To the great outdoors

Stephen King doesn't believe in taking a break

I'll be on vacation (and taking a break from blogging) starting tomorrow, and the question that comes to mind does not concern about what kind of clothes to pack but what books (and how many of them) should I bring. It's been some time since I last went on vacation and God knows that I need one. I'm really looking forward to going to the beach and just killing time reading a book and perhaps doing the obligatory sightseeing.

Considering that I'll be away for about 4 days, I've thought of bringing a doorstop of a book. Do I finally get to finish Philip Hensher's The Northern Clemency? (That book's taking me two months to finish. There's just so much to take in in those 600 hardback pages.) Do I bring The Collected Stories of Patricia Highsmith? (Again, another doorstop at 800 pages.) Will I find the time to squeeze in Denis Johnson's critically loved Tree of Smoke?

Because I'll just be wearing a belt bag for the trip, I think I'll just bring more portable books. I've decided to bring two medium-length novels, both from the NYRB classic editions. If you ever have reader's block, the NYRB editions will give you that much needed impetus to start turning those pages again. Just look at the covers: they're so wonderfully elegant!

Hmmm... I feel taking another book with me. I know that I have the first Sookie Stackhouse novel by Charlaine Harris somewhere in my room. I think I'll bring it too -- if I can find it.

Interestingly.... (Sorry, I don't have a proper seque to this.)

The words "robotics," "computer virus," and "zero-gravity" first appeared in science fiction work, not scientific journals. Here's a list of 9 words that originated from science fiction. You may want to read the comments to the post as well. Very very heated discussions.

Have contempt, will pack

What if you find out that your wife detests you? How long does it take before you discover that you only have aversion for your "better half"? Do you get out of the relationship? Or do you do whatever it takes to make it work? These are some of the questions explored in Alberto Moravia's darkly atmospheric novel Contempt.

Set in postwar Italy, Contempt centers on Riccardo Molteni, an Italian screenwriter married to Emilia. At first, everything was perfect in the couple's married life, even though Riccardo's work can only pay for a room where the couple spends their free time and evenings. Emilia, who was once a typist and who comes from Italy's lower-income families, is determined to make the room as comfortable for her husband. Riccardo, however, knows that Emilia secretly wishes a house of their own, and it is this knowledge that causes feelings of insecurity in him.

Things appear to change for the better when Molteni is offered to write a screenplay by his friend, Battista. The money coming in allows Riccardo to make the first payment for an apartment, where the couple immediately move to. It is at this stage when Emilia develops contempt for Riccardo. Suddenly, for reasons undisclosed yet, Emilia refuses to sleep with Riccardo in the same room, barely talking to him when he's around. And when Riccardo accepts another screenwriting job, which would enable him to make future payments for their apartment, Emilia's derision for her husband only increases.

Reading the first half of the novel makes you think that it is Emilia who is shortchanging their relationship. However, as the novel progresses, you see that Riccardo is the one to blame for the fallout. One time, Emilia sees Riccardo kissing a female clerk and then treating the episode as just trivial. You get to observe how Riccardo is ultimately the one destroying the relationship with his indecisiveness, his inherent passivity, and his apparent lack of respect for his wife. Without thinking about it, he even forces his wife to the whims of Battista, which turns out to have disastrous consequences on the couple. In the end, when Riccardo discovers that Battista and Emilia are having an affair, you feel that Emilia is probably better off with any one except Riccardo.

Moravia even injects parallelism into his story. Riccardo's next job is to write a screenplay based on Homer's The Odyssey. Interestingly, Riccardo, Battista, and the German director have different takes on how the screenplay should be developed. Battista, the film's producer, wants the movie to be spectacular with all the latest special effects, fancy costumes, and over-the-top performances; The Odyssey is an adventure story after all. The director, on the other hand, tells Riccardo that Homer's work is about the failed relationship between Ulysses and Penelope, which somehow eerily mirrors the situation between Riccardo and Emilia. In the director's version, Homer chooses to take on different adventures so that he delays his coming home to Penelope.

Moravia's prose is full of the stream of consciousness of Riccardo. We get to know how convoluted Riccardo's way of thinking is. Contempt is not for those who want to read novels where a lot of things are going on. Most of the time, you simply read about Riccardo's thoughts. Still, the narrative is quite compelling and it makes you discover for yourself why the character of Riccardo is one of the most detested in postmodern Italian fiction.

Read this book if:

1. You don't want to read another love story.
2. You love reading about other people's thoughts.
3. You feel that your partner's not that into you.

Beautiful editions from the NYRB

NYRB book cover designs: a study on minimalism

Lately I've been reading a lot of the classics editions published by the New York Review of Books. If not for the NYRB, these wonderful novels, poems, essays, and selected nonfiction would never be rediscovered by bibliophiles such as me. I've read Alberto Moravia's Contempt and Glenway Wescott's Apartment in Athens, both beautifully written novels. The NYRB editions are the books that you take your time reading; each page is a celebration on brilliant writing.

These books may not have the commercial appeal as modern novels, but they're definitely worth collecting. The covers alone are already conversation pieces -- none of those garish visuals and screaming typefaces we see in books nowadays. And, the paper thumbs smoothly. I have 8 NYRB editions on my shelf, and I'll probably get some more since I don't see any other publisher who comes out with the works of Georges Simenon, Leonardo Sciascia, and Adolfo Bioy Casares.

NYRB editions on display

A love-hate affair with cliffhangers

The last really good children's books I've read, Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games and Michael Grant's Gone were cliffhangers. Although Collins and Grant had dropped several hints near the end of their novels that their protagonists aren't in the clear yet, I feel that the books would've been better as stand-alone titles. Waiting for Collins and Grant's second installment is torture.

I'm guessing that cliffhangers are popular among children's books because children and young adults need a good reason to read the series, and what better reason than providing an unresolved storyline. The cliffhanger works well in young adult books that are sci-fi/fantasy in themes. Because these novels feature a vast array of characters, the reader ends up relating or rooting to one. The beauty of the cliffhanger is that it compels the reader to follow his or her favorite character as the series progresses.

I love a good cliffhanger. That's why I sat through the entire series of "Prison Break" one weekend. With books, cliffhangers take on a different meaning. The book really has to be written well and with well-developed characterizations to force the reader to go through the experience again. With young adult book series, you just never know if the second book will be as good as the first. In the hands of a talented novelist, the quality of writing and the suspense never waver as you move from one book to the next. Sometimes though, you can be disappointed.

Scott Westerfeld's The Midnighters Trilogy is one good example of a terribly inconsistent series. The trilogy is about a group of adolescents who discover that, when the world becomes frozen at the stroke of midnight, certain dark spirits haunt this midnight hour. The first book, The Secret Hour, was compelling because of that Twilight Zone feel. The second book, Touching Darkness, was a bore. I didn't even bother buying the third book, even though I saw it in the bargain bin. His other series, the Uglies Trilogy, was better and I believe the books had a wide readership, with Westerfeld even coming out with a stand alone fourth book.



I wish that serial YA books were written in such a way that each book can stand on its own merit. Each Harry Potter book can be enjoyed as it is, although the experience becomes more meaningful if you read all seven of them. Clive Barker's Abarat, a supposed quartet, is also another example of this sort, although it seems it's taking Barker forever to finish the third book. Another great YA series is Lian Hearn's Tales of the Otori; the first novel, Across the Nightingale Floor, is simply too good.

These are real self-help books

If there's one particularly genre I don't read much, it would be self-help books. I've always been vocal about not being a big fan of these books, as I get plenty of help from people around me -- both solicited and not. I believe there are even subcategories for self-help. There are inspirational, religious, business management, interpersonal, relationship advice, financial advice, beauty, fashion, nutrition, and exercise self-help books, just to name some of them. Judging by the continuous renewal of stocks in bookstores, I think there's good money to be had selling them.

Here in Manila, the effects of the economic crisis aren't felt by many yet (although some people are probably still in denial), so financial advice books don't seem to be kicking off as of the moment. What's popular here are those YOU series by Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen. I even have one -- YOU: On a Diet. I still haven't read it though, as I'm really enjoying Eat This, Not That! which I think offers more practical advice on healthy eating. Also, I really haven't tried going on a diet, and the idea of me on a diet causes me to cringe.

Then there are the bookstore staples such as Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People, and How to be Happy. I always see this Who Moved My Cheese? on display. I never bothered to pick it up since I'm turned off by the title. Why would I move your cheese? Why, of all the things that I can possibly choose from, choose cheese to move? And if I do decide to move some cheese, why would I choose YOUR cheese? And if I did own cheese, why would I be concerned as to who moved it? I still found it right?

Why are self-help books so popular? Are we really ruining our romantic relationships? Do women need tips on what shade of lipstick to wear? Have publishers tapped all the kinds of people that "need" help? Apparently, yes. I was just surfing the web when I stumbled upon these ridiculous but very, very real self-help books. Get the complete weird list here.

A big fan of the uber-skinny woman

I eat liberals for breakfast.

For the longest time, I've been waiting for our local bookstores here in Manila to have copies of Ann Coulter's latest book, Guilty. I don't care if it's a pricey hardback, I absolutely must get myself a copy. When Ann Coulter appeared in The View as a guest, it only strengthened my resolve to be updated with everything and anything about that woman. You see, Ann Coulter is a person of extremes: she's super skinny, very conservative, and has strong opinions about everything. I think these are precisely what makes reading her columns very interesting and engaging.

Much to my surprise, I saw one of her earlier books at a bargain bin last weekend -- How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must). It costs 50 pesos (about $1) and I told R. to buy it for me since I'm still in my no-book-buying phase. Granted that the essays in the book mainly focused on events in 2004, I just know that I'll be having a grand old time reading it. Just a quick scan of the book's jacket tells you the following:

• Her 9/11 comments: "I am often asked if I still think we should invade their countries, kill their leaders, and convert them to Christianity. The answer is: Now more than ever!"
• The "Treason Lobby": "Want to make liberals angry? Defend the United States."
  

I'm not at all interested in US politics and that whole partisan concept of Republicans and Democrats. Here in the Philippines, politics is a dirty business and parties are a joke, with members switching from one party to another more popular one especially during election time. Still, Ann Coulter certainly demands my attention. When I saw her in The View being ganged up by all the hosts, it was practically delightful. I guess the hosts needed another woman, aside from their own Elisabeth Hasselbeck, to pick on. I bet that that particular show would be a classic. Coulter had it coming though. Check it here.

"Evil" is the one adjective that many people would describe Ann Coulter. I don't agree with that though; I think she's just different in a bad way. I don't think she's scary too; she probably weighs less than 100 pounds and can carried by a strong gush of wind. But her words are something. Single parents, according to Ms. Coulter, are singlehandedly destroying America, with their offspring having a high disposition to drug and sexual abuse, juvenile delinquency, etc. Barack Obama isn't spared from her sharp tongue too. She calls him as America's Muslim president, always referring to him as Barack Hussein Obama.

In a world where everyone wants to attain balance, I think Ann Coulter represents what we need. She probably keeps Democrats on their toes. Megan McCain, John McCain's daughter, even mentions that Coulter may be contributing to the unpopularity of Republicans in a very liberal era. (I love Meghan McCain. She's not your typical Republican with her support for gay rights including gay marriage.) While I may not subscribe to Coulter's arch conservative view points most of the time, her writing does keep me entertained. For what it's worth, I think she's an extremely intelligent woman. I can't wait to start the book.

Slurped this, gobbled that

I turned 35 last month, and I realized that when you're in your mid-30s, you get to be more aware of the things that constitute your diet. Words like red meat, trans fat, white sugar and white bread, and even ice cream suddenly get bad connotations overnight. True, we all should be watching what we eat, but it becomes more important when your body slows down its metabolism and gets heavier more easily. It also doesn't help that I eat everything and I'm not allergic to any food group. Bring on the frogs' legs, the snails, and the crickets!

I've tried to make a few modifications on my diet, which can be challenging considering the culinary habits we have at home. My father's from Pampanga, a province where all the dishes are so decadent they seem like solid cholesterol in a plate. My mother and grandmother used to cook with pork fat, which we get when we make chicharon (pork cracklings). Since I don't want to give up on the things that I absolutely must have, I decided to make "healthier" substitutions for them. And it's this book, Eat This, Not That! that's proving to be quite invaluable.

First on my list is ice cream. I find myself craving ice cream after a meal that's a bit salty. The book recommends replacing ice cream with frozen yoghurt, which I can live with. I'm not at all familiar with the healthy benefits of eating yoghurt. Frozen yoghurt stands seem to be sprouting like mushrooms in the metro and a lot of my close friends swear by yoghurt, so I'm guessing it's a healthy alternative to ice cream. You might want to check the nutrition facts on that yoghurt; some don't have those live bacteria, which is the primary reason for eating it. If you can't stand the sour taste of yoghurt, you can always go for sherbets or sorbets according to the book. While sorbets may have sugar in them, they have none of the fat content found in ice creams.

Next on my list is white bread and everything else that is white. I just love white bread; I grew up having it for breakfast and snacks at school. I like the smooth, creamy texture of cakes and Krispy Kreme doughnuts -- all made with refined (white) flour and refined (white) sugar. The book suggests replacing these with whole wheat bread, which has more fiber and vitamins. One of the problems I have with whole wheat bread is texture; I find it too coarse on my tongue. And sometimes, they taste like cardboard -- not smooth and creamy at all. But I'm willing to make that sacrifice if it means I'll be able to live longer to read more books.

The authors of Eat This, Not That! write "I don't want you to read this book. I want you to USE it." Ummm, okay, but I can't imagine anyone bringing this book with them every time they order at McDonald's. Still, it packs a few surprises. For one, I was delighted to know that Krispy Kreme's original glazed doughnut has fewer calories than the same kind of doughnut from Dunkin' Donuts. Another, turkey burgers aren't necessarily healthy all the time, especially if they're fried and loaded with too much salt; you're probably better off eating a Big Mac. Salads, another of the supposed healthy food items on the menu, can be full of calories and sodium because of the dressing. And what's the best weapon you have against those sinful desserts? Ask for another spoon or fork, and share that banana split or that large slice of chocolate cake.

Eat This, Not That! isn't the type of book that you read from cover to cover. And, much as I hate to admit it, it's somewhat of a self-help book. Eat This, Not That! is so practical especially for those who haven't the time to go to the gym or simply don't want to. It also isn't afraid to list fastfood names and the calorie count of their menus. The book's a bit pricey at 900 pesos (about $25), but it becomes worth it if you want to do some minor lifestyle changes which do you good in the long run. The only problem I have with this book is that most of the alternatives are not available locally, which isn't the book's fault really.

Get this book if:

1. The difference between LDL and HDL is not clear to you.
2. You actually want to follow the food pyramid.
3. You love your body too much.

The Krispy Kreme burger: Would you even dare take a bite?