david copperfield......!!!!!!

NO!!!!!!! i am not talking about the magician. the classic by Charles dickens. i know its a bit lame but i have to confess, i had not read any of Charles dickens book before.this is because, i was more of a Enid Blyton guy, you know.


i stumbled upon this book ,DAVID COPPERFIELD, on my book shelf recently ,and decided that i would flip through the pages. then, i started to read the About the Author section. it got me interested as they said most of the events in this book were based on his life experiences.

to tell you the truth, i was just being nosey. you know busybody.....hehehehe. i wanted to know what made this man to become the famous author of all times.

and guess what? the book was great. i loved the way he twisted the plot so cunningly. the characters were ( a lot of them) very meticulously detailed. the male characters obviously dominated the book (of course, the author is male). the narration was simple yet touch-heart worthy.

it got me thinking. classics will always be classics. enjoyed all around the world by book lovers everywhere, it will never lose its grace to mesmerize and comfort readers. that's why it is called classic, right?

anyways, to this former-classics-ignorant fool David Copperfield really opened eyes. maybe next time, I'll try one of Mark Twain's, huh? any other classics that i should try?

the god of literature....

OMG. arundhati roy is one heck of a writer man. yes, i know that she only wrote one fiction and loads of non-fiction. yes THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS, is awesome. read it till morning 2 a.m. the book is that good. i just could not put it done. it is so addictive

yeah well, the first ten pages were quite draggy and microscopically detailed but the it got better and better until one point i just had to stop reading it because my mom was threatening to whack me (i was reading like a mad fool until i forgot to take my bath, hehehehee).

anyways the book is told from a child's point of view. it is extremely interesting to see the way she describes all the tiny details with expressions that are new and different. the plot of the story is twisted, spiralling into the lives of ammu(the widow-mother), rahel and estha(the children), baby kochamma, sophie (a cousin of the children), margaret kochamma, chacko and many more characters that will have you crying for and with them. okay, the book is not entirely sad but is quite humorous at times.

the award winning book (it won the Man Booker prize in 1997) is a great read. arundhati roy has painted a beautiful portrait that lives up to the superb praises it has received. this is definitely a must read. so go get this amazing book, guys and girls.

chicklit or guylit?

well, there is this brand that goes over books that have female protagonist. CHICKLIT. on the front cover you will either see a pretty girl posing or lipstick smudges. ergrrrggrgrghhhh. i think i am about to barf. i mean come on. books are books that are suppose to cater to all reader satisfaction. it does not need some branding (i refuse to call it a genre).

if you are going to tell me that this branding is going to give it more womanly appeal that will make screaming girls want to buy that particular book, i say BULLSHIT.

lady1 :chicklit? (in a very high, girly, girly (errrgh) tone)that is my favourite.
lady2: yeah. look at that book's cover. a gorgeous woman isn't she?
lady1: yeah. i am sure that book is fabulous.
lady2: yeah. this book is going to be great. the shirtless man beside her is quite hot too.
lady1: giggle, giggle,giggle
lady2: giggle giggle giggle.

HELLO. ever heard of the saying NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY IT'S COVER (in this case literally). if it is about a depressed woman , it is chicklit. then what's next? if its about a guy playing footbal then it's guylit. (A GREAT BIG SIGH).

i am just trying to say that by creating a sub-genre like chicklit, it is only going to stop many others from reading the book (other than squeaky little girly girls). from the public's eye, if you are reading a chicklit, then you are a chick.(that sounded funny). of course chicklits are not as literary as some other books. but this kind of books might trigger some switch (in that clouded mind) to actually think more about LIFE , while giving you a laugh.

so people of the world, don't cage yourselves into one type of genre. read a lot type of books. guys don't be shy to read a chicklit because truly they are not only for chicks, they are stories about chicks. (you might even get hints on how to win a chick yourself, *wink* *wink*)

thats all people, bye.

P. S. I LOVE THIS BOOK........

P.S. I LOVE YOU by Cecelia Ahern. well, this is not to say a must read but it is definitely a satisfying read. i stayed up late yesterday night, just to know the ending. there were some pretty big shocks at the end.

this book is about a woman(holly) coping with her life after her husband(Gerry) died because of brain tumor. she undergoes a lot of struggle and tries her best to block the outside world from her. then , comes along a parcel from her late husband. well, technically it was posted to her parents' house just weeks before he died. the parcel holds small messages from Gerry for each month of the year right (for a year). that's when the fun starts.

the book is really good. the language is understandable which makes it a fast read. overall i enjoyed the book very much. a lot of unexpected turnings which will make your jaws drop. the characters are lovable and Gerry's character is my favourite. he is really the MAN who cares for his wive and friends.

the book is definitely a nice read. it would be nice if you could read it as it brings a new meaning to the word LIFE.

stunning debut....

preeta samarasan. this young lady is so far the best (this time it's for real) author. really really really. this is definitely one of my all-time favourite books. the language is so beautiful. seriously, it is. the best of the best. above all that, she is a Malaysian. yes, you heard me right.

her novel, Evening is the Whole Day, is set in Malaysia. her style is reminiscent of other Indian authors like Salman Rushdie and Arundhati Roy but still manages to bring out some very interesting ways of expressing situations and surroundings. her prose is really really really amazing. she is a master storyteller.

this is some of the reviews for the book.

Samarasan represents the quiet emergence of new Malaysian writing in books such
as Rani Manicka's The Rice Mother and Touching Earth, Tash Aw's The Harmony Silk Factory, and Tan Twan Eng's Booker-longlisted The Gift of Rain last year.

These writers have significantly broadened our understanding of the region earlier
seen largely through the gin-soaked, misty eyes of Somerset Maugham, the
Tiger-beer induced nostalgia of Anthony Burgess*, or the laconic fiction of Paul
Theroux.

He discusses the socio-political background of the novel : Malaysia permeates Samarasan's novel without didacticism about the country's identity politics. It shows the symbiotic and separate relationship between Malays, Chinese and Indians. Jo Kukathas, the gifted satirist, once joked that in Malaysia "the Chinese do the work, the Malays take the credit, the Indians get the blame". Buried within the quip is a stark divide, explaining the consequences of the May 1969 riots which formed the basis of Lloyd Fernando's 1993 novel, Green is the Colour. ... Those riots led to Malaysia's preferential policies, which benefited Malays over Chinese and Indians, so forcing many non-Malays to seek educational and employment opportunities abroad. and calls the story multi-layered, but feels that the plot gets rather complicated.

Francesca Segal in The Observer yesterday found the novel :
Vibrant, descriptive, and peppered with colourful Indian-Malaysian
dialogue, this is an epic that's informative without being worthy, and
engrossing but not frivolous.Indian reviewers seem perplexed by the novel - you
can almost hear them thinking How come this novelist of Indian heritage, clearly
influenced by Indian authors, isn't writing the kind of Indian novel we expect?

Check out Amardeep's review and the interesting debate in the comments at Sepia Mutiny.

You can find other reviews on Preeta's website

anyways, guys. i am not going to discuss the plot here. i am just going to leave you with all these information. i am hoping that you will go out and buy this amazingly awesome book which i love so much. this is a must read for every Malaysian. I'll be posting more about this book later. (but seriously go get this book)