ANY, back to business na. Bubuhayin ko na uli yung blog ko. =))))))))))
Favorite book? Hmm. Sa totoo lang, wala akong maisip ngayon. Pero seryosong usapan, I am the kind of person na bigyan mo ng libro babasahin ko agad. Kung pwede nga lang na bilhin na yung isang branch ng National Bookstore or Fully Booked gagawin ko e. Isa sa mga pangarap ko sa buhay e magkaron ng sariling national library sa bahay. =))))
Madami nakong nabasang libro sa tana ng buhay ko. Siguro, ang pinakagusto ko e yung kay Jacqueline Susann na "Valley of the Dolls". Sobrang luma ng libro nyan. Nahalungkat ko lang kasi yan sa mga nakatagong bagay dito sa bahay. Medyo mature na yung mga issues na dinidiscuss sa book na to. tungkol siya sa tatlong babae na pare-parehas na naadik sa drugs (downers to be exact).
Maganda yung storya kasi madaming plots and twists. Madami ring issues na tinatalakay. I have read this book so many times. Kabisado ko na ata yung mga kwento ng buhay nung bawat babae. It's a must-read, I must say. Namulat ang mata ko sa maraming bagay nung first time kong mabasa tong librong to. Truly a classic.
Eto yung plot. Pasensya mahaba. Pero interesting siya. PROMISE!
The novel begins in New York, 1945, and chronicles the story of three young women who embark on careers that bring them to the dizzying heights of fame and eventual self-destruction. The three characters are brought together by a Broadway play called Hit The Sky. Anne Welles has recently arrived from Lawrenceville, Massachusetts with hopes of changing her life in New York City. She lands a job with an agency that represents legendary Broadway star Helen Lawson, who stars in Hit the Sky. Neely O'Hara (who changed her name from Ethel Agnes O'Neill) is a plucky kid with undeniable talent and a background in vaudeville. Neely lives downstairs from Anne and, through her friendship with her, gets a role in the chorus of the play. Jennifer North, a beautiful blonde showgirl with limited talent who is squired around by rich men, appears in the play as well. The three women become fast friends, and share a bond of ambition and the tendency to be involved with the wrong men.
Jennifer's mother constantly hounds her for money via reverse-charge telephone calls from Ohio. Jennifer marries a European prince, but discovers he has no money except what he could earn through advertising endorsements, and that he wanted her to sleep with the advertising executives in order to get contracts. As a private school student in Switzerland, Jennifer had a romance with a female classmate from Spain, but the woman was jealous and possessive, and Jennifer left. This experience taught her that only money buys freedom, and that she does not like being owned by anyone.
Returning to America, Jennifer takes up with nightclub singer Tony Polar. Believing his childish behavior is caused by his overprotective half-sister/manager Miriam, Jennifer eventually persuades Tony to elope, then goes to Hollywood with him as he pursues his career. Shortly thereafter, she becomes pregnant. Upon finding Tony's been unfaithful she decides to leave, but keep the child. Miriam finally explains that Tony has a congenital brain condition that causes seizures and mild mental retardation and will culminate in total insanity. She warns Jennifer that the child is likely to inherit the sickness. Jennifer decides to have an abortion.
Miriam pays Tony's hospital expenses out of his own savings. Jennifer decides independently to perform in French art house films, since she is only highly regarded for her body and is desperate for money owing to her mother's unceasing demands. Jennifer's real ambition is to have children upon whom she will lavish the approval and affection she was denied by her family. Stress and smoking make her an insomniac, and she uses titular "dolls" (barbiturates) sparingly as sleep aids.
Jennifer returns to the United States after years in Europe, where she's gained moderate success as an actress. She meets and falls in love with a middle-aged Republican senator—a childless widower—who has Presidential ambitions. However, she is diagnosed with breast cancer and told she must have a mastectomy and should not have children. In bed, her lover unwittingly mentions that he loves her breasts, becoming overly enthusiastic about it to the point that she believes he, like all men, loves her only for her body. She commits suicide by overdosing.
Neely becomes famous on the Broadway scene, moves to Hollywood to work in movies, and becomes a superstar in Hollywood musicals, even winning an Oscar. She also earns a reputation as demanding, spoiled, and difficult to handle. Her movies earn high returns at the box office, but consistently lose money due to her erratic behavior which causes long shooting periods. Jennifer introduced her to dolls, and she quickly becomes addicted, using "uppers" (Dexedrine) to lose weight and be able to wake herself up in the morning, and barbiturates (Seconal, Nembutal) to sleep. She combines the pills and often uses alcohol to enhance their effect. Following a back injury she also begins using Demerol. Her addiction grows to a serious and dangerous point. After numerous suicide attempts, a year long black list from the entertainment world and two failed marriages, Anne has Neely committed to a psychiatric hospital. Upon release she works with agent Lyon Burke to revitalize her career and quickly returns to her vicious, arrogant behavior. She begins a relationship with Lyon, despite the fact that he is married to her close friend Anne. Her attraction to the dolls is too strong, and she seems to spiral into a final decline.
Anne fares the best of all three. Even in her administrative job, her beauty and class are obvious to everyone. Shortly after she arrives in New York, millionaire Allen Cooper falls for her after only six weeks of dating, and demands her hand in marriage. Anne, not ready to settle down so quickly, repeatedly refuses. During an out of town trip for the debut of Hit the Sky, Anne realizes that she is in love with handsome and charming Lyon Burke, a lawyer at the agency. When she tells Allen, he angrily breaks off the relationship, much to Anne's relief; but Lyon is not ready for a serious relationship with her. She remains in love with him for years, even when she has become a successful model and has a relationship with an older man who owns a cosmetics company. Lyon comes back into her life, and she more or less tricks him into marrying her. She has a daughter, whom she names Jennifer after her now deceased friend. She raises her young daughter to be more independent minded hoping that she will not repeat the same mistakes in life and with men that she did. Angry about the way she "emasculated" him, Lyon continues to have affairs, including with Neely. Anne stays with Lyon, falling under the allure of the dolls and using them to sleep, escaping the reality of her life.
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