The Reader: The Film

“What are you looking for? Forgiveness for her or to feel better about yourself? If you are looking for catharsis, go to the theatre or literature. Don’t go to the camps.” After the heated debate on The Reader: A Novel, especially that Hanna Schmitz is unaware of what she was part of during the Holocaust [...]

[195] The Hours – Michael Cunningham

“we Live our lives, do whatever we do, and then we sleep—it’s as simple and ordinary as that. A few jump out of windows or drown themselves or take pills; more die by accident; and most of us, the vast majority, are slowly devoured by some disease or, if we’re very fortunate, by time itself. [...]

Book-keeping, Say; a Monday Musing

Do you keep track of what and/or how many books you read? How long have you been doing this? What’s your favorite tracking method, and why?If you don’t keep track, why not? Compared to many of you, who maintain reading history by scrupulously and neatly keep track of books read in a spreadsheet with pertinent [...]

Sandy Lam 林憶蓮: 10 Beloved Singles

I love Sandy Lam 林憶蓮, so I am. It almost takes me a whole year to cull my top ten favorite singles of her. The Longlist: 微雨撲巴黎 Drizzly Paris/都市觸覺Part III Faces & Places [1990] 讓我笑吧 Let Me Smile/夢了、瘋了、倦了 [1991] 微涼 And So It Goes/夢了、瘋了、倦了 [1991] 破曉 Dawn/夢了、瘋了、倦了 [1991] 一輩子心情 Lifelong Affection/野花 [1991] 沒有你還是愛你 Still Love [...]

[194] Mrs. Dalloway – Virginia Woolf

“It was to explain the feeling they had of dissatisfaction; not knowing people; not being known. For how could they know each other? . . . So That to know her, or anyone , one must seek out the people who completed them; even the places.” [152-3] Virginia Woolf’s stream of consciousness writing style requires [...]

Supposedly Bad?

The opposite of last week’s question: “What’s the best ‘worst’ book you’ve ever read — the one you like despite some negative reviews or features?” Let’s define “best worst book.” The opposite of last week’s question means it’s a book the public doesn’t receive well but that I enjoy. Criticism of his work was vehemently [...]

Culling from the Vacation Pile

The belated spring break, dictated by the Easter holiday, is right around the corner. Imminence of the getaway means selection of books from the vacation pile. Reading constitutes a substantial amount to the trip. The equation of my travel reading usually reflects these items: One classics. One comfort read. One book about something that I [...]

Mrs. Dalloway vs. The Hours

With Mrs. Dalloway being so slow of a reading (small does of it is probably conducive to a more plausible understanding of details), I picked up The Hours by Michael Cunningham, which I read years ago. Like the original work which has inspired Cunningham to write the modern-day treatise, The Hours also mirrors Mrs. Dalloway‘s [...]

Woolf and Semi-Colons

If you think Toni Morrison is difficult to read, try Virginia Woolf. They are challenging in different ways. Toni Morrison speaks in metaphors that diversifies the main plot into layers of allusions and meanings, creating a prose so poetic and lush that you will read on for pages until you realize the story has been [...]

Love Your Local Bookstores, a Monday Musing

How many bookstores do you frequent? Do you have a favourite? If so, which one and what makes it so? I have talked about local bookstores in a previous Monday musing post and described my vision of a bookstore. For this week’s answer, I will discuss in depth the two bookstores which I most frequently [...]