Travel Read : Murakami, Tolstoy, Oscar Wilde

I'm not a reader. Not someone who would spend hours on books on daily basis. I lack persistence. One thing I'm good at is reading in a moving car. And I get bored easily. Usually I would whip out my smartphone, read something random online. But I've bought way too many books and read too little, so why not go back to classic bounded papers? 

Travelling back to Terengganu is not as tedious as it was few years back. 4 hours on the road is bearable. But it's 4 hours of staring at nothing but asphalt and the repetitive roadside greenery. Oh.. I hate expressway. So I brought 4 books with me, hoping I would somehow manage to finish them during the long holiday.

Margery Kempe: How To Be a Medieval Woman

I had high hope for this one. It's only 125 pages long and the Penguin Classics are always nice to hold. I'm a sucker for a pocket sized literature. The title is intriguing, don't you think? I at least thought so. But it was a dull read, like reading a diary of your very religious cousin hoping to find some delicious secret to gossip about during family gathering only to find her same holier-than-thou facade bleeding through her most intimate writing. It was uninteresting and tiresome. I finished reading it in two days.

 Oscar Wilde: Only Dull People Are Brilliant at Breakfast

It's a collection of Oscar Wilde's quotes. An interesting read but I prefer books with some narratives thrown into them. Still, brilliant words from a brilliant writer. It should be titled as "Sass by Sass Master Oscar Wilde be Wilding". I should really get a copy of "The Picture of Dorian Gray". I kinda know the theme but the way he used his word is too intriguing to pass.

Leo Tolstoy: How Much Land Does A Man Need?

Hmm.. what a familiar name, eh? That was what I thought when I vetted through this copy. I know I heard that name somewhere. Tolstoy.. Tolstoy.. I'm sure he's written something famous. So this book is actually a compilation of two short stories; "How Much Land Does A Man Need?" and "What Men Live By". A light read. Interesting and profound. I adore short stories and this man is amazing. I would definitely get more of his work. Anna Karenina, anyone?

Haruki Murakami: Sputnik Sweetheart

"Oh Murakami is overrated"

No he's not. 

A master on his own standard. What a sweetheart this work has been for me. I'm not going to spoil anything about this book. Delightful. Unlike Kafka on The On The Shore, I actually read through this in one sitting, holding my breath to know what comes next. And as always, Murakami always manages to make me feel emotionally constipated. He never ends his story where we want it to end. Witty exchanges. A gist of mystery, nightmarish plight.. How to put it? Kafkaesque? I'm not sure if that's a correct term for it. Read it. Don't let it go unnoticed. Suffer with me.

That's it. That's all.. I really need to read more. 

Adieu