Ern's Monthly Page Turners (August 2009)

*一部日本語が書かれてます あと最後にお知らせがあれます。

I was going post one notice mentioning that there will be no new posts for about a week. Tomorrow, Mikako and I, along with my mother-in-law will be heading Stateside. I probably won't find the time to write any posts while away from home so be patient, but it will be refreshing to speak in English to my friends. But posting a notice seems a little sad, so I decided to write up my monthly book reviews. The film reviews will have to wait until I return. So without further ado, here is what I subjected myself to in the month of August.

OISHINBO A LA CARTE: RAMEN AND GYOZA by Testu Kariya – A little light reading to start off the month of August. As I mentioned before, the English translation of this long running Japanese serial is put together by theme, thus the “a la carte” in the title. This issue features two of my favorite foods – ramen and gyoza. And to think, I used to despise gyoza when I was little. Wouldn’t my brother be proud – he’s a big gyoza freak himself. But ramen – I could eat this for lunch every day and not get tired of it. The only bad thing about reading this graphic novel is that you get hungry while reading it and will feel the need to satisfy your ramen and gyoza cravings.

I'M OFF THEN: LOSING AND FINDING MYSELF ON THE CAMINO DE SANTIAGO by Hape Kerkeling - For some reason or another, it seems I'm drawn to books about the Camino de Santiago, the pilgrimage trail that leads to the Compostella de Santiago in Spain with most people starting from St. Jean Pied-de-Port in France. Perhaps faithful Christians would suggest that it is God's will to learn more about the path. Skeptics would say it coincidental - as there are many travelogues by people who walked the Camino. This is the fourth book I've read in the past few years about the Camino. A former co-worker of mine even gave me a postcard of the Compostella de Santiago. The first one I read was National Geographic's Direction series "The Road to Santiago" by Kathryn Harrison. Then I read Peter Moore's book "Spanish Steps" in which he traveled the Camino with his donkey. Recently I read Paulo Coelho's first book which is set on the Camino and now this. Written by a German comedian who one day decided that he would make this pilgrimage.

LEFT TO TELL: ONE WOMAN’S STORY OF SURVIVING THE RWANDAN GENOCIDE by Immaculee Ilibaqiza – I believe I no longer have to tell you how crimes against humanity fascinates me so I found myself reading another book about the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. Although not as graphic as “We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families”, it still makes for an intense reading. But the main focus of this particular book is not the genocide itself, but one woman’s faith in God which gave her the strength and courage to go back and face the person who killed most of her family and says to him “I forgive you!”. Well heck, she is stronger than I think I could ever be. If I were to face someone who I knew killed my entire family and made a sport of it, I would want that person to suffer the same fate, only longer, but that’s just me. Whenever I read about Rwanda, I always recall the White House spokesperson who couldn’t answer a journalists simple question, “Exactly how many genocides does it take before you will call it a genocide?”. But aside from the Western nations that ignored the pleas from Rwanda’s virtually helpless Tutis, I often wonder how Kofi Annan can live with himself for not changing the United Nations mandate against the extremists Hutus. The only person who tried, and was ignored, was the top man in Rwanda at the time General Romeo Dallaire. And I always end up saying the same thing after reading about Rwanda – “Never again? It seems like its again and again.” So much for the genocide convention. So, why is the Darfur region in Sudan no longer in the news. Do we not care again? Perhaps our country can get back on the right track after getting that war mongering, oil hungry idiot out of office. Hutu extremists are bad, but the three biggest war criminals ever are still sitting on their fat asses getting rich off other people. That would George, Dick, and Donald. Why are they free?

アルパカ [ALPACA] by 東京書籍出版編集部- These little fellers have gotten popular over the past couple of years here in Japan, so it’s no surprise that a photography book featuring these cute and cuddly animals would be published.

や～、二年前位から人気上昇中のアルパカですが、ついにアルパカの写真集が出ました。やっぱり可愛いね。見るでけで癒せる。あのふわふわの髪が触りたい。

THE TAQWACORES: MUSLIM PUNK IN THE USA by Kim Badawi – A very niche market in America I suppose, but as I recently read a book about Muslim metalheads, it came as no surprise to me to find that there is a Muslim punk underground as well. But if you’re looking for a history of the movement, this is not the book to read. This is a photography book featuring current Muslim punk bands. Although I was not familiar with the term “Taqwacore”, there is apparently a documentary film which follows the Taqwacores US tour. Henry Rollins would love this book.

TABOO TUNES: A HISTORY OF BANNED BANDS AND CENSORED SONGS by Peter Blecha – If someone were to write an exact history of this subject, it would probably be as large as an Oxford Dictionary, but not to worry. This would be more like “Music Censorship Lite”. While my favorite music genre was getting roasted in the 80s with that idiot Tipper Gore who created the Parent Music Resoruce Center, and tried to say she was acting as a “concerned parent” and not a lobbyist for censorship, uh-huh, uh-huh. But it was nice to see that it wasn’t only metal that got the “ooh, if my kids listen to this, they will go out and rape and pillage the neighborhood” fiasco but still. I’ve been listening to hard rock and heavy metal since the 5th grade and not once did it occur to me that, gee, maybe I should commit suicide. Or perhaps I need to worship Satan (even though I did buy Venom’s “Welcome to Hell” album. I also own Wasp’s “Fuck Like a Beast” e.p. but it didn’t turn me into some chauvinistic misogynist either. The only thing I have to say to Tipper Gore and people like her is, “if you’re such a concerned parent, why don’t you go about the business of parenting!” Blaming juvenile delinquency on music is like Dee Snider (or was it Frank Zappa) who said, “…that’s like curing dandruff by chopping off one’s head” or something to that effect. So I think I shall now go and listen to Ozzy Osbourne’s “Suicide Solution” and Judas Priest’s “Better By Me, Better By You” now and see if I feel like offing myself tomorrow.

FACING THE BRIDGE by Yoko Tawada – This is an English translation of three of Tawada’s novellas. And if these translations are anything to go buy, I don’t think I will be reading any of her other books any time soon. I was tricked into reading this by the locales of the stories – a Japanese exchange student in a small town in Germany paralleling a story about a slave who became a free man and scholar; a woman who’s determined to be a tourist in Vietnam; and a woman who accepts a job translating two pages of “Saint George” in the Canary Islands. Not a single story held my interest and I was on the verge of putting down the book many times because it just didn’t do anything for me. I nearly had to jump off my imaginary bridge so I could put an end to my suffering of reading this. I should have known better. I just do not like short stories so why I chose a book that only had three short stories in it was a mistake. Read and learn!

JULIE AND JULIA by Julie Powell – With all my American friends praising the new film starring Meryl Streep as Julia Child, and my own parents who ventured forth to the theater to catch this movie, I knew I had to read the original. A book about food and eating? How can I not read such a treasure. And what a wonderful story. Julie Powell doesn’t like her job with some government agent and is just not satisfied with her life. Her husband suggests writing a blog. But not knowing what to write about, it doesn’t excite her any. However, on one of her trips home, she finds in her mother’s house a copy of Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”. From this humble beginning, she decides that she will make all 500+ recipes in the book in one year and will write a blog about it. Very entertaining read and I’m looking forward to seeing the film as well.

A TRANCE AFTER BREAKFAST AND OTHER PASSAGES by Alan Cheuse – Also getting back to one of my other favorite subjects – travelling. Alan takes us to places as far as Bali, New Zealand, and Mexico and also makes us feel as if were on vacation as well, when he writes about his home town of New Jersey. This book is a collection of his articles taken from magazines and newspapers such as “The Antioch Review” and the “San Diego Reader”. I found his story on the U.S./Mexico border most fascinating as he spends about a week hanging out with the border guards and watching them in action. As I will be traveling to my former hometown in a couple of days as well, it will be interesting to see what kind of reaction it brings out in me.

So ends another month of Ernie's literary review. Tomorrow, it's off to America! On Labor Day, we will be celebrating my parent's 50th Wedding Anniversary. Tuesday we decided to leave free - so we will probably tour Seattle. On Wednesday, we will be heading to Victoria, British Columbia for an overnight tour and we will be going by way of the Victoria Clipper, that would be a boat for those of you who didn't know. As my mother-in-law works for a flower wholesaler and loves flowers in general, we want to take her to Butchart Gardens.

お知らせ：明日から里帰りするため、一週間位、ブログは休みのなります。それでは、アメリカに行ってまいりま～す！