[本] The Alchemist

Author: Paulo Coelho

Genre: Fantasy, Love, Religion, Journeys, Life, Fable

Summary: A young Andalusian shepherd sets out on a quest to fulfill his own personal legend after having recurring dreams of finding treasure. On his journey he meets various people who help him out on his journey, both spiritually and physically, and discover things much more valuable than what he first set out to seek.

Review: I started reading this sometime last year, a couple of months ago, vaguely forgot about it, read other books, and picked it up again and finished it just now. I took rather longer to read this, with intervals in between besides, and yet, I do not really feel the ~gap~. This is probably because The Alchemist is one of those books, that are warm and comfortable and simple, that you couldn't get lost in even if you tried.

This is also the third work Paulo Coelho I've read, and I've come to the conclusion that I adore his books, and care very little for his essays/reflections - which just seem to me like psycho-spiritual mambo jumbo. Good psycho-spiritual mambo jumbo, mind you, but not really my cup of tea. His stories, however, (I've only read two so far - this one and The Witch of Portebello) are amazing.

What I liked the most was how the characters - except for the boy whose journey the book is about (despite the title referring to someone else entirely) - seem to possess a sort of ephemeral quality, like mirages in the desert, because what is actually important is the boy, and what he chooses to do to fulfill his own personal legend. It is, simply put, a fable, and it is very well done.

Rating: 10/10

Quotes:

⑇At Song-Stories ⑇

Note: Because JE owns my soul, and this starts out in Andalusia, it spurs up fantastically superb images of mystery and romance from the very start.  <3

Jeux d'enfants

[Children's Games]
Love Me If You Dare (English Title)

Cast:
Guillaume Canet as Julien Janvier
Marion Cotillard as Sophie Kowalsky
Thibault Verhaeghe as 8 year old Julien
Joséphine Lebas-Joly as 8 year old Sophie

Genre: Romance, Movie

Summary: It starts easily enough - not simply, never simply - with a pretty box, and a pretty girl and a dare the boy has to complete in order to prove to the girl, how important the box is to him.

The game continues, each daring the other for the possession of the box, and the dares only escalate in intensity as they grow older, and the childish refusal to lose, the glee at completing each dare, becomes complicated with feelings which are impossible to ignore.

Review: An utterly gorgeous, completely destructive romance. More beautiful than a train wreck. It's impossibly sweet, from the very beginning, and the entire movie is tinged with a sense of surreality and childishness throughout. What really struck me was how the utter intensity of what they had seemed to transcend all conventional standards of logic and reason. Why else would I accept the way the film ended as a matter of fact without so much as batting an eyelid?

I heard of this through fic. The plot was interesting and I thought I'd like to watch the movie it was based on, eventually. Yesterday, I re-read that fic, looked up the movie on wiki, and I had to watch it. Basically, the ending, what happens, did not come as a surprise to me because I've read it all on wiki before I watched it. All the same, I am glad I watched it because it's a whole different experience to see the story fold out before your eyes and it was ...enchanting.

Upon hindsight, it's probably a very wtf movie, but, while watching it, it was all somehow very natural. No matter how cruel the dares started becoming, to the point of being life-threatening, even, it was still a game. They were still very much just like children.

The ending, despite being mind-fuckery of the highest degree, fit. The sepia-toned what-might-have-been somehow became what is, maybe just in another life time - it was achieved in the only way it could have been in this lifetime, with all that had happened.

...urgh, this is me failing at the words thing again. -_-' Anyway, point is, definitely worth watching.

Music: La Vie en Rose is gorgeous.

Rating: 10/10

Quotes:

~ At Song-Stories ~

Note: So, it's pretty obvious that I'm failing majorly at the whole Fictional Memories 2010 reviewing thing. Because I'm a slacker. /fact. Just thought I'd attempt to at least try reviewing this one since it's my first French film.

涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱 [Season 1]

The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi [Season 1]

Genre: School-life, Supernatural, Aliens, Semi-romance, Anime

Episodes: Season 1 - 14

Summary: Contrary to popular belief, the world does revolve around Suzumiya Haruhi. Only a few people are aware of this fact, however, and she herself feels utterly insignificant in this earth - yearns to meet ‘aliens, espers or time travellers’ to be different and break away from the humdrum of the everyday world. This is disadvantageous to everyone else in the world because she has the power to shift and re-create the universe according to her wishes if she is bored or unhappy.

Fortunately, she just goes on to create a high-school club, named the SOS Brigade, which has a mission statement of finding the unusual things in the world and having a lot of fun. Because of whoe she is - while she herself is unaware of it - she selfishly bullies/drags along/takes in people who exist because she wishes them to: time traveler Asahina Miruku (lolita cute with lots of moe), alien Nagato Yuki (bookworm of few words), esper Koizumi Itsuki (agenda hidden behind an ever-present smile) and Kyon – a completely normal human.

Kyon, whom the story is presented through, wonders over how he got himself caught up in the mess that seems to come with Suzumiya Haruhi, and is aware of her importance – at least the fact that the other less-usual members consider her important to a level that is equivilant of a ‘God’ – and consequently, his responsibility to the world because ‘he is the one Suzumiya Haruhi had chosen’.

Review: Weird slightly messed-up plot? Check. Weird non-linear episode sequence? Check. Awesome mood-manipulating techniques? Also check. This is pretty good. Kind of awesome, in fact.

It was a topsy-turvy rollercoaster ride of high-school fun, kacchoi fights and things just plain weird. The ending, if a bit cliché, fit and was sweet. Loved this.

I feel slightly sorry for Kyon, since he seems to have had no choice, but well, bittersweet flavors in everything are my guilty pleasure. (^_^)V

Music:
恋のミクル伝説 ~ 後藤 邑子 [Opening Theme]
冒険でしょでしょ ~ 平野 綾 [Opening Theme]
ハレ晴レユカイ ~ 平野 綾 [Ending Theme]

Rating: 9/10

Quotes:

~ Here at Song-Stories ~

Note: Unlike Haruhi, like Kyon, I find the significance of my insignificance pretty comforting.