The Coloured Lands by G.K. Chesterton

I've been wanting to read this as soon as I read the title. Unfortunately, this isn't public domain, and the library didn't have it. But then Scribd did (yay for the two free months I got - if you want a two month trial, which would help me get an extra month, let me know), so I read it IMMEDIATELY.

Basically, The Coloured Lands is a posthumous work, consisting of essays, short stories, poems and drawings from his youth, if I'm right. But for some reason, I did not love it as much as I expected to - perhaps I expected too much.

Let me just clarify, there were definitely moments of beauty and genius in the book. I made quite a few highlights, such as:

"It was his home now. But it could not be his home till he had gone from it and returned to it. Now he was the Prodigal Son."

and

"For children are innocent and love justice; while most of us are wicked and naturally prefer mercy."

not to mention

" 'I am the Wind', answered the Spirit. 'I fill the ears of men with a thousand voices, but never before have mortal eyes seen me. I go where I list and sing what song I please.' "

Basically, there were lots of quotable lines. Even the foreword, written by one of his friends, had quotable moments.

Yet there were times where I didn't quite connect with the book. It might be my utter inability to understand poems (I'm a Robert Frost/Wilfred Owen/Shel Silverstein kind of person, and the first two was found not through chance, but through school), but while some were beautiful, I didn't get a lot of them. I didn't get some of the stories either, and that sort of made me sad. I wanted to be continually moved and touched by this book, and when it didn't happen, it felt like a bit of a let down.

Is it a good book? Of course. There are lots of lovely moments. It just wasn't the life-impacting book that I expected. For me, those books are Orthodoxy and Tremendous Trifles.

Rest in Peace, Sir Terry Pratchett

I think by now, everyone has heard of the terrible news. Of course, Terry Pratchett's twitter puts it so sadly yet wonderfully.

I love Terry Pratchett's Discworld books, and they have made a huge influence on me. They've been my travel companions many times as well.

To misquote the emperor from Mulan, "You don't find a writer like that every dynasty."

R.I.P. Sir Terry Pratchett

Quotetastic Saturday: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

I was going to post more about WriteOn today, but they're having this "interview an editor" thing going on, and I want to see what happens before blogging more about the site.

So instead, I present another one of the quote posters that I made recently:

This is one of my favourite quotes from one of my favourite books: Fahrenheit 451. My other two favourite quotes from the book are:

"It was a pleasure to burn."

And

"I'm seventeen and I'm crazy. My uncle says the two always go together. When people ask your age, he said, always say seventeen and insane."

If I took the right photos, I'll definitely pair them together. If you really like this poster and want a hard copy, I present my Zazzle store (I chose the cheapest option for this poster, but it turned into a custom size, so I can't do anything about the price). Feel free to click on the link and look around :D

Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451 Poster by SweetTeaandFiction
Check out more Ray Posters at Zazzle
TODAY (18/10/2014) ONLY: 10% off when you quote WEEKENDS4FUN at checkout

Break Time~

You may or may not know this, but I'm currently on my summer vacation! I'll be heading for Tokyo for a camp on Tuesday (and then heading home to Singapore), so I'll be on a break for about a week! I will post a review on Monday, but after that things will get quiet around here. I'll try to resume posting once I've reached back to Singapore.

And it's been quite some time, but I finally found a good picture/quote combination! Hope you like it (photo is mine, words belong to Chesterton)

You can read my review of Tremendous Trifles here.

Happy 200th Birthday Pride and Prejudice!

Dear Miss Austen,

Thank you so much for Pride and Prejudice! It's the first book of yours that I've read, and the book that made me fall in love with your works. I bought a cheap green Penguin copy on a family trip to Kuala Lumpur  and I probably spent more time reading that actually enjoying the sites (don't worry, we go there quite often). And when I got back to Singapore, I was distraught when I lost it one day on the way to school. It's one of the only two books that I've gotten upset over losing.

Well, at least this feeling went away when I bought an exact same copy.

I know Pride and Prejudice must be the favourite of many people (and rightly so), so I don't dare claim that I'm your biggest fan. I will say that I love Pride and Prejudice, and that I read it over and over again.

Love,
Eustacia

And that's my love letter to Jane Austen! This is part of the Pride and Prejudice 200th Anniversary blog hop, hosted by Alyssa Goodnight and Stiletto Storytime. You can find out more, and a list of participants here.

In addition, I have something else to contribute! While I can't narrow down my one favourite quote from Pride and Prejudice (I might as well quote the whole book), I did make one quote picture by picking a random quote an a (hopefully) matching photo that I took. Enjoy!

Quote: Silence by Endo Shusaku!

So yesterday, I managed to get my hands on the Japanese version of Silence by Endo Shusaku (read it. It's awesome!) If you don't know, this was my EE book, so I'm really psyched to be able to read it in its original language.

This is how the book looks like:

And I realised, I actually have a similar photo, taken from my room window. So, without further ado, here's my favourite quote from the whole book, in both English and Japanese:

Click for a bigger view. 

Long Road Ahead (Quote)

I actually have quite a lot of reviews to share, but then, I realised that I haven't shared a quote for such a long time! So I searched my images a little, played around on Paint.net, and here's the quote that I want to share:

Isn't it a beautiful quote? The full quote is:

"I have walked the long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter, I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended."

As I take more photos, I'll see if they fit any of the quotes I want to share. I'd really love to share The Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi, and Irish Blessing if I can find the appropriate photos.

Friendship (Quote)

"Flowers are lovely; love is flowerlike, Frienship is a sheltering tree."

-Samuel Taylor Coleridge-

After I took this photo, I was suddenly reminded of the quote above. I know quotes (and photos) don't need dedications, but this is for all my wonderful friends (both in Japan and Singapore). You know who you are. I really can't thank you enough for all you do (which really is putting up with my nonsense - something that is very hard to accomplish)

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! 生日快乐！誕生日おめでとう！

In honor of his birthday, here's one of my favourite quotes (I hope I haven't used it). Unfortunately, I can't quote the whole poem because that would be the whole book. Which I'm sure is somehow copyright infringement. So, here's a small quote:

"You'll get mixed up, of course,

as you already know.

You'll get mixed up

with many strange birds as you go.

So be sure when you step.

Step with care and great tact

and remember that Life's

a Great Balancing Act.

Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.

And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?

Yes! You will indeed!

(98 and 3/4 percent guarantted)"

This is from Oh, The Places You'll Go. Although, having been looking through past photos, this is the place where I want to go now:

This pretty little spot is called Huis Ten Bosch in Japan, and it reminds me of my Secondary 3 trip, which in turn inspires feelings of sehnsucht (a German word which according to Lewis is the "inconsolable longing" in the human heart for "we know what not")
But anyway, if you do not own a copy of Oh, The Places You'll Go, I suggest you go and buy one right now. It's a wonderful poem and has way more meaning that just a kid's poem. It was actually recited at my school prom night in honour of our graduation (and this is when I was 18), so it's really for both grown-ups and kids.

The Man Who Was Thursdays (Quote)

I realised that it's been quite some time since I've had posted a quote (+picture). For some reason, the picture above reminds me of the quote below:

“I? What am I?" roared the President, and he rose slowly to an incredible height, like some enormous wave about to arch above them and break. "You want to know what I am, do you? Bull, you are a man of science. Grub in the roots of those trees and find out the truth about them. Syme, you are a poet. Stare at those morning clouds. But I tell you this, that you will have found out the truth of the last tree and the top-most cloud before the truth about me. You will understand the sea, and I shall be still a riddle; you shall know what the stars are, and not know what I am. Since the beginning of the world all men have hunted me like a wolf—kings and sages, and poets and lawgivers, all the churches, and all the philosophies. But I have never been caught yet, and the skies will fall in the time I turn to bay. I have given them a good run for their money, and I will now.”

From The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton

Happy Birthday Euphemia!

My lovely sister turns 17 today! So, here are two quotes for you:

"If you'd never been born, well what would you be? 
You might be a fish! Or a toad in a tree!
You might be a doorknob! Or three baked potatoes!
You might be a bag full of hard green tomatoes!
Or worse than all that... why, you might be a 
WASN'T!
A wasn't has no fun at all. No, he doesn't.
A wasn't just isn't. He just isn't present.
But you.... you ARE YOU! And now, isn't that pleaseant!"

And don't forget:

"Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You."

Both quotes are from Happy Birthday to You! by Dr Seuss

The Energy of Children

"A child kicks his legs rhythmically through excess, not absence of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say 'Do it again'; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning 'Do it again' to the sun; and every evening 'Do it again' to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we."

From Orthodoxy by G.K Chesterton, one of, I feel, the most under-appreciated authors I have known.

Going Places

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...."

- Oh! The Places You'll Go by Dr Seuss-

"The more that you read, the more things that you'll know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go"

- I Can Read With My Eyes Shut! by Dr Seuss-

I realise that children's books, especially those like Dr Seuss, are extremely quotable. I should quote them more often, it's fairly encouraging(:

Light (quote)

"If you beleive only the Sun is important, try reading at night without a bedside lamp"

-Thomas Edison-

P.S My 7 year old brother was the one that edited this photo to what this is.

Friendship

I couldn't get a class photo, but this is Nic and I(:

"Friendship is born at the mometn when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one' "

-C. S. Lewis- (Taken from The Friends Book by Alison Maloney)

This is dedicated to my Japanese Class friends (Brendan and Nicole). I don't say it enough, but thanks guys. Although our class size has always fluctated (from 3 to a grand total of 5 and every number in between, i.e. 4), the three of us form a special 'core' of the class. I guess nothing bonds people like learning together, asking the same questions (and that question is: HOW DO YOU SAY ____ IN JAPANESE???), and facing the same fear (I'm talking about: HOW ARE WE GOING TO PASS JLPT 5/4). Here's to many more happy lessons(:

The New Hypocrite

"We are all, one hopes, imaginative enough to recognize the dignity and distinctness of another religion, like Islam or the cult of Apollo. I am quite ready to respect another man's faith; but it is too much to ask that I should respect his doubt, his worldly hesitations and fictions, his political bargain and make-believe."

Despite the fact that G.K Chesterton lived close to a hundred years ago (he died around 80 years ago), what he says is still relevant to our so-called changed world. Truly the writer of Ecclesiastes said it right when he wrote "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

Taken from What's Wrong With The World by G. K. Chesterton, Project Gutenberg version.

Sight

"See better, Lear, and let me still remain/
The true blank of thine eye"

King Lear Act One Scene One (The Arden Shakespear Edition)

Great stuff. I defy anyone who disagrees about the timelessness of Shakespear.

Today, I wore my new glasses properly for the first time (I got it on Monday), and even though I was already wearing glasses, I was struck at how clear everything was (again). My degree had slowly gotten worse such that I didn't realise how blur my world became. It really reminds me of Gloucester's situation, where he had metaphorical and literal blindness.

Anyway, I meant to say, I just read a new book that really opened my eyes (metaphorically). If everything goes according to plan, I should get a post up by Friday on IntoTheBook. I would post again sooner, but I have exams, and I really need to think through this first.

P.S I just checked IntoTheBook.net and it seems like they've already reviewed this book, so I suppose I will just be posting here(:

How we show ourselves

I really love sharing parts of books I read, but sometimes, there's nothing much to say about the book (for one reason or the other), so from now, I'm going to start posting quotes which has moved me in one way or the other.

"Perhaps we reveal ourselves too much in the small things because we have so little of the great to conceal. The tiny incidents of daily routine are as much a commentary of racial ideals as the highest flight of philosophy or order".

From: The Book of Tea by Kakuro Okakura, Project Gutenberg Version

What is courage?

Courage is:

"A soldier surrounded by enemies, if he is to cut his way out, needs to combine a strong desire for living with a strange carelessness about dying. He must no merely cling to life, for then he will be a coward, and will not escape. He must not merely wait for death, for then he will be a suicide, and will not escape. He must seek his life in a spirit of furious indifference to it; he must desire life like water and yet drink death like wine"

From Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton (Project Gutenberg version)