narj

• Rated 4 stars

“The beauty of the written word is never complete without realizing the strength of its equivalent spoken word. That is poetry in its basic form.

At a young age, William Blake saw angels in a tree sometime between 1765-67. This experience prompted him to study drawing, engraving, and lastly, painting--probably to record visions not generally seen by common people in his time. In his later years he suffered poverty and neglect but his rare talent in literature, illustration, and his visions earned him a unique position in British history. Spiritual, mystic, or just a plain dreamer, one thing is certain and it's about his highly visual and symbolic literary skills reflected in his works.

Take these two stanzas from the introduction of Songs of Experience (the part where he introduces himself as a poet):

Hear the voice of the Bard!
Who Present, Past, & Future sees,
Whose ears have heard
The Holy Word
That walk'd among the ancient trees,

Calling the lapsed Soul,
And weeping in the evening dew,
That might controll
The starry pole
And fallen, fallen light renew!

I observe some apparent misspellings but they are printed in this book exactly the way they are in the original engravings and notes by the author. Those words have the traces of being archaic, progenitors of the present-day words easy to spot since they all sound common (shew-show, eccho-echo, extacy-ecstacy, akeing-aching, embrio-embryo, desart-desert, etc.). This is my reason for the emphasis of the spoken word here. Try reciting a passage or two, and you will like how they sound.

This is my favorite excerpt from There is No Natural Religion:

Application: He who sees the Infinite in all things
sees God. He who sees the Ratio only sees himself only.
Therefore: God becomes as we are, that we may be as he is.

Nature is imagination itself--he declares in his letter to Dr Tusler. I could not agree more. Because as a poet if you cannot project to the audience the picture in your mind and its symbols, then you already failed as a communicator. The message is no longer the same and the bridge is lost between the creator and his creation.

Overall, this is a neat collection of selected poems by William Blake published by Phoenix Poetry. The chronology of Blake's life in parallel to historical world events in the final pages is a big bonus. This one is highly recommended as an introductory William Blake read.

http://booktripper.blogspot.com/2013/03/selected-poems-by-william-blake.html”

narj wrote this review Saturday, March 30, 2013. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“Laughter and pity--these two are part of consequences of choosing life. And I thank Mr Welsh for reminding me of that through this good read of British fiction, a good romp, a good trip. Good thing as a reader, I'm already old to know the difference.

http://booktripper.blogspot.com/2012/10/trainspotting-by-irvine-welsh.html”

narj wrote this review Saturday, October 20, 2012. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“Ben Mezrich may have garnished the real story of MIT Mechanical Engineering graduate Jeff Ma with fictional elements but the idea that blackjack as highly a beatable game in casino is a good reason to enjoy this novel for any pro, amateur, or non-player. Even a mathematics or statistics major will like this book. This is a cool story of MIT students--the Blackjack team taking Vegas for millions by adopting the basic principles of card counting developed by an MIT professor named Edward Thorp in 1963.

Reading the story has the same thrill and wonder as watching Ocean's Eleven or Rain Man and it's probably the same reason that after reading the adapted story in Wired Magazine, Kevin Spacey produced (and even starred in) the film adaptation in 2008 that simply titled as 21. To be successful in blackjack, you never have to keep track of 312 individual cards in a game or memorize a pattern. You only need to follow a set of rules and bear in mind that the game is subject to continuous probability. The challenge actually lies in the synergy of specific rules, codes, and a lot of teamwork (and false identities).

read full review here:
http://booktripper.blogspot.com/2012/07/bringing-down-house-by-ben-mezrich.html”

narj wrote this review Wednesday, July 18, 2012. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“What's better than to celebrate the First Philippine Independence by enjoying a factual book rich in history and trivia? This 92-pager of a thin book is a flash read that will make your day of commemoration as a proud Filipino. I highly recommend this to my fellow Filipinos and also to lovers (scholars and dabblers aside) of Asian History.

Some interesting stories here in case you forgot about your brown roots and its colorful past:

Magellan originally named the Philippines as Archipelago de San Lazaro. Actually, it wasnt Magellan who gave the name Las Islas Filipinas but Ruy Lopez de Villalobos in 1542.
The patriarch of a very popular and historic mestizo family (popularly synonymous to the name Makati) was convicted as a German spy in Manila in 1870s by the Spanish friars.
Bonifacio tried to seek revolutionary aid from Japan, and failed/fooled.
Prior to the Spanish-American War and the buyout of the Philippnes for a sum of 20 Million US dollars; Belgium, Germany, and Japan were also interested in owning the Philippine Archipelago.
Manuel Quezon hired in secret the national artist Honorata "Atang" de la Rama to serenade and win the heart of Doña Aurora Aragon.
Gen. Gregorio "Goyo" Del Pilar can compete with Jose Rizal in regards to women but Heneral Goyo easily wins over Rizal in regards to "papormahan."
Gen. Douglas MacArthur's secret Filipina lover is the record holder of first Philippine motion picture on-screen kiss.
We have our own version of the mysterious Mona Lisa painting ---Juan Luna's La Bulaqueña. The identity of the woman in portrait remains a mystery and the current theories, inconclusive.
Juan Luna's Portrait of Paz Pardo de Tavera is not just popular due to its paradoxical catholic eroticism but also because it survived the burnings and damages throughout history and most especially, the popular curse legend that it carries.
The man appointed by Aguinaldo to work for American recognition of Philippine independence-- Felipe Agoncillo ditched his lover for another on the day of his marriage. The marriage was cancelled after the groom changed his mind and stuck on his bed pondering the future while still dressed for the occassion. This man, the father of Marcela Agoncillo will become the first Filipino diplomat, and a man worthy of 1000+ TNL points. Sinong lolo mo? lol

There are more stories in this surprisingly short book that will lead to a chuckle or a lighthearted gab within a group. I can only imagine how cool it was if you had Manuel Quezon as your grandfather to learn a proven "diskarte" move or two. The first book in a series originally published in 1990 and republished and re-edited in 2010, it's cool to enjoy history with this book and it's good to be free these days.”

narj wrote this review Tuesday, June 12, 2012. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“Before reading I thought that this question is totally metaphorical, especially after seeing the film adaptation by Ridley Scott. But it wasnt. Electric sheep does exist in this novel along with the rest of "animals" representing the real, breathing animals currently extinct in the face of the planet after a nuclear war. Replicant animals here are considered as objects of status symbol, the same as owning an endangered species and keeping it like a trophy and a household pet.

But the best part here is the author's depiction of androids in contrast to animals. Humans in this age adore animals but despise the androids. Androids may appear highly intelligent, logical and skillful with varying degrees according to their model/type but they have no empathy nor sense of moral judgment. Philip K Dick while writing this in 1968 probably was thinking more about the android's lack or absence of soul than the absence of what we consider today as emotional intelligence. A scientist can never manufacture courage and spirit in a mechanical beast.

This book can really make the reader think beyond the current prejudice and beliefs about the sense of self and identity. PKD toys with your thoughts, and what made this a classic sci fi novel hinges on the idea that the main protagonist here, the bounty hunter---Rick Deckard, could possibly be an android---the very thing that he's been hunting for all his life. As a reader of thriller fictions, one can never forget the feeling of paranoia when you encounter that interrogation scene in a secret agency. Deckard may have proved that he's a genuine human based on his fluctuating empathy but his alienation with his job and the system itself is not that far from the situation of the replicants. Man and machine both seek survival and freedom. Maybe, this is what the loyal PKD readers refer to as his trademark "mindfu*k." But it's a cool "mindfu*k" none the less.

This novel is also not free from historical biases, but I forgive the author. The idea that Filipinos eat boiled dogmeat with rice is a recurring racist issue but I think it's understandable since the author puts it in the eyes of an obscure android. I just want to clarify that eating a dog meat is not exclusive to one race only. This book being written with good extrapolation, also never runs out of funny ideas and scenes. The emotions in reading this is different to the moody, dark, and melancholic atmosphere of its film version Blade Runner. If the movie ended with a dramatic scene, the book ended with a funny scene of Deckard realizing that his newly discovered toad is actually a fake one, complete with an electronic control panel.

My final comparison is this: if the movie was dramatic and mythological, the book was cynic and philosophical. The end.


http://booktripper.blogspot.com/2012/05/do-androids-dream-of-electric-sheep.html”

narj wrote this review Tuesday, May 8, 2012. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“an excerpt from my official review:

"There is complexity and realism with the story, and the main plot here about defending a fortress from a military siege can easily compete against any memorable siege story like Battle for Helm's Deep or Battle for Minas Tirith from Tolkien's ultra popular Lord of the Rings trilogy. The forces of Dros Delnoch will recieve reinforcements but still the enemies greatly outnumber the defensive ranks. Druss the Legend will need everything to lift the morale of the defense by inspiration and strategy. The Battle for Dros Delnoch lasted for months (3 months at least) and if you're a military historian, this novel might remind you of the 13-day Battle of the Alamo, or more recently World War II's Siege of Leningrad that lasted 872 days."

http://booktripper.blogspot.com/2012/04/david-gemmells-legend.html”

narj wrote this review Sunday, April 8, 2012. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“With that same pragmatic sentimentality and alienation of Holden Caulfield in JD Salinger's Catcher in The Rye, this book I think is much better than its film version. While working for the final revision of this novel, Chris Fuhrman may have lost the battle against cancer but won the war for making his story effective, serving as a testament of his legacy as a writer.

From the first pages you imagine that you are watching a teenage adventure film like Goonies (it may excite you or annoy you) but only to be surprised by its unwarned mischiefs, heartbreaks, lust and violence up to the unexpected anticlimax all weaved in a taut narrative from the eye of the novel's protagonist Francis Doyle.

Unlike most of the coming-of-age stories that we know, the author wrote with less drama and more with impressionism that reminded me of Hemingway. The setting is Savannah, Georgia 1974---the twilight years of the hippie generation. It's also the generation of the civil rights movement and the feminist movement when Afro-American citizens marched the streets and mothers look up to The Sensous Woman as their pillow book, but just like any kind of mainstream and cultural revolution of history, people are becoming more confused and alienated than before.

All in all, it's never too easy to forget the gang of Tim, Francis, Rusty, Wade and Joey (and Margie). God, forgive these children for they were only thirteen.


http://booktripper.blogspot.com/2012/02/dangerous-lives-of-altar-boys.html”

narj wrote this review Tuesday, February 21, 2012. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“I thought I was abnormal or something (LOL) but after reading this, there's nothing really to be afraid of. Unless the book's principle is severely flawed, I was still normal (and a dork) after all. If the authors' (Tadahiko Nagao and Isamu Saito) aim in publishing this book is to promote fun without diverting from science and at the same time for the reader's learning or reflection, then I can say that they hit the goal with a positive mark. Highly recommended for friends, lovers, and enemies alike.”

narj wrote this review Friday, January 27, 2012. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“In all of these initial experiences within the world of espionage fiction and seeing how readers today love popular fiction, I drew a hypothesis that there can only be two kinds of a spy novel: the first kind bores you to death because the politics are realistic (if not allusive), and the second one entertained you to life because of cheap thrills, gadgets, and naked chicks.

This made Le Carre novels apparently boring to younger readers and Ian Fleming's, commercially viable to novice readers. Nothing much to blame, politics (or history) is exclusive only for the mature readers.

But now that I am an 'old' reader, it's quiet different. Global politics did not bore me anymore, it was very informative and it opened my eye. The chick is never dumb though simple, still you would want to fall for. There are action scenes but they are not the center of the novel. The center of the novel is about this dark mantra--the philosophy of any espionage work. This mantra states that in the real world there is no such thing as "black and white." Always been and will always be. Grey areas will never go and nothing can change that.

The most important attribute of this novel is its unpredictability--in a very good and thrilling way. Originally published in 1963, the setting is in the 1950's revolving on the post WWII espionage and counter-espionage conflicts between the communist East Germany and the monarchic Great Britain. It was a classic spy war, an unseen showdown between the Abteilung and the Circus. The Berlin Wall still exists here and I like it when Le Carre started the story there, and also ended it all there. Perfectly symbolic. A good closure, a return to zero when you draw that proverbial, circular line. And you will enjoy this in a light reading pace of 223 pages.

Now I know why this book is heavily regarded as the top espionage novel of the past century and why Time Magazine inducted this thriller in its list of 100 Best Novels of the modern era.

Le Carre's credibility as a former member of Her Majesty's Secret Service--the MI6 is unquestionable and his deep insight into the complex world of espionage is unfathomable. This is perhaps, his signature book but we hope for more as long as he still writes realistic and complex stories highly relevant through the ages. That makes a novel classic.

(see my full review here: http://booktripper.blogspot.com/2011/09/spy-who-came-in-from-cold.html)
”

narj wrote this review Sunday, September 11, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 4 stars

“Light and Darkness.

These two sides constantly watch each other's move like two dueling chess masters, planning a strategy against the enemy under the limits of a treaty, a treaty that impose balance between the two sides and the future of human civilization. And between the pages, you can see and enjoy the tension and gravity between the two sides as they try to outfox each other until another group emerges from the blinds, and the rise of a potential sorceress that threatens to tip the scales-- the balance of power.

The elements may not be original from Fantasy stories but the characters and actions are told in a refreshing perspective that will only leave you with delight and sympathy for the characters. Though I recommend this book to mature readers, it may appeal to young adults. Because the reading is over before you know it, and you will crave for more.”

narj wrote this review Sunday, January 22, 2012. ( reply | permalink )