Quote of the Day

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”
– Desmond Tutu.

Literary Pick (*)

A Child in Time
-Ian McEwan

Ok, that's it. I'm done with Ian McEwan. This book was total bullshit.
This was my third book by the author, and this is why I don't like reading too much by the same writer, especially popular "NYT best-seller" authors. I purchased this book because I thought it was going to be about a three year old girl (Kate) who gets kidnapped at a supermarket while out with her dad. True, McEwan wastes no time in describing the kidnapping in the very first chapter of the book, but after that the rest is about inane events that has little or nothing to do with the kidnapping, guilt, loss and anguish that would normally occur after such a tragic event. I despised the main character of the book. In true McEwan fashion Stephen Lewis (Kate's father) is a pretentious self-centered snob.
There was not an ounce of angst, despair, madness, or desperation you'd expect in a book about a child who has been kidnapped and whose parents are suppose to be in mourning. The story is about Stephen, who often visits his friends in the county. Who btw never bring up his daughter. He also saved a man from a car-wreck, and he's often in a meeting in which child welfare is the topic of discussion.  It was a very flat, boring drawn-out story. The chapters were so long... so tedious.  It's infuriating to be strung along so many chapters without so much of a mention of what these parents were supposedly going through! It didn't compel me to feel any sympathy for him or his wife. This was one of the worst novels I've ever read.

Literary Pick (***)

Bonjour Tristesse
-Françoise Sagan

Overall the story was tolerable, if not satisfactory.  However, one small detail prevented me from truly enjoying it... the fact that the author was 17 when she wrote it. Everything about the author and story reeked of impudence. There's nothing more annoying than a talented underaged brat.

Literary Pick (****)

Open
-Andre Agassi

I'm a big fan of biographies and auto-biographies, so when I read that OPEN was one of the best sports auto-bio's ever written, it was hard to resist. I thoroughly enjoyed this story despite not being a sports fan at all. I know it may sound trite but it read like fictional novel.
There's a lot of self-pity in his journey. I think the only reason it works in this book is because Andre is the epitome of humility. He's a very quiet and shy person, and it seems that all his life he has had to battle to balance his obligation to tennis, and what he really wanted to do with his life, which even he wasn't sure of. An uneducated man who dropped out of school (a choice his father made for him) at a young age to focus his career on tennis, had no previous career training. The story is a balance between his tennis career and personal relationships with Brooke Shields and Steffi Graf. I didn't get too bored of the tennis scenes, although I know absolutely nothing about the sport, whatsoever. It was pretty much a good insight to how fragile and sensitive he is as a person. He always wanting to please others and not disappoint anyone. At times I think it must've been frustrating being his coach, or trainer because sometimes you just wanted them yell, "If you hate it so fucking much get the hell out of the game, quit tennis, but stop bitching, stop being so negative all the time and play the fucking game". At least that's what I would've said to him. It felt like the people around him had to constantly draw him in. It seemed exhausting. To have a gift and to whine about it constantly, I'm surprised some of the people in his life didn't just walk out on him. He seems to have come to terms with his choices later in life, after his first child was born.
Brooke Shields was portrayed a self-centered snob, which doesn't surprise me at all. She seems like one of the most bring people in Hollywood. I don't know how he put up with her...I guess he didn't. Steffi Graf, seems unemotional and void of personality. I don't get her., but he loves her, so all the power to them. It had a happily ever after ending that was really sweet. I'd say it's worth the read if you're nosy like me and like to read about celebrity lives. Even I'm surprised I'm giving this book a 4 star rating.

Quite possibly my favorite book cover.

Photograph

J. D. Salinger

Quote of the Day

"Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it."
-André Gide

Literary Pick (**)

Out Stealing Horses 
-Per Petterson

Quote of the Day

“Only the dead have seen the end of war.” 
― Plato

Literary Pick(****)

The Sickness 
-Alberto Barrera Tyszka

A good page-turner to the end. The kind of story that stays with you and leaves an everlasting impression for the rest of your life, I'm sure of it. It brings up many questions about death.. either one's own, or of a loved one. I actually caught myself counting the last page hoping there were at least 2-3 pages more to read. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

Photograph

Murakami and Kafka