Reads

Due to the recent lack of purpose and focus in my life after the said end of studying for the rest of my life until 2 years later, I've taken up a hobby I've long neglected - reading.

I started by discovering that the gracious NLB actually allows me to borrow books even though I have fines! Thanks to this, I borrowed three books, The Firm by John Grisham, See No Evil by Michael Ridpath, and Gridlock by Ben Elton.

I managed to finish Gridlock this morning while waiting for Tan Long to descend upon us at Bishan from his oversleep. It was grueling, the book. Comedy as a medium to reflect social issues such as the excess of cars are not appreciated by readers such as I. I found the book too flippant for my taste, where people die easily without sentimentality for the character. The pace of the story too, was choppy and weird; the ending anticlimatic, yet admittedly fitting and well. It was natural for the story to end in a way that left the reader thinking that the traffic problems that we face are impossible to solve because of the economic impact and the lack of political will. Indeed, even if a miracle engine were to surface, it would take a long time for its integration into our society, by the time which it would be laid to waste by oil moguls - that for one, is fact.

Thank God for Toyota Prius in the real world!

Right now, I am on to The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. One should never attempt Oscar Wilde when out of love! Such desire and longing lies in his prose that one easily gets infected by his ideas of decadence and the immorality of mortality. I haven't finished half the book, but already I see how Dorian Gray would be corrupted by Lord Henry, doomed to live out his immortality in existentialism, living each experience out to the demise of those around him. We shall see!

Oscar Wilde, I must say, is a master at his craft. Already I am falling in love with his work. Such use of emotions is hard to come by. Ben Elton for one, is like rubble as compared to a great statue of David when put beside Wilde. I might want to dig out more of his works from my little library to keep away the cold and lonely nights here. Hahas..

Well then, I am about done here. Maybe 2 months would be over in a flash.. but if everyday were like today, I wish it never would.. I had fun! May there be fun tomorrow too!

Technorati Tags: The Firm John Grisham Michael Ridpath See No Evil Gridlock Ben Elton The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde