Little Stories 297 : Another Garden Breakfast, More on Slow Reading September and Books

 

Repeat Breakfast in the Garden:

I was back at Ma's again when Sofi was off school due to the allergy episode that lasted 5 days (which might be scabies because the doctor prescribed her scabies medication, and all went well after the 12-hour treatment). Last Sunday, my sister was back, so Ma wanted to repeat the breakfast in the garden thing we did the previous weekend. But this time, she went ahead of me and prepared the table beforehand so that she could use the purple tablecloths. Hah, tanak kalah. 

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September Slow Reading Session:

• Must I Go by Yiyun Li
• The Girl Who Wrote Loneliness by Shin Kyoong-Sook

What did I learn from the 5 books I read last month?

• I love Elena Ferrante for her honest writing, she can be considered a female Dostoyevsky - sure, she touches upon topics of womanhood, parenting, relationships, all the touchy-feely stuff. But she wrote them bluntly, unforgivingly, like she really meant them. I will read all of her books. 
• Banana Yoshimoto and Yoko Ogawa's books were a bit too plain for my taste. But I have several more of their books to try. 
• Yasunari Kawabata is my new fav as well, I would probably collect his Penguin edition books. Short novella, classic, beautiful writing, sudden ending, sure, why not. From his writing, I know that Yasunari Kawabata was an emotional being, very observant, and very sensitive, he wrote about the surroundings delicately. He created some sort of slow vibe to match the story. He killed himself in his 70s, among other famous Japanese writers; Yukio Mishima, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, and Osamu Dazai.

I learned that writers tend to have internal chaos in their psyche and I love it when it shows. 

I mean, I'm reading Yiyun Li and Shin Kyoong-Sook's books now, and boy, the emotions uproared in their character's silent demeanor. 

Imagine if I chose not to ride my drama, I would probably only write something bland - all the time. But the thing is, I practice writing in every spectrum of emotions - except anger (I don't write when I'm angry; I write after I have done a full, thorough reflection). Sad - write, anxious - write, happy - write, excited - write, confused - write, thinking - write, bored - write, lonely - write. It is good practice. 

If I want to read something zen, I wouldn't choose fiction, I would read the Qur'an (I do, I read it daily now). 

Kan I told you, fiction makes me feel connected with others, reminding me that I'm not the only one dealing with all the drama. That the chaos whispering in my thoughts is normal - because I am a complex human being. I contain multitudes. 

And this energy, if used in the right way, can produce good fiction :F Kalau tak, why on earth do people say Dostoevsky is one of the best writers of the 19th century? He was a very dramatic writer - ada baca White Nights? Ya ampun drama, that was in the span of 5 days kot. Yes, the same for all his other books; Notes from Underground, or the Double, or The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, etc. 

Oh yes, I also reached my 37 books goal this month (3 months ahead):

Recommended Books:

• Beauty and Sadness by Yasunari Kawabata
• The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante
• Elastic by Leonard Mlodinow
• Greek Lessons by Han Kang
• Invisible by Paul Auster
• Please Look After Mom by Kyung Sook Shin
• The White Castle by Orhan Pamuk
• 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World by Elif Shafak
• The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante

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Perpustakaan Negara:

I also went to Perpustakaan Negara with Af for the first time in a really long time (not knowing that they are currently doing the whole renovation, so they temporarily moved to the next building for the unforeseeable future). Af said I didn't mention him enough in the blog, well, he got a week gap this week, and so he accompanied me to the library (because I never tried going there myself), I even completed a 10 km walk that day. Thank you.

The building is very old, and all the staff were very helpful and friendly, but the books are also quite old, and unfortunately, there was no English fiction and hardly even English non-fiction. Mostly everything is in Malay or translated to Malay. I know, I'm biased. The food in the cafeteria is nice though. 

To get there on MRT: MRT Raja Uda (head to IJN) - around 15-minute walk

I decided that the only library I love at this moment is Perpustakaan Kuala Lumpur (they just need a great donor for more latest and classic books). 

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Sunset :

How strange / When life unfolds this way / In the driftless zone / Sky's are prone to stay off-gray / Clouds are omens too / Fading at the rate / Most pleasant memories do / This is a lost taste ♪

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Outing with Mi: I know my siblings have been trying to "be there" for me lately - that explains the random outings and treats and messages, a lot of them (like they personally text me to ask how I'm doing :F And I have to reply or they would be worried). It felt a bit weird, but I accepted any help I could get, maybe this would be good for me kan. 

So Mi took me out for lunch, a feet massage session, and dessert at Chloe that Saturday.

The ramen was really good ♥︎

BUT, on Sunday, I had the worst food poisoning (self-diagnosed). I don't know what happened, just that I had a stomach ache the whole 2 days later, persistent diarrhea for 12 hours - nothing worked (twice charcoal, once Chi Kit Teak Aun, ginger tea), I was feeling feverish, I laid on my bed the whole day feeling sick and in pain, can't eat anything solid for the whole day. Later that night, after he bought me a medication from a pharmacy, then it finally stopped.

Then, the next morning, I was okay. 

Only crampy, not crappy.

Epic.

Note: The next day, I went to the gym to walk because it felt terrible to be reminded of sickness again - after being sick for 2 months. The viral cough, the sinusitis, the vertigo, then stomach flu? Like I said, epic. At this point, even though I hide from everything and tried to lay as low as possible, dramas keep on stalking me any where I go.