"Автостопом по галактике" - если хочется момнухнуть

Где-то слева от этой книги - "Алиса в стране чудес", справа - "Космический денди", внутри - забористая клюква, озеро из джина с тоником, а то и тот самый "пангалактический грызлодер". В общем, да? Да. Но осторожно. 

IMHO. 'Sense and Sensibility'

So that's her hobby right?

How soon he had walked himself into the proper resolution, however, how soon an opportunity of exercising it occurred, in what manner he expressed himself, and how he was received, need not be particularly told

Need not be told? R U KIDDIN ME WOMAN?

I must admit I have enjoyed this elegant wording, but I seriously hoped this book would bring maybe just a little more passion into the life of me as a reader, than 'Pride'. Or would it be then fanservice? Even then I wouldn't mind it you know.

IMHO. 'Pride and Prejudice', book

Who knew I'd read this now that I am approximately 10 years older than an average Jane Austen reader? But I have a natural disdain for all things popular, even if they are popular only among people around me. So with my friends discussing which Mr Darcy was better in different screen versions of the book, I doubted I would ever lay my hands on it.

I only console myself with the fact that I now have the means and patience - which is not so completely unnecessary as it may seem, if you get what I mean - to read it.

So, it took me approximately 10 days to read it, though I was only reading when I had free time during my workday, which was very limited. Still it is a considerable amount of time, a larger half of it I'm sure taken by translating and memorising words such as 'covey' or 'complaisance'...

And when I finally came to the last chapters, I suddenly stumbled upon an interview with some specialist on English literature who explained me the revolutionary character of the book, which consists in the fact that the heroine being of a more humble origin marries a man of a higher position without turning out to be a secret child of some duke. And thank you, dear specialist, because if not for you hardly would I guess what exactly I have to admire in this book.

Really, the biggest thing for me to admire was the collection of word combinations that require three or four takes to grasp fully and are probably only second to Dickens among what I have read in the amount of time necessary for deciphering.

I heard people - and Wikipedia - call it a romance novel. If so, this is must be a very short romance, because rather than romance I got a considerable amount of pride and of prejudice, just as the title promises. The most passionate and eloquent scene lasted for one page out of 352, the one where Elizabeth refuses the offer. Other manifestations of love were explicitly contained in sentences like '[she] immediately, though not very fluently, gave him to understand that her sentiments had undergone so material a change', or 'he expressed himself on the occasion as sensibly and as warmly as a man violently in love can be supposed to do'.

Was it my mistake that among 352 pages what I was most eager to read was exactly how he expressed himself?

But even if it was, I didn't expect the book to have so few rewarding dialogues for the sake of so much indirect speech.

IMHO. 'Howl's moving castle' book ~ reading is wonderful

This is the second important conclusion I came to after reading 'Howl's moving castle' in the original for the second time. The book kept me occupied for two days. This I can say for sure - even if you realise you're not completely happy with what you read, as long as you read without dropping, reading is wonderful.

story and characters

And as you may have understood, the first conclusion is that I am not entirely happy with the book. While I certainly enjoyed greatly the subtle humour of the dialogues and situations so peculiar to English authors, for some reason I felt like something was missing. By the second third of the book I understood that the shortest way to name that 'something' would be 'love', by which I mean the relationship between Sophie and Howl, at least the way it was supposed to be in my imagination, at least after I watched the anime. I wouldn't necessarily call my impression a disappointment, but I'm not sure I can praise the book as a separate work of art.

I must confess the anime is not full without the book, since certain moments in the anime were made to follow the book to the word but lacked explanation. Such were Sophie's words to Calcifer 'may you live 1000 years' explained by the fact she had the magical ability to make things do what she tells them. Such was the milk dress and hat of Fanny, who married into money thanks to the same ability of Sophie. More importantly, the witch's curse to Sophie seemed more logical in the book since she had a proper reason for the curse, as well as for hunting Howl.

However, the same as the anime needs the book, the book needs the anime too. While Sophie's feelings could be vaguely seen in scenes like when she talks about Howl to the king or Fanny, or feels jealousy towards Lily Angorian, Howl's feelings and Howl's soul remained completely out of sight. He lacked half of his anime charm, starting with the very beginning when he didn't help Sophie out of a difficult situation with soldiers making a move on her (since the scene was different), and ending with the last scene when the closest to a confession we can hear from him is a displeased 'I break my neck to get here, and I find you peacefully tidying up'. He was not a brave protector, since there was no war, and there was not even a trace of his caring side portrayed in the anime so attractively, except for a very, very short mention that he did try to lift Sophie's curse. Even the way Howl gently takes the pan from Sophie and starts to cook instead of her in the anime would make a girl's heart tremble, while in the book there is nothing special about it. I must look like I am overly excited with the cooking scene, but don't misunderstand me, there really was just as much tenderness there as I describe it.

conclusion

While I usually see the story and the characters as a whole, since the story is a number of events happening with the characters, or, you could say, the characters' actions make the story, 'Howl' is the rare case when I have to praise the former while the latter I have to call not very satisfying. It is actually a pun, since in my native language 'character' means only 'personality', not a person. Personality is what mrs. Jones managed to create very well, since all the people (and objects) involved were extremely interesting and amusing. I also mentioned that the dialogues and situations, strange and surprising, were a source of great enjoyment for me. I wish the story flow would be composed in a different way, but if you ask me whether these two days were a happy time for me, I'll say they were.

'The Pickwick Papers' ~ two whole years of reading

My friend said, Dickens is long-winded. I cannot object. In fact, he's so long-winded that it took me some two years to finish reading. On the other hand, I never regretted it. Unlike what I usually do - start the book and never cease until I read it to the end - I let myself make breaks and read something else, then return back to Pickwick.

Story and characters
And there is one solid reason for that: Pickwick is a bit tiring, but it's never boring. Part of this may be explained by the fact that I cannot imagine a more wonderful encyclopedia of British history of 19th century, the other part is Dickens's sense of humour, which influenced the flow of the story, character design and his manner of narration.

Language
I think if I try to count all quotations that made me laugh out loud, they'll make up a good compilation. However, language is what made me so tired after reading, too many difficult words, but more importantly, to many sentenced written in a manner that requires serious thinking over until you manage to get the grasp of what happened.

Conclusion
Still, why I loved the book so much is that, all the characters are so loveable, and the happy end is so happy, that this book granted me with that what I consider the biggest joy of reading: silent satisfaction, when you just sit down with a book, read it, and calmness fills your heart.

Fitzgerald's 'Tender is the night' and 'The last tycoon' ~ And when I came to the end I said to myself ’So what?’

I usually skip those long, boring introductions and afterwords written by the publisher or translator in the beginning or in the end of the book. Often such introductions present some biased criticism, sometimes, at best, they do contain some analysis, but since no analysis can be conducted without touching upon the book itself, they usually spoil everything possible. Last time I decided to read such an introduction, I learnt that the protagonist of one story is alive and well in the end of the book while that exactly was the main question of the story. It was my fault, however, since there was a warning that the article contains spoilers.

This time, however, those introductions and commentaries were that what saved me from hating the book. And by the way, beware of spoilers here in my post, too.

'Tender is the night'

It was thanks to that afterword that I understood what the author intended his character to be:

a natural idealist, a spoiled priest, giving in for various causes to the ideas of the haute Bourgeoise [sic], and in his rise to the top of the social world losing his idealism, his talent and turning to drink and dissipation

Now the next phrase was impossible to find in the web, but here is what the commentary was saying in my book quoting the 'General plan' of Fitzgerald:

His downfall is determined not by his spinelessness but by genuinely tragic factors, internal contradictions of an idealist and compromises imposed on the hero by circumstances

And I truly thank him for explaining me because, while in case of Gatsby it was pretty obvious what the author wanted to say and it was understandable why the Hero did that and why he did that (and why it ended like this), in case of Dick Diver the narration was extremely complicated - too much for me to see at least a resemblance of any logic in his actions.

What I finally made myself believe in was that he was an idealist because he wanted to be a good man to his friends and a good husband to his poor wife who made him the centre of her world. What I couldn't understand even after reading all those commentaries was what exactly those 'circumstances' were. At least there were some positive traits in Gatsby, the self-made-man, but I could not find anything to relate to or respect or admire in Dick. Of course, all people around him turned out to be cheap and disgusting, including those whom he thought dear, but that does not change the fact he finally never managed to struggle, ruined himself, his health and talent.

What was my surprise when I 'heard' mr. Stahr in 'The last tycoon' say exactly what I thought while reading 'Tender is the night'.

“I thought Em was very sympathetic.”

“Did you?” asked Stahr sharply. “I could just barely believe she was alive. And when I came to the end I said to myself ’So what?’”

“There must be something to do,” Rienmund said. “Naturally we feel bad about this. This is the structure we agreed on -”

“But it’s not the story,” said Stahr. “I’ve told you many times that the first thing I decide is the kind of story I want. We change in every other regard but once that is set we’ve got to work toward it with every line and movement. This is not the kind of a story I want. The story we bought had shine and glow - it was a happy story. This is all full of doubt and hesitation. The hero and heroine stop loving each other over trifles - then they start up again over trifles. After the first sequence you don’t care if she never sees him again or he her.”

I mean, I really could not understand if there were any real feelings in Dick, whose both romances had 'bad ends', speaking the language of visual-novel games. What I did see was that he had his own view of how the world should be constructed and moving, which was sometimes explained in small amounts in descriptions of his attitude to work, children and other things.

'The last tycoon'

I guess I'm sad that the book is not finished, but that's not a  praise to its story, rather to the fact that the language of the narration changed very much and the story was composed in a different manner, which made it at least pleasant to read, if not interesting.

I highly doubt, though, that I would like Stahr or any other character in the story very much, seeing the same old pattern again - he loved her, but she left him for another and he wasn't able to stop her. Or didn't bother to.

conclusion

The few conclusions that I managed to draw out of these two books are something like this:

Fitzgerald is really good at describing mental disorders. His descriptions were so naturalistic I almost shivered.

He is also good at describing details, no matter how important they are to a story. Even if they're not important, he's still describing them. Which is all good for understanding the epoch, but boring.

And finally - I'm glad to live in the 21st century when all you have to find a job is to open a local job-hunting website and make a search. The rich of the early 20th century really had too much money and too much free time. That's not a very fresh idea, and I'm not pretending to have invented it just now, but the book makes one realise it very well.

In the end, it was time and money that was making those people so carefree and lazy. Too lazy to even love sincerely. The women were finally choosing the most convenient partner. The protagonists were creating some images in their minds and living in them rather than in reality. They were too lazy to live in reality.

Some say, the circumstances are to blame, and some say, it's their own fault that the protagonists ended like that. That does not change the fact that all of them finally yielded to the circumstances.

It's not that I hate them for that. I rather pity them. It's just that even though these books are undoubtedly extremely educating, still the only thing I can say about the stories - so what?

'The Great Gatsby', book ~ the book that made me love Art Nouveau

I just remembered this fact yesterday. This book is responsible for making me interested in Art Nouveau. The reason is simple, but it's not what you'd expect.

A series consisting of three books with Fitzgerald's novels was published in 1996 and so, I remember it on one of our bookshelves since I was small. Not yet acquainted with Art Nouveau, or Mucha, I was simply drawn to its cover, as a child. I imagined the contents to be mysterious and magical, because such beautiful pictures could not be put on covers of bad books. However, I grew to know who Fitzgerald was and what kind of stories he wrote. And I lost interest to the books. The dream to find a wonderful fairy-tale inside those books was gone.

story and characters

Now that I've read it, I feel sympathy towards Gatsby even less than I did after watching the movie. Call it the chemistry of acting, but maybe it were the crew, the screenplay and directing, the actors, finally, who made the story so attractive.

In the end, I pitied the Gatsby in the book much less than in the movie, and Daisy was much less a woman alive and much more a doll who loved rich life. I mean, she was really crying because of fascination by J's shirts sent from England. And he was really a man who loved her image in his mind, but not her the way she was.

One thing that I consider important in the book in contrast to the movie where this detail was left out, is the schedule of young Getz.

Rise from bed……………. 6.00 a.m

Dumbbell exercise and wall-scaling…… 6.15-6.30 ”
Study electricity, etc………… 7.15-8.15 ”
Work………………… 8.30-4.30 p.m
Baseball and sports…………. 4.30-5.00 ”
Practice elocution, poise and how to attain it 5.00-6.00 ”
Study needed inventions……….. 7.00-9.00 ”

General Resolves

No wasting time at Shafters or [a name, indecipherable]

No more smokeing or chewing

Bath every other day

Read one improving book or magazine per week

Save $5.00 {crossed out} $3.00 per week

Be better to parents

To do without trifle and trite comments about 'American dream', this was one more thing that made me sure about what type of information metabolism Gatsby had. A perfect LIE (ENTj) for you.

style

I guess, this was an easy book for me. Well, since I didn't read it in the original. The style was not boring and was not excessively flowery or artificial, and was not straightforward, too. The only strange thing about the translation was that how they perceive the word cool in the following part:

“Who wants to go to town?” demanded Daisy insistently. Gatsby’s eyes floated toward her. “Ah,” she cried, “you look so cool.”
Their eyes met, and they stared together at each other, alone in space. With an effort she glanced down at the table.
“You always look so cool,” she repeated.
She had told him that she loved him, and Tom Buchanan saw. He was astounded. His mouth opened a little, and he looked at Gatsby, and then back at Daisy as if he had just recognized her as some one he knew a long time ago.

“You resemble the advertisement of the man,” she went on innocently. “You know the advertisement of the man ——”

Was is that Gatsby was cool amidst the hot summer day, like the book said? Or that he was an ideal man, like Daisy said in the movie? Or that he was cool even though he was going to have a serious conversation? Or all of that? I guess, it's left to the imagination of the readers, anyway.

conclusion
Most part of American literature is not for me. Hemingway, Shaw, Dreiser... Such books just feel like an obligation, because it's classics, it's not good not to know them. Now Fitzgerald joins the row. However, I cannot possibly deny that it's educating. And I guess I don't have any regrets.
Still, to be honest, I'm not sure I'd decide to read it, finally, if not for the movie.

'The Great Gatsby' ~ I won't write 'will you still love me' in the title, ok?

Probably the second time (ever?) I like a realistic story with a not-so-good ending, to leave my post without spoilers.

story and characters

Like I said, I'm not a fan of stories about how harsh the reality is. I'm a fan of fantastic stories of how harsh the reality is. Or fantastic stories about how great it is to live. Or not fantastic, but stories about how great it is to live.

And still 'Gatsby' is a story that does not leave that terrible aftertaste of 'I don't want such stories to exist' or 'make me unsee it'. I guess the main reason is that the story was extremely logical and there were no 'odd' details, nothing unnecessary, no fillers that didn't affect the finale.

However, it does not mean I liked it very much. It's not that I felt any respect to Gatsby himself, because he's a typical 'American dream', or to Daisy, who's just a 'pretty woman', or Nick, who's just an ordinary man overly impressed with one neighbour because he wasn't ordinary. And as a love story, I prefer different kinds of stories.
And what I didn't like at all was the fact that though separate scenes were good, the general narration was not smooth enough and didn't create an impression of a whole movie. Looked like the people responsible for gluing everything together had no time.
And by the way... it does not make a movie 'true to the original' if you simply use quotations from the book. Just in case you wondered.

acting

My Mom warned me that DiCaprio is a good actor. So I was prepared. I mean, I did think of him as of some handsome guy who knows he's handsome and there's nothing more to it. Until my Mom told me he's actually good. And I had no reason to distrust her perfect sense.

So I was prepared... but I wasn't ready. So I was surprised. Or at least, I was pleased to see it's true. That's a rare gem - a person who can express emotions with something other than repeating words written in the script.

I think I'd also note Elizabeth Debicki, who turned out to be much younger than I thought, but who was like a moving poster from twenties.

Others didn't impress me very much.

music

Since I knew how the creators treated the epoch, I wasn't surprised to see the party dancing to some club music, or to hear 'Crazy in love' turned into a jazz song. And I have to say I'm not against such experiments.

By the way, I didn't understand what 'Will you still love me' has to do with 'Gatsby'. I mean, the lyrics have nothing in common with the story. The song is beautiful, but it's just that I'm not sure in this choice.

visual

Many people are dissatisfied with costumes, interiors and exteriors in the movie. I'll disagree. It's not a classical historical film. It's an experiment that wants to show the world as seen by the director, not how it really was. I guess the idea of the creators reached my mind, and I appreciate that they conveyed their own view to me.

conclusion

The movie is very good. From what I see, people who didn't like it either complain about the story which was written by Fitzgerald, not screenplay writers, or didn't understand the vivid atmosphere which was created on purpose, and not to make fun of the original.

Nevertheless, I guess I'll read the original. I mean, it's embarrassing to say I only know Fitzgerald by movies.

Banana Yoshimoto's 'N. P.' ~ this was the first attempt and will be the last

Every time I give a Japanese novel a try, I feel like I'm about to throw out I'll never try to do that again.
Have you ever seen silent moments in Japanese films or anime? Like, blue sky and cicadas singing in the background to create an image of summer? Or hydrangeas close-up with raindrops flowing down the flowers? That's what Banana's story is full of - she's constantly describing details and surroundings to convey what situation the heroine was in, what she heard, what she saw, and therefore felt, and therefore remembered. And that's a good thing, because such memorable moments are exactly that what deserves to be written about.
'A cupboard on the left.
A green refrigerator.
A wall with pictures necessary for work.
A bed by the window.
A bottle with coins.
A big parrot.'
However, do such descriptions make up for all the other faults of the book? Nope.
Do other aspects of the book spoil the little positive impression that those meticulous depictions sometimes succeeded to make? Oh yes.
It was all good to read about pink and silver advertising posters hanging down from street lights on the street the heroine was crossing, until it got really boring because there were too many of those 'posters' that were described so precisely it was really meaningless. We all joke about how teachers of literature in Russian schools explain to us what the author was trying to convey by introducing a blue curtain or a big oak into his story, but this is the opposite: those street lights, those voices of children interfering with the phone talk, those faces with dark eyes or faces like sunflower, were all vain, trite, tasteless and unnecessary. They all lead to nothing, and were connected to nothing, and contributed to nothing.
But Banana's of course considered to be a ground-breaker with her bold usage of themes that are supposed to be a taboo. Supposed only, because they are simply thrown into a big pot like whole uncut vegetables, and we never actually learn what they taste like. Because nothing happens. And one cannot feel satiated with only blank pictures trying to create an atmosphere. Well, if you're creating an atmosphere it should at least be worthy of creating. I can understand it when Hugo describes roofs of Paris, but who cares if the posters the heroine saw were pink or orange?
So what do we have inside the soup? The heroine is a girl whose boyfriend committed suicide while translating a novel written by a man who also committed suicide after writing a story about a father who sleeps with his daughter, which is based on his own experience of sleeping with his daughter, and leaving copies of it to his son and daughter who later sleep with each other, too, and look like they are about to commit suicide, too, with the daughter trying to kill the heroine before dying because she didn't want to die alone. Say that again?

Even those Western novels I've read, like Zweigh's stories or Shaw's Nightwork, that I considered boring when I read them, seem to have more meaning in their contents than this book.
'...endless string of street lights,
multicolored lights of cars,
beeps,
distant barking of dogs,
some noises on the road,
people's voices,
their steps,
the sound of shutters rattling in the wind,
hot air,
asphalt heated during the day,
distant smells of summer.'
So what?
And if you're hoping that dialogues can change the mood of this book then you're wrong. It's not entirely a delirium, but it's a 'stream of consciousness', and that consciousness just fails to make any particular impression or explain what the emotions or thoughts of the characters were. It's not a complete word salad, because sentences make sense (haha), but that's almost on the verge of being an example of schizophasia.
'- Got burnt a little. - Otohiko smiled, and then said: - It must be because lately I have spoken almost to nobody.
 - Or maybe because of the fire.
 - Or because of the wind.
 - Sea makes one reveal his mind and soul.
 - It's so nice to talk with you, even about trifles!
 - Whatever you speak about, the waves carry away your words.
 - It makes you feel free!
 - So true. The wine is warm, but tasty.
 - I'll put it in the fridge.
 - There already is one.
 - It's good that I went with you.'
erm...
I guess I'm not cut out to read Japanese fiction at all.

Набрала в поисковике "мне не нравится поющие в терновнике", нашла негативные отзывы на книгу и полчаса упивалась осознанием того, что я не одна такая.

Стругацкие - "Страна багровых туч". Я другой такой страны не знаю

Тот самый случай, когда читать нельзя, но не читать не можно. Начало за здравие как бы не предвещало, но знание творчества Стругацких как бы намекало.
Первая половина книги нравилась легкостью и юмором, середина захватывала, грустные моменты пробивали на слезы, серьезные - заставляли задуматься, все было так же, как раньше, когда читались первые книги. Даже неразрешенные загадки уже не так удивляли. Но вот приходит последняя часть, в самолете темно, все спят, потряхивает из-за турбулентности, а перед глазами эта страна багровых туч, которую нельзя попросить быть помягче. Всему виной, наверное, тот странный йогурт, что давали на завтрак, но в какой-то момент читать дальше становится невозможно уже физически.

Вывод: особо впечатлительным натурам читать в малых дозах, по чуть-чуть, в светлое время суток и в окружении людей. В противном случае беспросветная атмосфера Венеры, ставшая атмосферой и самой книги, оставляет слишком жуткое впечатление, а натуралистичное описание того, как она влияет на людей, еще больше хватает за сердце.
На следующей странице начинается новая книга, по всей видимости, связанная с предыдущей. Но нет никаких сил начинать ее, зная, что впереди лишь опять гадание о том, кто из героев обречен авторами на гибель.
И нет в этом ничего плохого, тем более, что перед глазами примеры стойкости, мужества, выносливости и взаимной поддержки. Но нет и сил читать об этом. Может быть, это выглядит справедливым, что жертвы и усилия героев не были зря, но погибшим нельзя сообщить, что после их смерти их дело успешно завершили другие. И этим не утешишь тех, кто ждал, испугался, что все кончено, потом услышал благую весть, успокоился, а потом услышал новое сообщение и понял, что на сей раз точно не дождется.
Если освоение космоса действительно выглядит именно так, то я забираю обратно слова о его притягательности.

'Best Place' audio-drama, part 2 - Ryo ~ don't you cry my little boy

so, you mean, Japanese women are really happy to listen to something like this, huh?

slightly younger, inexperienced cute boy, at first expressing a wonderful example of tsundere, who is scared of horror movies, worries about his lack of manliness, panics when the girl takes initiative, speaks in high-pitched soft voice when asking the girl to wait for him to become a fully fledged cool man and cries when she agrees

oh, I am sorry, in short I have told you all the contents of the drama

they even pay money to listen to something like this

no, I mean I can understand when they pay money to listen to 'slightly adult tales', but this is beyond my perception

STOP. Eine, 'tis not like you. this is unfair, this is biased. you must concentrate and try to analyse it properly. so... erm...

try to find any message in this... probably the message is that cute younger boys can become proper company employees too?

any virtues as an artwork? well Okamo-san did a good job as a seiyuu

any pleasure I could draw from it? さあ．．．

well maybe there are people who feel lack of cute younger boys in their life...?

'Sensual Tales' ~ at least I did not pay for this

'kannou mukashibanashi' (官能昔話) drama CDs are described - by the narrator himself - as 'slightly adult tales'. yeah, slightly

on one hand, the XXX scenes - even if present - are not described in detail, but only mentioned to have happened, so the tales remain relatively decent

on the other hand, scenes which are supposed to be pretty normal turn into something absolutely indescribable

I have only tried to listen to the 8th volume which is princess-themed and contains 'slightly strange' versions of Swan Lake by Morikawa Toshiyuki, Snow White by Masuda Toshiki, Cinderella by Okamo-san and Thumbelina by all the cast. and here is something to think over

why was the prince from 'Cinderella' so eager to assault the poor girl both times they met as if he drank too much viagra?

why did Snow White's stepmother turn into a handsome young guy instead of an old granny selling apples?

why was not Odette replaced with Odile, but Siegfried replaced with Lotbard - who of course did not hesitate to whisper a few hints into what they will do with Odette?

why was the servant sent to kill Snow White in the forest so 'ambiguous' describing his 'sharp knife' with which he was to 'cut her neck'?

why was Cinderella's godmother Fairy made into a male one?

and the last question - can you imagine the Beetle from 'Thumbelina' in the I'm-sexy-and-I-know-it mode?

the first two were tolerable but the Beetle made me laugh so hard I had to cover my mouth with my hand, hide under the blanket and do my best not to utter any sounds since 'twas 4 in the morning

do you understand? a Beetle uttering phrases like 'relax... you do not need to be that tense... can you feel... my vibrations...' 

from what I get by reading different reviews and opinions, the Japanese word 'eroi' (エロい) has already been established firmly in the vocabulary of otome-games and drama CD lovers

so, we have like... eroi prince, eroi evil magician, and... eroi beetle

>_________<

p. s.
these all tales are nothing in comparison with Inoue Kazuhiko explaining how to wear ear/headphones. at least I did not pay any money for this... I am not particularly happy when the process of plugging earphones into my ears is obviously related to... erm... well... check yourself if you are not afraid

p. p. s.
but you know, the last monologue by Inoue-storyteller was a speech of encouragement. 'whatever may happen in your life, if you believe in yourself, then you will be able to become happy...' he said. if you have nobody else to say something like this, maybe even a slightly adult style will do?

p. p. p. s.
there is only one thing about 'Kannou Mukashibanashi' I have no doubts in - certainly I want to find normal audio dramas with tales. recital is a great thing

similar, resembling, reminding...

sometimes I know I want to listen to something similar to what I have already heard. sometimes 'tis possible, sometimes 'tis hard or just impossible. this post is aimed to fix what I consider similar for some reasons

• Noto Mamiko's 'ichinuke' reminded me of Rurutia. the primary reason lies in the song style, not in Mamiko's vocals
• Onmyouza - oh forgive me their fans - reminded me of Izumi You just a little. I know Onmyouza is a unique phenomenon and I am not saying they are similar, but Kuroneko's voice seems to be at least of the same type as Izumi's

to be updated...

I'm in complete admiration

!!beware of spoilers!!

the logics of Chauvelin... no, the author who created Chauvelin! is just adorable. he (she, in fasct, the author ^.^)  planned the quarrel between the women so that he could drag Percy to France. NO, he planned it to seem that way to Marguerite, so that she would be dragged to France and used as a hostage. and whether she wants to escape, she has the moral obstacle which consists in the death of the whole city. NO, not only the moral one - she couldn't escape physically! exactly for the reason that the city doesn't want to die and thus is watching her movements attentively. and Percy has a wonderful alternative of either his wife or the whole city dying. this is a beautiful triangle where two of the apices have double-bottomed dilemmas. this is certainly WOW. I can't understand why the main book only got the glory and fame and the wonderful 'Elusive Pimpernel' and the others are overshadowed. 'cause this is wonderful! and roma~ntic ^_____^

it seems to me I've given up in my blog

no time to write all the things I have in mind... unfortunately >___<
well, I've not written about what I listen to since april. and I've not written about what I watch since may.
and I'm really ashamed... ^^`
so, I'm reading (some new verb in my vocabulary! yeeeah) a book. wonderful!
it's called 'The Scarlet Pimpernel' and it's absorbing me! like O____O what's going on?
The Takarazuka musical was impressive and I was close to crying as if I watched this with my own eyes. however, the plot was changed a lot, what makes me even more eager to read the book. well, I've no spare time to write about the book here 'cause I WANNA READ IT.
p. s. What'll I do when I finish reading? T__T