About Books

my thoughts and quotes of books I've read and enjoyed

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She made you decent. And then in return, you made her so happy.

One Day (2011)

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So, I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we an still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

[magabook-blog]

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

rating:  ★★★★★/5

review: I’ve read this book several times in freshman and sophomore years of college. So these are some new things I thought of reading it again in 3 years.

Charlie isn’t a kid. He is very mature. The Charlie in my head used to be small and scrawny. But now, he’s bigger than other high school freshmen because he took a year off of school when he was younger. And he must not look that young or scrawny, and probably is good looking because Mary-Elizabeth and Sam, who are seniors, found him attractive.

All throughout the book, what he says sounds wise and right. All his choices seemed like great choices, maybe except the part when he couldn’t stand up to Mary-Elizabeth and as a consequence hurt a lot of people. Other than that though it seemed he is very good with people and the way he treats them, and how he is a wallflower. But when Sam tells him that he was wrong, in the end of the book, with a lot of things he did, I realized that she’s right. I should have been a filter when I was reading the book, and not assumed that he is always making good decisions just because he is the narrator.

I never thought of this before, even though it should have been obvious, but I realized Charlie is writing his letters to me. I am the person that didn’t sleep with that girl when I could have. The author made the reader into that good person who is willing to listen. The good person who doesn’t mind receiving letters from a kid. But maybe it was less obvious for me because I am not a teenage boy (since Charlie seems to be talking to a boy in high school). 

[magabook-blog]

How easy it was to capitalize on a person's own bent for self-destruction; how simple to nudge them into non-being, then to stand back and shrug and agree that it had been the inevitable result of a chaotic, catastrophic life.

The Cuckoo’s Calling

[magabook-blog]

Pinocchio and Animated Movies

Last week, my sister and I talked about how Disney’s Pinocchio is dark and a bit creepy. Although I didn’t have much problem watching it as a kid (guess I was always good at watching dark creepy stuff), my sister told me that she used to have problems watching Pinocchio because it scared her as a child. I know what she’s talking about because the movie does have that tinge of darkness. Especially the scenes with kids smoking and playing pool, turning into donkeys, and Pinocchio falling into that pit of temptation to be naughty.

So it made me realize that animation in the earlier days must not have been meant solely for kids. These days animations are mostly considered to be for children, or there is the common misconception that animated movies are childish. Odd that animation slowly gained that reputation of being childish over the years.

I asked one of my Disney expert friend on her thoughts about this. She replied, “One of Walt Disney’s philosophies was that good animation is for adults, just as much as for children. It provides a medium that allows for deeper exploration if used to the fullest.” Nicely said.

[magabook-blog]

Zootopia

rating:  ★★★★☆/5

review: The movie reminded me once again of things I’ve thought about and realized while sociology classes.

The message about racism and prejudices would not have been as touching if it was not Disney or told by animated animals.

Great and important message + a hot animated fox.

I would have said it is an important message in America, and not so much other countries. But recently stumbling upon an article about racism in Korea, I would say the message needs to be said anywhere. Not just because of racism though, since prejudice exists in other shapes.

[magabook-blog]

Mean Streak by Sandra Brown

rating: ★★/5

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“Wild” by Cheryl Strayed

rating: ★☆/5

non-fiction book about Cheryl Strayed’s experience of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail when she was 25 years old. 

review: From few chapters into the book, (or more specifically, since she put “I got an abortion,” “dehydrated tuna flakes,” and “turkey jerky” all in one sentence) I didn’t like Cheryl Strayed. I had no respect toward her. Which made me have no respect toward what she had to say and what she was doing. 

I heard this book was a very feminist book. If this book is feminist, I realized there must be two types of feminists. feminists who want equality between men and woman because, as a woman, she feels mistreated and discriminated. And others, who want equality between men and women because she or he does not want any woman to be mistreated or discriminated. If Cheryl is type one, I want to be type two.

I couldn’t help but be annoyed at her constant want for sex and men. The only good part about that was that she was being honest with herself. She met many people during her hike, and most of them were men because most hikers had been men. And most of these men were given names, and character, and many were described handsome (if they were 40 years old or younger). I don’t remember her giving any character to any women in the book, other than herself and her mother. In her last days of hiking, she meets two women, who she hikes for a few days together. She calls them TWO WOMEN. at least give them fake names if you don’t remember. She said they bonded like kids in summer camp. But they were just two women.

I wasn’t convinced that she was changed very much after her journey. I mean is it a sign that she changed since she didn’t call that handsome BMW guy later? Did she change since she settled with a guy later in 4 years and created a family?

But sure, I’m glad Cheryl did choose to hike the PCT and that she pushed through. And I’m happy for her since there was definite healing in the trip, and she was able to mend that hole she had in her heart. And that she eventually did settle with one guy, whom she made a family with. Very good for you Cheryl.

And although I didn’t enjoy reading “Wild,” I want to read Tiny Beautiful Things. She’s a good writer, and maybe she did change. Yes, I didn’t have any respect for her 25 year old self. But maybe I would have some respect for the older version of Cheryl Strayed. 

[magabook-blog]

Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery.

Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

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Top 10 favorite Harry Potter characters ranking 8 years ago

1. Sirus Black

2. Albus Dumbledore

3. Severus Snape

4. Remus Lupin

5. Hermione Granger

6. Harry Potter

7. Arthur Weasley

8. Fred Weasley

9. George Weasley

10. Minerva McGonagall

Now

1. Albus Dumbledore

2. Harry Potter

3. Hermione Granger

4. Severus Snape

5. Dobby

6. Sirius Black

7. Luna Lovegood

8. Remus Lupin

9. Arthur Weasley

10. Ginny Weasley

[magabook-blog]

The truth. It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution.

Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

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It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities

Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

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“We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.” Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

“McGonagall had replaced the house tables, but nobody was sitting according to the house any more: all were jumbled together, teachers and pupils, ghosts and parents, centaurs and house-elves, and Firenze lay recovering in a corner, and Grawp peered in through a smashed window, and people were throwing food into his laughing mouth.” Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Because this is a result of the triumphal over the Dark Lord, it can only mean that disharmony was the effect of evil itself. 

[magabook-blog]

That suggests that what you fear most of all is--fear. Very wise, Harry

Remus Lupin, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 

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You are the true master of death, because the true master does not seek to run away from Death. He accepts that he must die, and understands that there are far, far worse things in the living world than dying.

Albus Dumbledore to Harry, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows

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He wants to take a picture, but he doesn't want to do the thing where you stop to take a picture.

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, by Gabrielle Zabin

[magabook-blog]

Harry’s virtue

I used to think that Harry was an ordinary boy who was randomly chosen to defeat Voldemort, and that he needed a lot of luck and help to achieve it. 

But this time reading the series, something different occurred to me because I realized that Harry is a very good person. A GOOD person, as in morally excellent person, with a good heart, who has a clear idea of what is evil, and does whatever he can to go against the dark side (although a little recklessly at times). He never looks over others’ pain, never says no to helping those in trouble. He is sensitive, talented, and has great instinct. He never hesitates to sacrifice himself, and as Dumbledore always emphasizes, he is very loving. So having all these qualities, Harry was destined to defeat Voldemort. Harry is the archenemy and the total opposite of the Dark Lord. 

Some simple examples of Harry’s goodness is shown in book four. Harry chooses to be honest and play fair with Cedric, who is in GoF Harry’s biggest rival (in love and as a fellow contestant in Triwizard Tournament). Telling Cedric about the dragons in the first task is almost instinctive. He doesn’t think twice or hesitates. He just simply tells Cedric about the dragons because it is the right thing to do. And of course, he refuses to take the winning cup alone, and chooses to share the glory with Cedric in the end (a tragic, nevertheless righteous, decision).

The most impressive part was where Harry stays behind with the hostages in the second task. Okay, staying behind for Ron, Hermione and Cho, I could understand. But Fleur’s sister? He never even met her! I kind of teared up reading and feeling Harry’s desperateness to take Gabrielle out of the lake too.

It was also very admirable that Harry chooses to have mercy on Wormtail in PoA, and on Draco in DH.

I think these small, and seemingly simple acts of virtue really portrays Harry’s character and shows that he is different from the deepest part of his nature. Perhaps this difference is what made him able to defeat the Dark Lord.