A Thousand Farewells

Our Journalism class was assigned to read Nahlah Ayed's A Thousand Farewells for an assignment. 

She's very knowledgeable of the Arab language and culture. Her parents decided to move back to Amman, Jordan because they wanted their children to understand the culture and language. At six years old, she had to learn a new culture.

These two paragraphs stood out for me the most:

If there's one thing that journalists could learn from this book, it was the second paragraph. People are always the story. They're not quotes. It's a good reminder for aspiring and professional journalists that people are human too. Humans who should be treated as humans. They are people who has a history and culture. 

In the first paragraph above Ayed mentioned understanding a country's history to understand the transpired events. In the second paragraph she talked of speaking the same language. And she's right. It's not just the language. It's understanding the cultures and backgrounds of different people that can transcend language. When you're familiar with a culture, you can understand that person's world views. Even better when you lived in that culture.

I eventually liked it as I continued reading. But the first two chapters didn't work for me. I didn't like how she introduced her relatives. It would've been better if she quoted her parents or grandparents so that readers can feel or sympathize with them. They seemed distant to me because Nahlah was telling the story of her family. It took me three chapters (almost two) to invest in the book. When she returned to the Middle East, that's when the book became exciting. 

I loved the quotes from the people she interviewed because these people seemed alive.

These quotes were exactly what Ayed meant. In order for one to understand the Arab Spring, one must understand the people behind the revolution. There was a reason why they did it, and this book showed the reasons, from the Arab people themselves. 

The book showed me a new perspective of the Arab Spring and its people. When I watched or read news about the Arab Spring, I didn't connect with the news because it was far away from my comfortable home here in Canada. But after reading the book, I understood them. 

I saw a new perspective of the Columbine High School Massacre after I watched Michael Moore's documentary film "Bowling for Columbine" in 2008. I didn't know too much about the massacre because I was in the Philippines in 1999. I was 11, I was young, and I was ignorant of the world. The film made me aware of the world and the things I could learn. Moore didn't just show Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold's stories; he connected the shooting into a larger, social context. A context that's still an ongoing issue in U.S.A. today. Of course, Moore was biased, but as a documentary film, it worked. I learned more from it after watching it.

Just like reading the book. I learned more from it after reading it. So for anyone who's interested in finding more about the Arab Spring, this book is for you. 

My choice

This is the third time I have read a Nicholas Sparks' novel, and I must say, the third time is not a charm. "The Choice", first published in 2007, is his 12th work. According to the novel, this fiction "ultimately confronts us with the most heart-wrenching question of all: How far should you go to keep the hope of love alive?".

I read "A Walk to Remember" back in high school, and it has been a while for "The Notebook". For these two novels, I saw the movie adaptations first before reading them, and honestly, they were nice. It's just me, but I guess there's something nostalgic about "A Walk to Remember" everytime I see it aired on the local television as their Saturday night movie feature.

Okay, I'll be even more honest. Before reading "The Notebook", I first read "True Believer", which I just scanned most of the pages and didn't really care about the characters much. All I thought about was the ending, even though I know how it already ends. So I wouldn't really call it reading, because I didn't read every page of it, for I even skimmed some of the pages just to get on with the story. 

The movie adaptations of the two former books were pretty good, I must say, and I don't think I'll ever get tired of watching them. Like what I said for "A Walk to Remember", even though I sometimes cringe at Mandy Moore (more on her later), this movie gives me a nostalgic feeling that I can never put my finger on. The fashion and year it was produced didn't affect me much, because I know that period in time, back when a baggy dress and knee-high socks go well together (hey, it was Jamie's character. not her fault, really) and people don't really care what you look like for some of them look a bit less better than her. Landon (played by Shane West) didn't hurt as an eye candy either, but it was his character's progression that I liked the most. Now on to Mandy Moore. I don't really like her, but I don't hate her either. Like I keep saying, I grew up in the 90's, and if you ask me to choose between her, Britney Spears (during her "Baby, hit me one more time" days) and Jessica Simpson (during her, wait, what was her song back then?), I'd choose her. And her playing Jamie didn't hurt either, because I find her believable enough to play the character.

As for "The Notebook" movie adaptation, I haven't found any flaws in it (or maybe I haven't thought about it yet), but if I have, I'll be venting it out here.

Back to the book. I won't even talk about "True Believer" because like I said, I may have 'read' the book, but I don't consider it 'reading' because it was mainly 'scanning' that I did. "The Choice" has about 22 chapters with a prologue and an epilogue which makes it 24, and divided into two parts, for the past and the present. I'm now on Chapter 19, but I have no plans in finishing this novel anymore. I'm normally the type of person who finishes something that I either watch or read. In this case, I have started on this novel, and I want to finish it, but I've been dragging myself since two or three chapters back, for I find the plot too typical and boring. Let's be honest here, shall we? There is nothing wrong with a romance-melodrama genre but I can't handle it if I read too much of it in novels. If I wanted to find my own male lead who is Darcy-esque from his tone of voice to his arrogance, I can find those characteristics in Joo won, played by Hyun Bin in Secret Garden, a Korean drama that's currently airing. Or Domyouji Tsukasa in the Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese version of Hana Yori Dango. I know that with reading, I can imagine what the male looks like, but with an Asian drama, I can actually see the characters played by the actors (whom I will later have an obssession with after watching consecutive episodes) and don't have to imagine the same plot over and over again. I feel like this novel is trying to be too "Notebook"-ish, which isn't, but is bordering there soon, if I would read page by page. 

Since I have already scanned the last part and got their happy ending (as always), I could just return it to the library on Monday and start on Garcia Marquez' "Chronicle of a Death Foretold". Now that makes more sense for me as a reader, because this would be a different type of read.

You may or may not be a Nicholas Sparks fan, but here's his website where you can check out all his works and order them too, if you want.

(I guess another reason why I haven't read the "Twilight" series is because of the romance part, which I'm not really too keen about. A sparkly vampire? Thank you very much, but I prefer my vampire who acts more like Lestat.)

When it's at 'Night'

No matter how many times I read or watch something about it, I still can't help but not believe it. I know it's real; I believe it was a part of history. Good thing that there is proof that it really did happen, a memoir from one of the survivors of World War II.

Night by Elie Wiesel is a very, very good memoir of what happened during the years of the second world war and during the Holocaust. It's actually short, with 9 chapters, but packed with all the emotions and oppressions that you can't even imagine.

Here is a monologue in chapter 3 that I find really unforgettable, which I think is one of the main highlights of the book, although there are a lot of events that I want to elaborate, but I can't. So on this monologue are the feelings and the realizations he had the night that they arrived at Auschwitz.

Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed.

Never shall I forget that smoke. 

Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky. 

Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever.

Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live. 

Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes. 

Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to live as long as God Himself. 

Never.

Reading the book has made me change my perception on what really happened that time, for I only know the basic facts. But here, you can actually feel the emotions of what happened that time―the hunger, pain, guilt, hatred, vengeance, justice, fear, selfishness, and most especially, questioning your faith in God. And the author was able to address the issue very well; and I'm sure that those who are devout or from observant families would understand this.

Seeing this from the victim's point of view has made me think of this tragic event in history and understood a bit of what they had to go through during the war. My ancestors and fellowmen were also victims of the war for the Japanese conquered the Philippines as well despite of the Americans in the country. They too, experienced the horrors of the war, and I will not compare this to the Jews for this is not something to be proud of or make a competition out of. Everyone had suffered at one point or another; for this was a war that went on in the entire world, where some nations were still rebuilding due to the first but then started again with another one. And in respect to all the victims and survivors of the war, acknowledging and empathizing with them would be better for we certainly do not want to experience what they went through during those times. It was horrible, definitely, but like Wiesel said, ''there really is no other words to describe the horrors of those events.''. It's not worth remembering them, but at least through him and all the other survivors we are able to understand and know what truly happened that time. And through them, the world may be able to avoid this terrible ordeal again.

I would love to put in more quotes from the book, but I don't really want to spoil you if you haven't read it. If you have though, that's great, for this deserved the Nobel Prize and it is worth your time. I would also like to share this site that my teacher told me, and it's interesting to look at, especially if you are into The Holocaust and you want to look deeper and know more facts. This is the site, and I hope that you do explore it; so have a look around and it's best if you know more about the second world war in Europe (particularly The Holocaust) in order to fully understand it. And there is also an episode in Oprah where she and Elie went back to Auschwitz to relive everything, but you have to see it for a cost.

In the meantime, I hope you do get to read this wonderful memoir; or if you're not into reading, you can watch some videos of Elie Wiesel in some sites (there is one recent video where Wiesel made a speech at Buchenwald with President Obama on his side in memory of Elie's father) around the net.  

LizandDarcy

I used to think that there is no other in the world like Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. I've always been jealous of Elizabeth (the actor and the character) for having him to herself, as he loved her wholeheartedly and fervently. I have seen the BBC 1995 series of Pride and Prejudice, and I must say, Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle are perfect for their roles, and that show was done beautifully. It was very well-adapted, very much like the book, which satisfied a lot of Ms. Austen's fans. Although, I have seen the 2005 version first with Matthew MacFadyen and Keira Knightley, and I have to say, I like it as well, for it was the first I've seen and then I had the chance to read the book.

Honestly, I liked these two versions, and I don't want to choose one for a favorite for I really did like these adaptations and I could see them all over again sometime in the future. And I would love to take a glimpse on what's going on in Darcy's head, just to see how much of Elizabeth-meter its filled with (okay, bad joke. didn't make sense. that was just random). Thankfully, Amanda Grange came up with that idea first before I though about it, and expect this blog to have a say on that book in the future.

Given the time and a broader knowledge on words, I might be able to write some more about this period drama and do justice on Austen's famous work like the other adaptations. The movie is almost two hours, not enough to fit Austen's wise words; but enough to satisfy an individual. For a fan though, for someone who loved every part of the book, I'm afraid they might be disappointed with some of the changes that Director Joe Wright made. And yes, the movie completely deviated from the book, starting with the costumes up to the characters and most especially the plot. But I find nothing wrong with the direction and the music, for they were just right which added more artistry in the movie adaptation. Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennet wasn't bad either; although, I think I'm just being biased as I liked her a lot as the other Elizabeth, the commodore's daughter and a pirate's lover. She played it well, I think, and she deserves to be Ms. Bennet as she is pretty, but not more than Jane, who was very lovely. Knightley's portrayal has made me attached with Eliza Bennet, which urged me to read the book. Matthew MacFadyen wasn't bad either; he played the brooding and sensitive Darcy. And it was through his eyes (and acting) that I became a Darcy and a MacFadyen fangirl. But I'm biased, so I still choose Mr. Darcy.

As for the BBC series starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle, I think it was made very well if you base it on the book. This was directed by Simon Langton and screenplay by Andrew Davies and was aired in 1995. Not every part was portrayed, obviously, for they only had 6 hours to televise. It was worth watching all the episodes, and you can really feel that they conveyed all the right emotions needed for the film and for their characters. The other supporting characters were played well, and the shots and places that they used were beautiful. I think Firth and Ehle had the Liz and Darcy chemistry needed in order for their partnership to work. And their relationship was more like in the book, indifferent and prideful at first, and grew an admiration as time went by. It was seen well in the series, and if I'm not mistaken (and please do take this with a grain of salt if you didn't know), that they became a couple through this series. Isn't that nice, eh? Oh, as I watch this series over and over again, I must admit that this is the show where I fell in love with the character (in this case, Mr. Darcy), and not the actor. Not that I have anything against Colin Firth, I mean, I think he's a really good actor and he is Mr. Darcy, but I just don't really like him in the way that I love the character. In the future though if I would be given more time, I might just make a summary of this show, like a drama recap, and give it a try. I've always wanted to try it and see how well I do, and I hope I will give justice to one of Austen's most famous work.

I know that there are other adaptations of P&P that were made in the past, but I haven't seen them all yet so I still can't say anything about them. But don't you just love it when you watch these different adaptations that you can't help but grab your copy and read a certain chapter and remind yourself of it? I think Jane Austen is and will always be one of the greatest writers in history. Just imagine, two centuries have passed and she's still known by most people. By the way, if you're an Austen fan and familiar with most of her works, you can visit this blog and go back to where everything first started—Jane Austen's works, from a modern-day woman's point of view.