Success of Movie Tie-in

An article in Los Angeles Times today probes the success of movie tie-in. Does a book’s popularity guarantee its motion picture’s success? Books like Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Series, a new and generally acceptable term coined to describe the three books penned by the late Swedish author, have infiltrated all slices of society, conquering the linguistic [...]

[310] The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck

” The people come with nets to fish for potatoes in the river, and the guards hold them back; they come in rattling cars to get the dumped oranges, but the kerosene is sprayed . . . In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for [...]

Mao’s Last Dancer: The Film

Based on the autobiography of Li Cuexin, Mao’s Last Dancer, the film opened in major US venues on the coasts on August 20, with solicitous campaign even in Chinese newspapers, in which a quarter page ad is syndicated for a week to drive Asian movie-goers to the theaters in San Francisco. Before I read the [...]

Reader’s Privacy

I don’t like to delve into politics—I don’t know enough to write a post about politics. Nor am I going to talk about whether Jane Fonda is a traitor. But her autobiography, My Life So Far, which my friend is reading, broaches a subject that affects me more profoundly than I have conceived. Under the [...]

Intimidating Authors

Recently in a reading meme I mentioned one of the most intimidating books to be read is, out of its sheer size, A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth. At 1488 pages in soft cover, the book is longer than War and Peace and Gone with the Wind. I have no doubt that I will enjoy [...]

Giving Up and Chick Lit

This week BTT asks: If you’re not enjoying a book, will you stop mid-way? Or do you push through to the end? What makes you decide to stop? This topic has been done to death, over and over again, being recycled every month or so between Booking Through Thursday and Musing Mondays. Depending on the [...]

[309] Purge – Sofi Oksanen

” What did anything matter anymore? Everything was shattered. All the trouble she’d been through! All the striving! Collecting fines from people for not having children! . . . every day of her life wasted by fear, the stink of Martin’s flesh, her endless humiliation, endless lies, endless writhing around in Martin’s bed . . [...]

In Case of Emergency…

This week’s musing asks: If your house was burning down—and you could SAFELY grab a book on your way outside to safety– what book would you make sure you “rescued”? Why? I’m tempted to say The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov because it’s my favorite novel. Satan in the literal sense disguised as a [...]

My Life in Book Titles

I found this interesting “my life as book titles” meme from Wicked Wonderful Words. I set a higher bar for myself by responding with titles of books that I have read. In school I was: Shadow without a Name (Ignacio Padilla) People might be surprised I’m: Old School (Tobias Wolff) I will never be: Straight [...]

In Mourning

Sending positive energy to my people in Hong Kong. Condolences to victims’ families. Gunman in the Philippines ends standoff with blood I’m disappointed that the Philippines government  (the president)  still hasn’t made a formal address to this tragedy 24 hours after it occurred. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong government issued a black-alert warning stating that a [...]