Wednesday, November 29, 2006

A Mighty Heart


A Mighty Heart by Mariane Pearl with Sarah Crichton

Reviewed by Claudine

In this book, Mariane Pearl tells her account of the story of her husband, Danny Pearl, who was kidnapped and murdered in Karachi, Pakistan. Interspersed in the account are touching personal portraits of their loving marriage that makes his sudden and untimely death even harder to accept.

Despite knowing the outcome of the story, one cannot help but be drawn into the web of events from start till end. One marvels at the courage and determination of Mariane as she organizes the search for her husband systematically and logically, turning Danny’s friend’s house into an information centre and drawing links from clues so as to locate her husband’s whereabouts. Together with both local and international investigators, they piece together the links to the mastermind and kidnapper, which proves to be frustrating because each man in the kidnapping chain is an isolated pawn who knows little about the entire operation or about who is above him in the hierarchy.

It reads like a fast paced political thriller but the chilling factor lies in the fact that this is more than real and it is still taking place in parts of the world. This book reveals the complexity of the operations behind the kidnappings of foreigners and why it is so difficult to nail the mastermind or to launch a rescue mission. Marianne exposes the intricate network in fundamentalist Islamic militancy which allows culprits to remain elusive. This book also espouses the risks which correspondents and journalists face in search of good reporting, sometimes at the expense of their lives.

Readers will feel the despair and mounting desperation of Mariane as she searches for Danny in a race against time. When news of Danny’s brutal death is verified, it shocked me as were many people around the world who were watching the events unfold.

Driven by the desire for truth and justice, Mariane wrote this book for her son, Adam, so that he would know that his ‘father was not a hero but an ordinary man. An ordinary man with a mighty heart.’

And so he was.

'A Mighty Heart' is now being made into a movie, starring Angelina Jolie. Be sure to catch it when it’s out on the big screen.

The book is available in the NLB and major bookstores.

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Something to do this weekend

What: The MV Doulos. The world's largest travelling bookstore - a missionary ship. It carries more than 6000 titles, mostly in English.

Where: Docked at The Promenade, Vivocity

When: Till tomorrow (19 Nov), 11 am - 8 pm; tours available on a first-come, first-served basis.

How much: Admission to the bookstore is free but the tour of the ship is $5 for adults, $3 for children.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

PENGUIN BOOKS Warehouse Sale

Date : 17 - 19 November 2006 (Friday to Sunday)

Time : 10am to 10pm

Venue : Singapore Expo Hall 6B

Children's books,
Fiction
Business
Self-help
Reference
Lifestyle
and more...

Payment by cash, Visa and Mastercard only

Thursday, November 02, 2006

In the Wee Small Hours


Reviewed by Claudine

Found this charming book on the NLB shelves.
I was first drawn to it by its cover, as a mother, in particular, to the boy with the pointy sword and his mother trailing after him. This book is about Annie Baker and her delightful life in the country and her job as a producer for advertisements in town.

The lines in the book which are mostly conversational sparkles with wit and humour and the story sails along taking you past familiar family conversations, sticky work situations, bonding sessions with girlfriends, dashes of romance and of course juggling the insane rush of daily routines. For those who have preschoolers who ask for the sky, the conversations or what Annie terms as ‘random chat sessions’ with her 6 year old son, Charlie, will have you chuckling.

Her comic capers at work are absolutely hilarious. You are taken behind the scenes of the world of advertisement productions where men are taped to windmills and spun around to promote wallpaper paste and where geography and weather know no limit. Annie has to arrange for the setups and make missions impossible possible. The next time you watch an advertisement, especially one shot outdoors in somewhat treacherous conditions, you might sit up and appreciate it a little better.

You fall in love not only with Annie, but also with the cast of colourful characters whom you grow attached to as the story progresses. In fact, when tragedy strikes towards the end, I shed tear a tear or two. It's one book I think I would like to keep on my shelf for a re-read. Erm. From the bookshop, of course.

Here’s an excerpt from the book during the filming of a scene involving some rather unfortunate ducks. (Disclaimer : I strongly believe no ducks were harmed in the writing of this scene.)

It’s the day of the duckpond shoot, so we’re in Wiltshire at five in the morning stumbling round the dark and trying not to fall in the sodding pond after spending most of yesterday in the studio getting the pack shots done. It’s freezing and once the dawn does appear we’ll only have a few minutes to get the shots we want, or we’ll have to come back tomorrow. So it’s all getting rather tense. We’ve hired a flock of tame ducks to sit in the middle of the pond, but so far they’re not having it and are sitting huddled under the trees sulking. The animal’s trainers starting to panic and so am I.
And then Barney has a brilliant idea.
‘Tell him to tie some string to their legs and tie bricks on the other end, and then he can plant them in the middle of the pond where we need them.’
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘Just go and tell him.’
‘Barney, I think I can safely say that’s one of the daftest ideas you’ve ever had.’
‘How else are you planning to get the f******* to stay where we want them then?’
I go over and talk to the trainer. And surprisingly he thinks it might be worth a try and starts measuring the depth of the pond with a stick. Dear god. I’m surrounded by nutters.
Half the crew hunt for bits of old brick and big stones and after a great deal of quacking and flapping the ducks are regrouped in the middle of the pond, and the trainer rows back in his inflatable boat to check they’re in the right position.
Barney’s delighted.
‘Perfect.’
The trainer looks very relieved.
‘They’ll settle down in a minute or two.’
And they do. Just as the light starts to change. And we’ve just got the first shot when I notice that the ducks seem to be shrinking.
The cameraman notices too.
‘Guv, aren’t they getting a bit low in the water?’
‘What?’
‘The ducks.’
‘What about the f******* ducks?’
Barney’s been concentrating on making sure the actor’s in the shot as he walks past the pond, playing farmer on his way to his fields, to grow the perfect frozen peas: ‘We get up early to make sure you don’t have to.’
‘I think they are sinking. That one in the middle is nearly up to its beak.’
‘Jesus Christ.’
The trainer’s noticed it too. ‘Stop. Stop. They’re sinking. You’re drowning my ducks.’ He’s running towards the boat.
‘Oh great. What’s he doing now?’ Barney turns to me, looking furious.
‘He’s rescuing his ducks, Barney. Before someone calls RSPCA.’
‘Just give me another minute.’
The duck man’s in the boat now, and the ducks are getting even lower. The stones must be sinking in the mud or something. Christ. I wonder if you can do mouth to mouth on a duck. Because I’ve got a horrible feeling we’re going to find out in a minute.

For more information on the book, check out the following link :
Fantastic Fiction

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Writeaway

Tonight I managed to actually get in contact with my favorite travel writer, Peter Moore, and he'll be sending over 1 copy of Writeaway, a CD ROM on travel writing. If I have the time after going through it (if I'm not planning my 1st travel novel, that is), I'd share some of the tips here with you.

Adelynn

(You can access Peter's blog at www.petermoore.net/blog/wordpress/.)