[231] Disgrace – J.M. Coetzee

“Exactly. Good or bad, he just does it. He doesn’t act on principle but on impulse, and the source of his impulses is dark to him . . . His madness was not of the head, but heart.” [33] Although I am not extremely keen on the sparse style of Disgrace, Coetzee’s incredible ability to [...]

Trip Down Memory Lane

Tomorrow marks the end of the third quarter of 2009. What’s happened to summer? Summer has been awesome and fun, filling with memories so fond and special. Reading wise, it hasn’t been a prolific year. The 56 books read so far this year doesn’t measure up to the tally last year. Instead of highlighting my [...]

[230] The Elegance of the Hedgehog – Muriel Barbery

“Indeed, what constitutes life? Day after day, we put up the brave struggle to play our role in this phantom comedy. We are good primates, so we spend most of our time maintaining and defending our territory, so that it will protect and gratify us; climbing—or trying not to slide down—” [97] The highly educated [...]

Book Wishlist, a Monday Musing

Do you keep a book wishlist, either on paper, Amazon/etc, or via a book database site (Shelfari, GoodReads, LibraryThing)? If yes, do you share this list with others (especially coming up to Christmas)? My friends are usually not surprised that I do not maintain a book wishlist. My only book wishlist ceased to exist when [...]

Forty Four Things: The Most Random Attempt

I have seen this meme in several blogs that I read only to realize later that it might have originated in Facebook. This one is by far the silliest most random meme but I have decided to snag it just because of the very first question. I’m very passionate (distastefully) about blue cheese so here [...]

Recent Sadness

What’s the saddest book you’ve read recently? Judging by the title alone, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers does not spell an upbeat mood. The loneliness of the characters pervades the entire narrative that makes me sore. Each of the characters struggles in their social position, ambition, civil justice, and racial inequality. [...]

Europa Editions

I have only spotted these elegant quality paperbacks at the bookstores. These Europa Editions titles only exist in a remote corner of my consciousness until I started reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. My first impression of the series, based on marketing image, is its striking resemblance to the classics New York [...]

[229] Marley and Me – John Grogan

“Marley was a funny, bigger-than-life pain in the ass who never quite got the hang of the whole chain-of-command thing. Honestly, he might well have been the world’s worst-behaved dog.” [277] Almost a year after watching the film I pick up the book from which it’s adopted. It is not too long after I started [...]

[228] The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins

“Is it Laura’s reluctance to become his wife that has set me against him? Have Hartright’s perfectly intelligible prejudices infected me without my suspecting their influence? Does that letter of Anne Catherick’s still leave a lurking distrust in my mind, in spit of Sir Percival Glyde’s explanation, and of the proof in my possession of [...]

Reading Music, a Monday Musing

Do you listen to music while reading? Does this change if you’re reading in or out of your house? Do you have a preference of music for such occasions? Oh gosh, the host of Musing Mondays has read my mind! I’ve been wanting to write a post on music but lacking the associative context. After [...]