I've always liked the idea of being an avid reader. Theres just something cool about someone who always carries a tattered novel everywhere they go so they can lose themselves in a different world whenever they might otherwise being standing idle. Reading is never a waste as your stimulating your brain and its a good alternative the time sucking internet and brain numbing television. I recently finished three books that were of interest.
First, 'Let The Great World Spin' by Colum McCann which one the National book award in 2009 and starts off telling about an Irish man, Corrigan who has always been attracted to the impoverished and less well off people of society. He seems to think of them as pure in way because life has dealt them a hard hand and he makes it his Christian duty in life to help those less fortunate becoming a monk and moving to The Projects in New York where we meet a diverse collection of characters. The colourful flamboyant Tilly, her beautiful daughter Jazlyn who are junkie hookers who add a unique depth to the story as they are portrayed in a respectful manner as emotive and lovable despite their sordid lives. There is also Corrigan's love interest the sweet Adelita, and Claire a highly strung Upper East Side housewife and her Lawyer husband Soloman, who are in mourning for their son who was killed in Vietnam, her friend the proud and respectful Gloria who lives just above the prostitutes and Corrigan in The Projects, and some more secondary cahacters such as Lara a young artist who struggles with her and her trendy artist boyfriend drug addiction as well the guilt of an unfortunate mistake they've made, and Fernando a thirteen year old photographer who chases underground graffiti. The character who ties the book together yet never becomes quite relatable as a sentient character is an ambitious and spotlight loving tightrope walker who sets himself the goal of walking a line between the recently errected Twin Towers. All of the characters are intricately interconnected despite their serperate lives in a manner that reminds me very much of the film 'Crash' and even though you leave the book wanted an ending more dinstinctly cnclusive the stories are told with such humanity that you feel you know each of the characters personally.
Second, 'In the Miso Soup' a Ryu Murakami originally published in Japanese which is narrated by the charcter Kenji who works as a self appointed tour guide for Tokyos erotic night club and sex trade industry. He is contacted by an American Frank who he finds eerily ominous depsite his seemingly friendly and innocent extrior. As he navigates Frank through the red light distric known as Kabuki Cho he becomes more and more aware of Franks many inconsistencies and eccentricities and ever suspicious that his client may be involved in the recent violent murder of a young Japanese girl. The book is interesting as the author expresses through Kenji the many differences between the Japanese and American cultures. The reader is addressed intitially from the perspective of an outsider and is kept engrossed as Kenji reexamines the twisted aspect of Tokyo city night life he works in as he attempts to explain it to Frank.
Lastly and most recently 'The Historian', the debut album of author Elizabeth Kostova which can only be described as a sort of gothic historical adventure mystery novel. It interest in light of the current vampire craze sweeping the world that this book is largely focussed on the history of the despotic Wllachian prince Vlad Tepes also known as Vlad the Impaler who was the inspiration for Bram Stokers novel 'Dracula'. The book is narrated by the 16 year old daughter of a History professor who dsicovers an old book whose pages contain nothing but numerous blank pages and in the center of the book a large woodblock print of a dragon. When she questions her father about this book he begrudgingly begins to explain to her a long unspoken story of how he came to be in possesion of such a book and the evil that followed from his attaining it. The book mixes fact with fiction as through the numerous letters the reader follows the character of Paul the narrators father as he attempts to track down the grave of Vlad Tepes in order to save his beloved friend and mentor Bartholomeu Rossi who suddenly went missing. A strong minded anthropology student at the Paul's University named Helen soon becomes a part of his quest and they travel to Istanbul and then across Eastern Europe tracking the history of Vlad Tepes who despite having been thought dead for many centuries they have reason to believe has kidnapped Rossi.
First, 'Let The Great World Spin' by Colum McCann which one the National book award in 2009 and starts off telling about an Irish man, Corrigan who has always been attracted to the impoverished and less well off people of society. He seems to think of them as pure in way because life has dealt them a hard hand and he makes it his Christian duty in life to help those less fortunate becoming a monk and moving to The Projects in New York where we meet a diverse collection of characters. The colourful flamboyant Tilly, her beautiful daughter Jazlyn who are junkie hookers who add a unique depth to the story as they are portrayed in a respectful manner as emotive and lovable despite their sordid lives. There is also Corrigan's love interest the sweet Adelita, and Claire a highly strung Upper East Side housewife and her Lawyer husband Soloman, who are in mourning for their son who was killed in Vietnam, her friend the proud and respectful Gloria who lives just above the prostitutes and Corrigan in The Projects, and some more secondary cahacters such as Lara a young artist who struggles with her and her trendy artist boyfriend drug addiction as well the guilt of an unfortunate mistake they've made, and Fernando a thirteen year old photographer who chases underground graffiti. The character who ties the book together yet never becomes quite relatable as a sentient character is an ambitious and spotlight loving tightrope walker who sets himself the goal of walking a line between the recently errected Twin Towers. All of the characters are intricately interconnected despite their serperate lives in a manner that reminds me very much of the film 'Crash' and even though you leave the book wanted an ending more dinstinctly cnclusive the stories are told with such humanity that you feel you know each of the characters personally.
Second, 'In the Miso Soup' a Ryu Murakami originally published in Japanese which is narrated by the charcter Kenji who works as a self appointed tour guide for Tokyos erotic night club and sex trade industry. He is contacted by an American Frank who he finds eerily ominous depsite his seemingly friendly and innocent extrior. As he navigates Frank through the red light distric known as Kabuki Cho he becomes more and more aware of Franks many inconsistencies and eccentricities and ever suspicious that his client may be involved in the recent violent murder of a young Japanese girl. The book is interesting as the author expresses through Kenji the many differences between the Japanese and American cultures. The reader is addressed intitially from the perspective of an outsider and is kept engrossed as Kenji reexamines the twisted aspect of Tokyo city night life he works in as he attempts to explain it to Frank.
Lastly and most recently 'The Historian', the debut album of author Elizabeth Kostova which can only be described as a sort of gothic historical adventure mystery novel. It interest in light of the current vampire craze sweeping the world that this book is largely focussed on the history of the despotic Wllachian prince Vlad Tepes also known as Vlad the Impaler who was the inspiration for Bram Stokers novel 'Dracula'. The book is narrated by the 16 year old daughter of a History professor who dsicovers an old book whose pages contain nothing but numerous blank pages and in the center of the book a large woodblock print of a dragon. When she questions her father about this book he begrudgingly begins to explain to her a long unspoken story of how he came to be in possesion of such a book and the evil that followed from his attaining it. The book mixes fact with fiction as through the numerous letters the reader follows the character of Paul the narrators father as he attempts to track down the grave of Vlad Tepes in order to save his beloved friend and mentor Bartholomeu Rossi who suddenly went missing. A strong minded anthropology student at the Paul's University named Helen soon becomes a part of his quest and they travel to Istanbul and then across Eastern Europe tracking the history of Vlad Tepes who despite having been thought dead for many centuries they have reason to believe has kidnapped Rossi.
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