tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55538063137931164752024-03-13T15:22:35.845-07:00A solitary passion.For the love of books and all things literary!H.K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00125667886655303913noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553806313793116475.post-20121698808482219212013-09-12T23:59:00.000-07:002013-09-13T00:03:51.948-07:00My terrible first line<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've had an extremely unproductive summer and I'll admit I did absolutely nothing worthwhile with my time but hey, I'm back home and here nobody expects me to put myself to any good use when I'm off for vacations.Since I wouldn't want to break my lazy spell by actually writing something, here's a list of the funniest first lines ever written that made my morning! <span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: -0.03em; text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://thoughtcatalog.com/2013/33-hilariously-terrible-novel-sentences-you-need-to-read/" target="_blank">33 Of The Most Hilariously Terrible First Sentences In Literature History</a></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm also down with a terrible flu but this made me feel SO much better! Its just Horrilarious! (a term used to define something which is equal parts horrifying and hilarious). Thank me later for giving you a new word. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This list actually inspired me to write something myself. Here's my attempt at a terrible first line: </span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As she lay in a pool of crumpled tissues each one lined with snot, she looked up to her computer screen, the blank whiteness tingled her senses like nose hair right before a sneeze and in that sudden moment of epiphany, she knew. Her writing the greatest novel was as inevitable as a colony of bacteria on a beef steak at room temperature! </span></i></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How do you like me now!? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">P.S. Please ignore me. It's the meds talking</span><span style="font-size: large;">. </span>H.K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00125667886655303913noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553806313793116475.post-37040063967323748212013-07-31T15:46:00.001-07:002013-07-31T17:00:32.930-07:00The 'Before' Trilogy- Reaffirming faith in true love since 1995 I picked up a couple of books over the past month..Moth smoke, Of love and other demons, To the lighthouse... only to lose my interest and put them back. I figured I'll just take them back to Istanbul and read them there. I have however, been watching many movies lately and tonight I watched the third and probably the last installment in the 'Before' trilogy- <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2209418/" target="_blank">Before Midnight</a>. Now I know not many people have seen it or liked it but for me, each movie resonates exactly what love is- a feeling that cements over time and lasts with us as long as we live.<br />
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The first part of the movie came out 18 years ago. Some of the interesting parts that drew me to this series are the unconventional actors: Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, both rendering undeniably charming performances in all three films, the fact that they co-wrote the movies and that the story evolves as they age; each part coming out after a whopping nine years.<br />
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I'm a major romantic drama junkie but that's not the only reason why I love this series. Not only is every movie accentuated with thoughtful dialogues and masterful direction, but it also succeeds in being real and convincing, so much so that its almost painful to watch sometimes. It's about witnessing a couple's evolution from twenty-somethings into their forties; each movie depicting one day in their lives and the unrelenting love that binds them together. Every conversation in those movies leaves you craving for more and wondering if you'd ever find someone who you could talk to that way.<br />
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The first one makes you believe in simple, true love. The second makes you believe in destiny and pure luck while the third makes you question everything you've come to believe along the way.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtJISOk6lvWRetWRTzbjr9icptRhEcKCOX6iMjjP18FA57KNkT69eKZYC3S72uY8njkegvReVWkrsjLJHW5fpWy_fUcOS0BYrKJtDjSFo6lyrD92xFD4FnTly85AUpAe66XjJrQxjG_C0/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtJISOk6lvWRetWRTzbjr9icptRhEcKCOX6iMjjP18FA57KNkT69eKZYC3S72uY8njkegvReVWkrsjLJHW5fpWy_fUcOS0BYrKJtDjSFo6lyrD92xFD4FnTly85AUpAe66XjJrQxjG_C0/s1600/images.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before sunrise (1995)<br />
"I like to feel his eyes on me when I look away."<br />
"Isn't everything we do in life a way to be loved a little more?"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnN3SgItSA4QelEuC4WeXKYPq6-PZ7bEDPLlCXo-rQOw0ZcMsk5YAnpzf-wJkq3VTJPS7x0SywSBb36g6nlNIJ2YQ3G3MA6PhCN7lbg9mcQ1eBO5wabbXRhxprWn6-FI5bPdgF4ga1Yp4/s1600/215600.1020.A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnN3SgItSA4QelEuC4WeXKYPq6-PZ7bEDPLlCXo-rQOw0ZcMsk5YAnpzf-wJkq3VTJPS7x0SywSBb36g6nlNIJ2YQ3G3MA6PhCN7lbg9mcQ1eBO5wabbXRhxprWn6-FI5bPdgF4ga1Yp4/s320/215600.1020.A.jpg" width="215" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before Sunset (2004)<br />
"Jes: In the months leading up to my wedding, I was thinking about you all the time. I mean, even on my way there; I'm in the car, a buddy of mine is driving me downtown and I'm staring out the window, and I think I see you, not far from the church, right? Folding up an umbrella and walking into a deli on the corner of 13th and Broadway. And I thought I was going crazy, but now I think it probably was you.<br />
Celine: I lived on 11th and Broadway.<br />
Jesse: You see?"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCeuq_cY8v7MhZgqX4gsA9uahcKe8vNTU1oKjCeSKgHsXhKGqjwCSkR9dddt7X6fHpZTuYHp6JP5VEIvhRZ4_2HWSk37v9nMWQUj0lusiET0tXH7bM3PeOn8yKeFFTqkk9fl04F6l-vC8/s1600/before_midnight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCeuq_cY8v7MhZgqX4gsA9uahcKe8vNTU1oKjCeSKgHsXhKGqjwCSkR9dddt7X6fHpZTuYHp6JP5VEIvhRZ4_2HWSk37v9nMWQUj0lusiET0tXH7bM3PeOn8yKeFFTqkk9fl04F6l-vC8/s320/before_midnight.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before Midnight (2013)<br />
"I fucked up my whole life because of the way you sing."<br />
"Like sunlight, sunset, we appear, we disappear. We are so important to some, but we are just passing through." </td></tr>
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<br />H.K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00125667886655303913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553806313793116475.post-72286344673226379622013-06-19T04:09:00.000-07:002013-06-19T13:05:02.287-07:00Summertime sadness and Gatsby <span style="color: #ea9999;">Once you leave and come back, people expect you to be the same but you're not nearly the same person who left. This is why coming back is hard. I came back home after a year in Turkey and it surprises me when people ask me about my time there. I have so little to say. When you're out there on your own, there is a strange air of solitude that takes holds of you. Nobody to come home to, nobody to ask about your day and even if they did, nothing you say can explain to them the change you feel in yourself. They still see you as the same person who left but you know better. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #ea9999;">How do you explain to someone the longing you felt looking at hazy islands drawn on a horizon smudged by the receding light of the sun from a ferry boat? How do you tell them of the freedom you feel walking home with a friend at 4 in the morning with your head up, marveling at the white birds circling a brightly lit building? Nothing you say can make them understand the euphoria of joining a protest in a foreign city, along with hundreds of roaring civilians, all the while knowing it has nothing to do with you. Heck! You don't even know what they are chanting. How do you tell someone of the inexplicable peace you felt 2..300ft up in the air, attached to a parachute, looking down at the sea, feeling bigger than the world? The answer is, you can't because they weren't there with you. So I don't even try. But I hope I'm more articulate at writing about the books that I took along with me than I am at talking about my experiences. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Up in the air!</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #ea9999; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">What am I itching to write about? The Great Gatsby! We readers have had the misfortune of watching our favorite novels being turned into horrible movies time and again but that wasn't the case with Gatsby (at least not for me).<span style="line-height: 18px;">Never before has contemporary music been featured in a period film and I think it worked extremely well, especially because it was in a movie like this.</span> I went to watch it three times! And every time my heart broke a little when Daisy, with her perfectly coquettish accent said: <span style="line-height: 19px;">'I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool – that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.' </span><span style="line-height: 19px;">'Cant repeat the past? Well, of course you can', I murmured with Gatsby trying to say it just like him. And every time, I left the theatre satisfied after hearing that iconic line: '</span><span style="line-height: 18px;">So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.'</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #ea9999; font-size: large; line-height: 18px;">Somewhere, Fitzgerald sitting among teary-eyed authors with unfaithful adaptions is looking down at us with a glass of champagne and a smug smile because Baz Luhrmann did complete justice to his work. I imagine he looks like this-</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ea9999; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Do I want to watch the movie a 4th time? Will I sever all relations with you if you speak ill of the movie? Will I throw a brick at the critics who gave the movie a bad review if I ever see them? </span></span><span style="color: #ea9999; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The answer to all those questions is a big YES :) </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">To Mr. Luhrmann, I have only one thing to say (and here I assume Nick Carraway's awe struck voice): </span></span><span style="background-color: black; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.1875px;"><span style="color: red;">"They're a rotten crowd. You're worth the whole damn bunch put together." </span></span></div>
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H.K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00125667886655303913noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553806313793116475.post-5617508868348709842012-12-22T10:46:00.003-08:002012-12-22T20:07:41.391-08:00I'm back! <h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">As guilty as I am about neglecting my blog for over three months, I am not going to wallow in self reproach (done enough of that) and instead move on to tell you of the books I've been reading and the things I've been doing. </span></h3>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">First things first, I moved to a new city! I now live in Istanbul, Turkey which feels pretty much like lıvıng ın a museum at times. Excuse the dot less 'i's, for I haven't gotten used to the Turkish keyboards. I'm studying Psychology, exploring a highly intriguing city and adjusting to a completely different (read: independent) life over here. Living alone has its charms and I feel extremely lucky to be having that oh-so-desirable European college experience. </span></h3>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">Needless to say I haven't allowed the craziness around me take its toll on my reading. So here's the list of books I read since I got here. </span></h3>
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<li><span style="background-color: #ffd966;"><span style="color: #444444;">The Old Man and the Sea<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.600000381469727px; line-height: 15.199999809265137px;"> - </span>Ernest Hemingway<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.600000381469727px; line-height: 15.199999809265137px;"> </span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: #ffd966;"><span style="color: #444444;">Animal Farm<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.600000381469727px; line-height: 15.199999809265137px;"> - </span>George Orwell<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.600000381469727px; line-height: 15.199999809265137px;"> </span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: #ffd966;"><span style="color: #444444;">Istanbul: Memories and the City<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.600000381469727px; line-height: 15.199999809265137px;"> - </span>Orhan Pamuk<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.600000381469727px; line-height: 15.199999809265137px;"> </span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: #ffd966;"><span style="color: #444444;">A Mercy<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.600000381469727px; line-height: 15.199999809265137px;"> - </span>Toni Morrison<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.600000381469727px; line-height: 15.199999809265137px;"> </span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: #ffd966;"><span style="color: #444444;">The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">...and currently Im reading </span><span style="background-color: #a64d79; font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: white;">This side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">. My obsession with Fitzgerald ıs at an all time high these days due to the movie adaption of </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DOE1WtvSuY" style="font-weight: normal;" target="_blank">The Great Gatsby.</a><span style="font-weight: normal;"> The trailer alone gives me chills every time I watch ıt. We've all had our share of horror stories about brllıant books ruined by movies but I have high hopes from this one, primarily because I think the cast is gorgeous! </span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal;">Moving on, last night I made a collage...a sort of hodge podge of pop culture mixed with personal favorites. Its for the cover of a notebook I recently got. </span></h3>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">No pretentiousness intended but I carry around a notebook with me when I'm travelling, writing down whatever grabs my attention. A seat by the window is all you need to get the ideas rolling in. I love the cover, its a painting of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maiden's_Tower#Legend" target="_blank">Maiden's Tower</a> (built during the Byzantine era) in the middle of the Bosphorus. The tower gets it's name from the two maidens who are said to have lived there.</span></h3>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Every
monument in Turkey has a story behind ıt. Some are enshrouded in legends and
myths, others in ancient glory. Its a city of varying tastes, beliefs and
sights. Before coming here I heard and read a lot about the 'stark contrasts'
within the city or as Orhan Pamuk puts it, the dilemma of: 'Westernisation and Europe or tradition and
Islam.' Istanbul undeniably has strong elements of both. In his memoir he talks at length
about the Huzun (melancholy) of the city's citizens which <i>comes of living amid
the ruins of a lost empire</i>, but lets leave that discussion for another post. I'm itching
to write about this fascinating city so expect something of
that sort in the near future.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 15.183333396911621px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">In short, I am back. I started this blog last August and now that I sit here writing after so long I realise just how much Ive mıssed ıt. A big thank you to all those who read and appreciate it. </span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 15.183333396911621px;">Hope you all read some wonderful books in 2012. The list of books I read this year is in the left section and I'd love to see yours too. </span></span></span></h4>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 15.183333396911621px;">Happy reading! </span></span></span></h4>
<br />H.K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00125667886655303913noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553806313793116475.post-27851051395097766222012-08-14T14:51:00.000-07:002012-08-14T14:51:10.326-07:00Things I do not need: More books. Things I will keep buying: More Books.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggVFcNQSfFpX2-1zBrBHu4fls6WgbysP72m-AsIoWhPidwN5ltKwCGDbhglltiXAuWkWOUvrU4qgs1ZgpjUFMtAUdpWCiP345NbJ2j7JtBsxk-s3dJsRte_pnY_HHZj4B-Y7SOR-Z6yAY/s1600/tumblr_m8dyu9Hyi01qfkk4ao1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggVFcNQSfFpX2-1zBrBHu4fls6WgbysP72m-AsIoWhPidwN5ltKwCGDbhglltiXAuWkWOUvrU4qgs1ZgpjUFMtAUdpWCiP345NbJ2j7JtBsxk-s3dJsRte_pnY_HHZj4B-Y7SOR-Z6yAY/s320/tumblr_m8dyu9Hyi01qfkk4ao1_500.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h3>
Exactly what I'm going for.</h3>
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P.S. Pictures of a dozen new books gracing my shelves to be put up soon. One step closer to creating a personal <a href="http://asolitarypassion.blogspot.com/2012/02/i-dream-dream-of-library.html" target="_blank">library</a>. XDH.K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00125667886655303913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553806313793116475.post-14550606768307902472012-08-05T10:47:00.000-07:002012-08-05T11:01:54.374-07:00Why do you read?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguTa2xn5ZysRc-RUm49bDh3STPXfgZatJvm5b9peaWvDZ4pMHwpkNGnwbVI5_RDtvkfJBCdq_Pj-VvkwRP_0wZXqkqmzLPIr-gN9gxTjrzAUNoJm7uu2twbab0_DURV9S3QL6R4Ydi9OE/s1600/421647_340680619309234_218773102_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguTa2xn5ZysRc-RUm49bDh3STPXfgZatJvm5b9peaWvDZ4pMHwpkNGnwbVI5_RDtvkfJBCdq_Pj-VvkwRP_0wZXqkqmzLPIr-gN9gxTjrzAUNoJm7uu2twbab0_DURV9S3QL6R4Ydi9OE/s320/421647_340680619309234_218773102_n.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
I've always loved reading but could never put a finger on why I read. I've never admitted to reading as a means to escape since to me that translates into - 'My life is horrible and I need the help of books to transport me to a happier, more exciting place'. However, I now realize that while escapism is one of the reasons I enjoy reading, there's no shame in admitting it because what I mean is simple: Now and then, I love to live the life of others; the rich and the poor, <i>the beautiful and the damned</i>, the joyous and the distressed. To create a parallel life and alternate between the two at will is a miraculously liberating feeling to say the least.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCpgm2fTvOTvIouOZ3Sakpr6FLMK5i4_2nAzYYR3COQGOIP1PKyFhxKK1sEOiEpBMvOFK-EbJYHdxIRsg5JTEJHTIOWavetHpqU1ugfwsPZp21hXrvWyEsNrdI_mk1YM_XK5z-QLOQJx0/s1600/402594_310299249006246_1093000554_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCpgm2fTvOTvIouOZ3Sakpr6FLMK5i4_2nAzYYR3COQGOIP1PKyFhxKK1sEOiEpBMvOFK-EbJYHdxIRsg5JTEJHTIOWavetHpqU1ugfwsPZp21hXrvWyEsNrdI_mk1YM_XK5z-QLOQJx0/s320/402594_310299249006246_1093000554_n.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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However, a recent conversation on Twitter made me think that for a majority of people escapism comes from the fantasy genre only. The success of Harry Potter and The Lord of the rings are prime examples in this case. Here's one bit:<br />
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Follower's tweet: i love d fantasy genre, takes ur mind off real life, the reason for reading books.<br />
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My reply: hmm im sure.bt im nt into d fantasy genre.i need 2 b able to relate 2 the characters in d real world.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnLKc8e78stf91dw64AojcwETtXypoeBcIB1eq-voI6d1oL4vDxaZpqSi83VHjYk_7eFDOJQOaiirrhXqKc0ERuNlfHs4XKMM8aOVLAWo7cMFudEkAWmIJL7w4k4MXn8L93rlHJUCXWH0/s1600/Books+This+is+exactly+how+they+work.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnLKc8e78stf91dw64AojcwETtXypoeBcIB1eq-voI6d1oL4vDxaZpqSi83VHjYk_7eFDOJQOaiirrhXqKc0ERuNlfHs4XKMM8aOVLAWo7cMFudEkAWmIJL7w4k4MXn8L93rlHJUCXWH0/s1600/Books+This+is+exactly+how+they+work.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnLKc8e78stf91dw64AojcwETtXypoeBcIB1eq-voI6d1oL4vDxaZpqSi83VHjYk_7eFDOJQOaiirrhXqKc0ERuNlfHs4XKMM8aOVLAWo7cMFudEkAWmIJL7w4k4MXn8L93rlHJUCXWH0/s320/Books+This+is+exactly+how+they+work.JPG" width="199" /></a>So my question to you, dear readers is: How can you relate to wizards who go to a school of wizardry, vampires who live for centuries, and hobbits who inhabit the lands of Middle-earth rather than characters rooted in the real world with actual human problems? <br />
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Maybe its a limitation of imagination on my part but when I read I need a strong sense of place. I need stories that are grounded in reality; in a fully real world. But that's just me. Feel free to differ. </div>H.K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00125667886655303913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553806313793116475.post-49122182907615440732012-06-28T04:17:00.001-07:002012-06-28T04:17:22.721-07:00Liebster Blog AwardA big thank you to Auggie from <a href="http://auggie-talk.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Auggie Talk</a> and Candace from <a href="http://readbetweenthecovers.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Read between the covers</a> for the award! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqk6MqtvNYVkf4pZ7xDlJYy-Uoje_ZnVfAgNbk0jv-akYzPePrZVzGpK9UcUKw9rguYvuC2LMSp9-93X8t5vdXL0qgvz4C_JFRYa8wY2zeeA1e2X5fRwH0ptWXbTux6m7CouBWNvNl_1Q/s1600/liebster_blog_award_thumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqk6MqtvNYVkf4pZ7xDlJYy-Uoje_ZnVfAgNbk0jv-akYzPePrZVzGpK9UcUKw9rguYvuC2LMSp9-93X8t5vdXL0qgvz4C_JFRYa8wY2zeeA1e2X5fRwH0ptWXbTux6m7CouBWNvNl_1Q/s1600/liebster_blog_award_thumb.jpg" /></a></div>
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The Liebster Blog Award is given to upcoming bloggers who have 200 followers or less. It helps people to get to know you as a blogger while introducing your blog to new viewers.<br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-size: medium;"><u><b>The Rules are as follows:</b></u> </span></div>
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1. Each person chosen must provide 11 facts about themselves. </div>
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2. Answer the 11 questions that the blogger who tagged you has given, then think of 11 questions for the people you tag. </div>
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3. Choose 11 people to receive the award and link them in your post</div>
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4. Be sure to tell these people that you've tagged them. </div>
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5. Remember, no tag backs (in other words: don't tag the person who tagged you.)</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><u style="font-weight: bold;">11 Random Facts About Me</u></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">1) I prefer writing10 facts about myself.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">2) I don't like celebrating odd number birthdays. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">3) At bookstores, I put shelves in order if the books are in disarray. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">4) I write letters to friends and acquaintances without the intention of ever sending it to them.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">5) I've been keeping a journal since I was 10. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">6) It takes me almost a month to finish a novel even if I read it every day. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">7) I like to hold a Kit Kat finger like a cigarette.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">8) I can climb high places but need at least 10 people to help bring me down. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">9) I wanted to be an archeologist as a kid. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">10)I am not going to write the 11th fact because</span></span></span></span> I hate odd numbers.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><u style="font-weight: bold;">Questions for Me</u>:</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"> </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">1. Why did you start your blog?</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"> To connect with like minded people and maybe turn this solitary passion into a shared one. </span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">2. What are your top 3 to-die-for characters?</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"> Lord Henry in The Picture of Dorian Gray</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"> Rebecca in Rebecca</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"> Fermina Daza in Love in the time of Cholera</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">3. What are you top 3 favorite books?</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">Love in the time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"> </span></span></span></span></span>The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">4. Where do you live?</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"> Karachi, Pakistan</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">5. Future release you are drooling over?</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"> The next book by Marquez (if he ever writes one).</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">6. Favorite author?</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"> Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Oscar Wilde</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">7. What "paranormal" creature would you be and why?</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"> </span></span></span></span></span>Aloja- A female water spirit because water fascinates me.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">8. Can you read more than one book at one time?</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"> Yes</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">9. What is your worst habit?</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"> Plucking dead skin from my lips. Even writing about it grosses me out but I can't help it. </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"> </span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">10. Book you were suprised you LOVED?</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"> Like the flowing river by Paulo Coelho. I had given up on Coelho after Veronica decides to die but this book was revelatory and gave me inspiration at a time when I needed it the most. </span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">11. If you could live any story, what would it be? </span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"> Hands down! One Hundred years of Solitude.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">Questions for those I tagged:</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"> </span></span></span></span></span> </div>
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In one sentence: Who are you? </div>
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What's something a lot of people do that you disagree with?</div>
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What's something no one can take away from you?</div>
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What's a common misconception people have about you? </div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"> </span></span></span></span></span>Your favorite quote?</div>
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Do you believe honesty is the best policy?</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"> Describe yourself in three words.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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Which dead author would you want to be haunted by?<br />What do u want to be known for?</div>
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What do you do when nothing else seems to make you happy?</div>
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Who do you think is the worst writer? </div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><strong><u>Blogs I am Tagging</u></strong></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><strong><br /></strong></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: #ead1dc; color: black;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><strong><a href="http://thesubookclubx.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">MadauG's Attempt at Book Reviewing</a></strong></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: #ead1dc; color: black;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><strong><a href="http://readthatalso.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">read that also</a></strong></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: #ead1dc; color: black;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><strong><a href="http://tazeen-tazeen.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">A reluctant mind</a><br /><a href="http://hm-viewsnreviews.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Views and Reviews </a></strong></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: #ead1dc; color: black;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><strong><a href="http://dusana-attracthappiness.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Positive Fountain</a> </strong></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: #ead1dc; color: black;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><strong><a href="http://bound2astound.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Bound 2 astound</a> </strong></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: #ead1dc; color: black;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><strong><a href="http://www.booksdevoured.com/" target="_blank">books devoured</a></strong></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: #ead1dc; color: black;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><strong><a href="http://www.coffeetablereviews.net/" target="_blank">coffee table reviews</a></strong></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: #ead1dc; color: black;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><strong><a href="http://www.abouthappybooks.com/" target="_blank">about happy books</a></strong></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: #ead1dc; color: black;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><strong><a href="http://anabundanceofbooks.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">an abundance of books</a></strong></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: #ead1dc; color: black;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><strong><a href="http://alaskanbookie.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">alaskan bookie</a></strong></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><strong><br /></strong></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: #ead1dc; color: black;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><strong>I think its a great way to support upcoming blogs and hope you will participate with me. :) </strong></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><strong><br /></strong></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>H.K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00125667886655303913noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553806313793116475.post-51450520182693493462012-06-10T08:21:00.001-07:002012-06-10T08:21:08.474-07:00I dream a dream of a library (2)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilGg4zehyTZU_v09aI-Dvb6j1P8XFOZLEx7_MmrDopw1ojs5IMgHv8K7CA0V4xVNdQuX9zG0jygq9e_K-4SQDtMJ1pvBAxZmdtCkHuUDKE1Tq93XPD60JRA713LemW5b6_mMmwzsAE0Mw/s1600/books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilGg4zehyTZU_v09aI-Dvb6j1P8XFOZLEx7_MmrDopw1ojs5IMgHv8K7CA0V4xVNdQuX9zG0jygq9e_K-4SQDtMJ1pvBAxZmdtCkHuUDKE1Tq93XPD60JRA713LemW5b6_mMmwzsAE0Mw/s400/books.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Back in end of February I started setting up my library with a mere 18 books. See: <a href="http://asolitarypassion.blogspot.com/2012/02/i-dream-dream-of-library.html" target="_blank">I dream a dream (1)</a> Over the past three months I've added almost 30 more books. Not qualified to be called a library still, but it's finally starting to look like the picture I have in mind.<br />
<br />
Taken in February <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2MRFMeHEAur5c_NUs5Yyc_gSvhf0WBjHi4xM2uTtLGpX1E4lDVhoUz1pEz5eXupGkyXnbLUpHqPiorVAfXmX7oKw2txVIYHEPqwumInGGg_t5AnZzTFYRJpSlG9sgugJmCCJp2wr0XYw/s1600/IMG_2408.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2MRFMeHEAur5c_NUs5Yyc_gSvhf0WBjHi4xM2uTtLGpX1E4lDVhoUz1pEz5eXupGkyXnbLUpHqPiorVAfXmX7oKw2txVIYHEPqwumInGGg_t5AnZzTFYRJpSlG9sgugJmCCJp2wr0XYw/s1600/IMG_2408.JPG" /></a></div>
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<br />
In June<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9f6JfcRpfc8D4cfYO0RPvg_DX2Ddz3ec19E-01En39jFtuiV9TM4wrKlmxB66M1hNJuNkHpFv-BdfCn2kQpro3HeLoDbFshXb0MkkcmAOh2ladt0jsn9cwVZ0OMIL4IMxJLY8_eZJfu4/s1600/DSC05127.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9f6JfcRpfc8D4cfYO0RPvg_DX2Ddz3ec19E-01En39jFtuiV9TM4wrKlmxB66M1hNJuNkHpFv-BdfCn2kQpro3HeLoDbFshXb0MkkcmAOh2ladt0jsn9cwVZ0OMIL4IMxJLY8_eZJfu4/s320/DSC05127.JPG" width="234" /></a></div>
Good progress, eh?<br />
<br />
Anyway I bought a couple of books at a <i>Liberty Books</i> sale today. Here are the ones I got:<br />
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<div style="color: #c27ba0;">
1) Night by Elie Wiesel</div>
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2) Selected Poems by Gulzar</div>
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3) Reading like a writer by <span class="st">Francine Prose</span> </div>
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4) Selected Short Stories from the 19th Century by David Stuart</div>
<br />
Reading <i>One hundred years of Solitude</i> these days has me trapped in the imaginary village of Macondo and its daily life of atrocities, resilience and miracles. Marquez truly is a master of Magical realism. I've been reading the book at a slow pace and its already been a month since I started it. No rush. Masterpieces are too precious to be glanced at and brushed past by; they are meant to be savored, experienced and appreciated. <br />
<br />H.K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00125667886655303913noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553806313793116475.post-74732893133773021562012-06-07T15:13:00.000-07:002012-06-08T09:54:58.012-07:00Type away!Ms. Procrastination over stayed her welcome, hence the blog was not updated for weeks but I've got to write now. Sometimes I feel like I'll explode or die of an emotional overload if I don't write. I know I must but sometimes, I just don't.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAjcgeuGuqBpd33wsCtVXp0xb6J9to56xLdc-S7WeeiRdyqgLve26wC_ViUpwXO5rpUA6RRufubV9QpmclKImA1aC5hd7jEKm-HG5eDNeB11WWppnGHmZCSoOOeuKoNPNa6jlLXvPf1EE/s1600/blue-flower-red-typewriter-vintage-Favim.com-42988.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAjcgeuGuqBpd33wsCtVXp0xb6J9to56xLdc-S7WeeiRdyqgLve26wC_ViUpwXO5rpUA6RRufubV9QpmclKImA1aC5hd7jEKm-HG5eDNeB11WWppnGHmZCSoOOeuKoNPNa6jlLXvPf1EE/s320/blue-flower-red-typewriter-vintage-Favim.com-42988.jpg" width="320" /></a>Anyway, I'm sure nobody who reads this blog wants to comb through my mental debris so I'll let you know something that may interest some of you. I'm getting myself a TYPEWRITER! Okay so I have wanted to get one for the longest time but wasn't able to find it in my city but now I finally know where I can get it from and next week I shall be typing away from the ultimate writing machine of the 1800s. <br />
<br />
I think my love for typewriters and other vintage items stems from a fascination with bygone eras, very much like Owen Wilson's longing to belong to the early 1900s in Midnight in Paris. Something about the fantasy-nostalgist theme of this movie made me wonder how incredible it would be to personally know these writers from almost a century ago who are now considered literary Gods. What insecurities had they faced in regards to their writing? Self doubts? The extent of their passion? I want to know everything about them! <br />
<br />
I can't jump back in time but I can own something that was used by them, and so, using a typewriter is my way of getting a little closer to the writers I've admired all my life. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ylnKVHITpaWGa_9qopSd9LgkVAWMp8oxf0kRtBveYYlWmVg2exAkVIoCKlYGOhyg2zkhxzq6354kJIEiDSQIErfD2Exp7Tvv1pw1C6-_h-Joh2Z2-VBzEztWpG2LDaF2ESk-aYDSPA0/s1600/floral-pattern-piano-typewriter-vintage-writing-machine-Favim.com-79331.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ylnKVHITpaWGa_9qopSd9LgkVAWMp8oxf0kRtBveYYlWmVg2exAkVIoCKlYGOhyg2zkhxzq6354kJIEiDSQIErfD2Exp7Tvv1pw1C6-_h-Joh2Z2-VBzEztWpG2LDaF2ESk-aYDSPA0/s320/floral-pattern-piano-typewriter-vintage-writing-machine-Favim.com-79331.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://molsrock.tumblr.com/post/2075985396/warllyssong-o-papel-tem-mais-paciencia-que-as" target="_blank">Source: molsrock.tumblr.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />H.K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00125667886655303913noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553806313793116475.post-5508698568059520822012-05-21T04:11:00.001-07:002012-05-21T04:20:13.434-07:00Books are magic!<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: #674ea7;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuCYEP-f1O2F6-Kw96bwjUX2G6-GlAmuLTqTUl4SgvZEa5vigdE1ol0kYK7lPkKin8GrESuHX4P9wyBasxF9CYjncaMU__npCsvoYGziSgvxTkfk3mRzCKQGWSgdQCbUIRSPvPeGxfRHI/s1600/389580_293719797377917_288137091269521_655146_847051870_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuCYEP-f1O2F6-Kw96bwjUX2G6-GlAmuLTqTUl4SgvZEa5vigdE1ol0kYK7lPkKin8GrESuHX4P9wyBasxF9CYjncaMU__npCsvoYGziSgvxTkfk3mRzCKQGWSgdQCbUIRSPvPeGxfRHI/s400/389580_293719797377917_288137091269521_655146_847051870_n.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKFTTXZn1iFwNSoACiezjVQCOG_WvbQG6wY3CEr77qiuNHrm-6J1cZAZryt3gR_4QvZvxA4Ei0bMita5K25RQGLnPSD3yDVS9Z1o1RjcXo8ZKaMqxKss0hDm3JN-g9_VyM-2y9BKaCGsE/s1600/389580_293719797377917_288137091269521_655146_847051870_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<i style="color: #c27ba0;"><b>"</b></i><b style="color: #c27ba0;"><i>What an astonishing thing a book is. It’s a flat object made from a tree
with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark
squiggles. But one glance at it and you’re inside the mind of another
person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the
millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head,
directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions,
binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant
epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans
are capable of working magic." - Carl Sagan </i></b>H.K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00125667886655303913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553806313793116475.post-6598023472876682832012-05-15T11:07:00.000-07:002012-06-15T12:23:36.391-07:00Pakistan’s first online library!<div style="text-align: left;">
Originally published in <a href="http://blog.uniquepakistan.com.pk/pakistans-online-library/" target="_blank">Unique Pakistan</a></div>
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Very rarely would you hear of libraries
being opened up in our country. However, a lack of public reading spaces
doesn’t necessarily signify a lack of reading culture. This can be
proved by the success of an innovative business venture called <a href="http://www.thereadersclub.com/" target="_blank">The Readers Club</a>,
launched in 2009 by the enterprising duo- Usman Siddiqui and Jawad
Yousuf. The Readers Club is a vast online library consisting of
thousands of books that can be borrowed once you subscribe to the
website. It is Pakistan’s first book rental service. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdbzYweH0bn-8XivQ70wgaKpYcNLwGdyVdZhgt8Hcjdqh84sCe0bJN50XvLHwvR5XoyPA0J7qDuiBASMCgepeoz9cf3zmUS1a4Es_AOY-svWSRsd0PJlgYEBfWtC0X6KLENS8-2PJK3oY/s1600/148210_181167495245819_181166825245886_574521_7452960_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdbzYweH0bn-8XivQ70wgaKpYcNLwGdyVdZhgt8Hcjdqh84sCe0bJN50XvLHwvR5XoyPA0J7qDuiBASMCgepeoz9cf3zmUS1a4Es_AOY-svWSRsd0PJlgYEBfWtC0X6KLENS8-2PJK3oY/s400/148210_181167495245819_181166825245886_574521_7452960_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I stumbled upon their website two years ago. Excited by the vast
variety of books available for a small monthly membership fee; I
instantly became a member and filled up my bucket list. I had the books
delivered to my house the very next day. With excellent customer
service, efficient delivery and good quality books, I was won over. A
year later The reader’s club sister website <a href="http://goog_1354859696/" target="_blank">Kitabain.com</a> (<i>Kitabain is urdu for books</i>) was
launched. This is a platform where you can buy and sell books online.
Perfect for those looking for books at a lower price delivered to their
house and those wanting to get rid of stacks of books consuming space in
the house. Kitabain.com also received the Service Innovation award at
the P@SHA awards, Lahore in October, 2010.
</div>
<br />
An effort such as this one must be applauded as it not only promotes
reading but makes books much more accessible and affordable for a
majority of people. Last year in December, at the annual Karachi
international book fair at Expo Centre I was delighted to find a stall
by The Reader’s Club offering numerous books at quarter the original
prices. It was probably one of the best stalls at the fair, offering the
most affordable books.<br />
<br />
Their next project includes digitizing Urdu books into an audio
format. In our country where the older generation shake their heads in
disapproval of the young and their supposedly non-existent reading
habit; an online library is a sign that there are still ambitious people
who cater to readers in Pakistan and a significant number of people who
consume such services.<br />
<br />
Here is a video about them!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/mLDqOsjfuDw?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Happy reading!H.K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00125667886655303913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553806313793116475.post-88696677664096013642012-05-10T08:52:00.000-07:002012-06-15T12:19:19.555-07:00Stunning Book Art!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It kills me to see books and papers turned and twisted mecilessly but I find a bit of consolation in the fact that these are old newspapers and books turned into wonderful pieces of art. Just goes to show the uselfullness of book! </div>
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A tower of books </div>
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The Argentinian artist Marta Minujin has built a tower of 30,000 books. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEaCLebfIp16Y_Mx61EWskPx78-ZCIK-d_uwiZlx1B-5ct01JTdDRqL6G5U3crUxSaFYGBKI9-7WOckpEQybiGtp_Ut5jTeuMoVndzKVIi1acnq9JpYFQPa5ad8vwM4uIUO8-CS-nJ3vs/s1600/00001091.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEaCLebfIp16Y_Mx61EWskPx78-ZCIK-d_uwiZlx1B-5ct01JTdDRqL6G5U3crUxSaFYGBKI9-7WOckpEQybiGtp_Ut5jTeuMoVndzKVIi1acnq9JpYFQPa5ad8vwM4uIUO8-CS-nJ3vs/s320/00001091.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The tower was built to celebrate Buenos Aires' nomination for World Book Capital 2011.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdoyhQdPSK-gKdBqsjZiBXAVlb67EqOMgx4igo0oEWLg4OWuTNCpXzcLJRDsLF4Kb04m9vQDyjnZQoh_yOkoBASHLw5ke12DceOqngh_q3jAp0iPVk23AfcF4CsKb876GO-e8QEIZ4cbE/s1600/00001089.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdoyhQdPSK-gKdBqsjZiBXAVlb67EqOMgx4igo0oEWLg4OWuTNCpXzcLJRDsLF4Kb04m9vQDyjnZQoh_yOkoBASHLw5ke12DceOqngh_q3jAp0iPVk23AfcF4CsKb876GO-e8QEIZ4cbE/s320/00001089.jpg" width="213" /> </a></div>
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"Paper Elegies" </div>
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Nick Georgiou uses old books to make these colorful artworks</div>
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Carved book landscapes</h4>
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Artist Guy Laramee says about his work: So I carve landscapes out of books and I paint Romantic landscapes. Mountains of disused knowledge return to what they really are: mountains. They erode a bit more and they become hills. Then they flatten and become fields where apparently nothing is happening. Piles of obsolete encyclopedias return to that which does not need to say anything, that which simply IS. Fogs and clouds erase everything we know, everything we think we are.<br />
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Cascades of books</div>
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Artist Alicia martin transformed thousands of unused books into columns that pour out of windows of historical buildings in Madrid into the streets.</div>
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These over sized sculptures are definitely one of a kind.</div>
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Sources: <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1602948546">http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2OceD5/:pZK9eOfY:Tj2GO3yC/www.thisiscolossal.com/2011/12/carved-book-landscapes-by-guy-laramee/</a><br />
<a href="http://www.walltowatch.com/view/2000">http://www.walltowatch.com/view/2000</a>H.K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00125667886655303913noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553806313793116475.post-7011439420674233352012-04-28T11:32:00.000-07:002012-04-30T03:04:45.891-07:00Of books and PakistanFirst published in <a href="http://blog.uniquepakistan.com.pk/home/pakistani-writers-a-league-of-their-own-2/" target="_blank">Unique Pakistan</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1LPSpMwO3-Ln7WO_EYJJ9s3iFDzZllYmsbdsgJo0aHl4dj_BTyY6PdOm5BFzyquZiNMZhr5m_b33UcPhgac6_sSBFZwGs8sBH5TIzMM3ZR77XBOrKee_asqT3-owql9WD4iGZBLNUJcA/s1600/New-wave-of-English-writers_1252.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1LPSpMwO3-Ln7WO_EYJJ9s3iFDzZllYmsbdsgJo0aHl4dj_BTyY6PdOm5BFzyquZiNMZhr5m_b33UcPhgac6_sSBFZwGs8sBH5TIzMM3ZR77XBOrKee_asqT3-owql9WD4iGZBLNUJcA/s320/New-wave-of-English-writers_1252.jpg" width="320" /></a>A few years ago, Pakistani writers were globally unheard of. Fast
forward to today and you’ll see Pakistan’s literary landscape
flourishing. With international awards and widespread acclaim to their
merit, Pakistani authors are making waves in the literary circles and
casting their magic. Pakistani novelist writing in English are now being
hailed as the new generation of intellectuals propelling the country’s
almost non-existent reading culture forward and garnering attention for
the country due to their immense talent.<span id="more-891"></span><br />
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The likes of these young guns include Daniyal Mueenuddin, Kamila
Shamsie, Mohsin Hamid, Mohammed Hanif, Bina Shah, Bilal Tanveer, Ali
Sethi, Nadeem Aslam amongst many more. Dealing with themes of religious
extremism, racism, politics, class division, war and love, these
novelists are weaving complex and epic tales with their distinguished
style. Their popularity can be measured by the crowd that turns up in
droves to attend their sessions in literature festivals in Pakistan and
India as well as the prestigious awards they have been nominated for and
won.<br />
<img alt="" class="alignleft wp-image-554" height="170" src="http://blog.uniquepakistan.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Karachi-Literature-300x151.jpg" style="border-color: black; border-image: initial; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; margin-left: 2px; margin-right: 2px;" title="Karachi Literature" width="300" /><br />
For the last three years, <a href="http://www.karachiliteraturefestival.org/home" target="_blank">Karachi Literature Festival</a> has been
accelerating the process of the resurgence of writing in Pakistan. Every
year it’s becoming bigger and better, bringing together the biggest
names in literati from various countries. This year the festival
showcased brilliant talent to the literary starved audience of Karachi
by presenting an astounding number of 150 authors, poets, journalists,
publishers, etc.<br />
<br />
According to Kamila Shamsie: ”Pakistani writing is in it’s
infancy”. While that may be true, Pakistani writers are surely taking
the publishing world by storm.H.K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00125667886655303913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553806313793116475.post-90194893039728680602012-04-25T10:23:00.000-07:002012-04-26T02:12:22.323-07:00Literary crushes!<div style="color: #c27ba0;">
<b>I have plenty of free time on my hands these days and it seems all I do the entire day is read. Thank God for the makeshift library I set up a few months
back; plenty of unread books grace my shelves so I'm set for a few more weeks. Yesterday I finished reading Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier and found myself utterly captivated by it's dead protagonist- Rebecca. This made me ponder back to the numerous literary crushes I've developed over the years. Here are some them: </b></div>
<span style="color: #e06666;"> </span><br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #e06666;"> <u>Mr. Willy Wonka</u> in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory</span></h3>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJLZREdO-Ps2PcZvm3Glwv8-5vYTXebDpPk5ZvWx2clN7lKodEEtDnaft1yUEIzvtatDKux8MjcP5iqGNPfIMdgCoFLnkKl3-Hp2d5zuR7PksVG-SsKFU3TfOsI7uOlVgHnSMuZHkrEec/s1600/willywonka.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJLZREdO-Ps2PcZvm3Glwv8-5vYTXebDpPk5ZvWx2clN7lKodEEtDnaft1yUEIzvtatDKux8MjcP5iqGNPfIMdgCoFLnkKl3-Hp2d5zuR7PksVG-SsKFU3TfOsI7uOlVgHnSMuZHkrEec/s320/willywonka.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Johnny Depp plays Willy Wonka, 2005</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Every fat kid with an irrevocable love for chocolate adored this eccentric character created by Roald Dahl in Charlie and the chocolate factory. Not only is Mr. Willy Wonka the best chocolatier in the world, he also owns a chocolate factory where everything is made entirely out of chocolate! Apart from a fabulous dressing style complete with a sleek bob, a tall hat and a perfectly tailored maroon coat, I love him for his quirkiness, his unconventional attitude and his disgust for almost everything that isn't made up of chocolate. Watching Johnny Depp play Willy Wonka in Tim Burton's film adaption only cemented his position as one of my favorite literary crushes. <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: #ffd966;">
<i>Best dialogue: <span class="sqq">“"Everything in this room is eatable. In fact even I
am eatable, but that is called cannibalism my dear children and is
frowned upon in most civilizations.”</span></i></blockquote>
<h3 style="color: #e06666;">
<u>Vampire Lestat</u> in Vampire Chronicles </h3>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGZWFmE0smJlOuFH3mdu-Qd8HFjX9hm8N_HfhakoFpiemDUTImDooRIZZ9r66Eg9a16EY6U4S2AzDi55nI7U4ulgYWBp90oOvcGT9oMsKBAhwoIXxRr2-IUVBQOGfB26xzOx-epxTRsPI/s1600/lestatnew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGZWFmE0smJlOuFH3mdu-Qd8HFjX9hm8N_HfhakoFpiemDUTImDooRIZZ9r66Eg9a16EY6U4S2AzDi55nI7U4ulgYWBp90oOvcGT9oMsKBAhwoIXxRr2-IUVBQOGfB26xzOx-epxTRsPI/s320/lestatnew.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Stuart
Townsend plays Lestat, 2002</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This enigmatic monster gripped my attention in Interview with the vampire by Anne Rice- A story about blood sucking, bad ass vampires! <i>(Take that Meyers)</i>. Despite the story being about Louis and his transformation from a human to a vampire and his subsequent adventurous life, it was Vampire Lestat who made a lasting impression on me. He prompted me to read the entire Vampire Chronicle series, including Vampire Lestat and The queen of the damned.<br />
This 200 year old vampire is a vanity-struck sexy rockstar, a rebel, a miser, and ultimately a redemption seeker. He is more like one of my bi-polar friends...<i>yes Molls I'm referring to you. </i>He's crazy when life's good and deeply morose when things go bad. Unbelievably powerful and unapologetically fatal; Vampire Lestat is irresistible! <br />
<br />
<span class="st"><span class="f"></span><i> </i></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i style="color: #ffd966;">Best dialogue: ''Evil is a point of view. God kills indiscriminately and so shall we. For
no creatures under God are as we are, none so like him as ourselves.''</i></blockquote>
<br />
<h3 style="color: #e06666;">
<u>Lord Henry </u>in The picture of Dorian Gray</h3>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs57PNz3bFPPD9Aj1aKumHmEIaQR5pRiaTzkRXb4O_ARStdKGfLkUqJCW2vP2r-JjbAwnKYGMmuwWf0plXokFVBnsPHbE__oG85piJMc99eTw5vo8aNQ2_UQd1jfLM5KxIkVHQYSQcjGI/s1600/dg4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs57PNz3bFPPD9Aj1aKumHmEIaQR5pRiaTzkRXb4O_ARStdKGfLkUqJCW2vP2r-JjbAwnKYGMmuwWf0plXokFVBnsPHbE__oG85piJMc99eTw5vo8aNQ2_UQd1jfLM5KxIkVHQYSQcjGI/s320/dg4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Collin Firth plays Lord Henry, 2009</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Could there be a character more witty, opinionated and intriguing than Lord Henry? The answer is no! He plays the devil's advocate, misleading the naive Dorian Gray with his demonic views of the world. Lord Henry is a clever man who doesn't practice what he preaches, instead he influences others with his immoral and unconventional philosophies. He may not be the desirable hero of this novel; he is sexist, offensive and attention seeking but Lord Henry is also undeniably fascinating and an exquisitely eloquent character who says things that most of us only wish we had the courage to speak. <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: #ffd966;">
<i>Best dialogues: "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.'' </i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: #ffd966;">
<i>"The people who love only once in their lives are really the shallow
people. What they call their loyalty, and their fidelity, I call either
the lethargy of custom or their lack of imagination. Faithfulness is to
the emotional life what consistency is to the life of the intellect -
simply a confession of failure."</i></blockquote>
<div style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: #e06666; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">
<h3>
<u style="color: #e06666;">Florentino Ariza</u><span style="color: #e06666;"> in Love in the time of Cholera</span></h3>
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgHxI4fNpsWtQVTpgckYQemCQ97h99qIg0sDIl733qKjWTeuIFpL_0qJ406mFk8DhuI4F_tA0SfAZXOJqG90CXlmGeUrCsxxghx5eZOSiY-YBwtXJ0zU6srNcV3laCOcLflzAPLXQsM0w/s1600/2CAD1C1AB88EC78F9D71DB76A51DEF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgHxI4fNpsWtQVTpgckYQemCQ97h99qIg0sDIl733qKjWTeuIFpL_0qJ406mFk8DhuI4F_tA0SfAZXOJqG90CXlmGeUrCsxxghx5eZOSiY-YBwtXJ0zU6srNcV3laCOcLflzAPLXQsM0w/s320/2CAD1C1AB88EC78F9D71DB76A51DEF.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Javier Bardem plays Ariza, 2007</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Florentino Ariza is observant without being detached, tragic without being hopeless and stubborn without being impatient. Our passionate hero waits fifty-one years, nine months, and four days to reach his lover, Fermina Daza. During his wait he turns into a sex addict, becomes an obsessive stalker and lives and breathes poetry. <br />
<br />
This is not to say that I find the above mentioned traits attractive but despite his flaws Florentino Ariza is a die-hard romantic who reaffirmed my belief in true love that transcends time. Written in Marquez's masterful prose, Florentino Ariza is unforgettable. <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i style="color: #ffd966;">Best Dialogue:
“The only regret I will have in dying is if it is not for love.”
</i>
</blockquote>
<h3>
<span style="color: #e06666;"><u>Rebecca</u> in Rebecca</span></h3>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGVTrjW-1sRn0Grp3m1mozp897y5kAj_z8VTjcPikY9t7zyv0XYO-ltKeBDrHj2aESlRNDP7YFWcIL3HtxZMWw5OExQlCjcn_F1eYNwguT1hz9_GTxauMDFmTf-39ejrsgH_rILtiy8Ys/s1600/DuMaurierDaphne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGVTrjW-1sRn0Grp3m1mozp897y5kAj_z8VTjcPikY9t7zyv0XYO-ltKeBDrHj2aESlRNDP7YFWcIL3HtxZMWw5OExQlCjcn_F1eYNwguT1hz9_GTxauMDFmTf-39ejrsgH_rILtiy8Ys/s320/DuMaurierDaphne.jpg" width="217" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Author: Daphne Du Maurier</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #e06666;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Rebbecca, the antagonist of the book with the same title is headstrong, accomplished and beautiful. Although she is dead, she is still indestructible. I am completely smitten by her character because of the different sides of her personality that were revealed to me as the book progressed. In the beginning the narrator of the book pieces together an image of Rebecca that portrays her as the perfect hostess of the grand Manderley and the much loved wife who dies tragically at sea but a few chapters into the book and the real Rebecca begins to emerge; one who is rebellious, flirtatious and an evil woman who commits unspeakable acts under the masquerade of beauty and grace. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<h2>
</h2>
The oppressive presence of Rebecca throughout the novel captured my imagination and made her one of the most memorable characters I've come across. Her 'last joke' in the book is the perfect example of Rebecca's wicked nature. Not so much of a crush than a fascination, the ghost of Rebecca haunted me long after I finished the novel.<br />
<br />
<div style="color: #6fa8dc;">
<i>These were mine. Who are your literary crushes? Any character who has captured your mind and enthralled you with their charisma?</i></div>H.K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00125667886655303913noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553806313793116475.post-63911296816330887192012-04-16T10:17:00.001-07:002012-06-11T05:25:31.776-07:00Dead man walking - Mark Twain filmed by Thomas Edison<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWl_6uAPqj6v9IYSY1rpwUBYpaPMpxVFsroyNbjRzTFCAkT8CP9ajmtavZlDMLO0daLAeofqNpxrLpN2Y73NYPcaVpWvDUPcjX0S1DJrSuRYuUf4tFOzG95H0a-wheFgKCsHcNSKpsW5g/s1600/01-05-11-huck-finn_full_600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWl_6uAPqj6v9IYSY1rpwUBYpaPMpxVFsroyNbjRzTFCAkT8CP9ajmtavZlDMLO0daLAeofqNpxrLpN2Y73NYPcaVpWvDUPcjX0S1DJrSuRYuUf4tFOzG95H0a-wheFgKCsHcNSKpsW5g/s400/01-05-11-huck-finn_full_600.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Mark Twain is arguably one of the best writers of all time. Unlike so many other authors of yesteryear whose pictures we have seen in paintings and photographs only, here we have a footage of Twain captured on film by none other than Thomas Edison in 1909. The eerie video shows Twain in his estate in Stormfield with his daughters Jean and Clara. Here's a rare glimpse of the man who has inspired and entertained a generation of readers beyond measure.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/leYj--P4CgQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
It is sad to think about how his daughter Jean, featured in the video died in December of the same year, while Twain himself passed away the following spring in 1910.H.K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00125667886655303913noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553806313793116475.post-87085155873126391452012-04-09T15:10:00.000-07:002012-04-09T15:10:51.961-07:00Birth of a bookFound this beautiful video on <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/04/birth-of-a-book_n_1403658.html?ref=books&ir=Books" target="_blank">Huffington Post</a>. Also, remember my <a href="http://asolitarypassion.blogspot.com/2012/03/dilemma.html" target="_blank">dilemma</a>? Well, these two videos helped me make my mind- Hardbacks it is! Forever and ever. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/iuFV5196dYQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
A wonderfully hilarious speech about Book cover art:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/cC0KxNeLp1E?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>H.K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00125667886655303913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553806313793116475.post-20136236505537650702012-04-07T15:30:00.001-07:002012-04-07T15:32:55.498-07:00Nastiest literary insults of all time<div style="color: #c27ba0;"><b><i>I think most authors are an insecure and envious lot. Hell breaks loose when a writer decides to spew his/her hatred publicly. It makes for a highly amusing read too. No wonder these insults are so eloquent and hard-hitting, after all they have been made by some very good writers who just find their fellows really bad. Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby present to you a stunning mix of wit, jealousy and sarcasm.<br />
<u style="color: red;">Note:</u> Regarding some comments as plain nasty would be an understatement. </i></b></div><div style="color: #c27ba0;"><b><i>Let the vicious war of words begin!</i></b></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Oscar Wilde on Alexander Pope</span><br />
“There are two ways of disliking poetry; one way is to dislike it, the other is to read Pope.” <br />
<div style="color: red;"><br />
</div><div style="color: red;">Lord Byron on John Keats</div> “Here are Johnny Keats’ piss-a-bed poetry, and three novels by God knows whom… No more Keats, I entreat: flay him alive; if some of you don’t I must skin him myself: there is no bearing the drivelling idiotism of the Mankin.”<br />
<br />
<div style="color: red;">Mark Twain on Jane Austen</div>Every time I read ‘Pride and Prejudice,’ I want to dig her up and hit her over the skull with her own shin-bone.” <i>Ouch!</i><br />
<br />
<div style="color: red;">Vladimir Nabokov on Ernest Hemingway </div> “As to Hemingway, I read him for the first time in the early ‘forties, something about bells, balls and bulls, and loathed it.”<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Homer J. Simpson on Walt Whitman's book</span><br />
'Leaves of grass' my ass!<br />
<br />
<div style="color: red;">Harold Bloom on J.K. Rowling</div>“How to read ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’? Why, very quickly, to begin with, and perhaps also to make an end. Why read it? Presumably, if you cannot be persuaded to read anything better, Rowling will have to do.” <i>Sorry Potter fans</i><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Gertrude Stein on Ezra Pound</span><br />
“A village explainer. Excellent if you were a village, but if you were not, not.”<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">H. G. Wells on George Bernard Shaw</span><br />
“An idiot child screaming in a hospital.” <br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Charles Baudelaire on Voltaire (1864)</span><br />
“I grow bored in France — and the main reason is that everybody here resembles Voltaire…the king of nincompoops, the prince of the superficial, the anti-artist, the spokesman of janitresses, the Father Gigone of the editors of Siecle.”<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">William Faulkner on Ernest Hemingway</span><br />
“He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.”<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Ernest Hemingway on William Faulkner</span><br />
“Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?” <br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Gore Vidal on Truman Capote</span><br />
“He’s a full-fledged housewife from Kansas with all the prejudices.” <br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Truman Capote on Jack Kerouac</span><br />
“That’s not writing, that’s typing.”<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">W. H. Auden on Robert Browning</span><br />
“I don’t think Robert Browning was very good in bed. His wife probably didn’t care for him very much. He snored and had fantasies about twelve-year-old girls.”<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Evelyn Waugh on Marcel Proust (1948)</span><br />
“I am reading Proust for the first time. Very poor stuff. I think he was mentally defective.”<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Virginia Woolf on James Joyce</span><br />
“[Ulysses is] the work of a queasy undergraduate scratching his pimples.”<br />
<br />
<div style="color: red;">William Faulkner on Mark Twain </div>“A hack writer who would not have been considered fourth rate in Europe, who tricked out a few of the old proven sure fire literary skeletons with sufficient local color to intrigue the superficial and the lazy.”<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">D.H. Lawrence on James Joyce (1928)</span><br />
“My God, what a clumsy olla putrida James Joyce is! Nothing but old fags and cabbage stumps of quotations from the Bible and the rest stewed in the juice of deliberate, journalistic dirty-mindedness.” <br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">James Dickey on Robert Frost:</span><br />
“If it were thought that anything I wrote was influenced by Robert Frost,<br />
I would take that particular work of mine, shred it, and flush it down<br />
the toilet, hoping not to clog the pipes...'' <i>Seriously Dickey? lol</i><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">H.G. Wells on Henry James:</span><br />
“A hippopotamus trying to pick up a pea that has got into a corner of its cage..” <br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Lawrence Durrell on Henry James</span><br />
“If I were asked to choose between reading Henry James and having my head pressed between two stones, I’d choose the latter.” <i>Sorry Azzaam, that must've hurt. </i><br />
<br />
<i> </i><span style="color: red;">Mark Twain on Henry James:</span><br />
“Once you put one of his books down, you simply can’t pick it up again.”<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Mark Twain on Edgar Allan Poe. </span><br />
“To me, his prose is unreadable– like Jane Austen’s” <br />
<br />
<div style="color: red;">Gore Vidal after being punched by Norman Mailer </div> “I see Norman, words have failed you again!”<br />
<br />
Louis-Ferdinand Céline on D.H.Lawrence’s “Lady Chatterley’s Lover”:<br />
“600 hundred pages for a gamekeeper’s dick, it’s way too long.”<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Vidal on Truman Capote’s death</span> <br />
“A good Career move.”<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Mark Twain on Jane Austen:</span><br />
Just the omission of Jane Austen’s books alone would make a fairly good library out of a library that hadn’t a book in it<br />
<br />
<div style="color: red;">Dorothy Parker’s on Benito Mussolini’s -The Cardinal’s Mistress</div>“This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.” <i>HAHA</i><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Flannery O’Connor on Harper Lee</span><br />
“I think for a child’s book it does all right. It’s interesting that all the folks that are buying it don’t know they’re reading a child’s book.”<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">John Updike</span> on the name of a character in one of <span style="color: red;">Rushdie's </span>novels who has the same name as a German actor: Why, oh why, did Salman Rushdie, in his new novel ... call one of his major characters Maxmilian Ophuls<br />
<span style="color: red;">Salman Rushdie</span>: A name is just a name. Why oh why ... Well, why not? Somewhere in Las Vegas there's probably a male prostitute called John Updike.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Dorothy Parker on Clare Booth Luce</span><br />
Clare Booth Luce, opening a door for Dorthy Parker: Age before beauty.<br />
Dorothy Parker: Pearls before swine. <i>OH GOD! </i><br />
<br />
<div style="color: red;">Ben Jonson on William Shakespeare</div>“I remember the players have often mentioned it as an honor to Shakespeare, that in his writing, whatsoever he penned, he never blotted out a line. My answer hath been, ‘Would he had blotted a thousand,’ <i>Don't speak ill of the bard</i>!<br />
<div style="color: red;"><br />
</div><div style="color: red;">Salman Rushdie on John le Carré </div> “an illiterate pompous ass”.<br />
<br />
<div style="color: red;">James Dickey on Steinbeck</div>I can't read ten pages of Steinbeck without throwing up.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Arnold Bennett on Charles Dickens </span><br />
About a year ago, from idle curiosity, I picked up 'The Old Curiosity Shop', and of all the rotten vulgar un-literary writing...! Worse than George Eliot.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Samuel Johnson on John Milton's Paradise Lost</span><br />
'Paradise Lost' is one of the books which the reader admires and lays down, and forgets to take up again.<br />
<br />
<div style="color: red;">Anatole France on Emile Zola</div>His work is evil, and he is one of those unhappy beings of whom one can say that it would be better had he never been born.<br />
<div style="color: red;"><br />
</div><div style="color: red;">Norman Mailer on Tom Wolfe’s </div>“Reading the work can even be said to resemble the act of making love to a 300lb woman. Once she gets on top, it’s over. Fall in love, or be asphyxiated.”<br />
<br />
<i style="color: #c27ba0;">I'm just as surprised as you are...</i>H.K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00125667886655303913noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553806313793116475.post-34069741973818184632012-04-06T15:18:00.001-07:002012-04-06T15:24:15.090-07:00Date a girl who reads by Rosemarie Urquico<div style="background-color: #4c1130; color: white;"><b><i>“Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.<br />
<br />
Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.<br />
<br />
She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.<br />
<br />
Buy her another cup of coffee.<br />
<br />
Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.<br />
<br />
It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.<br />
<br />
She has to give it a shot somehow.<br />
<br />
Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.<br />
<br />
Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.<br />
<br />
Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series.<br />
<br />
If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.<br />
<br />
You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.<br />
<br />
You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.<br />
<br />
Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.<br />
<br />
Or better yet, date a girl who writes.”</i></b></div><br />
Source:<a href="http://themonicabird.com/" target="_blank">http://themonicabird.com/</a>H.K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00125667886655303913noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553806313793116475.post-38468795448143195962012-04-05T10:16:00.000-07:002012-04-05T10:16:34.556-07:00Under the spell of Marquez<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6NxHYPf7kEwrOTDp0T1K8qIig0fdxCF01-0vRgcaIsEl3ZIHEqwIYfkIwPr14LNQNurd3FY9ie0U2lJXEoatEDxcTGMfJsTVcCxnIjJMJHmfXo27yyjZu-1ETOAXX-5ilZMjffTh3mhU/s1600/gabriel_garcia_marquez_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6NxHYPf7kEwrOTDp0T1K8qIig0fdxCF01-0vRgcaIsEl3ZIHEqwIYfkIwPr14LNQNurd3FY9ie0U2lJXEoatEDxcTGMfJsTVcCxnIjJMJHmfXo27yyjZu-1ETOAXX-5ilZMjffTh3mhU/s320/gabriel_garcia_marquez_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gabriel Garcia Marquez</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I'm a woman possessed! From </span><i style="color: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Love in the time of cholera</i><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> to a collection of his morbid short stories to </span><i style="color: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Of love and other demons</i><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">, I'm utterly mesmerized by Marquez. If you are a frequent reader of this blog, chances are you're aware of my obsession with the Colombian novelist. To say that his books carry me away to a different world wouldn't be entirely correct. His world is just like ours but slightly more romantic, (and trust me, this is coming from someone who has never been a sucker for romance novels), its a bit more melodramatic and its a lot more...magical! I'm currently reading </span><i style="color: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Of love...</i><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">and enjoying every second of this epic tale.</span> </span><br />
<br />
“Do not allow me to forget you” <br />
― <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13450.Gabriel_Garc_a_M_rquez">Gabriel García Márquez</a>, <i> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/366351">Of Love and Other Demons</a> </i>H.K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00125667886655303913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553806313793116475.post-4788574907799614662012-04-03T11:00:00.002-07:002012-04-03T11:03:31.110-07:00A solitary passion.: Devastating imagery<a href="http://asolitarypassion.blogspot.com/2012/04/devastating-imagery.html?spref=bl">A solitary passion.: Devastating imagery</a>: The month of April is regarded as the National Poetry Month . So I thought I'd share my favorite poem. It's The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufr...H.K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00125667886655303913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553806313793116475.post-90056580773064112972012-04-02T13:53:00.000-07:002012-04-02T13:53:17.535-07:00World's fastest reader<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://2.gvt0.com/vi/sinh-Mn-_RI/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sinh-Mn-_RI&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sinh-Mn-_RI&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><br />
<div style="color: #f1c232;"><span style="font-size: large;">Okay wow! She's just as fast as she's cheeky. I'd love to see an argument between her and Nicki Minaj! </span></div>H.K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00125667886655303913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553806313793116475.post-24326080118761997162012-03-29T13:56:00.003-07:002012-04-11T20:01:42.445-07:00Every banned book is worth reading<b><i style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">Here is my list of books that have caused massive controversy since their release and are a must read. Most have been subjected to censorship, which has prompted me and many other readers to hunt them down and read to see what the hullabaloo is about. Let me tell you; these are books that require you to think and in the words of Wilde ''...show the world its own shame'' which is precisely the reason they are banned. However, it is interesting to note how all these books are considered to be some of the greatest in literature and are widely read despite being frequently challenged. Read on to see why these masterpieces deserve your time.</span> </i></b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirESi90CkzRnyXP63TaKrYkuI5FpwsOxd7dzqzC4XukhQsXMhD8T0h5ivgWw7Ljy0T_qhSgwvaDCtBPGwQ7IJXUoqTztlHZYO7D792k0qyIT8RTas6JayWe5cncD34evRaKQ6DH0k8JQo/s1600/bp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirESi90CkzRnyXP63TaKrYkuI5FpwsOxd7dzqzC4XukhQsXMhD8T0h5ivgWw7Ljy0T_qhSgwvaDCtBPGwQ7IJXUoqTztlHZYO7D792k0qyIT8RTas6JayWe5cncD34evRaKQ6DH0k8JQo/s400/bp.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>1) <span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><b>Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger</b>.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Banned for:</span> Profanity, sexual references and immorality. This is one of the most banned, censored and challenged books of all times. <br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Why you must read it?</span> How often is it that you come across a morally fallible, world-hating, teenage character? Not often. Searingly honest and brilliant in its disillusionment, this is one book that every person must read if they want to experience a classic, coming-of-age story unlike any other. <br />
<br />
Note: In 1980, a young man named Mark David Chapman shot John Lennon and later gave the book to police as an explanation for why he did it, making this book stand out as an icon for teenage rebellion.<br />
<i> Just don't interpret the book the way this retard did. </i><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="color: #e06666;">Key quote: </span><i style="color: #e06666;">"In my mind, I'm probably the biggest sex maniac you ever saw."</i> </blockquote>2) <b style="background-color: black; color: white;">The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank</b><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Banned for:</span> Being "a real downer''. <br />
<i>As if a real life account of the biggest genocide in the history of mankind is supposed to be a joy fest! </i><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Why you must read it?</span> One of the most prominent accounts documenting the experiences of Jews by the Nazis. One that shows us a victim's unwavering faith in humanity even in the worst of conditions. I was deeply upset after reading the book but reflecting on the writing of this young legend made me realise the true message of inspiration and hope it contains for the world. It reaffirmed my faith in the goodness of humanity. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="color: #e06666;">Key quote: ''</span><i style="color: #e06666;">How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.''</i></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <i style="color: #e06666;">''I don't think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains</i><span style="color: #e06666;">.'' </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>3) <b style="background-color: #f6b26b;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain</span>.</b><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Banned for:</span> Offensive language and racism due to the use of a racially charged word. One administrator branded it as the "most grotesque example of racism I’ve ever seen in my life."<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Why you must read it?</span> It's Twain. Need more convincing? Well, after reading this book in grade 5 and being forever fascinated with 'Huck Finn', I reread the novel recently. Not only is this book Twain's finest work, it is also the cleverest anti-slavery and anti racist work ever written. The used of the word 'nigger' in the novel is used to depict the disgusting connotations of the word and actually attempts to challenge the racism Twain saw around him. A must read.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: #e06666;">Key quote: <i>"It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a n*****; but I done it, and I warn't ever sorry for it afterwards, neither.</i> </blockquote><br />
<b style="background-color: #f6b26b; color: black;"></b>4) <b style="background-color: black; color: white;">To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee</b><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Banned for:</span> Charges of racism and the accusation that it "represents institutionalized racism under the guise of good literature'' and "promotes white supremacy".<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Why you must read it?</span> It paints a true picture of the struggles of it's time and is one of the greatest anti-racism books of all time. With memorable characters, great plot and a thought-provoking storyline, this book has secured it's place as the most loved classic. <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="color: #e06666;">Key quotes: </span><i style="color: #e06666;">''You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.''</i><br />
<i style="color: #e06666;">''She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man. Not an old Uncle, but a strong young Negro man."</i></blockquote><br />
5) <b style="background-color: black; color: #f6b26b;"><span style="color: white;">The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown.</span> </b><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Banned for:</span> Anti-Christian sentiments<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Why you must read it?</span> Read it as fiction and it will exhilarate your senses. Take it a bit too seriously and things will get disturbing. It sold millions of copies, caused widespread outrage, its a page turner and gets you interested in Art History. Enough reasons to read it if you haven't already. <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="color: #e06666;">Key quote: </span><i style="color: #e06666;">"Almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false."</i></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq2dMTAFeOXXKMzdv0okWc_wqMPhH4BT0J3iOUe-Sb086Ka8nC4NpvWEDfb9hw7n2LgNf-Q7nmN7Bwp_hYbKk96iaORRaXcfnPlbtJFg3E53EZqiW11qtpvPvmFQyDSM6ye43bQPJ07Ys/s1600/bp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq2dMTAFeOXXKMzdv0okWc_wqMPhH4BT0J3iOUe-Sb086Ka8nC4NpvWEDfb9hw7n2LgNf-Q7nmN7Bwp_hYbKk96iaORRaXcfnPlbtJFg3E53EZqiW11qtpvPvmFQyDSM6ye43bQPJ07Ys/s400/bp.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>6)<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald</span>. </b><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Banned for:</span> Sexual references and profanity.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Why you must read it?</span> This book is not only featured in every 'Must read' list, it is also Fitzgerald's best work. His words are simply beautiful. This tragic love story truly captures the fascinating lifestyle of the Jazz age. Jay Gatsby is quite an interesting character himself, the utter loneliness and emptiness that he exudes is bound to strike a cord with most readers. <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="color: #e06666;">Key quote: </span><i style="color: #e06666;">"Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known."</i></blockquote>7) <b style="background-color: black; color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Lolita by Vladmir Nabokov.</span> </b><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Banned for:</span> Obscenity, indecency and sexual explicitness. <br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Why you must read it?</span> This book is about the life of a highly intelligent murderer and pedophile who seduces a 12-year old girl! However, this is no How-to manual for perverts. Read it simply because it is the most beautiful love story you will ever read (in a very demented way). A tale of forbidden obsession; Lolita is sure to leave you heart-wrenched, mesmerized and a tad bit disturbed- just what a good work of literature should do. <br />
<br />
Note: This bone-chilling story is not for the faint of heart. <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: #e06666;"><i>Key quote: "Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul.</i></blockquote><br />
8) <b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">The Color Purple by Alice Walker</span>. </b><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Banned for</span>: Violence, profanity, racism, and sexuality, including a rape scene.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Why you must read it?</span> This book is a personal favorite. It evoked in me infinite respect for the black women who survived a miserable time living in South America in the 1930's and their struggle for independence and equality. Written as a series of diary entries and letters by the protagonist to God, the novel chronicles the life of black woman's poignant journey towards a better life. This is one of the most gripping novels I have ever read and one that everybody must read once. <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="color: #e06666;">Key quote: </span><i style="color: #e06666;">"I see Sofia and I don’t know why she still alive. They crack her skull, they crack her ribs. They tear her nose loose on one side. They blind her in one eye. She swole from head to foot."</i></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrciXd7QrO41RNA1AxZ_XjPRdQqXZANvzc2YPoqdp1BhfZmIt0mtZjKmLXXMVDnfyNfS64njMzQ7cdKecP_suCyKOZ2btoD8yQDzb09y6RzEc3um2RDZirG2yef_1bYmIrrlGnHtzsRwA/s1600/censored_huckleberry_finn_book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrciXd7QrO41RNA1AxZ_XjPRdQqXZANvzc2YPoqdp1BhfZmIt0mtZjKmLXXMVDnfyNfS64njMzQ7cdKecP_suCyKOZ2btoD8yQDzb09y6RzEc3um2RDZirG2yef_1bYmIrrlGnHtzsRwA/s320/censored_huckleberry_finn_book.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
9) <b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.</span> </b><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Banned for:</span> Profanity, portrayal of smoking and drinking and questionable themes such as anti-religious and anti-establishment sentiments. <br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Why you should read it?</span> Talk about irony! This books deals with the issue of censorship itself. It is a novel about book-banning in a futuristic society. The descriptions of modern society made in this book written more than 50 years ago are eerily obvious now. This is one of the most important novels in American literature and rightfully so. For those who find Bradbury's lengthy prose burdensome, here's what he has to say: "If teachers and grammar school editors find my jawbreaker sentences shatter their mushmilk teeth, let them eat stale cake dunked in weak tea of their own ungodly manufacture." Touché!<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="color: #e06666;">Key quote: </span><i style="color: #e06666;">"We know all the damn silly things we've done for a thousand years and as long as we know that and always have it around where we can see it, someday we'll stop making the goddamn funeral pyres and jumping in the middle of them."</i></blockquote><br />
10) <b style="background-color: black; color: white;">The picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde</b><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Banned for:</span> Themes of homosexuality. <br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Why you must read it?</span> This masterpiece will indulge you in a world of opulence and corruption, immerse you in shameless pleasure and in the end, make you gasp in horror. Undoubtedly, one of the greatest books ever written. <br />
<br />
FYI, I am the proud owner of the original version published for the very first time after the book's release 120 years ago- 'The Picture of Dorian Gray: An Annotated, Uncensored Edition' edited by Nicholas Frankel. <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="color: #e06666;">Key Quotes: </span><i style="color: #e06666;">"Humanity takes itself too seriously. It is the world's original sin. If the cave-man had known how to laugh, History would have been different."<br />
"My dear boy, no woman is a genius. Women are a decorative sex. They never have anything to say, but they say it charmingly. Women represent the triumph of matter over mind, just as men represent the triumph of mind over morals.</i></blockquote><br />
How many of these forbidden masterpieces have you read?H.K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00125667886655303913noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553806313793116475.post-60464951951615844202012-03-17T04:02:00.002-07:002012-03-19T12:30:31.377-07:00Poetry at its best!<i style="color: orange;">Good poetry is meant to stir a feeling in the reader. It can be any feeling: delight, sorrow, rage, desire, shame, envy, sympathy but never indifference. One of the common features of all the soulful lines listed below is their universality which makes them appeal to everyone and inspire differing emotions, depending on the interpretation of the reader. These are undoubtedly the most beautiful verses of poetry ever penned: </i><br />
<br />
''Drink to me only with thine eyes,/ And I will pledge with mine;/ Or leave a kiss but in the cup,/ And I'll not look for wine.''<br />
<span style="color: red;">-Song to Celia II, Ben Jonson</span><br />
<br />
<br />
"I wandered lonely as a cloud / That floats on high o'er vales and hills, / When all at once I saw a crowd, /A host of golden daffodils"<br />
<span style="color: red;">-I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, William Wordsworth</span> <br />
<br />
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - / I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference."<br />
<span style="color: red;">-The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost</span><br />
''I will show you fear in a handful of dust.''<br />
<span style="color: red;">- "The Waste Land" by T.S. Eliot</span><br />
<br />
''Because I could not stop for Death,<br />
He kindly stopped for me.''<br />
<span style="color: red;">-Because I Could Not Stop for Death, Emily Dickinson</span><br />
<br />
''She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies.''<br />
<span style="color: red;">-She Walks in Beauty, Lord Byron</span><br />
<span style="color: red;"></span><br />
<br />
"here is the deepest secret nobody knows / (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud / and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows /higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide) / and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart / i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)"<br />
<span style="color: red;">-i carry your heart with me, EE Cummings</span><br />
<br />
"O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done; / The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won;"<br />
<span style="color: red;">-O Captain! My Captain!, Walt Whitman</span><br />
<br />
"I stand amid the roar / Of a surf-tormented shore, / And I hold within my hand / Grains of the golden sand-- / How few! yet how they creep / Through my fingers to the deep, / While I weep - while I weep!"<br />
<span style="color: red;">-A Dream Within A Dream, Edgar Allan Poe</span><br />
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''When to the sessions of sweet silent thought /I summon up remembrance of things past, / I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,/ And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste.''<br />
<span style="color: red;"> -"Sonnet 30″ by William Shakespeare</span><br />
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''Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold''<br />
<span style="color: red;"> -"The Second Coming" by William Butler Yeats</span><br />
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''I knew a woman, lovely in her bones, / When small birds sighed, she would sigh back at them; /Ah, when she moved, she moved more ways than one:/ The shapes a bright container can contain!''<br />
<span style="color: red;">-"I Knew a Woman" by Theodore Roethke</span><span style="color: red;"> </span><br />
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''It is not a carol of joy or glee,/ But a prayer that he sends from his heart's deep core,/ But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings/ I know why the caged bird sings!''<br />
<span style="color: red;">-I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou</span><br />
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''How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. / I love thee to the depth and breadth and height / My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight / For the ends of being and ideal grace."<br />
<span style="color: red;">-How Do I Love Thee?, Elizabeth Barrett Browning</span><br />
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"I can promise all my heart's devotion; / A smile to chase away your tears of sorrow; / A love that's true and ever growing; / A hand to hold in your's through each tomorrow."<br />
<span style="color: red;">-These I Can Promise, Mark Twain</span><br />
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"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? / Thou art more lovely and more temperate"<br />
<span style="color: red;">-Sonnet 18, William Shakespeare</span><br />
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"Of Man's first disobedience, and the fruit / Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste / Brought death into the World, and all our woe, / With loss of Eden, till one greater Man / Restore us, and regain the blissful seat, / Sing, Heavenly Muse"<br />
<span style="color: red;">-Paradise Lost, John Milton</span><br />
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"The woods are lovely, dark and deep, / But I have promises to keep, / And miles to go before I sleep, / And miles to go before I sleep."<br />
<span style="color: red;">-Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening, Robert Frost</span><br />
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-"But / if each day, / each hour, / you feel that you are destined for me / with implacable sweetness, / if each day a flower / climbs up to your lips to seek me, / ah my love, ah my own, / in me all that fire is repeated"<br />
<span style="color: red;">-If You Forget Me, Pablo Neruda</span><br />
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"Heart, we will forget him, You and I, tonight! / You must forget the warmth he gave, I will forget the light. / When you have done pray tell me, Then I, my thoughts, will dim. Haste! ‘lest while you’re lagging / I may remember him!"<br />
<span style="color: red;">-Heart, We Will Forget Him! Emily Dickinson</span><br />
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"Scarcely a tear to shed; / Hardly a word to say; / The end of a summer day;/ Sweet Love dead."<br />
<span style="color: red;">-An Evening, Gwendolyn Brooks</span><br />
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"Our whisper woke no clocks, / We kissed and I was glad / At everything you did, / Indifferent to those / Who sat with hostile eyes / In pairs on every bed, / Arms round each other's neck, / Inert and vaguely sad."<br />
<span style="color: red;">-"Dear, Though the Night Is Gone", WH Auden</span><br />
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"Darkness settles on roofs and walls, / But the sea, the sea in the darkness calls; / The little waves, with their soft, white hands / Efface the footprints in the sands, / And the tide rises, the tide falls."<br />
<span style="color: red;">-The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow</span><br />
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''But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only, / That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour. / Nothing further then he uttered - not a feather then he fluttered - / Till I scarcely more than muttered `Other friends have flown before - / On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.' / Then the bird said, `Nevermore.'"<br />
<span style="color: red;">-The Raven, Edgar Allan Poe</span><br />
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''When we two parted / In silence and tears, / Half broken-hearted / To sever for years, / Pale grew thy cheek and cold, / Colder thy kiss; / Truly that hour foretold / Sorrow to this."<br />
<span style="color: red;">-When We Two Parted, George (Lord) Byron</span><br />
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''I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,/ And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by.''<br />
<span style="color: red;">-Sea Fever, John Masefield</span><br />
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"At twenty I tried to die / And get back, back, back to you. / I thought even the bones would do. / But they pulled me out of the sack, / And they stuck me together with glue."<br />
<span style="color: red;">-Daddy, Sylvia Plath</span><br />
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<span itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Review-aggregate">''From childhood's hour/ I have not been/ As others were; I have not seen/ As others saw...''</span><br />
<span itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Review-aggregate"><span style="color: red;">-Alone, Edgar Allan Poe </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">Share some of your favorite lines or tell me the ones you like best from the list :) </span> </span>H.K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00125667886655303913noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553806313793116475.post-63120273176035477332012-03-15T09:30:00.000-07:002012-03-15T09:30:05.005-07:00A dilemma!Save a tree and read an eBook...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_T9S9IGpGW8vlke8YxcHgojzpc2A1Nl3a5A9eOZC5g9DWuNnYshxsVy8izP8QcNUpH_UnVWnLUDx_oC_qw8OJgyaQEPr5FYoGKj_aPzGKlDtbduPkGRmBFmJF4fAlOEeEcUD5dT6Bil8/s1600/apple-ipad-ebook-reader.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_T9S9IGpGW8vlke8YxcHgojzpc2A1Nl3a5A9eOZC5g9DWuNnYshxsVy8izP8QcNUpH_UnVWnLUDx_oC_qw8OJgyaQEPr5FYoGKj_aPzGKlDtbduPkGRmBFmJF4fAlOEeEcUD5dT6Bil8/s320/apple-ipad-ebook-reader.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Or buy the good ol' paper book? <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg67yPsTJu8AV0RnLwCRO3xDSqrAGypjnNvUzS3oUbCpsky1_XQjkGXF2AnWDief911Tz6EIer9EW1GFSmw6v0ZdJDtE9kjf3SemsyDENHRiXgXNYFvqdOPztni5JOykSnvZvejbirViXg/s1600/book+image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg67yPsTJu8AV0RnLwCRO3xDSqrAGypjnNvUzS3oUbCpsky1_XQjkGXF2AnWDief911Tz6EIer9EW1GFSmw6v0ZdJDtE9kjf3SemsyDENHRiXgXNYFvqdOPztni5JOykSnvZvejbirViXg/s320/book+image.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I tried reading a novel on my iPhone once. It felt good reading in the dark with a small device in my palm...never mind the fact that my eyesight increased by two digits after finishing it. I'm on the fence about downloading some of the books I've been wanting to read on my laptop or just getting the printed ones. <br />
How do you prefer to read the written word?H.K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00125667886655303913noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553806313793116475.post-5343991393773401732012-03-13T03:21:00.000-07:002012-03-13T03:21:30.345-07:0015 brilliant closing lines from books.<div style="color: #e06666;">
<b><i>It's been said that the opening line sells a book whilst the closing
line sells the author's next one. Here I've compiled the 10 most mesmerizing last lines from some of the best novels I've read. </i></b><code><a href="http://asolitarypassion.blogspot.com/2011/08/simple-words-memorable-sentences.html" target="_blank"><br /></a></code></div>
<blockquote>
</blockquote>
1. <u style="color: #e69138;">The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald</u> <br />"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." <br /><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhA1rB-Ob537Ls6Z-pkNrMiNh-v_UczFe4iq4PAXcG7jkXIhc2GmUE1ixH8L9IQFswJ4jHqi5ZJf4PpjxA2sEd-pBb6Q4vkhIkQDI1NmB3PDL7y_PPG4buJzYxCizcwk4pVBeAro_CR7A/s1600/collage2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhA1rB-Ob537Ls6Z-pkNrMiNh-v_UczFe4iq4PAXcG7jkXIhc2GmUE1ixH8L9IQFswJ4jHqi5ZJf4PpjxA2sEd-pBb6Q4vkhIkQDI1NmB3PDL7y_PPG4buJzYxCizcwk4pVBeAro_CR7A/s200/collage2.jpg" width="141" /></a>2. <u style="color: #e69138;">The Book Thief by Markus Zusak </u><br />'A LAST NOTE FROM YOUR NARRATOR. I am haunted by humans."<br /><br />
3. <u><span style="color: #e69138;">Animal Farm by George Orwell</span></u><br />"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."<br /><br />
4.<u><span style="color: #e69138;"> The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger</span></u><br />"It's funny. Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody."<br /><br />
5. <u><span style="color: #e69138;">The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini</span></u><br />"I ran with the wind blowing in my face, and a smile as wide as the valley of Panjsher on my lips. I ran."<br /><br />
6. <u><span style="color: #e69138;">A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway</span></u><br />"But this is how Paris was in the early days when we were very poor and very happy."<br /><br />
7. <u style="color: #e69138;">Les Miserables by Victor Hugo</u><br />"This stone is entirely blank. The only thought in cutting it was of the essentials of the grave, and there was no other care than to make this stone long enough and narrow enough to cover a man. No name can be read there."<br />
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8. <u style="color: #e69138;">Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain</u><br />"I got to light out for the Territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she's going to adopt me and sivilize me, and I can't stand it. I been there before."<br /><br />
9.<u style="color: #e69138;"> Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie</u><br />"Yes, they will trample me underfoot, the numbers marching one two three, four hundred million five hundred six, reducing me to specks of voiceless dust, just as, in all good time, they will trample my son who is not my son, and his son who will not be his, and his who will not be his, until the thousand and first generation, until a thousand and one midnights have bestowed their terrible gifts and a thousand and one children have died, because it is the privilege and the curse of midnight’s children to be both masters and victims of their times, to forsake privacy and be sucked into the annihilating whirlpool of the multitudes, and to be unable to live or die in peace."<br /><br />
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10. <u style="color: #e69138;">Sarah's Key byTatiana de Rosnay</u><br />"We sat there for a long time, till the crowd around us thinned, till the sun shifted and the light changed. Till we felt our eyes could meet again, without the tears."<br /><br />
11. <u style="color: #e69138;">The time traveler's wife by Audrey Niffenegger</u><br />''He is coming and here I am.''<br /><br />
12. <u style="color: #e69138;">The Witches by Roald Dahl</u><br />''It doesnt matter who you are or what you look like as long as somebody loves you.''<br />
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13. <u style="color: #e69138;">The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga </u><br />''I'll say it was all worthwhile to know, just for a day, just for an hour, just for a minute, what it meant not to be a servant. I think I'm ready to have children Mr. Premier.''<br />
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14. <u style="color: #e69138;">Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger </u><br />''Alone, Frany lay quiet still, looking at the ceiling. Her lips began to move, forming soundless words, and they continued to move.''<br />
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15. <u style="color: #e69138;">Love in the time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez </u><br />''And how long will we keep up with this Goddamn coming and going? He asked. Florentino Ariza had kept his answer ready for fifty three years, seven months and eleven days and night. 'Forever', he said.''<br />
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<b><i>If you liked these then check out some of the best opening lines </i></b><code></code><code><a href="http://asolitarypassion.blogspot.com/2011/08/simple-words-memorable-sentences.html" target="_blank">here.</a></code>H.K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00125667886655303913noreply@blogger.com1