Book Review: MOOMIN (Comic Strip Vol. 1)

Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip, Vol. 1 by Tove Jansson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


One of my favorite books as a child was Tove Jansson's "Comet in Moominland." I remember loving every part of the novel... The dialogue, the illustrations, the cover... It was just PERFECT!

But it wasn't until this first volume that I got to read about Moomin's adventures in comic strip form. And it's just as perfect! Old-school charm, humor with a bit of snarkiness, and a surprising amount of adult themes (including heavily hinted depression) make for a unique reading experience that I just can't get enough of. I need more Moomin in my life!!!

Moomin shows us that problems do come, they are unavoidable... But as long as you've got your family, "with imagination and faith, all problems will be solved!“
May we all "live in peace, plant potatoes, and dream!"



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Book Review: FIRE FROM HEAVEN (Alexander the Great # 1) by Mary Renault

Fire from Heaven by Mary Renault

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“To die, even a little, one should do it for something great.”

This is my third Renault book. Twice before she ensorcelled me back into Ancient Greece, when I read of Theseus and a realistic treatise of his struggle with the House of Minos. I remember being in awe of how the tale was even more epic and no less fantastic, even without the half-man, half-bull.

This third book, the first of Renault’s famous Alexander the Great trilogy, was even better!! With the author being in the height of her powers, having written these much later than the Theseus novels.

What do you get when you combine the scholarship of an Oxford graduate with the real life experience of a World War II nurse who treated Dunkirk survivors?

A unique blend of fantasy and realism, where you can see Grecian dirt and smell fresh Hellene blood, hear the battle cries of hoplites struggling to maintain their phalanx formations, and practically taste the wild Macedonian air in your mouth.

Renault breathes life into an Alexander who is all too human, with flaws like ours, but becomes superhuman through his sheer willpower in his quest for self-mastery.

I knew some of the facts of Alexander’s life beforehand (don’t we all?), but Renault gifts us with an entire supporting cast, masterfully illustrating their innermost psychological workings as well as their actions.

This first book tells us of Alexander’s infancy until the time he takes over as Regent at the age of twenty. We become privy to his traumatic childhood, one where Father and Mother fought each other for control over the young boy’s education and ultimately, his destiny.

One of the things I admire most about Renault is how she treats bisexual relationships in her novels. Neither condemning nor sensationalizing, she presents us a pre-Christian world that recognizes the value of pairing lovers in battle. Renault has given me a whole new appreciation for the Sacred Band of Thebes, “having each in his charge a twofold honour, did not retreat; they advanced, or stood, or died.” For “suppose a state or an army could be made up only of lovers and beloved… Even a few of them, fighting side by side, might well conquer the world.”

It’s good to be reminded of the greatness that sleeps in all men’s souls. As Alexander whispered to Boukephalos before riding into battle: “Remember who we are.”




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Book Review: WAR : TALES OF CONFLICT AND STRIFE by Roald Dahl

War: Tales of Conflict and Strife by Roald Dahl

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“I know that I am not a coward. I am certain of that. I will always keep going… and although I am so frightened that I can hardly think, yet I am going on to do this thing. There was never any question of not going or of turning back. I would rather die than turn back.”

Now THIS is, quite simply, excellent story telling! I'd always known Roald Dahl was a fighter pilot in the War, but I didn’t know of the details of his extraordinary adventures… until now. To me, they are far more amazing than the fantastic tales he wrote for children!

This volume contains his autobiographical novella, GOING SOLO, as well as seven short stories. They're all about his experiences during the War, and all are masterfully written, but the novella and the stories are completely different in tone. The novella is very optimistic and cheerful, while the stories are darker, more sinister… and one of them in particular struck me as being very timely for Halloween. “They Shall Not Grow Old” sent chills up and down my spine with the tale of a fellow fighter pilot who disappears for two days and comes back, reporting that he had been with “the pilots and air crews who had been killed in battle, who now, in their own aircraft were making their last flight, their last journey.”

No fictional glass elevator, no imaginary chocolate factory can compare with this amazing book, which leaves the reader grateful to live in a time of peace, with greater appreciation of the many blessings living in peacetime gives:

“All the things I want to do and all the things I want to see… like going home sometimes. Like walking through a wood. Like pouring a drink from a bottle. Like looking forward to weekends and like being alive every hour every day every year for fifty years.”

Penguin Books released seven other collections of Roald Dahl’s works (Lust, Madness, Cruelty, Deception, Trickery, Innocence, and Fear), and I can’t wait to get my hands on the rest!



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Book Review: THE HOLLOW OF FEAR (Lady Sherlock # 3) by Sherry Thomas

"Why only one croissant when she can have three instead?" Why only read one Lady Sherlock novel when you can read three... Or four?! Lady Sherlock is baaaaaaack with Book # 3, which I think is the best (thus far) in the series! Our favorite intellectual heroine-who-diets-when-she-has-reached-the-Maximum-Number-of-Tolerable-Chins returns, and once again, Sherry Thomas absolutely SLAYS with her skillful use of language, well-constructed plot, and pages that SHIMMER with passion eloquently parsed! The stakes are higher. The big reveals are … BIGGER! And I love that characters and events from previous novels are brought forth, taking on even greater importance. It shows just how much thought and care went into the planning of this alternate universe where Sherlock is a lady, in a time when women were not as free as men. This book will appeal to lovers of mystery and romance, and again, no one does *kilig* quite like Sherry Thomas. “It didn’t matter what kind of seas they sailed, warm, cold, smooth, or choppy. It didn’t matter where they were headed, empty wilderness or teeming metropolises. It mattered only that they were together at last.” *sigh* With something that will light up both your dead-cold-heart and your mind, this book (and this series) is a winner! And hurrayness, Book 4 just came out this month! (Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars)

My Review of Lady Sherlock Book # 1

My Review of Lady Sherlock Book # 2

Book Review: A CONSPIRACY IN BELGRAVIA (Lady Sherlock # 2) by Sherry Thomas

A Conspiracy in Belgravia by Sherry Thomas

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This was utterly lovely, although I preferred Book 1.

I think I spoiled the book for myself when I would read a couple of pages at a time, spread out over the better part of two weeks. It's one of those "shut yourself away and focus" books because there are so many important details and clues leading up to "THE BIG REVEAL" at the very end.

Sherry Thomas writes mystery so well, but she truly is a romance novelist master. She writes of heartache and longing so eloquently!

"And the sensation zipping all along her nerve endings -- as if she were taking on solidity and existence for the first time, as if until now she had been an apparition, drifting in the shadows, a mere shimmer under the sun."

Let's see how Book 3 fares!

My Review for Lady Sherlock Book 1

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Book Review: A SINGER'S NOTEBOOK by Ian Bostridge

A Singer's Notebook by Ian Bostridge

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


"Even small things can delight us." -- Bostridge, quoting Hugo Wolf

This is the very first book I ordered from abroad (thank you Book Depository!!!), and I spent three weeks praying nightly that the package would arrive safely from the UK! It is not available locally here in Manila, and I’ve been wanting to read it for ages, having been a huge fan for years! And I was not disappointed! The package arrived, and the book proved worth the wait.

It is one of the most difficult things in the world to write about something as intangible and abstract as music. And as if having the voice of an angel wasn’t enough, this book is proof that British tenor Ian Bostridge possesses the brain of a god as well. Reading this collection of essays (primarily on lieder and Britten but including a few book and opera reviews) was like listening to a very funny professor who blended incredible learning and vast performance experience with a delightfully hilarious sense of humor. Think Daniel Barenboim, but more opera buffa than seria.

For example, Bostridge writes: "My life is governed by phlegm to an extent that utterly disgusts my friends and family." Ahahahaha. Also, he speaks of Hugo Wolf's lieder having "Wagner's endless melody without the endlessness." Haha!

But also... Ian Bostridge’s first career was that of a legitimate historian (with a PhD from Oxford!), and IT SHOWS. The book is interspersed with a smattering of academic lingo, such as “noumenal,” “chary” and “dyspeptic,” with quotations from the likes of Wittgenstein, Jaspers, and the composers themselves. There's discussions of Teutonic "Kultur" versus French "Zivilisation" and pages where Bostridge waxes poetic over the dissolution of tonality and what it meant for Romanticism's language of irrationality.

This “notebook” brought memories of Music Literature classes in college. Ian Bostridge would have had a great career as a professor! He made me want to listen to all the recordings and works he discussed, and anyone who makes readers thirst to listen to Janacek or Hans Werner Henze FOR FUN truly has a gift.

Mind you, Ian Bostridge is no highbrow elitist, despite his qualifications. He writes of learning from Barbra Streisand and Bob Dylan, and speaks of what classical musicians can learn from the best of popular ones.

Highly accessible as well as being highly learned, this book is a treat for anyone interested in music (and that’s ALL of us)! I suggest that it be read in small doses, a few chapters at a time, so you can listen to the song cycles / operas he mentions on Spotify while drinking your tea with scones and clotted cream.

I am soooo looking forward to immersing myself in Ian Bostridge’s second book this coming sembreak!



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Musical Review: SWEENEY TODD (Atlantis)

Part I:

GABI-LIVES-UNDER-A-ROCK-Trivia # 24601:I hadn't had the chance to watch SWEENEY when it came out as a movie, and so my first exposure was LIVE, today.

And BOOM! Fellow ignoramuses and I were cursing under our breath during the second act. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! If you haven't seen it yet, go watch it live for maximum effect! If Lea Salonga isn't enough to make it an automatic buy... There's also the fact that the entire ensemble had golden voices! And truly beautiful music played by the ABS-CBN Philharmonic. Iba talaga ang Pinoy talent. And it's an Atlantis prod, so you know you're in for an excellent show! They run at Solaire until Oct. 27, 2019!

Now excuse me, I shall be shellshocked for a bit longer to process what I just saw. 😲 😱

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Part II:

There are many glorious upsides to watching a show by one's self. But having no one to talk to about it afterward is not one of them. Haha. Pardon the short rave, but I need to get Sweeney Todd out of my system!

***Mild spoiler alert, so please read the rest only AFTER you’ve gone and seen the show!***.
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So it took around 24 hours until what I found so disturbing about Atlantis’ SWEENEY TODD dawned on me. It wasn’t the gore. Actually, there was none. Director Bobby Garcia treated his audience like intelligent beings capable of imagining the gruesome goings-on. The lack of blood did not detract in any way from the message of the musical. So if you’re a parent and you’re wondering if the play will traumatize your child, don’t worry. It won’t, for as long as you’re there to process the show afterwards. But be aware that the themes ARE difficult to discuss: rape, incest, cannibalism, and of course, (serial) murder most foul.

(Spoiler below!)
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What I found so disturbing was the fact that there was no redemption to be had for the main character. Lea Salonga's Mrs. Lovett was, despite her ghoulish tendencies, human in her self-sacrificing love for Sweeney, and her belief in sparing the innocent. But Jett Pangan as Sweeney possessed a hatred so encompassing, it no longer made any distinction between guilty and guiltless. And it’s all sooooooo disturbing when you realize just how easy it is to make that single defining choice between damnation and salvation. Sweeney Todd is all of us.

When anger and aggressiveness are glamorized instead of dignified civility, this dark and bloodthirsty musical serves as a timely warning during dark and bloodthirsty times.