Atone for Your Sins--II

My friend and I saw Atonement today. The movie made me cry, whereas the book left me in shock, and some outrage once I finished it. Even though I knew how it was going to end, I still cried. James McAvoy may very well be my newest favorite British/Scottish actor (he was halfway there with Last King of Scotland).

Considering how I knew the story, there were few surprises in the movie for me--but I still enjoyed it and want to see it again. The exception was the musical score. I loved it. The click-clack of the type-writer has never been so musical and melodious.

If you're on the fence, wondering if you should see the movie or read the book first, I think I'd recommend the movie, which did a fairly good job of staying loyal to its source. Visually, it is beautiful and the acting is great. The book can be too wordy at times and dwell on minutiae, which even I occasionally got impatient with. Still, I enjoyed and recommend both.

Atone for Your Sins

I am going to see Atonement this week, and felt I had to read the book before I saw the movie. So I spent a good part of the weekend not doing the millions of things I needed to get done, and reading the book instead. I was so shocked at the ending, I had to re-read the last 40 pages or so to make sure I understood. Shocked! Shocked I tell you! I want to talk about the book with someone, anyone but fear that they will either roll their eyes and imply I'm crazy (psha) or yell at me for ruining the ending. Either way, I have Atonement on the brain and can only rest easy after I have seen the movie. Maybe.

Which made me think of a few things:

• Books are incredibly addictive for me. I just can't put the damned things down. I practically drown in them. I give up cooking so I can continue reading. Which is the real reason I had to stop reading for a while. I could easily lose my job because of my reading habit. As it is, I am sneaking reading sessions in between phone calls and meetings. That can't be good.
• Any Man Booker Prize books that I have read so far, I have loved. So far, I've read about half a dozen books (out of forty). I think I need to address that situation immediately.
  
• I need to go to the library more often. As it is, I walked away with a box of free books that were sitting there begging for a new home. Next thing you know, I'll get paid for reading. Weeeee! (Seriously, is there a job that will pay me to read books?)

That's it for now. Thankfully, I returned Atonement and can't rehash and re-read it. I am moving on. I have now borrowed Enduring Love by the same author. See, I'm expanding my horizons.

Return of the Bookworm

There are two kinds of people: leaders and the followers. I'm a little bit of a hybrid --I'm a loud follower when I realize someone is already leading. And trust me, there are plenty of smart people leading right now. Ex-smokers, re-runners and feminizers.

So I thought I would commit to the blogosphere some of the plans and thoughts I have in mind for 2008. Especially since I have encouraged a certain young lady to do the same a while ago:

• Read more books: I was once a devout (book) reader. Then I started working and vegetating in front of the television after work. I miss reading books and hanging out at libraries. I almost called in sick during my lunch hour on Monday when I went to the library--it was kind of hard tearing myself away. Which brings me to:
• Cancel Cable: Between my slightly addictive personality and boredom/exhaustion, I get hooked on too many shows, too easily. Even when I hate shows, I'll watch them and analyze exactly why I hate them. My best example? Sex in the City, a program I loathe, yet watch repeatedly to see what it is that I'm missing. Plus, TimeWarner is ripping me off.
  
• Get my PM certificate. I'm one and a half classes away and registered. What could go wrong?
  
• Attend more concerts, shows and cultural events. I'm off to a good start with tickets to see the Foo Fighters (yay!).
• Knit/Crochet more: There are babies coming who need blankets, cousins who need fuzzy flip-flops and friends who need scarves.
  
• Learn to Dance: By popular demand, and because I would like to look better than a cross between Elaine and an epileptic Medusa.
  

There are a couple of secret goals and resolutions, but I'm not ready to announce them yet. Should I fail miserably, I would prefer to fail miserably without too many people knowing.

Lost--Again

I just realized that I am missing my copy of The Count of Monte Cristo--again. This is not due to my carelessness or indifference towards my books--but because I insist on sharing my books with people who forget to return them to me. I may have single-handedly made Karen Armstrong a best selling author, because I have purchased at least six copies of A History of God for myself--only the most recent one of which is in my possession. This does not include copies I bought with the intention of gifting to people.

I guess I have to stop by Barnes & Noble on the way home tomorrow.

Wishlist: Book

Of course, I'll have to modify the title a bit, but very accurate description of my week overall.

Sadly, I'm not in Kansas (City) anymore

For the first, and possibly the last time in my life, I wish I was in Kansas City so I could rescue these books. It's strange that this bookstore owner would set fire to books no one wants as a form of protest. When I lived in Iran in the 80s, I literally hunted books the way most kids my age were hunting for contraband American movies and music. I learned Farsi for the express reason of expanding my reading possibilities (oh, and not getting the life beat out of me for failing in school).

The strange thing is, I just read an article in the NY Times, about how literary reading has been going down in Iran, because the publishing industry is constantly under attack of new rules and restrictions. Sadly now, as when I was living there, one of the few and most popular books in regular supply are Danielle Steel novels (the first time I heard of Danielle Steel was in Iran, when a bookstore owner recommended her books as "very popular with young ladies"). It confused me then; and it confuses the hell out of me now. Of course, traditional Iranian poetry and literature is abundant and rich--but it is not enough. Unfortunately, from what I have seen, the younger generation doesn't read traditional literature because it's familiar and sometimes too rich. It seems there aren't many alternatives: Rumi and friends, or Ms. Steel.

So it seems once again there is an abundance of imbalance. Too many unwanted books in KC (for lack of interest) and too much lack of interest in Iran for dearth of books. Ideally, I'd like to go to KC, pack up the 20,000 unwanted books and give them a good home--my home. Or maybe if I'm very altruistic, a local prison. Hell, why not ship them to New Orleans and donate them to a library that was washed away there?

How bad can a trip to Kansas City be?