In My Books

Finally found a swanky place to release ‘Pandora’ by Jilly Cooper. Was attending a launch at the posh Regent Hotel in town, and decided to leave the book on the reading shelf at the left wing of the lobby while waiting for my colleague to join me.

Now, the waiting begins …

Adopt the pace of nature:
her secret is patience.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

More quotes on the virtue of Patience.

While reading Jane Austen’s ‘Emma’, I was led astray by another half-demon, a fiery-haired lass this time and no dog ears. Just a dark broody male for a hero protector.

At first glance, the innocuous-looking cover of ‘The Demon’s Daughter’ (excerpt here) by Emma Holly reads like another paranormal tale of the eternal struggle between human and demon, good and evil. Suffering from withdrawal of my favourite half dog-demon anime series, I succumbed to the temptation and rented the book home for a read. Only when I’ve reached home and taken a good look at the synopsis did I realise that this is an erotica romance set in Avvar, a make-believe city not unlike Victorian London.

The story starts with Inspector Adrian Philips, who keeps the peace between humans and demons in that Gotham-like city, landing on the doorsteps of enigmatic Roxanne McAllister after getting seriously injured one fateful night while chasing down a lead for a missing human boy believed to have been abducted by rohn (lower class demons banished to Avvar). Now, our good inspector has accepted enhancement of his strength by demon technology to do his job and get a promotion, a move which cost him his wife, his family, and – his colleagues suspect – his humanity. So imagine when he woke up in the arms of a sensuous free-spirited erotic art painter like Roxanne, how sorely tempted he was to risk endangering his life and reveal his identity in a bid to win her heart. But he didn’t, even though he fell in love with the gal, only the poor sod was too mired in his own semi-egotistical protective male feelings towards Roxie to admit it.

Then came danger when Roxie’s blood father, an aristocratic Yama (demon) who’s serving as an envoy of his demon-nation to the court of Avvar, discovered her existence, and in trying to win his daughter back, got her embroiled in a political intrigue. Of course, there’s happy ending when the two star-crossed lovers are united and father became reconciled with daughter. But aside from all the suspense and thrills, I had to skip through some [of] the steamier scenes that, despite the warning that her brand of sensuality, quote “may shock the uninitiated” unquote, on the back cover, had me squirming a little in embarrassment.

So, if you’re not quite used to explicitly torrid accounts of amorous encounters (erm, I’m too shy to use the s-word), put this book down quickly. I’ve got another two of Emma’s, but I think I’ve satisfied my curiosity about this author. Now, let me return to Austen’s meddling Emma Woodhouse and her match-making efforts …

Literature is mostly about having sex
and not much about having children;
life is the other way around.
~David Lodge, The British Museum Is Falling Down, 1965

I picked up ‘She’s Got Issues’ after reading the Daily Candy review of this debut nnovel by Stephanie Lessing.

Written in the first person, this suspiciously part autobiographical light romance chronicles idealistic Chloe Rose’s bumbling climb up the corporate ladder at Issues Magazine. Everything seems rosy when she first accepted the position of Assistant to the Promotions Assistant: everyone seems so nice to her, she’s got her own key to the shoe closet, and she’s attracting the attention of the cutest guy, Dan the Editor-in-Chief – she mistook his name for Stan – at the office.

But wait, why does she get this feeling that the editorial staff don’t really like her as much as she thought? And why is it that she’s always being assigned menial tasks – photocopying, filing receipts, getting coffee that has to be the perfect shade of caramel for her superior? Equally puzzling: is the publisher following her around, spying on her or assessing her capability? And could that bitchy piece in the latest edition about an unscrupulous, idea (and shoe) stealing assistant ousting her idiot of a superior by snitching to the bosses be her? And why is it that her creative ideas are always rejected by her immediate boss only to show up disguised in another form?

Lessing’s first attempt takes a funny, if somewhat tame, dig at office politics and she succeeds fabulously in making her female readers laugh at themselves. The book reminds women that the climb up the corporate ladder should be all about women helping each other, and not doing each other in. Incidentally, Lessing’s husband is also named Dan … now you see why I suspect this is part autobiographical.

Overall, it’s a great first effort, and I think she’s got more issues to grind in her next book. Look out for that if you like contemporary women’s fiction that makes you pause, ponder and have a good laugh, at yourself and other women. Oh, did I mention that this novel has a Cinderella fairy-tale ending? This is one funny Chick Lit writer you will appreciate, especially on days when you need a laugh.

Her website reflects her personality too – the girly pink background and shoe boxes as navigation links are pure genius! And do read other reviews of the book from Heartstrings, BookReview Cafe.

For now, I’ll leave the gals some food for thought:

Women are never stronger than when they arm themselves with their weakness.
~Marie de Vichy-Chamrond, Marquise du Deffand
‘Letters to Voltaire’

More quotes in The Quote Garden.

I’ve short-listed a few more books to be released in the next two weeks and these are:

1. ‘Switcheroo’ by Olivia Goldsmith: this funny though frothy book has hilarious twists and some solemn moments that kept me entertained, and at turns reminded me of the most basic human emotion and its immense power to heal — Love. Read the journal entry on Bookcrossing .

2. ‘The Selkie’ by Charles Sheffield and David Bischoff: a rather disturbing tale of the mysterious half human half seal supernatural being that has pervaded Scottish folklore since time immemorial, and how one woman was lured into surrendering more than her will to this dark and terrible figure. Journal entry tells you more.

3. ‘Pandora’ by Jilly Cooper: this novel is a riot, I’ll tell you. I’ve read Jilly Cooper’s ‘Riders’, ‘Rivals’ and ‘Polo’- all set in the competitive world of show-jumping. And enjoyed them tremendously. She doesn’t hold back on her language, and her narrative is very tightly paced, so it’ll be a good jaunt through the pages before you realised you’re hooked. And I adore the suave Rupert Campbell-Black and the kind-hearted Taggie he marries, the two central characters in this series. ‘Polo’ is a little more intense but I guarantee that you won’t be bored with Jilly. Her wicked prose and raunchy plot keeps you entertained. Look up her bibliography for her other great works.

‘Pandora’ takes the reader to the world of art. It’s about two families’ obsession with the painting of Pandora by Raphael, which has been in the possession of the Belvedons for 50 years. Then a stranger showed up claiming to be a long-lost daughter of the family, and this sparks off a tussle amongst the three B brothers. Accompanying this unwelcome addition is her glamorous boyfriend, who seems to have an unhealthy interest in the family’s prized painting, rousing the suspicions of the Belvedon’s only natural daughter, Sienna.

When Pandora was stolen during a house party, the family members set out on a hunt that will take readers to Vienna, Geneva, Paris, New York and London (the notable art capitals of the world, of course!). Will the painting be restored to its rightful owner? I’m keeping mum here… you’ll have to go catch the book and read it!

Geez, I’ve actually reproduced the entire journal entry here … no prizes for guessing which amongst these three is my favourite. And so, it’s only fitting that I leave you with this quote from Jilly.

The male is a domestic animal which, if treated with firmness, can be trained to do most things.
~ Jilly Cooper

Warning: this is a long post!

Between the last post and this, I have been jumping back and forth between modern and medieval Japan, pursuing the adventures of a certain modern teenage girl, Kagome, and a silver-haired half-breed dog demon, Inuyasha.

If anyone had told me two months ago that I would fall in love with Anime (Japanese animation, pronounced a-nee-may) series and manga (comics, graphic novel), I would have laughed my head off. But ever since I caught my first episode of the animated series – episode 39 in season two of the series’ screening on local television – I became possessed. That’s right, there’s no other word to describe my indecent obsession with the two characters and their adventures. My husband taunted my feverish pursuit of this ‘cartoon series’. Hah, what does he know? Anyway, I have his niece to thank for introducing me to this exasperating and reluctant half-demon hero.

INUYASHA (image attached) is a time travel fantasy adventure based on the hit comic series of the same name by Rumiko Takahashi, launched as a weekly manga serial in 1996. (Where was I while this was happening????).

Kagome (pronounced Ka-go-may) discovers on her 15th birthday that she can travel back and forth between the present and the Sengoku-jidai, typically referred to as the “Warring States” era of Japan’s Muromachi period (approx. 1467-1568 CE), through a dried-up well at the shrine near her house. As she is transported to another time, she is also drawn into a quest with Inuyasha for a powerful, sacred gemstone (the Shikon jewel or Jewel of Four Souls). However, many demonic, monstrous and some human enemies hinder their way to success. In her earliest battle (think it was her second), Kagome unintentionally shattered the jewel into shards while saving a child from a demonic flying creature with the stone embedded in it, making their job all the more difficult.

Inuyasha owes his demonic strength to his father, a legendary dog-demon, but his mother was a mortal woman. Though Inuyasha has the outward appearance of a full demon, his strength does not compare to a full demon’s. For this reason, he wants the Shikon Jewel, which has the power to transform him into a full-fledged demon. But he’s not the only one who wants it- the jewel can increase anyone’s powers with its magic, and over the course of the series, humans and demons alike are seduced by the jewel’s dark powers.

As the saga continues, Kagome discovers powers within herself that she never imagined existed — she’s supposed to be the reincarnation of a powerful priestess (miko) Kikyo, Inuyasha’s old flame. She also developed a tendre for Inu as they search for the stone together. The relationship between Kagome and Inuyasha was complicated by the revival of the dead Kikyo at the hands of another evil sorceress after the powers of the jewel.

Let me backtrack a little here. When Kagome first frees Inuyasha from Kikyo’s spell, his first thought is to destroy the woman he quickly identifies as his “killer” by her scent and her resemblance to Kikyo, but an enchantment cast upon him by Kikyo’s baby sister, Kaede (an old woman now and the village leader), enables Kagome to control Inuyasha by invoking a spell in the prayer beads Inuyasha wears around his neck with a word. That word, thought up by Kagome on a spur of the moment, is a sheer stroke of Takahashi genius – the magic word is “SIT,” as one would say to a dog. (Hahaha … and boy, when she invokes this spell in a fit of anger, Kagome’s expression is scary!!)

Right from the start, Inuyasha maintains that he dislikes Kagome, which leads the reader to suspect that there was more to his relationship with Kikyo than he’s telling (this is confirmed in an episode later). As their quest continues, Inuyasha reveals more of his human nature, and protects Kagome and other humans, although reluctantly and many a times under the pretext of saving himself trouble, from danger. Likewise, Kagome proves to be much stronger than he ever suspected she could be, standing up to their monstrous and supernatural opponents to protect others, even at great risk to herself. I think her compassionate and selfless nature is one of the greatest source of her powers.

The pair is eventually joined by a lecherous monk, Miroku, and a kick-ass demon slayer, Sango and her pet cat-demon, Kiara, and Shippo, a young fox demon. These companions bring out different aspects of the budding Inuyasha-Kagome romance, and made the series a whole lot more entertaining. Oh, how could I forget Inu’s full-blooded demon elder brother, Lord Sesshomaru, an aristocratic assassin who also became more approachable after ‘adopting’ a human girl he saved from death. Rather the little girl ‘adopted’ him. This is one demon who never loses his cool even under the most dangerous and trying situations … despite being dressed in fur.

Besides the entire video series, I also read the manga written for the big screen, translated into Chinese. These three movies, namely “Love that Transcends Time” (Toki wo Koeru Omoi in Japanese; “The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass” (Kagami no Naka no Mugenjo) and “Tenka Hadou no Ken – The Sword of World Conquest” are little adventures that stand on their own, yet add new interesting angles to the series. They are a must for any Inuyasha fan.

Another confession: I love the songs from the series too. Quite a number of popular Japanese singers, example V6, Ayumi Hamasaki, Dream, Do as Infinity and Hitomi, had their songs chosen as either the opening or closing theme for each season. My favourites are “I Am” by Hitomi, “Fukai Mori, Deep Forest” by Do As Infinity, “Itazura na Kiss” (Mischievous Kiss) from Day by Day and “Angelus” by Hitomi Shimatani while my kids adore “Change the World” by V6. Think the only thing left for me to get my hands on is a compilation of all the theme songs and music featured in the series and movie. Hmmm ….

Get to know the characters and the series at Inuyashaworld.com and InuyashaPlus. The latter has a comprehensive listing of the discography, and ringtones (!), while the former has detailed episode summaries. For now, I’ll leave you with this quote that aptly describes the powerful connection between Inuyasha and Kagome:

Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same. ~Emily Brontë

More quotes on love in The Quote Garden. Ja, ne …