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Animal Farm - George Orwell

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:12:54 GMT

I always talk about this phrase; "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." Now I am talking about THE book that has em.

I actually thought about reviewing this book after my second time reading it. The first time I read it was so I would sound cleverer in my American Foreign Policy exam... huhu (this is a good way to summarize about American's foreign policy method). So yes, if you just read this piece up until this paragraph you would think this book is a political book.

But it's not that. Yes, Animal Farm is a poltical satire; a metaphor to Stalin and Bloshevik revolution in Russia after the ousting of the tsar. But if you are not into politics and kept bearing that in mind, you would not have the urge to pick up the book at all. Animal Farm is far from being a complicated political-hoohas... you can read it on the surface and still enjoy it.

Animal Farm is a 1945's George Orwell's masterpiece and the only book of his that I can memorize the title (hehe). On the surface, it tells a story about the animals in the Manor's Farm (you know; poultries, horses, cows, pigs, etc) that were motivated to rebel against their cruel owner. It started off with an assembly started by an old boar Major; who told the animals his dream of seeing all the animals free and not being a slave to the human being. After his death and an incident, the animals finally were encouraged to start a rebellion against their owner Mr Jones and ousted him. Finally having the farm all to themselves, they started an ambitious struggle to build their own life, starting with making the 7 Commandments (which includes rules like 'All animals should not kill other animals' and the infamous 'A;ll animals are equal') and changing the name from Manor's Farm to 'Animal's Farm'. However, making it out on their own proved no easy task. The cleverer pigs started to group up and take control and in the end the animals realized that their so-called free life are no more just a mere dream and that human and pigs are all the same...

It is really an easy read (I know, cuz Azizi Abdullah also wrote a political satire 'Kawin-Kawin' and even THAT is harder to fathom). Orwell does not use difficult moreover 'poltical' words at all in this story of animals. In one way, readers would just see them as a 'children story'. That's what made it a masterpiece. Making it metaphorical and easy all at the same time. For example, Napoleon the boar can be seen as a very cunning pig, but at the same time it is Orwell's characterization of Josef Stalin. But underlining it all, it's not just a story of animals, or a story about the Soviet Union... it is also a story of greed and power that anybody can relate to, in any part of the world.

I encourage people to read it. Because it's just perfect. Five stars! (See, even Austen didn;t get a five from me. hAHA)

'O Dem�nio e a srta' Prym OR 'The Devil & Miss Prym' - Paulo Coelho

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 14:51:57 GMT

What I like about The Devil & Miss Prym?
A lot of things.
What I feel about Paulo Coelho?
The greatest respect in the world.

Truly Coelho is a writer who speaks a universal language. His story is a simple story about human being. Just about human being, and how complicated their thinkings are in finding a simple meaning of life.

The first time I read TDMP I felt a familiar feeling. Before this I've read 'The Alchemist', one of his more successful book about the journey of a shepherd named Santiago in finding the buried treasure who finally realized that the buried treasure he was first seeking of is just near and the real treasure he found is himself. So as I start on TDMP I felt like I've known Coelho. His writings are so pure and 'readable', and although at times his subjects are complex, his way of explaining them are so easy that even a twelve years old can understand.

In TDMP, it started off with a stranger coming to the small dying town of Viscos, whose population of 281 people live in a peaceful quiet manner, with many of the young ones already migrated to other part of the country (it feels just like my kampung, dying little by little). The oldest is Berta, who has the special ability to see more than meets the outer layer of the world, and the youngest is the orphan barmaid Chantal Prym, whose main aim in life is to leave Viscos for good. Not anybody but Berta saw that the stranger who came to the town was a regular man... with devil on his side and nobody but Miss Prym saw that he came with a plan that would bring chaos to the town.

The game was simple. He told Chantal about some goldbars that he hid in the mountains, and offered Chantal (and the rest of Viscos) all those bars with one condition... that they should kill a person. Just one person, a sacrifice that would bring the dying Viscos wealth that can relive its Celtic glory. The story revolves around it, on how Miss Prym was to decide, to tell the people of Viscos or to run away with the goldbars... or IF she tell them would they be willing to do Evil for Good, or would they do Good and let Viscos die... Or if they decided not to do it whether it's because they're Good or just Coward by nature, afraid to make a change...

It's a battle of angels and demons...

I love it for it question the morality and rationality in simultaneous circle all at the same time. Miss Prym, who wasn't the most angelic person in the world, yet refuse to fall into the depth of evil just for the sake of goodness. The stranger, hellbound on proving to himself that Good does not exist just to justify his misery of losing his family. The town of Viscos, looking for reasons and excuses to justify and resolve the issues of their dying town. Berta, the one who would be sacrificed in the name of 'the greater good' fought back only to prove that she would not want to be the scapegoat of the situation. The devils, whispering irrational rationalities into the heart of everyone in order to possess the soul from Righteousness...

There is one passage that I love in this book,
"Very clever. Playing the part of a charitable soul was only for those who were afraid of taking a stand in life. it is always far easier to have faith in your own goodness than to confront others and fight for your rights. it is always easier to hear an insult and not retaliate than have the courage to fight back against someone stronger than yourself; we can always say we're not hurt by the stones others throw at us, and it's only at night - when we're alone and our wife or our husband or our school friend is asleep - that we can silently grieve over our own cowardice"

Truth in the best words...

Susanna Clarke - ThE LADIES OF GRACE ADIEU

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 07:03:50 GMT

(The design was created by the same guy who created the design for Neil Gaiman's novel STARDUST)

There are many differences of Susanna Clarke from JK Rowling. Although both writes about magic, while Rowling gave more attention on the whole studies of magic and more about a boy's adventure in fantasy, Clarke indeed focuses on the adult side of understanding of 'magick'. And the relationship between the human world and the sidhe; commonly known in malay society as 'orang bunian' whereas she calls them the Faeries.

And it seems that Clarke loves the Faeries very much to focus on this subject in The Ladies of Grace Adieu' after the introduction of the faery 'the man with thistled hair' and the legend of the Raven King in her debut 500 pages novel 'Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel'. TLOGA is a compilation of short stories pertaining magic and the subject of faeries. Clarke indeed makes...

What the hell am I talking about... writing like a boring book review. Sheesh

Okay so. Unlike Rowling, Clarke focused more on the sinister side of magic; the lots of deceit and lies of the world of these faeries. There are 8 short stories other than the title story, each with its own quirkiness. Such as Mrs Mabb; a story about Mrs Mabb who was always heard of but never seen. Venetia Moore who had just return from nursing a friend was told by her sister that her 'boyfriend' is now smitten with Mrs Mabb and had leave everything even his militia to be with her. It triggered a 'war' between Venetia and Mrs Mabb which finally made her realized that Mrs Mabb isn't JUST an old widow she heard about. Mr Simonelli or The Fairy Widower tells a story of a clergyman (Mr Simonelli) who just realized that the first man he met when he came to his new parish is a Fairy widower who would abduct anyone he wants for his amusement and don't care what happened to them later. When the fairy widower suddenly wanted a new wife and had his eyes on the five sisters of Mr Simonelli's patronage, Mr Simonelli made it his mission to destroy the fairy widower once and for all. If you are familiar with the Raven King (John Uskglass) from 'Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel', there is also a story about him, and how a charcoal burner who has nothing was able to defeat John Uskglass; the world's greatest magician. Other good ones are in the likes of 'Duke of Wellington misplaces his horse' and 'Antickes and Frets'

However might I advise those who wanted to read this to first read Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrel since this book of short stories are somehow related to the subject of magick as she created in JSMN, for example, in The Ladies of Grace Adieu Jonathan Strange was in the story and it is actually a little part from JSMN book. Readers who started on LOGA without first read JSMN would find it puzzling at first because Susanna Clarke is one of the most peculiar writer I've ever seen.

I love it because I love JSMN and I love peculiarity and how she can turn a simple history into a world of magic.
I may not ADORE it due to her underlining messages by the end of most stories, such as in 'The Duke of Wellington MIsplaces His Horse'

This may not be the book for you though, if you have a linear thoughts and not at all amused with magic and myths.

I AM MUSLIM by Dina Zaman

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 06:34:07 GMT

If you think this is another book from ustazah-ustazah's or ustaz-ustaz's about how to be a better Muslim and lecturing you how to conduct your life, then you are wrong. It's NOT another yawn-worthy full-fact book, in fact, it's a very interesting writing of Dina Zaman that open your eyes about being a Muslim, practicing as a Muslim, and bearing Islam as your identity.

Dina Zaman is a journalist from Malaysiakini website (and it's a paid site if you want to read the articles) who already had her work published in various media, and various countries. A chinese colleague of mine saw me reading this book and remarked "Eh, Dina Zaman? She's a very famous writer eh? I hear that her articles are very good�" Well � indeed. It's my very first time indulging myself with Dina's work, and truly, it's a great experience.

"I AM MUSLIM" is the collection of Dina Zaman's short articles that receives great attention by internet viewers. In this book, Dina told her part of story while searching within herself about being a Muslim, and not just being a Muslim � but at the same time understanding Islam itself. It's a very interesting journey where she meets various people with various ideas about being a Muslim, and at the same time to face with the impact of modernization.

She travels to Indonesia and Europe and getting glimpses of Islamic practice worldwide, and makes us wonder, are we standing on the right lane?

The topic covered is very wide. She touches various issues related to her search, be it about bomohs or shamans to homosexuality in Islam, and how it links to one another in a Muslim world. While some might see it as a taboo-untouchable info � Dina put it in self-enlightening way.

The thing about Dina Zaman is that her writing is very easy to read, and she gives out very interesting perspective about how Islam is interpreted while deep searching about herself and her very own religion. Reading Dina Zaman's word is like reading another interesting blog � not restricted to the formal Bahasa Malaysia or Bahasa Inggeris � and it is in a good way.

Spoiler:

One guy keep on rocking his body back and forth extremely while doing his zikir.
"As you cleans yourself, your true self comes out. So if you are like a monkey, you move like one when you zikir," a volunteer smiles when I ask why.

"We can't turn people away because they're not dressed in a hijab or a robe. Even we don't dress that way because we're normal people, passing tools and life skills to ummah. Who knows, maybe after being with us, the women will cover up. But we don't impose that to our clients. We just help them to realize, to heal."

He tells me that when one prays, have an intention � niat � first, and smile.
"Smile?"
"Iya. Kenapa mau bengis apabila berhadapan dengan Allah? Greet Him with happiness, even if your heart is heavy."
How on earth does one recite zikir with pelvic muscles and buttocks tucked in, breathing, imagining the light of God cleansing one's self, asking for forgiveness and rebirth, smiling at the same time?
This is a feat for pious gymnasts.

"Auntie ni bukannya pandai sangat pasal bab ugama, politik.. Indonesia is not perfect. It's a secular country and it's got all sorts of Muslim. But the pendakwah here are honest and sincere, and follow the Sunnah. Look at the Nursyifa boys. They work with street kids, prostitutes, eh sini ada one you know, junkies, it doesn't matter Muslim or not, this is real dakwah work: helping the community. In KL�.jangan harap."

What was even more odd was how a few of my Malay friends, hijab clad and non, sniffed at the adventure (read : searching Islam) and made snide remarks while my non-Malay friends and non-practising Muslim friends were delighted with my jaunt.

Mas Reno and his band of instructors tell the crowd to wiggle their behinds.
"Depan, depan, mundur, mundur, kwee kwee kwee!"
I know this is cynical of me, but who in Malaysia will do this for free?

At the end of the day, it makes you thinking �how are you doing as a Muslim?

**You can also view her online articles of "I AM MUSLIM" at 'sajakkini' site and judge for yourself. You can also find some other interesting writers and their part of story.

Me and Mr. Darcy � Alexandra Potter

Tue, 04 Sep 2007 10:22:35 GMT

Let's read a book which reminds me a lot to Shai.. hehe..
"Every girl is looking for her Mr. Darcy. Imagine if you found the real one."

Genre :
Chic lit, modern, literature, romance, mystery, fantasy and all that combined.

Cast :
Emily Bronte Hemingway Albright
Napoleon Ceaser Nelson Hargreaves a.k.a Spike Hargreaves, and later will be known as Bryan Hargreaves..

Most people might experience the exact same thing Emily Albright is facing -- Never ending series of bad dates, and unsuitable candidate of prospective boyfriend. Emily is a devoted fan of Pride and Prejudice and she has come to the terms true undying love to Mr. Darcy -- that reminds me of Shai though..hm hmm.. -- by which no man are able to reach up to that standard. Stella, her best friend remark her obsession with Mr. Darcy as weird and retorted that Mr. Darcy is women�s wet dream � she kinda have a point there.

So, Emily decided to spend the New Year celebration (and bad dates frustration) by joining the Austen�s literature fan tour -- visiting places of interest where Jane Austen got her inspiration. Emily would never expected it would be full of ageing people � and also a rude bloke, Spike that she already dislike on their first meeting. Thinking that the tour might not be as fun as she thought in the first place, she didn�t realized that she is destined for a more surprising adventure ahead.

Her constant heat-up encounter with Spike is very enjoyable, and at the same time her romantic encounter with the real Mr. Darcy is drooling to some. The event that happens in her life somehow tally with the chapter she�s been re-reading from Pride and Prejudice. This story is about Emily�s journey in accepting the reality as real, and let fantasy remain as fantasy.

She met her dream guy Mr. Darcy, but will she love Mr. Darcy as she thought she would? Like I said earlier, it�s a mixture of different genres in a book, making it a fun read, unique and very entertaining.

Gosh, I never loved any chic lit book more than I love this book! It�s grand..! And an indescribable reading pleasure.

It�s funny;
Ducks, it would appear, like to stick their butts in the air whether they�re English or American.

It�s witty;
Older, I�ve discovered, certainly doesn�t mean old. In fact, I feel quite embarrassed. What was I thinking? I don�t know whether it�s the fault of TV, movies, and magazines, but for some reason all this time I�ve been under impression that it�s my age group that are having the fun, interesting lives. Go grey and everything stops. It�s like the menopause is some kind of biological Berlin Wall -- who wants to be on the wrong side? Only now I�m no longer sure which is the wrong side.

it�s for real;
It�s not even 9.30. Will someone tell me why that is? Who do old people love getting up early? They�re retired. They can sleep till noon. Why, when the rest of us would no anything for that extra five minutes in bed, are they getting up at the crack of dawn when they don�t have to?

It�s mysterious;
Printed in black and white, and staring out at me from the corner of the newspaper is the date. Only instead of saying 29 Dec 2006, it reads 29 Dec 1813. I look at it, rub my eyes and then look back at Mr. Darcy..

it�ll make you laugh when you�re alone;.
Forget butterflies, I�ve got frigging rhinos stampeding around in my stomach.

And it�s certainly my ideal type of reading.
I feel stung. No girl ever wants to be called �normal�, do they? You want to be called �special� and �amazing� and �sexy� and �passionate� and a million other words that mean you�re unique. �Normal� is just another word for �boring�.

Totally � absolutely � amazing - and - funny !!

PERSUASION - Jane Austen

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 17:31:44 GMT

Ya adik-adik, welcome back to the part about classic books. I mean, I was reading two books and since Bloodline already has its review, I am gonna talk about the other one.

Yes. As they say, if you wanna start 'reading as a hobby' start with Sheldon, and if you wanna start 'reading classic as a hobby' start with Jane Austen. I still can't tell you how much I looked up to her as a writer. I mean, I can always relate myself to any of her heroins. I can relate to Elizabeth's spirit (Pride & Prejudice), Emma's wit and humor (Emma), Fanny's principles (Mansfield Park), Elinor's obligation (Sense & Sensibility) Catherine's imagination (Northanger Abbey) and in this case; Anne's countenance (PERSUASION).

Persuasion tells the story of one Anne Elliot -who- in her 19 and persuaded by her godmother-like Lady Russell, has rejected the proposal of the love of her life; one soldier by the name of Frederick Wentworth. She was young and his situation in life were not stable and her father would not consent anyway as Sir Walter (the father) is known to be the kind who looked up at his status as an Elliot. By any other chance, it would never be possible. But Anne, heartbroken still, had never engaged to any men after Wentworth left.

Now at 27, and facing a financial problem, Anne had to leave her family home in Kellynch and rent it to others. Later she found out the new tennant of Kellynch are the Mr and Mrs Croft whose brother is Wentworth himself; now a rich captain of the navy. While she nurse her ailing sister Mary (who marries Charles Musgroves) at her home while Sir Walter and her other sister to leave for Bath, she heard that the Musgroves are having Captain Wentworth as a guest at their place in Uppercross. Ironically he is now the rich eligible bachelor who can have anybody he prefer as a wife. Scared and anxious of the meeting she would had to endure with the man she always loved but once rejected, she was happy and sad at the same time that Captain Wentworth seemed indifferent to her and seem to attach himself to the young beautiful Louisa Musgrove who he continuously praised as 'whose mind is not easily persuaded by others'. Later in Bath,she met her cousin Mr William Elliot who seem to like Anne enough to want to marry her much to the silent dismay of Wentworth. The already strained relationship between Anne and Wentworth seemed to go from bad to worse and as they say, 'what is worse than two people who fight all the time, is two hearts that kept silent'... but then a revelation about both Louisa Musgrove and Mr Elliot changed everything and Anne and Wentworth realized that they still love each other and accepted that the past was just about two young people in love and were victims of situation.

I love Persuasion for the fact that it represent a story so simple but so complex; of what happens when you grudgingly accepted something without fighting for it. Anne Elliot was portrayed as a lady who is caring, soft spoken and introverted. Unlike her father and two younger sister, she never cared about her status as an Elliot. I believe Austen made her like that to signify the importance of Wentworth to her and what years without Wentworth has done to her in spirit and liveliness. Her countenance only started to bloom again after her stay in Lyme and later at Bath where Wentworth began to show attention to her again. Wentworth in the other hand was characterised as an unpredictable man, as he is only being introduced to readers from the eyes of Anne. If Anne should say he did not talk much, the readers will assume him a quiet person and when Anne observed him to be particularly chatty and friendly to others, the readers can guess that Wentworth was actually still angry with Anne about the past and so his indifference was to be subjected only to Anne while with the others he is just the charming gentleman of a large fortune.

A tv-drama adaptation was done earlier this year by ITV and it starred Sally Hawkins as Anne Elliot and Rupert Penry-Jones (Spooks) as Captain Wentworth. And sebab I baik, I gave you a look at it. Hohoho (poyo)

The Sky Is Falling

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 08:10:36 GMT

I've been struggling to complete book-reading of a German translated to English book these pass few MONTHS, but to no avail. The problem is : it's classic English, and I'm not good with classics. A movie already being filmed adapted from the original book, and it's a GREAT one, which tempted me to buy the book in the first place -- but somehow -- classic is a classic, and I am ME, so I skipped the entire classic book reading and shift into something I'm more familiar and comfortable with -- that is another Sheldon artwork -- which I managed to complete the entire weekend.

"The Sky Is Falling" features another female dominant, a very determined reporter, Dana Evans, who very recently covered the story of the Sarajevo war and came back to America as some kind of hero. The story begins when a famous politician, Taylor Withdrop was found murdered in his house suspected from paint burglary. The 'accident' happens recently after Dana interviewed him.

Somehow Dana realised that something is wrong somewhere, but she don't know exactly where. Taylor Withdrop is the last member of the Withdrop family who died in a continuous deathly accidents, all in a period within 1 year. Feeling very curious for the so-called-coincidents, Dana conducted her very own investigation in finding the truth -- which in the end will jeopardise her very own life, and people that she cares.

"The Sky Is Falling" is quite different from Sheldon's previous work. If in Bloodline, I get to know Elizabeth Roffe since she was born, or in The Starts Shine Down you'll know Lara from A to Z, but in this book, you only know Dana Evans as the reporter, and the lover. There's no long written history, and very straight to the point.

You'll be following the adventure of Dana Evans in finding the truth, and the political conspiracies going on. It's not as "WOW" as Bloodline, but still satisfying. And it's interesting to read a foreign book where you'll find some Malaysia portion in it - udang bakar, sotong goreng and stuff. I'm imagining Dana saying it as 'udaeenng bakarr' and 'soutoung gowreng'..

The book is fiction, but at the end, Sheldon tells you about a secret city in Russia that is being built specifically to make atomic molecules needed to make a bomb. Simply, it's a city of bomb. And that's for real --

While re-reading this book, I realise why Sheldon will always be my favourite author. Although his story is not as catchy as other work, but somehow it's simply the way he writes that got me hooked. He presents his story in simple words, nicely extracted paragraphs, and he stops at the point where you feel like reading the next chapter. I can say, it's like the 'prison break' unstoppable syndrome.

Once you watch it, you can't stop.. It's simply Sheldon.

Everything's Eventual - Stephen King

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 08:17:12 GMT

If I had to choose which one of Stephen King's book that I think is the best, I would have a difficult time choosing. I love 'Pet Sematary', a story about a man who was desperate to have his 4 years old son -who died after being hit by a passing truck- alive again, that he buried the boy's body in the pet sematary (cemetery), after being told by a local residence and neighbour that people who buries their pets there, the pet will come back to them.

I also love The Shining, a story about a guy who tried to rebuild his life and family again by taking a winter job in a hotel, without knowing that his past will soon haunt him.

But of course I love STephen King's short stories. And though I've wrote about 'Night Shift' it wasn't my favourite book. But this is.

(this is the actual cover that I bought. I find it beautiful in a horrific kind of way. The blood in the glass is like, summarized the whole idea)

It was published in 2002 and the second King's book that I bought after PET SEMATARY. There are 14 short stories in the book. And by each endings, King will put some notes about what inspire him to write the piece or just anything he wanted to say to readers and I find it interesting every time. It gives a sort of connection between his readers and himself. I will put here some of my favorites;

The Man in the Black Suit
This was told by an old guy who is nearing death about his experience when he was a young boy. One day he went out fishing when suddenly he met a man in a black suit (hence the title) and smell of burnt match heads who told the boy that his mother is dead by the time he speaks and that the man (in the blacksuit) will kill him. By then he realized that the man is a devil. He escaped the man by throwing the fish that he caught towards the man and ran away while the man eats all the fish. As he is now old and will soon die he was terrified of the question if he will die in the presence of God or would the man in the blacksuit came to him again as thistime he would be too old to run away.

The Road Virus Heads North
I would never read this one at night alone. Let me clarify that! Even when trying to remember the storyline to write it here (I am doing this at midnight) I have this weird feeling on my neck. It tells a story about a man who bought a painting from a yard sale of a dead artist. The painting is of a sinister looking man driving his car somewhere and was named 'The Road Virus Heads North'. He then stops at his aunt's house to show her and realized that there was something different about the paintings but he can't put his finger on. Along the way the painting changes and the man realized that the change is in the scenery of the painting, that it has the same scenery of the road that the man use! Deeply unsettled by this he throw the paintings away on his way back only to his house only to find the painting inside his house hanged on the wall. He then heard in the news that the woman who sold the painting has been brutally murdered thus he burned the painting but later saw that the painting is again upon his wall. By the end of the story, the man saw in the painting himself in the road virus' car, predicting what would happen to him.

Lunch at Gotham Cafe
Most people who I force to read this one think that its not scary. But maybe that's because we have different imaginations. It's about a guy who is attending a lunch with his wife and her lawyer to discuss about their divorce/pre-nupt or sth like that. However the maitre'd of the cafe kept telling him that he cannot bring his dog in although he didn't have a dog and only carries his umbrella. Whatscares me about this piece is when the maitre'd went berserk and screamed at him that he cannot bring his dog inside and screech on something like "That dog.... Eeeeeeee!... Itold you time and again about that dog... Eeeeeeee!.... All that time I can't sleep..... Eeeeee!...." and went totally whacked and stab the lawyer.

Riding the Bullet
This piece was also the first e-book that King did and it was so popular that it made King a celebrity. It is about Allan Parker, a hitchhiker whose on his way to see his mom in hospital who arrives at a graveyard on a tomb with the name George Staub and later a car picked him up and who else the driver but George Staub himself.

1408
This will come out in Malaysia in August or September starring John Cusack. But the story is about Mike Enslin, a writer who writes about haunted places, heard about a room in a hotel; room number 1408 that is known to be a scary place that its inhabitant never came out after coming in. Rise to the challenge, he went against the manager of the hotel, Mr Olin's warning and stay a night there, thinking that he would be able to stay there longer than Mr Olin's expectation. Never he had known that 1408 is not just another spooky room but is everything a man would be afraid of... I got goosebumps especially the part where the phone suddenly rings and there's a disembodied voice saying;
"This is nine! Nine! This is nine! Nine! This is ten! Ten! We have killed your friends! Every friend is now dead! This is six! Six! [�] Eighteen! This is now eighteen! Take cover when the siren sounds! This is four! Four! [�] Five! This is five! Ignore the siren! Even if you leave this room, you can never leave this room!"
I dunno if the movie would have the same effect as my own imagination though...

Plum Sykes - Between Divorcees and Blondes

Sat, 02 Jun 2007 07:30:48 GMT

It's difficult to judge Debutante Divorcee without comparing it to its debut 'Bergdorf Blondes'. So here I will talk about BB first, and see how it is different from DD (gee, sounded like a bra size...).

As you can see, Victoria 'Plum' Sykes was (or still is, I don't know, I don't read the magazine) a contributing fashion writer of Vogue. Instead of bashing Anna Wintour like Lauren Weisberger did (though she denied it), Sykes actually are grateful to Wintour. As one of the IT girls and spent her time with socialites, she actually DO understand the going ons of the in-crowds or the heiresses of the Upper class New York.

In Bergdorf Blondes, Sykes introduced us to an unnamed character (occasionally calling herself 'moi') who became the storyteller of this story about her and her friendship with one Julie Bergdorf, the heiress of the Bergdorf Goodman store. This I-person in a way reflect Sykes; as the character is also a writer of some sort who loves fashion, men and being a drama queen (who in New York doesn't?). The character talks about the socialites life; their obsession with anything Zac Posen-Oscar De La Renta-Chanel-etc, their consistent desire to compete in having the latest in-thing and the grandest chic-est parties and the best fiance. In short, everything riffraffs like us think as stupid and membazir (but entertaining though, cuz we can see stupidity in lots of areas). The different thing between Sykes and other writers is that Sykes doesn't write a story. The storyline of moi and Charlie is actually just a backdrop (or a must-have because if there's no storyline, there would be no book, eh?) to an actually descriptive novel about the life of socialites. HOwever, it is entertaining because Sykes wrote it with such wit, she's able to make the character sound ditzy, blurred and dumb but at the same time oozes a sensual intelligence. Often the characters talk an unintelligent -but funny- philosophies like 'an engagement without a ring is like Elvis without a rhinestones, or a Bellini without the peach juice.' or my favourite "4. Common sense. I really am fluent in it. You've got to recognize it when a day is a total waste of make-up."

What I loved about BB is the the slangs like 'it's beyond!' and 'total devas-ta-tion' and the acronyms introduced like 'ana' (for anorexic) and PJ (for Private Jets). And also because it's a hillarious read and you would not only enjoy the dialogues but also unnecessary description that became necessary to read because it's just fun.

However in her second novel, Plum tries to put more emphasis on the storyline about Sylvie Mortimer whose husband had to leave her on their honeymoon due to a business call. Here she met Lauren Blount who coins the term 'Debutante Divorcee' which refers to her and her kind; divorced glamorous heiress/socialites that usually only marries to be divorced as if it's the in-thing, and they became friends (Lauren was there to celebrate her honeymoon-divorce). Through Lauren, she learnt more about the life of her friends and rival-friends and the notorious husband huntress (a term for girls who only interested in pursuing an affair with a married man) in the likes of Sophia D'Arlan who seems to has her eyes on Sylvie's man, Hunter. Convinced by a revelation by a newly-separated Marci that Sophia is having an affair with Hunter and several situation involving Hunter being in a place he shouldn't be, she went ballistic and leaves Hunter because 'it's better to be the leaver than the leavee'. Later she realized that the real deal was Sophia was actually trying to blind Marci from knowing that she actually went after BOTH Hunter and Marci's Christopher but got Christopher as Hunter is extremely loyal to his wife and knew Sophia for what she really is. And Lauren's quest to find the UnGoogle-able man ended with her marrying him (with the help of Hunter)although she decided never to marry again.

The thing is with DD, although it has more storyline than BB, it lacks the ridiculously funny wit BB has. At the same time, as we have already read BB, one can realize that DD tries to work the same touch but lacks the magic. At some point of reading, I skipped some paragraphs that describe about the event or a party although I enjoyed it in BB because it's like going through a different road with the same view. It tends to get boring at times and Sylvie wasn't as loveable as 'moi' (although I love Lauren more than Julie).

However there is one thing one can learn from this is that, Muslim socialites in America (or any billionaire Muslims that has linkage with America) are wasted. I mean, DD just wrote about Salome, but from lots of reading and watching the news, people like Salome - the Muslim heiress in USA/Europe/wherever there's booze do exist and there are lots of them.

So I would give 3.5 for BB and only 2.5 for DD. Devas-ta-tion!!!