Category: Book Reviews

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Book Reviews Fiction

The Silver Linings Playbook By Matthew Quick – An Engaging Read

An original story with unexpected plot

Let us begin with a quote from the book as it beautifully summarizes the theme of The Silver Linings Playbook.

“Life is not a PG feel-good movie. Real life often ends badly […]. And literature tries to document this reality, while showing us it is still possible for people to endure nobly.”

In my mind, the author does just that: telling us a story through Pat who believes that his life is a movie produced by God. With vigorous exercise and good behavior, God will eventually grant him a happy ending. One that reunites him with his wife Nikki. The story begins with Pat discharging from the mental institution – which he calls “bad place” – and slowly integrating back to his old life: his emotionally unstable father, his ever-loving mother, always-supportive brother, and best friend. No one tells him how long he has been away. He has no recollection on why he was locked up in the “bad place” and what has happens to his marriage. All he knows is that between Nikki and him, they are on “apart time”. His goal in life is to see through the end of “apart time” so that he can see his wife again.

Except, life is not as simple. There are good reasons why his mother has put away all his wedding photos, no one around him wants to mention Nikki, and Pat is having a hard time catching up what he has missed during his stay in the “bad place”.

It hurts to look at the clouds, but it also helps, like most things that cause pain. So I need to run, and as my lungs burn and my back rebels with that stabbing knife feeling and my leg muscles harden and the half inch of loose skin around my waist jiggles, I feel as though my penance for the day is being done and that maybe God will be pleased enough to lend me some help, which I think is why He has been showing me interesting clouds for the past week.

In the mist of all these confusion and necessary adaptation, Pat has met Tiffany who is recently widowed and is also mentally unstable. Since the story is narrated from Pat’s perspective, very little is known about the intention of Tiffany. She appears to be mysterious, yet another flawed character. The extract below shows an aspect of her character.

When [Tiffany] turns to face me, I think she is simply going to say good night, but she says, “Look, I haven’t dated since college, so I don’t know how this works.”

“How what works?”

“I’ve seen the way you’ve been looking at me. Don’t bullshit me, Pat. I live in the addition around back, which is completely separate from the house, so there’s no chance of my parents walking in on us. I hate the fact that you wore a football jersey to dinner, but you can fuck me as long as we turn the lights out first. Okay?”

I’m too shocked to speak, and for a long time we just stand there.

“Or not,” Tiffany adds just before she starts crying.

The Silver Linings Playbook is engaging in a few ways. First, I have always enjoyed reading books characterized with flawed characters. Second, the emotion these characters are going through is complex. It is like taking a roller coaster ride reading this book. Third, the plot is unpredictable. It is hard to guess where the author is heading although there is a particular path I may wish the book would resolve. As a bonus, this book is so well planned that it may be worthwhile to read again and everything seems to make sense – from clouds watching to Tiffany’s abrupt entry to the story.

Back to the main theme of the story, The Silver Linings Playbook is certainly not a PG feel-good read. It is a heartwarming read reminding us the importance of stay positive and look for the silver linings in life.

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Book Reviews Fiction

Suddenly Royal By Nichole Chase – How Would Kinsella Approach This?

Suddenly Royal

I thought all chick-lit are created equal. Then I realize that just because I love reading Sophie Kinsella‘s novels doesn’t mean that I enjoy reading any chick-lit. Believe it or not, I had no idea that Suddenly Royal is as such. The story line sounded like Princess Diaries, yes. The review seems ravishing. Some said they love how the author makes this story her own. Other said they love the twist within.

I don’t see any twist or whatsoever. It is a feel-good story that is predictable from beginning to end coupled with some steamy sex scenes that are neither tasteful nor artistic. When I read the followings, I knew I have picked up a chick-lit. One takeaway though, is that when you are hot and handsome, you can potentially get away with running your eyes up and down a girl’s body.

I shrugged out of my coat and that’s when I felt his eyes on me. Looking up, I realized Prince Yummy had indeed come for dinner. Jess and the undergrads had been wrong. He wasn’t yummy, he was delicious; a feast to be savored. Dark blond hair hung a smudge too long, eyes so blue it was like looking into the heart of a glacier. Built like the statue of David; the contours of his suit hugging every delicious muscle. Laugh lines around his mouth and eyes brought him into the realm of humanity, and gave him a personality. As his eyes ran over my face and down my body slowly, heat washed over my skin. When I handed the jacket to the maitre d’ i felt naked. There was something about his bright blue eyes that left me feeling exposed.

Samantha is a biology graduate specialized in raptor. She works hard for her degree and she has a father with cancer to take care of. Out of nowhere, the royal members of Lilaria (somewhere in Europe) have sought her out in America claiming that she is a royal descendant. Samantha has a decision to make. Stay in US or head to Lilaria claim her title and land. To spice up the deal, the Lilarian royalty has promised to provide good medical treatment for her father. At the same time, the crown prince of Lilarian seems to have fallen in love with her!

But here comes the dilemma. Samantha wants to finish her study and she thinks that falling in love with a prince is bad idea. Because … because she thinks the prince would need a queen who is … a royalty (and she is not?) and a born-and-breed Lilarian (since when a prince must marry someone from his countries?)

Throughout the book, I could not help but to think, how would Sophie Kinsella write this book? Here is my take.

Samantha would have a tough time integrating into the royalty circle since she is not born royal (unlike this story whereby she has no problem with the royal politics as a commoner). She would have a boyfriend but yet, intrigued by Prince Charming. Then, some evil force from within Lilaria would strip her title. Everyone including Prince Charming would despise her. And then, Samantha would do something extraordinary to save Lilaria from this evil force out of selflessness. There will be happy ever after between Samantha and her love interest.

Unfortunately, Suddenly Royal does not have this level of drama.

Categories
Book Reviews Fiction

The Shoemaker’s Wife By Adriana Trigiani – As Emotional As Life Itself

An emotional novel

I do not recall in recent years reading a book that moves me as much as The Shoemaker’s Wife does.  It is quite possibly the saddest novel I have read, on par with Romeo & Juliet.  OK.  Not the entire book is sad.  The majority part of the story is a celebration of life and the journey of struggle and triumph.  But the sad part is really sad.  I have lost sleep reading this.  I fought hard not to cry inside a cafe reading this.  After I have finished reading the book, I felt like taking a day off from work and eating ice-cream from a tub instead.

In The Shoemaker’s Wife, Adriana Trigiani tells a story inspired by her grandparents Lucia and Carlo’s love and life story.  The setting is extraordinary.  It reads like an epic love story that only the magical hands of fate can weave.  Lucia and Carlo’s characters were born in Italy.  They met once in their homeland and parted way due to unforeseeable circumstances.  Somehow, they managed to meet again in America and then they got separated.  Each having their own relationships with someone else and yet, fate brought them back together time and time again.

This book is more than a story of love.  Set in the early nineties, Adriana’s grandfather was brought up in a convent together with his brother.  While his brother was a devout Catholic planning to be a priest, Carlo did not believe in God.  This sense of conflict between faith and non-believer is imbued deep inside and throughout the story, which is as real as life itself.  Meanwhile, Adriana’s grandmother was brought up from a poor Catholic family.  Being the eldest daughter, Lucia worked hard to help her parents to provide for the family and take care of her siblings.  Lucia must be one of the strongest female character I have come to read.  In order to give her family a chance to build a place called home, Lucia accompanied her father to come to America, a journey that almost killed her.

Once the backdrop has switched to America, the mood has changed.  It is hope and opportunity in the land of the America.  To read this part of The Shoemaker’s Wife is like reading what the American dream is all about.  Adriana Trigiani tells it through the eyes of the migrants.  Hardworking pays off.  So is innovation and the desire to dream big.  Those who made it live in luxury and richness.  New friendships are made.  Alliance are formed.  People look out for each other.  America is a dream for many and many have found a new home in America.

In as much as it is a tale of hope and dream, it is also a tale of life and death.  Going through the two world wars, relationships and what holds dear to the hearts have become ever more precious.  My heart weeps for what the characters have been through.  It is emotional because behind every closed door, behind every happy face that we see everyday are the untold stories of struggle and sorrow.  How much you can feel for the characters would depend on what you have experienced in life thus far.  Having said that, I have gained more insights on what others may have been through under their unique circumstances.

I can imagine a lot of research has done prior to this project.  All the details of the past – be it as the town and architecture, food and music, costumes and fashion, mode of transportation and the then-state of migrants – are vividly described.  There is this surreal feeling that it is as though I am seeing the nineties through Lucia and Carlo’s eyes.  I do not know how much of the story is authentic to author’s grandparents’ lives and how much of it is crafted with wild imagination. Adriana Trigiani has done something smart about the approach.  She has used characters with different names to represent her grandparents.  Therefore, she can have the artistic license to fill up the gaps without getting into the question of: Did her grandparents really do that?

All in all, The Shoemaker’s Wife is a fulfilling read.  It is as emotional as life itself.

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Book Reviews Fiction

Warm Bodies By Isaac Marion – The Book Or The Movie? Which One Is Better?

Warm Bodies is both a book and a movie.

I have watched Warm Bodies the movie with my wife and my friend.  We love it.  The concept of a zombie falling in love with a human girl in a Romeo and Juliet-like setting is so unique and fun.  The date of the story is unknown.  It begins some time in the future when worldwide conflict has resulted in the collapse of our civilizing giving rise to a new breed of ‘human’ – the zombies or the Dead.  The Living lives in fear, hiding inside closed walls isolated from other pockets of survivors.  Once in a while, the humans send savaging team out of the city and collect essential items that may still be of use to the Living.  Zombies meanwhile have developed this hunger to eat human flesh and to relive human memories by eating human brains.  This may sound like a horror story but it is not.  One day, during a hunting trip, R the zombie has done the unthinkable (zombies can think?) and has taken Julie the human to his home of the Dead.  Not knowing exactly what to do with her, R’s first task is to teach Julie how to blend in.  Those who have seen the movie may agree with me that this is perhaps the most memorable scene of the show.

I walk and she follows, stumbling along behind me and groaning every three or four steps.  She is overdoing it, overacting like high school Shakespeare, but she will pass.  We walk through crowds of Dead, shambling past us on both sides, and no one glances at us.  To my amazement, Julie’s fear seems to be diminishing as we walk, despite the obvious peril of her situation.  At a few points I catch her fighting a smile after letting out a particularly hammy moan.  I smile too, making sure she doesn’t see me.

This is … new.

It is this new feeling that has started to change R.  That to kill or not to kill, he has a choice.  His hunger can be overcome.  Love – in the context of care and reaching out to one another – can induce change from within.  And that change can be infectious, affecting those who have witnessed or heard of the union between the two different worlds.

While R may have lots of words in his head but few to speak of, Julie has a certain character attitude that fits well in such a bizarre setting of humans and zombies.  She has come to term with the current situation.  But unlike other humans who are holding onto status quo, she has hope for a better future.  That a cure can be found.  The whole situation can be reversed.  Humans can once again live freely in the open with a future.

“I guess I talk a lot of shit about Perry [Julie’s boyfriend who was eaten by R], but it’s not like I’m such a shiny happy person either, you know? I’m a wreck too, I’m just … still alive.  A wreck in progress.” She laughs a quick, broken laugh. “It’s weird, I never talk about this stuff with anyone, but you’re … I mean you’re so quiet, you just sit there and listen. It’s like talking to God.”

The author has done a great job in portraying a world of end time through Julie’s eyes.  Each day could be one’s last day to live.  It is a lot easier to forgive given such circumstances.  Books and pictures have become essential in preserving memory, and humanity.  While the overall backdrop is gloomy, the book is not without hilarious moments so brilliantly weaved into and light up the story.

The scene as Julie and I make our way out of the airport [full of zombies] resembles either a wedding procession or a buffet line … The unnatural silence of a room full of people who don’t breathe is surreal. I swear I can hear Julie’s heart pounding. She is trying to walk steady and look cool, but her darting eyes betray her.

“Are you sure about this?” she whispers.

“Yes.”

“There’s like … hundreds of them.”

“Keep you safe.”

“Right, right, safe, how could I forgot.” Her voice grows very small. “Seriously, R … I mean, I’ve seen you kick ass, but you know if someone decides to ring the dinner bell right now I’m going to be sushi.”

The story takes a turn when it is R’s time to enter the human world, with Julie and her friend Nora trying to keep him safe.  And it is where the movie deviates more from the book.  In the movie, the plot has turned into an action scene with humans and zombies fighting against each other and against the skeletons.  In the book, the author explores deeper into R’s mind, juxtaposes R’s narration with Perry’s memory, his imaginary dialogue with Perry’s soul, and his new dreams and illusion.  This clever transition between these branches of subplots makes the book less of a linear read.

Do I like the movie or the book more now that I have seen and read both?  I would say that the filmmaker has done a good job in transforming the story into something more action oriented while preserving the author’s sense of humor.  The book dives deeper into emotion and the various human conditions – something that probably has to be read than seen.  In short, watching the movie and reading the book gets the best of both world.

Categories
Book Reviews Fiction

Wedding Night By Sophie Kinsella – A Double Dose Of Chick Lit In One Volume

A new novel by Kinsella!

Oh.  I am such a Kinsella fan.  I have read every book of hers.  Good or bad I … take it like a man.  OK.  Her books are mostly good.  Always a hilarious read.  One time, while reading Wedding Night inside a Starbucks, I have to squeeze myself real hard so as not to laugh out too loud in public.

Typically, her books start out with a flawed female character going through some girl crisis.  Much of the limelight would be on the girl characters and there is little character development on the male counterpart.  But, these are chick lit.  You know what you are in for.

Wedding Night is different.  It is still a Kinsella book.  Lots of emotional moments making it a page turner aside, there is something special about her latest novel.  First, the narration is told not from one female character but two.  The switching between the two main characters is seamless and not predictable.  It is like a double dose of chick lit in one volume.  Second, there is character development for the male characters.  Third, it is not some trivial crisis that the characters are going through.  It is about real life dating, marriage, and career and the struggle like we may have experienced in our lives.  The moral of the story is that at times when we are stuck, the best foot forward may be to let go, be free and lifted, and open to new possibilities.

Back to the story, Lottie is very certain that her boyfriend Richard is going to propose one evening inside a restaurant.  But instead of a wedding proposal, his big question involves a trip abroad.  Lottie is totally crushed and has decided to walk away from the relationship.  Out of nowhere, one of her ex-boyfriends Ben turns up.  Following a pack that they have made in their teenage years, they have decided to get married immediately since they have both hit thirties and are still single.  To avoid falling into the same relationship mishap like in the past, Lottie wants to go the old fashion way – no consummation of marriage before the wedding night.

Meanwhile, Fliss – Lottie’s elder sister – is undergoing a bitter divorce.  She is furious that her little sister is again rushing into something crazy after yet another breakup.  So, Fliss is going all out to stop this wedding night from happening, which is going to be in a Greek island, a place where Ben and Lottie first met.  At the same time, Lorcan – Ben’s colleague – also comes into the picture as he fears that his friend’s hasty decision would ruin his career.  An unlikely collaboration between the bridesmaid and best man, Fliss and Lorcan fly all the way to Greece and intend to talk some sense into this new couple.  To top it up, there is always Richard in the background who may have a regret or two.

An overall entertaining read, a must for the Kinsella fans.

Categories
Book Reviews Fiction

The Niantic Project: Ingress By Felicia Hajra-Lee – A Much Better Follow-Up

This is the second novel from the Ingress Niantic Project.

Like I have anticipated after reading a sample chapter from the previous book The Alignment Ingress, Felicia Hajra-Lee’s writing style is more agreeable to me.  It does not feel like trying to fit Ingress into an established storyline like Thomas Greanias’s book does.  It feels like I am reading a book on Ingress told from the inside.  In the previous book, Ingress was described like a digital game mashed into a classic treasure hunt plot.  Hajra-Lee’s approach is different.  She has shared insights on what exotic matter does (in fact, Exotic Matter was the original title of this book) and how XM affects the bodies of some.  There is this subtle notion of the two opposing ideals a similar way that we have the two factions in game.  One that opposes to being ‘shaped’ by the XM transmission and one that embraces that for our next evolution.  I would say The Niantic Project Ingress is bias towards the Resistance faction – at least that is how I perceived it to be.  But I suppose a story told from one perspective can be an engaging read.

Those who have followed Ingress on Google+ may be aware of the ‘real life’ events that happened around (government funded?) Niantic Lab.  The facility has been locked down after an explosion due to an experiment that involved exotic matter and power cube.  Since then, key characters have fled the premise with valuable information.  Kill orders have been issued.  Even ADA the virtual reality entity seems to have come up with her own agenda.  Without a base, some of these key characters have decided or being forced to approach the Chinese and the Russian in order to continue the project using private funding.  And then, a third organization seems to have formed by the ‘patriots’.

There is plenty of action, plenty of intriguing insights in the world of Ingress.  The narration of this novella tends to flip between different characters rather frequently making it at times a slightly disorientating read.  And it does not have that climatic ending that makes you go wow.  Yet another introduction on what is to come?  Judging from where this book is heading as well as the Ingress events that took place in Google+, the next chapter of this Niantic archives series could well be heading to anomaly whereby a new type of matter is found – dark matter or chaotic matter.  I am excited to find out more.

 

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Fiction

The Alignment Ingress By Thomas Greanias: A Worthy Read?

The first novella from the augmented reality game Ingress.

This may not be a popular post among the Ingress community because those who are playing this augmented reality game and have read the novella seems to love it.  However, just because everyone seems to love Nolan’s Batman series doesn’t mean that there aren’t common voices within that have a different opinion.  Here are a few observations for sharing if you are curious to know if The Alignment Ingress is your cup of tea.

First of all, let me say that I am a huge fan of Ingress and its communities.  I have spent many walking hours playing the game.  I enjoy reading books that are spawned from a game, like the novels from World of Warcraft.  Reading The Alignment Ingress, I would expect to have a better clarity on the lore and the characters involved.  I enjoy reading mysterious and code solving types of novels like Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code and The Lost Symbol.  This novella has a promising start with a picture of Queen of Sheba and a celestial map of Virgo – both appear to match each other perfectly.  There is a treasure to be discovered.  The Alignment Ingress has a fair amount of military weaponry jargon, which I am OK with as I have once ground through Tom Clancy’s mightily thick books.  But here lies the challenge, this novella is short.  Packing all these ingredients in and making it an entertaining read is no easy feat.

There are two main characters in this novella: Conrad Yeats and Hank Johnson who seek ancient treasure and truth.  Conrad Yeats is a known character from the author’s previous books.  So if you have not read any of Greanias’s books in the past, you probably would find it a little bit hard to relate to some of the characters because character development in this novella is scarce.  There are Ingress related explanations dotted throughout the book – which is good for those who play the game more than following the lore in Ingress website.  What I find missing is how the dots connect to each other.  Yes, I now know what exotic matter is, even chaotic matter that is not yet live in the game.  ADA, the female voice from the game.  Various organizations.  And portals of course.  But how do all these really link to each other?  More importantly, what is the Shapers and the real agendas of different entities?  The novella doesn’t say.  Out of nowhere, the two factions – Resistance and Enlightened – are mentioned.  But why such division from the start?  Who are leading the factions?  How do the characters in this novella relate to these factions?  It doesn’t say either.

On the puzzle solving bits, the beginning was promising.  I was anticipating a Da Vinci Code-like journey.  Throughout the mid section of the book, more insights mixed with Biblical events are thrown in.  It is only till the very end when the solution is revealed.  It is a great ending no doubt despite a lack of depth.  However, I wish I was able to solve the mystery alongside with the narration as the plot progresses like Dan Brown’s books.

There is a fair bit of technical jargon with regards to drones and explosive that lost me for a moment.  Not because I have no interest in the topic.  This novella does not have the luxury of the length of Tom Clancy’s books that explain the parts in great details.  But I enjoy seeing how modern day gadgets like Nexus devices and the social media site Google+ are being mentioned.  There seems to be a tinny bit of romance too.  I guess only those who follow the author’s previous books may be able to relate.

All in all, maybe I am expecting too much, The Alignment Ingress is still a pretty good read for the most hardcore fans.  Ironically, I seem to enjoy reading a link from the novella that leads to a chapter from another up-coming book by Felicia Hajra-Lee called An Exotic Matter the most.  There is a fair bit of suspense and an interesting character development within.  I am curious about what that may turn out.

The Alignment Ingress comes in two digital versions (as far as I know).  I bought the Kindle version.  On a hindsight, if I were to have a Nexus tabulate, the Google Book version would have been a better choice.  Because the novella contains links to external sites and that don’t open well in Kindle PaperWhite, I have to toggle between reading on a Kindle and on a PC so as to dive into these extra bits of the story.

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Book Reviews Fiction

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time By Yasutaka Tsutsui

A Japanese novelette

First, a couple of interesting points about this book and the author.  The title story was written between 1965 to 1966 and was translated into English on 2011.  This English version has two stories: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and The Stuff That Nightmares Are Made Of.  Just over 200 pages in length, this Japanese science fiction is a quick read.  Yasutaka Tsutsui is also the author of Paprika, which was made into a film.  I remember liking that film a lot.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is fast pace and entertaining.  One day, fifteen-year-old schoolgirl Kazuko has discovered by accident that she is capable of time travel.  Leaping back and forth in time, Kazuko is trying to convince her friends this new found superpower of hers.  To Kazuko, the ability to leapt through time is more of a problem that has be solved rather than an opportunity to be exploited.  As a part-science-fiction-part-drama-and-romance, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time doesn’t dwell too deep onto the technical details.  The story has also elegantly avoided the topic of temporal paradox.  All in all, I was glued to the story from the first page.  My only disappointment is that the story has ended too soon.  It has a beautiful ending, don’t get me wrong.  I just wish the story would last longer.

Then, there is this odd piece called The Stuff That Nightmares Are Made Of.  While the two stories do not seem to relate to each other, it does have this common theme of erasing memory.  Masako has certain phobias that have been haunting her since young.  And she discovers that not only she has this problem, the people around her too.  Like The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, the author is taking the readers a journey of mystery and discovery.  The Stuff That Nightmares Are Made Of does not seem to have the magic like the titled story does.  It is a good albeit short read nonetheless.

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Book Reviews Non-Fiction

Drucker: A Life In Pictures By Rick Wartzman

Drucker

Whenever I show this book to my friends around me, looking at the book title, the first reaction would often be, “Who is Drucker?  Could it be Peter Drucker?”

Indeed.  This is a photo book on the life of Peter Drucker.  Drucker was an Austrian-born American whose writings contributed to the foundations of the modern business corporation.  To quote from the author:

Drucker discerned some of the major trends and events of the twentieth century before almost anyone else spotted them: the Hitler-Stalin pack, Japan’s impending rise to economic power, the shift from manufacturing to knowledge work, the increasing importance of the service factor, the fall of the Soviet Union. “Peter Drucker’s eyeballs,” Harvard University’s Rosabeth Moss Kanter once marveled, “must contain crystal balls.”

Drucker: A Life in Pictures has done a good job in painting a picture of who Drucker was.  He was a teacher and was used to give lectures in universities.  He was a management consultant, worked with Jack Welch of GE and Donald Keough of Coca-Cola as well as other other large corporations like P&G.  He was a counsel for the government and had corresponded with the White House.  He was an adviser to the social-sector.  His wife and he took a deep interest in Japan after their first visit.  His books have been published in more then 40 languages.  Druker has played a role in educating the world on the development of management.  In his mind, he was always a writer and his legacy is his writing.  Of the 39 books of his, two-thirds of these books were written after he had reached his mid-sixties.

Interviewer: If you describe your occupation, would it be “writer”?

Peter Drucker: I always say I write.

Interviewer: What, then, has inspired your books more than anything?

PD: The same thing that inspires tuberculosis.  This is a serious, degenerative, compulsive disorder and addiction.

Interviewer: An addiction to writing?

PD: To writing, yes.

Drucker: A Life in Pictures is perhaps one of the more unique books I have reviewed.  While written by Rick Wartzman – executive director of the Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University, the photographs are by Anne Fishbein, curated by Bridget Lawlor.  A majority of graphic content comes from letters and memos, certificates and handwritten notes – all of which reveal a personal insight on one aspect of Drucker that may be less familiar to the readers.  At the beginning of each chapter, there is a brief interview, which further illustrates a personal side of Drucker.  Reading through the book is like  journeying through a museum in my own pace.  A recommended read for those who wish to know more about Peter Drucker.

Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (January 15, 2013)
ISBN-10: 0071700463
ISBN-13: 978-0071700467

Categories
Book Reviews Non-Fiction

Neon Angel, A Memoir Of A Runaway By Cherie Currie – A Reread

I read this book ... again.

Very recently, I have imported a new Kindle from Amazon.  I looked through the Kindle eBooks on sales (I always love a good discount be it as video games via Steam or books).  I saw Neon Angel selling at a very reasonable price.  Somehow, I have a feeling that this is going to be a good book.  So I bought it online in a heartbeat.

Of course it is a good book.  I have read it three years ago.  A library copy it was.  I should have checked my website first before buying any books.  Since I have already started rereading it, why not finish the book and see how I feel about it without reading what I wrote three years ago?  Our perception is often affected by our maturity and experiences.  Would I read this any differently?

You may have watched the movie The Runaways.  If you haven’t, here is a quick introduction.

The Runaways was an American all-girl rock band formed in the 70’s.  In 1975, Cherie Curries was recruited into the band at the age of 15 as the lead vocalist.  While Cherie’s involvement with The Runaways lasted only 2 years, it would appear that she has played an important role in the band’s breakthrough and success.  Upon Cherie’s departure, guitarist Joan Jett continued to be the driving force behind the band, together with Sandy West the drummer and Lita Ford the lead guitarist.  But by 1979, the band was officially dissolved.  All four core members continued their solo careers with Sandy died of cancer in 2005.

Neon Angel is a self-biography written by Cherie Currie.  Like most autobiographies, it is hard to tell facts from fictions.  However, the emotion as described in the book appears to be genuine.  There is no bar held on the high’s and low’s that Cherie has experienced in her two years with The Runaways and the decade thereafter, dealing with the aftermath of stardom.

Raped at the age of 15 by her twin sister’s ex-boyfriend, Cherie was acted as an outcast in school, brought up in a dysfunctional family with her beloved daddy moving to another state, and later, her mother remarried and migrated to Indonesia.  Just imagine taking all these in as a 15 years old.  It would not have been easy.  Back in the 70’s – in the era of sex, drug, and rock & roll – David Bowie was Cherie’s idol.  His music was her salvation.  There was so much angst inside so much so that she was the perfect fit for a all-girl rock band as the embodiment of rage and rebellion.  She was the Cherie Bomb, the sex symbol.

The drama escalated after Cherie has joined the band.  There was constantly in-fighting within the band.  The tension between Cherie and her twin sister Marie was getting higher and higher.  Their alcoholic father did not help the situation.  There were early signs of drug use and substance abused.  And then another rape, which was much brutal than the previous one.  It seems to me that throughout her 2 years career with The Runaways and the few years after, Cherie has suffered much as a teenager.  Here are some excerpts from the book.

Something turned off inside of me that day.  Something inside of me snapped, and I stopped caring.  I never wanted to feel like that again, and so I began to learn how to shove those feeling deep, deep down inside of myself to a place where they could not hurt me anymore.  ~ After Cherie’s mother left the country refused to turn around and say goodbye.  Cherie was pinned down by a guard in the airport trying to cross the gate and catch up with her mother for one last time.

Last night I’d discovered what it felt like to be a rock star.  This morning I knew what it felt like to be a whore.  ~ Cherie’s band manager pimped her to a famous teenage idol for sex after her first big concert so as to generate publicity.  She was having a period that night.

Maybe [the doctor] was trying to be kind.  Maybe he didn’t want me to know [the sex of the unborn baby].  I knew for certain that a part of me was gone along with my unborn child.  I’d lost some vital part of myself in that hospital, and I felt instinctively that I would never get it back.  ~ This was after her abortion.  She was three months into her pregnancy while recording her album without even knowing it.

Funny, isn’t it?  After all the things that went on in the band, one of my strongest memories was such a small, quiet moment.  ~ The band was full of internal drama.  In one rare moment, lead guitarist Lita Ford complemented Cherie’s vocal performance during a recording session.

This nightmare went on for six hours.  I can’t even begin to explain what I went through.  It’s hard to tell another person some of the things that man did to me.  What I will say is that the terror, the horror, and the humiliation that he inflicted upon me were even worse than what I imagine hell to be like.  He hurt me with his fists, and with his body.  he did it again, and again, and again.  He thought nothing of hurting me.  Every time I screamed, and I cried, and I begged for mercy, and I bled or I passed out, he seemed to grow stronger, more hateful, more crazed by the lust and the sadism that fueled him.  As the night dragged on and my hellish ordeal continued into the breaking dawn, I came to the realization that this man was going to murder me as soon as he was finished torturing me.  ~ Cherie was kidnapped and brutally assaulted and raped by a man for six hours.  Eventually, the rapist was caught, trialed, and sentenced for one year in jail.

While most of the external events were out of Cherie’s control, the biggest demon turns out to be the one living within her – drug and alcohol abuse.  It has slowly destroyed her, destroyed everything that she has.  Majority of the book is a tragic recollection of a once upon a time rock & roll star and the price she has paid to get there.

Neon Angel is not without a moment of triumph.  Eventually, through persistence, Cherie Currie has emerged clean from drug.  She has constantly reinvent herself from a rock star to an actress, drug counselor for addicted teens and as a personal fitness trainer, and now a chainsaw craving artist who has her art gallery.  Looking back, would she want to change a thing?  This is answered in her afterword written years after the book was published.

Looking back on my life since that fateful day with my niece Cristina, I really see how truly blessed I am.  Many years have passed, we have orbited the sun more than 7,500 times and I have seen such extraordinary things, and had so many profound experiences that I could easily fill the pages of another book.  In the years since the Runaways I have lost some of my dearest friends, and I have reinvented myself time and time again.  But through it all, the wonderment and personal triumph that emerges from the emotional depths I have experienced leave me knowing I wouldn’t have changed a thing.

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Now that you have read the book summary written in 2013, you may wish to click here to read the one that was written in 2010.