Book-o-rama

Lisa's Book Update!

A couple of books I've gotten through recently:

• "np" by Banana Yoshimoto - similar to her other books, "np" takes place in every day life, but is filled with hints of an other-world, one that is very real, but floats mid-way between our perception and oblivion. There is nothing explicitly mentioned as magic; perhaps that's what lends its eerieness to the circumstances that the characters find themselves in. Victims rather than captors. Fate rather than flexibility. Originally written in Japanese and translated into English by someone other than the author, I don't know whether to applaud the translation, or ridicule it for its glaring lack in fluency -- that is, phrases that seem like Google Translate could come up with just as well. Was that intentional, or was it naivety? The resulting effect certainly played with parts of my brain that had not been stimulated before, leaving a sense of foreboding, nausea, and a suspicion that things are not what they seem and I have been missing it all my life. Had the translation been chipped into top English shape, would it have been as effective... or more so?

• "Once Removed" by Mako Yoshikawa - I don't usually cry too hard reading books (the most significant exception of "Where the Red Fern Grows" comes to mind). But this book was so sad! Classic Japanese psychology -- the concept of the sakura flower is written all over this book. Something so sensual and so prevalent that it overtakes your entire senses, vision, peripheral and all, only to fall and disappear in the blink of an eye. Experiencing the sights and smells of the week-long cherry blossom season is something you desire to hold on to forever. But as the climax is only one week long, so is life they say -- intense happiness and joy of life, mixed with the acceptance of imminent death and emptiness. The loss of a father, a mother, a stepsister, health, a purpose... but all is not lost. The sakura will bloom again next year.

• "Way of the Peaceful Warrior" by Dan Millman - the cover got to me! So cool... plus, it seemed like there was a subtle customer interest at the bookstore. A bit cheesy, a bit unbelievable, a bit like a cop-out. What was the point of the book? To tell us that our minds limit us from experiencing true reality, true living. Our minds are caught up with the demands and pressure of a life uprooted from nature. Of simply being -- calm in the present moment. We are so accustomed to letting our minds run our daily lives that we have forgotten how to enjoy the simpleness of each moment. We are so used to feeling and needing to be driven by external stimuli that we become lonely and confused if we start to really be aware, and realize that there is enjoyment in slowing down and focusing on your self. This is the type of book that I need to re-read several times to see if it has a helpful pointers that I just missed along the way.
  

Still working on:

• "The Right to Write" by Julia Cameron
• "Wherever you go, There you are" by Jon Kabat-Zinn
• "Woe is I" by Patricia T. O'Connor
• "Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling" by Jane Hyun
  

Waiting list:

• "On Looking" by Lia Purpura
• "A Writer's Book of Days" by Judy Reeves
  
• anything by V.S. Naipaul
• anything by Vladimir Nabokov