The Big Book of Hoaxes – I’m Asking for More..

What can I say ?  This book speaks for itself.  A tour-de-force of human tendency to believe strange things.  In fact, it’s eerie how Hitler words ring true about this :”It’s easy to lie, just make it big.”

Factoid did a very good job by bringing this series.  You could read some serious references without diving into that scholarly encyclopedia.  In other words, this is information made enjoyable.  With honest, humorous and sometimes cheeky illustration, it’s also easier to grasp some concepts which otherwise would need a lot of pages to explain.

The book itself contains any famous ( and not-so famous ) hoaxes in history.  From Poe’s balloon hoax, the notorious Howard Hughes’ autobiography;  I actually learnt that Boxer rebellion in China was made several times worse by a hoax !

A very good work, indeed.  I found myself asking for more.

You can download the book here.  Again, I’m only sharing the link.  Have fun !

 

Me Talk Pretty One Day – dangerously funny

 

Some preliminary facts and datas from Wikipedia are due first :

Author	David Sedaris
Cover artist	Jacket design by Chip Kidd
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Essay collection
Publisher	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date	May 2, 2000
Media type	Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages	288 pp (first edition, hardcover)
ISBN	ISBN 0-316-77772-2 (first edition, hardcover)

This book is guaranteed to make you giggle like crazy. At some of its best point, you would even shake with laughter.

David Sedaris wrote with some shameless sense-of-humor here. He freely talked about his speed-addiction, sexuality, and characteristically, even some childish hilarity like turd ( you heard me right, turd ). Based on this tone, this book is not for everyone’s fancy, though. Some will enjoy it very much for its brainlessness, allowing you to laugh at someone else’s folly without realizing that you are indulging in your own’s stark naked forbidden guilty self. While for the others, this book will risk being categorized as simply disgusting.

As for myself, I enjoyed a lot reading this with one note : I found that Sedaris’ humorous take on drugs ( methamphetamine, aka. speed, aka. shabu ) is deeply disturbing. It definitely can lead to some serious misled choices.

All in all, if you can read it with some open mind, a good read this one really is..

My Name is Red – lost in translation ?

 

A little bit disappointing for a Nobel Prize winner really.  Oh, yes it was well-researched, but doesn’t have a good pace necessary for a thriller, but too shallow for a drama.

Then again, probably it’s the literature’s world version of the-now-popular movie genre : crime drama.  I still itch for more fascination from a crime story, though.  My best guess would be there’s something lost in translation as I read it in English.

This eBook can be downloaded here ( This is a link, I do not share any copyrighted material )

From Hell – an unnecessarily complex work ?

Like I promised before, this is my first review I post here.

First of all, some data :

Author	Alan Moore
Illustrator	Eddie Campbell
Cover artist	Eddie Campbell
Country	Australia & United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	graphic novel, true crime
Publisher	Eddie Campbell Comics & Top Shelf Productions
Publication date	1999 (collected edition)
Media type	Print (paperback)
Pages	572
ISBN	ISBN 0-958-57834-6

( source : wikipedia )

Initially, the book impressed me very much. Moore did a very good job by using a meticulous research as a foundation. The explorations and insinuations are also courageous, despite being a little bit far – fetched in its speculations.

Now, the idea that Jack the Ripper murders were done to cover – up the birth of an illegitimate child of England royal family is not a new one. It was brought forth by Stephen Knight. Moore borrowed this idea as an open door into in – depth exploration of more complex factor involved in that era. This led into a study of medic, psychology, culture, sociology and even occultism at some part. Which is very sound and good, to do him some justice.

However, what makes it work also cause it shortfall. If you are looking for a good read to enjoy, From Hell simply could not do it. It does not entertain you like any good old ‘whodunnits’, but provokes you and makes you question some things you hold true.

I don’t know about you, but one of the reason I read fiction is to entertain. Clever works are enlightening, – but too heavy to enjoy if there is too much of it. It almost feels like reading a textbook.

Leave a comment if you have other thoughts. For Indonesian reader, feel free to leave yours in Bahasa Indonesia.

Download links :

• Part 1 of 2
• Part 2 of 2

More info from wikipedia

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Tags: comic, book, review, from hell, graphic novel

First Post – Blog Nature

As the name suggests the purpose of this blog is to be a place where I keep track of the books that I read and reviewed. The idea is to read as many good books as my time would allow and give my honest opinion about it, – thus helping those who is considering the related book.

From time to time, I would also post some interesting news that I find in the web and comment on it. You know, sometimes truth is stranger than fiction I just couldn’t stop myself from commenting.

I am a father first, a writer second, and a blogger third. So, while I do plan to keep my blog as visually attractive as possible, writing the posts itself would be in my higher priority.

Ok, hope you might find the blog useful. Please comeback, drop a comment or link back if you like it. The first book that I am reading and going to review is “From Hell”, that legendary graphic novel. I think I will finish it in a week or so.

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