things after reflection on the book that I thought a bit rough. I say this with respect to the continuation to the second book (Dune Messiah) which I read a little bit of last night. There seems to be introduction of new factions without any mention at all in the first book. So that is a little disjointing. But as a book itself, Dune is pretty much perfect. If you can overlook some minor flaws, it is still a wonderful read. Herbert's mode of storytelling is wonderfully grand without being let down by the weight of the event's scope and gravity. He holds the level of plot very well. What I mean here is he is going through the story in terms the most pivotal characters in that universe and pretty much focussing on them. One does not feel the story is a self-serving prophecy, though it does mention this all throughout the story. For instance David Eddings books, one believe that the end outcome is only that one outcome, where the hero ultimatley meets his great destiny. Although Paul Artreides (Muad'Dib) is prophesized for greatness in this book, one always feel the weight and the tension to decisions made and nothing is ever set in stone. That constant tension, and criticality of events makes the whole story suspenseful. Good book to learn good fantasy writing.

Was

by Geoff Ryman

This book is a piece of fiction with some elements based on real people. It revolves around the story of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The three main characters are in three moments in time. First is Dorothy, which is the Dorothy in the real world who suffered a hard life whose substitute teacher (Frank Baum, original author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) writes of her life. Second if France Gump, also knows as Judy Garland, the actress playing the role of Dorothy of the original movie adaptation. Lastly is Jonathan, an ailing movie actor who trails after the history of Judy Garland and the original Dorothy to piece together their lives and in doing so figure out his own.

This book began well enough but about halfway through I began to not like this book at all. This probably began when Dorothy's Uncle Henry sexually assaulted Dorothy, repeatedly, then she goes slightly mental. She eventually flees her home and then later in life is admitted to a mental institution. Judy Garland actually has her story concluded about 1/3 into the book with a section of the recollection of Judy's mother at the moment before she dies. Then with Jonathan, he is actually a gay actor and is ailing and going slightly mad in the end. Pretty much all the characters met bad endings, if not literally than poetically very sad.

First I did not like the overall gloomy plot of the story. The original Story of Oz is encouraging, with a story of redeeming characteristics at the end. This has none of this. The message I sort of get from this story is "Life screws good people over, deal with it". Life is shit as it is, I do not need to read 450 pages for anyone to tell me that. When I read a book I want to be inspired, at the very least I want to feel for the characters and care. I ultimately fail to engage with any of his characters. Okay, even if one wanted to make this a really sad story, that's fine. Worse still is the jolting form of story-telling that leaves the reader unsatisfied with the prose being used to describe the full breadth of the situation and emotion. By the end of the story, I simply did not care about the characters and wished the story would just end.

Second, Ryman tags on characters about 2/3 into the book. For instance the character of Bill, the counselor for Jonathon. This is the most glaring introduction of a new character. Furthermore, several new concepts are introduced pretty late into the story that again pulls the reader out of being totally immersed in the story. Ryman seems to tag on plot points just for the sake of moving the story along. It is a very cheap approach to story telling. Overall, this book started off well enough. By the last 50 pages I simply lost interest and could not wait to be done with this book. I feel Markus Zusak's Book Thief is a better book (in tackling the themes of tragedy and living a hard life) compared to this. Very poor read.

The Big Short

by Michael Lewis

Just finished this latest book by Michael Lewis. It is a study of financial market through the 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis. It focuses on the players behind the creation of this problem, those profiting from it and the resolution (albeit unsatisfactorily) of this period in time.

This again is a great book to read. Again, some of the financial jargon is over my head but Lewis' approach to the subject matter is very well-presented. I realise now this is because he tells it like a story from inception to conclusion, through the view of the various players in this problem. Being Wall Street though, none of these characters are particularly saints, nor are there evil (though some do come close). They are just human beings driven mostly by money. It goes to show if one removes government regulation that is effective and strict what can happen, the GFC.

Moneyball

by Michael Lewis

Just finished this book several days ago. It is a wonderful book about the Oakland A's baseball team and the changes under their manager Billy Beane. Through the use of mathematics and teh scientific approach they were able to change the team from a struggling one into one that was successful and challenging the best in the league. Short synopsis here.

I actually don't know much about baseball except the few movies I've watched on it or around it. But it does seem like a pretty interesting game. Plus, there is a movie based on Moneyball out in a few weeks here. So I am looking forward to that. On the book itself, it is insightful, though baseball terminology is over my head at times. But overall, the way Lewis writes it is engaing and entertaining, so very enjoyable.

Liar's Poker

by Michael Lewis

This is a wonderful book on Wall Street bonds trading, the majority of which from Michael Lewis' time in that profession, from late 1970s to late 1980s. Short synopsis here.

It is wonderfully written. Though I do admit, some of the financial concepts were quite over my head. Though the narrative used by Michael itself did not make the story too tedious for those inept in financial matters. So it was a very witty and interesting read. It does show how much disparity of how money is valued by Wall Street and how it is valued by the rest of the world.

Angel Time

by Anne Rice

This is the first book of the Songs of the Seraphim Series. Short synopsis here.

I found this book a bit slow to start and actually thought of not reading through to finish. But after the first 50 pages things did picked up a bit and I carried on all the way to the end. It is typical Anne Rice style, in the way she narrates the story. I can also draw strong similarity between the main character here Toby O'Dare and that of Lestat and the like in the Vampire Chronicles series. Though, I do feel that this story is so thinly veiled in material that it did feel very pedestrian. It did not have the layer upon layer of complexity that The Vampire Chronicles had. I guess it is very difficult to write to the high level that is that. Probably also the subject matter is not that familiar to Rice as this topic of angels and the historical context in which it is set. Well, I just felt it was not as rich as the Vampire Chronicles. Well, I will still give the second book a try, perhaps that would fare better. But I am going to read some other books for now.

The Little Prince

by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

I read this book for the second time, and it was as lovely as the first time. It is a story about a Little Prince from another planet that visits Earth and finds a pilot that has crashed in the desert. This book is the account of the pilot of meeting this strange boys. The pilot writes this story down lest he forgets his time with this strange but wonderful prince. The original story is in French, called Le Petit Prince.

I really love this book. Second time around because I still remember the story roughly, I found it less sad than the first time I read it. Because it was sort of like meeting an old friend again rather than the loss of a friend. One does feel the longing and sadness of losing a friend when reading this book (first time round), but second time around one feels the joy in cherishing the memory of such a wonderful character. I would definitely read this book again and again from time to time. One should never forget to see the elephant in the boa, and not a hat in a child's drawing.

Rich Brother, Rich Sister

by Robert Kiyosaki and Emi Kiyosaki

I bought this book end of last year because I've heard of Robert Kiyosaki and heard that he was pretty good with explaining motivational and financial generalities. But I found this books horrendous.

Well, first a short synopsis. This book is about the life paths of Robert and Emi Kiyosaki, they are brother and sisters. Robert is a successful enterpreneur, businessman and investor. He is the famous author of several books of the same vein as this I believe, books on investment, life, etc. His stories is about how he got to where he is today. Emi is a Buddhist nun, and this book looks at the other side of being rich, that is spiritually rich. This book also describes her life path. Thus the book finds similarities and contrasts between the two's life journeys.

Okay, not my review. I must say I have only read about 2/3 of this book. I cannot take any of it any more really, it is really not to my liking. For me, it is horrendous. Not my cup of tea at all. The book's concept in itself of the contrast between the material and spiritual pursuits of life is very good. However, the execution and explanation of concept I find to be very incognitive. As in I feel I am dumber for reading this book. I don't know why, Robert is such as successful person, and Emi is a Buddhist nun. I have great respect for what they have achieved in their life. But the reasons they explain for them doing what they do, and the logic behind it, that is simply wrong to me.

Here are several examples. First is connection made behind concepts on life. One thing was something on generalized principles. Robert speaks of having right and wrong answers. He says that the World is at war because there are issues like people believing in only one God and everyone's God is different. So that gives rise to tension and ultimately war. Then he goes on to say there are many ways of doing something, and not one single way is right. Up to this point I agree. Then he moves on to say, that is why we have a right hand and left hand, not a right hand and wrong hand. Then I think what is the point in that statement??? I know that is true, that we have a right and left hand. But then that is just words, there is no meaning behind it. Why would I call one hand the 'wrong' hand? It is empty statements. Oh, and this book is filled with plenty of gems like this.

Furthermore, there are so many inaccuracies in world principles in his statements. He makes sweeping generalization that are just not true. Well in his defense, he does say in the book he is the type of person that wants to win, and is not interested in being right. I personally do not think I am the person that want to be right, but it is like nails on chalkboard when I see statements in this book that are clearly so wrong.

Ah, this is turning into a raging post on the book. There is a plethora of other reasons wrong with this book but I cannot be bothered listing all of them out. I must say I tried my best to give it a chance. Heck, I read 200+ pages of it in hopes there is some gem buried in it. Indeed there were a few, but it is all buried in so much garbage I find it hardly worth the read. I'll end this post on this note. I had less moments of inspirations that I had moments of pure frustration. In essence, this book sucked for me. Waste of my time.

To Kill A Mockingbird

by Harper Lee

I bought this book, the 50 anniversary version of it. This book is a Pulitzer prize winner and amazing that I have not read such a classic till now. Well, actually there are many 'must read' books that I have still not read yet, so there you go.

Short synopsis from wiki here. This really is quite a simple story of kids growing up, but in the backdrop when black and white people were still very much segregated, the time of black slavery. The simplicity of the story simply makes the story of it better. I think the measure of a good piece of fiction is not only the plot and pacing, but the good writing style. This book is pretty direct and simple, but it just wants to make you read on. You just read on page to page without any rush, because each page is as beautiful as the last, as the next.

I see this book sort of like J.D. Salinger in terms of quality, obviously the style is very much different. But it is such a beautiful story. It really gives me motivation to read more book, everytime I read such a wonderful book.

All Written Out

There is a very good reason I have not been posting much on this blog. I have been writing about 10 posts a week on a discussion forum I've been involved with for the past few months. That's part of my studies of research commercialisation. Spending so much time checking references on my posts and articulating my thoughts properly there has left me all but drained to string 2 sentences together. I would just like to go and type 'bla bla bla bla' there sometimes. Really getting to be no fun anymore. I have to say I have learn a lot from that experience though.

Anyways, reading To Kill a Mockingbird at the moment. I get quite sad sometimes that there are so many classic that I may never find the time to read, so many books, so little time. I must really restrict myself to read good books. From reading this book, my first thoughts are that plot is not that important. As long as the emotions and characters are believable, relatable, and loveable I will be more than glad to read a story that has been told time and time again.

Also, I just watched a movie called Howl. Though the movie itself isn't very nice, the story is quite good, about Allen Ginsberg and the trial regarding the publication of Howl and Other Poems. It is a really inspiring story of a poet and his journey. It may be to artsy-fartsy for some people's taste, it was bordering on that for me. But the story pulled through. So it was half decent.

SuperFreakonomics

by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner

This is the follow up book to Freakonomics. Pretty interesting read in the same vein of the previous book. If you enjoyed the last book you'd probably enjoy this one. This one covered prostitution, patterns and details, altruism and global warming.

This book felt a bit shorter than the previous one, sort of felt like just half a book. I would have liked to have more to read actually. Finished this one in 2-3 days, without even trying much to read.

Anyways, this is an easy, casual read. Nothing too heavy, I think I liked the first book better though simply for the breadth and length of the book.

Freakonomics

by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner

This book is about the economics of very weird situation. So really made a really interesting read. One study was on why the crime rate dropped during the 1990s so suddenly when it was expected crime rate to be continuously on the rise, as it had been for the past decade or two before. However it began to drop drastically without anyone knowing why. Many guesses were made, such as better policing, better living conditions etc. However this book said that it was due to abortion finally being legalized in US. People who would go through abortion are those with low socioeconomic living conditions. So if these children were never born, then there wouldn't be any criminals in the first place. I bet pro-life people just got in all sorts of bother after hearing this theory. Anyways, the proofs described in the book seems quite convincing.

Other examples are on what sumo wrestlers and school teachers have in common, why drug dealers still live with their moms, how the Ku Klux Clan like a real-estate agent, and what makes a perfect parent. These are really topics for economics study, though totally unconventional. Such a wonderful read.

I bought this books several months ago and have only been reading it since about a month ago. This book took quite a while for me to finish. The version I read is the revised edition, with new material. Still it's pretty thin, 250+ pages. Just been so busy with studies and research so yeah.

One final separate note on the theory of abortion as the main cause of dropping crime rate. In Malcolm Gladwell's book (can't remember which) he actually specifies a theory called the Broken Windows theory which was said to be not the main contributor to crime rate drop by this book. So even with these convincing arguments, one can never really be sure which is true. Even the experts cannot agree! So always take all this information with a grain of salt.

The Importance of Being Earnest

by Oscar Wilde

This is one wonderful classic that I read several weeks ago. Just got around to writing about it because I've been so hectic with studies. Well, my recollection about it might be a bit hazy now. So short synopsis from good 'ol wiki here.

First, I did not even know that this was a play. I thought it was some highfalutin literature on life in Victorian England and several people being quite pompous about life and preaching how we should live. I thought they'd be teaching us how to live life, and that is by being earnest.

Oh yes, I was very wrong. This play was funny from start to finish. At times it read a little like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the way the dialogues developed. I would definitely go see it if they play it here. And probably would read it again sometime, nice short read.

Francis Plays Outside

Once upon a winter morning, there was a boy called Francis. Little Francis who was 8 years, 3 months and 2 days old that day decided to go outside to play. It was really cold out, a good thick layer of snow had fallen overnight. He was so excited that morning though, he didn't bother with such things as a jacket, a scarf or mittens. He went outside to play in just his pajamas and wellingtons (he didn't want soggy feet).

Francis stepped outside - the snow all the way up to his knees. The white silky snow covering the entire neighbourhood and he was the only thing that was not white standing around that morning. Francis was careful not to be too loud. He didn't want to wake his parents who would definitely spoil his fun. A delightful feeling started to bubble in his little body. All this snow, all to himself. He didn't feel the cold at all, he was too excited to feel cold.

In his little wellingtons Francis ran in the snow all along his street. Well, it was actually more like hopping rather than running, as the snow was so thick he could barely move in a straight line. But he was having too much fun to care. Francis made snow balls and threw them at the snow-covered cars that looked like tiny bunkers. He imagined he was a soldier lobbing grenades at the enemies hiding in the bunkers. All the while the snow was still lightly layering more snow on everything - more for him to play with. He ran and he threw, he ran and he hid, then he did it all again. He did this for quite a while, entertaining himself immensely.

After about an hour Francis was tired. Having had all the fun to be had, he was ready to go home. So Francis looked up to see which way he should go but he didn't really know. The snow had continued falling and everything was white. All the houses looked the same. He was running (hopping) and playing so much he had not kept count of how many houses he had actually passed or which direction he actually went from his house. And really all the cars that looked like bunkers still looked the same. He couldn't recognize dad's red car because all of them was covered in white. Francis started to feel very cold now; his hands were shaking, his nose was running, his little body was shivering, even his knees were knocking against each other. Only his feet were not that wet in his wellingtons but that really was no comfort to him right now. Little Francis out in the snow alone, poor little Francis.

Committed

by Elizabeth Gilbert

Just finished this book. I bought it a week or two after it was out. I read the first chapter at Borders, bought it, and have not touched it ever since. But now, I felt I need a change of pace and book after so much of the fiction I have been reading. So I decided to give this a go, and it was a wonderful change it was. I finished the book in three days, which was surprisingly quick for me.

A short synopsis. This book is a non-fiction semi-autobiographical account by Gilbert as she is about to get married for a second time. It follows on from Eat Pray Love, where she has fallen in love with a man she met in Bali, Filipe. When they go back to the US, the face difficulty at customs as Filipe cannot stay in the US indefinitely because he is not an American citizen. So they have to actually get married for Filipe to stay in the States. They apply for a visa to enter America again and Gilbert is with Filipe traveling in South Asia whilst waiting for the visa to be processed, and this process takes about a year or so. Though the 'forced' marriage is inevitable, Gilbert is still unsure of the justification of marriage, especially after her first failed marriage. So too, Filipe who has also had a failed marriage. So this book is Gilbert's contemplations and study of what it means to be married, what it means to her and what can be different this time around. She explores the many aspects of marriage; the history, social, moral and material implications.

This book is wonderful from start to finish. It is however less personal and less emotion driven compared to Eat Pray Love. I would say it actually is more Malcolm Gladwell-ish in style. It was perhaps more fact-based and as it needed to be, because Gilbert was exploring the meaning of marriage. For me, it was very eye-opening and some of my preconceptions of marriage and even relationships are now forever broken. I would say this is a life-altering book. It clarifies the differences between what love and infatuation are, and also the expectations of marriage in this generation and past. There is so much to talk about from this book, which I will do in some other post.

Gilbert's writing itself is witty and never boring. Her logic is reasonable and where parts that it seemed emotionally-charged, it is broken down into understandable bits. So you always get to know what is happening, and what is being felt. Great book about marriage and relationship for anyone who is absolutely clueless about such things like me. Even if you do know about these things, it would be a good book to read anyways if just to open your perspective on marriage, love and relationships.

A Lie of the Mind

by the Blak Yak Theatre Company

I went to see the last showing. Description from the Blak Yak website.

Set in the gritty American West, the story alternates between two families after a severe incident of spousal abuse leaves all their lives altered until the final collision at an isolated cabin.

The two families, one composed of Baylor, Meg, Beth, and Mike, the other composed of Lorraine, Sally, Frankie, and Jake are connected by the marriage of Jake and Beth.
Beths beating and subsequent hospitalisation at the hands of Jake initiates the beginning of the play. Exploring family dysfunction and the nature of love, the play follows Jake as he searches for meaning after Beth, and her family, as they struggle with Beth's brain damage.

Directed by Matt Longman and featuring Shell Berg, David Bowyer, Ben Kotovski-Steele, Marsha Holt, Alan Kennedy, Alex Jones, Joy Northover and Julia Hern
23, 24, 25 June. 1, 2 July Midland Junction Arts Centre 276 Great Eastern hwy (cnr Cale st) Midland

First the story. I am not sure whether it has been altered in any way or not because I have not seen the original but what I felt is the plot seemed to be great in the first 2/3s, felt like it was building up to something very interesting, a climax. But it sort of just fizzled down with any substantial explosion of clarity of where the plot was heading. Even the people beside me were saying, "So what was all that about?" Perhaps it takes a very observant or smarter person to get what was happening at the end. Well, I felt I got the message pretty well, unless there was any double entendres going on. But I think not, what happened in the end is actually all the characters are just plain crazy and they suit each other just fine. I feel it may work in some instances, not in this story. It just felt like lazy story-telling. Sort of like, 'let's just wrap this shit up because I can't be bothered to resolve all the tensioned dynamics created in the first 2 acts.' Anyways that's what I have to say about the plot, first 2 acts great, third act crap. The dialogue and pacing was good though.

A great positive I have to say that the acting was great though, the characters were acted out pretty well. However I question the need for American accents. It was clear some of the actors were struggling with it. If they adapted the whole play to be 'Australianized' I feel they would have been more authentic and believable. Perhaps it is a copyright issue that they cannot do this. But still, a great job by BlakYak, they are one of the best community theatre groups in Western Australia. I will watch pretty much anything they put on.

What I've Been Up To

Okay, I haven't blogged in a while. Couple of reasons; had to do a conference paper, colloquium presentation and other stuff too. Well, the final one is I've been sick for the past week (how can it be so long to be sick?). Anyways, I am getting better now (hopefully).

I have not read much either I must say, been dispirited somewhat. No idea why. Have not written much either, have gotten rejection from AHWA for the competition though. Well, dispiriting times. Anyways, I think I will be getting my groove back soon.

Anyways, I have been back playing the piano again. Getting reacquainted with Erik Satie's Gymnopedie No. 1 and also the Flight of the Bumblebee. Anyways that's beside the point, I will get back to reading soon. Feel I have gotten out of this rough patch rather unscathed. Ready to forge onwards soon enough. Second half of the year, let's get it done.

Thoughts on Writing Epics

It is hard for me to write sometimes, because when I have an inkling of an idea of a story I begin to quickly blow the idea out of proportion and think of such grandeur and scale that I lose all sensibility of what I was writing in the first place. Then comes the crushing realization such an epic would take years to complete, and at the end of the day it is so risky whether the story would be any good at all. So at that point I would plunge into hopelessness and despair of never doing to be a writer.

Well, I said it was hard for me to write sometimes. But this is not one of those times. I guess the line of thought I wrote in the previous paragraph is prevalent in any writer. And that sort of insecurity and hope surely makes for better stories, that constant need to improving and being better at your craft. So the thing is, should I quite trying to write an epic story? No, absolutely not. I shall write it in such a way that it can be tolerated by me, to be do-able by me. I will write in small increments of the whole series, which again, being realistic, I know WILL take years and years. But I don't really care because I know it will be worthwhile. But what do I do when that crushing uncertainty comes along and doubts myself if this work will ever be done? Well, I never said I will ONLY write the epic stories. When I write, I have so many ideas sprouting out that I will use one of the marginal ideas to write short stories to submit for publications. So that will give me a sense of continuous improvement and progress.

Another note on epic. More to myself than anything. I will want to write the whole epic story before I even consider submitting for publication. This is because I do not want to end up with something like the Harry Potter series. See, I am not saying the series is not wonderful. It is great. I absolutely love the story and all the characters in it. The storytelling is wonderful in that series. But reading through the whole series I felt a great balancing problem. One could see the first three or so books are self encapsulated within themselves but also had an overall ongoing plot going on. In the latter books, this is less so. The latter books feel they are STILL organically produced with a great sense of progression in the series that is very natural. BUT you can feel at times it is like going through the motions. One could almost tell by the length of the books, each longer than the last. The same sort of goes to Frank Herbert's Dune to a lesser extent. The first few books were wonderfully coagulated, but the rest felt like extensions of the original work. Sort of tying plotlines where they would fit.

One of the best in the epics that I have read would be of course the Lord of the Rings. It is so well balanced and paced that you feel that immense sense of scale and wonder only from a properly planned out book. Even more impressive would be the Narnia series. Seven books, seven. And each of such balanced scale, it is just wonderful. Though Narnia did not have that intertwining of plot and characters, it is however very consistent and strong in its hold on balance. I guess for Narnia, it is perhaps an easier task than LoTR though in a way, because the stories are inspired by Christian stories. So it is easier to keep that consistency of pace and story, when you have that overall outlook to look out for. What I'm saying is though, all these authors have the power of making every point of the story interesting and progressing at a good pace, while always maintaining what the big picture is. So it IS really important that I have a clear idea of what the whole story is before I submit anything at all. I, having never written a full length novel really have to finish writing a book before I have the necessary experience to plan forward. I would just be happy to be 10% of what these writers are. But one can dream, what can one do But dream, dream of the epic.

The Langoliers

by Stephen King

Just finished this a moment ago. I remember first watching a movie of this when I was little and how much I was creeped out by it. Not really pure fear, but a slow feeling of foreboding. It was really quite wonderful. And the thing is I don't think I watched the ending of that movie. So now I've picked up on reading the story (which is always better than their movie counterparts).

A complete synopsis here. The gist of the story is this. A bunch of people board a plane. 30 minuets into takeoff, almost the whole plane is empty and the remaining passengers awaken to this strange situation. They are finally able to land at Bangor Airport, Maine. When they get there, they discover it is almost exactly like the world they were in before, except that this world is utterly void of people and any living creature. And also there is the sound, the crackling sound. Sound like rice crispy popping from afar, as described by one of the passengers. This sound, it is getting closer too. The crackling rice crispies, coming closer and closer...

This is one of my favourite stories. The pacing is quite good, you never get out of breath or feel it is being dragged out too long. There are also several interesting themes and plot elements to it. The characters also, are unique and believable. Great story all in all.

Memnoch The Devil

by Anne Rice

This is the fifth book in the Vampire Chronicles. Short synopsis on wiki here.

To be honest, I don't know what to make of this book. It is decent. But the bulk of it can be considered taking vampires as the subject matter. It seems more a discussion of theology and evolution. And for that matter, it almost read like some simplified version of the Bible. It is very different to the previous book. Well, I can at least say the style of writing is still the same. Maybe that is just the way Anne Rice writes. Very, very descriptive. It could be painfully slow at times. At times, I even skip over details. Because really, I do not need to know the hue of the curtain. In real life I am not the type of person to go up to a piece of fabric and analyze, smell, touch, like the thing. So that is perhaps a personal preference thing. I tend to skip over these bits.

In terms of the overall plot of the Vampire Chronicles, it is flowing along quite well, and the character growth is good. But now everything has grown to such epic proportions, it is just very difficult to reduce it back to the previous scope of just vampires. It is as I have just been watching the whole Season 6 of Supernatural. The scope just is blown too big out of proportion that the story becomes generic and superficial. I would have enjoyed things more if things were kept at a more micro scale, and the details of the character relationships be described that way. Also, revealing everything of the known universe, that simply removes any mystery and wonder from the story. Again, I quote a movie I loved. The Matrix. If they left it at that it would have been wonderful, one would just imagine the rest. But they made the next two movies and that just killed everything. It became too superficial, generic. This is particularly true for horror and vampires. They are mysterious and dark creatures. This story sort of puts them in their place. I don't like vampires being put in their place, I like to NOT know, I like to guess and never know. Ah, it can't be undone anyways.

I think I will take a break from the Vampire Chronicles, the story telling style can be weary if one reads too much at once. It is like rich food. Even if you have the loveliest dished for a week, if it is the same thing, you will get sick of it. So it's time for a change for me. Need to return to my horror roots, and read up on more horror fiction.

The Tale of the Body Thief

by Anne Rice

This is the fourth book in The Vampire Chronicles. I skipped pass the 2nd and 3rd book because I read them before and after reading the 1st, Interview with the Vampire, it came back to my memory what the other 2 were about. So no harm just reading the fourth. The synopsis is quite long and you can read it here.

This book is still great. But after the first 3 books, there seems to be some limitation in scope now of the story. This is what I mean. The first book is set from 1790 to the present, second book from the 18th century, third book almost spanning from the beginning of the vampires. This book however is set entirely in the 20th century. So, I am wondering is it the case now that the story is written into a corner. Hopefully not. But I will read through the series and see where this story goes. I like my vampires old and ancient, spanning from ancient times to present. I don't like to read just modern day things. Also after Queen of the Damned, I don't know what kind of story can top that kind of epic. Reading on, Memnoch the Devil next. Book Five.

Interview With The Vampire

by Anne Rice

This is what I call the good kind of vampire, not like that Twilight nonsense. Here is a synopsis.

This book as the title suggest is an interview by a journalist with a vampire, in a dingy hotel room. The vampire has arranged this because he wants his story told. The story is as follows.

Louis de Pointe du Lac is a plantation owner in New Orleans, and his beloved younger brother has just died under very strange circumstances. After this, he struggles to get his life straight and goes to drinking and brawling. His life is going down the drain. Then one evening as he is doing this, a vampire takes him and turns him. This vampire is Lestat de Lioncourt. Louis, though he wanted to die after his brother's death did not want to be a vampire. So this story goes on about the early years of Louis as a vampire and his struggle with the life of a vampire.

Okay, my synopsis does not do the story justice really. I had a looked at the wikipedia summary and it's the length of a short story, so you know how complex and intricate it is. Firstly, about the writing. The first time I read this book several years ago, I found the story quite dry for the first 3 quarter of the books. And if you are not into vampires, this book will probably bore you to death. It goes into such painfully slow detail of their life. But if you DO love this genre, then Anne Rice is the gold standard. The details would then give such life and richness to this world of the undead. I still love this book, though it's the second time reading it it's still great.

1984

by George Orwell

Here is a short synopsis of the book 1984 on wiki.

Nineteen Eighty-Four (sometimes written 1984) is a 1948 dystopian novel written by George Orwell, about an oligarchical, collectivist society. Life in the Oceanian province of Airstrip One is a world of perpetual war, pervasive government surveillance, and incessant public mind control. The individual is always subordinated to the state, and it is in part this philosophy which allows the Party to manipulate and control humanity. In the Ministry of Truth, protagonist Winston Smith is a civil servant responsible for perpetuating the Party's propaganda by revising historical records to render the Party omniscient and always correct, yet his meager existence disillusions him to the point of seeking rebellion against Big Brother, eventually leading to his arrest, torture, and reconversion.

 I will first review the book's plot. I is solid and the pacing is good, the story never really drags for too long and the turns in direction are at times unexpected. If not unexpected, they are at least developed very organically without any force to an ends.

The characters are well developed and believable, fully fleshed out and the writing style is suitable for this sort of dreary dystopian scenery. Orwell really is masterful in conveying the dread and hopelessness of his dystopian world. There is close to no space for questioning the logic of his world as all his loops of logic that one may question are closed off, and the reasoning behind every action in the story is well explained. Even if there were to be any question, he leads the reader on with such strange logic that you could only find one possible line of logic is possible at the end.

As a whole, this book is well written. However, after reading it I just felt crappy because the ending was so hopeless and crazy. I need to read something else, so freaking depressing.

Vltava River, Prague

Original photo by the TheAppleScientist

Just coloured these in just now, I think this is one of my best ones to date. The colours and tone work is perhaps getting better now.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Short description from wikipedia.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of twelve stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring his famous detective and illustrated by Sidney Paget.
The 12 stories in this collection are:

• "A Scandal in Bohemia"
• "The Adventure of the Red-Headed League"
• "A Case of Identity"
• "The Boscombe Valley Mystery"
• "The Five Orange Pips"
• "The Man with the Twisted Lip"
• "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle"
• "The Adventure of the Speckled Band"
• "The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb"
• "The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor"
• "The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet"
• "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches"

I love these stories. He has a way of analyzing the minutiae and using those to solve mysteries. Some are fairly obvious, but his skills of deductions are still amazing. Shall carry on next with the Sign of Four which I am halfway through.

Bridge To Serenity

Based on a photo by AliEnX7587

Back to doing a pencil sketch for this. Have a thought of doing something with colour for this but maybe I will try that later.

Waiting

I did three interpretations of this picture by Flying-Fossa

First one is sort of minimalistic forms using simple colours.

Second one is playing with lots of shapes and patterns to form a picture.

Third is heavier on the colour and working on tones and colour mixture.

By The Water

Original photo by MMortAH

I decided to colour this, here it is.

Before, here it was.

Did this in an hour or so. Free form sketching again. And experimented with some sections again. I sort of like the sky, but not really the water. Like the brickwork on the river bank also, and the miniscule people was alright. I have more thoughts of the sky that I will try it on something else probably.

A Study in Scarlet

by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Short synopsis from Wikipedia.

A Study in Scarlet is a detective mystery novel written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which was first published in 1887. It is the first story to feature the character of Sherlock Holmes, who would later become one of the most famous literary detective characters, with long-lasting interest and appeal. The book's title derives from a speech given by Holmes to his companion Doctor Watson on the nature of his work, in which he describes the story's murder investigation as his "study in scarlet": "There’s the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it."^[1]

^{This is the first of the novels of the whole Holmes series and it is where it all starts, how Watson meets Holmes and their first case together. I have found this website here, that has all the Holmes stories for download for free here as the copyright has ran out already and is free to be read. So I am not my lovely Kindle, going to read all of it in order. Month long this will probably take. Lovely.}

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

by Malcolm Gladwell

This is the last book at this time that Gladwell has written that I have not read. Short synopsis below from wikipedia.

This is a 2005 book by Malcolm Gladwell. It presents in popular science format research from psychology and behavioral economics on the adaptive unconscious; mental processes that work rapidly and automatically from relatively little information. It considers both the strengths of the adaptive unconscious, for example in expert judgment, and its pitfalls such as stereotypes.

This is quite a good book, thought I feel that some of the arguments are debatable and can be open to so many interpretations and results of what are the causes and effects. However, Gladwell again succeeds in showing there is something to be considered here. The topic itself is very interesting and well worth a read.

Dresden Sketch

This is a 1 hour sketch, original picture by The Apple Scientist called Rainy Dresden. Good fast one. Sort of used the same approach to drawing as I did for Rue de Orfevres. Just on A4 paper using a regular mechanical lead pencil. Did not erase anything at all for this, completed in one attempt. I am getting more comfortable with this style now.

The Tipping Point

by Malcolm Gladwell

Short description from wikipedia.

Gladwell defines a tipping point as "the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point."^[1] The book seeks to explain and describe the "mysterious" sociological changes that mark everyday life. As Gladwell states, "Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread like viruses do."^[2] The examples of such changes in his book include the rise in popularity and sales of Hush Puppies shoes in the mid-1990s and the precipitous drop in the New York City crime rate after 1990.

This again is a great book by Gladwell, though I personally like Outliers the best because it is the most personal. This is more of broad strokes of social behavior. But still it is a wonderfully insightful read on what causes a tipping point to occur. In all, I think it presents great ideas, though I believe it is subject to quite a bit of reasoning and one can argue one way or another whether these hypothesis are true or not. A great thing with Gladwell is he forms his arguments in a very comprehensible way, keeping one engaged. So even though you may not necessarily agree with what is said, you would at least stick around to find out what he's on about.. 

The Curtain and Window

Once there was a curtain. He was very proud of himself because he felt his role so important. He said so to the window, "Look, see. I have colour and sway in the wind when you are left open. I have such grace and culture. What have you, dear window, you are but opaque panes of glass. No one notices you, you are transparent."

The window replied, "Indeed that is the case. But people will look through me and they will never look at you. Who ever heard of looking at curtains to being something of any value?"

This sort of bickering went on for a long time, the back and forth going on for weeks, months, then years. Then one day the old curtain having been hung for more that 10 years was losing colour and getting tattered. The old curtain was thus replaced by a new one. Its colour even more vibrant that the old curtain.

The new curtain said to the window, "Dear old window, see how beautiful I am. My colour reflect the colour of the sun and I serve such fine purpose as to block out the sun when it is too bright, or let the sun in when our master wishes it."

The window replied in turn as he had with the previous curtain and also added, "Think about the old curtain having been replaced. One day you will be replaced too."

With that the curtain was silent. But that evening, while the children were playing in the street, a baseball went astray and crashed through the window and shattered it into pieces.

Moral of the story: All things are replacable.

Outliers

by Malcolm Gladwell

Short synopsis from Wikipedia

Outliers: The Story of Success is a non-fiction book written by Malcolm Gladwell and published by Little, Brown and Company on November 18, 2008. In Outliers, Gladwell examines the factors that contribute to high levels of success. To support his thesis, he examines the causes of why the majority of Canadian ice hockey players are born in the first few months of the calendar year, how Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates achieved his extreme wealth, and how two people with exceptional intelligence, Christopher Langan and J. Robert Oppenheimer, end up with such vastly different fortunes. Throughout the publication, Gladwell repeatedly mentions the "10,000-Hour Rule", claiming that the key to success in any field is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing a specific task for a total of around 10,000 hours.

This was a very inspiring or very dispiriting book depending on how you look at it. The main point I think is that success is not attributed to just your personal effort, where the modern story of success is someone who goes it himself without the help of anyone else and succeeds. This book says even for the cases where you think this is the case, it actually it is not. There are so many factors coming into play that their success is no matter of just hardwork and luck. Of course these two factors are extremely important, but there are other underlying factors that are so weird and trivial that one would just ponder in wonder at such strange correlations to success.

One may not totally agree with all the points made in this book (though I personally agree with most of them), but what is important here is to get you thinking of how these things may have an effect on your life and not be oblivious to the factors affecting you. Ignorance is bliss, and more knowledge may bring more worries and stress, because some things are just out of your control. But I believe there is a third stage after that where if you know enough and know your limitations, you will learn acceptance and work within those frameworks for personal betterment. So it is better to try and be defeated rather than to not try at all. Like the common addage, Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want.

The Alchemist

by Paulo Coelho

Short synopsis from Wikipedia.

The Alchemist details the journey of a young Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago. Santiago, believing a recurring dream to be prophetic, decides to travel to the pyramids of Egypt to find treasure. He then tells a lone gypsy about this treasure. As he leaves, the gypsy mentions one thing. If he does find the treasure, she wants 1/10 of it. On the way, he encounters love, danger, opportunity, disaster and learns a lot about himself around the impact he had on the people he met. One of the significant characters that he meets is an old king named Melchizedek^[5] who tells him about discovering his personal legend: what he always wanted to accomplish in his life. And that "When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it." This is the core philosophy and motto of the book. During his travels, he meets a beautiful Arabian woman named Fatima who explains to him that if he follows his heart, he shall find what it is he seeks. Santiago then encounters a lone alchemist who tells about personal legends. He says that people only want to find the treasure of their personal legends but not the personal legend itself. He feels unsure about himself as he listens to the alchemist's teachings. The alchemist states "Those who don't understand their personal legends will fail to comprehend its teachings."

I actually read this book several years ago and decided to read it again because it is just so wonderful. Plus it is not that long, so it is a book you can finish in one or two sittings. The story is wonderfully inspirational, it motivates for one to be brave and chase their dreams because that is the only life worth living. One would rather be poorer and take a risk in doing something they love, rather earning more money doing something they don't like. So I read this book over and over just to remind myself of why I am here, and what I should do. This is one must buy book because it has infinite re-read value, a modern day classic.

Aesop's Fables

by Aesop

Short synopsis from Wikipedia.

Aesop's Fables or Aesopica refers to a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and story-teller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BCE. His fables are some of the most well known in the world. The fables remain a popular choice for moral education of children today. Many stories included in Aesop's Fables, such as The Fox and the Grapes (from which the idiom "sour grapes" derives), The Tortoise and the Hare, The North Wind and the Sun, The Boy Who Cried Wolf and The Ant and the Grasshopper are well-known throughout the world.

Who does not know some of Aesop's Fables. Though, I actually did not know there were so many fables by Aesop. By the end of it I was sort of sick foxes and asses and lions and birds.

An interesting thing about Aesop's Fables are their morals are as applicable today as they are then, barring a few. There were only about 5 stories which moral of the stories I did not agree with. In a few of those I also did not feel the moral was what was being represented in the story. But that maybe due to subjective opinion. Overall, it was a good read and good (or bad) to see human nature has not changed  much in the past few hundred years.

The Raven

by Edgar Allan Poe

Summary from wikipedia.

"The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in January 1845. It is often noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a talking raven's mysterious visit to a distraught lover, tracing the man's slow descent into madness. The lover, often identified as being a student,^[1][2] is lamenting the loss of his love, Lenore. Sitting on a bust of Pallas, the raven seems to further instigate his distress with its constant repetition of the word "Nevermore". The poem makes use of a number of folk and classical references.

I love this poem and is one that I read over and over as it colours the slow transition towards madness very well. The pacing is beautiful. Everything about is wonderful. Nothing will ever come close to how wonderfully dark it is. Nevermore.

The Mysterious Stranger

by Mark Twain

This story is about three boys in a small village who stumble upon a stranger in the woods one evening. This, the mysterious stranger, turns out to be an angel and when questioned what his name was, he replied that his name was Satan. Following this encounter the boys' life are changed and so too the whole village as the stranger stays in the town and meddles with the affairs of the villagers. He does this to highlight the Moral Sense of humanity and how trivial the sense of right and wrong and how hypocritical the human race really is.

A full synopsis of the story can be found here on wikipedia.

It really is an amazing story and surprising how relatable this story is even though it was written about 100 years ago. It is the sort of story I hope to write in terms of the theme and plot. It also shows me that books do not really need to be scenic and full of descriptive prose to fully-colour the world. Twain here has very efficiently created his world in broad strokes and allow the reader to fill their own worlds with their own details, I would analogize this to a minimalist artist but still not cause a wanting of more description.

What The Dog Saw and other adventures

by Malcolm Gladwell

This is a strange book for me because I have never read anything like it. It is a non-fiction book that reads so much like fiction. It is a collection of short pieces that Gladwell wrote in The New Yorker magazine. They span a wide range of issues from the Dog Whispere, as you might have seen on TV, Mr. Cesar Millan, to the Heinz ketchup story, to the crash of Enron, and breast cancer imaging scans. As you can tell, it makes for strange reading.

Here is a synopsis from wikipedia.

What the Dog Saw is a compilation of 19 articles by Malcolm Gladwell that were originally published in The New Yorker which are categorized into three parts. The first part, Obsessives, Pioneers, and other varieties of Minor Genius, describes people who are very good at what they do, but are not necessarily well-known. Part two, Theories, Predictions, and Diagnoses, describes the problems of prediction. This section covers problems such as intelligence failure, and the fall of Enron. The third section, Personality, Character, and Intelligence, discusses a wide variety of psychological and sociological topics ranging from the difference between early and late bloomers and criminal profiling.^[3]

I just read article after article because what is amazing is not the story persay, because truth be told. some of the subject matter could be quite dry, the stuff found in medical journals or government documentation. What makes it exciting is the angle and the prose used by Gladwell. He is certainly a masterful writer and journalist who knows how to use the human angle. You feel you are taken along the ride with why these issues matter and their consequences on everyday life.

Overall, it is a great book with insights into areas that one would never think of even thinking about. Certainly broadens your mind on common issues and be more open to other perspectives of social norms.

Zastrozzi

at the Melville Theatre

Summary of play from Melville theatre website.

Zastrozzi tells the story of an amoral and charismatic criminal mastermind and master swordfighter who cuts a swath of destruction across Europe in the 19th century.

Zastrozzi relentlessly pursues revenge against Verezzi, a naïve and disturbed artist who has been one step ahead of Zastrozzi for the past three years thanks to his tutor, Victor. But Zastrozzi, with his not too bright sidekick Bernardo, and Matilda (the greatest seductress of Europe and lover of Zastrozzi), have finally caught up.

Now, it is time for all to meet, and what is left to do is decide if you on the side of goodness and purity, or evil… or like Julia, being simply thrown into world you know nothing about and hope to land on your feet!

This is a play adaptation of the classic story of Zastrozzi by  Percy Bysshe Shelley. The first half of it was pretty good but the second half seemed a little hastil wrapped up. At the end of it I felt the characters deteriorated from the plot, in that I did not have a clear idea of why the characters do what they did. Their dialogue seemed slightly off character and in the end I do not see the purpose of what Zastrozzi as done. If Zastrozzi was as smart as he claims, more should have came from how things ended. If one were to bank on wit and charisma to be his strong points, I would have liked to have seen this being brought through to the end. Overall, it was average. Plot could have been better developed, maybe keeping to the original story more would have been better.

Darkness Comes

by Dean Koontz

A short summary. This book is about a police officer, Jack Dawson who is assigned to a case investigating the strange deaths of the Caramazza mob family. Their deaths were very peculiar with their whole body seeming to be bitten by small creatures and bleeding to death. One by one, the Caramazzas are dying, and although they are scum Jack must solve the case before more people die. And even worse, it seems these creatures are going to come for not only Jack but his young son and daughter. The tiny creatures are coming, they are coming for them all...

I loved the first chapter of the book, where it was a scene of Jack's daughter in the dark with the creature coming from who knows where, the fear and anticipation was electrifying. Then after that scene it was pretty much flat all the way through. The whole story was predictable and all the characters were very corny. It seems the story was written like a cheap movie production; stringing along one horror scene to the next horror scene and some of these were decent but it all felt too rehearsed. Like okay I will scare you now a little, then we will have a little break, then I will scare you again. And by the end I felt there was some glaring holes in the plot. But I finished the book nonetheless. There are some good moments in the book, but overall I think it is not that worth reading. Koontz is said to be comparable to King, and I can see at moments his style works. However, based on this piece of work, I think King is much better story telling wise. I perhaps need to read a couple more of Koontz's books to have a better idea of things. But definitely will hold off buying any of his books until I have read a few more from the library.