A new way of reading (older blog's entry)

Welcome to the 21st century. Long ago, people used to read paper books. But that was back in the 20th century. You probably hadn't heard about it. Today, we read books in digital format; the e-readers. E-readers are a blockbuster, since they have surpassed paper books in the market. What can I say, as everything changes, so does styles.

We shouldn't cry over it. Remember when we had a zillion tons of paper archives and it took us for ever to find what we were looking for? Well, times changed and we now have hard drives, floppy discs, compact discs, DVD's, blu-ray discs, USB flash drives, memory cards, etc. Everything to make our lives better and simpler.

E-readres are kitsch. They sell and sell. They make are lives better, I think. Or at least groovy. Kobo knows it, Barnes & Noble knows it, Amazon knows it, Sony knows it. I will lay it on the line: everybody knows it! So don't worry, I won't spill any beans around this.

If you're looking for a lap of luxury experience, you have a bunch of choices. Kobo is one of them. It presents a wide range of e-readers for you: kobo mini, kobo glo, kobo touch, kobo arc. Any of them is a great option on its own. Huge storage capacity, customizable, easy to read experience, light, fast, and you have access to more than 3 million eBooks.





What would you say about changing your way of perceiving the world completely? Sort of a blood taste experience. Because the new technologies not only revolutionize electronics, but your whole being also:

" After years of practice, I can walk into a bookstore

and understand its layout in a few seconds.

I can glance at the spine of a book and make a good guess

at its content from a number of signs"

Umberto Eco

Now you see it: new types of books + new bookstores = new experiences of reading, of being. Perhaps along the e-readers, we go off the deep end to become new beigns.

Chabon's Adventures

Michael Chabon's Pulitzer prize winner The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay was published in 2000, winning the prize the following year. Chabon is one of the most admired writers of his generation, being acclaimed by numerous authors and specialized magazines. Born in May 24th 1963 in Washington, he quickly knew that he will be a writer.

 The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay shows the lives of the two cousins Joe Kavalier and Sam Clay. The narration goes from before the World War II to during and after it.
The novel, full of humor and scathing remarks, is a great recreation of the New York of the forties, with all the condiments that life deserves: love and philosophy tinged with absurdity. Because the two cousins will become main figures of the comic world, getting to create a Jewish superhero (the Escapist) who travels to Europe to fight Hitler.

Both Joe and Sam have a common personal superhero: the famous magician Harry Houdini. Joe, having escaped from Prague (from where he's native) using his magician's tricks learned at the expense of his master Kornblum, arrives to America and goes to live to his cousin's house. Joe then begins to work as an illustrator for a comic-book business. Joe's superhero, the Escapist, becomes a success, but for some reason his creator doesn't get that much attention.

The story then goes on to describe Joe's desire to rescue and save his family from the nazi's threats and Sam's struggle with his sexual identity.

The novel is great, and not for nothing won the Pulitzer Prize in 2001, for in it we find, in a world certainly fabulous, the conflicts of modern life.

Pratchett's Dodger

The english best selling author Terry Pratchett, known for his fantasy novels (specially for his Discworld series, which has more than 40 volumes) has published Dodger, a novel that promises everything that Pratchett can bring: humour, great plot, believable characters, and pure invention of a world-of-fantasy.

The novel, inspired by Charles Dickens' life, is set in early Victorian London, when a young woman falls from a carriage and is attacked by two men. Dodger, a gamin and a tosher, saves her from the assault and they both are taken by two other men (Charlie and Henry) to heal the woman's injuries. The woman is named Simplicity.

As the novel evolves, Dodger must get information concerning Simplicity's background (who is she? where she came from?). As Dodger starts gathering information, he will face some incidents that ultimately will lead him to heroic acts, but also to the lost of anonimity.

Dodger and Charlie will eventualy know that Simplicity has married a man from the German States, which causes a whole political problem, thus putting Simplicity in danger of life.

Persecuted by a misterious professional  killer, the Outlander (a woman), and guessing the likelihood of Simplicity's being murdered, Dodger decides to fake Simplicity's death. She then is renamed Serendipity.

Pratchett's Dodger is a novel you can enjoy all the way through, because it has everything you look for. It's the story of a man that, coming from the bottom of society and using his talents to its limits, conquers the respect and admiration of the whole community.

Zadie Smith

The young and beautiful british novelist Zadie Smith (25 October 1975) is one of today's most admired writers in the world. Her book White Teeth is considered a masterpiece by some critics, and it was listed by Time as one of the best novels of the period 1923-2005. That's quite an achievement. White Teeth, published in 2000, describes the lives of two friends; one from Bangladesh (Samad Iqbal), and the other from England, Archie Jones. They both live in London and the story also revolves around their families. The novel's main attraction is also one hot topic of nowadays: immigration and the quandaries of life in new and foreign-unfamiliar societies.
The conflict between different cultures and discrimination and how this can affect people's lives is one of the novel's keys. The topic of multiculturalism and memory join to display Smith's whole potential as a great plot-developer.

 

"White teeth" works as a metaphor for the universal communion of people.

 

Zadie Smith latest work, "NW", has recently hit the market. The novel develops in London and as NW is the code of the area, thus the title of the book. Again, as in White Teeth, we go along the four principal characters to live a brilliantly written argument, full of sharp social critique and a vision of reality that makes us ask very difficult questions to answer, and very problematic ones. 

 

In what appears to be the Smith's favorite subject, again we see multiculturalism and social power relations evolving and dictating people's lives.

For sure, Smith's NW will have a huge impact on today's narrative, changing the landscape of current literature.

She's also the author of the short stories Mirrored Box, The Girl With Bangs, Permission to Enter, Martha ,Martha, Stuart, and of the novels The Autograph Man and On Beauty.    

 

 

 

Valentine's Day best reads

Are you looking to surprise your lover in this next Valentine's Day? Well, if you are really in love with your sweetheart, your dreamboat, your tenda or whatever you wanna call it, these books will help you turn your relationship to a new level of romanticism.



Jane Austen's classic Pride and Prejudice is again one of the top options of the Valentine's Day lovers. The novel, first published in 1813, is a true classic, developing around themes as ethics, morality, marriage and education. The protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet, lives wih her parents and sisters. She has four sisters: Jane, Mary, Catherine and Lydia. Elizabeth, 20 years old, finnaly falls in love with Mr. Darcy, one of the richest man in the country and still unmarried. Walking together throughout the novel, they will know and change their visions on each other.
Austen's novel remains one of the lovers all time classics.

Fifty Shades of Grey, by E. L. James. Today's everybody's option. But this one could also be the right for you in this next Valentine's Day. When Anastasia Steele meets the young and misterious Christian Grey, she knows she wants him. He's wealthy, beautiful and intriguing, and he also wants her. But he has some secret fantasies.
Not only romance, but eroticism abounds in E. L. James' book.





Another great option is A. L. Jackson's Take This Regret. Although I must say, not for the fainthearted. Touching sharp themes as love, pregnacy and the lost of the beloved object, this book promises to be one of the best reads in the next Valentine's Day.
Would you forgive someone who has betrayed you and take him back into your life?

The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden, by Jessica Sorensen. When you find your true love, your one and only love, you just know it. This story tells the truth about how love can heal old wounds, no matter how deep and painful they are. It is the story of a victory: of love over pain.







Either if you are young or adult, you can always enjoy good readings and being taken away by love stories like these.

Hunger for more

Suzanne Colllins' The Hunger Games is a real killer-diller. Set in a post-apocalyptic world and narrated in the voice of the young Katniss Everdeen, it tells the story of the Hunger Games, an annual event in which a boy and a girl must compete in a televised battle to survive.






 What once was North America is now The Capitol, the big metropolis. Under The Capitol's control there are twelve districts. It is in the 12th district where 16 years old Katniss Everdeen lives. Katniss and her friend Peeta Mellark are taken to the Capitol to be instructed by Haymitch Abernathy.

Katniss makes everything to win the contest and finnaly does it. She later is welcomed as a hero in the great metropolis, The Capitol.

Suzzane Collins is also the author of Mockingjay, Catchnig Fire, Gregor the Overlander, Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane, Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods, Gregor and the Marks of Secret, Gregor and the Code of Claw and When Charlie McButton LostPower.

Pattersons' last work

The thriller master James Patterson (March 22, 1947), author of the Alex Cross and Women's Murder Club, Maximum Ride, Daniel X and Witch and Wizard bestselling series, recently published his latest book: Private Berlin. It tells the story of Chris Schneider, an investigator who has disappeared. He works for the best investigation firm in Berlin, Germany. With his disappearing, the firm must put everything on the line to discover the why.

With his proven mastery and very solid and intoxicating narrative, James Patterson has made of Private Berlin is latest masterpiece. Intrigue, action and emotion come together here to leave the reader speechless and excited about what may come to find on the next page.