Chasing Sheep

Let’s start the year right with books! So far I like...

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 11:50:00 -0700

Let’s start the year right with books!

So far I like Yvette Tan’s and Michael Co’s. Will finish this over the weekend.

Two McNally Robinson Bookseller branches are closing. Have to...

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 11:43:48 -0700

Two McNally Robinson Bookseller branches are closing. Have to say good bye to the Polo Park branch. :(

Read the whole story here.

"I was a kid. I was in love. And when you’re a kid you can relate to anything, even if..."

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:03:56 -0700

“I was a kid. I was in love. And when you’re a kid you can relate to anything, even if it’s silly.”

- Murakami Haruki, “Dance Dance Dance,” p. 112

"The Earth, after all, doesn’t creak and groan its way around the sun just so human beings can..."

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:00:01 -0700

“The Earth, after all, doesn’t creak and groan its way around the sun just so human beings can have
a good time and a bit of a laugh.”

- Murakami Haruki, “Sputnik Sweetheart,” p. 12

"Before I knew it, ‘cute’ was a subject I wasn’t good at. That lack put the brakes..."

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:48:00 -0700

“Before I knew it, ‘cute’ was a subject I wasn’t good at. That lack put the brakes on love.”

- Okazaki Mari, “Suppli”

"And I don’t know much about the world, but I do know one thing for sure. If I’m..."

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 21:19:20 -0700

“And I don’t know much about the world, but I do know one thing for sure. If I’m pessimistic, then the adults in this world who are not pessimistic are a bunch of idiots.”

- Murakami Haruki, “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle,” p. 113

"Would I ever see the rest? Or would I grow old and die without ever really knowing her? If that was..."

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:10:19 -0700

“Would I ever see the rest? Or would I grow old and die without ever really knowing her? If that was all that lay in store for me, then what was the point of this married life I was leading? What was the point of my life at all if I was spending it in bed with an unknown companion?”

- Murakami Haruki, “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle,” p. 31

"Is it possible, finally, for one human being to achieve perfect understanding of another? We can..."

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:08:20 -0700

“

Is it possible, finally, for one human being to achieve perfect understanding of another?

We can invest enormous time and energy in serious efforts to know another person, but in the end, how close are we able to come to that person’s essence? We convince ourselves that we know the other person well, but do we really know anything important about anyone?

”

- Murakami Haruki, “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle,” p. 24

Half of that last stretch

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:37:00 -0700

So I am finally picking up my pace though I think it’s too late. But well, it’s never too late to read something, to be honest.

The last time I checked, I have this list. I added these titles after that.

The 100 Most Influential People Who Never Lived
69
Love in 90 Days
Nylon Road
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
Snakes and Earrings

Not bad. But I’m only halfway through my yearly target. That’s just sad. Well better read than not at all. I still have two weeks prior to the end of the year. I should be able to finish something.

The star turned to dust

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:37:40 -0700

I can’t believed I missed the Neil Gaiman reading and book signing last night at McNally Robinsons Polo Park.

The world has its own way of messing up with you. This is insanity.

"One thing was sure: things had started to move… Now all I had to do was hold on tight to keep..."

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:36:07 -0700

“One thing was sure: things had started to move… Now all I had to do was hold on tight to keep from being knocked off. If I could do that, I would probably end up somewhere — somewhere different from where I was now, at least.”

- Murakami Haruki, “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle,” p. 372

I spent a lot on books today. Just getting ready before this...

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:40:11 -0700

I spent a lot on books today. Just getting ready before this school term ends.

I attended the Winnipeg Arts Council’s 25th Anniversary...

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:14:02 -0600

I attended the Winnipeg Arts Council’s 25th Anniversary Lecture featuring 3-time Booker Prize winning author, Salman Rushdie. His talk carried the theme “Public Events, Private Lives: Literature and Politics in the Modern World.”

Pantages was packed. Wow. It feels so nice to be surrounded by people who love the Arts and Humanities like I do. The lecture started with a performance by the Prairie Voice, singing a classical version of the song “If We Were Worthy of the World” from his book, “The Ground Beneath Her Feet.”

He’s a very interesting and smart man. His lecture was insightful, timely and at the same time funny. I took notes, because I am an epic geek. I was able to have my copies of “The Satanic Verses” and “Midnight’s Children” signed, and a guy ahead of me was nice enough to take a picture of me with Salman.

Oh yeah. Rushdie in Winnipeg! I have a midterm and a class that...

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 20:57:40 -0600

Oh yeah. Rushdie in Winnipeg! I have a midterm and a class that night, but WTF. I AM GOING.

Better start leafing through my copy of Midnight’s Children.

"In a world we now lived in, the good times were a hundred times better. If we couldn’t catch a..."

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:53:00 -0600

““In a world we now lived in, the good times were a hundred times better. If we couldn’t catch a sparkle, only the agony would remain. Each new day was a struggle, in both the positive and the negative senses.””

- Yoshimoto Banana, “Hardboiled and Hard Luck,” p. 134

In an attempt to catch up with my growing pile of unread books,...

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:28:00 -0600

In an attempt to catch up with my growing pile of unread books, I have finished reading Yoshimoto Banana’s Hardboiled and Hard Luck. There are only two stories in this book, the Hardboiled and the Hard Luck chapters, but both deal with the topics of death, lost, sadness, love, and coming into terms with one’s issues.

I like the Hard Luck story more than the other, mostly because it is more realistic, so for me, the story’s treatment to the topics I mentioned aboved seemed more real and easier to relate to. In general Hardboiled and Hard Luck didn’t leave a very strong impression on me compared to her other books that I’ve read (particularly Goodbye Tsugumi) but this book still has that easy-to-read flair yet the texts still dealt with emotions and dilemma that most young people face.

2009 Reading List: How I am faring after half-a-year

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 18:14:00 -0600

It’s not good.

Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words
A Wild Haruki Chase: Reading Murakami Around the World
Basic Japanese Through Comics
100 Love Sonnets
Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures
Special Topics in Calamity Physics
Curious Incident of the dog in the night-time
Coin Locker Babies
Asleep
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
Yokai Attack!
Hear the Wind Sing
Good Date, Bad Date
The Teeth and Claws of the Buddha
Musui’s Story
This is your brain on music
What I talk about when I talk about running
Legends of the samurai

I am doing well, relatively-speaking. But I’m not really cutting down my unread books. The boy said it’s because I buy so much books (segue: my family’s moving out and I just packed all of my books. I was asking myself how was I able to accumulate that much.) but I thought he shouldn’t be saying that because he’s a booklover too.

I decided to settle with thinner books for now. I think I’ll be able to finish The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived in a breeze. Maybe. Kant and the Platypus can wait (it’s too thick!).

Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 18:07:03 -0600

Oh wow. It took me a while to finish Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words by Jay Rubin. I would like to say that the reasons for the delay were because of my work, some personal things that I have to attend to and the overwhelming information included in this book. I had to convince myself that I have to finish this book because this has a lot of interesting (if not important) information about the author whos majority of his works I have already read.

No, I am not a big Murakami fan. Or maybe I am, I just consider myself as someone who does not have any favorite authors.

I remember reading some parts of this book for my paper last year, and indeed I learned a lot of things about Murakami. Also I think it’s also valuable that I get to read Rubin’s insights as one of Murakami’s English translator and fan and as an authority on modern Japanese literature. There are some views that I have on Murakami that has been strengthened, some have been modified, but overall this book is a good companion to his works.

I just feel bad now because this book is brand new but I ruined the spine already. :(

A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick. The Boy gave this to me...

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:25:24 -0600

A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick.

The Boy gave this to me before he became “the boy.” Ha ha. I know some people might think this is a very unlikely (not to mention “unromantic”) book to give, but books are books, and gifts are gifts, and hey, it’s the thought that counts, especially if it was made out of love, ha ha.

"Once again, life had a lesson to teach me: It takes years to build up, it takes moments to destroy."

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 01:25:15 -0600

“Once again, life had a lesson to teach me: It takes years to build up, it takes moments to destroy.”

- Murakami Haruki, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, p. 187