Aravind Adiga 'The WhiteTiger-A Novel'

Brilliant book. Funny and memorising. Defiantly teaches you more about India than a touristy trip there would do. I'm guessing. Personally never been there myself. Language and the true accent of the people comes through very strongly. Exciting and brave.

Markus Zusak 'The Book Thief'

If you consider the fact that the book was intentionally written for adults it's a bit too descriptive and plain language. But you can really understand that young adults would really like this book. I would have liked more from death since sometimes he spoke from first person narrative and you had to stop and think who 'I' was since it couldn't be the main character.
I would have liked a quicker beginning and a slower ending. I think it went too fast once you had finally started to like the characters. I also found it difficult to realise that Liesel and Rudy were growing up. For me it felt like they stayed the same age throughout the whole book. Although that might have been something to do with the time it was set and also because of the war.
The metaphor and symbols were too obvious and at times Markus Zusak felt the need to explain them which might be good for young adults but not if the book was intended for grown ups. At times it felt slightly forced. It ruined the feeling which was building up to then have someone spell it out to you. It was as if it was just using up pages and space. The book could have been a lot shorter for just this reason. But it was funny at times, the relationship between Liesel and Rudy was done very well and it felt although very foreign to me very realistic.
I loved the fact that for once a different aspect of WWII was being given. From a German population point of view. Different, and gave the German population sympathy as well which of course isn't common. One wonders how much research has been put into writing the book. I also found it interesting that although it was from a German persons point of view the aspect of criticise the Allies never happened. There was a feeling of sympathy for the British and Americans and hatred towards Hitler and the Nazis which somehow I don't believe. Surely the amount of propaganda the Germans were receiving would have made them think that everything was the Allies fault. I would have liked some comments about the opinions about the Allies. And of course it has been written by and Aussie so he won't be to quick in criticising the Allies, since Australians were helping out to fight. But I wasn't alive then so I don't know.

Overall I thought it was a good book but slightly too sad towards the end, but still realistic, unfortunately.

Books about sex and Nudity

Due to today’s liberal printing freedom in Sweden censorship here is less than in other countries. Literature is not scrutinised by a government-run authority. The book publishers or the editor in chief is in charge of the written content. Censorship of sex and nudity in today’s literature most of the time involves unwanted pornography. Especially pornography where children are victims or violence is glorified. Discussions are also often held in relation to if pornography is insulting and objectifies women.

The Life and Adventures of Fanny Hill by John Cleland, written 1748, is often seen as the first modern erotic novel in English and was banned for a long time for containing descriptions of sex scenes of men with men. The complaints over D.H. Lawrence’s book Lady Chatterley’s Lover, published and forbidden in 1928, were however aimed mainly towards the inappropriate usage of the English language when giving detailed descriptions of the sex scenes. It was also seen as a disgrace in Britain to discuss the sexual activities of the middle class which was the backgrounds of the main characters in the book.

In Sweden Hjalmar Söderberg published Den Allvarsamma Leken in 1748. The female lover in the novel was based on Maria von Platen who was Söderberg’s real life lover. Söderberg wrote openly about men and especially women’s strong sexual desires as well as openly discussed the commonness of adultery. This was received with great upheaval during these times.

In Great Britain the debate has been great revolving around the book: Belle de Jour- The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl, which started as a blog with the same name. The call girl Belle, can be seen as a modern Moll Flanders, the book about a British prostitute in the 18^th century, written by Daniel Defoe. The discussions were not as much about the intimate sex descriptions contained in the book, but the accounts of her clients who were real life high achievers. She also writes idealising about a job which is seen as controversial in ‘we don’t talk about sex’ England.

In Sweden several handbooks have been published about how to get a better sex life, both together with someone and on your own. Katerina Janouch’s The Orgasm Book which was published 2006, is consider an informative book about orgasms and tips on how to climax. The Great Sex Book for Girls- who have sex with other girls by Helene Delilah and Malinda Flodman came out 2007. This was the first book published in the Nordic countries which was aimed specifically towards girls who have sex with girls.

When sex and nudity is shown, described and discussed more in our society and is mixed with our culture it becomes less alienating and taboo. Our fantasies often run away with us and through uncensored material we are free to challenge this more freely. We learn to explore new areas, get to know ourselves better and in many cases feel a lot better as well. Our world is developing and it is our responsibility to lead this change no matter if it is in a political ideology or sexual.

The grass is always green.

En lite tankeställare för er naturvänner därute. Varför går man över gräset när det finns en helt duglig stig vid sidan om? Har vi verkligen så pass bråttom att man inte kan ta den redan cementerade vägen bredvid?
En person promenerar längs en väg minst två gånger om dagen, till och från jobbet/skolan. Och man tänker: nå jag går den här vägen över gräset för då kommer jag fram 2 minuter tidigare eller jag är så pass lat att jag inte orkar gå runt och använda mig av vägen. Nästa person kommer gående ser att det långa gräset är ner trampat och tänker samma sak. Den stigen går de sen varje dag i alla årstider i flera år. Fler och fler gör likadant.
Tillslut är den lilla nertrampade stigen genom det långa gräset inte längre det, utan en djup gångväg som promeneras på, cyklas på, och barnvagnar med dubbdäck skjuts fram på. Sen kommer hösten och för att folk inte vill gå i leran som har bildats går man vid sidan om så att stigen växer. När isen sen börjar lägga sig och leran bli hal så, för att staden inte ska bli stämd, sandar, eller snarare grusar man den nu nertrampade grässtigen. Gräset får aldrig en chans att växa tillbaka, leran torkar aldrig bort helt och man bestämmer sig för att cementera. Tillslut kommer det finnas så många småvägar att man inte kommer se skillnad på den orginala vägen från alla genvägar utan hela området kommer bli ett enda stort cementerat fält.

Always blame the women?

Finally the responsibility doesn't only lay on the women. The man plays a part as well.

"Perhaps we have been blaming the women as couples get older but perhaps there's a contribution from the male because we're not behaving as we should be." BBC News.

Here you go guys a perfect excuse: "I just want to remain fertile!" I'll keep that in mind.

Has a man conducted this research?

I wonder though if the research can be turned around...does this mean that men who have a high fertility count, have several ejaculations per day...the question probably remains....

If only someone would do a similar research for women! As always the female sex drive is non-existent.
I don't know if this is true, but I read or heard somewhere that there is a greater chance of a woman conceiving if she has an orgasm during sex. Now these are the kind of statistics I enjoy, probably conducted by a woman, I guess I have to mention. But, then maybe only a woman would be interested in finding out the result.

Equality is always the best medicine.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8125934.stm

Lloyd Jones 'The book of Fame.'

finished the 'The Book of Fame' by Lloyd Jones the other day...
not sure I'm going to recommend it to be honest. The topic was so interesting. It was about the first time the All Blacks (NZ rugby team) left New Zealand for Europe. I'm all for rugby and thought this was going to be an exciting story with a lot of action involved which is why I (before I had read it, stupidly) recommended it to a bunch of manly rugby enthusiasts.
I take that back, none of you would enjoy it.
I think the only people who might enjoy this book are literature people. The book is written in a colourful prose and in a constant present plural. Which it could be read for in just that case. One never finds out who the author is though which makes it feel quite distant which might be the point since it is set so long ago and not a lot of information is recorded for the travels which the team made.
On a more personal note I think the book could do with some more action and description and to bring out a possible connection with the characters more.

so the day has finally arrived...

the rain is hitting hard up against the window, the clouds are so thick it looks like the sun will never return, the temperature has fallen and I wouldn't be surprised if snowflakes would soon start falling....

earlier today i had a three hour exam which had cost me my whole sunny weekend and that i think i've failed

i have another exam in a week, which i'm not looking forward to start studying for tomorrow, when i also have a dentist appointment....expensive

i'm still in a job i hate and doesn't get me anywhere, although i'm quitting tomorrow

but...i'm happy...i am content and filled with joy and peacefulness

everything isn't perfect, but i'm looking forward to the future and i want to be part of it

life is only what you make it to be and sometime in the future my struggles will have paid off
...if they haven't already....