Landscapes of A Distant Mother.

 Your smile,

There wasn't one,

You never smiled.

First book down!

Landscapes of A Distant Mother is a biographical book written by Said. It's originally written in German language as Said lived in Munich although he was born in Tehran, Iran.

The book chronicles on life of Said before he met his mother who left him after her divorce with his father, during the meeting with his mother at Toronto, Canada and what happens after the meeting.
Said has been an exile, forced to leave his country due to some political reasons which cause him to never again able to stepped into his birth country and never found the courage or feels the necessity to find his birth mother

It's a simple book, written in simple language but full enough with punch lines that is certain to hit your guts. Reading this book reminds me of Mitch Albom's books with the similarities of using brief, short sentences but able to precisely convey everything and keep the readers captivated until the last page.
 This is a story about a son who never knew who is exactly his mother until that one day where he finally met her after his mother found him and asked for him to come and see her.

I read the book expecting it to ends with good terms, with both Said and his mother feeling contented and finding happiness after being able to see each other after the long separation, but as I was reading it, I realised that this story would never end in happily ever after note.

And as for Said, everything he thought of what a mother could be were proven otherwise after his meeting with her.



Here are a couple of excerpts from the book:

~ 

    ''Mother, you prayed five times, but in the afternoon you only pray three times.''

    Amir breaks in: ''Mama swindles. Even with God.''

   She swears at him loudly, in her own dialect and then in Persian:

    ''My son, you don't joke about things like that.'' 

   She sits down in her armchair:

    ''You're right. I did pray five times, two of them for morning prayer. I cannot get up before sunrise, I'm simply not an early riser. You know, I have my own account with God. He understands me and accepts my morning prayer even in the afternoon. But this godless son of mine who never prays and who drinks alcohol, has to grumble.''

    ''I still say, Mama swindles.'' 

~~

   Perhaps I have become too Westernized, too German; too reflective, too harsh.

   And again, you are too petit bourgeois, too honest, too conformist, too ready to run with the pack, too concerned with material advantages. Too anxious to survive. 

  You have learned too well how to survive. 

  With or without God, Shah, or Khomeini.

~~~

   I stayed outside. I could not find the way in.

   I looked for your landscapes---

   And found that there were no answers there.

  

It's a satisfying read and I could not help but wonder what would be his mother's side of the story after the meeting.

Did she really despise her own son? Does she not feel any connection at all to him? Did she ever smile at the thought of Said? 

Books galore.

 

The other day I happened to be at the Big Bad Wolf book sale and above were the total damage done.

I'm beyond happy.

It's been the longest time since I bought a book, the last time was last year, I think in March or April. 

I used the book vouchers worth of 2 hundred as the books totaled to RM 198. 

I'm hoping to expand my reading genre so I bought a lot of non fictions and also biography books. 

Also bought a couple of books for my nephews, cooking books for my mum and sisters and since my eldest sister is expecting her third child, I wanted to give her a book to comfort a mother to-be, hence the book ' A Cup of Comfort for Mothers' is especially for her. 

My other sister requested for some motivational/inspirational or political books, so I bought a couple of inspirational books like 'How to Save Your Own Life', 'Simplexity' and 'Social Q's'. For political, I couldn't find anything interesting so I bought 'The Bush Tragedy'. 

My book shopping's highlight would be the Paulo Coelho's biography, 'Warrior's Life', Bono's biography, 'Bono on Bono', 'We Are Iran' and 'In the Blink of An Eye'. 

I just finished reading 'Landscape of A Distant Mother', a satisfying read, I would say.

I'm looking forward to read the rest of the books. 

Excited!! 

Alhamdulillah~

Laugh,Cry and Marvel.

백야 (White Night) - 넬 (Nell)

Today, I again fall in and out of love with the detritus of what is left of you, in me.
How you might be.
난 니가 필요해(I need you).
Every time I try to erase you the world crumbles, by the roots.
At the endless time,
Deeply imprinted in all of its space,
your breath is all that remains.
Today, I, again, waste it,
Forcing together the pieces of promises,
Remains of memories.
How you might be.
I can’t get over you.
You just keep shining on and on through my time.
난 니가 필요해(I need you).
Every time I conjure you up the time ices over, by the roots.
My best won’t do.
Every time I breathe, it’s as if your memories are talking to me.
Being left behind and letting it be gone would all be mine.
It wouldn’t come back, as if a movie, as if a lie.
Come back to me.

source

p/s: I'm happy that I got this yesterday for FREE! 

❤

'scared is what you're feeling,
brave is what you're doing.'
-Room by Emma Donoghue(2011)-




'Mother was Mother.' 
'From then on, you sometimes thought of Mother as a child, as a girl, as a young woman,as a newly-wed, as a mother who had just given birth to you.'
-Please Look After Mother by Shin Kyung-sook(2012)-

april's book- have a little faith

a little girl came home from school with a drawing she'd made in class. she danced into the kitchen, where her mother was preparing dinner. mom, guess what?she squealed,waving the drawing. her mother never looked up. what? the mother said tending to the plates. guess what? the child repeated, waving the drawing. what? she tends to the pots. mom, you're not listening. sweetie, yes I am. mom, the child said, you're not listening with your eyes

-page 59, have a little faith, Mitch Albom-