Tarian Bumi
Rusmini, Oka Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka Utama 183 Pages This masterpiece Novel telling two main woman characters; Telaga and her Mother, Sekar a.k.a Jero Kenanga. Sekar was a Sudra* woman, who was left by his father who joined a communist party. She had a strong willingness marry a Brahmana** because by being a part of Brahmana, she would obtain respect from society and wealthier life. In the other hand at the end of story, Telaga married a Sudra man and was outcasted from her comfortable 'palace'. Tarian Bumi (Earth Dance), tells a number of various Balinese women. Not just about Sekar and Telaga, but also their relatives, friends and acquaintances; a tough lesbian, a high class prostitute, rape victim, idealist dancer, victim of ruthless foreigner, powerful Brahmana, and so on. The book describe strong balinese women to survive the life and to keep faith in Hyang Widhi, such as when Telaga abandoned her wealth family. She had to deal with a hard life as Sudra, in which her mother in law and sister in law also despised her. Also stories about Sudra women who have to work all day to feed the family, whilst the men was described as lazy and unfaithful. Mostly, the main women characters in this story are very strong-willed and could achieve what they want, but most did not embrace the happy ending. The love theme in this story got me consider that love is simple, but rooted culture and society made it a complex thing for Balinese. Overall, this book could depict how significant women roles in Balinese society and how it is possible to be rebel. God gave us affection feeling. Thus, embrace it wholeheartedly and be responsible with the huge consequence. We can choose to be happy and face the consequences or feel regret in a lifetime. In addition, the story still be able to be associated with our society in third world country. Indeed, Tarian Bumi is a thin book with a thick substance. *Sudra: lowest castes in Hinduism **Brahmana: highest castes in Hinduism
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I’ve never thought that a history book can be this amusing and jaw dropping. This masterpiece book of three parts/chapters
On one fine Saturday morning, I took TransJakarta— Jakarta's rapid transit bus— and saw a landmark read “Jakarta city of Collaboration”, whilst at the same time I was finishing the last part of this book. Thus, I contemplate, whom Jakarta is collaborating? Indeed not the proletar.
After reading this book, I can not find any flaw other than a very few miss-spelled and word repetitions. This book is written in sequence by timeline, very clear, congest, and comprehensive. Therefore, as a non fiction book I can not stop reading it, wondering what if I arrive in Jakarta in one of those epochs. Two main themes in this book are continuity and rapid changes in Jakarta. Since its established in 1619, the dutch evicted local people in order to create synthesis Batavia's population; European, chinese, and slave from outside Java. In the 19th century the aculturation of various ethnic group, emerged Betawi ethic and its unique culture. However,the effect of devide et impera politics was still strong in Batavia, in which european was in the exclusive political structure and strategical economics, chinese in manufacture and skilled worker, whereas Eurasia and indigenous became slave and unskilled labour. In 1930ish there was a significant migration flow to Batavia, was one of the reason of the expansion of Batavia for elite namely Waltevreden; european style neighborhood in Menteng, clubs, tram and so on. This book gave me a lot of insight regarding why Jakarta is always facing flood. The fact what happen nowadays are better than in Batavia era, as the city in Asia that has the highest mortality due to typical tropic countries' illness such as malaria and cholera, plus there is no adequate proper health facility. The bad drainage system, made Batavia lack of clean water, a quarter of corpse burried in the cemetary dominated by children under 5 year old. This is hideous, how the Dutch colony did not have any sense of humanity. Things got a little bit change when Japan came and sent the European and chinese to some camps. All european symbols and landmark were replaced, and Melayu language is used. Until Indonesia got its independence, the president had an ambition to develop Jakarta massively to be a facad and representative for Indonesia to international world, however he forgot the substantial issues in Jakarta; the poverty. Entering new order, Ali Sadikin made some realistic policy and among the massive development in Indonesia, Jakarta was also well developed. Nevertheless, the cases of land clearing gave a clear depiction that government is similar to Dutch colony; the comfortability and interest only belongs to the elite and certain groups. But the non-elites group in Jakarta, the majority, is still in struggle, accepting new ideas and culture, and it's inevitable that Jakarta still being the face of Indonesia. The city where I, and a billion young adult like me work and contribute in economic growth. The Diary of Frida Kahlo was the real diary written by Kahlo in the mid-1940s when she was 36 or 37 years old. Famous for streetcar tragic tragedy occurred in her early life on a bus crashed, it got herself to be the main object of artwork she made where her own red blood and a random gold glittery powder over her body in the accident depicted a terrible beauty. Whilst, she had something else: an unintentionally artwork she made that is, later, published and inspired some sort of people; her diary. Despite, she did not mean to make the book- artwork- to be a public consumption, but the beauty and mystery inside it is as magnificent as her name. This book is introduced by Carlos Fuentes explaining Kahlo biography in a brief; the schism of the body, her youth, her suffering, her art, her political ideology and her death that brings life. Before translating and commenting every single page of Kahlo's diary, there's a short essay by Sarah Lowe resuming the essence of Kahlo's diary. She gives a resume of her biography and the value of the diary and the opinion regarding the diary itself.
Admittedly, the diary was a private personal notes to Frida Kahlo. However, the way she paint and write the book has been one of the art world's masterpiece. Interpreting her diary is as tough as a riddle. Her surrealist figures, her self portrait, her chosen various objects of representations (gods, plants, roots, dots, etc.) and her chosen words to express her uttermost feeling makes the reader wondering. To answer that, Carlos Fuentes has given a short but adequate comments to most of Kahlo's diary pages that can lead reader into a deeper understanding in Kahlo's colorful feelings. Lastly, the freely expressed content of her diary will bring the reader to a labyrinth of despair, strength and anguish as it's the process of life. And death is also the part of the process itself.
FIGHT CLUB
Palahniuk, Chuck 1996 208 Pages New York: W. W. Norton & Co. “The insomnia distance of everything, you can’t touch anything and nothing can touch you.” -Joe "You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everyone else, and we are all part of the same compost pile. Our culture has made us all the same. No one is truly white or black or rich, anymore. We all want the same. Individually, we are nothing." -Tyler Durden "Getting God's attention for being bad was better than getting no attention at all. Maybe because God's hate better than His indifference. If you could be either God's worst enemy or nothing, which would you choose? We are God's middle children, with no special place in history and no special attention. Unless we get God's attention, we have no hope of damnation or Redemption. Which is worse, hell or nothing?" -Tyler Durden “After you’ve been to fight club, watching football on television is watching pornography when you could be having great sex.” -Joe I had to admit that I need to skim DSM IV and some article about anarchy before writing this book review- although it does not affect any significant thing here. Fight Club was one of my most favorite movies. By years I figured out that remarkable movie was based on a novel. So I listed it in my to read list and after almost a decade I decided to read the pdf copy of that book. A white collar worker, Joe, was dragged into an anarchy project. The story was started by a detail description of two men on the top of a building. One was holding a gun, another terrified with a gun in his mouth. Two men; Taylor Durdan and the main character (joe?) was trapped in a triangle love. Well, it’s not a romance novel but there is one character named Marla Singer who gave a significant role in the plot even tho she was not taken a lot of scene. The main character got the insomnia, as the quote I cited above. He felt empty and hallow, he went to a therapist and the doctor said “if he wanted to see real pain, he should swing by First Eucharist on a Tuesday night. See the brain parasites. See the degenerative bone diseases. The organic brain dysfunctions. See the cancer patients getting by.” So, he went to those support groups of dying people with different fake names in different groups. After that, he could overcome his problem but then there come Marla Singer who always be there made the main character could not cry and focus on his ‘therapy’. Later on, he met Taylor Durdan randomly and on the plane they talk for the first time. Fight club was held under they creation: every night in a basement of a bar or in a garage, two men per fight, no shoes, no shirts, the fight goes on and on and on as long as it has to. Just like a virus it spreads over the states with the same rules. Moreover, Taylor Durden also created project Mayhem, a sequences of anarchy actions. The plot was pretty fast-because I got the spoiler from the movie. If you had watched the movie, indeed the novel is more comprehensive. This is a brilliant novel from Chuck Palahniuk to insinuating today's life. A monotone life cycle in urban society is a real phenomenon. The boredom leads to emptiness or depressive conditions and how self-harm or insinuating today's life with violence acts as the alternative antidote. After a self-harm, the frustrating phase start to steal public attention by conducting some anarchy actions. Bipolar might be a common term that can be used for Taylor Durdan. But according to some talks with some friends, bipolar with two different identity does not really exist. It was just a series of depression-manic-and hypo episodes; the extreme mood swing with a certain duration. The culture might affect the tendency of bipolar cases. In this novel, the fictionous character might give us a clear depiction of how the eroding cultural values in social construction could cause a serious chaos such as terrorism.
CATCHER IN THE RYE Salinger, Jerome David. 214 pages New York: Little, Brown and Company 1991 Holden Caulfield was a teenage boy who was dropping out from a boarding school thrice before. Caulfield's journey starts when he supposed to return home and tell his parents that he was dropped out (again), yet he escaped instead. In my personal perspective, although Caulfield didn’t pass many subjects at school he was not a stupid student-- this is the major reason why he was dropped out along with his lose temper attitude. He just did not know why he must study those subjects and why he must achieve the best score, with a long term perspective; what does he want to be in the future. Caulfield big brother was a successful young folk who migrated to Hollywood as a writer whereas his little sister, he admitted was a brilliant young girl, she was so smart and either was his little brother who had passed away. Caulfield then stayed in a motel in Manhattan for a few days; got drunk, did some random things and partially attempted to see an ex-girlfriend, his little sister, and eventually his ex-history teacher from his former school to lamented. Overall, in a nutshell, this novel is about teenage rebellion. Was born in new year's 1919 Salinger had created a notable fiction literature although with some controversial. In some countries this novel had been banned due to a suspicion of communism and socialist content. Holden perspective in questioning life and the way he act in the whole story reflecting socialists' aim of life. He was in a serious alienation phase as an adolescence, feeling frustration and very emotional. However, in the end of the story-line Holden figured out what he wanted to be: the Catcher in the Rye. In his interpretation catcher in the rye has a duty to protect the children when they are playing in the rye field so that they are not slipping off the cliff. This novel can be considered as a light and thin novel that you can read in a whole day with a cup of tea or hot chocolate in a lazy weekend. The plot is easy-reading, even though in the beginning it was a little bit boring, particularly in the first chapter, but afterwards I could not stop the rest chapter as I myself had ever known how Holden feels when I was a teenager. Holden Caulfield skeptical thinking along with his bad words could dragged us back as a teenagers, at least in a point of view. |
little noteI love reading since I was an infant, I can't recall the exact age, yet from the very beginning folklore attracted my childhood's fantasy. Archives
December 2017
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