Books Next Door

Reading List as of April 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Edge) — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 14:31:00 +0000

My sincerest apology for such a long gap between reviews, I had to juggle a lot of things that writing reviews took a backseat, way way back. I didn’t stop reading but writing reviews seem to become more of a luxury. In any case, here’re the books I’m currently reading.

Pacific Rims by Rafe Bartholomew

I’m more of a fan of the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) games than basketball itself. But much intrigued by the premise of the book, the Philippines's undeniable love of basketball, I decided to purchase one and start reading. And so far, I’m enjoying it.

Sherlock Holmes, The Complete Novels and Stories Volume 1 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

I’m almost halfway into writing my review for this but I lost the book! I intend to replace it but I’d rather finish Pacific Rims first.

The Little Friend by Donna Tartt

It’s a heavy read. It’s not so easy to finish as I thought. In almost every other page I would need to scan the dictionary. Don’t get me wrong, it is a masterpiece of word art, not the type that you do with Microsoft Word. Obviously, this would take some time to finish; I might (meaning probably) insert other books while reading it.

The other books that I might bump up the reading list are those that I’ve got my eye on:

a) Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

b) Rant by Chuck Palahniuk

c) The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult

d) Tinkers by Paul Harding

Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book Five: The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

noreply@blogger.com (Edge) — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 13:32:00 +0000

The last instalment of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is more of a battle report than a novel. As a fantasy reader, I’d rather have a bit of both. But for the most part, it is a gripping read.

Author: Rick Riordan

Released: May 5, 2009

New York Times children’s best seller series

Synopsis

The entire plot can be summarized by one word, war. Manhattan is destined to witness a contemporary Greek battle. Nico di Angelo, son of Hades, convinces Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, to bear a well-known curse, which could be the remaining hope to thwart the advances of titan Kronos, inhabiting Luke’s body, and son of Hermes, against the gods of Mount Olympus.

As if things aren’t bad enough, the gods of Olympus are spread thinly, Hades is refusing to fight alongside his brothers, Poseidon’s domain is under siege, while the rest of the gods are in Central America fighting a primal evil that Kronos has unleashed, leaving the Empire State Building, site of Mount Olympus, to be defended by the demigods of Camp Half-Blood against an army of assorted mythical monsters and brainwashed demigods.

Amidst the immensity and intensity, the Great Prophecy reveals its true self to be far from expected, a common feat of prophecies, a truth which will require Percy to study his mortal enemy—definitely not his favorite subject.

Reading Experience

Unlike the usual bittersweet ending achieved by other sagas; the satisfaction of a fairytale ending against the finality of a riveting storyline, Book Five feels more of a closure—the thing you look for when you want to move on. Don’t get me wrong, it is action-packed and readers will still find themselves soaring across chapters. But there’s almost nothing unpredictable or unexpected in the entire plot, except the part where the River Styx is involved.

Readers would always have room for character histories, even more for the intended readers of Percy Jackson. Character history is a tool used by writers to make the audience relate to the characters and more immersed in the storyline, which is as present as much as a tip of an iceberg in this instalment. This ingredient is used sparingly, maybe owing to the fact that everything needs to be fast-paced. But like any rollercoaster ride, there should always be a point of slowing down to build up an utterly breathtaking climax.

Moreover, the last book of a series means tying up of loose ends, but the way it was done in the Last Olympian is rather dull and uncreative, like some final credits of a movie. I still think Riordan has a great fast-paced writing style necessary for his target readers, but I guess I expected more for a final instalment.

In Conclusion

It might not be a breathtaking novel, but it would make a breathtaking 3D movie.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book Four: The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

noreply@blogger.com (Edge) — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 08:53:00 +0000

The second to the last book for most, if not all, sagas or series has a certain degree of significance that any reader should be aware of. Authors will improve on early foreshadowing they’ve laid in the early instalments, either bring it nearer to a close or make it more cumbersome, or intriguing, until one reads the last book. The Battle of the Labyrinth surely did both, but more of the latter.

Author: Rick Riordan

Released: May 6, 2008

New York Times children’s best seller series

Synopsis

Luke, son of Hermes, and a follower of the titan Kronos, was ready to lead their army to destroy Camp Half-Blood. He intends to use the labyrinth for his army to pass through. This discovery brought anxiety to the entire camp, perhaps how any camp should feel had they known an entire army of mythological Greek demons and traitors are to wage war against them.

Annabeth Chase; daughter of Athena, receives a quest, to find Daedalus, creator of the labyrinth, and prevent Luke’s army from getting Ariadne’s string, the string that can help one find his way through the labyrinth.

The labyrinth is known to cause madness once inside. It is also known to grow and extend, further mortifying those inside it to be more lost, the only setback for Luke, so he also sets out to find Ariadne’s string.

In the labyrinth, Annabeth is accompanied by, of course, Percy Jackson; son of Poseidon, Grover; a satyr, Tyson; Percy’s cylopes brother, and Nico di Angelo; son of Hades. In their misfortune, they found themselves, like many others, lost in the labyrinth despite Annabeth’s wisdom and inclination to architecture.

Percy seeks the help of Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Rachel, despite being a mortal, possesses the ability to see through the mist and which makes her an effective GPS in the labyrinth. So it becomes a race between their party against Luke’s army, as the countdown begins for Camp Half-Blood’s probable final hour.

But what they found in the labyrinth, was more than any of them intended, and wanted to find.

Reading Experience

Had it not been for Pacific Rims by Rafe Bartholomew, I would’ve finished reading and writing The Battle of the Labyrinth earlier. But since my reading has been preoccupied for quite some time, I only had this chance to write my review.

Riordan maintained his sprint paced storytelling prowess. It is also good news, though expected, when I say that humor is inserted in the plot’s entire run.

Though there were quite a few more additions to the original myths, he was able to include the well-known factoids about the labyrinth. No, Icarus did not make an appearance, but Daedalus surely did. More so, Riordan touched a bit more metaphysical, should I say subjects or rather concepts, when he dabbled on Daedalus’s form (that’s for you to read) and his labyrinth and its sprawling behavior.

Those who know about the labyrinth’s story would be very familiar with Daedalus and Icarus, and their wax wings, but be prepared for King Minos’s portrayal which may eventually make you grind your teeth.

Luke is bound to play a very intriguing role. What Riordan has written about Kronos and Luke in this book will make one more curious of how things would turn out in Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian. Another character whom Riordan has made more pivotal in the series is Nico di Angelo. My interest in him being the son of Hades, grew more as he demonstrated his capability to call the dead and even command them, but I do have a special interest in the book’s last scene.

In Conclusion

In a nutshell, the pacing and build-up is nothing short of laudable, a satisfying second to the last book of the series. Reading The Battle of the Labyrinth will surely intrigue, since it feels it was meant to intrigue, the reader to join Percy Jackson in his next and last adventure.

J. K. Rowling's Commencement Address to Harvard Graduates, "The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination"

noreply@blogger.com (Edge) — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 08:02:00 +0000

This is Joanne Katherine Rowling's commencement address at Harvard University. Read this and you'll surely be inspired.

The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination

J.K. Rowling, author of the best-selling Harry Potter book series, delivers her Commencement Address, “The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination,” at the Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association.

President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, proud parents, and, above all, graduates.

The first thing I would like to say is ‘thank you.’ Not only has Harvard given me an extraordinary honour, but the weeks of fear and nausea I’ve experienced at the thought of giving this commencement address have made me lose weight. A win-win situation! Now all I have to do is take deep breaths, squint at the red banners and fool myself into believing I am at the world’s best-educated Harry Potter convention.

Delivering a commencement address is a great responsibility; or so I thought until I cast my mind back to my own graduation. The commencement speaker that day was the distinguished British philosopher Baroness Mary Warnock. Reflecting on her speech has helped me enormously in writing this one, because it turns out that I can’t remember a single word she said. This liberating discovery enables me to proceed without any fear that I might inadvertently influence you to abandon promising careers in business, law or politics for the giddy delights of becoming a gay wizard.

You see? If all you remember in years to come is the ‘gay wizard’ joke, I’ve still come out ahead of Baroness Mary Warnock.Achievable goals: the first step towards personal improvement.

Actually, I have wracked my mind and heart for what I ought to say to you today. I have asked myself what I wish I had known at my own graduation, and what important lessons I have learned in the 21 years that has expired between that day and this.

I have come up with two answers. On this wonderful day when we are gathered together to celebrate your academic success, I have decided to talk to you about the benefits of failure. And as you stand on the threshold of what is sometimes called ‘real life’, I want to extol the crucial importance of imagination.

These might seem quixotic or paradoxical choices, but please bear with me.

Looking back at the 21-year-old that I was at graduation, is a slightly uncomfortable experience for the 42-year-old that she has become. Half my lifetime ago, I was striking an uneasy balance between the ambition I had for myself, and what those closest to me expected of me.

I was convinced that the only thing I wanted to do, ever, was to write novels. However, my parents, both of whom came from impoverished backgrounds and neither of whom had been to college, took the view that my overactive imagination was an amusing personal quirk that could never pay a mortgage, or secure a pension.

They had hoped that I would take a vocational degree; I wanted to study English Literature. A compromise was reached that in retrospect satisfied nobody, and I went up to study Modern Languages. Hardly had my parents’ car rounded the corner at the end of the road than I ditched German and scuttled off down the Classics corridor.

I cannot remember telling my parents that I was studying Classics; they might well have found out for the first time on graduation day. Of all subjects on this planet, I think they would have been hard put to name one less useful than Greek mythology when it came to securing the keys to an executive bathroom.

I would like to make it clear, in parenthesis, that I do not blame my parents for their point of view. There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction; the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you. What is more, I cannot criticise my parents for hoping that I would never experience poverty. They had been poor themselves, and I have since been poor, and I quite agree with them that it is not an ennobling experience. Poverty entails fear, and stress, and sometimes depression; it means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships. Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts, that is indeed something on which to pride yourself, but poverty itself is romanticised only by fools.

What I feared most for myself at your age was not poverty, but failure.

At your age, in spite of a distinct lack of motivation at university, where I had spent far too long in the coffee bar writing stories, and far too little time at lectures, I had a knack for passing examinations, and that, for years, had been the measure of success in my life and that of my peers.

I am not dull enough to suppose that because you are young, gifted and well-educated, you have never known hardship or heartbreak. Talent and intelligence never yet inoculated anyone against the caprice of the Fates, and I do not for a moment suppose that everyone here has enjoyed an existence of unruffled privilege and contentment.

However, the fact that you are graduating from Harvard suggests that you are not very well-acquainted with failure. You might be driven by a fear of failure quite as much as a desire for success. Indeed, your conception of failure might not be too far from the average person’s idea of success, so high have you already flown academically.

Ultimately, we all have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world is quite eager to give you a set of criteria if you let it. So I think it fair to say that by any conventional measure, a mere seven years after my graduation day, I had failed on an epic scale. An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless. The fears my parents had had for me, and that I had had for myself, had both come to pass, and by every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew.

Now, I am not going to stand here and tell you that failure is fun. That period of my life was a dark one, and I had no idea that there was going to be what the press has since represented as a kind of fairy tale resolution. I had no idea how far the tunnel extended, and for a long time, any light at the end of it was a hope rather than a reality.

So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.

You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default.

Failure gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing examinations. Failure taught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way. I discovered that I had a strong will, and more discipline than I had suspected; I also found out that I had friends whose value was truly above rubies.

The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more to me than any qualification I ever earned.

Given a time machine or a Time Turner, I would tell my 21-year-old self that personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a check-list of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two. Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone’s total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes.

You might think that I chose my second theme, the importance of imagination, because of the part it played in rebuilding my life, but that is not wholly so. Though I will defend the value of bedtime stories to my last gasp, I have learned to value imagination in a much broader sense. Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathise with humans whose experiences we have never shared.

One of the greatest formative experiences of my life preceded Harry Potter, though it informed much of what I subsequently wrote in those books. This revelation came in the form of one of my earliest day jobs. Though I was sloping off to write stories during my lunch hours, I paid the rent in my early 20s by working in the research department at Amnesty International’s headquarters in London.

There in my little office I read hastily scribbled letters smuggled out of totalitarian regimes by men and women who were risking imprisonment to inform the outside world of what was happening to them. I saw photographs of those who had disappeared without trace, sent to Amnesty by their desperate families and friends. I read the testimony of torture victims and saw pictures of their injuries. I opened handwritten, eye-witness accounts of summary trials and executions, of kidnappings and rapes.

Many of my co-workers were ex-political prisoners, people who had been displaced from their homes, or fled into exile, because they had the temerity to think independently of their government. Visitors to our office included those who had come to give information, or to try and find out what had happened to those they had been forced to leave behind.

I shall never forget the African torture victim, a young man no older than I was at the time, who had become mentally ill after all he had endured in his homeland. He trembled uncontrollably as he spoke into a video camera about the brutality inflicted upon him. He was a foot taller than I was, and seemed as fragile as a child. I was given the job of escorting him to the Underground Station afterwards, and this man whose life had been shattered by cruelty took my hand with exquisite courtesy, and wished me future happiness.

And as long as I live I shall remember walking along an empty corridor and suddenly hearing, from behind a closed door, a scream of pain and horror such as I have never heard since. The door opened, and the researcher poked out her head and told me to run and make a hot drink for the young man sitting with her. She had just given him the news that in retaliation for his own outspokenness against his country’s regime, his mother had been seized and executed.

Every day of my working week in my early 20s I was reminded how incredibly fortunate I was, to live in a country with a democratically elected government, where legal representation and a public trial were the rights of everyone.

Every day, I saw more evidence about the evils humankind will inflict on their fellow humans, to gain or maintain power. I began to have nightmares, literal nightmares, about some of the things I saw, heard and read.

And yet I also learned more about human goodness at Amnesty International than I had ever known before.

Amnesty mobilises thousands of people who have never been tortured or imprisoned for their beliefs to act on behalf of those who have. The power of human empathy, leading to collective action, saves lives, and frees prisoners. Ordinary people, whose personal well-being and security are assured, join together in huge numbers to save people they do not know, and will never meet. My small participation in that process was one of the most humbling and inspiring experiences of my life.

Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced. They can think themselves into other people’s minds, imagine themselves into other people’s places.

Of course, this is a power, like my brand of fictional magic, that is morally neutral. One might use such an ability to manipulate, or control, just as much as to understand or sympathise.

And many prefer not to exercise their imaginations at all. They choose to remain comfortably within the bounds of their own experience, never troubling to wonder how it would feel to have been born other than they are. They can refuse to hear screams or to peer inside cages; they can close their minds and hearts to any suffering that does not touch them personally; they can refuse to know.

I might be tempted to envy people who can live that way, except that I do not think they have any fewer nightmares than I do. Choosing to live in narrow spaces can lead to a form of mental agoraphobia, and that brings its own terrors. I think the wilfully unimaginative see more monsters. They are often more afraid.

What is more, those who choose not to empathise may enable real monsters. For without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves, we collude with it, through our own apathy.

One of the many things I learned at the end of that Classics corridor down which I ventured at the age of 18, in search of something I could not then define, was this, written by the Greek author Plutarch: What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.

That is an astonishing statement and yet proven a thousand times every day of our lives. It expresses, in part, our inescapable connection with the outside world, the fact that we touch other people’s lives simply by existing.

But how much more are you, Harvard graduates of 2008, likely to touch other people’s lives? Your intelligence, your capacity for hard work, the education you have earned and received, give you unique status, and unique responsibilities. Even your nationality sets you apart. The great majority of you belong to the world’s only remaining superpower. The way you vote, the way you live, the way you protest, the pressure you bring to bear on your government, has an impact way beyond your borders. That is your privilege, and your burden.

If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice; if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless; if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped transform for the better. We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.

I am nearly finished. I have one last hope for you, which is something that I already had at 21. The friends with whom I sat on graduation day have been my friends for life. They are my children’s godparents, the people to whom I’ve been able to turn in times of trouble, friends who have been kind enough not to sue me when I’ve used their names for Death Eaters. At our graduation we were bound by enormous affection, by our shared experience of a time that could never come again, and, of course, by the knowledge that we held certain photographic evidence that would be exceptionally valuable if any of us ran for Prime Minister.

So today, I can wish you nothing better than similar friendships. And tomorrow, I hope that even if you remember not a single word of mine, you remember those of Seneca, another of those old Romans I met when I fled down the Classics corridor, in retreat from career ladders, in search of ancient wisdom:
As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.

I wish you all very good lives.

Thank you very much.

The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan

noreply@blogger.com (Edge) — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 08:53:00 +0000

It’s the next best thing to The Lord of the Rings, or even better.

Author: Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson

Released: January 1990

New York Times Bestseller, International Bestseller, Locus Award Nominee, David Gemmel Legend Award Nominee

Synopsis

The Dark One, Shai’tan, is freed from his prison. And the Wheel of Time turns to answer this threat--the Dragon. Lews Therin Telamon is the fated Dragon who led the Aes Sedai, channelers of the One Power, to seal Shai’tan away from the world again. Despite defeat, The Dark One managed to taint Saidin, male half of the True Source. Because of this, male Aes Sedai, including the Dragon himself, is driven to madness. The said taint is described as oil on water; the water which is the One Power, remains devoid of impurities but to touch it means going through the taint.

As time flows, the Wheel turns, and the Dark One’s seal weakens, threatening to unleash himself on the world once more. The Wheel weaves the Dragon again, but the Dragon Reborn would be facing both the Dark One and the madness brought by using Saidin.

Rand Al’Thor, together with Perrin Aybara and Mat Cauthon, are mere villagers of the Two Rivers. This changed when their destinies are interwoven with Moraine Damodred, an Aes Sedai, and Lan, the Sedai’s Warder. Moraine cannot determine the Dragon Reborn from the three, so she brings them all along. The Sedai also saw the potential of two other villagers Egwene al’Vere and Nynaeve al’Meara as future channelers of the One Power. With a party of seven, in the first book of the series, The Eye of The World, they fought a myriad of unfriendly characters to get to Tar Valon, the city of the Aes Sedai.

Rand al'Thor by artist Seamas Gallagher.
See his other Wheel of Time comic artworks
on http://seamassketches.blogspot.com

And from there, the plot thickens, and more characters and subplots are unveiled in a projected 14 part series.

Reading Experience

Robert Jordan brings you an adventure worthy of twelve books. Though I won’t deny that it won’t make you flip through the pages with much haste, it is still quite a page-turner.

Jordan wrote a very elaborate plot for this epic fantasy. Moreover, the characters are fully developed in every page and in every instalment. You may have an affinity to a character, which might turn to adversity in the next chapter or the next book. But the more important part is, you feel them evolving with everything they go through.

I say that the series’ downfall is its length. Readers are daunted by a fourteen-part series, not to mention the width of one book and the span of one page. But serious epic fantasy readers would appreciate this treatment because the book would be able to bring the story to heights that a shortened plot could not. To shed more light, The Lord of The Rings Trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien are the last three books of an extensive and much more elaborate epic fantasy plot.

What I enjoy best about The Wheel of Time is its game-like format. Being a fan of Role Playing Games like Final Fantasy, you have an arsenal of predetermined configuration, this is the premise of the One Power for the book. As a gamer, you work around this and you cannot pull something out of the bag for the heck of it, which is the same for The Wheel of Time. Jordan sticks with what was set in the premise and aptly plays around it.

In Conclusion

No I would not recommend reading the Wheel of Time to just any reader. But if you are looking for an epic adventure, determined to see it through the end, then you better start now because the last book is set to be released in 2012 (says me who's still stuck in the 6th book).

The Wheel of Time symbol
by Matthew Nielsen from www.fantasy-fan.org

Random Wheel of Time facts:

- Characters in the book are mainly humans, compared to other fantasy series with a variety of creatures.

- The series, despite its length, has a prequel, The New Spring, which was originally intended as a short story.

- Robert Jordan died on September 16, 2007 with the series left unfinished, leaving notes behind on how The Wheel of Time should end.

- Brandon Sanderson, a fantasy writer, was chosen to finish the twelfth book, The Gathering Storm and the last two titles; Towers of Midnight and A Memory of Light

- Prequel. The New Spring

- Book 1. The Eye of The World

- Book 2. The Great Hunt

- Book 3. The Dragon Reborn

- Book 4. The Shadow Rising

- Book 5. The Fires of Heaven

- Book 6. Lord of Chaos (This is where I’ve gotten to so far)

- Book 7. A Crown of Swords

- Book 8. The Path of Daggers

- Book 9. Winter’s Heart

- Book 10. Crossroads of Twilight

- Book 11. Knife of Dreams

- Book 12. The Gathering Storm

- Book 13. Towers of Midnight

- Book 14. A Memory of Light

You can get more information about the series at Wikipedia.

Prequels not Sequels for Harry Potter

noreply@blogger.com (Edge) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 02:37:00 +0000

No more sequels, please.

Joanne Katherine (J.K.) Rowling hinted she could write a sequel for Harry Potter. But she ended the series very well, I could not think of a better ending than what’s already written in the pages of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. And despite being a witness and an aficionado of the author’s genius, I don’t think that even Rowling is immune to the common pitfalls of commercialization—sequels.

J. K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series

I’m not saying I won’t read the sequels if she did write them, because I probably will. I know that I will have a copy reserved and be at the bookstore on the day of its release at the store’s opening hour. This is to say that Rowling’s writing prowess might shine brighter than media’s flashing lights of criticism. But I still think that sequels are a bad idea.

Why?

Those who have read seven books of Harry Potter would know the superb intensity and magnificent execution of Rowling’s storytelling in the seventh book. She effectively tailored the loose ends of the earlier instalments, every bit of foreshadowing, twists and turnouts unveiled in the first six books were cited or expounded in the seventh. The significance of Albus Dumbledore’s wisdom can be fully felt without reticence. Moreover, you can feel closure in the side stories.

The seven Harry Potter books

And writing a sequel could mean burning a hole for the sake of a plot, or building a new plot atop a closed book, which means loosening knitted ends. This act threatens to reduce an excellent contemporary classic to a mediocre series.

Though a story’s success may also mean its downfall, we can’t deny that fanatics still crave for more. As an author, the craving might be stronger with the knowledge that it is within her grasp to extend Potter’s life (the series). Or maybe, she can’t stand the idea that famished Potter fans gratify their appetite by rereading or re-watching Harry Potter’s previous adventures.

But George Lucas had the solution.

Star Wars was a trilogy before it was a saga; the original trilogy is etched in film history. Its vast fame has trickled from a thrilling ride in the cinemas to Happy Meal toys in McDonalds. Star Wars’ fame is far more difficult to extinguish with the latest trends in film technology.

Star Wars main characters. From the left, Luke Skywalker, Princess Lea and Han Solo

Maybe Lucas was thinking, what if I remake Star Wars? What if I had these special effects available before? Then Star Wars would’ve been better equipped visually, but would it work? I bet Lucas knew that it was difficult to create a new antagonist in the series that will challenge Luke Skywalker.

The thing is, if you kill the antagonist that fans loathe (big time), and then create a new one, who is usually stronger, it won’t produce the same feeling. One can owe this to the idea that Dark Lords endlessly emerge and even if the new Dark Lord eventually meets his death, the readers would have a foreboding that their hero’s life will be forever challenged despite closing the book’s back cover.

So Lucas turned to prequels. And it made Star Wars phenomenal, more phenomenal than it already was. But the original trilogy maintains its lordship over the prequels, which is not a bad thing. Sure the prequels endured great media attention and further popularized the Star Wars Saga, but when a friend cites Star Wars, you’ll probably hear Darth Vader and not Darth Mole, the famous line, “Luke, I am your father”, and Vader’s breathing sound which are all in the original trilogy.

Prequels might further immortalize Harry Potter.

That’s why I think Rowling should write prequels, because I know, with her genius, it will have a story of its own without losing Harry Potter’s magic touch. It may not be an adventure with the characters we’ve grown up with, but it would still be in the world we came to know.

My idea of prequels would include Voldemort’s rise to power, the creation and the battles of the original Order of the Phoenix, and the First Wizarding War. I know that there’s an online fanfic (fan fiction) about James Potter, but if Rowling gets her backstories published, it would be a fanatic turmoil not exclusive to Potter's father.

She could even do a spinoff, she could have “Hogwarts, A History by Bathilda Bagshot” published, which would contain the story of the four great founders of Hogwarts. It would be like Harry Potter all over again, you’ve got Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin as main characters. This is much like what she did with Tales of Beedle the Bard, a wizarding fairytale book.

I admit, like everyone else, I long for more Harry Potter. Though splitting the last book into two movies is a blaring statement of milking the Potter franchise, I honestly don’t care because I don’t want the Potter experience to end, at least in the films, yet. But the seventh is the seventh; it’s too well-crafted that writing on top of it would be like driving a Basilisk fang through its pages.

Still, we’re talking about Rowling here, if she does write a sequel, count me in. More so if it’s a prequel. In the end, as long as she writes something, be it related to Harry Potter or not, I’d be at the bookstore, reserving a copy.

Rowling hints on Harry Potter sequels

noreply@blogger.com (Edge) — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 10:24:00 +0000

www.people.com - Friday, October 1, 2010

J. K. Rowling Hints to Oprah There Could Be More Harry Potter

By Hilary Shenfeld

Fans, rejoice – J.K. Rowling offered a bit of hope on Friday that, perhaps, the final Harry Potter story has yet to be told.

"I could definitely write an eighth, ninth, tenth," the celebrated author, 45, told Oprah Winfreyduring an interview scheduled to air Friday. "I'm not going to say I won't. I don't think I will … I feel I am done, but you never know."

Speaking in Edinburgh, where the interview took place, Rowling said she felt something of a loss upon finishing the saga's last installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. "It was a bereavement," she said.

Not that she's completely put down her pen. Rowling plans to write more books, and feels there is no need to match or top her previous achievement.

"I did it. I'm really proud I did it," she said. "But this is a new phase."

Billions, Yet Worries
And though she went on to become richer than Queen Elizabeth II – selling more than 400 million books about her young wizard and his pals – Rowling recalled that the Harry Potter series almost didn't happen. Turned down by 12 publishers before one finally agreed to print the first book, Rowling was informed by an agent: "You'll never make money selling children's books."

Despite being a billionaire today, "I do still worry" about money, given her past history of being a single mother with so little cash she was close to being homeless, she said. She is now married to her second husband, anesthesiologist Dr. Neil Murray, and the couple have three children between them.

Rowling said she has few regrets about her life, but one is that her mother, who died six months after Rowling started writing the first book, never got to see the phenomenal success of the series, which blossomed into several movies and a theme park in Florida.

However, Rowling mentioned that she did turn down one opportunity – when Michael Jackson said he wanted to make a musical based on the books.

Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling (From the Harry Potter series)

noreply@blogger.com (Edge) — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 02:46:00 +0000

Originally posted on www.livewire-edge.blogspot.com on December 4, 2008.

Oh yeah! That’s right, I bought ‘The Tales of Beedle the Bard’ earlier, another in-story book from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series. Compared to the first in-story publishes, this copy has a hardbound cover and is designed as a fairytale book.

Tales of Beedle the Bard contains the primary plot of the Deathly Hallows. This fairytale story made a direct impact in seventh and last installment of Harry Potter.

The best thing about it is, every one else is busy with Twilight and Edward Cullen that they overlooked this on the shelves. Okay I admit that I’m not into Twilight, well everyone else is so I guess I’ll just try something else.

Another quality of a Harry Potter book, whether part of the installment or not, you haven’t even started reading it but there’s already a borrowers' queue for the book!

Surgeons Do Not Cry by Dr. Ting Tiongco

noreply@blogger.com (Edge) — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 22:37:00 +0000

Here's a book review of Surgeons Do Not Cry by Dr. Ting Tiongco from my friend, soon-to-be-doctor, Aubrey Morla. Aside from the more obvious reason that I haven't read this yet, I decided it was best to repost (with permission, of course) a review from a student-doctor rather than doing it myself.

People who visit this blog [AubreyThinksThat] are most often aspiring medical doctors who like me are weighing the pros and cons of pursuing such a profession. I often get gratuitous comments for my posts even though admittedly, I hardly know anything about being a med student or being in med school. Like a soldier about to wage through a battlefield, I am more of a seasoned spectator than a veteran decorated by wounds from battle.

I received Surgeons Do Not Cry by Dr. Jose 'Ting' Tiongco as a present from my close friend Edge Guevara. For someone on the verge of entering med school, I could not have received anything more perfect. The book is a compilation of Dr. Tiongco's column pieces written for the Mindanao News Agency, detailing his heartwarming, painful, joyous and renegade days as a medical student at the UP (University of the Philippines) College of Medicine. As I was reading through the book, I realized that although I tried to have as much information about med life, it stands nowhere near what doctors/ students actually experience in practice. The idealism-dampening situation of healthcare in the Philippines, the great disparity between academic, book molded lectures and dismal real life situations, the ego stunting environment at the best med school in the country, and the perpetual export of our experienced doctors to the luring promise of milk and honey abroad, are described by someone who lived through it all, and luckily, survived to tell the tale.

Dr. Tiongco writes in a very relatable, non-alienating way. I reckon that even laymen would find his stories very interesting, and quite heart-wrenching. I myself had to stop several times in order to collect my thoughts, stifle the tug on my chest or prevent myself from tears. I hardly get overwhelmed with Chicken Soup like books, but medicine is just something very close to my heart that I consider myself fortunate to have read through such an insightful and well written book. To the readers who frequent my blog, I know many of us are full of anxieties of what awaits us on the far end of the road, I definitely recommend this book and even say that it is a must-read before anyone sanely decides to enter med. I have nothing but heartfelt thanks for Dr. Tiongco. I wish I could thank him personally but since I am yet to find a contact information, I am convinced that a better alternative would be to share such an essential and amazing book to my fellow future MDs. Kudos Dr. Tiongco and thank you!

Here is a link to one of the stories on the book, posted by his niece Shaira Tiongo: http://shairationgco.multiply.com/journal/item/92

and here's a link to ate Aubrey's original post:

http://aubreythinksthat.blogspot.com/2009/12/review-surgeons-do-not-cry-by-ting.html

Fully Booked Sale September 3 to 5, 2010, EDSA Shangri-la Hotel Branch

noreply@blogger.com (Edge) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 08:42:00 +0000

Posted on Fully Booked's Facebook page:
Fully Booked EDSA Shangri-la Hotel branch celebrates its 2nd year anniversary! From September 3-5, 2010 enjoy 80% discount on selected items and 20% discount on regular items. See you there!

I hope I find time (and money) to go! ^^

Quotes from the Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

noreply@blogger.com (Edge) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 06:28:00 +0000

The little prince on matters of consequence

“And is it not a matter of consequence to try and understand why the flowers go to so much trouble to grow thorns which are never of any use to them?”

The rose to the little prince

“Well, I must endure the presence of two or three caterpillars if I wish to become acquainted with the butterflies.”

The little prince on his rose

“I ought to have judged by deeds not by words.”

The businessman to the little prince

“Kings do not own, they reign over. It is a very different matter”

The little prince on the tippler

“. . .he is the only one of them all who does not seem to me ridiculous. Perhaps that is because he is thinking of something else besides himself.”

The snake to the little prince

“It is a little lonely in the desert . . . “

“It is also lonely among men,”

An Earth rose on men

“They have no roots, and that makes their life very difficult”

The fox on saying nothing

“Words are the source of misunderstandings”

The fox to the little prince

“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

The railway switchman on the travellers

“No one is ever satisfied where he is,” – railway switchman

The little prince to the pilot

“What makes the desert beautiful... is that somewhere it hides a well"

If you're now interested in reading the book, here's a link to my non-spoiler review. Do find time to read The Little Prince, it's not text-heavy, it's not lengthy, but it's laden with metaphors you are bound to relate to.

On Visiting Earth, A Commentary on The Little Prince

noreply@blogger.com (Edge) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 05:43:00 +0000

(WARNING: SPOILER ALERT)

“There are 111 kings, 7,000 geographers, 900,000 businessmen, 7,500,000 tipplers, 311,000,000 conceited men—that is to say about 2,000,000,000 grown-ups.“

These were the figures that the little prince gave as he set foot on Earth. If you have read my previous posts, On the Grownups parts 1 and 2, these figures approximates how many adults behave in ‘extraordinary’ ways, as the little prince puts it.

The Garden of Roses and the Fox

Seeing a garden of roses, all bearing strong semblance to the rose in his planet, deeply, and painfully, carved the word ‘ephemeral’ into the little prince’s heart. The Geographer of the last asteroid he visited described his rose as such, ephemeral, in danger of speedy disappearance. The little prince questions his rose’s uniqueness.

It was the fox who taught him to see rightly. The term used by the author is taming, which is described as establishing ties, but this also translates to love. (Yes, it's cheesy, I know. But if you loathe it so much, don't read this book at all, or worse, discuss it with someone else.) Simply stated, it was the fox who taught the little prince about love.

I somewhat agree that the concept of love is taught to children who're old enough to get the gist of the novel. After all, regardless of age, love has been the source of misery and sorrow, bliss and contentment, but more importantly, purpose and meaning.

The fox instructs the little prince, to be patient, maintain distance, and say nothing.

Being patient entails perseverance. Anything worth having is earned. Maintaining distance entails trust. And trust is a key ingredient for establishing ties. Saying nothing entails understanding. As the fox says, “Words are the source of misunderstandings”.

The fox also instructs the little prince to be consistent, to come back at the same hour and not be radical with their meetings. Setting a designated schedule and amount of time means placing value not only for the person but also for the time spent with him or her.

As the little prince leaves, the fox starts crying. The little prince points out that the fox brought this on himself, if he hadn’t asked to be tamed; he wouldn’t be weeping in his departure. The fox then shares light from a different angle, what the little prince say may be true, but the more significant change, he is not like any other fox for the little prince anymore just like his rose against the similar beauty of the roses in the garden.

The Essential

“What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well”.

Its delicate, luscious but elusive taste can be sampled, once again, in the latter part of the story. Both the pilot and the little prince were thirsty, and they were looking for source of water in the scorching desert. In the most literal sense, it is plainly difficult to find water in the Sahara desert. But they did find a well, yet getting water from the well is still trying. Fortunately, a pulley, a lever and a bucket were available. And the water they drank was the sweetest of all.

“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye”.

This famous line pertains to a concept which underpins the simple architecture of the entire novel. It is also this concept that catalyzes the complexity of the novel's effects to readers. Perhaps the book is simplest when read by a child.

Commentary Series Links:
> The Little Prince Book Review
> On Matters of Consequence
> On Talking Like a Grownup
> On Loving Figures
> On Grownups Part 1/2
> On Grownups Part 2/2
> Quotes from The Little Prince

On Grownups, A Commentary on The Little Prince Part 2/2

noreply@blogger.com (Edge) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 09:38:00 +0000

(WARNING: SPOILER ALERT)

The Geographer

Leaving the lamplighter’s small planet, the little prince reaches a bigger planet where the geographer resides. The geographer describes his work to the little prince as, “...a scholar who knows the location of all the seas, rivers, towns, mountains, and deserts.”

Enthused in meeting such a person, the little prince asks about the ocean, the river, the mountain and the desert. But to no avail, the geographer is unable to answer, confusing the little prince. To the geographer’s defense, he explains searching the land was the explorer’s job and not his. And to his misfortune, there’s no single explorer on his planet.

The geographer also expounds the process on qualifying an explorer’s report. Instead of going where the explorer went to get proof of his claim, an explorer will provide the evidence himself, his integrity will also be measured before his report is immortalized in a map.

Here’s a good, and funny, explanation of why integrity needs investigation, “. . . an explorer who told lies would bring disaster on the books of the geographer. So would an explorer who drank too much. Because intoxicated men see double.”

This part led me to think, that rather than experiencing life first-hand, there are those of us who are satisfied in taking the backseat as we let someone else take the wheel. It is always easier to be the passenger than the driver, but only the driver can steer the car to the direction that he intends to go to. The passenger may get to the same destination as the driver, but the driver will have greater appreciation of where he is than the passenger.

Ephemeral

Describing his planet to the geographer, with only a few distinctive feats to tell, the little prince is bound to emphasize the existence of his planet’s singular rose—his rose. But the moment it escapes from his mouth, the geographer, with crushing nonchalance, discards his rose as ephemeral, and it is unnecessary to record.

In protest, the little prince argues that his rose is unique on his planet and asks what does ephemeral mean. The geographer describes it as something “...in danger of speedy disappearance”. This broke the little prince’s heart. Regret starts gnawing at him, he should never have left his rose alone. But his journey wasn’t at an end; the geographer recommends visiting Earth.

We always forget how infinitely changing the world is. We usually forget how temporary everything is, thus we take things for granted, even people. It is usually in hindsight that we realize this fault. After all, regret is always felt after a mistake, never before it is committed. But once in a while, like the geographer’s remark to the little prince, we are reminded of our impermanence.

Commentary Series Links:
> The Little Prince Book Review
> On Matters of Consequence
> On Talking Like a Grownup
> On Loving Figures
> On Grownups Part 1/2
> On Visiting Earth
> Quotes from The Little Prince

On Grownups, A Commentary on The Little Prince Part 1/2

noreply@blogger.com (Edge) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 09:31:00 +0000

(WARNING: SPOILER ALERT)

The little prince said, “...I was too young to know how to love her,” referring to his complicated affection to his rose. His rose was demanding. Her requests gradually overwhelmed the loving little prince. Eventually, he became indifferent. It was only on Earth that he realized that behind the rose’s words was true affection.

On the verge of such realization, the little prince sets off to visit neighboring planets to gain more knowledge. The little prince is already aware of how young he was to understand his love for the rose, and then he met a number of adults, ridiculous in their own way. These grownups represent certain traits that most people possess to a certain degree.

The King

The king’s authority is quite funny and rather annoying. The author states that the world is much simple to a Kking, because to him “all men are subjects”. The king said, “I do not permit insubordination”. Though this may sound rigid and stern, in truth it is permissive and loose. He brags that he can order when the sun will set, which he does on sunset, a task that the sun is bound to do.

This translates to a false sense of control. There are those who feel that they are in-charge of their own lives when they’re really not, and tend to cloud fact with their own excuses. No one may have the power to tell the sun to set, but one can close his eyes to hide its rays.

The Conceited Man

All of us need attention, it is human to seek attention, but there are those who just can’t get enough, like the conceited man. Upon reaching the conceited man’s planet, the little prince was treated as an admirer, but the prince poses a question, “...what is there in that to interest you so much?”

To avoid losing sight of its significance, it is best to ask why we need attention before we seek it, so we would know when to stop. Usually, when have something at hand, we overlook its value. Like the way we see our reflection in the mirror, it's ironic. The mirror reflects exactly how we look. Despite this fact, we see the things we don’t have, not the things we already have.

The Tippler

The Tippler

Meeting the tippler was the funniest part for me. The tippler or the drunkard drinks to forget that he is ashamed of drinking. The metaphor is there, a simple irony. But you don’t need to interpret anything about it at all; you can take it for its factual sense. Saint-Exupery may have realized this, no I think it’s just me, but a correlation was made with the businessman to further emphasize the tippler’s irony. Nevertheless, relating the tippler and the businessman is a brilliant literary punchl.

The Businessman

The businessman claims to be very busy, he says he owns the stars because no one has decided to own them. The little prince points out that the stars aren’t owned by anyone, lest by him, because owning means being responsible for what you own.

The Businessman

The businessman further shares that he counts the stars to get more stars. And the little prince makes an exemplary connection between the tippler’ behavior and the businessman’s reasoning. This made me realize a strong semblance; both are drunk, one with liquor and one with stars.

The Lamplighter

A day on the lamplighter’s planet lasts for only a minute. And it is his job to light the lamp, giving him no time to rest. The lamplighter is the only grownup that the little prince empathized with. Among all the grownups that he met, the lamplighter is the only who isn’t selfish in his deeds, despite being, probably, the saddest. We can infer from the lamplighter how certain people live from one day to the next, having no control of how the day is spent, powerless to effect a change, obliged to stick with a routine.

The Geographer

I decided to write a separate post for the geographer.

Commentary Series Links:
> The Little Prince Book Review
> On Matters of Consequence
> On Talking Like a Grownup
> On Loving Figures
> On Grownups Part 2/2
> On Visiting Earth
> Quotes from The Little Prince

On Loving Figures, A Commentary on The Little Prince

noreply@blogger.com (Edge) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 09:29:00 +0000

(WARNING: SPOILER ALERT)

"Grown-ups love figures"

This is the first part in the book where I had an epiphany. (I’m always cautious in using the word ‘epiphany’ because it might sound like an orgasm, more like, a mental orgasm). I say it in that manner because there are more to come. (Now that’s just wrong)

Anyway... by figures, it means numbers and anything described by a certain measurement. Here’s a certain passage as discussed by the pilot:

“If you were to say to the grown-ups: “I saw a beautiful house made of rosy brick, with geraniums in the windows and doves on the roof,” they would not be able to get any idea of the house at all. You would have to say to them: “I saw a house that cost £4,000.” Then they would exclaim: “Oh, what a pretty house that is!””

We can infer two things, first is the general idea of having a yardstick for almost everything, and second is how a certain price tag affects our opinion of a certain object, place, or even a person.

Admit it, there are times that you’ve given more weight on figures than other essential details. Of course there’s nothing wrong in knowing a thing’s objective value, but even such reasoning is not exempted from the simple wisdom that the Spice Girl’s offer, ‘too much of something is bad enough.’

In the Miss Universe for example, when a contestant is presented, she is presented along with her bust, waist and thigh measurements. The 36-24-36 is even embedded in our everyday lingo, well not mine in particular (haha!) but most straight guys, and anorexic girls. I’m not totally against it, I’m part of it too, but these are proofs of what the pilot is driving at.

The Little Prince and the Baobabs

Adults, not all of course, who are of marrying age would also consider his or her future partner’s paycheck into serious consideration, he or she may see a barcode on his or her partner’s sleeve. Though reasonable, especially for having stability in life as priority, we fail to take into account the importance of concepts that no amount of money can buy.

Some may say that happiness depends on your credit limit, I say different, because we decide what makes us happy. If money makes us happy, then it will. If food makes us happy, then it will. If hearing another person’s voice, enjoying a cup of cocoa during a rainy morning makes us happy, then it will.

If a person puts a price on his happiness, he is either the luckiest person in the world or the saddest, because having a price means knowing what will make him happy, but if he thinks it’s too expensive then it’ll never be within his reach.

It’s not wrong to consider figures; it’s even wise to do so. But letting figures be the major cog in your decision-making is a greatest mistake anyone could make.

Commentary Series Links:
> The Little Prince Book Review
> On Matters of Consequence
> On Talking Like a Grownup
> On Grownups Part 1/2
> On Grownups Part 2/2
> On Visiting Earth
> Quotes from The Little Prince

On Talking Like a Grownup, A Commentary on The Little Prince

noreply@blogger.com (Edge) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 09:23:00 +0000

(WARNING: SPOILER ALERT)

The first and the most reiterating concept in The Little Prince is an adult’s supposedly matured way of thinking. We associate adulthood, or to a child’s limited verbiage ‘being a grownup’, to behavior grounded on logic and well-informed decision-making. (Now didn’t that sound like something taken directly out of a textbook?)

This quoted part is very telling of how similar the pilot’s and little prince’s opinion of an adult is. Note that the pilot is narrating and the little prince is making a point.

“You talk just like the grown-ups!”

That made me a little ashamed. But he went on, relentlessly:

“You mix everything up together . . . You confuse everything . . .”

Case in point, an adult’s responsibilities requires well-informed decision-making. However, there are those, whom you might consider ‘lost in adulthood’, if such expression exists, though this might be the first, who’re reeking of juvenile monotony and losing sight of what is significant. This idea is reiterated through the lamplighter and businessman, both visited by the little prince.

Let me repeat that the pilot and the little prince agrees that thinking like a grownup is shameful. The pilot’s experience is rooted from grownups’ lack of imagination with his drawings. While the little prince’s perception is from the conversations he’s had with different grownups in different planets.

The pilot says, “In the course of this life I have had a great many encounters with a great many people who have been concerned with matters of consequence. I have lived a great deal among grown-ups. I have seen them intimately, close at hand. And that hasn’t much improved my opinion of them.”

His becoming a pilot was also attributed to the grownups’ inability to appreciate his illustrations which made him give up his dreams of being a painter. That he became a pilot who studied ‘matters of consequence’ such as geography and the sciences.

Adult influence over a child’s dreams is undeniably strong. I guess it’s universal knowledge. Putting a little spin on it, it simply tells us that some of our decisions are made for us, instead of having the strength to make them ourselves, or worse, dwelling in a pool of indecision. People who have power over us are people who we give power to, given either through veneration or through the call of the majority.

Commentary Series Links:
> The Little Prince Book Review
> On Matters of Consequence
> On Loving Figures
> On Grownups Part 1/2
> On Grownups Part 2/2
> On Visiting Earth
> Quotes from The Little Prince

On Matters of Consequence, A Commentary on The Little Prince

noreply@blogger.com (Edge) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 09:16:00 +0000

(WARNING: SPOILER ALERT)

The Little Prince impresses, on its readers, a deep mark worth expounding. And although I fear words would fail as satisfactory means of capturing the sensation you get in the story’s aftermath, attempting to attain at least a certain degree of its epiphanous quality is sorely appealing, and rewarding.

But as I’ve said in my book review, this book’s openness to interpretation is more radical than most titles. It does not only vary from one person to the next, but also from one person’s stage in life to his next.

On Matters of Consequence

The pilot and the little prince were having a conversation about the prince’s singular rose while the pilot repairs his aeroplane. But the prince’s inquisitive nature eventually bugged the pilot. He then blurts out to let him finish the repairs without interference as they were ‘matters of consequences’.

Like some kind of trigger, the little prince was offended and points out that his definition of ‘matters of consequence’ is rather misconstrued. He also furthered that the pilot started talking just like a grownup, which is presented as an insult.

Their argument began when the little prince was talking about his most beloved single rose in his little planet. Aware of his scarce resources, the pilot aims to fix his plane as soon as possible and discards the little prince’s passionate sharing about his rose as something immaterial.

The little prince counters, “And is it not a matter of consequence to try and understand why the flowers go to so much trouble to grow thorns which are never of any use to them?”

At first I disagreed with the little prince, considering the pilot’s situation, the repairs should be top priority. But then, so is a rose who has thorns in an attempt to save itself from being eaten by a sheep or being plucked from the soil where it gets nourishment.

Sometimes in our struggle to survive, to live, we forget why we live at all—why we grow thorns, why are they necessary or are they even necessary in the first place.

Commentary Series Links:
> The Little Prince Book Review
> On Talking Like a Grownup
> On Loving Figures
> On Grownups Part 1/2
> On Grownups Part 2/2
> On Visiting Earth
> Quotes from The Little Prince

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

noreply@blogger.com (Edge) — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 11:21:00 +0000

Though I usually begin with a general feel of the novel, this time, I opted not to. Because this book’s outstanding quality, which practically made it a classic, is its subjectivity. How the reader reacts, defines this marvelous literary piece's substance.

French Title: Le Petit Prince

Author: Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Translator: Katherine Woods

Released: 1943

Sold more than 80 million copies worldwide and considered as an all-time bestseller

Synopsis

No adult could appreciate the pilot’s drawing. They would often mistake his illustrations for something far from what it is. So he stopped, and decided to become a pilot. Little did he know that his chosen career path would let him meet someone who can fully understand his sketches.

The pilot crash-landed in the desert. This is where he meets the Little Prince. Their meeting ‘tamed’ the pilot. The Little Prince tells him first of his personal rose, whom he thought unique and singular in the entire universe. Then of his journey from asteroid to asteroid where he met impossible adults; the King who orders the sun to set at sunset, the Conceited Man who only hears compliments, the Drunkard who is embarrassed by his drinking problem, the Businessman who thinks he owns the stars and isn’t interested in anything else but in getting more stars, the Lamplighter who's the only adult that the Little Prince appreciates, and the Geographer who has never seen what he puts in his map, and who recommends visiting Earth.

In Earth, the Little Prince meets a fox who gave the book’s most famous line, “What is essential is invisible to the eye.” It was also the fox who taught him how a rose can be endlessly unique and differ from the other roses of the Earth, preventing it from being ‘ephemeral’ as what the Geographer said.

Unfortunately, the Little Prince had to leave Earth to return to his planet, and to his rose, and to his volcanoes. The Little Prince warned that it might appear that he has died when he left, for he would need to leave his body behind. The pilot grieved as it was what the Little Prince has foretold. Emitting much sadness, the pilot pleads to whoever meets a boy in the desert should call him immediately.

Reading Experience

(I intend to write a completely different post for my interpretation of The Little Prince.)
The novel is a short read, but do take your time digesting each and every word, sentence, paragraph, and page that The Little Prince has to offer.

This book’s prowess is in its metaphors. Each one can be fully appreciated and perceived in ways more than one. And as early as ankle-deep into its pages, I already find it surprising that The Little Prince was stacked among the books in the children’s section of the bookstore. Its colorful illustrations may be one quality but the profound wisdom it imparts is far from the grasp of a child.

Then I thought, l don't have a full grasp as well, maybe no one has. Perhaps a friend’s high school teacher offered the greatest advice that any reader can give to another prospective reader of The Little Prince, that you have to read it more than once, and each time you do, you should be older than last time, because as we age, we may or will have different interpretations of whatever erudition the Little Prince has to offer.

In Conclusion

The Little Prince is an artwork in every page and in every time it is read.

Commentary Series Links:
> On Matters of Consequence
> On Talking Like a Grownup
> On Loving Figures
> On Grownups Part 1/2
> On Grownups Part 2/2
> On Visiting Earth
> Quotes from The Little Prince

Reading List as of August 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Edge) — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 10:26:00 +0000

It’s quite confusing right now, and with work and everything in between, it’s quite difficult to chance a satisfying lengthy reading. I’m lucky to get an hour to read, honestly. But I do read, I guess everyone should find time to do so. Though most would consider movies and TV as an effective alternative, nothing can replace reading. There’s this one guy at Starbucks, he had this novel propped open in one hand, don’t know what he was reading though, a cigarette on the other, and was having a conversation with a friend. It’s either he’s a really good multitasker or a ‘phony’, as what Holden would say. Maybe they were talking about the book, I have no way of knowing (unless I eavesdrop). Anyway, I still wish I could multitask without reducing my full appreciation of a storyline. But I do ‘multi-read’, try it! It’s like watching TV without the remote, the monthly cable bill and the scheduled programming.

I’m currently reading Book Four of the Percy Jackson and The Olympians Series by Rick Riordan, titled The Battle of The Labyrinth. So far, it began in the same fashion with its preceding instalments.

I mostly read The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. If you’re interested, you can find it in the children’s section because it has its little drawings and sketches by the author. My friends chuckled when they saw its illustrations. I can’t blame them. Because in contrast with The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, the two are very different, but only in terms of packaging. They partially have a similar concept about being an adult, and I am taking my time with The Little Prince. Its metaphors are overwhelming and very relative. So even if it’s quite a short read, I savor each and every page. I sound famished (haha).

At intervals, I’m also reading Sherlock Holmes, The Complete Novels and Stories Volume 1 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I’m a huge fan of Doyle’s work since high school. So you can imagine how enthused I was with the Sherlock Holmes movie. It wasn’t a letdown, yet it did disappoint at certain details, I guess that is to be expected, though Irene Adler was a perfect fit. Reading the compendium works best when you don’t have much time to spare but you don’t want to get cut-off with your reading.

After I have read and written reviews, for at least The Battle of the Labyrinth and The Little Prince, I’ll be finishing The Little Friend by Donna Tartt (Note: this is not a sequel of The Little Prince, haha!).

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

noreply@blogger.com (Edge) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 07:57:00 +0000

There’s a rebel in all of us. Whether we loosen the chains that bind our inner rebel to bars of conformity, or add more locks to secure and obscure its existence from prying judgmental eyes is completely up to us. Yet its lingering, internal gnawing is real, and indubitably present. And that rebel is perfectly compacted in Holden Caulfield, the wannabe catcher in the rye.

Author: J. D. Salinger (Jerome David Salinger)

Released: 1951

One of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923, a 2005 Time Magazine list

Synopsis

Trust me when I say that the storyline of this book is not the main course, but a medium, a sterling plate where the meat is served.

Holden Caulfield is a problematic middle child who doesn’t like anything much, conceited but perceptive, at least for his own good. Kicked out from Pencey school, Holden, out of whim, which pretty much sums up his decision-making, packs his bag and sets off for the streets of New York.

With an erratic come what may to-do-list, Holden goes from dancing with a good dancer, drinking with a smarty, listening to phonies, talking with a prostitute to arguing with his date. Holden shares his take on every person, situation, or place he goes to, even with the ducks in Central Park. He practically hates everything, except for his brothers Allie and D.B., his sister Phoebe, one of the very few whose words get through to him, and English, his best subject.

Reading Experience

Catcher in the Rye is one of the most criticized classic novels. Those who have lived during its original release would have full appreciation of the controversy it caused. Any reader planning to read this book should know how it was during the 1950’s in America. It was the height of conservatism, of conforming to societal norms, of being like everyone else.

Salinger’s presentation is through the opinionated mind of teenager Holden Caulfield, who speaks in teenage slang. Reviews say that Holden represents the American teenager in the 1950’s, who are sick of all the phonies of their time. But like every good novel and personified character, Holden’s thoughts transgress race, era and age as I found myself nodding, agreeing to his notions despite disagreeing with some. It has reflected most issues which threatens pillars of tradition and conventional thinking, most of which are very much alive up to this day.

Once Holden is introduced, you’ll learn his attitude. You might even defend it from the other characters who disapprove of his behavior, which is probably a common trait for those acquainted with liberty and individuality. But eventually, ‘it’ll grow on you and old Holden’ will seem ridiculous. He is not a round character like what most novels are populated with. He may not change, but the reader’s opinion of him will. For me, it changed from enjoying his company and his relative derision, to a point of concern but not towards distaste.

As for other characters, their purpose is to be critiqued by the protagonist. Most of them are insignificant, except for a very select few. There are characters you won’t meet during the course of the story but Holden speaks about them liberally.

Also, expect an open ending. You are free to think what happens to Holden and Phoebe, not to mention Mr. Antolini. You can end it any way you want to, a ‘whatever-makes-you-sleep-better-at-night’ thing.

The Catcher in the Rye’s title originated from a misheard version of the poem through the Rye by Robert Burns. Holden dreams of catching falling children coming through the rye. What he doesn’t realize is, he is falling too, and it was his sister, Phoebe, who effectively caught him at midfall. It captured the challenging coming-of-age process of reconciling the innocence of childhood with the demands of adulthood—all children must go through the ‘rye’.

In Conclusion

Like every review I chuck out, I always say that it’s not for everyone, no one novel is. But Catcher in the Rye is really not for everyone, ‘and I mean it, I really do’. It is told in an unorthodox manner, and ended uniquely. Its unorthodox quality is the definite reason for its significance.

And though it isn’t for everyone, especially those who enjoy the safety in numbers and loves conservatism, I still recommend picking it up, to at least realize where the contempt is coming from, a good reminder of how troublesome it was as a teenager, for those who have forgotten.

Today’s reader may find it droning at times, I know I did. So just put it down, do something else, then pick it up again. It is necessarily repetitive, enough to emphasize and highlight Holden’s attitude in familiar or unfamiliar situations. You may reach the point where you can predict how he would perceive something, but you won’t be able to predict how the plot goes, which threw me off-guard, ‘to be honest with you’.

I guess I’ll leave it there. And yes, you should read it, ‘it’ll kill you, I swear it will’.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book Three: The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan

noreply@blogger.com (Edge) — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 11:55:00 +0000

You don’t need a black Pegasus to fly through the pages of The Titan’s Curse. It will still have its “new book smell” when you’re done with it.

Author: Rick Riordan

Released: May 1, 2007

#1 New York Times children’s best seller series

Book Sense Top Ten Summer Pick for 2007

Synopsis

It has been prophesied that a child of the ‘Big Three’; Zeus, Poseidon or Hades, will either make or break Mount Olympus. Bringing the mythological world asking who the prophecy is about, Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, or Thalia, daughter of Zeus?

Grover, a satyr (demigoat?), has found two sibling demigods and has asked assistance from his demigod friends: Thalia, a temperamental high school student, punk demigod and a former tree, brandishes her Medusa-engraved shield in battle, Aegis, alongside Percy and Annabeth, daughter of Athena.

Rescuing two new demigods brought them across Artemis’ path, which Thalia is not so happy about, and also ended with the loss of Annabeth, which Percy, in turn, is not so happy about. But Artemis isn’t the only well-known mythological character they encountered. Aside from the scheming Titan, Kronos, another ominous unnamed Titan seem to be orchestrating the string of events from behind the scene, ending in an unprecedented battle.

Reading Experience

My copy of The Titan’s Curse still has its new book smell after dashing across its pages with Percy Jackson and the rest of the demigods. Riordan started the book with Percy in search for newfound demigods whose lineage remains indefinite. More familiar Greek mythology characters are introduced, this time, having more bearing with the main plot rather than delaying the heroes from their goals. Perhaps the most popular would be Artemis, the maiden Olympian goddess who has evaded all love pursuits and leads an unending hunt. And I’d rather keep you guessing on who the others are or I might give away the whole plot.

As expected with a children’s book, the writing is fast-paced and every word easily gets through. But what is more noticeable is the flawless balance between the good and necessarily bad turns. Perhaps every children writers’ challenge is to achieve a sense of gloom but not despair for these needed pivotal twists, concepts of death and bereavement are downplayed but not to the point of forfeiting their significance. More importantly, humor and maintaining a child-friendly read further proves Riordan’s writing skill.

In Conclusion

This third instalment in the Percy Jackson series is by far the most engaging and thrilling read. The Titan’s Curse is definitely enjoyable for ages 7 and up.

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

noreply@blogger.com (Edge) — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 08:29:00 +0000

No one enjoys waiting. While PSPs and Nintendo DSs whip the minutes or hours to move faster, the lesser techie, more scholastic, or 10,000 peso-deprived, would prefer a novel as a handheld companion. And a funny, opinionated and perceptive companion makes time fly, which are traits of David Sedaris’ When You Are Engulfed in Flames.

Author: David Sedaris

Released: June 3, 2008

#1 International Bestseller

#1 New York Times Bestseller Non-Fiction

Synopsis

When You Are Engulfed in Flames is a collection of essays, on almost anything under the sun. Topics would come from the author’s childhood up to his present day-to-day encounters. Here are certain essays that I really enjoyed:

Ø It's Catching – Hugh’s mother, 76, does house chores, which are considerably herculean for her age, while her leg worm deeply bothers David.

Ø The Understudy – At the time when Americans discriminate against blacks, David and his sisters condemn their white babysitter.

Ø Road Trips – A truck driver straightforwardly asks for a blow job, implying his personal advocacy that oral sex should be casual.

Ø Solution to Saturday's Puzzle – An unreasonably demanding airplane seatmate. Enough said.

Ø All the Beauty You Will Ever Need – David tries to make coffee without water. Again, enough said.

Ø The Smoking Section – How quitting smoking brought them halfway around the globe, and halfly speaking Japanese. A necessarily extensive journal on the hardship of quitting cigarette smoking.

*You can check the other essays with their short descriptions here.

Reading Experience

Funny and witty. These two adjectives are perhaps enough to sum all the essays in When You Are Engulfed in Flames. Even the title itself was captured from a Japanese brochure on what to do during a fire.

Readers are lucky for Sedaris to have shared his funny experiences in this book. As this is a collection of essays, you won’t be daunted by the number of pages you need to finish. It’s not something you can finish, or would want to finish, in one seating. You would want to read it in the waiting room before a dental appointment, in the bus during rush hour, or during an uninteresting class. You can simply pick one essay, read it at a coffee shop while waiting for a friend who’s beyond 30 minutes late.

Sedaris’ perspective is not only entertaining but also interesting, hitting the mark from a different angle, since most of the essay topics are not entirely foreign or unheard of.

But his delivery is on a higher level, it is a unique, fresh and perceptive presentation of opinion and outlook. There is liberal use of metaphors to further expound a point and the often cause of hilarity. Furthermore, a reader is bound to feel he is conversing with the author rather than just reading his thoughts.

In Conclusion

For those who are already reading a certain title with a convoluted plot or weighs heavily on drama, then this is a good side dish. It would detoxify you and serve as refreshment for the current hardcore novel you’re reading. For the rest, you won’t be making a mistake by taking this off the shelf.

The Last Time I Saw Mother by Arlene J. Chai

noreply@blogger.com (Edge) — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 08:34:00 +0000

A rendezvous of fact and sufficient fiction, The Last Time I Saw Mother can rightly take its place on the realism shelf. It is easy to mistake this novel for a biography when immersed in its pages. Arlene J. Chai effectively placed Philippine history and Caridad’s tale in concurrence. And a plot in synch is every reader’s underlying demand.

Author: Arlene J. Chai

Published: 1995

Synopsis

Living a quiet happy life in Australia with her daughter, Marla, is enough for Caridad. Despite an insistent void, a gap she couldn’t grasp, or felt she needed to, Caridad has long settled for how things were. But the obscure gap’s presence strengthens after her mother, Thelma, uncharacteristically took the time to send a letter only to beckon her home.

Alarmed by her mother’s odd action, she calls her cousin, Mia, expecting an urgent predicament. But Mia did nothing to reduce her anxiety. Mia knows something, but kept mum, reiterating Thelma’s request to come home. Because Thelma has something to say, something that no letter or phone call can effectively relay.

Reading Experience

It is not surprising to easily relate with The Last Time I Saw Mother. There are major boosts contributing to such a fine quality.

One is precise Philippine history synchronized with Caridad’s personal history. The struggle of the majority during the Martial Law isn’t misplaced. Moreover, Chai conveyed the general predicament by magnifying the dilemma of one family, and its impact on their lives.

The characters would be the second and most vital contributor to the novel’s relevance. They were given specific voices and identifiable personas. They are everyday people, minding their own lives. Readers might identify with them, or know someone like them.

However, finishing the book is a bit of a challenge. The story was told from perspectives of the deeply involved characters, which enhanced personality establishment. But this is an ambiguous trait. Telling it from different points of view necessitates focus shifting.

There were certain shifts that caught me off-guard and reduced my interest. Of course, cliffhangers are welcome but some were quite disarming, which can make the reader put the book down.

Perhaps the novel’s most notable feat is its presentation of a family secret; its elusive quality, its simple existence, the ease of its acceptance, and significance. Foolish to classify as either good or bad, but undeniably harsh for anyone to shoulder. To put it simply, the plot is an exploration of the gray area.

In Conclusion

This is one definitive example of realism. Accuracy with history and effective chronological plotting are both trademarks of this novel. Paired with great character development, readers will easily identify with the characters. It may not be fast-paced but undeniably a good addition for any reader’s reading selection.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book Two: The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

noreply@blogger.com (Edge) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:17:00 +0000

I haven’t read a book that screams ‘sequel’ louder than The Sea of Monsters, the second installment in the famous Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan.

Author: Rick Riordan

Released: May 2006

New York Times #1 Best selling series

A Child Magazine Best Book of the Year

Synopsis

All is well for Percy Jackson, the demigod son of Poseidon, and his mother. His school year was supposed to end pleasantly, until a seemingly prophesied grand battle of dodgeball jumpstarted another mythological adventure.

Camp Half-blood, the only safe place for demigods, is under siege. Thalia’s tree, a daughter of Zeus who sacrificed herself to ensure the safety of her fellow demigods, that provides the camp’s protective boundaries has been poisoned, and monsters have begun attacking the summer campers. Whether it is considered as good or bad luck, Percy’s satyr bestfriend, Grover, accidentally found the Golden Fleece and at the same time unwillingly prepped for marriage to Polyphemus, the Cyclops who devoured Odysseus’ men. The Golden Fleece was the exact antidote that Camp Half-Blood needs to cure Thalia’s tree and restore safety.

With his friend’s life threatened, and his favorite place on Earth doomed to be conquered, Percy finds himself traversing the Sea of Monsters in quest for the Golden Fleece. The Sea of Monsters is the same sea inhabited by dangerous creatures and treacherous obstacles that Odysseus crossed after the Trojan War, spending ten years in the process, just to return to his home in Thessaly. And Jason navigated through this ominous seascape chasing after the same Fleece that Percy and Annabeth, daughter of Athena, was desperate in acquiring.

Aside from worrying about the huge, one-eyed cannibal who has taken possession of the Fleece, Percy races against two more demigods: Clarisse, daughter of Ares, aboard her daddy-gift war ship, CSS Birmingham, and Luke, son of Hermes, aboard the ship Princess Andromeda, where the scheming Titan, Kronos, is pulling the strings.

As the waves crash on each other, a plan within a plan is slowly unveiled. And Percy learns more about a prophecy which menaces the peace in Mount Olympus.

Reading Experience

Rick Riordan’s well-paced storytelling aptitude remains intact. Humorous allusions and funny lines, delivered with a matter-of-fact tone, ease the reading flow. The accuracy in fitting Greek mythology with the plot is, as usual, ambivalent. The pieces of Greek mythology aptly provide a reliable underpinning for the story. In effect, this feat also causes predictability, especially if the reader is well-acquainted with such allusions. Yet knowing only a tad bit of Greek mythology diminishes the distinct delights offered by the Percy Jackson series.

This second installment reeks of sequel and an awfully strong scent of a not-so-'under'lying plot. Though it is very much expected that there is a third installment, too much spotlight on the saga's storyline deters a more satisfying use of foreshadowing. Before the reader even picks up the book from its commercial shelf, he already looks forward to the next title in the series. And this feeling does not lessen, on the contrary, the sensation intensifies as the book draws to a close. This is actually a good marketing strategy, but it might throw off seasoned readers.

To put it simply, it felt like a halftime break during basketball. A fun watch, it makes you applaud and gasp as the cheerdancers perform tosses and stunts, enough time to recap what happened during the first half, but you just want to get it over with, eager to start the second half.

In Conclusion

I would still recommend reading The Sea of Monsters because there were a lot of materials here which would probably crop up, more significant, in the succeeding titles. But if you expect this installment to stand on its own, it will not—it’s part of a series anyway.

Kafka On the Shore by Haruki Murakami

noreply@blogger.com (Edge) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:18:00 +0000

(Originally printed in the FEU Advocate August 2007 issue as part of the Refreshments review corner. Republished with certain edits and changes for consistency with this blog’s other book reviews and, of course, applying the virtue of hindsight)

Living is mechanical. Everyday feels like a routine, making ourselves our own slavedrivers. Yet we say we are free, but how free are we if a pre-established ‘morality’ and ‘ethics’ are shoved to our faces? Is existence compelled to destiny?

Author: Haruki Murakami

Translator: J. Philip Gabriel

Published: English language release on 2005

New York Times 10 Best Books of 2005, World Fantasy Awards

Synopsis

Kafka Tamura is a fifteen-year old boy determined to leave his father’s jurisdiction. He ran away with a rucksack and money he has been saving for quite some time. Along the way, he meets Sakura who might be his sister, and Ms. Saeki who just might be his mother. Kafka eventually nurtured a seemingly Oedipal complex as his feelings towards Ms. Saeki develops during his short-lived stay in her private library.

Concurrent with Kafka’s wandering is Nakata, whose existence roots deep with Kafka. Nakata ‘was’ smart, but something happened during the war which rendered dim-witted. He has never recovered or matured intellectually, surviving merely from a subsidy, which he calls ‘sub city’, from the City Mayor. Every day seems like yesterday until the good-natured Nakata felt compelled to stab Johnnie Walker—yes, the fine whisky is a character. Running away from the police, Nakata is obliged to meet Kafka, with Ms. Saeki’s private library as rendezvous.

As Kafka and Nakata ran, destiny weaves them both in an indefinite tangle.

Reading Experience

Murakami’s writing is vividly unique. His storyline delivery has a consistent shifting of the two primary characters’ viewpoint. This is not confusing to the reader, but it’s like closing your mouth after noticing that it has been hanging open for awhile. Like a full stop, turn left, another full stop, this time turning right. This style, at times, may make you drop the book for a certain number of hours, days or even weeks before picking it up again until the characters have grown on you, and you feel their grip stronger than before.

But what is most unique in Murakami’s style is his characters. Apart from the obvious connection between Kafka and Nakata, other characters turn out to be deeply interconnected. This is also the book where I met Oshima, probably one of the most complicated contemporary literary characters I have encountered. Furthermore, the characters undeniably felt humane; they pee, they get aroused, masturbate and have sex. With such frames, Murakami was able to target consciousness expansion. He covered several moral sensitive areas of sexuality and individuality; politics, juvenile delinquency, crime, and even incest.

In Conclusion
Kafka on the Shore is probably one of the books close to the epicenter of magical realism. Such is delivered in varying ways; fishes fall from the sky, cats talk, a rain of leeches, dreams can be perpetrated, and a daunting shape-shifter exists.

Departing from the usual presentation of a fresh perspective on not-so-fresh issues, Kafka on the Shore bends your mind’s eyesight into a questioning state which will lead to a renewed outlook. It's a book bound to make you think, ponder, and interpret; a mental exercise for your imagination.