As always, I'm reading many books at the same time.

The Kreutzer Sonata; by Leo Tolstoy
I thought I'd breeze through this book in an hour or two, but it's taking me much longer. I forgot that none of Tolstoy's books are easy reading, heh. So no matter how short the story is, it's not going to be a quick read. (Doesn't help that I'm a slow reader.)

I'm not sure how I feel about the book so far. While I can't help but agree with the main character's narrative at times, there are a lot of things that just make me go 'huh..?', and in a rather angry way at that. I've a poor choice of words here, but he seems to be a feminist and a sexist at the same time, and it's a befuddling combination.

Flight of a Butterfly; Various
A small collection of hokku, read for JLC2. I had thought in vain, once more, that I'm going to go through this one fast, because seriously, how long can a 300+ page book with only three lines on each page take you? :P But it turns out that I stop after nearly every poem to contemplate on it for an hour. The biggest part of the book is taken up by Basho (works of whom I've finished reading already), and now there are just small "trial versions" for many other poets.

Maria Fedorovna's Diaries
It's one of the very painful books to read, at least for me. Truly, it's just a simple narrative of her days (1915 and beyond), and truly, I know what's about to happen most of the time (I'm not the best History student, but not knowing that would've put me to grave shame), but it doesn't make it any easier. Though, reading Nikolai's diary two years ago was much worse.

Labels: books, history, japanese literature challenge 2, memoirs, poetry, russia, russian

Odna Ten' Na Dvoikh; by Tatiana Ustinova
(One Shadow for Two)

Continuing with my 'so braindead' series I bring you the second novel of T. Ustinova.

Many years ago a woman is murdered. Her spouse, an architect named Andrei Danilov, is the first and seemingly only suspect, and the only thing that saves him from jail was a road police officer who took his time questioning Danilov on the legitimacy of his driver's license.

Fast forward to now, and something goes terribly wrong. Somebody destroys the house, the house, Danilov has been working on. Somebody keeps reminding him of his spouse's death in crudest ways. Danilov's long time Best Friend gets pregnant, and for some reason he doesn't like it. Danilov's mother invites him to his father's latest book presentation, and it's hard. Too hard.

Because you see, Danilov was supposed to become a famous pianist. But he couldn't, and now his parents are forever disappointed in him. So to get over it somehow, he builds a life of structure and order around him. Everything's according to a regimen. Danilov is very OCD.

I can't decide whether I liked this book more than the first one. The first one was more of a romance novel with a bit of suspense & mystery thrown in to make things more exciting. This one is definitely more of a mystery novel, but with a love story on the side of course. I can even call it a thriller. And once more, Ustinova's characters are detailed. She never shies away from giving them a whole lot of complexes and inner turmoils. They don't seem to be easy on themselves, ever.

What I didn't like is that the main character, Danilov, was sort of... repetitive. He's supposed to be, considering his character, but at some points in the story it got old. Another thing I didn't like is that I kept walking around the flat all paranoid, but that's not the book's weak point, of course. It's just me, and my nocturnal lifestyle, and my cowardly nature. :P

Amazingly available on Amazon here. In Russian, though.

Labels: mystery, russian

Moi Lichniy Vrag; by T. Ustinova;
(My Personal Enemy)

I've been braindead for ages, so I asked my Mum to rec me some easy reading. Fiction that's pleasant enough, not too thinky, not too simple. Nothing that would make me want to wash my eyeballs and put them on shelf to rest. Forever.

I liked Ustinova's works. Sure, she belongs to the army of many a mystery writers who somehow manage to produce eight hundred paperback volumes per year, but she's one of the best in there.

Moi Lichniy Vrag is a story about a young woman who works on one of the major television channels in Russia, and somehow finds herself in the middle of a dirty intrigue. Her loved one turns out to be a classical asshole, friends all around happen to enter gloomy times of their own (though they do not abandon her), she's left jobless... blah, blah.

Ustinova paints her characters well. Sometimes I get the feeling that she goes overboard with protagonists (though the supporting cast is never left out), but she does it so well, it doesn't annoy me. (Only just a little.) And there's also one definitive thing I enjoy in her writing: she creates little details and never forgets to pick them up throughout the story. These little signs that actually make you feel like you know the character.

Lovely.

Somehow, there are three versions of this book (paperback, hardcover, audio) currently available on Amazon. I'm shocked. So if you speak Russian, go for it. Even if your level is intermediate. It's easy to read and is entertaining enough.

Labels: books, mystery, russian

Hero of Our Time, by Lermontov;
I wonder if anyone out there loves Pechorin as much as I do. Many people think it absurd and wrong, and yes, absolutely, I agree with them. Pechorin is not the role model we should all proselytise to our children, but I say -- fuck that. The man was honest, honest with others, honest with himself -- the hardest and the worst judge there is. If only there were more pechorins amongst us, in at least a 1:1000 ratio, I'd deem this world a better place.

Selected Poems, by Lermontov;
I still have little to no idea why I was given such a high mark on my poetry analysis during the semester final exam -- I'm rather useless when it comes to it. I love Lermontov's poems, but can't put this love to proper words for the life of me.

the Overcoat, by Gogol;
I still don't know where everyone has found the humour in this story. By the time I was finished, I was fighting really hard between going ballistic on the first willing victim and bawling my eyes out, since I was in the middle of the class. It is, if anything, sad and very, very cruel. If there's a need to bring out society's worse aspects and shine some light in them, I think it's better to do in a different fashion.

Dead Souls, by Gogol;
I've struggled with this at first, but then it has grown on me. Gogol's language is amazing, true that. Still, at times I've dropped the book in my lap and idly stared at the wall trying to figure out why he'd chose to say what he'd just said. Somehow, I can see how this book killed him.

Labels: russian, school

Some of these are fairly old reads.

Breaking the Da Vinci Code, by Simon Cox;
I love books like Da Vinci Code because they give me a basic (and fictional) introduction to things I've heard and had a vague idea about. So usually after reading something DVC-esque, I ask, "Hmm... Is it true?.. I wonder," and go on a research spree. So needless to say I liked Breaking the DVC. Now I have a fictional introduction, and a basic introduction to subjects of interest. Basically, Breaking the DVC is some sort of a 'reading list' for me. Whenever I want to pretend that I'm a smart-ass, I grab the book, open it on any page, and google the subject. :P


the Vampire, by Montague Summers;
GOD AS MY WITNESS, it took me years to read this book. And seeing as I spent so much time reading it, I remember nothing, with an exception of a legend or three. I may have to return and reread it at some point in life, but definitely not in the foreseeable future.

Satanic Bible, the, by Anton Szandor LaVey;
I've had my issues with this book (even more so on the second reread, and even more so with Russian translation), but overall it's quite useful and informative. Groundwork, so to say. Starting point of thorough research.

I really like the way LaVey argues his points of view and theories, though. I don't always agree, but it's enjoyable to read.

Alexandrian BOS;
Yes, well, can't exactly take notes on BoS of varying traditions. Mostly read it to study further.

Witchcraft Today, by Gerald Gardner;
One of the first books on Wicca I've ever read.

69, by Ryu Murakami;
I am sad to note that I remember very little from this book. I've read it during a rather rough personal time. I recall some of the things resonating soundly with me. Not the drunken dirty orgies part, though. :P Some general life observations.

Labels: books, paganism, russian, satanism, vampirism, wicca

All by Arthur Conan Doyle, all dealing with Sherlock.

List of short stories I've read so far:

• The Boscombe Valley Mystery
• A Scandal in Bohemia
• The Five Orange Pips
• The Man with the Twisted Lip
• The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle
• The Adventure of the Speckled Band
• The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor
• The Adventure of the Yellow Face
• The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual
• The Adventure of the Final Problem
• The Adventure of the Empty House
• The Adventure of the Dancing Men
• The Adventure of the Priory School
• The Adventure of Black Peter

Aw, my little old book is falling apart. I've about 1/3 left to go, and then another book I bought in a used books shop. Most of the stories in that book are repeats from the one I owned, but some aren't, so it was definitely worth that less-than-1-dollar I paid for it. If not more.

Labels: books, mystery, russian, yay sherlock

Евгений Онегин, Пушкин;
No really. :P Saying anything about EO or any other work of classic Russian literature is like talking about Pacman, but I wants to log everything I reads.

Лирика Пушкина;
Analysing and talking about poetry is such a kick in the shins for me, really. Purest pain. Most of Pushkin's poems seem to be so light-hearted, friendly (yes, friendly), and easy to understand -- and that's the hardest thing about them.

Горе от ума, Грибоедов;
Ouch, I think I sounded really angry when we were reading this in class. These little moments of my school life always come back to haunt me in my thoughts. I hate Literature. ;.;

Labels: poetry, russian, school

Deja Vu (2006);
Shoot the critics, I loved the movie. IT IS ON A RARE OCCASION THESE DAYS, that I can watch the movie in one go. I usually let the disc sit in my DVD player/ have the file open for ungodly amounts of time, watching for 20 mins a day. This was one of those rare exceptions. Lovely.

I felt a bit wary about the ending, though. A part of me was dying to see it end the way it did, but another part of me kept screaming for the opposite. Oh, you know how my beliefs are.

Джентельмены удачи;
A good ole well-trusted Russian comedy FTW. :P It's a 3456th re-watch, but it works every time.

Mr & Mrs Smith;
Yet another re-watch. Yet another movie I can go and watch just about now and have fun, no matter the mood I'm in. Continuously do I stick to my evil ways of killing the movie critics off. :P

Остров;
I can't say that the movie wasn't worth watching, but I definitely don't understand what the buzz was all about. It didn't... touch me, the way it should've. Or at least the way I've expected it to, after reading so much about it and listening to all the awe-inspired comments. I say, "Blah. Go watch if you wish."

Mexican, the;
And another re-watch. (What? I barged into my mother's room, snatched the remote, and demanded ransom. I do it. Rarely, but I do it.) This movie is 6 years old, so I wonder why it still pisses me off, reading overly negative comments about it. I should've got over it years ago, no? No. I can never get over the fact that people refuse to watch movie, any movie, for what it is -- fun. Do I need to spell it out? F.U.N. Christ. There's also another word, it's called 'entertainment', but I figure if 'fun' is too hard to master, 'entertainment' would be a little bit too much. We'll get to it at a later date. >P

Labels: aj, movie, rewatch, russian

If you're still surprised that I read other things besides fanfics about sordid relationships between certain HP characters, then you're to be surprised again. :P

Cards on the Table, by Agatha Christie;
TSK, Poirot novels are my favourite ones. I AM RUNNING OUT OF AC BOOKS IN THE HOUSE.

Fugitives and Refugees: a Walk in Portland, Oregon, by Chuck Palahniuk;
Makes me want to go to Portland and walk all over the place with this book in hand.

I have strange relationships with CP's books. I attack them like crazy, but have the tendency to stop somewhere in the middle for a month, and then finish in one sitting. So it takes me two sittings to finish the book, but they often have a huge time span between them. No idea why.

Red-Headed League, the, by Arthur Conan Doyle;
This book that contains this story, it's older than my mother. It's old, it's falling apart, its pages are all yellow with darker spots here and there. And it's so pleasant to read because of that.

Unfortunately, it's published in a rather... scatter-y way, meaning stories from various anthologies and one novel were crammed into one book, so there's no real order to it. It's no big deal, since it doesn't change the content (and context, presumably), it just means that I'm going to list separate short stories as I read them, not the finished anthologies. :P

Blah di blah...

Sex and the City, by Candace Bushnell;
I've read it in English after reading it in Russian, and was surprised at how much the translation altered the book's mood. I know it happens, but this book is the perfect example, I believe.

Anyway. I like the book, and I like it more than the TV series. *DODGES BULLETS* They're like two different universes anyway, the book and the TV show. There are some particular quotations that I enjoy, but since I didn't own the book and don't have it anymore, I'll be able to post just one.

Wiccan Prayerbook, the: Daily Meditations, Inspirations, Rituals, and Incantations, by Mark Ventimiglia;
I'll have to admit: my first reaction to this book was disappointment. I figure the main reason is that I'm not Wiccan (as I keep stating over and over :P). Or the fact that I'm simply not the one to pray. But as I studied it more, it grew on me. There's certainly something very calming about a lot of these incantations.

Labels: books, mr palahniuk, mystery, paganism, russian, wicca, yay sherlock

ARR MATEY. Apparently I like writing posts about the movies months after their release date. It just makes me happier that way.

Pirates of the Caribbean: at World's End;
I watched this in theatres two times: Once when I was still in America, second time when I came back home, in Russian. I can't stress this enough: I love Pirates. I love them, and obviously I can't come up with any coherent blurb about the movie. I now dream of owning all three on DVD, while I buy PotC chocolate eggs and toys. :P *waves her pirate flag*

Shrek the Third;
I've heard a lot of people say that it wasn't as funny as blah di blah, but whatever. It kicked some major arse. :P

Oh, and if you didn't know, the current state of animation is one scary, scary, scary state. Some things were just too real.

Spider-Man 3;
OK. I guess it didn't help that I watched Spidey right after watching Shrek, because I kept laughing through it. I mean, I see the lyric and the drama, but heck it was funny. The Flying Moment with Flag on the Background, I shall never forget. Ever. But emo!Spidey is pretty brill. :P

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix;
I loved it. I missed the premiere, and I cried and I cried, and when I got to see the movie two days later, I sweat and I sweat, because it was damn hot and I was wearing my Slytherin attire. There are about two things about the movie that I would dismiss and pretend that they never ever happened, but as a whole I really enjoyed it. I want to re-watch it, but now I have to wait for the DVD release, since it's all gone from theatres in here by now.

Lovely.

Labels: arr pirates, cartoon, potterism, russian, watched in cinema

-- У меня есть одна мысль насчет Эванса. Я чувствую, что в действительности он не играет никакой роли, что, хотя он послужил, так сказать, отправной точкой, сам по себе он совершенно несущественнен. Как в том рассказе Уэллса, где принц построил чудесный дворец или храм над гробницей своей возлюбленной. А когда его закончили, оказалось, что один фрагмент все портит, нарушая гармонию. И принц велел убрать его, а это и была сама гробница.

- Почему не Эванс?, Агата Кристи

Labels: quotation, russian

Shanghai Knights;
Amusing. I love Jackie Chan movies. You can't take that away from me.

Happy Feet;
This movie was one constant LOL. And I needn't mention that the animation is amazing, now need I? I'd totally get this one on DVD.

the Pursuit of Happyness;
I think I'm not the first one to say that, but this was a rather unusual role for Will Smith. My first reaction was 'lol wut', but he did prove that he's a very good actor. I enjoyed this movie. I even bought a Rubik's Cube. Couldn't solve it. Though admittedly I stopped trying like an hour later. :P

Жмурки;
Terrible of me, but I usually avoid Russian movies, aside from particular few. I kinda sorta had to watch this one, since it was popped into a DVD player in a middle of a get-together. I'm glad it was done, because I enjoyed this. The ending was hilarious. And a bit sad, because there's a whole lot of truth to it, too.

From Russia With Love;
Ah, Mr Bond, we meet again. I want to watch all Bond movies out there. :P

Labels: bond, movie, russian