After Revolutionary Road....Lull Time

Sadly after a series of profound and outstanding books that immediately captivated me, it was followed by a series of equally renowned books that I can not for the life of me appreciate as of this point. Sometimes this phase always happens after having a good roll.   Catch 22, Mother of Pearl, Middlesex, Unbearable lightness of Being, these books are best sellers, worth of anyone's time, but for some reason I skip from one book to the next hoping something could anchor me in. It’s quite ironic that I can’t latch on to something, but this is not alarming. It’s happened before.

Sometimes mood has got a lot to do with it. I’ve known that as a reader that some books just don’t speak to you at a specific time. I read Anna Karenina in High School, some parts I fully understand, some parts were difficult, but when I read them again at college, it was like a totally new book to me, I appreciated it more. I read The Corrections 3 years ago and I stopped at the 20^th chapter, but I’ve read it again this year and it was hilarious. I’ve come to realize that if I sense that I’m not enjoying a particular book, it doesn’t mean that the work is worthless, probably it’s just not speaking to me at this point. Probably my mind was restless at that time and I’d want something else. I can’t be forced to read classics one after the other. Sometimes there’s a need to read one of my brother’s teen fiction books because my attention span is so low. Maybe my reading palate at that time doesn’t require melodramatic or contemporary stories. Maybe what you want is fantasy and an easy-go-lucky charm. There are times  you just go in a phase of figuring out what your mind wants to read and often times it means to give yourself a break and not read anything at all. 

I've known this so well that after reading 3-4 good books, I immediately anticipate a lull time.  It's not something to be alarmed about for all book readers out there. We just need a break sometimes. Have a trip to the bookstore and just browse. And you'll be surprised that the books you’ve tossed aside years or months ago, thinking that it was unworthy, is the actual book that can save you during these times.

Revolutionary Road

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Revolutionary Road

by Richard Yates

I don’t understand why I haven’t read this before. This book is excellent...and haunting. I recommend that everyone should at least read it, especially those who are getting married. After a series of fun and not so-fun books, this comes out profound and breathtaking. I literally couldn’t put it down and even if I finish one chapter and start another, it leaves scenes in my head. How can the plot not be haunting when the supposed to be perfect relationship reveals to be rotting and destructive amidst the hopes and dreams set in a suburban life. It's haunting because the characters are as real as it gets. It could be your officemate, the person beside you in the bus. It could be anyone's relationship and it just could easily be yours. 

It’s a story about two people who shouldn’t be together in the first place. What’s more haunting than that? They enter marriage with hopes and ideals that don’t necessarily translate into reality. Here’s a wife who seeks for adventure, to not be confined in the usual suburban perfect household and who is not defined by her being a mother and a dutiful wife. Here’s a guy who has embedded the notion of success around acquiring a stable job, a good dutiful wife and a family he can provide for. Both aspire to be the better versions of each other even with the good intention to support one another only to fall short in actions as their true selves emerge. 

The story starts off sweet with a promise. They openly speak about their ideals and how they would not let themselves be branded as just another suburban what normal couples do. They vocally shared their need to be different, to experience life to the fullest. Everything seems to be sweet and promising until circumstances and certain comforts lead them to where they're not supposed to be. Soon the wife becomes frustrated, bored and helpless while the husband slowly falls into a comfortable routine, enjoying the role of any suburban father, providing security and stability. They had hope to be different at the first part of the novel, but the horror is that they are ending up to be the exact same persons they didn't want to be, the normal unimaginative suburban family. As they tried to pursue each other’s dreams, they soon realize that one has to give way to the other. The wife tends to be the one passively sacrificing until she became fed up to the point of hating the relationship and hating the her husband as a person. 

They are individuals who are in love with the figment of their dreams and hopes for each other. They both wanted different things in the beginning and it’s haunting to have them realize it too late when they already have roles to play and kids to consider. The husband knew the needs of his wife, but he wanted to present the better life to her thinking it was enough. The wife knew she would reach the breaking point but decides to continue simmering until it was too late. Hurtful words and dialogues far too real to be heard in ordinary couples clinch this book into a massive force. It’s not enough that the author efficiently speaks out the mind of Frank Wheeler or the acute observations on April Wheeler, but the conversations and interactions are very much an integral part of this whole masterpiece. “If you hate me so much, why are you living in my home? Why are eating the food that I provide?!”

Here marriage is an illusion and nothing’s more haunting than being involved in that.  

The Emperor's Children

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The Emperor’s Children 

by Claire Messud

I initially wanted to by Claire Messud’s The Woman Upstairs, her latest novel that’s been receiving good raves in literary blogs and magazines. But being currently hot on the market, even hard bound books are hard to obtain. Not that I would immediately get the hard bound book. I can always wait for trade paper backs especially for contemporary fiction. As I tried to research on Claire Messud’s background, I found out that she was first known for her novel The Emperor’s Children. I searched in Fully Booked and found one in Alabang. It was on hardbound. Clearly, I opted to wait for The Woman Upstairs instead. But after a few weeks on my regular trip to our neighboring Booksale, I came upon the hardbound copy of The Emperor’s Children for just 100 pesos. SOLD!

I read The Emperor’s Children on one gloomy day when the monsoon rains were beating the metro and I had to skip work. It thought it was the perfect novel. Contemporary on a gloomy day. A colleague of mine told me that he heard the novel was pretentious and not a good read. Well, I was even more intrigued than ever. I read the book from cover to cover only stopping for lunch or bathroom break. But sadly it was not because of the suspense and the intensity of the story, but it was just one of those days that my mood cooperated and I really wanted to get this done and over with.  My attention span was stable like the weather and I wanted to stick to the novel hoping that some chapter, some events would turn it around for me. In short, my mood and attention were just forgiving this day. 

Sadly, it wasn’t great. I was thinking it would be in the same league as St. Aubyn’s, but it was not. It was just a more sophisticated version of women trying to find themselves in the world, trying to be dramatic, when it’s not. I believe the word here is “pretentious” and that’s exactly what my colleague said. It’s a story about women in their 30’s trying to figure out what life is beyond the glitter and glamour of their world. There’s this popular, rich and beautiful daughter of a renowned novelist and there’s this brilliant and collected best friend who involves herself with a married man. There are of course distinct characters that will serve philosophical exchanges about life, but it’s all too trying hard for me. There were instances that I really don’t understand the purpose of the chapter, but I just had to go through the motions, if I were in any other unforgiving mood, I would’ve slammed the book and started another. I sensed that everything’s either trying hard to be dramatic that it turns out to be flat and superfluous. I believe some parts just prolonged the story and quite unnecessary. It wasn’t a treat in any case. If for anything, it would’ve been short story with the characters intact. 

Thank goodness I only read it the entire day. Finished it in 10 hours without much to say and grabbed the first book of Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments to sweep off the lull.

After 2 weeks: I saw The Woman Upstairs in National Bookstore in hardbound. Nah, I’d wait for paper back or probably an e-book copy. 

Ender's Game

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Ender’s Game

Orson Scott Card

Sci-Fi Books in general are not my cup of tea. In sci-fi genres, I would be effortlessly lost in materials, plots and details that if and when I decide to read one, it would entail a lot of concentration and an open mind. I'll take on heavy classics any day. 

Every time I read sci-fi, my pace would be so slow and I often get tired after. I tried to read Frank Herbert’s Dune two years ago. It took me months an

d a couple of books in between. The first few chapters got me, but in the middle of the alien worms, planet relocation and hoopla, I was just completely lost. I "threw" that book once out of frustration. After that, I tried to stay clear from Sci-Fi to recover. Fantasy and futuristic books I can handle, but aliens, future battle ships, space and gears are just alien to me. There is a lot of detail and imagination in that genre, I applaud them all (including Dune), but it's just so....

Though I tried to stay clear from Sci-Fi for quite some time (Thanks to Dune), I knew I would have to orient myself in 1 to 2 sci-fi books per year at least. So I tried to research on the top best sellers for sci-fi cause I had no allowance to experiment.  Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game always comes to the top of my list, in any reputable lists for that matter. I’ve heard of this before from friends who read sci-fi and I guess if I’m ever going to expose myself again in this genre, might as well pick one of the best. 

Ender’s Game cover wasn’t really enticing for me with all that gray metal battle ships. I was actually scared of starting it, but I figured it won't be that bad. It appeals generally kids and they will make a movie out of it soon.  

The thing is, it will never be one of my favorite books of all time, but it was bearable. Take it from a non-sci fi lover like me. It centers on the story of Ender Wiggin who is kick-ass smart, brave yet troubled youth, who enters the futuristic Battle School that teaches him to defeat the so-called “buggers” who threaten to destroy earth. In the Battle school, we read the disheartening story of old-school bullying and the longing for acceptance. Also in this book, we get to read tactical plays (some if it are hard to grasp, best to leave it to the movie to fully appreciate) in every battle sequences as we also get to have a glimpse of the government, the minor political field on earth and the equally troubled siblings of the main character.

I would automatically forget the technical parts of the story, though the concept of Battle School and Battle tournaments are cool. But if there's one thing that would stick with me it was how a 6-12 year old boy handled intense bullying in the system. Ender was bullied endlessly and sometimes physically challenged by his colleagues and trainers. Coming of age and dealing with intense teenage rivalry in a sci-fi set up is not as petty as it seems. 

I can easily see why this became one of the top sci-fi books. It’s sci-fi yet very easy to read. There’s a strong human element in this story. It's a cool book for teens too, keeps them strong amidst adversity. Coupled with fairly twisted and interesting characters, it’s a perfect book to be read by intelligent children and budding sci-fi novelists. The feeling reminds me of reading the classic Wrinkle in Time though in a more futuristic setting and an edgier plot.  

Red Tent By Anita Diamant

RL Stine’s, Archie Comics and Bobson Twins were not only my introductory reading pleasures when I was a kid. Believe it
or not, my parents bought us 2 heavy sets of Bible Stories at a time when Encyclopedias were a fashion and a must-have, and I loved it! It’s the perfect way for children to get to know the stories in the bible with excellent drawings and representation. It’s like reading a Fairy Tale book only that you get to read about Jacob, Elijah, Ester, David, Solomon, Jesus and so forth.

But sadly, Dinah is not very familiar to me. I can’t say that I’m an expert in Bible Stories, but I guess I am comfortable with what I know and I can say that I didn’t know who Dinah was.  To have her as the main character in Anita Diamant’s force of a novel was enough to make me want to read it.

The book is told on a first-person narrative of Dinah, the only daughter of Jacob and Leah. Yes, Dinah is the sister of Benjamin and the popular Joseph who was famous for receiving his brothers'  wrath, a colorful coat and was appointed in high office of the Pharaoh because he has a gift of interpreting dreams.  Though the book is fiction and is inspired by biblical texts and research, it’s like reading a novel about old village life during biblical times having the same ancestors like Jacob, Sarah, Abraham attending to domestic needs and troubles. But there are no grand romantic versions of the story which can be easily found in the Bible. Here, they are humans with shameful and relatable weaknesses. Despite their lineage, their humanity and sinfulness were greatly depicted.

The book centralizes on the Dinah’s family from the start of Jacob’s betrothal to the more popular women in the bible called Rachel, which then was moved to Leah who became his first wife. The book strengthens the story of what women’s roles are in family and society in which the Red Tent in their camp pertains to the symbol of womanhood, camaraderie and the gifts of being a woman. The life was told under Dinah’s perspective and day to day observations until she reached adolescent, womanhood and motherhood.

The characters you have known so well from the bible were humbled by the story. We also get to glimpse the position of women at those times. We’ve come a long way from being treated as mere properties, child factory and ornaments in a man’s household. Most importantly, you get to know this daughter of Jacob who has a darkened story in the bible and after which was silenced. Admittedly she is not one of the most popular women like her mother Leah or her Aunt Rachel; and in this book you’ll know why. You’ll see her glory and pain, but most importantly you’ll appreciate women’s life through her eyes.