I felt in love with Marina Lewycka's first novel A Short History of Tractors In Ukrainian, therefore at the moment I saw this book, I was so sure to purchase it, moreover after I read the synopsis on the back page of the book. But, it turned out that the book is not as good as I thought. I still prefer her first book. I don't know perhaps I expect too much since her first book is fabulous.
The book tells about a middle-aged-woman, Georgie Sinclair who is left by her hubby. She stays with her son who is obsessed with the End of the World. And suddenly her elderly neighbor has decided they are related. Therefore when this neighbor gets an accident and hospitalized, Georgie needs to take care of her, her big house and also her pets, stinky cats. There are still a pair of real estate agents who are interested to sell the house, there are the repairman with his family, and also social workers who want to put the neighbor in a nursing room. All these people stuck together with their own purposes and make this book so difficult to enjoy.
And...I finally leave it without reaching the ending.
We are All Made of Glue
Life is Good
It's nearly 2 months since I 'd made one of my big decision in my life, which was to become a full-time mom. So far, I have been through many memorable moments. I once feel a huge euphoria, waking up in the morning without nothing to worry about. No more long-boring-meetings, no more deadlines, no more annoying arguments, no more trapped in a traffic jam, then and there. Yay...life could be that great, indeed.
But, on the other hand, I am also familiar with certain questions, such as:"How are things going with you?", "You miss the office stuff, don't you?", "You're sorry leaving your job, aren't you?", it will go on and on. Every time I come across my ex-colleagues, my yoga friends, my college friends, etc, most of them always keep acting this way, at first feeling surprised when they heard that after being a career woman for 14 years, I finally resigned from my job, then continued with a big WHY I left my job, then a bigger WHY when I said I want to become a stay-at-home-mom, then end up with their own conclusions that I will feel bored at home and will eventually feel sorry for my decision. Why....oh why, people love to judge, sometimes (or very often) they think that their opinions are the best. Is it so difficult to respect other people choice? I remember a wise saying exclaims that if you can't say something nice, just keep silent.
While the truth is as I mentioned in the first paragraph, I am sure that this is the best decision I ever made. I have never felt this happy before. This peaceful feeling can't lie. Happiness spreads all over me and influences my surrounding. My girls are the best supporters. They're happy to see their mom around.
But this euphoria could also lead to a scary moment. When I decided to leave my job, I have many projects in my mind to be realized. I plan to work from home. Doing the translation, reviewing and drafting, etc, from home. I never realize that working from home means I have no boss who will supervise me and instruct me this and that. I am the one who decides when to finish it. For a moment I find difficulties to adapt with these new things. I become a procrastinator. Postponing everything since I'm easily distracted by many things *excuses*. I am lack of self discipline. It turns out that it's very hard to be a discipline person when you need to manage yourself. Easy to say but it's hard to act.
I thank God, I realize it just now that I need to manage my time properly. Now, I try to get my self discipline bit by bit. I begin to rearrange my projects one by one and hopefully can realize it very soon. I just want to say that life is good, never better, and enjoy it a lot, hope you all do the same.
(More) Movies Review
Again, more movies from my dusty DVDs collection. The first one is Cache (Hidden), a 2005 France movie. A very creepy movie. The lead character here is Georges who receives packages containing videos of himself with his family shot secretly from the street and alarming crayon drawing whose meaning is obscure. He has no idea who maybe sending him.
Gradually, the tapes are getting more personal, suggesting that the sender has known Georges for sometime. Just like France movies, the movie moves a bit slow but it is still enjoyable since it makes us too curious to find out the ending of the movie.
The second movie is Elegy. A 2008 movie. Talking about love and special relationship. A 70-yr-old lecturer (Ben Kingsley) falls in love with his 24-yr-old student (Penelope Cruz). Their love stories are not a happy one. They face the ups-and-downs of love life. Problems here and there. Not only due to their more than 30 years difference of age but also many other things, i.e. their way of thinking, their beliefs, etc. A magnificent love story. Deeply touching.
Tempurung
Oka Rusmini, the author of Tempurung, mostly writes about Balinese women, the culture, the religions, and all related problems. I have read some of her works, Tarian Bumi (2000), Sagra (2001), Kenanga (2003). From her stories I learned a lot about Balinese culture and found out that when the culture, the ethnicity and religion collide, they could lead to a very complicated condition. Particulary for Balinese people who are really strict following their culture and religion.
Tempurung is a novel about women, their lives and how they react when they encounter their own bodies, religion, culture and society. It tells about women who are trapped in an 'absurd' marriages life. Deep down inside their hearts, they don't want these marriages, but on the other side, they need children, affection, love, and attention for themselves.
These women do not know what they really want. They are even afraid to dream. This is a story about a tragic life of women who do not know either it is a blessing or a curse to be a woman.
Osama
I always love foreign language movies. They always tell unusual stories. Very touching with unpredictable ending. Not like Hollywood movies that easily predicted. Like this Osama the movie, the winner of Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film in 2003. I found this dusty DVD in my bookshelf, sure it's been there for ages. I forgot that I bought this DVD once, just like tons of books that also waiting their turn to be read. Yes, sometimes my buying-now-read-them-later spirit is just too high *quite often*.
The movie takes place in Afghanistan during Taliban regime. It's inspired by a true story. A very touching story. It tells about a 12-yr-old girl and her mom who find themselves without anything left. No money, no food, no job and nothing at all.
Since Taliban bans women from working and forbids them to leave their home without a male companion. Therefore women without any husbands, fathers or brothers are desperate in surviving their lives. Just like the mother in this movie, since she's no longer allowed to work in the hospital, finally she asks her little girl to wear and act as a boy in order to get a job and earn money to live.
The girl's, now called Osama, endure a terrifying and confusing journey as she tries hard to keep the Taliban from discovering her true identity. It's absolutely not an easy thing to do. However, finally she gets caught and experiences a sorrowful ending. Whoa...I drown in tears. Feel so sorry for her life.
The Lost Symbol
To live in the world without becoming aware of the meaning of the world is like wandering about in a great library without touching the books (The Secret Teaching of All Ages)
I always feel excited every time I read Dan Brown's works. This time Brown takes us around Washington DC. As usual, there's always a lot of things to learn there. Instead of enjoying Robert Langdon's engaging experience, I also get deep knowledge about the rituals, science, artwork, monuments and many more.
I praise Brown's research. Not many authors are willing to do so. I faithfully will wait for his next work. It must be a great one. As always.
