Friday, June 17, 2005

Books

I realize that over the past week, all I've been writing about has been politics, basketball, and showbiz. Well, if you think of it, that's just typically Filipino. But I figured I'd write something else, for a change.

Actually, I'd write about basketball again, but then Purefoods got swept by Shell in the quarters (without Kris Aquino watching!), and besides, I'd probably just get another comment from that idiot who goes around the Internet defending Kris's honor on blogs. Lynn already said she wanted to pick a fight with the guy, but then how good a fight would that be when he doesn't even have the balls to leave his email address?

Anyway, enough of all that craziness, the Purefoods season is over and I've put all of it behind me. I had wanted to write about books.

I'd been able to finish three books over the past two-and-a-half weeks, thanks in large part to my mp3 player.

I re-read Les Miserables, and also finished Ethan Hawke's Ash Wednesday and Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horse. I had read the first book way back in high school and had been meaning to re-read it again for some time now, while the last two were used books I had bought several months ago (along with a copy of Snow Falling on Cedars, which remains unread) at a Booksale.

Last Wednesday, I also discovered that there was now a branch of A Different Bookstore at the Araneta Center, outside the Shopwise Arcade right across the coliseum. The shop wasn't as large as the shop in Eastwood, and I was disappointed by the lack of a substantial Filipiniana section, but I still liked it better than the Fully Booked at Gateway. I came away with Lolita and The Power of Myth, a book containing transcripts of a TV discussion between philosopher Joseph Campbell and journalist Bill Moyer.

I had originally meant to start on The Sheltering Sky like I wrote about several weeks back, but I had left my copy at the office so I started reading Les Mis instead.

Now, I had never seen any of the stage or film adaptations of the book, but while I was going through the pages I couldn't help but think how well the book could be adopted into a local teleserye, something one of the networks could air on weeknights. Another poignant moment that struck me was Eponine's last words in the arms of Marius, despite only passing hints by the author of their affair (or more accurately, her love for him). I even thought about how her last words would make for a very cool song, which could be titled something like Eponine, to Marius, as she said something to the effect of "Promise me, you'll kiss me on the forehead after I'm gone. I promise you I will be able to feel it."

Truly enough, the moment in the book seemed to have an effect on a lot of other people as well, as I discovered later that the stage adaptation expanded the love triangle among Eponine, Marius, and his true love Cosette. And there was even this wonderful duet between Marius and Eponine just as she was about to pass:

A Little Fall of Rain

Eponine:
Don't you fret
M'sieur Marius
I don't feel any pain
A little fall of rain
Can hardly hurt me now
You're here
Thats all i need to know
And you will keep me safe
And you will keep me close
And rain will make the flowers grow

Marius:
But you will live, 'Ponine; dear God above
If i could close your wounds with words of love

Eponine:
Just hold me now and let it be
Shelter me
Comfort me

Marius:
You would live a hundred years
If I could show you how
I won't desert you now

Eponine:
The rain can't hurt me now
This rain will wash away what's past
And you will keep me safe
And you will keep me close
I'll sleep in your embrace at last
The rain that brings you here
is heaven blessed
The skies begin to clear
And i'm at rest
A breath away from where you are
I've come home from so far

Eponine: // Marius:
So don't you fret // Hush a bye
M'sieur Marius // Dear Eponine
I don't feel any pain // You won't feel any pain
A little fall of rain // A little fall ofrain
Can hardly hurt me now // Can hardly hurt you now

Marius:
I'm here

Eponine:
Thats all I need to know

Eponine: // Marius:
And you will keep me safe // I will stay with you
And you will keep me close ' // Til you are sleeping

Eponine:
And rain

Marius:
And rain

Eponine:
Will make the flowers

Marius:
Will make the flowers....... grow



Ash Wednesday was fairly light reading, and it reminded me a little of Ethan Hawke's Sunrise/Sunset movies, with its introspective on a couple in love. Now that I think about it, the books I've read so far of Hollywood actors remind me a lot of their films. Steve Martin's Shopgirl, in particular, comes to mind. I enjoyed that book so much more than Ash, but then again, I enjoy Steve Martin's films much more so than Ethan Hawke's.

But what I was truly happy to read was the last one, All the Pretty Horses, which had been turned into a movie a few years ago (I still hadn't seen it). I didn't even expect the book to be so good, or that I would like it so much.

The first thing one would notice when reading the book is the unique prose. It's hard to get into at first, but soon you end up appreciating how deftly- and beautifully-written the prose is, lyrical, almost like poetry, even combining two languages seamlessly.

Oh, and the story. I couldn't remember reading a book that had brought with it such energy, and that worked on so many different levels. There were horses and gunplay and romance and fistfights and dreams and heartbreaks, all under the light of the blood-soaked sun of the Texas-Mexico border. It's a spaghetti western, a coming-of-age story, an action adventure, a romantic love affair, an existentialist look at the cowboy life, and so much more.

When I was done with it, I had to check when the book was released, which was 1992. Funny, I thought they didn't make books like this anymore.

Comments:

ooh, been skipping on a copy of 'all the pretty horses' in my fave bookstore for month's now because i remember penelope cruz from the movie. might get it now when i get back. . . incidentally, just got back from a friend's house and they were just giving books and cds away as they will be leaving in a few months. . . got a bagful of stuff. . . so much better than a bookstore:)

 

yo. lend me some books will yah?Ü

 

My dad has forbidden me to read Les Miserables until I know enough of the French Revolution...to think that it has been in the house since 1990 and the book is still in a very good condition.

 

Post a Comment<< Home



ultraelectromagneticblog!
 

Weekly Top Artists - Powered by Last.FM


Subscribe to this blog

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Powered by Blogger

Listed on BlogShares

Pisay 98 Blog
Pisay 98 Website
Pisay 98 Message Boards

Bookish Bimbo
Brooding Pit
cartwheels seven times around the oval
The Ergonomic Quotient
Fire Light Song
For the Mail!
Garden Fresh
I'm ur pAL!!!
the jembunao experience
life, the universe, and everything
The Mighty Dacs
Pro Gamer to Programmer
Purple World
Riverwind
The Raven and the Stormcrow
The sad success story of the corporate slave
Sakura Mind Speaks
Si Yayan, Si Michel at ang Diwata
Sixteenth Floor
Verbal Diarrhea
The Wandering Geek
Whatever You
The Unbearable Lightness of Being Me

502 Bad Gateway
Across the Green Plains
ako? ako. ako. lagi na lang ako...
Anime West
The Buckfutter Blog
Contrast Medium
Locoflip's Xanga Site
Gaming Nookie
getting by...
Just The Type 2 Have 1
life of a kkmonster
karloCastertroy
the keep
Lock and Load
Memories From Dinner Last Night
Mic Olivares' Blog
Morning Has Broken
Paradiddles
Princess Toni's Enchanted Forest
Random Thoughts
So Lovely
Think, Pats! Think!!

Recent Posts

Comedy
Krisis Korner
The burning issue
Crisis mode
Survey says
Umuwi ka na baby, 'di na ako sanay nang wala ka
Bulagaan
The other new girl
Just a word of thanks...
WTF?

The story so far

September 2004
October 2004
November 2004
December 2004
January 2005
February 2005
March 2005
April 2005
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
October 2008
November 2008
December 2008
January 2009
February 2009
March 2009
April 2009
May 2009
June 2009
July 2009
August 2009
September 2009

www.flickr.com
This is a Flickr badge showing public photos from jtordecilla. Make your own badge here.


Home
Instant Pancit Canton
The Prose Portal
Email

A Dose Of Cynicism
Adventures in TV Land
Delusions of Grandeur
first draft
Freedom Sessions
Karmic Backstab
Indulgence
Perpetual Paranoia
Project Manila
Sky of Words
Small Furry Alien
telenobela
TravelKage
walanjo ka daril!


100 tears away
55 Words (and more)
Astig-Mama-Tism
Blogging from the UAE
Car Driver
Chaos Theory
Ederic @ Cyberspace
flatride.com
frances.effronte.org
Howie Severino's Sidetrip
The Life of an Earthbound Angel
Manuel L. Quezon III
Mimi and Karl Wedding Photography
moodswings
na(g)wawala
The New Online Confessions
nitpicky.org
No White Flag
Out of Bed
Pinay by the Bay
Rebel Pixel Productions
sablay.org
the silpur life
the sky sweetheart
Some Kind of Wonderful
Tapuy Moments
thinking about tomorrow
The Year of the Dog Woman
Weapon of Choice

Binibini
Clang-Fu
Four-point Play
The Histrionics of a Balding Drama King
i came, i saw, i blogged
intelektwal interkors
The Jason Journals
Mental Foreplay
Orange Pocket
Paiwinklebloo
Paperbag Writer
Peyups.com
Renaissance Girl
Seasonal Plume

avalon.ph
Bill Simmons
Dave Barry
Digg
Everything
Get Firefox!
Guardian Books
HoopsHype
I, Cringley
IMDB
Inside Hoops
Joel on Software
KDE-Look
Lawrence Lessig
Mark Cuban
Newsforge
Pop Matters
Reddit
Richard M. Stallman
Roger Ebert
Salon.com
Slam! Links
Slashdot
The Onion
The Onion AV Club
Wikipedia
Wil Wheaton