Tangerine Dreams

...follow the yellow brick road, the white rabbit, or maybe just your nose...

Pink in Style

Not exactly sure what motivates a guy to go on about his suit and the fact he paid $1100 for it, which apparently is cheap because Thomas Pink is branching into suit tailoring. Probably better spent than others since it was hand-tailored and others just don't fit as well but still....frankly, I. Don't. Care. And then to insist that I was cold despite my having a wonderful wool coat. What?! Thank you but no thanks. You can have your coat back. Not interested. :-P

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Media_httpphotogoodre_lebhk

Never Let Me Go is a story about innocent youth, self awareness, and of choices – or the lack thereof, at times. The novel is narrated by Kathy H. who takes us on a journey across natural boundaries of time, between the past and present, to piece together her future. Ishiguro builds the characters and storyline deliberately slow, cautious with Kathy’s recollection – and thus the presentation – of old memories of her younger years.

Overall, I found the novel frustratingly belabored at times which I attribute to two things: I had difficulty relating to the main characters and I did not like the way the story would jump from scene to scene. That said, the style makes sense – similar to how one would present memories…there would be a general underlying theme but it would be piecemeal. Furthermore, the flow of the story was much smoother for the last 10% of the book, coinciding with the pickup in tempo.

Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars – Interesting concept; May recommend on a limited basis.

 

White Fang by Jack London

Media_httpphotogoodre_qwhll

White Fang was written in a different time – during a period where nature and humans clashed, the latter learning its own limitations and the boundaries of the former. The friction between human and nature were severe in the extreme weather conditions of the Yukon Territory in Canada, a natural setting for this novel. The narrative is concerned with the series of events that lead up to the birth of and the subsequent events that exemplify the exceptional genetic makeup of a particular wolf-dog hybrid named White Fang.

Thanks to Kindle Classis, I read a free edition of this book on my iPod Touch. The first half of the book is a lot of background information about life as a wolf-dog hybrid in the wild as a cub and then in a tribe (living with humans) as an adolescent. Young, stubborn and constantly pushing boundaries…most of us can relate to that mindset.

Admittedly, I am not much of a pet person. I think dogs are cute but think that I hardly noticed them much before, aside from admiring how well-behaved (or not) a particular dog on the sidewalk was. After reading this book, I find myself noticing and watching dogs (mostly during my commute home or on the weekend at the park). I suppose I am curious about what they must be thinking and am hoping to catch a glimpse of their personality – maybe add a narrative.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars – Interesting concept (attempt to share dog’s perspective); Would recommend on a limited basis (for those interested in American Literature); Classic (tells something about the time when the book was written)

Endnotes: Apparently, this book was published after The Call of the Wild, which I have been told is the better of the two. Will be checking it out – again, thanks to Kindle Classics.