*今回も日本語は書き込みません。
1. THE WITCH OF PORTOBELLO by Paulo Coelho - I truly loved Coelho's book "The Alchemist" and also enjoyed "By the River Piedra, I Sat Down and Wept", so I was looking forward to reading his new book. Unfortunately, it was not what I expected. The story is told through a series of interviews with people who's lives have been touched or affected by the protagonist of the story who has mysteriously disappeared. The people interviewed are family, friends, colleagues, and strangers. Athena (the protagonist), an orphan from Romania who gets adopted and moves to London seems to have the power of prophecy which earns her the name "The Witch of Portobello". The only thing I got out of this book was that the Christian church is hypocritical, that people should go back to their pagan beliefs, and overall, it seemed to be one long essay on New Age thinking. A Matriarchal Deity replaces the current Patriarchal one and blah blah blah. Blech!! If I wanted a dose of New Age reading, I would have picked Shirley MacClaine's books instead. Wiccans and followers of Gaia will love this, Christians will find it blasphemous, Agnostics will have something new to ponder, and Atheists won't give a shit. I cannot in good conscience recommend this.
2. FELLOWSHIP OF FEAR by Aaron Elkins - After reading Coelho's disappointing book, I was in the mood for something light. I was also feeling a little nostalgic for the Pacific Northwest and decided to read a book by one our local authors and decided upon Aaron Elkins (he lives somewhere along the Olympic Peninsula). To be honest, I was actually looking for books by Earl Emerson (the Tacoma-born Seattle Fire Lieutenant) because most of his books take place in Seattle (the city which I call home when any of my Japanese friends and acquaintances ask me where I'm from). I was hoping Elkins story would take place in the Northwest but unfortunately, this book starts in Europe. This is the book that introduced forensic anthropologist Gideon Oliver, the "Skeleton Detective" to the world. You must also remember that this was originally published in 1983 (the series was recently reprinted), so it felt really retro reading this. Why? Because the bad guys are our old nemesis, the Soviet Union and the KGB!! Anyway, Gideon Oliver takes a position as a Visiting Fellow for the University at the military bases in Europe. His first stop is Heidelberg, Germany. However, once he checks into his room, he's attacked by two unknown assailants which is just the beginning of all his troubles. It seems there is a traitor in the midst of our NATO bases who is secretly passing classified information to the Soviets. Gideon is then recruited by NATO security to check if there is anything unusual going on in the bases which only leads him to more trouble. It wasn't set in the Northwest, but it was still a fun book to read. Apparently Gideon Oliver was also made into a television series as well but I have no recollection of it. (Pause) I just checked IMDb, it was part of the "ABC Mystery Movie" Series that also included Burt Reynold's "B.L.Stryker", Columbo, and Kojak and starred Louis Gossett, Jr. as Gideon Oliver!
3. I LOVE JAPAN by Craig Briggs - It doesn't seem to matter how many years I live in Tokyo, I still love to read other people's experience about living, working, and having fun in Japan. This book was a collection of essays taken from the Tokyo Notice Board (the other free English language info-zine - the main one being "Metropolis", formerly "Tokyo Classified" for those of you who remember). Every essay starts off with "I love Japan", and then Briggs talks about the craziness of life in Japan. I can relate to a lot of his essays as I'm still living here. It would make a great introduction to Japan if you're planning to move here or if you're just coming for a short visit. Learn about slurping noodles, drinking beer while looking at cherry blossoms, experience the thrill of being pushed onto a train at rush hour, or be mesmerized by the sight and sounds of pachinko. And of course, don't forget to read my blog too as I continue to share my experiences of Life in Tokyo. A very fun read!
4. THE DARK PLACE by Aaron Elkins - I have once again returned to read about the exploits of forensic anthropologist Gideon Oliver. A few years have passed since Oliver's stint as a Visiting Fellow in Europe. He is currently working at a dig near the Olympics in Washington. Oliver's friend in the FBI asks for his help again after discovering the fragments of a skeleton with a spearpoint lodged in it. Oliver concludes that it would take someone with super human strength to have caused such damage. Could it be? This story IS based around the Northwest. And what legendary monster lurks in the forest? Bigfoot! Sasquatch! Oh my - local legend blended into the story. I liked that part but the rest was rather improbable for 1980s U.S. But Oliver, with Olympic Park Ranger Julie, go searching for answers to the mystery of the bones and of the disappearance of another victim. The storyline follows that a small band of Yahi Indians have been living in the Olympic rain forest without them ever being discovered, until now!! You might want to read up on "Ishi: The Last Yahi Indian" for a point of reference. Oh, I think I'm getting hooked on this series. If you like the current show "Bones" of which I've only seen the first episode, then you will love this series!!
5. NO TRAVEL, NO LIFE by Makoto Suda - Of course I haven't forgotten my friends who aren't particular about reading but still enjoy visual stimulation. This is a collection of photographs Suda has taken over a three year period as he traveled around the world - Cuba, Morocco, Thailand, and the U.S. are just a few of the countries he visited. Along with the pictures, short anecdotes and thoughts are written (all in Japanese of course), which I did my best to read - too many unknown kanji characters for me but I had my trusty electronic kanji dictionary and I can always ask Mikako if I can't find the character in my dictionary. The final essay was most interesting as Suda talks about being a salaryman for ten plus years before he has an epiphany and throws that life away and spends the next year living in New York knowing full-well that his visa has expired. He has a second epiphany on Khao San Road in Bangkok when he happens to chat with a fellow traveler and asks the traveler how long he's been on the road and is answered, "Ten years." And while in transit in Singapore, he meets up with the main catalyst that changed his life - a camera!! It may be my imagination but I think Japan has an affinity for pictorial books. You will find an entire section of photography books on Japanese idols and talents. You would think if Meg Ryan or Kate Hudson published of photography book of themselves, it would sell. It's a huge industry over here. In case I've sparked your interest in Japanese photographers, here are a few other names you might want to check out: Ayumu Takahashi, Hiromix, Mika Ninagawa, Daido Moriyama, Takashi Homma, and we mustn't forget Nobuyoshi Araki.
6. SPEED RACER Volume 1 THE GREAT PLAN by Chase Wheeler - And now for even more nostalgia. My brother and I grew up watching Speed Racer in it's original Japanese language where the cartoon was called "Mach 5"! Now with the release of the live-action movie, Grosset and Dunlap have published a series of small hardcover novelizations of the old Speed Racer episodes. In this first book, Pops Racer wants to build a better and faster engine for the Mach 5 but, without a unanimous vote of the board members of the company Pop works for, he is not given the green light to build his plans and quits in an angry rage. Speed wants to help his father and enters a race in which the winning prize money is $5000. But unknown to Speed, one of the board members of Pop's former company has plans to steal Pop's designs. Damn, I remember this episode. Pop gets mad that Speed wants to turn pro. Speed throws his helmet and smashes the windshield with Pop's plans. It's all coming back to me. I bet the theme song is starting to spin in your head to - "Here he comes, here comes Speed Racer, he's a demon on wheels....Go Speed Racer! Go Speed Racer! Go Speed Racer Go!!" I wonder when the movie will be released in Japan?
7. INKHEART by Cornelia Funke - I thought I would read this before the Hollywood bandwagon of movies based on children's fantasies is released. Yes, this too, is soon to be a major motion picture. And yes, this too, is the first book in a trilogy. The second book is due out in mass market paperback form next month. This is an excellent story but I think I might have enjoyed it more if it ended with this one book. But no, we must add this to the ever growing list of Hollywood adaptions - all because of the success of the "Lord of the Rings" and the "Harry Potter" franchise. After those, we had "The Chronicles of Narnia" with a new movie due soon. "Eragon" - Volume one in another trilogy which I don't think did so well at the box office. Now we have "The Golden Compass" which is also the first book in Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" series. We also have "The Spiderwick Chronicles" - a pentalogy featuring faeries and ogres and more kid protagonists!! Oh I'm sorry. I'm going off on a tangent because of the lack of original ideas that aren't coming out of Hollywood. What next? A sequel to "Charlotte's Web"? I also think the movie might not do to well if it's released now, not with Disney's "Enchanted" currently playing in the theaters. Oh my, I'm getting ahead of myself. "Inkheart" is the story about a man who has the ability to read characters in books into the real world (shades of "Enchanted"). He has unwittingly read into our world one of the most evil characters ever to be seen in print from a book titled "Inkheart" and does not know how to read him back into the story. Capricorn (the evil one) has no desire to return to the world of print and has been stealing every copy of "Inkheart" so he can destroy them and stay in our world. The only hope for our world is the reader's daughter and the original author of "Inkheart". And for your reading pleasure, every chapter starts off with a passage from other classics of children's literature which makes you want to read them all over again and makes you want to read the ones you may have missed out on. This is truly a book lover's story.
8. SPEED RACER Volume 2 CHALLENGE OF THE MASKED RIDER by Chase Wheeler - The novelizations are so easy to read that I breezed through the second book in less than an hour. This is the episode that explains that Racer- X is really Speed's older brother Rex who ran away from home after crashing in a race and had a falling out with Pops. Racer-X promises himself he wouldn't return home until he becomes a world champion racer. Okay, nostalgia quiz time. Do you all remember what the buttons on the Mach 5's steering column was for? There were 6 buttons (7 if you include the H) - from A to G. A was the hydraulic jacks. B was the belt or grip tires. C was the rotary blades. D was for making the Mach 5 drivable under water. F was for the periscope. And G was for the mechanical homing pigeon. But you all probably knew that.
9. MURDER IN THE QUEEN'S ARMES by Aaron Elkins - Oliver has asked Julie to marry him and now they are on there honeymoon in England. When Oliver visits the Dorchester Museum of Archaeology, he learns that someone has stolen a thirty-thousand year old skull fragment. Later, Oliver looks up an old friend at a dig nearby who has rubbed the local scientific community the wrong way with his loud manner and his unorthodox theories. Olive is dragged into an investigation when one of the dig's members disappear and an unidentifiable body turns up. It's also discovered that Oliver's friends "find" turns out to be a fake, which places all the members of the dig under suspicion.
10. SPEED RACER Volume 3 THE SECRET ENGINE by Chase Wheeler - Not the episode with the GRX where Speed says, "I think I'm falling into another dimension". Nope. This episode centers around and Old Model - T who's engine has a code to some hidden treasure. Reading these novelizations, you might find that Speed is just a little conceited about his driving prowess and you really got to wonder about race tracks that go through active volcanoes, but hey, this is from cartoonland after all. I wonder if Hollywood is thinking of doing a "Marine Boy" movie?
11. OLD BONES by Aaron Elkins - And back to Gideon Oliver, the Skeleton Detective. This time we find ourselves near Mt. St. Michel in France. Oliver is here as a speaker for seminar about forensic science. And wouldn't you know, while he's here in France, workers who are remodeling a kitchen for a rich family discover bones wrapped in butcher paper! The French inspector asks for Gideon's help in determining who the bones belong to. Intrigue abounds or as Elkin's own home-page states - "Family secrets, murders, and old Nazis in Normandy". Oh, I have to add another of my two cents worth. Ever since I read that Louis Gossett, Jr. played Gideon Oliver, I can't seem to shake that image out of mind. But when I read the books, Gossett, Jr. just doesn't seem right for the role. But that's just me. Maybe it's a good thing I never saw any of the movies. Ooh, and currently, there's still fourteen books in the series I have yet to read!!
12. SPEED RACER Volume 4 THE RACE AGAINST THE MAMMOTH CAR by Chase Wheeler - One of my favorite Speed Racer episodes. Don't ask me why. Maybe it's because of the huge train-like race car that's actually built entirely out of stolen gold. Did you ever realize how absurd most of the Speed Racer stories are? But how can you not love the Mach 5. All the books also feature a short bonus story too. By the way, the more you read these Speed Racer books, the more you get to know that Speed is an arrogant, conceited little twerp with the ego the size of an elephant!!
13. OFF ARMAGEDDON REEF by David Weber - An epic science fiction story covering well over 700 pages. What a monster of a book. I only read it because there was a defective copy up for grabs. The story? I shall just borrow the blurb on the back of the book. "Earth is dead!! Humanity is Hiding. Invention, Progress, Change...Are All Forbidden. It's Time to Change All That." What happened was the human race suffered near extinction at the hands of an alien race called the Gbaba. The survivors manage to find a planet similar to earth and called it Safehold. Here, they sacrifice basic human rights for the preservation of the species. The founders of the planet psychologically programmed the colonists to prevent them from all scientific thought, which the Gbaba would discover and destory the human race once and for all. Centuries later, Safehold is run by an all powerful church with a corrupt power hungry men who think they're Gods. But a survivor from the previous war who's mind has been transferred to an avatar believes this entire world is based on a lie and starts an old world war pitting one kingdom against the powers that be - the Church of God Awaiting. Part Stargate (think of Gbaba as Wraiths) and part Patrick O'Brian's "Master and Commander" series and you might get a faint idea of what this is about. I wonder if this story continues as the Gbaba aren't heard of again after the first few chapters. Long book.I hope you enjoyed it. I'm currently in the middle of reading two books, finished reading a short photo essay book on Bangkok and have a book of fiction waiting on the lines. I also bought another book today. Another title in Lonely Planet's "World Food" series. A lot of the titles in that series are going out of print and I want to buy them before they disappear.
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment