Wuthering Heights

Tags

classic, dramatic, english, fiction, gift, twenty-ten challenge

Title: Wuthering Heights

Writer: Emily Bronte

Publisher:Vintage, Random House (2008)

Pages: 357 p

Bought at:Kinokuniya Plaza Senayan (IDR 100,000); birthday gift from Rayo!

Wow, it’s been a while since my last post! And I’m so glad that my first review for this new year is the final book for Twenty Ten Challenge! Yeay..it’s about time I complete the challenge, it’s 2011 already!! =)

Wuthering Heights, although a bit thinner than Jane Eyre, is actually a more difficult read for me. The plot is more complicated, the language is more formal, and the point of view is so uncommon, although really original.

The story revolves around two families in a northern village in England. There was a Cathy, a beautiful girl from Earnshaw family. She had to choose between two men in her life: Edgar, a rich and elegant boy from Linton family, and Heathcliff, a mysterious gypsy alike who had been her bestfriend since childhood. The choice Cathy made shaped her future life, and even shaped her daughter’s life, as well as the other next generations of the families.

We can feel the power of passionate and possesive love in this book. And to make it more complicated, this story was told by a housekeeper to his master, who is now living in the house of Lintons. And the master is actually the first person character in this book. Sounds crazy? Try to read it yourself, then you’ll know what I mean =)

Compare to Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights has darker story, with darker characters inside. The plot itself is actually very interesting and original. But for me, it took too much time to be read!

Finally, I completed my Twenty Ten Challenge! I’ll write in separate post to wrap up the challenge. Meanwhile, enjoy 2011, and prepare for more gorgeous books this year =)

Jane Eyre

Tags

classic, dramatic, english, fiction, gift, twenty-ten challenge

Title: Jane Eyre

Writer: Charlotte Bronte

Publisher:Vintage, Random House (2007)

Pages: 545 p

Bought at:Kinokuniya Plaza Senayan (IDR 100,000); birthday gift from Rayo!

Reading a classic needs a lot of patience. As interesting the story is, we still have to endure the flourishing language and the difficult dialogues. Even the plot is often lengthy. I don’t read classics that much, and that’s why I included Brontes in my Twenty Ten Challenge.

Jane Eyre is not a typical English girl. She has experienced many challenging moments in her life. As an orphan, she lived with her aunt, who didn’t want to have her as a burden in the family. Not to mention her mean, cruel cousins. After ten years living in difficulties, Jane was sent to Lowood, a charity school in a English village. Here, her difficult life didn’t come to an end. Strict rules, corrupt system, and poor environment made Jane’s days there hard and tough. But with her determination and positive attitude, she has made the best of her days, including found friends and created her future path as governess.

Jane went to Thornfield Hall to become a governess for Adele, a sweet little French girl. There she began her adventure as an adult woman, and met her first love of her life: her master, Mr. Rochester. Although she was really happy in that place, there was something really mysterious going on there, involving her master. Midnight terror, dark secrets, in gothic manor as a setting..Delicious!

Jane Eyre is a long story, a bit difficult and boring in some parts, but I can see why this book became a classic. It has all elements needed to be one. Maybe to read it for the second time could be a different challenge, but I’m glad I decided to include this book in my reading challenge.

Now excuse me, I have to catch up my final book for the challenge. Wish me luck! =)

Monsters of Men

Tags

fantasi, fiction, series, teens, twenty-ten challenge

Title: Monsters of Men

Writer: Patrick Ness

Publisher:Walker Books Ltd (2010)

Pages: 602 p

Bought at:Periplus Plaza Senayan (IDR 99,000, disc 10%)

Finally, the final book of one of the best series I’ve ever read! After the previous reviews of the first two books, I finally finished the series. Monsters of Men is an example of a complete, satisfying final book. It’s action-packed, full paced, and it brought the best and the worst of our beloved characters.

Todd Hewitt, the last boy of Old Prentisstown, is no longer a boy. He’s a full grown up man now, ready to face a battle between humans and Spackle, the native inhabitants of the planet. But Inside, Todd is still the same boy we fell in love with in the first book. He doesn’t like war, and he thought that war makes monsters of men. But he has no other choice (or does he?) but to stand by the Mayor (or President Prentiss) and face the army of Spackle.

The situation is getting more complicated when a scout ship landed in the planet, ready to be followed by 5000 people from the main ship, who will come in the next few weeks. Viola tries hard to explain the situation of the “supposed to be paradise” to her old mates from the ship, Bradley and Simone.

And the war between different interests of the Mayor and Mistress Coyle also started. Politics, mind games, manipulations, tricks, all are played well by both parties. And Todd and Viola are trapped in the middle of it all!

Get ready for some twist plot, unexpected characters and undescribable emotion.

Patrick Ness is simply a master for dystopian young adult genre. And I’m so grateful to bump into his wonderful works. I also read this book as part of Twenty Ten Challenge, for Bad Blogger category. And again, this is the blogger who lured me into the book (and the series as well!)

Ow, and one more good news: You can now get the series in Periplus, since they sell the books (yep, all the three titles!) in relatively cheap price. Go, go get it! =)

The Inheritance of Loss

Tags

bookmooch, english, fiction, politics, twenty-ten challenge

Title: The Inheritance of Loss

Writer: Kiran Desai

Publisher: Grove/Atlantic, Inc (2006)

Pages: 324 p

Free book froom Bookmoch

I could simply say that I love this book, for many reasons. I love it because I got it for free from Bookmooch (thanks to Ferina, now I know about this amazing site!), and while this is a second hand book, the condition is just like new!

I also love it because when I first opened the pages, I thought this is gonna be another heavy-Indian-history book (like Midnight Children!), but apparently, it is beyond my expectation. The story is beautiful, the language, while also wonderful, is not hard to understand.

The story takes place in Kalimpong, a small vilage in India bordering with Nepal, in the 80’s era. The politics is hot in India with the issue of separations by Nepalis who live there. Once a peaceful village, Kalimpong has to face the hardest time in its history, with lots of demonstrations, violence, and people who distrust each other.

The characters are very complete: rich Bengali women who are once live happily and now become a delicious target of the separatists, a retired judge who is very bitter with his life, and loves his dog more than anything in the world, his granddaughter, Sai, who is an orphan and has to live isolated in the village, and unfortunately, falls in love with a Nepali. And the judge’s cook, who lives in the extreme poverty and only has one dream in his life: to see his son lives successfully in America, even though the son has to live there as an ilegal alien.

The story also revolves to New York, where the cook’ son, Biju, tries so hard to live as an ilegal alien, working in bad conditions and earning very little, for the sake of his father’s happiness.

How this book relates to life in Indonesia! With so many people wants to find something better somewhere else, but still craving for this chaotic country in the end! And how the government could become so ignorant. They want to have a big nation with a large amount of population, but they don’t care enough for everyone (remember Papua? Or Aceh?).

Kiran Desai is a very talented writer. And I hope I could read more of her works in the future =)

I read this book as part of Twenty Ten Challenge, for Charity/Used Book category (And yes, finally it’s down to three more books to go!!!)

A House in the Sunflowers

Tags

english, gift, non fiction, travel, twenty-ten challenge



Title: A House in the Sunflowers

Writer: Ruth Silvestre

Publisher: Allison & Busby Limited (1991)

Pages: 279 p

Gift from Mei

Ruth Silvestre is an actress who lives in London with her family. Between her works and life, she always has one dream: to have a house in Southern France for her holiday. She has done house hunting with her husband, Mike, from villages to villages, until one day, they came across one old house that has been deserted for ten years: Bel-Air de Grezelongue.

This book is about Ruth and her family’s journey to restore the house bit by bit as a second home for them. What sounds like a little boring story, turns out very interesting and touchy instead, probably because Ruth could portray the process in the beautiful language. From changing the roofs and tiles, adding a room and cleaning up the attic that is filled with old treasures, Ruth Silvestre could make the readers feel and imagine the dream house starts to appear as a whole part.

What makes the book more captivating is the different culture between British and French people that Ruth explains in details, especially related to food and eating. French people are so fond of food, even the lunch could last for hours and hours. Ruth has wonderful neighbors, one of them is a family, The Bertrands, who loves to invite the inhabitants of Bel Air for lunch or dinner, with some irresistible French menus.

The other interesting thing is how Ruth tries to solve the puzzle of the previous owner of the house, Anais and Alais, from letters and stuff she found in the attic. To see the lifes from olden days is a very amazing experience indeed.

This kind of book is usually not my cup of tea. But thanks to Mei, who just got back for good from France and gave me this book, I enjoyed a different experience that I haven’t imagined before (just as I enjoyed our rendezvous in Starbucks, wish we could do that again someday!). I also just found out that this book has two more sequels, still about the house and its inhabitants, with their ups and downs. I wish I could read them someday.

I also read this book as a part of Twenty Ten Challenge, for Who Are You Again? category.

The Forgotten Garden

Tags

dramatic, english, fiction, twenty-ten challenge

Title: The Forgotten Garden

Writer: Kate Morton

Publisher: Pan Books (2008)

Pages: 645 p

Bought at:Kinokuniya Ngee Ann City (SGD 17,95)

This is a beautiful and engaging book. That’s my first impression when I finished the book. Kate Morton could make the reader glue to her story, absorb the pages with a contented feeling. She has interesting characters, great plot, and wonderful language.

The story happened in three different periods with three different characters, linked by one common thing: a cottage with the secret garden, told by Morton in a parallel way.

In 1915, a little girl was abandoned in a ship to Australia, and was found in Maryborough. She lost her memory and didn’t know what she was doing there. A family adopted her, and she began her new life.

In 1975, the little girl has grown old, knowing just a little about her past, and determined to find out who her family was, and why they abandoned her alone in a ship. Her investigation led her to Cornwall, England, in a beautiful estate called Blackhurst Manor, had been owned by an aristrocat family, The Mountrachets. What was their connection with her?

2005, she’s dying, and now her granddaughter will continue the quest. She found the cottage that she inherited from her grandmother. Inside the cottage, there was a secret garden, that kept a secret of her past, her grandmother past.

Reading this book reminded me of The Thirteenth Tale, full of dark family secrets and mysteries. And I love the touch of Victorian era in the story. Morton also put some of her sense of humour into the book. One of them was when the Mountrachets was having a party and invited Frances Hodgson Burnett, the writer of The Secret Garden. Frances was told about the hidden garden in the cottage and was very interested in that.

A garden raised from ruins to help bring a delicate young lady back to health!……..I should love to see it. The garden, I mean. My interest has been piqued. (p.448-449)

Sounds familiar? =) Morton made it as if her story was the inpiration of Frances’ famous book. That was amusing.

Anyway, I like this book, and this makes me want to find out more about Kate Morton and her other bestselling books.

I read this book as a part of Twent Ten Challenge, for New and Shiny Category.

Pak Beye dan Istananya

Tags

bahasa indonesia, blog, non fiction, politics, twenty-ten challenge

Title: Pak Beye dan Istananya

Writer: Wisnu Nugroho

Publisher: Penerbit Buku Kompas (2010)

Pages: 256 p

Bought at:Kinokuniya Plaza Senayan (IDR 48,000)

Reading this book is a total pleasure for me. I’ve known Wisnu (or Inu) since I was still a journalist, several years ago. Unlike me, Wisnu is now still a dedicated journalist for Kompas, a major newspaper in Indonesia.

For five years he covered the news from President’s Palace or Istana Presiden, watching SBY going on his everyday life. This book tells us what Wisnu experienced when he was a regular visitor of the Palace. He doesn’t write heavy stuff, only some tidbits but very interesting. From the cook and gardener in the Palace, the lunch menu of Mr.President, to the fancy cars he often saw parked in front of the Palace. Wisnu also left some clues to the mysterious question: Who owned those cars? He has a guess, but he likes to have fun with the readers, by asking some tricky or rhetorical questions at the end of every chapter.

I like his witty style, sharp but funny at the same time. And I love how he could play with words, bringing the moral lessons without being pretentious. Every chapter was taken from his blog post in Kompasiana, a large blog network in Indonesia. The only thing I missed in this book is the color pictures. The pictures are nice but since they are black and white, there are some that not relevant with the story anymore (e.g. when SBY changed the color of the security team’s uniform into blue, like the color of his political party).

But that’s the only complaint I have =)

This book is actually one of the four books about SBY that Wisnu wrote (and he has one more book about the ex vice president, Jusuf Kalla) , and the rest of the books will be published later this year.

I read this book as a part of Twenty Ten Challenge, for Win!Win! Category

Midnight’s Children

Tags

dramatic, english, fiction, twenty-ten challenge

Title: Midnight’s Children

Writer:Salman Rushdie

Publisher: Random House (Alfred A.Knopf)

Pages: 589 p

On my shelf since: 2006

This is probably one of the hardest book I’ve ever read. Not only the story is long and complicated, involving Indian politics in a century, but the language itself is very literature style.

The story revolves around the life of Saleem Sinai, who was born in midnight time, right on the Independence Day of India. He is one of the thousand and one children born in that day, and with his special gift, he dreams to make India a better place. Somehow, his journey is always intersecting with the country’s journey: he called it destiny.

This is an epic story, told from Saleem’s point of view. Sometimes, Saleem jumps into the future, giving us the glimpse of what to happen, and leaving us some mysteries to be solved. It is quite engaging, although a bit tiring for couple of times.

I fell in love with Salman Rushdie after reading his children book, Haroon and The Sea of Stories. I tried to read several of his adult books, but so far nothing really gives me the same impression as the first book I read.

This book has been in my shelf since 4 years ago, and I read this as a part of Twenty Ten Challenge, for TBR category.

The Knife of Never Letting Go/The Ask and The Answer

Tags

english, fantasi, fiction, series, teens, twenty-ten challenge

Title: The Knife of Never Letting Go / The Ask and The Answer

Writer:Patrick Ness

Publisher: Walker Books Ltd (2008/2009)

Pages: 479/517 p

Bought at:Borders Wheelock Place (SGD 19.80)/Kinokuniya Ngee Ann City (SGD 19.80)

So I decided to just write the review of these amazing books in one post. Because honestly, there’s not much to tell. You have to read them by yourself! Otherwise, I’ll only be a spoiler and you’ll hate me for that, trust me =)

Okay.

The story is about Todd Hewitt, the last boy in his village, Prentistown. The setting is in a new planet, after the earth is too full of people and violence, and human beings started to search for other places to live. Sadly, in Prentisstown, life is not as easy as they expected. First of all, there is this Noise. Men can hear each other thoughts, in a form of this very annoying and uncomfortable Noise. There’s no secret. You can’t hide your feelings, your thoughts, wherever you go. Or so Todd was thinking. The fact is, in a month, he will turn a man. And as the last boy in Prentisstown, he will face the biggest secret and lies in his life. Is he ready for that? Or is it better to just run, alone, only accompanied with his loyal dog, Manchee, to find the truth?

Along the book, Todd meets with many kind of people and places. There’s a crazy murderer chasing him, but he also meets with several new friends, including a girl named Viola. Together they began their search for finding out what’s really going on.

In the second book, the journey continues, although Todd and Viola are separated from each other. We will see a different point of view, one is Todd’s, and the other is Viola’s. And how you love the genius way of Patrick Ness tossing things together, playing with ambiguity of the antagonists and protagonists. People who you think are good, turn out not so good after all. And people who you hate so much, turn out not too bad at all. And so on and so on.

This series is one of the best I’ve ever read. It’s not that intimate like Hunger Games or as lovable as Harry Potter, but it’s very addictive. The topic is actualy quite heavy, not only action-packed, but full with many issues like feminism, terrorism, manipulation, genocide, even war and politics. But it’s still enjoyable to read. One of the greatest in Young Adult genre, particularly in dystopian area. I can’t wait to read the final book, which is already published this year.

I read this book as a part of Twenty Ten Challenge, for Bad Blogger’s category. And this is the blogger who glued me to this series.

Catching Fire

Tags

adventures, fantasi, fiction, series, terjemahan, twenty-ten challenge

Title: Catching Fire (Tersulut)

Writer: Suzanne Collins

Publisher: Gramedia Pustaka Utama (2010)

Pages: 420 p

Bought at:Soekarno Hatta Airport (Rp 65000)

I continued reading the serial in Bahasa Indonesia, after I got mesmerized by the first book. Suzanne Collins is still the best in her genre, and Catching Fire has exactly the same tone, the same tension, and the same lovable characters we fell in love in the Hunger Games.

Catching Fire begins right after Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark won the Hunger Games, the first time in history where two people won the game in the same time. They are so busy with the tour for the champions, traveling into districts they never visited before. But of course there will never be a peaceful time for them. President Snow had warned them, because what they did on the battle of Hunger Games (threatening to kill themselves with poisonous blackberries) were actually considered to be an act of treachery, and has inspired the districts to rebell against the Capitol and President Snow.

There begins the war between people from the districts and the domination of Capitol. It started from small acts, and getting bigger and bigger everyday, where Katniss and Peeta got caught in the middle of it. Who can be trusted? And who are the enemies?

The pace of the book is not as fast as the first one, but still full of adrenaline. Between the heat of war, rebellion, suspicions, and danger, Katniss is still faced with the main problem of her life: to choose between two men in her life, both with their own strengths and flaws. Please don’t imagine the love story inside this book is like the one you see in Twilight series. Katniss is not like Bella Swan, and the two guys who are in her heart, Peeta and Gale, are both having their own weaknesses.You can fall in love with Peeta in one second, and start to think about Gale in the next one. Collins can describe her characters (including the main heroine, Katniss) in a very down to earth way. Every girl could relate with her, without having to enter the fairytale world, and I think that’s the strongest point of her book.

I can’t wait for the final book, Mockingjay, being released in Indonesia and translated by Gramedia.

I read this book for Twenty Ten Challenge, Young Adult Category =)