Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Depressing. Unsettling. Sad. Sad. Sad.

But, I love this book to core. I always have this "practice" of kissing a book that touched me right after I turned the last page. With this, I kissed it, hugged it tight, and let the tears flow freely. I wept.

No author has ever made me feel this sad but still love his book. I felt some sense of attachment to Ishiguro's characters. It's like as if I am this constant spectator recording their lives. I was with Kath, Tommy, and Ruth since they were kids until they learned the truth about their so-called life. I kept hoping for them; that there would be a good thing at the end of the tunnel. But Ishiguro is not a cliche author.

Many people hate Ishiguro's books because they are not easy to read not only because of his elegant prose but also because he makes simple things a lot complicated. But, unlike the others, I simply love his style. He'll make you wait; he'll make you want for more. He'll starve you with details. You have to get to Chapter 21 to know what the book is all about.

I repeat, Never Let Me Go is the saddest book I've ever read so far. But it now occupies the top spot of my most favorite book...so far.

An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor

An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I picked this book out of my curiosity with anything Irish. I just went to Booksale in Alphaland and within minutes, this book popped just like that. When I saw the word “Irish” on the title, I picked it up and went straight to the cashier. The front cover by Gergory Manchess also won me over.

Okay, so I had no idea whatsoever about the book. I didn’t know what to expect so I just read along.

“An Irish Country Doctor” by Patrick Taylor is a typical story about a young doctor who still doesn’t know what to do with his life. Should he go to general practice or have a specialized discipline?

Nothing exciting, right? Yes. But wait, while the plot doesn’t seem exciting, the manner it was written is.

Dr. Barry Laverty applied for a job in a rural town of Ballybucklebo (There’s an explanation in the book for the queer name but I won’t tell.) in the hopes of finding himself. He’s young and there’s really no pressure to expedite any career plans.

He was immediately employed by the only doctor in the town: Dr. Fingal O’Reilly. At first, it seems like there’s nothing to like about the place and the new employer. Everything seems to go wrong for Barry. But as days turn into weeks, the young doctor is adapting to the life in Ballybucklebo. He got used to the Fingal’s collie called Arthur Guinness who sees his legs as a bitch to hump on. The elder doctor has his own peculiar way of teaching Barry the ropes of rural general practice. Fingal is a big guy with an enormous heart for his patients.

The characters and situations have already been written by other authors before. Honestly, there’s nothing new in the book. Even the ending is anti-climactic. Taylor gave the spotlight to supporting characters in the ending. Except for Barry finding again a love lost, there really is nothing explosive or surprising.

Still, I had a hilarious time reading it. While it took me eight days to finish it, I still had a great time exploring the scenery of Northern Ireland which Taylor has vividly described. I was transported to the world of Ballybucklebo. I also love that it has many conversations which I believe contributed to why this book is fast-paced. He did not scrimp on funny descriptions with Irish terms (He provided a glossary, so it helped.) I hail Taylor for knowing what many readers want. Even if the plot has been used a thousand times, I’m still sold with it.

Taylor satisfied my hunger for Irish customs and traditions, peculiarities, and way of life. I felt like an Irish for a time.

So, if I love this so much why I gave it 4 starts instead of 5? There were moments in the book where I ask, where is the story going? Where is Barry heading? What is the relevance of all these situations in the plot? I think that there is no real path as to what Taylor wanted to say.

Maybe if I read Taylor’s other books on Northern Ireland, I will get used to it and forget about these little misses. The book perfectly fits my longing to learn many things about Ireland.

It’s a book for people who want an easy read.
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Breaking into the major league of comic books

Every artist wants to work for Marvel or DC. Whilce Protacio and Leinil Yu opened the doors for local artists to break into the international comic book industry.

You might think that it’s all about talent and a hefty serving of luck. Maybe, but C.B. Cebulski, “talent liaison” for Marvel, said that it’s also about strategy, planning, and yes, a generous stock of patience.

Yesterday, (March 17, Saturday) Cebulski held a talk titled “A Crash Course on the Comic Biz” at Bestsellers, Robinsons Galleria, sponsored by National Bookstore.

As part of his editorial duties, Cebulski scouts for new artists and writers who can work at Marvel. He has been looking at thousands and thousands of portfolios hoping to spot that one talent who would be worthy enough to join them on board forMarvel.

One of the important tips he shared with the hundreds of artists and fans who listened to his talk is how to stock up an artist’s portofolio. “Always put your recent works on the first page or if you have a blog or website, they should be always on the top of the page,” he said.

Many artists commit the mistake of putting their early works ahead of the newer ones. It is common sense that the better ones are the recent ones. Cebulski related one incident during the judging of National Bookstore’s “Be the Next Comic Marvel” contest. “I was already on the fourth page when I saw that this guy got some talent,” he said. “If I didn’t leaf through his portfolio until the end, he could’ve missed that one shot.”

Cebulski said that artists need to make their presence felt online. He said that he sometimes find talented individuals just by surfing the Internet. “I found the person who created my caricature on MySpace,” he said. “Build a website, maintain a blog, post on Facebook and Twitter and other social media sites.” While Cebulski laud artists who are in DeviantArt, he still advised them to explore other avenues on the Internet.

“There’s no such thing as overexposure for artists,” Cebulski said.

Cebulksi also advised artists and writers to at least self-publish their works. “To get into Marvel, you have to get published elsewhere first,” he said. It just means that an artist is already good enough for a company to take chances on him or her.

Writers need to have their works trademarked first before sending anything to Marvel. “We don’t really have that much time to read all through story ideas submitted to us,” he said.

Cebulski is also amazed at how Filipino artists, who are now working for Marvel, are trying to give back to their home country. He said how amazing that the likes of Whilce Protacio and Leinil Yu go back to their country and train artists who would soon take their place at Marvel when they retire. “I only see that in Filipinos,” he said. “I believe that the Philippines is fast becoming the hotbed in Asia for artists.”

Cebulski also generously gave his email address, cbcebulski@marvel.com, to anyone who is interested to send in their works. He is an American writer and editor for Marvel Comics, known for his work on titles such as Marvel Fairy Tales. He holds the position of Senior Vice President of Creative and Creator Development.

National Boosktore’s “Be the Next Comic Marvel” received 230 entries and Cebulski shortlisted 34.

Talk Before Sleep by Elizabeth Berg

This book has been sitting on my shelf for years. There was even a time when I tried to sell it online but nobody took interest. And I’m happy I didn’t get to sell it.

As I’ve said in my previous status update, it’s ironic that the subject is depressing but the story is beautifully written. There was a voice that made me feel like I’m not reading it but I was telling the story myself.

“Talk Before Sleep” by Elizabeth Berg is simply about friends who are trying to help their friend prepare for her eventual death because of cancer. At first, I thought, how could you write a book solely about it? How could the author stretch more than 200 pages with this kind of situation?

Berg answered all my questions by narrating Ann’s life caring for her cancer-stricken friend, Ruth, in a straightforward storytelling style. The story begins where there their friendship begins. It was the cliché first impression doesn’t always last. The initial disgust on one person’s personality led to a friendship that lasted a lifetime.

Berg manages to kill boredom by telling the present situation with numerous flashbacks and all those flashbacks are related to the present scene.

I have not read contemporary literature in a while and the book made the transition easy for me. The language is simple; the situations are real; and the characters are people I have met in my life. The situation is one close to my heart—death of a loved one. I’ve experience death of loved ones thrice so the feelings are familiar and I can totally relate.

The core of the story is the friendship between Ruth and Anne but for me, the most heart-warming scenes are the ones when other Ruth’s friends gather in her house just to keep her company. They are not common friends, they just became friends because of Ruth.

While “”Talk Before Sleep” made me cry in a couple of scenes, I had a nice smile in my face because regardless of the sad scenes, it is still a feel-good book where I was taught that no matter how hopeless life can be, there are still things and people I should never fail to appreciate. I always want to seize the opportunity of telling people how much I am happy to be with them.

I finished this book in record two days. And considering how a slow reader I am, I think that already explains how hard it was to put this book down.

Gigi and Selected Writings by Collette

I have a strong appreciation for French culture so whenever I have a chance to read books by French authors, I really dig deep into it. And also, I had a good experience reading “Pere Goriot” by Honore de Balzac so I thought I’ll try another one.

But I’m greatly disappointed with “Gigi and Selected Writings.” I didn’t enjoy reading the book at all. I don’t know if it’s just me or it’s really a boring book. I should’ve gotten a clue when I couldn’t find more details about the book on the Internet.

“Gigi & Selected Writings” is a compilation of excerpts of Collette’s stories. I think one of the reasons I didn’t enjoy it is because it contains only excerpts so I often found myself wondering where-the-hell is this story going? What I read were only selected scenes from the stories.

If I were to review “Gigi” alone, I’ll give it 5 stars. That story is simply endearing. Add to that is I get to picture actress Audrey Hepburn as Gigi.

The other titles/excerpts are so slow in pacing. They are teeming with details, descriptions, but very few conversations. Sometimes, a dress merits three paragraphs of description which I find really irritating.

I may not have full appreciation for what many high-brow readers call “legitimate literature” because Collette is one of the most-loved and celebrated writers. But at the end of the day, what makes a good book for me is one that I enjoyed reading; a read where I shared different emotions with the writer; and a book that I kiss when I finished it.

Unfortunately, “Gigi & Selected Writings” is not one of them.