Zmeyette's Book #4: Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Coraline by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This morning, I was staring off into space, and my mind drifted off into thinking about Atonement (a sort of depressing territory), which led me to say out loud: "Atonement is haunting me." Books can really have such an effect on me. This is why even if I could have started reading another book last night, I couldn't, and wouldn't.


So today, I decided to read Coraline, with the hope that it's lighter than my other options, which are The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Lovely Bones.


It was a light read for me, and since it was pretty short, I had to pause at times because I want to relish the story, and try to make it last longer. But the part of me which wants to devour stories as fast as possible won out in the end, and so it was also a relatively quick read for me.


Coraline is about a girl with the same name, and her creepy-to-the-point-of-scary adventure. I like what Neil Gaiman said about his book:


"It was a story, I learned when people began to read it, that children experienced as an adventure, but which gave adults nightmares."


Based on this, I am in some sort of in-between place, but which shows me that I am indeed stepping into adulthood, because I see the adventure part of it, and while reading it I have this sort of fearlessness and knowledge that everything will be alright in the end, but at the same time it really is quite frightening.


In this story, she discovers a strange world after opening a strange door in their flat, and there she finds her "other parents" along with "other people", and while at first everything was interesting and seemed to be better than her reality, in the end it turned into a mission to save her parents among others, and herself, with the help of a cat.


Somehow, it reminds me of Alice in Wonderland (although I've really yet to read the book), with the main character stumbling into a different world, and well, because of the cat. But I'm not really one to talk, because as I've mentioned, I haven't really read Alice in Wonderland yet. Those are just the elements that I am familiar with, based on what I see around me.


This was indeed, a refreshing read for me. I like it.


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P.S. If this review seems hurried, that's because, well, it is. I was also interrupted while writing this, so my thought process was disrupted. On to the next book! 

Zmeyette's Book #3: Atonement by Ian McEwan

Atonement by Ian McEwan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sometimes what I remember of books, more than the story itself, are the experiences I was going through while I was reading the book. Just like in this instance, where my memories of reading this book evoke the stress of schoolwork which always ended up in me having to put off reading for another day, because there are other things that I should be reading for school.

However, that made finishing this book more than just finishing a book: it came to symbolize some sort of success, a release--freedom, finally. Because since I'm now able to finish Atonement, it means that I'm finally on vacation, and it means that I've really been able to finish my first year in law school. It is some kind of a sweet success, to have been able to finish even just that one year without giving up.

Anyway, on to the book. My thoughts, or thought, right now, some minutes after finishing the book, is this: "There's a reason why I stick to YA or fantasy books." And indeed, there is. I'm an escapist. I read to escape. Sometimes, reality becomes too much, and so I read. But in this book, there is no escape. One mistake can be very fatal, can have such repercussions that even a simple "I'm sorry" cannot undo what damage has been caused. And in a situation like this, indeed, how can one find atonement? Especially if, as Briony Tallis put it, as a novelist, she is also God?

Atonement is a tale that at first made me itch to get the preliminaries done and to finally see the point of the story, the "crime" that has been done. But once I came to that point, it was as if I wanted to go back to that sweet ignorance that everyone was in before that fateful night where imagination became self-delusion and spilled over to reality, wrecking it.

Again, I am an escapist. But when I read, it's as if I am transported into another world, and I feel strongly. I don't become numb. And Atonement has touched my heart, and squeezed, even to the point of crushing, it. What a story.


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Me and the Sea

Christmas of my senior year in college (aka last year), we went to the province to spend the holidays with our relatives. We stayed at my grandparents' house by the sea. This was a delight to my cousins and my brother, since it meant that they could go for a swim in the sea anytime they want without having to pay any fees, even if it wasn't a developed beach resort. 

And me? I stayed in the house pretty much our entire stay. 

Yes, all you beach lovers who happen to stumble upon this post, this might probably enrage you and I can see you planning my miserable and painful death by drowning in the sea or something like that, but it's true. I have my reasons why I stayed in, and they're so petty that I won't say what they were exactly, but basically it was me not being comfortable in the place, with the house being new (or rather, not quite finished yet). Add in my laziness, and I really spent those days staring at the sea, but never going out even just to touch it with my feet. 

Why the reminiscing? Because it pretty much happened again today. We went to a beach today and yes, I did not go for a swim. Well, can I just say that I have a valid reason this time (of the month) not to, although whatever did they say about if there's a will there's a way? But you know, I still have a valid reason. Haha. 

Yes, mostly I was this far from the sea.

Nevertheless, it was a fun day at the beach for me. First off, unlike that Christmas vacation, I was actually outside. Granted, there was no house for me to hide in, but still, I was there voluntarily, and I actually wanted to go to the beach. I just didn't count on not being able to go for a swim. And even though it was only my feet and legs which got acquainted with the sea, I still enjoyed my day at the beach. 

View from my reading spot.

How so? Basically, I just relaxed that day. No stress, no worries, just the sea, family and friends, and me. I don't have to go swim if I really don't want to, and I just went about my own way. This meant sleeping, eating, and getting to read my book. Sounds boring, but when life has been hell-ish and suffocating for the past few weeks, maybe months even, just a lazy day on the beach is something to be really thankful for. 

Lovely, lazy day at the beach. 

And I'm really thankful for this day. I think I'll get to a beach again this summer (maybe), and hopefully, if that time comes, I'll do more. But for now, this will do. 

P.S. On a side note, today marks my parents' wedding anniversary! Wee! (Actually that was a major reason for this trip) And, it's also my university graduation anniversary! Hahaha