Book Reviews: Tandia, The Valkeries

Tandia, by Bryce Courtenay -This is the follow up book to The Power of One, and it is equal to the first. I really liked this book and if you remember, I was complaining about the ending to the first saying that it lacked the closure that was built throughout the book. This one starts right where the other left off. Peekay, the Tadpole Angel, is headed for Oxford to learn law and bring it back to South Africa to try to change things during the time of Apartheid. At some point he realizes that the law taught in England won't really apply to this system. However, he goes about trying anyway. There is a new introduced named Tandia. She is a colored girl who really has a shitty life. First, she is a child of an Indian man who is slightly connected to Peekay from many years back. He cheated on his wife with the black help and this is where Tandia comes from. She is raped after her father dies mysteriously, and almost killed by the police to cover it up. She ends up living a whore house and the madam takes an interest in her intelligence, and beauty. She sends her to school, and eventually Tandia gets a law degree. However, it's not all fun and games. The villian of the story continues to be a force of brutality and terror in her life. This ends up leading Peekay and her together.
However, the book doesn't lose sight that Peekay, who ends up realizing his dream of being welter weight champion of the world, is the driving force with a destiny to unite all of Africa. This is why I'm divided on the end. The end of the book does, but doesn't, fulfill his destiny. You are lead to believe in these superstitions and medicine men and other supernatural things. Even Peekay, who is reluctant to believe that he is suppose to be the one to bring peace accepts much of these things in the end. However, we never find out how he does. That being said, the end still could be fulfilling his destiny, it just seems like it should be a little more than it was. It can still be a good ending, but I wanted more and I didn't like certain things about it. Anyway, I still highly recommend this book.
The Valkeries, by Paulo Coelho - this is the same guy that wrote The Alchemest, which is a huge seller. I haven't read that one, and would be willing to give it a chance even after reading this rubbish. This is supposed to be a mostly true account (according to the author) of a trip he took earlier in his life to the desert. He goes there to see his guardian angel. I didn't really know what this book was about before reading it and since I didn't have to buy it and recognised the author, I figured I'd give it a whirl. It appears to be one of those books that is really trying to be spiritual in a how to way, like the Celestine Prophecy. However, this guy who is supposed to be a magus (think new age wizard), is super Christian. None of it really makes sense together since the riturals and things contradict Christianity. Anyway, he writes as if you not believing every word makes you an idiot. But most of it is totally crazy bullshit, even for me whom just underwent many spiritual awakenings and am open to a lot of things now. But this is over the top even for me. Could the book be ok if the guy wasn't trying to say it was all real? Perhaps, but only because you wouldn't have to going, "god this guy is full of shit." Anyways, I wouldn't recommend this book unless you believe in what the bible says about all those crazy angel wars and levels of spirits and what not word for word.

Book Reviews - Celestine Prophecy, One For My Baby, and The Big Book of Chi

This is what happens when you don't write for awhile, you get a back log of stuff. That's why there's three.

Book Review, Walden

One of the more fascinating books I've read, this year (and all time), is Walden (this one has a different introduction than mine and comes with annotations for some reason). Written by Henry Thoreau in 1850's Massachusetts, it was a book far, far ahead of it's time. I would go as far as to say that this is definitely a classic that should be read by everyone. It's not an easy read. It took me about 20 days to consume this 330 page book, which is quite some time for even me. There are two reasons that it's a tough read. It is written in 1850's language and prose. Some sentences are literally a page long and therefore easy to start zoning out or to get lost. I do like the old language, though I found I had to look up a few words that are out of fashion today. The other reason that this book is a tough read is that it's heady or heavy, requiring breaks every so often to contemplate.

Book Review - Into the Wild

I finally read the book Into the Wild, though reluctant because the character in the movie pissed me off.
Well, the character in the movie was slightly mis-portrayed. What appears to be going into the wilds of Alaska with absolutely no experience and blatant disregard is not quite true. I think what pissed most people off was that he mis-identified some plants which ended up stopping his body's ability to absorb nutrients from food. It appears to be that he correctly identified the plant, but there was nothing written about the dangers of eating a part of the plant he had to start consuming. He was eating wild potato, but during the summer they dry up and he started eating another part of the potato, which was impossible to know would be bad for him since it was though edible and there was no record, save one rare account from a couple hundred years back, of it being an inhibitor. While some of my opinion of Chris McCandless has changed, I still don't care for him.

Savannakhet, Loas Update and Book Review

After my last post, which ended with me dropping Ivy off at the airport, a couple of nice things happened to me to help cheer me up a bit. After leaving her at the airport, I took the train to the city. It doesn't stop anywhere near where I was staying, but I figured I'd just take a tuk-tuk the rest of the way. However, when I got to the last stop I was in no mood to do so. I guess I needed a good walk. On the way back a couple temples caught my eye, so I wandered in. I arrived at the second temple just as the monks were wrapping up praying. I was lingering about and one of the monks motioned me in as the last trickled out. He showed me how to pray and while it's pretty simple, involving three head to floor prayers, there is no way I'll remember what the speaking parts were. I talked to him a little bit in broken English and he said his name, but it was impossible for me to even pronounce. He also made me take a picture of their Buddha shrine. It was a really nice moment. Next, I stopped at another temple that was at the top of a "mountain" as the sun was waning. When I got back to my guesthouse, I went to the roof to find rabbits in what used to be a bar and a laundry girl that spoke near perfect English. I talked to her a bit about her life and then got some recommendations from her. The recommendations were spot on. I ate some fantastic baby clams and then had a beer in a tucked away deserted bar (I didn't want to be around anyone).I realized that Bangkok isn't the shit hole I thought it was. It has hidden little gems amidst a see of crap. Although, I'm not sure that I'll ever find a reasonably priced and not a dump, place to stay. So, those two things helped to cheer me up a little. Also, the next day I found a guy who reinforced the stress points on my new backpack (Ivy brought my dad's backpack which was identical to mine and we switched). He didn't do quite the job that the guy in Peru did, but it will definitely help to keep it from breaking.
Still, I needed to get out of Bangkok as quickly as possible. The first thing I did the next day was book a bus to Vientiane Laos. Then, the backpack thing. Then, a couple new books. I've been looking for The Celestine Prophecy based on a recommendation from Golden, and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I didn't find either. Not that they aren't out there, just that when you go to a book store or whatnot, the books are stored happenstance. It is quite frustrating trying to find specific books as I'm sure you can imagine. However, there is something to it. In a way, it allows you to find things you weren't sure you were even looking for. I ended up picking out Dan Brown's new one (see book review below) and Into the Wild. I didn't know I was looking for them, but as I was looking for those specific ones above, they were the books that vividly stuck out.

Book Reviews - The Power of One & Blink

Take a guess at which one is a novel and which is a non-fiction essay type book. Also, take a guess at which one sucked monkey balls and which I thoroughly enjoyed.

How Ya Going? Yeah, Good Mate

It's been awhile since the last update. That's due to the fact that I've been on the road most of the time and not staying in places (beaches, rest stops, etc) where there is much, if any, access to the internet. Quite a bit has happened since then, and my interests are evolving. Also, at the end is a book review or two.

Book Review - A strange Room

Hey all,
Video book review this time:

Book is In a Strange Room by Damon Galgut.

2 Book Reviews

Hey all,
Just a quick couple book reviews.
I read Eat, Pray, Love. Yes, that´s super gay of me. I did it because I have been toying with the idea of writing a book about my travels and what led up to them. So, I picked it up at a book swap for research.
First, let me say this. If you are a dude, and aren´t gay, you will hate this book. If you are a chick, or a gay dude, you will probably like this book. Without spoiling to much, the book follows Liz (the author) through Italy where she eats, India where she prays, and Bali where she loves. Clever title, huh? The problem that I had with this book is that she is a total nut job. I like the fact that she goes travelling and like to read about what she does, but she is really fucking preachy. The authors voice is authoritative, masked by what seems to be humility, on the matters of eating, praying, and loving; esp. on the matters of praying. This voice also doesn´t seem to notice glaring contradictions in itself, nor does it leave room for her being wrong about anything (even though she feigns this). Then, by the end of the book, she seems to have most of her act together. However, if the dude she ended up with were to dump her, she´d be exactly back where she started cause she never really gets her head straight.
It was really hard for me to read after her eating phase, cause all I could say "you don´t have a fucking clue what you´re talking about. Stop pretending to have your shit together."

Second book: The Anthologist: A Novel. This book is about a poet who has to write an anthology and struggles with it. I loved this book. Besides learning a ton about poetry that I´ll never remember, I loved the simplicity. The author isn´t trying to accomplish too much; it´s just an interesting guy, who you can relate to, doing normal shit, while trying to write a book. Oh yeah, and woo his girl friend back. It´s a quick read, and great. Get it.

Patagonia Part 2, El Bolson to Mendoza Plus Book Review

I am currently in Mendoza. I arrived at about 10 AM. My first impression is that it´s OK. The town itself looks like it wants to be like BA, but can´t quite pull itself together to do so. That´s not to say that it is a dump or anything, it just feels like it has been at a bodega all day and was a little tipsy when it came time to put in some effort. I am likely going to their massive city park today. Tomorrow, is a winery tour by bike.

January update

So, I realize that probably no one is following this blog and that's fine because it's for me anyway. If anyone is, here's an update of what's been going on with me.
I went to Utah mid-January for 10 days. the skiing wasn't very good. they hadn't gotten snow in awhile and the inversion had decreased the snow pack quite a bit. So much so that I had to repair my bases twice within a few days. On top of that, it didn't snow at all while I there.

The Best Book Ever Written, Evar

Well the infinite monkeys, with infinite time finally did it. The best book ever written is called "Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health (Vintage)". I'm not joking. When conventional wisdom in nutrition finally gets overturned, like the geocentric model or the world is flat model, this book will be considered one of the most distinguished works. It will probably be required reading for anyone that wants anything to do with diet. I highly recommend everyone read it, regardless of their interest in their health.