Ern's Monthly Page Turners (April 2009)

*一部日本語が書かれております

Welcome to my monthly review of books. Unfortunately I spent the month of April mostly watching films and going on neighborhood walks so my book choices are relatively few. And being that there are relatively few books, that means not much variety this time around either. So many books, not enough time...



THE LOST THRONE by Chris Kuzneski - Now here's an interesting find. I have not read Kuzneski's previous two books so I did not know what to expect with this one. However, when I picked it up and read that the story starts with the killing of monks in Greece's Meteora, I knew I had to read the rest of it. Because I think as most of you know, I have a weak spot for World Heritage Sites and I like a good adventure story. I'm sure most people will compare Kuzneski to Dan Brown, but this search has nothing to do with Christ or Knights Templar's or Mary Magdalene. Nope, this story is about the finding one of the seven ancient wonders of the world - and that being the throne for the Statue of Zeus. Also, in case you were not familiar - the only standing ancient wonder of the world is the Great Pyramids at Khufu. The others including the Statue of Zeus, are the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Pharos or Lighthouse of Alexandria, and the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. Of course Matthew Reilly had already written a book about a search for the seven ancient wonders (title "Seven Ancient Wonders") but what the heck. If Hollywood can make two "Treasure Hunt" movies - the first one being silly but fun, the second was beyond silly and just plain bad, then who says Kuzneski can't write about a search for another lost treasure. From Greece we are then taken to St. Petersberg where a man named Richard Byrd was last heard from, and sounding in desperate need of help. Our heroes, Jonathan Payne and David Jones, decide to help this person who was still unknown to them. However, it seems Byrd has gotten himself killed and now the boys find themselves helping out a woman named Allison, who was Byrd's assistant. Throw in a "Kafka" drinking Finnish fisherman, the head of Interpol, a few headless monks, and a group of Spartans and shake them all about and voila - you have an entertaining story with humor, exotic scenery, lost treasures and just a fun read.

ツキイチ [Tsuki Ichi] by Puffy (大貫亜美[Ami Onuki] & 吉村由美[Yumi Yoshimura]) – This book was written by the popular duo of Puffy (Stateside fans will be familiar with them from the animated series “Hi! Hi! PUFFY AMIYUMI”). They debuted in 1996 in their early twenties and had a huge hit with a song called “Asia no Junshin”, produced by Tamio Okada. Both of them didn’t think they would still be performing as Puffy more than ten years down the road. But this book isn’t about the wild life of being Puffy as this was written while both women are in their thirties. Ami is also a mother. This book was put together from their blog site “Tsuki Ichi” which means “once a month”. The book is divided into two parts with the first part being written by Onuki and the latter written by Yoshimura. No stories about boy groupies or living in the fast lane. Just two regular women making a living as the singing group Puffy and talking about life in general. If you’re not a Puffy fan that this probably won’t appeal to you at all (and if you cannot read Japanese, well…)

あの大人気の二人‐パフィーがノンフィクションの本を出しました。１９９６年、岡田民雄プロデュース、「アジアの純真」」のシングルでデビュー。それから十年以上も経て、今でもパフィーで活躍中。本の中から：「ツキイチ」とは、PUFFYの携帯サイト「SMA☆アーティスト」(http://smam.jp/puffy/)内で、吉村由美の誕生日である２００７年１月３０日から、大貫亜美の誕生日である２００８年９月１８日まで、それぞれの誕生日に月に一回づつ更新・連載されていたコラムです。そのコラムからセレクションした２４話も、新たに書き下ろし原稿６本を加えた全３０話を一冊の本にまとめました。自分もPUFFYは好きだし、二人とも可愛いし、なに考えてるのちょっと興味ありますね。でも本当の読む理由は自分の日本語読み力をアップする為です。最近自分で選ぶ日本の本の基準は興味があって、ふりがながのってない事です。現在も日本語で書かれてる「ザ・ハンバーガーブック」を読書中。

GETTING WET: ADVENTURES IN A JAPANESE BATH by Eric Talmadge – Some of you might recognize this title from a review I wrote a few years ago. This month however, I did something I hardly ever do. I re-read a title. I thought this would make a wonderful addition to my friend’s blog “Asia by the Book” that I decided to write an official review. Instead of rehashing what I already wrote, I decided to read the book over so the story would be fresh in my mind. As there is a limit to the number of words for the “ABTB” blog, I thought I would share some of my more personal Japanese bath moments with you here on my own blog. My oldest memory of the Japanese bath would have been the one at my grandmother’s house in Maizuru in Kyoto Prefecture. Although Maizuru is in Kyoto Prefecture, it is still a couple hours away by train and located on the coast of the Sea of Japan. When I lived in Tokyo during my elementary years (pure army brat all the way), we would always go to my grandmother’s house for the New Year’s holidays. Being so far from the city (and this still being the early 70s), the bath at my grandmother’s house was a stone tub where you had to stoke a fire to heat up the tub. As a kid, I didn’t really enjoy it as the tub became super hot in only a few moments (but I did have fun with my brother as we stoked the fire). Moving back to Tokyo in my adulthood, I had taken advantage of my neighborhood sento (public bath) on many occasions. I still go to the sento even now. As for the onsen (hot springs) – you bet! I love them. Mikako and I have even tried the various bath products for our home use. The hinoki (cedar wood) bath salts are excellent, but nothing beats going to a real onsen!

THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH by Ken Follett – There’s three reasons why my choice of books this month are so few. One, is re-reading a title so I could write a better review. The next is reading a book not written in my native language. The regular Japanese could probably read the Puffy book in a day. And here is the third reason. This particular title is almost 1000 pages long. Sometimes I can hardly believe I read such an epic novel. I can make this particular long story very, very short by saying is about the building of a cathedral in 12th century England. Too simple? I thought so. This story revolves around five or so main characters. Tom the Builder who’s dream it is to build a cathedral – he represents the common man. Prior Philip – a pious monk who was also an orphan and was brought up in a monastery – he seems to modeled on the Son of God himself. Bishop Waleran Bigod – who represents the power and corruption and uses the Church as an excuse for his greed. Peter Hamleigh, the son of an Earl who was spurned by his bride-to-be, Lady Aliena – Peter represents pure evil. Lady Aliena and her brother mimic the life of Job as the go from riches to being destitute, yet has the drive to continue living. And then there is the mysterious woman – Ellen who lives in a forest and is thought to be a witch. She represents the Devil’s Advocate in showing how the community and church leaders are as greedy and corrupt as those who say they are fighting against. Along with the building of the cathedral, the land is in the midst of a civil war. Will the cathedral ever be built. If you’re reading almost a thousand pages, it damn well better be!

Well, I hope you weren't too disappointed because of the lack of choices. As always, I'm already in the middle of two books. One call the "The Hamburger Book" - in Japanese, and the other - "Japan - 6000 Miles on a Bicycle". Also have a couple of other books waiting to be read. One about Tokyo and another about Ireland. I also came across a couple of other titles that appeal to me - one about studying at the CIA (that would be the Culinary Institute of America - not the Spooks) and Paul Theroux's new book "Ghost Train to the Eastern Star" as Theroux retraces his steps from his travels he wrote about in "The Great Railroad Bazaar".

Happy Reading!!