e-Sentral, a friend in need

I signed up for an intensive translation course at a local institute recently - it is the only instititute in Malaysia that has the power to issue a certificate for translators - and I really wanted to ace the exam.

I looked at my collection of literature and realised; for having relied on technology so much, I've neglected to keep a copy of dictionary, and as a native Malay speaker I never even considered of buying a Malay dictionary.. like ever!

Yet two weeks of intensive course left me with no chance to visit a book store, and I found out that the institute has ran out of its copies of the necessary dictionaries. The lecturers recommended going online, and I found Kamus Dewan (the dictionary of the Malay-speaking world) and it costed RM29.90 only at this local website, e-sentral.com!

I grabbed one using my hub's account and device, and phew. What a relief.

e-sentral is a a clean website, sells a bunch of e-books online and you can find so many genres to scour. The best thing about the site is that registration et al is easy, and they're even offering some mags free upon your registration.

Now. If only I can find out about my exam results quickly enough, that'd be super!

Sidney Sheldon's Tell Me Your Dreams

Two days ago I met up with a former schoolmate, one who is a fan of Sidney Sheldon and Sidney Sheldon alone. I thought to myself, sure, I've read one of his Midnight stories circa ten years ago, and I remember his simple way of telling a story. But I didn't think it was as addictive as my friends was describing (she has not even tried his daughter's stuff, that's how loyal she is).

So I went around the next day surfing the Net for some Sheldon stuff, and stumbled upon ebook2u.org. After reading a few synopses, I finally selected 'Tell Me Your Dreams'.

(stop reading this review now if you're gonna go read the book, or proceed if you don't mind spoilers)

It was such a simple site and the story started off just fine with the three main characters, Ashley Patterson, Toni Prescott and Alette Peters. Sheldon cleverly described the three women, propelling me as a reader to peg each one with an actress to play the roles.

I had Underworld's Kate Beckinsale as Ashley.

Twilight's Ashley Greene as Toni.

Sleepy Hollow's Christina Ricci as Alette.

(Can you spot a trend there?)

Anyway. Back to the story.

I read a few chapters in, and by the time it was that chapter where Walter Manning was killed, I got a feeling that the girls are all killers in their own right, despite the good daughter personality that Ashley has or how magnanimous Alette was when her work was overlooked or how shallow Toni was in assessing her colleagues.

It happened quite quickly for me after that. I need to know which of these girls would be found out first. Then Sheldon took me back in time, at the point where Ashley was still a very young girl who had just found love, and her father, Dr Steven Patterson, a successful yet strict parent made sure she and the guy she was in love with are separated.

It was the turning point that traumatised Ashley, and with that I summed up the story as a multiple personality disorder (MPD) thriller. John Cusack's Identity came to mind, and I was thinking man, Ashley's screwed. (I was wrong. She was beyond screwed.)

One by one Sheldon dished out the murders, and with each death I began to see that it would be difficult for Ashley, the host of the multiple personalities or alters as Sheldon offers, to evade capture.

The writer surprised me with Ashley's defeat to law enforcers so early in the book. I remember looking at the amount of chapters the book has, and going, "What, so soon? Shouldn't she be on the run for a bit at least?"

But that's not how Sheldon sees Ashley pushing forward. Jailed and hopeless, Ashley's character took a back seat for a while from this point of the novel. Sheldon introduced David Singer, a lawyer who owes Dr Patterson a favor. This part of the novel shares Singer's point of view, yet Sheldon's smooth transition from the three women to this young professional is seamless - I realised that I had entered the second part of the book, but did not feel totally disconnected from Ashley especially as well as her alters.

As Singer defended Ashley, you began to root for the guy a bit more than the actual serial killer, perhaps because he stumbled upon obstacles after obstacles, and because Sheldon had given a deep insight into Singer's life, you just wanna punch those other law practitioners who were making his life miserable.

Not going to go into details here but suffice to say that Singer managed to win the Ashley Patterson case by the skin of his teeth, and I thought once again, "Hey, more chapters coming. What gives?"

The end of the second part of the novel brings forth the most interesting part of the of the story: Ashley's asylum journey.

Even with Sheldon's choice for easy words, straightforward explanation and down-to-Earth storytelling, this writer managed to give me quite a few chills as I discovered what really happened to Ashley.

The third part of the novel introduces Dr Gilbert Keller, Ashley's psychologist. From his point of view I was given the chance to learn quite a bit more about MPD, and how the three women inside Ashley Patterson has more in common than what was initially revealed, and I began to understand the rage she harbours.

The ending is quite predictable, but fittingly so, after all, with the merging of the characters you don't really expect any one of them truly diminishing.

All in all, it is no surprise that Sheldon's work is adapted onto big and small screens so often. If anything, Tell Me Your Dreams, first published in 1998, is quite ahead of its time as I did a quick fact survey - to me the first all-focus-on MPD movie and (somewhat clinically) dealing with it is Identity (directed by James Mangold and written by Michael Cooney) which came five years later. There were other books and movies, sure, but so far across my reading sphere Sheldon's work here provided a deeper insight (yet easier to understand) into what MPD can be like. Note that I read this book for the first time right now in 2014 when more average Siti like me are familiar with psychological terms that are ailing us.

If you've never read Sheldon before, this book is just as good as any other of his, I believe, to start with. Bear in mind that Sheldon is a prominent TV guy, Tell Me Your Dreams will come across as a movie more than a novel, but make no doubt that it is a great piece of literature to enjoy.

Ode to Odd

When my sis told me that I should read Koontz, I didn't know where to start. She was kind enough to lend me her Odd trilogy, and that's how I got acquainted with the Odd Thomas.

[STOP READING THIS ENTRY IF YOU HAVEN'T READ ANY ODD THOMAS BOOKS]

And I kinda wanna kill Koontz for killing Stormy. In the first book! I mean, seriously? That one person he could count on? And the only person who truly understands him? Sure there's Elvis but The King doesn't talk in that book so whaddahell?

Before you conclude that I stayed away from the second and third, let me tell you right away that I didn't. I couldn't. Because Odd (rather, Koontz) is that addictive. Because I am a mom who is not good enough just yet to deserve a soul as kind as my son, I felt that Odd Thomas, in a twisted way, is a reminder that I should be kind to my son who I really do not want to see ending up unloved as Odd was while growing up. And I'm glad I didn't get all emotional (of course I did, I just don't want to admit it) just because my heroine was killed much too early to my liking, and picked up the second book the same night I finished the first installment.

And in the second book, I found another character I came to like. The Hoosier librarian whose mother was a concert pianist and an assassin (I haven't finished the book just yet so I'm not too sure which is her day job and which one she did on the side) is one I immediate rooted for - perhaps by the sliver of belief that a guy can have a lousy mom who can't cook and did many mistakes with her first born will turn out OK - and from the first mention I simply refused to believe that he's one of the bad guys.

Apart from lovable characters, Koontz also expresses common terms differently, which I find totally refreshing. His choice of words to describe temporary insanity: "petit madness". How charming is that?

He also describes everyday experiences in very clever manner. Take this sentence: "Baked by bitter cold, half the fluff of the falling snow had been seared away." I love sentences like this, words like 'bake' and 'seared' traditionally involve heat, yet Koontz made it very useful in describing how one feels to be outside in a cold weather that did not bite you in the ass right away, but creeps in slowly that it took some time for the absence of heat to register.

Also in the second book, Brother Odd, I came across sentences that I read again immediately after reading it for the first time.

This particular sentence, "Journalism had come to seem not like a career but like an incarceration." feels like a random stranger who approached you offering you a smile and handshake while you were crossing the street, not expecting your daily commute would be any different from the day before. It was surprising considering that right now I'm not too sure if I would like to keep my job as a journalist, due to many reasons, at the same time reassuring considering that the character in Koontz book, of which the sentence is referring to, also struggled with his job as a crime reporter.

I can't wait to find out what happens. I'm bracing for another sucky ending though (in case Koontz decides to kill someone off again. I can handle that. I'm also a kinder mother now I think, so if Koontz' books played a part in making me sober up into becoming a more responsible-yet-carefree-not-stressing-the-small-things-so-much kinda mom, thanks).

Little tip for aspiring children book author

I find this piece of news interesting! Two weekends ago I was at a bookstore and my kid wanted to buy one of those books where readers can also trace alphabets, numbers and colour stuff. Then the one he likes has Dora the Explorer on it.

I took the book and the person queuing behind me can't help but raise a brow when he saw a mom buying her little boy a Dora book. I thought - the heck with it, as long as my kid can practice his ABC (willingly!), what's to complain? I did wish the book wasn't soooo pink or soooo princess-y, but I paid for it and it was used to its fullest that night itself.

So since I'm not the only one thinking some books could do better with having more unisex appeal... here's another article on similar note. [click here]

Authors, take cue....

Bane of reading

Sometimes I wish I hadn't read up on certain things.

Like news pieces on war. Children being bullied. Husbands or wives who lost their spouse in a tragic way. A new kind of disease that has yet its cure. Politicians who get away with murder. Young folks being stupid (doing things like petty thievery to making unnecessary unpleasant posts on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube).

I just cringe at headlines that make these issues the very thing that made people pick up their publication. That, despite being attached to a newspaper myself. I wish everyone has my kind of news to share: great new technologies to enjoy. The only thing we weep about is the money we'd have to fork out to get the device. At the very most, we shed some tears when Steve Jobs died.

And that's why right now I'm reading Koontz' Odd Thomas. I'm going to let Odd take me into his weird life. Then I'm going to exhale in relief at the end of the novel because everything is not true.

God, I love fiction.

Reading contest ends up in controversy, a showcase of human behaviour

As I pour all my attention to this compilation book called Zombies vs Unicorns (tis a young adult literature material that I happen to enjoy a lot), I came across this story on Yahoo!.

http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/closing-a-chapter--beloved-librarian-fired-following-reading-contest-controversy--185514741.html

Sigh. At a place as peaceful as a library. A boy as hardworking as a guy with two jobs. A senior citizen who clearly fits her job as a librarian. A reading contest as harmless as a pillow fight.

I think even Agatha Christie would find it hard to tie up all these elements and make it into a mystery. Yet typical human behaviour can find ways to make things hard for everybody. The thing is people love to complain about just about anything.

The library board director complained the same kid keeps winning the reading contest. Why not just introduce more categories within the same reading contest? For example reward the kid who reads the most categories of books. Or award the youngest participants. Or reward the kid who reads classics.

Then many kids will go happy, right?

Is it that hard? Yes, I guess it is.

A short story - Ecosystem

Once upon a time, there was a turtle who wishes he has friends. His name is Bie. Siblings he has many, at times he couldn't even tell them apart.

His mom would go, "Gosh, there's so many of you. Is everyone doing alright?" and chorus of "Yes!" would be heard in reply.

Meanwhile his father would say, "Glad you've learnt how to take care of yourself son. Have a great adventure."

Bie thinks a great adventure should be shared with a friend. He dreams of meeting another animal that doesn't look like him and together they will descend into the oceans and let the current take them away.

His siblings say, "Bie, you have to stop dreaming and start swimming. You can't be having an adventure by simply basking in the sun."

So Bie sets off. He moves his frontal flaps and pushes with his hind limbs. His siblings follow suit, while those who had started out before him cheer in encouragement.

His nose soon touches the water, and the salty taste delights him. He pedals ahead faster and before he realises it, his whole body has submerged into the vast ocean.

From the waves a voice whisper to him, "Welcome, friend."

The soft velvety voice startles Bie, but he quickly replies. "Who are you? Where are you?"

"I am the Ocean, and I am all around you," answers the Ocean.

"Am I your friend? How is that so?" Bie asks.

"We are friends because we are the same. You and I are both existing on the same plane, and we need each other. You need me to swim so that you can go places. I need you to be part of my ecosystem. Therefore we're friends."

"That is awesome. Let's go on an adventure!" beckons the young turtle.

The Ocean began to pull Bie in deeper, taking him sightseeing over colourful coral reefs, grazing across the plot of seagrass, and later plopping into sunken ships to plays with fishes, eels and crabs.

"Ocean, you are a great friend. You've even helped me find food and new friends. I am glad to have found you," says Bie at the end of the day. He feels tired but the excited at the same time.

The Ocean ripples in delight. "I am happy to have a friend in you. You've helped me too. By eating the seagrass you help me maintain my ecosystem. They will grow better and healthier tomorrow, now that you eated their older blades. I hope you will eat more tomorrow," beams back the equally excited Ocean.

"You bet." promises Bie. He pedals back to his siblings, eager to share his adventure with the Ocean. "Good night, Ocean," he calls as he leaves.

"Good night to you too, Bie," replies the Ocean contentedly.

..................
Author's note: After watching Sammy my son got really interested in turtles, he started asking questions (what do they eat, who is their friend, are they friends with Upin Ipin, where do turtles sleep, don't they buy clothes like dogs... And when my answers led to more questions (how come they don't have owners like dogs and cats that belongs to Auntie Connie, what do you mean they are wild, why do they need to stay in the ocean, what is ecosystem) So I got into a bit of research and told him this story to demonstrate what ecosystem is... My grammar sucks, I know. I was hoping to add in bit of illustration to distract you from that... Anyway my 3-going-on-4 year old son sorta gets what ecosystem is all about...