‘o you have torn all my life to pieces’

I’m in the process of reading "Tess of the d’Urbervilles" by Thomas Hardy. Got this book at Gramedia and the only copy left. Even though the book condition couldn't be called brand new, but I've been searching this book since a long time ago. Sadly this is taking me longer than normal. When I’m sick (even if it’s just a small cold) I don’t concentrate as well so reading becomes a chore sometimes. Especially when reading a book that isn’t just plain “eye candy”. This isn’t a simple book to read. It takes thought (like most classics). I can see why Thomas Hardy wasn’t received well by the critics of his day. Victorian era England was rather stodgy. Anyway, I rarely love classic romances like this (though this isn’t strictly a romance… it’s more of life of the everyday person - every day people do have love lives too!). PLUS- I don’t have to worry about running into the smuttiness that is in a lot of modern “romance” books (I just call them smut books). Aand I want this edition.

I love how Thomas Hardy describes Tess’s face from Angel Clare’s point of view. The reader can fully tell how much he, Angel, cares for her. Makes me want to sigh deeply *sigh*

(from Phase the Second: Maiden No More chapter 24):

How very lovable her face was to him. Yet there was nothing ethereal about it: all was real vitality, real warmth, real incarnation. And it was in her mouth that this culminated. Eyes almost as deep and speaking he had seen before, and cheeks perhaps as fair; brows as arched, a chin and throat almost as shapely; her mouth he had seen nothing to equal on the face of the earth. To a young man with the least fire in him that little upward lift in the middle of her red top lip was distracting, infatuating, maddening.

And all this while this young man was milking a cow and watching her milk another cow… Who knew a dairy farm could be so romantic? *roll eyes* :)

While she carries the burdens of the devil raping her and the angel leaving her. .

He still continues to go on his journey. Continuing on to his dreams.

I WANNA FIND FLUFFY D:

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist is without a doubt, one of my favourite movies of all time. Not only is the music amazing, but you can’t help but fall in love with Michael Cera. Honestly, he is just adorable and awkward and awesome… Anyways…

I wish that at least one night of my life will end up like this movie. I don’t give a damn about the Notebook… I want a Nick and Norah-esque night. Preferably with Michael Cera, but that’s definitely pushing the boundaries of reality right now. I just want a night of adventure in NYC with my cool friends looking for a secret cool show for a cool band.. is that too much to ask?

To many, this post is pointless - sorry i’m not sorry - but i’m watching the movie right now, and so it is on the forefront of my mind. And this is a blog. My blog. So i can post whatever I want. Even if it is pointless rambling, better to put it on the world-wide-web for everyone to see right?

Nerd Status = me

Opens at Nightfall Closes at Dawn

One aspect of the novel that I really love is the abundant journal keeping and writings from many of my favorite characters. They contain their longings, memories, magic and secrets.
****************

It started with a suicide note.

“The sealed envelope hangs from the second topmost button of her coat, until Prospero arrives.”

and continues

“He copies down sections of books, writes out words and symbols he does not understand at first but that become intimately familiar beneath his ink-stained fingers, formed again and again in increasing steady lines.”

“He begins each notebook the same way, with a detailed drawing of a tree inscribed with a black ink inside the front cover.”

- Marco (at least that’s what he named himself, and maybe that’s all that matters.)
*
“Pages and pages of observations, recounting his experiences, mostly so he will not forget them but also to capture something of the circus on paper, something he can hold on to.”

- Herr Thiessen
*
“After the circus departed, he wrote down every detail he could remember about it so it would not fade in his memory.”

- Bailey
*
“…takes a closer look at the blueprints and sketches hanging from shelves and tacked to mirrors and paintings and windows. Some are complete rooms, others are bits of exterior architecture or elaborate archways and halls.”

- Chandresh
*

” the drafting table by the window is all but hidden in the meticulous ordered chaos of papers and diagrams and blueprints.”

- Mr. Ethan Barris

(push play above for a little review theme music)

***************

“I want a story,” he says.
“A story?”
“I want this story. Your story.”

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is absolutely masterful dan setelah membacanya, aku tidak ragu lagi mengatakan ini adalah buku favoritku di 2011. The Night Circus adalah salah satu buku yang sangat jarang kita jumpai dan adalah salah satu buku yang meninggalkan kesan pada pembaca. Jenis yang kamu menemukan dirimu mengambil dan membacanya lebih dari sekali, dan setiap kali Anda membacanya lagi, sisi lain dari kebrilianan itu terungkap.

The story started in spurts, dengan chapters pendek yang membingungkanku sampai akhirnya aku mulai mengerti alirannya. Semuanya terikat bersama dengat baik, dan kamu akan menyukai masterpice yang mempesona ini.

Prosanya lirikal dan hampir puitis dan dengan sensasi yang menciptakan dunia yang membuat pembaca ingin merasakannya sendiri. The book is a feast for the senses. Saat kamu membaca, kamu merasakan sutra gaun yang dikenakan salah satu pemain, merasakan makanan di 'midnight dinners', atau mencium bau karamel di udara saat kamu berjalan dari tenda ke tenda menjelajahi semua kesenangan yang ditawarkan sirkus.

Karakter-karakternya unik dan bervariasi. I loved all the characters, buku ini dipenuhi dengan karakter-karakter yang menurutku 'lovable', terutama 'the twins'. I loved Celia, dan mengharapkan masa kecil yang lebih baik untuknya. Aku tidak peduli dengan ayahnya sama sekali--what kind of (insert not-so-nice word here) yang menggabungkan anaknya untuk sesuatu seperti ini? Marco sedikit lebih misterius dari Celia--kita tidak tahu apapun selain seleksinya, pendidikannya, dan pekerjaannya dengan sang 'proprietor' sirkus, Christopher Lefevre. Dia mengenali Celia saat mereka bertemu, walaupun Celia tidak tahu bahwa dia adalah lawannya. Aku terkejut bahwa dia tidak mengambil keuntungan dari pengetahuan itu, tapi orang seperti itulah dia. We can't have Celia falling for a jerk, after all...

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is to me, much more than a book. It is an experience to be savoured and treasured by all of those who read it.