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Pereira Maintains by Antonio Tabucchi
In the sweltering summer of 1938 in Portugal, a country under the fascist shadow of Spain, a mysterious young man arrives at the doorstep of Spain. His name is Monteiro Rossi. Pereira sees Rossi as the son Pereira never had, but also, in the way of late 19th-century literature, his other self, his political conscience … Continue reading
Chamonix-Geneva-Berlin
I am taking a long overdue holiday abroad with my family. I haven’t been out of the country since October 2011 and haven’t visited a new city or country abroad since October 2010. I’ll be staying at the foot of the highest peak in Europe, Chamonix-Mont Blanc then crossed over to Geneva, Swtizerland to rub … Continue reading
Please Look After Mother by Kyung-Sook Shin
If you are an Far Eastern Asian in your mid 40’s you are likely to have a mother which is less literate, who may have gone through many years of sacrifice bringing up her children, very superstitious and may practice ancestral rites to wade off evil so as not to incur God’s wrath on the … Continue reading
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
While growing up I heard so much about this book. Since it’s republished as 2004 edition I picked the book from the library. There are a few things that surprise me about the book. I did not expect the book to be an epistolary novel, so easy to read, entertaining and full of wisdom. The … Continue reading
Liquidation by Imre Kertész
Imre Kertész is an Auschwitz survivor. It seems, without alluding to this fact, the book is about being a survivor. Liquidation, his first novel since winning the Nobel prize in 2002, is basically a fictionalised argument that after Auschwitz, fiction is an unworthy pursuit. Having said all that, Liquidation is a philosophical and cerebral novel. … Continue reading
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
At least 10 years ago, I have always wanted to read this book. In April 1992, after he graduated with a first in college, Chris McCandless set off alone into the Alaskan wild. He gave all his savings ($24,000) to Oxfam, abandoned his car and his possessions, and burnt the money in his wallet, determined … Continue reading
The future is no longer Orange for fiction prize
The State of Wonder has finally come through from my reservation list after waiting for 5 weeks. I’m not sure if I have the will to read it and review it before the prize is announced. These are my review for the following 5 books I have read so far. The Forgotten Waltz by Anne … Continue reading
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I don’t read Young Adult fiction, my introduction said. Yet in a rare occasion I do, when there is too much hype generated from the book. Interestingly publishers and movie producers alike are finding ways to tap into the market of Young Adult, to create a cult-like fan club out of young people to stories … Continue reading
Painter of Silence by Georgina Harding
It is the early 1950s in Iași, a small city in communist Romania. A man is found on the steps of a hospital frail as a fallen bird. He carried no identification and utters no words and it took awhile before anyone discovers that he is deaf and mute. However, a young nurse called, Safta … Continue reading
Features
I have been doing some housekeeping on my blog and decided to create a space for blog posts other than books reviews. see: https://bibliojunkie.wordpress.com/features/ In the process I have updated some old posts and it shows up as a new post on the Google reader. I look back and feel that I wrote more raw and … Continue reading
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Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking. - Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)
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