new books, not yet reports

I bought some books today. Two were books I though were even banned in Singapore since I hadn't been able to find them. Anywhere. For like 4 months. Today I spent some time in a very big book store here called Kinokuniya and found the elusive books. So it just turns out all the other stores I had looked at were just poorly stocked and the books wern't banned at all! My faith in Singapore is renewed!

One is called Asiaddict - a graphic novel by a man called Matz!? . You can also view the asiaddict blog here- composed by him and inspired by his book- not the other way around. Living and traveling (or wanting to) around SE Asia, I was interested in his interpretation.

The second is also a graphic novel called Pyongyang (a journey in north Korea) by Guy Delisle. I had read an excerpt of this from The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2006 - an anthology I've been ready each year since it began with the 2002 compilation. Somewhat related, I watched a documentary a few days ago called A State of Mind about two N. Korean girls training in Pyongyang for the Mass Games- the ultimate symbol of communism, emphasizing the group dynamic over individual performance. These performances are amazing... thousands of people are training every day for a chance to honor their nation by being chosen to perform in the games. The devotion these athletes have for their country is really amazing for me when considering how negatively N. Korea is portrayed in western media. The book is somewhat about the author experiencing this blind devotion from the locals while working in Pyongyang for a few months. There are a few links from the wikipedia page to videos of previous games. North Korea is currently the only country that regularly hold Mass Games. There is also another film called The Game of Their Lives I would like to see (the site linked is a little old so bear with it).

The third is called The Shock Doctrine. On the site there is also a short film you can view which pretty much summarizes the content.