Thursday, 15 May 2008

I can't believe I actually paid good money for this kak...



I guess it's safe to say that I've officially put this one down FOR GOOD! This is what happens when you try to buy a book for the wrong reasons and under crappy circumstances...
1. Don't buy a book based on a movie that you liked that was based on a book written by the same author... Doh!
2. Don't leave your book club book-buying to the last lunch hour before your actually bookclub get-together. You WILL be under too much pressure to choose something good in less than an hour. It really doesn't work. Try to check out some book reviews or bestseller lists or SOMETHING.
3. Never judge a book by its cover. No seriously...
But that's just the tough thing about buying new NEW books. Unless it's been around for a little while, it's hard to go on the cover or even some reviews when it comes to choosing a book and having to pay for it! You win some. You lose some, I guess. I was certainly The Biggest Loser this time around. Bleh!

Tuesday, 13 May 2008

Is this thing on??!!



Hey ladies...
I think it's about time I post something on our bookclub blog. I haven't been ignoring it; I just haven't had the time to say anything, or anything interesting to say at all... If you take a peep at my own blog you'll see that I haven't posted anything in AGES!!! Anyhoo... Here's a little something on what I'm reading at the moment: The Red Queen (Margaret Drabble). It's one of Maria's contributions, and I'm really enjoying it. For NOW...
Here's the story:
There really WAS a Red Queen called Lady Hyenyong who lived in the second half of the 18th century and was married to a seriously controversial prince. This Margaret Drabble chicky has taken this existing story, re-written it for the first part of the book and, then for the second half, gone on a bit of a creative wank writing how the ghost of the Red Queen chooses some chick from the present-day UK to retell her story... Or something like that. Here are some reviews of the first English version of the actual Lady Hyenyong memoirs:

"Undoubtedly, The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong, known as Hanjungnok (Records Written in Silence), are one of the most important and moving pieces of traditional Korean literature. Written as carefully crafted autobiographical records, the work is a rare historical document that vividly depicts the daily life at the Korean royal court in the second half of the eighteenth century. As such, it is a unique and historically invaluable insider's account. . . . Haboush must be congratulated for an exemplary annotated translation that preserves the tone and color of the original texts. In an excellent introduction, she informs the reader about the author, the period background, the literary genre of autobiography, and the textual history of manuscript. . . . Lady Hyegyong's extraordinary autobiographical accounts are an important literary and historical monument."–Korean Studies


"This authoritative edition . . . elucidates the intricate world of Korean court–its morass of age-old strictures, interfamilial rivalries, and just plain ill will–through which Lady Hyegyong had to navigate, both in her life and writing. . . . Part of what makes these memoirs so gripping is the threat of erasure, present from the start."–Voice Literary Supplement


"Lady Hyegyong writes of a life that none of us could have lived, yet her words and feelings are the same as those expressed and experienced by women in many time periods and many civilizations. However, many of things she writes about are not to be found in the contemporary world, and it is the juxtaposition of the familiar and the unfamiliar that makes her memoirs fascinating to the modern reader. . . . The translation by JaHyun Kim Haboush is fluid, and her wonderfully analytical introduction gives the reader useful background material, as well as insightful interpretation."–New Asian Pacific Review


Something tells me that reading the English translation of the original memoirs would be better. I'm enjoying this first half. I really hope ol' Drabble doesn't piss me off in the second half... Eish.

Friday, 09 May 2008

bookclub | plaka





some of my fuzzy pics…

Thursday, 08 May 2008

Making amends

Well, after Terri's little reprimand last night over the sorry state of our blog, I thought I'd be the first one to jump in and comment on last night's Book Club. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures to add, so we'll have to rely on Vanessa for that. Book club was fabulous - great venue Lorraine! Although a bit on the pricey side, such that Carmen was contemplating offering sex in the hopes of having her booze bill cut down, the food was done to perfection and my prawns in particular where some of the best I've ever had... mmmm.

We missed Sacha and Gail though, but we were all tucked round a cosy little corner table as a result, which made for some marvellous intimate conversations - amongst others, the joys of the Moon Cup and the evils of pregnancy - thankfully though, I won't be needing one of those little contraptions for another few months at least, so I'll let the rest of you test drive them before I commit.

Lorraine brought in some great auto-biographies, and I chose one about a couple of girl friends who went on a road trip in the late 70s, and while they were sleeping in thier tent in the middle of a reserve somewhere, some psycho deliberately drove over their tent and then proceeded to attack them with an axe! This is the story of the one girl coming to terms with the trauma of that, and I can't wait to get into it!

So that's that for now, I'll feedback on the book as I proceed, but now it's up to the rest of you to add your two cents to our fledgling blog and get it off the ground!

Hope to see you all next week!
xx