Book Review: Maeve Binchy - Light A Penny Candle

Whenever I want a read that's light and uncomplicated, Maeve Binchy is one of the authors that I go to.

That's why I am pretty surprised that Light A Penny Candle was actually her very first novel, because unlike the first few books of hers that I've read, Tara Road, Night of Rain and Stars and Scarlet Feather, this one is the most complex, the most expansive and the most interesting.

The time span is also one of the longest, beginning with two female characters who were just children when World War II started, to the point in the ending when they were almost in their 30s, with failed marriages in the late 1950s.

The study in contrasts is also interesting since one of the girls was English, and the other one Irish - one was Catholic and the other one was Protestant. One is from London, one is from the rural part of Ireland.

Also, it's pretty rare for novelists to dwell too much on Catholic practices, but it's one of Maeve Binchy's trademarks - and she doesn't shy away from it.

Light a Penny Candle is a tradition for Catholics - and many Filipinos do it. In the Philippines, it's more like Light a Five Peso Candle since that's how much each candle is worth - but the idea behind the practice is the same - to pray so that a wish comes true.

A lot of things happen in this story and there are a lot of interesting characters to keep the reader busy. Like most of the readers, I do find the ending too abrupt and too bizarre and a bit out of character and theme but it does shake things up a bit. You'd never find a similar ending in any of her others novels as well.

It is probably her longest novel but I had a hard time putting it down.

Our Prayers Go to Brussels

We offer our prayers for the victims and the injured on the terrorist attacks in Brussels today, and in Istanbul and Ankara last week.

It's sad to think that some of those victims just said goodbye to their families to go off to work or to travel for vacation, never knowing the danger that awaited them.

Intelligence and security work have to be strengthened talaga by all countries in the world because the war now has been brought right to the very public spaces we use everyday.

Doing French for a Living

My brother has always chided me for studying French and Spanish and not making money out of that skill.

Well, today, I just closed a deal with a government agency based in an African country to go through their files (written in French) and condense it into a state of education report, written in English.

Yun lang, parang naisahan ako sa charges kasi the country in question, is very poor but when I checked the address of the contact person, he's an African based in Switzerland pala.

I should've charged more LOL

How I Deal With Cynophobia

For years, I've had to strike off my dating list a lot of handsome, intelligent, warm and amiable guys because I have cynophobia.

As soon as I see in their FB pics that they love dogs, I just quietly strike them off my list because I don't want them to see how horror-stricken my face would be if their beloved dog or dogs run to greet me, if I visit them in their condos o! That would be so humiliating!

This, by the way, is Cooper, and he is such a bibo and loving and fierceguard dog. But since I have cynophobia, it's very difficult for me to even hold him.

I think I've held him before but it was like holding a hot kettle. I couldn't wait to drop him and shoo him away from me. It doesn't help that my brothers and Mama are no dog lovers either.

It's even worse outside in the streets of Manila. I could actually write a whole book about how I've had to avoid the stray dogs of Manila and Bangkok - two cities whose residents don't really care about stray dogs.

I love walking in neighborhoods but my cynophobia has made it very hard for me to walk around my own QC neighborhood because there is always a freaking stray dog out there or sometimes five of them, suddenly appearing in my path!

Try walking in Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok at 4AM and see how horrifyingly many stray dogs there are to dodge and keep away from! It has made my quiet walks turn into cynophobian nightmares!

Anyway, I was glad the kiddos got three dogs last year. I think it has made inroads into decreasing my cynophobia. I guess, this frequent interaction with them has slowly helped me cope with it.

See how pathetic I am in this picture. Cooper obviously wants to be picked up and cuddled and here I am, too afraid to pick him up lest he bite me or dig his sharp nails into my body!

I know it's freaking stupid but the phobia is there and it's so hard to overcome! I have no illusions that my cynophobia will ever be cured but as they say, baby steps, baby steps...

Sir Arthur Eddington: Another Gay Scientist Worthy of Emulation

There's another reason young gay men should not hide their true sexual identity.

I just watched this interesting movie entitled "Einstein and Eddington". Yes, we all know who Einstein is, but who is Eddington?

Well, Eddington turns out to be Sir Arthur Eddington, a British scientist, who helped prove Einstein's General Theory of Relativity.

Einstein kasi was a theorist and he needed someone to help him prove that Newton's Laws of Gravity did not hold up in space. Eddington helped him prove it. It was he who was instrumental in making Einstein world-famous.

And he was gay. The British scientific community knew his sexual preference but it was not an issue for them. This was 1914 England ha!

Yun lang, his only difference with the British mathematician Alan Turing was that he was a Quaker, and his deep religiosity kinda reined in his gay desires.

Also, the man he truly loved, died in World War I, ironically, killed by poison gas that German scientists formulated.

So since his true love died, para na ring namatay ang puso nya. O di ba, ang drama ng lola mo! So he just concentrated in his work.

So whatever people like Manny Pacquiao say about you young gay man (or woman) out there, just do your best in your chosen field and the world, in the long run, will not really care who you slept with or f**ked in the bedroom.

It should not stop you from being great, in whatever field you excel in.