false 1 15 14 true 7425257 read 1 true 7425256 currently-reading 0 true 7425255 to-read http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77003887 to: The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Hardcover) by Milan Kundera
Quotes i like from the book:
P4 "In the sunset of dissolution, everything is illuminated by the aura of nostalgia, even the guillotine."
　　
　　P8 “…the sketch that is our life is a sketch for nothing, an outline with no picture.”
　　
　　P15 “Love does not make itself felt in the desire for copulation (a desire that extends to an infinite number of women) but in the desire for shared sleep (a desire limited to one woman).
　　
　　P49 “If a love is to be unforgettable, fortuities must immediately start fluttering down to it like birds to Francis of Assisi’s shoulders.”
　　
　　P52 “…Because human lives are composed in precisely such a fashion. They are composed like music.
　　
　　P83 “He who gives himself up like a prisoner of war must give up his weapons as well.”
　　“…love meant the constant expectation of a blow.”
　　
　　P110 “…From that time on she had known that beauty is a world betrayed. The only way we can encounter it is if its persecutors have overlooked it somewhere. Beauty hides behind the scenes of the May Day parade. If we want to find it, we must demolish the scenery.”
　　
　　P111 “Physical love is unthinkable without violence.”
　　
　　P121 “But a divorce won’t make any difference to you! You won’t lose a thing! I’ll give you all the property!”
　　“I don’t care about property,” she said.
　　“Then what do you care about?”
　　“Love,” she said with a smile.
　　“Love?” Franz asked in amazement.
　　“Love is a battle,” said Marie-Claude, still smiling. “And I plan to go on fighting. To the end.”
　　“Love is a battle?” said Franz. “Well, I don’t feel at all like fighting.” And he left.
　　
　　P122 “The thing that gives our every move its meaning is always totally unknown to us.”
　　
　　P199 “…between the approximation of the idea and the precision of reality there was a small gap of the unimaginable, and it was this hiatus that gave him no rest.”
　　
　　P238 “…the famous myth from Plato’s Symposium: People were hermaphrodites until God split them in two, and now all the halves wander the world over seeking on another. Love is the longing for the half of ourselves we have lost.”
　　
　　P289 “True human goodness, in all its purity and freedom, can come to the fore only when its recipient has no power. Mankind’s true moral test, its fundamental test (which lies deeply buried from view), consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals.”
　　
　　P297 “Perhaps all the questions we ask of love, to measure, test, probe, and save it, have the additional effect of cutting it short. Perhaps the reason we are unable to love is that we yearn to be loved, that is, we demand something (love) from our partner instead of delivering ourselves up to him demand-free and asking for nothing but his company.”
　　
　　P298 “Human time does not turn in a circle; it runs ahead in a straight line. That is why man cannot be happy: happiness is the longing for repetition.”
　　
　　P304 “Horror is a shock, a time of utter blindness. Horror lacks every hint of beauty. All we can see is the piercing light of an unknown event awaiting us. Sadness, on the other hand, assumes we are in the know.”
　　
　　P309 “her own love she considered above reproach, while his seemed mere condescension.”
　　
　　P313 “The sadness meant: we are at the last station. The happiness meant: we are together. The sadness was form, the happiness content. Happiness filled the space of sadness." ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77725735 to: The Kite Runner (Paperback) by Khaled Hosseini
a moving story, but what does it mean to me?
A moving story in the humanity category, with a thick cultural flavour (Afghan), written in natural language that is also inevitably beautiful. It's indeed a page turner. Would have given it 5 stars for these good qualities.
Yet after being moved by a story very well-written,I asked, and? The fact is I do not personally feel connected with or INSPIRED by the story, neither did I learn anything significant, both knowledge wise and emotion wise from it. So I put a 4 for overall rating. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77725552 to: The Glass Castle: A Memoir (Hardcover) by Jeannette Walls
Absolute Perfection!
I finished The Glass Castle in a few days. It was truly a wonderful read. Jeanette is as close to a modern day super woman as you can possibly get. It was amazing to read about all she and her family had been through. One would think she would just follow the footsteps of her father and being an alcoholic...but with a brilliant mind! She, however, did not. She used all her situations and turned them into valuable life lessons. She is an authentic example of how hard work and determination can get you to any place in life you desire! ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77389633 to: How to Win Friends & Influence People (Mass Market Paperback) by Dale Carnegie
This book should be read by everyone. It is full of important information that everyone can benefit from.
Its most important feature is its combination of well formulated principles and carefully selected life stories. These stories well illustrate the principles and also make the book very interesting to read. Its style is like "tell stories, make a point".
I was really surprised as to how much this book matters and how much I learned by reading it. Yes, some of the advice may be obvious, but it brings the correct way in which to interact with others to the forefront of the mind and that's why it's so valuable. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77176735 to: The Godfather (Paperback) by Mario Puzo
The Godfather explicitly creates a patriarchy world where men undergo fierce competitions with each other in a masculine way: shrewdly, decisively, cold-heartedly, while women are strictly excluded outside the business.Thus through researches on male characters'life experiences, psychological conditions, crime philosophy, life principles, and Sicilian culture codes conveyed in their behaviors, numerous studies on the male protagonists, like Gardaphé and Cawelti, have investigated how the their personalities and strategies facilitate or hinder their career. Meanwhile, other critics like Sun and Torgovnick acknowledge the mafia system as a world of male domination where men benefit from the bloody competitions, as opposite to which the female characters descent to the second-class civilians and become victims of domestic patriarchy as well as of men’s hot pursuit of profit and power in business. However, these critics fail to discover the fact that patriarchy system, as the foundation of the cruel battles among men and their constant ignorance of women, is not simply the roots of women’s bitterness. Contrary to the common expectation that the masculine mafia system ensures men’s dominance and interest, their life and happiness actually are also severely undermined by patriarchy. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77176364 to: Memoirs of a Geisha (Hardcover) by Arthur Golden
why?
How could Women spend so much energy on getting the one they want?
When a person who has suffered too much has met her every first lover,she can change her desire so sudden and do the things she has never done before;she can bare more pain from her life and still not give up what she want--just become a famous geisha in Gion for him, the one she loves most.
But to become a geisha, Sayori has experienced plenty of inner turmoil. She had a very best friend(named Pumpkin) before she's adopted.(PS.adoption is the first confirm from people who think she has potentiality to become a geisha.)Before she came to the geisha house,she's a normal maid ,just like other young girls. Pumpkin shows her warmth when they first meet,and soon they become sisterhood.But because they have the same goal and she has to give up this friendship so she could fous on her geisha trianing.Because she knows this is the chance for her, to win the compitation,to find a better way reaching for her love--chairman. After that,they never talked with eachother again.
The relationship chairman is her desire. Sayori is pulled in two directions by two compelling obligations.they're also her ambitions--be chairman's love,and become the most popular geisha in Gion,which is caused by the first ambition. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77074170 to: The Rescue (Paperback) by Nicholas Sparks
I couldn't put this book down when I started it. I even snuck in some reading time during the light hours at work because I was so enchanted. It surprised me that the initial rescue of the little boy was so quick, but then you realize that it wasn't him that actually needed it. Great read for anyone who loves a good story!
But part of the plot is a little bit predictable. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77063750 to: The Little Prince (Paperback) by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
simple yet exquisite, amusing yet touching.
I would be hard pressed to believe that this book was actually written for kids at all. Who ever the audience intended, it is still a wonderful story about a boy and his small, small planet with a single flower. Wonderful at every turn giving the message that growing up we lose our sense of freedom, fun, innocence, creativity and imagination.
There is no such thing as being too old to read this book. I recommend it to everyone who wants to be the best human being they can be. ]]>