A Spot of Bother

I have to give it to Haddon. This book is just as hilarious and quirky as his previous book: Curious Incident of the Dog in Night-time.

A Spot of Bother is about a British dysfunctional family whose lives get shaken up in the weeks before the daughter's wedding. There is the father who is having a nervous breakdown, the mother who is having an affair with his husband's friend, the daughter who has doubt about the marriage while the son who has commitment issues. With any other writer, you might feel like you do not give a damn what happens to such wretched people but Haddon tackles each of the shallow, selfish characters with his quirky sense of humor which going to proved you wrong. You won't get enough of it.

Haddon wants you to know the character and identified with them which probably why the first 100 pages of the book is a bit of a slog. Then events events start to accelerate and they don't let up until the final explosion and the wedding reception at the end of the novel. The last few chapters are the highlight of the book for me because it was simply hilarious.

In the end I thoroughly enjoyed "A Spot of Bother" and its characters. And I really can't wait to see what Haddon comes up with next.

The Ragwitch

I am a fan of Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen. So I bought this book with some sort of expectations. However, it turned out to be a difficult reading for me because after I read the first few pages, my reaction was "Oh dear, I knew I should have bought his Keys to the Kingdom's books instead..."

Here how the story goes:

Paul and Julia are brother and sister. One day, Julia found a rag-doll which turned out to be the most evil thing ever, hence the name: Ragwitch. So the Ragwitch possessed Julia and brought Julia to her 'evil' world with Paul following without the ragwitch's knowledge. Naturally it was Paul's duty to save Julia. What he doesn't know though, he is also the chosen one who can destroy the evil Ragwitch, with the help of few friends he found along the way. Julia who was trapped in the Ragwitch mind, also found some help from an unexpected source.

Unlike the Abhorsen trilogy, this book isn't as textured and somehow it is somewhat too childish for my liking. Not the best book by Nix but I can't say it was bad. It just wasn't as gripping as his other books. It lacked something. But do not let my review discourage you from reading the rest of Nix's books otherwise you'll be missing a lot.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

This book is about a 15-year old boy named Christopher John Francis Boone who is an autistic. He is a genius at math and love physics. He hates yellow and brown and does not like to be touch. Christopher takes everything that he sees (or is told) at face value, and is unable to sort out the strange behavior of his elders and peers. He lived with his father after his mother who can barely cope with his quirks, left him. But he does not know this because his father told him that his mother died of heart attack until one day he found her letters.

The story begins when his neighbor's dog named Wellington was killed with a garden fork. Encouraged by his teacher, Siobhan, he then try to solve the mystery of who killed Wellington. He also writes a book about the investigation. His search for answers however leads him to unsuspecting twist in his life.

Haddon 'got it right' with this novel. He was able to write this book from Christopher's point of view and yet managed to make him lovable albeit of his quirkiness. Haddon navigates the novel with extraordinary touch which do not make this book condescending, overly sentimental, exploitive or grossly tasteless. Quite a rare gift he had for a first-time novelist, I say.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is original, clever, and genuinely moving: this one is a must-read.

I am Muslim

I am Muslim by Dina Zaman is one of my favorite non-fiction books. I bought the book right after I got my heart pierced with betrayal and it has been such a good remedy for the wound.

This book is a selfish journey of faith by its writer. For me, this is the most honest book I ever came across about Islam in Malaysia. It tells us how of most Muslim Malaysians practiced Islam. Dina gets into all kind of scrapes to discover what it means to be a Muslim in Malaysia.

Reading this book was an eye opening experience for me. She asked questions like: are Muslim Malaysian lost? Do we lack confidence in ourselves and that's why we hold onto religion or a certain lifestyle, because there is nothing else left to make us feel fulfilled? Contented? Who are we as people and personalities.

I am aware that being a Muslim in Malaysia you are judge by the way you present yourself physically. For example: if you are wearing the hijab, you are a good Muslim and if you are not, you'll be burn in hell instantaneously. Why do we wear hijab but do immoral things: consort with shamans, drinking, smoking Cuba cigars while attending Friday prayer diligently. Sad isn't it?

It is also heartbreaking to learn things that I am aware of but didn't realized how it has reached critical point such as the gay/lesbian culture or infidelity with same sex, that are getting out of hand. I was ashamed and angry when I found out about these things. Is this the modern Malaysians Muslim that we are proud of/to be?

I especially like the way Dina conveys her journey of discovery. Most of the time it is downright funny so I really enjoyed reading it. I have recommend this book to all my friends, Muslim and non-Muslim alike. Its a must have.

Dragon Rider

Another fantasy book by Cornelia Funke in my list, Dragon Rider is book that intended for kids albeit that it is a long one (500 pages or more). Just like the book's title, it has dragon in it, and other magical creatures as well.

The story is about FireDrake who went on a journey to the Himalayas to find the Rim of Heaven. The journey begin when the place that he's living with few other dragons was under the threat of destruction by mankind. After he acquired a map from a rat, he started on the journey with Ben, a human boy (he's te dragon rider) and Sorrell, a brownie, as his companions.

But their journey was not without tribulations. They got Nettlebrand (a vicious -but very vain - creature made from impenetrable gold) on their tail. Nettlebrand intended on destroying all dragons and had them for dinner. Over the years he had killed many of the dragons and because of him, the dragon was living in hiding.

He was first aided by Twigleg, a homunculus who stowed away in Ben's bag as a spy. Twigleg's duty is to report every single details to Nettlebrand about their journey but over the days Twigleg started to appreciate Ben more and more. When Ben discovered Twigleg, he treated him as a friend and this changed Twigleg's alliance once and for all.

So together they made plans to fight Nettlebrand.

I won't spoil the ending but perhaps you can guess who wins. hehe..

library update [Sept 07]

My book list can be downloaded here.

It has not been growing as I hope it would be for this year. I have been too busy with works and most of my free time I spent watching anime.

baca buku in many bahasa

Chinese: 获悉 书
Italian: leggere libro
French: lire livre
Spanish: leer libro
Dutch: lezen boek
Czech: číst kniha
Danish: læse bog
Swedish: läsa bok
Japanese: 読んで知る書物
Estonian: lugema raamat
Finnish: lukea kirja
Turkish: okumak kitap
Hungarian: olvas könyv
Icelandic: lesa bók
Malay: baca buku
Polish: czytać książka
Korean: 읽어 알다권
Slovenian: prebrati knjiga
Rusian: вычитать книга
Latvian: izlasīt grāmata
Lithuanian: perskaityti knyga
Norwegian: lese bok
Arabic: كتاب يَعْرِف بالقِراءَ
Portuguese: ler livro
Slovak: čítať kniha
Greek: διαβάζω βιβλίο

Sleepers

This book review is long over due, just like many other books that I’ve yet to review.

I read this on my trip to negeri di bawah bayu back in May.

Those who know me would have known that I am a fan of the movie Sleepers. I remember watching that movie when I was still in secondary school and it leaves such an impact. The horrible things men do to satisfy themselves…

I learn the movie was based on a true story and that the horrible journey of those four young boys was documented. I’ve been looking for the book, being a bookworm freak that I am, ever since. After several years of searching, I managed to obtain the book on March 6, 2006 via amazon. The book however just sat there on my bookshelves. I’m too scared to open the first page as the dreadful scenes from the movie are still so fresh in my mind.

Before my journey to Sabah, fortunately I only left with two books that are yet to be read. One of it is Sleepers and the other one is the Dragon Rider.

So as I have promised in my journal, here is the review of the first book: Sleepers by Lorenzo Carcaterra. This is a true story of friendships that run deeper than blood.

Lorenzo and his three friends: John Reilly, Tommy ‘butter’ Marciano and Michael Sullivan, shared everything and has undying loyalty to one another. But on one fateful summer day, a hotdog cart prank went awry and the boys nearly got a man killed. Lorenzo and his friends were sent away to a reformatory school.

There begins the life of hell for these young boys. Any vestiges shred of innocence was stripped away as the guards; Nokes, Stylers, Ferguson and Addison, repeatedly beat, brutalized and raped them. When I read the words written, it became so graphics that it all seems so real. Even more so as I was alone in a hotel room in a place that is so alien to me. I get light-headed and was chilled to the bone reading what was done to the boys. It dawn on me then and I came to realize for the first time that evil can be wearing the mask of men. But we better known those attribute simply as inhuman.

There are two incidents of brutality that I still remembered clearly (it has been omitted from the movie). It happened to Lorenzo himself when he was called to the guard office to get the parcel that was sent by his mother. Among the food that his mother sent was a rosary beads. When asked by Nokes what it was for, he answered it was for prayer. Nokes and his crews then make him say the prayer while Styler slid the front end of a baton inside him. Yes, inside him! A baton!

The other was during Lorenzo’s last night at the Wilkinson. Nokes make him watch as his crews tore at his friends, raped them and attacked them as if they were animals freed from cage. He wrote later that a part of all of them was left in that cell that night. Who wouldn’t?

(Geez, I still got Goosebumps. My heart still pounds so hard and my hand is trembling like mad. I could not even imagine putting myself in their shoes.)

The boys emerge after a year of torture, changed beyond recall. John and Tommy took to a life of violent crime as mobster killers, Lorenzo became a journalist and Michael a prosecutor with the DA’s office. The only constant was their undying friendship.

Ten years later, Tommy and John came face to face with Nokes at the Shamrock Pub. They confronted him, revealed their identities and shot him dead in front of several witnesses. If you asked me, Nokes gets what he deserved and so much worst.

In the trial that followed, the four friends were brought together for one spectacular, audacious last stand. Michael was the DA for the trial and without the knowledge of Tommy and John (who couldn’t believe Michael took a case against them), and with help from Hell’s Kitchen community, they exacted punishment for what had been done to them as children.

(To know the exact details of the punishment and what happened to these four friends, pick up the book and read it yourself. That or you could ask me personally.)

Sleepers is an unforgettable story of childhood friendship. It is a stunning account of four men who risked their lives and their freedom in a desperate attempt to reclaim each other from the anguish consuming them. This book gives me nightmares for several days and although I love the movie, it does not do justice to the book. The movie omitted many of (I think) important things that happened to them before they were sent away and during their stay at Wilkinson. But thanks to the movie I was able to put faces to the characters which gave me genuine pleasure when I was engulfed by this non-fiction book.

Last but not least, my heart goes out to Lorenzo who selfishly and valiantly recounted his own personal nightmares. I could never have that kind of courage…

The Creature in the Case

I finished reading this book last month, a day after I finished reading This End of the Rainbow but was too damn busy with lots of things that only now did I managed to spend some time reviewing this book.

The reason I picked this book instead of the Ragwitch from the shelves was simply because it is the story of Nicholas. Remember him? Yup, he is the same Nicholas from Lirael and Abhorsen who was possessed by the evil Orannis. The same guy that I'd fallen in love with. Hehe...

I said in Abhorsen's review that I think Garth Nix, the author, has more tricks up his sleeves and this book is part of it. The other is Across the Wall, which is something I put my eyes on but haven't had the chance to found it in any of the bookstores I usually go to.

The creature in the case told the story of Nicholas who was eager to go back to the Old Kingdom approximately six month ofter the event in Abhorsen. He couldn't put the eccentric country (and Lireal) out of his mind and desperate to return to the Old Kingdom. He had been pastering his Uncle Edward, the Chief Minister of Ancelstierre, about his intention. His uncle promised him the journey to the Old Kingdom but in return Nicholas has to do him a favor. He need to spend one weekend at a remote country house.

And so the adventure begins. Apparently the party that he was made to attend to was only a facade to cover up for the secret operation that was to bring back a relic creature from the Old Kingdom to live. To unleash it power it needs Nicholas blood (there is an irony about what happened if the creature drank too much of Nicholas blood but I am not going to spoil it).

Nicholas had to fight the creature and stop it from crossing the wall. The only help that came from across the wall is Lirael.

The creature in the case is a short story that really kept reader interested in finding out what happen next after the trilogy. A little warning though that the end of this story will leave you on the edge. Although at first I was hoping that this book will quenched my thirst for the Abhorsen trilogy, the book was actually keep me wanting for more (unfortunately there are none). Also if you were hoping to see the familiar faces, don't. You are going to be disappointed.

Jeez, I miss Sameth!!

This End of the Rainbow

This is the first English novel by the notorious Adibah Amin.

The story basically was about a group of student at University of Malaya in Singapore in 1950's. The protagonist in this book took the name of Ayu, a gentle Malay girl who drop medicine study to be a writer.

I was lost a bit when I read the first few pages but then it started to flow. It started out when she was ragged at the university by Han, the Cynic. Already it touched on the sensitive subjects of racism.

And yep, you was right. The main theme that link all these different circumstances in this book is race relations, reflecting the general state of the Malayan at that period in time.

The tension that growing between the races concerns Ayu. This makes her explore variety of situatioins involving her characters that will brought you flashback after flashbacks; remembering conversation among childhood friends, the loss of her father and her friends when Japanese invaded Malaya, her mother's fight for independence, her hatred towards the British, etc, including Han's family history. Adibah Amin brought you to and fro to the future seamlessly which is a great thing otherwise it could be rather confusing.

The situations and questions being posed is recognizable and all too familiar in today Malaysian societies. The only difference is the issues are not presented as frankly and as unbiased as it did back then.

All the characters (and they are many of them) are very believable. This probably because many are based on real people known to Adibah. For example Ayu's mother is obviously inspired by the authur's own mother, the Umno freedom-fighter, Ibu Zain.

Han in my opinion is the most memorable character in this book. Han's family were murdered by the Malays during communist terror. It was because of misunderstanding between these two races. The Malays saw Chinese as one of the communist while the Chinese saw the Malays as 'pak turut' communist. It took sometimes for him to realize the pain truth. He who was expelled for the ragging incident form a multi-racial political society to ease racial tension. He tried to coaxed Ayu to joined the group but Ayu refused for her own reasons.

There was also Rizal, who Ayu claimed remains as good friend. I can surely sense the romance between these two.

The most touching part on this book for me when Adibah narrated the fight that Dato' Onn and the other independence figure fought for Independence. Almost brought tears to my eyes.

It is the same fresh, simple and direct style as her writing through her column As I Was Passing in the NST. This book is an easy read, and it is also eye-opening, especially if you are not familiar with Malaysia’s pre-independence days and the social unrest of the 1950s. I am not ashamed to admit that I was pretty shocked myself to learn what had happened during that period. This is the kind of ignorance that Adibah wants to educate in this book of hers.

Bleak House

Another of Charles Dickens masterpiece. It is long, tightly plotted and wonderfully descriptive, typical of Dicken's work. It starts a little slow for me but as I turns the pages, I get hooked.

It takes a look at the legal system in London which destroys the innocents, deprive them from their talents and consumes their minds. It also portrays the different conditions and social status of the Londoners. Most of the story came from a narrative written by the Esther Summersons, the protagonist in this contemporary novel by Dickens.

All the characters in this book are affected by the Jarndyce & Jarndyce legal suit in which there will be no winner and bring much desperations and heartache. The impeccable character that connected them together was Esther, the virtuous girl who was taken as a ward by Mr. John Jarndyce, and is beloved by everyone.

I must admit though that I was reluctant at the beginning to see Esther as the all around good girl as narrated by Dickens but the novel is so well-written that I came to believe her as she had been described.

Mr. John Jarndyce is a beneficial older gentleman who is also a guardian to his young cousins, Ada and Richard who fell in love with each other and eventually get married. All four of them, including Esther, reside at Bleak House. Richard soon fall victim of the Jarndyce & Jarndyve lawsuit and rejected any kindness or help from his guardian in his ignorance hope that a settlement from the lawsuit will award him with a fortune.

The attorneys are portray as bloodsucking evil leeches who only care about the money they can squeezed from their clients. One of the most devil-like lawyers, Mr. Tulkinghorn, was murdered and I actually rejoiced the death of that particular character not knowing the misery he brought upon the mysterious Lady Deadlock and the and tragedy that leaves the Deadlock household in ruins.

It is not all bleak though. There are also romantics plots that evolve around Esther and how she comes to be the mistress of Bleak House.

There are over sixty colorful and varied characters so you cannot anticipate who may you encounter at the next page. The best thing is, the story brings everything to full circle and not a character goes to waste. The most memorable characters in the book for me would be Esther the protagonist, Mr. Bucket the detective, George the trooper, Mr. Woodcourt the kind-hearted doctor, Richard and Ada the love birds, Jo the homeless kid and of course Mr. John Jarndyce of Bleak House.

Bleak House is a very entertaining book who have all the qualities of a great classic story. It is poignant, suspenseful, unforgettable and appearances to the contrary, is not bleak at all.

Definitely one not to be missed.

Abhorsen

Before you pick up this book, you might want to pick up Sabriel and Lirael first because Nix is not into summarization or repitition. Garth Nix will reward the effort later with this last book of the Abhorsen's trilogy. His intricate and brilliant plotting will grip you till the last page.

Abhorsen started off with a prologue depicting Sabriel and Touchstone situation at Ancelstierre, which made an unexpected opening. Then the book picked up from where Lirael ended, at the Abhorsen's house. Lirael, Sam, Dog and Mogget were surrounded by the Dead Hand lead by the Greater Dead Chlorr. They needed to leave the house to rescue Nicholas who had been tricked by Hedge to excavate Orannis, the Destroyer.

To get out of there unnoticed, there was only one way: to go down through the well where an unspeakable fear live. Somehow Mogget turn into the Free Magic being he was before went he encountered the resident of the well. The other three run away to save themselves and left Mogget behind.

They managed to get to Nicholas and rescued him when Lirael used her Charter Skin to turn into a barn owl to get to Nick but the piece of metal that was in Nick taken charge when they were halfway through and Nick was once again enslaved by the Destroyer.

All these happened not before they have to face Hedge and the rest of his servants of Dead. Mogget also reappeared in the story unscathed, which was another mystery that will be solved at the end of the book.

Since they failed to rescued Nick and failed to barred the hempisheres from crossing the wall, they have to find another way to stop Orannis if Hedge plan of combining the hemispheres at a Lightning Farm that Nick had ordered to be built at Forwin Mill in Ancelstierre materialized.

This forced Lirael to go into Death and used the Dark Mirror to see how Orannis was bound in the Beginning. Knowing the full wrath and the terrible power of the Destoyer, Lirael did not waste time and thanks to the Sight of the Clayr, all seven people that she needed to be there to help her out were right in front of her when she came back to Life. Together they fought the Destoyer.

But is it too late?

Abhorsen finally reveals the true identity of the Disresputable Dog and Mogget and also the true power of Sameth. It also tells us a bit more in detail how the Charter is made and at what cost. But most of all it is about the testament of friendship between Sameth and Nicholas who literally must lay down his life in the course of the action.

When I read the last word of this book, it leaves me craving for more. I am desperately in love with Sameth's character and desperately want to know what happened to the characters after they fought with the Destroyer specially Sameth (duhh) and Nicholas.

The ending suggest that Nix might has more tricks up his sleeve. I am hanging on that thought in order for me to fulfil my craving. Also I think this trilogy should be made into a movie.

p/s: To know more about the trilogy go to http://www.abhorsentrilogy.com

Lirael

My first impression of Lirael is pathetic and annoying at times; a girl who live in self-pity and it was not until I finish reading half of the book that my impression of her changed, but not by much.

Lirael is one of the Clayr but has not been granted the Sight even as she reached the age of 19. On her 14th birthday, she was made a librarian and for the next 5 years she led a secluded life talking only when she was talked to and she shunted anyone who tried to get closed to her. Her only company and friend was the Disreputable Dog she made which supposed to be a sending but turn out to have power of her own, a creature of suspicious magical origin whose true nature remains unknown.

But this story is not all about Lirael. It is also the story of Prince Sameth, the only son of King Touchstone and Queen Sabriel the Abhorsen. Since her sister Princess Ellimere obviously will take over Touchstone's role as the ruler of Old Kingdom, it is Sameth fate to be the next Abhorsen to take the duty and role of her mother, Queen Sabriel.

Sameth is not a coward but after his confrontation with Hedge, the mysterious and intriguing necromancer in this story, his courage faltered and he found it hard to bear the responsibilities as Abhorsen-in-waiting.

One day on her adventure through the library, Lirael found herself upon The Book of Remembrance, a windpipe and a blackmirror which completely changed her destiny. Suddenly the elder Clayr was upon her and whether she likes it or not, she is now the Rememberer and the fate of Old Kingdom lies in her hands.

Meanwhile Prince Sameth who tries to run away from his responsibilities as Abhorsen-in-waiting decided to rescue Nicholas not knowing that his friend is trully in great danger. I am happy to announced that the author, Garth Nix, brought back Mogget into the story.

Hedge is using Nicholas and the Southernling as bait to lure Touchstone and Sabriel to Ancelstierre. Nicholas is blissfully ignorant of his role of releasing Free Magic into the Old Kingdom and helping Hedge uncover (digging up) the true evil at the Lightning Trap at the Red Lake.

So the destiny of Prince Sameth and Lirael intertwined. They found each other on the River Ratterlin, both running away from the Dead. Little by little the four of them: Lirael and her Disreputable Dod and Sameth with Mogget, put the puzzle pieces together to see what evil plan had Hedge been master-minding.

Their battled with Chlorr, one of Hedge servant which he brought back from Death, brought them to the Abhorsen's house where Lirael finally learnt of her parentage history and from here-on the plot of the story totally changed.

Very little was written about the evil in this book although you will get the idea that whatever Hedge planned must be not good for the Old Kingdom. The evil of course is created to Bigger and Badder than Kerrigor to harrass the new generations of heroes.

There are not many updates on Sabriel and Touchstone either. Both were busy with their responsibilities specially since Hedge evil plan begins.

The story of Lirael ends with more questions than answers, which mean the readers are required to read Abhorsen, the final book of the trilogy to know whether the evil or the good will triumph. This novel is both exhilarating and mesmerizing; simply bewitching.

Sabriel

Another gripping dark fantasy adventures for my collection. I heard about this book last couple of years but only recently had I bought it and I'm glad I did.

Sabriel by Garth Nix is the first book of the trilogy. It started off with a flashback in which Abhorsen saves his new born baby daughter Sabriel from death and from Kerrigor. Then it brings you to Ancelstierre where Sabriel grows up since she was five years old at the Wyverly college.

Abhorsen is a necromancer but instead of raising the dead, he lays the dead back to rest.

One night when Sabriel was eighteen, she receives a message along with his father's sword and bandolier that contain the bells. This could only mean that his father, a famous necromancer, is in the realm of the dead, and she as Abhorsen's daughter must taken on his father's title and duty.

This forced Sabriel to go back to the Old Kingdom to search for his father's body. But first she must crosses the Wall and go to Abhorsen's house. Since she was practically raised in Ancelstierre she has little knowledge of Old Kingdom. On her way there, she met with a Mordicant, Kerrigor's servant who determined to kill her by any means. She escapes from the Mordicant when she crosses the river but only memontarily.

At Abhorsen's house she met with a dangerous/funny soul that has taken a form of a cat named Mogget. Mogget has served the Abhorsen's family for hundred of years and was bound by the miniature Saraneth on his neck-collar.

Sabriel is convinced that her father's body must lay somewhere in Bellisaere. Mogget then accompany Sabriel for the journey but went wayward when they were attacked by another Kerrigor's servant. They landed in Holehallow where Mogget free of his cat form tried to diminished Sabriel and if not for the ring handed by Mogget before the journey Sabriel would have been dead.

At Holehallow Sabriel freed Touchstone that was trapped as a figurehead for 200 years. Touchstone swears then to serve Sabriel and along the way, romance bloom between Sabriel and Touchstone.

Sabriel found his father's body in Ballisaere and realized Kerrigor's want both his father and her blood to break the Charter stone that keep Old Kingdom from descending into evil. The only way to defeat Kerrigor is to find and destroy Kerrigor's original body which he kept alive with Free Magic.

In her journey to saves Abhorsen and the Old Kingdom, Sabriel had to endures almost impossible exhaustion, evil confrontation and near-death experiences that challenges her supernatural abilities as an Abhorsen.

I was sceptical at first and not sure whether I will like this book once I finish reading it but after few pages its an effort to actually put this book down. Nix brought you immediately into the action. You might feel disoriented at first but will get used to it quickly and glad that Nix made it so so that you are actually be part of the story and not just someone reading a story.

This is not your typical good-vs-evil kind of book. Nix delves deeply into the mystical world of necromancy, magic and the monstrosity of the undead. Who would have thought a book that uses bells to bind the dead can be so enjoyable?

I am already delving into Lirael, the sequal.

Drowning Ruth

No, this book is not a sequal nor it is a prequal to The Book of Ruth I reviewed earlier. In fact the only thing they had in common (besides the protagonist's name) is both are featured in Oprah's Book Club collections. Oh and also there's a murder involve. That makes it two things in common then ;)

Drowning Ruth featured two (okay four if you want to include Mattie and Imogene) women characters, Ruth and Amanda (Aunt Mandy to Ruth). The writer, Christina Schwarz, first introduced to the reader the childhood of Amanda and the events that led her to came back to the farm where her sister Mathilda (Mattie) lives with her daughter Ruth which then a three year old girl. Carl, Mattie's husband has gone off for the First World War.

Because the conditions she's in (thanks to Clement Owens), Amanda deceptively forced Mattie to lives on the Island (where Mattie lives before Carl left for the war). The island will be perfect for hiding the secret she has growing inside of her. Mattie who always the one who likes to lives on the edge agreed despite the fact that winter will coming on soon, and the island would be obsolete from the rest of the world, which exactly the exact reason why Amanda chose to live there.

When Mattie found out Amanda's secret, she was first shocked but being a woman with full of life, she quickly support Amanda and pushes away all visitors that came to the island.

On one faithful night, Mattie mysteriously disappeared and was found days later, frozen in the lake. She had drowned.

Mattie then took care of Ruth, and her secret was given away to Mrs.Lingdren.

When Carl gets home, he found Ruth in Amanda's tenacious grip but gradually Ruth felt at home with his father. As the years gone by, Carl had been wondering what exactly had happened to his wife. Since Amanda will not say a thing about what had happened the night his wife drowned, Carl had been looking for clues which led to a big misunderstanding. He never really knows the truth about what had really happened to Mathilda.

Growing up, the event of her mother's death became more vivid to Ruth. Tormented she found refuge in Imogene and they basically grew up together. The relationship between these two are close. Amanda knowing who Imogene really is kept a close eye on both of them. When Arthur Owens came into the picture, Amanda became restless. This then led to some momentus event and the discovery of what had actually taken place the night Mattie drowned.

Amanda's character is intricately woven and has so many layer which made me felt sorry for her, and sometimes wanted to strangle her myself. I wish for the confrontation between some of the characters when the situation warranted it but I recognize the time period and the limitations they faced on behavioral 'expectation'.

The writer has a gift of pacing the story and makes it a thrill to unravelled the truth. I really enjoys the book although a bit disappointed at the end as I see it as anticlimatic. I will recommend it nevertheless though to both Oprah readers and mystery fans.

Snow

"One of the pleasures of writing this novel, was to say to my Turkish readers and to my international audience, openly and a bit provocatively, but honestly, that what they call a terrorist is first of all a human being. Our secularists, who are always relying on the army and who are destroying Turkey's democracy, hated this book because here you have a deliberate attempt by a person who was never religious in his life to understand why someone ends up being what we or the Western world calls an Islamic fundamentalist terrorist." - Orhan Pamuk

Understanding is everything, although it does not immediately change anything.

Ka, a poet from Istanbul, return to Turkey for his mother's funeral after spending 12 years as a political exile in Germany. He then decides to visit a small Turkish town of Kars. His reasons are 1)his curiosity about the suicide epidemic among young girls 2)his love for Ipek - whom he had a crush when he was young.

He arrives in Kars when the snows start to fall which then quickly turn into blizzard, closing all major roads out of Kars. He was asked to report on the impending municipal election as well as to gets into the root of why teenage girls, mostly who have been barred from the secular university for covering their hair, are suicidal.

At his first day in Kars, he witnessed an assination of Director of Education, the man who has carried out the government's orders to ban the "headscarf girls" from school. He then comes into contact with Blue, "an infamous Islamist terrorist", a pious student named Necip and Ipek's sister, Kadife, the leader of the head-scarf girls. Afterwards, a military coup at the National Theater begins when soldiers burst in, shoot randomly into the audience, kill a number of people, then round up "dangerous" citizens, including some of the people Ka has encountered earlier. To cut long story short, Ka's life is in danger.

All the while his love and burning passion for Ipek intensified. In one brilliant sequence, he negotiates a statement of unity between the city's Islamist, Kurdish and socialist leaders for the sole purpose of luring Ipek's father out of the hotel where they live, so that he can make love to her. It is also in Kars when he regains his inspiration for the first time in four years, and poems come to him as if dictated by a higher power. Ka's rediscovery of God and poetry in a desolate place makes the novel's sadness profound and moving.

The title of this book is just absolutely perfect. This novel turn out to be governed by a "deep and mysterious underlying structure" similar to that of a snowflake. The deeper you read, the more the symmetries multiply. Nearly every character has a double, down to the narrator himself, who is eventually revealed to be a novelist friend of Ka's named Orhan. Clever twist. All these mirror images might create a dizzying effect, which is deepened by the snow that begins to fall on the first page of the novel and does not let up until nearly the end.

IMHO, this book does shed some lights of what our world as we know it is becoming. It is as much about Islam as about anything else. To most people nowadays - secularist or whatever they want to call themselves, religion is nothing more than a foreign word. God help them.

Bear in mind this book was published in Turkey and Europe before September 11. After reading it, I feel like the novel has an ominous prescience to it as it seems like life attempting an awkward imitation of his art.

I definitely recommend this book. The only problems with it IMO come from it being a translation but you'll enjoy it nonetheless. It may not be the easiest read, but it's an important one.

Understanding is everything, even when it changes nothing. Perhaps it is all we at times, can do.

Inkspell

"Stories never really end, Meggie, even if the books like to pretend they do. Stories always go on. They don't end on the last page, any more than they begin on the first page." - Mo

A truth telling as this book is unplanned for.

As the sequal to Inkheart, Inkspell stories of the Inkworld begins when Dustfinger was read back to the book by a strange charactered man named Orpheus leaving his apprentice Farid behind. Orpheus has always loved Inkheart and held Dusftfinger in highest regards. He's to him the hero of the story which explained why he purposedly did not read Farid into the story as per instructed by Dustfinger.

Right after Dustfinger disappeared into Inkworld, Basta came and if not for his quick feet, Farid would have been captured. He realized that Orpheus had been working for Basta and Mortola all this while.

Farid was determined to followed Dustfinger into Inkworld thus he looked for the only person he knew that can help red him in to the book - Maggie. When he reached Elinor's place, he warned Mo about Basta and Mortola but Mo did not think they will catch up with them anytime soon.

Meggie had been warned by Mo not to read aloud but Meggie didn't listened. She has been wanting to see Inkworld for herself and Farid had presented her with the opportunity to do just so. Without the knowledge of Mo and her mother, Meggie decided to follow Farid in to Inkheart.

In Inkworld, Farid went looking for Dustfinger and Meggie stayed with Fenoglio who have created a character based on Mo. Fenoglio who didn't like the way the story he created goes, asked Meggie to help him to changed it. He wrotes several new lines and Meggie did make it happened when she read them aloud but does things goes as he had planned?

Meanwhile in the real world, Mortola and Basta had come to Elinor's place. With the help of Orpheus, she brought Mo and Ressa to Inkheart so she can revenged them for her son's death. Once they reached Inkworld, she shot Mo.

Mo then was captured because he was mistaken with the Blue Jay. Meggie learnt about this and with the help of Dustfinger and Farid went looking for her parent thus the adventure trully begins.

Again, I did not dwell much on Dustfinger because if I do so, I will spoil everything but know this fact: Dustfinger has soared to new heights! The ending is unexpected (I'm not ashamed to admit that I shed tears reading it) and make it quite clear that it's not over as yet.

Note also then the evolution of Farid and Meggie's romance is heartwarming.

Can't wait to be enchanted by Inkdawn which scheduled to be released in 2008.

The Book of Ruth

Gosh, I have plenty of book reviews pending. Will try to find time to post it. Promise. So here's one I've finished read a month ago. This particular book took me more than two weeks to read it because at times I find the writer a bit overzealous.

The book is called The Book of Ruth and rightly so since it was supposedly written by the protagonist Ruth Grey who in my opinion is a bit mental in the head. She lives in a small town in Illinois with her verbally-abusive mother (May) and had a genious for a brother (Matt). The book basically tells the story of how Ruth survives with all the misfortunes that betide her family.

Matt is like the polar opposite of Ruth. He is a math prodigy and since he was a kid, May has been preoccupied with him and neglected Ruth. But Matt always felt suffocates with May's attention and he never gets along with Ruth. When he finally leaves for college, he cuts off communication with his family.

For Ruth to counter-balance the negativities that she received from May, she conjured up an angelic icon of Aunt Sid (May's younger sister). She found friends with the oddest personalities and fell in love with the worst.

Ruth married Ruby who in my opinion is more disfunction than Ruth. They has no other choice but to stay with May. Ruby and May did not get along at all. The tension is always there and it gets worse when her baby came along.

The ending of this book is twisted and unexpected. You expect something big to happen but then it hits you without warning. The last couple of chapters of this book were the only thing that kept me engaged and wanting to know more, which of course means I have to finish reading it eventhough it is 2.50am!

What astounding about this book is you can see Ruth narrates her families and the people around her with amazing astuteness and yet she remain clueless with the string of bad decisions and dreadful choices she made.

This is not the most upbeat book I've read but I'll tell you this: It sure is thought provoking.

Strange Fits of Passion

Its been what? More than 5 months since I last introduce a book. I was busy and to prove that, I have only read 6 books for since I last post anything that has to do with books.

I just finished a novel from Anita Shreve entitled Strange Fits of Passion. I've been a fan of her since I read The Pilot's Wife.

Strange Fits of Passion is a story about domestic violence that happened during the ignorance era of 70's.

The book begin when Helen Scofield visited Caroline, to hand over her research and notes from a famous story she wrote decades earlier about the girl's mother.

Maureen English is married to her husband Harrold. How they'd met and the kind of relationship she had with Harrold is described clearly at the beginning of her stories. The abuses had started even before she get married and after the birth of their daughter, things were begin to be a lot worse. She then took her daughter who were then only sixth month old and flees to a small town in coastal Maine. She took on a new name, Mary Amesbury and lived in hiding.

In all those time, Harrold who had a slumped in his career was looking for her and his daughter. Because the his nature of work, he have ways to find information and people if he wants to and if he finds her, he going to kill her.

Then came one morning when Caroline, the daughter, caught a flu and was taken to a clinic in Machias. She was allergic to one of the antibiotics and Mary couldn't remember exactly which one was she allergic to. Mary didn't have any choice but to call up the doctor in New York and this led to the finding of her hiding.

Confrontation between Mary/Maureen and Harrold happened and to Mary/Maureen the only way for her to get her life back, is if Harrold dies. She then took the matter into her own hands.

The book consists of reports from various characters that appear in the book, and these reports were used as testament in court. The written article by Helen also has a profound effect of Mary/Maureen's family life.

At the end of the book we get to read Helen's original article and consider the accuracy and sensationalism of Helen's take on the story.

The structure of the book certainly makes it a fascinating read. All in all, this is a wonderful book, challenging, intriquing, thought-provoking. You'll be glad you read it.

Inkheart

This book is all about books.

Thin books, thick books, small books, big books, all kind of books.

If you love book, you going to love this particular book that are made originally for kids. As I am a kid (hehe) and I love fantasy books, there is little wonder why I will recommend this book to anyone who share the same interest.

Inkheart is a story within a story. Its about a girl named Maggie, whose father had a spectacular gift (or curse, depend on how you look at it). Mo, Maggie's dad, has the ability to bring the characters from books to life - litterally.

The story begins when Mo accidentally and unfortunately bring the most villainous character out of Inkheart: named Capricorn, together with few of his followers, one of them is Basta. Besides them, there is also Dustfinger, who has a special ability to control fire. Magie was two years old and never see her mother since that fateful day because Mo accidentally read her into the book instead.

Since then, Mo and Maggie had live on the run from Capricorn and his henchmen.

Initially Capricorn's reason to search for Mo is to return into Inkheart but as the years gone by, his greed grew just like his evil doings. His followers trippled and he went from one village to the other bring darkness to the people, never stop searching for Mo, but for different reasons now. He wanted Mo to read other evil characters that he can used to life, or golds and treasures and what not.

After 8 years, Capricorn finally managed to captured Mo using Maggie as lure, thanks to Dustfinger who constantly searching for Mo in hope to be read back into the book. To ensure that Mo will not read him accidentally back into Inkheart, Capricorn ordered his henchmen to search for the book all around the globe and destroyed them. The only copy left was Mo's but that too was destroyed eventually. Dustfinger, who realize that Capricorn will not keep his promise, help released Mo, Maggie and Elinor, Maggie's aunt.

They went to a little village and with the help of Elinor, they managed to tracked down the writer of Inkheart, Fenoglio.

Since Maggie learn about his father's talent, she has secretly wish that she can bring life to characters as well. She tried with several harmful books when they were at the Fenoglio's house but had failed.

On the day Mo went to fetch Elinor from the airport, Maggie and Fenoglio were captured by Basta, this time because of Dusftfinger's carelessness. In captivity, Maggie try reading out loud a Peter Pan book she found under her bed. She was delighted when she found Tinker Bell flying around the cell room. She had done it!

Unfortunately Capricorn comes to learn about Maggie's ability and decided that he didn't need Mo anymore. He ordered her men to get everything ready for the most important occasion of all: to read Shadow out of the book using Maggie.

What Capricorn didn't count on though was that Maggie, together with Fenoglio had changed the story line that caused the demise of him and his fellow henchmen.

Maggie was also reunited with Mo who had come to her rescue and her mother as well, who had been called out of the book previously by Darius, who had little less talent than Mo and Maggie.

I didn't mention much about Dustfinger but he played an important role throughout the story. The reason I didn't mention him because I think if I dwelled too much on him, I can't help but give the book away.

One other thing that I love about this book is the fact that Cornelia Funke (the author) just loves books and she conveys it to the reader in a very subtle but powerful way. It makes you appreciate books even more. After reading Inkheart, I want to read some of the books she mentioned in the story that are familiar but I never bother to read it because I'd known how the story goes.

This is the first time I read Cornelia's work but I will certainly look out for her other books including Inkspell, the sequal to Inkheart.