Why read Faggots

Because it's Pride Month! Because this 1978 novel is groundbreaking. Because there's a sexy Winston cigarette man. Because it's a study of excess, and like all things excessive, it's heartbreaking to know what will happen later, when all things bright, care-free, pleasurable, and orgasmic come crashing down because of disease. Ah, Faggots, I couldn't recommend you enough.

Most people would know Larry Kramer as the playwright who penned "The Normal Heart," the play that has AIDS and the gay generation who first suffered because of it as its center. I love that play. If you haven't read it or seen it on stage, please do and have a box of tissues at your side. I guess the same thing can be said of Faggots. You still need a box of tissue, but for a different kind of body fluid. Wink, wink.

Of the 2,639,857 faggots in the New York city area, 2,639,857 think primarily with their cocks.
You didn't know that the cock was a thinking organ?
Well, by this time, you should know that it is.
― Larry Kramer, Faggots 

Faggots is a wonderfully dated work. I feel its appeal and charm grows through the years. It's somewhat of an autobiographical work, as the main character, Fred Lemish, is loosely based on Larry Kramer. Lemish is one of the many characters we meet in this kaleidoscope of a novel, where each character comes to grips with his sexuality, his place in the 1970s gay community, his continuous search for sex, love, and belongingness.

Never again will the gay community experience such excess, where it's de rigeur to go to bath houses, participate in orgies, be oblivious to people watching you as you engage in sex. The 1970s were a time when people actually had to go out of their houses to hook up. There wasn't any Grindr to speak of. There weren't any pics of your private parts going around. You have to see these intimate parts up close, usually in the club's bathroom. And if you approve, you take him home.

One of the characters in the novel is the handsome and sexy Winston man,
who is clearly a shoutout to the classic Marlboro man. 
The mustache was big among gay men in the 70s and the early 80s.
Hmmmm . . . mustaches. Reminds me of this very un-PC joke:
Why do gay men wear a mustache? To hide the stretchmarks. Tasteless, I know.

The 1970s was quite hedonistic, as it was the pre-AIDS era. Pretty much everyone humped like rabbits. We do know what happens after that period, yes? But that is a discussion for another day. In Faggots, it's all about drugs and sex. The novel portrayed the gay community back then in such an honest light that it showed some unflattering aspects of gay men. A few gay activist groups cried foul. Manhattan's one and only gay bookstore at that time even pulled the novel out of its shelves. I guess the truth really hurts. So Faggots basically pissed off both the straight and the gay communities.

In a way, I feel indebted to the characters in Faggots. These people belonged to a generation that was instrumental in LGBT equality. These were the first gay men who had the courage to go out in public and declare their sexuality. Yes, some of them were persecuted for it, and some of them died because of the unsafe sex they all practiced. But today's LGBT community would have never existed because of these people. For a few years back then, they partied, and they partied hard. But they will never party like that ever again. Their fight started the long battle toward equality. And it's still far from over though.

Even the title of the book is an indication of its now-classic status. I would never ever call someone a f-----. I don't want to go to gay hell. You can even get flak for calling someone this name, like what happened to this Gray's Anatomy actor. It's pretty much like the "n" word now. But unlike the "n" word, it's seldom used among gay men. Now, it's all about "queer." We have queer cinema, queer lit, queer everything.

We're here, we're queer, and we have fierce queer faces. LOL.
With my good friend Orly, who blogs about theater, books, and whatnot.
My goodness, it took so many takes just to get this shot. (27 takes, I think.)
That fierce look is so difficult to pull off! My cheekbones hurt.

In Faggots, there's no sugarcoating to what was happening to gay men in the 1970s. There's no bubblegum romance angle. There are no twee story lines. The novel feels very gritty, but it's also funny as hell. The dialog and the one-liners are a gas.

“Holy shit," somebody muttered in the dark.
"A virgin," sputtered another.
"I didn't know they still made them."
"He just did.” 

“Looking thirty, claiming forty, actually forty-five.” 

I do make it a point to read LGBT books every now and then. My favorite read last year was a gay-themed young adult novel (Aristotle and Date Discover the Secrets of the Universe). I consider Edmund White, Sarah Waters, and Alan Hollinghurst to be literary gods. I love Edmund White's A Boy's Own Story and The Farewell Symphony to bits. But I have never read a novel like Faggots. It's raunchy, hysterical, always on point, and fascinating. And it took me to a time when everyone scratched one another's itch, shoot drugs like there's no tomorrow, and basically live your queer life like it's the last day of this queer effing world.

One of the funnier queer novels I've read recently is Robert Rodi's Closet Case.
A bit dated, as the novel was published in 1993. Still campy and a riot though.
Again, so many takes just to get the right look for this picture.
You should've seen the photographer's face. It was fierce, but in a non-queer way.

What I'm reading in this month of love

I'm excited over my reading list for February, even though I'm the last person you'd expect to read a hardcore romantic novel. I can barely count with one hand all the love stories that I actually enjoyed. Well, top of mind are Erich Segal's Love Story and Jose Saramago's Baltasar and Blimunda.

Now I don't usually post monthly reading plans, but indulge me on this one, dear reader. For February, I've selected 5 books whose themes rely heavily on love or romance. They may not be romantically sappy, but they're perfect for the month of love, I think.

Henry Fielding's Tom Jones has always been part of my to-be-read pile. It's a doorstop, so I guess I'll read a few chapters at a time. Mary Stewart's The Ivy Tree is romantic suspense. Rachel Cohn and David Levithan's Dash & Lily's Book of Dares is young adult romance.

I don't know what to expect with Jorge Amado's Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands though. Same with Tony Perez's Cubao Midnight Express, which is the book club's selection for the month. Hopefully, these two books will be a pleasant surprise.

How about you, dear reader? What books are you reading for the month of love?

Not my kind of story

I was prepared to like this book. Even thought that it would end up as a favorite. It has all the things that a bibliophile can relate to—collecting rare books, running a bookstore, having a partner who's also into books, being a part of a book club. But at the final page, Gabrielle Zevin's novel, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry, just didn't deliver.

Maybe because it touched on a whole lot of things, that the result is just several story lines spread too thinly. It's like biting into a supposedly dense cheesecake but what you really feel is a light chiffon cake. Or just plain air. Perhaps the flaws lie on the themes? They're just all over the place.

Anyway, there's really nothing new about this novel. A. J. Fikry, a recent widower, runs a bookstore in a small island. He's grumpy as hell, and one fat ass book snob. Then one day his rare copy of Edgar Allan Poe's Tamerlane gets stolen. Then he adopts a precocious baby that's left on his doorstep, who becomes instrumental in changing his dark demeanor.

It would've been more palatable if the novel focused on the story between Fikry and his adopted daughter. But no, there has to be romance and mystery. Fikry eventually marries a book agent, who helps him run his bookstore. And the mystery of the stolen Tamerlane has to be solved, albeit in a most unimaginative manner. Along the way, you meet a host of other characters: the detective who runs a book club, Fikry's sister-in-law, Fikry's sister-in-law's philandering husband, to name a few.

If the other characters in the novel remain unnamed in this blog entry, it's because they're so cookie cutter figures; I've forgotten their names. Even Fikry was someone I couldn't relate to, much as I tried.

The whole novel reeks of Hallmark. You know those movies when everything just works out cleanly in the end? The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry is that. It's so clean and wholesome that it feels antiseptic. Where's the conflict? Where's the dilemma that the characters have to face? Where are the destestable villains? Unfortunately, there are none. And that's why Zevin's novel is one such work that feels hollow.

I'm not going to say that this is a terrible book. But it's a cliche. The grinch becomes lovable. The philandering character dies in a car crash. The dying bookstore gets a second life in the hands of its patrons. Money magically appears. I. Die. Of. Sugar.

Read this book if:

1. You have nothing else to do.
2. You love books about books.
3. Oh, don't bother.

Checking out a local bestseller

This weekend, I decided to go local with my reading. Considering that stories originally published in Wattpad are all the rave, I checked out the grandmama of them—Bianca Bernardino's She's Dating the Gangster. Bernardino's online novel has found its way to print, and I've heard that it's even going to be adapted to the big screen. So I'm curious.

My curiosity eventually becomes a huge disappointment as I turned the final page. I had high hopes for She's Dating the Gangster. But it's confusing, infuriating, frustrating, and tiring. Is this what young people these days are reading? Shallow drivel. If this novel began the trend of new adult novels in the country, then I shiver at the thought of reading the countless stories it has spawned.

Bernardino's novel starts interestingly enough. Kenji, the high school heartthrob, missends a text message to Athena, who he thinks is his ex-girlfriend, who is also named Athena. The ex is later called Abigail, probably to avoid confusion. I think that the ex can be called anything, as she has absolutely no character at all. It would even have helped it she'd have been nameless. (I think the same is true for the supporting characters. They're cookie cutter characters without any distinct voice.)

Anyway, Kenji is hellbent on getting back with Abigail, so he strikes a deal with Athena. All Athena has to do is to pretend that she's now Kenji's girlfriend. Hopefully, Abigail will see them all lovey-dovey and become jealous. (Yes, the novel somehow makes you think that jealousy leads to exes getting back. Warped thinking, if I may say.)

All the clichés are here. Good girl eventually falls for the bad boy. Female character gets sick and dies, but not before male character proposes marriage. Video footage being played that shows the dead character's stupid message to the one left behind. Screaming, lovesick teenage girls squeal a lot and defend the high school gangster. This is so unintentionally funny because they would even gang up on the girl they're jealous of.

I find no redeeming quality to She's Dating a Gangster. There's a pretentious allusion to Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," but it just leads to even more stupidity. When Athena dies and leaves Kenji still a mess (even if one year has already passed), Kenji decides to take his own life by swallowing pills. By dying, he thinks that Athena and he will never be apart anymore. Whatever.  I'd rather have a root canal than read this pointless story again.

I'm glad that more and more people are reading though. And that a lot of them are coming up with stories that other people read. I only hope that these readers develop a hunger, a craving for something more satisfying. And that our local writers recognize this craving and answer it by telling stories with more substance.

Read this novel if:

1. This is the last book on earth.
2. You have no qualms about two sweethearts calling each other Sexylove and Lovebabe.
3. Oh, don't bother.

A is for Austen

Finally, I have read my first Jane Austen, and let me just say that I'm glad this is finally over. Austen, over and done with. If I could sum up in just one word all my thoughts on this novel, it would be, well, meh. What's the deal with Austen? And why does her characters have to be so, well, meh.

My feelings as I read through this novel during the first few days of 2014 can be described in 3 stages. First is anger and frustration. Yes, I was angry at and frustrated with Emma, she of the flawed character who simply has to mess with everybody else's lives. Apparently, Emma has taken it upon herself to do all the matchmaking among people who matter in Highbury. It doesn't matter that her success rate is just 1 so far. In this day and age, she's be labeled as a manipulative and meddling b****.

So yes, I was angry, and, yes, I was frustrated. And my frustration is directed toward all the people who play along with her, specifically Harriet who foregoes the love of a certain Robert Martin in favor of someone that Emma likes. Why? Because, as per Emma, Martin is just too poor a match for her dear Harriet, who is clearly smitten with Martin and is thrilled at his marriage proposal. Kill me now.

Angry enough to bite the book

Second, I was confused. Why won't people just say what they really think? Why all the gossip and speculation, which clearly are exercises in futility? Why would Frank Churchill keep his engagement to Jane Fairfax a secret? I think of all the chapters that could have been removed should people just follow their romantic inclinations and not lead clueless people to false hopes. Cruel, cruel, cruel.

I was confused with Emma as well. Why does she have to appoint herself as the matchmaker of Highbury? It just doesn't add up! If she were being paid to do so, now that would one hell of a motivation. But clearly she just wants to poke her nose in people's asses.

I'm confused with the "weighty" issues they discuss in Emma. It really is important to talk about, and at length at that, how beautiful one's handwriting is and how one person's handwriting appears so much stronger than the other. Oh, and of course it would be a dilemma to find out that there would be 9 guests instead of just 8, which they originally planned. That truly is a problem that needs to be resolved in at least 2 pages. I scratch my head in wonder.

A bit pacified but confused

But I soldier on and persevere. And by the end of this novel of about 400 pages, I just felt relief. All ends well. As I have seen it from page 1, all will end in a wedding, well, 3 weddings in fact. Emma realizes that she does love Mr. Knightley, Harriet ends up with Robert Martin, and the engagement of Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax is brought to everyone's attention. If I were living in Highbury, I would've kidnapped all the characters, locked them up together in a room, and offer no food until they just be honest with one another.

Still, I am happy that I finished Emma, even though it didn't offer any motivation to read more Austen novels. Pride and Prejudice? Thanks, but I'll just watch the movie again. And that Darcy—that's someone I also couldn't understand.

A smile of relief

Read this book if:

1. You love flawed heroines.
2. You'll read anything that has female characters wearing corsets.
3. You love a comedy of errors, of sorts.

A little bit of book thievery on a weeknight

One of my favorite young adult novels is Markus Zusak's I Am the Messenger. I guess this is why it took me this long to read his later (and more popular) work, The Book Thief. I thought that for all the hype The Book Thief got, it couldn't live up to the brilliance of I Am the Messenger. So when the book club decided to read TBT and have an unofficial discussion about it, I thought to myself that it's about time I get this book over with. Besides, the movie's coming out soon, right? And The Book Thief is that kind of book that everyone seems to like.

(I say "unofficial" because The Book Thief isn't really part of the book club's official roster of books to be discussed this year. So basically it just served as an excuse for us to read a book, gather around to talk about it, and talk about it over good food. Oh, and usually, unofficial discussions happen during a weeknight. But looking back, with the kind of preparation that went with it, i.e., the bookmarks, the loot bags, the carefully thought-of discussion questions, and the number of members who attended, the discussion might as well have been an official one. This "unofficial" thing would probably need another post.)

Anyway, the novel is really difficult not to like. Zusak has a character, 11-year-old Liesel Meminger, who comes of age during the turbulent period in Germany during World War II. She has communist parents, and she was set up for adoption by this German couple, Hans and Rosa Hubermann. You just know that things won't turn up all daisies and sunshine for the characters. How can it? You're in Nazi Germany. And add the fact that the couple and Liesel hide a Jew in their basement. There are air raids often, too. We just know how indiscriminate bombs are as killing tools.

As I said, The Book Thief is a novel that's so easy to like. I can list a few points why this is so. First, Liesel is a bibliophile. Well, she isn't technically one at the start of the novel. She didn't even know how to read. But when she does, she develops a passion for the printed word. So much this passion is that she sometimes resorts to stealing books.

The novel also has a very strong anti-war message. Yes, we've all read how war has devastating effects on the parties involved in one. But Zusak manages to show us how war can affect families. And that, sometimes, people are forced to do things just to survive during wartime. We read about how difficult it is to find food, to get paid work, and to feel safe. We learn how one act of compassion can be interpreted as being a traitor to the nation's cause. We see how families are oftentimes separated and displaced. We see how it's all terrible, and we are made to feel uncomfortable. There's no hint of romanticizing any of these unfortunate scenarios in Zusak's novel.

The Book Thief is also about keeping promises. Hans owes his life to a Jew who somehow saved him during the first world war. And that Jew's son, Max, goes to the Hubermann household to escape the Nazi persecution. Hans never thinks twice about helping the boy, even though he's putting himself and his family at risk.

There's a bit of a romance going on between Liesel and a golden-haired boy named Rudy Steiner. The scene where Liesel, now 14 years old, finally realizes that she loves Rudy so much is just heartbreaking. I've always thought about an alternate scenario wherein Liesel agrees to be kissed by Rudy at the start of the novel. But that would not show the funny and heartwarming dynamic between Liesel and Rudy when they were just friends. In the end, the shy, bookish, and obedient girl falls for the rebel.

Oh, and the novel is narrated by Death, and what a glorious narrator he is. The novel presents Death as someone just doing his job. The war has kept him busy, and he's just your everyday omniscient being going about his business. He can be funny, amoral, and very objective with the things going on around him. But sometimes, Death appears to be someone capable of feeling and states that, sometimes, humans confuse him. He oftentimes spills the beans early in the chapters (who will die, what will happen in the end, etc.) but I didn't really mind these spoilery bits. For me, it was all about the story—how it will unravel in the book's 500+ pages.

I like The Book Thief. I probably didn't like it as much other people did. I'd still recommend it to young adults and adults alike. There's something in it for everyone. I guess what turned me off a bit was the idea that the novel was trying to be a very dramatic work, one that sets out from the start to elicit tears in the reader. The novel succeeds on this aspect though, but I feel that some of the scenes border on the overly melodramatic.

Read this book if:

1. You love YA historical fiction.
2. You're both fascinated and horrified by this terrible period in our history.
3. You know that there is indeed a being named Death.

2 brothers, 3 Italian cities, and 1 girl

So far, I've read 5 novels by David Levithan, and, thankfully, not 1 of them has been a disappointment. Even this non-LGBT novel, Are We There Yet?, is quite delightful. It's the perfect book to bring to the beach or while on vacation in an exotic country.

It feels that we've been here before though: 2 brothers with very different personalities are set up by their parents to go on vacation in a faraway European country. With this trip, the parents do hope that 23-year-old Danny and 16-year-old Elijah rekindle their sense of brotherhood and camaraderie.

My first thought upon reading the opening chapters was I wish that my parents would have the same idea. Minus the age gap, I think the dynamic between David and Elijah is more or less similar to my relationship with my brother. Those who have brothers completely understand when I say that it's a very weird dynamic, that between brothers. One minute you're literally grabbing each other's throats; the next, you're asking money from each other. Inexplicably, your brother is your best friend and your worst enemy at the same time.

Are We There Yet? isn't fluff. While Levithan does fall short in providing a strong sense of place for the cities that the brothers visit, he does focus on a historical Jewish ghetto in Venice. And that portion of the trip creates a significant impression on David and Elijah.

Of course, there has to be hints of romance, or at least the possibility of a romance. So enter a college girl named Julia who comes between David and Elijah. Both become smitten, but none of them don't get the girl. In fact, Julia is instrumental in making Elijah realize how much he misses the girl he left at his prep school.

Are We There Yet? is charming. It's one of David Levithan's novels that do not have a major gay or lesbian character, but it's still enjoyable nonetheless. For one, it makes you want to pack your bags and leave for Venice, or Florence, or Rome! I know I want to. And the masochist in me wants to bring my brother along.

Read this book if:

1. You love Italy.
2. You know the pros and cons of traveling with a family member.
3. Because David Levithan.

A geek and a slacker in love

I am writing this entry with a smile on my  face—a smile brought about by a surprisingly entertaining read. And that read is the novel by Susan Colasanti entitled When It Happens.

Sappy, contrived, cloying, forced. All these were my expectations when I turned to the first page of this YA novel. And I am smiling from ear to ear because I never found the romance sappy, the dialogue contrived, the burgeoning romance between the characters cloying, nor the ending forced.

I won't call the dialogue as natural, as I'm not familiar at all with how teens talk nowadays. But the banter and the wit flows smoothly, and Colasanti does make you feel for her characters when you read about their thoughts.

Nothing's particularly new here. Overachieving girl (Sara) falls in love with another senior (Tobey) who's main goal is to win the school's Battle of the Bands. Throw in the token best friends and the jocks and homecoming queens who make everyone's life hell.

But I wouldn't call When It Happens sterile. There's grit here, too. Sara's mother is a single parent who seems to have no trouble at all switching from one boyfriend to the next. And while Sara is a virgin, Tobey has a few experiences of his own. In fact, when Sara and Tobey talk about this issue, Colasanti doesn't go to a moral high ground.

This is still sugary sweet country, however. So one shouldn't cringe when Tobey realizes his potential, clean up his act, and gets accepted to a college in NY. One shouldn't hurl the book just because Sara gets accepted to a school in NY, too. When It Happens is still YA chick lit but without vampires. We can't have depressing endings here.

I'd gladly recommend When It Happens to my friends who have teenagers. It's an interesting read once you get comfortable with the language (e.g., "Protest much," "Drool much," and all those other much-es). Some of the scenes are funny. And you just might see yourself in one of the characters.

Read this book if:

1. YA chick lit is your thing.
2. You find yourself with nothing to do in one lazy afternoon.
3. You prefer real people to vampires.

A surprise favorite read this year

Teen paranormal romance. Them 3 words that usually scare me. Okay, just for the sake of transparency, yes, I've read all 4 Twilight books. It was an experience all right. Uneven at best. I liked the first book and found the last book quite enjoyable. Now, for books 2 and 3, excuse me while I barf.

To compare Meyer's novels with Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke & Bone would be futile, even though they belong to the same genre. It might even seem unfair on Taylor to have her books next to Twilight in bookstores. If you read Daughter of Smoke & Bone, then you'd have this compulsion to gather all these books and place them prominently on the bookstore. I was this close to just hanging out in the teen section in bookstores and keeping an eye out on everyone buying Twilight. Then I'd shout, "Drop that silly little book, you commercially brainwashed teen!" Then I'd place DoSaB on her hands instead. I know she'll thank me for it.

Here I am gushing about a book when I haven't even told you what it's all about. Well, it's about angels and demons, or more specifically, angel- and demon-like characters. Taylor, however, goes beyond the mythology. In DoSaB, the angels aren't really the good guys, nor are the demons the evil ones. In fact, you can hardly tell who has the moral high ground in their war. It's a good thing that Taylor came up with less conventional names for these 2 groups: seraphim for the fiery-winged and celestial beings, and the chimaera for the characters whose body parts are an odd mix of animal and human body parts.

Enter Karou, a human (supposedly), who is in the service of the chimaera by providing them with human and animal teeth. Such an odd task for someone so frail looking. Then she meets Karou, a seraph of unimaginable beauty with a reputation for being a ruthless soldier. Of course, they fall in love. Of course, it's not possible, in theory. Karou is revealed to be a chimaera herself. Of course, everything gets complicated. Karou is the resurrected form of Madrigal, a chimaera who was executed after being discovered to be having a relationship with Karou.

Oy, dear reader, it's wonderful to get lost in Taylor's beautiful and brutal universe. The slow reveal of the true nature and history of the two lead characters is a delight. Their inexplicable attraction toward each other has none of the cloying taste of novels in this genre. What we have are 2 immensely relatable characters who are aware of the consequences of their actions.

Taylor's sense of place is also admirable. Prague's gloomy and Gothic atmosphere sets the right tone at the beginning of the novel, where the reader is immediately plunged into the mystifying world of the chimaera. Eretz, the home of the chimaera, is portrayed as a place of strange and harsh beauty, a vast landscape where you see chimaera in every configuration.

Why did it take too long for me to write my thoughts about this book? Well, blame it on my age. I thought that I've already made a post about it and only bothered to check because I'm reading the 2nd book. It's turning out to be just as good as the 1st. In fact, it might even be better!

Read this book if:

1. You're willing to give teen paranormal romance a try.
2. You've always been fascinated by angels and their fallen counterparts.
3. You love "Romeo and Juliet."

Don't let the cover deceive you

First, this isn't really a hardcore love story, despite the screaming red cover. Second, being a work by Alain de Botton, it's more of a philosophical discourse than fiction.

While de Botton does present a male (the unnamed narrator) and a female (Chloe) character, he simply makes use of these characters as evidence, if you will, of what happens when two people have a connection and fall in love.

In the book, we examine why people are inexplicably drawn to one another, go through the motions of a relationship, have trivial and significant arguments, drift away, cheat on one another, and sometimes fall out of love. The chapters are something like theses on love and its many aspects -- intimacy, seduction, and even 'romantic terrorism'.

Love had to be appreciated without flight into dogmatic optimism or pessimism, without constructing a philosophy of one's fears, or a morality of one's disappointments. Love taught the analytic mind a certain humility, the lesson that however it struggled to reach immobile certainties (numbering its conclusions and embedding them in neat series), analysis could never be anything but flawed -- and therefore never stray far from the ironic. [page 194]

This slim work of 'fiction', the debut of Alain de Botton, is not to be missed. While some of the sections may make your eyes glaze over, the novel's ideas about this complex emotion are fascinating to read.

A very heartbreaking love story

Hmmm . . . love stories. Just the thought of holding a book about love is enough to make my teeth ache. It's a good thing that I didn't know that Madeline Miller's debut novel, The Song of Achilles, is rooted on love, and a very different kind of love at that.

The Song of Achilles, at its core, is about the bond between two men -- Patroclus and Achilles. The novel opens during Patroclus's childhood, when he was exiled to the land of Phthia. The son of a lesser king, Patroclus meets Achilles during his exile, for Phthia is the land of Peleus, an honorable king and the father of Achilles. It is in Phthia where Achilles decides to take Patroclus as companion. Patroclus even follows to Mount Pelion, where he and Achilles are taught by the centaur Chiron.

Of course, as the novel is rooted in mythology, there will be prophecies. And one such prophecy is the death of Achilles after he slays Hector in the siege of Troy. Achilles, having been known as the best of the Greeks, take part in the campaign to get Helen and return her to her husband, Melanaus.

We all know that Achilles dies, but Miller chooses to focus instead on the sacrifice made by Patroclus. In Patroclus, we have a character who embodies the concept of unselfish love. He knows that Achilles will die, he knows that there can be no redeeming aspect in the war against Troy. Still, Patroclus does take part in the battle, causing him his life and Achilles's despair.

He weeps as he lifts me onto our bed. My corpse sags; it is warm in the tent, and the smell will come soon. He does not seem to care. He holds me all night long, pressing my cold hands to his mouth. [page 340]

The Song of Achilles is one tender love story involving two very different characters -- Patroclus, the disgraced and clumsy son of a lesser king, and Achilles, the golden hero and the son of a goddess. I'm not sure if this romantic concept is based on the Iliad, but I couldn't care less. The novel is such a joy to read.

The author has a background on Latin and Ancient Greek, and she's been known to make modern adaptations of classical tales. Yay! Maybe this means that she'll be writing another captivating novel soon! But for the meantime, I think I'll be reading the Iliad, after having been inspired by The Song of Achilles.

Read this book if:

1. You love mythology.
2. You want a different take on the siege of Troy.
3. You're into debut fiction.

The circus is in town

Much has been said about Erin Morgenstern's debut novel, The Night Circus. You can't miss it, it's all over the place these days. And so I found myself in a bookstore doing some last-minute shopping when I thought, heck, why not get just one book for myself.

I've always loved the circus, and I found the paper cutout elements of the cover quite amusing. So off I went to the register with several books in my arms, including this novel which I do hope is really worth the hype.

Fortunately, The Night Circus is one very enjoyable and well-written novel. Morgenstern's story may appear derivative to some (i.e., elements of Cirque du Freak, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell), but the novel's storyline holds water on its own. Aside from the author's apparent talent for describing setting vividly, Morgenstern does a great job in coming up with the most eccentric characters in fiction that I've read recently.

The novel is, at its heart, a love story. It's a romantic tale between two people (Cecilia and Marco) who have been trained in illusion, and tangible and mental manipulation. Unfortunately, they have been pitted against each other by their masters, and their masters have chosen a circus as the arena. To complicate things further, Cecilia and Marco both fell in love with one another much to the chagrin of their mentors. They soon learn that, by the end of the game, only one will emerge alive.

Morgenstern's novel works in so many levels that it would appeal to a wide range of readers. First, the love story between the protagonists would appeal to fans of romantic fiction. Fantasy readers will definitely love the scenes where magic plays a central role. The Night Circus's air of mystery and motley of performers will delight readers of all ages.

I was surprised that, with all the elements that Morgenstern brings into the novel, the story isn't a mess, with the subplots flying all over the place. The writing is very controlled, but the pace of the novel is oh so deliciously taxi meter. I loved this circus. I sure hope you find the time to step inside and see the wonders waiting for you, dear reader, underneath the striped tents of the night circus.

Read this book if:

1. You're big on circuses.
2. You love outstanding debut fiction.
3. You believe that true magic really exists.

Maybe some people liked this

Killing time in bookstores usually works for me. However, there are times when I regret ever having stepped in a bookstore one day and going home with a book that I have no idea why I bought at all. And because it's bookstore sale season once again here in Manila, the frequency of my bookstore trips has increased. Most of the time, I leave with a smile on my face, happy to take the books home. Very rarely do I end up buying a book that I would like to fling violently across the room after finishing it. Unfortunately, Gayle Forman's novel, If I Stay, is one such book.

The blurb on the front cover should have served as warning of some sorts. But hey, I liked Twilight (just the first book), so I figured I might as well give this a shot. Plus it's short, so investment on time is practically nil. I figured I'd finish it in two hours, tops. But boy oh boy would I want to have those precious hours back!

I guess my apparent distaste for If I Stay is now very much apparent. The plot is dilute and derivative. Mia, a musically inclined teenager, loses her parents and her younger brother in a freak car accident. She's in a coma herself, after suffering brain contusions, a pierced lung, broken ribs, and what-have-yous. Mia sees her still body in the hospital surrounded by family and friends, and begins to reminisce about significant parts of her life.

Forman adds layer upon layer of cheese to the story. In If I Stay, the circumstances in Mia's life are just too uncomfortably fine. Mia's parents are ex-hippies, so they're very "cool." Mia, a gifted cellist, has a boyfriend who's in a rock band. (I just shudder at the cliché.) Her relationship with her very precocious younger brother is never troublesome at all. There's an attempt to provide conflict when Mia decides to audition for Juilliard. If she does get accepted, she will have to leave her boyfriend and family in Oregon behind. But this sort of conflict is something we've all read before. We just know that it'll work out eventually, no?

It is in remembering these scenes that helps Mia to come to a decision -- whether to continue living, albeit an orphan, or to permanently leave her body and join her parents and younger brother in the afterlife. Sadly, the decision is quite predictable. You'll get to know it at the part where her boyfriend is with her comatose body in the ICU, silently holding her hand. How unimaginative is that?

Read this book if:

1. You like clichés.
2. You believe in the power of love (whatever, peanut butter).
3. Oh, don't bother.

A travel writer who hates traveling

I may not have traveled much, but with the few places I've been to, I made sure to see all the sights, sample the good food, and get to know the wonderful people of these places I've visited. This is a far cry from the main character of Anne Tyler's beloved novel, The Accidental Tourist.

In the novel, we meet Macon Leary, a travel writer whose specialization is to focus on as little as possible about the esoteric, the foreign. He gives practical advice to businessmen on a trip -- the location of the Burger King in Paris, the colors to wear during trips (gray, never white), and the right way to keep foreign currency (with a specific currency in each small envelope). Needless to say, he hates traveling.

At the beginning of The Accidental Tourist, Macon's wife Sarah is leaving him and wants a divorce. She's had enough of his obsessive-compulsive behavior, the lack of spontaneity, and the loneliness that seems to pervade the couple. Macon and Sarah has lost their one and only child in a bizaare murder incident. Macon naturally goes into a slump, causing him to get behind on his manuscripts for his travel guides entitled The Accidental Tourist. (There's an Accidental Tourist in Paris, an Accidental Tourist in New York, etc.)

After a frantic conversation with the owner of a publishing house who's been needling him on the deadlines, Macon books a flight to the next stop in The Accidental Tourist series. But there's one problem -- he has to find a vet who he can leave his dog with. He finds one at the last minute, and this is where he meets an eccentric dog trainer named Muriel. After his trip and while temporarily shacking up with his siblings, Macon receives several calls from Muriel, asking him to let her train the dog and, surprise surprise, to go out with her. What follows is an unconventional love story between two persons who are way too different from each other.

Yes, at its heart, The Accidental Tourist is a love story. But it isn't a sappy one. The romantic angle doesn't become realized until halfway through the novel. The story about two mismatched persons who fall in love with each other may not be original, but Tyler managed to pull it off. Macon is never the hopelessly clueless character that we might expect. Muriel's fish-out-of-water personality never goes overboard.

Tyler even writes a bravura ending. Just when we thought that Macon may have the wish to go back to his wife, who now seems accepting of his shortcomings and quirks, Tyler has written an ending that is pleasantly rewarding, something that makes you feel that her characters are totally human.

I'm not big on love stories. Most of them make me feel nauseous with their cardboard-cutout characters. As a novel, The Accidental Tourist, may feel like a breezy read, but its message certainly packs a punch. Most people say that this is also Anne Tyler's best work. I wouldn't know of course, since this is my first Tyler read. But I certainly would now be open to reading her other novels.

Read this book if:

1. You've always wondered how travel guides are written.
2. You're longing for an unconventional love story.
3. You know that opposites do attract.

Not the movie with Brad Pitt, but way, way, WAY better

So one day I found myself mindlessly walking the aisles of a local bookstore when I found myself drawn to this small young adult novel -- Troy by Adèle Geras. Of course, I couldn't resist after reading the synopsis at the back and knowing that it was shortlisted for the Whitbread, the Publisher's Weekly list of best books for the year, and the Carnegie Medal.

If you're like me who is endlessly fascinated with the world of Greek mythology, then this book is THE book that you should read this year. I was wondering why it didn't become popular when it first came out in 2000. Perhaps the publishers have thought to reprint this work and package it as something with action, romance, and supernatural creatures. But this isn't Twilight territory though.

Troy is basically a retelling of Homer's The Iliad. You get to meet all the historical characters -- Achilles, Hector, Paris, King Priam, Helen, and Andromache, among others. It's set during the Trojan War, when Greeks and Trojans were battling it out in the plains because of Helen. Caught in the narrative of the novel are two sisters, Marpessa and Xanthe, who both fall in love with the same man, an injured nobleman named Alastor.

It's wonderful to read a novel wherein Greek gods and goddesses are characters themselves in the book. When Xanthe falls in love with Alastor first, it is because of Eros's arrow. Marpessa completes the love triangle because of a whim from Aphrodite. Soon, major gods show up and interact with the human characters -- Ares, Poseidon, Athena, Hades, and even Zeus himself. I love Greek mythology. Greek gods and goddesses have very "human" characteristics. They play favorites. They destroy things that don't take their fancy. They love and kill as they please.

Several reviews have pointed out that this is the story of Troy told from a feminist perspective, and yes, I agree. When Hector leaves Troy to fight Achilles on the plain, it is the thoughts and feelings of his wife, Andromache, that we experience. The terrible consequences of war on soldiers who get injured during battle are told through the eyes of Xanthe, who is also a healer in Troy's Blood Room. We also get to read about Helen's anguish when Troy is besieged on the night they let in the Trojan Horse inside the city's walls.

Troy is very readable, too. As YA fiction, it can provide a good background of Greek mythology to young readers who may not be prepared for Edith Hamilton. As historical fiction, it's gripping. The novel comprises several short chapters, making it a light but engaging read.

Read this book if:

1. You read everything with Greek mythology.
2. You love gods and goddesses.
3. You're craving for sickly sweet romance and bloody battles at the same time.
   

A love story, a fairy tale

Have you ever read a book that you couldn't decide whether you like it or not? Ali Shaw's debut novel The Girl with Glass Feet is one such novel that I'm feeling very ambivalent about. I first heard this novel when it was included in the Not the TV Book Club at UK. I thought that if it was good enough to be selected, then it would probably be a good read. Besides, it's basically a love story, so it's the perfect read on Valentine's Day. So yes, I was prepared to get all sappy and cheesy should the novel decide to go in that predictable direction. Thankfully, it didn't.

The Girl with Glass Feet is a novel that is part love story, part fairy tale, and part mystery set in a small island in Europe called St. Hauda's Land. Based on Shaw's description of the island, St. Hauda is a bleak, desolate place. It's a place described in the novel as "incestuous," where everyone knows one another. (With all the romantic entanglements among the different characters, I kept thinking that St. Hauda's Land was one big Melrose Place.) Apparently, there's something magical about this place. You can see thumb-sized winged cows and white dragonflies the size of your hand. St. Hauda's Land is also where people have strange illnesses.

And one of these people is Ida Maclaird, a character who has returned to the island searching for a cure for her unusual condition. Ida Maclaird's feet have turned to glass, and it looks like this condition is slowly spreading throughout her body. She meets Midas Crook, a photographer who'se a long-time resident of the island. Midas eventually discovers Ida's condition and decides to help. This romantic relationship is too flawed to be sappy and cheesy. Shaw probably didn't want his characters to fall into a cliche: the sick but strong-willed woman and the awkward man who'll do anything for her. In fact, Midas never fully becomes comfortable with his relationship to Ida till the end of the book.

The Girl with Glass Feet, aside from being a love story between Ida and Midas, focuses on the past relationships: the infatuation of Ida's uncle on Ida's mother, and the relationship between Midas's mother and Henry Uwa, a man who breeds the small magical creatures. The novel somehow establishes that Henry has something to do with Ida's condition, but it's never fully revealed. I found this disappointing. There are just too many unanswered questions.

I wouldn't recommend Shaw's debut novel to anyone looking for a book to feel good. For one, The Girl with Glass Feet touches on depressing topics -- suicide, missed connections, and failed relationships. This is not something you read while on vacation. Shaw's writing, however, is wonderfully atmospheric and vivid. I ended up empathizing with Ida and Midas, and totally believing that a seemingly ordinary island can have magical elements. Shaw is indeed a talented writer. He depicts scenes in detail and probes each of his characters' feelings and personality.

The Girl with Glass Feet is definitely not a page-turner. You take your time with it. You savor each lyrical sentence, so that you fully appreciate Shaw's prose. I felt that the love story could have been more redeeming for both characters though. But, all told, Shaw's debut is a joy to read and a wonderful novel to get lost into.

Read this book if:

1. You want to read a magical love story.
2. You love atmospheric reads.
3. You've experienced missed connections at one point in your life.

Storytelling at its finest

Sometimes, it takes just one contemporary novel to make me realize again why I'm not a novelist, or a short story writer for that matter). My attempts at fiction are crap. Wait, let me rephrase that since I'm being way too kind on myself. If crap actually crapped something out, then that would be my writing. I know that I won't be able to write a novel as brilliant as William Heaney's novel, Memoirs of a Master Forger, which has become my favorite book this year.

William Heaney is actually the pseudonym of Graham Joyce, the acclaimed fantasy writer. In the novel, we meet the William Heaney, probably the most lovable flawed character in recent fiction. Heaney, together with his two closest friends, produce fake first edition Austen novels, sells them for staggeringly absurd amounts, and then donates his proceeds to charity. He also works for the government, being chair of an organization for youth affairs in the UK. But Heaney has his dark side -- he's a closet alcoholic, he can't let go of his past love, and he can see demons.

Joyce's demons are not your typical supernatural elements. They're spectral characters able to influence the people they hang around with by the power of their suggestions. But even though they don't figure much among the other characters in the novel, Joyce's description of the demons Heaney sees is just glorious.

There are thousands of them, and in multiple forms, living at our shoulders. Hosts of them, malign and benign, swarming or singleton, some fascinated by us, others disinterested. All utterly unseen except by the initiated. [p. 182]

I'd learned enough about demons by now to know they don't understand everything that is said; that their ability to understand is linked with their capacity to find a ride inside one of us; that once they get inside, then they can enjoy a psychic feed; that once they have fed, they leave a deposit behind them... [p. 263]

The real demons that Joyce focuses on, however, have to do with Heaney's inability to establish a healthy relationship with women. And this is where the novel can be treated as an unconventional love story. The narrative often goes back to the 1980s, a time when Heaney was in college and was in a loving relationship. This back story, which can stand as a novel on its own, provides an effective thread on Heaney's present insecurities and paranoia.

Joyce won the British Fantasy Award for Memoirs of a Master Forger. I believe that the award was well-deserved. The novel is uplifting. It celebrates living and loving in all its aspects. The way I see it, we can either choose to wallow among the demons around us or confront them and realize that these demons -- whether literal or metaphorical -- do not stand in the way of loving.

Read this book if:

1. It's been a long time since a novel made you cry, laugh, and love.
2. You actually feel "beings" around you every now and then.
3. You're craving for a beautifully written fantasy novel.

Non-conventional books on love

Finally, Valentine's Day is upon us, and, it's time once again to show our appreciation to the persons and things we love. My top 4 loves (in random order) are food, family and friends, the curly haired one, and books. If you do plan to spend the day by yourself, maybe you can snuggle in your bed with a book for company. If you're in bed with a book, you don't have to worry about things like morning breath, the obligatory snuggling, the required talking after sex, Here are my favorite books about love (or some other feeling associated with it). Once again, Happy Valentine's Day to all of you! Mmmmmmwahhhhhhh!



Jose Saramago's magical novel set in 1711 during the Inquisition is pure romance. This isn't a light read though. Saramago hates punctuation marks. There's barely a period and no quotation marks to speak of.








Ian McEwan's brilliant novel about obsession is highly recommended for those who have been heartbroken. McEwan even comes up with a totally realistic description of a personality disorder. If you've ever considered stalking somebody, read this.







Never mind if you've seen the mess of a movie; it doesn't even compare to the genius of De Benieres's prose. Captain Corelli's Mandolin is really for everyone who's in love, fallen in love, fallen out of love, and loves Greek food.








John Preston's In Search of a Master is a novel with sadomasochistic themes. Still, it's basically your everyday love story. Man inflicts pain, boy feels pain, boy loves the pain, boy falls for the man. Now change the sexes and I'm sure you've also experienced this.







Now You're One of Us, a horror novel by Asa Nonami, has been compared to Rosemary's Baby. While it does have the same theme as Levin's novel, Nonami's book focuses on a woman turning a blind eye to the things around her, all for the love of her man.