Feathered Serpent by Xu Xiaobin

I bought this book in the Popular book expo in Singapore.Initially i thought that this book will be about some sort of magical story but once i started reading the first paragraph, i understood that it will be great read.Again  as happened previously i bought this book by instinct, i never heard of this book before.
This is a story of five generations of women .Yu which means Feathered Serpent is  the the last daughter of Ruomu and Lu Chen i.e the fourth generation grows under her grandmother Xuanming and self-obsessed mother Ruomu.The whole story revolves arounf Yu, who is longing for mother's love.Her mother hate her as she choked her brother(the little boy) to death , from that time onwards no one loved Yu in her family except her father Lu Chen.

"Since childhood she had been longing for love - the love of her parents; later, the love of friends. Only love and friendship would be good medicine; nothing else could bring zest to her life."

That starts her life long quest for love and acceptance by his family and others.As a reader we are taken to a labyrinth of problems faced by this family.The story evolves from the late 19th century under the Empress Dowager Cixi to life under Mao Zedong in Communist China.The political background to the narrative extends from the Taiping Revolution in the 1860's up to the years just after Tiananmen.

Yu's love for Yuanguang,Yadan's love for Yuanguang, Yuanguang's life with Xiato.. the love story(ies) continues till their death.I loved the way the author connects everyone, the story behind them. This book have some similarities with "One hundred years of Solitude" by Garcia.. but the writing style is completely different .

Read to enjoy the love...

Some quotes from the book:

"Age is a strange measure of things"

"A human being is a maze. Soul and body -both are part of the maze.A body is the wall of the maze and the soul is  the little path connecting everything to the center.To enter is to live,to leave is to die" 

 "A detached feather is not soaring, but drifting"

"A woman without love loses her beauty" 

"Every family has its own problem" 

"Straight like a bowstring,death awaits;bent like a hook, noble titles will be rewarded" 

"Debasement is the password of the base,Nobility the epitaph of the noble." 

"The worst thing for a woman is that the body ages but the heart remains young" 

"Everyone looks good in someone's eyes" 

" An ugly wife is worth a thousand gold"

other new things :
Lingchi - death by slow slicing also known as death by thousand cuts
Diantiandeng -death by burning while hung upside down.
Guanyin-Goddess of Mercy
Dr.Sun Yat-sen's three principles :nationalism,democracy and people's welfare

About the Author:
Biography

Top 10 Songs in my iPod in 2010

Another year almost passed, musically it was one of the best year for me , i explored variety of genre from African folks,Country songs,Latin Choir to our own classical instruments like Ghatam. Here are the list of 10 songs i listened more often in 2010.

1."Gangai Nathi engaeyo" - from Kavalar kudiyuriuppu(tamil movie).
One of the great song about friendship, i like this song  very much, the two singers are awesome.

2."Kiss from a Rose" by Seal
One of the all time great romantic song,i fell in love with song instantly i heard it for the first time in February,still listening everyday.Seal's voice is something to cherish ..

3."Hello" by Leonel Richie
Another greatest romantic hit, Leonel Richie , oh my gos! what a voice , the lyrics .. simply the best.

4."I Dreamed A Dream" by Susan Boyle
This youtube sensation changed my perception on western classical.This song is my morning energy booster, almost everyday i listened this song, her voice is God's gift.

5."Kangal Irandal" from Subramaniapuram(tamil movie)
Again , great lyrics& wonderful voice  and beautifully filmed.one of all time great Tamil movie song.

6."Straight Through My Heart" by BackStreetBoys
Wow,wow.. great lyrics, great music and a great song.. wow BSB.

7."Teardrops on my guitar" by Taylor Swift
This Country singer is the best thing happen to music industry in this 2 years.Her lyrics and her voice are awesome.

8."You are not Alone" by Michael Jackson
Whenever i travel for more than 20minutes in bus, this is the song which sooths me.. MJ was simply the best..

 9."The Last Waltz" by Englebert Humperdinck
This guy's voice is  something you can listen at anytime.This song is a proof for it.Amazing song.

10."With You" by Chris Brown
I like his style of singing.This song is very nice specially when you listen this when you are at crowded place, i used to play this song whenever i go to shopping mall.

For the first time i listened to some South East Asian music and some great classical works of Philip Glass.Hope next year will learn more about different music genre from different countries.      

Have a great year... musically too!! Enjoy Music .. Enjoy Life..

10 Unique Words taken from Readers Digest in 2010 issues

I'm a big fan of Readers Digest from my school days,I find RD as one of the best monthly magazine we have now,i like their real life stories and the jokes.Below are the 10 words, which i learnt from the RD during this one year 2010 issues.
1.Seraphim -highest order of angels
           This word means fiery ones, in allusion, as is supposed, to their burning love. They are represented as "standing" above the King as he sat upon his throne, ready at once to minister unto him. Their form appears to have been human, with the addition of wings.        
    Click here fore more 

2.Rapscallion -Mischievous person
    a fanciful elaboration of rascal
      Click here for more

3.Gleaner -Someone who gathers information
                -to collect or gather anything little by little or slowly.
      Click here for more    

4.mal de mer -Seasickness
      Click here for more 
 
5.Kvetch -complain
       Click here for more

6.Sommelier-Wine steward
       Click here for more 

7.trencherman-hearty eater
       Click here for more

8.Fusillade-Series of shots
      Click here for more 

9.Ersatz-Fake
      Click here for more

10.Nudink-bore

Cry,The Beloved Country

I was lucky to buy this book,i never heard of this book before as i was browsing through books in a book exhibition i stumbled on this book which was lying down near the payment queue, i didn't think twice i put it inside by book basket.Now i realized i was really lucky to get this book.This  book one of  the best of all time i read.Alan Paton brings  Africa before our eyes, exclusive usage of words to bring the beauty of Africa.

The story starts with a Zulu pastor Stephen Kumalo starting his journey in search of his son Absalom and sister,Gertrude to Johannesberg.He was never went to Johannesberg before, he was helped by Msimangu, a pastor in Johannesberg.The crux of the story was that his son Absalom was convicted of a murder, he killed a whiteman who was a good guy working for the empowerment of blacks and poor people.After a long struggle Stephen meet his son at the jail and asked him about how it happened , he told everything about how they(2 other guys, one is cousin, Stephen Kumalo's brother John's son) tried to rob a whiteman's house and how he fired the gun in fear.Many people show their support to Stephen specially the lawyer ,who work for the Lord,Msimangu in his prayers,Ms.Lithebe in whose house he stayed and young police officer who helped him to find whereabout of his son.

Stephen came to know that a girl is carrying his son's child ,out of marriage.He decided to arrange marriage for them and he took the little girl to stay with him in Ms.Lithebe's house.He also found her sister who has a small boy, he took them to Ms.Lithebe's house.He was happy to found her sister and her daugher-in-law.The story unfolds when Stephen found out that the whiteman his son killed was a son of Jarvis, who is living in the near by farm in his church at Ndotsheni,Natal.The Jarvis are good family, very helpful to their black workers.Stephen have seen them many times passing through the church..The father Jarvis understood his son's interest by reading his writings and the books he had in his room.

The two old men,one's son murdered another's son met first in Johannesberg ,Stephen was scared to meet Jarvis, as he felt immense pain.But Jarvis was good to him.Absalom was sentenced to death and the other two were released.Stephen arranged marriage for his son with the little girl with the help of Msimangu.Her sister left her son alone and went,leaving Stephen to take care of him.Stephen with immense pain left to Ndostsheni with his daughter-in-law and sister's son.The tragedy of Absalom's execution becomes a background for the renewal of the impoverished land. This renewal is made possible by a change in the attitude of a rich white landowner whose son was murdered by Absalom.Back in his village , he gets lot of help from Jarvis, who willingly spent his money on  building dam and teaching farming technique to the people.The mindset of two fathers was brought alive by the author's descriptive words.

This books was written shows love and hope, courage and endurance of a man.'Cry, The Beloved Country' was written around 1947 well before the implementation of apartheid, which shows the social protest against the structure of the society ( ruled and controlled by white people).The book sold over 15 million copies around the world before Paton's death.Two film version released one in 1951, Kumalo was played by Canada Lee, Jarvis by Charles Carson, and Msimangu by Sidney Poitier and the another version in 1995 ,Kumalo was played by James Earl Jones and Jarvis by Richard Harris .
Some quotes from the book:

"I have one great fear in my heart, that one day when they are turned to loving, they will find that we are turned to hating."

"Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that is the inheritor of our fear."

"[W]e do what is in us, and why it is in us, that is also a secret. It is Christ in us, crying that men may be succoured and forgiven, even when He Himself is forsaken."

"It is not permissible to add to one's possesions if these things can only be done at the cost of other men. Such development has only one true name, and that is exploitation."

"Nothing is ever quiet, except for fools."

"I am a weak and sinful man, but God put His hands on me, that is all."

"But when the dawn will come, of our emancipation, from the fear of bondage and the bondage of fear, why, that is a secret."

About author:
 Alan Paton, i liked his style of writing not too poetic and not dull at all, have to read his other books soon.
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