Enchantment - Orson Scott Card

Book jacket synopsis:

The moment young Ivan stumbled upon a clearing in the dense Carpathian forest, his life was forever changed.  Atop a pedestal encircled by fallen leaves, the beautiful princess Katerina lay as still as death – while a malevolent presence stirred in the hidden depths below.

Now years later, Ivan is compelled to return.  He finds the clearing just as he left it.  This time he does not run…

This is probably the third or fourth time I’ve reread this book.  It’s one of those stories that I gravitate towards when the world around me seems to have lost all its magic, and all its inhabitants seem to be moving about merely following patterns that loop back and never change.

As the title suggests, it’s a story that lets me want to believe that there are still some things beautiful and wonderful in the world.  I’ve mentioned before that I’ve always had a special fondness for fairy tales, and that Sleeping Beauty is my favourite.  Well, this particular adaptation of Sleeping Beauty is one of the best I’ve ever encountered so far.

We meet Ivan, a ten-year-old Russian boy, suffering from identity crisis.  His parents have suddenly decided that everyone will turn Jew – and that this will have serious implications as to which parts of his anatomy will remain unscathed; all this in a desperate effort to escape Russia.  They sojourn at a relative’s farm in Ukraine, where on one of his running sprees, Ivan finds the sleeping princess Katerina and runs away, frightened by the palpable evil that guards her resting place.  The family flies to America where Ivan grows up to be a scholar and an athlete; but not for one moment has he forgotten the mysterious clearing, and the sleeping beauty that lies in the middle of a great chasm filled with dead leaves. He returns to her, unable to move on with his life unless he does, and when he does find her he takes his destiny in hand and his life – as well as Katerina’s – become hopelessly entangled in events that lead them to discover what truly mattered in their lives.  But did he actually end up saving the princess, or bringing her further trouble?  Was Ivan the man that the princess needed, or will he end up regretting his actions and wishing he had left Katerina trapped under the curse forever? 

Baba Yaga is certainly powerful, but it is never enough.  She ensorcells Bear, the god of winter, and taps into his power, using it to get even more.  The curse she placed on Katerina and the Bear seemed fool proof, until Ivan came along.  And now she must use all her wiles and employ all her magic to get everything back to how she wishes it to be.  But even as they find themselves betrayed left and right by people supposedly trustworthy, Ivan and Katerina manage to find some allies of their own. 

I love how this book sent me back in time to when I was a kid eating up all the books on folk tales in my school library.  I remember the tales from Russia; Baba Yaga and the Bear, and brave Ivan who had as many or even more adventures than did the more western Jack.  I loved that the characters that peopled this story weren’t glamorized.  They all had their own problems to deal with – even the witch and the gods had their unpleasant circumstances to face.  I love that both Ivan and Katerina were not your stereotypical fairy tale prince and princess.  They both surely had their many failings right along with the qualities that redeem them in each other’s eyes.  But their journey is a long and perilous one, filled with magic and science, bitterness and betrayal, and intertwined along with theirs are the lives of everyone around them. How were they to know that they held the fragile balance of the world in their hands?  Too many times in the book did it seem doubtful that goodness, nobility, sacrifice, and even love would make any difference in their efforts against their terrible and powerful adversary.  And I am taken along for the ride.  I follow them across the unseen bridge through time and space into two different worlds, each with their own brand of good and evil, of truth and lies, and most of all, of magic. 

As long as I can read, and as long as the pages of this book are intact, I believe I shall never tire of reading it over and over.  Rarely is there ever such a book that comes this close to the soul that once it is found, it is ever let go.  I hope you find such a book yourself, and gain a revitalizing source of magic when and where there seems to be no more magic to be found. 

Some Nights - fun.

Some nights, I stay up cashing in my bad luck
Some nights, I call it a draw
Some nights, I wish that my lips could build a castle
Some nights, I wish they'd just fall off

But I still wake up, I still see your ghost
Oh Lord, I'm still not sure what I stand for oh
What do I stand for? What do I stand for?
Most nights, I don't know anymore...
Oh whoa, oh whoa, oh whoa oh oh
Oh whoa, oh whoa, oh whoa oh oh

 This is it, boys, this is war - what are we waiting for?
Why don't we break the rules already?
I was never one to believe the hype - save that for the black and white
I try twice as hard and I'm half as liked, but here they come again to jack my style

And that's alright; I found a martyr in my bed tonight
She stops my bones from wondering just who I am, who I am, who I am
Oh, who am I? mmm... mmm...

Well, some nights, I wish that this all would end
Cause I could use some friends for a change
And some nights, I'm scared you'll forget me again
Some nights, I always win, I always win...

But I still wake up, I still see your ghost
Oh Lord, I'm still not sure what I stand for, oh
What do I stand for? What do I stand for?
Most nights, I don't know... (come on)

So this is it? I sold my soul for this?
Washed my hands of that for this?
I miss my mom and dad for this?

(Come on)

No. When I see stars, when I see, when I see stars, that's all they are
When I hear songs, they sound like this one, so come on
Oh, come on. Oh, come on, OH COME ON!

Well, that is it guys, that is all - five minutes in and I'm bored again
Ten years of this, I'm not sure if anybody understands
This one is not for the folks at home; Sorry to leave, mom, I had to go
Who the fuck wants to die alone all dried up in the desert sun?

My heart is breaking for my sister and the con that she call "love"
When I look into my nephew's eyes...
Man, you wouldn't believe the most amazing things that can come from...
Some terrible lies...ahhh...

Oh whoa, oh whoa, oh whoa, oh oh
Oh whoa, oh whoa, oh whoa, oh oh

The other night, you wouldn't believe the dream I just had about you and me
I called you up, but we'd both agree
It's for the best you didn't listen
It's for the best we get our distance... oh...
It's for the best you didn't listen
It's for the best we get our distance... oh...

"Some Nights" performed by Walk Off The Earth

Unscene #9

At the Book Store

Lena pulled a book out carelessly, dropping it to the floor.  The man next to her stooped to pick it up.  Lena flashed her most winning smile.  “Thank you.”

“The Essentials of Great Sex,” read the man, a smile in his voice.  “You’re welcome.”

Lena took the book and immediately stuffed it back in the shelf.  She turned sharply on her heel and huffed over to her sister who was browsing at the next shelf.

“What an asshole,” she whined. “I’m bored, Jay. Let’s go.”

Jay only smiled and shook her head.  She hadn’t meant to overhear, and was still trying her damndest not to laugh out loud at her sister’s little misadventure. She refocused her attention on the book she was reading.

“I’m sorry, but if I don’t do this now, I know I might never have another chance again,” said the man quite shyly, yet determined.  “I just have to ask if you’d have a coffee with me, maybe.”

Silence.  Jay could feel the man shuffling uncomfortably on his feet.  She sighed.  She was used to this.  It always happens to Lena.  Pretty Lena.  Irresistible Lena.

“Lena, don’t be petty.  Answer the man before he tears his heart out for you,” Jay scolded, turning to her sister.  Who was nowhere in sight.

“What... Lena?” Jay turned to the man standing there expectantly.

“Uhm...” Jay didn’t really know what to say to him.  “Sorry about that, my sister’s not usually this rude.  I’ll go find her for you.”

“Uh... sister?  No, no,” he said, smiling.  “I didn’t mean her.  I meant you.”

In A Dark Wood - Amanda Craig

Book jacket synopsis:

“Thirty-nine, recently divorced, jobless, Benedick Hunter is an actor heading in the exact opposite direction of happily ever after: everything from spending time with his own children to the prospect of dating brings him down.  So when he comes across a children’s book his mother, Laura, wrote, he decides that her life and work – haunting stories replete with sinister woods and wicked witches and brave girls who battle giants – holds the key to figuring out why his own life is such a mess.”

“Setting out to find out why Laura killed herself when he was six, Benedick travels from his native England to the U.S. in search of her friends and his own long-lost relatives.  As he grows obsessed with Laura’s books and their veiled references to reality, Benedick enters into a dark wood – a dark wood that is both hilariously real and terrifyingly psychological.  It is then that his story becomes an exploration not only of his mother’s genius but also of the nature of depression, and of the healing power of storytelling in our lives.”

I picked this book up during a book sale.  I suppose anything with references to fairy tales will easily catch my eye.  It’s not the kind of book I’d usually go for, but I’m glad I gave it a chance.  This is not going to make the list of my top fifty favorites, but I found it quite a worthwhile read for a number of reasons.  First, the narration is good and involving.  The narrator’s voice is brutally intense at times and poignantly fragile at others; it is very easy to get absorbed into the persona’s voice and thought process.  My second reason is the presence of those wonderful fairy tales (or adaptations of fairy tales) that are integral to the progression of the story.  Some of them may seem familiar at first, but through each tale lies an undercurrent of darkness and fear.  I found it wonderful that the author of this book managed to create the atmosphere of the story through these eerily scary stories that were supposed to be meant for the enjoyment of children.  And then there are scattered throughout the book little pieces wisdom and clarity that I couldn’t help but acknowledge.  To quote a couple: 

“What is the law but a vision of how life should be?  Isn’t that what the fairy tale – which was originally for adults as much as for children – is deeply concerned with?  With justice?  What is the phrase every parent hears most often from a child?  It’s not fair.”

“When you fall in love with someone you see them through a palimpsest of all their former selves.  It’s as if you’ve always known them and always will, as if time itself has collapsed.”

The imagery in the story is so clear and beguiling.  In the picture book of my mind I saw each leaf, each castle, and every witch’s hut.  I smelled the polluted air of big cities and the green-brown earth smell of forest floors. The pictures drew out my empathy for the persona. I felt drawn to Benedick and could very well relate to his confusion and anger, how lost he is and how I wished he’d be all right in the end. 

The end of the story came as a surprise.  I never thought things would turn out the way they did; the author of the novel did well by not really hinting at the twist towards the end.  And I felt glad at such an unexpected and unconventional ending.  I thought that the ending of the story put all the events that happened before into much clearer perspective.  It was well-executed, to say the least.

I recommend this book to anyone who would appreciate something that could be quite difficult to categorize.  It’s not really a “drama”, not really a romance, either.  It’s not a mystery, not horror story, nor a fantasy.  Suffice it to say that it’s a good book that will be appreciated by a discerning reader who shies away from the mundane and shallow, and appreciates a tale that stirs the imagination and provokes the contemplation of happiness, loss, sanity, the inner child, and life.  Life, above all. 

The Firm - John Grisham

Book jacket synopsis:

At the top of his class at Harvard Law, he had his choice of the best in America.    He made a deadly mistake.

When Mitch McDeere signed on with Bendini, Lambert & Locke of Memphis, he thought he and his beautiful wife, Abby, were on their way.  The firm leased him a BMW, paid off his school loans, arranged a mortgage, and hired him a decorator.  Mitch McDeere should have remembered what his brother Ray – doing fifteen years in a Tennessee jail – already knew.  You never get nothing for nothing.  Now the FBI has the lowdown on Mitch’s firm and needs his help.  Mitch is caught between a rock and a hard place, with no choice – if he wants to live.

It’s been around for a while and has always been quite popular.  It made a rich man out of John Grisham, I’m sure.  I’d never seen the movie – I don’t like Tom Cruise all that much and legal suspense/drama stories even less.  But I remember Stephen King saying that it’s good, and I’d pretty much believe anything Stephen King says when it comes to stories.  So I grabbed a copy on impulse from a second-hand book store and decided to give it a try.

Quite true to the hype, it was indeed well-paced and had page-turning plot development.  Mitch is super-smart and very sharp.  I loved the way he pulled the strings of everyone around him, outwitting the Mob and confounding the FBI at the same time.  And the author also made him a pretty likable character - you don't end up thinking of him as an arrogant, self-important a$$h*le.    When he got scared, you got scared along with him, too.  You end up sympathizing with him and hoping he’d pull everything off and walk into the next available rosy sunset with a happily-ever-after in his suit pocket.  Story-wise it’s pure escapist.  Everything is just so unlikely and doubtful (I mean, come on, pulling one over both the Mob and the FBI?), but you go along with it and enjoy the ride anyway.  Pretty fun, actually.    

I did indeed appreciate the book.  But it is just not something I would reread, or see the film adaptation of.  Once is enough for me.  But that’s me and the legal suspense genre is not my cup of tea.  For those who like it though, read and enjoy to your heart’s content.

Unscene #8

UnScene #8: Two scenes written for a former student who wanted writing tips.

In the Jeepney

Tomas clenched his fists.  He must get to the hospital in time.  He feared he would never see his son alive again.

“How could traffic be so heavy at two in the afternoon?” he thought frantically.  He ran his hands over his face again; his sweat was slick and cold.  “Bwiset, bwiset.”

He wished the two high school girls at the end of the jeep would stop their high pitched giggling and chattering.

“Allan, Allan.  Wait for me, anak ko.”

“Bayad po,” called one of the giggling girls, her handful of coins right in front of Tomas.

He cupped his hand and some of the coins clattered to the floor as the girl’s hand brushed his.  As Tomas bent to pick up a peso, he heard the girl whisper to her friend.

“Kadiri!  His hand’s so greasy.  Do you have any alcogel?”

Notes:

Jeepney: Public transportation in the Philippines

Bwiset: Similar to "Damn!"

Anak ko: "My child"

Bayad po: What you say when you pay for the Jeepney fare

Kadiri: "Gross!" or "Yuck!" 

Alcogel: Hand-sanitizer; alcohol in gel form

At the Bus Stop

Shirley was on cloud nine.  At last, after the many all-but-obvious hints, Robert got the message.  This bouquet of fragrant red roses is the proof.  No amount of rain clouds or delayed buses could darken her day now.

She kept on smiling to herself quite happily, until it began to rain.  She hadn't even noticed it had started drizzling.  She fumbled for her umbrella, nearly dropping her precious armful of romance.

“Oh no, my new dress! My roses!” she groaned in frustration.

But just as she managed to pull the umbrella out, a motorcycle sped by, splashing muddy street water all over her and her roses.

“Aaaaahh!” Shirley shrieked. “Stupid son of a...”

Shirley kept on cursing, stomping her mud-splattered shoes and shaking her wilting roses, until the bus arrived, fifteen minutes later.

Q10 (2010)

I just finished a series called “Q10” (pronounced kyuu-to) which aired in Japan in 2010.  The premise of the story gives us a kind-hearted but rather distant young man, Heita, who comes across a girl that’s actually a robot.  I know. There are already a great number of similar stories out there.  “Not another Pinocchio spin-off!” is what I thought.  But I was wrong.  Good thing I stuck around and saw the whole thing through. 

The series focused not on the robot, but the people around it.  The episodes featured themes that revolved around coping with financial ruin, loneliness, separation, friendship, aging, illness, and how people cope with life in all of its fragility and transience.   Heita behaves rather distantly towards his peers and family.  He’s very careful of his heart condition and prefers not to involve himself in anything serious or emotional.  Through Kyuuto’s innocence and unbiased view of the world, Heita learns more and more about what it means to struggle, to hope, to help and be helped, and of course, to love.  Because of Kyuuto, Heita’s world gradually changes. 

The way they handled these myriad themes was unexpectedly sensitive and moving.  I thought this would be another one of those teen-oriented comedic stories, but no.  I was pleasantly surprised by how delicately and gracefully the story developed.  The actors were very convincing; sublime performances, I’d say.  The pace of the series was unhurried; and they managed the entire tale in nine episodes without leaving you hanging.  I recommend this drama to those who would like to get a fresh view of life.  Thumbs up.

Cast: Sato Takeru, Maeda Atsuko, Kaku Kento, Renbutsu Misako, etc. 

Click here for more information on Q10.