Friends

As I said in the first post, books are like friends and I’ve always wanted to introduce my friends to others. This blog has provided me a perfect platform to share with you the books that I enjoy reading.

In the past 11 weeks, I’ve introduced novels of different genres, including suspense, thriller, historical and romance novels. No matter which genres they are in, I have never failed to learned something from the stories. Some say that you can always see yourself in a novel. I can’t agree with the statement more. Even if the stories take place in other continents, emotions are universal and I can resonate with at least one of the characters. By reading novels, I feel as if I’ve lived more than once. I can travel with the characters and experience their lives.

Overall speaking, keeping this blog has been enjoyable and I hope you have at least found one novel that you’re interested in. Hope you like my friends as well!

Dark Place & Where Are You Now

Can’t believe I nearly forgot to post my 9^th post. I have been too involved in the world of novels. 

I read two suspense novels this week, Dark Place and Where Are You Now. Interestingly, the main characters of both novels are girls who were going all out to dig out the past. They were both trying to help their brothers. (One brother was in jail, while the other was missing.)

The author of Dark Place also wrote Gone Girl. After Gone Girl became a major hit in theatres, Dark Place was also adapted into a movie. However, it hasn’t enjoyed the same amount of popularity. I haven’t seen the movie, but judging from the book, Dark Place is indeed less appealing. Although the author makes readers wait until the very end of the book to find out the truth, the ending is not at all surprising. Where Are You Now is also not quite enjoyable for the same reason. It is fairly easy to guess who the murderer is. And as soon as you figure out the murderer, you get the entire picture, which makes the rest of the book boring. 

Therefore, when it comes to suspense novel, I’d still recommend Gone Girl is the best I’ve ever read. Although readers are told who the murderer is almost in the very beginning, various twists and turns successfully prolong the sense of suspension until the very end.

Gillian Flynn Interview 2014
 'Gone Girl' Author Reveals Secrets Behind Her Hit Thriller

Eat, Pray, Love

The book that I want to introduce to you today is Eat, Pray, Love. It is a memoir published in 2006. The narrator, Elizabeth Gilbert, divorced with her husband and started traveling to different countries. She put her experience into words and touched millions of people worldwide. The book remained on the top of the bestselling list for 187 weeks.

Elizabeth enjoyed various food in Italy, then learned to meditate in India. She eventually started a relationship with a businessman in Indonesia, which was her last stop. Although it’s been six years since I read the book, I still remember the great joy of reading it. I felt like I was going on the journey with Elizabeth all the way from America to the other three countries. I not only got to know more about the countries from her book, but also got inspired by the life lessons she learned on her way.

Here are some quotes that I’ve found inspiring.

“Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it. You must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it.”

“To lose balance sometimes for love is part of living a balanced life.”

“You are, after all, what you think. Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions.”

I would also like to share with you an inspiring speech that Elizabeth Gilbert gave. It’s only 19 minutes long and Chinese/English subtitles are available. 

Elizabeth Gilbert: Your elusive creative genius

http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius/transcript?language=en#t-980492

One Day

This week, I’d like to introduce to you a love story, One Day.

The story centers on a pair of friends. The boy was a handsome real charmer while the girl was humble and hardly noticed by others. They met each other on the graduation prom and had a one-night stand. Nothing happened afterwards since the boy, Derek, was simply not ready to settle down. The friendship remained for years, though. They met annually and called each other whenever they felt down. When the relationship was about to turn into a love affair, an accident happened and tore them apart.

Some people think that it is a tragic story. However, I think there is also a bright side. Although the two characters have never really been “together”, they have gained a relationship that is more than love, which can be more valuable some times.

The novel was adapted into a movie in 2010 and became a major hit. I think it was well-adapted and really enjoyed both the book and the movie.

"Whatever happens tomorrow, we had today."

Little Prince

This week, I’m introducing a book that everyone has heard of, if not read from cover to cover. Little Prince is a classic French novel, which has just been adapted into a movie.

I choose the book this week because a freshman asked me the other day, “What is the most important thing we should achieve in the four years in college?” The question occurred to me when I stumbled on Little Prince at a bookstore.

In chapter 22, Little Prince encountered a train that rapidly flew past. The driver told him that most passengers on the train were sleeping or dozing off, while kids were looking out the windows. “Only the children know what they are looking for. They waste their time over a rag doll and it becomes very important to them; and if anybody takes it away from them, they cry…” was what Little Prince commented.

The train reminds me of my college life. NTU is such a vibrant environment that students who study here often get lost. We seem to be doing lots of things every day at a rapid speed and yet we don’t have enough time to think about WHY we are doing them. Therefore, my answer to the question is, “Figure out what you are looking for.” Instead of turning into an ignorant adult, try keeping a young mindset! 

If you have time, go see the movie after midterm!

The Help

The Help was a novel published in 2009. However, like many others, I didn’t notice it until the film adaptation became a major hit in 2011.

The story took place in the 1960s. At that time, racial discrimination was rampant in the States even though the Civil Right Movement had been gradually catching public attention. Black women used to work as housemaids for white families. The housemaids often raised white kids only to be looked down on after they grew up. While the housemaids did all the housework, they were not fairly treated and had to face distrust of the entire society. Although the protagonist, Skeeter was a wealthy white girl, she empathized with the black. She decided to write a book about the maids to show the white that they should pay more attention to equal rights. The story was mainly about how Skeeter got to know more about the difficulties that the black faced as she worked on the book, which deeply impacted the society when published.

Many of the issues raised in the book still exist in today’s world. In Taiwan, we see lots of children raised by housemaids from Southeast Asia. However, the society as a whole is simply not mature enough to treat these helpers from abroad as equal. We have been relying more and more on their assistance without paying them the most basic reward --- respect.

I read the book before I saw the movie. Both of them are good and provide food for thoughts. I hope you enjoy them too.

Trailer

One Hundred Names

Today I want to introduce to you a book that I stumbled on last week at Eslite bookstore, One Hundred Names. It is written by Ceclia Ahern. Ceclia is an internationally bestselling author. Her most popular work, P.S. I Love You, moved millions are people into tears.

One Hundred Names is also a very touching novel. The protagonist, Kitty, worked as a journalist. Aside from writing columns for a magazine, she hosted a popular TV show. Although the show made her famous, it also got her trapped in a scandal. At the lowest point in her career, Kitty’s mentor, Constance, passed away. Constance was the Chief Editor of the magazine. She left behind a list of a hundred names to Kitty. The list was an answer to Kitty’s last question to Constance: What is the one story you always wanted to write?

Without any other hints, Kitty had to reach out to all the people on the list and tried to find the link between their stories. In the end, Kitty realized that the names were picked at random. The theme of Constance report was really simple: Everyone has a story worth sharing.

As an ex-journalist, I have encountered many interviewees who insisted that their stories didn’t worth public attention. Interestingly, though, their stories are in fact the ones that I remember the most clearly. I truly believe that our stories are all unique and we should be proud of them. On a different note, I think the novel gives us another lesson. We should treasure every chance that we get to listen to other people’s stories because their stories can be as fascinating as those of a celebrity.

Cecilia talks about One Hundred Names on BBC Breakfast:

P.S. A book fair is taking place on the 3rd floor of Eslite (the one across from NTU). The books are sold at discounts. You can check that out by Oct. 26.