Last year's books

Quick blurts about books I read last year, following BnC's post:

Punks, Poets, Poseurs. Nun ko pa binabasa yan sa National nung unang lumabas kaya lang wala akong pambili. Finally, nung day na na-suspend ang classes dahil may bagyo and I was one of the dimwits who actually went to school early, I bought the book dun sa mini-book sale sa FC. For only P70! Aliw lang siya basahin. Makes me wish na sana i-compile din ng Pulp yung ibang musician profiles nila.

Elvis Rising: Stories on the King. Hindi ito tungkol kay FPJ, pero it might as well be. Elvis Presley sa mga Kano and how he stood for the myth of the American Dream, ganun din si FPJ para sa masang Pinoy. Pero overall, chaka siya as a collection. I liked the first story I read na sinulat ni T. Coraghesan Boyle. Pero yung iba, parang paulit-ulit na. Napansin ko lang nagkakaisa yung portrayal na ang mga Elvis fans ay white trash at jologs. May isa pa nga na may retarded na anak tapos nanghostage pa sa Graceland. Pinaka-chaka yung story nung isa pa man din sa mga editors. Cliché kung cliché pero anong magagawa natin. Kaya lang siya interesting para sa akin because of the parallelism between the two men who affected a lot of people: Elvis is the poor boy who made good and grew up to be King of Rock and Roll. Si FPJ naman naging Da King ng Pinoy movies. Sinimulan ko itong basahin way before the death of FPJ. Makes you wonder if beneath it all, pareho lang din ang ambisyon ng mga poor white trash at ng masang Pinoy.

Dogs and Demons. Alex Kerr. After nung first chapter na tungkol sa pagpatay ng mga Hapon sa nature nila, and why third world people equate progress with concrete and plastics, medyo bumagal na ang interest ko sa libro. It’s still a good read though because it really slices everything about the Japanese culture. But you have to be in a specific frame of mind to appreciate it. I liked Lost Japan better.

Unfinished: Memories of a Catholic Girlhood. I started reading it kasi it was mentioned in AHWOSG as a model for the memoir (cited along with Mary Karr’s The Liar’s Club). So far nandun pa rin ako sa part na 10 years old pa lang yung girl. Long way to go.

Wealth within your reach: Pera mo, palaguin mo! Written by that Colayco guy. Am more than half done. Some of the chapters don’t seem to captivate me. But then again, this is about making money and making more money out of what you have. Plus I only read this book when I’m bored in POwerbooks so it might take a while to finish it.

Fantasy Productions at Geopolitics of the Visible. Read some of the essays pero since jargon heavy siya, I keep on putting it down pag masakit na ulo ko. Baka i-abandona ko na pag nainis ako.

Abandoned: My Life in Heavy Metal ni Steve Almond. I’ve read some of his stories sa Nerve. But unfortunately, di ako na-hook sa stories niya.

They Whisper. Robert Olen Butler. Read 2 chapters tapos suko na ako. I keep thinking na lecheng mga Kano yan may fetish sa Asians. Orientalism, my foot!

There were other books but won’t talk about them pag wala gaanong redeeming value. Makes me think that maybe I should choose more wisely kung anong libro mga babasahin ko. I still hate that Sam Shepard play na wala namang gaanong nangyayari. And I got stuck with it kasi yun lang ang dala kong libro nung pumunta kaming Baguio. It was between that and DareDevil. Nung nainis ako I actually opted for Ben Affleck trying to pass for blind. At least yun maaksyon.

Yun lang.