Unbroken- Lauren Hillenbrand

This book deprived me of sleep for 5 days, as it just made me keep on reading despite the late hours. The Times' review said "A book with pages that almost turn themselves" and I couldn't agree more with the reviewer. The fact that a memoir could be such an exciting page turner is a miracle in itself. From a young rebel, Louis Zamperini transformed himself into an Olympic runner because of the faith his brother, Pete, had in him. I am extremely envious of the tight-knittedness of the Zamperini family, that they helped each other grow and truly loved and cared for each other. Louis' Olympic career was cut short when World War II began and he was conscripted into the US Air Force as a bombardier and fought in the Pacific war. Alas, during a rescue mission, the plane he was flying in, crashed into the Pacific Ocean. Together with two other crew members, the trio drifted for over 40 days (one of them eventually died) before being captured by the Japanese army. I don't know what is worse, drifting out at sea or being held captive. I would think it is the latter as the prison officers took away not just the POW's physical health but their dignity as well. For someone like me with zero survival skills, I probably wouldn't survive in either situation. Zamperini's life got worse when he was moved to a camp that was governed by a soldier nicknamed the "bird"- a psychopath. For some unknown reason, he picked on Louie and tortured him almost every single day. I do not know how he could possibly endured such cruelty. But I think what struck me most was Louis' compassion for his fellow POWs. He would snuck food or medication for those whose health was in dire state. 

For years, Louie and the rest of the POWs were deprived of food and medical attention, endured beatings and cold winters and yet that desire to live, never left them. It amazes me how this is in contrast to our current times. For the slightest "mishap" in life, we grow depressed and some, contemplate suicide. One recurring theme I found in this book and another similar book by Victor Frankl was that once someone loses that will to live, they start detriorating physically and we have to remind ourselves that the mind is indeed a powerful thing that can determine whether we love or die. 

I think what draws people to these stories is that it tells us and reminds us of the beauty of the strength of the human spirit. 

Another aspect that I love about the book was the presence of God in Louis' life. He had the opportunity to encounter God in such a personal and life-transforming way. How Louis survived after being entangled in the wires of the crashed plane was a mystery in itself. He passed out underwater but was strangely revived and found himself out of the entanglement. While drifting for days, he saw a choir of angels sing to him. During a storm over the ocean, he made God a promise that he would dedicate his entire life to Him if he survived this. He survived through the storm and also the horrors of the POW camps. But humans, as we know, have poor memory. Louis forgot his promise to God and returning home from the war, he suffered from PTSD and most of all, a deep sense of anguish and hatred. He wanted to kill the Bird. He began drinking himself into oblivion and almost strangled his own wife. His wife wanted to leave him but after attending Billy Graham's sermon, had a change of heart and dragged Louis along. Louis felt something but ego and pride were in the way. When he was dragged a second time to the sermon, he remembered his promise to God and knew then that he needed to let go of his hatred and forgive his captors. Once he decided that was something he had to do, he was free from the evil clutches of alcoholism. His life changed for the better and he kept his promise to God to serve him. He went back to Japan to visit his captors and told them he forgave them. He tried to meet with the bird but was rejected by him. It appalled me that the bird wasn't the least remorseful for all the things he had done and justified his actions by saying he was serving the empire. It amazes me how people could delude themselves into believing that their evil deeds are for the greater good. Of course I was disappointed that most of the war criminals were Scot-free or given light sentences, which made Louis forgiveness even more incredible. It reminds me that oftentimes, we are the ones who imprison ourselves by holding on to hatred and the unwillingness to forgive. When we are unwilling to forgive, the only people who lose are ourselves. 2-7 April 2016

Perhaps all of life is but a dream

And I know no more

Of what is real

And what are illusions.

When I sleep

Do I dream

Or do I wake?

Do I fall deeper into reality

Or into that misty fog of dreams?

Ignorance is bliss, they say,

Not to know of the truth 

That lingers at the edge,

Believing that dreams are our reality

And reality our dreams.

Believing what we want to believe 

Because the unbearable lightness of truth 

It kills our reality. 

Strangely warmed

Had picked out Nelson Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom, intending to read it today but while I was cataloging the books, I chanced upon Strangely Warmed, which was given to me by the church on my baptism day (April 2014). I'd never touched the book and didn't think about reading it till today, a whole 2 years later. 

It is quite captivating to read about the founding of the Methodist faith, how it was all started by the strangely warmed feeling that John Wesley experienced. The book gave several short stories of those who had contributed to the building of the faith in Singapore. It certainly is not easy giving your life to work like these- church planting, evangelism, preaching, missionaries, etc. A truth that I didn't realize till now that it should always have been faith before holiness. By faith, we believe in our salvation through Christ, that we have been pardoned from all sins, and because of this holiness is manifested. Oftentimes, we have the idea that we need to do good to please God and to attain salvation. But that is not true. Salvation is given freely and is not attainable by our own strength. No matter how much good we do, without faith, there is no salvation nor holiness. I've also been reminded that the faith can't be practiced alone, that Methodism, is really about being part of a big family. You look out for each other and keep each other safe in this walk with God. Admittably, it is often easier said than done. It is so much more comfortable and less burdensome, to practice the faith in solitude and to believe that the faith is a personal one. Unfortunately, this is not the case. We are called to be accountable for one another and we do need to be part of the family. 

Vroom by the Sea- Peter Moore

Bought the book at a farmer's market in Stellenbosch for R20. Finally decided to read it and bring it with me on our Northern escapade. Quite an entertaining read and I love the idea of travelling on a Vespa, very befitting for a tour of Italy. Peter Moore was on his last "fling" before undertaking the lifelong and arduous task of being a father. He had looked forward to riding his old , dull Vespa but due to a chain of mis-haps and miscommunication, he bought a Vespa Rally 200 for his travel around the Almafi coast, Sardinia and Sicily. Sardinia is coincidentally one of the places I hope to visit some day. Had planned to go there during my first trip to Italy but it fell through in the end, as it was a little away from the cities we were intending to visit. 

Anyhow the purchase of the Rally (Marcello he was named) turned out to

be a blessing in disguise. With the bella moto, Italians gathered to admire it and thus, he made new friends along the way, and gotten himself out of trouble a few times too because of Marcello. It's strange the impact a beautiful Vespa could have on the Italians. Moore wrote that the Italians were suspecting of foreigners/ new faces and I'd found that to be true. They weren't exactly the friendly and passionate people you see in movies, and I suspect too that the passionate side is only shown to close family/friends. 

I liked the ending of the book, where Moore found himself in a place he had never heard of- Capraia (Capra stands for wild goat in Latin). It is a little, quiet island with volcanic cliffs, clear waters, and without the hordes of tourists. I imagine I would like a place like that. 

Ending on that bittersweet note, Moore found himself back on Livorno for a last drink before wrapping up his "fling" and returning to London (though he's an Aussie). 

I liked that he didn't really have a cast in stone kind of plan and made a few detours to events/ places, that he wasn't in a rush to get to destinations/must-sees. I wouldn't say the writing is out of this world or that the travels were anything outrageous. It just felt kinda  "homely", real, and comforting. Not too bad a vacation read. 

Tromso & Oslo, Norway & Reykjavik & southern Iceland - 9/3 - 24/3 2016

Planned to journal down the trip but didn't have the time. I think we got only 4-6 hours of sleep each day during the trip, with the occasional sleep-in. 

I'd wanted to plan for a longer time in Tromso before researching for the trip but after researching on Iceland, I got more interested in Iceland than Tromso. But it was only in Tromso that we saw the northern lights; it would have been really beautiful to see the lights in Iceland in Jokulsarlon area but we had to drive back to Vik for the night. A real pity as the forecast for the lights was strong during the first 2 nights we were in Vik. I guess this calls for a return trip to Iceland.

Tromso has its merits as it is very tourist-centric with restaurants, bars, activities, a good information center, etc. the town is compact and within a day, you can explore almost the entire "city centre". Bus fares were crazy expensive, with a boarding fee of sgd 8 regardless of the no of stops you took. We took a boat ride out to see the aurora and it was there that we saw very strong lights. It's true when they say that the lights seem to dance. It streaks across the skies and explodes like fireworks. We also took a bus ride out to a lavvo (Sami's tent) to wait for the lights. That was a failure as we didn't see it and there weren't many stars as well to justify a worthwhile trip. However, on the ride back to the hotel, we had 5 minutes of aurora but it wasn't as beautiful as it was a relatively "still" aurora. We did the quintessential tourist thing of reindeer riding which also turned out to be our lunch. The fjords were beautiful and so was the harbour. We went to a pipe organ, flute, and soprano midnight concert in the Arctic cathedral, which was quite nice but horribly cold as it was raining like crazy. But still, I'm glad we went.

Iceland is magnificent because it offers a constant feast for the eyes. Every corner you turn you see beautiful landscapes and the landscapes just keep changing. You have mountains, rivers, oceans, lava fields, barren fields, waterfalls, glaciers, lagoons, etc. it's just amazing. I really liked the glacier lagoon and where the icebergs flowed out to the sea, and the moss-covered lava fields. The earth felt like cushion on these fields, it's like walking on clouds. During the time we visit, we didn't get to see many animals such as puffins or whales & I believe it will be a completely different feeling to visit Iceland again in summer. 

On the whole, I like Iceland more and although both places are crazy expensive , you can probably get by with a lot less in Iceland since most of the attractions are free. 

On reading

http://blog.theliteracysite.com/fiction-readers/?utm_source=kc&utm_medium=paid-affiliate&utm_content=_RhLbsC&utm_campaign=science-says-about-fiction

"Through their research, they found that readers of literary fiction receive more of the empathetic benefits of reading than those who read pop-fiction or non-fiction. The term “literary fiction” seems arbitrary, but Kidd and Castano explain that literary fiction merely denotes the level of complexity in stories and their characters (at least, that’s what it means in the context of their study).

In 50 Shades Of Grey, for example, the characters are laid out. They react to each other and to their environment. By no means are these characters simple or easy, but they do not evoke the same complicated and uncanny feelings that one experiences with Nick Carraway as he narrates The Great Gatsby."

That's the wonderful thing about reading; you get transported to a world much different than your own. You live the lives of the protagonist. In a truly well-developed character, we find bits of ourselves in him/her. there are fundamental similarities between human beings no matter who we are. 

Head in the clouds

One of those arghhh moments when dealing with recklessness and an overdose of "positivity". I do think if there are simple things you could prepare in advance to minimize possible risks, why wouldn't you want to do it? Is it an admirable quality to throw caution to the wind and bury one's head in the ground, pretending that nothing bad will ever happen in the world? I really don't think so. If you want to liken yourself to having an adventurous spirit, by all means, climb the highest mountains, and I would give my fullest salute and admiration to you. But if by being adventurous, you mean not bothering about road conditions, routes, weather, then I think it's just plain naivety and recklessness. It's like wanting to climb Everest without bothering with a plan.