Of books and doramas
Sep. 20th, 2006 08:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieI am reading an absolutely fascinating book: The Bielski Brothers by Peter Duffy. It's a non-fiction account of three Jewish brothers who escaped into the woods during the Nazi occupation of Poland, and formed a large and effective guerilla unit to fight the Nazis. Not only that, but they rescued and sheletered over a large number of 'civilian,' non-combatant Jews deep in a hidden base camp they created in the woods. After two and a half years of this, over twelve hundred people emerged alive when the Red Army reoccupied the territory. I am especially fascinated by one of the three brothers, Asael, who was killed in battle after he joined the Red Army to continue the fight against Nazis once the Russians retook Poland and so the guerilla unit was rendered redundant. I think I sat up and went 'whoa' when the author mentioned how when he performed an informal self-done wedding ceremony with his wife (whom he'd known before the war and whom he rescued at quite a risk), instead of giving her a ring during the part of the ceremony which mentions an exchange or rings, he gave her a gun. Guns were a very valuable commodity but he gave her one as a sign of love, so she could defend herself or kill herself if captured. Ummm. Yeah. Incredibly cool.
The book is especially good because the author didn't just go through documents and such but interviewed the widows of the three brothers, as well as people they rescued or who fought with them, or the local civilians. It's an excellent, excellent read. I've been off fiction for a while, but my non-fiction kick is manifesting especially strongly.
In completely unrelated news, the rest of the post is about doramas. I wrote most of it last night but I wanted to reread it to see if my zonked ramblings made sense. They (oddly enough) do, so here they are.
All 18 eps of Silence that are out so far are on youtube with subs. I think I just might die. For some reason my computer at home won't let me do the 'full screen' thing so I have to watch it on this tiny tiny window, but I don't care. My weekend is shot to hell because I am going to be watching 13 hours of dorama at a go. Whoa.
It Started with a Kiss is LOVE.
Really.
I don't know why it's taken me seven episodes to fall in love with it (not that I didn't like it before, I did. But it wasn't the giddy irrepressible squee that it is now). I am still on episode 7 as I've been crazy busy and I have officially decided that ISWAK is the cutest, sweetest thing ever. And that![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
autumn_yaar is absoultely spot on in her assessment of Joe Cheng as "definitely on my list of people I wish I had the chance to take advantage of." Yes. (If you are curious, go to her awesome picspam here). But even though Joe Cheng is definitely easy on the eyes, the reason for my crush is the character of Zhi Shu. For one thing, I can get behind any story that posits that geeks (ZS is the smartest student in the school) are cool. His reactions to things (he is such a tease, with an off the wall sense of humor) are also cracktastic. And I am a sucker for guys struggling about being dragged kicking and screaming into falling in love. If a guy has fallen but the fact is driving him crazy? I am in.
And OMG, he is definitely in love with Xiang Qin and the fact is driving him nuts. The fact that she's moved out of his house and he misses her is driving him even more nuts. And misses her he does. Just look at the brief look on his face when his little brother says the house is big and empty now, before the mask goes back on. Or the way he ransacks the place for the massager she gave him. He clearly comes to tennis practice (to which he never shows up) because he misses her and he won't get to see her otherwise.
Of course, the fact that he loves and misses her makes him even more annoyed at himself and at her (as the cause of it). Because he is all about control and she makes him lose control: she gets him involved in random situations from hilarious to otherwise, but more importantly, she introduces emotions into his logical world and it kinda terrifies him. The more he feels, the more he denies it. Just look at the look on his face after she says goodbye before moving out (when he is playing that game with his brother). And then the mask goes back on, of course. Heck, he is totally appallingly brusque to her when she comes to tell him she is moving out (he continues with teaching the math formula to that annoying princessy girl I loathe) precisely because you can tell how much this has thrown him. In a way, he is trying to prove not just to her, but to himself, that he doesn't care and she doesn't matter. It's overcompensating. Part of the reason he is so neutral with princessy girl (blanking on her name) is not that she is smarter than XQ (she might be, but clearly he is still cleverer of the two), but because she doesn't evoke all that pesky emotion and confusion. It's sort of an emotional equivalent of how when you first come in from the cold in the winter, your skin hurts and you hate it. He is unused to all of this. She makes him human and he has yet to get used to that.
Though please tell me that at some point he will have to react to someone else's interest in her (Ah Jin doesn't count as clearly XQ can have no interest in him) or even XQ's thoughts of moving on. That would be NEAT.
If ZS is my crush (and hey, he looks HOT when he puts his hair back for tennis), Xiang Qin is so adorable I want to hug her. She is sweet and good natured and funny. And a bit too hung up on ZS (because hey, she doesn't have the experience and detachment to tell his too marked disinterest means he is hooked). Sometimes I want to tell her to smack him, but it doesn't matter, I love her anyway.
And the scenes between ZS and XQ are always the best! When they play the tennis doubles and ZS's opponent (who is annoyed at him ever since practice game since ZS totally pwned him) puts the 'doubles' part at the last minute and assigns XQ to him, it's hilarious. ZS tells XQ just to keep out of the way, but of course she can't, and her getting in the way or running the wrong way or what not, is hilarious. And then of course the opponent (who won soundly) tells ZS, would he like to make a bet? If by the end of training camp, XQ can return one serve to him, he'll do whatever ZS wishes. And if not, ZS has to dress like a girl and go around the school (what is it with this show and cross-dressing? Heee. Seriously. Part of the reason ZS is so about control and facade and what not is because his loony but funny Mum used to dress him up as a girl and even sent him to kindergarten this way, wig included, until the other kids found out he wasn't a girl and ganged up on him.)
Anyway, ZS accepts and I love the bit where he is boosting her morale, telling her that "dressing like a girl is my problem, yours is learning how to serve." And he is going to train her, but of course the opponent is all about hindering.
And I totally crack up at the fact that he is a fantastic cook and she is a lousy one. The scene in the kitchen is priceless. She's been assigned to cook for the team, and he comes looking for her for practice and she is going crazy with the cleaver because nothing is going OK. And his reaction is priceless too. "I think I saw a movie like this. I better leave quick." And then he ends up cooking the dinner instead, under her oath that she won't reveal he did it and then everyone praises her cooking. LOL.
And then there is night practice. Of tennis and not of anything else, alas.
And yes, his family continues to be nuts. I crack up every time I see that poster in the kitchen where someone (I am sure it's Mom), took the poster for the Incredibles but replaced the faces with the faces of family members...
I've also been watching the beginning parts of Tokyo Juliet ep 11. Wu Zun continues to be unearthly pretty. It doesn't hurt that Liang with ponytail=hot.
Liang's cat allergy cracks me up. And poor Sui feels so guilty and the scene where she misses him is cute.
I love it when he is walking with Li Sha and she tells him that a present only lasts eight seconds and she only wants eight seconds to pretend he is hers. And she hugs him but his arms stay at his sides and he gently tells her that the past 8 seconds, the eight seconds now and the eight seconds in the future have all been taken by Sui. And he is so gentle but he is very mature and he doesn't give in.
And he comes home in the morning and actually *gasp* tells Sui about being with Li Sha (and that she is leaving). I really like a hero who is mature and reasonable and doesn't do inexplicably weird stuff that will lead to problems through sheer stupidity of his actions. And then it turns out his allergy is gone, so sleepily, Sui says 'so it turned out you were actually allergic to Li Sha. Once she leaves you are totally fine' and he cracks up and it's clear he finds it both adorable and amusing that she is so possessive of him.
The book is especially good because the author didn't just go through documents and such but interviewed the widows of the three brothers, as well as people they rescued or who fought with them, or the local civilians. It's an excellent, excellent read. I've been off fiction for a while, but my non-fiction kick is manifesting especially strongly.
In completely unrelated news, the rest of the post is about doramas. I wrote most of it last night but I wanted to reread it to see if my zonked ramblings made sense. They (oddly enough) do, so here they are.
All 18 eps of Silence that are out so far are on youtube with subs. I think I just might die. For some reason my computer at home won't let me do the 'full screen' thing so I have to watch it on this tiny tiny window, but I don't care. My weekend is shot to hell because I am going to be watching 13 hours of dorama at a go. Whoa.
It Started with a Kiss is LOVE.
Really.
I don't know why it's taken me seven episodes to fall in love with it (not that I didn't like it before, I did. But it wasn't the giddy irrepressible squee that it is now). I am still on episode 7 as I've been crazy busy and I have officially decided that ISWAK is the cutest, sweetest thing ever. And that
autumn_yaar is absoultely spot on in her assessment of Joe Cheng as "definitely on my list of people I wish I had the chance to take advantage of." Yes. (If you are curious, go to her awesome picspam here). But even though Joe Cheng is definitely easy on the eyes, the reason for my crush is the character of Zhi Shu. For one thing, I can get behind any story that posits that geeks (ZS is the smartest student in the school) are cool. His reactions to things (he is such a tease, with an off the wall sense of humor) are also cracktastic. And I am a sucker for guys struggling about being dragged kicking and screaming into falling in love. If a guy has fallen but the fact is driving him crazy? I am in. And OMG, he is definitely in love with Xiang Qin and the fact is driving him nuts. The fact that she's moved out of his house and he misses her is driving him even more nuts. And misses her he does. Just look at the brief look on his face when his little brother says the house is big and empty now, before the mask goes back on. Or the way he ransacks the place for the massager she gave him. He clearly comes to tennis practice (to which he never shows up) because he misses her and he won't get to see her otherwise.
Of course, the fact that he loves and misses her makes him even more annoyed at himself and at her (as the cause of it). Because he is all about control and she makes him lose control: she gets him involved in random situations from hilarious to otherwise, but more importantly, she introduces emotions into his logical world and it kinda terrifies him. The more he feels, the more he denies it. Just look at the look on his face after she says goodbye before moving out (when he is playing that game with his brother). And then the mask goes back on, of course. Heck, he is totally appallingly brusque to her when she comes to tell him she is moving out (he continues with teaching the math formula to that annoying princessy girl I loathe) precisely because you can tell how much this has thrown him. In a way, he is trying to prove not just to her, but to himself, that he doesn't care and she doesn't matter. It's overcompensating. Part of the reason he is so neutral with princessy girl (blanking on her name) is not that she is smarter than XQ (she might be, but clearly he is still cleverer of the two), but because she doesn't evoke all that pesky emotion and confusion. It's sort of an emotional equivalent of how when you first come in from the cold in the winter, your skin hurts and you hate it. He is unused to all of this. She makes him human and he has yet to get used to that.
Though please tell me that at some point he will have to react to someone else's interest in her (Ah Jin doesn't count as clearly XQ can have no interest in him) or even XQ's thoughts of moving on. That would be NEAT.
If ZS is my crush (and hey, he looks HOT when he puts his hair back for tennis), Xiang Qin is so adorable I want to hug her. She is sweet and good natured and funny. And a bit too hung up on ZS (because hey, she doesn't have the experience and detachment to tell his too marked disinterest means he is hooked). Sometimes I want to tell her to smack him, but it doesn't matter, I love her anyway.
And the scenes between ZS and XQ are always the best! When they play the tennis doubles and ZS's opponent (who is annoyed at him ever since practice game since ZS totally pwned him) puts the 'doubles' part at the last minute and assigns XQ to him, it's hilarious. ZS tells XQ just to keep out of the way, but of course she can't, and her getting in the way or running the wrong way or what not, is hilarious. And then of course the opponent (who won soundly) tells ZS, would he like to make a bet? If by the end of training camp, XQ can return one serve to him, he'll do whatever ZS wishes. And if not, ZS has to dress like a girl and go around the school (what is it with this show and cross-dressing? Heee. Seriously. Part of the reason ZS is so about control and facade and what not is because his loony but funny Mum used to dress him up as a girl and even sent him to kindergarten this way, wig included, until the other kids found out he wasn't a girl and ganged up on him.)
Anyway, ZS accepts and I love the bit where he is boosting her morale, telling her that "dressing like a girl is my problem, yours is learning how to serve." And he is going to train her, but of course the opponent is all about hindering.
And I totally crack up at the fact that he is a fantastic cook and she is a lousy one. The scene in the kitchen is priceless. She's been assigned to cook for the team, and he comes looking for her for practice and she is going crazy with the cleaver because nothing is going OK. And his reaction is priceless too. "I think I saw a movie like this. I better leave quick." And then he ends up cooking the dinner instead, under her oath that she won't reveal he did it and then everyone praises her cooking. LOL.
And then there is night practice. Of tennis and not of anything else, alas.
And yes, his family continues to be nuts. I crack up every time I see that poster in the kitchen where someone (I am sure it's Mom), took the poster for the Incredibles but replaced the faces with the faces of family members...
I've also been watching the beginning parts of Tokyo Juliet ep 11. Wu Zun continues to be unearthly pretty. It doesn't hurt that Liang with ponytail=hot.
Liang's cat allergy cracks me up. And poor Sui feels so guilty and the scene where she misses him is cute.
I love it when he is walking with Li Sha and she tells him that a present only lasts eight seconds and she only wants eight seconds to pretend he is hers. And she hugs him but his arms stay at his sides and he gently tells her that the past 8 seconds, the eight seconds now and the eight seconds in the future have all been taken by Sui. And he is so gentle but he is very mature and he doesn't give in.
And he comes home in the morning and actually *gasp* tells Sui about being with Li Sha (and that she is leaving). I really like a hero who is mature and reasonable and doesn't do inexplicably weird stuff that will lead to problems through sheer stupidity of his actions. And then it turns out his allergy is gone, so sleepily, Sui says 'so it turned out you were actually allergic to Li Sha. Once she leaves you are totally fine' and he cracks up and it's clear he finds it both adorable and amusing that she is so possessive of him.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-09-21 01:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-21 01:27 am (UTC)And the anime/manga club and their delight in getting a 'live' girl is hilarious.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-21 02:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-21 02:07 am (UTC)There is a LITTLE jealousy concerning Ah Jin, as you'll see... but I think it's more of their friendship. Poor ZS has absolutely no idea what to do with himself, you're right, and I think he resents the fact that he resents others can get close to her!
And the poster! I LOVE IT! Gosh, the series is just full of such fantastic cack. Seriously, one episode after the other. Love.
I am just now trudging through the end of Marmalade Boy -- just so I can say that yes, I watched it all, and it was BAD. (Because it is.) I'm on a completist kick. First MB, then Gokusen, the Love Contract... then I think I'll attack MG again.
Remember the friend I told you about? She's not completely addicted to Goong and Kim Sam Soon, and she loved Kimi wa Petto. You have no idea how proud I am of myself -- this is the girl who's teased me about anime for YEARS. And now we're both hopelessly addicted to asian media.
Yeah, baby!
no subject
Date: 2006-09-21 03:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-21 03:58 am (UTC)I am Ok with giving up on a show if I don't like it. Not with books though.
And yay, good on addictions!
no subject
Date: 2006-09-21 12:06 pm (UTC)And Zhi Shu is so in love with her, but I honestly don't think he realizes it (at least not at this point). He just reacts to her, in an instinctive/gut-reaction kind of way, that he doesn't ever think about, it just happens and he can't explain it and it doesn't make sense, but he can't stop it from happening, and THAT is his major issue. As much as this series is all about her never giving up on the one person she loves, it's even more so about his progression as a character, and that's why I love it so much. One of my favorite moments is that first kiss, when she's telling him she's going to find someone better than him, and he DOES NOT LIKE THAT at all and reacts without thinking, in ways that don't make sense to him, and it's great.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-21 03:40 pm (UTC)The first kiss is HILARIOUS. It's true, he reacts to her on a purely instinctive level and it throws him as he is not used to acting on impulse.
He gets totally possessive whenever she indicates she wants someone else. Heh. I agree about his character's progression. It's gradual, but he is so much more human and approacheable now...
no subject
Date: 2006-10-03 11:18 am (UTC)what the...?! it's the ISWAK FEVER!!!
the same thing happened to me!!!
waaaaaaaaah!!!!
no subject
Date: 2006-10-03 08:33 pm (UTC)