Gloomy skies and relentless rains in the Timber City today.

A typhoon has befallen Butuan. The mountains encircling the city and our relative distance from the typhoon belt make us safe from nature’s wrath on most days, but for tonight the gods have made an exception. Classes were suspended this afternoon, although it remains to be seen whether the suspension will hold through tomorrow.

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I finished reading “Catcher in the Rye” today. Fantastic novel. It is written quite crassly, even for today’s literary standards (and remember that the book was published in the middle of the last century).

I can see a little of myself in Holden Caulfield (the story’s protagonist)—detached, unwilling to conform to societal standards, determined to follow my own path. Then again, there must be a little bit of Holden in everyone. Only, others choose to keep him hidden and neglected, perhaps afraid of the uncertainty that comes with breaking free from stereotypes and living life spontaneously.

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National Novel Writing Month 2009 will end in less than a week. Unless I stop going to school and lock myself in my room for the next six days and write to reach the 50,000-word mark , I will probably not win in this year’s NaNo. I must say, however, that this year was a lot less of a failure than last year (although big failures and small failures are failures just the same). I think I’m nearing the 2,000-word mark (I can’t be certain—I wrote with paper and pen, old school style, this year), as opposed to last year’s pitiful 500.

I’ve long since come to terms with the fact that I hold little novel-writing potential. A novel must have a riveting plot, engaging characters, vivid action and a fitting setting, and I am entirely incapable of creating any of those. Also, I notice the classics always have little nuances, motifs, symbols and themes ingeniously woven into their stories. I can even hardly make out the ingeniously woven nuances and symbols!

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I have, at long last, finished reading Eleven Minutes (Paulo Coelho), the  only novel I managed to read all summer. Big shoutout to Marielle who lent me her copy of the book.

Eleven Minutes took on a difficult task: bringing sex, still a taboo topic in many parts of the world, to a better light.  Essentially, the story revolves around the life of Maria, a beautiful Brazilian woman who becomes a prostitute in a foreign land. at a young age, Maria teaches herself to keep away from love, as she thinks it brings a person only pain and despair. As she keps away from love, she becomes inquisitive about sex. Her view of love is challenged when she crosses paths with a talented young painter who she thinks can show her a different kind of sex, a sacred sex, sex in the sense of love. (A good summary of the story can be found here.)

It was a good read. Not exactly page-turning, but interesting. Throughout the book are excerpts from a diary Maria kept which held her insights into love, sex, seduction, and the crazy world of prostitution she entered. The book did a good job at casting a less disgusting light on sexuality, at saying that it isn’t always the dirtiness society and religion make it out to be. For the critical novel reader, it is a wonderful read. For those who seek to find more meaning to sex, this is a gem of a book, as well.

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I still have quite a to-read list to go through. I had originally planned on finishing Nineteen Eighty Four (George Orwell), but after obtaining and viewing a copy of the movie adaptation of the novel, I didn’t think reading the novel was necessary anymore.

I’m currently reading The Romanov Prophecy (Steve Berry), an action-packed read about Russia’s Romanovs. I might re-read The Templar Legacy (also by Steve Berry), whose story I have completely forgotten.

My iPhone also has the Stanza app with which I downloaded Emma, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility—all by Jane Austen. (I blame The Jane Austen Book Club for my sudden interest in Austen’s works.) I also have digital copies of The Divine Comedy (Alighieri Dante) and The Kama Sutra (Vatsyayana) *giggle*.

With school opening soon, I’m not sure I will be able to clear up my to-read list. Jane Austen help me.

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You’ll never guess who just left the Republican Party.

OK, ready? It’s Joe Wurzelbacher! That’s right, the plumber-who-isn’t-actually-a-plumber and unofficial mascot of John McCain’s presidential campaign has left the Republican Party! This from Time Magazine:

SSamuel Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber, tells TIME he’s so outraged by GOP overspending, he’s quitting the party — and he’s the bull’s-eye of its target audience. But he also said he wouldn’t support any cuts in defense, Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid — which, along with debt payments, would put more than two-thirds of the budget off limits. It’s no coincidence that many Republicans who voted against the stimulus have claimed credit for stimulus projects in their district — or that Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal stopped ridiculing volcano-monitoring programs after a volcano erupted in Alaska. “We can’t be the antigovernment party,” Snowe says. “That’s not what people want.”

It’s never too late to start reading a classic, so while I struggle to finish Nineteen Eighty Four, I read “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret“, a short, 25-chapter novel by Judy Blume that revolves around Margaret Ann Simon, a 12-year-old who grew up with no religion.

Having one Jewish and one Catholic parent, Margaret grows up without a religion, although she does talk to God all the time (most of her conversations with Him begin with the title’s words). In addition, it features the young Margaret transitioning into puberty and all the hullabaloo associated with it, such as purchasing her first bra and having her menarche. At the same time, Margaret’s paternal grandmother tries to convince her to choose Judaism while her maternal grandparents insist that she was born into the Catholic faith.

Cover of the book's 1970 edition; Image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:AreYouThereGod.jpg

The novel is written in the first person, from Margaret’s point of view. Blume’s style of writing in the book is very characteristic of a young pre-teen. The protagonist’s thoughts are so similar to those of tweens all over America that the first page of the book boasts that “She (Blume) gets many letters from young people asking how she knows all their secrets”.

I would guess that tweens and teens the world over would love this book, if only because they can relate to it. Even I, a full-blooded dude, found the book interesting and almost unputdownable. From a tween’s first brassiere purchase, to her flipping through her father’s Playboy magazines, to the timeless chant of “I must, I must, I must increase my bust”, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is a book to have, a true classic in every aspect.

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret gets four out of five thumbs-ups, one thumbs-up being omitted due to the unexpectedly abrupt ending of the story.

P.S. This was the first novel I was able to finish reading in one day.