On one Sunday evening I found myself meandering through the streets of a quaint shopping district in Kawasaki. The weekend crowd was nowhere to be seen, which was strange. But it gave me courage and peace enough to walk through streets at my own pace. My walk brought me to a Book Off bookstore that sells second-hand books.
This was a very fortunate find for me, for I have been dying for a good English book to read. Modern literature can be interesting at times but I needed a proper English book that wouldn't be finished within hours. Second hand books would mean books written in proper old English that hasn't yet known the changes introduced by modern English. It would mean words written to be savored and experienced and not sped through just to past time. (I still can't believe it took me less than 8 hours to finish Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. For the record, I hated all the characters in that book.)
English books in Japan are relatively expensive for me. Although, it'll probably cost the same in Malaysia, variety in Japan is to be desired. I've started a small collection of Japanese books but my reading speed is still too slow for me to truly enjoy them. So, for the price of one new foreign book in Japan, I bought three old English books. One is a whodunnit and the other two are series to a fantasy.
The Other Side of Midnight by Sidney Sheldon proved to be just what I needed. It took me three nights to get through the prologue because the characters were so colorful and there were too many to remember. Just the way books were to me when I was 10. It took me three nights to gain momentum because it's been so long since I've read a well-researched book! Each character was carefully thought out, the semblance of historically accurate details set the scene for each unfolding event. The characters were alive!
The one thing I found annoying though was the way Sidney Sheldon tells you of a crime in trial but then he takes an entire book to tell you how it happened (or who were actually involved) before delivering justice in the end. It was a long, drawn-out suspenseful book. I don't think I can go through that again any time soon. (Matthew Reilly has ruined slow-paced books for me.)
I've just started on the other books and if they bring out the need to write in me, I'll blog again.
For those interested in the book: goodreads.com.
