The Tiger's Bride - Angela Carter
09.30.07
When some guy with a tiger's head says that he wants your daughter, what do you do?
Ah, but of course, gamble!
When the gambling turns out to be a bad move, however, and you lose your daughter, what do you do?
Ah, but of course, run away without giving a crap!
When the daughter is being "killed" and soon discovers that her skin has been hiding fur underneath it all this time, what do you do?
Ah, but of course, realize that one has run out of questions because this story is entirely metaphorical.
I was all wtf when the fur appeared. I mean, who wouldn't be? Perhaps the.. wait. I'm not exactly sure what the fur is meant to symbolize. It was, however, rather interesting to see what a man with a tiger's head would want to do with his/its life. All I know is that the father was a jerk-off.
Jerk-off. -_-"
Sunday, September 30, 2007
The Masque of the Red Death
The Masque of the Red Death - Edgar Allan Poe
09.30.07
Mmm, horrorific. So a hedonistic prince goes into some fortress to escape from the disease called Red Death with a few hundred friends.
Cool, it's just like a zombie outbreak.
Without the zombies. -_-
What's weird is that these survivors partied in lieu of, say, looking for a cure, or doing something generally productive. They partied.
All is well until the clock strikes midnight, and this is when a creepy figure covered entirely in bandages (is this right?) enters the party. The prince is offended by his mockery, tries to kill him, and thus dies without apparent cause. All his friends get angry and try to kill the guy only to discover that there was nothing underneath the bandages. They then all start dying according to the progression of the Red Death.
That figure gave me the creeps. I liked it. I liked it a lot. It's much better than the overt presentation of the supernatural in contemporary western stories involving "science" and whatnot. This story involves mystery. Absolute mystery.
I mean, Red Death - Wtf?
09.30.07
Mmm, horrorific. So a hedonistic prince goes into some fortress to escape from the disease called Red Death with a few hundred friends.
Cool, it's just like a zombie outbreak.
Without the zombies. -_-
What's weird is that these survivors partied in lieu of, say, looking for a cure, or doing something generally productive. They partied.
All is well until the clock strikes midnight, and this is when a creepy figure covered entirely in bandages (is this right?) enters the party. The prince is offended by his mockery, tries to kill him, and thus dies without apparent cause. All his friends get angry and try to kill the guy only to discover that there was nothing underneath the bandages. They then all start dying according to the progression of the Red Death.
That figure gave me the creeps. I liked it. I liked it a lot. It's much better than the overt presentation of the supernatural in contemporary western stories involving "science" and whatnot. This story involves mystery. Absolute mystery.
I mean, Red Death - Wtf?
Saturday, September 29, 2007
The Selfish Giant
The Selfish Giant - Oscar Wilde
09.29.07
I took this story up back in high school. In quintessence, it's an extremely simple allegory for Christianity. Giant does bad thing, he gets punished. Giant does good thing, he gets rewarded. POW. He gets to paradise in the end.
It's a children's story, I suppose, but... I don't know. I don't like children. I don't like their simplistic intellects. Hence, a story that feeds and maintains that kind of intellect is not on my mentally approved list.
I like Oscar Wilde, though. He rocks. XD
09.29.07
I took this story up back in high school. In quintessence, it's an extremely simple allegory for Christianity. Giant does bad thing, he gets punished. Giant does good thing, he gets rewarded. POW. He gets to paradise in the end.
It's a children's story, I suppose, but... I don't know. I don't like children. I don't like their simplistic intellects. Hence, a story that feeds and maintains that kind of intellect is not on my mentally approved list.
I like Oscar Wilde, though. He rocks. XD
Getting Better
Getting Better - Tara FT Sering
09.29.07
It's classified as chick lit.
It refers to the reader in the second person as a "she".
This then begs the question: why the hell am I reading this? XD
Regardless of the reason, it was actually engaging, allowing us men some insight into the impenetrable minds of wimmen. It shows how breakups affect them, how they react to pain, gossip, and whatnot, thus giving us much needed data on the inner workings of wimmen.
I liked it.
Except the part where I am referred to as a wimman.
And the part describing the sex from the wimman's perspective, all while making it seem that the reader was the one was having sex.
Ugh.
09.29.07
It's classified as chick lit.
It refers to the reader in the second person as a "she".
This then begs the question: why the hell am I reading this? XD
Regardless of the reason, it was actually engaging, allowing us men some insight into the impenetrable minds of wimmen. It shows how breakups affect them, how they react to pain, gossip, and whatnot, thus giving us much needed data on the inner workings of wimmen.
I liked it.
Except the part where I am referred to as a wimman.
And the part describing the sex from the wimman's perspective, all while making it seem that the reader was the one was having sex.
Ugh.
Smaller and Smaller Circles
Smaller and Smaller Circles - FH Batacan
09.29.07
Short but engaging, yes. A detective story that is centered on two Jesuits who hold amazing credentials in scientific fields - a nice case of doublethink. It was fun, although it bogged down a bit at the middle, when the protagonists were interviewing sources for more leads. The ending was a little stupid though. The killer is literally cornered with no means of escape, and the protagonist walks in and nearly gets himself killed. And that woman reporter - what did she really do?
Yeah, he should have just waited for people with, oh I don't know, guns?
One of the cases demonstrating the virtuous nature of patience - wait for backup.
09.29.07
Short but engaging, yes. A detective story that is centered on two Jesuits who hold amazing credentials in scientific fields - a nice case of doublethink. It was fun, although it bogged down a bit at the middle, when the protagonists were interviewing sources for more leads. The ending was a little stupid though. The killer is literally cornered with no means of escape, and the protagonist walks in and nearly gets himself killed. And that woman reporter - what did she really do?
Yeah, he should have just waited for people with, oh I don't know, guns?
One of the cases demonstrating the virtuous nature of patience - wait for backup.
Weight
Weight - Lakambini Sitoy
09.29.07
I don't like Feminism. It's just too... noisy.
Anyway.
It's a peculiar type of love story concerning two less than physically ideal partners. One is a rather fat feminist, and the other is some average joe. They're colleagues, but for one reason or another, they "hook up" in the story.
I found it rather fantastic. I mean, come on, an impromptu trip to Baguio just for, well, the hell of it?
Yeah right.
09.29.07
I don't like Feminism. It's just too... noisy.
Anyway.
It's a peculiar type of love story concerning two less than physically ideal partners. One is a rather fat feminist, and the other is some average joe. They're colleagues, but for one reason or another, they "hook up" in the story.
I found it rather fantastic. I mean, come on, an impromptu trip to Baguio just for, well, the hell of it?
Yeah right.
Some Families Very Large
Some Families Very Large - Jose Dalisay
09.27.07
Ah, another tale of the family. The story tells of a father's little escapade in the Christmas season, taking advantage of the generosity of people. He has his son tag along, and he visits various people, claiming to be some sort of long-lost relative or something. He is moderately successful, but on the last visit to a grieving widow, his luck apparently runs out. The widow discovers his ploy, but she plays along.
Fascinating. But it raises the question as to why people are generous only in the Christmas season. I mean, what? Anyway.
The father's a clever man. If only everyone were that clever, and if only everyone were not that much of a liar, then the world could be a better place. By the way, I think he owns a barong.
09.27.07
Ah, another tale of the family. The story tells of a father's little escapade in the Christmas season, taking advantage of the generosity of people. He has his son tag along, and he visits various people, claiming to be some sort of long-lost relative or something. He is moderately successful, but on the last visit to a grieving widow, his luck apparently runs out. The widow discovers his ploy, but she plays along.
Fascinating. But it raises the question as to why people are generous only in the Christmas season. I mean, what? Anyway.
The father's a clever man. If only everyone were that clever, and if only everyone were not that much of a liar, then the world could be a better place. By the way, I think he owns a barong.
Generations
Generations - Ninotchka Roska
09.29.07
The story probably pertains to the Marcos era or any other parallel situation, making it an ideal setting for any political commentary. The story tells of a family's life, or survival, in such a time period, and it's obviously not easy. Dictatorships have an apparent tendency to destroy the cohesion of the family unit. One can ask if the family actually survived, seeing as how the father was killed by his own daughter. Again, it's not my type of story, owing to the fact that I do not like stories very much, XD.
09.29.07
The story probably pertains to the Marcos era or any other parallel situation, making it an ideal setting for any political commentary. The story tells of a family's life, or survival, in such a time period, and it's obviously not easy. Dictatorships have an apparent tendency to destroy the cohesion of the family unit. One can ask if the family actually survived, seeing as how the father was killed by his own daughter. Again, it's not my type of story, owing to the fact that I do not like stories very much, XD.
The Cries of Children on an April Afternoon
The Cries of Children on an April Afternoon - Gregorio Brilliantes
09.29.07
A story concerning the future of some poor guy. Incidentally, the man was originally an agnostic atheist, thanks to Bertrand Russell - I highly approve of this. But then his emotions get the better of him, and he thus converts to theistm - I highly disapprove of this. I say that if the story does illustrate a fixed future, then it follows that the future will hold regardless of one's actions.
But please stop interpreting that as cause for nihilism. It's not.
09.29.07
A story concerning the future of some poor guy. Incidentally, the man was originally an agnostic atheist, thanks to Bertrand Russell - I highly approve of this. But then his emotions get the better of him, and he thus converts to theistm - I highly disapprove of this. I say that if the story does illustrate a fixed future, then it follows that the future will hold regardless of one's actions.
But please stop interpreting that as cause for nihilism. It's not.
The Bread of Salt
The Bread of Salt - NVM Gonzales
09.29.07
Hmm. I thought it was rather pointless and rather illustrative of the hopelessness of trying to get through social barriers. Since there was no expressed conflict that I deemed to be engaging, I was left a little bored by the story. I mean, wow. A story concerning pan-de-sal can only interest one for so long. The writing was good, yes, but I just wasn't engaged.
09.29.07
Hmm. I thought it was rather pointless and rather illustrative of the hopelessness of trying to get through social barriers. Since there was no expressed conflict that I deemed to be engaging, I was left a little bored by the story. I mean, wow. A story concerning pan-de-sal can only interest one for so long. The writing was good, yes, but I just wasn't engaged.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)