Since I have been reading more Japanese literature (and since my memory of struggling through “人間失格/No Longer Human” in the original Japanese is fading), I decided to reread Natsume Soseki’s classic, “I Am a Cat”. I’ve read it years ago and my main takeaway back then was that the first chapter was lots of fun… Read More Rereading: I Am A Cat by Natsume Soseki
“But folklore isn’t only about the past. It grows, flowers and seeds every day, because of our innate desire to control our world by means of satisfying narratives.” Have you ever wondered how Terry Pratchett came up with Discworld, with all its wonderful (and sometimes strangely familiar) customs and history? As it turns out, folklore… Read More Book Review: The Folklore of Discworld by Terry Pratchett and Jacqueline Simpson
Hi, after writing this review, I found out that I have already read it way back in 2017! But apparently, my experience reading this the second time around is the same and I made many of the same points but in a different way. Still, I’ve not posted a review on this blog specifically so… Read More Book Review: Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling translated by Herbert A. Giles
We’ve come to the end of my rereading month!! It’s pretty much flown by though I think it’s because June turned out to be an unexpectedly busy month as well. I’ll recap everything properly this weekend (i.e. hopefully today or the day after) so let’s talk about the books first. I had some time after… Read More June ’23 Rereading: Day 30 – The End
When I finished reading The Age of Innocence yesterday, I was a bit worried about what I was going to read next because I had planned on taking longer to read it and finding my next book in Singapore. But luckily for me, my hold on Infused by Henrietta Lovell (which I made earlier this… Read More June ’23 Rereading: Day 28 – Infused (Part 1)
I’m not sure how but I’ve finished The Age of Innocence in two days rather than the planned three (in my mind, it was a longer book). So I’m here to talk about it – be warned there will be spoilers. First, Newland Archer. He remains whiny for the rest of the book and is… Read More June ’23 Rereading: Day 27 – The Age of Innocence (II)
It’s the start of a new week and it’s actually the last week of this project. I’m a bit sad to be ending it because there’s more I want to reread and I know I won’t do much of that once I go back rereading “new” books, but I am also excited to go back… Read More June ’23 Rereading: Day 26 – The Age of Innocence (Part 1)
I’m writing this a bit earlier than normal because I will be heading out for a book club dinner tonight and I am sure that I won’t have energy to write before I come back. So before I go out, let me tell you about what I’ve been reading. I started the weekend with The… Read More June ’23 Rereading: Day 25 – Weekend Roundup
After reading Kiku’s Prayer, I moved on to Silence, arguably Endo Shusaku’s most famous work. It’s thought-provoking, more depressing than Kiku’s Prayer, and also more controversial. If you’ve not read Silence, you can get a feel of this book from the trailer for the marvellous adaptation by Martin Scorsese: As you can tell, this book… Read More June ’23 Rereading: Day 23 – Silence
As planned, I have finished Kiku’s Prayer and as expected, it was a rough ride. In the last half (third?) of the book, we see Kiku and Seikichi suffer unimaginable torture of body and spirit. Kiku, in a desperate attempt to relieve Seikichi’s actual torture, sells her body to bribe a corrupt official. Seikichi is… Read More June ’23 Rereading: Day 21 – Kiku’s Prayer Part 2