Review: The Dark Fields

The Dark Fields by Alan Glynn

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I picked this book up almost immediately after watching the movie adaptation.

That was like, two, maybe even three months ago.

During the process I've picked up (and finished) Patrick Süskind's Perfume and a so-called "teen novel" Thirteen Reasons Why.

And a couple trashy Romances.

And two Agatha Christies.

I didn't fully warm up to the story itself way past halfway point, about 54% in. If you ask me, any book that doesn't attract you within the first third, you should ditch it aside. Life's too short to waste on something you don't enjoy reading.

I stuck through this one for a peculiar reason. I do self-destructive things when I'm down, but not self-harm. I write articles that pick on issues I know most people would have an issue with, I read novels that depress me further.

The book isn't bad, it's just depressing.

Watch the movie, this book should be the absolute last resort.



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Translator Rant

I just shared an article about obnoxious misconceptions people hold against photographers on G+. http://is.gd/LvTamh

Which got me to rant a bit about misconceptions and/or stereotypes people often play out on translators/interpreters (especially in Taiwan), which is a pain in the... well, it just gets people worked up... at least, it gets me worked up. And someone wanted to hear the full translator version.

I'm not sure I can come up with an itemised list, but I'd be willing to give it a go.

Random rant

So Gaddafi is no more. People in Lybia rejoice.

Although, should we?

Call me a prude if you want. Or you could drop by sarcastically, leaving a comment like "you're one to talk".

Review: Thirteen Reasons Why

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I already said I'm curious about the mind. Whether it's a real mind or a fictional mind doesn't really matter.

Suskind captured me and my attention with Perfume, and now once again I lost myself to another description of the mind.

The mind of a teenage American girl who decided to take her own life.

Thirteen Reasons Why.

It's classified as a fiction for young adults. But I think, aside from the YA stuff going on, it's pretty fit for me. It tells her tale from the point of view of someone that has wronged her somehow, so you get to peek into two minds at once. The sensitive, fragile girl as she's slowly, in a way, bullied to her end, and the person that constantly finds shocks and heartbreaks as she slowly reveals it all, through cassette tapes.

Gosh this probably wouldn't work any more now. Who in the world still uses cassette tapes... more importantly, who in the world still has equipment to play them?

She recorded 7 tapes, 13 tales. Each targeting a person that has pushed her a little further, and each telling a story along that line of losing hope.

And she sent them all, to the first person out of those 13, for them to be passed on by the people on that list, each to the next, so they'd know exactly what they did, and how it was perceived.

It's not deep... but like I said so many times... I'm quite soppy. And I can almost hear her in those tapes. I can almost hear her anger, her frustration, her hurt, her disappointment.

I think the author did a pretty good job describing a teenage girl/ young woman, her anger and hurt, as well as the young man listening to it all. It is probably more suitable for young adults if you consider what kids that age go through...bullying, peer pressure, stuff like that. But it is no less real for me because I've been through that... So it's cool that a grown man can capture stuff like that, that impacts people so deep.



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Review: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Picked up Patrick Süskind's Perfume, because recommended to me by a friend, I liked the movie a lot, the first time I believed wholeheartedly that images can transcend odours.

I believe I have the paperback in the UK, for now I'm stuck with a badly formatted digital version.

But gosh the scents that are described seem to attack my brain directly. I believe I'd be stuck with it for a while still... very strange..., can't seem to put it down, but I worry about my mentality when I try to understand Grenouille's mentality... and I cannot help it, the books seems to draw readers into it...

The words seem to shower me with their description of mentality and scent... making me feel lost and confused but enthralled all at once. I have to constantly stop because I get drawn in too easily... it's a masterpiece indeed.

I get to peek into the mind of a socio-path... or is that the mind of a psychopath? I think it is both, but more inclined to the latter. And I can almost see the reasoning, I can almost understand, and comprehend what is going through the head of Grenouille, how his mind is set.

Babies are born with a pure and simple mind. It's been a debate going on for thousands of years: were they born evil, or were they born good? Süskind seems to believe in the former, since Grenouille was born with a defect in character, as in he saw the world as he saw it, without love and without hope. But would he have changed if he had someone to love him? Would it have been different were someone able to offer him warmth?

I think I'd be stuck with finding out the answer. I wonder what I'd do if I was facing a person with no personal, human scent. I wonder what I'd do if I was such a person.



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