Sepeda Merah

Title: Sepeda Merah Vol.1 Yahwari
Original Title: Bbalgan Jajeongeo #1
Author: Kim Dong Hwa
Publisher: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama (2012)
ISBN: 9789792287769
Pages: 144 pages
Original Published Date: 2003

Title: Sepeda Merah Vol.2 Bunga-Bunga Hollyhocks

Original Title: Bbalgan Jajeongeo #2

Author: Kim Dong Hwa 

Publisher: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama (2012)

ISBN: 9789792287776

Pages: 144 pages

Original Published Date: 2003

Boleh pinjam jempolnya? Aku pengin ngasih 5 jempol untuk ilustrasi-ilustrasi buku ini yang luar biasa indah. Menyejukkan. Ditambah lagi karena dicetak full-color *pantesan mahal* semua warna-warnanya, yang pastel lembut maupun yang ngepop cerah, menjadikan sebuah pesta meriah bagi mata. Sedangkan kisah-kisahnya yang sederhana, mengalir perlahan, meneduhkan hati dan pikiran.

Benang merah sketsa ini adalah seorang tukang pos yang berkeliling wilayah Yahwari, sebuah daerah pedalaman di Korea, menggunakan sepeda merahnya. Pak Pos tanpa nama ini adalah seorang yang ramah, baik hati dan tidak segan-segan bertukar sepatah-dua patah kata dengan para warganya. Ia juga tidak pernah menolak jika dimintai pertolongan mengirimkan berbagai macam hal dalam perjalanannya. Satu lagi, menurut aku, dia adalah Pak Pos paling romantis di seluruh dunia, seorang yang melihat keindahan di setiap kelopak bunga, tiupan angin dan semerbak musim. Tipe orang yang sangat cocok di wilayah pedesaan yang tenang.

Berbagai kisah unik bermunculan di sini. Mulai dari alamat-alamat yang super ajaib *rumah di antara dua pinus*, kisah sedih tentang seorang wanita yang sakit namun tetap bersyukur, tentang ayah yang mengkhawatirkan putrinya, tentang ibu yang selalu menunggu kedatangan putranya dan tentang usia dan keriput di wajah. Semuanya menarik, namun kisah favoritku adalah tentang seorang bocah yang memandangi sejumlah kaos kaki yang sedang dijemur. Yang baru untuk si sulung, yang paling bagus untuk si bungsu. Lalu panelnya menuliskan pesan bahwa kita menjadi bodoh saat menjadi Ayah, karena sang ayah selalu memilih yang rada usang dan bolong meskipun dia yang pertama memilih. Duh...dalem! Menyentuh.

Sedangkan di seri kedua, seperti juga seri pertamanya, masih menyajikan gambar-gambar indah dan kisah-kisah sederhana. Hanya saja si pak pos tidak selalu muncul, ataupun tampak hanya di latar belakang. Beberapa tokoh lama juga muncul kembali sehingga semakin meneguhkan kesan kehidupan sebuah desa yang sudah kita kenal di buku pertamanya.

Kisah yang paling lucu adalah ketika si pak pos ini mendapat pelatihan, sehingga surat-surat yang belum terkirim memumpuk di kantor pos. Akhirnya pak kepala kantor sendiri yang bermaksud mengantar ke penerimanya masing-masing. Bayangkan saja kebingungan si bapak membaca alamat-alamat ajaib khas desa Yahwari: rumah yang cerah, rumah dengan anggrek yang indah, nenek berbicara kotor dan rumah si kembar. Wakakaka....

***

Tapi ini membuatku jadi teringat tentang pak pos-ku sendiri. Beberapa waktu lalu sebuah surat undangan yang dikirim dari seorang teman lama dari luar kota untuk Bapak-Ibu saya, yang entah bagaimana terkirim lewat pos. Layaknya undangan, alamat penerimanya hanya ditulis sekedarnya saja, hanya nama plus wilayah dan kotanya saja. Anehnya, undangan itu benar-benar sampai dengan selamat sentausa di rumah. Waktu aku, dengan isengnya, menanyakan hal ini ke si pak pos, dengan entengnya beliau berkata kalo dia sudah bertugas di sini lebih dari 20 tahun *eh, benarkah?* dan hafal nama dan alamat sebagian besar warga 'lama' di wilayahnya. Lalu... beliau menyebutkan nama lengkapku. Weleh weleh pak pos...pak pos! Sampai kapan pun tampaknya personalisasi pekerjaan yang satu ini memang tak tergantikan ya.

Eating Animal

Title: Eating Animals
Original Title: Eating Animals
Author: Jonathan Safran Foer
Publisher: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama (2010)
ISBN: 9789792263282
Pages: 328 pages
Original Published Date: November 2009

Apa lauk makan siang hari ini? Ayam, ikan atau daging sapi? Apapun itu, sedikit banyak saya bersyukur karena di Indonesia kebanyakan peternakan yang ada masihlah peternakan tradisional, bukan factory farming/peternakan pabrik seperti di Amerika dan Eropa sana (sebuah trend yang sekarang juga sudah mulai merambah India dan Cina). Buku ini mengulas detail-detail asal-usul produk hewani ala factory farming yang tersaji di piring makan masyarakat luas di Amerika. Jika di Indonesia sempat marak kasus daging sapi glonggongan (sapi yang dipaksa minum bergalon-galon air sebelum dibawa ke tempat penjagalan, agar bobotnya bertambah), dan itu bagi kebanyakan orang sudah membuat bergidik akan ketidakberperikehewanannya, maka dalam buku ini akan dipaparkan kekejaman yang berpuluh kali lebih sadis. Yang lebih menakutkan lagi, kekejaman ini dilakukan dengan sadar, terencana, dalam skala industri masif dan 'direstui' oleh pemerintah, baik federal dan negara bagian.

Video dari Youtube berikut mungkin dapat memberi gambaran singkat tentang isi buku. (Peringatan: meski sudah saya carikan yang paling mild dari banyak video yang ada -just search for keyword 'meet your meat' or 'factory farming'- tapi tetap ini viewer discretion's adviced. Watched on your own risk.)



Ayam
Species ayam yang diternakkan direkayasa secara khusus, hingga punya dada super mentok, paha berdaging, dan kaki pendek. Ketidakproporsional bentuk tubuh ini adalah kecacatan yang disengaja. Ini masih ditambah pemilihan gen gemuk, suntikan hormon pertumbuhan dan antibiotika nonterapeutik (yang pada gilirannya mengakibatkan kekebalan antibiotik pada manusia) dan pengaturan lampu ruangan agar ayam makan terus menerus selama 39 hari masa kehidupannya.

Kandang ayam standar di peternakan pabrik berukuran 18 x 150 m2, berisi sekitar 50.000 ayam. Jadi ambil sehelai kertas A4 di meja Anda, lipat jadi 2, itulah kira-kira besar ruang untuk masing-masing ayam. (*dulu waktu masih jadi roker -rombongan kereta- naik krl pagi sering teriak, 'gerbongnya udah penuh kayak sarden.' sebuah ungkapan yg ternyata kurang kena.... harusnya 'udah penuh kayak ayam di peternakan pabrik!'*) Untuk mencegah ayam-ayam berkelahi dan saling bunuh di ruang sempit, paruh anak ayam berusia 7 hari dipotong menggunakan pisau panas.

Akibatnya, ayam jadi bola bundar, hidup diantara kotoran dan bangkai teman-teman sesama ayam, selalu kesakitan, stres, sakit jantung dan tidak biasa/bisa berjalan.

Kekejaman proses pengangkutan dan penjagalan jangan dibahas lagi deh. Rata-rata 105 ekor ayam per 3,5 menit. *Boro-boro jagalnya sempet baca Basmallah #eh?*

* catatan pemerintah, 95% ayam di peternakan terinfeksi bakteri E.Coli dan 75% daging ayam yang dijual di toko masih terinfeksi (hal.128)

Ikan
Dalam peternakan Salmon, air yang digunakan sangat tercemar dan kotor hingga kutu laut berkumpul sampai 30 ribu kali lipat daripada yang terjadi di alam. Kutu ini punya istilah beken dalam industri, yaitu Death Crown, karena mereka membuat borok dan memakan ikan sampai ke dagingnya di bagian kepala.
Saat panen, ikan-ikan salmon ini dipotong insangnya, dan dibiarkan sampai mati kehabisan darah.

Ok, bagaimana dengan ikan hasil tangkapan di laut. Pukat harimau yang paling umum digunakan nelayan di Amerika untuk menangkap udang, membuang 80-90% hasil tangkapannya (ikan apa saja termasuk hiu, lumba-lumba, paus dan pari, kepiting, cumi-cumi, kerang, albatros dan penyu) kembali ke laut.... dalam keadaan mati! (hal 185)

Babi
Babi betina indukan dibuat bunting sesering mungkin sepanjang hidupnya. Suntikan hormon diberikan agar semua bayi babi lahir dalam waktu bersamaan, kemudian dalam 3 minggu, induk bayi sudah diinseminasi kembali. Selama kehamilan, babi dikurung dalam kandang yang sangat pas badan, hingga ia bahkan tidak dapat berbalik badan ataupun berbaring dengan sempurna. Borok dan nanah yang terjadi akibat kurang gerak adalah hal lumrah.

Banyak anak babi yang lahir cacat. Mereka dibunuh dengan cara dibanting (begitu juga nasib anak babi yang dalam sekian hari tidak mencapai berat tertentu - banting sampai mati!) Anak babi yang beruntung lahir tidak cacat, dipotong ekornya dan dicabut gigi taringnya. Dalam 10 hari, anak babi jantan dicabut pelirnya, karena konsumen lebih doyan rasa daging hewan kebiri. Sementara itu, hormon pertumbuhan dan antibiotika nonterapeutik wajib hukumnya. (*jangan bayangin anak babi lutju macam film Babe: Pig in the City deh, tambah ngenes jadinya*)

Sekali lagi, proses pengangkutan dan penjagalan lebih baik tidak dibahas. Mual saya membacanya.

* Satu peternakan babi dapat memproduksi 3200 ton lebih limbah kotoran per tahun. Banyak sekali tahi, yang dikelola secara asal-asalan, merembes ke sungai, danau dan laut, membunuh kehidupan liar dan mencemari udara, air, tanah. (hal 169)

* Sumber pertama wabah flu babi H1N1 adalah peternakan pabrik babi di North Carolina. Di peternakan pabrik juga, para ilmuwan melihat virus yang memadukan materi genetis dari virus burung, babi dan manusia. Enam dari delapan segmen genetik virus yang sekarang paling ditakuti di dunia berasal dari peternakan pabrik di Amerika (hal 139)

Sapi
Nasib sapi ternak pabrik tidak begitu berbeda dengan babi. Selain potong pelir, tanduk mereka juga dipotong, dan badan dicap dengan besi panas.

Sapi yang secara natural adalah herbivora, sekarang diberi pangan yang juga termasuk darah sapi dari rumah jagal, sisa-sisa tulang pendahulunya, sampah dan entah apa lagi.

***

Jadi meski dalam 50 tahun terakhir, harga mobil baru di Amerika naik 1400%, namun harga susu hanya naik 350%, harga telur dan ayam bahkan belum berlipat ganda. Dengan mempertimbangkan inflasi, harga protein hewani saat terendah sepanjang masa. Namun apakah itu sepadan dengan tingginya tingkat obesitas, diabetes, tingginya tekanan darah, zat karsinogen, ketidakefektivan antibiotik, dan perkembangan sekian banyak virus dan bakteri? Apakah juga sepadan dengan dengan hilangnya rasa kasihan dan peri-kehewanan, yaitu nama lain dari rasa kemanusiaan kita sendiri?

Meningkatnya jumlah produk hewani ini juga tidak lalu menurunkan angka kelaparan dunia. Hari ini baru 16% produk hewani menjadi makanan orang Cina, namun hewan ternak telah menghabiskan 50% lebih konsumsi air negeri tersebut. Tahun 2050 ternak sedunia akan menghabiskan jatah padi-padian yang cukup untuk memberi makan 4 Miliar manusia. (hal. 254)

Bukankah sia-sia, jika untuk setiap produk kosmetik kita bersusah payah mencari yang 'free animal testing' namun jika pada kenyataannya menu makan siang kita masih berasal dari tempat seperti itu (dan di Amerika sana, lebih dari 90% produk hewani yang beredar di toko retail, berasal dari peternakan pabrik!). Mungkin Indonesia belum sampai pada tahap ini, tapi harusnya fakta-fakta ini diketahui sebelum kita harus mengambil keputusan di hari esok.

Neuromancer

Title: Neuromancer
Original Title: Neuromancer
Author: William Gibson
Publisher: Jalasutra (2010)
ISBN: 9786028252430
Pages: 392 pages
Original Published Date: 1984

Blurb di cover belakang bukunya tertulis sebagai berikut:
"Sebuah novel debut yang dirancang untuk mengejutkan otak... Fiksi ilmiah jalanan yang dengan kecerdasannya dalam mendalami karakter dan situasi membuat novel ini menjadi salah satu dari narasi tak biasa untuk dibaca dalam beberapa kesempatan yang langka" -THE TIMES-

Kenyataannya, otak saya benar-benar 'terkejut' membaca kalimat-kalimat dalam buku ini. Bukan karena ceritanya, -saya sudah menyangka ceritanya bakal dahsyat seperti itu-, tapi lebih karena tata bahasa, istilah dan... apa ya... 'keselarasan kalimat' yah katakan saja demikian. Awalnya sangka saya, memang demikianlah adanya, mengingat buku ini dianggap sebagai pelopor sebuah genre baru -cyberpunk- dalam pengkisahannya. Tapi kian lama, kok terasa makin amburadul.

Kalimat ini menjadi puncak kesabaran saya.

"Tanpa cola, tanpa amfetamin, tapi tinggi, harus tinggi." Dan terlalu berlebihan untuk itu, pikirnya murung, menahan senyum untuk perempuan itu.
"Betaphenetilamin," katanya. "Tanpa pemanis, tapi bayar dengan chipmu." (hal.197)

Ha..??!? I really don't get what this supposed to mean.
I had enough. Let's google the original book instead!!

'No coke, no amphetamines, but up, gotta be up.' And so much for that, he thought glumly, holding his smile for her.
'Betaphenethylamine,' she said. 'No sweat, but it's on your chip.'

OMG!
Coke = cola??!
Translator, pleaseeee.... this is a drug dealer scene, not ordering menu on McD or KFC. Don't you think cocain would fits better there??!?
Not to mention sweat you see as 'pemanis'.

And so that's the end for this book's edition. I'd rather re-read it the original than to make sense of this one. (so glad that I do, because even after just page 1, the story is getting much more logical). It's not just mis-translated words by words, it mis-translated the whole meaning.

Here's another example:
Kawasan dermaga dan kawasan kota dipisahkan dengan jalan-jalan tua sebagai pembatas wilayah, sebuah daerah yang tak memiliki nama resmi, Night city, dengan Ninsei sebagai jantungnya. Semakin hari, bar-bar yang ada di Ninsei digusur dan tampak tak menarik, lampu-lampu neonnya mati, proyeksi hologramnya redup, menanti, di bawah langit perak yang terpolusi.(hal. 9)

Port and city were divided by a narrow borderland of older streets, an area with no official name. Night City, with Ninsei its heart. By day, the bars down Ninsei were shuttered and featureless, the neon dead, the holograms inert, waiting, under the poisoned silver sky.

Or like this smart a** odd complex translation:
Night City menjadi seperti eksperimen sosial yang menyakitkan dalam pengertian Drawinisme -transmutasi evolusi manusia menuju taraf kehidupan yang lebih buruk- yang dikembangkan oleh peneliti yang merasa jenuh dan terus saja menghendaki perubahan kehidupan umat manusia berkembang dengan sangat cepat.(hal. 10)

Night City was like a deranged experiment in social Darwinism, designed by a bored researcher who kept one thumb permanently on the fast-forward button. 

So in short sentence, this book is waaaaayyyy....

LOST IN TRANSLATION

What a waste of my time.
What a shame for original masterpiece!! :(

Le Rocher de Tanios (Cadas Tanios)

Title: Cadas Tanios
Author: Amin Maalouf
Publisher: Yayasan Obor Indonesia (1999)
ISBN: 9794613223
Pages: 262 pages
Original Title: Le Rocher de Tanios
Original Published Date: 1993

I tried to read Balthasar's Odissey (by the same author) several times before, and always stopped in the middle of the book. So was Samarkand, it take a looooong time to crunched in. So no wonder I had doubt to picked up this book, even tough the old books seller sworn of it greatness (he's quite good of picking books of my taste). Well I had to admitted, I was wrong. Cadas Tanios is really-really recomended.

Tanios was a young man that even in his time of birth had brought a bad mouth, condemned by uncertainty of who his real father was. In his young time, his thrist of knowledge forced him to faced the politication of his village's geographical location and power strugling of other countries (btw, his village called Kfaryabda, a mountain area in Lebanon, which the only way to find it on the map is by using the most detail regional map and using a magnifier glass to looked - p.88). Then, his puppy love for a girl brought him, and his father, to a twisted fate of destiny, one that ended by making him an accidental hero which he would never expected. This thus led to a decission which may... or may not... change the destiny of his people through generations.

The story of Tanios was not just a story of a young boy who was born with the shadow of bad karma. It was also a story of a nation in the middle of nowhere mountain which was trapped in the shadow of power shifting between Egypt and Turk, French and Britain, and the strugle of religion domination between Islamic, Katholik and English Church. And it was a story of people made mistakes and lived with it.

It was beautifully written. Realistic without over the head romance nor political agenda. I also really like the open ending which gave the readers the room to imagining things. I myself choose to believe what Nader said about a ship sailed to picked him up and brought him back to Thamar. One thing for sure, this novel is definetly my favorite.

***

Untuk edisi bahasa indonesia ini, terjemahannya sangat enak dibaca. Suka penterjemahan 'tetek kuntilanak' dan 'kearifan pedagang keliling'. Beberapa istilah dibiarkan dalam bahasa aslinya, seperti Cheikh atau Bouna, Khayye dan Bayye, sehingga citarasa timur tengah-nya lebih terasa. Namun beberapa nama tempat, seperti Beyrouth, tetap dituliskan dalam ejaan Perancis, sehingga terkadang butuh beberapa detik untuk menyadari maksudnya.
Ada sedikit typo di sana-sini, tidak terlalu mengganggu, namun satu yang sungguh mencolok mata, adalah typo di sinopsis cerita di sampul belakang, yang salah mengeja nama tokoh utama sekaligus judul buku ini. Kok bisa gitu lhoooo.... *rolling eyes*

***

Did a little googling just now, and found some pictures of Kfaryabda's Rocks (or Kfarabida at most spelling).
This is my fav pic. Not really sure which one is Tanios'. :p

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

I must admit, before I started reading this book, I had an idea about what it was all about, this wasn't a fairy tale, it was a ghetto story. Okay, it wasn't a problem, although I had never really read books of Der Fuhrer's cruelty, I had seen movies about it, Schlinder's List (still had goosebumps), La Vita e Bella (tragically funny) and The Pianist (touching).

First time holding the book, my impression was: it was thin, not as thick as I expected. The cover was stripped, just liked the the title, just liked my memories of the inmate's uniform in movies. What is more tickle was the synopsis in the back cover. ...sooner or later, you will come in that fence, with Bruno....
hhmmpphh......

I was not hoping much from this book, but I got more. Much more than my expectation.

This book was taking a very unusual point of view. The story of misery from the eye of a boy. Not the boy that lived the misery, but another boy, with the same age as him, near him, but had very little touch with him. Playing with him, but always in the different side of destiny's fence. More over, the father of this boy was the one who responsible of the suffering of the hundreds thousand soul in the next yard.

This pure naivete which came from absolute insolent was enabling a bizarre tangled of friendship between the two boys. The absent of angry rage nor arrogance, the lack of narrow patriotism, ideology and nationality awareness, shrunken any suspicious there was and yield a childish faith that exceed the boundaries of war.

If all this ended in the choice that Bruno's did in that fence, did that mean we should judge it as fatal stupidity of unaware child, or shouldn't we consider it was a valuable lesson (bitter as it was, still as valuable as it is) which meant for all adults who think to know all.

The end of the story which told very very short from its climax, made the deepest impression. Even after the book closed, the echo of remorse still clings inside your head.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Cyn's review in Goodreads

I HATE HARRY POTTER

I hate Harry Potter books. Those books are soooo gooooood that I almost forget every fantasy book I read before and lost interest to read any after them. And every attempt to compare this story to another would make me consider it's an act of insult. Well... almost every time. Some other time it just made me laugh out loud 'cause I think it's not even in the same level.

The only classic that I do remember is Lord of The Rings Trilogy. So if that story could last for so many years, with so many permanent lovers and still attract so many young virgin readers, I do believe that Harry Potter books will do as much, and even more. The boy survived. The books will too.

Some, very few, fantasy books does survive my lack of desire to read. And most of them get my sneer after, other get a sigh of disappointments. Like Bartimeaus Trilogy, a nice well written story, with smart talks, and bring a new perspective and new point of view. Very good. I just hate the ending. I mean I know that IS best ending, honest, heroic, beautiful.... But it also made the last impression was emptiness (..and I still gave this books a four stars, my..my... what happened to me???..)

Or the story of a dragon name Saphira and her Rider, which I wait for the third and "told to be" the last book with the same anticipation like Deathly Hallows. Then it disappointed me even before it released, because it's not the last one, it's not going to be trilogy, it's going to expand into a cycle, bla..bla..bla... I still read it though, and it was good and exciting and yes, I do still waiting for the rest of the story, but not with the same excitement anymore. It's more like caution. Will it be the last, or it still be continued on? I do not like this feeling. Whether it's seven or three (or four), I prefer to see the limit.

Another was a story published before Philosopher's Stone from a writer down under. It's about a magicians guild and the practice of black magic. Some were asking whether this story is inspired by Harry Potter (which is impossible considering the time line), I said.. yeah right, I don't even see the similarity... or the class. People...please....

And then there were a vampire story everyone buzzing around. In the book club, in the forums, advertising from bookstores. It's the next Harry Potter. It's even bigger than Harry Potter. The movie even shifting HP6 movie schedule released. OK, lets find out. Book one, wow..., it hooked me and I couldn’t let this book down. Book two, ehmm... well... it's OK, I think. Book three, say what...??! Book four.... oh, common... what ridiculous thing it is... (and if u think albus severus potter was a rather compulsive name, try Renesmee, ha!)

So, by and by, I really hate Harry Potter. Those books are so good, that everything before was indistinct and everything after is insipid or wrong. That's all I had to say. Now, I crave to read Half Blood Prince again (for the gazillion time), to mourn for Dumbledore and to try understand Snape a little bit more.

ALL HAIL DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY!

Cari Aku di Canti

Kumpulan Cerpen oleh Wa Ode Wulan Ratna

Aku ingin jadi daun, jadi ranting, jadi embun dan angin. Sekedar menyadap bau-bau rerumputan siangik, paku rangsang, dan ilalang menguning. Mengukuhkan pohon-pohon sialang, sikaduduk, kempas, rumbai dan batang-batang sungkai.Melarutkan diri dalam keberadaan.

Atau aku menjadi laut saja yang bergemuruh, bergelombang. Yang membasahkan segala pasir di tepian dan menghanyutkan setiap rasa yang membelenggu hati. Tapi, aku takut jika harus menguap sebab terbakar matahari, sungguh aku takut. Karena aku tahu kau tak akan dapat menemukan jejak asin yang kutinggalkan pada pasir, pada karang, dan pada Krakatau yang menjulang, sehingga Canti hanya tinggal sketsa kusam saja yang terselip di antara puing-puing rinduku padamu.

---

Sungguh.... ini permainan kata-kata yang indah menawan ditulis dengan latar daerah yang pekat dan tema yang sarat. Kejutan dalam sastra anak negri yang menyenangkan. Bravo!!

Cala Ibi

Bapakku anggrek bulan, putih dari hutan. Ibuku mawar merah di taman, dekat pagar pekarangan. Bertemu suatu pagi di pelabuhan. Melahirkanku. Bayi merah muda kemboja. Bunga kuburan.

Bapakku bening air kelapa muda. Ibuku sirup merah kental manis buatan sendiri. Aku Bloody Mary. Jumat malam alkoholik, happy hours, Jumat pagi robotik.

Damn.... It has been 3 weeks that I read this novel, and I'm not quite finished it. Not even close. And more curse for it cause it has beautiful paragraph and I could not lacking interest to keep read it.

This novel is Sapardi's kind, when words and language's faith is being questioned as far as the contain of the story it self.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Christopher John Francis Boone, 15 years old boy, genius in math but has so little understanding of human emotion. He knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but cannot stand to be touched. Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, Christopher is autistic. He has Asperger syndrom.

His everyday life runs in order, routinity and predictability, sheltering him from messy unlogic world he hardly understand. Then one day this became upside down when he found a neighbour's dog died impaled on a garden fork. This when the story begin.

Christopher decides that he will track down the real killer and turns to his favorite fictional character, the impeccably logical Sherlock Holmes, for inspiration. But the investigation leads him down some unexpected paths. It also required him to go beyond his small safe world when he found out the secret about his mother and feels he cannot trust his father anymore. As he tries to deal with the crisis within his own family, we are drawn into the workings of Christopher’s mind.

Using the simple subject-verb-object sentence pattern in which Christopher tries to order and communicate with his world, Haddon tells his story with warmth and often humor, making us see and understand Christopher's problems at the same time that we experience everyone else's frustrations in dealing with him. All Christopher's conversations and the events he experiences are recalled from his own point of view, and the reader can easily see how difficult his world is, both for him and for those around him. During the journey of this book we can see how Christopher grows to face this overwhelming world. While the book's story and point of view are matters of commendatory, the chapter of this book is also add an uniquness, it count only in prime numbers -- so Christopher!! ;)

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a comedy, a heartbreaker, a mystery story, a novel of exceptional literary merit that is great fun to read. It has won both the Whitbread Novel of the Year and the overall winner in 2004.

The writer, Mark Haddon teaches creative writing for the Arvon Foundation and at Oxford University. As a young man, Haddon worked with autistic individuals. He is a writer and illustrator of several award-winning children's books and television screenplays.

Terjemahan Bahasa Indonesia, diterbitkan oleh Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia dengan judul Insiden Anjing di Tengah Malam yang Bikin Penasaran

Yann Martel's Life of Pi

From the publisher :
Growing up in Pondicherry, India, Piscine Molitor Patel -- known as Pi -- has a rich life. Bookish by nature, young Pi acquires a broad knowledge of not only the great religious texts but of all literature, and has a great curiosity about how the world works. His family runs the local zoo, and he spends many of his days among goats, hippos, swans, and bears, developing his own theories about the nature of animals and how human nature conforms to it. Pi’s family life is quite happy, even though his brother picks on him and his parents aren’t quite sure how to accept his decision to simultaneously embrace and practise three religions -- Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam.
But despite the lush and nurturing variety of Pi’s world, there are broad political changes afoot in India, and when Pi is sixteen his parents decide that the family needs to escape to a better life. Choosing to move to Canada, they close the zoo, pack their belongings, and board a Japanese cargo ship called the Tsimtsum. Travelling with them are many of their animals, bound for zoos in North America. However, they have only just begun their journey when the ship sinks, taking the dreams of the Patel family down with it. Only Pi survives, cast adrift in a lifeboat with the unlikeliest oftravelling companions: a zebra, an orang-utan, a hyena, and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.

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Reading Pi survival 7 month on the a life boat really amazed dan showing a quality of toughness and knowledge. But later on, when we understand his metaphore about broken leg Zebra, Orangutan and Hyena.... it really makes your heart rending.

If Coelho's The Alchemist write about a journey to grap a future, this book shows boldness to confront life chalenge of this moment. Personnal examination against ones sanity and fate to his God, outside the boundaries of religions.

Va dove ti porta il cuore - Follow your Heart

Pergilah kemana hati membawamu – Susanna Tamaro
Kehidupan itu seperti Ular Tangga. Kau dapat melakukan sesuatu, namun tidak melakukannya, kau malah mundur dan bukannya maju ke depan. Ketika jalanmu bercabang kau berpapasan dengan kehidupan lainnya. Berkenalan atau tidak dengan mereka, terlibat dengan mereka atau membiarkan mereka lewat begitu saja, semua itu tergantung semata2 pada keputusan sesaat. Meskipun mungkin kau tidak mengetahuinya, hidupmu atau hidup orang2 yang dekat denganmu dipertaruhkan saat kau memilih, entah berjalan lurus atau belok

This novel is written by a woman, for woman, about woman. An old lady passing her history of life to her grand daughter hoping she would read and take advantage by not making the same mistakes she did.

For a novel, I thought this one is a quite special. Her writting style is like writting a diary, but rather than a personnal diary, this diary is meant to be read by others. All her life journey is illustrated clearly in those words.

For a character, I'm not to fond of this Olga lady. She is weaks and weary. Maybe it's becoz the way her parents brought her up, maybe it becoz the society, but she still weaks. I don't mean the way she makes her decision, but rather the way she react to things that happens in her life. Specially when she decide to have a baby from the man that she really loved. OK, that is cheating on her husband, but it's her decision. But when that man died, why on earth she abandoned this child??? So why that she wants this child in the first place?? To keep the man under her control or something?? Sorry... just could not accept that. If she really love that man, she should love this child more, isn't it?

But, than again, the purpose of this write is to prevent her granddaughter doing the same mistakes. So in any way, this is true honest book. Hope we can all take our lesson from here. :)

Around the World in Eighty Days

Jules Verne

JULES Verne (1828-1905) gain a name as science fiction geografist novelist. Except that novel mention above, his other marvelous works includes From the Earth to the Moon, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea. In his novels, he invented atomic bomb before Einstein, designed a baloon before Zeppelin did, dreamed about helicopter before Archimedes and rode an aeroplane before The Wright brothers. He also wrote about artificial rain, chemical war, neon lights, escalators, AC, rudals, submarines, syntetic materials, you name it....
And more that that, he knows that somedays, somehow, some people wild build it.

"One thing about Around the World in Eighty Days, is this entire notion of taking eighty days to travel around the world. When Jules Verne wrote this book, he probably had no idea about how much the world would advance. Today, with the technology we have, we can physically travel around the world in about a day. But also today, we have the power to travel around the world in about eight seconds..... with computers."

The Count of Monte Cristo

by Alexandre Dumas

Fool what I am, that did not tear out my heart when resolved to vengeance myself

VERY very charming classic story, it was read in 19th century, it is read now, and I guess still be read a long time in the future.

It is a simple story about young Edmond Dantes, being envied and wrongly accused, he was dumped in a dungeon for fourteen mysery years. Instead of being gone and forgotten, he lived, gained knowledge and wealth, and swore revenge in most un-ordinary ways. He became Count of Monte Cristo.

Though his face turn pale in anger and his heart darken by hate, none can change a noble soul what he is. When the time comes to choose between a father's wicked and mother's sacred wishes upon young foolish mind, he boldly say fogiveness, even if this mean for his own death.

My personal touchy moment is when his loneliness perfectly described when he enter to a rose garden own by a woman who's father he grace to be his own. So simple yet so right.....

Stealing the Network: How to Own the Box

Author : Ryan Russell, FX, Joe Grand, Dan Kaminsky, Paul Craig, Mark Burnett, Tim Mullen
Foreword by Jeff Moss

IT technology.
This kind of tech has been developes really fast since the 70's where Arpanet connect the first LAN. Along with the advance, came the flaw - Security. If your private network is your home, than prepare to lock the doors.

The book contains some short fiction stories based with real technology. I think this book is not particularly a hackers how to. It is a good book to know how hackers (best ones) would think and do to your network, and by so, helps us improving our defense.

The Mistress of Spices

It's reading season now, and I will notes about some exiting books I read.

Vanilla beans soaked soft in goat's milk and rubbed on the wristbone can guard against the evil eye.
A measure of pepper at the foot of the bed, shaped into a crescent, cures you of nightmare

The first one here is Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's The Mistress of Spices. A story revealing a magic secret about eastern spices and along with that also revealing stories of deepest desire and fear under the chain of tradition. This is the link to a review from IndiaStar

My opinion : very interesting and lovely... very ecsotic, powerful yet so lonely....sometimes its also very depreesed, it touch my heart deeply....
It's about traditions that you praise and you curse
It's about people you hate so much yet love the most
It's about....
       excepting yourself