This blog post contains spoilers.
In an earlier blog post I spoke about how I have installed a free ebook application on my mobile phone. The program allows me to put text files from my computer onto my mobile phone. Since I can download free ebook text files from Project Gutenberg, I am able to now read plenty of books on my mobile phone for free. Project Gutenberg does not have text files for every single book. However, books published before a certain year (around 1940) are in the public domain and are therefore free. There really is no reason for anyone to buy a book because there are so many free books out there. The first book I read on this ebook reader is The Great Gatsby.
This novel is about a man named Gatsby who became wealthy through questionable means (organized crime) and then tries to attract a female named Daisy who is already married to a man named Tom Buchanan. Tom comes from a family that has always been rich whereas Gatsby is self-made. Gatsby attempts to attract Daisy fail and at the end Gatsby is killed. Hardly anyone attends his funeral and we learn that Gatsby really was a mysterious figure who misrepresented himself greatly.
I read this novel having heard the hype about how this was one of the greatest novels of human history. Many have called it the Great American Novel. In my opinion, The Great Gatsby was a bit of a disappointment because much of the book is quite boring. I do feel pity for Gatsby, the main character in this novel, and I do think that some of the themes in the novel do indeed play out in real life.
Showing posts with label fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fiction. Show all posts
22 July 2010
13 June 2010
Reading Ebooks on the Train with EBookME
I face a thirty minutes commute to work in the morning and when I come back it is another thirty minutes. I had to commute to the city when I went to university as well, so I've been commuting to the city for about nine years now.
Most of the time when I'm on the train I love to just look out the window and space out. It's nice to just let your mind wander when you've just woken up or when you've just had a long and hard day at work or university. But sitting or standing in the train and doing nothing sometimes makes me wonder whether I'm wasting time. If I read a book or listen to something on an MP3 player, I might be able to use this idle time to learn something rather than do nothing.
Listening to MP3 players on the train can be useful, especially if you are trying to filter out the conversations of people around you. Sometimes other people say the most annoying and offensive things, and when they say these things it's not easy to denounce them because these people are strangers.
The problem with MP3 players is that the train is a noisy place. It is not just the noise of people talking that bothers me. Most trains in Melbourne are so old they make loud noises. To be able to hear your MP3 player amid all this noise, you have to turn the volume up, and by turning the volume up, there is a risk that you might go deaf.
Reading a book can prevent you from focusing on other people's conversations. You're so focused on your book that the conversations of others just becomes background noise. You can read not only books but also newspapers.
The problem with newspapers is that they take up space. Broadsheet newspapers like The Age are a nightmare to read on the train because they are simply too big. Even when you're sitting down they are difficult to read. Tabloid-size newspapers like Australian Financial Review and Herald Sun are readable if you're sitting down but during peak hour when you have to stand up, they are not easy to read because you need both your hand to hold the newspapers and if both your hands are busy holding the newspaper then you have no hand left to hold on to something for balance. Thus reading the newspaper can put you at risk of falling over if the train jerks around. With Melbourne's massive population growth, it seems likely that commuters on trains will have to stand up more and more. Reading newspapers just ain't easy anymore.
Reading books presents the same problems as does reading tabloid newspapers. You generally need two pages to read a book. Most books are small enough that you can hold them with one hand, but if you want to flick to the next page you generally need two hands.
The best move then is to read an ebook on your mobile phone. I have recently downloaded on my computer a very good program called EBookME. This is free software that allows me to convert a text file into a JAR file, which can be uploaded on my phone. A JAR file is a file that is used for phones that run Java apps. The great thing about this is that I can now download from the internet free books and then put them on my phone. There are plenty of free books from Project Gutenberg. These books are usually written before the 1950s, which means that copyright has expired and you are legally allowed to download them for free. I have just downloaded a text version of The Great Gatsby and I'll be reading it on the train.
Most of the time when I'm on the train I love to just look out the window and space out. It's nice to just let your mind wander when you've just woken up or when you've just had a long and hard day at work or university. But sitting or standing in the train and doing nothing sometimes makes me wonder whether I'm wasting time. If I read a book or listen to something on an MP3 player, I might be able to use this idle time to learn something rather than do nothing.
Listening to MP3 players on the train can be useful, especially if you are trying to filter out the conversations of people around you. Sometimes other people say the most annoying and offensive things, and when they say these things it's not easy to denounce them because these people are strangers.
The problem with MP3 players is that the train is a noisy place. It is not just the noise of people talking that bothers me. Most trains in Melbourne are so old they make loud noises. To be able to hear your MP3 player amid all this noise, you have to turn the volume up, and by turning the volume up, there is a risk that you might go deaf.
Reading a book can prevent you from focusing on other people's conversations. You're so focused on your book that the conversations of others just becomes background noise. You can read not only books but also newspapers.
The problem with newspapers is that they take up space. Broadsheet newspapers like The Age are a nightmare to read on the train because they are simply too big. Even when you're sitting down they are difficult to read. Tabloid-size newspapers like Australian Financial Review and Herald Sun are readable if you're sitting down but during peak hour when you have to stand up, they are not easy to read because you need both your hand to hold the newspapers and if both your hands are busy holding the newspaper then you have no hand left to hold on to something for balance. Thus reading the newspaper can put you at risk of falling over if the train jerks around. With Melbourne's massive population growth, it seems likely that commuters on trains will have to stand up more and more. Reading newspapers just ain't easy anymore.
Reading books presents the same problems as does reading tabloid newspapers. You generally need two pages to read a book. Most books are small enough that you can hold them with one hand, but if you want to flick to the next page you generally need two hands.
The best move then is to read an ebook on your mobile phone. I have recently downloaded on my computer a very good program called EBookME. This is free software that allows me to convert a text file into a JAR file, which can be uploaded on my phone. A JAR file is a file that is used for phones that run Java apps. The great thing about this is that I can now download from the internet free books and then put them on my phone. There are plenty of free books from Project Gutenberg. These books are usually written before the 1950s, which means that copyright has expired and you are legally allowed to download them for free. I have just downloaded a text version of The Great Gatsby and I'll be reading it on the train.
01 April 2008
Ragged Dick
Links:
Ragged Dick Audio at Librivox
Full Online Text of Ragged Dick
Ragged Dick at Amazon.com
I've just finished listening to Ragged Dick by Horatio Alger Jr. The book was written in the 19th century. It is about a young boy named Dick Hunter who shines people's shoes for a living. Through hard work, thrift, honesty, charity, and some luck, he grows up to become a respectable person. This story is the first and most popular of Alger's many rags-to-riches books. Many believe Horatio Alger's books had a profound impact on the creation of the so-called American Dream.
The story is very enjoyable to read. The characters are very lovable. The plot surprisingly contains themes that I could certainly relate to and I'm sure many people will see in certain fictitious characters some of the behaviors of their friends in the real world. So ubiquitous is the American Dream in our lives today that we can recognize its symptoms so easily in Ragged Dick.
On the downside, the ending of this story is just laughable. I won't give anything away but let's just say there is some deus ex machina.
There have also been recent (2006) revelations that Horatio Alger Jr was a homosexual pedophile (or pederast). This doesn't surprise me because some of Ragged Dick contained what I perceived as homoerotic parts. For example, once Dick Hunter shared a bed with a younger boy. Even the title "Ragged Dick" has homosexual connotations. Horatio Alger Jr was inspired to write Ragged Dick after living in New York and living with and observing young boys who worked in the streets. There is speculation that he had sex with these boys, but that has not been confirmed.
Ragged Dick Audio at Librivox
Full Online Text of Ragged Dick
Ragged Dick at Amazon.com
I've just finished listening to Ragged Dick by Horatio Alger Jr. The book was written in the 19th century. It is about a young boy named Dick Hunter who shines people's shoes for a living. Through hard work, thrift, honesty, charity, and some luck, he grows up to become a respectable person. This story is the first and most popular of Alger's many rags-to-riches books. Many believe Horatio Alger's books had a profound impact on the creation of the so-called American Dream.
The story is very enjoyable to read. The characters are very lovable. The plot surprisingly contains themes that I could certainly relate to and I'm sure many people will see in certain fictitious characters some of the behaviors of their friends in the real world. So ubiquitous is the American Dream in our lives today that we can recognize its symptoms so easily in Ragged Dick.
On the downside, the ending of this story is just laughable. I won't give anything away but let's just say there is some deus ex machina.
There have also been recent (2006) revelations that Horatio Alger Jr was a homosexual pedophile (or pederast). This doesn't surprise me because some of Ragged Dick contained what I perceived as homoerotic parts. For example, once Dick Hunter shared a bed with a younger boy. Even the title "Ragged Dick" has homosexual connotations. Horatio Alger Jr was inspired to write Ragged Dick after living in New York and living with and observing young boys who worked in the streets. There is speculation that he had sex with these boys, but that has not been confirmed.
08 November 2007
Review of Anne of Green Gables
Link: Anne of Green Gables (Librivox)
Anne of Green Gables is about a couple, Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, who plan to adopt a boy with the intention of using him around on the farm. By mistake a little girl is sent to them. Marilla is not happy and intends to send her back to the orphanage, but after spending some time with the little girl, Anne Shirley (Anne with an E), they decide to keep her. This story, by Lacy Maud Montgomery, is very nice. The main character Anne talks a lot, and she is very vain.
After the Cuthberts decide to keep Anne, the story moves into descriptions of her time at school. Anne also gets up to many antics around Green Gables. If there is anything wrong with this book it is that after Anne is adopted the story read like a journal of someone's childhood. The rest of the chapters are a series of small events that are quite typical of children and teenagers, such as exams and boyfriends. There is not much substantial things that happen. But otherwise, it was an enjoyable book because Anne is a very likable character.
Anne of Green Gables is about a couple, Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, who plan to adopt a boy with the intention of using him around on the farm. By mistake a little girl is sent to them. Marilla is not happy and intends to send her back to the orphanage, but after spending some time with the little girl, Anne Shirley (Anne with an E), they decide to keep her. This story, by Lacy Maud Montgomery, is very nice. The main character Anne talks a lot, and she is very vain.
After the Cuthberts decide to keep Anne, the story moves into descriptions of her time at school. Anne also gets up to many antics around Green Gables. If there is anything wrong with this book it is that after Anne is adopted the story read like a journal of someone's childhood. The rest of the chapters are a series of small events that are quite typical of children and teenagers, such as exams and boyfriends. There is not much substantial things that happen. But otherwise, it was an enjoyable book because Anne is a very likable character.
23 October 2007
Review of A Little Princess
Link: A Little Princess (Librivox)
I have pretty much no time to read novels nowadays. It's a pity because I used to love reading when I was little. Now that I'm a uni student I find that I just don't have the time. My bedroom has been rearranged and there is no lamp near my bed anymore, so I cannot read just before going to bed. When I walk around with my backpack I like to travel light and so try not to carry around too many books, which means that I only bring the essentials. Furthermore, I find reading tiring on my eyes. I already have textbooks and lecture notes to read, and so reading a novel is like overworking my eye.
I now listen to novels with my MP3 player. I purchased an LG UP3 MP3 player from oo.com.au for only $40 and it's amazing how many free public domain audio books you can find online, especially at Librivox. Why pay for anything when there are so many great free things?
A Little Princess, written by Frances Hodgeson Burnett, is about a wealthy little girl named Sara Crewe. Her wealthy father puts her in a boarding school. Miss Minchin, the headmistress, treats her well because of the father's wealth. But then when the father dies, Sara is treated badly. It's a sad and really sweet story at the same time. I have read Burnett's biography and learned that she herself lost her father and had to endure poverty. This story then is probably an autobiography to a degree.
I forgot to mention that another reason why I like to read audio books is for privacy. A big tall young man reading A Little Princess on the train is not attractive, but when listening to an audio book using earphones, people just assume you're listening to music, and they can't hear what you're listening to.
I have pretty much no time to read novels nowadays. It's a pity because I used to love reading when I was little. Now that I'm a uni student I find that I just don't have the time. My bedroom has been rearranged and there is no lamp near my bed anymore, so I cannot read just before going to bed. When I walk around with my backpack I like to travel light and so try not to carry around too many books, which means that I only bring the essentials. Furthermore, I find reading tiring on my eyes. I already have textbooks and lecture notes to read, and so reading a novel is like overworking my eye.
I now listen to novels with my MP3 player. I purchased an LG UP3 MP3 player from oo.com.au for only $40 and it's amazing how many free public domain audio books you can find online, especially at Librivox. Why pay for anything when there are so many great free things?
A Little Princess, written by Frances Hodgeson Burnett, is about a wealthy little girl named Sara Crewe. Her wealthy father puts her in a boarding school. Miss Minchin, the headmistress, treats her well because of the father's wealth. But then when the father dies, Sara is treated badly. It's a sad and really sweet story at the same time. I have read Burnett's biography and learned that she herself lost her father and had to endure poverty. This story then is probably an autobiography to a degree.
I forgot to mention that another reason why I like to read audio books is for privacy. A big tall young man reading A Little Princess on the train is not attractive, but when listening to an audio book using earphones, people just assume you're listening to music, and they can't hear what you're listening to.
14 July 2007
Kurt Vonnegut's Rules of Writing Short Stories
On pages 9 and 10 of his book Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction, Vonnegut listed eight rules for writing a short story:
1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
4. Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action.
5. Start as close to the end as possible.
6. Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them — in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To hell with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut#Writing
1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
4. Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action.
5. Start as close to the end as possible.
6. Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them — in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To hell with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut#Writing
11 July 2007
Getting to Know Fiona
It was Saturday. I woke up late before going downstairs. Mom, Dad, and Sherwin were downstairs installing a new DVD player they brought earlier at the mall. The problem was that we didn't have any DVDs to watch. My younger brother Sherwin told me to go to the video store and get some movies. I put on my clothes and walked downtown to the video store. Not knowing which movie to get, I asked the guy who worked there which movies were good. He told me to get The English Patient since it won so many Academy Awards. When I came back home, we watched the movie as a family. Mom, Dad, Sherwin, and I all sat on the couch and tried to enjoy ourselves. The movie turned out to be boring. Well, I thought it was a good movie, but Dad and Sherwin both fell asleep, and Mom stopped the tape when the sex scenes came on. Mom blamed me for getting a bad movie and told me to get a good movie next time I go to the video store.
Later that day, I went to the video store again and made sure I got something that didn't have sex scenes in it. I got a movie I had already seen: E.T. the Extra Terrestrial. When I brought the tape home, Sherwin laughed at me even more. He said that only kids watched that movie. He refused to watch any movie made for kids. The third time I went to the video store, Sherwin came along. He recommended I get some horror or action movie. He found a video with the goriest and bloodiest front cover and immediately borrowed it. After the whole family watched it at night, both my parents were very happy with Sherwin's choice. Mom, who criticized me heavily for getting a movie with a small sex scene, didn't seem to mind the violence and torture scenes. Dad loved the special effects and said it was one of the best movies he had ever seen. Sherwin smiled proudly when Dad made this compliment.
Sick of watching movies with my family, I told everyone I was going to the mall to watch a movie by myself. Sherwin then told me that going to the theatres by myself was the lowest and saddest thing I could possibly do.
"Like going to a restaurant, going to the cinemas is a social event," he said. "Only losers watch movies by themselves."
I didn’t listen to my brother. I ignored him and walked upstairs to my room to get ready to go to the theatres alone. As I put my jeans on, the phone rang. It was one of my friends from school. He invited me to go to watch a movie with him and his friends at the mall. In a way, I was glad I didn’t have to go to the movies alone.
At the mall, I wanted to watch Mystic River, but since none of my friends heard about that movie, we watched Finding Nemo instead. After the movie ended they asked me whether I liked it or not. I lied and told them it was okay, even though I thought the movie was weird.
Not knowing what to do after the movie, the older kid in the group of five suggested we go to a strip club in the city. One of the girls wanted to go while the other—a devout Christian—wanted to go home. Not wanting to go to a strip joint, I lied and quickly told everyone I was a Christian. Disappointed, the older boy told me to escort the 12-year-old Christian girl home because her parents didn't want her walking alone.
The girl I had to walk home with was Fiona. Before we went to her house, we decided to get something to eat at McDonald's. When we sat opposite each other, munching on our burgers and nibbling on our fries, we stayed silent for the first three minutes.
By teen magazine standards, Fiona was slightly fat, but I honestly didn't mind. She had a very pretty face. I suspected she wasn't comfortable talking to me because she was conscious of her fatness. I wanted so much to tell her how much her fatness didn't bother me, but I was afraid that by telling her such a thing I could make her feel bad because maybe she was unsure about whether she was really fat or not.
She started the conversation by asking whether I was really a Christian or not. I told her I was but after she asked me a few more questions about whether I went to church, read the bible, or got baptized, I decided to change my story and tell her the truth. I wasn't really a Christian. My mom and dad went to church, but that's all they really did. They neither read the bible nor talked to me seriously about religion. I only told everyone I was a Christian so I didn’t have to go to the strip joint.
Fiona started to tell me that she wrote poems and short stories in her spare time. I asked her whether she'd be willing to show me some of them when we got to her home, and she said that she would, even the personal ones she wrote for herself.
Fiona started talking about some of the exciting things she did the night before. She told me that last night, while she was bored, she got a blank piece of paper and started writing down the names of everyone she could remember in her life, from the girl she played with in pre-school to all the teachers, relatives, karate instructors, ballet teachers, priests, friends from school, friends from Christian camp, and so forth. She told me that as she wrote the list, she reflected on each name. She told me that the happiest memories were often those that involve relationships with other people, and reflecting on past relationships was one of the most potents ways of inducing happiness and beating depression.
"It's amazing how many people you bump into in your life," she said. "And it's amazing how quickly you forget them."
When I asked Fiona how she managed to make so many friends at school, she told me something I thought was funny.
"Everyone loves watching television," she said. "It follows, therefore, that if you want people to love you, you must be like a television—funny, dramatic, unpredictable, entertaining, and so on."
I later learned that she went to Sunday school and made a vow to God, to her family, and to herself that she would not have sex before marriage. As she said, "the hardest part about looking into the eyes of an innocent eight-year-old girl was knowing that eight years later there was a 50 percent chance she would lose her virginity. Furthermore, there was a 70 percent chance she would regret it."
Fiona had a nice two-story house about ten minutes away from mine. Unlike my house, hers had a larger garden. The lights were on downstairs. The family was in the living room watching television. Fiona asked me if I wanted to go up to her bedroom so she could show me her poetry. I told her it was getting late and I was tired. She seemed disappointed with my rejection, which made me feel guilty. I promised I'd talk to her tomorrow, but she said tomorrow was Sunday and she had church in the morning. I told her that tomorrow I'd tell my dad to take me to church so I could see her. I haven’t been to church in ages. Tomorrow would be my first time in a long time.
This was taken from version 1 of a novelette I wrote called The Little Girl Next Door.
Later that day, I went to the video store again and made sure I got something that didn't have sex scenes in it. I got a movie I had already seen: E.T. the Extra Terrestrial. When I brought the tape home, Sherwin laughed at me even more. He said that only kids watched that movie. He refused to watch any movie made for kids. The third time I went to the video store, Sherwin came along. He recommended I get some horror or action movie. He found a video with the goriest and bloodiest front cover and immediately borrowed it. After the whole family watched it at night, both my parents were very happy with Sherwin's choice. Mom, who criticized me heavily for getting a movie with a small sex scene, didn't seem to mind the violence and torture scenes. Dad loved the special effects and said it was one of the best movies he had ever seen. Sherwin smiled proudly when Dad made this compliment.
Sick of watching movies with my family, I told everyone I was going to the mall to watch a movie by myself. Sherwin then told me that going to the theatres by myself was the lowest and saddest thing I could possibly do.
"Like going to a restaurant, going to the cinemas is a social event," he said. "Only losers watch movies by themselves."
I didn’t listen to my brother. I ignored him and walked upstairs to my room to get ready to go to the theatres alone. As I put my jeans on, the phone rang. It was one of my friends from school. He invited me to go to watch a movie with him and his friends at the mall. In a way, I was glad I didn’t have to go to the movies alone.
At the mall, I wanted to watch Mystic River, but since none of my friends heard about that movie, we watched Finding Nemo instead. After the movie ended they asked me whether I liked it or not. I lied and told them it was okay, even though I thought the movie was weird.
Not knowing what to do after the movie, the older kid in the group of five suggested we go to a strip club in the city. One of the girls wanted to go while the other—a devout Christian—wanted to go home. Not wanting to go to a strip joint, I lied and quickly told everyone I was a Christian. Disappointed, the older boy told me to escort the 12-year-old Christian girl home because her parents didn't want her walking alone.
The girl I had to walk home with was Fiona. Before we went to her house, we decided to get something to eat at McDonald's. When we sat opposite each other, munching on our burgers and nibbling on our fries, we stayed silent for the first three minutes.
By teen magazine standards, Fiona was slightly fat, but I honestly didn't mind. She had a very pretty face. I suspected she wasn't comfortable talking to me because she was conscious of her fatness. I wanted so much to tell her how much her fatness didn't bother me, but I was afraid that by telling her such a thing I could make her feel bad because maybe she was unsure about whether she was really fat or not.
She started the conversation by asking whether I was really a Christian or not. I told her I was but after she asked me a few more questions about whether I went to church, read the bible, or got baptized, I decided to change my story and tell her the truth. I wasn't really a Christian. My mom and dad went to church, but that's all they really did. They neither read the bible nor talked to me seriously about religion. I only told everyone I was a Christian so I didn’t have to go to the strip joint.
Fiona started to tell me that she wrote poems and short stories in her spare time. I asked her whether she'd be willing to show me some of them when we got to her home, and she said that she would, even the personal ones she wrote for herself.
Fiona started talking about some of the exciting things she did the night before. She told me that last night, while she was bored, she got a blank piece of paper and started writing down the names of everyone she could remember in her life, from the girl she played with in pre-school to all the teachers, relatives, karate instructors, ballet teachers, priests, friends from school, friends from Christian camp, and so forth. She told me that as she wrote the list, she reflected on each name. She told me that the happiest memories were often those that involve relationships with other people, and reflecting on past relationships was one of the most potents ways of inducing happiness and beating depression.
"It's amazing how many people you bump into in your life," she said. "And it's amazing how quickly you forget them."
When I asked Fiona how she managed to make so many friends at school, she told me something I thought was funny.
"Everyone loves watching television," she said. "It follows, therefore, that if you want people to love you, you must be like a television—funny, dramatic, unpredictable, entertaining, and so on."
I later learned that she went to Sunday school and made a vow to God, to her family, and to herself that she would not have sex before marriage. As she said, "the hardest part about looking into the eyes of an innocent eight-year-old girl was knowing that eight years later there was a 50 percent chance she would lose her virginity. Furthermore, there was a 70 percent chance she would regret it."
Fiona had a nice two-story house about ten minutes away from mine. Unlike my house, hers had a larger garden. The lights were on downstairs. The family was in the living room watching television. Fiona asked me if I wanted to go up to her bedroom so she could show me her poetry. I told her it was getting late and I was tired. She seemed disappointed with my rejection, which made me feel guilty. I promised I'd talk to her tomorrow, but she said tomorrow was Sunday and she had church in the morning. I told her that tomorrow I'd tell my dad to take me to church so I could see her. I haven’t been to church in ages. Tomorrow would be my first time in a long time.
This was taken from version 1 of a novelette I wrote called The Little Girl Next Door.
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