Books and Me

Girl with a pearl earring

2011-01-04T13:53:00.000-08:00

By Tracy Chevalier
pages : 233

I found this book while browsing the fiction section in my local library. This novel had been made in a movie in 2003. I remembered I watched this movie a few year ago but I did not recalled the story of it.
This novel took place in Holland in the 1660s. It began with a narration of a girl's feeling. A girl named Griet. She was forced by circumstance to work as a maid for a famous painter. Her life became complicated when she was infatuated with the painter and agreed to be painted. Back then, to be asked to pose as an object of a painter was an honor but it became a suspicion when the object was someone that was a focus of jealousy of the painter's wife. Griet's life was hard as a maid and it was unbearable after she agreed to be painted. But her life was not always gray. A son of a butcher fell in love with her and wanted her as his wife. She knew her life would be better when she said yes to his proposal however she wanted to wait. She wanted to wait for the painter's feeling. And it did not come to her.
This novel also included the life story of Griet's family. Her father was blinded by a work accident and could not work anymore. Her sister was a victim of a disease and died before seeing her again and her brother who hated his job and wanted to run away.
The story was complicated as it involved many characters and yet this novel was very easy to understand and read. It was about Griet's life from the moment she was about to work as a maid until she became a married woman. It was also about her feeling for her master which she had to keep to herself.
It was not easy to describe this book. There were many hidden clues in it, one of it was the feeling of the painter towards Griet. I was not sure if the painter was interested in Griet. At the last chapter, Griet was called to the painter's house to collect a pair of earring she wore for the painting. The painter wanted Griet to have it. I do not understand why, it can be that the earrings are the message from the dead painter that he once loved her or it can be a repay for her service to him.
Nevertheless, the end of the story was to be determined by the reader and it could go either way.

Marrying Anita

2010-10-13T12:43:00.000-07:00

By Anita Jain
307 pages
Marrying Anita is a story of a woman's desperate attempt to find a husband. Despite her beauty, Anita had a difficult time finding a soul mate. She was pressed to get married by her parents who believed that marriage should be a part of life. Moving to India was her final effort in finding Mr. Right which turned out to be unsuccessful.
Reading this book reminds me of my close girl friends in Indonesia. Most of them are in their early 40s and are still single. One friend told me, "it was not easy to capture a man's heart".

With an imbalanced ratio of men and women in the world, it is getting harder to find a suitable man, let alone a perfect man. I have known many women who chose to be single than ended up married to wrong men. My best friend is one of them, she said, "it is better to be happy alone, than to have a miserable marriage". My step mother is another example, she chose to stay single until she found a right man, my father, in her late 40s.
Marrying Anita is also about the changes in India. India with 1,156,897,766 people is now more liberal in many aspects. Many young people do not hesitate to have premarital sex and homosexual are readily accepted.

This book describes the fun and sad aspects of the difficulty that modern women faced in finding their soul mates in today's busy world.

Anita Jain is a journalist who has traveled to many cities and currently lives in New Delhi, India.

To know more about the author, please visit : Anita Jain.

Three cups of Tea

2010-09-21T18:53:00.000-07:00

By Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
pages : 338
I encountered this book by accident. We were in a friend house in Michigan and I saw this book on my friend’s table. She told me, she was reading this book together with her daughter. I thought this book must be interesting, as my friend’s daughter was only 14 year-old. Honestly, I knew about this book long before I saw this book on my friend’s table but I was not interested in reading it. So when I went home to Erie, I browsed the internet for a synopsis of this book and bought this book from Amazon.
Three Cups of Tea is a personal story of Greg Mortenson. He was a climber. This story began after he climbed K2 in Pakistan and failed. However, his failure was a blessing in disguise as he met a nice family of Haji Ali. Little that he knew, Haji Ali would be in his life for a long time. Mortenson was in the village of Korphe and he learned that this village did not have a school, as the government of Pakistan did not provide a teacher. However these obstacles did not stop Haji Ali, the head village, to educate his people. After seeing the determination of Haji Ali and the children, Mortenson promised to come back and build a school for them.
This story also told us the life of Mortenson as a little boy living in Tanzania. There were many flash back-stories of him and his late sister, Christa.
I was touch by his effort to find money to build schools in Pakistan and about his bravery to go to far away land.
He tried to write to many famous people and asked for a little bit of their money and it was sad to know that big names like Oprah did not respond to his letter
Mortenson later on focused his effort to build schools for girls as not many girls in those county could have higher education. He also continued his work to build these schools in other parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan. This book made me thought of my existence as a female. I was lucky enough to live in a country that allowed girls to study and to be in a family that could pay me to go to university.
This book also made me thought of those people who took education for granted and demanded their teachers to give them good grades easily.
I was in Asia recently and saw the news about flood in Pakistan. My heart went to the people and the children who probably could not study anymore as the flood might damage the schools.
Back to the book. This book is easy to read and the more pages you are on, the more you want to know about the people and the children in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
To know more about the children in Pakistan and Afghanistan and Mortenson's effort to build schools, please visit Central Asia Institute.

What I miss from Singapore

2010-09-01T13:48:00.000-07:00

Got this book from Singapore National Day's bag and I questioned myself,

What I miss from Singapore?

1 . The library! We lived not very far from the National Library of Singapore. Amanda, my daughter loved the children section.

2. The convenient to go anywhere within the city. I could take buses, MRT or taxis.

3. The safe feeling I experienced whenever I go. My husband told me, he would let me go by myself even in the middle of the night.

4. Tap water is drinkable. I took this privilege for granted in the USA until I went home to Bandung, Indonesia.

5. Food vendors were everywhere and the food did not give me stomachache.

6. I could walk almost everywhere in Singapore without having to share my walkway with cars.

7. The parks. They were easy to find in Singapore and were clean from trashes and food vendors.

8. And most important thing was No smoke smell! The restaurants and food courts in Singapore are smoke free.

HAPPY SUMMER!!

2010-07-03T19:07:00.000-07:00

Happy Summer!

Pride and Prejudice

2010-04-24T12:17:00.000-07:00

Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen
268 pages

Many times, I wondered if the Pride and Prejudice DVD that I have just watched had followed the fiction closely. I did not find out until recently.
I have watched the P & P DVD many times and stared at the face of Colin Firth (Mr. Darcy) frequently before I had a courage to pick up the book and read it.
Two months ago, I decided to read “the book”. It took me almost a whole month to finish it.
I found out that the DVD followed the book rather closely. I was amazed that the script writer of the P & P DVD did not leave out any chapters. Of course, like any other movies based on books, many scenes will be cut and altered.
Before I continued, let me tell you a brief story of the Pride and Prejudice. It was written by Jane Austen and published in 1813. It was about five sisters from the Bennet's family who were looking for husbands. Back then marriage was very complicated. The expectation of marriage was different from what we have now. Most marriages in their time were for economic purposes. One had to find a rich husband that could benefit the family and brought good connection for the siblings especially sisters. It meant that it was best to marry someone who was rich and had good reputation despite his look and appearance.
The story started when Mrs. Bennet heard about the arrival of a rich man named Mr. Bingley to their neighborhood. She had a dream of marrying her daughters to rich men. The story continued with the attraction of Mr. Bingley to the eldest daughter of the Bennet's, Jane. Unfortunately, Mr. Bingley's sisters and friend, Mr. Darcy did not approve the courtship. They objected the poor connection that Jane and the family had and the ill-mannered of Jane's mothers and youngest sister. The story also included the attraction of Mr. Darcy to Lizzy, the second daughter. Meanwhile, the other three sisters had not given many detailed stories except for the youngest sister, Lidia. Lidia brought shame to the family by running away with a bad-reputation officer.
The end of the story was rather marry as the two eldest sisters married to rich men to their mother satisfaction.

I really love watching P & P DVD. Although, I prefer reading the book before watching the DVD, I admitted that remembering the movie helped me understand the story easier. For those who interested in watching the movie, I recommend watching The Pride and Prejudice DVD of 1995 and they are available at Amazon.
And for those who prefer reading the book first, have fun and take your time reading.....

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggles by Amanda

2010-02-01T09:07:00.000-08:00

Today, my guest book review is my daughter, Amanda Ong.
She is five years old and loves to read. This is her review of her favorite book,
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is very small. I do not know her age. She has brown hair. She has long hair
She has high heels. She has no children but she has a dog and a cat. There was a Mr. Piggle-Wiggle. He was a pirate. He died after he buried all his treasures.
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle likes children. She cures their bad habits. She lives in an upside-down house. I like to read Mr. Piggle-Wiggle's books. I have four Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's books. I got two books from a book store and two books from my mother. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle moved to a farm and now she has a dog, a cat and a parrot. Her clothes are all brown. She wears felt hats. Names of the pets: Wag and Light foot . And a farm pet's parrot called Penelope.

Summer

2009-08-17T20:38:00.000-07:00

still enjoying the summer.........

The First Four Years

2009-07-04T13:15:00.000-07:00

The First Four Years of Laura Ingalls Wilder

Persistence is the key word in Laura Inglass books. In the last book, The First Four Years, Laura was married to Almanzo Wilder. They faced with disappointment and many failures. However those failures did not discourage them. The first three years of their farm life was a disaster. Most of their wheat crops could not be harvested because of natural disaster. Early frost, dry wind weather and snowstorm ruined their nearly harvested wheat. As Laura about to give up a farm life, Almanzo asked for another year of farming. Laura thought the next year would be their turned to be successful so she gave in as she believed that "the rich have their ice in the summer but the poor get their in the winter".
But again, the crops were damaged by the cyclone. It also took the house and the tress around the house.
Disease was also another problem among the early pioneers in America. Mary, Laura's elder sister was blinded from scarlet fever, Laura and Almazo were severely sick from diphtheria, which cause a mild stroke in Almanzo hips.
However those unhappy moment was forgotten when baby Rose was born. Laura raised Rose by herself despite Laura busy day. Many times, Rose was almost injured because she was left alone.
After many failed harvests, she asked Almanzo if the farming was a success. Almanzo who loved the land answered, "it all depends on how you look at it". Thus Laura understood that farming was in their blood as she was herself a pioneer girl and she loved farm and open prairies.

Summer solstice

2009-06-21T10:37:00.000-07:00

Happy summer solstice!
21st June 2009

The Living Reed

2009-05-23T19:51:00.000-07:00

The Living Reed
Pearl S. Buck
pages : 478

This novel is probably the 5th or 6th book of Pearl S Buck that I have read. I found this book with another book of hers in a thrift store in Erie. This is my first book of Pearl S. Buck, which does not tell a story about China. The Living Reed is about Korean independence from Japan. The story started with a well-known family of Kim. The father, Il-han came from a rich family who worked for the kingdom. His father was a king advisor while he was the right hand of the Queen. He had two sons; one was brainwashed by his tutor to fight for the country and separated himself from his family. The second son was a teacher, married to a Christian wife and killed while rescuing his wife and daughter in a church fire.
This book is divided into three parts. The first is about Il-han, his family and his connection to the Queen. The second part is about the second son, Yul-han and his determination to be a Christian. The third part was about the first son, Yul-chun, his journey to China, his love life, his long lost son, his suffering and his dream to see Korea independence. At the end of the book, Yul-chun died while welcoming the Americans who he believed were coming to save them.
Il-han, Yul-chun and Yul han had similar dream, which was to see Korea free from Japan. They also believed that America was the only country who could help them.
Some important parts about this story, America played an important part in giving South Korea its independence from Japan. After the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, American soldiers came to South Korea to take over the country from Japan. However, America did not helped North Korea as it was decided to be given to Russia by the agreement between Japan and Russia which was famous as 38th parallel. The other important part was about Christianity in Korea. Many Korean including Yul-han converted to Christianity because they believed, they had to be like their savior, the Americans who were mostly Christian.
I did not enjoy this book as much as the other books as this book packed with many-detailed history of Korea. Nevertheless, this book was able to bring me to a place where I have never been before in Pearl S Buck’s novel.
I am a big fan of Pearl S. Buck. My first encountered with Pearl S. Buck’s books was The Good Earth. I enjoy the way she described the scene and the daily life of people in China. However I am not sure Pearl S. Buck knew the real life and tradition in China. Even though, Pearl S. Buck lived in China for 40 years. She was an outsider and she could have a wrong perception of the tradition and culture of people in China at her time.

To know more about Pearl S. Buck, click here.

Hiatus

2009-05-06T12:26:00.000-07:00

Going away for a while.
Will come back with more reviews of books I have read.

Peony In Love

2009-04-03T12:57:00.000-07:00

Peony In Love
By Lisa See
pages : 284

Do you believe in fate? I do. I believe I am fated to be with my husband. We came from two different countries and yet we were able to meet and be together. I also believe I am fated to live far away from my parents and siblings. It was hard to be away from my family but this condition taught me to be strong and independent.
Peony in love was also about fate. Fate of Peony. She was fated to die before her wedding, she was fated to roam around as a hungry ghost because her tablet was not doted by her parents and eventually, she was fated to marry her would-be-husband through a ghost wedding.
Peony was the only daughter of Chen family. Her marriage was arranged since she was young like other girls' marriages. Peony accepted her fate to marry a stranger, however she changed her attitude after she met a young man who captured her heart, Wu Ren, the poet.
The meeting happened when she was attending The Peony Pavilion opera. Peony did not know that the man she met was her future husband.
Peony's life changed after that meeting and after watching the opera. She was obsessed with the opera story and Wu Ren. She then refused to eat and drink. Her mother tried many ways to make her healthy again but it was too late. Peony was weak and was almost dying when her father revealed the truth about her future husband.
Peony in love was also about life after death. Peony tried to help her future husband by possessing his other wife which resulted in the death of the wife.
I was amazed that this story had many points. As I mentioned above Peony in love was about fate, was about life after death and it was also about the women writers.
Peony write her commentary on Peony pavilion when she was dying. She then tried to make the other wife of Wu Ren to finish it but she died before she had a chance to finish it. Eventually, the commentary was done through the last wife of Wu Ren . The commentary was published under Wu Ren's name but after much hardship, it was published under Wu Ren's three wives.

Now reading...

2009-03-24T19:48:00.001-07:00

The Opposite of Fate
By Amy Tan
pages : 398

Snow Flower and Secret Fan

2009-03-04T22:05:00.000-08:00

Snow Flower and Secret Fan
Lisa See
258 pages
Random House, NY

This novel was about a deep friendship between two women, Lily and Snow Flower. It was about the hardship of women in China in the nineteenth century: the pain of foot binding, the limited freedom to learn and to choose a husband were only a small part of their hardship. After all those, they had to endure humiliation and tortured by the in-law.
The story started with Lily. She was only 6 years old when her mother planned to bind her feet. A matchmaker who was asked to find an auspicious date saw her feet and predicted that she would have a prosperous future. The matchmaker then suggested a girl from a rich family as her laotong or “same old”. Laotong was a tradition to pair a girl with another girl as sworn sisters. You see, back then, a girl would get married and leave her family with a rare chance to see them again. Laotong and sworn sisters were needed to fill the emptiness after leaving the family.
Lily was introduced to Snow Flower, a girl from a rich family. They were instantly became attached. Lily thought she was lucky to have a rich girl to be her laotong. However Snow Flower did not tell her the truth about her family. The secret was disclosed during Snow Flower wedding preparation. Lily found out that Snow Flower family was beyond poor. It was true that Snow Flower family was rich once but the greediness and luxurious life took their money away.
The story continued with their happy life of getting pregnant and having children. Snow Flower was married to a butcher who was considered a polluted job back then.
Their life was destroyed by Taiping rebellion, as they needed to leave their houses and families. Lily who was visiting Snow Flower when the rebellion started had to escape with Snow Flower family and separated from her family for many months.
After the rebellion ended, Snow Flower wrote a letter, which threatened their friendship.
She wrote that she would be cared by her other sworn sisters that enraged Lily. Lily then humiliated Snow Flower with her secret in front of many people. They did not see each other anymore until the news about Snow Flower sickness came to Lily. It was too late to mend the friendship as Snow Flower died from ovarian cancer.
The story ended with Lily’s old day. Her wish to have Snow Flower in her life again came true by marrying Snow Flower’s granddaughter to her eldest grandson.
I had a mix feeling about this story. I felt disgusted to know that the women in this story blindly and obediently followed the tradition that limited their freedom. However at the same time, I felt proud and was relieved of their courage and endurance.
I am also touched by the friendship of Lily and Snow Flower. I am lucky I do not have to go through a life of them as I can still see my family especially my sister whenever I want.

“When a girl, obey your father;
when a wife, obey your husband;
when a widow, obey your son”

I guess that was in Lily and Snow Flower’s mind back then.
What do you think?

"For all women in the world"

Now reading...

2009-02-15T12:35:00.001-08:00

Currently I am reading two books at the same time.

Snow Flower and The Secret Fan
Lisa See
265 pages

My second time reading it,

The Blood of Flowers
Anita Amirrezvani
368 pages

A Breath of Fresh Air

2009-02-14T22:07:00.000-08:00

Amulya Malladi
214 pages
www.amulyamalladi.com

A Breath of Fresh Air was literally about breathing fresh air for Anjali and for her son. It was also about an arranged marriage and the question if an arranged marriage would work.
For Anjali, there was no question about it. All of her friends that she knew had arranged marriages and their marriages lasted.
It began when Anjali was in Bhopal during the catastrophic disaster.
A pesticide factory released its gas due to miscalculating pressure and surrounded Bhopal with its deadly fume. The gas killed thousands of people but Anjali survived. She was waiting for her husband to pick her up after visiting her parents. Prakash, the husband was sleeping while Anjali struggled for her life.
The marriage between them was arranged by Anjali’s aunt which delighted Anjali. She had been dreaming of marrying a handsome husband who would sweep her off her feet and made her a perfect wife. But Prakash was the opposite. He was not a perfect husband. Anjali tried to hang on to the marriage and tried very hard to please and to serve Prakash until she found out that he had been cheating on her. She made a decision to divorce Prakash as she could not bear living with a cheater anymore. This decision angered her parents since her parents believed that the wife should bear all pain and misfortune in her marriage. In other word, no divorce!

Anjali life started again when she met her second husband. They met in the college and fell in love. They had a sick baby as a consequence of her breathing the toxic fume.
Everyday as Anjali saw her son, she blamed Prakash and carried the hatred for a long time. Their path met again when Prakash was stationed in the same town as Anjali. The guilt that haunted Prakash forced him to visit Anjali’s house and found out about her son. He tried to mend his guilt by helping Anjali and her husband to save their son.
Anjali's son, Amir was very ill and was too late to be saved. Before he died, he asked Anjali to wheel him to a park to have a breath of fresh air.

Amulya Malladi wrote this novel based on the tragedy in Bhopal, India. The gas leaked claimed 16,000 people and many survivors had to live with the long-term effects of the exposure to the gas.

Happy Valentine’ day
Today, I read about a young married couple who were freed from any charges of kissing in public. India still believes in having no affection shown in public and that will include holding hands between a man and a woman. Personally I like this idea however the law should be more lenient towards married couples. So I guess there is a reason to celebrate Valentine's day then! :) More info, please read Yahoo news.

SLF - Book

2009-02-02T14:19:00.000-08:00

This month Still Life Challenge of Multiply is Book, my favorite thing in the world.
For more info, please visit SLF (caution: link is in Indonesian)

Poem for my father

2009-01-30T11:20:00.000-08:00

PAPA AT WORK

I was nine
around the machines
photocopy, blue-printer, cashier
at papa’s store
by the crowded road
besides the tall house selling oil
Watching him
To be a slave of ambition
pulling his life by a clock
seven to five, monday to saturday
sometimes, sunday
To be a slave of desire
desire drove him away
leaving his soul with a hole
delivering his body - empty
And the thought printed in mind
like the rusty typewriter
clicking its paws
in Times New Roman
Was he happy.
Swallow this:
it was mansoon dawn
in a muddy narrow road
with cracked pavements
where no cars can’t go in
rain flowing on both sides
it was bandung, my hometown
the rain had just done pouring
humid air had just done blowing
wild morning glories were wet
dripping their nectar
to the ground
a lonely dog surrendered its thirst
to the drainage
it filled with mosquito eggs
Blue house number five
at three dawn
silent as a dead man
papa sat with his face down
His mother in the kitchen of smoke
ironing bananas leaves
whipping eggs and flour
dripping salt of sweat
smoking her lung of cigarette
At six
the cakes were ready
to be sold to the market
Papa had to go
to be cakes seller
to yell “cakes for sale”
The money was not even enough
to buy sleepers
His words
“I’ll never be a poor”
He saw
the word ambition
He saw
himself, a wife and children playing
He saw
himself, a store and working people
Suddenly,
he smiled.

By me (assignment of English 50)

It's OX year!

2009-01-24T22:45:00.000-08:00

"Happy "Nui" Year"
Ox year, 2009

"Books that are waiting to be read"

2009-01-24T22:37:00.000-08:00

Books that are waiting to be read
Maybe tomorrow or on Monday
I'll sit by the window
sipping a cup of tea
and munching a pile of cookies
letting the books to drive me away
to a land I have never been before
to a journey impossible to take
to a dream I will never have
Books that are waiting to be read
my eyes to the world
me, 2009

Namesake

2009-01-23T13:46:00.000-08:00

Namesake
Jhumpa Lahiri
page : 291
Namesake was the story of a Bengali’s family who had to face cultural differences in their life. Gogol, the main character of the story, was born in Boston. He was named after the Russian author, Nikolai Gogol. Gogol’s father was a big fan of Russian’s literature and survived because of Nikolai’s book from a train accident in India. When Gogol was born, his parents wanted to wait to name him as the naming letter from Gogol’s great grandmother was delayed. However, the letter was lost and he was stuck with Gogol. Eventually his parents gave him a good name, Nikhil. He was comfortable being a Gogol until he went to college and changed it legally to Nikhil.
The story continued to tell us about his life in the college, girls he met and broke his heart, his defiance against his parents to always go home for Christmas and Thanksgiving. The last part of the book was about his sadness from losing his father from heart attack and his happiness from his marriage life to a Bengali that became a failure after he found out that his wife was cheating on him.
I finished Namesake within 2 days, which was a record as I only read before bedtime.
I felt for these characters, especially the mother who was come to Boston without knowing anyone except the husband. How she had to adjust to American life for the sake of her children and eventually had to survive alone when her husband had passed away. As I dozed off to sleep I kept thinking about the Namesake. The questions started to fill up my mind; Will Amanda feel foreign in our homeland the next time we go home? Will Amanda rejected to be with us for Thanksgiving and Christmas when she is in college?
Bringing up children in a foreign country will always be a challenge to all parents. Even though we, as parents can pass our culture, eventually the local culture and moral will take over it.
My only hope for this moment is that Amanda will always look forward to go home to Indonesia and Singapore and feel at home there.
Jhumpa Lahiri won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for fiction and she lives in NY.

The Feast of Roses

2009-01-15T18:49:00.000-08:00

The Feast of Roses
Indu Sundaresan
Pages : 383

The Feast of Roses was about Mehrunissa; her life as a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, an empress and a ruler. She was the love of Emperor Jahangir and they wed because they loved each other. As she gained more power from the harem, she asked to have more power in the kingdom’s politics, which meant she was to be consulted for any problem concerning the kingdom. Love apparently blinded Jahangir and he granted all of Mehrunissa’s wishes.
As Jahangir’s health deteriorated, Mehrunissa was the one in charge of many of the Mughal India kingdom’s affairs. This woman’s power was not common back in their time and many of the high-ranking officers despised it. The fear of losing power came to Mehrunissa when Jahangir had severe asthma attack and almost died. She then tried to secure her power and position by asking Khurram, one of Jahangir son to marry her daughter, Ladli. Unfortunately, her attempted failed and when Khurram became the emperor, she was exiled and forgotten.
My first encountered with Mehrunissa character was in Taj. She was mentioned as an aunt of Arjumand. There was not much information about her except that she did not like her husband and was married to Jahangir after her husband was killed. She was viewed as ambitious and smart. In one instance, she was humiliated by her lack of skill of archery by his husband’s other wife, which made her practiced archery very hard in a short time, succeeded in killing a tiger and gained her husband's respect.
Nevertheless, I admired Mehrunissa as a strong woman. She went through humiliation as she was thought to be barren and only gave a daughter to her first husband. She witnessed her first husband assassination, she worked hard to earn her living and she loved her child despite of the child’s gender.
I have seen Mehrunissa's courage in many women. Eva Paron, Nancy Reagan and Hillary Clinton were among them. They were the brains behind their husbands. Many of these women are the brain machines in today’s commercial worlds and they are the reason why women should still fight for equal rights.

The Feast of Roses is a squeal of The Twentieth Wife.

The Twentieth Wife

2008-12-01T18:42:00.000-08:00

The Twentieth Wife
Indu Sundaresan
380 pages
Washington Square Press, NY

The Twentieth Wife was Mehrunissa.
Her father was almost abandoned her when she was just an infant for he could not afford her. Luckily, Mehrunissa was picked up by a Persian man who was also the savior of her family.
The Twentieth Wife, the story of Mehrunissa’s love to her prince, Salim.
It was also a story of politics in Mughal India kingdom and its harem.
After Mehrunissa’s father accepted a position in the kingdom, she was noticed by the Queen and was asked to be a lady in waiting.
During her service, she took a noticed of Prince Salim and fell in love with him.
Her love and admiration were reciprocated however it was too late as Mehrunissa was engaged to be married.
The Twentieth Wife was also the story about power struggle between fathers and sons. A persuasion to get the throne was fired up by Prince Salim advisors and he rebelled against his father. While this happened, Prince Salim’s older son was also thirsty for the throne and challenged his father.
Mehrunissa’s life was described in details in this novel. From her suffering for not able to marry the man she loved to the humiliation of not able to bear a baby for her husband. Finally after enduring a few miscarriages, she gave birth to a baby girl. Mehrunissa’s life changed after a tragic death of her husband. She then went back to be a lady in waiting for the Queen (now a former Queen) and supported herself and her daughter for four years. The love between her and Emperor Jahangir had never ceased even though many people against it. Mehrunissa was the last wife of Jahangir.
I found out about this novel from my contact in Flickr. Just a few months before, I finished a novel titled “Taj”. In it, there was a short story about Mehrunissa and her marriage to Jahangir. The Twentieth Wife is a sequel of The Feast of Roses in which the story of Mehrunissa as an empress continued.
The author of this novel researched many history books to obtain the facts for this story. Indu Sundaresan was born and raised in India and currently lives in Bellevue, Washington, USA.

This candle is for the tragic attack in Mumbai, India.
I wept for all the families who lost their love ones.
I hope goodness will prevail over evil.

The Sirens of Baghdad

2008-11-13T05:32:00.000-08:00

THE SIRENS OF BAGHDAD
by Yasmina Khadra

This book was about individual sense of right and wrong, individual straggle with hatred and fear. It began in a quiet little town named Kafr Karam, where everybody knew everybody and addressed each other “cousin”. The main character of this story had faced a humiliation,a defeat and a tragic trauma in a short time. He witnessed a dear son of his friend being shot by a GI; a wedding party blew up by a missile and his family humiliation. His innocent was ripped off from him and he lost his soul. His journey to Baghdad to avenge his family humiliation ended up in the hand of a radical group of friends he knew from back home. He was fed by hatred that led him to agree to volunteer for a secret mission to spread deathly virus in London. However he backed off after realizing he could not take the life of people.
Honestly, I was hesitant to finish this book. Even though I condemn violence and terrorism, I actually can understand why the main character chooses his path of life. Extreme violence and deep humiliation can change a person. I am grateful that the author chose to let the main character whose was not named in the book to omit his mission and let peace prevailed.
Mohammed Moulessehoul used a pseudo name of Yasmina Khadra to publish this book.

Child of the Dawn

2008-10-31T18:39:00.000-07:00

CHILD OF THE DAWN
A MAGICAL JOURNEY OF AWAKENING
Author : Gautama Chopra
Pages : 180
Publisher : Amber-Allen, CA of 1996

Hakim, the main character of this novel was a small boy who run away for his orphanage. He was always hungry and lonely. Hakim longed for wealth, power and love. One day, he overheard his master that he could find wealth, power and love by finding a wise man.
In his journey to find the wise man, he met many people who told him stories, who taught him the meaning of life and who inspired him. At the end of his journey, Hakim not only able to find wealth, power and love but he also found happiness and wisdom. This novel is filled with inspirational words and examples.

I learned wisdom from this novel.
Wisdom for me as a parent to care and love my daughter, to educate and guide her but to leave her alone and let the world teach her when my daughter is ready to face it.
Wisdom for myself to have no fear as it will chase away happiness in my life. Wisdom for giving as it is an instrument to make me rich at heart and wisdom to be aware of what I do in the present, as it will affect my future.
This novel was written with careful thought and deep understanding about life. Gautama Chopra was brought up to understand spiritual happiness through meditation. He is the son of the bestselling author, Deepak Chopra. He is currently studying English, religion and film at Columbia University in New York City.

Kite Runner

2008-10-19T23:27:00.000-07:00

KITE RUNNER
Author : Khaled Hoseeini

The many facts of the cruelty of the Taliban regime were illustrated beautifully by Mr. Hoseeini. He also described in details places and characters of the Kite Runner.
This book was about the love between two brothers who did not know that they were brothers.
It was also about the hidden love of a father to his illegitimate son.
I recommend to read the novel twice to catch the essence of the story. I am sorry for not writing more review of the Kite Runner. I am planning to read it one more time and think about it before typing another review.

TAJ

2008-10-19T23:17:00.000-07:00

TAJ: A story of Mughal India
Author : Timeri Murari
Publisher : Penguin Global, 2005

Taj is a novel about love.
Deep love of Arjumand and Shah Janan. The story started when Shah Janan, who was only a prince, first saw Arjumand. He fell in love at the very first sight of her. As the heir of Great Mughal of India, he was not allowed to choose his wife. The marriage of Arjumand and Shah Janan was possible after much persuasion. Arjumand and Shah Janan were blessed with seven children as a consequence of 14 pregnancies. After Arjumand died, Shah Janan was engrossed in building a spectacular tomb for her, Taj Mahal. The story in this novel was divided into two parts. The first part was about Arjumand and Shah Janan’s life and the second part was about the building of the Taj Mahal. The author of the fiction, Timeri N. Murari based his fiction on history and included the year when the Kingdom Shah Janan was in power. The book gave me pleasure of reading not only as a fiction but also as a part of history of Mughal India. The words are not very hard to digest except for some italic Hindi languages. Note of warning: this fiction had some explicitly sexual suggestion.

HOME

2008-10-19T22:36:00.000-07:00

HOME
Author : Manju Kapur
Pages : 339
Publisher : Faber and Faber, 2006

It is about arranged marriages. The story began with the sons of The Banwari Lals, the owner of the largest cloth shops in Anarkalli. After marrying his daughter to a man in Bareilly, Lala Banwari Lal thought about his other two sons. The two sons would marry for the benefit of the family and the shop. However, the first son, Yaspal refused to marry anyone except for Sona. The story continued to another generation of the grandsons and the granddaughter. The trouble started when Vicky, the son of the only daughter of the Banwari Lals family lived with them. He grew up as a trouble boy. Nisha, the daughter of Yaspal and Sona was the sexual abuse victim of Vicky. Nisha became disturbed after the abuse and was moved to her auntie’s home. The center of the story was moved to Nisha and her life. She refused an arranged marriage and wanted to be married to her boyfriend, Suresh. The family rejected her request especially when they found out Suresh came from the lower caste than they were. Home was packed nicely with easy to understand words. This novel made me think about what is important in life and marriage. It also answered a question that many people asked; does an arranged marriage work?

My passion, books

2008-10-19T21:46:00.001-07:00

This is a blog about my passion, books. Books have been in my life for a long time. But only recently, I realized that I should not just read but also question the content of the books and review them. My review will not be as good as professional journalists or book reviewers. Nevertheless, I will try my best to write reviews which is objective and understandable. I also vow to make this blog as a media to read more and to write often. Please pardon my mistake either in grammar or in perception.
A little fact about me. My passion of books was built when I was a child. I remembered the trips I took with my father, brother and sister to a book store. Back then, there was only one big book store in my hometown. We were challenged by my father to read books everyday. This chaThis is a blog about my passion, books. Books have been in my life for a long time. But only recently, I realized that I should not just read but also question the content of the books and review them. My review will not be as good as professional journalists or book reviewers. Nevertheless, I will try my best to write reviews that is objective and understandable. I also vow to make this blog as a media to read more and to write often. Please pardon my mistake either in grammar or in perception.
A little fact about me. My passion of books was built when I was a child. I remembered the trips I took with my father, brother and sister to a bookstore. Back then, there was only one big book store in my hometown. We were challenged by my father to read books everyday. This challenged caused me to be myopic but it did not deter me from reading more. My passions expanded as I moved to the US. I began to read books in English and it was hard. With patience and encouragement from my husband, I am now able to read English without much difficulty. I am collecting many books; fictions, classics, cooking books and children books.
As I am not always able to buy books that I like, the public library is still one of my favorite places to go. In the future, I hope I can have a small library at home.
My passion expand as I moved to the US. I began to read books in English and it was hard. With patience and encouragement from my husband, I am now able to read English without much difficulty. I am collecting many books; fictions, classics, cooking books and children books.
As I am not always able to buy books that I like, the public library is still one of my favorite place to go. In the future, I hope I can have a small library at home.