Category: My Opinion

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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.

Categories
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.

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Action & Thriller Movie Reviews

Fast & Furious 6 – Inconceivable, Cheesy-ish, But Cool

Yet another FF title!

There were moments during the show when I gasped deep and mouthed, “This can’t be possible!”  It was almost like the clip when Edward of Twilight saved Bella from a would-be car accident at school.  That superhuman power.  That moment, I did not see Vin Diesel as Vin Diesel.  I saw him as a demigod.  That powerful leap into midair, with razor sharp trajectory precision.  Something that parachutists might be able to do at terminal velocity.  Or maybe not.  I couldn’t help but wonder if someone was to jump out from a fast moving vehicle on a highway, grab a 60kg object that is thrown onto him, and then land on his back through the shattered glass, would he have survived?  Not a bone broken?

Vin Diesel is not the only invincible one here.  Those leaps between a plane that was about to take off and the cars below struggling to gain traction, wow!  One could take a multistory fall and land right onto a car seat OK.  That is incredible.  More incredible so is: How long was the runway exactly?  That airplane scene went on and on as though the runway was as long as two parallel lines stretching into infinity.

Actually, these things don’t bother me too much.  I knew what I was in for.  What really bothers me is that why would one of my favorite characters die when everyone else is given such superhuman treatment?  Puzzling.  Perhaps that character did not die.  Perhaps the answer lies in the future installments.  I can only hope.

I can imagine why Fast & Furious 6 is popular.  I like cars.  While taking the action to fist fighting, tank smashing, and plane crashing may seem too far off from the franchise, I still like the car scenes a lot.  Of course, I wish that the convoy on the final missions was the same make, same color.  Like some of the memorable scenes in the earlier installments.  That visual coherence would have radiated a stronger sense of teamwork.  I am a Formula One fan.  Those F1 like cars in Furious 6 are quite something.  They seem like working prototypes.  If the filmmakers manage to build those, in real life, I doubt any road car would be able to get close at all.

In a way, the franchise has grown up quite a bit.  It is not about street racing anymore.  It is like a mini-Expendables whereby the ex-criminals’ skills are required in saving the world.  Or saving a briefcase.  Some of the dialogues can be kind of cheesy.  But because most the characters – especially so for Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, and The Rock – are so cool, I really don’t mind.  The exchange between Ludacris and Tyrese Gibson – also a musician – is hilarious.  Some parts of the movie struck my emotional core too.  Overall, an entertaining movie.

Looks like Jason Statham from The Transporter will be starring in Fast & Furious 7.  At least it looks so from the post-credit scene.  It is hard to visualize him as a villain though.  We shall see.

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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Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

Star Trek Into Darkness – I Wouldn’t Have Expected Anything Less

Into Darkness is a great follow up.

I am not a Trekkie.  But I have thoroughly enjoyed the reboot.  Hence, I have high anticipation of Into Darkness, also directed by J. J. Abrams.  Besides, the casting of Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto as Kirk and Spock is simply brilliant.  Before the movie, I was thinking to myself: How nice if I could see some Klingons.  The good news is, there were some Klingons.  The not so good news is that they did not last long.

So I lamented just a little bit with my movie buddies Cynthia and TK.  In a sci-fi movie like Star Trek, when human are exploring the frontier of the galaxy, should we not see more interaction with other alien species?  Like my favorite Klingons?

What we see instead is the conflict between the human in the future with the generically modified super-human in the past caught in the middle.  At first, I felt the villain Khan acted by Benedict Cumberbatch was a bit stiff and emotionless.  Then, when it is his part to shine, Cumberbatch delivers some of the memorable moments in this movie.  As for Kirk and Spock, the filmmaker has given them plenty of opportunity to showcase the unique characteristic of the two opposing figures.  Kirk who acts on his initiation versus Spock who is governed by logic and has chosen not to be affected by emotion.  In Into Darkness, both Kirk and Spock are being deeply challenged against their principles.  It is part of a learning journey for them to mature and take greater responsibility.  The filmmaker has nailed the character development aspect perfectly.

The ending plot is not without its loophole (or so I have observed).  Cynthia and TK did not notice until I have pointed it out.  It is like, why go into such great trouble to catch the one when there are plenty of stock back in the ship?  And if they have no idea how to unfreeze these stocks, why risk freezing the main character in it?  Anyway, that is minor on this pretty entertaining movie of late.

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Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

Iron Man 3 Is Fun!

Now, this is a pretty fun movie to watch.

Initially, I wasn’t sure if I should watch Iron Man 3.  I remember the Iron Man five years ago was great.  I did not like Iron Man 2 and could not remember what the plot was.  Not even a single bit.  Part one was memorable.  Part two was forgettable.  But since both my buddy TK and my wife were keen on part three, and the box office seems to do well, why not give one of my favorite actors Robert Downey Jr. another chance?

As it turns out, Iron Man 3 is fun!  It reminds me why I love the first installment.  There is this human factor as we get to see more on the vulnerable side of Tony Stark than a hero in suit.  Tony Stark as an engineer who is playful at heart and he loves to create.  The end products may or may not work as intended.  Loving it.  I am trained as an engineer and I can relate to this aspect of the show. Again, nothing really going on with the Pepper character.  There are some silly moments too, like assembling an anti-terrorists outfit and gear using common goods purchased from a local DIY store.  Or blowing up robots in order to create a firework.  But all in all, an entertaining movie.

Categories
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.

Categories
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