All Forms of Art

Na vida, nem tudo é o que parece...

I bought this book on an impulse, mostly due to the array of compliments on its cover. I tend to enjoy historical novels and this one seemed to be full of mystery and suspense, but… well it kind of had some of what it had promised, but… it just wasn’t enough to suck me in and hold me. Actually I found the book a little disappointing as I think I was expecting something a bit more engaging. At the beginning I found it too stationary as it lacked almost any action and then, suddenly, Marcello Simoni introduces us to an endless sequence of plots and machinations, confusing stories, almost too elaborate or complex to be credible or believable. My feeling towards the story and general opinion was that I had been promised one thing and had received something else entirely. However, Simoni does have a bright side, and his brilliant work on the research for the book and his knowledge about the facts he wants to tell us are very noticeable, sometimes remarkable. This detailed resea...

The sound was practically nonexistent, just a slight and indistinctive background noise at the end of my mind was producing an indecipherable buzzing. My eyelids were heavy and made me fall into a sort of melancholic numbness, occasionally interrupted by a floating sensation. There was nothing around me, except the smooth and rhythmic breathing of someone sleeping next to me. My body seemed to have no weight, through the dream shadows, that slightly mix with my consciousness, while it gently abandoned me, to carry me to that other world, made up of bizarre realities that storm my mind. Slowly, the world was becoming different, it was made of new things, things that I didn't even know, frightening yet marvelous, priceless things: change and discovery.

Since the beginning, Darwin's theory was attacked by his contemporary fellows, but this book tried to take this to a whole other level, building on a story which, supposedly, shows us the naturalist's darker side. Darnton made a bold choice by giving us this unique vision of the man who changed the way we see the world. Throughout the book, the story is being told under 3 different points of view, each with their own mysteries. We accompany the H.M.S. Beagle's trip, with the young Charles Darwin on board, aswell as through his daughter Bessie's journals, his older years, and finally the journey of two modern investigators and their discoveries. All this is interwoven in a very curious and effective manner. The narrative could perhaps become dense or tedious at some points, so this "voice changing" in the book is certainly a welcome addition and tends to help the reader keep his attention and interest. In my opinion, the author managed to balance bo...

That one special place that's your own, that little slice of the world, where you can be yourself Home is a word that makes you feel good. It's that place, the one you turn into whatever you want it to be the one where you're protected from the rest of the world. Home is some place, somewhere, where you don't need to pretend, where you don't need to fake a smile while screaming inside, wishing you could cry yourself to sleep. Home is love, where your family, your pets, your closest friends are. Home could be a town, a street, a house, or just a little spot in the garden, Home is where you want it to be, it's your special place, Where perfection is a matter of desire.

I finally finished reading the second book in George RR Martin's saga A Song of Ice and Fire and despite the fact that I felt the need to slow the reading down a bit, I really liked the way he worked the story. As we read, the story grows further and further apart from what's presented to us on the TV show and my interest rises. New characters gain a significant voice and the plot extends, taking on new shapes. You will get to know new places and people, and even have some past events finally explained in greater detail. The story becomes more dense and it could prove complicated at first (specially for those who don't even follow the TV series) but the amazing writing will help visualize the complex political intrigue, the crude bloodshed aswell as the mystic and magic which is rising throughout the whole realm.   The book is deeply involving, largely due to the characters that are so alive and complex, full of ambiguity and not the classic good vs evil dich...

Admirava a pequena peça à sua frente sem ter a certeza do que via. Cada uma das suas faces lançava um raio de brilho de várias cores. Fechou a pequena pedra no centro da mão e as suas arestas magoaram-na. Largou-a para o chão repentinamente. Ao cair, um suave ruído emanou dela. O brilho parecia ainda mais intenso e ela baixou-se, inclinando-se sobre o pedacinho de luz caído à sua frente. Viu o seu rosto reflectido nas várias faces do diamante, recebendo o brilho das diferentes cores e percebeu que ali estavam todos os seus “Eus”, todas as faces que ela mostrava ao mundo, em cada encontro, em cada reunião, em cada saída nocturna. Era sempre uma diferente e eram sempre a mesma. Todas elas escondiam o seu verdadeiro ser, aquele que nem ela mesma ainda conhecia. Apanhou novamente a pequena pedra do chão e guardou-a no bolso do casaco. Talvez um dia, ela conseguisse finalmente descobrir aquilo que as suas máscaras encondiam em si. (Imagem: blogs.estadao.com.br)

After a while without drawing anything, I did this experience in watercolor painting. 

I met this story through my former students, sweet teenagers that love a good romance, filled with a lot of tears and crazy passions. At first, I ignored it, but then, I got curious. So, I saw the Twentieth Century Fox movie. Despite the depressing side, I liked the story, I liked the idea but... it seemed kind of superficial to me. So, I decided to read the book. This is a very sad story and at same time it has that kind of optimism that only teenagers still possess. It focuses on the slight ironies which life presents to us and makes us think about our problems and “complaints” and... well, everything seems so ridiculous after reading this. It's an interesting story, not just another story about a person who happens to be dying from a terrible disease. This person has a life, has thoughts and dreams, has something more than this disease and this is what truly matters. I love the provocative way Hazel thinks about her own condition, and tries to prevent it from b...

A luta prossegue dia após dia, até que a vida se encarregue de tocar nova melodia. E quando estamos quase a desistir, quando mais nada queremos fazer, desistimos de insistir, e então a vida faz acontecer. É uma pequena ironia, que o mundo usa para nos recordar “Não vale a pena tanta euforia, O que é teu, a ti irá parar.” (Imagem: multimdiarafael34491.blogspot.com)

Daughter of Dust is a biographical book about Leila Aziz, a sudanese orphaned girl, raised among other children in her condition in the “Institute for the Protected”, in which, no one was really protected. As she grows, all Leila wants is to lead a normal life and to be respected by the world. Subjects like female mutilation, the punishment for having sex out of wedlock, among others, are exposed by the eyes of a child that oftentimes doesn't really understand what is happening. This story calls out against the way women are treated in Sudan. For that, Wallace refuses to write it in a overly sentimental way, she describes what's happening in a crude and direct way, that makes us shocked and angry. Any change in Leila's life is a new possibility and you will find yourself wishing for her to succeed and find a safer place. Along its pages, Leila fights for what she believes in, what she wants, and never lets her birth condition determine her whole life. ...

Dogs bark, children laugh, and the world carries on. But I am still here, looking through the window, seeing life out there. I was a part of that once, but now, it's just a strange feeling. I do not belong here nor there, or anywhere for that matter. I belong in my magical worlds, built by me, from top to bottom, I belong with my characters, sharing their adventures and trying to survive the crazy realms I constructed for them. My mission is to complicate their lives and then help them search for a way out. Clicking on my computer, scratching with my pencil, any small move can create either a new life, or destroy it completely. I'm a writer. I do not lead an ordinary life. I have a lot of lives—in different places, with different people! I can do magic, believe, kill, or resurrect. I'm a writer; I'm a god in my own world. (Image: umblogdoben.wordpress.com)

Today, I share with you a little sarcastic poem about the way people see talent to avoid being responsible for their actions. It would be much easier if we didn't need to work for something we wanted, wouldn't it? Talent This nothing made everything, into the core power behind all we need, is something we might very well have, yet is not required indeed. It's the easier way of doing things, the one without hard work, There isn't much to say about it, You're either born with it, or not. It tends to make everything easier It puts no responsibility on you, No one can just call out the truth, That the failure lies in you.  (Imagem: www.bigmovie.me)

The Discreet Hero is a book from 2013, translated to English in 2015. The writer, Mario Vargas Llosa won the Nobel prize for literature in 2010. In The Discreet Hero, the protagonist Felício Yanaqué lives his life according to his father's last teaching “Do not let anyone step into you.” as a way to honor his memory. But life is tricky and Felício's principles will be put to the test. An unconventional hero, without the dramatic overtones of the movies, but filled with honor, Felício is a real-life hero, those who no one will never know about. Yet, they can proudly shape their own destiny, with honesty. Our protagonist fights against the status quo , which he thinks is wrong, and never gives up, although, the world around him keeps saying that this is the rule. But Felício is not the only hero in this book. Along with its pages, we can read two different storylines, unrelated at first, but in the end, they will share a fate. The main conflicts arise inside...

I have no idea who the author of this abstract painting is, but as soon as I laid my eyes upon it, I fell in love. It's so simple, yet so complex at the same time. It's bright and vivid on one side, but it also has a deadly and fierce side to it, like a giant flame. A fire that ends everything, just for you to start over again. It reminds me of the phoenix legend, and the way you need to burn everything to the ground, so you could build it again, reborn from the ashes, with even greater beauty and strength. That's, for me, the meaning of life and the way we should face every change in our life, the ones we choose and the ones life forces on us. Every step we take toward to our goals... You need to burn down all your insecurities and fears, over and over again, until you reach your wildest dreams.

O português morre todos os dias um pouco Devagar, muito devagarinho, Em cada frase do facebook em cada LOL soprado baixinho. Há os que não vêem o que se passa, Porque vêm observando distraídos, Há os que estão “prontos” e os que da prontidão são destituídos. Há os mais que são apenas mas, E os que “houveram” grandes preocupações, Com certeza em escrever bem não foi, Esses têm outras paixões. Há coisas que tento ignorar, Porque não as há, apenas “à” Os acentos então, nem vale a pena falar, Nem um ultimato no sítio certo os porá. Os porques e os porquês Esses deixaram de interessar, vá lá, não vês? É só mais um risquinho para rematar. Os “cidadões” aumentam ao mesmo tempo que os “quaisqueres” se multiplicam, De vez em quando aparece um que “interviu” E com os plurais todos implicam. Não há género que os atrapalhe, nem tempo verbal que não se possa inventar, Frases completas são só um detalhe ...

Break your chains And keep writing Tell the world Why you're running. Put in words What your eyes can see Free your soul From all adversity. Scream from the top of the world Scream until your throat hurts Let the truth be hurled Let it out in blurts. Let them know, they are what they are fighting for Show them, the truth in yourself, reveal to them this world of lies. We live there, hiding, Believing in our liberty, But we're just prisoners Of our own so-called 'freedom'. (Imagem:  http://brianprior.com/2013/11/)

Aqui fica uma pequena amostra do que podem encontrar no meu mais recente livro, Sombras . Espero que gostem. ;)

In The Last Fix , Dahl creates a psychological thriller full of secrets and half-told stories. The plot is complex, and despite the fact that he takes too long to really get into the story, it is quite engaging. Although this was definitely a good book, it didn't leave me satisfied. Why? Well, first of all, when I started the book, I felt as if it would be full of all sort of  cliches , and although they're dismissed at the end, it kept me wary during the rest of the reading. We face a lot of twists like any good crime novel should have, but a little tiring at some points and despite the fact that we may be surprised by who the real killer is, I felt as if the end was a little cold, lacking emotion. Along the way it was almost impossible to determine who the murderer was, and in the end... that person's motive was the weakest part of the plot from my point of view. During one part of the story, we have information concerning another point of view (the killers...

There were no need for words between them, in order to know what either of them was thinking. Shadows Chapter 1

When I was younger, all I wanted was to grow up to be able to make my own decisions. For me, being an adult meant liberty and autonomy. I kept thinking how amazing it would be, being able to do what I wanted, when I wanted. I thought it just meant coming and going whenever I desired, and being able to go out with my friends without explaining myself to anyone. By now, I just wished my toughest decisions would still be the choice between chocolate, vanilla and strawberry flavors for my ice creams... Being an adult is nothing as I had thought, it actually resembles bad advertising, where everything was promised yet nothing really delivered. Nowadays, I feel like a puppet being pushed around, as if life were messing with me, all the while laughing, and the choices I want to make seem outright impossible. In the end, life is just some sort of bad joke.