It has almost been half a year since I have read anything literary. I realized that in this quasi-break of ours (after all, there are no classes and exams) I needed to catch up on my literature, even if by a little. I actually had a title in mind, and it was Solomon Grunsky Was Here by Mordecai Richler. It just popped out of my mind one morning while I was sauntering around, and that was also the morning where I visited a second-hand bookstore with a cheap but well-tended copy of the novel. Despite the length, I bought the book and started reading it a week ago.

Remember the yellow butterflies?

Other than the recent stub, I haven’t really been writing much: I have had to deal with more pressing matters, such as the choice that would dictate all my future endeavors. Writing was among the least of my priorities, if you catch my drift.

I have lately been reading, however, and within the past two weeks (barring my failure with Barthes‘ S/Z), I’ve finished reading Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy and a textbook on neuroanatomy. While more insights could be obtained from Jude the Obscure with most people (and it would also probably be more relevant to them) I rediscovered something in my choice of reading Neuroanatomy instead of other literary texts: in a statement, taste is simply incomprehensible. While I would like to have blown my horn and say that I did it in preparation for medical school (hyuk hyuk), the truth was that I purchased it and read it primarily because the cover appealed to me (it was purple). As most people say, don’t judge books by their cover. There is some truth, however, in that despite my utter lack of understanding with the content as I read the book, it has prepared me for the grueling task of reading a few hours everyday, something I would have to be very familiar with when medical school comes, and something that is currently alien to me (I haven’t exactly been an excellent student in university). For all the reading that I’ve done I could honestly say that I only understood about 10% of the book; and that may even be a gross overstatement. Despite that, at least I could also honestly say that it has somewhat contributed to me honing my patience and perseverance in reading more academic texts.

I think the same can be said with regard to my tastes in anime. I do think that Honey and Clover, Cowboy Bebop and Ocean Waves are great anime, and a lot of people would agree, but I also appreciate and like ToLoveRu, something that erudite and elevated individuals would dismiss as rubbish. I sometimes prognosticate wrongly, like what I did with Toradora (by comparing it to Honey and Clover). I can even bear finishing series like Gin-iro no Olynssis, and I think I’m among the few people who did. It’s ultimately puerile and stupid, not to mention hypocritical trying to comprehend the tastes of others; yet I admit I am sometimes that. Biases just inherently exist within us, I guess, and Roland Barthes explained (in the twenty pages I’ve attempted to understand in S/Z) why subjectivity and objectivity don’t really exist for the most part in reading, or in the appreciation of media: the I who reads (or watches, or listens) is himself a compendium of texts (or music, or video, or movies, or anime). How he perceives a text is grounded in the texts that he has encountered before. Furthermore, reading (or any appreciation of media), isn’t actually a parasitic act. We also write something as we read it. This is why no two texts are appreciated by the same way with different persons. My reading of the neuroanatomy text was merely to complete what I’ve started and simply was due to an irrational impulse; to an aspiring neuroanatomist, however, the text may be a godsend. The difference in appreciation is among what ultimately makes us human.

It can be argued that the previous episode was the climax of the series. Not only did the episode show the catharses of both Minori and Ami, it also featured Taiga’s subconscious confession to Ryuuji and subsequently Ryuuji’s realization that Taiga liked him a lot and was hurting herself immensely because of her desire to pair Minori and Ryuuji up. The event caused quite a ripple in Ryuuji’s psyche: the very first scene is his dream of that specific occurrence.

He was sleeping in class, however, so when he woke up screaming Taiga’s name (because they were falling into a ravine) it was with the rest of the class. While it was especially awkward for Ryuuji, both the teacher and the rest of the class understood the trauma Ryuuji was in, so they merely nodded and continued on with the discussion. It is extremely notable that when the camera pans to the rest of the class, Minori and Ami were not featured. Even Haruta’s silhouette at the very back is noticeable, but Ami and Minori are nowhere in the picture. After this, however, Minori is focused on, and she has a mix between a sad and a concerned face. (more…)

The Sound and the Fury, written by William Faulkner, is universally acclaimed to be one of the best novels ever written by an American. It’s also recognized to be one of the best books of the twentieth century. Its intricate construction and its well-written streams of consciousness underlie a tragedy so total and so complete because the Compson members are unable and unwilling to love one another. From the man-child Benjy, to the selfish Jason, the family is torn from within because they remain inflexible in the face of cataclysmic change. Each of the featured characters end up tragic in their own unique way; it is arguable, however, that the least sympathetic tragedy among them was Jason’s. His tragedy, compared to Quentin’s and Benjy’s isn’t a moral tragedy: the novel itself suggests that Jason is extremely amoral and immoral, that he cannot love beyond a miserly notion for money. His tragedy was the most physical as compared to the torturous mental disintegration of Quentin and Benjy’s permanent entrapment into the mind of a retard. His was a tragedy he himself could rectify. Ultimately, his tragedy was that of an utter resistance to empathy and positive change.

This was the original film poster.

Well, I finally got back home to Davao, and it has been a great stay with my aunt and uncle in Manila. I’ve finally experienced some haute couture dining; I’ve done quite a good amount of reading (finished Faulkner’s Flags in the Dust and Virgil’s Aeneid); plus, I was given a Le Clezio novel as a gift! I had a great time despite my initial fiasco.

Yes, I admit, she is very attractive and while I still root for Ami I don't mind who ends up with who, really.

The thirteenth installment of Toradora was nothing less than awesome (again). Since I have had a bad case of seafood poisoning, I am currently running a high fever and some slight stomach spasms, so I won’t be as detailed as I previously have been. The episode has been quite a revelation, though: Minori finally sees Ryuuji’s dedication and caring friendship for Taiga, and it brings them closer (to the extent of her not needing a facade when they talked ['I'm speaking normally?']; Taiga finally sees something beyond mere camaraderie from Ryuuji as well. She finally has become aware of his existence as more than a partner: when Kitamura invited to dance with her, she no longer blushed, and she didn’t even stutter. She still tries her best to pair them up together, but there is a look of a subtle melancholy when she realizes she has to go away from both of them: it appears when she hugs Minori, and again when she’s alone before Kitamura asks her.

Anyway, I hope you guys have a happy new year.

I got left by my plane to Davao, and I’m currently alone here in Manila. I admit, it could only have been my fault, and I blame no one else except myself. I have obtained another plane to Davao, luckily, but I will go home much later: I will go home on December 29. Having stressed my family, I sought to pay for the ticket myself, and I would need 1500 pesos to do that. I came up with an idea, and no, it doesn’t involve begging. I’m pretty sure there are some readers of this blog from near Quezon City, Philippines; since I’m trying to build up the money to pay for the ticket, I’d just sell what books I have left here in the dormitory. I can assure you that while they’re used, they are of good condition (except for one which is brand-new); in addition to that, I won’t charge exorbitantly for them.

1) Intruder in the Dust – William Faulkner – 150 pesos

Remember To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee? This novel is akin to that story, but it is of course written with Faulkner’s serpentine prose and his own twists. Lucas Beauchamp is an African-American and a likely suspect in the murder of someone in Yoknapatawpha County. Everyone is doubting him because aside from the fact that he’s black, he’s also a disrespectful and impolite person. A teenager is left the only one with hints to his innocence, and he tries to transcend the prejudice of the South during that time and clear Lucas’s name as well.

2) A Fable – William Faulkner – 150 pesos

Winner of both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, A Fable is a moving tale of a young corporal and his twelve followers in not joining an ordered attack. The tension between old and the new, of pragmatism and idealism, usually tackled by Faulkner’s contemporary, Ernest Hemingway, is tackled by Faulkner in this tale. This novel is unique because Faulkner doesn’t write about the Old South: he wrote about a then-contemporary condition, and a drama of consciences.

3) The Unvanquished – William Faulkner – 150 pesos

Argued by some critics to be part of Faulkner’s Big Four, this loose novel tells vignettes of a young Bayard Sartoris. The novel is a bildungsroman: Bayard Sartoris, at different ages, is featured in the different vignettes. It focuses on the Sartoris’s code of personal responsibility and courage that stand for the best of the Old South’s traditions. Unlike most Faulkner novels, this one is redemptive, and arguably one of the best Faulkner novels that I have read.

4) The Town and The Mansion – William Faulkner – 300 pesos

These two novels are part of the Snopes trilogy. Flem Snopes, the central character in the trilogy, has already arrived at his peak during The Town; his family will face its downfall in The Mansion. The Hamlet isn’t really necessary in following these two novels (it was the first part of the trilogy). Uncharacteristically loose, The Hamlet told stories about Yoknapatawpha County’s residents, and was more a collection of vignettes than a novel.

5) The Aeneid – Virgil – 100 pesos

I initially planned to read this because of Daniel’s recommendations; however, need is pressing and I deem I could find another copy later when I’m more financially solvent and when I’m less stressed. It’s a tale of Aeneas, and his journey to the promised land in Italy, facing many difficulties such as a jealous lover, Dido. This is highly recommended for the buffs of Greek Mythology.

6) The Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man – James Joyce – 150 pesos

This novel is the most accessible novel of James Joyce chronicling his bildungsroman from a baby to his epiphany of silence, exile, and unbelief. From a very young child, to a devout Catholic teenager, to a rebellious adult with a creed of silence, exile, and unbelief, James Joyce chronicles his development in a semi-autobiographical novel.

7) Finnegans Wake – James Joyce – 300 pesos

I’m quite unwilling to part with this novel, to be honest. This is the most textually challenging and most difficult to analyze book that I have ever read. While I value Joyce’s intricate genius in this one, I’m just really sad that I’m not as intelligent as him, because I barely understood anything. Whereas Ulysses was his book of the day, this was his book of the night.

8 ) Dream of Fair to Middling Women – Samuel Beckett – 500 pesos

This is brand-new, unopened from even its plastic (you can even see the original price at 539 pesos). This was the first novel of Samuel Beckett (known later for his masterpieces Waiting for Godot and Molloy/ Malone Dies/ The Unnameable). It tells the tale of Belacqua struggling with his love for two women, Smeralda-Rima and Alba. One could compare and see the development of Samuel Beckett as a writer in this tale.

9) Likha – Ed. Benilda Santos – 70 pesos

This is a collection of essays from different prominent Filipino authors.

10) The Dynamics of Change – 100 pesos

This is a funny and quirky look on the future … back then, during the 1960s. People were somewhat right, but mostly wrong!

11) Dubliners – James Joyce – 200 pesos

This is the short story collection that helped established Joyce as one of the most prominent writers of the 20th century. James Joyce described the scope of life from simple tales of sexual awakening to the haunting, and extremely beautiful The Dead, where through the change singing of a song the husband learns of a long-ago romance in his wife’s life – and what a beautiful romance it was.

You may contact me on the cellphone at 09064924735, or at e-mail at Michael.David.Sy AT gmail.com. I don’t think this constitutes as begging (I hope).

P.S. In case you think I’m trolling, I really love William Faulkner and wouldn’t sell him had I other options. I, at least, want to go home for New Year. Oh well, guess I can watch anime freely right now. :/

EDIT: I found some more books that may be to your liking.

I haven’t made much progress with regard to my anime watching. I have been doing my thesis for the past few days, and I also started reviewing for the medical admission test which is three weeks from now.

There weren't any good manga in the convention :c

Today is the last day of our semestral break for this year. Because my days of being able to read freely were dwindling, I sought to read as much as I could the previous week (thus the lack of updates). It has become a ritual during the past years; I don’t think anything is bad with attempting to expound the horizons of one’s mind, however.

One wishes there really were a book like that.

It has always been a pretty girl.

Exactly what I was thinking about.

I may seem hypocritical for some people: I supposedly only bash Code Geass R2, yet I still watch it. For me, however, all is well. I do not lie when I write about the flaws that I see in the series: they are numerous, and in addition, I am not the only person who has noticed them. These flaws are not minor; on the contrary, a lot of people have observed the many unresolved plot threads, the funny non sequiturs, and in general the bullshit that has plagued the series. People as diverse as koda of Code Trainwreck to jp_zero of Japanophile Isle (among others) have perceived of this. I myself complain because it seems as if I’m being played around by Sunrise and its people, and I don’t like that.

‘If you are a witch, I shall be a warlock.’