Monday, July 28, 2014

Fighting Restlessness

Sunday.

Started writing this on Sunday night. I should be brushing my teeth and lie down, but as it often happens, I feel restless and so I am writing now. I thought I would be super relaxed because Monday is a public holiday and I am thankful about it, but the restlessness still comes, even yesterday on Saturday night. Perhaps because I am so alone :( My mom has been telling me to come home more often, like just go home for 2-3 days. For the 14 years since I left home, I think this is the first time that she's telling me this. Perhaps she's right, I should. However this holiday season, no one is really at home. My parents have holiday plans, mom will even be travelling quite a bit in the next 2 weeks. So even if I were to be at home, it will still be very lonely.

Anyways, I have finished reading number9dream by David Mitchell. He's a very talented writer and this book is very imaginative. There are 8 chapters and I think they would make a good tv series. Each of the chapter can take 1 episode and each episode will be so different from the others. There are usually 2 plots or what I would call layers in each of the chapter and the story can be so different, like in one chapter it's about characters in another story. It is beautiful the way it's written. It doesn't make it easy to read sometime and to imagine the scene. Even now I am still rather confused about when the story was set, like is it in present day? I'm not in love with it, but I have to say that David Mitchell is a very good writer. This book and Cloud Atlas are so rich in the story, so what's inside his brain must be interesting. I think what's inside the brain of very imaginative writers must be real amazing or it could be dark too and that wouldn't be so fun. I learn something new from this book, which is about kaiten, which is an underwater vessel which can fit just one soldier and the soldier inside it would go into a suicide mission by aiming their vessel to enemy's ship. It is beyond words how brave these soldier were to be willing to go on this mission. I am seriously in awe of the sacrifice that the Japanese would be willing to make for pride and honor.

So it turns out, that's my 5th book this year! So far, I have read:

1. Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore - Robin Sloan
2. Si Cacing dan Kotoran Kesayangannya - Ajahn Brahm
3. Everything Is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer - the movie is not as rich as the book.
4. The Catcher in the Rye - J. D. Salinger
5. number9dream - David Mitchell

It took me like 1 month to finish number9dream. That's what solitary can do to me. Book number 4 was also finished fast because of the same reason. So right now, I am reading The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson because Oshie said it's the best book he's ever read, like ever! I actually saw this book before when I was browsing for book number 4, but I didn't buy it, I guess because it's thick so it makes it hard to bring around. The font size is bigger. If it's smaller, I think the book can be 25% lighter. Anyway with such recommendation from Oshie, I decided to see what the hype is about. Felt in a way it's destined to be read by me because in the early pages of this book, it mentioned the Japanese island Kagoshima, which is mentioned a lot in number9dream. I am strange for thinking this way. I'm confident that I can finish The Orphan Master's Son before year end and even make room for book number 7 which I actually already bought together with this book. We're exceeding the goal, which is a good thing, maybe next year I wouldn't be able to fill my target, so we're stocking ahead :P

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Monday.

I am finally back to the cinema. Watched Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Chose this because the reviews are really good and I myself thought it was really good. It felt a bit slow moving at times but I like how the story is not that straightforward. The characters were actually trying ways other than violence, they're not that purely bad or evil. It's amazing how fear can make one be ruthless. I felt the main character is actually Caesar, the ape, rather than the humans. It was quite touching at parts that I did shed some tears. Kinda good to be back into the movies.

That's pretty much it about life. Tomorrow is Tuesday, but I have a feeling Monday wouldn't let you off just like that. It's strange that I talk about being alone and lonely and yet I hate the idea of having to be around people. Hope you guys have better days ... I'm not sure how sincere I am in saying that.

:) eKa @ 4:44:00 PM •