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Wednesday 24 June 2009

書蟲

"There are more crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them." ~Joseph Brodsky


I'm on my third book this month, think I've fallen in love with Andrew Klavan...

I've finished "Dynamite Road" and am 60% through "Empire of Lies"... "Dynamite Road" was very exciting, the whole story was a build-up to the climax... The tension was present throughout the whole story without letting up, just like "The Last Thing I Remember"... The ending though makes it seem like there would be a sequel to this book, leaving something not settled and already budding, there should be another book to finish it up!!!

"Empire of Lies" however, is a disappointment... There was a lot of laying of the background, most of it pointless... Pointless description of the surroundings, of the grass, the flowers... There wasn't much action until almost half-way through the book, and on the way to that, it was very, very boring... Maybe its because I have not finished the book, maybe those descriptions are pieces of puzzles that would fall in place during the last part of the story like what he usually does... Well, I do hope so, else the book could just had been shortened to half of its size...

Right... Enough of the books, back to my life... I realised that reading books had indeed made me more dull like bookworms always do... Usually during my free time, mostly the time during transit from one place to the other, my mind will be working at full capacity... It would either be thinking about a new strategy for that game I was playing or plotting a scheme to take over the world (no, they are not the same!!!)... Now whenever I have any free time, I will be reading that book on my hand... And I carry that book to almost everywhere!!!

I had neglected to plan for anything these days and it had made someone very sad... I'm so sorry... I will change for the better...

Monday 15 June 2009

最後的回憶

The Last Thing I Remember...


The Last Thing I Remember


"The Last Thing I Remember" is a book by Andrew Klavan, the first of his "Homelander" series... This is also the first book I've read in years...

Was at the library last Friday and this book caught my eye... It was displayed on the wall where all the new books would be, near the entrance... My first impression from the cover of the book was a story about graffiti art... I have recently gained an interest in graffiti art, thinking that this book can give me some influence and ideas... However, after reading the blurb, the book wasn't what I expected (mummy didn't tell u to never judge a book by its cover?)... I'll just quote the blurb here then:

"All Charlie West usually has to worry about is getting good grades and not making a fool of himself in front of the prettiest girl in class. He's never been in trouble.

Until now.

Dazed and confused, Charlie wakes up strapped to a chair in a windowless cell. The last thing he remembers is falling asleep in his bedroom. Now he's aching all over, covered in blood, and, worse, someone behind the door has just ordered his death.

Charlie knows this is no nightmare: it is terrifyingly real. What he doesn't know is how he got here and, more importantly, how he's going to get out..."


Seems like a very interesting adventure waiting to explode... I knew I didn't have much time on my hands to play games, much less read a book... However, I couldn't bear to put it back up on the shelf; I just have to borrow this book...

This book tells a story of what most teenage boys would imagine all day, being a martial arts exponent, having a nice life with everything to look forward to, and then suddenly thrown into chaos, fighting for your life, being a hero... Man... I don't know if every boy secretly wishes for that kind of life but I sure did and I still do... I'm not as fit as I used to be though, I probably couldn't last past the first day... Would probably die in some underground cave, stuck in between some rocks with my corpse never to be found again...

I always believe that the best command of English isn't the ability to use big words, but rather using simple words to achieve more than what the big words could... The story was fast-paced and it helps that the words were kept simple, I didn't have to process the words much... Every word I read was like a stroke of the brush, painting a picture in my mind... The characters and events were very believable, almost like reading a biography of a seasoned war-dog telling the story of when he was captured...

Too bad this book is only the first of his series, meaning the story stopped before it was ended... I hope the rest of the series comes out soon before I even forget all about it... Anyone can shed some light on when the next book will be out and how many parts are there to this series?

Never thought I'll be doing a book review again at this age... Haha...