Fiction Novels

[BlackGrail]

I just want to know what fiction novels you have read and anything you'd like to say about it.

The latest book l've read is Dan Brown's Deception Point. It was a good book. What l like most about it is the stuffs l've learned.

[Teahouse Keeper]

The hottest books I've ever read are from Laurell K. Hamilton. Kiss of Shadows[/i] and Cerulean Sins[/i]. For both, the plot is not so great, but the sex is!! What's interesting is that the author makes all the sex scenes fall naturally into place every time. It's really quite amazing. And it's not just about the sex. The characters are really very interesting and real.

So, even though I get the feeling that the story is merely an excuse for the sex, the books are still very enjoyable page-turners. Fabulous. Hot. Fun.

The author looks pretty hot herself! She's really a fantastic writer.

[pippichan]

I always love novels, short stories, (even movie scripts) written by Stephen King. I like the way he tells this story - fun, witty but creepy in the same time - and admire his unique imaginations. After reading his pieces, I always wonder, how can he get those brilliant ideas?!

[rhein]

by experiencing it first? maybe he plotted an undiscovered murder and murder someone first so that he can write what happen in his book? just kidding. ;D

well, recently i read a book of our local writer. he's not known world wide but he's progressing. it's a quite good book. it's entitled beauty hurts. it tells how beauty can be women's curse. during a war, beautiful women suffered more than ordinary ones. they're raped over and over again, forced to be prostitutes to fulfill man's lust. in peace era, beautiful women are harrassed, molested. if they're not careful, they can get trapped. many men would love to make them a slave for their lust. many problems developed from their beauty. her fellow women envy them, hate them and love to see them suffer.
wow, what a fresh topic! i haven't seen such topic before that reveals that beauty is somewhat a curse.
has anyone here ever encountered such topic before?

[Teahouse Keeper]

Hmm...Rhein, I tried looking for the book online but couldn't find it.

Mm...beauty is somewhat a curse? I suppose sometimes, beauty can be a curse rather than a blessing...But according to research, beautiful/attractive people are more well-liked, get more praise, earn more money etc...

From your description of the book, it sounds as if beautiful women are weak, just objects to be used and abused. But I think there are beautiful women who are very smart. During a war, these women may use their brains, make use of their beauty to get what they want. Beauty will then become a weapon and they may suffer less than beautiful women who can't fight back.

Hahaha...Pippichan, somehow, I can't seem to be able to read a King book I know a lot of people love his writing and characterization....but....

[pippichan]

From what I learn, beauty isn't a curse. Instead, it gives a lot of advantages. It seems to me that beautiful girls always get better treatment in most of things.

And, if beauty is a curse, beauty salons and plastic surgeons will be out of business now! ;D

[rhein]

on the contrary, teahouse keeper, the main character of this book was a very smart and tough women. she lived during colonialization era. no matter how brave, smart and tough she was, she couldn't fight colonial alone, ay?

her beautiful grandma's forced to be a concubine of a powerful colonial. she's separated from her bf. what can be done? suicide to say no?
then, years after, along w/ some other beautiful girls, the main character was held by the colonial, put in a house full of guard and raped and raped and raped 24/7. 5 men a night. what wit can be used to escape that situation?
when her country's struggling for independent, things were in chaos. she was raped by her own countrymen, not only once. she had lost everything, money, family. when independence come, she got nothing. to survive and raise three kids of those rapes result, she's forced to be a prostitute. then her daughter who inherited her mom's beauty was tricked and raped by a man who really wanted her. to avoid shame - coz in our society man and woman shouldn't have sex before marriage. if they do, it's obvious that the woman's to be ashamed and punished not the man - she's forced to marry the man. she refused to sleep w/ him after marriage though. but, of course, he raped her. no matter how hard and witty she struggled, he raped her.
to be honest, what can a women do in that situation?

no matter how strong we are, if we are cornered by a man who wants to rape us w/o anyone else around to help us, how is our chance? it's 70% we loose.
and do you notice that beautiful girl has to be a lot more careful than ordinary girls? anything they wear or do can easily arouse dirty men. it's those dirty men they need to avoid and fight.

yeah, beautiful girls often got better treatment and chance in anything, well-liked, etc, but they're expected to be more as well. they're expected to always be pretty, meek, tender like a doll. but are they really happy? w/ those jealous ppl staring and gossiping about her, dirty men staring at them w/ their dirty thoughts and gossiping her w/ their dirty thoughts, tried to harrass her? and there are also some beautiful women in making use of their beauty to get fame and money are forced to make themselves even more beautiful, therefore they go to beauty salons and do plastic surgery which only give them cancer or other minor or major disease.

but yes, i think there are also some beautiful women who's lucky enough to get better treatment and never encounter such misfortune which the biggest of all is jealous fellow women and dirty men.

but for me, i don't like ppl taking much credit of beauty. i like ppl who treat anyone the same whether they're beautiful or not, rich or poor. treat others they way you wanna be treated. i wonder if there's someone can really do that to a real extent. i don't think i can do that myself. ;D

[rhein]

oh, i forgot to add, that book's not published online. it's not a very famous book as of stephen king's. and it's not in english either. too bad, ay? i think every women should read it. it gives a new insight of beauty though it's a bleak one.

now i think, beauty can be a curse but it can also be a blessing. it depends on the time, environment, ppl around you, chances, and yourselves - how you make use and think of it.

[Teahouse Keeper]

Hmm...the book is not in English? I see. But it's a work of fiction?

Mm...I've thought carefully about what you've said and I think it does depend on the individual woman and the situation. Some things are beyond one's power to control.

However, I think the book is overly bleak about beautiful women and the consequences. It seems to focus only on one woman, one point in time and one society/country. Does it reflect the world as a whole?

Is it possible that the beautiful woman who was raped 24/7 could have found some way of escaping? Was it possible for her to cut her hair, dirty her face and wear men's clothes to avoid being raped? Could she have warned and taught her daughter to be careful of men?

Do people always expect beautiful women to be meek like a doll? Are all ordinary women jealous of beautiful women? Are all men dirty?

As for being cornered by a man in modern society...well, what if the woman learnt martial arts or is skilled in self-defence? Or if the woman has some pepper spray in her handbag?

I think women are not as weak as they think they are, or as weak as others think they are.

Yeah, treating everyone the same is the best way. But humans tend to judge others by first impressions. I think probably only Mother Teresa can treat everyone the same

[rhein]

yup, a work of fiction by a local writer of my country. and it's bleak indeed. the author was inspired by a local legend of a particular town in our country. the legend was about a beautiful princess whose very well-known beauty caused a war between some kingdoms. there's a powerful prince who wanted to have her whether she and her parents wished it or not. so some princes from several kingdoms interfered in the war to help the princess' kingdom, hoping that the king would let one of them marry the princess in favour of their help. the war cost so many lives. upon knowing it, the princess got so devastated. eventually, to put an end to the chaos, she vowed to marry any male whom she saw first thing when she opened up her room window in the morning. to her surprised, it was a dog. but a vow was a vow to her. so she married the dog and cast themselves into a jungle full of mist that no one ever gone there before. no one ever heard of her nor seen her eversince.
what an interesting legend, ay? so based on that the author tried to present a theme that beauty can somewhat be a curse.

it's also known that during colonialization and war there were lots of women became victim of male lust and violence. and it's a well known fact that during japanesse invasion there were a lot of women forced to be prostitute called 'jughun ianfu' which was not only happen in my country.
as for trying to escape, it was not possible. in the book, it's told that the women have tried everything, but it's impossible. the house's so secured and there were some soldiers preventing them to escape. and they couldn't deceit their own looks coz before they were brought there by force, they were already well selected. and in the house they were supervised closely so they can't do anything 'stupid'.

as for woman in the whole world, i believe in every country there are some unfortunate woman. and they aren't necessarily dumb nor careless. some of them are just unfortunate. and it's not their fault.

knowing martial art and having pepper spray i'm sure will be a very big help in defensing ourselves. however, there are lots of tricks and cons. besides, man power is commonly stronger than woman that sometimes martial arts aren't enough and it just happens. i hate to admit it but it just it - not that i'm saying that we're weak and can't defend ourselves. but i think it's better to avoid it by some cautions.

and some societies and most men do expect a beautiful women to be meek as a doll. they just wanna please themselves with the fulfillment of a pic of an ideal woman for them. and if you will, you can make a survey by asking around if a man prefer a long haired woman or a short hair woman. most of them will surely choose a long haired one.

well, not all ordinary women jealous of beautiful women. some of them has adequate brain and talent, enough to feel better and think better. but there are a lots of them, especially those who aren't and have to be around the beautiful women and hear and see all men's attention are towards the beautiful women and not to them at all.

and as for your questioning, 'are all men dirty'? no, i think not all of them are dirty. there are lots of honourable men. it's just that there are also lots of men can't keep their mouth shut when a pretty and sexy figured lady around or passes by, ay? i'm not talking about a good compliment from them. it's their annoying, harrassing comments. and there are lots of men are shameless to use tricks like drugs to get a woman. those kind of men makes me nauseated.

[Teahouse Keeper]

Oh, I like that legend! It sounds vaguely familiar. Tried to find it online but got nothing...mmm...I think I'm not using the right search terms. Well, anyway, where's the legend from? Middle East? Asia? Russia? Africa?

Mm, yeah, I know some women are unfortunate due to a lot of factors. Modern women are lucky because they have education, better living conditions and are able to work for themselves. There are still plenty of women out there who are oppressed by society and men.

But I was thinking that the book made you focus on the miserable side of things

There are men who are cruel and horrible to beautiful women (or women in general), but there're also kind and good men around. There are men who like their women meek and long-haired, but there are also men who prefer their wives to have opinions of their own. There are women who are suffering, but there are also women who break free. For self-defence, a woman who knows martial arts is capable of flipping a man twice her size.

[pippichan]

Talking about women who are beautiful but lethal, I can't help thinking about So Close. You've seen the movie? Shu Qi, Zhao Wei and Karen Mok. Awesome! ;D

[rhein]

yeah, the book surely does, but also b/coz lately i've been seeing some of that kind of men - from a distant i mean, not that i'm seeing them or stuff, i don't wanna have anything to do w/ that kind of men surely.
and yeah, i'm glad we're living in modern era. it's definitely way much better than back then.

the legend is from asia btw.

i've been thinking to learn martial art too. just haven't been able to find a friend who's into it. talking abt it reminds me of j-lo movie 'enough', ay? have you seen it?

oyeah, i've seen 'so close'. good movie and good action. the car chasing scene is also awesome, ay?

[Teahouse Keeper]

Yeah, I've seen So Close, but only the beginning It started out quite boring for me and I was disappointed that it wasn't as good as Charlie's Angels (Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu and Cameron Diaz). Charlie's Angels was really fun and exciting. Cool.

Yeah, I heard of Enough but didn't watch it.

Ah-ha! So the legend is from Asia. I was thinking probably from Java or Bali. It doesn't sound like a western folktale. Doesn't sound Japanese either...

So, Rhein, you're waiting for a friend to join you in learning martial arts? Which martial arts? Thai boxing? Karate? Judo?

[pippichan]

On the contrary, I don't like Charlie's Angels. It just that their sexiness is too bitchy for me. Not fun watching it.

[rhein]

i don't like thai boxing. i prefer judo actually, seems cool. there's also aikido. ever heard of it? it's good for women think, since it takes advantages in opponent's strength instead of opposing against it. it's like steven seagall's martial art.

you should see 'enough', it's good. j-lo's husband in the movie looks hot too. ;D interested now?

btw, i think charlie angel's is entertaining though i don't think it's that good. they made it too bitchy and easy that it doesn't really makes sense. i know it's a movie. it's supposed not to make sense, only for entertainment, but the nonsense feels so... ah... too much? yeah, i think it is. but it's still entertaining though.

[Teahouse Keeper]

Who was acting as J-lo's husband?

Yeah, I heard of Aikido. I was thinking more of Bruce Lee's gongfu style....Jeet Kune Do. Flow like water. I saw an old interview of him and he was really very cool when he described his style of martial arts. In the Cowboy Bebop anime, Spike Spiegel uses Bruce Lee's style when he fights. Very cool.

Mmm....I think Charlie's Angels has got more action right at the start. Captured my attention very quickly. So Close started off a bit slow for me with too much talking and jarring camera shots.