12.Apr.2011 East of Eden by John Steinbeck
East of Eden is an epic novel of the oldest topic in the history of mankind, or “the only story we have” according to Steinbeck: good vs. evil. Set in early 1900s US, we follow the life of family threads for generations. It’s the era of settlement. People migrate, look for a place to stay, [...]
19.Sep.2010 One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
Once in a while you would find a book that defies all your preconceived notions of how a novel should be. I think One Hundred Years of Solitude falls in this category. While a novel normally has a beginning, middle, and an ending, with some kind of climax no matter how little the peak is [...]
27.Mar.2010 The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
“In had come out of the earth, this silver, out of his earth that he ploughed and turned and spent himself upon. He took his life from this earth; drop by drop by his sweat he wrung fruit from it and from the fruit, silver.” ~ p31 In The Good Earth we follow the story [...]
17.Jun.2009 Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee
A professor at a reputable University one day impulsively sleeps with a young girl who’s also his student. The events that follow push him to resign and temporarily leave the town. He goes to visit his daughter in rural South Africa. More unfortunate events befall to both that bring them to question everything– the issue [...]
01.Apr.2009 Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata
“It was, with no attempt at covering itself, the naked heart of a woman calling out to her man.” ~p34 Snow Country is a literal translation of the Japanese title Yukiguni (雪国, read ゆきぐに). The name comes from where the story takes place, rural Japan that receives a huge amount of snow in the winter. Snow [...]
01.Aug.2007 Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Gabriel Garcia Marquez is an author from Colombia, so the book is originally in Spanish. Both my friends from Colombia and Spain recommended his other book (most famous), One Hundred Years of Solitude. Although I already have it on my shelf, I was kinda terrified of its ‘classic’ label and thickness, so I decided to [...]