Life of Pi

Most of us, if not all, have heard about the story of Robinson Crusoe who was stranded on an island after a ship-wreck. 'Life of Pi (pix)' is also about ship-wreck, but unlike Robinson Crusoe, it narrates the life of a sixteen-year-old Indian boy on the sea for 227 days.
The full name of the Indian boy was Piscine Molitor Patel. To avoid mispronounciation by other people, he introduced himself as Pi. He grew up in a zoo as his father was a zookeeper. The first part of the book dealt with a lot of things about animals, which was quite interesting. Most people had the misconception that the animals in the zoo had no freedom at all and should be set free in the wild. When talking about freedom, they were just picturing lions lying idly in the wild or deers grazing peacefully on a grassland. The idea of fighting for territories among lions and deers or deers being preyed upon by lions or other predators seldom crossed their minds. Through this book, the author did a very good job in convincing the readers that animals which were kept in zoos were much better off than those roaming in the wild. According to the book, animals also behaved like human beings. Once they had found a place which had enough of food supplies as well as free from all threats, they would decide to settle down. Zoos provided the best place for animals to settle down.
The first part of the book also dealt with the faith of Pi. He was initially a Hindu. Later, he began to take interest in Christianity and Islam. Since these three religions believe in God, Pi saw no harm in becoming a Hindu, a Christian and a Muslim at the same time. The pandit, the priest and the imam were very angry when they learned about this. It was funny when the three of them met with Pi and his parents to talk about the matter. They coerced Pi into choosing only one of the religions. They tried to convince Pi by boasting about how special each religion was. However, Pi did not make a decision but continued practicing the three faiths together. Readers should have been wondering why Buddhism was not mentioned in this book. It's because in Buddhism, there's no creator God as in Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. It's not that Buddhists do not believe in God. It's just that for Buddhists, God is just another form of life.
The cargo ship sank in the second part of the book. Pi and his family were aboard on that ship which was heading to Canada. They brought along a few of their animals too. After the sinking of the ship, Pi was the only human survivor on a lifeboat with a hyena, an orang utan, a zebra with a broken leg and a Bengal tiger! The hyena ate the zebra and killed the orang utan but itself was then killed by the tiger. Therefore, there were only two sentient beings left on the lifeboat: the tiger and Pi. Pi had to worry about the possibility of being eaten by the tiger as well as finding the source of food and water on which he needed to keep himself alive. I found this part of the book very informative indeed.
In the third part of the book, Pi was being interviewed by two Japanese who were very much interested in his fate. Pi revealed the other version of his experience at the sea when the Japanese refused to believe the version with those animals. This was actually what had happened: "After the ship sank, a sailor with a broken leg, a cook, Pi and his mother managed to get onto a lifeboat. The cook killed the sailor out of hunger and then killed Pi's mother after a bitter row. However, Pi managed to kill the cook in a fight." It was clear then that the hyena was the cook, the orang utan was Pi's mother, the zebra was the sailor while the Bengal tiger was Pi himself. The author, Yann Martel (pix) used this analogy to give readers a better understanding about God.
This book is indeed worth buying and reading. The author has done a great job!

The Zahir

It's absolutely true when Fort Minor say 'You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone'. "The Zahir (pix)" is a novel about losing someone the author later finds out he can't live without.
The book began with the author describing himself being detained in a police station for the investigation of his wife disappearance. The author was a journalist and was staying in Paris. Before his wife (Esther) went missing, she had been withdrawing a regular sum of money from her bank account. This gave the possibility that his wife had been planning on running away all along. Besides, his wife had 'vast network of contacts in the terrorist underworld". This meant there was also a possibility that his wife was being held hostage by a certain group of terrorists who wanted to shut her mouth. The author was freed when one oh his wife's friends came forward to present herself as his alibi.
The author had married twice but his relationships with his two previous wives had not gone well and thus ended up in two divorces. His relationship with Esther suffered a similar problem as both of them desired freedom. Since she left him, his life had been in disarray. He began to think back what wrong he had done to her. He recalled how he came home one day to receive a ticket to Spain from Esther. She had asked him to go to Santiago and he did. He soon recovered his writing ability and went back to Paris with Esther. Without his permission, Esther took his drafts to a publisher who was her ex-boyfriend. At this point of the story, the author described the role of Favor Bank which was said to be the most powerful bank in the world. According to the book, Favor Bank worked this way: For a writer to be successful, he/she had to demand contacts from those influential people. Once the writer had established trust in other people, more and more contacts would be deposited into his/her account, making him/her an influential person. However, he/she had to repay by doing favour for those who had helped them.
The author later revealed that he was constantly in love with other women but not to the extend of leaving his wife. Meanwhile, Esther didn't see fidelity as something that was practical as a person couldn't possibly 'possess body and soul that aren't mine'. Everyone wasn't satisfied as shown in the excerpt below:
"The businessman hasn't yet closed the deal he wanted, the housewife would like to have more independence and more money, the boy who's in love is afraid of losing his girlfriend, the new graduate wonders if he chose his career or if it was chosen for him, the dentist wanted to be a singer, the singer wanted to be a politician, the politician wanted to be a farmer."
Even celebrities were not happy. Esther knew this well as her husband was one.
Esther had told of her intention to become a war correspondent as she wanted to live her life at the limit for she could possibly die the next day on a battlefield. To her, life like this had meaning as 'there's no room for sadness, doubts, nothing. There's just a great love for life.' During her work, she came across a translator named Mikhail.
It was revealed in the second part of the book that the author's Zahir was his wife. On his book signing day, he met Mikhail who informed him that Esther was fine. The author demanded Mikhail to lead him to his wife so that he could find out the reason she left but Mikhail refused. Mikhail had in his possession a piece of cloth soaked with blood. It was given to him by Esther who imparted a message along with it and made him swear to keep the message a secret. According to Mikhail, Esther wasn't his lover as the author had been suspecting all along. Besides, Mikhail was one of the organizers of a strange sect which always had a meeting every Thursday, where people would be able to share 'a story of love and stories about the lack of love'. In fact, Mikhail's real name was Oleg. Mikhail was the name he chose to be reborn to life. The meeting helped people to realize that they were not suffering alone as the excerpts below suggested:
"All men, in all cultures and countries, independent of any feelings of love or sexual attraction, have all experienced impotence at one time or another, often when they are with the person they most desired. It's normal."
"But the story we're told is that all men can always get an erection. When he can't, the man feels useless; the woman is convinced she isn't attractive enough to arouse him. Since it's a taboo subject, he can't talk to his friends about it. He tells the woman the old lie: 'It's never happened to me before'".
The author then came to realize that everyone pretended to be happy except beggars. This was because most people didn't want others to sympathize or look down on them. Beggars, on the other hand, had nothing to lose. They could sleep, eat, enjoy or talk whenever they felt like it. How other people felt was not important to them.
On the day when Mikhail promised to give him Esther's address, the author met with a road accident. He was knocked down by a motorbike. When he came to himself, he was surprised to find out that the doctor also had a piece of cloth from his wife. After the accident, he began to realize the importance of life.
Mikhail spent other days telling stories to beggars. He claimed that when he was a boy, he used to see a girl floating in the air. He told his classmates of his experience but was being said to be suffering from mental problem by the headmaster. One day, he brought his mother to see a girl. Though his mother could not see her, she told Mikhail to ask her about his father. The girl replied that he was fine and was always watching over them. The girl was the source of The Voice which Mikhail always claimed to have helped him to foresee the future. Mikhail also told of his journey to Almaty with Esther. There they met with an old man who said that one could erase all his/her personal history by telling it to others repeatedly. That was the reason Mikhail organized the meeting every Thursday so that people could come to tell their stories about lack of love to free themselves from the past. The author later found out that his wife had also been visiting these beggars when a female beggar showed him the piece of cloth she received.
Gradually, the urge to find his wife was growing stronger. He finally decided to go to Kazakhstan to search for his wife. Mikhail begged him to bring him along and the author agreed. In a small village in Kazakhstan, the author found his wife teaching the native children. Both of them were filled with joy to meet each other. She then handed him a piece of bloodstained cloth for he had understood the meaning of love.
There are loads of brilliant quotes that I wish I could write in this review. But if I were to do so, I might as well copy the whole book. It certainly has some life-enhancing effects on me. It makes me realize the human condition which steers us into sharing only the best of ourselves because we are always seeking for love and approval. My physic teacher had once asked in class the width of the railway tracks. We gave the answer of 1.0 m or 1.5 m which was accepted. But according to the book, the precise width is 143.5 cm, which is the width measurement of the road used by horse-cart during ancient Rome. Paulo Coelho (pix) uses this unchanged measurement to demonstrate the distance between married couples who have lost their freedom as a result of being tied down by their offspring. Besides, it is interesting to note that epileptic attacks will diminish with age.
This book is highly recommended to those who enjoy reading a good book. It is certainly 10 out of 10.

In Her Shoes

While the anime, Fullmetal Alchemist, is a story about two brothers who are set on their journey to reclaim their limbs after failing to transmute their mother back from death, the novel "In Her Shoes (pix)" is about two sisters who are trying to put up with each other.
Jennifer Weiner (pix) started the book by introducing us to the lives of both the sisters, Maggie and Rose Feller. Maggie was portrayed as the younger sister who caused a lot of trouble to her sister. She would always end up drunk or being taken advantage upon by strangers in bars and Rose had to pick her up every time. Maggie's misbehaviour started when she was still in school. To be precise, her behaviour took for a change since she flunked her assessment test. She kept reminding herself that she was smart despite the fact that she had always faced difficulty in answering most of the questions in her examinations. From then on, she stopped trying to study harder. Instead, she began focusing on her appearance. She would apply make-up during classes and dress sexily in school. She tried to emulate Madonna as a famous artist but she ended up attracting more and more guys who were only interested in getting under her pants. Gradually, Maggie realized that she was constantly living under her sister's shadow. Everyone would compare her with her more successful and intelligent sister. Though she was much prettier than Rose, she still felt that it was inadequate as good look itself would not lead to success. With her grades, she could only be no more than a waitress, baby-sitter or house-cleaner. She tried her luck once at a VJ audition but to no avail.
Rose, on the other hand, always did well in her academics and had a job as a lawyer now. Unlike Maggie, she was 'nothing but an ordinary girl, a plain Jane, a grown-up bookworm with a decent wardrobe.' However, Rose did have a collection of perfect shoes which suited Maggie as well because their feet were of the same size. Rose also had a secret fantasy for romance novels. She did not really care about her appearance for she thought that no matter how well she dressed, she would become nothing but ordinary. Since young, she had made it a habit to write down everything that could lead her to becoming a popular girl. She would observe her sister, neighbours and teachers so that she could learn how to dress appropriately. However, it didn't work out for her.
As Maggie had no job or a shelter, Rose decided to let her stay with her in her apartment. But Maggie wasn't grateful to her sister's kind-heartedness. After she moved in, phone bill increased, Rose's shoes began to disappear, Rose's wardrobe was in a mess and Rose's counters were always seen crowded with cosmetics. Just as Rose was about to ask Maggie to leave, she came home to find her sleeping with the former's boyfriend, Jim Danvers. Puce with rage, Rose chased both of them out of the house.
Maggie had no place to return to since then. As the last resort, she decided to stay in a library of a campus. At the same time, she took up a part-time job as a housekeeper to earn some money. During her stay in the campus, she just realized how much she missed her life as a student. She managed to enter a few classes without being noticed by other students or teachers. Unfortunately, she later bumped into the guy whom she had stolen the student ID card from on her first day at the campus. As her identification had been exposed, she could not stay there any longer. She had currently in her possession a few letters from her grandmother, Ella. She managed to find these letters in Sydelle's (her stepmother) house. She found out that their stepmother had been keeping secret of their grandmother who was still alive and mentally sound. With the address, she found her grandmother's house without difficulty. Maggie could have everything she wanted when she was living with her granny but she wasn't satisfied as she found life like this unchallenging. She had thought of leaving but if she was to go away, she would not have any place to stay. Soon, she took up a job picking outfits for the residents of Golden Acres.
In the meantime, Rose was taking a six-month leave from her firm and took up dog-walking job. She wanted to get over with the idea of losing her boyfriend. Rose did worry about Maggie from time to time as she always thought that her younger sister wasn't able to look after herself. At the moment, she was seeing Simon and they planned to get married soon. One day, she received a letter from Maggie informing her where she was staying. Maggie also apologized to Rose at the same time. Rose was angry to know that her father and stepmother had all along been keeping away all the letters that were sent to them by Ella when they were still kids. She found those letters and one of them was her 16th birthday card from Ella. It was then that Rose decided to meet her grandma.
Rose and Maggie slept together in Ella's house. Ella couldn't help but notice how similar the sisters were especially when they were asleep. Rose realized that Maggie had changed for the better. She was no longer causing trouble to those around her. Instead, she made herself helpful around the senior residents of Golden Acres. Knowing that Rose was getting married soon, Maggie started to look for a wedding dress for her to atone for what she had done in the past. However, she faced hard time in finding a suitable dress. At last, she resorted to design the dress herself and Ella helped her to sew the clothes into a perfect wedding dress.
I would say that there is nothing extraordinary about this book. The ending should have been more interesting. The writer also didn't really explain the sickness Caroline (Rose's and Maggie's mother) was suffering from. Furthermore, I wonder how Maggie could stay in campus and attend classes without being noticed for quite some time. If she was ordinary looking, then it was possible. But the author gave the idea that she was drop-dead gorgeous. She should have been noticed by many people especially the guys and being approached upon since her first day in campus. However, I have certainly learnt one thing from the book. It is said that it takes the stomach 20 minutes to send a message to the brain that it's full.
I won't really recommend this book to anyone as it is not worth time to read it. But I do not know about female readers' opinion on the book. Girls might find the story interesting and touching at the ending part.

Memoirs of a Geisha

'Gei' means 'arts' while 'sha' means 'artist' or 'artisan'. However, I'm told that geisha are prostitutes in Japanese. There is a certain degree of truth in it, just that geisha aren't those low class prostitutes who are despised by the society. In fact, geisha are also known as 'arts prostitutes' who dress extravagantly and are respected by people. Their job is to entertain men by dancing or pouring sake, but not involve in flesh trading. This novel, "Memoirs of a Geisha (pix)" is extremely well-written by Arthur Golden (pix).
The story focused on a little girl named Chiyo, a fisherman's daughter from a small town, Yoroido. Her father, whose name was Sakamoto Muniro, had married before marrying Chiyo's mother. However, his previous wife Natsu had passed away years ago along with their two children, Jinichiro and Masoa. Chiyo had an elder sister called Satsu. Since their mother was very ill, both of them had to take care of all the house chores while their father was away at the sea.
The meeting with Mr. Tanaka changed Chiyo's as well as her sister's life forever. Mr. Tanaka claimed that he suffered the same state of poverty as Chiyo when he was young. His father died when he was about Chiyo's age. The very next year after that his mother died. Then, his brother ran away to Osaka, leaving him alone. His actual name was Moribashi. Later on, he was taken in by Tanaka family and was fortunate enough to marry the daughter. Now, he helped run the family's seafood company. Mr. Tanaka lured them by inviting them to stay in his opulent house and play with his daughter. Thinking that Mr. Tanaka wanted to adopt them, they followed him to an unknown place only to find out later that they were being sold into slavery. Chiyo was sold to an okiya while her sister to a brothel.
Life was hard at the okiya for she had to please everyone at the same time, which was impossible to do. A month after that, she was sent to school to learn to become a geisha with Pumpkin. Also living in the okiya was a popular geisha called Hatsumomo. Each and every day, Chiyo grew more and more fascinated marveling at how Hatsumomo dressed and applied her make-up before going out to entertain men. Hatsumomo was jealous with another more successful geisha named Mameha. She managed to steal one of her kimono and then threatened Chiyo into marring it with black ink. Of course, Chiyo took all the blame but in return Hatsumomo told her where her sister was. Auntie, one of the senior residents in the okiya requested to carry out the punishment on Chiyo so that she could prevent the latter from receiving a harsher punishment from Granny.
One night, Chiyo was sent by Yoku (the okiya's operator) to fetch a shamisen for Hatsumomo at a teahouse. After that, she took the opportunity to find her sister. They planned to run away. Later that night, Hatsumomo was caught sleeping with her boyfriend in the okiya.
The day arrived and Chiyo was prepared to run away from the okiya when everyone was asleep. As she was climbing the roof, she lost her grip and fell. It caused her a broken arm and resentment from everyone in the okiya. She then received a letter from Mr. Tanaka, informing her that both her parents had passed away. He also told her that Satsu had succeeded in returning to Yoroidobut had later on run way with the Sugi boy. Since the day she tried to escape, she was stopped from going to school anymore because Mother didn't want to waste money on an insecure commodity. This meant Chiyo wouldn't be a geisha in future, but remained a slave in the okiya in order to pay all the debts she had incurred.
While running an errand for Mother she met a kind-hearted person, whom his executives called him the Chairman, as she sat weeping by the roadside. This encounter inspired her to become a geisha so that she would be able to meet the Chairman again. About three years later, Granny was found dead as aresult of being electrocuted by her malfunctioning heater. When Mameha came to pay her last respect to Granny, she discovered how pretty Chiyo was and decided to nurture her into becoming a geisha. Eventually, Mameha took Chiyo as her younger sister after making a deal with Mother. So once again, Chiyo began taking on learning musical instruments as well as singing and dancing. Meanwhile, Pumpkin had Hatsumomo as her older sister. Soon, both Pumpkin and Chiyo became apprentice geisha. Pumpkin adopted the name of Hatsumiyo for her geisha name while for Chiyo, Sayuri. Hatsumomo did anything possible in order to make Pumpkin a more successful geisha than Sayuri. She made this happen by embarrassing Sayuri in front of every important people she came across. Mameha figured out ways and means to avoid Hatsumomo so that Sayuri's reputation could be preserved.
Sayuri's dream came true when Mameha brought her to the Exhibition Hall to watch sumo with the Chairman and his right-hand man Nobu Toshikazu. For Sayuri to be a successful geisha, Mameha introduced her to another man, Dr Crab. These two men played important roles in determining the future of Sayuri. Mameha's real purpose of introducing them to Sayuri was to create a bidding war between them for Sayuri's mizuage (virginity). Time finally came for Sayuri to present ekobu to Nobu and Dr Crab. When a geisha gave ekobu to a man, it meant that she was ready to offer her mizuage to him. Meanwhile, Sayuri managed to secure a dancing role (which was extremely difficult to come by) in the Dances of the Old Capital, the biggest annual event in Gion.
Sayuri got to know Baron who was Mameha's danna at that time. He invited Sayuri to his party at his estate at Hakone. There, she was forcefully being undressed by the Baron. In the Dances of the Old Capital, Sayuri performed excellently. When the bidding of her mizuage had begun, Mother just realised that Sayuri was indeed a valuable commodity. She quickly adopted her as her daughter as a result. This infuriated Hatsumomo and upset Pumpkin. Finally, Sayuri's mizuage was sold to the highest bidder -- Dr Crab, for 11,500 yen. Later that day, Sayuri was surprised to find that Dr Crab kept several geisha's blood (including Mameha's) in vials for collection.
It came the time when Sayuri turned from an apprentice to a real geisha. She was 18 years old then and was about to take a danna as well (General Tottori instead of Nobu). This made Nobu angry. Sayuri hadn't been able to see him for a long time in Gion as a result.
Soon, Sayuri became the principal source of income in the okiya. Mother decided that she should exchange room with Hatsumomo and Pumpkin. At the same time, the war had worsened. The Japanese ordered to the effect that all geisha districts be closed down. This sent every geisha panicky for they would have to suffer working in factories. To avoid that, they searched and begged to every influential men they knew for help. Sayuri was lucky to be able to meet Nobu again after four long years. With his help, she was able to secure a job sewing parachutes at a kimono maker's family. Sayuri still thought of the Chairman from time to time but she knew well enough that chances of meeting him again were slim.
When the war had finally come to an end, Nobu came to visit Sayuri to persuaded her into going back to Gion to become a geisha again. She was certainly happy with the idea as she would probably be able to meet the Chairman again. Gion district had been taken over by American soldiers. Now instead of shoes, boots were seen strewn everywhere at the entryway of every teahouse. Finally, Nobu became Sayuri's danna. This was of course a good news for Mother as she would be able to keep money flowing in to the okiya. But it was a bad news for Sayuri as her hope to reveal her feeling for the Chairman was dazed. So, Sayuri decided to seduce the Minister in order to enrage Nobe so that he would put off his intention to be her danna. Unfortunately, it was the Chairman who witnessed the affair going on between Sayuri and the Minister.
One day, the Chairman made a surprise visit to a teahouse where Sayuri was awaiting Nobu's arrival. The Chairman revealed to Sayuri that he was captivated by the beauty of her gray eyes while he found her weeping by the roadside when she was a little girl. Then he told her it was him who had persuaded Mameha into becoming her older sister. In respond, Sayuri expressed her long-buried feelings for the Chairman there and then. It was then that they discovered how much they loved each other.
It is indeed a dramatic novel. When you've finished reading it, you can't believe that it is all fictitious for the author writes everything into the minutest detail. You can picture every sentence vividly as if you are the one who is going through all the ups and downs faced by the characters in it. There is a quote that leaves a great impression on me. When asked how he was able to keep up with his winning streak in gambling, the Admiral responded, "I never seek to defeat the man I'm fighting. I seek to defeat his confidence."
This book is highly recommended to everyone. You'll surely enjoy the author's piece of descriptive writing.

The Harmony Silk Factory

Have you come across any English fiction that has Malaysia set as its backdrop? If you haven't, you should try "The Harmony Silk Factory (pix)" by Tash Aw (pix). He was born in Taipei and brought up in Malaysia. In his teens, he moved to England and now lives in London. According to him, there aren't many fictions about Malaysia. So, he decided to write this book that narrates the life of a communist leader, Johnny Lim, just before the Japanese was about to invade the country.
The novel is divided into three parts. The first part was written in Jasper's (Johnny's only son and child) point of view. Jasper gave a brief history of the Harmony Silk Factory which was bought by his father with the money he earned doing many illegal trades such as smuggling opium, heroin, Hennesy XO and rice. The factory was not the only thing Johnny could afford. He was also among the few wealthy Chinese who had a television set installed in his house. Besides, he was rich enough to sponsor Jasper to England for studies. The name Johnny was taken from Johnny Weiss Muller and the actual name of Johnny was Lim Seng Chin. At that time, it was a trend for the local people to adopt an English name, particularly from famous English artistes. Johnny was said to hate islands and it was not until towards the end of the story that the readers would be exposed to the reason. The Harmony Silk Factory had a revolving dining room which served as a hiding place when the police came for raid. During that time, many local people were hired to carry out traditional mining processes. Since the introduction of Dredging Machine by the British, many coolies were not needed anymore and thus fired. However, Johnny did not suffer such fate as he was skilled with machines. He was one of the few Chinese workers who was hired by Darby Tin Mine. He was able to repair the Dredging Machine when it failed several times. There came times when the machine broke down very frequently and Johnny was unable to fix the problem unless he was supplied with new parts. His employers, the British kicked him when he was unable to fix the machine and demanded for new parts. Out of rage, he grabbed a screwdriver and stabbed at one of his employers. A year and a week after that, the person died. When the incident had died down, Johnny came out to work again. This time round, he worked at Tiger Brand Trading Company owned by Tiger Tan. Tiger Tan was the head of communist at that time and he helped to nurture Johnny into an influential person of the party. However, Johnny was so power-hungry that he killed his mentor and took over his place. Johnny then married Snow Soong, daughter of a tycoon named T.K Soong. In order to gain trust and respect from his father-in-law, he planted explosives in his shop. When he came for a visit, the explosives were detonated so that the shop caught fire. It went as he had planned. T.K Soong was trapped in the burning building. Johnny ran into it to save him and became a hero in everyone's eyes. Unknown to his relatives, Johnny was the chief of the Malayan Anti-Japanese People's Army. Johnny betrayed his own people by collecting taxes for the Japanese. He was also the one who caused the death of the 44 most important communist members.
The second part is the diary written by Snow Soong. She recorded their journey to the Seven Maidens. She also wrote of her plan to leave Johnny who hadn't touched her since the day they were married. And they had not had their honeymoon after marrying for more than a year. So, her parents suggested them to have a trip to the Seven Maidens. They accepted the idea and brought along Johnny's friends: Frederick Honey, Peter Wormwood and Kunichika Momoru. They faced many obstacles during their journey. Halfway to the islands, some mechanical parts of their boat suddenly failed. When they were searching for the Seventh Maiden, their boat was destroyed by storm. Johnny and Snow couldn't swim but fortunately they were saved by Kunichika and Peter respectively. It was because of this incident that Johnny developed resentment towards sea as well as islands. At the island, Peter found an abondened building. Peter was fascinated by the discovery and created a garden near to it. Towards the end of the diary, Honey was found dead on the beach. The murderer was undisclosed.
The third part of the book was written in Peter Wormwood's point of view. In this part, Peter narrated how he came to know Johnny, Honey and also Kunichika. He first met Johnny in a coffee shop in Singapore. Later, he went to Kinta Valley to search for Johnny. He bumped into Johnny when the latter was carrying his father-in-law out of a burning shop. Peter also revealed that he was the one who had killed Honey after Honey told him the true purpose of the trip which had landed them on Seven Maiden. According to Honey, the reason Kunichika being there was to get close to Johnny who was undoubtedly the communist chief. This was planned by T.K Soong for the benefit of both himself and the Japanese. With the whereabouts of the communists, the Japanese would be able to wipe them out effortlessly. Meanwhile, in exchange for the information, T.K Soong would receive all the favours he could get from the Japanese. Finally, the Japanese invaded Malaya. Johnny could do nothing but coorperate with them and thus resulted in the death of his fellow comrades. Peter left the place for Singapore. Many years after that Peter saw Johnny cradling a sleeping child on a bench at KL but he didn't bother to call him. In the end, Peter made the final revelation -- he had Snow's diary in his possession. He decided to hand it over to her son, Jasper who was present at Johnny's funeral.
I've learned quite a number of things reading this book. Take for example, 'Hakka' which can be literally translated into 'guest people' are descendants of tribes defeated in ancient battles and forced to live outside city walls. I've also come to know that the word 'paradise' originated from an ancient Persian word 'garden'. And 'pontianak' are ghosts of young women who commit suicide after having babies out of wedlock. Not to forget that the Westerners call 'chempaka' as 'frangipani'. The way Peter described 'bunga raya' was hilarious indeed. He said it 'looks like some half-evaginated hermaphrodite genitalia, gloriously labial with a thin stamen that droops like a failed phallus -- the whole thing desparately vulgar'.
This novel has an intricate plot and it's quite touching in the end. Every Malaysian should read it!

Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue

"Violets Are Blue (pix) " is a novel in continuation with "Roses Are Red (pix) " by James Patterson (pix). Both books are about the hunt for a psychopath criminal who labels himself the Mastermind.
While "Roses Are Red" is about bank robberies and murders, "Violets Are Blue" centers on murder cases committed by modern-day vampires. In the former book, we saw that Alex Cross, a homicide detective in DC, failed to drag the heartless killer to the face of justice after he was responsible for the slaughtering of quite a number of innocent family members of the bank managers. And he still can remember vividly how his female partner, Betsey Cavalierre, had been gruesomely violated and murdered in her own house. While he's always in constant fear for his safety, he's also aware that his children's and Nana's lives are at stake. His first wife, Maria, had died in an unsolved murder case, leaving him with two children, Jannie and Damon. He also has another child, Alex Jr, with a teacher named Christine Johnson. Christine decided not to stay with him after the kidnapping incident that befell her not long ago. She left him with the baby and old Nana Mama takes care of them while he's away for work.
"Violets Are Blue" starts off with two persons being found killed at Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. Both of them are a couple. Sharp, deep bite marks are found all over the male victim's body and it's believed that they are made by a large carnivorous animal. There are bites on the female victim too, but they are not as distinct. Both the victims are hung by their feet from an oak tree when they are first sighted. It's because of this that they lose most of their blood by the time they are spotted. This merciless murder is followed by another one. The victim is a teenage girl. She's found hanging from a cypress tree by her bare feet with most of her blood drained. Meanwhile at Mill Valley, two lawyers are found hanging upside down from a rack used to hold copper pots. At Chateau Mormont Hotel, an old record company executive is discovered hanging from a lighting fixture, with bites on his neck. In all of these cases, none of the victims have their possessions stolen. It's obvious that the killers are not interested in money. Instead, they want blood to quench their thirst.
We are then being led into the lives of two brothers, William and Michael Alexandra. They have a white tiger as their pet and occasionally they go out and hunt for human prey with it. Both of them wear sharp fangs for their canine teeth and they are used for piercing the flesh on their victims' necks so that they are able to drink blood from their carotid arteries. When live preys are hard to look for, they will search for dead ones in morgues in order to satisfy their lust for blood. To vampires, drinking blood will be able to restore their energy and also make them superior to the person they withdraw blood from.
There are two famous magicians (Daniel and Charles) who are also leading a vampire lifestyle. Over the years, they have been travelling from one place to another, not only to perform in circus, but also in search for new preys. And they've been practicing it for almost a dozen years yet remain uncaught, at least until now. Just as the police force is about to lay their hands on them, they are found dead in their house. They've been murdered by more powerful vampires, the Alexandra brothers, who are being puppetted by the Mastermind all along.
Gradually, pieces of puzzles begin to come together and the identity of the Mastermind is unraveled. It's none other than the competent FBI agent and also a close friend of Alex Cross, Kyle Craig. It doesn't come as a surprise as the author has already mentioned it in the ending part of "Roses Are Red". What's left for question is the reason the murderer commits all those heinous acts.
Those who have read "Roses Are Red" should also read "Violets Are Blue" for a complete story. Both books are quite good though I wouldn't say that each and every page is equally entertaining.

Vernon God Little

This is the first book written by DBC Pierre (pix) (the initials stand for Dirty But Clean) and it's a huge success. It has won him the Man Booker Prize in 2003.
"Vernon God Little (pix)" centers on the life of a fifteen-year-old high-school boy (Vernon Gregory Little) who was on the run since the day of the massacre that took place in school. His friend, Jesus Navarro shot down all 16 of his classmates before turning the gun onto himself. Vernon was said to be one of the two persons who were present at the crime scene. The other witness was Marion Knuckles, a physic teacher who was having a lesson with them at that time. But Mr. Knuckles suffered a great shock after the tragedy and was thus pronounced mentally unfit for interview by the police and trial in court.
Half way through the interview by Vaine Gurie (the officer in charge), Vernon ran away from the sheriff's office with the help of Pam, a friend of his mother. Vernon and his mother lived together since the disappearance of his father. So, when Vernon was out, his mother would spend time hanging out with her lady friends, gossiping about everything in Martirio. Suddenly, out of nowhere, came this guy named Eulalio Ledesma who claimed himself a reporter and journalist for CNN. It was only after a while that Vernon found out that he was an impostor and he was none other than the 'President & Service Technician-In-Chief, Care Media Nacogdoches'. Thanks to him, Vernon was sent back to the police station for custody.
Vernon was then allowed to be released on bail, and on an account that he would go to see Dr. Goosen everyday for mental therapy. His first meeting with the doctor left him an impression that the doctor was a child molester, a person who had an unusual liking for boys. He skipped their meeting then onwards. Meanwhile, Vernon's mother kept talking him into looking for a job so that he could earn some money to support the family. And according to his mother, many boys of his age had already had their job. An opportunity came when Pastor Gibbons offered Vernon to work at a charity stall, where he had to wear a choir gown. At the same time, the police was said to have a lead to the whereabouts of the second rifle. This sent Vernon into a panic stricken state. He deserted the stall and head for the Keeter's to recover the rifle but to no avail.
Vernon wanted nothing except an opportunity to flee for Mexico. He remembered his old Nana's lawn mowing fund but when he checked it out in the bank, there was not much money left. At the moment, he was in dire need of money 1) for his mother after she lost all her savings in an investment company sounded like 'Rechtum, Gollblatter, Pubiss & Crotsch', 2) for his trip to Mexico. He even considered selling his kidney which would earn him big money. At last, an idea came to him. There was this girl (Ella Bouchard) who yearned for boys' attentions so much that she would do anything to attract the opposite sex. They labeled her the girl who had not had her 'equipment arrived' as yet. By talking her into seducing an old man whom they thought would most definitely fall into their trap, Vernon got the amount of money he needed, with half of it sent back to his mother.
At last, Vernon found himself in Mexico hitch-hiking a truck driven by Pelayo, a new acquaintance he made using a fake name (Daniel Naylor). Vernon had long been in love with a girl (Taylor Figueroa) whom he did not have the opportunity to have much conversation with at high-school. He called her up, trying to persuade her to come over to Mexico and live in a house at the beach. He was also short of money at that moment and asked her for a loan. She did show up but he found himself betrayed and was again sent back to jail.
Vernon was found guilty for the massacre of his 16 classmates and was sent into the Death Row. He was sentenced by court to death by lethal injection. There was one camera set up in each cell. These cameras enabled people all around America to vote which prisoner should be sent to the gallows first. The people voted according to how well they behave in jail. Finally, it was Vernon's turn to be executed. There were brochures from which he could choose the song he wanted to be played at the death chamber. One of them offered a few guidelines for his last statement. The story ends with Vernon being acquitted.
This is really an enjoyable book to read, though I must admit it's quite difficult for me to adapt to the author's way of writing at the beginning. But as I keep reading, it becomes more and more absorbing. You'll find the jokes extremely entertaining and will end up finding yourself laughing out loud while reading it. Throughout the story, there are many names for Vernon Gregory Little. They include Vernon Gucci Little, Vernon Gridlock Little, Vernon Gray-Matter Little, Vernon Gone-to-hell Little, Vernon Godzilla Little and Vernon Gonzalez Little. My favourite character in the book is most certainly Lasalle, who is also a fellow inmate in the Death Row. The author makes it as if he's a preacher or pastor who curses anything you can imagine.
"Vernon God Little" is recommended to those who love reading books that are added with all kinds of spices - curses. Overall, it is a good book and will keep you glued to it till the very end.