Books I've read recently
Never judge a book by its movie. ~ J. W. Eagan
I reckon life would be pretty dull without writers. Recently I finished reading The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro - a British writer of Japanese descent. The pace of the story is pretty slow but what I find particularly intriguing is the writer's style which, if one didn't look at his name, one would think he's a real British Mat Salleh. Coming from a second generation immigrant background, it's really amazing how he can encapsulate the British way of life just by having a butler as the protagonist. A conversation I had with a colleague shed a light on Ishiguro's style - when he writes about Britain, his work would have one mistake him as a pure British Mat Salleh. When he writes about Japan, his work would have one mistake him as a pure Japanese. I've gotta read that Japanese-setting novel of his soon...What is the title, by the way?
Other literary works I've also read recently are Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper. What can I say about Pride and Prejudice except that it's (to quote one of my kids) "the mother of all Mills & Boons in this world." I've also watched the film version (the one that starred Keira Knightley) of the text and I would say it is quite a good one. The film has managed to capture the essential things in the text, with very little alterations. The only thing I don't like about the movie is Bingley - he is a disappointment because I sincerely think he should be more manly and more handsome than that.
The Last of the Mohicans is an epic so it took me a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggg time to finish it. The fact that it was written circa 1820s should tell you what kind of language I had to deal with.. Well, anyway, I had watched the film version of the text and I must say the film didn't do justice to the text. A lot has been altered and distorted in the film such as the couple in love. They are actually Cora and Uncas, not Cora and Hawkeye (as in the movie). And do you know that only Cora and Uncas died at the end of the epic? And what were they thinking opening the movie with the scene where Hawkeye, Uncas and Chingachgook were running, hunting a deer and finally shooting it with a rifle?? The book says differently. It is of upmost importance (at that time) that they avoid any kind of shooting, or noise, for that matter, so as not to cause a ruckus in the forest and thus alert the enemies. Duh! Heyward did not die, too. And he was smitten with Alice, not Cora! And these are just some of the differences or should I say, alterations, that are apparent in the film version. I think Cooper would be turning in his grave if he knew what kind of film has emerged from his novel...
Right now I'm reading Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres. I can't comment much about this book yet since I'm only halfway through...but what I've read so far is engaging. [To be continued :-)
Other literary works I've also read recently are Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper. What can I say about Pride and Prejudice except that it's (to quote one of my kids) "the mother of all Mills & Boons in this world." I've also watched the film version (the one that starred Keira Knightley) of the text and I would say it is quite a good one. The film has managed to capture the essential things in the text, with very little alterations. The only thing I don't like about the movie is Bingley - he is a disappointment because I sincerely think he should be more manly and more handsome than that.
The Last of the Mohicans is an epic so it took me a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggg time to finish it. The fact that it was written circa 1820s should tell you what kind of language I had to deal with.. Well, anyway, I had watched the film version of the text and I must say the film didn't do justice to the text. A lot has been altered and distorted in the film such as the couple in love. They are actually Cora and Uncas, not Cora and Hawkeye (as in the movie). And do you know that only Cora and Uncas died at the end of the epic? And what were they thinking opening the movie with the scene where Hawkeye, Uncas and Chingachgook were running, hunting a deer and finally shooting it with a rifle?? The book says differently. It is of upmost importance (at that time) that they avoid any kind of shooting, or noise, for that matter, so as not to cause a ruckus in the forest and thus alert the enemies. Duh! Heyward did not die, too. And he was smitten with Alice, not Cora! And these are just some of the differences or should I say, alterations, that are apparent in the film version. I think Cooper would be turning in his grave if he knew what kind of film has emerged from his novel...
Right now I'm reading Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres. I can't comment much about this book yet since I'm only halfway through...but what I've read so far is engaging. [To be continued :-)
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