In the Sanctuary of Outcasts by Neil White

First of all I want to apologize to my readers for such a late post. I have been busy with a new job and my significant other so reading was put in the back of the list of priorities. I still take pleasure of reading a book. And to be fair, I would still post reviews on every book I manage to read, but my postings will be a bit scarcer than before. Please be patient and have faith that I shall keep on writing. Without further ado, I bring to you a new book review.

In the Sanctuary of Outcasts by Neil White is another book about prisons. I know, why do I read about these things? To be completely honest, I didn't know what it was about, but the title intrigued me. This time the book has a twist: the prison is located within a leper colony. It is the first autobiographical novel of Neil White, who was sentenced to one year in a minimum security prison for kiting checks.

It is one of those stories that keep you interested, not by its action, but by its description of such an odd place. It is full of drama and strange stories. Imagine an old sugarcane farm in Carville Louisiana, turned into a leper colony and then bringing convicts to that place. Believe me, you cannot, until you read this book. If you are looking for blood and violence, this one has very little. On the other hand, if you are looking for a book where melancholy is the main mood, then go for it.

I would say this novel has an Autumn feel to it. Maybe it is because of the sentiments it transmits, or maybe I just read it during the transition from summer. I did like this one, not only for its strangeness but also for how it managed to keep me coming back to it, even though I had read it with limited time on my hands.  

Odd Jobs by Abigail R. Gehring

Odd Jobs; 101 ways to make an extra buck by Abigail R. Gehring is another one of those list books. I guess I am attracted by easy reads or lists, or both. This must be my engineer's spirit talking and demanding a bit of structure. Maybe I have a bit of O.C.D. Anyway, back to the book: I got this one because I am in a bit of a rut money-wise, so I figured I should find a solution to supplement my income. It does give you some good pointers, especially if you live in the U.S.A.

While reading this book I couldn't stop noticing that I had already tried some of those proposed jobs. So I am going to tell you about what worked and what didn't work for me. I wanted to try bike messenger, but my bike is too expensive to leave it tied to a pole or fence, I'd probably lose the wheels or the entire bike very fast. Rent out a room - I rented my entire apartment and live with my parents, this worked out but I still have to chip in and there is no privacy; but at least the mortgage gets paid.  Marketing affiliate - I am doing this on my blog with Amazon.com, nobody ever bought a book from this blog. I did take surveys and I get coupons with discounts for online shops (ivox.ro is what I use). Virtual assistant - I did use odesk.com but those people made me work for almost nothing and never paid. I do have my own virtual assistant website, but I never got any offers. I did enroll as a mystery shopper at helionresearch.com, but I never managed to have time for that; I do have a friend who did make some decent money once, even though their offers are a bit rare. I haven't tried substitute teaching, because we don't have that here, but I did make some money from tutoring kids. 

What I am trying to say is that, depending on your location and, respectively, your culture and customs, you might manage to make some money on the side if you have a paying job already. I honestly doubt that you can survive by doing any of the things the author tips you about. The only one that might be lucrative, but it would actually make you a whore is escort. Ms Gehring, what were you thinking? Oh and if you live in a block of flats in a big city, the farming ideas are not suitable. Sperm donor and egg donor are things that require some thought, because you will always think that out there someone is raising your kid. These aren't the same as donating blood, so this is my word of caution. 

All in all the book is good, especially during these crazy economic times. Come on, let's face it, 5 years ago things were great, but now this "economic crisis" kicked us hard where it hurts the most - in our wallet. Read the book and maybe you'll find a way to make ends meet. Good luck with that.

Haiku: An Anthology of Japanese Poems by Stephen Addiss

Haiku: An Anthology of Japanese Poems by Stephen Addiss seems more than a book of Japanese poems. I found it to be more of a window to an alternate universe. Most books do that in a way, but this time it brought me to an ancient time where nature was respected and cherished, and Japanese monks and samurai roamed Japan. The poems, though translated, still evoke a certain purity of nature in various stages. I must say that I was a bit disappointed that the translation didn't use the teikei haiku 5-7-5 pattern, but used the irregular jiyuritsu haiku style. Maybe the poems were like this, or maybe the translation would have been harder or even less polished. Since I am by no means an expert in haiku, I do take what I am given. 

This book, in a way is like its poems, seems cut somehow. It is polished, but still seems not a finished product. I dare to compare it with a piece of glass that was polished by the sea. Because the entire book appears strictly sectioned somehow. The introduction gives you some basic knowledge about the history of the haiku and how it became what it is today. Then, you get the 3 chapters of poems with beautiful Japanese drawings. 

One chapter is about contemplation of nature from spring to winter.

"Highlighting the blossoms,

clouded by blossoms—

the moon" —CHORA

The second chapter has poems about people doing regular things but so wondrous from a detached point of view.

"Spring rains—

a child teaches the cat

a dance"—ISSA

The third part has more abstract poems, called "Resonance and reverberation".

"Sharing the same blood

but we’re not related—

the hateful mosquito!" —JŌSŌ

After the poems you get a chapter describing the Poets, one about the Artists,  and a final chapter with the name of each illustration in the book. If you were remotely interested in Japanese culture, I would say this book is a start and, apparently Stephen Addiss is an expert in Japanese culture. I did like reading it while in bed while listening to Japanese chill-out music. It was truly relaxing.

One year has passed

Today I am celebrating a year since my first post. If you have followed my reading in the past 12 months you might have noticed how strange and diverse my tastes are.  I would like to thank all of my friends for their support and patience with my constant chatter about blogging, books and page hits, and also for not putting me on ignore or d-friending me from Facebook for spamming them with links of my latest article. 

I am mixing things up a bit so this time you get chill-out music. Enjoy:

I am also giving away one of the books I have reviewed in the past year. So write your favorite quote along with the book you want, name and email. By the end of the week I shall decide who gets the book in their inbox. Don't worry, I shall not spam you, send you Viagra adds or penis enlargement tips. 

Happy reading!

 Update: since most of my friends asked me for books on other media, I have to conclude that this was very counterproductive. Maybe this year I will have more interesting books to share and more friends willing to cooperate.

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow is... today's version of Orwell's 1984. You have crazy government that tries to control and check on everybody, rebels, riots, secret prisons, prisoner torture and all kinds of plausible craziness. Technically Little Brother is about the citizen's battle against the oppressive government, it is a book about fighting to preserve the most basic of rights: freedom.

We live in a world where technology is at hand's reach and sometimes the lines between virtual and real become blurred. Who can decide that a group of hackers is good or bad? Are they just computer geeks or terrorists? A government might say they are terrorists for hacking sensitive servers and showing the world the skeletons from their closet. The little guy, just gets his eyes open and revolts to the injustice done by the people he had chosen as his leaders. Journalists are simply whores, puppets to the higher power, if not an actual operative branch for disinformation. Let's face it, Cory Doctorow got it right.

I found it cute, but also annoying that every chapter had a dedication. Luckily it was written in italics, so I could jump over it after the first few times. The book was too engaging to get a break from the action in order to read dedications. Come on... What were you thinking? It starts slow and it seems a bit like a drag at first, trust me: it gets better. Another thing I liked was how the author tried to explain each technology they involved. Since the book is a bit old, I can safely say that some things have evolved in both privacy and surveillance techniques. They did have Xboxes, so rest assured it isn't that old and it does mention the 9-11 incident.

This book is one of those rare gems that do not pull you into their world, but they do wake you up from complacency. This kind of book wakes up a dormant part of you that was anesthetized by crappy TV shows, manipulatory marketing and comfortable lifestyle. It stirs feelings of rebellion and discontent to abusive laws and regulations. Read this book and wake up your inner rebel, you won't be disappointed, maybe just by the world you live in.

World Book Day

Today is World Book Day , 23rd of April. It was first organized by UNESCO to promote reading and copyright (sure... we all love copyright especially for books, music and movies). Of course, the brits disregard this day and do their own thing on the first Thursday of March, just like driving on the other side of the road and other odd stuff like the Sex Pistols. Anyway, World Book Day was celebrated for the first time on the 23rd of April 1995 and the day was chosen to celebrate both Cervantes and Shakespeare, whom died on this very day. Shakespeare was also born today, talk about coincidence. There is a more intricate explanation on wikipedia, but basically that's the short story.

In order to celebrate this day, I am giving you some links to free e-books. Here goes:

Project Gutenberg - lots of classics

Free-ebooks.net- some are free especially in txt or pdf format

Openculture.com - 400 free eBooks

ManyBooks.net - add free eBooks

Barnes&Noble - free book section

KoboBooks.com - free book section

Simply get your hands on a book you are curious about and start reading.  Feel free to tell me below about any other website you know with free books, just remember to keep it legal. Thanks.

Banksy: The man behind the wall by Will Ellsworth-Jones

Banksy: The man behind the wall by Will Ellsworth-Jones is one of the newest books about Banksy, if not the newest biography of the street artist. If you search the internet for Banksy images, you'll realize that you already know his art. Though unofficial, this biography seems to be very thorough in regards of the artist's career. Since Pest Control, Banksy's P.R. firm, didn't accept to make the book official, we can all assume that it's based just on the author's research.

I have to admit that I was familiar with his work, but I had very little knowledge of how he became famous and how famous he really is. Since people cut out entire walls with his stencils in order to sell them for profit, we can imagine that he's pretty popular. This book is about  UK street art and how graffiti became the what it is today in Britain: a subculture of artists with strict rules, but who make art for art's sake. Most of them anyway... So the question is: a graffiti artist who sells his work is still a graffiti artist or just a sell-out? The opinions are mixed and Banksy appears to be the main catalyst of this dispute.

While reading the book I had to actually watch a couple of movies, that were mentioned there. One was about the feud between Banksy and King Robbo (another graffiti artist) - Graffiti wars  and Banksy's movie with Brainwash (pop-culture artist) - Exit Through the Gift Shop. Both movies were very interesting and both of them left me with a sour taste in my mouth, because I felt that the art world was both shallow and fake. Nothing is new, everything is simply modified and sold to gullible people who want to actually own a 100 pound poster of a rat (or 2 gay cops kissing - which is actually pretty cool).

I cannot deny the fact that the book was interesting and very enjoyable, especially combined with those two movies. Word of advice though: read the book and read the chapters about the movies, then watch them. I did it the other way around and it kind of ruined my reading experience. If you are interested in art, or wondering who is the asshole spray-painting your building's walls or simply curious about the rat on the cover, read the book. You'll find a new and wondrous universe you never knew it existed.