Posts Tagged ‘Books’
This is version two of the blog, which currently contains 109 published posts. To some extent, this blog represents the creative excesses of a design enthusiast who is somewhere in the process of applying to grad school, working at a law firm and resides in the Financial District of New York City.
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So, right now, I’m sitting in a room, surrounded by boxes and packaging tape and hangers and plastic bags and…yeech. It’s moving time and it sucks. The most obnoxious thing is that damn painting, haha. I love it, partially because of the sentimental value it holds for me, but it doesn’t fit any box, it’s oversized and it’s just a pain to move/ship. I’ve fashioned something that resembles a box for it, but I’m worried that UPS will reject it when they see it cause it looks like a hot fucking mess — no joke. It would be funny if it weren’t so tragic.
But anyway. I don’t have much to report — things are proceeding relatively smoothly, I think. I have seven days left in the city, and mostly I just want to finish packing and I’d ideally like to see everyone at least one more time before I go, but obviously there’s time constraints and I have a lot of administrative stuff to deal with, so I’ll do the best I can. Plus I’m still working as of right now. Nate’s in town this weekend, so I really hope we get to see him at some point, but we’ll see. It sucks that I was sort of sick last weekend and had to cancel on people, so I’m a little worried since I’m actually running out of time. Eeek.
I thought I would feel lonely and depressed the month before law school starts since I thought it would be a lot of nothing, but I’m actually getting really excited. Ali is living in Chicago now, my parents will be flying in when I first move and then Kendra will be visiting, then my sister, and then Dan and maybe Rita at some point that month — plus I realize that I actually know quite a few random people in Chicago already. So, yeah, I’m looking forward to it.
I’ve given up reading stuff I actually like in order to spend time getting through The Bramble Bush and Getting to Maybe (which I’m also outlining) in order to prepare for school. It’s probably overkill, but considering how much the sticker price is for law school (without scholarship money, around $225,000 by the end of three years if you include interest that’s accumulating) — well, I figure I should do my best. Obviously, my loans will be nowhere near there, but even still, it’s a daunting figure to consider.
I have mixed feelings about leaving New York. I’m sad, but hopeful. It’s weird how people come in and out of your life. I remember a few months ago (I can’t remember who this conversation was with), but we were talking about the saying “a rolling stone gathers no moss” and whether that had a positive or negative connotation. On one hand, it’s referring to escaping responsibilities, on the other it’s about preventing stagnation. Wikipedia seems to think it could go either way…which I find annoying in a way — I keep wondering if I should make an active effort to stop moving around and changing career paths, and it would be easier if there were a clear answer.
I’ve said before, I hate the process of saying goodbye to things and people, of reformulating life plans, of trying to create social and support systems from scratch. At the same time, I’ve gotten to cross paths with a diverse swath of people and lifestyles, which is important, I think. Anyway, it’s just something that’s been on my mind. Maybe I’m just adverse to change, but I generally feel like I’m happy and positive about life, but still not entirely satisfied. Like, I don’t think I’ve ever felt entirely content.
Well, whatever. In a completely different tangent, I’ve finally gotten back to finishing up this blog which has been under construction for almost six months, haha. I really should just recode everything cause it was a mess the last time I did it — I didn’t take time to read up on the changes going from WordPress 2.x to 3 and I actually migrated the entire blog to a completely new installation and directory which complicated things. But, depending on how busy the next few weeks are, it may or may not ever happen. Oh well.
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So, I haven’t been posting a lot recently, mostly because my computer is broken (the screen freezes unless I bend it at an angle — weird, I know) and HP has told me that it would cost $400+taxes+parts to fix. Obviously, I’m not going to spend what could likely be over 500 dollars to fix a three-year-old computer that cost less than a thousand dollars to begin with. Assuming a five-year rate of depreciation, $500 would be well over it’s current value. It’s a bit of a racket seeing as how Hewlett-Packard also has the highest hardware failure rate of the leading notebook manufacturers. It was relatively cheaper, but given that my last HP laptop also had similar problems and the screen died out shortly after it hit its 3rd year, I don’t think I would get another HP notebook.
In fact, HP has a 3-year manufacturing failure rate (as opposed to accidental damage) of just over 25% compared to Asus, Toshiba and Sony which each have failure rates hoving just above or below 16% over the course of the same three-year period. You can see the results of that study here (PDF file), though, it’s coming from a vendor of warranty protection plans, so take it with a grain of salt.
But aside from discussions of the book value of my laptop and manufacturing failure rates, I have, however, as a result of its shitty hardware, been reading more instead. Here are some of the recent ones.
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. Loved this. I’ve never been a huge fan of dystopian novels, mostly because anything taken to an extreme is bad, I think, but this world is so carefully constructed and her writing is so readable that it was hard to be such a cynic about it. I think my favorite part was the relationship between Oryx and Sandman. It’s an alternate reality; if you’re into that you should definitely read this (and probably already have). Otherwise, just read it anyway cause it’s good.
Girl’s Poker Night by Jill Davis. Eh. My sister gave this to me a while back. It was better than the average chick lit but not by a lot and not really worth reading unless you particularly are in the mood for that stuff.
My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk. Huh. I liked this book in theory. I liked that it was almost a philosophical (regarding art) mystery. It’s a story about a murder among a group of miniaturists (read: artists), set in the Ottoman Empire (it’s translated from Turkish). The idea is that they are working on book of illustrations that reflects a style that is considered to be sacrilegious in that it is considered idolatry, detracting from the glorification of God, etc. There’s more to the plot line than just this, but the main character, Black, investigates by speaking to the suspects regarding their views on various aspects of art, and at the same time the unidentified murderer discusses his thoughts as well. Theoretically, you should be trying to figure out who is the murderer based on these discussions of art philosophy. It was good in terms of writing, pacing, etc., but I think my appreciation of this book is largely on an academic level. If you think you’d enjoy theoretical discourses on art, for example considering what “is” art and whether things like personal style detracts from art and the representation of “truth,” then you’d probably love this book.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie. Always good. I think this was the first Hercule Poirot novel ever. I thought I would be over my Agatha Christie phase by now, but I guess not.
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. Very Oprah. Obviously unrealistic. But entirely enjoyable. A group of rich important people get kidnapped by terrorists who are good people at heart.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schafer. I liked reading this, minus the romance. Its seems like a solid novel who had an editor who forced in some contrived romantic plot line so there would be was more of a plot arc, but it was just distracting. It’s about the German occupation of Guernsey (not fictional), as told through a conversation in letters (entirely fictional). It begins when a writer receives a letter from someone from the island and ends up conversing with various people to find out about their experiences during the occupation. It’s Hallmark-y in it’s way, but interesting from a historical perspective.
Baby Proof by Emily Giffen. This was sitting on my self for, like two years. It’s chick-lit, but I liked the premise of this book, mostly because I liked the idea of exploring the trade-off between decisions about kids and someone you’re into. Oddly enough, it was something I recently had a conversation with someone about so I finally picked it up and went ahead and read it. Overall, it was pretty good as far as this genre goes, but the ending was such a disappointment and waaay cheesy.
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I promised, like three years ago, to Jessie that I would read something by Barbara Kingsolver, who she says is one of her favorite writers. So, true to my (procrastinating) word, I finally got around to and finished The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver earlier today.
I’ve been trying to mix it up in my reading repertoire terms of genres. The Poisonwood Bible was more on the serious side of drama. For the most part it’s set in the Congo during its short-lived bid for independence from Belgium. However, the story actually spans three decades and is told through the wife and four daughters of a zealous preacher, Nathan Price, who move to a small village there, Kilanga, to do missionary work. As one expects with these sorts of fish-out-of-water-type premises, it changes them more than they change it. However, it’s well written and thought-provoking in other ways, though it is clearly bent on challenging certain Westernized, I guess, attitudes for lack of a better word (the author doesn’t use such terminology, thank goodness) and on criticizing the U.S. and other foreign involvement in the economic and political affairs in the Congo.
While most of the story focuses on the difficulties of the Price family, the political/social message comes through in bits and pieces and finally comes to light more fully as they are forced to flee. In short, Belgium colonized the place and essentially handicapped the country (by not allowing non-whites to get an education, not building infrastructure, etc.). After the people rose up and demanded their independence, President Eisenhower, in cahoots with other foreign leaders, gave orders to have the elected leader of Congo assassinated because these leaders of white men were unhappy with the negotiations regarding the sale of the country’s natural resources (diamonds, in particular). They fixed the following election to have him replaced with a puppet figure instead and corruption ensued (the U.S. began building a power system in Congo they knew would fail in order to saddle the country with billions in debt, ensuring that the flow of resources would be unhindered in the future). There are also non-politically geared messages in the book as well — about people, human nature, etc.
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So yeah, I apologize to the 3 visitors to my blog about the porn banners that took over for a while. Apparently the permissions on my files were set incorrectly, which (gasp!) left my mySQL tables unprotected! And then I neglected to fix it for some time, haha.
At any rate, I’ve started applying to law schools now. The basics of my applications are finished, my personal statement and resume, etc. so I’m glad to finally have my life back to some extent.
In fact, I finally finished Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, which I really enjoyed. It’s about two magicians, set in England during the Napoleonic Wars. When the story begins, magicians are almost an anachronistic remnant of Britain’s past (according to the story, magic once abounded but has since disappeared). Instead, there are only theoretical magicians, as opposed to practical magicians, who study magic in an academic manner. However, two “practical magicians” appear on the scene and attempt to rediscover magic, piecing things together.
All in all, it’s long, but it’s funny (a sort of dry, British humor) and very enjoyable. Plot-driven and well-conceived, IMHO. To quote Wikipedia: “It has been described as a fantasy novel, an alternate history, and an historical novel.” I’m not much for fantasy (with the exception of the Harry Potter series, obviously), but I liked this take on magic. Recommended. A solid 4 stars.
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So, the 8-K on my life (bad joke, I know) is that I’m not getting a lot of sleep, but at least I’m working and studying a lot. Also, as I’m sure I’ve told everyone by now, I got the G1 Android phone and am absolutely flat-out taken with it. I’ve pleased the gadget gods — for the time being.
The past few weeks have been filled with temporary, but pleasant influxes and outfluxes of people coming in and out of the city — Thomas, then my mom, followed by Chris moving to Jersey and then Ali, Dan and Tina, etc. I am, of course, always happy to see them, but tired of the “please summarize the last X months/years of your life”-type conversations and inevitable partings…
It’s not that I don’t like New York City — I’m actually pretty happy with the job and the living situation, grateful to have people I know here, and I love the museums, the broadway shows and the amazing restaurants, etc. That was all as advertised, I admit.
But each time someone comes and goes from the city, I’m faced with a reminder of the transience of my current lifestyle — an extended, meandering vacation from my actual life: law school, career, family, etc. I have an apartment, yes. But the lease is only until August, and I could always sublet. I also have a job here, fine — except who knows how long that will last (with “these troubled economic times…”) and even if they didn’t lay me off, I could easily walk away; it’s a job and a paycheck, not a career.
I know my plan was always to put my life on hiatus for the time being while I got sorted out, but I don’t think I realized the fungibility of my job and the current components of my life would bother me. In some ways, I know I longed for this — in college, I felt so tied down with commitments, both academic and extra-cirricular, and it was exhausting mentally and emotionally. Now I’m here, and it’s weird to think that everyone I’ve been interacting with on a daily basis will probably be a stranger to me by the time I graduate from law school. I also wonder what else I could have done with these two years; the thought of Mr. Parmer talking about “opportunity costs” crosses my mind right now.
I can’t remember where I read that people are naturally adverse to the idea of decreasing options. I feel like now that I’m a full-fledged adult, the idea that I could potentially run out of time to do the things I want to do is dawning on me in a subtle but entirely unpleasant way.
I’ve been reading a book by Margaret Atwood called Moral Disorders and Other Stories. She writes amazing things, and this one is solid, but probably not my favorite — it’s just the one that is the most relevant to me at this juncture. The entire book is a collection of stories about a female character, Nell, told in a series of short stories at various points in her life. Throughout these stories, she explores what Nell could potentially become, the different types of people, the various female roles and the decisions that are made which determine these things; I’ve had a nagging feeling of discontent, but it didn’t really hit me what it was until I was reading one of the stories on the subway to work — the idea of being scared of being tied down to one option, one lifestyle, but also fearing the other extreme of endless wandering is one that haunts me, just a little, and I worry the reality of it will creep up on me too soon.
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I started this book a year ago and finally got around to finishing it last week. I know it’s very pop-lit-y, but that actually doesn’t bother me. If it gets people to actually read books, I’m happy. In fact, I think elementary schools should encourage kids to read more stuff that’s just fun to read (the same way that gateway drugs work — leads to more serious stuff later) if they want them to grow up to be better readers and better writers, but whatever, that’s not what this post is about. I think I actually commented about this book before in a different post, but whatever.
So yeah, the book is this woman’s memoir about her travels to Italy, India and Indonesia following her divorce. Obviously, it’s not for guys (or intellectuals), but I laughed out loud many times, especially in the beginning (i.e. Italy), which is always a big plus for me. Her spiritual discourse — this is the India part — is actually interesting though it clearly is barely skimming the surface (but I suppose her editor probably wouldn’t have allowed it any other way). I thought the most interesting parts re:cultural differences were in the Indonesia section.
All in all, the book is sort of a mixed bag — kind of like a 3-for-1 deal cause each section is so different. Honestly, there’s not many people that I know that I think I’d recommend this book to, but I think most people could find something to like about it. This probably isn’t the best review I’ve ever written, but oh well. 3 and 3/4 stars.
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I finished A Conspiracy of Paper by David Liss a while ago and still haven’t been able to decide whether or not I liked it. It’s basically about the prelude to the first financial bubble in London, which is where the stock markets first began to develop back in the early 18th century.
As a novel, the book is part historical mystery and part Intro to Financial Markets for Morons (Wait!! You mean when you tell people the stock is going to go up they start to buy?!? Like that.) with a little romance thrown in for good measure. And while it doesn’t manage to present a particularly compelling mystery nor does it serve to educate at any level that would be useful (the romance is so poorly done, it’s not even worth mentioning again), a quick pace and eventful plot keeps the book from becoming mired in its (numerous) shortcomings. My instinct was to dislike the book, but somehow it managed to keep my interest and wasn’t unenjoyable.
So, yeah, the writing isn’t anything special. And no, the characters herein would never finangle their way into any Literary Hall of Fame. And yeah, you have to really strech reality to believe that this bumbling bully would ever really manage to unravel any sort of mystery without getting himself killed (the villians in the book just hand him information). But hey — it’s a good subway read and divides up neatly into 20-minute chunks. Three (maybe two-and-a-half if I’d had a bad morning) stars.
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Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Sigh. I was so sure I would like this. Not to come off as some sort of ardent feminist, but I think Marquez grossly oversimplifies women (they’re either Madonnas or complete flat-out whores — some literally — who basically serve to service men), and it seems more like a parody of love than anything resembling an actual courtship (it’s possible this sentiment is more of a reflection of my lack of life experience — I’m just putting it out there). But I think the biggest thing is that bothered me that it seemed to show a lack of understanding about people (their desires, motives, etc.) and human nature so that the characters in it, especially the female ones, come off as difficult to relate to. They just didn’t seem very real — maybe it’s just me, I don’t know.
Basically, the book is summed up as: boy meets girl. Girl marries someone else. Boy waits for her husband to die and has a lot of sex. Over half a century later, boy and girl hook up.
I’ve always felt like I should like Gabriel Garcia Marquez more because he’s supposed to be so wonderful, but it was pretty painstaking to get through this novel. I have to admit I found the first few chapters engrossing, but as the story line played out and the characters developed…eh. And I disliked Chronicle of a Death Foretold even more (summed up: blindly following traditions is bad). I read Chronicle for school, however, so I always assumed that I disliked it mostly due to my associating that book with classwork. Guess not.
Baring some use of symbolism that maybe some English majors would appreciate more than I do (symbolism tends to not enhance the value of books by much for me because it serves neither to educate or entertain), I failed to find anything particularly notable in this book. Also, it provides some insights into the aging process I guess, but I think just I’m not in a position to fully appreciate it at this point in life. I get that Marquez can string together a pretty sentence, obviously, but I just didn’t enjoy this book. I’d give it three-and-a-half stars, but a personal rating of two-and-a-half.
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The eye of the storm. Life has ground (grinded? I don’t think that’s a word) to a brief and much needed halt as I wait to move northward. Graduation was hectic, as one would imagine, but honestly I’m surprised how quickly it ended. I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to a lot of people, but I did get some pretty solid goodbyes in and that was good. I actually think the last person I talked to (other than my roommates) was this random guy named Jimmy, and we talked about how one becomes a man (him, not me — otherwise it would require talking about awkward surgical procedures. <– bad joke). Not how I imagined my time at Emory to end, but somehow appropriate.
Anyway, the wedding was really nice and the whole thing took place at a really romantic beach-side resort in San Diego, CA. They are a pretty chill couple so the wedding took out a lot of the unnecessary pomp and circumstance that tends to make them really tedious; the whole ceremony took all of — 15 minutes? Yeah, shortest wedding ever, or so I’m told. Just walking up the aisle, short sand ceremony, him: I do, her: I do, kiss kiss, the end. It was fun to see all the family again though it was a bit unbalanced (her side: 42 people, his side: 7, haha). Overall, it was a really well-planned wedding, I think.
Well, I’m back at home now catching up on some reading. I’ve been trying to get through Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, but I’m finding that it’s just a little bit much with all the spirituality and stuff. I mean, the parts when she is on her bathroom floor writing and telling herself it is the voice of God pouring forth from her hand (and this happens multiple times) — yeah, color me skeptical. Sorry.
I’ve had better luck with a collection of short stories by David Sedaris – I guess they’re technically essays, which is useful to know if you’re ever looking for his stuff in a bookstore – which I switch to each time the Gilbert book starts to get on my nerves. I’m still determined to finish it, but it’s definitely testing my willpower.
Finally, los videojuegos. I beat Fable yesterday. I actually really liked it. My sister’s friend Marc says it’s too short, but I thought it was a good length if you do all the optional sidequests (which I am wont to do) and take the time to find everything and try out different options. Lessee, I’ve also played The Movies (gets very boring around after 5 hours or so), the Sims Castaway Stories (waste of time, non-fun, WAY TOO LINEAR, gets boring after the first hour and a half), and I’m about three-quarters of the way through Neverwinter Nights. Neverwinter Nights is very long. I don’t know how long I’ve been playing but I’ve been trying to get through this game since prior to finals. Looong. But quite good. I think more hardcore gam3rz would appreciate the length/depth more than I do.
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Thing I did during break:
I did a little bit of the things I said I would do – LSATs, sleep, getting together with people, etc. I didn’t make as much progress on the LSATs as I hoped. I still think I could do better on the logic games if I studied some more — it just takes me too long to chart out those problems right now. I want to get to the point where charting them out is second nature. I think I’m okay on the rest.
I’m surprised how many people I ended up seeing over break. It seems Marie, Sid and Nita (who I did not see) are all planning on law school as well. A bunch of people are doing i-banking or finance-related jobs: Hemal, Bo, etc. Lots of med-schoolers. Also, I finally, finally saw all the Yalies, who have been alluding all of us for the past few years. We had an awkward New Years’ party at Khang’s house — we ended up washing champagne glasses as it hit midnight because they were too dusty to toast with, haha. Also, for future reference, twist-off champagne bottles don’t “pop,” regardless of what the warning on the bottle may say.
We also managed to get in some ice skating, even if Jules, Kasey and Bo were two hours late. Yeah, thanks. Seven minutes my butt, Jules. Haha. Howie and Karen came, too. Ann and Aaron showed up together (but not “together”), but Aaron was unwilling to skate because he is a scaredy-cat. You may tell him I said that because I never got invited to that LAN party to play Diablo 2. I’m very upset. I also had a weird night out with the boys — I attempted to get into the wrong person’s car (v. awkward) and we went to a place that played explicit music videos from the late 80′s and early 90′s. Very weird, but I met Sid’s cousin. Cool.
What else…I ended up going to three movies over break. First, Enchanted with Marie, where I missed the first hour because I went to the wrong movie theater, proving, unequivocally, that I am indeed a genius. Second, Enchanted (again!) with Tina, Amy and Jeanne, wherein I finally got to see the full movie. Finally, I saw Charlie Wilson’s War with Daniel and Aaron. I would say both movies were slightly better than mediocre, but whatever.
Recently Read Stuff:
Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follet; I actually really liked this book. I’ve been in a historical fiction and mystery phase recently. (Obviously, this falls in the first category.) It was probably the lengthiest book that I’ve read continuously. Usually, I get bored at some points in more “epic” novels. It got a little overwrought with drama at some points, but I guess that’s to be expected from a former writer of horror/thrillers. Oh, it’s about building a cathedral.
The Dante Club, by Matthew Pearl; I have a feeling (however potentially unfounded) that things that are described to be facts in this book give way to much more entertaining fictions, but it’s about a group of Dante translators who discover that a murderer is going around killing off sinners in a Dantesque fashion. However, this is set at a time when Dante is relatively unknown and still only in Italian so the murder must be among their ranks. Drama ensues.
Freddy and Fredericka, by Mark Helprin; I enjoyed this, but I honestly can’t think of a single person I’d recommend it to. It’s about a royal couple who – for various reasons – get sent, penniless and with only one another, to make their own way in America. It’s a little more bizarre than I’d expected, but if you’re willing to suspend reality, you’ll probably find yourself rooting for the two main characters. One caveat, it’s a little condescending when it comes to making assumptions about the perceptions of the “common people” but whatever.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie; Good. Someone gets stabbed in the back. House full of people — whodunit?
The Clocks by Agatha Christie; Also good. A a stranger finds a dead body in house surrounded by clocks set to the wrong time. Hercule Poirot comes to the rescue.
Shopaholic & Baby by Sophie Kinsella; Actually pretty entertaining. I thought her previous Shopaholic book (the & Sister one) kind of … was not great. Anyway, this one was more like the previous ones, thank goodness. Basically, our Becky has a baby, but suspects that Luke is stepping out with her doctor. It’s good, clean fun.
Other Stuff:
I booked tickets to London! Whoo hoo!
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