The Cider House Rules by John Irving"Set among the apple orchards of rural Maine, it is a perverse world in which Homer Well's odyssey begins. As the oldest unadopted offspring at St. Cloud's orphanage, he learns about the skills which, one way or another, help young and not-so-young women, from Wilbur Larch, the orphanage's founder, a man of rare comapssion and with an addiction to ether.
Dr. Larch loves all his orphans, especially Homer Wells. It is Homer's story we follow, from his early apprenticeship in the ophanage surgery, to his adult life running a cider-making factory and his strange relationship with the wife of his closest friend."
Okay, so I have read this book in highschool, and I have to admit it didn't make much sense to me and I don't remember anything except for this particular scene where this girl runs away and the people in the orphanage believe that she'll do well in life anyway because had with her the book "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë. See, I'm not kidding when I told you I don't remember much! I bought this for Php 50.00($1) to read it again, and hopefully this time my brain will digest it better than when I was 15!
The Diving Bell and The Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby:
"Already being greeted with extraordinary acclaim--the astonishing, profoundly moving memoir of a man afflicted by locked-in syndrome, a state of virtyally total paralysis that leaves the victim, in the author's own words, "like a mind in a jar."
In 1995 Jean-Dominique Bauby was the Editor in Chief of French Elle, the father of two young children, a forty three-year-old man known and loved for his wit, his style, and his impassioned approach to life. By the end of the year he was also the victim of a rare kind of stroke to the bain stem. After twenty days in a coma, Bauby awoke into a body that has all but stopped working: only his left eye functioned, allowing him to see and, by blinking, to make clear that his mind was unimpaired. Almost miraculously he was soon able to express himself in the richest detail, blinking to select letters one by one as a special alphabet was slowly recited to him, over and over again. In the same way, he was eventually able to compose this extraordinary book."
I acquired this book in Booksale for Php 45.00 ($0.90) and I can't quite contain my excitement! I watched the film version and it was the most awe-inspiring among all the French films I've seen (well, I've only seen 5 so far anyway). It's not only because of the story itself, but because of how well the entire thing it translated so well in screen. And the cinematography.... oh my gosh, don't get me started on the cinematography, because it blew me away.
I just reserved the book The Cider House Rules from the library. I've seen the film, and I enjoyed it, so I wanted to check out the book even though I generally don't like reading the book after I've watched the film.
ReplyDeleteI'm a John Irving fan though I haven't read Cider House Rules yet. The second book sounds great though a little sad.
ReplyDeleteYou have a nice blog!
Hi Angie, I haven't gotten around to watching the movie yet. Yeah, it doesn't sit well with me if I watch the movie adaptation first before reading the original novel, it kind of limits my imagination that way :O
ReplyDeleteMyckyee, What book would that be? The books I've read from John Irving are A Prayer for Owen Meany (which is very sad!) and The World According to Garp.