love in the time of cholera

finally...habis jugak membaca buku ni. what took me so long? well, it'a classic...so, the style of writing is old-style, long sentences, bla,bla,bla. and because english isn't really my spoken language, i had to re-read afew time to actually understand it.

the book is about a melacholic love affair between 2 teenagers during the early 19th century somewhere in south america. (pardon for the lack of details). there is no usual make-outs, holding hands, touching, dating or watsoever modern couples do nowadays. instead they keep the romance alive by perfumed love letters, serenading with violin, exchanging glimpses of each other from afar and passing notes through strangers. 3 main roles: Fermina Daza, Florentino Ariza and Juvenal Urbino. 

what interest me is the story is soooooo intertwined with each other characters that you didnt notice the flashback of each other's life stories. the book has only like about 3,4 chapters. yet the history and point of views of each person is very detailed and seemed important. even the other characters were carefully written that i think makes them really matters in the story. 

and to think it all happens during the un-romantic cholera epidemic. no, they didnt catch cholera, but the fear of it tore the love of Fermina and Florentino apart. although Fermina wedded the famous, respected Dr Urbino and lasted till their golden age, Florentino kept his love strong. known for his casanova ways (with both male and female) it was clear that while his body was for lust, his heart was for Fermina. in the end, true love thrived the long years. 

here are some quotes:

"To him she seemed so beautiful, so seductive, so different from ordinary people, that he could not understand why no one was as disturbed as he by the clicking of her heels on the paving stones, why no one else's heart was wild with the breeze stirred by the sighs of her veils, why everyone did not go mad with the movements of her braid, the flight of her hands, the gold of her laughter. He had not missed a single one of her gestures, not one of the indications of her character, but he did not dare approach her for fear of destroying the spell."

"Together they had overcome the daily incomprehension, the instantaneous hatred, the reciprocal nastiness, and fabulous flashes of glory in the conjugal conspiracy. It was time when they both loved each other best, without hurry or excess, when both were most conscious of and grateful for their incredible victories over adversity. Life would still present them with other moral trials, of course, but that no longer mattered: they were on the other shore."

a romantic novel, not the kind u usually find nowadays. no wonder it's an award winning book. bravo!

the millenium trilogy

(malas aku nak amik pic buku ni sbb dah dlm kotak.) this book revolves around Lisbeth Salander, a weird sociopath marooned by the society. a few people around her suspect her to be an Aspeger's Syndrome patient but no medical record to claim so. then there is Mikael Blomkvist. a respectable reporter who tried to revel a corrupt business tycoon which he failed to do so. nevertheless, he managed to ruffles a few feather in the govt of Sweden.

first of all, i am no fan of anything Swedish except Ikea. this book is translated from the Swedish version so as a warning, there will be tonnes of hard-to-spell-and-even-harder-to-pronouns names. the book dragged me halfway of its content to actually tie everything together. the first half of the book is  different chapters on Salander, Blomkvist, the Millenium and the Vangers. only then reader will find the connection between all of the story. it's like 3 small paths that eventually lead to one big road. the undertone of the book is business crime, incests, BDSM (yes, i said it right) and violence to women. the first book doesnt really dwell on Salander but highlighted more on Blomkvist. one very outstanding trait of Salander is that she is one of the best hacker in the world.  so by the end of the book, i was quite troubled by the book title because it refers to the tattoo Salander has and the trivias on violence on women in Sweden but not quite reveal who Salander is.

then come the second book. this time more of Salander history is in focus. from how she was first admitted into a mental hospital to how she get a guardian. this time the theme "violence on women" and "individual rights" is more prominent. Salander shows more of her hacking skills. and even more gruesome details on BDSM. and more 'alternative' sex orientation of the European. and more of Blomkvist playboy-ness. i even started to visioning Pierce Brosnan as Blomkvist...yummm. Salander again involves in Blomkvist's quest to bust Sweden prostitution and human trafficking crime. but along the way, she encounters the name Zalachenko, her father and a very dangerous man entangled in the WWW II affairs. to make matters worst, the reporter of the milleneum (Blomkvist's publishing company) is killed right after she met him, so she became the murder suspect. then start the hunting of Salander that eventually involes Blomkvist (to help her), Zalachenko (to kill her), her strange half-brother (to help Zalachenko to kill her), a gangster, a secret police division and a conspiracy to kill her that lead to the next book.

now, this book is even more confusing and must be read with great patience and care. again, more Swedish names and more of its contitutional law. the capturing of Salander leads to the first question "why and how she was admitted to a mental hospital @ the age of 12?". it turns out that Zalacehenko is a spy that is protected by an even more secret and special division in the secret and special division of special Police. which will involes former prime minister, the secretary of defence and the whole gang of law enforcement. Team Blomkvist vs team Zalachenko vs the ordinary police. add in a court room drama, a few bust of the special unit and a gang of highly skilled hackers.....Salander is a free woman. Which really answers to the facts that Stieg Larsson tried to explain about violence on women in Sweden.

there. go read them. with patience. with great, great patience.

dewy readmore books

i cried buckets reading this. wat's it about? a cat, a librarian and a small town. i'm a cat person, so everything cat is a concern to me. hehehehe...

if you are not a cat fan or not really care bout a cat, then u might not relate to the story. the started with a librarian in a bleak small town of Spencer found a kitten in a book return bin one freezing morning. a whole new future for the cat revel onwards. from one misery librarian to another took care of Dewey Readmore Books until the whole town seemed to adopt him. you see, cat is a creature of personality...they dont care a thing bout how the world spins, what they know is the world spin around them. unlike dogs, they dont obey you..but you obey them, unwillingly. as if cats have magic spell they inherit since the Pharaoh-worshipping-days. thats what dewey did to a small town facing uncertain future during the horrible ecomic downturn then.

this book recalls all the antics of dewey.. his first experience outdoor, first trip to the vet, a taste of fame, a possession of a library. this book evokes the warm n fuzzy feeling you get when you remember your first pet. the heartbroken moment when your first pet died. it's everything you may experience in bringing up a pet (wat...'bringing up' only for children ke?). luckily the author who is the librarian has quite a sense of humour so once in a while you may smile amidst the tears rolling down your gebu cheeks.

nuff said...give it a try. you might understand how cat lovers feel...better yet, you might think there is a human after all inside a cat (reincarnation, anybody?).

19 minutes

this is my favourite picoult's book so far. remember the columbia incident? well, the story is loosely based or rather inspired by the dreadful shooting in a high school there.

this book revolves around a boy who is bullied his whole schooling life (betul ke ayat aku nih?). It seems that he has been bottling up his feeling and emotion. the only way he vent put the anger and frustration is by video game which he developed himself. at the same time, he has a soft spot for a girl that eventually become gf of his enemy. and one day, he came to school armed with loads of guns and start shooting. like any picoult book, there will be court room dramas, unexpected twist and hopeful prediction for both the accused and the victims.

honestly, i read this with tissues in hand because i think anyone can relate to bullying (physically, mentally, emotionally and verbally) in one part of his/her life. when u grow up in a boarding school, u feel the pressure even more. while we pity on the bully victim, have we thought of how they feel? the most we can do is to stop at once any bullying activities we CAN see...but bullying happens every minute behind our back. in the shooting incident of columbia high school, we pity the ones died. picoult try to put herself in the shooter' family's shoes..which are quite a big ones to fill in. imagine the feeling of uncertainty, being the target of anger and confusion. as if you never know the boy you raised up the whole life..where do we go wrong? is there a genetic mishap along the way? is it nature or nurture?

as i read the book, i felt like i went back to my teenagers life. true, bullying in my hostel wasn't as hostile as it was way long ago. i remembered being estranged by my friends, being accused of so many things that i didnt do, constantly being compared to the other better friends, being misunderstood by one of my best friend eventhough my intention was for her own good, etc, etc. i made it my principle to not do onto others the things i dont like people do to me. RESPECT, HONOUR and ACCEPT other people as they are.

yup, hostel life was ages ago...but i still feel the same hatred and dislike when i see or remember a few people that make myself misarable. and for that, i thank them for making me stronger and a better person.

sampai jugak.

(sambil menaip mcm trdgr2 awie gelakkan aku)

last week smpi juga akhirnya parcel yg ditunggu2. aku kah org yg penyabar itu?

agaknya bila bleh habis buku-buku ni? well...dah beli kena jugak baca. i just finish the first one - 'Abrahan Lincoln the vampire hunter'. interesting. very interesting. i think the author tries to give a more edgy and darker personality to Honest Abe. ada plak gambar2 yg diphotoshoped...to make it more valid la konon. the style of writing...mcm baca buku lama2. very bersopan santun walaupun dlm keadaan marah.

chaiyok!

twilighted, new mooned, eclipsed and broke the dawn.

It all started wit this one. bought it out of boredom n curiosity. then...i was hooked. heheheh...rupanya my cousin dah terjebak dulu. told u i was a late-bloomer. klu tak silap, masa beli ni the world was embracing the sequel "new moon". ceh, tgk je sana sini madness psl twilight t tak tau pun apa twilight.

my only disappointment was: 1) rob pat is too pretty n girly for the roles n 2) kirsten was too.....control, no sense of humor lgsung. unlike the character in book. taylor lautner ROCKS! come to think of it...kenapa eh out 17 yo kat msia ni tak mcm dia?

Then.....

then......

Then.......

pastu. aku demam vampire for the next 2 months. Laki aku pun aku suruh wat rambut cam rob pat. heheheheh.....

btw, finished all four books in a two weeks.

Eat, pray, love

i like this book. i heard so much good thing bout this book. and, a movie frenchise is coming out! YAY!!!!!

i'm Muslim..so there are quite a few things that is not suitable to be followed. anyway, it's still has a few points (rationally and logically) we can take notes. from now on, i'll insert a few favourite quotations or excerpts of the book ( and the other books).

" I mean - that terrible, ragged breed of bawling my friend Sally called "double-pumpin' it" when you have to inhale two desperate gasps of oxygen with every sob."

"soul mates, they come inyo your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then they leave."

"You can let yourself off the hook anytime you want, Liz. that's the divine contract of a little something  we call free will."


"The word paradise by the way, which comes to us from the Persian, means literally 'the walled garden'."

"Attraversiamo."


So, go people..go read this book with open heart and open mind.

my first book

I don't know why, but Jodi Picoult always ring a bell. So, I bought this book out of curiosity...and I loved it.

it's about a sister's love...and how far she'd go to save her sister's life. can a mom be so bias she could be blinsided? is their mom unfair to each and everyone of them? if love is unconditional, then why do we put many conditions over countless situation? i mean..."kalau u sayang saya, u belikan la beg tu" or "saya masakkan awak lauk favourite awak, lepas ni kita gi angsana eh?" hehehehe...

yg bestnya, ending citer ni unexpected. just the way i like my story should end.