disturbedwater

My LJ (http://disturbedwater.livejournal.com) is updated fairly often - and that's where i put my rants about &/or reactions to things that happen to me, personally. So what i'm going to do here is write about things i see, hear, read. This is my review journal, and where i will post updates on my current reads, listens, etc.

If you're interested, read on.

If not, feel free to flee. But don't forget to check my website out: at http://disturbedwater.bravehost.com

Enjoy.

disturbedwater

Last night, after I'd brushed my teeth and washed my face to prepare for sleep-time, a wave of low-blood sugar suddenly hit me. 

I just really needed to eat. 

It's a good thing, we had lots of 


(pic source)

I just went wild in my room, picking plump grape after juicy grape after scrumptious grape off this big bunch that I'd snatched out of the refrigerator. 

*scrunch munch scrunch munch scrunch munch*

delicious.

I love grapes. 

Do you love them too?

disturbedwater

Fury is one of Salman Rushdie's more recent novels (first published in 2001). The story revolves around Malik Solanka, a succesful middle-aged dollmaker (an actual dollmaker - he whittles wood dolls, conceptualizes their backstories, etc) and the raging anger within him that compels him to leave his entire life behind (including his wife and young son) and move to New York from his home in London. Solanka hopes that the overwhelming cultural differences between the world he previously moved around in and his new one will somehow overpower and ease the fury within him. Unfortunately, he has trouble finding the peace he needs in New York, as he sees fury in the people all around him and even gets drawn into a romance which eventually lands him smack in the middle of the eruption of a civil war - the fruit of a fury that is more deeply rooted, long-running and of larger scale than Solanka's is.

I was excited to start reading 'Fury', as I always am to start reading any of Rushdie's novels, but I have to say that after the last Rushdie book I read ('Shalimar the Clown', published in 2005), Fury turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. The book ends with a touch of tragedy, as Rushdie's novels almost always do, but the end of this one didn't quite ring as true and strike as close to home as his others did. I feel that the problem wasn't just with the ending. For one thing, the main character - Malik Solanka - never connected with me the way the protagonists of Rushdie's other novels did. Although his protagonists are never perfect people - far from it, in fact, as they always carry huge emotional scars around with them - I found Malik Solanka to be completely unsympathetic. Maybe he was meant to be that way, but I enjoy books that make me feel something for the 'lead' of the story, and for the lead of Fury, I felt nothing. Also, I feel that not enough support for what happened at the end was established throughout the story. The ending involves the death of Solanka's new love (Neela) and his return to see his son in London. But I feel that the character of Neela was not developed well enough for the readers to fully understand the decisions she made (which eventually lead to her death), and so her demise lacked the emotional wallop that major events in Rushdie's other novels usually have. Solanka's love and pining for his son was also not developed enough throughout the story, which is why the ending really falls quite flat, in my opinion.

Maybe part of the reason I didn't enjoy this book so much also lies within me - I usually have trouble relating to stories that deal with American culture, and a big part of this one revolved around Solanka in New York, living the New York life (albeit a relatively isolated one).

On the plus side, 'Fury' is still full of Rushdie's never-boring prose. It's still a solid, intelligent read.

It's difficult to come up with a winner every time, and so I can forgive one of my favorite authors for writing a story that just doesn't share the overwhelming beauty of his other ones.

disturbedwater

It's been a while. I just took a really, really long break from Tabulas after I got pissed off at that one poster. :p But anyway, that's all in the past. Maybe one other reason I haven't been updating this site is because I haven't really had time to write reviews. I was busy traveling around last year, then I started med school, then I decided to leave med school and pursue an MA in Urban and Regional Planning instead. Also... last year I was busy dealing with a very rocky lovelife. I've since freed myself from the fetters of that unhealthy relationship and...

I'm happy.

I'll try to update more often now.

disturbedwater

I've learned to appreciate Death Cab for Cutie's music. The first song of theirs that I heard didn't compel me to be a huge fan, but the more of their music I hear, the more my admiration for it grows. This is music not 'heavy on the ears', so for those who generally stay away from rock music for that reason but still appreciate well-written songs, you may want to check out the music of this group.

If you want a more technical appreciation/description of their music (and that of other bands) then tell me and I'll ask my brother to get in touch with you. I don't pay much attention to the technical stuff when it comes to enjoying music. I listen and I try to appreciate what I hear. I take in everything together, then pay special attention to the lyrics. If a musician's songwriting is crap (read: incredibly sentimental and cheesy), then I probably won't like it.

Anyway, back to the subject of Death Cab for Cutie.

How could anyone not appreciate lyrics such as these:

I'm thinking of what Sarah said that "Love is watching someone die" ~ from 'What Sarah Said'

"You may tire of me as our December sun is setting because I'm not who I used to be
No longer easy on the eyes" ~ from 'Brothers on a Hotel Bed'

"Love of mine some day you will die
But I'll be close behind
I'll follow you into the dark" ~ from 'I Will Follow You into the Dark'

"Tiny vessels oozed into your neck
And formed the bruises
That you said you didn't want to fade
But they did and so did i that day" ~ from 'Tiny Vessels'

"The rhythm of my footsteps crossing flood lands to your door have been silenced forever more.
The distance is quite simply much too far for me to row
It seems farther than ever before... I need you so much closer" ~ from 'Transatlanticism'

Check them out: http://www.deathcabforcutie.com/

Hooray for indie music.