Reading List
I've always loved to read books eversince I was a kid. I remember I was the favorite of the nuns who used to run our library in grade school because I would make sure to borrow a book a day. It didn't matter what type of book it was. It could be a children's novel, a science book or a book on ancient history. I had a hard time focusing on my school books, but I had no problem reading about ancient Mayan civilization.
In a way, my taste in reading materials made me a snob. I used to look down on my batchmates who would read Sweet Valley High or Sweet Dreams. Not that the stuff I was reading was useful for real life, but I enjoyed the fact that I was different and saw myself as more advanced than the rest of my class. In reality though, I was just an average student. I got respectable grades, but never really # 1 in my class.
In any case, when I started working, my reading list shrank down to 0. I would be too tired from work everyday, so I never really had time to read anymore. Except when I lived in Singapore for a year, I managed to read at lest 2 books every week. That was because I had to commute to and from work at least an hour everyday.
Recently though, I found myself jumpstarting my reading habit again. In the last month, I managed to finish the Dark Matetials trilogy of Philip Pullman (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass). I would have started months ago except that they ran out of copies of The Golden Compass just before the movie came out in December. Then, 2 weeks ago, I found out that my favorite author, Louis De Bernieres, released a new novel called "A Partisan's Daughter".
I fell in love with the Dark Materials trilogy because it presents a different way of looking at life, death, knowledge and existence. He challenges the beliefs that have been imposed on us because of the circumstances of our birth. He dares to ask questions that most of us would only whisper about. After reading the book, I think they had a pretty good cast for the movie version of "The Golden Compass", but the story is too omplex, I don't think it would ever translate well on film Plus, it should never be marketed as a children's movie unless they want to film a watered down version of the books.
A Partisan's Daughter is a weak novel compared to all the previous works of Louis De Bernieres. There are only 2 main characters interacting in the novel most of the time and the historical backdrop isn't as fleshed out as it is in "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" or "Birds Without Wings". It makes for good light reading though and is a cautionary tale for people who keep giving up their dreams in exchange for stability and for married couples who have begun to take their marriage for granted.
I'll try to get this momentum going. Hopefully, I can finish at least a book a week.
In a way, my taste in reading materials made me a snob. I used to look down on my batchmates who would read Sweet Valley High or Sweet Dreams. Not that the stuff I was reading was useful for real life, but I enjoyed the fact that I was different and saw myself as more advanced than the rest of my class. In reality though, I was just an average student. I got respectable grades, but never really # 1 in my class.
In any case, when I started working, my reading list shrank down to 0. I would be too tired from work everyday, so I never really had time to read anymore. Except when I lived in Singapore for a year, I managed to read at lest 2 books every week. That was because I had to commute to and from work at least an hour everyday.
Recently though, I found myself jumpstarting my reading habit again. In the last month, I managed to finish the Dark Matetials trilogy of Philip Pullman (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass). I would have started months ago except that they ran out of copies of The Golden Compass just before the movie came out in December. Then, 2 weeks ago, I found out that my favorite author, Louis De Bernieres, released a new novel called "A Partisan's Daughter".
I fell in love with the Dark Materials trilogy because it presents a different way of looking at life, death, knowledge and existence. He challenges the beliefs that have been imposed on us because of the circumstances of our birth. He dares to ask questions that most of us would only whisper about. After reading the book, I think they had a pretty good cast for the movie version of "The Golden Compass", but the story is too omplex, I don't think it would ever translate well on film Plus, it should never be marketed as a children's movie unless they want to film a watered down version of the books.
A Partisan's Daughter is a weak novel compared to all the previous works of Louis De Bernieres. There are only 2 main characters interacting in the novel most of the time and the historical backdrop isn't as fleshed out as it is in "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" or "Birds Without Wings". It makes for good light reading though and is a cautionary tale for people who keep giving up their dreams in exchange for stability and for married couples who have begun to take their marriage for granted.
I'll try to get this momentum going. Hopefully, I can finish at least a book a week.
posted by wilgefortis @ 3:10 AM
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