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Picture of the Moment

Whatever's in my eye won't go away

She is probably the less pretty one on the left, probably not your worst enemy, and most definitely not the prom queen. This is her toy box, and no tidying up is required. Joy!
Monday, June 15th, 2009

Favourism: Idlewild

It’s been two months since I posted my first Favourism entry. I have certainly missed it, so here we go again. :)

Idlewild, a Scottish rock band from Edinburgh, is another of my favourite bands. It’s one of the bands not enough people know about, and definitely deserves a lot more attention.

Since Idlewild were not too popular outside the UK, I discovered them relatively late – when I was living in Glasgow in 2006. I picked up their 2001 album, The Remote Part from Oxfam as Sophie was known to be a fan. The first song on that album was the first ever Idlewild song I listened to – "You Held the World In Your Arms". It is catchy, it is cool, and immediately won me over within seconds.

(more…)

Filed under Favourism - 2 Comments
Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

We Need To Talk About Kevin

I have decided to write this up before I forget the things I want to say about it.

We Need To Talk About Kevin had been sitting on my bookshelf for years before I finally picked it up and started reading it. It is about 500 pages long, which, I thought, was a bit long for my liking.1 When I finished the book about a month later, I was overwhelmed, and I wish I had discovered its beauty and immense darkness earlier.

Not that I have read a whole lot of them, but this is one of the best novels I have read.

From back cover of the UK version I have:

Shortly before his sixteenth birthday, Kevin Khatchadourian kills seven of his fellow high-school students, a cafeteria worker and a teacher. He is visited in prison by his mother, Eva, who narrates in a series of letters to her estranged husband, Franklin, the story of Kevin’s upbringing.

Upon reading the introduction, people would most probably sum up the book as “a parental nightmare”. However, it would be an unforgivable understatement as the novel is so much more than that.

I started the book very slowly because of the many difficult words – it is a very literary book, despite being in the form of personal letters. It was all done on purpose (I believe) because Eva is self-absorbed, she needs to show off her travels and vocabulary. She always insists that she is right, even when she tries to justify rejecting her son from his birth. She is certainly not likeable, but the successful characterisation made it very hard to not feel sympathy for her.

Kevin ends up murdering innocent people with elaborated plans. Throughout the book, readers follow Eva in retrospect, trying to find out what went wrong. And to some extent, they also need to find out what exactly happened. And whose fault is it? Is he born evil? Or is it Eva’s failed parenting? The book doesn’t give you answers. It brutally presents the facts and let you decide.

The ending of the novel is brilliant. Not to spoil it for anyone who wants to read, it ties everything together and confronts everyone with an undeniable sense of tragedy, lament and loss. It had me crying in a public place.

All I will say is that it is the most compelling and horrifying book I have read in a while. I highly recommend everyone to read this book.

  1. I have always preferred short stories or novella, as they tend to be more intense and doesn’t require prolonged attention and memory of characterisation. [↩]
Filed under Book Reviews - 3 Comments
Self Reflection - June 2nd - 4 Comments

The Mirror’s on the Floor

I have more to say, but I will rely on the immense power of the interweb and do a quick post.
Question: How can one gain confidence in the way they look?
I’d like some advice. It’s a bit more complicated than how I made it look, but it works better that way. I don’t [...]

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Film Reviews - May 24th - 2 Comments

Entre les murs (The Class)

I finally managed to watch this film! Before I got my head around to write a review, I discovered some people have already said the things I wanted to say and more. So, I will just keep this post short and anyone who wants an excellent review of the film should go here. [...]

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