Books I Love, Books I Want

a kind reminder before we proceed. there are 20 days left before my birthday. okay, you may continue.

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a koleq uncle whom i have high regards for, reminded me in his amusing sarcastic comment in my facebook, that i have neglected my precious books in this blog.

well, since i missed the biggest book fair in dubai, i missed getting myself a whole box of new books! not that i'm complaining, because i rather enjoy reading some books over and over again. words that never bore...

so if i had to choose a book i can read many, many times - these are three of the many, many gems in my bookshelves. wanna see? just to share. 3 books i love. *smile*

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politics as clear as you'd never thought of before. depicted through a group of animal farm plotting to rebel against the farmer. what seemed to be a perfect plan stemed from a utopian idea of freedom from oppressors, ended up sad and very, very wrong. but equally real.

eventhough the characters are mere animals, there's the great possibility in their plight - that's what's powerful about this written work. it's life's lessons and the unspoken strata of the human race. it exists. it's around us. lead or be lead. survival of the fittest. "every animal is equal but some animals are more equal than others..."

don't be taken aback by my usage of the word 'politics' - the language is simple with no bombastic jargons to discourage reading. try it.

the last part always, always makes me cry. no matter how many times i read it. tell me did you cry too?

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crazy bunch of fellas. doing shakespeare. they are the RSC - not to be confused with the hardcore true-blue shakespeare players 'the Royal Shakespeare Co. - instead, they're the Reduced Shakespeare Co.

as far as i know, the reduced shakespeare company are founded by a group of americans whom i can only describe as brilliantly witty and outrageously funny. they don't just 'spoof' shakespeare; they're seeing him in a totally different light. they're called 'reduced' because they do reduce a 3hr play to 5mins rap gig, or a 3-act play to a mini-freudian session!

like who would've interpret shakespeare's 'henry' like a sports commentator? they're nuts! this particular book has a transcript of their stage performance, complete with equally hillarious footnote. you gotta read it to believe it.

i wouldn't know if shakespeare purist would find them amusing but the rest of us fans of shakespeare should get on board with these dudes. this is definitely a book i'd carry during a flight.

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i've always been fascinated by weird, out-of-this-world ideas. time travelling is one of them. no surprise that one of my favorite movies of all time is spielberg's 'back to the future'.

marty uses a delorean. calvin and hobbes use a cardboard box. nobita uses his drawers. to travel through time. has anyone NOT dream of doing so?

i love this first part where the time-traveller explained how the idea of time-travelling first came to him.

"You know of course that a mathematical line, a line of thickness nil, has no real existence...Nor, having only length, breadth, and thickness, can a cube have a real existence.."

"There I object," said Filby. "Of course a solid body may exist. All real things - "

"So most people think. But wait a moment. Can an instantaneous cube exist?"

"Don't follow you," said Filby.

"Can a cube that does not last for any time at all, have a real existence?"

"Clearly," the Time Traveller proceeded, "any real body must have extension in four directions: it must have Length, Breadth, Thickness, and - Duration. But...we incline to overlook this fact. There are really four dimensions, three which we call the three planes of Space, and a fourth, Time."

and so begins the adventure of the time traveller. the words might not be easy but through it wells invites us into his imagination of the possible future, engaging the reader to consider the possibility of traveling through time.

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did i mention i need new books? tada - books i want, people!


'the phantom tollbooth' is an old children's story book, a wonderful story full of puns. if you are the sort of person who enjoys the delightful play of word in the english language - pick up this book!

the next book that i really wanna get is 'the secret life of words - how english became english'. do you really need to ask why i want this book?

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okay. what do we learn so far? there are 20 days left to my birthday. and i want two new books. my birthday. new books. you do the logic.

(and by 'you' i mean mr. khairul. hihi)