I decided to put together a list of some of things I find to be quite excellent. Scroll down or follow the links to the right, and take a look at some of my favorite books, movies, music, etc. Perhaps you like them too? Perhaps you'll like them after reading about them? If nothing else, this page should give you an idea of my personal tastes.
I decided to read Nineteen Eighty-Four, mainly because I had heard countless references to it by many intelligent people. Christopher Hitchens wrote a book about Orwell, and clearly liked his work. So I decided to read it one week, and I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Orwell touches on so many subjects in this text, from the struggle against oppression, the value of language, freedom of speech, love, betrayal, the breaking of the human spirit by torture, I absolutely adore this book. I implore you to read it. After reading the book, I watched the movie. Which was woefully disappointing. No doubt they did an excellent job producing the film, but I will have to be one of those people who say "the book was better", and it truly was.
Die Verwandlung (The Metamorphosis), by Franz Kafka.
Though the novella was originally written in German nearly 100 years ago, my goodness was it short and sweet. From the very first page I was enthralled, humorously because of the rather disconnected dialogue of Gregor Samsa; he seemed so concerned with his life as it was before he woke up, that he was ignoring the gravity of the situation he found himself in after waking from "troubling dreams". This story amazes me because of how short it was, and how much emotion I found myself feeling. Samsa had so much care for his family, and he was the glue that bound his family together, and in a matter of months his value would change to something the cleaning lady treated as an ugly pet, and without a second thought disposed of with a smile. I felt for him, he loved his sister so much, he wanted to send her to music school, but sadly his situation ruined those dreams he had for her. This story was amazing, sad, and uniquely real to me.
Lolita, by Влади́мир Влади́мирович Набо́ков (Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov)
This novel shocked me, and not just because of its theme or content, but the age it came from. Maybe it's the picture your "seniors" paint for you, that makes you think that things were more conservative and "clean" back then. I really admire Nabakov for his language skills, writing this book beautifully in English, even though his native language is Russian. Nabakov had a fantastic skill (I would argue like Hemingway) of capturing in his mind's eye, and putting to paper, the details of a situation. A beautifully worded description of the scene, the mood, the nuances of the dialogue. I bothered to watch the film based on the book, which again disappointed. It completely ignored the childhood of Humbert Humbert, his childhood love Annabel, which I believe is fundamental in understanding who he was. The novel was filled with a mixture of hilarious, disturbing, sad, and youthfully rebellious scenes. Some people call it a love story, but I think that's slightly inaccurate, well, it's a one-sided love story. In his own twisted way, I believe Humbert loved Dolores Haze. Lolita took advantage of the situation in her own way, but her life was full of pain and unfortunate circumstances. It was sad, but sort of heartening, when Lolita ran into Humbert's arms after the pain of losing her mother set in. He was all she had at that moment, no matter the situation. Ahh! It was an excellent novel all around, and must be mentioned here.
Преступлéние и наказáние (Crime and Punishment), by Фёдор Миха́йлович Достое́вский (Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky)
Oh how I wish my Russian was sufficient to read this in the original form. Before I continue, it would be misleading to go any further without clarifying that I haven't finished this book yet. But how great it is, and how great it seems it will be. I cannot wait to see this to the end. And the life story of Dostoyevsky makes me feel he is more than qualified to give an honest dialogue about the topic at hand. I will write a more meaningful review when I get time after finishing it.
Music
Amy Winehouse
Frank Sinatra
Green Day
Michale Bublé
Marilyn Manson
Nirvana
Bing Crosby
The Ink Spots
Lady Gaga
Johnny Cash
The Spice Girls
Rage Against the Machine
The White Stripes
Outkast
Ludacris
Snoop Dogg
Celine Dion
Savage Garden
Usher
Billie Holiday
Metallica
Kanye West
Boyz II Men
Rodrigo y Gabriela
애프터스쿨 (After School)
에일리 (Ailee)
최지나 (G.Na / Choi Gina)
브라운 아이드 걸스 (Brown Eyed Girls)
포미닛 (4 Minute)
에이핑크 (A Pink)
백지영 (Baek Ji-Young)
미쓰에이 (Miss A)
아이유 (IU)
원더걸스 (The Wonder Girls)
티아라 (T-ara)
카라 (KARA)
씨스타 (SISTAR)
시크릿 (Secret)
권보아 (BoA Kwon)
BoA is my favorite Korean singer, though she sings in Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and English. Her genres vary from cute pop, hip-hop, rap, R&B, Classical, Big-Band, pretty much everything. I now own every Korean album she has ever released, some of her Japanese albums, and of course her English album I which I own two copies (hoping to get one signed one day). Needless to say, I'm a life-long fan. She is amazing, so she deserves it.
伊藤 由奈 (Yuna Ito)
Yuna Ito is my favorite Japanese language singer. Her voice is amazing, and her songs are beautiful. She is an American Citizen, born to Korean and Japanese parents. I bought her album "Heart" in 2007, and some of my favorite songs of all time are on there. Her songs "Truth", "Endless Story", "Wish", "Precious", "Faith", and her duet with Celine Dion "A World To Believe In", are my favorites.
소녀시대 (Girls' Generation)
Oh 소녀시대! Oh! ^_^
SNSD, as it is often written in English, is a nine-member South Korean female group which I thoroughly enjoy listening to. I realize, I realize, they aren't Mozart, or even Bing Crosby. But they're ADORABLE! And it's art, so I'll enjoy whatever I like. Here are some of my favorite songs of theirs that their record label posted on YouTube.
Film
The Matrix
GoldenEye (James Bond)
The Fifth Element
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
Inglourious Basterds
Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly)
