What do you do when you start reading a book that makes you itchy? Bad-itchy. Do you drop it thinking there are so many good books out there, why waste time on this one or keep reading just to satisfy your curiosity as to why it gained so much acclaim, even if you know it's polluting your mind? Even if you know it won't get better...How can we protect ourselves from what we read? This calls for a healthy laughter. Can you hear it?
Please share your thoughts.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Elizabeth Gilbert-Eat, Pray, Love
Although I’m sure it appeals more to women than men due to the chicklit perfume that emanates from Elizabeth Gilbert's book, I am recommending ‘Eat, pray, love’ to anyone who wants a fun, light, yet not superficial read. I actually didn’t know it wasn’t a fiction book, but rather a travel account, and while reading the first pages, I kept wondering why she had to 1) tell me she’s not going to talk about why she ended up in a divorce (fiction books usually focus on (melo)drama); 2) apologize for not revealing her guru’s name, and 3) lecture me on what a japa mala is, the origins of the Italian language, where the word yoga comes from etc. I kept waiting for the illusion of lights off, curtains drawing, characters bowing, doing their thing etc. It didn’t happen. And then I got my share of enlightenment (it will be called the Liss Gilbert phenomenon). I read on the back cover that it was one of Entertainment Weekly’s Top 10 NONFICTION Books of the year. 2006, i.e.
Taking off expectations like a rugged, old coat is the first step to freedom (Monica Dobos Garg, p 12). Therefore, I listened to the lectures as part of the deal and enjoyed the greatest quality this book has to offer, HUMOR (you won’t read the book if I tell you the best jokes I found in it). The author is mostly poking fun at herself, and even in the darkest hours of her fight with depression, she manages to come to the light with some dark humor. Another feature that makes this ‘travel book’ a very good read is the mix of honesty, candidness and her (hers and others’, whom she diligently and conscientiously quotes) philosophical musings on pleasure, love, God, and finding balance, which actually are the objectives she’s trying to meet during her four-month stays each in Italy, India and Bali.
So there she goes to Italy (or ‘Say it like you eat it’, the first Book) to find pleasure. In pizzas, pastas, wine, and pizzas, gelatos, and pizzas. (She doesn’t ‘taste’ Giovanni, her ‘tandem exchange’ -Italian for English- due to her one-year vow of chastity, which she actually breaks in Bali, in her third book. The misdemeanor happened after she found balance, so the jury is lenient). I found this first part a little bit ‘thin’. Maybe it’s because she mostly tells us how much she ate to overcome her post-divorce grief and feeling at a loss. I think she overdid it when she recounted how one night she had 2 large pizzas and then some pastry as well- probably because I’m on a cheese ban. I guess I just can’t understand American appetite (let alone American divorcee’s appetite). She obviously never had European female readers in mind. On one side we have Gargantua and Pantagruel, on the other side-Liss Gilbert. A good illustration of the concept of relativity.
India was her next stop, where she made an appointment with God, in a very organized fashion, like it best suits Americans. Now, you can call it innate skepticism, lack of faith, etc, but she didn’t manage to convince me God had actually showed up at the meeting. Someone who had had minor encounters with meditation before going to India was able in 4 months at an Ashram to 1). awaken the kundalini shakti after one session of So-Ham meditation, which she just decided to try, because the technique she had been practicing up to that point wasn’t fruitful; 2). to sit in Vipassana meditation (she decided to try this one out too) for 2 hours while being bitten by killer mosquitoes; 3). To reach the turiya state (i.e.the cherry on the cake of a spiritual journey to oneself, or ultimate enlightenment) during a group meditation. Basically, what I’m trying to say is that she might have, I underscore might, exaggerated the facts just because she had to write a book and meet the readers’ expectations that an Indian Ashram can only be a place where enlightenment will no doubt be attained. But again, I may just be jealous of her spiritual success or doubting Americans’ highly achieving capabilities.
Bali was my favorite book. Maybe because I never knew anything about Bali before: how they name their children First, Second, Third etc; how rituals and ceremonies arrange each individual’s place in the universal ‘grid'; how you have to consult the priest, and your dreams before buying a house, etc. Moreover, all characters in this book are very 'well-built': Ketut, the wise, funny, light-hearted magician/healer (my favorite); Wayan, the woman healer, who dares get a divorce in ultra-conservative Bali and tries to make a future for her own daughter and the two adopted girls by opening a clinic. In the good tradition of Balinesians, she’s trying to take advantage of charitable Liss, but can’t pull it off because Liz meets the love of her life, Felipe, a localite, who cautions her against Wayan’s plans (not before causing Liz a bladder infection, read the book and you’ll know why). And yes, she does meet her final objective, balance, as she falls in love and gives in to pleasure, but also manages to keep her daily meditations and enlightenments. Ha.
Concluding, Eat, Pray, Love is a funny, witty, informative book, and I’m looking forward to reading her fiction as well.
Taking off expectations like a rugged, old coat is the first step to freedom (Monica Dobos Garg, p 12). Therefore, I listened to the lectures as part of the deal and enjoyed the greatest quality this book has to offer, HUMOR (you won’t read the book if I tell you the best jokes I found in it). The author is mostly poking fun at herself, and even in the darkest hours of her fight with depression, she manages to come to the light with some dark humor. Another feature that makes this ‘travel book’ a very good read is the mix of honesty, candidness and her (hers and others’, whom she diligently and conscientiously quotes) philosophical musings on pleasure, love, God, and finding balance, which actually are the objectives she’s trying to meet during her four-month stays each in Italy, India and Bali.
So there she goes to Italy (or ‘Say it like you eat it’, the first Book) to find pleasure. In pizzas, pastas, wine, and pizzas, gelatos, and pizzas. (She doesn’t ‘taste’ Giovanni, her ‘tandem exchange’ -Italian for English- due to her one-year vow of chastity, which she actually breaks in Bali, in her third book. The misdemeanor happened after she found balance, so the jury is lenient). I found this first part a little bit ‘thin’. Maybe it’s because she mostly tells us how much she ate to overcome her post-divorce grief and feeling at a loss. I think she overdid it when she recounted how one night she had 2 large pizzas and then some pastry as well- probably because I’m on a cheese ban. I guess I just can’t understand American appetite (let alone American divorcee’s appetite). She obviously never had European female readers in mind. On one side we have Gargantua and Pantagruel, on the other side-Liss Gilbert. A good illustration of the concept of relativity.
India was her next stop, where she made an appointment with God, in a very organized fashion, like it best suits Americans. Now, you can call it innate skepticism, lack of faith, etc, but she didn’t manage to convince me God had actually showed up at the meeting. Someone who had had minor encounters with meditation before going to India was able in 4 months at an Ashram to 1). awaken the kundalini shakti after one session of So-Ham meditation, which she just decided to try, because the technique she had been practicing up to that point wasn’t fruitful; 2). to sit in Vipassana meditation (she decided to try this one out too) for 2 hours while being bitten by killer mosquitoes; 3). To reach the turiya state (i.e.the cherry on the cake of a spiritual journey to oneself, or ultimate enlightenment) during a group meditation. Basically, what I’m trying to say is that she might have, I underscore might, exaggerated the facts just because she had to write a book and meet the readers’ expectations that an Indian Ashram can only be a place where enlightenment will no doubt be attained. But again, I may just be jealous of her spiritual success or doubting Americans’ highly achieving capabilities.
Bali was my favorite book. Maybe because I never knew anything about Bali before: how they name their children First, Second, Third etc; how rituals and ceremonies arrange each individual’s place in the universal ‘grid'; how you have to consult the priest, and your dreams before buying a house, etc. Moreover, all characters in this book are very 'well-built': Ketut, the wise, funny, light-hearted magician/healer (my favorite); Wayan, the woman healer, who dares get a divorce in ultra-conservative Bali and tries to make a future for her own daughter and the two adopted girls by opening a clinic. In the good tradition of Balinesians, she’s trying to take advantage of charitable Liss, but can’t pull it off because Liz meets the love of her life, Felipe, a localite, who cautions her against Wayan’s plans (not before causing Liz a bladder infection, read the book and you’ll know why). And yes, she does meet her final objective, balance, as she falls in love and gives in to pleasure, but also manages to keep her daily meditations and enlightenments. Ha.
Concluding, Eat, Pray, Love is a funny, witty, informative book, and I’m looking forward to reading her fiction as well.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Chargers vs Rushdie
Why do we read? It may sound like a silly question with more or less straightforward answers (to kill time, to learn about different cultures, about ourselves etc). But I found an interesting implication to it. I read because I like to laugh, so whenever I come across one of Rushdie's witty twitty twist-of-phrases, I giggle. Sometimes I roll down on the carpet with Elizabeth Gilbert. I read, basically, to have fun. Don't remember what my face looked like while I was reading Kafka. I hate bugs. But, oh, back then, I was a teenager. Teenagers, if you recall, don't really want to smile. They want to feel gloomy and depressed, so as to resonate with the universal schmerz caused by the incomprehehensibility of this nonsense world. As time passes by, pimples receding and all, we start to feel brooding ain't gonna get us nowhere so why not try to relax and enjoy. Hit the movies, date some guys etc. And then we suddenly reach 30. Heavy questions pop up again, like shall I spend 1000 dollars to repair the bumper (the car runs perfectly fine without one), or what is the basic difference between me and my nextdoor neighbor who watches the big Chargers game? It's only a matter of decibels, in the long run. I giggle civilly, with a napkin under my chin; he yells windowbreakingly when LaDainian Tomlinson touches down (have no idea what that means, and picked the guy because he has an epic name). We're both entertaining ourselves, satisfying our senses, in a nutshell. So no need, really, to raise a brow on our 'uncultured' fellow citizens. Not too much difference between us.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
howimetsalmanrushdie
Really? No, not yet. But plan to. And it's not like meeting the pope anyway. You'd only have to be 20 years younger (which I am), a top model (which I'm not), or a writer (which I will be). Ok, I guess I don't qualify. But, hey, did Julie (from' Julie and Julia' ) ever think her courage to fight a lobster would bring her fame, glory (and all the other important words)? I guess she hoped it would. With lights off. (BTW, don't know about the book, but the movie wouldn't stand on its feet without Meryl Streep.)
Anywho, this is supposed to be a 'literature' blog where people who read books and those who aspire to write them can meet and chat in a laid-back, cigar-in-mouth-- (oh, yes, smoking is good for you, most good writers were smokers), chopin-in-ear, and lots of chocolate at hand (unless you have some unexplainable stomach problems like me), this sentence is going to end now--who says me haven't met rushdie yet?--ATMOSPHERE. I plan to write a weekly review of a book I read. Something like that. And when I actually finish something I start writing and gather le courage, I'll even put up some of my own..things-let's just call them that, for now- for you to tear and cut (too much Grey's Anatomy).
Dear blog, welcome to the nuthouse.
Anywho, this is supposed to be a 'literature' blog where people who read books and those who aspire to write them can meet and chat in a laid-back, cigar-in-mouth-- (oh, yes, smoking is good for you, most good writers were smokers), chopin-in-ear, and lots of chocolate at hand (unless you have some unexplainable stomach problems like me), this sentence is going to end now--who says me haven't met rushdie yet?--ATMOSPHERE. I plan to write a weekly review of a book I read. Something like that. And when I actually finish something I start writing and gather le courage, I'll even put up some of my own..things-let's just call them that, for now- for you to tear and cut (too much Grey's Anatomy).
Dear blog, welcome to the nuthouse.
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