Aku no Hana


A Year Older: Again


Goodbye 2012 and Hallo 2013


Light Writings: Love II


Light Writings: Crush II


23 February 2006

East of Eden

I picked up John Steinbeck's East of Eden early last year. I became a fan of his overnight. I can put him on the same shelf with the like of Dickens and Shakespears although they were all have different ways with their writings.

Dickens is well-known for his fecund imaginations and comic genius, never to depart from his typical "Dickensian" where he introduced numerous memorable characters which he blends with his powerful social sensibilities. Not to mention his vivid descriptions of life in 19th century England in all of his fictions.

Shakespear is famous for his playwright and poetry which often combined complex characterization, poetic grandeur and philosophical depth.

John Steinbeck is known as a naturalist writer. No one can depicted Salinas Valley in the 20th century (also known as 'Steinbeck Country') like he can. The words he choses for his story were more like poetry to me and that was one of the reason why I'm addicted to his works. In my opinion, he's a true American writer of his era. Although many would argued that The Grape of Wrath was his best work, East of Eden will always be my favorite.

There are timeless themes represented in this book.Labor exploitations, siblings rivalry, guilt and betrayal were all combined flawlessly with sympathetic humor and keen social perception.

This book tell the story of three generations of Trasks and Hamiltons - whose helplessly re-play the fall of Adam and Eve and the murderous rivalry of Cain and Abel. It was ironic and interesting to read how two set of brothers compete for the approval and love of their father. Steinbeck masterly manipulate the plot of each families.

There are numerous characters with strong personalities, who are made to be so memorable. There is Adam who was devastated when Cathy leaves him. You will see him grow as a stronger person and a better father later in the book. Charles, Adam's half brother who longed for someone to filled the hole in his heart. Of course there is Cathy, a whore who shot his husband and abandoned her family, conning several men along the way. Also Lee who was loyal servant to patriach Adam Trask and the primary caretaker to Adam's twins Caleb and Aron.

The twins what makes this story particularly intriguing in my opinion. The contrast between their personalities are very interesting. Caleb is the darker side of the twin. He's curious, brave, independent and strong-will. His brother Aron is anything but Caleb. The book bost intense moment to me personally is when Caleb learns the existence of his mother and how the confrontation ends. The evolutions of these characters are one of the reason why Steinbeck is hailed as the master of his craft.

Although supposedly the stories of these families were told by one of the Hamilton's grandson, the book focused more on the Trasks family - making the book perfectly balance.

This is a classic that I'll recommend to anyone.

20 February 2006

Why do Malaysians read so little?

I'm the eldest in my family and I can still remember my first book my dad bought for me. I was 4 years old and the book was Pinocchio. Since then I got a knack for books - storybooks in particular. So I have to thank my dad for this passion of mine.

I tried to do the same thing for my sisters. They already knew what my gift is for their birthday every year: book, but somehow those books always ended up on the bookshelf, collecting dust. I remembered I bought a SpiderMan novel for my sister since she collect everything spidey at that time. After 4 years, she still haven't finished it and only managed to leafed through 20 pages of that book.

I also encouraged them to read any of my books that available in my small library (a.k.a my room) but unfortunately they were easily intimidated either by the thickness of the book, or by the size of the fonts (too small for their liking), or by the lingo because most of my books are literary and classical. Too complicated they say. So I start buying chic-lit and thriller books in hope to get them 'into' it. I even bought books like Pendragon and Harry Potter and Narnia and Inkheart and Magyk but till today there is hardly any improvement in their reading department.

The same goes to my friends. Some do try but never did finish the book they borrowed. 'I'm too busy' is their main excuse. It is kind of a sad situation for me personally. Whenever I tried to engage and immersed them with a good story, they would either be lost or not interested at all, and I was left with this big hole in my heart since I have no one to share the excitements/fulfillment with. It stinks. Big time!

Statistic shows that readers' in
Malaysia are a minority, and the numbers were staggering.

I was reading silverfish (local publishing company) bookclub when I encountered this statistic. Silverfish kind of blame it on our educational system. I quote: "It is no secret that for almost 50 years it was geared almost entirely towards producing workers to feed the industrial machine. It was alright to think 'out of the box', as long as it was within the 'BOX'. Study hard, pass exams, don't get involved in anything, repeated ad infinitum: a Malaysian parent-government mantra. I guess, now we pay the price."

Why do Malaysians (at least my family and friends) read so little? In my humble opinion, it was because they never give book the chance to enchanted them with their stories. What a shame.

It really does not matter if the book that we pick up is "light material - romances, ghost stories, and such stuff". What matter is, we read and eventually we'll grew out of it. Even if we don't, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.The fact shows that romances and thrillers far outsell literary books all the time.

What can we do to reverse this trend? My members from pitstop : Luke and macintosh, came up with few conclusions:

  • Engage your friend into book discussion even though they don't read much.
  • Encourage them into reading by introducing good books, the type that can excite them.
  • Share your reading passion with your friends.
  • Don't be too quick to say no when someone introduce you to a book.
  • It is your responsibilities to instill the reading trend to those who are around you.

Exactly what I have done the last 10 years. Although I can’t turn anyone into a bookworm (yet), I refuse to let the readers in Malaysia to be a minority. The time has come for us to change the mind set of Malaysian people. I will not stop till I succeed. I rather die trying!


13 February 2006


Let start of with Anugerah by Zaharah Nawawi, shall we?

This is the only Malay novel I possed. My dad bought it for my for my 14th birthday. One of my precious gift I must say. This book is my all time favorite.

So where to start eh? The story is about the time before Independence Day. Most of the plot took place in Johor Bahru. Obviously, since it is the story on how and why UMNO was created. How hard Malay people fought for the Independence of Tanah Melayu, until Barisan Nasional was created to unite other races as well, which Dato' Onn disagreed and created a new party called Semangat 46.

The two main characters, Ramlah and Mariam, represent UMNO women who fought hand in hand with the men during Tanah Melayu political turmoil. Both of them carried the picture of strong-will women with heart made out of gold. They went through countless challenges physically and emotionally, when during the time women were seen unfit to involved in social and politic matters. Their involvement even put a strain on their married life but they never back down.

Anugerah makes you understand the event that took place before Tanah Melayu was named Malaysia from a different perspective. It makes you appreciate the Independence, your inheritance and why you should be proud to be Malaysian.

If you can, go and get yourself this book although I must warn you that this book is out of print now so you might find it almost as an impossible task. I have no problem lending it to those who are interested. Just give me a ring and let see if we can work things out.

That's all for this first edition of klux's book club. Till later,


From books to motorsports

When you ask those who probably know me, what are the two things that make me me, I'm sure they would not hesitate to give you the answer: Formula One and Books!

To celebrate my passion for the sport I will also include some motorsports info (whenever relevant) in this blog, together with the endless discussion on books.

The reason for this is as simple as the reason as of why I wish more Malaysians are bookworm, to support our motorsport industry.


Books, books and more books

The reason I started this blog is to encourage people to grab hold of a book, start reading and loving the experience! So look out for this space. I'll update on the books I have read and in turn you might be one of few Malaysians who are trully fascinated by papers that are bind together to create a world of their own with us as their audience. The possibilities of having an adventure are endless.


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