Blog Changes and Re-Organization

The following blogs: [1] Snow World; [2] WebDev; and some portion of [3] Technology Playground will now be part of the revived Laibcoms.Com website. All posts of these blogs located on gameshogun will now serve as archives. No new posts will be posted starting on Sunday, February 1, 2009.

The new XML Feed (Atom 1.0 / RSS 2.0) to follow is: http://feedproxy.google.com/Laibcoms. From hereon, the gameshogun blog will concentrate on Gaming, Game Addiction, Free/Libre Games, and Technologies related to gaming or gamers will be interested.

Thank you very much for your continued patronage.

The Archives:

Blog Changes and Re-Organization

The following blogs: [1] Snow World; [2] WebDev; and some portion of [3] Technology Playground will now be part of the revived Laibcoms.Com website. All posts of these blogs located on gameshogun will now serve as archives. No new posts will be posted starting on Sunday, February 1, 2009.

The new XML Feed (Atom 1.0 / RSS 2.0) to follow is: http://feedproxy.google.com/Laibcoms. From hereon, the gameshogun blog will concentrate on Gaming, Game Addiction, Free/Libre Games, and Technologies related to gaming or gamers will be interested.

Thank you very much for your continued patronage.

The Archives:

Blog Split-Up and Changes

The following blogs: [1] Snow World; [2] WebDev; and some portion of [3] Technology Playground will now be part of the revived Laibcoms.Com website. All posts of these blogs located on gameshogun will now serve as archives. No new posts will be posted starting on Sunday, February 1, 2009.

The new XML Feed (Atom 1.0 / RSS 2.0) to follow is: http://feedproxy.google.com/Laibcoms. From hereon, the gameshogun blog will concentrate on Gaming, Game Addiction, Free/Libre Games, and Technologies related to gaming or gamers will be interested.

Thank you very much for your continued patronage.

The Archives:

Para Kay B by Ricky Lee

Yesterday at midnight, I realized that January would be ending soon and was amazed how time flew by really fast. The thoughts swirling on my head made me panic, picked up Head Games, and read like my life depended on it. It wasn’t hard to be engaged in the story; Christopher Golden is as masterful a story-teller as I remember him to be.

So, not surprisingly, I was in the mood for another good book to absorb. I took Para Kay B (o kung paano dinevastate ng pag-ibig ang 4 out of 5 sa atin), the first novel ever written by veteran writer Ricky Lee, from my bedside shelf (really though, it’s just an overflowing box of unread books) and softly traced the author’s signature with my fingers. I hid a goofy smile and proceeded to turn to the first page to drown myself in his amazing work.

First of all, I have to come clean. It took me 10 minutes to get past the first page. I had to read and reread every word to get them to stick to my mind. The transition from reading an English novel to reading a novel written in Filipino left me feeling a little disoriented. I once had this idea that to completely understand the latter, you’d have to have a completely different mindset. Vince’s Life: The Next Chapter - Getting Over Andrea by Vince Teves was the one that finally trashed that thought.

Cover of Para Kay B, Ricky Lee's first novel

Cover of Para Kay B, Ricky Lee's first novel

Para Kay B puts into “reality” a theory: love has a quota; out of five people in love, only one would end up being happy. A flawed theory, to be sure, but the way the master writer seamlessly weaves five stories together to make his point almost had me thinking, “Hmm. Maybe it’s true.”

This is a romance novel unlike any other. Short and easy read despite some of the big Filipino words used. Ricky Lee does not kid when he says he wrote the book for everybody. It is a book for everybody, meant to be read anywhere. I’d hate to spoil anything so I won’t disclose even a summary, but allow me to say these:

  • First Story: Irene - Bittersweet, cute, awww
  • Second Story: Sandra - Unexpected, [insert Plurk emoticon woot here], wink wink
  • Third Story: Erica - A little dragging, amusing, wonderful, distressing
  • Fourth Story: Ester - Ohoho, slightly ho-hum, haha
  • Fifth Story: Bessie - Pekpek, pakpak, pokpok :lol: (seriously though — @%#&@%$*^@!!!!! Hot damn! *dabs tears* Ahem!)

I don’t know if it’s because I’m a hardcore mystery reader, but as I read the 2nd and 5th stories, I figured out what was going on already, and I knew what was going to happen next. And I had to laugh, because Ricky Lee is so damn brilliant. He captures a reader’s full attention with his wit and humor, and his unquestionable skill to charm even the most reluctant reader.

When I finished the book, I had to whisper to myself, “Shit. Astig.”

What I liked most about Para Kay B is its character-driven stories, with a touch of real socio-political issues. Every character is so real that they can easily be someone you may know personally. Every emotion is there, and is felt. The novel is funny and entertaining, almost perfect, even. Lee’s writing style is anything but traditional, and it bloody works!

However, I have a few gripes with the book. While it’s certainly good to use Taglish for the story to be more “accessible” and “natural,” I think that some sentences tend to read awkward, even slightly forced, with them. And the absence of quotation marks is not comfortable for me at all. I know these are very minor technical stuff and do not in any way affect the simply splendid story, but I felt that they kind of took away a little enjoyment on my part.

And the last chapter. Le sigh. It is fun, and it is there for a reason, and it is written to drive home very good points, and maybe it’s even necessary…but…wow. Chaos? I know it’s supposed to be humorous, but I found some parts quite unfunny, albeit certainly witty. It demonstrates how your characters can suddenly turn against you…for a lot of reasons. Such is every writer’s curse, I guess.

Truth be told, since I’m a sucker for tragic, what-the-hell-happens-next kind of love stories, I would’ve preferred the book to have ended right after the fifth story. Just imagine, no closure, forever wondering who’s the lucky one included in the quota, prompting you to make up your own “happy” ending — that would’ve been awesome. But that’s just me.

I never give marks or ratings for books. It’s either I like them or I don’t. Para Kay B? I love it! Overall a very worthwhile book to read. Plot is strong, tension is tight, and characters are remarkable. You can find several gems of quotable quotes about love. And since Lee perfectly mixes reality and creativity, I guarantee you will spend several minutes, maybe even hours, thinking about what the book is all about and, perhaps, how you can relate to it (or how it affects you). It’s just…it’s so powerful that it stays with you, whether you’re in love or not.

May quota ang pag-ibig. Sa limang taong umiibig, isa lang ang magiging masaya. Yung apat, makaka-relate ng husto sa libro. :p