Time for the Emperor

I realized yesterday when I finished the last book I was reading that the 2 books that I just read over the last few weeks have the word "Emperor" in the title. Strange. I wonder what that means?

I read "A Guest of the Emperor" by Alphonse A. Seubert. My friend's Dad is the Author. It's his memoirs from being a Prisoner of War in WWII. He was in a Japanese Prison Camp for a time. Al passed away a few years ago and I am one of the lucky people to have not only met him, but have been welcomed in his home and got to hang out with him. He was a very loving man. He had a green thumb and I think could make plants grow just by saying hello to them. He worked very hard to keep Sign Hill in South San Francisco green. He grew the trees there and has a grove named for him. Years ago I did a documentary on him and his trees. I won a few awards for it even. But the greatest thing was to see how much of his heart and soul was put into these trees and making sure they survived. It was more than the greenery or putting oxygen in the air or all those plethora of reasons to plant trees. Al Seubert loved them. He nurtured them and had a lifelong friendship with them. I have a feeling that his soul resides in all the trees. Gives new meaning to hugging a tree; if there is even a pinch of Al Seubert in that tree, you'll know. It'll do you good, try it some time! The book was really good. I don't think it's in print. I'm a big fan of Al's daughter, who happens to be one of the best people I know. She lent me a copy to read. I read it in a day and immensely enjoyed it. The best part for me is that it's written how Al spoke. So, while you're reading it, you can just imagine him sitting in his living room telling you the story. It's also a fascinating story. Hard to believe what he went through. It sounds maddening. But not only did he simply survive it, he made the best of what he had and went on to live a very meaningful life. Pretty damn amazing.

Then yesterday I finished "The Emperor's Children" by Claire Messud. This book was given to me over Xmas and I was very excited to read it. I know I'm not supposed to judge a book by the cover, but the cover art had me. It just seemed like a good book. I just got that feeling. I loved it. It's about these friends in NY in their 30s and they are just trying to live and figure out their lives. It was a wonderful tale of friendship, love, expectations and work with a hint of sorrow. Reinstates that we are all in the same boat and just trying to figure it all out. Nobody knows what they are doing. That's the big life mystery...what do I really want to do? Which of course can be put in limitless contexts. The characters were well-rounded and full of life. I am still a little upset that it's over. But all things must come to an end (good & bad).

Now I'm delving into the fantastical, crazy, fun times of short writings by Tom Robbins, called "Wild Ducks Flying Backward". The only tears I'll be choking back in reading this is tears of laughter. Yay. I think I need a little comedy.

Shorts

I just finished a book of short stories by Haruki Murakami, called "Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman". I think it's safe to say that I am obsessed with this author. It's like I cannot read enough of the things he writes. I added some books about him onto my wishlist at Amazon. I just get so involved in his tales & want to live in that world. I've tried very hard to get more people to read his books, but truthfully you have to have a particular taste for his tales. They are definitely unlike most other novels and have an element of strangeness. Plus it's very hard to give an accurate description of any of his novels. It ends up sounding like a stupid, horrible story. I can never put into words how great his stories are. I always end up getting tongue tied. I've gotten a few people to read "Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of The World". Still few seem to grasp the genius of it. It's one of his shorter novels and I feel it eases you into his worlds. If you like it, then you'll love all of his work. If not, I don't think you're cut out for Murakami. I suppose it's like many other authors, you either enjoy them or don't. But I have to say that I think his novels are different, along the lines of Vonnegut or Robbins, but he's definitely not comparable to many authors out there.

That's my rant & rave for the day. Just trying to bide the time until this 3-day weekend is upon me. I need the extra day.

Grr in a box!

Happy New Year!

My Holidays were nice & New Years was good too. I got some good presents as well. It was nice. I got to see my Dad & Stepmom the weekend before Xmas. They were in town for the day that Saturday. They got to see my apartment and took us to dinner. It was nice.


A few weeks before I went to Tahoe, it was absolutely gorgeous & I went snowboarding one of the days. I even went to see The Golden Compass. I loved the books, so I had to see the movie. I really liked it and thought it did the book justice. I'm excited to see the next two. I also finished the "Griffin & Sabine Trilogies" while in Tahoe. Such great books!! I love them, they are like adult pop-up books. And the stories are super interesting. The ending was much better than the first trilogy. No wonder Nick Bantock had to write another one.





I finished "Replay" by Ken Grimwood. It started out slow, but turned out to be a really cool book. A great story. I think it would make a great movie. And lastly, I read "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch" by Philip K. Dick. It was really good, as Philip K. Dick novels go. My only real qualm with it is that he tried to put a lot of religious undertones into it. It kinda bothered me in that, I'd rather make those assumptions on my own from the story, rather than him telling me to think that.


I just saw "There Will be Blood", "Kite Runner" & "The Prisoner: Or How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair" over the weekend. "There Will be Blood" is a very creepy movie. Daniel Day Lewis is extremely talented & amazing. I still am unsure whether I liked it. It's not entertaining per se, but it is a great movie. It's tells a crazy story & had me enthralled throughout the entire 3 hours of the film. "Kite Runner" was really good. Actually was very close to the book and the acting was magnificent. I really enjoyed it. "The Prisoner" was an amazing documentary. I really thought it had a little bit of everything & was very well put together.

That's all I got for now. Tahoe in another month...I can't wait. So awesome.