Monday 14 February 2011

My computer recently tried to commit suicide

Friends, the ol' desktop died the death last week - it ended up in something called a reboot loop - and we were without internets, or other computery functions, for what seemed like an eternity. Hubby got it sort of fixed last night - we lost everything on the damned thing, and I mean everything, for he had to download Firefox to it this morning.

In the meantime, I've been reading. I don't have time to post real reviews of the books I enjoyed while I was stuck in 1989 because today I have to ferry Gregory-bunny back and forth to the vet, multiple times. Short reviews for those short on time - GO!

No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai

This book really deserves much more attention than I can currently give it. Dazai takes the classic Japanese novel of ennui and social alienation to a whole new level, focusing on a character whose primary symptom of such is raging alcoholism. Truly hardcore. Dazai continues to blow my mind.
The Rose Rent by Ellis Peters

Fantastic! Heavy on the plot of the murder and allowing the civil war to fall into the background, Peters' thirteenth Cadfael chronicle is amongst my favourites.

Hubby and I watched the first Cafael movie, One Corpse Too Many, recently. It was really enjoyable although the pacing seemed rushed and they changed some key details from the book, and not to the story's advantage, in my opinion. The casting was great, however, especially with those chosen to play Cadfael, Hugh Beringer, and Prior Robert.


Count Zero by William Gibson

The second installment in the Sprawl trilogy. I wasn't certain at first, for it seemed a bit scattered, but when I figured out where Gibson was going - brilliant. And, of course, a great read like Neuromancer. Don't deprive yourself by not reading Gibson!

All this in the time it takes to eat a delicious bowl of oatmeal. Put almond butter in your oatmeal, friends; trust me.

PS-The poll results: a tie between Woolf's The Waves and Pamuk's The White Castle. I've decided to read Pamuk because I like him better than Woolf. That is all.

6 comments:

Stefanie said...

I had a Barnes and Noble gift card and one of the books I ordered with it over the weekend was Neuromancer. both husband and I are looking forward to it.

Almond butter in oatmeal. Do you put milk in with it too?

J.G. said...

Condolences on the near-demise of your trusty machine. I just wish they would warn us first . . .

Heidenkind said...

You've been reading the Sprawl trilogy AND Arcade Fire won best album of the year for The Suburbs at the Grammys. Coinkidink?

Bookphilia said...

Stefanie: Yes, I put soy milk in too - as well as blueberries, bananas, hemp seeds, a pinch of nutmeg and a bunch o' cinnamon.

J.G.: Indeed, that would be useful. Sigh.

heidenkind: It's funny...The Suburbs is my least favourite Arcade Fire CD...But I'm glad those Canadians rocked the Grammy's and not two other lame-ass Canadians who were predicted to win but did not.

Anonymous said...

No Longer Human has recently been made into a film in Japan. It's still the only novel by Dazai I have read, but I remember it being rather romantic (I think it was the fashion amongst writers of that generation to romanticise death) but also shocking at the same time.

The Rose Rent is also one of my favourite Cadfael mysteries along with The Virgin in the Ice.

Bookphilia said...

chasingbawa: Hmmm, it didn't seem to me that Dazai was exactly romanticizing death...it was more that it held more attraction than it should.

As for Peters, The Virgin in the Ice is one of my absolute favourite Cadfael novels too. I'll be sad when I've read them all, but I'm collecting them for future re-reads. :)