Since I’m going to write about Taiwan I might as well write about the book which I had finished reading during my time in Taiwan.

Well, this book jumped the queue for there a few books I had read before this one. I was reading faster than I could write about them at one point. (excuses excuses…)

Anyway, back to the book, this one has a very peculiar name – The Curious Incident of The Dog In The Night-Time. Not to mention a extremely long one too.

I really applaud Mark Haddon, the writer of the book, for this unusual yet brilliantly written book which brings us into the mind of a ‘unique’ and ‘special’ teenager who is a genius!

From what I’ve gathered, this teen, though a genius academically, doesn’t not understand emotions and have a hard time trying to decipher human relationships.

What is interesting and ingenious about Mark Haddon is his ability to let us readers feel the emotions such as love and frustrations of the people who surrounds the main character, seeing emotions through the eyes of someone who seemed detached from them…

Well, I don’t really know how to describe this book accurately with words. You’ll have to read it for yourselves. Let’s just say it’s different compared to any other books that I’ve read but different in a very very good way.

One more thing I really like about the book is the small fun facts that were ,I think, randomly mentioned in the book. Like The Monty Hall Problem and The Case of the Cottingley Fairies. It’s fun to know…

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In my birthday post I have deliberately failed to mention the birthday present my Dear gave me. Well, I felt that it deserve an entry of its own so here it is –

All 7 Harry Potter books!!!

I know some girls may feel that it’s a bit nerdy to give books as presents but I am kind of nerdy in a non text book way. hehe…

I first saw this set of Harry Potter series selling in the Popular Bookstore in Kinta City, Ipoh and I desired it. Of course, besides being tempted to read the Harry Potter series I am also attracted by the beautiful packaging.

The books come in a magnificently designed box with a different magical object/place as shown on the cover of each book decorating its sides! Pretty~

I have planned to save up and splurge on this but it turned out that my Dear did not give me the chance to! Thank you so so much!

FYI, I have never read a single Harry Potter book because 1) I’m not usually attracted to the things the things masses are crazy about. 2) The first Harry Potter book did not attract me because I was into Asian Writers then. 3) I can’t stand the wait so I might as well not start.

But now, since it’s all out and everyone (as in Harry Potter readers) says that the book is much much better than the movies and many a times cursed the producers after watching them so I thought I might as well read them. And also I can finish in time before the last Harry Potter movie is released!

And so start my Harry Potter journey. After each book my Dear will watch the movie with me and I find myself acting as the Harry Potter fans did. I understand now, I am enlighten…

The first movie was still ok but then it was down hill there on. I hated the fact that they cut out scenes and storyline and added crap into the mix, i guess, for the ‘Hollywood effect’. And I am terribly disappointed to find that some of the scenes that I looked forward to seeing them gets filmed is cut out, not mentioned at all!!!!

And I get puzzle over the fact the JK Rowling let the filmmakers ruin her work! Why didn’t she defend it? Did her heart break not when she sees what kind of crap they make out of her work??? 

Books on the other hand were great. I got sucked into the magical world instantly and I was flying through the pages. My mind was making a Harry Potter movie of its own with every book I finish.

Things started to make lots of sense now that I getting information out of the book no thanks to the filmmakers! I finished the whole series in less than 2 months! I would be able to finish it in less than a month if not for the fact that I have to travel.

I did feel sad when I finally finish reading all 7 books. It was a mixed feeling when I reached the last few pages of the 7th book – while anticipating the grand finale there’s also a urge to hold back and not let it end. Overall it was a great read and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

However I am left with some question marks hanging when I close my last book.

Didn’t Lily’s protection expired when Harry Potter left his Uncle’s house for good? So why is it that it still work and Harry can go back to life?

And why is it that Harry Potter have the choice of going back to life when he died voluntarily to protect those who mattered to him and Dumbledore could didn’t?

There are more questions that I needed answers but I won’t bombard them here. Maybe if I read the books again I’ll be enlighten…

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I got curious about the author, Cecelia Ahern, after watching PS: I Love You because I like the movie so much. It didn’t have a really good rating in Rotten Tomatoes but I find it really touching, having your beloved help you overcome his death just shows that love can survive anything even death.

However I didn’t want to read PS: I Love You because I’ve already seen the movie so randomly picked another book and this is it – A Place Called Here.

This book is about a woman discovering a place where all missing things go. It plays around the idea of ‘things just happen’. The characters can’t explain how things/persons got to that place or why. It is something that no one can control like it’s fated.

It illustrates the frustration of the characters very well, telling the story from different angles. I do agree with one of the commenters of this book that it’s a fairytale, the adult kind of fairytale but I prefer the classical kind of fairytale where things are simpler and the sense of magic and fantasy is more vivid.

One thing that I don’t like about the story is that things are fated, like a mentioned earlier. Yes, I agree, in real life sometime, some things really do seem like they are fated and it’s frustrating. But I got the feeling, after reading this book, that it discourages us, readers, to do anything about a disagreeable situation!

In the book where the key character, Sandy, finds herself in the place where missing things and people go, the people there tells her that there is no way out and that there is nothing she can do about it but accept the fact that she’s staying there. There are people in that place who kept on looking for ways out but their efforts are not fruitful. Yes, there are situations like that in life but I don’t feel that efforts to do something about a situation should be discouraged.

In the end, Sandy was not meant to stay in that place and so she mysteriously found her way out, back into our world. But then again, it was fated, she got out not knowing why and how. It was just her luck.

This is just my two cents worth about the book. I just personally didn’t like the story, not the author. Maybe if I had read it from another angle, it’ll be totally different but for now, I’m of this opinion.

A good note to end this post – Although I didn’t like the story but I do feel that Cecelia Ahern is a good storyteller. I especially like chapter 53. She tells it so well that I could see the scenes before my eyes like a movie. I can imagine how beautiful it will be if it was to be made into a movie.

I’ll definitely read her other books to find out more about her work. Judging an author by just reading one of her books is just not fair.

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