crookedtalks

[crookedtalks]

Contentment, and goals for no buy/low buy

I have been really enjoying Shawna Ripari's content recently, and her "year of contentment" project especially has given me a lot to think about in terms of my own spending habits and current low buy. I've never really had a problem with impulsive spending; in fact I would say I have the exact opposite problem where I can be overly strict with spending on myself. I have been trying to get better at this, while trying not to go too far/overcompensate and develop a overspending habit --- hence the low buy I'm currently on.

Shawna talked in her first "year of contentment" video that low buys/no buys tend to focus on the act of buying/spending and on stuff, which I agree; low buys/no buys in my experience doesn't help to shift focus away from stuff or spending on a fundamental level that will help you change your relationship with what you own, which might be part of the reason why they can be difficult to stick to for some. No buys and low buys basically cuts down spending cold turkey which also doesn't help in cultivating and exercising discipline and healthy spending habits. Personally, as someone who is generally too strict with my personal spending, no buys/low buys can vilify spending in away that exacerbates that guilt after spending which is not healthy or helpful at all.

Watching Shawna's videos have given me the inspiration to come up with my personal goals that I want to achieve with my low buy - in doing so, a low buy becomes more of a means to an end and not the end in itself, which I think is much healthier and reminds me not to hyper-focus on the dollar amount of what I'm spending/not spending. Instead, a low buy becomes a very powerful tool to help me do what I want. So, very briefly, here are some of my goals that I set for my low buy this year:

1. To hit savings/investment goals

2. To build healthier spending habits

- Be less strict on spend $$ on items that can improve health/general well-being/quality of life etc. (within reason) - To enjoy my spending with less guilt and not hoard money unnecessarily - To support local businesses as much as possible when I spend

3. Donate more $$ to charity more regularly

4. Help save for parents' retirement

5. To be a more conscientious consumer

- Spend $$ on fewer but better quality items that last - Avoid fast fashion

6. Use what I already own - avoid waste!

I think I can probably do a whole other post on being a conscientious consumer - another thing that has been on my mind a lot lately especially since Earth Day.

I strongly recommend Shawna's channel by the way, she makes really great and thoughtful content which I think is really helpful whether you are on a low buy/no buy or not.

[crookedtalks]

Happy New Year

It's been a while since I wrote anything for this blog - more than a year in fact, and part of it is because real life got in the way. I graduated university (almost couldn't believe it happened), got a full time job and worked at that job for a full year now, and went through some health-related stuff as well (not COVID related, thank god).

I have been contemplating returning to my blog every now and then during the time when I was away, but for some reason was reluctant to. I have been thinking about and reconsidering what I wanted to achieve with my book reviews and my blog. Since I like discussing in more detail the themes, characters, plot etc in my reviews, the way I have been writing them previously have been so time and energy intensive in my effort to be as comprehensive as possible, which is a pretty impossible target; as a result, I end up not completing and scrapping so many reviews that I wanted to write. I'll be changing that (hopefully for the better) this year.

I have been exploring different genres of books that I don't normally reach for last year, as well as revisiting old favourites. I had my best reading year since 2017, which I'm really happy about even though I didn't hit my reading goal (again). I'm slowly but surely getting out of my years-long reading slump, and I'm really excited to read some great books and share them in the upcoming year.

In my personal life, having a bit more disposal income means that I am able to slowly support local charities and small businesses, which I have wanted to do for a while. I will sharing any gems I find on here and on my instagram as well :D

All in all, I am cautiously hopeful for the year ahead. 2021 was a pretty challenging year, and with the ongoing pandemic, 2022 is not going to be too smooth-riding as well. Let's do our best and stay safe and healthy for 2022. DFTBA!

[crookedtalks]

Bookish thoughts: Don’t Call Us Dead by Danez Smith

Book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35103180-don-t-call-us-dead

Goodreads synopsis:  Award-winning poet Danez Smith is a groundbreaking force, celebrated for deft lyrics, urgent subjects, and performative power. Don’t Call Us Dead opens with a heartrending sequence that imagines an afterlife for black men shot by police, a place where suspicion, violence, and grief are forgotten and replaced with the safety, love, and longevity they deserved here on earth. Smith turns then to desire, mortality?the dangers experienced in skin and body and blood?and a diagnosis of HIV positive. “Some of us are killed / in pieces,” Smith writes, “some of us all at once.” Don’t Call Us Dead is an astonishing and ambitious collection, one that confronts, praises, and rebukes America?“Dear White America”?where every day is too often a funeral and not often enough a miracle.

Disclaimer: I have mentioned in only other poetry review (written more than 3 years ago now, wow) that I don’t read poetry very often. I worry that I’m not “reading it right” and I am rubbish at poetry dissection and analysis, especially since I have not done that since secondary school. I also tend to be quite literal when reading in general, so metaphors and devices carefully crafted by the poet have a pretty high chance of flying right over my head, not because of the lack of skill of the poet, but because of my own lack of imagination and ability when it comes to reading poetry. Hence, in this review, I can only talk about my own personal reaction to this collection which are made up of gut feeling, instinct and emotions and not any form of *~analysis~*. More knowledgeable people than me have reviewed this collection from a more analytical lens, and I encourage you to find and read them if you find those reviews more informative and helpful.

Thoughts: As avoidant as I tend to be towards poetry, I was convinced to pick up this collection by a glowing review from Jen Campbell on booktube, as I trust her taste in poetry. This collection is centered around growing up black in America, being HIV+ and genderqueer, so themes of police brutality, sexuality and sex, queerness runs throughout this collection (TW: police brutality). I am glad that I picked up this collection in the end, and I started reading this collection in June this year when the BLM protests were starting in earnest. 

This collection blew me away. The language used is so breathtakingly expressive, and the imageries that it evoked were so very powerful and gut wrenching. Many poems from this collection probably came from a very personal place, which explains the emotional rawness of those poems that I couldn’t help but feel an almost immediate emotional response to. I was brought to tears multiple times when reading though this collection, especially when reading this in context with the Black Lives Matter movement and protests happening (and still happening) at the time, when I realized how relevant this collection still is (similar to what I felt about If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson.) Before reading this collection, I have never really thought too much about the experience of living with HIV, the stigma and the complexities of it, and this collection explores the intersectionality of being queer and HIV+. This collection really pulls no punches and hits you like a truck repeatedly, and I find myself thinking back about this collection sometimes still. I will definitely be rereading this collection in the future, and I really encourage people to pick this one up, even if you’re a poetry n00b like me, if not for the importance of the topics it discusses, then for the careful craft and thought that made this beautiful collection.

For those who are still doubtful, I have posted some of my favourite excerpts from this collection on my instagram:

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Here is an excerpt of the first poem in this collection, “from summer somewhere”, as well as an audio recording of them reading it: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/58645/from-summer-somewhere 

A performance of “Dear White America”, a poem in the collection, by Danez Smith themself 

Some other poems by Danez Smith: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/danez-smith#tab-poems 

[crookedtalks]

Black Lives Matter (non-exhaustive list of links to places to donate to and resources to educate yourself and others)

I never would have imagined 2020 will turn out the way it did at the start of the year, but here we are. As someone who is not black, and not American, obviously I am less than qualified to talk about racism in America, but I thought the least I could do is to consolidate the links and resources I have seen floating around in one place for the convenience of people who are seeking them out and to help these resources reach more people, no matter how small my platform is.

As part of a race majority in my country, my country and my race also have issues with racism, and it is on me to educate myself on my privilege, to hold myself and those around me accountable for acts of racism, however small, and to use my privilege to amplify the voices of minority groups. Willful ignorance is not an excuse.

I don't know if anyone else has done this, but I don't want to stand idle in the sidelines. I will be updating this list of resources when needed, so feel free to dm me with links that you would like to be added to this list.

Last but not least, the sentiment of "black lives matter" is not political; it is an issue of ethics and morals and human rights. DFTBA.

National resource and education tool: http://www.pb-resources.com/

Do the right thing carrd: https://dotherightthing.carrd.co/

Black lives matter carrd: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/

Petitions that still haven't met their goal google doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NvDKQRNHm1bZRR6Ods6jBygH8EMgQTm6lrof9PuAi58/edit?usp=sharing

Free Black History library: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0Bz011IF2Pu9TUWIxVWxybGJ1Ync?usp=sharing

Anti-racism resources for white people google doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BRlF2_zhNe86SGgHa6-VlBO-QgirITwCTugSfKie5Fs/edit?usp=sharing

Anti-racist resource guide google doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a-lzdtxOlWuzYNGqwlYwxMWADtZ6vJGCpKhtJHHrS54/edit?usp=sharing

#Blacklivesmatter support doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KqcGfibQ7gEIohONBUwzuwtJgt3U2OULusbEiv7zcf0/edit?usp=sharing

Black Literature Compendium google doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ffsB6mzGdOlHztJOCyFjFLYcfpP7l6H5UrV45tz42eg/edit?usp=sharing

PLUS1 for Black Lives: Toolkit: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vMlmL9TCZJW9bDNfr_nBu8FZEc8LZQd2fi4hbD1s7dg/edit?usp=sharing

Anti-racist reading list:

I’ve been getting a lot of questions from my non-Black friends about how to be a better ally to Black people. I suggest unlearning and relearning through literature as just one good jumping off point, and have broken up my anti-racist reading list into sections: pic.twitter.com/gj5uko69OY

— Victoria Alexander (@victoriaalxndr)

May 30, 2020

Take a Walk in My Shoes: Jane Elliott:

A Class Divided

Jane Elliott - A World of Difference - World Map - Blue Eyes Brown Eyes

Dr. Robin DiAngelo discusses 'White Fragility'

Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man

Episodes of the podcast Citations Needed on copaganda in the media:

for those interested, here is our episodes on Copaganda liberals promoting broken windows https://t.co/Bmndh4gFa3 racism in cop shows/news (live show) https://t.co/9oK7gX4rL6 local news as extention of police https://t.co/RwrlQWlM9S viral copaganda https://t.co/VA5RlPZE14

— Citations Needed (@CitationsPod)

June 4, 2020

[crookedtalks]

Listen/purchase: Close to the Sun - Original Soundtrack by Porcelain Pill

#8: Now playing

Song: Close to the Sun by Porcelain Pill

Recently, someone I follow streamed the game Close to the Sun, and this song played at the end of the game. The game itself was atmospheric and had amazing graphics that is reminiscent of Bioshock, but I was especially haunted by this song and have been playing it often while working on my next post. Love the lyrics of the song as well which was very apt for the game. I will definitely be checking out other songs by Porcelain Pill.

Lyrics:

I feel it in the air There's something coming The consequences Are building I don't want to be A sinking ember They'll all remember As a warning What have you done? What's in the darkest water? I'm scared to death that I won't make it out of here alive. Did somebody say I feel we're sinking deeper with more Speed the more we strive. Is that what we get for playing too close to the sun? I feel a little scared A storm is coming The thunder's breaking Upon us Now I don't understand But I fear the danger The static and the sparks Can hold What have you done? What's in the darkest water? I'm scared to death that I won't make it out of here alive. Did somebody say I feel we're sinking deeper with more Speed the more we strive. Is that what we get for playing too close to the sun? Bridge (no lyrics) We’ve been playing with fire Now it's all set ablaze Oh what have we done? Is that what we get for playing Too close to the sun?

[crookedtalks]

(via https://open.spotify.com/album/6iTS0VrrI3jPICxoCaK1j1?si=2zMErqSlSrSi6EU_mBO_AQ)

#7: Now playing

Since my self quarantine began (it has been at least 3 weeks for me now), I have had more time to discover and listen to new music. A recent album I have found by browsing the KoreanIndie website (strongly recommend if you’re looking for some great Korean indie gems) was Contact by off the menu. I love how chill this album is, yet that it also has enough of a beat to keep it interesting and prevent it from becoming too chill and sleep inducing/forgettable. This album also gives me low key The Solutions vibes, which is a band I have talked about before on this blog (and whose albums I still do listen to).  

Do also check out the KoreanIndie website for more cool music recommendations! Their reviews and recommendations are generally very on the mark and solid and a great way to find musicians you have not heard of before.

[crookedtalks]

Last book haul in a while

This is going to be last book haul in a while, since I’m on a No Buy to save for my first vacation overseas in 8 years (!!!). No buy seems to be having its moment on youtube right now, which I feel is a good thing and wholeheartedly support; I think we can all agree that a break from consumerism and non-stop haul videos can do no harm to our mental states and our wallets. 

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Top:

《潜梦者》,  刑警陈猛   著 《82年生的金智英》,  赵南柱  著； Kim Ji-young, Born 1982  by Cho Nam-ju 《我城》,  西西  著； My City - a Hong Kong Story by Xi Xi

Bottom:

《怨女》,张爱玲  著； The Rouge of the North by Eileen Chang 《呼兰河传》,  萧红  著； Tales of Hulan River by Xiao Hong 《生死场》,  萧红  著； The Field of Life and Death by Xiao Hong

I got these books during the 11.11 sale on Taobao.  《潜梦者》was just published in September of 2019 as far as I know and doesn’t have an English translation. From the blurb, it kinda gave me of Paprika vibes; it is about a how a detective and a psychological consultant work together to solve crime by entering dreams. It had not fantastic but decent reviews on Douban, but I thought the premise sounded interesting enough for me to give it a try.

《82年生的金智英》; Kim Ji-young, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-ju is probably not new to people who are into Kpop since it went viral after Red Velvet’s Irene shared that she read it (which was how it entered my radar). Soo Young of SNSD fame even had her first solo reality show named after it. It has been made into a film featuring Jung Yu-Mi and Gong Yoo, which I would definitely watch after finishing the book. South Korea has long suffered from deep-seated misogyny and one has to look no further than the backlash Irene got just from mentioning this book to see evidence of this. Even though this book was published a while back in 2016, the issue it covers is still relevant today sadly. Even though I’m not Korean, I think South East Asian culture do have its similarities with Korean culture so this should be an interesting and hopefully thought-provoking read.

《我城》 ; My City - a Hong Kong story by Xi Xi ----- Xi Xi is a writer that I have talked about before on this blog (in a previous book haul in fact) and I’m currently reading her book 《像我这样的一个女子》 (Alt title:  A Woman Like Me). It’s taking me a while to got through that book but in the meantime I managed to get my hands on arguably one of her representative work, which seems to be out of print now. Super happy that I managed to track down a physical copy of this book, and I wonder how that will compare to her short story collection that I’m reading now.

Eileen Chang is a very prominent and influential feminist writer (to put it lightly) and 《怨女》 or The Rouge of the North is the novel based on a short story she wrote, 《 金锁记 》 or The Golden Cangue. I love the cover of this book, and I’m going to be read this book blind so as to not spoil myself. This is going to be my first Eileen Chang novel (most probably) so I’m really excited to read this and hopefully fall in love with her writing. (fingers crossed)

《呼兰河传》 is Xiao Hong’s most well known work. I don’t know much about XIao Hong other than that she is widely regarded as China’s first feminist novelist (from a quick google). There seem to be a recurring theme for this year’s Taobao book haul ^^; Again, I’m going to read both of these books blind, and I’m probably going to read one of them soon (within this year). I’ve heard that her writing style is very lyrical and beautiful so I have high hopes for these two.

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Ya can’t go wrong with Terry Pratchett. :D Took advantage of Book Depository’s End of Year sale so get these two (Night Watch and Unseen Academicals). I have a whole bunch of Discworld novels to get to and I really want to start a Discworld series reading marathon somewhere in the middle of the year after my (pending) graduation to celebrate. I’ve been wanting to start on the Discworld series for years and it takes so much willpower to avoid spoilers, but with the Good Omens series coming out last year I thought this year is as good a year as any to start. Super super excited to read these as Terry Pratchett is one of my favourite writers. Also, love the cover art by Paul Kidby.

Hope everyone had a happy and healthy week, and good reading vibes to all :)

[crookedtalks]

SWF 2019: thoughts

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(Accidentally took the youth pass whoops)

I purchased an all-access pass to the Singapore Writers’ Festival 2019 in late October on a whim since many of my friends were getting it too, and since I’ve never been to a writers’ festival before I was a little curious and also apprehensive about how it was going to be like; the thing about literary circles is that I often don’t feel like I’m qualified to be there, as someone who can barely read 10 books in a year and who has never achieved all of her yearly reading goals. The lineup however was amazing, with prominent names like Danez Smith, Marlon James, Roxane Gay and more attending, so I was hopeful. I may have also bought a ticket out of support of the local arts scene and quite a bit of spite after the whole “poem-quoted-out-of-context-to-devalue-literature-and-repress-criticism-and-dialogue” fiasco (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, here’s a link on what happened and a few more links), which also made me worry about how much of the discussion on “taboo topics” like sex, gender, politics and mental health that more conservative Singaporeans (and perhaps the government) like to pretend don’t exist are going to be policed and censored. I'm glad that I gave SWF2019 a chance though, and I did enjoy my experience there although obviously there are some criticisms that have to be said. After this experience, I’m really looking forward to the festival this year which I would most likely be attending.

I didn’t manage to attend all the panels that I wanted to go for, but out of the few that I managed to attend, my favourites were In Search of Monsters and It was a Dark and Stormy Night, while my least favourite was easily The Future of Science Fiction (which me and my friends walked out of in the middle of the panel...for a good reason). The panelists for In Search of Monsters were diverse, engaging and open, and really tried to add to the discussion and contribute to each others’ jokes with their own experiences and their funny anecdotes. There was a certain chemistry and rapport and you could tell that they were having fun with the panel, which made it fun to watch them and see how they responded to the questions posed by the audience and the moderator as well. The diverse backgrounds of the panelists also meant that the discussion had enough breadth as well.

It was a Dark and Stormy Night was interesting to me mainly because of the topic of discussion (as someone who loves noir and scandi-noir tv shows) but it was really interesting to hear about the thought processes that goes on behind the scenes of crafting a crime story and its characters, as well as how that can differ between different sub-genres of crime fiction and between writing for the screen (in this case, TV) and writing for a novel. It was really fascinating (and I guess educational) to hear writers talk about their craft, and I gained a lot from that.

My main criticism of the festival was that the panels were a little too short for my liking, since most of them are just an hour long. It takes some time for guests and panelists to be introduced and for attendees to settle down, and by then the time left for the panel wouldn’t be enough for a more satisfying, deeper dive into the topic at hand. In my opinion, a half and hour more would allow the discussion to hit its sweet spot without seeming too dragged on.

My other criticism is that moderators need to do a better job at doing their homework on the panelists and the topic of discussion before the panel to be able to introduce the panelists efficiently and facilitate the discussion such as by asking good questions at appropriate moments, encouraging panelists that were more reserved to contribute more and preventing the discussion from being dominated by any panelist, etc. Also, moderators also need to be better at being, for lack of a better word, socially appropriate; I don’t mind the use of slang and colloqualisms, even swear words and vulgarities if they add to the discussion in any way, but I do draw the line at tone-death attempts at jokes including the prostitute joke that was made by the moderator, no less, at The Future of Science Fiction panel.  

I did buy online Don't Call Us Dead by Danez Smith before the festival but sadly my copy didn’t arrive until after. I got 《林叶的四季》 by 黄怡 at the festival bookstore, as well as a little pamphlet of her work that was given out after her panel. Really excited to get to those two books since I’ve heard so many good things about Don't Call Us Dead (which won the Forward Prize for best collection in 2018) and  《林叶的四季》 which kinda gives me 西西 vibes (unsurprising since she did say 西西 was one of her sources of inspiration during her panel).

I still have a couple of draft posts on stuff that happened in 2019 that I want to finish writing as soon as possible (I’m aiming to get them out by mid January). I do want to post more this year (says me every year lol) and hopefully I will be able to do so after my graduation (!!!11) Hope you folks had a great start to the new year, and happy reading vibes to all!

[crookedtalks]

Book haul

It’s been a hot minute since I last posted, and the reason for that is that I got unexpectedly busy during this summer vacation. Juggling my time between a full time internship and a part time job had me stretched pretty thin for the past 2 months or so. I was on track to catching up with my reading goals for the year and my TBR for Life’s Library book club before that too. Unfortunately, things don’t often go as planned, but right before I started my part time job and internship (basically before I got to busy to read much), I went to the annual Singapore Book Fair and got a couple of books (duh).

I have ranted about the horrible selection at book fairs in Singapore before, and I went to this book fair with a pretty much zero expectations this time round. There was a #singlit floor (which was kinda empty and frankly looked half-assed and like it was something thrown together at the last minute as an afterthought) and a few booths selling Singlit but they were tiny, and most of the books that they carried were books for children and not the contemporary fiction I was looking for. There was notably less Chinese translations of Japanese literature as well, and much less contemporary Chinese fiction, which I was kind of surprised by, since I always managed to find some that I was at least interested in buying at the book fairs in the previous years. This year however, they had a huge section dedicated to Taiwanese publishers that had a wide selection of mostly non-fiction, some artsy magazines (that I wanted to get but had no moolah for). It was from this section that I hauled all the books I got this time round.

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Top: 《海兽之子》1-5，五十岚大介 著; Children of the Sea or Kaijū no Kodomo by Daisuke Igarashi Bottom: 《像我这样的一个女子》， 西西 著; A Woman Like Me by Xi Xi

Children of the Sea is a manga series that I wanted to get for some time, and I was surprised to see it at the book fair, to be honest. I love Daisuke Igarashi’s art style, and the themes in Children of the Sea are very much centered around folklore and magical realism and the sea, which are themes that I love and which push all the right buttons for me. An animation film was released just this year based on this series, which I would definitely find some way to watch after reading this series. 

A Woman Like Me is a short story collection by Xi Xi, and is one of her representative works. I have one of her novels 《飞毡》, which I am super excited to read as well. I was super excited when I saw  A Woman Like Me at the book fair and immediately put it into my cart because (genuine editions of) her books are so hard to come by in Singapore unless you really look for them and order them through a bookstore. The eponymous short story which the collection is named after is one of the pieces of Chinese literature that had such a huge impact on me that I remembered it till this day from when I first read it at age 13-14. I would say it is one of the key and formative moments in my reading experience that got me interested in reading Chinese literature when I have previously dismissed Chinese literature before, for which I have my Chinese Language teacher from secondary school to thank. This is a whole other topic that I think warrants a in depth discussion in a separate post though. I’m very excited and also a little nervous to get to this book and see if my thoughts on the short story A Woman Like Me have changed since I first read it, and I’m unsure if my review of it would be in English or Chinese... we shall see.

All in all, the Singapore Book Fair 2019 was better than previous years in some ways and more disappointing in some ways, but I think I had a relatively fruitful haul. I also got Why I No Longer Talk to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge and The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter at a secondhand book sale recently. 

Hope everyone had a happy and healthy week, and good reading vibes to all :)

[crookedtalks]

Bookish Thoughts: If You Come Softly

Book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/159903.If_You_Come_Softly

Goodreads synopsis:  Both Elisha (Ellie) and Jeremiah (Miah) attend Percy Academy, a private school where neither quite fits in. Ellie is wrestling with family demons, and Miah is one of the few African American students. The two of them find each other, and fall in love -- but they are hesitant to share their newfound happiness with their friends and families, who will not understand. At the end, life makes the brutal choice for them.

TW for the book: police brutality

Romeo and Juliet is a very well loved play with numerous iterations in books, tv and film, and most people are very well acquainted with its “star-crossed lovers” trope. I remember reading Romeo and Juliet about 7 years ago as part of the curriculum, and as a person who is just not into romance, not really getting the whole “love at first sight” schtick. At that time, I didn’t particularly feel sympathetic for any of the characters, and scoffed at them for acting (in my opinion) so foolishly for nothing. In fact, my class did both RnJ and Julius Caesar that same year, and I definitely liked Julius Caesar a lot more. I didn’t get what was so special about RnJ and why it was so beloved and remade into so many different versions; to me it was just a love story about two irrational people who couldn’t end up together in the end. 

Reading if you come softly however, was a drastically different experience to reading RnJ. Knowing that it is a RnJ retelling, together with the first chapter of the book, does give the reader a little glimpse of the ending, a little foreshadowing if you will … but from my experience doesn’t lessen the blow and impact of what happens in the book. I was reading the end of the book in public and I was surprised to find myself with tears in my eyes (with a few people giving me weird looks for that), mainly because I didn’t think I would have that reaction after my prior experience with RnJ as well as my general greater apathy towards romance-themed books. I don’t think I would have read this book if not for it being the first book of the Life’s Library book club. I’m glad I did in the end.

What really worked for me for this book (and didn’t for RnJ) was the more modern setting - it made the characters feel less distant temporally and more relatable. IYCS was also written such that we learn more about the inner thoughts and feelings of our two main protagonists, which I think made it much easier for me to accept the “love at first sight” bit which was an issue with me for RnJ. I kind of wish I knew of this book when I first read RnJ; perhaps it would have allowed me to understand the orginal characters in RnJ a bit more.

As for the themes of this book, I really identified with this deep seated sense of loneliness of the two main characters. I think both Ellie and Miah had a need for connection for many reasons (which I will not reveal because of plot reasons) but wanting to feel understood by someone else is something I think most can relate too. Their backgrounds and what they went through during their childhood also make them a bit more alienated than others their age, Miah more obviously than Ellie, being the only African American student in their school. Race is the important central theme of this book, and we see Miah and Ellie struggling with issues that arise from being in a bi-racial relationship on top of exploring their budding romance. I feel like the theme of race was written very brilliantly here, and is also the reason why this book feels so painfully timeless; sadly, the micro-aggressions that happen in this book first published in 1998 is still very real today. 

~*POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT*~

There is a sense of grief over the loss of what could have been at the ending of this book (those who know the story of RnJ would know what I’m talking about) which is why I think I cried in the end even though I didn’t think I would. The romance of RnJ is notoriously short with the action of the whole play taking place over a period of less than four days; similarly, IYCS is a pretty short read. I know some people in the Life’s Library book club wished that the book could be longer so we could see more of Ellie and Miah’s interactions and see their relationship develop over time, but I think the tragedy of both RnJ and IYCS is precisely that we don’t get to see that; that the characters do not get to enjoy that journey together that so many other couples do, for reasons that were outside of themselves, and reasons that didn’t need to be. The hope of a young love being crushed is where the tragedy is, and I finally understood that with this book. 

~*END OF SPOILER*~

I think this is a great book, especially if read as a companion to RnJ. I also think this is an important book to read to understand the impact of racism on young lives, and this book will be as relevant for as long as the Black Lives Matter moment is relevant. Let me know your thoughts on the book if you have read it! I definitely have more than what I covered here would love to know what you think.

(P.S. You can sign up for the Life’s Library book club here! There are paid and digital subscriptions where all profits will go to Partners in Health, and you get to discuss books with nerdfighters. DFTBA :))

[crookedtalks]

2019?

So, it’s that time of the year again. I’m writing this much later (like, about a month late ^^;) than usual partly because I had a couple of things about 2018 to mull over, and partly because I started 2019 with a depressive slump... ^^; Not exactly a good start. 

What did I learn and take away from 2018? Looking back on my start of 2018 post, I was hopeful, with much more drive than I have now to change things and make things better. I did try in 2018, but things went differently from what I expected, as things usually tend to, and unraveled pretty quickly at the end of the year. I think after years of not meeting my goals, feeling like I failed or that I could have done better, trying to brute force my way through but that not ultimately working, feeling that I needed to do more, be more, feeling like I’m lagging behind.... all that is (obviously) not helping, and I have to stop convincing myself or believing that it will. What I think that I really needed to do now, is to let go. To be less. To not bite off more than I can chew and set unrealistic goals for myself. To be ok with going at my snail’s pace.

For the past few years, I’ve always set my reading goal of the year at 50 books, even though I’ve never even reached half of that before in recent years. It’s in part because of my stubborn insistence every year that this year it will be different despite being years into my reading slump. This year though, I have (reluctantly) changed it to 25 books, though the rest of my reading goal from last year will carry forward to this year. Part of me, I think, will always feel like this is admitting defeat, or admitting that I don’t like to read as much as I say I do, but I want to make this change to see if it helps, since previous attempts at trying to get out of my slump had not worked.

I’ve realized that more so than being addicted to social media, I’m addicted to the internet. I’ve joked before that I am an internet junkie that stays online till the wee hours of the morning, but I’ve realized recently that I have an inability to be bored and that I constantly have this insatiable urge to consume content even to the detriment of my health, sleep and productivity. The worse part of this that I sometimes resort to consuming really bad content that I don’t even enjoy, much less gain or learn something from. This year, I’ve decided to consciously limit my “internet time” and to be more aware and purposeful with the content that I consume. This is going to be a huge change since I spend so much of my time online for about 10 years already; it’s going to be a hard habit to break.

Speaking of consumption,ever since the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5  °C last year, I’ve been feeling spikes of eco-anxiety and have been looking harder at my life and trying to make changes to cut down on my own consumption. I’ve been cutting down on my use of single-use plastic, trying to reuse plastic packaging, and also cutting down on my meat consumption. It can feel like all these efforts can be inconsequential and insignificant, but I don’t want to do nothing because of that. The Marie Kondo phenomenon is making its rounds, but what I want to do this year is instead of purging my closet, to get more use out of the clothes I own that I have somehow stopped wearing, and buy less clothes this year. 

Lastly, I want to be able to let go of my perfectionism and write more this year, whether it’s for this blog or otherwise. I have so many drafts waiting that never get posted because I want my posts to be perfect and comprehensive and “high quality”; as a result, the high bar that I set myself becomes a seemingly insurmountable obstacle and writing becomes a chore and a burden. I don’t want that to get in the way of me wanting to share what I love, or me expressing my thoughts freely and honestly, because that would defeat the purpose of having this blog in the first place. This year, I want to not be “correct” all the time.

Again, as always, I wish all the best in fulfilling their goals and I hope everyone have a safer, healthier and happier year ahead. DFTBA!

[crookedtalks]

Bookish Thoughts: Ayam Curtain

Book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16119869-the-ayam-curtain

Goodreads synopsis:  Kong jiao wei, in Hokkien, means “speaking bird language.” It is a cock-and-bull story, a flight of fancy and, incidentally, the perfect phrase to describe this collection of microfiction with a quintessentially Singaporean flavour. The reader steps into a technological dystopia one moment and wakes up a crow in the next story, all within the space of a hundred words. Expect a spirit war in underground tunnels, genetically-modified babies and a Singapore overrun by anti-government spies in these short stories. Be entertained by a motley gang of characters both strange and the deranged, uber-rational and supernatural, feathered or plucked in The Ayam Curtain.

It’s the already the last month of the year, and the only book review I’ve posted all year is one that I wrote last year. ^^; A look at the books I’ve read this year and it’s evident that this was a pretty bad reading year for me. Not gonna lie, I’m pretty disappointed in myself for that, but now that finals are over, I’m hoping to squeeze in a bit more reading to at least end the year on the slightly better note reading wise.

Anyway, Ayam Curtain is an anthology of speculative Singaporean fiction that I hauled a while ago and which took me 3 months to read. ^^; The anthology is split into 2 parts: the first part, titled “Speaking Bird Language”, features 20 different “bite-sized microfiction pieces” that are about a page long, while the second part, titled “The Ayam Curtain” features 17 longer pieces that span a few pages.

The reason why it took me so long to read this anthology was due to the fact that I was rereading the first part of this anthology multiple times. Unfortunately, probably due to how short the pieces were, the first part was enjoyable but mostly forgettable. I would say that many of the pieces in the first part feel more like thought experiments to me, which was a pity because I wished some of these were more fleshed out and explored further in greater detail. Most of the pieces in the first part had a futuristic sci-fi element to them, and out of those many had post-apocalyptic/dystopian theme, which I thought was an interesting coincidence. With so many stories that shared these similar themes though, the voices of the 20 writers were luckily distinct enough that the stories did not risk seeming like regurgitations of each other.

For the second part of the anthology, my favourite stories were Her Name Was Jane by Joses Ho, Taungaruda by Ivan Kwan and The Goldfish Bowl by Liana Gurung. I loved the twist (no spoilers!) in Her Name Was Jane; the suspense was done very well and I did not see the final reveal coming at all. I love detective/crime/mystery shows, so Taugaruda was right up my alley, and I wished I could have read the whole thing, the ending felt like such a cliffhanger. The Goldfish Bowl was surprisingly poetic, and the language used hit me in the right places. I think it will resonate with people who had close family members with Alzheimer's. 

The strength of the collection, which was clearly present in the stories in the first part as well (despite my gripes about their lack of impact), was that most of the stories had something very Singaporean threading through them, whether it is the characters and their voices, the language used, the setting, or even the scenarios described that are so familiar to locals but which may seem strange to others. I think this really pulled the stories together into a coherent collection and became something easily identifiable as a common quality to all the otherwise vastly different fictions. As I entered this anthology wishing to discover more local writers that I like, I am really glad that I picked up this anthology in the end because this anthology helped me do just that. I think this is a great anthology for people who want to get into local lit but have no idea where to start, and I would recommend it to anyone who would like a taster of Singaporean literature. 

[crookedtalks]

Anime Marathon: Serial Experiments Lain (Episode 03)

It seems that every episode bringing in more questions than the previous one is going to be a thing; this episode is pretty packed with plot stuff, so let’s get to it:

SPOILERS AHEAD

TW: gun violence

TL;DR synopsis: 

Lain gets detained at the police station after the shooting, and then returns home to a strangely empty house. A mysterious black car stakes out her house, she hallucinates a man’s voice talking to her and then of Yomoda Chisa, and she gets a mysterious envelope in her shoe locker containing a processor for Navigator, Psyche. She goes back to the club and got more information about Psyche, two weird men in black visits her home, Lain adds the Psyche to her Navigator.

This episode started right where it ended last episode, and man, the pang of loneliness when nobody at home picked up the call from the police station and when Lain came home to an empty house hit me pretty hard. especially when you realize that Lain is only in middle school. Since this is from Lain’s perspective, I wonder if her parents really disappeared/didn’t pick up the call. The apathy her mother showed the next morning was pretty jarring too, and it’s strange how little she cared since Lain is presumably not the troublemaker type and a call from the police station because of Lain should be pretty serious.These 2 scenes really drove home the feeling that Lain doesn’t have friends and that she can’t even rely on her parents. It’s heartbreaking.

Visually, the use of washes of blue and the camera zooming out to show the empty house gave the scene a melancholic mood and emphasized how hollow the house was, and I thought the desaturated overexposed effect of the next morning when Lain woke up was really interesting too, especially when the colours went back to normal when Lain’s mother entered the scene. 

The 2 scenes also provided an important question as well: Who is Lain? It seems that Lain is well known as “Lain of the Wired” and not just an average user of the Wired, and it seems as though this other “Lain” is pretty influential in the Wired. What is she known for? What does she use Wired for? Is it to find some sort of social connection, or to not be alone?

There’s a scene where Lain doodles spirals into her notebook during class before she hallucinates about Yomoda Chisa, and we hear a disembodied voice of unknown origin explaining about Psyche, a processor for the Navigator that is a “multi-purpose information terminal”. It’s interesting how the spiral is shown again when the source of Psyche is explained further (by someone in Wired) as a chip designed by the “Knights”. Well, the fact that it is named Psyche and that it apparently “intercepts and manipulates information” is totally not suspicious or insidious at all. /s

Sidenote: speaking of Yomoda Chisa, it seems as though Lain is still waiting periodically checks for a message for her. Not sure if it is something, but it’s kinda bugging me and I just want to throw it out there.

The people watching Lain have upgraded their creep factor and their boldness by recording her(I think?) and actually going up to her house, which makes me more than nervous. So far they haven’t done anything yet, but I think yet is the keyword here, yikes.

Lain’s classmates reactions to the shooting is pretty cold and teenager-y, and the only one among them to have a reaction that is close to normal is Arisu. I think she phrased it perfectly:

I wonder if the lack of gravity and empathy of Lain’s classmates is an indirect result of the Wired, or Psyche since you know, the name “Psyche”. It seems that many questions brought up in this episode keeps returning to this “Psyche”. The most unsettling thing to me about Psyche is that Lain’s dad claims to not know what it is, even though as a Navigator and Wired nerd you would think he would know more about it than the average person.

What is going to change? What exactly is this “Psyche”? Lain adds her Psyche to her Navigator in the final scene, and it seems as though the act of adding it has already effected a change, seen from the out of character smile that she gives to her sister.

Questions, questions and more questions... I’m looking forward to the next episode.

[crookedtalks]

Anime Marathon: Serial Experiments Lain (Episode 02)

I thought episode 1 was trippy, but episode 2 had an actual drug trip so.... can’t beat the real thing I guess ^^; Don’t do drugs, kids.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Trigger warning: suicide mention, gun violence

Episode 2:

TL;DR synopsis: A random? guy in a nightclub takes a mysterious drug and goes on a drug trip, Lain starts seeing more things and then ends up going to the same nightclub with her rebellious teenager classmates, where said random guy goes on a shooting rampage. He sees Lain and freaks out, she does a personality flip, and he shoots himself.

Now that actual drugs are involved, things are ramping up and getting more interesting, and there seems to be more sides and people involved in the whole “God” in “Wired” thing than just Lain’s hallucinations. Which is a good thing, since it gives the plot more meat. There’s also seeing the impact of the “Wired” (that is, I’m assuming because the scene where the guy in the nightclub first “sees” Lain during his drug trip had this screen filter effect put on it which seems to suggest that) on others other than junior high school girls. 

The show has also dialled up the creep factor with a weird stranger loitering around in Lain’s weirdly empty neighbourhood and staring at her. Again, since Lain has been shown to be prone to hallucinations, it’s hard to tell if that person was real or not; the blood splatter is also purplish (blue + red?) instead of the usual red.(Interesting that the stranger was a foreign dude though. Is this significant or meaningful? Time will tell).

This brings me to another point: I noticed this in episode 1, but it seems more pronounced in episode 2. There seem to be a lot of eye panning/close-up shots of the eye (like the part where the weird stranger’s eye overlapped with Lain), which may be just a creep-factor thing/a way to build a sense of unease or show the character’s fear, but I think it’s more than that since Lain’s new Navigator sports a very eye-looking logo later in the episode as well. It kind of gives me a sinister Big Brother vibe:

I could be reading too much into it though, but it would be something to take note of in later episodes.

We also get a strange monologue of the ‘smart supplement” that the random nightclub guy took, something called “Accela” that messes with the brain’s perception of time and boosts the brain’s capabilities. Being a nerdy-ass science student, I took a screenshot of the drug description:

I don’t know what the hell nano-mechanisms are, or arterioscleroticcorocnar (I think they meant atherosclerosis of the coronary artery) but VEGF, monoclonal antibody and angiogenesis are actual terms so I’m kinda impressed haha. 

Lain’s hallucinations aren’t just of smoke and her dead classmates anymore; and they’re becoming more humanoid. I’m guessing that they are people who have been sucked into the “Wired” like Yomoda Chisa.

Again, I don’t know if it’s just me reading too much into it, but something about Lain’s family feels...off. Her mother barely acknowledges her presence, and the dinner scene in the previous episode was so cold and un-familylike. Her family seems to be just a bunch of strangers that happen to live under the same roof, which is ironic since her dad is so for using the “Wired” to make social connections. We are seeing things from Lain’s perspective though so it may just be how Lain views her family.

This episode also featured the most kdrama-esque kiss (in that it was so cringe and awkward to watch) I’ve ever seen in an anime...where the kissers(??) lock lips and then just stand in that position...motionless. Whyyyyyy o_o 

By far the most impactful scene was the last scene, where Lain goes to the nightclub and a shooting occurs. The dude on the drug trip says some pretty strange and cryptic stuff; like how he was “forced to do this”, “just wanted to clear his head”, “scattered god” and the most interesting, “The Wired can’t be allowed to interfere with the real world”. Obviously, this implies that the “Wired” has already begun to influence the real world. It also makes me wonder: did he take the Accela drug to remove the influence of “Wired” from himself?

This episode also makes it clear once and for all that Lain knows more than she lets on; she has shown that she is an unreliable narrator and I won’t be surprised that she did visit the nightclub the previous night. Her personality took a 180° turn, complete with a different voice:

Everyone’s connected...aka no one can escape.

I wonder if this change in Lain is a multiple personality disorder thing and how aware Lain is of the change; was she “possessed” by “Wired” and have no knowledge of this at all? The “Wired” definitely has something to do with it but I wonder if it caused this or if it was merely a catalyst for this change. Speculations, speculations! The next episode should be fun.

[crookedtalks]

Anime Marathon: Serial Experiments Lain (Episode 01)

Serial Experiments Lain was always a series that I wanted to get to “someday”; it probably has been on my watchlist for at least 6 years now. I tried to watch the first episode but for many reasons just didn’t continue... Since it’s the holidays now, what better time to pick it up again; and to prevent myself from dropping the series, I thought I would just document my thoughts and what I picked up on here. Just casually though, I don’t really have the media analysis skills and know-how to go super detailed and deep into all the symbolism and shit. So let’s get to it, but before that:

SPOILERS AHEAD

Trigger warning: suicide

Episode 1:

TL;DR synopsis: Lain gets an email from a classmate who had committed suicide claiming that she is, in fact, still alive and in the “Wired” where there is a “god”, and beckons Lain to join her. Lain asks for a new Navigator, and hallucinates a bunch, including said dead classmate and another girl in a school uniform being ran over by a train.

Wow, the first episode really sets the overall mood and feel. The use of colour and shadow seems to be quite purposeful; the shadows in multiple scenes have this blood splatter pattern to them that reminds me of those retro images of influenza viruses, and they give the episode a surreal and ominous touch:

At the same time, those blood splatters seem to separate the shadows from the world that is illuminated, and seem to suggest that the shadows are an independent world on its own. Interestingly though, when Lain hallucinates, the blood splatters are blue instead of red:

I really like the use of the stark contrast between light and shadow that really gives a “overexposed” feel which enhances the surreality of the environment. For example, that scene where Lain leaves her house for school, seemingly from empty space:

All these details makes me doubt the physicality of space and reality of Lain’s world, which isn’t helped by Lain’s frequent hallucinations, with which the colour white and also mist (something that is not very tangible or substantial) is frequently associated:

Lain is a really interesting character so far, and there’s more to her than meets the eye. At first glance, and also apparently in the opinion of her family and classmates, she seems to be just a socially awkward, introverted late bloomer who is kind of childish; she still uses a children’s Navigator, many of her belongings are cutesy, she is not in the loop on things and is pretty slow in responding to others. 

She generally follows the lead of her classmates and doesn’t really express what she thinks, yet she is not as docile as she looks, as evident from the first scene where we are introduced to her, where she expresses her annoyance at other passengers on the train. At first it seems like she does not know the classmate that committed suicide, but later it is shown that she did in fact know that classmate. She doesn’t seem to be emotionally connected to others, and there’s this feeling of her being disconnected from the people around her. It would be interesting to see the different sides to her and delve deeper into her character.

It seems like connectedness and connecting with others is going to be one of the central themes of this series. Lain’s Navigator meant for children and her lack of interest in the “Wired” obviously contrasts her father’s machine and his passion in using the “Wired” to connect with others.

This is an old anime made 20 years ago now, but I like the visuals so far; in terms of the sound, that drone that plays whenever the camera pans to the power lines, and the long stretches of silence were things I noticed that really helps builds this sense of unease and unsettling atmosphere. Absolutely love the opening song, it fits the series (so far) perfectly and I could listen to it on repeat. The series seems to have a slowly building plot; with so many questions that the first episode has instigated, I am looking forward to those questions are building up to and what the next episode might bring.

[crookedtalks]

Book hauls: #Singlit and more

I know it’s been a while since I posted, but yes, I am not dead (yet); things just got busy with university, and my lack of discipline and ample procrastination (which seem to be the thing that I am the most consistent at) certainly didn’t help. 

I got a couple of #singlit and Chinese books here and there on separate occasions, mainly because my reading goal of the year was to read more local lit and non-English works. Hopefully I’ll be getting to some of these before the year is over ^^;

Ayam Curtain, edited by J.Y. Yang, Joyce Chang

A post shared by @crooked.talks on Feb 10, 2018 at 11:48pm PST

This is a short story anthology of speculative fiction by local authors which I got from the booksactually online store. I thought that a short story anthology would be good as a way to introduce myself and explore the writing styles of local authors that I have not read before. It seems to be split into 2 sections, with the first containing one-page works and the second containing longer works.

Kappa Quartet by Daryl Qilin Yam (left)

Rainbirds by Clarissa Goenawan (right)

A post shared by @crooked.talks on Apr 1, 2018 at 1:32am PDT

Both of these books are ones that I have been eyeing for a long time on the booksactually online store (you can find them here and here). I got these at a #singlit bookfair in April, which was a smallish event that I almost missed; there were barely any people in the bookselling section if I recall correctly. The copy of Rainbirds that I got seem to be a Singapore only edition? and it was a signed copy :D I didn’t notice it at the time, but both of these were set at least partially in Japan. Kappa Quartet seems to be more on the weird and surreal side, while Rainbirds seem to have elements of mystery and themes of family. Rainbirds have made its rounds on booktube and seem to be highly anticipated so I’m really excited to read it.

《暗算》by 麦家 (left)

《 知中·一本读懂!山海经 》 (right)

A post shared by @crooked.talks on Jun 3, 2018 at 12:30am PDT

I picked up these 2 titles at the Singapore Bookfest that happened recently (as predicted, the selection was pretty bland which I have ranted about before.) 《暗算》by 麦家 (rough translation: Plot/scheme; English title: In the Dark by Mai Jia ) was a book that I got because the author was recommended to me many years ago at a book fair. It seems to be an espionage/spy novel that has been adapted into a successful tv series in mainland, so I’m excited to read it and maybe check out the tv series if I liked the plot. I want to discover more Chinese authors that I like so I’m hoping (fingers crossed) that I would like this. Sidenote, I really like the details on the cover.

《 知中·一本读懂!山海经 》 is kind of a layman's introductory text on the Chinese classic 山海经, which is according to Wikipedia “a compilation of mythic geography and myth”. I love all things mythology and folklore, and honestly, I don’t know as much about Chinese mythology as I would have liked, so this one should prove to be an interesting read.

In other news, I have begun a rereading of my favourite/guilty pleasure Chinese series of all time, which was also the series that made me like reading Chinese books in the first place. Not sure if I would do a review on it though, it remains to be seen. Good reading vibes to all, and DFTBA :)

[crookedtalks]

Bookish Thoughts: The Desire For Elsewhere

Book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32865050-the-desire-for-elsewhere

Goodreads synopsis: A girl who nearly meets with death while on board a plane from Paris to Marrakech; a boy who fills her arms with paper animals under the open skies of rural China; her doppelgänger whom she meets in the Middle East; a question she was once asked, and the answer she only finds three years after. The Desire For Elsewhere takes you on an intimate journey to explore the interiors of the museum of the narrator's being, where otherwise ordinary artefacts reveal the stories they contain within. Travelling to the past, parallel planets, and the future, it tells a story of stories that explores the universal themes of love and loss, time and transience, and travel and wanderlust. Enchanting and evocative, the tales of Agnes Chew transport you to places that run on lost time, missed opportunities, and deep-rooted aspirations. These are voyages fuelled by a sense of nostalgia, possibility, and hope. Ultimately, this debut collection raises fundamental questions on the ways in which we live our lives.

I am ashamed to say that I have yet to read a book by a local writer (by local I mean Singapore, where I’m from) and can hardly name more than 5 Singaporean writers off the top of my head. At the start of the year, I wanted to start reading a few local writers’ work as part of my goal of diversifying my reading. Well, although I only started finished one book so far and so late in the year, I’m glad that I got started at least.

The concept behind The Desire For Elsewhere is pretty interesting, and is also kind of misrepresented by the blurb. It’s a debut work by the author and “the sole creative nonfiction representative of the National Arts Council Mentor Access Project 2014/2015″, and is actually a collection of short essays and anecdotes describing and detailing the history behind certain “artifacts” within the “museum” of the author as “curated” by her, that (I quote) “illustrate the essence of our beings”. The contents of the book is split into 3 sections with a different theme, “Nostalgia” , “Parallel Worlds” and “The Vast Unknown”. I picked this book up among the others because I wanted to read more nonfiction and this book seemed great for that, and other local fiction titles available just simply didn’t interest me as much. 

After having read the book, I have to say that while it was an ok read and I enjoyed it, it wasn’t for me and I didn’t like it as much as I thought it would, which might be because this is the first creative nonfiction I’ve read. This book is a personal introspection by the author on her experiences and the people she met in her travels (a lot of the essays in this book are travel anecdotes) so a lot of what she discusses is a little abstract and maybe slightly wishy-washy. The language used is very pensive, ruminative, and beautifully poetic as some points. However, I have to agree with other reviews on this book that sometimes it gets a bit too much, especially with word choice. Sometimes it feels like the author went out her way to choose the most difficult/convoluted vocabulary possible just to sound more perceptive, which is made worse when those words were used repeatedly. There were also a lot of rhetoric (much like a A level GP essay) and rhetorical questions, which I personally did not like (I prefer that they are used as sparingly as possible.) Obviously they were used to invite the reader to reflect together alongside the author, but I feel that it was used too excessively for my taste.

Regarding the contents of the book, not everyone will relate to the author’s experiences. This book, as evident from the title, is probably primarily inspired by the author’s wanderlust, which the author is privileged enough to be able to satisfy in various road trips, student exchanges etc, which is not a common experience shared by everyone. This is a sensitive topic to discuss, but I couldn’t help but feel the author’s privilege acutely especially in certain portions of the book. When she talks about how the people that she met on her travels “touched her life” for example, her description of the locals’ life and livelihood felt romanticized; one story in particular, Paper Animals, about an overseas community service expedition made me feel very uncomfortable. This is my personal reaction though, and it would be nice to hear the thoughts of others on this book.

(Side note, I really love the design of the book visually, in terms of the cover and end paper design, down to the size and font of the text.)

A post shared by @crooked.talks on Feb 22, 2017 at 9:04pm PST