The Big Read Continues

An interesting read.

A very enjoyable read about life in
New Zealand during a gold rush. A
very moving story.








A very strange book to read
since it jumps between the story
of the author and descriptions of
the films that the author is watching.
At first I was annoyed at having to
read about Hector Mann but in the
end I really got into the book, so far
it is one of the best on the list.



When I first started reading this book
I thought I was going to hate it and it
seemed a bit off the wall. The more I read
the more I loved it so I read the whole thing
in about 24 hours. It made me laugh out loud
and it made me cry. One of the best books I
have read in a very long time, definitely
recommend it. There is no quesion as to why
this one is on the list!

Visions from the capital of romance

On Friday I went to the cinema with Nedra to see Paris, Je t'aime. I had been wanting to see this film for quite a while and finally it came out in the cinemas here last weekend. I was intrigued to see how 18 different visions of life and love in Paris could be put together to make a film. There is a segment for almost all of the 20 arrondissments of Paris, each filmed by a different director.

The film was fantastic. Some of the stories were not as engaging as others but they only last about five minutes, so there is really no time to get bored. The majority of the plots are interesting and some of them are fantastic. I particular liked the Coen brothers segment starring Steve Buscemi as it was very funny, the Isabel Coixet offering was very moving. It is really worth going to see. It is difficult to pick a favourite part of the film since all the stories are so different but you can spend hours trying like Nedra and I did while walking to the Tibetan restaurant for dinner and even while we were waiting for the food to arrive.

De Rodriguez

They do say that while the cat's away, the mice will play, and that is what I have been doing this weekend while Jaime has been up in the Pyrenees skiing. On Friday I went to the cinema with Cathy and Nedra to see a German film which is translated as 'The Lives of others'. It was my first foreign film experience in the cinema when I didn't understand the language that was being spoken. I really enjoyed the film even though I did fall asleep for a few minutes in the middle and woke up with a little grunt. It was far too hot in the cinema and it made me feel sleepy, nothing to do with the film though, which I really enjoyed. After the film we went to Swagat for some lovely Indian food and then off to bed to finish yet another book from the epic list. Last week I read a book by J.M.Coetzee which was soooooo unbelievably dull that in the end I skimmed so much that I think I only read a third of each page. It was too much like a political essay than a novel and I did not enjoy it at all. A definite thumbs down for Elizabeth Costello. I hope this isn't a sign of what his other work will be like since he has about 9 books on the bloody list. I was expecting great things from this Nobel prize winner. The last book I read was great though, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. A little bit sci-fi but a very interesting read. I am now on with my first Zadie Smith novel, On Beauty and so far it is good. I'll let you know how it goes.

On Saturday my weekend of fun continued and I went out for drinks with some friends to celebrate Dave's birthday. I even got to practise a little of my now very rusty French on one of Alex's friends. I think I finally got into bed at about 5.30 this morning. Exhausting!

Today has consisted mainly of cleaning so that Jaime can see that I have done something more productive than eat and drink all weekend, and I have even done my DELTA homework, (although not as much as I would have liked).

All in all it has been a top notch weekend.

The Double by Jose Saramago

Last night I finished another book from the never-ending list of literature that I am trying to get through before I die. I thought that it was the first book that I had ever read by a winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, until I consulted the list of winners and realised that I had also read things by Camus and some others on the list. Well, it is still the only book I have read knowing that the author was a winner of the Nobel Prize. It was a great read, much better than the Jeanette Winterson book I read on Wednesday which to be quite honest I didn't really understand or enjoy. This book had a great story to it, once I had got used to the way it was written. Dialogue is not presented in a traditional way, but runs continuously within the text. It's a little confusing at times to know who is saying what but you soon get used to it. Out of the three books I read last week, it is the one I most enjoyed. It tells the story of a history teacher who discovers that he has a doppleganger when he is watching a film that was recommended to him by his friend, the Mathematics teacher. The story is about his quest to find his duplicate. A very entertaining read.

Congratulations and Celebrations

Jaime and I are very happy to announce that we are getting married. We are not sure on a date yet, but we think it could be in the coming year (2008). All I can tell you is that the wedding will be in Spain, in Jaime's village, apart from that I can't tell you anything else. I am so happy, I can't stop looking at my ring and Jaime thinks that I have gone completely bonkas. I also get the impression that my family are quite excited about the whole thing and Enid has said that she is already thinking about knitting a hat. Watch this space for any updates on the happy occasion. Love to all, Faye and Jaime. xxxx

Book Worming

I really enjoy reading but sometimes I find it hard to choose something to read. There are many books that I know I should read but which I have never got round to reading. Martha, the girl who is staying with Jaime and I at the moment, is a big reader and writer and she has set herself the goal of reading 100 books before the end of the year. She came across a list of the 1001 books that you must read before you die, so we have decided that we will try to read as many of those books as we can. Looking through the list, which spans from 2005 to the 1600's, I realised that I had already read 25 of the books on the list. This week I got another 3 books under my belt. Some of the books on the list seem pretty heavy going but I am going to give it a go all the same. Check out the list, how many of those books have you read?