my ajumma notes

“The book has a life of its own outside my control.” I had to ask – How?  Why?  I wish there was at least a little spin on this.   It was interesting how Marie’s book  Sugar Flowers  becomes the centre of intrigue – a missing author and a near-miss when the book misses out on winning the Prix Goncourt award, a seeming playbook for murder that draws police to the publishing house.  I’m all for intrigue and that’s why I hoped for something more intriguing than it being nothing more than a coincidence that the men die in the same way as the characters of the book.  Sophie and the rest of the police characters weren’t needed, then?  (So why was she given such a major share of the plot, if she was merely part of the red herring?)  The revelation that Marie was the writer was also a bit of a let-down for me.   Violaine Lepage is interesting as the heroine of the story – such a tragic, colourful, strong personality...

Time for yet another Peter Mayle French adventure!   After  Vintage , this one becomes slightly predictable, in the sense that you know Sam Levitt and friends will outwit the villains by twisting the plot, and the baddies will be murderous yet bumbling.  Vronsky is also formulaic as the evil, rich Russian, while it feels unbelievable that his paid men, the Oblomovs, are so easily made fools of.     Nevertheless, it is signature Mayle with its views of the French landscape, delicious meals and quick-witted hatching of plans, though I would have liked a longer tour of Corsica.  Scenic, gastronomic, comic and also, quick reading!     The Corsican Caper Peter Mayle (Vintage Books, 2015)

my holiday reading Knew nothing about Algeria.  Knew nothing about Algeria and France.  Knew Camus’ name but nothing about him.  Now I know a little about them.   This is an intriguing and skilful weaving of past and present, Algeria and France, history and fiction, Charlot and Ryad.  It is also short and sharp, so you get quite immediately the pain-hope, youth-age, brokenness-regeneration mood of the book.   I enjoyed it and was happy that it is only 140 pages long, not because I couldn’t wait for the story to end but because it is succinct yet atmospheric.   Another novel French story I enjoyed.   A Bookshop in Algiers by Kaouther Adimi translated by Chris Andrews (Serpent’s Tail, 2020)

True beauty is: Friends you can count on   The girls are the typical friends-are-forever lot and I like how fellow bully victim Hye-min (Oh Yoo-jin) eventually becomes part of the group. The guys are my  scene stealers  for the show.  Seo-joon’s non-gangster gang is hilarious, along with Tae-hoon (Lee Il-joon) and the guy in specs.  Their best parts were the hospital room scene and them chasing the ‘ugly ghost’ at the school camp.  Brilliant juxtaposition of the guys finding the white sheet at the bottom of the slope with Soo-ho (Cha Eun-woo) confessing to Ju-kyung (Moon Ga-young).  Loved how the Soo-ho/Seo-joon (Hwang In-yeop) ‘fight’ looked like a weird romp in the fields from the guys’ perspective.  so funny to have Seo-joon faint at the sight of 'ugly ghost' where else in the world can we find a school campsite with a romantic boat setting? Special mention for Tae-hoon, who was instrumental in Soo-ho taking his first step, ...

A doomed inter-racial relationship, dashed hopes, betrayal, deception, manipulation, fear, hatred, obsession… or is it enduring love?     First, the  chupu  on the cover is misleading.  There aren’t any Babas or Nonyas, nor any reference to Peranakan heritage.   [Also, there are no Indians or Eurasians, which was surprising, and there are two Filipinos in the latter part of the story, which was somewhat random.]   The plot does have its interesting ideas and twists but An Mei and Hussein’s relationship, from which it develops, is a little weird.  Now, anyone can predict that this Chinese Christian-Malay Muslim couple would face problems, and all the other important characters have misgivings about their relationship, but the two don’t, until it is too late.  They are smart Oxford grads and Hussein is from a prominent, politically ambitious family so it’s unrealistic for them to be oblivious to the possibility of probl...

Let’s start with some things written in the blurb and reviews.   According to the blurb, “The story of  [where’s the ‘the’?]  clandestine love of Julien’s mother breaks through Violette’s carefully constructed defences to reveal the tragic loss of her daughter, and her steely determination to find out the truth.”   No.  Julien’s arrival quickens the pace of the  revelations  but Violette didn’t quite live behind “carefully constructed defences” nor shy away from the truth.  Through these revelations, we know that she conducted her own investigations before she even meets Julien.   One reviewer says, “An intriguing mystery about a long-disappeared husband and a lost child…” No, too.  Intriguing yes, but the story is not largely about Philippe’s disappearance.  It is about Violette and the main mystery is about how/why Leonine and her friends died in the fire.  Also, do you call a dead girl a “lost child”...

Books, writing copy, proofreading, book design, book covers… oooh…    And so much more to look at as well…   Eun-ho’s (Lee Jung-suk) house is amazing , the Gyeoroo office is like an amazing, bright, airy library, the Gyeoroo ethic is amazing (very ‘developmental’ in approach), boss Kim Jae-min (Kim Tae-woo) is wonderfully supportive of  every one, the cafes and restaurants are amazing, and just look at this amazing parade of sweaters and jackets !  Work life  I liked how the newbies are given opportunities and responsibilities, and the bosses are generally tolerant of mistakes.  Even when Hae-rin (Jung Yoo-jin) explodes over Ji-yool’s (Park Gyu-young) costly mistake, Ji-yool is allowed the space to make amends and encouraged when she works harder. stuck overnight sticking stickers One sore point for me is when Dan-i’s (Lee Na-young) idea is used and never acknowledged.  Even if it was the same as Ms Go’s (Kim Yoo-mi) idea, why couldn’t they ...