Senses and Reflections

Once in a while, you listen to some songs and find that it magically transport you to another realm in which experiences, memories and everything will rush in as a flood of compressed information.

That is exactly what happened to me all the time when I listen to songs. There’re no songs in particular but each song is special in its own sense.

To me, emotions evoked when we listen to songs are just an extension of one of our human senses. I am thankful that I am endowed with healthy senses; all five of them (the sixth sense is still unproven so I will leave it as it is :-P).

Certain smell, taste, sound, touch or sight will evoke a totally different experience.
Thus, we should always try to take our time to inhale deeply, taste slowly, hear carefully, touch tenderly and look closely in most if not all of the things we do.

It is simpler to write and rant than done. I have that kind of dilemma all the time as well :-P. Though, living a fuller life would be up to the individual’s terms and pre-conditions.

Life is too short to live on the fast lane for way too long. Even rats need to rest for awhile during the supposedly hectic “rat-race”.

To all, whoever and wherever you’re from:

Bonne année! Bonne chance pour tout!
Bienvenue dans une nouvelle année 2010!

p/s: Nice, meaningful songs are meant to be repeated and savoured word by word :-)

Zipporah by Marek Halter

I finished reading this book on the dot during the midnight of Christmas Eve right before Christmas Day (2359hrs on 24 Dec 2009). Now on the final hours of Boxing Day (2359hrs on 26 Dec 2009), I decided to pen my thoughts on this book entitled Zipporah by Marek Halter. Truth to be told, I bought this book YEARS AGO… and if I recall correctly, I bought it about 4years ago and I managed to finish it because I am in the mood to finish my books before end of the year :-)

Most of the people would easily associate Moses as the one who lead the Israelites over the Red Sea and away from the whips and tortures of the Egyptian Pharaoh. But, the billion dollar questions are (in literal terms only); how did he do it and who are the people who supported him along the way?

It is in this sense that this book is written. It is written about the person(s) who supported Moses when he is still a runaway; when he has nothing to offer and when he was a lost soul himself.

Zipporah, a Cushite; herself is an adopted daughter of the wise sage of Midian on the slopes of Mount Horeb called Jethro. Wise beyond her years, she trusted and believed earnestly in the meaning of her dreams so much so that when she saw Moses, she knew instinctively that he’s the person who appeared in her dreams.

Along the way, she became the wife of Moses and gave birth to two sons named Gershom and Eliezer (who unfortunately died a horrible death during the stampede of the Israelites). Zipporah herself was treated as an outcast by most of the escaped Israelites despite being Moses’ wife.

Despite all those mistreatment on her, she remains steadfast in her conviction towards Moses’ greater purpose in life. Moses received the well known Ten Commandments whilst Zipporah was murdered by her estranged sister on her way back to Midian.

This is indeed a good book written on people “behind the scenes” on Moses’ ascend towards spiritual awakening and I am surprised it took me so long to finish this book itself.

Personal rating: 7 out of 10

Cons:
1) Great story telling on the background of Moses' life

2) Recommended book for Christmas Day :-)

Pros:
1) None

Countdown to 2010 :-)

It is nearing the end of Dec yet again and as usual, the gaiety of the moment brought along with it a sense of closure of the year we’ve had for this splendid year of 2009. I’m sure many have made and broke their New Year resolution but that is not the reason not to rejoice.

After all, New Year resolutions are not something carved in stone; even if it is; then too bad, we can’t achieve it, so no point pondering and waste the valuable brain juices to conduct post-mortem over what went wrong and etc. We’re “designed” to walk forward and we can’t even turn our head all the way back, which means that somehow or rather, our focus should always be aimed forward.

As of now, I’m listening to some Christmas songs over lunch and it never fails to give me goose bumps so much so that I had slight tear my eyes :-) not a bad thing though cos it is not an everyday event that simple songs can really touched our heart or I daresay, our soul.

I’m not sure about the rest of the population but every time I heard Christmas songs, I tend to imagine myself sitting on a comfortable couch by the window with my loved ones, firewood crackling at the background providing warmth throughout the house; me holding a mug of hot coffee (I prefer coffee more than chocolate :-P) while watching snowflakes falling from the sky. But then, this is Malaysia and we only have dry and rainy seasons. :-P It is not bad to stretch our imagination on things like this once in a while though.

So, the clock is ticking and the end of the year is around the corner. There’s no need to rush things off and work like mad to clear whatever tasks you have in your inbox.
In any case, set simpler resolution for next year (2010) and if we hit it, then its good.. if not, just move on :-)
Life will be less complicated in that way :-)

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all..
Hope you’ll have a pleasant and splendid HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010

p/s: I’ve “targeted” so many books I wanna buy for year 2010 :-) can’t wait…

The Star newspaper – Opinion Section - Restore the old buildings

ORIGINAL VERSION

Malaysia is a nice place to be in because she is bestowed with many grand buildings; both old and new ones.

However, when we browse through most of the Malaysian travel brochures, the focus will only be on modern, state of the art buildings and some cultural events.

This brings into mind the state of grand buildings scattered around inner sanctum of Penang Island.

We can see nice architectures built on an entirely different era and thus, it exudes an aura not present on most of the modern structures.

However, most of these old buildings are now under-utilised and left in state of disrepair.
Our government should take cue from countries, which promotes both the old and the new architectures alike.

For example, at Yokohama Prefecture, Japan, they have the Akarenga Sōko and at Otaru, Hokkaidō, Japan, they have the Nishin Goten along the canal waterway.

These buildings are restored, refurbished and converted to serve a totally different purpose than it was originally built for.

As such, there should be more concerted effort to spice up the buildings along the Penang jetty terminal instead of leaving them as it is.

CIPLAK,Georgetown.

Sent on: 11 Dec 2009

Star gazing

Do you still remember the time when you were young; gazing up the night skies only to see it blanketed by thousands of glittering stars and an equally bright moon?
I used to remember when I was really young, I had this dream of building a house with glass roof ala greenhouse by the body of water so that I can lie down and absorb the overall atmosphere.

But then, I grew up and the older I get, the more I realized that as we dwell into the hectic day-day rat-chase, the less we look up the night sky to admire the beauty of it all.
Viewing it from the eyes of an adult differs from the time when we saw it thru our naïve minds/eyes.
As an adult, all things material will supersede the simplistic approach towards admiring the handiwork of the super-stellar explosion of galaxies millions of light years away.

In fact, when was the last time we lie on our back and stare up with the surrounding environment enclosed in perfect harmony?
As a matter of fact, how many of us really took our time off to take a breather?

Watching the twinkle of stars made me feel small and with it, the feeling that we’re but a mere dust in the midst of galaxies.
It might just be me but in my opinion, nature has its own way to put an awe even on the greatest manmade superstructures.

Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa

This novel by Eiji Yoshikawa entitled Musashi has been republished no less than fourteen times, produced as feature film seven times, presented on countless stage plays and has been often made into mini-series on few of Japan’s nationwide networks.

So, it is a humbling experience to read such a gem first hand without being tainted by numerous adaptations floating around. I am unable to put too much of my thoughts about the book because this is an epic to begin with. Plus, this is the kind of book which book reviewers are at loss of words because it encompasses the very essence of life and living of another culture. This literary gem is so profoundly good that penning review and giving points will seem like an act of sacrilege to the sanctity of the novel itself.

This novel is about the life of Musashi Miyamoto and his journey towards becoming a legend/epic personage. The novel began with the aftermath of the battle of Sekigahara when Musashi was still known as Takezō Shimmen. His life was depicted as an angst ridden boy trying to grow up and made it big in the adult’s world while trying to become an accomplished samurai along the way. But as fate has it, Takezō (and his contacts around him) are embroiled in the circle of fate and karma until the beginning of his reemergence as Musashi Miyamoto and his ultimate transcendence as the master of swordsmanship and completing works which affects the very essence of the Japanese culture.

Do allow me to divert a bit because the review of this novel will not be complete without explaining on the significance of Musashi Miyamoto in helping to sculpt the unique Japanese culture.

For the uninitiated, Musashi Miyamoto published one of the most famous works of the Japanese bushidō (“The Way of the Warrior”) that date from the first half of the Edo period. The bushidō literature is called “Gorin no sho” which roughly translates as “The Book of the Five Rings”. His bushidō concept drew parallel comparison with Yamamoto Tsunetomo; another bushidō master of roughly the same era who published his bushidō concept called “Hagakure” which roughly translates as “Hidden among the Leaves”.

The main differences between these two works are the bushidō concept itself. For Musashi Miyamoto, the most important thing is not readiness to die, but winning. Where else Yamamoto Tsunetomo emphasise that the idea on readiness to let go of one’s life at any moment is the soul of bushidō.

This brings us back to the novel, which was beautifully sculpted along the life of Takezō Shimmen /Musashi Miyamoto albeit with slight dramatization or something to that effect. The beauty of this novel is that it sort of “explained” on his journey towards greatness and the change of perception from a humble beginning to become one of the great folklore heroes in Japan. Takezō Shimmen /Musashi Miyamoto practically came back to life and was given flesh, blood and soul in the hands of prolific and well-loved Japanese writer; Eiji Yoshikawa.

In my very humble opinion, this is the kind of hardcover that everyone should have in their book collection. The storyline is written in such a way that it “flows” from one chapter to the other. The linkage is so finely done that turning the pages and reading the paragraphs will elicit a feeling of being transported to the era when swords and honour reign supreme.

I’m so glad that that someone translated such a fine book into English language :-) An absolute must read. Period.

Personal rating: N/A

Cons:
1) None

Pros:
1) Too good. Read the review itself :-)

Lords of the Bow by Conn Iggulden

“Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation. They shall hold the bow and the lance; they are cruel and will not show mercy; their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle.”

- Jeremiah 50:41, 42

Paragraph above is quoted from the Old Testament; Book of Jeremiah and serves as the opening of this novel entitled: Lords of the Bow.

In this sequel to Wolf of the Plains, we're brought face-to-face again with one of the greatest conqueror in the world; Genghis Khan. The opening of this novel depicts the brutal inter-clan war afflicted on Mongols who refused to join the alliance. Virtually the whole clan is decimated; which proves the point that Genghis will stop at nothing to achieve his goal; which further shows that he is indeed a very determined, enigmatic and persistent leader.

It is also during this point of time that he was brought face-to-face with a soothsayer who apple-polished his way up the rank to become one of the close aides to the Great Khan. However, The Great Khan is not a person who pushes ahead without careful planning and is indeed a master strategist.

In fact, in this book, we were introduced to the fact that Genghis made careful and calculated planning befitting his stature and daunting his enemies into submission such as the usage of coloured tent (ancient "war traffic light" system consisting of red, white and black tents) to daunt the enemies into submission.

He is also not afraid to utilize more advanced war technologies available at that time; deception and even flooding the whole plain just to starve the inhabitant of Xi Xia into submission.
This novel ended with Genghis Khan taking over the empire of ancient China; thus fulfilling his desire to overcome the power that divided his people.

The post notes are helpful in shedding some lights on inner workings of the tribes on the plain and historical notes which wasn’t mentioned in most of the historical books.

Two events which had me thinking on the ultimate brutality of wars are:

1. The skeletons of the combatants in battle of the Badger’s Mouth littered the ground around that place for thirty miles.

2. Up to sixty thousand young girls threw themselves to death from the walls of Yenking rather than see it fall to the invader.

Personal rating: 7 out of 10

Cons:
1) None that I can think of.

Pros:
1) True-like description of Temujin/Genghis Khan and the people around him.
2) Learnt that it takes a whole lot of sacrifices to achieve such greatness as Genghis.
3) Another lesson in life. War is never a great thing. Both the winner and the vanquished suffer the same amount of torture in their claim to victory.

The Star newspaper - Opinion section - Meritocracy in Malaysia (not published)

It is disheartening to see our top scorers begging for a place to further their studies. I am not sure which is a better option, to continue serving the country of their birth; which does not appreciate them in return or moving out to seek new horizon or greener pasture so to speak.

There must be something wrong with our current policy because we provided almost free education from birth up till end of secondary school only to see their hopes dashed and other nations conveniently offered scholarship to lure our top talents out from the country.

Somehow, our policymaker must have realised these fundamental issues pertaining to our top scorers but chose to close their eyes towards their plight.

All the talk about meritocracy is nothing substantial unless drastic steps are taken to rectify preferably from top down. We cannot achieve Vision 2020 (is it still our vision?) with brain drain happening right in front of our eyes.

CIPLAK,
Penang, Malaysia

The Star newspaper - Opinion section - Revisiting Jelutong dumpsite (not published)

With reference to the article “Smells like clean spirit; The Star Lifestyle section; 26 May 2009”, I would like to highlight the condition of dumpsites in Penang Island particularly the one along the Jelutong Expressway.

It is an eye opener to see that New Yorkers are making progressive and sure steps to convert the biggest wasteland in the world into a recreational park in 30 years time.

Even our neighbouring country, Singapore has converted their wasteland into a marine/recreational park as highlighted in an article entitled “Dump wonderland; dated 16 May 2009”.

In local scene at Selangor, news entitled “Building paradise from wasteland; dated 4 May 2009” painted a stark picture against the effort done for dumpsite at Jelutong Expressway.

For start, Jelutong dumpsite has been in operation for more than 40 years serving millions of Penang ’s inhabitants but as with everything, there is a limit for a place to take the amount of waste generated by Penangites.

However, it is disheartening to see that instead of cutting down the dumping activities around the over-capacity dumpsite, the state government have decided to revive it into another cash cow by allowing even general public to dump their waste there for a fee as reported in “Fee for dumping; dated 29 April 2009”.

For the record, this dumpsite has far exceeded its capacity and in fact, it has over-extended into the secure region around the sea area, leaking leachate into open sea and harmed the surrounding environment.

On several occasions over the years, especially during dry season, massive fire happened via direct or indirect means too.

This indirectly placed the surrounding area at risk and not to mention the lives of our brave fire fighters called in to quell the fire.

What are the proactive steps taken by MPPP or the state government to address this issue?
Instead of dragging their feet and a whole lot of promises, stern actions must be taken knowing that we are not only harming the environment but human lives as well.

CIPLAK,
Jelutong, Penang.

The Star newspaper - Opinion section - Maintain the road signs as it is

ORIGINAL VERSION (I didn't keep the published version)

I would like to continue from the article entitled “Leave road signs alone by LOKE MAY LING of Petaling Jaya; Opinion; 24 July 2008”.

As a true blue Penangite myself, I am truly appalled by the notion of establishing road signs with languages ranging from Bahasa Malaysia , English, Chinese, Tamil, Jawi or Arabic. In fact, I agree full heartedly to the suggestion posted by Ms Loke in displaying road signs only in Bahasa Malaysia and English.

Imagine the consequences if non-Penang residents and tourist were shown road signs cramped with 4 to 5 languages in one board. It would not only create unnecessary confusion but might also interrupt the view of traffic users.

How about Melaka? Are they going to establish road signs in Bahasa Malaysia , English, Chinese, Tamil, Jawi or Arabic plus Portuguese language considering the fact that they have significant number of Portuguese community there?

Thus, I beg the Penang State Government as well as the Ex-State Government officials to be considerate and think over the whole scenario in-depth before jumping into the UNESCO site listing bandwagon prematurely. No doubt we have to work extra hard to ensure that Penang is not to be delisted 3 years down the road but cramping 4 to 5 languages in one road sign is definitely not a good way to kick start this plan.

CIPLAK,
Penang.

Published on: Sometime on July 2008

The Star newspaper - Opinion section - Take Bahasa Malaysia across the borders, too

WITH reference to “New award for BM development” (The Star, Oct 7), I would like to commend the effort by the Government to propagate thelearning of Bahasa Malaysia among citizens.

We should not rest on our laurels but expand the usage of BahasaMalaysia, particularly when the call sign of the day is 1Malaysia.

Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, being the guardian of our national language,should play a proactive role in disseminating the progress of the languageoutside of Malaysia.

The British Council (UK), Alliance Française (France), Malaysia-GermanSociety (Germany) and Japanese Language Society (Japan) providelessons for their respective languages.

They have centralised and structured learning programmes linked to theirrespective ministries in their home country. Each centre works as a mirrorimage to the other with standardised syllabus and internationallyrecognised certificates.

Besides enabling foreigners to learn their respective languages, thecentres also act as snapshots on their country’s culture.

Thus, to expand the usage of Bahasa Malaysia, we should not alwaysconcentrate on language expansion within Malaysia. We should think outof the box and welcome foreigners to embrace our language.

It is a long shot, but let it be known that the effect of such a forward movewould indirectly be the pride of us, Malaysians, as we will then be knownas native Bahasa Malaysia speakers.

CIPLAK,
George Town.

Published on: Monday October 12, 2009


ORIGINAL VERSION

Take Bahasa Malaysia to the next level
With reference to Nation column entitled “New award for BM development” published on Wednesday October 7, 2009; I would like to commend on the effort by the Malaysian government to propagate the learning of Bahasa Malaysia to its citizens.

While English is undeniably the lingua franca of the world, we should not rest our laurels on the need to expand the usage of Bahasa Malaysia particularly when the call sign of the day is 1Malaysia.

However, to present the award for BM development on home turf will not have the same effect as the participation would only be confined to Malaysia.

In my opinion, Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka, being the guardian of our national language should play a more proactive role in disseminating the progress of the language outside of Malaysia.

Few examples on dissemination of foreign languages in Malaysia are British Council (UK), Alliance Française (France), Malaysia-German Society (Germany) and Japanese Language Society (Japan).

These centers have centralized and structured learning programs linked to their respective ministries in their home country and are internationally certified.

Each center worked as mirror image to the other with standardized syllabus and internationally recognized certificates.

Besides enabling foreigners to learn their language, these centers also act as a snapshot on their country’s culture at the same time.

Thus, to expand the usage of Bahasa Malaysia, we should not always concentrate on the language expansion within Malaysia.

We should think out of the box and welcome foreigners to embrace our language and our culture in one go.

It is a long shot but let it be known that the effect of such forward move would indirectly cement the importance and pride of us Malaysians as we will then be known as native Bahasa Malaysia speaker.

CIPLAK,
Georgetown.

The Star newspaper - Opinion section - Only fair that stores wrap books in plastic

(I didn't keep the ORIGINAL version)

I REFER to “Only country to wrap books in plastic?” (The Star, July 22). It seems almost noble if we allow shoppers to browse through books and not seal them in plastic.

Much as I love to enter bookstores that do not seal their books, I also understand the reason behind this. Bookstores are a business, and it is also an undeniable fact that no one wants to buy an old and crumpled book.

I have seen many instances where readers bend books as if they’re reading a newspaper only to put it aside if they like what they read and pick up a new, sealed book.

I am an avid reader and I keep my books in good condition. So, to see the public treating books this way is almost sacrilegious.

As such, I think bookstores are doing the right thing to seal their books. Besides, we can always request assistance from the salesperson in the store at any time.

CIPLAK,
Jelutong, Penang.

Published on: Thursday July 23, 2009

The Star newspaper - Opinion section - Living the true meaning of Merdeka

COMMENTS by our Deputy Prime Minister as quoted in your report “Sincere friendship leads to unity” on Aug 18 struck the right chord at the right time.

Aug 31 is around the corner yet again and despite countless joint celebrations, open houses and revelry in the name of national unity, we miss the real intention behind those festivities.

We have heard countless times over the mass media that we, the young generation, do not understand the true meaning of Merdeka any more. While it might be partly true, the blame should not be one-sided at all.

In fact, the meaning of Merdeka has warped into a miasma of ideals and perspectives with no right or wrong answers. Some political leaders have branded those who do not fly the flag during Merdeka celebrations as unpatriotic. To me, the meaning of Merdeka should come from the heart and not from action alone. I can vouch that even though I do not fly the national flags on my car or in front of my house during the National Day, I am a true Malaysian at heart.

I proudly declare I am a Malaysian when I am overseas. My closest friends are not confined to one race or religion. We have been friends since childhood, treat each other’s family with great respect and we can sit together to discuss any issue – sensitive or otherwise – with open hearts and great understanding.

Our DPM said it very clearly when he urged all of us to forge meaningful friendships with each other regardless of race and religion. Such a friendship needs to be nurtured from young.

CIPLAK,
Penang.

Published on: Thursday August 20, 2009


ORIGINAL VERSION

UNITY THROUGH FRIENDSHIP

Comments by DPM in the article entitled “Sincere friendship lead to unity”; published on 18 August 2009 is apt and struck the right chord at the right time. 31 August is around the corner yet again and despite countless joint celebrations, open houses and revelry in the name of national unity, we missed the real intention behind those festivities.

We heard countless times over mass media that we, the young generation does not understand the true meaning of “MERDEKA” anymore. While it might be half truth, the blame should not be one sided at all. In fact, the meaning of Merdeka has warped into miasma of ideals from countless opinions and perspectives with no right or wrong answers. It was not long ago that some politician dictated that those who did not fly the Malaysian flags during Merdeka celebration are deemed unpatriotic. To me, the meaning of Merdeka should come from the heart and not from action alone.

I can vouch that despite not putting up flags on my car or in front of my house during the National Day, I am a true Malaysian at heart. I pronounced my country’s name proudly when asked about my nationality when I was abroad. My closest friends are neither confined to one race nor religion. We spent great times together from childhood onwards; treat each other’s family with great respect and we can even sit together to discuss about any issues; sensitive or otherwise with open hearts and great understanding.

To achieve this state is not easy and our DPM has stated this explicitly in his speech when he urged all of us to strike up meaningful friendships with each other without regard for race and religion. To me, advice will remain as it is without effort from each and every one of us. The hurdle to foster such friendship is on personal level and need to be nurtured from young onwards.

To all my closest friends I called “machas” and “brothers”.

HAPPY NATIONAL DAY and HAPPY MERDEKA!!

CIPLAK,
Penang.

The Star newspaper - Opinion section - I am CIPLAK

Besides penning book reviews, I do write to The Star newspaper - Opinion section on various issues as well. I've never posted any of these articles anywhere else.

However, I’ve decided to post these articles here so that I can keep a list on items which I’ve sent to them.

Happy reading. Cheers :-)

P/S: - By the way, my nickname/call-sign is CIPLAK. So if you see this nick in newspaper, it’s me :-) unless someone else hijacks it :-(

The Sanctuary by Raymond Khoury

First of all, I have to admit that this is a hard book to pen my review. Though the main idea of the book is simple, it took me quite some time to put my thoughts into words. In fact, I’ve actually finished reading the book quite some time ago and I’ve lagged in adding this book in my blog list. :-/

IMMORTALITY.

This very word sums up the overall plot for this book. What would we do in order to achieve immortality? The prospect of treating aging just like a disease instead of a natural phenomenon seems like an allure too good to be true. However, if we see from the multitude of cosmetic advertisements bombarding our mass media each day; their main selling point will always be anti-aging or reversal of aging process. Billions of dollars are spent each year on such experiments/gimmicks. As such, it is not surprising that a lot of people would kill each other just to get a taste of that as the plot of the book suggests.

The story started off at Portugal in 1750 when the Prince of San Severo – Raimundo di Sangro accuses Marquis de Montferrat as an imposter and did his best to pry the secrets harboured by the fake Marquis who barely escaped the pursuit leaving the fuming prince with new kind of obsession and would stop at nothing to get his hand on it.

After the incident at 1750, the story was fast forwarded to year 2003 at Baghdad, in which an army unit tracking Saddam’s cronies accidentally stumbled upon a fortress and made startling discovery on a hidden, state-of-the-art lab where gruesome experiments conducted by Saddam’s regime under the cloak of legitimate scientific research using actual human being instead of lab rats.

When the regime was torn asunder by the coalition forces, the brilliant scientist involved in the despicable experiments called “Hakeem” fled; carrying with him the vengeance and urge to tweak and complete his research. The only symbol/clue left behind is an Ouroboros – the tail devourer – a circular symbol of a snake that’s feeding on its own tail; thus forming a circle.

From this Ouroboros trail, a geneticist called Mia Bishop, her daughter, her long lost dad and a renegade CIA agent is drawn into the affluence of action and conspiracy. Thus, from the starting point at Portugal to the actions at Middle East, we’re brought into the roller-coaster ride packed chapters and page turning adventures.

Personal rating: 7 out of 10

Cons:
1) None that I can think of.

Pros:
1) Sufficient breather in between all the actions. Good action packed book.
2) Far fetching idea on immortality but it is a refreshing twist if we consider the possibility of looking at aging as a disease instead of accepting it as an unchangeable fact.

Siege of Heaven by Tom Harper

“Siege of Heaven”. By reading the title and The Cross splayed at the front cover, I was immediately drawn to the prospect of reading about another round of Crusade War. I think this is a trilogy and I’ve inadvertently bought myself the final book without realizing it in the first place.

This book is about a spy called Demetrios Askiates (I’ve double checked the spelling :-P); who was sent by the Holy Roman Emperor to the front line to joust the lagging group of crusaders from Antioch and proceed to secure the crown jewel of Christendom; Jerusalem. But the plot is far from simple because each of the powerful kings & lords involved in the war including the Holy Roman Emperor himself has hidden agenda of their own.

In this novel, Demetrios was a war-scarred person and wanted nothing more than going back to the gleaming city of Constantinople to be with his family. However, his wish was dashed when he received directive from the Holy Roman Emperor to assist their ambassador to complete the routing of powerful kings and lords from their seat at Antioch and move on to Jerusalem.

Unwilling but unable to turn down the directive, he slogged ahead only to find that his estranged son-in-law has also joined in the Holy Roman war-party and also pulled his beloved daughter and grandchild in the process. So, as what we locals said in Hokkien (direct translation); “khi pun si; bo khi pun si” = “go also die; no go also die”. :-)

Demetrios did stumble and enlist a feverish preacher/pastor called Peter Bartholomew who laid claim on finding the Holy Lance. Surprisingly, Peter managed to rouse the peasants despite in-fighting amongst the nobles. Though in the end, he died after pulling too much of his trick (Example: Peter claimed that he was bestowed with the spirit of invincibility) and walked across burning fire to prove his dare. This and much of the strange events accompanied our main character on his journey across the burning inhospitable plains and desert.

The overall storyline is told not far from the perspective of Demetrios and I have to admit that the war description is rather detailed and true to the condition exerted on the war-party/pilgrimage during that era. The end part was rather brutal in which the carnal fiesta, massive plundering and unrestricted carnage afflicted on the citizens of Jerusalem made me think about the dire consequences of adhering to the mob mentality.

Unthinkable is an understatement at best!

Personal rating: 6 out of 10

Cons:
1) A bit lost in the beginning. I presume it is because I bought the last book of the trilogy. :-P
2) I find that Demetrios did not play much “active” role in the novel. He is more like a follower than a spy or a leader.

Pros:
1) Very good description on the war scene. Surreal and engaging especially on the final capture of Jerusalem.
2) Amplifies the fact that war is never a good thing.

Seven Ancient Wonders by Matthew Reilly

I was really looking forward to this book because the prospect of reading about imminent catastrophic solar event linked to the Seven Ancient Wonders is really small. Not many authors dare to thread this line and fictionally link all these SAWs together. Perhaps except Matthew Reilly.

I’ve read 1/3 of the book and truth to be told………..

It is an utter disaster of catastrophic proportion!

The more I read, the more my brain tried to link between the sequences in the book with Mario Bros/Bomberman/Donkey Kong video games! I’m not joking or under influence of alcohol when I wrote those statements. Read more of the review before you decide to jump the gun.

From what I read so far (Note: The following summary is based on 1/3 of the story), the book is about a group of ultra-super-duper commandos from the most elite commando team in the world; the cream of the crop, best of the best, cream of society, cream of the cream, crème de la crème, pick of the litter, privileged class, smart set, the elite, the finest, the privileged, upper class, upper crust; converge to find seven pieces of ancient artifacts and piece them together before the solar event which will spell the end of the world.

Not only that, this team of the “creamiest of the creamiest” had to forge ahead and compete with 2 other groups of national representatives from USA (who else) and European Union; who coincidentally are represented by their own set of “creamiest of the creamiest” as well. So, the question now is who is more “creamy” and would first get their hands on the coveted SAWs?

I’m under no pretense to praise this book but this is a really good RPG/GAME BOOK! It shouldn’t be in the THRILLER SECTION at all..!! Beats me on why Borders decided to stick the “Mystery/Thriller” tag at the back page. It is really misleading. They should have sold this book at Toy”R”Us as it’ll fit just right in.

Read at your own peril because it is too “game-ish” with multiple levels, traps and enemies to overcome before they can succeed. The best part is; the book comes with illustration for each level... (It’s true... I’m not making this up); just in case the reader cannot comprehend the level of difficulties/traps faced by our ultra-super-duper gang.

Sigh… why o’ why I bought this book in the first place :-( I’ve wasted my hard earned money on yet another truly painful book to read and I’m wondering if I should slog on to finish it.. Sigh sigh sigh :-(

Personal rating: 2 out of 10 (for the effort and writing the book in the first place)

Cons:
1) Please refer to the review

Pros:
1) Please refer to the review

Tamas by Bhisham Sahni

This book called Tamas (Darkness) by Bhisham Sahni is labeled as modern classic. Truth to be told, the first word that crossed my mind when I see that word “classic” is “boring”. So in mathematical term (at least in my mind); classic = boring :-). But this isn’t the case for Tamas and it has changed my perception forever after I read this beautiful book written by one of the most prolific writer from India. It is considered classic for its no-nonsense description of religious brutality inflicted on everyone prior to the partitioning of India and Pakistan.

In this novel; which started from the point of the killing of a pig by Nanthu for supposedly clinical examination though unbeknownst to him, there are ulterior motives behind the big reward for his “hard work”. The slain pig was found thrown on the steps of a village mosque and thus started the chain reaction of unforeseen proportion. Neighbours who have lived in the same village for decades suddenly found themselves alienated and lines were drawn between the religious borderline.

In-fighting were rapt and killings were initiated and carried out based on rumour and hearsay. War-mongering personnel worked behind the line and tip-toed from one village to the other whispering discontent to pricked ears. Families were shattered, lives were lost. Discontent grew into pure hatred and old flames of religious fervor turned into pure action.

However, Bhisham also managed to capture the very sentiment of human relationship when those from different religions stopped as they face with the impossibility of murdering someone whom they’ve known or contacted throughout their lives as neighbours. There were also a group of good natured Congress members who tried to mend the ways before, during and after the breakout with members slain and sacrificed in the name of peace.

British influences were minimal to quell the fire though in the end, the fighting was stopped just by an act of flying an airplane over the villages and imposing curfews on the fighting-torn villages. End chapters depict the path of recovery where neighbours no longer trust each other and subjugated civilians looked to their British masters as savior amongst the ruin.

This is a book where stark realities of depressed religious fervor are very much alive in each and every one of us. As one stand-up comedian once said (I forgot which stand-up comedian said it though); “religious wars are fought to determine who has the best invisible friend”. I truly believe that every religion preaches only peace and love among us. I guess this is what Bhisham Sahni wanted to convey in this novel. A truly recommended read and a true classic indeed.

Personal rating: 10 out of 10

Cons:
1) None that I can think of.

Pros:
1) A classic book that everyone should read and savour first-hand. Period.

Evening is the Whole Day by Preeta Samarasan

It is not easy for me to admit this but philosophical/drama kinds of books are never my top choice when it comes to book selection. I was "deeply traumatised" by the book entitled The Known World by Edward P. Jones (multiple award winner mind you :-))... the book was so boring and so slow moving that it has sat UNREAD on my reading table for more than 3years (I bought the book in 25 July 2006) and I doubt I will pick it up anytime soon with the other unread books lying around the vicinity :-P

Anyway, that is another matter altogether... surprisingly, I bought this book without even reading thru its first few pages and truth to be told; I am really pleased with my impromptu decision. The writing style of this book is so abstractly different than the multitude of books I’ve read so far. It goes back and forth, left to right, up and down, across the decades and definitely across boundaries.

This book revolves around the Rajasekharan's family and the way everything revolves around them. Each and every one of the family members are involved in one way or the other and closely interlinked whether they realised it or not. Reminds me of the movie “Babel” starred by Brad Pitt.

There is no main character in this family drama though the characters often in the spotlight would be the family itself... so, to save the mind boggling read, here are the main casts:

Paati:
Role: The Grandma. Dead during the start of the novel. However, she came back to life in the middle part of the novel and dead for good after she fell while taking her bath. She was supposedly "murdered" by Uma and consistently tortured by Amma. But it was Chellam who was blamed by the finger-pointing Aasha (who wanted to protect Uma and get into Uma's good book again). Loved and protected Uma when Uma was young only to be deserted by Uma when she was an old lady.

Appa:
Role: The Dad. Fiery politician before the 1969 Malaysia's racial riot. Then he turned into a consummate lover, lawyer and two-timer dad who had extra-marital affair with a Chinese char koay teow seller. He also inadvertently fondled Uma's pubescent body on one eventful night and blamed everyone except himself for it.

Amma:
Role: The Mom. A quiet illiterate girl who stole Appa's heart and lived a lavish life playing the role of “tai-tai”. She literally fought with Uma for Appa's attention and jealous of Uma for being the smart one in the family. A lady who wanted everything for herself and being pretentious while exerting her territorial home ground over Paati.

Uma:
Role: The Eldest Daughter. Smartest and pride of the family. Appa's favourite daughter until the eventful night when Appa took it all away with her bare hands. In this novel, Uma became the quiet one who looked forward for her one way ticket trip to USA to further her studies in one of the Ivy League universities. Her main goal however is to escape the trappings of the family. Close to Paati and Aasha once but drifted apart after the incident with Appa.

Suresh:
Role: The Son. Born on the night of 13 May 1969; The Malaysian racial riot. The joker in the family who looked things on different perspective. Protective over her youngest sister, Aasha. Often bantering her for being too preoccupied in trying to win over Uma's love.

Aasha:
Role: The Youngest Daughter. Inadvertently broke news on Uma's intention to move to USA to get married with Appa's brother (which wasn't true). Saw the real incident of Paati's death behind the green PVC settee but concealed the truth and blamed Chellam instead. Desperately wanted Uma to stay back and cancel her intention to move out of the house. She has ability to see dead people and talks to them all the time.

Chellam:
Role: The Servant. The unfortunate addition to the family. Originally hired to take care of Paati 100% of her time. Soon, she was blamed for all the wreck up of the family (including the nonsensical affair with Appa's brother) but the last straw was being blamed for Paati's death. She has a drunkard good-for-nothing father and not surprisingly, she committed suicide in the end.

Told you the story is complicated :-) but reading it is like peeling an onion. It comes off layer by layer and by the end of the book; you'll feel really contented and pleased with the outcome. A real good book and praise to the author for writing such a compelling story.

Personal rating: 10 out of 10

Cons:
1) Rather confusing during the beginning but it is OK after you’ve grasp the flow of the story.

Pros:
1) Daring venture from a new author especially because it touches on the 13 May 1969 Malaysia racial riot issue.
2) Book is written in a different paradigm which Malaysians can truly understand.
3) Informative book on the growth, politic & society linkage of a country called Malaysia.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

“That which is impenetrable to us really exists. Behind the secrets of nature remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion.”

Who would have thought that such words would be uttered by one of the most brilliant mind in the world? The person who wrote a book so thick and so well defined that few could ever understand it. The person is none other than the creator of E=mc2. The great Albert Einstein himself.

In this latest book by Dan Brown, the plot is again focused on the hero Robert Langdon and his escapades filled with symbols, interpretation and lots of historical facts/fiction (depending on which sides you're taking :-P).

Robert Langdon was tricked into this by the baddie, Mal’akh and thus began his quest of deciphering the symbols strewn along the way. Of course our hero will always be assisted by a genius lady; in this case, the lady is Katherine Solomon. The person in much distress this time is Peter Solomon (notice the similar surname?)

The enigmatic Mason society has been breached at the highest order (Mason's Thirty-Third Degree) by a person who called himself Mal'akh. A person who sets his mind on learning the great secret and Ancient Mysteries held by the Masons by planning his eventual transcendence as THE ULTIMATE EVIL; which involves killing the Solomon family, one-by-one, and those who stood in his evil path.

However, in the end, our anti-hero didn’t manage to achieve his goal as his ultimate victory was spoilt by his father... none other than Peter Solomon himself..!! What a bummer, a dad who doesn’t recognize his own son..!! No wonder the wasted kid turned into Mal’akh after his escape from Turkish prison. Peter Solomon, despite being an overtly rich person, decided to teach his only son; Zachary a lesson or two in being a righteous person by denying the guard some “coffee money” in exchange for the early release of the kid. No wonder Zachary aka Andros aka Mal’akh is pissed.

Robert Langdon fumbled quite a lot in this novel and if not for handy-man or assistance he received along the way, he wouldn’t be able to decipher the multi-layered Masonic symbols and interpretations hidden even among the venerable Thirty-Third Degree Brotherhood.

The ending part of the book explained on the Ancient Mysteries in which the summary would be discouraging literal interpretation of great books such as Bible, Quran, Torah and such. New field such as Noetic Science (try googling this out :-)) is one of the mainstream subjects in this novel. We also found out that the founders of USA did leave a lot of Mason landmarks during the early years of the country’s birth. You’ll have to read thru the book to find out more about that though :-)

In my opinion, this book fell into the same trap as what I pointed out for The Tower by Valerio Massimo Manfredi. It seems to me that Dan wrote this book to be adapted into silver screen and not to be read. To me, the plots are rather weak and the writing style of the novel remains the same as previous 2 books. The ending part of the book is rather confusing because Dan tried to explain and summarize the gist of the novel into the last 3 chapters.

Personal rating: 6 out of 10

Cons:
1) Closure of the novel is rather confusing. I had to read and digest it slowly before I can really grasp the overall idea.
2) Plot of the book is too cheesy. To me, it looks as if the book is written solely for silver screen.
3) Writing style is the same as 2 previous books. No change in the modus operandi.
4) To sum it all up, I am very disappointed with the book despite the initial euphoria.

Pros:
1) Fast moving storyline and ample cliffhangers along the chapters.
2) Interesting little known facts about the Masons and the early founders of USA. I did write down those itsy-bitsy of info and googled it after I’ve finished the book.

Wolf of the Plains by Conn Iggulden

"A multitude of rulers is not a good thing,
Let there be one ruler, one king"

“Homer; The Iliad”

That is indeed a very powerful statement from The Iliad; taking cues from this statement is a book written about enigmatic founder and ruler of the largest contiguous empire in the history of mankind; none other than Genghis Khan himself.

Despite all the grandiose war campaigns and conquests made throughout his life, it surprises me to see that even the Great Khan himself came from a harsh and strained beginning. A boy casted out from life of brotherhood together with his family after his father's unfortunate end. Death tinged with complot by ruler of another ancient empire to keep the tribes separate and at war with each other.

Temujin (as The Khan was known before he took the title of the Khan) was forced to live in exile together with his abandoned family and had to eke his living based on his wits and survival instincts alone.

He not only managed to survive but also emboldened his move and secure alliances with the loose tribes across the wilderness as he arranged his final check piece and head towards his arch nemesis; The Empire of China.

Though this book is about Temujin/Genghis Khan during his younger days, this book is well written as it encompassed life and perspectives of people around him as well.

The next book in this Genghis series is called "Lords of The Bow".

Personal rating: 7 out of 10

Cons:
1) None that I can think of.

Pros:
1) True-like description of Temujin/Genghis Khan and the people around him.
2) Learnt that it takes a whole lot of sacrifices to achieve such greatness as Genghis.
3) Another lesson in life. War is never a great thing. Both the winner and the vanquished suffer the same amount of torture in their claim to victory.

Memnon by Scott Oden

War, war and more wars... it is not surprising that we live in an environment of constant warfare from ancient time onwards. In this book simply entitled "MEMNON", we're introduced to yet another valiant hero whose deeds and bravado have unfortunately been eclipsed by the mercurial conqueror called Alexander the Great.

In fact, little is known of this Memnon fellow... that is until a mysterious old lady and his loyal Egyptian servant (Harmouthes) engaged a scribe (Ariston) to pen down the life story of this great man.

In this book, we're introduced to the life and tribulations of Memnon from his early years to his encounter with Alexander the Great. The storyline is written from both sides of the coin. That is, from the narrator and also the hero's point of view. This is indeed a thick book, thus, details are not unnecessarily truncated to make way for brevity of facts. Heroes are made and unmade in the course of history and I can't help but to pity the fate that fell on such a great man... man who deserve the honour amongst the great ancient fallen heroes.

War is indeed brutal and Scott really made it a point to describe the harsh reality of ancient warfare especially in man-to-man combat that made me cringe just by imagining the sort of wound inflicted on both the winner and the vanquished.

This is indeed a book not for the weak hearted. However, there are of course some element of love and feelings infused on the layers upon layers of mortal humans. Inescapable facets of life as usual.

Thus, I would recommend this book to the people who intend to understand more about ancient warfare and how it affects the life’s of those within and around it. As it is obvious that war does not affect only the losing party but also the winner in the tugs-of-war of life.

Personal rating: 7 out of 10

Cons:
1) Can be a bit draggy at times especially on the midpart of the novel

Pros:
1) Descriptions of war can be brutal and lifelike.
2) We're introduced to yet another hero of the ancient times; with a lot of details to boot.
3) Lessons in life. War is never a great thing. Both the winner and the vanquished suffer the same amount of torture in their claim to victory.

The Tower by Valerio Massimo Manfredi

In this novel, we're brought face to face with the root of all EVVVVIIILLL... nyek nyek nyek... sorry, got carried away trying to sound "evil-lish" :-P let's restart... ahemm..

In this novel, we're brought face-to-face with the root of all EVIL. The EVIL which shall not be named (reminds me of Harry Potter) and which has rooted ITSELF on the face of planet Earth since the beginning of time. The kind of EVIL which can kill with just the shrill sound of its voice and with an armada of headless army called Blemmyae to protect its final bastion.

Like any other EVIL-LISH novel, there will be a band of homo sapiens trying to decipher the signs and to neutralise this reign of terror and there will also be another band trying to tap into the limitless potential of Evil to his/her own agenda (in this case, this Evil entity moves around quite a lot).

The storyline started more than 2000years ago when a legion of Romans were sent to the extreme end of the African desert in attempt to find the fabled "last Paradise on Earth" when they accidentally stumbled upon THE TOWER of EVIL. The whole legion were wiped out except one haruspex saved by the sistrum.

Fast forwarded few millennia and we have our motley crew of heroes trying to destroy The Tower, gathering friends/foes, getting chased by bad guys, found treasures, fell in love and got laid BUT did they destroyed The Tower and its legion of doom? You'll have to read to find out :-)

Anyway, in my opinion, this is definitely NOT one of the star books written by Valerio (FYI, he is the author of Alexander series adapted into silver screen starred by bad boy Colin Farrell). In fact, I find that the plot is bland without any eye-lifting or page turning actions. It feels as if Valerio wrote this book as a precursor to a film script.

The starting part; the flow of the storyline; the heroes and the baddies aka actors & actresses; the ending part are written in such a way that you can feel like you're watching a movie or soon to be adapted into a movie. This, in my opinion doesn’t augur well for a book written by such an accomplished writer.

Read at your own peril for Blemmyae is lurking everywhere... nyek nyek nyek...

Personal rating: 5 out of 10

Cons:
1) The plots are weak and too "script-ish"
2) No page turning actions or attention grabbing moments (except for getting laid part :-P)
3) Definitely not one of best books by Valerio

Pros:
1) Learnt few more items on Roman/Etruscan history

Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk

In this novel by Chuck Palahniuk entitled "SNUFF" (meaning either as powder tobacco or extinguish), we're introduced lock, stock and barrel into the world wide web of porn. At first glance, this thin looking book sounded sinisterly like a porn book (what else :-P) with promise of explicit remarks and equally explicit description of human couplings. In short, sex book ala Penthouse, Hustler or Playboy. But the truth is far from assumption mentioned above.

It’s about 600 gang-bangers wanna-be congregating in an area for a grand bang-bang party and/or grand send-off for one of the most famous porn star; Cassie Wright (now aging and past the peak of her career). She wanted this to be the last and the most memorable ever. Surpassing even the fellow gang-bang record holder Annabel Chong... however, things are not as easy as it seems because there's 1 person out of these crowd of hot rods who wanted to kill her. Readers will have to get ready to play 4 different roles in this book told from the perspectives of Mr. 72, Mr. 137, Mr. 600 and Sheila; and it is indeed a fun-filled read with equally surprising ending.

This book has a lot of statements and descriptions noted ubiquitously as "TRUE FACT" which had me scratching my head and had to Google to verify its validity. The following are some of the examples:

1) Hugh Hefner bought mausoleum niche next to Marilyn Monroe because he wanted to spend eternity lying next to the most beautiful women who had ever lived.
2) Eric Flemming died on set of High Jungle when his canoe overturned in Amazon River and piranhas finished the job while camera is rolling.

Not forgetting porn term like "pop shot" as another method of birth control; which means "the male performer achieves orgasm inside the female performer without wearing a condom. After he withdraws, the female performer contracts her pelvic floor with enough force to forcefully expel the ejaculate from her vaginal orifice".

To wrap it all up, this is a highly entertaining book with loads of info and pleasure infused into these 197 pages. However, do not expect this book to be adapted into silver screen (unless they wanted to adapt it into indie film such as “BOOGIE NIGHTS”) or Man’s Booker prize material.

Personal rating: 8 out of 10

Cons:
1) None that I can think of.

Pros:
1) A lot of little known trivia facts; which I assume to be true.
2) Highly entertaining read with rare insight into the world of porn; including trials and tribulations faced by the porn actors and actresses.

Demon Of The Air by Simon Levack

I bought this book after I watched Mel Gibson's movie entitled Apocalypto. As far as I know, Aztec or Latin American civilisations are rarely taken into context when it comes to fiction writing. In fact, so rare that I bought this book just out of curiosity as:

1) It is based on Aztec civilisation
2) I'm piqued to find out more about the Aztecs
3) This book won the Debut Dagger Award (FYI, it's a crime novel writing award)

Details of the Aztecs are worth mentioning here. I managed to find out quite a lot of new stuff but the investigation part is quite a sore.
This novel is supposedly about Aztec civilisation with some Sherlock Holmes investigation infused into it.

Our hero in this novel is called Yaotl (don't ask me how to pronounce the name :-P). Yaotl was escorting one sacrificial victim to his doom when his victim mumbled prophecy and leaped to his death before being actually sacrificed on the altar of God.

Yaotl was then called by Emperor Montezuma to start investigating into those prophesy and uncover the meaning to his dream of mysterious strangers appearing in the East. Naturally, things are not as simple as what it seems. Our hero is pitted with all kinds of challenges along the way.

Perhaps it's just me because I find it hard to link criminal investigation with Aztec civilisation at the same time. It’s like 2 different dishes being thrown into one pot. As such, I don't intend to buy the sequel entitled "Shadow of the Lords"

Personal rating: 5 out of 10

Cons:
1) I can't digest the investigation mixed with Aztec part. Does not appeal to me

Pros:
1) Good description of the Aztec's way of life (hence the 5 points given for this novel)

Brethren by Robyn Young

Truth to be told, I was a bit skeptical when I picked this book up amongst the rack displaying all other established authors. Even the opening acknowledgement from the author is quite humbling in the sense that she thanked the reader before anyone else.

So, I decided to flip to the first few pages and immediately I was hooked to it. It was an abrupt but firm decision. I knew I had to have this book home with me ASAP.

As shown in the cover, this book is about the Knights of the Templar in the eve of the Last Crusade in which Western powers have secured their respective bastions in the Holy Land.

The novel is written from 2 fronts. Will Campbell from the Templar and Amir Baybars from Mamluk's side. Both written on equal footings and also on their trials and tribulations to achieve their goals.

Will trying to become a Templar Knight while trying to secure the code of Anima Templi which will bring down the Templar institution if fell to wrong hands.

On Baybars' side, he had to overpower the inept administration and also bring together his people to drive the European invaders out from the Holy Land.

This is supposed to be a trilogy but each novel can stand quite well on its own without much linkage to the former or latter novels.

Next novel is entitled "Crusade" followed by "Requiem".

Personal rating: 8 out of 10 (really well written for a new author)

Cons:

1) None that I could think of.

Pros:

1) Really good descriptions of the fragile situations during the Holy War

2) Linkage between the two opposing parties and also their in-fighting are strong and story is very well developed.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Today (dated 11 Aug 2009) at exactly 2115hrs, i booked the latest and most anticipated book launch from Random House at MPH Gurney. The book i ordered will be UK hardcover version and i can claim the book from 14 Sept 2009 onwards.

The book I'm talking about is none other than THE LOST SYMBOL by DAN BROWN... i know i haven't commented anything about Dan Brown but frankly speaking, i would put the reviews on-hold for the time being because 2 of his books have been adapted into silver screen (not exact adaptation though :-P) and there is no point commenting about something which many of us have seen countless times.

But i would try to find time to remove the sealed plastic bags (i sealed my books after i read them), scan the cover and review on the little known books by Dan Brown entitled:

1) Digital Fortress

2) Deception Point

Anyway, those are all side liners. The main things are:

1) I will get The Lost Symbol on time

2) I will read it day and night; I'll read it during break time at work; heck, I'll even read it in toilet.. hahaha... and i will review it on the dot.

Projected timeline between picking up the book and final book review would be 3days tops cos i still have to wake up in the morning to go to work :-)

A retro song pops into my head at 0145hrs (12 Aug 2009) as i penned down this article...

**I'm so excited.. i just can't hide it... i know i know i know.. but i think i like it...**

P/S: By the way, i bought the beige coloured cover as i like the key instead of the wax emblem

Next by Michael Crichton

Can man play God? Can we create beings? The outline of this novel touches on a very big perspective from moral standings up until scientific grounds.

That said; it is not an easy book to write and to read as it involves plots and counter plots along the way. Scientific jargon are minimised but not eliminated. Readers are plunged headlong into the twist and turns of genetic mishmash and law overtures akin to roller coaster ride.

As mentioned earlier, scope of this novel has far reaching consequences. It had us thinking about the need to patent genomes and genetic structures allegedly "discovered" by scientists.

It had us thinking on the moral superiority to create and destroy live scientific experiments bigger than lab rats. It had us thinking of the overall conscience of our role as human being in this very planet.

In fact, the gist of this book is to let us think about future consequences if we were to turn a blind eye on controversial experiments, on patenting of genes, on establishment of law and red tapes which will promote or hinder our scientific knowledge if improperly used and so on.

This is a readable and really fast paced book but more interesting read would be the prologue and post-notes. It had me go online few times to conduct searches on my own regarding validity of certain stories.

Personal rating: 7 out of 10 (fast paced book written by an established writer)

Cons:

1) Unavoidable jargon spattered along the novel (which is fine actually)

2) Scope of the novel is big and too general.

Pros:

1) Book which will get you thinking long after you've finished it

2) Informative post articles

Kiss the Girls by James Patterson

For a start, this book was published in 1995 and adapted into silver screen by 1997. I was really young during that time; hence I didn't get to read the book when it was launched :-P

My friend passed me this book which she received from someone else; hence the bad condition of the book :-

I've never seen the movie but I hope the adaptation would be as close as possible to the book because truth to be told, James Patterson did a very good job in criminal profiling. Descriptions of the criminals and their (notice the usage of plural term here) modus operandi are detailed and exhaustive from victim selection up till the hideout descriptions.

In this book, we're brought face-to-face with 2 competing psychopaths trying to establish their gruesome reputation with terrible after-effects. As reader, we're transformed into an unwilling accomplice as descriptions of crimes are told from the murderer's point of view; which is a rather refreshing turn for criminal novels.

As veteran book writer, James smartly spaced all the actions with sufficient breather in between. I can't seem to put the book down unless I've finished one whole chapter irrespective of the time and location; which explains the outright appeal of the book.

Ending part is too fast for my liking and the closure is equally abrupt. However, I can't pinpoint any flaw on such abrupt closure as long winded ones will spoil the overall flow of the storyline.

Personal rating: 7 out of 10 (veteran writer; no other comments necessary :-))

Cons:
1) Closure of the novel is too fast and abrupt for my liking

Pros:
1) Sufficient breather in between all the actions
2) Criminal profiling and very intense point-of-view descriptions on victim selection

A Thousand Pieces of Gold by Adeline Yen Mah

Once in a while we stumble upon a gem of an author with refreshing twist to his/her storytelling and Adeline Yen Mah is one of such author.

In this book entitled "A Thousand Pieces of Gold", she managed to bring the art of storytelling to greater heights by linking Chinese proverbs into her life while explaining the history, significance and meaning behind those proverbs in short and concise chapters.

Being English educated, I don't know much about Chinese proverbs and it is indeed an eye opener to see that it is alive and well in use even now; literally and practically peppered into daily usage as summary or to spice conversation/writings.

Quoting from the book:

"British poet Philip Larkin once described Chinese proverbs as "white dwarfs" of literature because each was so densely compacted with thoughts and ideas."

I wouldn't have known all these proverbs if not for Adeline Yen Mah. Now thanks to her, I can proudly say that I am "ren xin gui han" (the heart of the people belongs to Han).

Personal rating: 10 out of 10 (definitely a worthwhile read)

Cons:
1) None

Pros:
1) Proverbs are explained in simple and direct story telling style.
2) Chapters are written in short and concise paragraphs with examples and stories infused to achieve greater effects.

Burned Alive by Souad

This is the first non-fiction book I bought and to tell the truth, the main thing that pulled me to it was the enigmatic white mask plus the title itself in bold and red letters.

“Burned Alive” is very evocative and thought provoking nonfiction with victim/narrator and aid worker telling the same story via different point of views.

It revolves around a girl being burnt alive for committing bodily sin in order to uphold the family's honour. In other perspective, this kind of killing would be labeled as "honour killing". Details are not spared in this novel and readers would find themselves cringing on the sheer brutality of the act.

Personal rating: 8 out of 10 (worthwhile read)

Cons:
1) None

Pros:
1) It is hoped that this novel will be adapted into silver screen as it would bring forward a stronger message than in print alone.

P.S. I Love You by Cecilia Ahern

As claimed by the book cover, this book has been adapted into a major motion picture starring Hillary Swank and Gerard Butler. However, the review here is about the book and not about the movie (which was so boring that I guess cows will fall asleep watching it)... anyway, let's touch on the book itself...

To tell the truth, I bought the book out of curiosity... in fact, I read the book before I watched the movie (just to make some comparison on the actual adaptation; most readers do that by the way ?)...

The book is about a girl picking up pieces of her life after demise of her other half. The twist of the novel is that her partner had left her monthly short letters reminding her to go on with her life albeit with challenges infused into those letters.

I don't know about the rest of the readers but my attention span to this book ended after the first chapter. Truth to be told, first chapter is a worthwhile read with tear inducing emotion in words but after that, it is purely speed read for me; which explains on the allure of the book to me in general sense.

Personal rating: 4 out of 10 (I bought it out of curiosity)

Cons:
1) Boring read after the first part of the novel.
2) Style & slang of writing is utterly British.

Pros:
1) Tear inducing emotion in words.

Attila: The Judgement by William Napier

In this third and final installation of the trilogy, Attila and Aëtius are lined up for the final face-off together with the rest of the empire at stake. Both sides did their best to rally alliances with kings and tribes across the land in their quest to destroy or defend the set target.

As mentioned in the second installment, this third book continued from the second book and the battle started from the word "GO" (in literal sense). Descriptions of battles are brutal and concise particularly in the first part of the novel. Subsequent battle descriptions are mostly briefly described with exception of the final two all out war.

Frankly speaking, this book is not as exciting as the first two books. In fact, I speed read some of the boring bits and sing-song/poetic moments captured in between the chapters.

The ending is supposed to be the climax but I was sorely disappointed with the outcome. However, I can’t comment much as this novel is loosely based on actual historical figures. It has sad ending for both sides but I won't want to divulge those details here as it will spoil the fun of reading through the trilogy.

Personal rating: 5 out of 10 (I bought it because it’s a trilogy)

Cons:
1) Book 1 and Book 2 are better read compared to this one.
2) Too many sing-song/poems mentioned in the novel.
3) Some battles are not clearly described and quite a number of pass-over paragraphs.

Pros:
1) Good description for first battle and decisive war between the two sides.
2) Heroic moments, devastation and after-effect of wars are captured in absolute clarity in key battles.

Attila: The Gathering of the Storm by William Napier

In this second installment of the trilogy, the outlook of the novel is somewhat "compressed" because of the usage of smaller font size. Apart from the external appearance, the novel picked up quick nicely from the first part but it was fast forwarded to 30years later after being banished into the wild by King Ruga (Attila's uncle who usurped Attila's father's Kingly seat).

Having served his banishment sentence, Attila (with his loyal sidekick Orestes) longed to return among his people and exact revenge to those who've wronged him along the way. upon consolidating his hold over his people, he trained them relentlessly and set out together with them to create an alliance with the rest of the Hun people scattered all over the land.

Meanwhile, Aëtius (the Roman) has carved a solid reputation of himself as a no-nonsense kind of legionnaire. Solidarity among his troops and serving the Empire of Rome are main priorities of his life. On his end, he did his best to maintain the legionnaire’s morale amidst the breakdown of the vestige of the Roman Empire.

The end part of the novel set the precedent of the last installment in the trilogy. The book is called "Attila: The Judgement".

Truth to be told, I’m amazed by the author's ability to describe visible differences amongst the Hunnish people from Kutrigur Huns, Black & White Huns and so on. It was so clearly described that it felt like you've seen them in flesh and blood the moment you've read them. Apart from that, the novel is a so-so read, unlike the first installment.

Personal rating: 6 out of 10 (I bought because it’s a trilogy)

Cons:

1) Getting more long winded particularly on the character build-up

Pros:

1) Historical lessons in a glance without the boring bits :-)
2) Ancient warfare at its best