Sisters’ Night Out at Bulgogi Brothers

What is the best way to spend Payday?

Is it, (a) sit down and budget the cash you have until the next payday? (b) Pay all debts and bills? Or is it (c) donate everything to charity?

If your answer was (d) treat your younger sister to dinner, then, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding! You must be my sister! Because that is exactly what happened last week.

Bulgogi Brothers is a highly rated Korean BBQ restaurant among the more well-known foodies of the online circuit. Ever since BB hit the Islands about two years ago, we have heard from so many about how great the dining experience was. Curious about all the great reviews, and as fans of the Korean cuisine–my sister being a fan of Korean anything–this just seemed like the perfect night to finally try it out. And so we found ourselves at the third floor of Greenbelt 5.

The dining experience starts out with your classic banchan. These are side dishes or appetizers traditionally served first alongside complementary tea. We have here some kimchi, something that seems to be soysauce cured kangkong in oil, and sweet sundried anchovies or dilis. On a large platter are some that would better pair with an order of meat: some corn, hardboiled quail, and sweet potatoes. The tea of the day was Bari or Barley Wheat Tea, which had a mild, rounded, sweet-soft flavor.

Bulgogi Night doesn’t truly begin unless you’ve been served Kimchi, and some hot, spicy broth. So why not have both in the same pot? We ordered a large bowl of Kimchi Jjigae, which can give you about six full servings. The broth was made with boiled Kimchi and some additional peppers and onions. The soup also had small cubes of soy, small cuts of delicious, sweet cured beef, and ddeokbokki (read: /TOHk-bo’-kii/), a rice cake shaped like penne traditionally included in spicy dishes.

It is served to the table still bubbling in heat. A sip of the soup gave a sour kick mixed in with a bit of spice. To my taste, the broth was not as spicy as I had hoped, but was most likely adjusted so for the common Filipino taste. I found the bits of meat adding an odd sweetness to each spoonful, but I suppose it contributes a fair amount of flavor to the bowl.

Next came the Bulgogi Brothers Special, a platter of two kinds of beautifully marbled meat: thick and juicy heart-shaped patties, and cuts of thin, yet fatty beef marinated with sweet soy. As the pan pre-heated on the heating pad incorporated into the table, we were served with this lovely bottle of Bokbunja, or Black Raspberry Wine.

Grape based wines have a thick bitterness to it hiding deceptively behind its sweet aroma, and a glass of it will rest heavily in the stomach. Whereas, rice wine is the soul of an aggressive, wise, old hermit, forever intertwined with the spirit of a fierce, mischievous youth. It is bitter, full, open, light, truthful, and warming to the senses. Black Raspberry Wine is light in spirit, but packs a full-bodied flavor, and travels lightly through the chest, leaving behind a trail of blue flames. Its fruity aroma brings about a liveliness to the drink, but does not even attempt to mask the alcohol. In the glass, the sweet juice of life and its darker spirit are bonded friends that do not deny each other. It is a quiet virgin whose only means of conversation is through a song of dark seduction.

It seems like Bokbunja and a platter of fatty, rich, heart-shaped beef would make a great pairing and could pass for a romantic Valentine’s dinner. But the heavy, earthy flavor of meat breaks the balance and angers the virgin–and when she’s not in the mood, she’s not in the mood.

Non alcoholic drinks are also on the menu, and fair well with the dishes just as nicely. Raspberry Mint Tea can pair perfectly with the meat, if Black Raspberry Wine just isn’t your thing.

The onions and sweet potatoes are the first few sorry criminals sent to their smoky-flavored deaths. As they settle in and caramelize, the heart patties are grilled in the hot pan, and within seconds, the fat melts away. Soon enough, the beef cooks in its own gorgeous fat.

When the patties leave the pan, the fat continues to cook in with the onions and sweet potatoes as the sprouts are added in, and there is just an aromatic exchange of beautiful flavor that takes place in the air.

 

And in comes the thin strips of heaven.

Every bite of this sweet, stirfry bulgogi reminds you of just how important quality ingredients are to a good meal. There is nothing particularly unique about grilling meat in a pan–and definitely not this, as this might taste something more like gyuniku teriyaki. But it is with every bite that you understand that the real flavor you taste is in the meat, not in the marinade.

 

 

Let me just say this straight out:

As a rule, truly good Korean food should not be expensive.

Korean cuisine showcases dishes that warm the soul, and soothe the numbed fingers that have suffered the harsh winters of every day living. Here, food is a warm blanket that lovingly embraces you on a cold night. Warmth, in Korean Cuisine, is not only a description of temperature, but a flavor on its own. It is the mixed taste of calming comfort, and daring fierceness.

It is this flavorful experience that I had been looking for in Bulgogi Brothers, which I did not find.

Which is not to say that BB doesn’t offer great food–just don’t let your hopes up if you were looking for the best Korean dining experience your money can afford. Because trust me, your money can afford a whole lot of great Korean food; it just isn’t here. Maybe it’s mostly because I live in the Southern Metro, and Aguirre is just one among many places where the best, Seoul-ful restaurants are lining up. Cham-Maru and Shabuyaki are among my favorites. These two in particular are home-based businesses of Korean families. Eating there is quite literally eating a homemade Korean dinner, and simply nothing compares.

Dinner at Bulgogi Brothers is delicious, and perhaps even exciting for those who have not eaten, or have no intention of eating authentic Korean cuisine. But for those who have, BB will come out as a bad knock-off, a Teriyaki Boy of the Korean scene. In all honesty, the kimchi we buy in jars was better. If not for the great quality of the ingredients they use, this review wouldn’t have been edited, and would simply been harsh from start to finish.

Take my advice: Eat at Bulgogi Brothers when you have a great craving for meat, and all else will be forgiven.

2/5.

Struck with Awe: Chris Colfer’s Struck By Lightning Movie Review

What do you call a twenty-two year old actor, singer, New York Times Bestselling Author, one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential in 2011, and the writer and producer of his very own film for the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival?

A genius, that’s what.

A creative genius.

Overview

Carson practically hates his life: his mother is a defeatist bum who lives off her inheritance, his favorite grandmother can’t remember him anymore, his dad left them, his high school is filled with thick-headed pricks, and nobody just gets him. His only way of escaping his life is through writing, and hopes to one day become a famous journalist for the New Yorker and other publications. He carefully builds his college résumé to get into his dream college, Northwestern University, and the only way to do that is to blackmail Clover High’s royalty into contributing to a literary magazine he hopes to publish.

And the catch? Carson dies at the beginning of the film, and this entire story is a flashback, narrated by Carson himself from the grave.

Once upon a time, there was a boy.

Struck By Lightning holds a simple plot, but is so filled with incredibly witty dialogue and such inspired messages that Carson’s entire account makes for a beautiful story in itself. Carson hates his high school, and everyone in it, that SBL is the anthem of every out-of-place teen who just wants to get out, break free, and do something more with their lives. SBL is the story of every dreamer, who knows he shouldn’t settle for less than the highest.

Struck By Lightning is everything we’ve always wanted to tell people in high school, but couldn’t.

High school: society’s bright idea to put all their aggressive, self-righteous, pubescent, naïve youth to torment and emotionally scar each other–for life.

Struck By Lightning is about Carson Phillips, and his immense amount of back-sass.

Casting, Characters and Yearbook-style Superlatives

Best Death: Chris Colfer as Carson Phillips

We’ve already been through this one, but to add to the commentary, Chris Colfer is perfect when it comes to playing a smart-ass. Maybe it’s because he actually is?

“The minute you walked into this school, you were labeled as high school royalty. And you would rather maintain that label than–heaven forbid–stand up for yourselves. But high school ends. And for your sakes, I hope you guys aren’t the walking clichés everyone thinks you are, because life is going to walk all over you, and it’s gonna bite you in the ass!”

I think what makes Struck By Lightning such a compelling story and a believable film is that Chris Colfer has a lot of similarities with the character he created and portrayed. Chris was from Clovis, California. Carson was from Clover. Colfer was also in speech, debate, drama, and was the president of the Writers’ Club, and the editor of the school’s literary magazine, just like Carson Phillips. He was also a victim of bullying, and was often told that he was never going to make it big anywhere. In a way, Colfer shares his life’s story through Carson, and uses this film to send the message to his young viewers–a message of hope, to always keep reaching for the dream, and never let anyone or anything stop you.

Best at Table Tennis: Rebel Wilson as Malerie Baggs

Conservative at the front, party at the back.

We know Rebel from films like Bridesmaids or Pitch Perfect as an annoying and self-righteous loser. For once, here, Rebel plays Carson’s most loyal companion, Malerie Baggs, who might be the only person in the entirety of Clover High that actually wants to be in The Chronicle.

Malerie likes to carry a camera around and videotape everything. She has flawless complexion and great talent in table tennis, like,  Asian good. Also, like the BAMF that she is, she is fluent in Spanish, Celtic and Elvish.

“What isn’t worth remembering? With good memories comes bad memories, and I’ve got a lot of both. At least, this way, I can fast forward through all the bad stuff. The counselor once told me that it doesn’t matter if you’re stuck in the past, or trying to forget the past. What matters is what you do in the present. So that’s why I just try to soak it up as much as possible.”

Worst Posture: Sarah Hyland as cheer captain-slash-queen Claire Matthews

“But I didn’t laugh at you. In what grade do we stop believing in ourselves? In what grade do we stop believing, period? Someone has the be the Nobel Peace Prize Winner. Someone has to be the ballerina. Why not us?”

Someone should cast her as Vanessa Hudgens’ younger sister in some movie or something. We know her as Dylan from Disney’s Geek Charming. And now you will know her as the whiny head cheer bitch who has in-campus sex with the coach.

“The worst thing of being on top of the pyramid is that you can get really hurt if you fall.”

Best Hair, I mean look at that thing: Carter Jenkins as Nicholas Forbes

Nicholas Forbes is the school rich boy, and gets around by paying people to do his bidding. He seems to have very strict and unaccepting parents, so when Carson finds out–spoiler alert–that he’s gay and frequently has bathroom stall sex with his boyfriend, Drama Club President Scott Thomas (Graham Rogers), he’s more than happy to pay Carson to get him to shut up. But it doesn’t work.

As for Carter Jenkins, that boy has fine hair. I’m pretty iffy on his acting, though. The only other place I’ve seen him in is Aliens in the Attic as Tom Pearson.

Most Gay, more-than-Colfer: Graham Rogers as Scott Thomas

I don’t think Graham Rogers is actually gay IRL, but his voice, his glittery-painted toe nails, and his dance moves could give him a pass. So plus two points if he really isn’t gay, because he still made a pretty believable character.

This is him, right? The blonde guy? Because I originally thought it was  Grant Gustin, who plays Sebastian Smythe from Glee‘s Warblers. But alas.

And that, over there in the background, is the athlete who is deserving of the next superlative:

Most Conceited: Allie Grant as Remy Baker

We all might remember Allie Grant growing up, as Agnes from Disney’s The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. She was the creepy one. I don’t know how she got cast as the president of the Yearbook Committee, but if the goal was to make her the most annoying character in the film, then it works. Seeing her, of all people, seated atop a table, rejecting photos and judging people by their appearance, only makes me think that the casting director is a genius.

I think the way Colfer wrote her and intended for her

Most Poetic: Matt Prokop as school stoner boy Dwayne Michaels

“Why do people live 2D lives in a 3D world, when they can live 4D lives all the time?”

Once again from Disney’s Geek Charming, and also Jimmie from HSM3, Matt Prokop plays the perpetually high student Dwayne Michaels. I feel like Matt is actually the most versatile actor in this cast, for some reason. But I think that’s just me.

Most Make-Up: Ashley Rickards as Vicki Jordan

Familiar face? Or do we need to put her arm in a cast? Jenna Hamilton from MTV’s Awkward. brings her sassy remarks to the big screen with Vicki Jordan. What amazes me with Ashley Rickard’s performance is that she’s given the goth character, the person who likes talking about the dead/undead, and has a pretty dead outlook on life. But that doesn’t make Rickard’s performance dead at all. She moves her lips and angles her head slightly to make a reaction, all while keeping her voice in a deep, I don’t really care if you die, semi-monotone, and her eyes filled with nothing but apathetic joy.

Most Emilio: Roberto Aguire, as Emilio

There are only three things you need to remember about Emilio: (1) Emilio has gorgeous rooster hair, (2) Emilio smells like puppies, and (3) Emilio is the bean in your pupusa, and he’s damn proud of it.

I hate her:

Nuff said.

Also, I hate Carson’s mom.

Sheryl Phillips loves her son, even when she casually tells him he was unwanted, or she hates her. We all know she just did things because she loved her son, and she’s the first to worry about him.  Doesn’t make her any less stupid, though. So I still hate her. But I love Allison Janney–she’s the woman who will end up making you cry in this film.

And his dad. His dad is the worst. Dermot Mulroney perfectly portrays Neal Phillips, the man who recycles his apologies, and taste in wives.

Christina Hendricks playing April only breaks your heart worse than it already has, because you start to think that she’ll end up with that pretentious douchebag. What kind of monster turns bright, loving ladies into emotionally wrecked, drugged up bums?

This isn’t the life you want. I gave him my life, and I was tossed aside when he decided I wasn’t enough. This was never part of my picket fence fantasy. You and I aren’t so different. I had a kid to save a marriage, and you’re having one to ensure one. So you shouldn’t be so quick to judge. Especially you. Because I was you. And now I’m this.

And he’s back: Adam Kolkin

Once upon a time, there was a boy who wanted to fly.

If you can remember that little boy over there, then you must have seen him from Glee, as a young Kurt Hummel. I think he’ll forever be cast as a younger Chris Colfer in everything, because the resemblance really is uncanny. It’s too bad he only appeared a few shots, but this kid is perfect.

In Essence

Once upon a time, there was a boy who flew.

What The Carson Phillips Journal really tells a story of was how Carson wasted his life, by working so hard, trying to be a good grandson, a good son, a worthy writer, but end up not having what he wanted–and how he’s okay with that. It’s a story about how Carson learns that it was in whatever he “wasted” his life on that made it worth living in the first place. It was in Carson’s acceptance and self-appreciation for the things that he had and were able to do, despite all the disappointments, that he found his peace.

And so, he died.

“Don’t try to find the ideas. Let the ideas find you. It’s one of hte most amazing experiences, you know, finding something to write about–realizing something for the first time. It comes out of nowhere, and it just hits you, and it’s all you can think about, and it goes through your body, and it tries to escape, and be expressed in any way possible. I mean, it’s ah, it’s a lot like, uhm–”

“Lightning.”

Struck by Lightning gets 9 out of 10.

Jingling All the Way to Bono Tei

I don’t know what it is about my family and Japanese cuisine that we decide to have Japanese food for Christmas dinner, just like we did last year. Last year’s Christmas feast was at Okiniiri, along Aguirre, BF Homes. This time, we decided to check out Bono Tei Japanese Restaurant, found around El Grande Ave.

There are three things to love about this place: great food, great service, and most of all, great atmosphere.

Great Food

The sad thing about Japanese cuisine in the Philippine food scene today is that it’s slowly being drained of excitement, flare, and that bit of class for the sake of economical reasons. Your classic examples would be Teriyaki Boy, Rai Rai Ken and Tokyo Tokyo.

Gladly, Bono Tei reminds you that everything spent for each delectable bite is worth it.

Go ahead, sample the sushi.

Futomaki

Your classic Futomaki, which I think is tamago, pickled daikon, kani stick and rice wrapped in seaweed. It is one of the simplest kinds of makis out there, but with good quality ingredients, Bono Tei makes them a humble delight to behold.

California Maki

The roll that captured (almost) every Filipino’s taste is the California Maki. Virtually everyone’s had one, may it be from some dump sushi place. Drizzled with Japanese mayo, it seems that Bono Tei likes to keep things fresh but traditional.

But don’t be fooled, because they have a mountain up their sleeves.

Mt. Fuji:

deep fried salmon maki, drizzled with cheese.

I don’t know how it is possible, but even the rice tastes better.

One rule of restaurant hunt is to order things that are familiar to you, things that are common to every one you’ve tried before, for the sake of comparison. When it comes to Japanese, you have to test the Chicken Teriyaki.

Chicken Teriyaki

Bono Tei serves up a mildly sweet, savory, succulent and tender dish. Comparison? It doesn’t swim in sauce. It lets the chicken be the star of the show, which is a quality of good food. You don’t kill the flavor of the meat with overpowering sauces; you pick good quality ingredients, and the sauce is there to highlight that taste. Which for chicken teriyaki, it happens only once or twice, and at least one of those times would be here at Bono Tei.

Gyuniku Teriyaki

Which is much to say about their Gyuniku (beef) Teriyaki. Unlike most other restaurants that serve them up in slices, or even thin strips of sirloin, Bono Tei gives you that uncut chunk of meat for a really good bite of beef. Served with it is a stir fry salad of mung bean sprouts and other vegetables and corn on the side. It is served well-done, and as you take a bite, you will notice that the sauce goes through the inside of the meat, telling us that this has been well marinated.

Ebi Asupara Bacon

I was expecting prawns with asparagus, wrapped in bacon. But it was a stir fry dish of shrimp, asparagus, bacon and some corn. Still good, though. Asparagus is not at all overcooked, and the bacon is not too salty.

Now about what I told you when it comes to the experience of taking a bite of beef:

Wagyu.

Yes, Wagyu Beef. Hello there, you just made my Christmas.

Bono Tei serves up Wagyu Beef in two ways: a plate of the beef with a plate of sauce, or the beef barbecued with the sauce. I chose the first one.

It isn’t a plate of steak or anything, but eight humble cubes of beef, with a plate of sauce that seems to be made of shoyu, teriyaki sauce, honey and sesame oil. It’s a wild guess, but hey. The beef itself is cooked well-done, which is how my family prefers it, but not how I do things with meat. Still, it isn’t dry or hard to chew at all (but that’s just a property of Wagyu beef). This isn’t something you just eat through, but something you take careful bites of, to savor that taste of exquisite beef, and the sauce just perfectly compliments that.

If you don’t know what Wagyu Beef is, it comes from a Japanese breed of cattle, where the meat contains more Omega-3 & 6 fatty acids. So it is a lot less unsaturated fat. I know it sounds like there shouldn’t be any difference in taste, but there is. There really, really is.

And the last dish to come to our table was the one most awaited. If you love hotpot dinners, you might want to trade in your Sukiyaki for this.

Yosenabe

Prawns, crab, I think there’s fish, I don’t know, rice noodles, shitake mushrooms, golden string mushrooms, tofu, and plenty of lovely vegetables in what seems to be a miso-based broth makes up this lovely Seafood hotpot.

Their menu also features countless other dishes, classic and otherwise. And the drinks do include alcoholic beverages and some Japanese rice wines, just in case you wanted to know.

Great Service

If you’re into the foreign cuisine restaurants where the staff dresses the native costume, and act like they’re native, then you’re in for a surprise.

Because the Bono Tei staff is nothing like that.

There are no kimono-wearing waitresses, kneeling down to your small floor table to pour you tea. They do not act all formal and treat you like the guest of the imperial majesty, or whatever. Instead, they go with something they actually have: Filipino charm. With all their casual graces, they smile and even giggle along with the customers. I love a good cosplay as much as the next otaku, but I’d have to admit, this is refreshing.

If you do take a long meal, you’re going to hear a couple dozen mispronounced irasshaimase’s, spoken as if they’re ready to throw it out the window.

But they do serve green tea, complimentary, before the meal.

They have a lovely set of plates, and they prepare the hotpot set far before the meal is even ready.

Great Atmosphere

Now the great difference of buying food, and actually looking for a restaurant, is the ambience. Dining isn’t just about eating, but the experience of eating, taking in not only taste and smell of the dish, but also the sight of the meal and its surroundings. Bono Tei completes this dining experience by paying attention to the detail in design. Here’s a shot of the inside dining space:

Which of course, I cannot take any more of, because I couldn’t go around the restaurant like a crazy person, disturbing people having dinner to take their pictures.

The entryway to the inner dining area is a sliding door made of bamboo, with a white cloth curtain. Right outside is a sort of patio dining area.

Bono Tei seems like a great place for parties especially with their outdoor event space.

 

With a koi pond and a bridge.

 

Other than the tent, there is a roofed dining space right next to the koi pond.

And a perfect view from the event tent is a row of lanterns.

Let’s light this baby up, shall we?

My family and I couldn’t resist; we just had to have a photo-adventure out here.

Great, basically everything

Bono Tei is definitely a brilliant new find, and this dinner totally made my holiday a feast to remember.

For a casual lunch out, a budget of 400-500 per head should do. But if you intend on tasting all that Bono Tei has to offer, 600-900 per head should do the trick.

Bono Tei scores an 8.5 out of 10 for me.

Happy Christmas and a cheerful start of the year to everyone.

The Circus of Dreams, Destiny and Defiance

Magic, Mystery, Love and Clockwork—The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is a verbal scrapbook that brings to life a fantastical story of love and destiny so unlike every other romance novel out there.

It is a book that I would easily rate with an 8.5/10.

Overview

The circus arrives without warning.

No announcements precede it, no paper notices on downtown posts and billboards, no mentions or advertisements in local newspapers. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not

Prospero the Enchanter puts his long-lost daughter Celia Bowen into a game against Mr. Alexander H’s student, an orphan named Marco Alisdair. With no known reasons and no known rules, the game is set in a circus that comes unannounced and appears only at night, owned by a rich young man, Monsieur Chandresh Lafavré. Le Cirque des Rêves is the chessboard and everyone is just another piece.

What started out as a humble NaNoWriMo submission ended up as a bestselling debut novel for Erin Morgenstern, jumpstarting her career.

Up, up, and away–Erin Morgenstern’s writing career soars into new heights with the success of her debut novel, The Night Circus

I dislike how often The Night Circus is compared to Harry Potter for the simple reason that it isn’t similar to it in any way. The Night Circus is a Shakespearean tragedy set in a small dome of fantasy travelling in the real world in the dark. It is a story of the Hunger Games, with Love is Our Resistance playing in the background. It is not a story, but a poem in paragraph form.

Wine is bottled poetry.

He wonders if the poem of the circus could ever be bottled.

The usual downside that most reviewers have pointed out about The Night Circus is that it was too slowly paced, or All-Word-No-Plot, or that it was “the most boring circus ever.” They’ve even compared it to Twilight. The difference, of course, that most people did not see was that it was the entire bottle of poetry, of every piece of imagery that was necessary, not only to make it magical, but to actively portray and paint a picture of the love shared by Celia and Marco. When one reads about the circus, about the design of the clock, or how the statues move at such a glacial pace, one could barely notice, every carefully laced detail should be read to interpret Celia and Marco’s love story. They are the circus. They were destined to be together in this way, in a way so magical and so eternal and so artistically bizarre. Every one of their tents was a love letter: The Ice Garden, the Carousel, The Labyrinth, and the Wishing Tree where each wish gets lit up by someone else’s. Compared to real circuses, yes, they do seem slow and boring. But it’s poetry, and you’re never supposed to take words for what they seem to mean at first.

The Delicious Reads Book Club meeting for their February choice The Night Circus

Writing Style

Even the sex scene was so quietly, artfully, poetically portrayed.

Trapped in silence, Marco traces apologies and adorations across Celia’s body with his tongue.

Though I have to admit, it’s not your usual popular romance story, with the witty comebacks from the charismatic young lover who tries to charm his way through a million rejections, just to get her to smile and probably rethink that offer. It barely even touches on the romance, and takes half a dozen forevers before Celia and Marco even meet. And when they do, it’s all the I Love You’s and the I Can’t Live Without You’s stock dialogues, like the badly written Legend of Korra season finale. Even though I think TNC is trying to be poetic and symbolic, but it could try to be a bit more natural and creative. In this way, what TNC really lacks isn’t plot, but character development. We look too deeply into the circus, all the tents and the cinnamon things and the spiced chocolate, but we see the characters too subdued, too quiet, that after some 400 pages in a journey with these characters, you’ll feel as if you’ve barely known them at all.

But Erin Morgenstern knows how to keep you flipping through those pages, regardless. It didn’t need to be fast-paced, witty and action packed to be interesting. Every single issue was shrouded in mystery, and our main characters don’t even know what they’re in until somewhere towards the end. And it will mostly be what gets you to continue reading: to try to uncover the mystery, when in fact, every flip of the page just adds another layer of it.

Another creative bit about the writing, after all the colorfully interwoven imagery, is the description of the attractions in the circus, used to separate chapters. Using second voice, it seems as if the reader himself steps into the scene. And, like good poetry, the ending was written to resonate with the beginning. Everything just seemed so polished and well-structured, that you can feel the amount of time and effort Morgenstern poured into the creation of this piece.

Book Covers

The artistry of the book covers is no exception. The covers come in black, gray and white with a hint of red.

Before The Night Circus even hit the market, the lucky critics who received advanced copies (like Reveurs getting free admission or something) had this stack of beautiful silver things to enjoy.

The US version showed a view of the tents of the circus with the clock above it, being held in what seems to be Tsukiko’s hand. The hardbound version is lovely, but having this transferred to paperback doesn’t seem as nice at all. Printed by Anchor Books, an imprint of RandomHouse.

The US Release Cover designed by Pei Loi Koay

Walter Sickert himself designed this poster for The Night Circus Paperback Release Party, where he performed with his band, Walter Sickert and the Broken Toys

The UK print from Vintage Books, another imprint of RH, looks much more elegant, especially in hardbound. The dust jacket is in black, with white silhouettes of Marco and Celia, which was also used for the online game.

The UK Release Cover

The book itself is in red, with a golden clock face painted on the inside.

Herr Thiessen’s Clock Face

Look at the red ribbon bookmark and the black edged pages! Book publishing as an art form–it’s definitely a good reason to buy this version as a sort of collector’s item.

The inside cover has a pattern of top hats and bowler hats.

Marco Alisdair on the inside-back flap of the dust jacket for the UK Release

I found a Spanish Release cover, but I’m uncertain on whether or not it is the official one. Most of the other translations are the same cover as the UK release but change the title.

The Spanish Release Cover?

Rejected cover by Jessica Hische, perhaps because it was in black and gold–and there was no gold in Le Cirque des Reves.

A black-and-gold cover that wasn’t able to make it out to the market, a beautiful design by Jessica Hische

A cover that didn’t make it out, by Jessica Hische

Fan Art

The Night Circus is so visually indulgent that an artist just can’t help but make something inspired by it. Here are some notable works I’ve found.

Laura Walter has a fan-made cover in a deep shade of teal.

Laura Walter redesigns Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus with deep shades of evening blue

Upcoming Film Adaptation

Summit has already claimed the rights to the movie production of this book, and I hope they won’t mess it up the same way they did Twilight. Although, there seems to be a good thing about having David Heyman as the producer, since he also produced the Harry Potter films. Writer for the screen adaptation is Moira Buffini who previously wrote for films like Jane Eyre and Byzantium. There has no official date as of yet, and no cast either, so the film can be predicted to be out by mid-2013 or early 2014.

The book is just so visual despite the fact that the circus comes in Black and White, and I think it would be perfect as a movie. Costume designs, props and set would be perfect if we could get the team of people from the 2004 Phantom of the Opera, ala Masquerade, or Moulin Rouge on board.

What I want to hear: Music

It would be incredible to have Erin Morgenstern’s personal writing playlist as an inspiration for the film’s OST, just as Summit was able to do for Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga. It would be perfect to have at least one Florence + The Machine track in there, hopefully a new one, or perhaps Spectrum. And then Andrew Bird as well as Smashing Pumpkins. Other than the music from her personal soundtrack, a bit of Muse would do some good, especially something similar to Starlight or The Resistance. (Starlight because of the sound, Resistance because of the message resonating with the film.) And Birdy. And Coldplay. And Fun. And Panic! At The Disco. These last two choices seem out of balance with the rest of the track, but when I ask myself, “what music sounds like an old French circus?” then nothing would match it better than some PATD.

Who I want to see: Cast

I have no one in mind for the cast, to be honest, except maybe Lucy Liu for Tsukiko, but that was still a no for me. I definitely want to see Chloe Moretz in red hair for Poppet. Mila Kunis would make a great Isobel. But other than that, my thoughts on casting are really useless. I’d love to know who you guys think should play it though. I do think that it’d be great to have Cirque du Soleil be in the movie.

Spoilables

Here is a comprehensive list of the characters and themes of the novel. Do not read them until you’ve finished the entire book. Also to note, a good number of the themes or the personalities of the characters are my own thoughts and observations. They’re not necessarily what Erin herself intended.

Characters

Celia Bowen

Celia is the daughter of the world-renowned magician. After her mother died, she is given to her father who uses her as a representative in the game because of her “natural talent”, inherited from her father. During her childhood, she was thought to be strange, or a child of the devil, as she would tend to break things around her without touching them whenever she was upset. She was taught to heal herself, remake things she broke, and do illusions and magic tricks. She worked as an illusionist at the Circus, and wrote letters to the Revéur Herr Thiessen. She collaborated with the engineer Mr. Barris in creating the enchanted Carousel.  She also made a vertical labyrinth of clouds, and took it upon herself to train the Murray twins. She acts very mature and motherly towards them.

Celia dislikes being treated like a child, or having to follow orders and rules that she don’t understand. She continues to struggle to gain independence, to break free from every bond she’s had, represented by the ring that was embedded into her skin. At some point, she mutters to herself, “I’m already married,” declaring her unwanted engagement with a seemingly pointless game. She compared herself to Shakespeare’s Hamlet once, saying that she was haunted by her father’s ghost. And she has plenty of Shakespeare in her stack of books in the tent.

Her style of magic makes use of illusions and redirecting energy from places, something that seems natural and inherited. Her usual acts in the circus as the illusionist include the usual dove tricks, changing the colors of her dress, destroying watches and re-making them, etc.

Celia’s Gown, by the Delicious Reads Book Club

Her character ends up as a very self-protective one, often finding herself not allowing Marco to love her. She tries to be in control of things, and tries to push away the people—especially Marco—who take away that control.

Marco Alisdair

Marco starts off as an orphan, taken by Mr. Alexander H. to represent him in the game. Marco Alisdair is not his real name, but one he used growing up, revealed only once he met Isobel. His magic is part of his studies for years, unlike Celia who was born a natural talent. His style of magic makes use of a lot of alchemic symbols and formulas which he keeps in notebooks with drawings of trees. He does not perform in the circus itself, but works for Chandresh Lefèvre, the main proprietor. Marco keeps the accounts and records, etc., and makes certain that the dinners and parties and events are organized. His contribution to the circus is the bonfire, which actually acts as a protector, shielding the people in the circus, so they won’t be overpowered by the magic and would eventually go insane. Likewise, the protector also seems to prohibit the main people in the circus from aging. He also created the Ice Garden, Celia’s favorite tent.

Personally, Marco’s favorite tent was the wishing tree.

His romantic pursuits are often without Alexander’s permission. His decisions on love seem impulsive and rushed. His usual way of courtship is by creating fantastical illusions and recreating the surroundings, which is what he did the first time he kissed Isobel in the rain, and what he continued to do for Celia. He never told Isobel that he loved her, but he never held back on telling Celia.

The Night Circus Character Designs by deirling via deviantART (click the image to visit her page)

Hector Bowen (Prospero the Enchanter)

Prospero the Enchanter was a well-known magician, a student of Mr. Alexander. He challenged him in the belief that magic cannot be learned but a special talent accessible only be a rare few. This challenge between them two was what started the centuries of games. At some point, people believed that Hector Bowen had died, but in truth, he was suspended in a state of life with no physical body in a failed attempt at gaining immortality.

Esse Quam Videri is the Bowen family motto, which means, “To be, rather than to seem.” According to Celia, Hector was “very fond of engraving it on things.”

Mr. Alexander H.

Mr. A.H—as he is often referred to in the book is the teacher of Hector Bowen, Marco Alisdair and Tsukiko. He always wears grey clothes and does not have a shadow, which was noticed only by Celia in the first chapter, and by Widget in the last. Celia also notes that it’s as if Alexander isn’t his real name, as if “it doesn’t fit.” Mr. AH—believes that magic can be learned, that it is all around and for everyone, but only very few people make an effort to notice it. He warns Marco during the game to stay away from Celia, knowing the objective of the game and that the end result would only hurt Marco, as it did Tsukiko.  Also unlike Hector, Alexander openly appreciates the value of death, a sentiment he only expresses with Widget in the last chapter.  Although he is very old, he admits that he will eventually die and does not intend on seeking immortality.

[Immortality] is a terrible thing to seek. It is not seeking anything, but avoiding the unavoidable.

Alexander also believes in the power of stories, and makes a deal with Widget that the game will end and the Circus will be passed over to the hands of Bailey Clarke.

Circus Performers

Winston Aidan Murray (Widget)

Widget was born October 13, 1886, six minutes before midnight. He has striking red hair, always wears a black suit, and carries a white kitten with him. Other than his kitten act with his sister, Widget also has his own tent called Bedtime Stories which houses various bottles that release stories when uncorked.

He has a natural psychic talent of knowing people’s past, and is tutored by Celia to develop his magical powers. His talent is attributed to the fact that he was born on the same night as the opening of the circus, and perhaps was affected by the enchanted bonfire lit by Marco. His favorite treat at the circus are the cinnamon things.

The Cinnamon Things that Widget loved so much; from the Night Circus meet-up by the Delicious Reads Book Club

Widget, as revealed later on, is apparently the narrator of the entire novel.

Fan Art: Poppet and Widget – The Night Circus by jucylucyinspired via deviantART (click the image to the original)

Penelope Aislin Murray (Poppet)

Poppet was born October 14, 1886, seven minutes after midnight (thirteen minutes apart from her twin brother). Like Widget, she has striking red hair. She wears white dresses made of scraps of different fabric, and has a black kitten. The Murray’s parents run the Big Cats attraction. Poppet ends up as Bailey Clarke’s love interest, as well as the reason he comes to join the circus. Opposite her brother, Poppet has the power of foresight, and sees blurry images of the future. She also has the ability to read the stars.

Isobel Martin

Isobel is a reader of Cartomancy, Tarot Cards. She first appears as an unnamed wanderer, and ends up kissing Marco in the rain. Through the years, she tries to aid Marco to win the game, but ends up finding out that there is nothing she could do to hold things together. Her relationship with Marco ends up as a very one-sided love story. No matter how you put it, the only way to really describe it is that Marco cheated on her. Other than Tarot Cards, Isobel also makes use of charms.

Tsukiko

The Night Circus Contortionist by Fluffball264 via deviantART

Tsukiko is a Japanese contortionist who performs at the Circus. She first appeared at the Midnight Dinners. Tsukiko becomes the main inspiration of the circus. She reveals herself later on to be one of Mr. Alexander’s student, and the one who previously won the game, or, in her words, “survived” it. She was in love with her competitor Hinata who lit a pillar of flame and stepped into it, to burn herself and let Tsukiko win. (This also means that Tsukiko is a lesbian.) On October 31, 1902, she claims to have won the game that ended “eighty-three years, six months, and twenty-one days ago. It was a cherry-blossom day.” Approximately, that would be April 20, 1819.

Original Conspirators

Chandresh Christophe Lefèvre

Owner of Le Cirque des Rêves, Chandresh is a wealthy man of great ambition. His life spanned from August 3, 1847 to February 15, 1932, dying finally at the age of 85. He was 39 when the circus first opened. His character has this keen sense of beauty and a burning love for the arts. He has a lingering restlessness whenever he does not have work to do, which, other than the burden of the magical circus, caused his emotional and psychological unrest less than a decade after the opening of the circus. In that said moment of instability, he attempts to kill Alexander with a silver knife, but misses. Instead, Herr Thiessen gets stabbed. After he hands the circus over to Bailey, he creates a museum with Poppet.

Ana Padva

Often referred to as Tante Padva or Mme. Padva, she is a retired Russian prima ballerina. She acts almost like a mother to Chandresh and the Burgess sisters. She loves fashion most of all, and appoints Lainie Burgess as the heiress to her business.

Lainie & Tara Burgess

The Burgess Sisters Lainie and Tara are socialites who love secrets and stories. They feel uncomfortable being apart from each other, one of them acting as the eyes, the other the ears during social events, making them a complete set. Tara ends up committing suicide by jumping in front of a train, after being heavily affected by the overpowering magical influences of the circus, just as she realizes the grand scheme. Lainie, however, ends up inheriting Ana Padva’s business, as Padva claims her to be reliable and responsible. Also, Lainie is the love interest of Ethan Barris, but initially refuses his proposal. Her argument was based on the fear that she was only chosen because Tara was already dead, making the choice not completely Mr. Barris’s, but just a matter of consequence.

Ethan Barris

Mr. Barris is the engineer and architect that built the circus. Aside from Isobel, he was the first among the original conspirators to know about the game, and how the circus was being used as a stage. He seems to be always busy, but he has a reserved and secretive character. He does not take sides.

Revéurs

Bailey Alden Clarke

Bailey is just a son of a humble apple farmer who ends up as the main proprietor of Le Cirques des Reves. When the circus visits Concord, Massachusetts in September of 1897 but is closed due to inclement weather, Bailey gets dared by his sister Caroline and her friends Millie and the Mackenzie brothers to check it out. There he meets Poppet, who lets him keep her glove as a souvenir. He keeps it in the hollow part of his favorite tree, for years until he sees the circus again in 1902. He finds himself in a dilemma between choosing Harvard, by recommendation of his grandmother, or staying to take over the family farm, by the strict decision of his parents. When Poppet returns for him, she asks him to join the circus as if though his presence were essential for the preservation of it. Later on, Celia and Marco are trapped in the half-matter state of the circus and can no longer keep it operating under their own power, so they ask Bailey to take over.

Assuming that the internet became available in 1990′s or 2000′s, then the ending would hint that Bailey and the rest of the circus continued to live past a hundred years.

Bailey’s Favorite Treat: Chocolate Mice

Friedrick Stefan Thiessen

Herr Thiessen (September 9, 1846-November 1, 1901) is a German clockmaker from Munich who creates the iconic timepiece that is displayed at the circus. After his first visit to the circus at Dresden, he develops overwhelming feelings about the magical performances and starts to write about them. Patrons of the circus see his articles on the news, and start writing to him. They begin to create a network of fans of the circus called the Reveurs(daydreamers). He had a great fondness for Celia and was often assumed to have a romantic relationship with her. He died by getting stabbed with a silver knife by Chandresh who was in a time of mental instability, trying to kill Alexander who dodged the attack. His and Chandresh’s names are engraved on a metal plate installed on the great clock in their memory.

Designed by Stephanya from BookPeople

Victor

Victor meets Bailey on his way to New York and is the first to introduce him to the Reveurs. He offers Bailey to stay at one of the rooms at the Parker House, and even gives him a book of clippings and circus memorabilia. He is stubborn and does not accept rejections for his offers of kindness.

Lorena

Victor’s sister who chooses out Bailey’s deep grey suit and puts a rose in his lapel. She seems very supportive of Victor and often finishes his sentence.

Elizabeth

Elizabeth seems to have a hidden romantic relationship with Victor. She makes red scarves all the time for the Reveurs and gives on to Bailey as a gift.

We lead strange lives and chase our dreams from place to place. –Elizabeth, on being a Reveur.

Analysis of Themes & Ideas

What’s in a Name?

In the first part, when Celia meets Mr. Alexander H., she asks her father if it was his real name, saying that it’s as if it doesn’t fit. Likewise, when Hector first meets his daughter, he says that it was a shame she wasn’t named Miranda. And after various attempts at calling Celia as “Miranda” it never catches on. Later on, calling the Murray twins as Poppet and Widget, the narration includes that “the nicknames stick as all nicknames do.”

So what is in a name? Does not a rose called by any other name smell just as sweet? Well it would, but if you called it a daisy, it wouldn’t feel like a daisy. It would still be a rose. The thing is, names have their own definitions—not the type like those in baby name books. Words mean what they are meant to represent, and names mean the person they are meant to identify. To use a name for a person that isn’t their name would be defying their own sense of identity, in some way.

“Why did you call that man Alexander?” Celia asks.

“That’s a silly question.”

“It’s not his name.”

“Now, how might you know that?” Hector asks his daughter, lifting her chin to face him and weighing the look in her dark eyes with his own.

Celia stares back at him, unsure how to explain. She plays over in her mind the impression of the man in his grey suit with his pale eyes and harsh features, trying to figure out why the name does not fit on him properly.

“It’s not a real name,” she says. “Not one that he’s carried with him always. It’s one he wears like his hat. So he can take it off if he wants. Like Prospero is for you.”

Destiny, Dreams, Defiance

Tarot Cards, premonition and foresight, the rings, the game, the circus, the umbrella, the bottle, the glove, the fire, the silver knife, the blood, Harvard and Apple Farms—there are so many things in The Night Circus that none of the characters could be in control of. In fact, the game wasn’t one that you play, but one you survive. Marco and Celia aren’t even players in this game, just two kings on the opposite sides of a chess board, while Hector and Alexander move them around, knocking other pieces over like worthless pawns.

She has gathered that the man in the grey suit whom her father called Alexander also has a student, and there will be some sort of game.

“Like chess?” she asks once.

“No,” her father says. “Not like chess.”

And maybe, even, that’s why the entire circus is in black and white—because it’s a chessboard. No matter how they try to end the game, they couldn’t. They could try to win or to lose for the sake of the other, but there was no way to end it. Their love for each other was the resistance that they put up, their last act of defiance. It’s the same way that Romeo and Juliet died for each other, or even how Peeta and Katniss took those berries at the end of the games.

But then, there’s Bailey. He was supposed to either go to Harvard or take over the family farm. One of those was his predefined destiny. It’s a nice thing to think that Bailey tried to go against destiny by running off with the Circus. But then, Poppet saw it happen first, that Bailey should come over to the circus so that it would continue to survive. If so, then wouldn’t joining the circus be part of Bailey’s destiny? Is there really ever an escape for it?

In the same way, Celia tried to not get Bailey involved—but he still did. And she also tried to not fall for Marco, but she still did. It was something out of her control, like her emotions and her powers. And at the end of the day, if you really think about it, nobody escaped their destiny. It’s as if defiance and rebellion are just heroic illusions, when in fact, nobody ever really gets away.

Perhaps, even, love is just another way of giving up your freedom, like when Marco and Celia bind themselves forever into the soul of the circus, or when Bailey takes the contract and stays. It’s as if the only way to truly rebel from life is to dream. Art is the purest form of defiance, it’s the escapement, the maximization of the true sense of freedom.

A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world. – Oscar Wilde, 1888.

Time

The book narrates back and forth from the beginning of Celia and Marco’s game in 1873, jumping to Bailey in 1897, and takes them together until both parts of the story meet at 1902. This, and the fact that the narration was in past tense, only meant that there was already a defined past and future, and there was no way of changing it. Peculiarly enough, Widget started telling the story in 1902 to Mr. AH–, but was able to write at the end of a time with internet, even though he wouldn’t have known about that in 1902.

“I am saying that you had a chance,” Isobel says. “A chance to be with her. A chance for everything to resolve itself in a favorable manner. I almost wanted that for you, truly, in spite of everything. I still want you to be happy. And the possibility was there.” She gives him a small, sad smile as she slides her hand into her pocket. “But the timing isn’t right.”

But likewise, it showed that destiny could be—or could have been—quite flimsy, flexible. An outcome of some event could be changed by the smallest factors, or in Isobel’s terms, the timing.

Kiko, please,” Celia says. “I need more time.”Tsukiko shakes her head.“I told you before,” she says, “time is not something I can control.

Immortality

The concept of immortality and how Hector tried to obtain it is briefly discussed directly, but in all truth, I think it’s what the entire thing was about. Celia and Marco being forever part of the circus, with their souls intertwined with its existence is their piece of immortality. And Widget’s account of the circus is the preservation of everything—Herr Thiessen lives, and so does Chandresh, and likewise every person in that circus.

Oddly enough, as the years progress, the people in the circus never seem to age. By 1902, Marco and Celia would have been at age 34 or so. And Bailey, who was born around 1886, same with the twins, lived long enough to reach the time of internet, as shown when “you” receive Bailey’s business card with the website name and his email. That would mean they all lived past a hundred years. This might mean that the circus continues to pro-long and preserve their lives, making Celia and Marco, and everyone in the circus, in their own way, immortal.

Circles

The whole of Les Cirque des Reves is formed by a series of circles. Perhaps it is tribute to the origin of the word  “circus,” deriving from the Greek kirkos meaning circle. (…) They are set within circular paths, contained within a circular fence. Looping and continuous. – Herr Friedrick Thiessen, 1892.

So is the narration, and Marco and Celia’s rings. Everything is like an orobouros and everything continues in circular motion, on and on, again and again, looping into forever, like a clock that never stops ticking.

The Amazing Spider-Man

Long before, when The Amazing Spider-Man released its trailer, the general viewership were split into two. One half had a sense of sheer excitement; the other half, absolutely doubtful. Their questions: wouldn’t it be bad to make a remake of Spider-Man just a decade after, and who the hell is Andrew Garfield–why pair him up with Emma Stone?!

Naturally, I was in the geek zone: the first half. To clarify, The Amazing Spider-Man and Spider-Man are two different stories, sort of Spidey’s alternate histories. It isn’t a remake of the first two films, but a different story altogether.

And that answer about Andrew Garfield will come later. I have too many feelings for this movie, so hold on.

Overview

In this installment of Spiderman, Andrew Garfield plays a teenage boy who lives with his uncle and aunt, because his father, long ago, left him–some secret responsibility he never really knew about. The girl of his dreams, Gwen Stacy, played by Emma Stone, works as an assistant in the same research company his father apparently worked for before he left. Bit by a radioactive spider, like the usual, he develops powers and decides on that responsibility. The rest of the story is spoiler material.

The Webb-Vanderbilt Team is a Genius

The writing for Spider-Man is incredible. It was the most well-written Comic-based superhero movie in the past decade. James Vanderbilt and the team made sure that every single moment that happens in this film will be connected. There is an astounding amount of character development squeezed into one film that it seems as if, for the first time, you’ve truly understood Spider-Man. Other than character development, the feasibility of the plot was so well-researched that the great nerds of science will squeal at the sight of real equations that make sense and graphs of cell biology, etc.

You know, if you’re going to steal cars, don’t dress like a car thief.

Inconsistencies

But the inconsistency of things aren’t in the sci-fi areas, but the smaller things, like why the hell is Spidey going around NY inconspicuously swinging around like no one’s going to watch him swing home and follow him and find him out? How’d he get to those spiders without getting caught by security? And if scientists were so against the machine that can cure a plague for it being misused to spread toxins on entire cities, then why is it not deactivated? Seriously, Dr. Connor looked at it through the glass wall and said that he was sad that it’s only there to gather dust–but the gears were moving, and puffs of smoke were coming out. It wasn’t gathering dust; it was alive in that glass encasement, ready to be stolen and used to create a new species of Homo Reptilia.

We all have secrets; the ones we keep, and the ones that are kept from us.

Similarities and References

There are so many reference jokes any film buff or geek would be able to make of this movie. The Godzilla reference was openly spoken by the Captain of the NY Police, “Do I look like the Mayor of Tokyo to you, son?” But at some point, you could almost rename The Amazing Spider-Man to Peter Parker and the Chamber of Secrets, with sewer tunnels leading to a hidden room, a giant reptile whispering to himself like a schizophrenic, a large green-faced noseless antagonist, and a boy running around with his glasses on, trying to find out what happened to his father.

Ready to play God?

TAS had a lot of scenes that centered on responsibility over vengeance, or hate or other radical emotion–it’s exactly the kind of film that suits with The Box and Hollow Man, the sci-fi flicks that ask the question of the misuse of power. But it also puts you in the feeling that you’ve seen this somewhere: Kick-Ass 2010, which opened its film (and its comic) with the lines, “With no power comes no responsibility, except, that isn’t true.” This high school boy makes his own costume, gets his powers by accident, and in that intro where his mother died, he said that it didn’t go the usual way, “I WILL AVENGE YOU, MOTHER!”-style. Instead, Kick-Ass thought that if you could help people, you should, which is exactly what Uncle Ben will tell Peter–the line that sends everyone on a guilt trip. (Well okay, granted, Spiderman inspired Kick-Ass, not the other way around. But you feel it in this movie. He even tests out his powers in dark alleys, beats up thugs and becomes a Youtube sensation. Also to note, Aaron Johnson was in the shortlist for the role of Spider-Man.)

The ending also feels like Marvel’s The Avengers, where Spider-Man has to run up a tower and activate something that will shoot up into the sky that would ultimately save everyone. And that saving everyone part is saving everyone from a breed of human-reptile hybrids: Doctor Who‘s Homo Reptilia.

Sony Pictures

Before you even ask, The Amazing Spider-Man is not produced by the same company as the recent Marvel Comics movie franchise: Thor, Captain America, IronMan and The Avengers. This would explain clearly as to why TAS doesn’t at all feel like them.

Music

The music in this film is confusing. I’m still pretty iffy about it. At some point, I think there was a Coldplay track. But over-all, it feels like you wouldn’t know if you were watching an action sci-fi film or a horror movie about a haunted house. The mis-toned piano smash works to creep you out a bit, but doesn’t exactly give you that overwhelming sense of dread for the person who’s going to be found hiding in the closet. There is nothing particularly glorious sounding like proper victory swinging music for Spiderman either. And that’s just the disappointment there, because isn’t Sony also a music company?

Product Placement

And Sony is also a gadgets company. If anyone managed to keep count of the tech that was featured in this film, please update us. Every TV screen, every phone, every camera is in Sony. And it’s okay, I get it–a company would have less expenses if it used its own products as props. But to feature the phones, when Uncle Ben calls Peter, or when Peter plays a game on his phone while waiting for Dr. Connor to come out of the Chamber of Secrets–now THAT was product placement.

And I’m sorry, Sony, but your phones’ UI is ugly in comparison and zooming into it on a big screen won’t get people to buy it, even if Spider-Man himself uses all your stuff.

Casting

The Parkers are especially lovable, even though May Parker has that high-pitched annoying aunt voice. She comes up pretty endearing towards the end anyway. But for the two lead roles, Garfield and Stone get center stage.

Andrew Garfield is Spider-Man

Stan Lee says that the reason why Spidey is so popular is because all of us can relate to him, and I agree. I needed Spidey in my life when I was a kid, and he gave me hope. In every comic I read, he was living out my and every skinny boy’s fantasy of being stronger, of being free of the body I was born into, and that swinging sensation of flight. And upon receiving his power, unlike most who have become corrupted, he used it for good. And I think that we all wish we had the courage to stick up for ourselves more, to stick up for a loved one more, or even a stranger you see being mistreated, and Peter Parker has inspired me to feel stronger. He made me, Andrew, braver. He reassured me that by doing the right thing, it’s worth it. It’s worth the struggle, it’s worth the pain, it’s worth even the tears, the bruises, and the blood. (Andrew Garfield, at San Diego Comic-Con.)

Can I just say that I love Andrew Garfield? I first saw him in Heath Ledger’s last film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and then again as Eduardo Salverin, the CFO of Facebook on The Social Network. Andrew has these small, special quirks about him, and his acting is always spot on. His weird smiles, the way he moves his head, how his lips quiver or the way he cries, the way he gesticulates sometimes even–there are things that are seemingly unnoticeable that Garfield brings to add character. And very adorable character too. I don’t know if he’d take it too well to be called “adorable” in his role as a superhero. I know he doesn’t look like the American Dream like Chris Evans does, or the God of Thunderous Beef like Chris Hemsworth. But without that Hollywood [se]X-factor, nobody really cares because he just acts so damn well. My favorite of those said quirky moments would be when he was asked how he managed to solve the decay problem, he put a pencil to his head and show–with his face–that he thought it up. I couldn’t find a picture of that exact moment, and it’s a moment that’s worth going to the cinema for just to see.

Andrew Garfield includes in his range some small quirks and kicks that you won’t get from conventional Hollywood film actors.

Though his name may be new to many, those who know this young actor’s work understand his extraordinary talents. He has a rare combination of intelligence, wit, and humanity. Mark my words, you will love Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker. (Marc Webb.)

Honestly, the first thing that got me attracted to the trailer for TAS wasn’t that it was a Spider-Man re-boot, but because I suddenly saw Andrew Garfield. AS THE LEAD ROLE.

Does it have to do anything with him being British? Maybe. That’s another reference to Kick-Ass by the way, who was played by Aaron Johnson, a Brit. I don’t know how Garfield manages to stay on an American accent for so long, what with him having scenes with Dr. Connor played by Rhys Ifans.

Rhys Ifans

He was exceptional as an antagonist, and one who understands that The Lizard isn’t a ‘bad guy’ completely, but “a good guy who made a bad decision.” His words during an interview. You can almost feel the Mein Kampf in the way Ifans’ Dr. Connors talks about how he could go beyond curing ills. Even you would end up believing in the power of Oscorp. Ifans, for those who don’t recognize him, played Xenophilius Lovegood from the Harry Potter franchise, and was most recently as Winton Childs in The Five-Year Engagement. I first saw him as a devil from the Adam Sandler film Little Nicky way back in the start of the new millennium, but other than these three films, I’ve never really been exposed much to Ifans. I guess this is why I lack a basis of judgement on his acting. I’m sorry for anyone who thinks I should have known him better, but I really just haven’t encountered him that much. Here’s to hoping that Spider-Man will put Ifans front and center when it comes to his career, and that more people would be able to experience his talent on screen. I definitely want to see more of him.

Emma Stone

Emma Stone on the Red Carpet for The Amazing Spider-Man

Everyone loves Emma Stone, without explanation. Easy A, Friends With Benefits, Zombieland–her face is a category on its own on Tumblr. Her doll-like eyes are just amazing. And does she have a lisp? It’s cute. I still prefer her with auburn hair, but at least she rocks those boots with her skinny legs so well.

With her acting as Gwen Stacy? Everyone thought that Emma was going to overpower Andrew in this film, because people knew Emma better. We’re proven wrong. She compliments Andrew Garfield so perfectly, that a pairing so unrealistic–so unthought of–is here and it’s happening. And they managed to make it work. I can’t judge much of Emma’s acting, because most of what she did was just to put Andrew in the front row. Her Gwen is a little sexier, a little sassier than how Gwen conventionally should have been. But there’s just this unconventional outburst of Cute that is especially in the Emma Stone brand. My favorite scene with her would be where she tells her father that she doesn’t want hot chocolate, as she peeped from behind a door.

I can almost imagine Andrew Garfield’s smile from behind that couch as he says, “Chocolate House?” This pair is adorable. And I’d love to see that sequel.

Sometimes, [the promises you break] are the best kind.

For those who don’t know, Emma and Andrew are dating.

The adorable chemistry between these two is partly why I don’t like the videogame–the characters don’t look like them, and they did not voice them.

AND MARTIN SHEEN!

I love you!

Viewer Impact

I was gripping onto my seat, to be honest. Not just on the edge of the seat, too. I meant I reclined and held on to the back because the seat itself wasn’t enough. And women cried. And small children were running down the aisle away from their parents mid-movie to try to touch Spidey’s face. I do dislike, however, that just when I’m about to tear up, there’s a sudden comedic moment that you’ll both love and frustratingly be annoyed at. But the jokes are witty and absolutely brilliant, so it’s all okay and forgiven.

Remember to wait through the first of the flashing credits, right before the rolling ones, because the sequel hint will show. Dr. Connor is in the prison, talking to Mr. World Low Key Lyesmith an unknown character that hopefully will be revealed in the movies to come.

Needless to say, we thoroughly enjoyed.

9.

They can do better in the sequel.

The KORRA Reaction

Book One ended with its final two chapters, 11- Skeleton in the Closet and 12- The Endgame, together in a one-hour season finale during the previous weekend. The entire fandom fell into a mad scramble, with the majority feeling disappointed, claiming the ending of the season to be “half-baked”, rushed or underwhelming.

Everyone I knew was on the edge of their seats waiting for Korra to go into Avatar State, just like how Aang did in ATLA during Siege of the North. However, if you’ve watched the finale already, you’d know that it never happened. Personally, I still can’t get over that ending. And it feels like I want to throw the television off the same cliff Korra was contemplating at.

I don’t intend to spoil people about the ending if they haven’t watched it yet, so let me warn you that the next things I am about to say will discuss the ending in its entirety. If you haven’t yet (which is unacceptable–you HAVE to watch it), go to avatarchapters.tv before you read on.

Now that you’ve done that,

DO YOU FEEL MY PAIN?

So many fans complained about that season finale, and almost every LoK blog out there criticized Bryke for it. But tumblr fandom blog polarbeardog and its followers blogged as a response to the bashing that everyone should be thankful for Nickelodeon even releasing a sequel to ATLA, and just savor every moment of it. Of course, this spurred an incredulous debate, sending a good number of disappointed fans off into the world of fan-fiction. Online writing community Figment.com changed its front page just yesterday to showcase the Legend of Korra fanfiction available in their library.

NOW THEN. Among the top things that ruined it would be Mako’s confession of love and being a general douchebag, and arguably even the Avatars coming in to save Korra at her lowest point–it didn’t make sense. And Tarlokk just blowing up the boat he and his brother were escaping in. Though we’re all relieved that our favorite Lin Beifong got her bending back, it really didn’t keep me completely satisfied.

And again, Mako, you ruined the ending.

Seriously.

A LONG NICKELODEON RANT YOU DON’T NEED TO READ:

I won’t complain about the story being rushed, because it is, and I’m pretty sure Bryke knew about that. They even admitted before that there were no filler episodes–which are, unfortunately, great for character development. CliqueClack, in a review by Julia Hash, sums up this argument quite nicely. You should go read it because I have no intention of reiterating her points.

We all have to understand that Nickelodeon can’t spend that much money for extra episodes. Having lost their team of writers for Spongebob Squarepants to Disney’s Phineas and Ferb series in the past years, and losing some of their best talents, and being unable to produce a decent Butch Hartman cartoon (I have a lot of heartbreaking feelings for Nickelodeon right now) I can imagine that Nick is on a steep descent. Imagine the cost of 20+ episodes–for them to bank on Korra would be a huge risk, one that Nickelodeon’s finances cannot take, especially without the reassurance that it would live up to the first series. Especially with the ATLA Live-Action Film being a flop in the fandom, if Nick Studios invested in that, I can imagine a good deal of money being lost.

Okay, so I’m basically assuming that Nickelodeon is keeping tight finances–it might not be true, so don’t take my word for it. But that’s how I see things. I don’t think Big Time Rush or Korra or Tuff Puppy are keeping them as stable as before. I don’t think Nickelodeon can take risks right now, and if what I’m thinking is true–well, then.

SO BASICALLY, that’s why I’m not complaining about how rushed everything is. Bryke gave me twelve episodes–I gladly took those twelve episodes.

Before we continue, can we just take a moment to appreciate Liu, the true hero of the revolution?

NOW ABOUT THAT ENDING

We all know that Tarlokk killed off himself and his brother in the sea. But I have no reason to believe that he’s actually dead. Let’s all remember that Korra and the others never knew he died, and will most likely try to look for him or prepare for his return when the second season comes back up. It looks as if Bryke made the episode look pretty damn conclusive to surprise anyone. And if I’m right, then I’m sorry for ruining the surprise. Just please, if it does happen, take the liberty of imagining me saying “I told you so”.

One of the hints to this comes from the advertisement for the season finale. After having watched Chapter 10 Turning the Tides, they aired an ad for the season finale, saying, “Korra and Amon will go head-to-head for what is possibly the last time.” FOR WHAT IS POSSIBLY THE LAST TIME, and what is arguably a plot device.

Besides, what self-respecting writer would kill off such a brilliantly thought out antagonist? A blood-bender who doesn’t need to channel the power of the full moon, can control beings without even having to lift a finger–a bender who started a revolution against bending. THE MAN IS HITLER, believing his purpose to be justifiable, if not noble, and does it in the most totalitarian way possible. Although, Tarlokk might represent the coward half of Hitler who decided on dying instead. But then Cersei Lannister-Baratheon almost took that position during Blackwater.

I really do think that Amon will return in one way or another, and Bryke just made it to seem like this arc of the story is dead. However, I think there’s someone bigger than Amon–someone above him. He’ll come back, but he’s not our main antagonist. He could even jump ship and turn into a good person, ala Zuko becoming an ally to Team Avatar.

TO NITPICK AT THE BAD WRITING

I did just say that I thought that horribly and unnaturally conclusive ending might mean for a surprise in season two. But why did they have to give Korra’s bending back?! WHY? Or at least, not in that way–not in a way where she just cries, a tear falls off a cliff and then, like magic, every Avatar reincarnation comes back to return her powers. What, is this Disney’s Tangled? You cry on Flynn Rider’s face and it makes everything better? “It is at our lowest point that we are open to the greatest change,” Aang said. BUT WE DIDN’T SEE KORRA IN HER LOWEST POINT, THAT’S MY PROBLEM, BRYKE.

I didn’t see her gather the lost benders, and talk to their families, and all of them coming together to think of a way to get by with their lives. I didn’t see her in danger of some sort, trying to protect herself solely by airbending when she couldn’t even master it. I didn’t see her run and fumble in the snow, crying in anger and frustration that she lost the only thing she dedicated her life to. I wanted her to scream in the pain of loss and know that no matter how much she called out for her bending, it wouldn’t come back. I wanted her to be so desperately lost, even spiritually, that she couldn’t get herself to talk to Aang–to feel forsaken and betrayed by her own past lives. I wanted Mako to try to hug her while she was in agony, or hold her back from running off, or try to get her to calm down after she’s been so angry at the world–but fail at it. I wanted Mako to ask himself what it is he can do for Korra, and I wanted him to realize that there isn’t anything at all.

I didn’t see her go home to visit her parents to tell them what happened. I didn’t see a point in her life when she felt so numb about not having her bending. I didn’t see her look at water and be unable to bend it, to look at her blue tribal clothes and rip it off and say, “I’m a water bender that can’t bend water.” If Aang was the last airbender, Korra’s last bending was air.

And then I wanted her to watch that water she no longer have no control over, and surrender to it.

And while she’s drowning, asphyxiated by the pressure of the water on her, I wanted her to enter the spirit world–because returning to that water, she was at peace. And I want her to find out for herself how she can come back.

It is at our lowest point that we are open to the greatest change.

Then she just will.

And that’s how I thought it should have gone, even if they just cut off the season with her losing the bending, and then start the next season with her spiritual journey to find it again.

That’s all.

ManilaQ & Other Disasters

As the new term in university begins, I find myself in a state of summer hangover. Once I was too bored to stay in my own room, constantly looking for even the slightest possibility for human interaction. Now, however, I am once again surrounded by people. I thought I’d never miss the quiet, but I guess it was just a matter of getting accustomed to a life of low-volume music and books.

But now that we’re back, I’m still–there’s no proper word for it, so I’ll take a stab in the dark–groggy from the time when I didn’t have to think of other things. So today, when I left for campus, I forgot my lunch at home.

That’s one.

Next, me and my good friend Craiggy ate out at ManilaQ. After lunch, Craiggy and I took a seat around the science building while waiting for our next class. I had a five-hour break, and Hedda had invited me to go shop for cupcakes with her at Sophie’s Mom in San Antonio later on in the day. When Hedda left the table, I left my stuff with Craig to buy water at the university cafeteria, but then–

“Kuya, water po.”

“Summit? Malaki?”

“Opo. Thank y–” I checked my wallet. I only had a twenty left. What the hell happened? I had a five hundred bill that I used to pay for my lunch I . . .

I forgot the change.

Wow.

I had to run back to One Archers, up to the second floor where ManilaQ was.

“Uhm, Ate, I ate here awhile ago, and I–”

“Bagwang?” She asked. It was what I had ordered for lunch.

“Opo.” In affirmation.

She asked me to take a seat, then later on someone came out to give me the receipt and the change that I forgot to claim.

The staff there is little, but nice and quite accommodating. And the food is pretty good, too. The main perk of having condominiums built around the university campus is that they provide so many places for a decent lunch.

ManilaQ is at the second floor of the One Archer’s building, next to Andrew Building and right across the Science & Technology Research Center (STRC). The cuisine ManilaQ features is your basic Filipino bagnet (which means pork in Cebuano), sliced thinly and deep fried for a crispy Filipino styled bacon, aptly called bagwang.

Bagwang is their bestseller here, and this Filipino bacon is often integrated into their other dishes, making usual Filipino pork dishes even crunchier, notably the classic pulutan ^[1]go-to Sisig^[2]. They also have other classic dishes like Adobo^[3], and a corned beef sinigang^[4]. Other than this unique bacon, they have Vigan Longganisa^[5]–and I don’t know if it’s vigan because it doesn’t have meat, or if it’s Vigan because it came from Vigan^[6]. Even the Filipino favorite Kare-Kare^[7] has its place in ManilaQ, getting a rename of Qare-qare, which is weird but hey, it’s food.

They offer a variety of pork and beef products, which a customer can pick up from the freezer, and present to the cashier upon purchase.

The customer has the choice to buy the ulam with pandesal^[8] or rice, with the rice meal usually being ten pesos cheaper than pandesal. And they come with fried egg–sunny or scrambled. Dining in gets you a free first glass of fresh iced tea. It isn’t the instant kind from Nestea like in most food chains, but seems like a freshly brewed green with a bit of sweetener. It’s mild, but you can still taste some of the tea.

For take-out, they put your food in a plastic container, put in an easy-to-handle box with their clean logotype work printed on. ManilaQ’s attention to marketing detail is superb for a Manila-based business, and it’s so easy for a lot of food places to ignore things like logotypes and the design of the place. But it seems that this establishment understands how important marketing strategies are. Other than the clean and catchy logotype and design for their printed materials, their branches are designed with cream cushion seats, clean-edge wooden tables, and on the walls of the One Archers Branch are black-and-white images of DLSU, much like Universitea Taft Branch. Also on the wall is a widescreen television, showing a roll of their menu and best dishes along with the price.

On the topic of price list, the bestseller Bagwang costs 115php with rice, and 125php with pandesal. Most of their dishes are just along this price range, so a humble food budget of 150 is enough for a great meal.

I don’t know if I forgot my change because of a simple summer hangover, or because I enjoyed the lunch all too well for my own good.

Appendix of everything that sounds incredibly Filipino:

1. pulutan —  any dish eaten alongside alcoholic drinks
2. Sisig — a famous pork Filipino dish comprised of ground up parts of pork, not limited to the meat but often includes ears and intestines, often used as pulutan, served on a sizzling plate with mayonaisse and/or egg and calamansi or Philippine lemon
3. Adobo — the classic Filipino stew of any meat cooked in soy sauce, vinegar, garlic and black pepper
4. Sinigang — another classic Filipino stew of any meat, most often pork, cooked in tamarind broth (other sour fruits may be used to substitute) with local greens like Kangkong and Okra
5. Longganisa — a thick, sweet sausage made of processed pork
6. Vigan — a province in the Philippines with classic Spanish-style houses; a historical heritage site
7. Kare-Kare — a Filipino dish with ox-tripe and beef cooked in sweet peanut sauce with eggplant and other local greens like pechay and sitaw
8. pandesal — a Filipino bun, usually the size of a fist, with a mild sweetness; most often served in the mornings as a traditional breakfast bread

The Fault is Kind of in the Stars, Seriously

WHAT A PAINFUL PIECE OF LITERATURE.

That really is the first thing I’d have to say about John Green’s literary scar on humanity, The Fault in Our Stars.

Overview

Hazel Grace Lancaster, or just Hazel, has cancer–not the curable “you will live if we chop off this part of your body” kind. No, it was the definitely terminal, Your Lungs are Producing Water and are Trying to Kill You Everyday sort. Hazel Grace is a known professional of Having Cancer. At one of the support group sessions she reluctantly attends, she meets a boy named Augustus Waters, an amputee and the Mayor of Cancervania–he had a You Will Live If Your Leg Was Cut Off sort of cancer. They fall in love that makes for the most tragically beautiful romance that you will ever read in your Young Adult Genre Shelf ever. EVER. Yet. Until John Green writes again.

Cover Art: John Green discussed that he wanted to stray from the usual book covers, and that he’s very thankful that his publisher respects his thoughts on these things.

My Thoughts, Exactly.

Mind you, I do mean that it stays in the Young Adult Genre Shelf. Because it is, and it should, and that’s where John Green meant for it to be because he really doesn’t care about adults. The prose is half and half enlightening insight with hilarious dialogue. His characters are every geek girl’s teenage dream. Well, minus all the cancer.

Augustus is the perfect gentleman, with a witty repertoire of responses, a love for video games and their novel adaptations, and would be dedicated enough to fall in love with your favorite novel, set up a picnic in the theme of all the things you love about said novel, and would do anything to accomplish your last dying wish.  He’s the gamer geek that defends you in combat when you really suck at it. And when you’d feel terribly sad about a swing set for no reason, he drives to your house, pronto.  He looks at life and makes a metaphor out of everything. He hates basketball and would break his own trophies.  And he’s hot, and he’s aware of it.

Our heroine? College girl, smart, well-read, liked to quote books and a constant, albeit well-mannered, downer for the people as terminally ill as her.

Defeatist?

Not even. Hazel Grace may tell you that you will eventually die and everyone will forget you, but even when she knows it will happen, she uses her life in a way that she doesn’t let death itself defeat her.

This will be among the many thoughts you will realize from the moment Hazel Grace allows you into her mind. And that is the thing that truly picks up the novel, making it something worth reading regardless of age. Everything–and I mean everything, even the hamster–is a metaphor for something, and it takes some deep thinking to really appreciate the depth of the story beyond the young romance. Even if you’re at the point when you’ve moved on from falling in love with characters like Augustus Waters, Hazel’s intelligent narrative will still keep you holding on long enough til the writer pulls out your heart and eats it.

It’s not a basic cancer novel where the writer uses “cancer” as main reason to make you cry. No, cancer here is a metaphor, like everything else in this novel. It’s a thing that plagues humanity–the thing that we want to stop but couldn’t understand: suffering. It’s everywhere, and there’s nothing we could do about it no matter how we try.

The story isn’t only a romance but a story of accepting fate while likewise defeating it—a practice of freedom—a lesson that, dear Brutus, the fault is in the stars, but don’t let it get you so down.

Painful, what good literature does to you.

Having said that, I do feel cheated sometimes. The intelligence of the novel feels like a quilt of patches, with bits and pieces of thought from other great people. And although our character Hazel shows us her own way of understanding things, there isn’t really something new that she offers. It’s effective in a way that it exposes the reader to all sorts of thought, whether or not said reader will agree with the character. But it’s not going to strike you with something completely new.

To be realistic, one must always admit the influence of those who have gone before.

- Charles Eames

It is important to say that the pieces of influence that float around in this book are fundamental to how you’ll be attached to the characters. Towards the end of it, you’ll be thinking like Hazel, and knowing much of what she knows and believes, that whatever decisions she will make in the book and the things that she will feel towards the events will deeply affect you.

And that’s where John Green succeeds: taking you by the mind, then by the heart, then twists you til you suffer an emotional cancer of your own. Especially that ending! That ending was perfect. That ending saved the entire novel.

But more than mere emotions, John Green takes you to a ride into all the philosophies of suffering that will make Gautama Buddha proud.

The Fault in Our Stars is intelligent and hilarious, truthful and insightful, but I will not hold up my ten fingers just yet. John Green’s best is yet to come.

Nine out of ten.

Planes Crashing Into Buildings: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

I wanted to be able to say: I don’t know how I could have tried harder.

Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is nothing short of a literary revelation.

Revelation, because you’d realize that up until you’ve read this book, you’ve never really read. Or at least, that’s how it feels like.

Overview

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close takes us into the mind of a young Oskar Schell, nine years of age and still grieving a year after he lost his father, Thomas Schell, in the events of 9/11. He one day finds a blue vase in his father’s untouched closet, wherein there is a key in an envelope, written “Black”. He then goes on for months to find what the key unlocks, hoping to find something of his father’s. He will have to check all the locks in New York and all the Blacks he could find–and all the months necessary to find them.

But that’s what most people think the story will be about.

I want two rolls.

Don’t get me wrong, it is. But there’s more to it.

Oskar will narrate the story of the search for the most part, but the reader will encounter a series of letters from two very fundamental people. At the first reading, you will not know who they are from and who they were addressed to, but later on in the recent-day narrative of Oskar himself, it hits you all at once. I’ve said this before about Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief. It feels like dying–all your memories flash before your very eyes at some point when everything’s about to end.

By the end of the novel, you would have felt the pain of loss some five or six times.

Review

I know this review comes off as overly enthusiastic, but I have some defense for this novel. While writing this review, I’ve come across other reviews, mostly bad ones.

But they were all written in 2005. By Americans.

I get them.

Foer felt like a hack, trying to sell a 9/11 story, taking advantage of a recent happening and riding the bandwagon of so many writers trying to evoke the emotion in readers. By 2005, Americans would have been trying very hard to get over what happened four years ago. It feels like they’ve been cheated, betrayed even, that sometime in their grief, a novelist would use that to make money.

But I’m not American, and it’s 2012. And this book deserves to be read.

ME. Alas, poor Hamlet [I take JIMMY SNYDER's face into my hand]; I knew him, Horatio!

JIMMY SNYDER. But Yorick . . . you’re only . . . a skull.

I am not an American, I didn’t lose anyone in 9/11. And if EL&IC was meant to take advantage of the emotions of 9/11 victims, then why was I so moved? Foer is doing something–and a lot of that something–right, and through this book, he has managed to put feeling where most people are numb.

And, mind you, our little hero suffers from some sort of autism.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close isn’t about 9/11. It’s about losing someone and finding yourself. It’s about a father who lost his son, and a son who lost his father, and a mother who lost her son, and a mother who is afraid of losing her son, and a boy afraid of losing a friend, and the people afraid of losing their memories of the people they’ve lost–and a woman who keeps all the memories of a husband who is still alive and well. It is a story of desperate love and love in the time of despair.

It’s about trying to make sense of the senseless.

The novel puts us through three different wars: Nazi Germany, the 9/11 terrorist attack, and the war that every person fights with himself, trying to hold on and let go.

PURPLE

Writing Technique & Analysis

Foer’s writing makes use of various typographical tricks and strays away from common fiction writing. It doesn’t take much time to realize who’s writing what, and the language is incredibly natural. The narration has its own character, and it never loses it. You can feel the nine-year-old, socially awkward child still trying to learn his bigger words, and wrongly, if not unnaturally, using the idioms his grandmother tried learning when she first came to America. “Jose!“, “Heavy boots” and “a hundred dollars” are just some of them, and you will see them everywhere. It uses language uniquely, but effectively. To some extent, even, humorously. The use of images, and red pen, and all the letters dated from 1963 to 2002–everything that Jonathan Safran Foer has poured into this novel makes for a very engaging, very compelling, very creative storytelling experience. 

If Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a gimmick, then it was a very effective gimmick, and I’d like more of it.

I’d hate to admit it, but it is a perfect hipster novel.

Hipster being the new genre of things that are popular but feel like they’re indie and/or artistic.

Or artistic things that become popular.

Book Covers/Art:

The original first print of the book from Penguin had the image of a child chasing birds. The next reprint is a red hand with the title and author written all over it using the similar typeface of the first print. This version stayed on til the reprint of the novel for the movie of the same title, featuring the face of Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn) covered with his hands, title, cast and author written in the same typeface. The movie version was designed by Anne Chalmers, using the Janson Text typeface.

The writing on the hands concept was more lasting because of it pertaining to a more major character in the book and the film–in fact, in the book, he is one of the three narrators. It represents the frustrating struggle of all three of the narrators trying to say something, and the confused use of language. Whether it was a child learning big words, a foreigner trying to learn new expressions and a man losing his ways of communication altogether–the cover perfectly fits the story’s attempt to say the things when you’re running out of paper, but the words just keep on coming. It’s about not knowing for yourself how much you love someone, and never knowing how much that person loved you.

The child chasing birds concept comes from one of the chapters, showing a point where a man starts to live his life again when he can. It’s the return of sight in a time of extended grief. It was a point of finally overcoming life to begin living it. You’ll get me when you read it.

The two covers represent two of the greatest concepts the book was trying to portray, (birds more subtle than writing on fingers) so I can’t really say which one I prefer, or which one sums up the book better. But the one that gets potential readers to come over and pick up a copy would unarguably be the writing on fingers concept.

Conclusion & Rating

Jonathan Safran Foer deserves any and all praise and awards he’s been given for this novel, including Best Book of the Year. This novel isn’t overrated; it’s misunderstood–not meant to be a piece of fiction but a piece of art. The book itself is like a gallery of thought.  It is highly creative, effectively moving, intensely artistic, and there’s just nothing quite like it.

Easily on the top of the shelf for favorite books and have-to-recommends.

I’d give it a rating of nine-over-eleven.

Harsh, misplaced pun.

Giving it a ten.

French & Forensics: Smaller and Smaller Circles by FH Batacan

Crime-fighting Jesuit priests, a Payatas dumpsite, bad coffee, good French and a persistent toothache—these are the makings of a witty, fast-paced and intelligent multi-award-winning detective novel.

Smaller and Smaller Circles takes you to Payatas, a place in Metro Manila known for its mountainous range of garbage, and the low horizon lined with galvanized iron roofs of shanties and a loving layer of industrial smoke.

Here, we meet Fr. Augustus “Gus” Saenz, SJ—a Jesuit priest who does autopsies, cool, composed, tall and handsome, likes classic rock and European music, clever with the tongue—and his once-student, now sidekick, Fr. Jerome Lucero, SJ. He is a clinical psychologist, whenever he’s not saying mass, vomiting, or honking horns at traffic jams.

Gus discovers a pattern in the recent autopsies he’s done at Payatas, and claims them to be serial killings. With the Philippines’ intelligence community weak and skeptical, Gus and Jerome have to prove a point before any more killings happen. And so the chase for the Payatas whodunit commences . . .

FH Batacan gives you a glimpse into the mind of our killer, between every other chapter.
It is sick, twisted, and I love it.

For a Filipino, this is definitely new and entirely refreshing. When Felisa H. Batacan submitted her manuscript for the Palanca awards in 1999, hers was the first of the kind in the Filipino literary scene. It claims to be successfully “popular and literary”, and record-breaking. Unlike most indie novels in the Philippines that have only one run of about a thousand copies, Smaller and Smaller Circles has been reprinted four times, making a total of 6,000 copies printed and sold.

I am a proud owner, one of the few-some thousands.

But as a novel, we have to use that big fish in a small pond metaphor to explain what it’s like.

It’s just new to the Philippines, to have a story like this and for a Manilenyo to imagine a serial killer possibly be eating turon at the same carinderia, buy 5-peso Coke at the same sari-sari store, and basically walk home through the same dark eskinita. It’s an entirely different experience from reading a Grisham novel simply because of the scenery. And it’s different from watching CSI, because you can’t just get fingerprints or DNA samples and have things done. The government here is poor and its citizens, poorer. There is no fancy technology, not even a comprehensive database. Manila is a whole different crime scene.  And definitely, it’s new in Philippine literature to have a Jesuit priest and his students defy the inefficient police system.

But it isn’t new, for the rest of the world. For one, the priest reminds me of Shiro, Rin’s father from Ao no Exorcist. But mostly, I am reminded of Sherlock Holmes, Metro Manila Edition. Gus is a smart man, backed up by a rich family. He is tall; Jerome is short. Jerome is a doctor. He likes to pick at the times when his supposedly mature and calm mentor starts to act like a child. The police system is inefficient, and they take pride when their own version of Lastrade, Atty. Ben Arcinas, is disproved. They work on their own, and have connections to get the information faster than the NBI.

It looks like fan-fiction of a well-educated Otaku. It sounds like elements of a pretty normal novel, if you’ve read enough crime, thriller and suspense fiction. And everything seems fairly plausible, however improbable.

So aside from the time that Smaller and Smaller Circles was written and published, what makes it so special that it received the highly coveted Palanca, among many other awards?

The thing is—the thing that readers don’t easily see is—it is so masterfully written. It is immensely tricky to write something like this, what with the research and required knowledge and familiarity. FH Batacan is lucky to have worked for the Philippine intelligence. And it is so short, that its length itself is a carefully crafted element. Any longer and the novel would have been boring and worn out; any shorter and it would be a short story. The novel is well-condensed, and her characters know exactly what to say and when to say them. She knows when to paint the picture of the scene, and when to focus on the movement of her people. She knows when she has to write a witty dialogue, and when she has to get to the point. She knows when things should happen, where they should happen, like a god of her own universe. Batacan just knows how to make a reader keep on going.

It’s difficult to make crime sound realistic, and crime-fighting priests even more so.

It’s difficult to write this, and what a writer would find more clever than her characters’ dialogues would be how she thought of it all up in the first place.

It’s difficult to write a thriller novel set in the slums of Manila, and yet she did.

And that is exactly what she was awarded for: her writing, masterfully crafting every detail down to the very last punctuation. Even the toothache makes sense, and the French dialogues that I wish I understood, and the homemade turon and arroz caldo. Every word used to illustrate the scene–none is out of place. It is the novel that made no mistakes.

It is the novel you would wish you could write.

Smaller and Smaller Circles is the novel you would never wish to change.

Ten out of ten.