Writer and Reader.

Michel Foucault was quite a central figure in my uni days. I studied his theories during undergrad and I drew upon his 'technologies of self' in my master's dissertation... So when I saw Patricia Dunker's 'Hallucinating Foucault' on sale, I knew I had to get it.

And surprise surprise!! I actually enjoyed it (maybe its because I didn't know what to expect)!!

In summary, 'Hallucinating Foucault' is about a postgraduate student who is writing his thesis on French writer, Paul Michel. His girlfriend encouraged him to look at Michel's biography more closely rather than focus solely on the text. He then decided to move to Paris for two months to find his object of research and hijack him out from the mad house. The protagonist came across Michel's letters to Foucault and made some major discovery. He befriended Michel, they eventually became really close, went on a trip, visited some places...and it got a little Nicholas Sparks-ed.

What I really liked about this book is that it explores the connection between reader and writer. I've never really thought of this as an obsession. When the reader dies, will the writer still write?

My only problem with the book is the name Paul Michel. I kept thinking that Paul Michel is Michel Foucault. (Foucault's full name is Paul Michel Foucault). But this two are different figures and Paul Michel is a fictional character.

Maybe it's a little pretentious but its a short (less than 200 pages) and lovely book. Best read when you're commuting, waiting for the laundry, or when you are bored at night. There's not much action in it but it's the kind of book that you will want to finish it as soon as you can.

A Paul Michel quote to end this post
“The love between writer and a reader is never celebrated. It can never be proved to exist. But he was the man I loved most. He was the reader for whom I wrote.

Burning Bright.

Dystopia fiction is my second favourite genre (just after crime) and when Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 was sold on a discounted price, I knew I had to get it.

In summary, "Fahrenheit 451" presents a future American society where books are outlawed as it is the source of unhappiness whilst a fireman's job is to burn any books that are found. (The title refers to the autoignition temperature of paper).  

Guy Montag is a fireman. He thought he was leading a happy life until a mysterious neighbour questions his life and perceived happiness. It was simple basic questions but Montag was highly disturbed by it. 

Then one day, Montag and his colleagues received a tip off about an old woman who kept a collection of books at home. While other firemen ransack the place, Montag stole a book before the burning starts. The woman refused to leave her house and her book, choosing to set herself on fire and her suicide shook Montag to his core. He tried to speak to his wife about it but she was only obsessed with her shallow TV dramas. 

This is also when Montag realised that he needs to do something. Memorise books, fight the system, rebuild society....

Overall, this is a pretty good read. Bradbury's writing style is simple yet beautiful. His choice of words compliments each other so well that at one point, it felt very poetry like. The nature of this novel may seem a bit extreme but its a powerful and relatable commentary on humankind's suppression on things they cannot control. Books encourage thinkers? Let's burn them! People have too much time? Keep them occupied with TV!.... Sounds familiar?

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Source: Goodreads

A book for teens and young adults. If I read this book when I'm still a teen or young adult, I might have some problem understanding with the wide array of vocabularies that were used.

Some of the parts that I love most of the book is the first chapter where Gandalf gave a long reply to Bilbo's Good Morning. I never looked at "Good Morning" this way since it has long been embedded in my head that it is just courteous way of wishing someone in the morning.

Then the book moves on to "The unexpected Party" before the journey begins! How the dwarves came to his Bag End house, how they emptied his pantry and how fast and fun way to do cleaning till finally their final planning before heading out on the dangerous quest.

Another memorable part is the riddles between Bilbo and Gollum. Bilbo found Gollum in the Goblin cave and there while upon trying to find his way out, he played riddles with Gollum and found the magical ring. For one who has not a bright mind or much wit, I find the riddles difficult and amusing. I never thought of describing those things that way and if I have been Bilbo, I would have became Gollum's flavourful meal.

In the movie they showed the council meeting that Gandalf attended and the magical "verbal fight" between Galadriel and the Necromancer. I was hoping to read it in the book but of course it was only mentioned in a paragraph in the book.

Whatever I saw on screen is only a mention in the book. If you are expecting it to be the same, well don't get your hopes high.

Tolkien is a great writer. He described Hobbiton, Middle Earth, Mirkwood, The Lonely Mountain, home of Elrond beautifullt. If you have watched the movie, you would have journeyed through Middle Earth visually with the help of Peter Jackson and his team.

Now, open your mind and allow Tolkien to bring you on an amazing imaginative adventure.

Just note that some parts might feel a little draggy as there won't be much action. Nevertheless, it is an unexpected journey with lots of unexpected surprises by the little hobbit. (If you have watched the movie then it won't be that unexpected.)

Play by the rules

Dear Readers,

It's been a while and I am finally back, reading!  The book that I've picked is Higashino Keigo's "Meitantei no Okite／名探偵の掟" (Rules of a Detective/名偵探的守則.)

WHAT??? Another book by that author? Is this Higashino Mystery Book Club or Two Weeks A Book?

If that's your thoughts exactly, I’m really sorry! But "Meitantei no Okite" is really not your ordinary Japanese detective novel. It is a mockery of the genre/system clichés that it belongs to. A very ironic/sarcastic book!

Genre, is the classification of type when it comes to literature, television or films. It gives rise to such groups as the romance novel, the western, the gangster movie, film noir and so forth. (Sage Dictionary of Cultural Studies)

Anyway, there is a certain pattern or rule in Japanese detective literature and film/tv. If you think that only Korean dramas follow a certain format, you might find this book interesting.

Rule no.1
The investigators are always a combination of a police officer and detective. This detective is not from the police force, he can be a private detective, or someone related to the police officer.

Rule no.2
The police officer can never outsmart the detective. It is the officer's job to go to the wrong direction and suspect the wrong person. The detective is ALWAYS smarter than the officer.

Rule no.3
Just before closing the case, the detective will gather everybody involved in the case to gather at a crime scene and then, only will explain his deduction.


Ring a bell? Kindaichi, Detective Conan and many other Japanese detective series

Some cliché mentioned in the book includes

Cliche 1: Sealed room murder.
A gag that has been overly repeated and is still being used today. There is no such thing as a lock room, it ALWAYS ends up as a trick.

Cliche 2: Who did it?
A murder took place in a house/hotel. "The murderer is someone among us!" And it's always the most unexpected person who did it.

Cliche 3: Now its the time for a murder!
A heavy snow storm/ rain/ typhoon/ hurricane that prevents people from leaving and entering a certain area. Communication is cut off completely.. and the detective or police officer is coincidentally there!

Cliche 4: The dying message
The victim struggled really hard to write his/her last message. Usually it comes in some sort of code form. But...isn't it easier if the victim wrote the murderer's name instead?

Oh ya, then there won't be any chance for the detective to show his/her skills.

Well, if you're looking for some mockery of this genre to read, I highly recommend this book! Well, there's a TV series adaptation too..but meh, nothing beats the book.

Who is the real Me?

Source: Amazon 

This book has been sitting in my book shelf for awhile, only started reading it when I saw the news about Leonardo DiCaprio is going to be Billy Milligan in the movie version of this story. 

This book is based on a real story, Billy Milligan is the first person who were not being charged for the crimes he committed as he has no memories of what he did. After he was arrested, the doctors soon confirmed that he has DID (Dissociative  Identity Disorder) which we usually known as split personalities. It was a result from severe abuses from his childhood, by Billy's stepfather. It was so bad that Billy not only had 3 personalities but 24 of them, each personalities exist for a reason, to protect Billy from any possible harm from the world. 

The book is very informative, and quite encouraging too. The lawyers and doctors were very helpful in the beginning, trying to treat Billy and help him get better, but this wasn't something that people could easily understand, especially in that time (The 80s). Many people doubt him, and think split personalities was just an act he put on, to get away from crime he committed. Yet, they didn't give up, things got better for awhile but got complicated again towards the end. It is a book that you have to follow through, to see the challenges, the struggles and the changes in Billy. 

In the book, you can see the good times and bad times he had, there were times he got better, merged back into one piece, but there were also time he split again, due to stress from outside world. Treating mental illness is a long time battle, because they are so fragile that little mistakes can push them back into their world, and it will take longer time to get them back. 

The public is more understanding about mental illness than Billy's time nowadays, but still many people are scared of people who have mental illness, because they don't understand it. Many people who surfer from it, are either being abused, mistreated or neglect during the time they grown up. Our minds are very fragile and this book can give you a very good understanding of the challenges, struggles and difficulties that these people have to face, from family, friends, public and the media. It wasn't easy and they are not as scary as people see them. 

Can You See it?

The Murder in Mansion Masquerade

In a Mansion Covered with Snow

These two books are both written by Keigo Higashino, one of the greatest Japanese mystery novelist in my opinion. The reason I chose to write them together is simple, I finished both of them last week, and they have similar settings - the typical "Closed Circle" murder case where a group of people were trapped in a mansion or a place isolated to the outside world and murders happened, murderer usually among these people and they have to solve the case and save themselves. 

As this is a very popular setting in mystery crime novel, I am very curious how Higashino would handle it, since his stories never fail to surprise me! I have read plenty of his book, but not one time I could guess the ending correctly, so whenever I read his books now, even I feel like I know the answer, I will just tell myself it's Keigo Higashino, it is never that simple! And every single time, he tricked me, including in these two books. 

If I have to choose one between these two, I will go for The Murder in Mansion Masquerade, simply because it has more human touch to it, and the trick is quite unexpected. Throughout the story, Higashino trying to make reader believe one of the character is the killer, but when the ending comes, it was something that I didn't expect at all, not even slightly suspicious (isn't that the magic of Higashino). He is always so good at pointing you to the other direction.

After Mansion Masquerade, I immediately read the second book, thinking that from the first book, I might be able to find some similarities and maybe could see the answer this time. I wasn't completely wrong.  For the first time, I got some little parts correct,  but still can't get the big picture right. 

I guess this is why Higashino's books are so fascinating. Although he had published many books, each book are still very unique that they surprise readers every single time. So you will go and buy another of his book, take on the challenge, lose again, and a new one, and a new one...  

More than a Normal Crime Novel

Rokuyon by Hideo Yokoyama

This is a 555 pages book, and usually for a book this thick, it will take me maximum 2 weeks to finish it, but this one took me more than a month. It wasn't because it was not interesting, it simply because I underestimated the book. I thought it's going to be about a kidnap case, maybe with a few twists but after all it's only a straight forward story that I can finish very soon.  But apparently I was wrong, and this book is unlike any crime novels that I have read.

From the book name, you will probably think that it is about the kidnap case, but the kidnap case is just the background, or maybe a trigger, or a reason, but it wasn't the core part of this story.  You can even say the case is like the Pandora box, and it unleashed a series of events that could change the police force forever.

The main character of this story is the liaison of the police force, who used to work in the crime department, and at the beginning of the story, he already realized there is something "going on" between the local police force and the Tokyo HQ, some kind of politic battles. He was caught between them and this kidnap case is a weapon that both sides could use to fight for power. So he has to fight hard, not only to balance himself among them, when the two powers were fighting against each other. He also needs to do his job as a liaison and try to maintain a good relationship with the journalists which is very difficult at such time. And at home, there were things going on too, and he needs to find a way to fix his relationship with the wife. This is why I said it is not like any other crime novels, there are many layers in this story, and they are closely linked, although they seem unrelated. This is a book that you can't rush to finish, but need to take time, read slowly and digest, because you need to think and pay close attention to every detail.

Like other Japanese crime novels (maybe also the only similarity), there is a big twist at the end of the story, a twist that could hit you quite hard, you may have guessed it, or you may have felt something is wrong during your reading process, but still it will hit you. And it will become one of those stories that you will remember for a long long time, not the detail of the story but the feeling you have when you done reading it, how it moved you, how it amazed you and how you sat there and try so hard to calm your complex emotions after finished it.

Japanese always write really awesome crime stories, and never fail to amaze me, this one just take one step further, not only the story is great, all the humanity, emotions, feelings and smallest detail like simple dialogues are all perfectly thought through by the author, every word has a reason to be there and they are necessary to be there. In conclusion, I strongly recommend this book to all of you. =D My review may make this book sound very perfect, but trust me if you take your time to slowly read it and understand all the connections and detail in the story, you too, will be amazed.