Books Read in Jan 2023

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1) Old Age for Beginners by Clive Wichelow (with illustrations)

94 pages; 2021

A hilarious book that shows why old age is the BEST age!

2) What We Learned from Driving in Winter by Carissa Foo

277 pages (size 8 font); 2022

Explores how to live with tragedy with a little help from friends. Further underlying themes. A really, really good read!

3) A Cry in the Dark by Terence Ang

140 pages; 2022

A stroke survivor’s story of his journey to rediscover and reclaim his voice, his dignity, and emerge stronger. Painstakingly illustrated by his stroke-affected hand. Emotional and heartfelt. Commendable tale of strength and resilience. A must-read!

4) Gedung Kuning: Memories of a Malay Childhood by Hidayah Amin

177 pages; 2021 (revised edition)

Interesting anecdotes of growing up in the Yellow Mansion and the unique features in a historic neighbourhood, the evolution of a Singapore identity and how these have been preserved.

5) A Sound Celebration (A Mediacorp Publication) ＜听、说70＞

179 pages (Chinese); 2006

History of Chinese Radio Broadcasting (1936-2006) in Singapore. With a preface by SM Lee Kuan Yew and messages from 20 of Singapore’s Who’s Who. Meticulously researched. Interesting snippets. Lots of photographs.

6) Blind by Cath Weeks

307 pages; 2016

A wonderful novel about a scientific intervention and nothing that people are not capable of. Well-crafted and heart-rending. Compelling; very clever and unusual!

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7) Paul Newman: The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man (A Memoir published posthumously)

283 pages; 2022

A five-year project. A compilation of an oral history. Insightful. Revealing. Surprising. Sometimes funny; sometimes painful; always truthful. Detailed. Moving. Introspective. Loving. Candid. Complex. Profound.

8) Ward 43: How My Father Challenged Cancer and Encountered Humanity by Sandra Choo

226 pages; 2011

Affecting and touching. A tribute to the doctors, nurses, health professionals and workers. Biggest takeaway: Love is an unspoken language known only by the heart.

9) Once Upon A Place: Singapore Memoirs (a ground-up project)

121 pages; 2022

Pleasant. Nostalgic. Enriching. An intimate journey into worlds lived, loved and lost.

10) A Letter to My Partner edited by Felix Cheong

161 pages; 2022

Eighteen stories of romance and love, heartbreak, loss and grief, trauma and pain. Intimate, raw and relatable. An inspiring read.

11) Wo(mum): Living My Life as a Warrior, Woman and Mum by Sharon Wong

130 pages; 2021

Personal and inspiring.

12) Sister Stardust by Jane Green

298 pages; 2022

Inspired by a true story about the life of a troubled icon in the singing sixties. A masterpiece.

13) The Boy at the Door by Alex Dahl

372 pages; 2018

An engaging mystery; intricate and twisted with dark secrets.

14) Akin by Emma Donoghue

335 pages (size 11 font); 2019

A brilliant tale of love, loss and family. A quietly moving novel.

15) Unsaid: An Asian Anthology edited by Anitha Devi Pillai

205 pages (size 11 font); 2022

A compilation of 15 short stories that reflect lived experiences across various Asian countries (including racism, biased perspectives and practices, relationships with family, friends and community, supernatural beliefs and spiritual matters).

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16) Complicit by Winnie M Li

449 pages; 2022

After a long-buried, harrowing incident, a woman whose promising film career was derailed has an opportunity for revenge. A thriller about power, privilege and justice.

17) Deception by Lesley Pearse

362 pages; 2022

The story of a mother’s secrets.

18) Book Lovers by Emily Henry

534 pages (large print); 2022

A book about book lovers for people who love books. Witty banter. Romance.

19) Blood Sisters by Cate Quinn

445 pages (size 9 font); 2022

Themes include misogyny, racism, friendship, loyalty and betrayal. Multiple POVs.

20) Spare Brides by Adele Parks

440 pages (size 8 font); 2014

Emotional historical fiction. Well researched. Well developed characters. Atmospheric. About four women and their friendships, relationships, family, dreams and lives. Fascinating. Heartbreaking. Gripping.

21) The Widower by Christobel Kent

344 pages (size 9 font); 2021

A psychological thriller that is neither suspenseful nor twisty.

22) Run Time by Catherine Ryan Howard

433 pages; 2022

Weird. A supposedly psychological suspense horror about the making of a fake movie by an impersonator.

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23) The Heart Keeper by Alex Dahl

404 pages; 2019

Very disappointing. Not what I expected a psychological suspense to be.

Tar

I went to watch Tar this afternoon partly because The Straits Times reviewer gave it a 5/5 rating; but mostly because it’s about a composer and conductor, Lydia Tar (Cate Blanchett) renowned the world over for her interpretations of classical music.

Watching Cate Blanchett teaching a masterclass in conducting, playing the piano (J S Bach’s Prelude in C Major from the Well-Tempered Clavier), playing the accordion and singing are bonuses. (Her conducting an orchestra on stage is something I expected to see.)

I’ve always been envious of people who can turn a tinny, electric plink of a doorbell into a lilting piece of music or craft an accordion song spontaneously!

There are many beautiful lines from Lydia Tar and quotes from Leonard Bernstein:

Lydia Tar: Time is the thing. Time is the essential piece of interpretation.

Lydia Tar: Good music can be as ornate as a cathedral, or bare as a plotting shed.

Lydia Tar: Our home is the podium. We live out of a suitcase.

Leonard Bernstein: … we can really understand what the meaning is music is; it’s the way it makes you feel when you hear it… … we don’t have to know a lot of stuff about sharps and flats and chords and all that business in order to understand music.

Leonard Bernstein: Music is movement, always going somewhere, shifting and changing and flowing from one note to another. And that movement can tell us more about the way we feel than a million words can.

Leonard Bernstein : There’s no limit to the different kinds of feelings music can make you have. And some of those feelings are so special, and so deep, that they can’t ever be described in words.

I also discovered an interesting fact: Beethoven purportedly plagiarised from Mozart! It was mentioned that a passage (the opening of the third movement of his Fifth Symphony) was copied from Mozart’s Symphony No 40. This piqued my curiosity and I looked it up, and sure enough, this has been documented. I also discovered (not mentioned in this movie) that Beethoven also copied a few other passages from Mozart in his other works (like his Ode to Joy theme, his Eroica Symphony, and his First Symphony).

It was nice to see the insides of Julliard School of Music and a concert hall in Germany that I’ve seen on several YouTube videos. It was nice to see the musicians getting ready backstage. It was nice to see the musicians close up performing on stage. It was nice to relive the experience of being a performer on stage.

Two works that feature prominently are Mahler’s Symphony No 5 and Elgar’s Cello Concerto.

Tar the movie is an accomplishment of all of the above and also a drama about communication and miscommunication, about identity, about the complexity of relationships, about the characters’ inner and outer conflicts, about how our ambitions can lead us to make moral compromises, about bullying, about power games and more.

This complex musical/ psychological drama is indeed a refreshing change from the usual Hollywood flicks! (The references to high culture figures and music and the decent of the main character is mirrored by a decent from high culture towards low culture.) This movie has made a statement but there is so much internal tension that the viewer needs to pay attention to make connections.

The Bookstore (Jigsaw Puzzle)

I bought this 1000- piece jigsaw puzzle from Perfect Fit at City Link Mall on Christmas Eve as a gift to myself ( for Christmas/ Birthday/ New Year/ Lunar New Year). I’ve been interrupted by unforseen circumstances and just completed it this afternoon after 6 stages (over many sessions) …

Stage 1

This alone took me more than two hours!

Stage 2

This took me almost 4 hours!

Stage 3

This took me 5.5 hours!

Stage 4

This took another 2.5 hours.

Stage 5

It took 7.5 hours to reach this stage.

Stage 6

Another 4 hours to complete the puzzle!

All in all, I spent almost 26 hours (more than a week in total) to complete this puzzle, but I had so much fun! I’m reluctant to dismantle it, but I have to because I can’t frame it up as there is no more wall space to hang it. Well, I can always do it again!