I often find my treasure at Half Priced Books. The most recent find was Iron Council by China Mieville. I've been tracing the Bas Lag trilogy since my boyfriend was required to read Perdido Street Station for his Literature class. I ended up finishing off the book and put the other 2 in the trilogy on my To-Read list. Now that I've checked Iron Council off the list, it's The Scar left that I have to find.
The city of New Crobuzon (where the story is set) is one of those places that you want to watch, to observe, maybe to glimpse in and live there for a moment to see how real, how unreal, how normal and chaotic it is to be there physically. And then you decided that nevermind, I don't want to die. I don't want to take part in that insanity. But I want to keep looking, keep wondering and following the cameraman. As long as it is a movie in my vision, I should be safe.
The universe of the trilogy spans several landscape, time periods and discusses ideology, ancient plus modern questions and morale struggles we all have. Is it okay to have sex and affection for different races, different sexes, for the ambiguous and undeclared? Is it okay to have a different opinion towards another living being based purely on the fact that they are unlike yourself? Be it the language, dialect, appearance, religion, values, or origin?
And intriguing concepts, made up questions that make you think. Let's play the Would you rather game. Would you give up a something personal to trade in for knowledge of a secret? Would you live pretending to be a god among strangers, or die on a journey with half a chance of potentially being fruitful? Would you betray a loyal friend once you know of his horrible past?
I sincerely hope someone will turn the Bas Lag series into a movie or video game. My mind has created its own vision for the character, the dimensions, the universe, but how I wish to see the militia uniform on a big screen! The creatures would be amazing with actual details and not fuzzy outlines from my imagination.
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Besides the point, how come it is always more enjoyable to walk aimlessly around a bookstore, strain your neck to trail the alphabetical ordered texts and finally pick out a gem than simply ordering it from Amazon? There's so much joy in finding the unknown, touching it, flipping through the pages and find the magic through something so physical, so present. I am not a fan of ebook, though I use online shopping pretty much everyday. Books are different. You don't need to try them on, you don't need to make sure the color match. There's something so satisfying to get that text from wandering in an ol' treasure box lined up with aisles and categories.
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I don't love hiking. But I find peace in the activity. Saying I like it is an understatement. But am I crazy in love with it? Not in the Texas summer heat, no.
Why is it that the unbound gives you the most sense of privacy?
Why is it that the open space gives you the most sense of enclosure?
Is it your surrounding that dictates your emotions?
Or is it your mind that alters nature around you?
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Emotions are fluid. None of our feelings remains static. Even within the same minute when you're experiencing one certain expression, the scale varies from second to second. So how would one describe their feeling in the past 5 minutes? It's impossible to pinpoint, to dissect, to reflect accurately. That moment has passed, and what you now recall is simply a biased recollection that no longer matters.
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