Daily Quote

“Indecision is the thief of opportunity. You cannot change your destination overnight but you can change your direction overnight.”

-Jim Rohn-

Autumn

It was one of those perfect English autumnal days which occur more frequently in memory than in life.
- P. D. James-

PopCo

PopCo es la sexta novela de Scarlett Thomas, escrita en 2004.  En ella, de la mano de Alice Butler como protagonista, la autora nos presenta un collage de múltiples historias que aderezan la trama principal de la narración. Cuentos de piratas, la receta de un pastel, publicidad, estrategias de marketing, criptogramas, vegetarianos y matemáticas, constituyen algunos de los temas más relevantes de esta novela que la autora ha pretendido narrar con un “Patchwork approach” según sus propias palabras,  para  crear un estilo diferente al de la típica fórmula narrativa,  con el que asegura divertirse mucho más al escribir.

La novela, narrada en primera persona por la protagonista, combina el pasado y el presente, en el que conocemos la inusual infancia de Alice, -abandonada por su padre a los nueve años y criada por sus abuelos- y la Alice adulta,  que trabaja en PopCo creando juegos para niños de nueve a doce años y que empieza a tener dudas acerca de la moralidad de su trabajo. Aunque la narración está bien ejecutada, y los cambios de tiempo se hacen lo suficientemente perceptibles,  sí eché de menos ciertos cambios en la voz de la Alice niña, pues me parece inconcebible que, por muy inteligente que ya fuera a sus nueve años,  hablara exactamente de la misma manera en la que lo hace en el presente.

Por otro lado, y aunque a algunos no les convenza del todo la variedad de temas y historias que se entrelazan con la trama principal, no se puede negar que la autora aporta mucha información y tópicos relacionados con la cultura pop, el capitalismo y la sociedad actual,  expuestos a partir de los diálogos de los colegas de Alice, y que sus duda plantean temas y discusiones que no dejan al lector indiferente.

Es obvio que la autora decidió encajar cierto mensaje moral en la novela, y lo hace hábilmente jugando a los contrastes, como el de la “Inocencia” de los niños que consumen los juguetes creados por PopCo con  la hostilidad y agresividad del marketing y el corporativismo más brutal. De la misma manera, la protagonista se plantea a lo largo de la historia el dilema que provoca el control del corporativismo versus la libertad personal. Un dilema que se contagia al lector, que se encuentra planteándose cuál es su posición acerca de las varias discusiones filosóficas que se cruzan en su camino durante la lectura del libro.

Scarlett Thomas propone una lectura entretenida, informativa e inusual dentro de la típica estructura de la novela clásica,  en la que según mi opinión,  la fuerza del tercer acto y la resolución de la trama principal quedan un poco diluidas en su resolución. Sin embargo, este hecho no invalida el resto de la novela, llena de aventuras, explicaciones y discusiones que vale la pena descubrir.

Laia Vilaseca.

The careful use of compliments, by Alexander MCall.

This is the fourth novel from The Sunday Philosophy Club series by Alexander MCall.  Isabel Dalhousie is now a mother in her 40’s who is being replaced of her job in the Review of Applied Ethics as editor.  On her way through the challenges of motherhood (some will say late-motherhood, but I’m not quite sure I want to make the statement), her relationship with Jamie -who happens to be the ex of her niece Cat- and the possibility to lose a job she never thought will lose, Isabel finds herself drown into the story of a painter’s mysterious death off the island of Jura.

While the novel has some mystery in it, I wouldn’t describe it as a mystery novel but more as an observational and reflexive novel. Alexander MCall adds a sense of mystery  while peacefully describing the daily quite and domestic things  in  Isabel’s life, creating the perfect book  with a propper ambiance to read  on a Sunday afternoon while the sun goes down or at the end of your summer vacation.

Laia Vilaseca

Follow your bliss

follow your bliss by Laia Vilaseca.

Lately I’ve been reading “This Time I Dance, Creating the work you love” by Tama. J. Kieves. And I’ve been enjoying it so much that I had the sudden urge to share with other soul beans -as Sark might say- some of the quotations offered by Tama and other authors that appear in the book. So I’ve done a colourful page full of this nutricious quotes to share them with the others. The ones without author name are from Tama, just to give her the credit.

I guess it’s just an attempt to help other souls trying to find themselves in this world, so I hope they will inspire and come helpful for some of you. Have a nice day, and remember: drop the gun and have fun!

Lily’s mystery.

Forbidden playground?

And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair”.

Kahlil Gibran -Lebanese poet

The Unbearable Lightness of Scones

The Unbearable Lightness of Scones is the last title of the 44 Scotland Street series. The name of the series is the title of the first of fifth episodic novels by Alexander MacCall Smith, which have been first published by The Scotsman newspaper as a 800 word daily serial since 2004.

Alexander McCall Smith was a Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh for several years, and he served on national and international bioethics bodies.  Being the author of over sixty books on a wide array of subjects, in 1999 he achieved global recognition for his award-winning No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, and thereafter devoted his full  time to the writing of fiction, including the 44 Scotland Street and the Von Igelfeld series. Since then,  his books have been translated into forty-two languages. Nowadays he lives in Edinburgh with his wife Elizabeth, a doctor.

In this new installment, McCall Smith recycles his familiar cast, while introducing some new faces:  lovable and charming Bertie keeps growing and bearing with his “oppressive” mother Irene, while the familiar cast of favorites like Big Lou, Domenica, Angus Lordie and his dog Cyril or Mathew,  among others,  continue the pursuit of a little happiness in the city of Edinburgh.

For a foreign reader like me, the customary charm of the city and the characters (regarding I didn’t know them, since I hadn’t read any of the series before) have provided me with an informative, descriptive and charming idea about Edinburgh mixed with some fantasy, which is a pretty attractive invitation to be transported to the world created by the author. I’ve read that some critics find this mix too whimsy. Personally, it didn’t bother me except for the Jacobitism issue, and some of the conversations between Bertie and his friends which I found sometimes difficult to conceive  as six-year old children.  But even then, neither of both took me out of the story.  The truth is that is really easy and funny to follow the live and daily adventures of these characters, which you become to love without even noticing, and that is what gets you to think that what you are easily reading must have been quite harder to write.

I’ll certainly read more of the 44 Scotland Street series from now on, and I certainly recommend you to get to know these both ordinary and extra-ordinary characters that show us with their daily adventures and misfortune the complexity of human relationships in this magic Edinburgh created by MacCall.

Laia Vilaseca.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

I ran into the English section of the library and this book just happened to be there. I read the back cover and it seemed interesting to me, so I bought it. It was a good decision: in less than 24 hours from starting to read it ( and keeping my usual life, since  as much as I’d rather spend my whole days reading I’m not that lucky) I  was already finished. I closed the book last night with that peace and kind of sadness that good books provide with.

This is an hilarious heartbreaking bittersweet true story, based on the very own’s author experiences , -Sherman Alexie-, who lived in his early years as a hydrocephalic -which means that he was born with watter in the brain- budding cartoonist in the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit and decided, after seeing his mother’s name in one of the school books, to leave his school and go to Reardan’s school, an all-white high school with no Native Americans but their mascot in it.

Junior, as he is called in the rez, or Arnold Spirit as he is known in Reardan,  tell us trough a compelling true diary -dressed with the funny illustrations of Ellen Forney-, his constant conflict of feeling half Indian and half White by moving everyday into such different worlds, only separated by the limiting frontier of the reservation. The price he pays for following his dreams is tough: his best friend Rowdy “hates him”, as do the rest of the rez. But he also learns to live with courage, to experience the pain caused by several losses and to grow up taking care of his own future. He will also meet so many different people that will become important in his life, and with all these experiences he start to understand his two worlds, the rez and the outside, with all bad and good things in both of them.

“The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” is one of those gems worth to spend your time with, written by a poet, writer, screenwriter, director and stand-up comedian,   who has made his first foray into the young adult genre and has accomplished it brilliantly. It’s always a pleasure to discover such literary engaging treasures that surprise you and make you feel the real joy of reading again and again.

Laia Vilaseca