Thursday, June 23, 2011

Not All Tarts Are Apple by Pip Granger

Tart
1: agreeably sharp or acid to the taste (a tart apple)
2: marked by a biting, acrimonious, or cutting quality (a tart rejoinder)
3: a dish baked in a pastry shell : pie: as a : a small pie or pastry shell without a top containing jelly, custard, or fruit b : a small pie made of pastry folded over a filling
4:[earlier slang, girlfriend, probably short for jam tart, rhyming slang for sweetheart] : prostitute

(From Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)

Truth be told, Room wasn't the first book I read narrated by a child. A few months back I borrowed this book from kak Zai. The title somehow tickled me and only when I read the back synopsis did I know why the title was that way because the story is from the point of view of 7-going-on-8 year old Rosie.

She is taken care of by Uncle Bert and Auntie Maggie (whom she knows are not her actual parents, thanks to her cow of a friend Kathy Moon who, quite to her face said, "You're mum's a tart!"). She loves them with all her hearts and is loved by everyone around her too. There's a colourful and amusing set of people who are in her life.

Mamma Campanini who owns the deli and has a hoard of children, one of them Luigim whom I secretly think Rosie has a crush on ☺ There's Sharkey Finn, a shabby lawyer who lives in his office. Then there's TC, the local constable. There's Brenda a.k.a Paulette who advertises for French Lessons but who actually works in the oldest profession in the world. Then, there's Enid Fluck, otherwise known throughout the novel as Madam Zelda, the fortune teller..

..and then there's the Perfumed Lady who always dresses so beautifully and laughs a lot but seldom sober. She always brings Rosie trinkets that Rosie once thought she was a Fairy Godmother.. but in truth, she's Rosie's real mother.

She's actually a very kind woman but she just doesn't have any motherly feelings in her, that is why she dumped Rosie on Uncle Bert and Aunt Maggie, who fortunately love both Rosie and her mother.

One day, Uncle Bert and Aunt Maggie decide to adopt Rosie legally, the problem is, her mother comes and goes as she wishes so they had to track her down first since she hadn't dropped by for months.

Somehow, the news of Rosie came to her step-grandads ears and he came to their little town to figt for custody for Rosie too. Turns out, he molested and raped Rosie's mother, hat was why she ran awak.. but no, Rosie isn't his, as will be revealed at the end of the book.

There's also Dave, Paulettes pimp who beats her up and all until she leaves him and Charlie, Madam Zelda's exhusband who's just as bad as Dave. These two guys drove those two woman to despise guys so much that they found solace in each others.. err, bed! Hahah.. and this is set in the 1950s hokey.. siap move in together lagik Paulette and Madam Zelda, WITH the help of all other townspeople hehe..

One day, Rosie's grandad set out to kidnap her with the help of those two weasels but she was saved by Paulette, who in turning over a new leaf, was a waitress at the diner they were waiting.

All in all, its a very entertaining book that'd keep you reading till the end in a very relaxing way..

..I'm just wondering when am I going to return the book to its owner.. opppssss!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini



*I'm actually copying this from my blog since it kinda qualifies la kot for this blog jugak hahah.. and alos coz this blog seems so left out.. sian dia*

Last week I went out with Bart outta total boredom (I think I wrote about going out with her in an earlier entry..). What I didn't write was that I had bought a book entitled The Kite Runner.

Now, I must say, its actually kinda late for me to notice this book, huh.. I read about it in a few of my friends blog.. Ayeen or Adura, I think. Then Dzul wrote about how he watched the film itself and somehow it made me wanna go find the film. But when I was out with Bart at Popular (she was searching for Ayat² Cinta), I found this book and despite having only RM50 in my purse, I bought the book.

Even then, I didn't read the book yet as I still had tons of other books I wanted to read. However, last night outta the blue, I suddenly remembered today was IM's birthday. Heck, I haven't thought about it for years and suddenly I'm remembering a lot of things. Made me a bit nostalgic and not to mention the ever-famous Ayu-being-emotional feeling. Couldn't sleep after that and was just deciding to watch a CD or something when the book caught my eye. It was still on my bookshelf, unwrapped yet with protective plastic cover (I usually wrap my bookms first before reading..)

I was debating whether to read it or watch a CD when once again the synopsis of the book caught my eye.. so it was decided then, I was gonna read the book!

..and I couldn't put it down!

It was a beautiful tale of friendship. Not once or twice did I feel a lump in my throat when I read about Amir and Hassan. Hassan was such a loyal friend, you wanted to hold him and tell him everything would be okay. The part where he was sodomised after getting the prized kite was told very simply but effectively. You could feel the shame in Amir when he ran away, in fear he would get hurt. You could feel Hassan's sorrow in the days that followed.. and feel Amir's confusion in what he had done and what he could have done.

You'd feel amazed at how Hassan still told his son, Shorab and wife (can't remember her name) that Amir was his bestfriend in the world, even when he knew Amir had ran away when he was being victimized by Assef, Wali and Kamal.. and even when he knew, Amir had betrayed him, accused him of stealing just so he had an excuse to rid himself of the loyal Hassan.

But you'd also understand Amir's hope to win the approval of his father that he never understood.. and how he felt when the secret of Hassan's parentage was revealed by Rahim after Amir's father had passed away.. and how he felt when Rahim told him, "It's time to be good again.."

I especially liked the part when Hassan told Amir, "For you, a thousand times over.." when Amir wanted him to go run after the fallen kite. And how it became the tagline of the book. I wanted to cry along with Amir when Farid had said that to him in the hospital as you could see how much Hassan actually meant to Amir (even when Farid was confused on why Amir broke down after those words..) and I liked it in the end when Amir mouthed those word to Shorab as he took the little boy kite flying..

This is one book I'll really treasure.. and I've already made Ija read it heheh..

I'm not a good story teller but to those who'd like to know more about it, you can go here. And believe me, the book is worth every cent. Written in simple english and is suitable for everyone.. I even feel like buying it for my friends, just to share the beautiful story with all.

There are other elements in this story, about Afghanistan, about Taliban, about Islam (See, we're not terrorists! Only sometime people twist the words of Allah to suit their own sick mind, while they themselves immerse their wholeself in sin..) but what I liked most, and what I think dominates this book is the friendship between the two..

Friendship, when sincere, indeed is beautiful!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Room by Emma Donoghue


Whewww.. this blog really needs some dusting!

Recently I came across this book at Popular Sunway Carnival. I was actually looking for other books but the simple cover caught my eye.. the "A Man Booker Prize Finalist" on the topmost of its cover didn't hurt either so even tho it wasn't within my budget for the day, I thought I'd spend just a bit on it..

..and it was worth it! For me la, at least ☺

The novel is narrated by a 5-year old by the name of Jack whose whole world is an eleven by eleven foot space where he lives with his Ma who sometimes gets visited by Old Nick in the middle of the night.

His daily routine is the same each day with slight variations from his Ma who wants him to lead a normal life. He has PE in this world of his by running around the room, math with his Ma who teaches him all that she knows and so on. He has never ventured out of this space and all supplies are brought to them by Old Nick and to Jack, he's content with his life as long as he has his Ma.

He doesn't like Old Nick very much coz whenever Old Nick comes to spend the night, he has to sleep in the closet but other than that, he's a happy kid.

Little does he know that he and his Ma are prisoners. His Ma was kidnapped by Old Nick when she was just starting college (if my mind serves me right) and she was locked in this soundproof, windowless shed in Old Nick's garden. Jack is a result of the 'arrangement' Old Nick made with his Ma and was born years after his Ma was kidnapped.

In the middle of the novel, Ma plans for escape. Jack is afraid coz he doesn't believe there is a world outside his room but when he realizes it would make his mother happy, he decided to be brave and go for his Ma's plan that invloves him pretending to be dead.

They were rescued, and his Ma's family who had thought she was dead was joyous at their reunion.. more so when they realize what an adorable boy Jack is.

But their problems are far from over as Ma got overcome by depression when people questioned how she could bring up a child in captive like that, though if you read the book from the start, you'd know she did quite a pretty good job at it.

Ma tried to commit suicide and was held in an instituition for a while, while Jack stayed with his Granma. They soon learnt, no harm was done to Jack's social skills even if he never had any outside contact for the first 5 years in his life.. and to make Ma proud, his reading and arithmatic skills were way beyong his peers.

When Ma got better, Ma decided they needed to learn to live on their own without expecting help from her family, not that she didn't trust them but because she craved for a normal life after living in hell for the past years.

What I like about this book is how we get to see these problems through a 5-year-olds eyes. He doesn't understand why they had to escape in the first place coz he thought he was happy in the room since his Ma made sure of that. He's naive in his perception of life but somehow, that came out as refreshing.

I truly recommend this book for long weekends without anything to do since I couldn't put down the book haha..