Here I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer

Tags

america, contemporary, dysfunctional family, english, epic/family, family saga, fiction, jonathan safran foer, race, religion, washington dc

Judul: Here I Am

Penulis: Jonathan Safran Foer

Penerbit: Picador (2017, Paperback First Edition)

Pages: 571p

Bought at: Politics and Prose, Washington, DC ( USD 17)

Here I Am berkisah tentang empat minggu penuh drama dan chaos dalam kehidupan keluarga Bloch. Jacob dan Julia Bloch terpaksa mengakui kalau pernikahan mereka berada di ujung tanduk. Konflik dan permasalahan yang menumpuk bertahun-tahun memuncak dan bereskalasi dengan cepat, di tengah kerumitan situasi yang mereka hadapi: persiapan Bar Mitzvah Sam si anak sulung, juga kedua anak laki-laki mereka yang lain, Max dan Benjy, yang masing-masing menyimpan masalah pelik.

Hal ini ditambah lagi dengan satu kejadian mengejutkan: gempa bumi besar terjadi di Israel, dan perang terancam pecah di tengah bencana alam tersebut di mana negara-negara Timur Tengah berebut mendapatkan sumber daya untuk bertahan hidup. Dan Israel, dengan segala arogansinya, tidak ingin berbagi sumber yang mereka miliki dengan negara di sekitarnya yang membutuhkan.

Bukan saja kakek Jacob adalah survivor holocaust (yang menyimpan masalahnya sendiri), atau ayahnya merupakan aktivis sayap kanan pro Israel yang kerap vokal menyuarakan opini kerasnya di Washington, DC tempat mereka tinggal, tapi saat tragedi tersebut terjadi, sepupu Jacob dari Israel sedang berkunjung ke DC, dan pergolakan ini memancing diskusi panas antara Jacob dan keluarganya tentang identitas mereka sebagai orang Yahudi, serta apa peran mereka terhadap masa depan Israel.

Buku ini adalah buku yang kompleks, penuh bahasan tema yang berat-berat, kontemplasi dan refleksi yang terkadang amat terkesan personal sehingga saya tidak bisa tidak bertanya-tanya apakah sosok Jacob sebenarnya adalah karakterisasi dari si penulis sendiri.

Topik mengenai identitas selalu menarik untuk dibaca, dan Jonathan Safran Foer, yang memang sangat ahli dalam genre semacam ini, berhasil merangkum semua kegalauan karakternya ke dalam satu kisah epik keluarga bercampur politik yang terasa dekat dengan kehidupan masa kini. Karakter-karakter dalam Here I Am, terutama Jacob, digambarkan dengan transparan dan real, membuat saya bisa berubah dengan cepat, kadang bersimpati tapi kadang jadi sebal padanya.

Dialog-dialog dalam buku ini amat witty meski terkadang terasa agak pretentious dan segmented. Dan memang, di beberapa bagian terdapat penuturan yang terlalu panjang, kadang malah seperti random rambling yang tidak jelas relevansinya terhadap keseluruhan kisah. Sebaiknya bersabar saja membaca bagian-bagian ini karena suka terselip humor segar atau komentar cerdas di antara paragraf-paragraf panjangnya.

Foer adalah satu dari sedikit penulis fiksi kontemporer yang karya-karyanya (meski tidak selalu fenomenal atau best seller) tetap konsisten dalam hal kualitas. Dan meski saya setuju tidak semua karyanya bisa dinikmati, saya tidak bisa berhenti kagum pada determinasinya berkarya dengan tema sulit namun dekat di kehidupan semacam pencarian identitas serta politik dan keluarga yang tak terpisahkan. Mungkin sedikit mengingatkan saya dengan gaya Jonathan Franzen, dalam konteks berbeda namun sepertinya berada dalam golongan yang hampir sama.

Meet the author!

Saya merasa amat sangat beruntung karena tahun lalu saat berkunjung ke Washington, DC untuk urusan pekerjaan, saya sempat melipir ke acara pembacaan buku Here I Am oleh si penulis, Jonathan Safran Foer, di toko buku Politics and Prose. Acaranya sendiri standar, Foer membacakan satu chapter dari bukunya sambil diselingi komentar-komentar sarkastik yang kocak. Karena setting cerita adalah di Washington, DC, Foer berkata kalau sesi readingnya kali ini memang istimewa karena berlokasi di kota yang sama.

Setelah reading, pengunjung dipersilakan antri untuk meminta book signing. Saya sempat ragu karena antriannya panjang banget… Tapi akhirnya saya mencomot buku dari rak dan ikut antri – ternyata posisi saya paling belakang, jadi di belakang saya tidak ada orang lain mengantri. Jadi saya cuek saja minta foto bareng (meski rada malu juga), hahaha… padahal sebelumnya tidak ada satupun yang minta foto bareng dengan Jonathan. What can I say? Once Asians, always will be Asians XD

Yang pasti, Jonathan Safran Foer adalah salah satu penulis super cool yang nggak perlu ngapa-ngapain juga udah keren. Hahahaha… aura smart dan wittynya bener-bener kuat. Yang so sweet adalah Foer ditemani oleh Ibunya di acaranya ini, jadi waktu saya minta foto bareng, dia langsung minta tolong ibunya untuk fotoin kita. LOL! Dan sedikit pelajaran buat saya yang agak tergagap-gagap saking groginya: Please prepare at least one brilliant thing to say in case you will meet with your idol!!!

Submitted for:

Category: A book with song lyrics in the title

Literature Tourism: Washington, DC (Part 2)

Tags

books for america, bookstore, idle time, my story, shopping, travel, usa, washington dc

So… Part 1 of the story was dedicated wholly to a specific bookstore, Capitol Hill Books. It’s my most favorite in DC based on my trip, but it doesn’t mean that there’s no other cool bookstores in the city.

I will write about two other bookstores in this post, still secondhand ones, and although I didn’t shop as many as in the Capitol Hill, I still found some good books in those places. Ow.. before I forgot, I will post the picture of my bookhaul in the last posting about Washington, DC, so please stay tuned 🙂

The first shop I visited is Idle Time Books – located near my hotel, in Adams Morgan area. This is a hipster kinda neighborhood, with lots of cafes, jazz clubs, bars, fusion and ethnic restaurants. Idle Time Books is a small two story building, old fashioned from outside but has this cozy ambiance in the inside.

Some bookshelves are left outside during the summer days, inviting pedestrians to stop by and browse the books that are on sale. Some of the books are only $1, very cheap indeed and sometimes you could actually find hidden gems there.

Entering the bookstore, the old school vibe remains, the smell of papers, leather and wood created this homey feeling that makes you realized you can actually find home away from your home.

Inside, wood bookshelves are standing side by side, packed with books from various genre. I come here with my two colleagues and we all have different taste for books. So we separated and went to different directions, browsing the shelves that are most interesting to us.

Of course I went directly to the Fiction and Literature shelves, followed by the Children’s Books section. There are lots of options of course, but Idle Time is pretty serious with their vintage collections. I found some old children’s books from the 60s or 70s, with their covers a bit torn and the pages were yellow.

You really need some time to browse the bookstore, because even in the uninteresting looking shelves, there are some hidden gems somewhere. I love the layout of the bookstore because there are even shelves at the unexpected spots, like at the stair landing between the first and second floor, or some small rooms dedicated to rare or very specific genre.

Another thing that made me loveee Idle Time is their knicks-knacks collections, from comic books to postcards to greeting cards to bookmarks. Very very tempting! I bought some vintage postcards for me and my colleagues at the office, because the price is not that expensive too, and I think it will make a better souvenir than keychains 🙂 This place is definitely recommended for any booklovers and also so-called nerds 🙂

Idle Time Books

2467 18th Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20009

(202)232-4774

idletimebooks@hotmail.com

http://www.idletimebooks.com/

The second bookstore that I would love to recommend in this post is Books for America, another secondhand bookshop that is located near the Embassy Row area, including near the Indonesian Embassy.

The store doesn’t look very impressive from the outside, only a brick building with blue awning and a small “Book Sale” sign outside. But inside, it’s another lovely book haven, full of wooden bookshelves that are lined around the room, with the books aligned with alphabetical order, made it easy to browse. You can walk from one end to another end of the room, or just go directly to your favorite bookshelf or look for your favorite authors.

Some oldies style decoration can be found around the store, such as a vintage typewriter or wooden tables. The collection itself is pretty massive, with reasonable price. I found a hardback of one of my wishlists for only 7 USD, and the paperbacks are about 5 USD.

The other cool thing about this store is they provide the donation bin, where we can deposit any unused books to be donated to local schools, shelters, and other institutions/organizations. Sweet!

Books for America – A Bookstore with a Purpose

1417 22nd Street, NW

Washington, DC  20037

(near the corner of 22nd & P NW in Dupont Circle)

(202) 835-2665

info@booksforamerica.org

http://www.booksforamerica.org

 

 

Literature Tourism: Washington, DC (Part 1)

Tags

america, bookstores, indie bookstores, my story, secondhand books, shopping, usa, washington dc

My kind of heaven!

I was lucky enough to be sent to another training and conference by my office to Washington, DC. And even though -as usual- the schedule is a bit cruel, fortunately I could still find some time to visit a few great bookstores during my stay in the city.

The last time I went to DC was four years ago (you can read the story here), and I thought I could just go to the same places like before, visit the stores that I’ve been familiar with.

But – thanks to the most helpful Yelp, and some suggestions from friends and colleagues, I have found several additional hidden gems – places that made me so very happy being a bookworm.

One of the most memorable places – and I dedicate this whole post to it- is Capitol Hill Books, located not far from the famous Capitol building. You can reach the place by Metro, stop at Capitol South station or Eastern Market station, and walk a few blocks. The store is a three story building located in an eclectic residential area, among the brick houses, cute cafes and unique stores.

Looking at the store, I felt goosebumps, the front window is covered by stacks of books. There’s a table in front of the store, some old books were scattered there, and a sign said that all books on the table could be grabbed – free. Wow.

There are lots of signage and warnings on the front door, saying things like “no phone allowed, this is a bookstore not a phone booth”, or “please leave all bags at desk, backpacks can smack people and books”. Very intriguing.

The peculiar signage

Entering the store, I felt like going into a different world altogether. The smell of old books, combined with old wooden odor, made me feel I’m entering a bookworm heaven. High bookshelves crowded the room, only a small alley separated one bookshelf with another. And true, backpacks will be very inconvenient here! Even without having backpack with me, I accidentally knocked down some stacks of books, and had to rearrange them by myself.

Delightful corner

Labyrinth, continue

There are signs everywhere in the room, handwritten papers explaining the locations of books, some of them pretty mysterious. For example, in the children’s section, there’s a paper said “Roald Dahl books: 2nd floor, Fiction, D section”. But true enough, when I went to the 2nd floor, I found the Roald Dahl books among the fiction books from writers whose last names begin with D.

The labyrinthine layout is an adventure by itself, just expect the unexpected and you will find hidden treasures in the most unlikely places. Even in the bathroom, there are stacks of books everywhere 🙂

Philosophy books in the bathroom

I found some great books in this bookstore, a few of them have been in my wishlist for a long time. The price of the books are not expensive too, around $4 -$8 for secondhand novels. Some titles have different cover options, from paperbacks to hardcovers, so suit yourself 🙂

In the basement (the stairs leading to it is a bit creepy, so I kinda just looked from above LOL) you can find titles for horror books and darker stories (very suitable with the setting).

Another unique thing about Capitol Hill Books is the owner, an old guy, very peculiar, he’s started the store with only 200 books but now has a very large collections indeed. He hates people (younger people I suspect) who are very mainstream and he forbids customers to say particular words like “amazon”, “Kindle”, “oh my God!”, “like…”, “you know…” and I even heard him scowled to a teenage girl who kept saying “Awesome!”. It’s like you are entering an different realm, stuck in the olden days. I love it 🙂 But don’t worry, he’s pretty nice with people in general, he lets customers to sit anywhere to read, even though there’s almost no space left to do that 😀

Capitol Hill Books is a must visit place whenever you are in DC. This is the kind of place that makes me grateful to be a bookworm and proud of being one 🙂

Me and my treasures 😀 sampe merem melek LOL

Capitol Hill Books
657 C Street SE
Washington, DC 20003
(202) 544-1621

Twitter: https://twitter.com/chbooksdc
Email: chbooksdc1@juno.com

http://www.capitolhillbooks-dc.com/