Categories
Books Dystopian

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins | Book Review

Nung Sunday, nagtipon tipon uli kaming mga Pod Sibs Book Club members at nagdiscuss nung book of the month which is: The Ballad of Chuchu by Suzanne Collins. All this time, ang pronunciation ko ay “Su-zahn”. Pero nung nabanggit nung isang member yung author’s name, “Su-zeyn” pala. I stand corrected.

Ang saya nung discussion kahit ang gulo ng thoughts ko and kahit feeling ko wala akong masyadong na-contribute sa usapan. Pero ang saya pa din at ang ganda ng effect sa soul/spirit/being kasi ang tatalino nung mga members at may napupulot ka talaga pag may ibang tao kang kausap na outside of your usual circle.

Daming attendees this month

Ang interesting nung napunta kami dun sa isang question na: Do you agree with Coriolanus and Dr. Gaul’s worldview that people are inherently violent or do you believe in Lucy Gray’s worldview that people are inherently good? Muntik ko nang hindi isali tong question na to kasi naisip ko parang ang dali lang naman nung sagot. Pero nung pinaguusapan na namin, dito kami nagtagal. Ang daming insights. Ako conflicted din sa sagot ko. Yung initial ko kasing thinking, inherently good. Maliban na lang sa mga mentally ill kasi hindi sila makakapagisip ng maayos. Pero ang nagpalito sakin eh yung na-come across kong article noon about sa isang performance artist. Parang experiment kasi sya. Yung artist, nagprovide ng 72 objects ranging from a feather and flower to pointed objects and a gun with a single bullet. For 6 hours, nakatayo lang yung artist at inallow nya yung mga tao na gawin ang gusto nilang gawin sa kanya gamit yung 72 objects. After 6 hours, hubad na yung artist, ang dami nyang sugat sa katawan at sobrang na-defile na yung katauhan nya. So bakit ganun? Bakit ganun yung mga tao dun? Ang wirdo lang na porke walang repercussions na mangyayari sa kanila, ginawa nila yung mga ganung bagay dun sa female artist. Kung hindi ko nabasa yung article na yun, 100% sure ako na inherently good ang mga tao. Pero dahil dun, hindi ko na alam.

For July, since pride month last month, yung book namin ay Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan. Excited na ko for the next discussion. Parang bitin nga yung monthly parang gusto kong gawin na bi-weekly. Kaso may mga days na super tamad ko naman magbasa kaya baka hindi ako maka-commit.

As for my opinion sa June book, ang rating ko ay 3.5 stars. Napaisip pa nga ako kung gagawin kong 4 pero nag-decide ako na 3.5 na lang. Interesting yung book sakin. Siguro dahil limot ko na yung mga evil things na ginawa ni President Snow kasi limot ko na yung movie, limot ko na din yung book. Basta ang tanda ko lang si Katniss Everdeen yung bida (๐Ÿ˜‚) and other vague scenes na wala si Snow. So medyo clean slate sakin si Coriolanus nung binasa ko tong Ballad of Chuchu. Super nacurious lang ako nung huli kung ano na kayang nangyari kay Lucy Gray. At para sa thorough review nung book, pakinggan nyo dito.


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Categories
Books Horror

The Stand by Stephen King | Book Review

The StandThe Stand by Stephen King

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Had a hard time finishing it. It it weren’t for our book club I would have put it down after reading the first few chapters. At first, I didn’t expect that there would be a supernatural element in the story. I think I would’ve enjoyed it better if there wasn’t. This was my first Stephen King novel and while I admire how detailed his storytelling is, sometimes I just can’t keep up. I find myself lost in some, if not most, of the references used in the book. But having said that, I know that this wouldn’t be my last King novel. The way he described those people dying of the super flu was really unsettling; it was very good and effective writing. Those chapters where it was getting close for the main characters to find their way to each other got me excited and gave me the extra push to finish the book.

FAVORITE SCENES:

When Stu faked his coughs while talking to Deitz. Deitz refrained from wearing the space-suit so he panicked when Stu suddenly displayed symptoms. Deitz was always withholding information from Stu so when Deitz asked him why he would pull something like that, Stu repeated Deitz words, “Sorry, that’s classified.” That was a cool move.

Glen Bateman’s superflu aftermath plan: Chill and paint. Then he said to Stu, “There is no one on earth painting better landscapes than Glendon Pequod Bateman, BA, MA, MFA. A cheap ego trip, but mine own.”

FAVORITE QUOTES:

PREFACE

Movies after all, are only an illusion of motion comprised of thousands of still photographs. The imagination, however, moves with its own tidal flow. Films, even the best of them, freeze fiction.

That is not necessarily bad… but it is limiting. The glory of a good tale is that it is limitless and fluid.; a good tale belongs to each reader in its own particular way.

NOVEL

PETER: But you have to remember, Fran, she’s too old to change, but you are getting old enough to understand that.

Structure is a necessary thing.

GLEN: (On dreams) I have always believed they served a simple eliminatory function, and not much more โ€” that dreams are the psyche’s way of taking a good dump every now and then.

But she suspected it was going to be held over by popular demand inside her head. (A more creative way of saying overthinking)

Well, for one thing, it might mean that all these people here were just an epilogue to the human race, a brief coda. (Tragic)

JUDGE: But you can only be one man. Isn’t that true?
LARRY: Yes.
JUDGE: And your choice is made?
LARRY: Yes.
JUDGE: For good?
LARRY: Yes, it is.
JUDGE: Then live with it.

There was a single final breath, the last of millions. (RIP Mother A)

(Tom’s chapter while spying in the West) They were nice enough people and all, but there wasn’t much love in them. Because they were too busy being afraid. Love didn’t grow very well in a place where there was only fear, just as plants didn’t grow very well in a place where it was always dark.


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