Hello & Goodbye

On this page, I hope to document some of the better reads that I have had the pleasure to immerse myself in. I might write a personal short take and my feelings about the books but do read with a pinch of salt and buy/read the book at your own risk

In my teens, I was giddy with love-filled notions from the sheer  amount of love/romance novels I read. As I grew up and as  stories of the female- protagonist-living-happily-ever-after stories started to bore, I progressed to novels with Asian flavours (re: Amy Tan, Catherine Lim), thrillers, popular fiction and to other different genres. I guess this section can also serve as my memory bank on how my reading “career” has progressed.  

“Not without my daughter” by Betty Mahmoody

This book came highly recommended by my ex-colleague. While I didn’t bawl my eyes out as she did, I did get drawn in to the torture and abuse that Betty and her daughter felt. The main gist of the story is about how an American woman and her daughter escaped from the clutches of her Iranian husband and from Iran after being held hostage by him and his family. It was an easy read as the author explained most of the Iranian language and terms used in the book and it was kept to a minimum hence there was no need for me to keep flipping to the glossary to refresh my memory.

As the story progresses, I found myself wondering how humans can change so drastically and their behaviour take a turn for the worse, especially when they were once so intimate and loving.

Since this was a one-sided account of what happened, I would have more closure if it is possible to find out how and why the need to adapt to his cultural upbringing and to bridge the gap between him and his relatives that her husband allowed himself to behave the way he did. The change was just too sudden and drastic.

Anyhow, I liked the book very much and it allows me to understand a little more about the Iranian culture as well as the country and how despite racial differences and cultural discrimination, there are still people there who are willing to help an “enemy” escape.

“Escape” by Carolyn Jessop

A book that I picked up at Melbourne Airport with a twenty dollar voucher and boy, was it a voucher well-spent.

The book is about the escape (I know, again!) of Carolyn Jessop who was part of the FLDS  Church (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) and whose community is one of the largest polygamist practitioners in the United States.

I never knew that in this modern day and world that polygamists society still exists (my bad, I don’t have such an inquiring mind and thirst for knowledge as the geeky BF) and the story brings to you a real account of how marriage life in a polygamist marriage is like. There is always the alpha-bitch female who manipulates her way into the heart of the other sex and how the rest of the women are side-lined. Like the saying goes, one den cannot have two tigers? (or something like that).

It is also intriguing to read about how religion and beliefs can skew people’s rational thinking and how influential the Prophet of God can have on their believers. While, I have been instilled to believe that marriage is between two and that my own salvation is determined by my own deeds and behaviour and somewhat pre-determined, in the FLDS society, it is believed that only the husband can provide salvation to their wives. This also explains the subservient behaviour of wives and how the females allow themselves to be treated the way they are. 

While I should not comment on other’s religious beliefs, I can’t help but be absolutely appalled by some of the religious teachings of the community and how one man’s greed for power and money can cause as much harm to a community and it’s people. 

I read with much relief when Carolyn finally escaped from the clutches of her husband and how she managed to find her own happiness and enjoy the freedom she never had in her 17 years marriage to Merrill Jessop.

This book is definitely recommended! If interested, wikipedia has alot more articles on FLDS and its fundamentals.

“Prisoner of Birth” by Jeffrey Archer

This book renewed my love for suspense thrillers and in Jeffrey Archer’s books. It captivated me from the first page and I just kept reading, wanting to find out how the plot would evolve, how  justice will prevail eventually.

While the plot is rather unrealistic given how the main character, Danny Cartwright (an innocent murder suspect who was wrongly sentenced to 22 years imprisonment) managed to cheat the system by impersonating his cellmate – Sir Nicholas Moncrieff after he was murdered in jail. The story is really captivating as you follow the trial and how eventually the Musketeers (the real murderers) were eventually given their just deserves. I would have been more surprised by the twist at the end of the story but I was too impatient to know the end that I took a glimpse of the last page of the book. That kinda spoiled the ending for me but it was still quite a treat. I read like a speedy gonzales the last few chapters of the book.

I don’t know why, but reading this book made me want to read “To Kill a Mockingbird” again – my literature text in secondary school. I am  intrigued by the tactics (fictional or otherwise) used by solicitors in the court of justice in the presence of a jury (unheard of in Singapore) and how little tricks can work to the benefit or detriment of the defendant.

All in all, a good book. Not his best but definitely worth your time reading it, it is quite a page turner, I suppose as all suspense thrillers are

This book can be ranked as one of my favourite book of all time.

I’ve struggled previously to read books depicting life and circumstances in war-torn countries since knowlege of history is always required. That made those books a bore to read. The Kite Runner (TKR), however, is written in a simple to understand manner and the reader is slowly introduced and assimilated to life in Afghanistan (where the story revolves) and its culture.

The story revolves around Amir who is from the “privileged” class and his relationship with his childhood friend/slave Hassan. In a way, lessons are learnt when we choose to run away and how one mistake can be so life-changing for everyone. It tells of the submissiveness of the servants and their loyalty. From reading the book, I learnt alot more about the characteristics of the Afghans and a little about its culture.

I loved how the story came full-circle and how old wounds were mended. I loved the simple way the author writes to draw the reader in and that there are links intertwined in the story. I love the book and would highly recommend it to everyone!! I think it can also be considered as one of the literature text for secondary school!!

Synopsis from Khaled Hosseini’s website:

THE KITE RUNNER

Over five years on the New York Times bestseller list, and published in 42 different languages.

Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable, beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Raised in the same household and sharing the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan nonetheless grow up in different worlds: Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan, the son of Amir’s father’s servant, is a Hazara, member of a shunned ethnic minority. Their intertwined lives, and their fates, reflect the eventual tragedy of the world around them. When the Soviets invade and Amir and his father flee the country for a new life in California, Amir thinks that he has escaped his past. And yet he cannot leave the memory of Hassan behind him.

The Kite Runner is a novel about friendship, betrayal, and the price of loyalty. It is about the bonds between fathers and sons, and the power of their lies. Written against a history that has not been told in fiction before, The Kite Runner describes the rich culture and beauty of a land in the process of being destroyed. But with the devastation, Khaled Hosseini also gives us hope: through the novel’s faith in the power of reading and storytelling, and in the possibilities he shows for redemption.