Out

I'm a few days too late to count Natsuo Kirino's Out for the Japanese Literature Challenge, which means that I didn't finish that one. Oh well, I have so much life stuff going on that I don't get as much reading done as I'd like. More on that some other time.

What a book! I don't usually read crime novels so this was way out of my comfort zone, but I really enjoyed it. I do love Japanese literature though so maybe that was part of it. It was suspenseful and gruesome at times, but it also had odd moments of clarity about human beings.

The story is basically about a group of women who work the night shift at a factory - they're all different but they all have difficult things they have to deal with and escape from. Then, one of them kills her husband. The others decide to help their friend get rid of the body and this unleashes a whole chain of events and gets a whole string of people involved. Mostly people you'd want to stay away from.

It's also a psychological study of the darkness in human beings. How far into the dark would you go? What would be capable of pushing you there? And what happens when you cross that moral line for the first time? I'm not sure I like the answers... I mean I know that we all have a dark side, but I also hope that it never comes to the surface in most of us. Well, in all of us actually, but that's wishful thinking.

The book read like a thriller - parts were even like watching a thriller. My brain kept saying 'no, don't go there, don't do it, nooooo' during some passages. That's got to be a sign of good writing!

There is one thing that I really didn't like at the end, but I don't want to spoil the book for anyone. Let's just say that I'd hope that hatred is easier to hang on to and that giving in to the dark side isn't that obvious.

I'd definitely recommend this one, whether you like Japanese literature or quality crime writing. Apparently Natsuo Kirino won a prize for another of her books, Soft Cheeks. I now see that it hasn't been translated into English (hopefully yet), but others have. More to choose from, yay!

Challenges: 999 Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Countdown Challenge, Genre Challenge, Lost in Translation, Naming Conventions, New Authors, Suspense and Thriller Challenge, Well-Seasoned Reader

Weekly Geeks: Passions

Although I'm very, very late, I decided to participate in this week's Weekly Geeks event. Basically, I've been wanting to start participating in Weekly Geeks in general and I figure now is as good a time to start as any!

This week's assignment is this:

#1. What are you passionate about besides reading and blogging? For example, are you crafty (knitting, woodworking, scrapbooking, model building)? Do you cook? Into gaming (computer or board)? Sports (player or spectator)? Photography? Maybe you like geocaching, rock climbing? Or love attending events like renaissance fairs, concerts? Music? Dancing? You get the idea.

Tell us why you're passionate about it. Post photos of what you've made or of yourself doing whatever it is you love doing.

#2. Get us involved. Link to tutorials, recipes, Youtube videos, websites, fan sites, etc, anything that will help us learn more about your interest or how to do your hobby. Maybe you'd like to link to another hobbyist whose work you admire or tell us about a book or magazine related to your interest.

#3. Visit other Weekly Geeks. Link in your post to other Geeks who've peaked your interest in their passion. Or maybe you might find a fellow afincionado among us, link to them.

Well, let's see now. I'm passionate about a lot of things that don't involve reading or blogging about reading! I suppose first and foremost, I am passionate about the performing arts. I sing, I act, I dance, I direct - I participate in both straight theatre and in musicals and I also sing with a small choir that ca be hired for events and that also organised its own concerts sometimes. All this happens within an English-speaking theatre community in Belgium. It's great because the various groups here stage tons of shows in English, so expats have it easy.

Here's a photo of me singing and acting the part of Peep-Bo in The Mikado:








And here's a very different photo of me dancing the part of Vibrata in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum:













I really love the stage and I'm always happy rehearsing and performing.

As you can imagine, this takes up a lot of my time, but I do still have some passions left. :-) I love food and cooking. I love recipes - I buy magazined and cookbooks like crazy and love looking through them over and over. I wish I had more time to devote to cooking, especially to healthy cooking - that's one of my resolutions for this year.

I enjoy loads of other activities, but I think that this post is long enough! :-) Can't wait to go see what everyone else has posted about!

One Book Meme

I saw this at Iliana's and thought it sounded fun!

One book you're currently reading: Out by Natsuo Kirino
One book that changed your life: The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield (hmm, must re-read that soon!)
One book you'd want on a deserted island: an anthology of literature of some sort...
One book you've read more than once: Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
One book you've never been able to finish: Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
One book that made you laugh: The Secret Dreamlife of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
One book that made you cry: The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
One book you keep re-reading: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
One book you've been meaning to read: The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama
One book you believe everyone should read: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

Finally,
Grab the nearest book. Open it to page 56. Find the fifth sentence…

"She shook her head and the naked woman in the mirror shook hers as well." - from Out by Natsuo Kirino

Let me know if you play along, I wouldn't want to miss your answers!