People are afraid to merge in Los Angeles

“I realize that money doesn't matter. That all that does is that I want to see the worst”. This sentence, from the book “Less than zero” by Bret Easton Ellis, describes this story accurately. I sat on my cosy sofa, read this book and I felt more and more awful and terrible page by page. I would have liked to stop reading, forget the story, think about something nice and beautiful but my mind was deeply focused on the need to see the worst. Therefore I saw the worst.

I read about loneliness, muffled cry, soundless scream and getting lost. Whilst reading this book I experienced “longing for more”, without the knowledge of the particular thing which was looked for. I saw solitude in the crowd as well as sadness filled with laugh, music and parties. Finally I met the undefined fear dressed as the excitement and perverse.

The book shows the story of teenagers who ask the questions of life but don’t know how and where to find the proper answers. They do not respect their parents or teachers as nobody listens to them or tries to understand their dilemmas and fears. They have no one to talk to, so they deal with all their problems by using drugs and treating the perverse sex as an easy way to have fun or money.

- 'It's what?' - Rip wants to know.

- 'It's... I don't think it's right'

- 'What is right? If you want something, you have the right to take it. If you want to do something, you have the right to do it.' (...)

- 'But you don't need anything. You have everything' - I tell him.

Rip looks at me. 'No. I don't'

- What?'

- 'No. I don't'

There's a pause and then I ask, 'Oh, shit, Rip, what don't you have?'

- 'I don't have anything to lose'

Unfortunately they waste a lot. They lose everything. They shed their opportunities, dreams, plans, youth, relationships, confidence, self-esteem and dignity. Therefore they start to believe that they are less than zero.

This book disturbed me because of its contests regarding hopelessness, sadness and the reality it displayed. It made me excited as the plot is remarkable. I felt the pain whilst having read it and this was exactly what I should have felt. 

“I don't close my eyes. You can disappear here without knowing it.” I disappeared for a couple of hours just to finish reading this book and this opened my eyes.

A warning from a good boy...

The first book written by Mario Vargas Llosa which I read was “The bad girl”. I was so interested in the plot of this novel that I missed my bus stop when I was reading this book in the bus. This novel means more than just a story for me. It touched me deeply and completely changed my point of view regarding the life, relationship, love and human being. 

“The Bad Girl” is a story about Ricardo from Peru who falls in love with a beautiful girl called Lily, who claims to be from Chile. From the very beginning Lily is described as being a liar so we can’t trust a single word she is saying. On one hand she is delicate, lovely, romantic and charming but on the other hand we can easily notice that she is insolent and dishonest. She uses Ricardo to achieve her goals and after that she disappears, leaving him completely distraught. 

Despite the fact that Ricardo knows that Lily is a vile, horrible and atrocious person he still loves her. He spends the rest of his life waiting for her. She comes back a couple of times, always pretending to be someone else, but her inhuman character shows that it has to be Lily without question. Ricardo abhors this and he feels sadness and anger, however he is ready to do anything she wants him to do, even sacrifice his life. His life choice is to be a victim of her ambitions, selfishness and ruthlessness.

The time flies, the places of this story are changed, the political and social background of the novel shows that for many nations the years described in this book are difficult and significant, but all of Ricardo’s choices are determined only by his first and only love.

This story is painful but it has to be exactly as it is to highlight that our behavior is powerful. To be a human is powerful, especially when being human means being inhuman. 

Even bad boys with bad dreams should be careful when meeting the bad girl....

I believe in belief

“I had belief. I did not know, or for the moment care, what exactly it was I had to believe in. I only knew that belief in something was the first step away from believing in nothing, the first step away from a world which only recognised what it could count, measure, sell or buy.” [Paul Torday]

“Salmon fishing in the Yemen” is a book about dreams that come true. A sheikh from the Yemen wants to introduce salmon fishing, which he really enjoys, to his desert country. His idea sounds like madness but he is determined so much that he finds people who are able to help him. The first person is Harriet Chetwoode-Talbot, a consultant and his representative in the UK. The second one is Alfred “Fred” Jones who is the British government expert in salmon fisheries. As a scientist Fred doesn’t believe in success of the project. At the beginning he tries to boycott this crazy idea but due to political reasons his boss pushes him harder to engage in this job. What is more, after a couple of meetings and conversations with the sheikh, Fred starts to understand the curiosity of the sheik’s point of view. Impossible things start to be a challenge. Inability is just the border which has to be crossed. Dreams are going to be the purpose and finally they come true.

The political and social background of all decisions which are made when the Salmon Fishing project is realized is fabulously described. It makes this book more meaningful and important. The characters’ personal life is also shown as a layered surface which makes the novel extraordinary and surprising as well as realistic. 

“I believed in belief. I didn’t exactly feel as if I was on the road to Damascus, and I was aware I could not think straight because of the power of the sun, but now I knew what the Yemen salmon project was all about. It had already worked its transformation on me. It would do the same for others.” [Paul Torday]

This marvelous book written by Paul Torday, followed by the beautiful film directed by Lasse Hallström (with a slightly different screenplay in comparison to the original book), transforms lives. It has transformed the author’s reality from being an engineer to reaching success in writing. It transforms the way of thinking from “believing in nothing” to “believing in something”. 

„A truth to believe, believe, believe before you die, die, die...” [Jo Twist]

All Hallows and Melusina

The first Philippa Gregory’s book I read was „The Other Boleyn Girl”, about Anne Boleyn – Henry the Eighth’s wife, and her sister – Henry the Eighth’s mistress. I wasn’t impressed with the writing, I’m afraid. Despite this fact I found the book very interesting because of its historical background and completely different point of view, showing the relationship between sisters, not only as a historical fact from an encyclopedia, but also as an emotional competition. Philippa Gregory emphasized the small details which were critical for the English history and which were based on the most common and basic human feelings, like love, passion, jealousy and hatred. The story shown by Gregory in this book was filmed, and the film was very successful not only in the UK but also worldwide. 

“The White Queen” is also a historical novel. Many parts of the story are fictitious but they are based on the real history of the UK. It is the story of the cousins’ war between the House of York and Lancaster in XV century. The “White Queen” is Elizabeth Woodville, a young Lancastrian widow, who is loved by the charismatic and invincible King of England Edward the Fourth of York. He decided to marry her, which created a lot of new enemies for him, who didn’t agree with his will, and so didn’t want to accept Elizabeth as a right Queen of England and their children as the heirs.

Elizabeth is shown as a fascinating heroine who is beautiful, smart, strong, ambitious and confident. She believes in magic and relies on Melusina, the water goddess. The legend of Melusina and the descriptions of the magic practices make this book fabulous. The whole story is more powerful and mystical because of magic, and shows how human behaviour and choices are hardly determined by everything we believe in.

“The White Queen” is a book about being a woman in a men’s world, about being a lover, mother, daughter and widow in the medieval period. It’s a book about choices, worries, lost opportunities, fears and hope. Philippa Gregory was asked if she could go back in time and live in any of the royal courts which one would she choose she replied: “I would be absolutely mad to want to be a woman of any of these times. A Tudor or Plantagenet woman was wholly ruled by men: either father or husband. She would find it difficult to seek any education, make her own fortune, or improve her circumstances. If one could go back in time and be a wealthy man these would be times of adventure and opportunity but still tremendously dangerous”. I have to agree with her on one hand, but on the other hand we need to remember that despite the fact that women couldn’t vote at that time and were dependent on men, they were able to give men their heirs. This fact was essential and remains the same these days. This truth can easily be found in the discussed book: “He promised her that he would give her everything, everything she wanted, as men in love always do. And she trusted him despite herself, as women in love always do.”