'The Chosen'

Hello fellow readers/ art lovers! I do appreciate that it's been a while-school has been intense as always. I found the time, though, to blog about a recent piece of prose I was recommended, called 'The Chosen', by Chaim Potok. Now, most of you may have known this author, some simply because he's a bestseller, others because he is a conservative rabbi who studied psychology and writes beautifully, and others that he is an anti-orthodox Jew. Whatever your opinion on this controversial genius, I would like to highlight the fact that his work is outstanding. 'The Chosen', a story on friendship and the hardships of religious conflict deals with youth and adolescence in such a beautiful manner...It led me to tears. For a book to draw out powerful emotion is quite something. I think Chaim Potok is so unbelievably talented. Please read the book, if you have time. If you're a history lover, because you'll learn so much on the history of the Jews in the late 19th century and early 20th, if you're a romantic because of Danny's inclinations and Reuven's confusion, if you're a zionist, if you're a lover of the Jews, if you're a hater of the Jews, if you like to read, if you're bored, if you're a boy, if you're a girl...just read the book, regardless of any trait you might have. It's really something. Stay tuned for more incompetent comments on art and literature.

The Night Circus

Having not picked up a book in...too long in August, and despairing on my trip to Paris because this meant I had nothing to read over the weekend (for those of you reading between the lines, yes, it's Sabbath), and I had to do with tatty comics at the hotel lobby, I was relieved when my brother purchased a copy of a random bestelleling novel at the airport coming back to Madrid. That, and a Time magazine to get some 'serious' update on the Syria problem (the article is pretty good, but more like a historical article rather than an opinion column or whatever. I thought Time was deeper than that...but anyway). The book he bought was 'The Night Circus' by Erin Morgenstern (there was a Rabbi names Morgenstern where I studied in Israel this summer. HiLArious.) The front cover was intriguing enough, if not a little girly, and taking advantage of my brother's interest in Time, I started reading as soon as I pulled it out of the bag. I's five hundred pages or so long, an easy and quick read, and I must say, like Cloud Atlas, I devoured it. It's a love story in a fantastical atmosphere where magic and lve intertwine to hold our planet together in ways we can only imagine. If I had to describe the book in one word it would be: goosebumps. Because that was the word that was stuck in my brain all through the book. Goosebumps. The richness of the language had such an elegant flow to it, the metamorphosis of each character so subtle yet clear by the end of each seciton, and the beautiful colours and dense description. The world I got lost in in 'The Night Circus' was utterly luscious and delectable. It's definitely a book I'll be reading again, just to get lost in the circus' black-and-silver tepees, and see the colourful acrobats do their thing, and fall in love with Marco. No, it isn't a book that makes you think, let alone draw any insightful/deep conclusions, but it's a gorgeous read, and truly inspiring in the sophisticated way it's written.

'Why on Earth did you read 'Cloud Atlas'? No one else did.'

A legitimate question posed to me by someone regarding my Personal Statement (eek.) Why DID I read Cloud Atlas? Because we read the first two chapters in class and I found it fascinating how Mitchell could possibly link in two seemingly COMPLETELY different ideas, characters, scenarios, and actually make a novel out of it. A best selling one, mind you. It had to pose some deep and meaningful question to the reader, no? Curiosity overwhelmed me, and yes, I asked this same someone for the book and I devoured it in a matter of days. It was not the best book I ever read, it probably doesn't come in top five best either, but it was impacting. Why? Because I identified on so many different levels. So much was going on, I find a bit of every world around me: this reminded me of that and this of that and both, although completely different, are part of the same book! It's the architecture of the novel. It's utterly fantastic and brilliant and so, so sophisticated and elegant that one streams through the novel without even realizing. I fell in love with the world of the amanuensis in particular, and I fell in love with him also, just one example. Even the film isn't so bad, though the repetitions of actors for the reincarnations bothered me to the extreme. Why did I read the book? Curiosity. But like everything...

And here is the gorgeous front cover of the paperback I read, artwork by the great Shepard Fairey-utter genius. I wonder if they keep track of how many people tattoo his Big Brother on their bodies. It would be an interesting statistic... First time I saw his artwork was when I purchased my very first CD; 'Monkey Business' by the Black Eyed Peas. I fell in love with their music and I fell in love with the front cover of their CD. It was my brother who told me just a few years ago about Fairey, and that he was the artist who came up with the design. Genius. I think it's so unique and bold and striking...THAT is powerful art.