Literary Quote

"If there was any word of comfort that would be a solace to her in her dying hour, and only I possessed it, I wouldn't part with it for Life itself."

David Copperfield-Charles Dickens

Literary Pick (*)

Walking Through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black
(Cookie Mueller)

Quote of the Day

"If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?"

— Albert Einstein

Life in the Fun Lane

Spotlight On Design

Literary Pick (****)

The Unruly Life of Woody Allen: A Biography
(Marion Meade)

Quote of the Day

"A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take everything you have."
— Barry Goldwater

A Black Pepper

Slipcover Your Life

Fabulous K

Literary Pick (***)

The Bell Jar  

-Sylvia Plath

Quote of the Day

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Literary Pick (****)

The Wind-up Bird Chronicle 

-Haruki Murakami

Murakami is an amazing writer. Each chapter of this book was very indulging. Oddly enough Murakami possesses a feminine quality in his work, a sensitivity in the character of Toru Okada that I really appreciated coming from a male writer. A modern quality in the relationship between him and Kumiko (his wife), of which I can't quite put my finger on that one rarely finds from other male writers when describing romantic relationships.
I couldn't help compare this book with Marquez's 100 years of Solitude due of the magical realism aspects of both works. The difference between the two is that Marquez's stories all ended seamlessly with viable explanations (as much as you can explain things in the world of magical realism) of some sort to these odd stories and characters. However, Murakami failed to do that. I am open to this particular genre of writing, but things still need to make sense to an acceptable degree. There were just too many unanswered questions in the "Wind-up Bird chronicle". Some events towards the end of the story even seemed a bit convenient and left unexplained.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading this book and am happy I did. I'm looking forward to reading more works by Murakami.