After almost a year of hiatus, I seemed to have caught the reading bug once again. Perhaps I have been deeply inspired after watching so many wonderful films such as Les Miserables and the recent The Great Gatsby. One day I aspire to be able to write something of that quality.
On a random note, below is the list of books that BBC has consolidated as the "100 Books to read before you die". I am going to start an arduous journey of trying to complete it all.
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien (have this book but too thick to read it)
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Bible - Council of Nicea
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
Complete Works of Shakespeare (And then some of the individual plays are also on this list?)
Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
Middlemarch - George Eliot
Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
Bleak House - Charles Dickens
War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
Emma - Jane Austen
Persuasion - Jane Austen
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
Animal Farm - George Orwell
The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
Atonement - Ian McEwan
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Dune - Frank Herbert
Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
On The Road - Jack Kerouac
Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
Moby Dick - Herman Melville
Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
Dracula - Bram Stoker
The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
Ulysses - James Joyce
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
Germinal - Emile Zola
Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
Possession - AS Byatt
A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
The Color Purple - Alice Walker
The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
Charlotte’s Web - EB White
The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
Watership Down - Richard Adams
A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
Hamlet - William Shakespeare
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
23/100
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Monday, May 20, 2013
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Till Death Us Do Part
Harry and Sophia wanted to take seriously the words of the minister would utter as they exchanged rings: "These two lives are now joined in one unbroken circle." This meant putting their collective interest first, and their individual interests second. If they could do that, the marriage would be better for both of them.
But Harry had seen his own parents divorce and too many friends and relations hurt by betrayal and deceit to accept this unquestioningly. The calculating part of his brain reasoned that, if he put himself second, and Sophia put herself first, Sophia would get a good deal from the marriage but he wouldn't. In other words, he risked being taken for a mug if he romantically failed to protect his own self-interest.
Sophia had similar thoughts. They had even discussed the problem and agreed that they would really would not be egotistical in the marriage. But neither could be sure the other would keep their part of the bargain, so the safest course of action for both was to secretly look out for themselves. That inevitably meant the marriage would not be as good as it could have been. But surely it was the only rational course of action to take?
(from "The Pig that wants to be eaten)
The classic "prisoner's dilemma" presented here again. If humans can be less calculating and care more for a collective good, this world would be a more beautiful place. But if this kind of problem can happen in marriage (concerns just 2 person), I cannot imagine how people can work together for a greater good. Sometimes blind faith might work better.
Saturday, December 05, 2009
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It's time to pick up philosophy again. This time I borrowed this book called The Pig that wants to be eaten.
An interesting and yet thought-provoking book by Julian Baggini. Not sure if I can post it here, but some of the short stories are so mind-boogling and awesome. Haha
Supposed you live in a desert all your life, and one day a relative comes back from his travels and tells u about his stories. One thing he mentioned was 'ice'. In the far corner of the earth, there was a place that was so cold that the water stopped flowing and formed into a translucent block. The only difference between the block and the water that flows is that it is much colder. Would you believe that 'ice' exist?
Now the problem is that if you have never seen anything with your own eyes, how can you show that it is true? Yet again, if you choose not to believe it, you could be missing out on something that is in fact true. But you cannot afford to believe it from just a person's perspective. Even if many people agree, does it mean it is in fact true? Remember the time when people claimed that the earth was flat.
So the best is to keep an open mind about everything. There is still a limit to our knowledge that cannot be addressed even till now.
An interesting and yet thought-provoking book by Julian Baggini. Not sure if I can post it here, but some of the short stories are so mind-boogling and awesome. Haha
Supposed you live in a desert all your life, and one day a relative comes back from his travels and tells u about his stories. One thing he mentioned was 'ice'. In the far corner of the earth, there was a place that was so cold that the water stopped flowing and formed into a translucent block. The only difference between the block and the water that flows is that it is much colder. Would you believe that 'ice' exist?
Now the problem is that if you have never seen anything with your own eyes, how can you show that it is true? Yet again, if you choose not to believe it, you could be missing out on something that is in fact true. But you cannot afford to believe it from just a person's perspective. Even if many people agree, does it mean it is in fact true? Remember the time when people claimed that the earth was flat.
So the best is to keep an open mind about everything. There is still a limit to our knowledge that cannot be addressed even till now.
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Its been a long time I had a new book to read. And so it happened that jieying had a book for me to write a review about for the cdac magazine.This is a super interesting teen book. The language is not complicated and the best part is the book is not extremely thick as well (as compared to my textbooks). Mr. Busy me took some time off last thursday to read this overdue book. And I'm done reading this in a day.
The main story is about living on this concept of "borrowed time". Supposed that one day you realise your schoolmate is dying and you decide to donate a month of your life to him to encourage him to be strong. That was what Anthony Bonano (also known as Antsy) did in the story.
Word began to spread about Antsy’s great act and everyone started following suit, donating “a month of life” to Gunnar. Suddenly from then on, Antsy became the Master of Time. This new found power came with great responsibilities as well. Very soon, Antsy realized he has within his control the ability to trade items with time. By the end of the story, he had amassed 123 years of life.
But all good things come to an end eventually. When Antsy’s dad donated two years of his life and suffered a heart attack immediately, panic struck and everyone started asking for “refunds” of their lives!
What should Antsy do when this happens? Faced with pressure from his dying father, the schoolmates, his friend Gunnar, Antsy has to find a solution to the mess that he created.
Read the book yourself to find out more!
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
I seldom post entries in chinese. But this story is just so ....
蝙蝠侠哭了
蝙蝠侠是Gotham City的守护者，从来不求回报，只是希望Gotham City市民能过着安定的生活，也不想想自己快乐过吗，付出这么多值得吗？也许是因为蝙蝠侠的随传随到，所以Gotham City市民从来也没感激过蝙蝠侠，把他就当成可有可无的“工具”。Gotham City 警长只需要到屋顶打开有着“蝙蝠”标志的投影灯，把蝙蝠标志投向黑暗的夜空, 蝙蝠侠就一定火速赶到屋顶和警长会合，然后就默默的继续他的行动。 在行动成功后，就消失在黑暗中，在高处鸟瞰整个城市，然后满意的回到自己的豪宅，继续做个忧郁，寂寞（其实他有个郁闷又罗嗦的管家）的宅男。
有一天， Gotham City来了一个新的Super Hero. 他的服装很炫，很有型，而且人缘很好。不过多久，就变成Gotham City的万人迷。街头巷尾都贴了印有他灿烂笑脸的海报，小孩都握着他的公仔，嘴里嘀嘀咕咕地嚷着长大也要做个Super Hero,站在一旁的爸爸妈妈都露出会心的一笑。蝙蝠侠一瞬间成了大家的回忆，成为历史的一部分。尽管市民开始对他冷漠，但是，他还是守候着Gotham City，认为那是他的使命。除了Gotham City, 他在哪里都找不到那熟悉的归属感。保护着城市，好像就是他活下来的理由。
蝙蝠侠也想做个普通人，远离Gotham City，远离和Joker, Penguin 那堆恶人周旋的生活。但是， 他一旦离开这种生活，就少了他蝙蝠侠的身份，成为普通的Bruce Wayne, 成为Gotham City 的普通市民。
蝙蝠侠心里却不想放弃一切，因为他爱这个城市，所以不想离开。但是，蝙蝠侠也是人，他也会累，也会想离开Gotham City。他不是不爱Gotham City了，而是Gotham City对他的冷漠，让他失望。
蝙蝠侠哭了。。。。你看到了吗？
他戴着他的面具在哭， 你又怎么看得到呢？
credits: a starfish story
蝙蝠侠哭了
蝙蝠侠是Gotham City的守护者，从来不求回报，只是希望Gotham City市民能过着安定的生活，也不想想自己快乐过吗，付出这么多值得吗？也许是因为蝙蝠侠的随传随到，所以Gotham City市民从来也没感激过蝙蝠侠，把他就当成可有可无的“工具”。Gotham City 警长只需要到屋顶打开有着“蝙蝠”标志的投影灯，把蝙蝠标志投向黑暗的夜空, 蝙蝠侠就一定火速赶到屋顶和警长会合，然后就默默的继续他的行动。 在行动成功后，就消失在黑暗中，在高处鸟瞰整个城市，然后满意的回到自己的豪宅，继续做个忧郁，寂寞（其实他有个郁闷又罗嗦的管家）的宅男。
有一天， Gotham City来了一个新的Super Hero. 他的服装很炫，很有型，而且人缘很好。不过多久，就变成Gotham City的万人迷。街头巷尾都贴了印有他灿烂笑脸的海报，小孩都握着他的公仔，嘴里嘀嘀咕咕地嚷着长大也要做个Super Hero,站在一旁的爸爸妈妈都露出会心的一笑。蝙蝠侠一瞬间成了大家的回忆，成为历史的一部分。尽管市民开始对他冷漠，但是，他还是守候着Gotham City，认为那是他的使命。除了Gotham City, 他在哪里都找不到那熟悉的归属感。保护着城市，好像就是他活下来的理由。
蝙蝠侠也想做个普通人，远离Gotham City，远离和Joker, Penguin 那堆恶人周旋的生活。但是， 他一旦离开这种生活，就少了他蝙蝠侠的身份，成为普通的Bruce Wayne, 成为Gotham City 的普通市民。
蝙蝠侠心里却不想放弃一切，因为他爱这个城市，所以不想离开。但是，蝙蝠侠也是人，他也会累，也会想离开Gotham City。他不是不爱Gotham City了，而是Gotham City对他的冷漠，让他失望。
蝙蝠侠哭了。。。。你看到了吗？
他戴着他的面具在哭， 你又怎么看得到呢？
credits: a starfish story
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Another variation of the Crisis at Sea scenario. psychologists & sociologists sure like to find out people's moral reaction in time of crisis.
If a ship is going to sink in the middle of the ocean, there is only 1 lifeboat that can only save 5 person, who will you save?
(pls rank your choice from 1-10, 1 being the one you will most likely save and 10 being least likely - extremely important!)
1) Alice: handicapped, jobless, 22.
2) Ellen: airforce pilot, SAF scholar, 30.
3) Charles: wife-beater, strong, loudmouth.
4) Doreen: wife of Charles, sickly.
5) Greg: history of drug abuse, just divorced.
6) Francis: retiree, savouring present life.
7) Harriet: potential cap 5.0 undergraduate,20.
8) Iris: mother of 2, former canoeist.
9) Billy: army recruit, timid and skinny.
10) Johnny: medical doctor, handsome, religious.
pick your choices and give reason for your choice. Have fun choosing.
(ps. this time round you are not involved in the sinking ship, you just happen to be able to choose who to live and who not to)
If a ship is going to sink in the middle of the ocean, there is only 1 lifeboat that can only save 5 person, who will you save?
(pls rank your choice from 1-10, 1 being the one you will most likely save and 10 being least likely - extremely important!)
1) Alice: handicapped, jobless, 22.
2) Ellen: airforce pilot, SAF scholar, 30.
3) Charles: wife-beater, strong, loudmouth.
4) Doreen: wife of Charles, sickly.
5) Greg: history of drug abuse, just divorced.
6) Francis: retiree, savouring present life.
7) Harriet: potential cap 5.0 undergraduate,20.
8) Iris: mother of 2, former canoeist.
9) Billy: army recruit, timid and skinny.
10) Johnny: medical doctor, handsome, religious.
pick your choices and give reason for your choice. Have fun choosing.
(ps. this time round you are not involved in the sinking ship, you just happen to be able to choose who to live and who not to)
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Here's a little story i found from my bookshelves. Do spend time reading and ponder over it (while i come up with plans for activities that may prove worthy mentioning)...
Once upon a time there was a little boy who was raised in a orphanage.
The little boy had always wished that he could fly like a bird. It was very difficult for him to understand why he could not fly. There were birds at the zoo that were much bigger than he, and they could fly.
"why can't I?" he thought. "Is there something wrong with me?" he wondered.
There was another little boy who was crippled. He had always wished that he could walk and run like other little boys and girls.
One day the little orphan boy who had wanted to fly like a bird ran away from the orphanage. He came upon a little boy who could not walk or run playing in the sandbox.
He ran over to the little boy and asked him if he had ever wanted to fly like a bird.
"No," said the little boy who could not walk or run. "But I have wondered what it would be like to walk and run like other boys and girls."
"That is very sad." said the little boy who wanted to fly. "Do you think we could be friends?" he said to the little boy in the sandbox.
"Sure." said the little boy.
The two little boys played for hours. They made sand castles and made really funny sounds with their mouths. Sounds which made them laugh real hard. Then the little boy's father came with a wheelchair to pick up his son. The little boy who had always wanted to fly ran over to the boy's father and whispered something into his ear.
"That would be OK, " said the man.
The little boy who had always wanted to fly like a bird ran over to his new friend and said, " You are my friend and I wish that there was something that I could do to make you walk and run like other little boys and girls. But I can't. But there is something I can do for you."
The little orphan turned around and told his new friend to slide up onto his back. He then began to run across the grass. Faster and faster he ran, carrying the little crippled boy on his back. Faster and harder he ran across the park. Harder and harder he made his legs travel. Soon the wind just whistled across the two little boys' faces.
The little boy's father began to cry as he watched his beautiful little crippled son flapping his arms up and down in the wind, all the while yelling at the top of his voice,
"I'M FLYING, DADDY. I'M FLYING!"
Flying
Roger Dean Kiser
Once upon a time there was a little boy who was raised in a orphanage.
The little boy had always wished that he could fly like a bird. It was very difficult for him to understand why he could not fly. There were birds at the zoo that were much bigger than he, and they could fly.
"why can't I?" he thought. "Is there something wrong with me?" he wondered.
There was another little boy who was crippled. He had always wished that he could walk and run like other little boys and girls.
One day the little orphan boy who had wanted to fly like a bird ran away from the orphanage. He came upon a little boy who could not walk or run playing in the sandbox.
He ran over to the little boy and asked him if he had ever wanted to fly like a bird.
"No," said the little boy who could not walk or run. "But I have wondered what it would be like to walk and run like other boys and girls."
"That is very sad." said the little boy who wanted to fly. "Do you think we could be friends?" he said to the little boy in the sandbox.
"Sure." said the little boy.
The two little boys played for hours. They made sand castles and made really funny sounds with their mouths. Sounds which made them laugh real hard. Then the little boy's father came with a wheelchair to pick up his son. The little boy who had always wanted to fly ran over to the boy's father and whispered something into his ear.
"That would be OK, " said the man.
The little boy who had always wanted to fly like a bird ran over to his new friend and said, " You are my friend and I wish that there was something that I could do to make you walk and run like other little boys and girls. But I can't. But there is something I can do for you."
The little orphan turned around and told his new friend to slide up onto his back. He then began to run across the grass. Faster and faster he ran, carrying the little crippled boy on his back. Faster and harder he ran across the park. Harder and harder he made his legs travel. Soon the wind just whistled across the two little boys' faces.
The little boy's father began to cry as he watched his beautiful little crippled son flapping his arms up and down in the wind, all the while yelling at the top of his voice,
"I'M FLYING, DADDY. I'M FLYING!"
Friday, May 19, 2006
"Mr Palomar thinks, imagining himself a bird.'It is only after you have come to know the surface of things,' he concludes, 'that you venture to seek what is underneath. But the surface is inexhaustible."
-From the terrace, Mr Palomar
found this fantastic book during a random search in the library while waiting for penghui last sun. titled Mr Palomar by Italo Calvino, this collection of short stories completely captured my utmost attention for this past week. the beauty of this book lies in its ability to bring across sophisticated themes with ease and clarity.
short stories like The blackbird's whistle, The contemplation of the stars, Serpents and skulls, The world looks at the world (just to name a few), brings across many expandable themes that allows existentially-starved people (like me) to have a very different approach to understanding more about ourselves and the world.
Daily experiences can be a very important factor in trying to formulate (or rather, to come up with) your own notion of your existence. after all, such "life" questions are often subjective. probing into existentialism appears to be quite futile, but there are times when i can be enlightened, bringing my mind closer to my heart.
the relationship between the self and the world is complex, and i'm dying to know more about it, even though what i learnt is just the "inexhaustible surface".
-From the terrace, Mr Palomar
found this fantastic book during a random search in the library while waiting for penghui last sun. titled Mr Palomar by Italo Calvino, this collection of short stories completely captured my utmost attention for this past week. the beauty of this book lies in its ability to bring across sophisticated themes with ease and clarity.
short stories like The blackbird's whistle, The contemplation of the stars, Serpents and skulls, The world looks at the world (just to name a few), brings across many expandable themes that allows existentially-starved people (like me) to have a very different approach to understanding more about ourselves and the world.
Daily experiences can be a very important factor in trying to formulate (or rather, to come up with) your own notion of your existence. after all, such "life" questions are often subjective. probing into existentialism appears to be quite futile, but there are times when i can be enlightened, bringing my mind closer to my heart.
the relationship between the self and the world is complex, and i'm dying to know more about it, even though what i learnt is just the "inexhaustible surface".
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