Shanghai FTW!
I am back from Shanghai, and have survived the most over-crowded day at Fan Expo EVAR. What do I wanna write about though? Books. Books make my soul happy...
I thought I would have tons of time tor ead books this summer, but thanks to taking a summer course where we only read plays, well... I read a shit ton of plays instead. So I've decided to add a third list to my reading year: Plays... but I'll write about those laterz.
12. Helmet for my Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific - Robert Leckie
I read this solely because I had a Pacific marathon (go watch The Pacific NOW) and really wanted to check out the source material. First stop was Leckie's book, because... well... I am in love with James Badge Dale.
And while the two are hardly twins:
That didn't stop me from picture James Badge Dale in Leckie's place (especially on page 261).
13. When we were Orphans - Kazuo Ishiguro
I read this book solely because it took place in Shaghai, and actually only about half of it did take pace there, the rest was in London. Frankly, I might have missed the point of this book, but I found it a little boring. The first 100 pages or so are just about high society in Victorian times. Sigh... The last bit, during the Japanese invasion in Shanghai, was pretty cool, but it was also short-lived. And the ending? When you find out what happened to his parents? I dunno, I just have a hard time believing it... whatever.
14. Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts
This is one of those rare books that are really long (nearly 1000) pages, and yet feels a lot shorter. I never got bored with this book (well, maybe I found some of the sub-plots unnecessary, but hardly boring). It was just incredibly beautifully written, which might be strange when you consider the fact that it was written by an inmate. Also, it had a strange feel to it, because I was never sure what parts had actually happened to the author (whose brief bio at the back of the book is eerily similar to the main characters) and what was made up. This book is filed under fiction, but it feels real. I highly recommend it.
15. Red China Blue - Jan Wong
I read this in preparation for my sojourn in China, and I'm glad I did. It gave me a very easy to understand yet thorough look into the vast political changes China had gone through over the past 50 years. If you are interested in China or political history, this is a great book/autobiography to read. One question though: Hey Jan, you're Canadian, you live in Canada... why can't you spell 'colour'?
16. The Good Earth - Pearl S. Buck
This is one of those weird books that everyone I've met over 50 has read it in school and has vivid memories of it, but I had never heard of it before. Well, its an incredible book. It made me cry, full-on out-in-public with tears streaming down my face. It's a really neat look at a China just on the cusp of a communist revolution. The revolution is alluded to early in the novel and in the last chapter or so you hear it's going on, but it never really encroaches on the main characters (only three of whom seem to have real names). Anyway, this book was really great.
All right, that's enough of this for now.
P.S. I hugged Stan Lee. Joy!
I thought I would have tons of time tor ead books this summer, but thanks to taking a summer course where we only read plays, well... I read a shit ton of plays instead. So I've decided to add a third list to my reading year: Plays... but I'll write about those laterz.
12. Helmet for my Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific - Robert Leckie
I read this solely because I had a Pacific marathon (go watch The Pacific NOW) and really wanted to check out the source material. First stop was Leckie's book, because... well... I am in love with James Badge Dale.
And while the two are hardly twins:
That didn't stop me from picture James Badge Dale in Leckie's place (especially on page 261).
13. When we were Orphans - Kazuo Ishiguro
I read this book solely because it took place in Shaghai, and actually only about half of it did take pace there, the rest was in London. Frankly, I might have missed the point of this book, but I found it a little boring. The first 100 pages or so are just about high society in Victorian times. Sigh... The last bit, during the Japanese invasion in Shanghai, was pretty cool, but it was also short-lived. And the ending? When you find out what happened to his parents? I dunno, I just have a hard time believing it... whatever.
14. Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts
This is one of those rare books that are really long (nearly 1000) pages, and yet feels a lot shorter. I never got bored with this book (well, maybe I found some of the sub-plots unnecessary, but hardly boring). It was just incredibly beautifully written, which might be strange when you consider the fact that it was written by an inmate. Also, it had a strange feel to it, because I was never sure what parts had actually happened to the author (whose brief bio at the back of the book is eerily similar to the main characters) and what was made up. This book is filed under fiction, but it feels real. I highly recommend it.
15. Red China Blue - Jan Wong
I read this in preparation for my sojourn in China, and I'm glad I did. It gave me a very easy to understand yet thorough look into the vast political changes China had gone through over the past 50 years. If you are interested in China or political history, this is a great book/autobiography to read. One question though: Hey Jan, you're Canadian, you live in Canada... why can't you spell 'colour'?
16. The Good Earth - Pearl S. Buck
This is one of those weird books that everyone I've met over 50 has read it in school and has vivid memories of it, but I had never heard of it before. Well, its an incredible book. It made me cry, full-on out-in-public with tears streaming down my face. It's a really neat look at a China just on the cusp of a communist revolution. The revolution is alluded to early in the novel and in the last chapter or so you hear it's going on, but it never really encroaches on the main characters (only three of whom seem to have real names). Anyway, this book was really great.
All right, that's enough of this for now.
P.S. I hugged Stan Lee. Joy!