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sebby_reads's reviews
242 reviews
ပွင့်တချို့ ကြွေတချို့ by Moe Moe (Innyar)
2.0
It might seem like a light novel as a mere 300-page book but it was in fact heavy on the heart. And then why else I could expect from Moe Moe (Inya)’s novels?
After her father abandoned the family for another woman, the protagonist became the responsibility to support her family-the mother and the three younger siblings. Her struggles with money and other needs, not for herself but for the family, were the beginning of her downfall. I found the storyline a bit predictable and it was somewhat conservative in some parts of the story. Apart from that, it was fine. 2.5 out of 5 stars.
After her father abandoned the family for another woman, the protagonist became the responsibility to support her family-the mother and the three younger siblings. Her struggles with money and other needs, not for herself but for the family, were the beginning of her downfall. I found the storyline a bit predictable and it was somewhat conservative in some parts of the story. Apart from that, it was fine. 2.5 out of 5 stars.
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
3.0
This Man Booker Int'l Prize winner of 2016 is a total stunner! The story is about a woman who stopped eating meat out of the blue and became a vegetarian after she had a nightmare. From that, it escalated to the unfortunate issues with her family members. The story includes three parts–narrated by the protagonist's husband, her brother-in-law, and her sister. It was a great read!
...
"Eat it! Listen to what your father's telling you and eat. Everything I say I for your own good. So why act like this if it makes you ill?"
"Drink it. This is your mother's wish. Even the dead get their wishes obeyed, but you'd ignore your own mother's?"
...
Conversations like these are nothing new to most of the Asians, I guess. Just because you're the parents doesn't necessarily mean you are entitled to manipulate or meddle in your children's life even when they have reached certain age. You can decorate with all the pretty words and say it's for their own good or future but I detest when people try to guilt trip other and get their way.
...
"Eat it! Listen to what your father's telling you and eat. Everything I say I for your own good. So why act like this if it makes you ill?"
"Drink it. This is your mother's wish. Even the dead get their wishes obeyed, but you'd ignore your own mother's?"
...
Conversations like these are nothing new to most of the Asians, I guess. Just because you're the parents doesn't necessarily mean you are entitled to manipulate or meddle in your children's life even when they have reached certain age. You can decorate with all the pretty words and say it's for their own good or future but I detest when people try to guilt trip other and get their way.
မက္ကဇင်ပါပီ ရဲ့ ထရော်မာများ by ပါပီယွန်
3.0
Introduced by a friend, I spent the last two weeks reading books by Papillon. Although all books are written in first person narrative, the writer has never admitted nor denied that these are the true stories. Regardless, it felt like they are based on the real events with certain degrees of fictionalization. Well, that’s what almost all the writers do. They fictionalize things or mix the reality with fiction to have a fancy brew.
‘Traumas of Maxim-Papi’ includes short short-stories of Papi himself and the people he had met throughout his life. Reading these was like seeing one’s life in snippets. ‘Traumas of Maxim-Papi’ is the combination of his previous two books Maxim-Papi and Traumas.
‘Traumas of Maxim-Papi’ includes short short-stories of Papi himself and the people he had met throughout his life. Reading these was like seeing one’s life in snippets. ‘Traumas of Maxim-Papi’ is the combination of his previous two books Maxim-Papi and Traumas.
ပယ်ရီပယ်ရီ ချစ်ကန်း by ပါပီယွန်
3.0
Similar to ‘Traumas of Maxim-Papi’, ‘Peri Peri Chicken’ has short short-stories of Papi himself and the people he had met throughout his life. Reading these was like seeing one’s life in snippets.
The writer has quite a tendency to drop names—songs, books and public figures—and for my personal taste, I don’t like having too many name dropping in stories. It reduces the credibility in one's literary skill in my personal opinion. It became a little too abundant. Or perhaps I shouldn't have read all in one sit since these are the combo of short stories. Might be nice to randomly pick one or two short stories a day.
The writer has quite a tendency to drop names—songs, books and public figures—and for my personal taste, I don’t like having too many name dropping in stories. It reduces the credibility in one's literary skill in my personal opinion. It became a little too abundant. Or perhaps I shouldn't have read all in one sit since these are the combo of short stories. Might be nice to randomly pick one or two short stories a day.
ဆံနွယ်ခက်ခက် အိမ်မက်ရနံ့ဟောင်း နှင့် ကိုသံချောင်းနှင့် နှစ်ပေါင်း၂၀ by ပါပီယွန်
3.0
Recently published book, ‘Tumbled tresses, old scent of a dream and 20 years with Ko Than Chaung’, featured two novellas. It is intriguing to have these two novellas as one book. To me, they seem to be contradicting to one another, like two sides of a coin, provoking different emotion in each story.
'Tumbled tresses' was a reminiscently moving story of one's first love. '20 years' told Papi’s years of encounter with one prominent friend in his adult years. Through thick and thin, they were together and helped each others in any possible way. The adversities of these two were told poignantly. Being an avid reader himself, the writer knows how to pocket the reader’s interest.
'Tumbled tresses' was a reminiscently moving story of one's first love. '20 years' told Papi’s years of encounter with one prominent friend in his adult years. Through thick and thin, they were together and helped each others in any possible way. The adversities of these two were told poignantly. Being an avid reader himself, the writer knows how to pocket the reader’s interest.
If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin
4.0
James Baldwin told a moving and painful love story of a black couple against the backdrop of racial injustice set in the Bronx, New York in 70’s. Tish and Fonny were childhood friends turned lovers. One day, Fonny was arrested for a rape he didn’t commit. Framed by a white cop, he was the only black man in a police line-up, and was identified by the woman who was manipulated by the cop to give false testimony. As Fonny was in jail, Tish found out she was pregnant. She and her family as well as Fonny’s family tried many ways to prove Fonny’s innocence.
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Though Tish got love and support from her family, Fonny’s family didn’t want to be involved in Fonny’s case except his father. Through profound and suspenseful storytelling, I heart ache for the pain and endurance of the two lovers and some of their family members had to suffer for the injustice. The excitement and anticipation I had for how it might end was profound with each chapter.
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This is my first novel of Baldwin and it won’t be the last. The writing is rich with exquisite proses and brilliant articulation. 3.5 stars out of 5.
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Though Tish got love and support from her family, Fonny’s family didn’t want to be involved in Fonny’s case except his father. Through profound and suspenseful storytelling, I heart ache for the pain and endurance of the two lovers and some of their family members had to suffer for the injustice. The excitement and anticipation I had for how it might end was profound with each chapter.
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This is my first novel of Baldwin and it won’t be the last. The writing is rich with exquisite proses and brilliant articulation. 3.5 stars out of 5.
The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne
4.0
“A line came into my mind, something that Hannah Arendt once said about the poet Auden: that life had manifested the heart's invisible furies on his face.”
Spanned over half century, Boyne told a compelling story of the life of Cyril Avery. Although adopted by a rich couple, his adopted father constantly reminded him that he’s not a real Avery. Also neglected by his adopted mother, Cyril learnt to keep things to himself since the very young age. When his fondness towards his best friend, Julian, escalated, Cyril was confused and scared. At that time in Ireland, homosexuality was substantially shunned by the society. Living his life in secret, one day, he committed a fatal mistake in the hope that he’d stay closer to Julian.
“I remember a friend of mine once telling me that we hate what we fear in ourselves.”
Abruptly, Cyril left everything in Dublin for Amsterdam to start a new life. He tried to move on and found the love of his life, there. Things were going well but one unforeseen circumstance occurred and they had to leave Amsterdam. They moved to New York. Unexpected turns of event brought him his old friend back to his life and his life was in chaos again.
“The notion that he had a life outside our life, outside our friendship, was deeply hurtful to me.”
Boyne touches various aspects: teenage pregnancy, homosexuality, AIDS, self acceptance, and forgiveness, etc. Although 21st century may slightly be a better place to live, he reminded the reader about the horrifying ghosts of the past in Ireland. This is my fifth book of Boyne and I have become accustomed to his refined tone in storytelling. Still, this book brings joy, excitement and several other heartfelt emotions. Predictable some twists in the story, yet still bewildering to read how he brought the fates of the characters heartlessly and sometimes, sympathetically. Boyne always knows how to tug my heartstrings in a cathartic way. 3.5 stars out of 5.
Spanned over half century, Boyne told a compelling story of the life of Cyril Avery. Although adopted by a rich couple, his adopted father constantly reminded him that he’s not a real Avery. Also neglected by his adopted mother, Cyril learnt to keep things to himself since the very young age. When his fondness towards his best friend, Julian, escalated, Cyril was confused and scared. At that time in Ireland, homosexuality was substantially shunned by the society. Living his life in secret, one day, he committed a fatal mistake in the hope that he’d stay closer to Julian.
“I remember a friend of mine once telling me that we hate what we fear in ourselves.”
Abruptly, Cyril left everything in Dublin for Amsterdam to start a new life. He tried to move on and found the love of his life, there. Things were going well but one unforeseen circumstance occurred and they had to leave Amsterdam. They moved to New York. Unexpected turns of event brought him his old friend back to his life and his life was in chaos again.
“The notion that he had a life outside our life, outside our friendship, was deeply hurtful to me.”
Boyne touches various aspects: teenage pregnancy, homosexuality, AIDS, self acceptance, and forgiveness, etc. Although 21st century may slightly be a better place to live, he reminded the reader about the horrifying ghosts of the past in Ireland. This is my fifth book of Boyne and I have become accustomed to his refined tone in storytelling. Still, this book brings joy, excitement and several other heartfelt emotions. Predictable some twists in the story, yet still bewildering to read how he brought the fates of the characters heartlessly and sometimes, sympathetically. Boyne always knows how to tug my heartstrings in a cathartic way. 3.5 stars out of 5.
The Children Act by Ian McEwan
4.0
Fiona Maye is a High Court judge specialising in family law and is very well respected in her profession. She’s known for her piercing intelligence and expertise in giving rigorous verdict for cases sensitive to religion and culture. One day, her husband of — years, Jack, asked her to consider an open marriage then they started arguing and Jack accused her for being too dedicated to her career. In the middle of their fight, Fiona received a call about an urgent case of a young boy with leukaemia. He and his parents refused to receive blood transfusion because of their religious belief.
Fiona tried to immersed back to her work but she can’t help but thinking about her marriage, her childlessness, and her life. Although the boy was under eighteen, he is only a few months away to reach legal age. He can then decide for himself but his health was deteriorating and the blood transfusion must be done within a couple of days to save his life. After studying the case punctiliously and upon hearing arguments from both sides—the family and hospital, Fiona decided to visit the boy herself before giving the verdict. She met with boy and had a conversation with him. She returned to court and gave her verdict. However, the case didn’t end there.
McEwan always has a way with his writings. As much as I enjoyed his ethereal narrative, I felt this is a bit too beautiful with extra adornments. He might be using extravagant words and posh phrases to portray the life of a sophisticated judge, but it's a tad daunting for me Nonetheless, it was an exciting read and I enjoyed how the story evolved. It's almost a 4 stars but I’ll give 3.5 out of 5.
Fiona tried to immersed back to her work but she can’t help but thinking about her marriage, her childlessness, and her life. Although the boy was under eighteen, he is only a few months away to reach legal age. He can then decide for himself but his health was deteriorating and the blood transfusion must be done within a couple of days to save his life. After studying the case punctiliously and upon hearing arguments from both sides—the family and hospital, Fiona decided to visit the boy herself before giving the verdict. She met with boy and had a conversation with him. She returned to court and gave her verdict. However, the case didn’t end there.
McEwan always has a way with his writings. As much as I enjoyed his ethereal narrative, I felt this is a bit too beautiful with extra adornments. He might be using extravagant words and posh phrases to portray the life of a sophisticated judge, but it's a tad daunting for me Nonetheless, it was an exciting read and I enjoyed how the story evolved. It's almost a 4 stars but I’ll give 3.5 out of 5.
The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima
4.0
Mishima wrote an exceptionally beautiful story of first love. We all know there is timelessness in stories about first love cause we all have been there. Some of the books may be cringeworthy but some are charmingly written and filled with nostalgia. The Sound of Waves belongs in the latter. It is a simple story but Mishima’s storytelling was exquisite. The history and traditions of the village were brilliantly told and the way he described various parts of the small island was meticulously genius. His characterization was superb, as well. 3.5 out of 5.
Set in a fishing village of a remote island, it was a coming-of-age story of a boy named Shinji and his romantic encounter with a beautiful girl, Hatsue. Shinji was a content boy and enjoys simple things in life. After the death of his father during World War II, Shinji worked as a fisherman to support his mother and brother. His mother worked as a diver of abalone when it was in the season.
One day, he met an unfamiliar face among their village girls. He was no longer a calm and collected person like before and he prayed to meet with the girl again. Turned out, she is the daughter of the richest man in their village. Shinji knew his chances were very low. Soon after a few encounters, they were in love. On a stormy day, they had secret rendezvous. One person saw them and a horrible gossip about two of them started spreading in their village. When Hatsue’s father found out, they were forbidden meet again. Shinji was in despair but when the opportunity came to be with Hatsue, he jumped on it although it could endanger his life.
This is my first book of Mishima and I was told that his other work, the Sea of Fertility tetralogys, is amazing. I'm planning to read it next month.
Set in a fishing village of a remote island, it was a coming-of-age story of a boy named Shinji and his romantic encounter with a beautiful girl, Hatsue. Shinji was a content boy and enjoys simple things in life. After the death of his father during World War II, Shinji worked as a fisherman to support his mother and brother. His mother worked as a diver of abalone when it was in the season.
One day, he met an unfamiliar face among their village girls. He was no longer a calm and collected person like before and he prayed to meet with the girl again. Turned out, she is the daughter of the richest man in their village. Shinji knew his chances were very low. Soon after a few encounters, they were in love. On a stormy day, they had secret rendezvous. One person saw them and a horrible gossip about two of them started spreading in their village. When Hatsue’s father found out, they were forbidden meet again. Shinji was in despair but when the opportunity came to be with Hatsue, he jumped on it although it could endanger his life.
This is my first book of Mishima and I was told that his other work, the Sea of Fertility tetralogys, is amazing. I'm planning to read it next month.
စမ်းရေကြည်နု by လင်းခါး
4.0
“Sannyay Kyinu” literally means clear spring water but while reading the book, it was too exhausting and I was totally spent when I finished the book. The story gives a totally different form of sensation from its title. It’s not an elixir you’ll get if you’re someone who guesses the story by its title.
Centering the character ‘Kyinu’ who lives in a dead-end street named ’Sannyay’, the writer told a vehemently dejected story of lower class people living in the street. Kyinu used to sell water with a trolley cart but one day, he was wrongfully assaulted by a group of people during a riot in his town. After that he had troubled getting a job due to his illness. As suggested by his abusive wife, he pretended as a lunatic and beg around his town for money. As he exits Sannyay Street, his behaviour and footsteps changes into a practised manners of a crazy person. Everyday, he has to beg around town and give whatever money he received for the household as well as for his wife’s gambling.
There are other people in his street with variety of background stories and the stories of these people’s struggle for their living interlaced with Kyinu’s. It is gut wrenching to read how the unfavourable fate casted upon them repeatedly. Knowing such lives exist in real life is equally painful and hard to continue reading. A few laughters added by the writer in their daily nuisance is like a rare breeze. It was desponding to continue reading about the deteriorating health of Kyinu and hassles of the people in his street.
In his previous book, Dead Lake, Lynn Khar wrote a similarly doleful story about the struggling life of a group of friends. In my personal opinion, his writing is a lot more cohesive in this book. Succinct, yet very vehement. He showcased the lives of lower class people through multiple characters. With his vivid narration, each character evokes different emotions. 4 out of 5 stars.
When life continuously strikes with challenging disasters, a marriage initiated with love and compassion becomes a hellish landscape. It’s frightening how life can wane a once true love.
Centering the character ‘Kyinu’ who lives in a dead-end street named ’Sannyay’, the writer told a vehemently dejected story of lower class people living in the street. Kyinu used to sell water with a trolley cart but one day, he was wrongfully assaulted by a group of people during a riot in his town. After that he had troubled getting a job due to his illness. As suggested by his abusive wife, he pretended as a lunatic and beg around his town for money. As he exits Sannyay Street, his behaviour and footsteps changes into a practised manners of a crazy person. Everyday, he has to beg around town and give whatever money he received for the household as well as for his wife’s gambling.
There are other people in his street with variety of background stories and the stories of these people’s struggle for their living interlaced with Kyinu’s. It is gut wrenching to read how the unfavourable fate casted upon them repeatedly. Knowing such lives exist in real life is equally painful and hard to continue reading. A few laughters added by the writer in their daily nuisance is like a rare breeze. It was desponding to continue reading about the deteriorating health of Kyinu and hassles of the people in his street.
In his previous book, Dead Lake, Lynn Khar wrote a similarly doleful story about the struggling life of a group of friends. In my personal opinion, his writing is a lot more cohesive in this book. Succinct, yet very vehement. He showcased the lives of lower class people through multiple characters. With his vivid narration, each character evokes different emotions. 4 out of 5 stars.
When life continuously strikes with challenging disasters, a marriage initiated with love and compassion becomes a hellish landscape. It’s frightening how life can wane a once true love.