Early this year, I launched a (personal) project: to read 50 40 books. The said project was my first ever, and the idea came late 2008 while spending my holidays here in JP because of passport issues (feel free to click ‘rant’ tag for details). Bored, bored and too cold outside to have fun, to books I wasted time hitherto.
(1.) Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
(2.) Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
(3.) New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
(4.) The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
(5.) The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald
(6.) Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
(7.) Wicked by Gregory Maguire
(8.) Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
(9.) The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
(10.) The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
(11.) Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes
(12.) Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
(13.) Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami
(14.) A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
(15.) How Starbucks Saved My Life by Michael Gates Gill
(16.) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
(17.) From Russia with Love by Ian Fleming
(18.) When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
(19.) My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
(20.) Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
(21.) Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
(22.) Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
(23.) The Boy in Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
(24.) Geisha in Rivalry by Kafu Nagai
(25.) When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro
(26.) Lord of the Flies by William Golding
(27.) The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
(28.) Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
(29.) Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
(30.) The China Lover by Ian Buruma
(31.) The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
current read: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
(listed and numbered for record)
As you can see, I seem to fail the project in terms of its target quantity. I think, I can read a total of 33 this year. Should my Nihonggo lessons never intercepted, I could (possibly) reach the target.
This reminds me of the whole planning thing in life. We draft plans and the outcome -- considering its details -- don’t end up as it should be. But taken into its entirety, the whole process of realizing it is worthy than nothing (like planning and not doing anything for its fruition -- that’s a different story). One thing’s for sure, I don’t take long-term plans too seriously now. I mean, they only frustrate me. To future, I worry not much because as far as human’s capabilities, we can only do so much for the present -- which eventually sums up the future.
In relation to ‘plans’, I remember HIMYM’s season 4 finale: “The Leap”. Ted, an architect, began practicing his profession independently after resigning from a firm. Not for long it lasted for he never had a successful project, thus, began pondering on his failures. A teaching job offer came but he was hesitant to accept it because the whole plan is for him to be an architect. Lily told Ted to listen to what the world is saying.
(1.) Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
(2.) Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
(3.) New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
(4.) The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
(5.) The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald
(6.) Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
(7.) Wicked by Gregory Maguire
(8.) Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
(9.) The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
(10.) The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
(11.) Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes
(12.) Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
(13.) Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami
(14.) A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
(15.) How Starbucks Saved My Life by Michael Gates Gill
(16.) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
(17.) From Russia with Love by Ian Fleming
(18.) When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
(19.) My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
(20.) Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
(21.) Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
(22.) Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
(23.) The Boy in Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
(24.) Geisha in Rivalry by Kafu Nagai
(25.) When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro
(26.) Lord of the Flies by William Golding
(27.) The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
(28.) Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
(29.) Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
(30.) The China Lover by Ian Buruma
(31.) The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
current read: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
(listed and numbered for record)
As you can see, I seem to fail the project in terms of its target quantity. I think, I can read a total of 33 this year. Should my Nihonggo lessons never intercepted, I could (possibly) reach the target.
This reminds me of the whole planning thing in life. We draft plans and the outcome -- considering its details -- don’t end up as it should be. But taken into its entirety, the whole process of realizing it is worthy than nothing (like planning and not doing anything for its fruition -- that’s a different story). One thing’s for sure, I don’t take long-term plans too seriously now. I mean, they only frustrate me. To future, I worry not much because as far as human’s capabilities, we can only do so much for the present -- which eventually sums up the future.
In relation to ‘plans’, I remember HIMYM’s season 4 finale: “The Leap”. Ted, an architect, began practicing his profession independently after resigning from a firm. Not for long it lasted for he never had a successful project, thus, began pondering on his failures. A teaching job offer came but he was hesitant to accept it because the whole plan is for him to be an architect. Lily told Ted to listen to what the world is saying.
2 comments:
wow, 33 books is not bad
I reeeeally didnt like the remains of the day. I kept the book, as it was a 'gift' from my favorite teacher. Rather, I think he was not crazy about the book himself and just gave it to me xD
I loved eat pray love! such a lovely book! I think it's on my top15 list ^^
I couldnt read the kite runner! I hate anything that makes me cry, and the story seems... more than I can take :p
^Quite disappointed with 'remains of the day'. I was expecting more of it after having read another Ishiguro's book (When we were Orphans). But anyway, it was insightful.
Post a Comment