Skip to main content

1Q84 and NaNoWriMo.

Well, I just bought something:


Thing is, as huge a Murakami fan that I am, I wasn't planning on buying it so soon. I felt I had outgrown Murakami and didn't really feel like reading a huge tome, especially if it was a meandering one like Kafka on the Shore. Not that I do not like Kafka. Far from it. It's just that, well, I want to read other stuff too.

But it seems the God of Books has other plans and sent fate to intervene? I was made aware of some excerpts of reviews with statements such as "his best work since Wind-up Bird!" and "the opus that would define his oeuvre!"

I realise this might be hyperbole but come on! I had become intrigued. And then today a colleague said he had it for his Kindle and had already started reading it. He said it was great so far. That was the last straw. I knew I had to read it as well.

So, one trip to Borders... and here I am. I haven't even ripped off the plastic wrapping yet. I am savouring this delight of holding a virgin Murakami book that I know nothing about. (I've been avoiding articles about Murakami for the past year to stay as spoiler-free as possible.)

Rather surprised it contains all three volumes, though. I thought the British edition lacked the third volume and I don't think this is the American edition. Weird.

Anyway, time to write for Nanowrimo and then start reading as my reward for hitting 2000 words!

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lesson: Commemorative Covers are Lame.

Well, I got the first day cover that commemorates the 35th anniversary of the establishment diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia that I mentioned a couple of posts ago. Except that it's not a first day cover, it's a commemorative cover, which is a slightly different beast. I guess I should read the news article properly next time! The difference between the two is that first day covers are specially-designed envelopes stuck on with specially-designed stamps, and marked with a specially-designed postmark. A commemorative cover is a specially-designed envelope... and that's it. All in all, it's an unremarkable affair, especially if you're used to well-designed first day covers (not that Malaysian first day covers are well-designed... but I digress). Oh sure, a commemorative cover has a stamp printed right on to it but that's just like an overglorified aerogramme. Lame. On the whole, what a disappointment. I haven't been collecting first day cover...
5 comments
Read more

REVIEW: Confessions of an Old Boy by Kam Raslan

Kam Raslan's right. In the preface for his new book, Confessions of an Old Boy: The Dato' Hamid Adventures he writes that we've known Dato' Hamid all our lives. Seeing as my own dad is an old boy of MCKK, the people I get to meet when he drags me to an Old Boy function and the people he tells me of, reflect the characters found in Kam's book. It really does feel like I've known Dato' Hamid all my life. Dato' Hamid is a civil servant of the Tunku Abdul Rahman generation. He is the sort of person you rarely see nowadays, a fine example of the anachronistic Malay. This generation, groomed in the ways of the colonial British would be out of place not just in 21st century Malaysia, but in Britain too. And yet, Dato' Hamid, in all his snobbishness and patronising ways, is essentially a Malaysian. Without people like him, our country would probably never exist at all. At least not like we know it now. I'm glad that Kam Raslan decided to capture this ...
5 comments
Read more

An Ipoh Ghost Story.

When I was growing up in Ipoh in the 90s, the only good bookshops around were Mubaruk's, which specialised in textbooks (and still does), and Novelhut, the second-hand bookstore that used to be in Yik Foong (and maybe still is there, but I haven't checked in years since I prefer going to their Ipoh Parade outlet when I'm in town). There was also a pretty good bookstore in the Parkson Grand in Ipoh Parade which could have been a Berita outlet, but I don't remember. This was in the days before they expanded Ipoh Parade into what it is today. (And temporarily causing the Convent school next door to consider moving.) I recall this because I was thinking of when exactly I started reading "serious" fiction, trying to pinpoint the years when I moved from young adult/fantasy/sci-fi books into non-genre fiction. I still can't remember, but it brought back memories of a book I bought from a short-lived bookshop in Old Town. Mum had brought me there, because she must...
6 comments
Read more