i understand how people are seeing the faults in capitalism. what i don't understand is how come the answer they come up with is communism. ok, capitalism has problems, lets think about them. but how the hell giving up your freedom is helping anybody???
i actually never read any of saramago books. but i never understand how smart people can really like the regime in cuba. i mean i also heard garcia marques saying he admires castro.
it just puzzles me to no end.
i most definitely don't dig america's policy at least not under bush. but just because i don't like america's state people i have to go all happy about cuba???

ok, sorry i got pissed.

titi, i really feel like reading a good horror book!!!

as to people who take killing as a job, we also have in romania some good movies and books about this. about the people that tortured other people during the communist regime. it's a little frightening to see/read about this kind of people.

Titi....When you are able you should get a copy of Dan Brown's "The Lost Symol." It has all the qualities of a good horror story even though it is not in that genry. The plot moves along at a fairly fast clip and it has a truly diabolical character who is after the ultimate in personal power, and lets nothing stand in his way of achieving that goal. He tortures both the body and mind of his victims. So far I haven't been able to put the book down for long, LOL. While it is that good, there are a couple of issues I have with the way he's crafted the story; they are too involved to explain, here, sufface to say they've ruined some of the story for me. The story is still intriguing and enjoyable, however. I just feel it would be even more so had he not taken certain liberties in believability, but that's just me, LOL.

Mary C.

To those people contemplating buying "The Lost Symbol," stop contemplating and buy the book. It is worth every penny you'll pay for it! It's got an ultra diabolical villain, multiple main characters, a parallel plot, at least one gross murder (so far--I'm currently on chapter 39), maximum suspense, horror and anxiety to the nth degree, and characters you can identify with and care about, immediately. What more could you want in a book you can't put down?! LOL

Mary C.

Mary, I've can't wait for november comes and the book realising here! I guess I'll read it the same day I buy it. I always want to to know who is the villain, so sometimes is so painfull to me just to wait to the end and know the villain's name. In this book, you already know the name of the villain or the surprised stills up to the end?


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Izadora

Isa....The villain is the guy you meet on page one! Name is Mal'akh. Seriously bad dude, too, as you discover. I doubt you'll finish the book in one day; it's just over 500 pages. Some of the scenes are so intense or jarring that you need to take a break from the action.

Mary C.

Mary, thanks for sharing some books news and keep going telling me about it! :super:


Irina, unfortunately in south america there is a big wave in favour of a ridiculous idolatry of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro...Have you heard about Hugo Chavez(Venezuela), Evo indian dumb ass Morales(Bolivia), Rafael Correa(Equador)? They are the three stooges, who protected Cuba, Farc's terrorists, complaining against jornalists, freedom speach and etc. They said that support democracy but, in fact, they have their own vision about how democracy could be forever of them. Their favorite joke/talk is to blame for everything in the world is US fault and sometimes even saying very bad words about them. Even Lula, who is Brazil's president, and Kirchner couple(president and ex president of Argntina) are not reliable... Of course they know about tortured and crimes made at comunism times, but they share the same point of view that in the name of poverty they can do whatever they want to stay in governemt just "to protect" the poor little peolpe...In other hand, most of people there likes to receive everything without pay from the government even if they have to pay with their own freedom because in their view only middle class and rich has freedom :shoot: ...Than you have lots and lots of populism there...With the crisis, Brazil come much stronger and protected the alliance with such a stupid three stooges...


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Izadora

iza, from what you're saying many people from brazil are a lot like people from romania.
here also lots of people are willing to give up their freedom for things.
" In other hand, most of people there likes to receive everything without pay from the government even if they have to pay with their own freedom because in their view only middle class and rich has freedom "
what you said here is scarily accurate for romania too. and populism is big here also.
and of course i heard of the those you call 3 stooges. they scare me.

we have elections coming up very soon in romania and i am so sad that i have no real good choice. and even what looks like a better choice doesn't seem to have the support that the really bad choices have.

well, i know capitalism is flawed , very flawed. but dam it i have lived in communism and i know for a fact it is not the answer.


and just to be on topic, the book i am reading makes me really depressed.
TITI, did you enjoyed the possibility of an island in the end? i mean enjoy as in find it a good book because it is getting me very depressed and i considering not finishing it.

off topic, I know, LOL
irina wrote:

Quote:

well, i know capitalism is flawed , very flawed.

There is no government system that is anywhere near perfection. Capitalism, while it has certain problems, is not as flawed as many people think it is. If you want a flawed government system, look at the Putin-Medvedev mess. That is the perfect example of a flawed system.

on topic

Okay, Irina, I'm curious, why would you read a book which makes you depressed? LOL I can't think of a worse activity. Did you realize when you started it that it would have this effect on you?

Mary C.

mary i took the book because the idea seems interesting. and actually it really is interesting. but the author's views of life are so dark, he has no hope for human kind, at least not as far as i have read.
but i would read depressing books in case they turn out to be smart depressing.

i think one of the most depressing books i ever read was " on the verge of desperation " by emil cioran. he is a romanian writer who fled in france during the communist years. at one point he was thinking about this " nice " idea : how do you know that when we die we go to hell? how do you know that earth is not the hell for others planets??? and many more "refreshing" ideas like this one. but it is written in a very smart way, so getting depressed is the price you have to pay for reading it.

or has anyone read " point counter point " by aldous huxley? smart but yet again depressing.

the problem is i was a lot better at getting depressed when i was younger. i was enjoying it more. now i find it more difficult to read this kind of books, so this is why i was asking titi
what she thought about it in the end.

mary, don't worry i am not comparing capitalism with a system like the one putin cooked up, because obviously capitalism wins with flying colors. i try to think about it separately from others systems, but obviously so far is the one that seems to work best.

Irina, I liked the book till the end - I somehow love depressing books. When Im really stressed and/or sad, I need to read something incredibly depressing. Chic-lit never gave me any relief, but the toughest books do. Somehow.

However, I cant read about torturing people during communism. This is probably the only topic when Im not able to continue reading, because I know it is true, it isnt just a fiction, and I know that it could have happened also to me, if I was born a few decades earlier. Those sophisticated ways of causing pain... This makes me to vomit. (Literally.) When I was in Budapest in the House of Terror, I had to struggle a lot not to throw up when going through the prisons...

titi, i know what you mean. i am also not into reading about torture. but yet, i did read some journals of very smart people that were incarcerated during communist years and it made me feel so scared, really. and when i hear idiots today going on and on about life was better then, i feel like slapping them and sometimes i really snap. i don't slap them but do kind of yell.

what does fell under the category of chic-lit??? i think i read some. like jane austen. i mean, yes, it's silly as a plot and it's easy but it has some smart dialogues and it makes me feel better. and also i think " bridget jones's diary " is chic-lit, but hey it was funny. when it comes to light literature sometimes i like a silly horror book.

Irina...I can provide you with a summary of what chick-lit (or chic-lit) is. I've written a little bit of it (nothing published, though). It's target reader is between 20 and 35 in age. The books have female protaganists (usually, although I've seen a couple novels with male protags). They are hip, career-driven characters, obsessed with their appearance and passionate about shopping, clothes, shoes, etc., LOL. The stories are set in urban environments. The plots follow the protagonist's life, loves, and struggles for professional success. The style of writing is sassy and irreverant, with the use of frank sexual themes. There's a lot of slang and cliche' used in the writing. Humor is commonly used, as well.

Mary C.

thank you marry !!!
hmm, " career-driven characters, obsessed with their appearance and passionate about shopping, clothes, shoes", this sounds bad to me. i never understood shopping. but " style of writing is sassy and irreverent, with the use of frank sexual themes" sounds good to me.
mary any titles you may know of???


as for my depressing book. i decided to start reading one more book. this time it's " black dogs " by ian mcewan. i really like this book so far. so i alternate between them so this way i can enjoy myself more.

Irina...Here's a good site for you to look at to explore the world of chic-lit books:
http://www.chicklitclub.com/ It provides synopses of quite a few of the current books which are available, as well as the authors.

Mary C.

thank you mary !