Not in the Pink

{August 29, 2010} Review: The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas

My review for The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas is now up here at Bookgeeks.

The Slap has been one of my absolute favourite reads of 2010 so far. The combination of the controversial catalyst at the beginning of the story combined with the different narratives of such a diverse range of characters was a real joy to read. Tsiolkas doesn’t sugar coat his characters – each have their major flaws which make them feel more human and instantly sets up a perfect introduction to the Australia us foreigners don’t get to see: a new country full of people struggling to find their identities in a place where old cultures still reign heavy.

I couldn’t urge you more to get your hands on a copy of this.

On another note, this is the fourth book I’m including for my GLBT Reading Challenge. Not only is the author an openly gay man but he touches on the subject of homosexuality with his character, Richie, a teenager struggling to come to terms with his sexuality in the seemingly machoism-dominated world he and his friend, Connie, surround themselves with.

{August 25, 2010} Trailer: 127 Hours (2010)

You. Must. Watch. This. NOW!!!

Now that’s he got that General Hospital crap out of his system, James Franco is back to doing what he does best – Making films that make us go ‘Woah!’

Saying that … I don’t know if I want to see this. The end of the trailer makes it look really scary.

What do you guys think?

{August 20, 2010} A Little Update & a (Belated) BTT

TGIF!

Hope you’ve all had an awesome week. I certainly have. Yesterday I was given the 110% go ahead for my new job. Up until now, I was waiting to hear the final decision – My contract was offered to me only on the basis that all references from the last five years come through. The last fortnight saw a problem with the jobcentre not coughing up the proof that I’d claimed from them and it looked like I wasn’t going to be able to have the job.

But yesterday, I got the call saying everything’s definitely 110% and I’m good to go. I start on Monday at 9am. Yay.

While this isn’t exactly a career move, it’s the move before my career move. This full-time job, which pays much better money than what I’ve been earning, will help me save to go travelling for six months next year and also help me finance my TEFL course in order to gain a certificate and explore my career options with that when I come back.

Today was my last day at the jewellers and, while I won’t miss retail, I will definitely miss the friends I’ve made and have been working with there. They surprised me with a lovely card wishing me all the best in my new job and travels, and even got me a teddy bear from the Build-a-Bear Workshop with a wonderful recorded message for me when I press one of the paws. <3 I love them. I’m going to miss them so much.

So I have this weekend to prepare myself for a brand new job and a whole new start. Eek!

~*~*~

1. Favorite childhood book?
Matilda by Roald Dahl

2. What are you reading right now?
The Stand by Stephen King. I started it back in February, put it down for a few months but am now back on it and whizzing through.

3. What books do you have on request at the library?
None. I had the Harry Potter books on request a couple of months ago but now I’m trying to get through my own TBR pile.

4. Bad book habit?
I give everyone who borrows my books a four hour lecture on how to handle them carefully but I’m a complete hypocrite. Currently The Stand has a broken spine, is covered in make-up (thanks to being randomly shoved in my bag) and I have been known to highlight passages in pen.

5. What do you currently have checked out at the library?
I still have two biographies outstanding from an old library – one on Tom Cruise, one on Marlon Brando. They were due back December 2003.

6. Do you have an e-reader?
I don’t. I’m not gonna go out of my way to get one because I love the feel of books in my hands but if anyone bought me one, I wouldn’t complain. I guess it’s more environmentally friendly.

7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?
I prefer to read one book at a time but often find myself putting one book down if it gets too much and I need a break from it and turning to another.

8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?
Yes. I do find myself more conscious of how often I read and how fast. I also stop myself every now and again and think ‘Ooh, I’ll put that in a review’ while I’m reading.

9. Least favorite book you read this year (so far?)
Probably And This is True by Emily Mackie. I found it very much like the pieces I’d read in creative writing workshops in university. Lots of beginner writers trying to shock and use tactics they’ve picked up from other writers. They haven’t quite found their voice yet. That’s what I found this book to be like.

10. Favorite book you’ve read this year?
It’s very hard to choose but it’s a toss-up between The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas and My Invented Life by Lauren Bjorkman.

11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
Practically never. I don’t enjoy fantasy at all and there seems to be a lot of fans on the book blogs out there but it’s never appealed to me. I think the closest I’ve come to it is by reading some of the Harry Potter books but that’s enough for now.

12. What is your reading comfort zone?
I’m happy to read anything and everything. I know what I like and I know what I don’t. As I’ve said, I don’t enjoy fantasy and anything kind of medieval. It’s just not my thing. On the other hand, I think I can tolerate reading about controversial subjects quite well, especially on issues that a lot of readers find way too disturbing.

13. Can you read on the bus?
I certainly can.

14. Favorite place to read?
On the train. It’s 30-45 minutes each way to work and I love finding a seat and opening a book. It’s my favourite time.

15. What is your policy on book lending?
I’m too lenient with it. There’s a friend of mine who has two of my books that I know I’ll never see again … probably because I see her maybe once a year. One of them was a book I found so inspiring, I couldn’t turn her down when she asked to lend it and earn some of her own inspiration. One was a book I had yet to read!

16. Do you ever dog-ear books?
Never. I was terrible for it when I was a teenager but I couldn’t bear to do it now. I collect bookmarks too so I have no excuse.

17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?
Unfortunately yes. And in pen.

18. Not even with text books?
I’ve done that quite a bit.

19. What is your favorite language to read in?
English. It’s the only language I can speak fluently though I’m learning Spanish so it would be nice to think that one day I could read a good novel in another language.

20. What makes you love a book?
It could be anything from the story, the characters, the message. It all depends.

21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
If there’s a book that I’ve been blown away with and thought, ‘Wow, that’s excellent. I’d definitely read that again!’, I’ll recommend it.

22. Favorite genre?
I don’t have a favourite.

23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)
Sci-Fi. I’m fascinated with aliens but never read any books on them.

Favorite biography?
Recently I fell in love with The Motorcycle Diaries by Che Guevara. Very inspiring. Now one of my favourites.

25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
Ah, yes! The Fat Girl’s Guide to Life (One of the books I lent to the friend I mentioned earlier ).

26. Favorite cookbook?
Vegan Cooking for One.

27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?
The Motorcycle Diaries by Che Guevara. I’m not going to go into details about why – just read my review here.

28. Favorite reading snack?

I love a good cup of green tea with biscuits while I’m reading.

29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.
I was always a huge fan of vampire books. Now I can’t stand them. The recent vampire hype has killed my enthusiasm.

30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?
I don’t usually read critics’ opinions. I read book bloggers’ opinions and, luckily, I get a very balanced argument for each book I read.

31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
I’m fine with it. I’m not personally bashing the author. I’m not giving unfair or unjust criticism. I just mention why I didn’t enjoy it and what I would have preferred. You can’t please anybody and all writers need to learn that very quickly.

32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you chose?
Either Spanish or French.

33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?
Bleak House by Charles Dickens. Having never read any Dickens before, this was definitely not the one to start with.

34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. It’s right on the top of my TBR pile but I’ve yet to pick it up yet.

35. Favorite Poet?
Sylvia Plath.

36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
None. I don’t visit the library much – I have too many of my own to keep me going at the moment.

37. How often have you returned book to the library unread?
I can’t remember ever doing that.

38. Favorite fictional character?
Henry De Tamble (The Time Traveller’s Wife)

39. Favorite fictional villain?
Patrick Bateman (American Psycho)

40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?
The Motorcycle Diaries, Into the Wild.

41. The longest I’ve gone without reading.
A couple of weeks . . . ?

42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.
I couldn’t finish The Art of Loving by Erich Fromm. I’m not even going to go into it.

43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?
Sleep. I get so relaxed I end up falling asleep!

44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel?
Atonement by Ian McEwan. The film is a perfect interpretation of the book.

45. Most disappointing film adaptation?
I have the feeling that the new Let Me In film will sit here.

46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
Just over £50.

47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?
I flick through when I’m considering buying a book to get the general feeling but otherwise never skim.

48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?
Either that it’s getting way too heavy for me or I’m not interested in the story and characters and reading it has become a chore.

49. Do you like to keep your books organized?
Usually but I don’t have shelves. At the moment, my books are in two piles: read and unread.

50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?
Both. I like to give books to people I know will enjoy them more but I can’t give away books that have meant a lot to me.

51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?
Every vampire book that’s been released in the last 12 months.

52. Name a book that made you angry.
The Twilight series.

53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?
My Invented Life by Lauren Bjorkman. It’s not that I didn’t expect to like it – I just didn’t expect to love it as much as I did.

54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?
The Hours by Michael Cunningham. I adore the film – it’s one of my favourites – but the book was very disappointing.

55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
Any Tudor fiction.

{August 19, 2010} Trailer: I’m Still Here (2010)

‘I’m Still Here‘ . . .

What a shame.

Because if you’d quietly retired with dignity or continued doing your interview-shy, method approach to acting, you’d still be one of my favourite actors.

Instead you’ve either gone batshit crazy and refuse to seek help for it (In which case, Casey Affleck, the director, your friend, and brother-in-law also loses my respect for sticking cameras in your face during this difficult time in your life) or you’re keeping up this little charade like a publicity-seeking whore while sniggering behind the camera with your compadre about how stupid and beneath you most of the public – and your would-be audience – are for not ‘getting it’ or ever being able to understand your ‘art’.

What a shame.

{August 13, 2010} The Motorcycle Diaries by Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara (Thoughts)

Title: The Motorcycle Diaries

Author: Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara

Year: 1995

Rating: 5/5

Summary: In 1953, two young men set out on a journey around South America that would change their lives. Taking time out from medical school, 23-year-old Ernesto Guevara and 29-year-old biochemist Alberto Granado took to the road on their motorcycle dubbed ‘La Poderosa’ (The Mighty One) with dreams of visiting the United States. What they found instead were the harsh realities of the impoverished indigenous peasantry and the forgotten proletariat in Latin America. Chronicling the full 8,000 kilometres and nine months in his journal, we follow Guevara as he transforms from a free-spirited medical student to the compassionate warrior for the people as he experiences his social and political awakening.

~*~*~

My Thoughts: I’m not going to do a proper review on this book because I honestly couldn’t write one. There’s nothing about this book that I didn’t find inspiring and could honestly criticise.

As I’ve described in the summary, The Motorcycle Diaries chronicles the nine-month journey Guevara and his friend took around Latin America. What begins as an idealistic adventure for two young men turns into a real eye opener and, in some ways, a coming-of-age story. I didn’t know a lot about Guevara when I picked up the book. I knew about the Cuban revolution in 1959 but knew nothing about Guevara personally. The Motorcycle Diaries takes place years before Guevara became involved in the guerilla campaign and, while he had been quite politically active in local protests, had never thought about anything on a larger scale.

His journey with Granado is almost a spur-of-the-moment decision – a clear indication of the youth and free-spiritedness Guevara shares with most people at that age (and mine). You could almost split the book into two sections from here. The first is what we’ve come to expect: a pair of young men playing pranks in order to blag some money/food/shelter off the locals they meet, drinking their way through meetings, making passes at married women. Anyone who’s known – 0r been – a 23-year-old young man can spot this type of youthful exuberance immediately and it’s refreshing to know that even after 50 years, some things don’t change.

The second half of the book, however, takes place after Guevara and Granado’s journey has taken a darker turn. Rather than cycling through the country, they are forced to abandon La Poderosa and hitchhike or walk the rest of the way. While they still hold their newfound and whispered-about reputation as the “expert doctors”, they now find themselves living amongst the poorer and indigenous people of Chile, Lima, Ecuador, Colombia, and Panama. It is here that they witness the squalid living conditions of the proletariat and hear of the horror the indigenous communities faced years ago and continue to battle with.

Guevara’s narrative also changes with these discoveries: We recognise the moment he stops being a boy and finally becomes a man. He somehow feels responsible for everything he sees and has discovered a burning passion inside himself to change everything.

I can’t explain what it was about Guevara’s words that inspired so much in me. Perhaps the same thing that have inspired hundreds before me. Like him, I am 23 and have a clear goal of wanting to travel in order to “see the world.” But Guevara’s maturity and descriptions of what was right in front of his eyes brought out that youthful idealism in me that I never usually know what to do with. Having worked in retail for seven years of my life, selling people crappy things they don’t need, working with money, I know I’ve reached a point in my life where my chosen career path has to mean something. I want to do something that will cause a positive impact among others.

As I read Guevara’s words and saw him go from being a medical doctor to become the ‘doctor of the people’ that we know him as, I began thinking about what I could offer the world. I’m no doctor. I barely passed science in school. But I do have an English degree and a pretty good grasp of the written and spoken word. My old thoughts about becoming a teacher of English as a Foreign Language came flooding back to me and it finally made sense. I could combine my thirst for travel and help those who want to learn a second language. Along the way I can discover new countries and cultures and get a real sense of what’s happening in the world and how to change it.

The only other book that ever made me get up and do something was Into the Wild – that book inspired me to take a trip to the Highlands and see the world from another perspective; to shut out all the consumerism we face every day.

I might be an impressionable young woman but out of all the career ideas and jobs I’ve drifted through, this finally seems to make sense. Like, really make sense. I’m not scared to death of it; I’m excited by the prospect of it. And all because of the influence of a beautifully written journal by a passionate young man who really did change the world. (And FYI, I’m not stupid – I know that Guevara, Castro, and his guerilla army weren’t saints. I’m more than aware of those who lost their lives during the revolution.)

I’m going to leave you with a passage from the book which takes place nearly half way through the book. Guevara goes to visit an elderly woman, brought down by a horrible case of asthma which isn’t helped by her poor living conditions. She is one of the first people who begin to affect Guevara’s way of seeing Latin America:

“The poor thing was in a pitiful state, breathing the acrid smell of concentrated sweat and dirty feet that filled her room, mixed with the dust from a couple of armchairs, the only luxury items in her house. On top of her asthma, she had a heart condition. It is at times like this, when a doctor is conscious of his complete powerlessness, that he longs for a change: a change to prevent the injustice of a system in which only a month ago this poor woman was still earning her living as a waitress, wheezing and panting but facing life with dignity. In circumstances like this, individuals in poor families who can’t pay their way become surrounded by an atmosphere of barely disguised acrimony; they stop being mother, father, sister or brother and become a purely negative factor in the struggle for life and, consequently, a source of bitterness for the healthy members of the community who resent their illness as if it were a personal insult to those who have to support them. It is there, in the final moments, for people whose farthest horizon has always been tomorrow, that one comprehends the profound tragedy circumscribing the life of the proletariat the world over. In those dying eyes there is a submissive appeal for forgiveness and also, often, a desperate plea for consolation which is lost to the void, just as their body will soon be lost in the magnitude of mystery surrounding us. How long this present order, based on an absurd idea of caste, will last is not within my means to answer, but it’s time that those who govern spent less time publicizing their own virtues and more money, much more money, funding socially useful works.“

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