Reviews and Comments

Wah, bagaimana ya. Dari dulu aku memang suka pada kisah-kisah young adults. Masa-masa ketika jiwa sedang pesat tumbuhnya jika seseorang lebih serius memandang hidupnya. Karakter lebih terlihat karena tidak banyak situasi yang menuntut tampilan tertentu; sementara kata tanggungjawab, meski tidak luput rasanya masih cukup berjarak untuk hadir sebagai beban.

Persoalan-persoalan yang tampak genting untuk diselesaikan anak-anak sma ini sepintas hanya perkara remeh di mata orang dewasa yang benaknya sudah penuh dengan keruwetan pekerjaan, tagihan, dan sekolah anak. Tapi gini deh, sengaja menyisihkan waktu membongkar arsip koran lama untuk memastikan sesuatu kejadian sehingga bisa meraba emosi di balik perkataan seseorang "aku suka helikopter" sehingga tidak sembarang menganggapnya benar-benar suka helikopter tanpa alasan itu sesuatu yang... Ah, seperti Chitanda akupun kehilangan kata-kata.

Yonezawa Honobu menuliskan cerita-cerita keseharian ini menjadi menarik dan interaksi di antara orang-orang yang mungkin tidak begitu berkepribadian magnetis itu menjadi layak dicermati. Latar kota kecil tidak menutup kemungkinan menjadi tempat lahir kejadian yang seru untuk diceritakan kembali, meski kadang aku iseng mencoba melucuti emosi yang dihadirkan dan memandang suatu peristiwa dari urutan kejadiannya saja, semuanya kembali menjadi kejadian biasa, tapi sikap dan cara pandanglah yang mungkin membuat semuanya terasa beda.

Semakin dahaga dengan cerita-cerita Keigo Higashino setelah tahu kalau ia penulis seri Detektif Galileo yang dramanya kutonton bertahun lalu. Syukurlah versi terjemahan Bahasa Indonesia-nya bagus-bagus. Mudah dan menyenangkan untuk dibaca.

Judul ini kalau ga salah di serial dramanya jadi episode spesial. Sebenarnya tidak seberkesan "Kesetiaan Mister X" yang ceritanya paling keren di antara seri detektif galileo menurutku. Tapi tetap saja penceritaannya bagus dan potret pergulatan jiwa manusia yang berujung pada tindak kriminalnya tak urung terbitkan simpati. Betapa lemahnya kita jika begitu mudah seturut pada jebakan situasi.

When I found this book I feel like I meet an old friend who shared same interest, and, yes, she has interesting views that I mostly agreed on. Up until chapter three, I really followed the narratives and not rarely jumped on any remarks that also voiced my own reflection. I can't agree more with Ellis's opinion on Jo March and The Little Woman moral-heavy storytelling as I was also still puzzled on the way Marmee's and Mr.March's upbringing the girls.

From the beginning, even, I always have this troubled feeling toward classic fairy tale. I sometimes discuss it with my sister on how the princesses was so helpless and lay there who knows for how long until their savior comes and gives a true love's kiss (by a stranger? also ever wondering the age gaps between them actually?)

But, I somewhat loss at the next chapter as then coming more heroines I haven't familiar with. But, it's not that I can't follow at all because the short description along the narratives quite gives me a general picture of the character about to talk about.

This book is supposed to be a personal memoir to find self mirroring the heroines with their extraordinary lives, some are inspirations, the other lessons, or even warning. But, this book can really be useful to study personal growth of the fictional heroines. I study quite a lot, and it gives the full list of the books, so you can pick any that haven't been on your reading list and go see by yourself.

A nice experiment on expanding imagination somehow felt like reading Dr. Seuss' "And to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street". The illustration is superb, though. Unusual, witty, give more depth to the story as it is unfolding.

The structure give ideas that a simple utterance can be given life in a full story. No need to be complex but keep walking on the simple inner logic can make the story quite interesting and capturing attention as reader wondering how would it reach the end.

The plot is quite interesting but the chinese character isn't quite convincing. Still got a feeling it was an image projected by the outsider. Anyway, it's a brave experiment to portray characters with different ethnicities intertwined their fates in the midst of political unrest in Indonesia.