Robert Langdon: Take 3

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The Lost Symbol
by Dan Brown
My Rating:  ☼☼☼

I asked my Facebook friends which would it be:  Dan Brown or Elie Wiesel.  Dan Brown won.  And I guess it's just right since I've been reading a few holocaust accounts lately.

But I am not really THAT impressed with the book.  The plot is the same as that of the past two books, namely:  The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons.

It's very similar from those of the past two books. The plot goes predictable as you read along. The only thing that you have to watch out is how the puzzle will be solved and what is really the lost symbol - or what are they looking for this time. 

But, it just goes like this: an influential person is held captive. The captor wants something. This something needs to be solved and they need Robert Langdon to solve it. Then, again, there's this lady who goes with Robert as he journeys to find and solve the missing pieces. At times, it feels like the lady outsmarts him in more ways. 

Then, the climax. They are into this sacred place, with the captor, the captive, the lady and Robert - later on the authorities. 

You just have to look for what they are trying to solve this time. 

But I should say the concept of the lost symbol is brilliant.  

My second book about the holocaust

Memoirs of a Holocaust Survivor

by Icek Kuperberg

My Rating: ☼☼☼ 

Photo credit:  goodreads.com

This is another account of the holocaust.  This time from a man's point of view.  But for now, it matters not anymore.  Mala and Icek have both been in hell and back.  And they have their own stories to tell.  But even if it's not the same story, the similarities are stunning.

With the first book that I read, 'The Bleeding Sky,' I was half-believing that it really happened.  I remembered making a note:  "I thought that 'digging your own grave' was only at the movies... until I read this book."  And what this book did was to confirm everything that Mala told.  They both have been to Auschwitz, although Mala's account was more detailed.  I assume that she must have stayed there longer than Icek.  But again, it matters not.

Icek was only seventeen when the war broke out.  Just like the others, he was transferred from one camp to another from time to time, including Auschwitz, which they considered the death camp.  His ability with metal works gave him extra food to stay stronger - and therefore to stay alive.  He was lucky to have a boss who was kind enough to do things for him that any ordinary German of that time wouldn't do for a Jew.  At the point of almost being totally blind, his boss saved him from sure death.  Because during that time, as Mala said in her own account, "if you're not fit enough to work, you're not fit enough to live."

The one thing in common with Icek and Mala is that they are both lucky.  I wouldn't say that they are both knowing for there are a lot of instances that the stroke of luck saved them both from sure death.  The other thing is their unbelievable fight to stay alive.

They risked their lives in order to live.

Mala's dreams vs reality

The Auschwitz Camp Entrance (Image from this site)

"In Auschwitz, I would often dream about my home.  It's interesting that in that hell many of my dreams were quite pleasant.  I would tell everyone that I lived for those dreams.  The time I was awake was the real nightmare."
The Bleeding Sky as told to Louis Brandsdorfer

Her sunset and mine

The Bleeding Sky

as told to Louis Brandsdorfer

My Rating: ☼☼☼☼

"Toward the evening the sky took on the same color as the fires.  Everything took on that color, the sky, the buildings, even the ground.  Just before the sunset the red in the sky would deepen to the color of blood.  I imagined the sky bleeding.  I imagined the heavens suffering with us.  To this day, a red sunset reminds me of the bleeding sky of Auschwitz."

This is the first book that I read about the Jews.  Mala, one of those who survived the war, tells the story to her daughter, and the quote above moved me very much.  I am so thankful that I see 'red sunsets' in a totally different light.

Meanwhile, in the land of Brodingnag

Whoever could make two ears of corn, or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot where  only one grew before would deserve a better mankind and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians altogether.

~ Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels

And considering what's happening to our country's politics right now, don't you sometimes wish it to be either the land of Liliput or the kingdom of Brodingnag?

What I'm reading right now

Photo credit: goodreads.com

It's Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift.

Book Notes: Around the World in Eighty Days

I randomly selected these books in the wealth of free downloads from goodreads.com.  And I didn't regret one single page of reading the book.

Image copied here

I guess it suits me perfectly since I could not go out these days.  The effects of chemotherapy actually hampers me to go out at least at the mall.  Not to mention the fact that it has been raining almost the whole day for the past number of days.

There were days that I so wanted to go out but could not because of the rain.  There are no storms, but the rain fell hard.

The adventure of Mr. Phileas Fogg to go around the world was to be accomplished within eighty days.  Back then, who would have thought it would have been possible?

Based on what that they discussed before he left London, it was really mathematically possible.  But considering other outside forces like storms, typhoons and other man-made destructions, it was really hard to tell.

There were actually some outside forces that delayed his trip, but as in other people, there are times when the winds are on the right side of our sail.  He overcame them.  But there is a question that I kept in mind as the whole journey progressed.  If not for his fortune, I have doubts that he would have overcame those misfortunes.

Here are my notes about the book.

3, 4, 5, Alice and the Knave

I remember the first eBook I ever read.  It was "Twilight" by Stephanie Meyer.  Someone gave me the complete series (as of that time it was one to four:  Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn) all on eBook and I got to read only the first.  And it was I guess about two or maybe three years ago.

Image copied here

This time, having running out of books to read, I opted to try reading an eBook and to make the experience not really that dreadful (since with Twilight, I preferred to read the printed word), I opted to choose just a short, classic story, just to have something to read, to past the time, and to experience eBook once again.

You might call it weird but I randomly chose Alice's Adventures in Wonderland at goodreads.com.   I discovered that in that website, there is a wealth of book titles as well as eBooks that are ready to be downloaded and read.  One good thing about it, too, is that you won't be mislead in tracking down the pages if you downloaded the book on the website itself. 

The other good thing that I discovered on the website is that you can embed the eBook itself on your blog so people could see it and maybe download it for themselves.  How cool is that is so cool to me.  

Anyway, as I have started with my last few books, I am linking those few notes that I have written about the book.  As I said in my book blog, I do not make reviews since I believe there are already a wealth of sites that are offering reviews for millions of books.  So, I decided to give it a little twist by incorporating it with my life, or sometimes being an extension of it.

Here is the link to my notes on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

To give you the experience of having the book embedded on a blog, here is it:

The Mysterious Tarry Town

Ichabod Crane. Katrina Van Tassel. Baltus Van Tassel. Brom Bones. Gunpowder.

These are the common characters. And of course, the star of the story, the Headless Horseman.

Washington Irving's story. Tim Burton's movie.

One common town. In Irving's mind, it was called Tarry Town, later on known as the Sleepy Hollow.

The mystery lies with the murders that happened in the town. The suspects are the same. The Headless Horseman. But the origins are totally different; both full of creativity and imagination. Irving's will knock on your imagination, and will reside in it for a while. Burton's might have opened a door on its origin, but still, a window would be left open: is this what Irving has on his mind originally?

In the movie, Ichabod was assigned to solve the murders with his weird scientific tools. Crane in the book was a teacher, instructing young folks about psalmody.

Burton's Ichabod got a theory of a conspiracy between the doctor, the magistrate, the reverend and the notary…. What is their secret? Or if they ever had one at all.

However, Washington's Crane has a passion for food, of wanting to inherit the wealth of Baltus Van Tassel so he can own the vast lands of the family, not to mention the big house. Was this what led him to try and win the heart of Katrina? Or was this his sole reason for trying to win her heart against his rival, Brom Jones?

Whichever you choose to discover, both stories are unique. Irving's will leave you with questions, while Burton tried to provide you with THE possible answer and what is it that Irving is LIKELY to want us to imagine.

A perfect combination. It's good to explore one and then the other, and later on, one with the other. And the circle is complete. And the beauty of both of the stories are manifested.

*First and Second photos taken from Wikepedia

Last photo taken from Yahoo! Movies

Click to download: The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

Form and Substance

Friend and I went to her office.

I said: Would you like me to just wait here? (Crossing my fingers that Friend would say yes… para maiba naman…)

Two long, designer seats at each side of the hall… Hmm… I can smell the comfort and solitude of waiting… not to mention the occasional coming of people aiming for the lifts.

Me began to sit, while friend starts for the lift door.

Squeakkkkk….

Friend reacts…

What to do, I said… Either I am too heavy for them, or they're just too weak for people like me.

Good-looking seats do not serve its substance… too bad… Now wishing Friend will be back soon.

Me sits down and took PSP… Dance folder… Crystal Waters (my flavor-of-the-month song… Destination Calabria)… power indicator flashes…. Ooopppsss… I didn’t charge it last night… now I have 10 (or 15 minutes) to drool over her song).

Silence.

Me eyes surveyed the room and finds out: hmmm…. Now is the right time to take my trip on these auto-doors. Me have always wondered how far is your distance before it opens…

Me being playful that day, started to go away from the door. Far enough… Faced the door and stepped right foot forward towards the door, as if it’s a dance step. Me is making. Door did not open… One step closer… Left foot… No open… Right foot… No open… Left foot… Voila! Open!

M.A. Mission Accomplished.

Bores.

Me sits down really slow, so sofa won’t squeak. It still did.

Footsteps.

Guard passes by… I think I saw him half-grinning, half-smiling at me.

Me smiled back… Oh well, people maybe jolly for it’s the New Year…

Or. Maybe...

Maybe he saw me, dancingly playing with the doors…. And me grinned, too.

Lift opens…

Friend and I walked out the door.

Me told friend about the little dance.

Friend said: Ahhhh… so that’s probably why they were laughing there at the monitor room.

Ooopppsss…

So someone saw me did the dance… So what? I de-stressed and I made them happy…

Happy Me…

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Bottom's Up

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Other Interests:

Gerilya - by Norman Wilwayco

Grand Prize Winner: 2008 Palance Awards

Free download of this book here