tarik2an

Lots of new insights that help me to be mindful of what I eat and how I eat it. Some of the hacks are actually the same tips repeated more than once. But for the purpose of the book, I think it's more of a feature than a book. Afterall, discussing nutrition can be very confusing. Will definitely re-read this book, at least next year.

Compared to the other Junji Ito book I read (Uzumaki), this feels like a hit-or-miss where several chapters don't pack quite a punch while the others are even better than Uzumaki (which kind of declines towards the end). I still consider the first Junji Ito work I read, The Enigma of the Amigara Fault, to be his best. Still need to read Gyo and Tomie, though.

Ini ulasan untuk keseluruhan manga Kare Kano.

Souichiro dan Yukino adalah anak kelas 1 SMA dengan ego yang tinggi, gengsi yang tinggi, dan didukung dengan prestasi yang cemerlang pula. Namun, setelah keduanya pacaran, ternyata mereka dihadapkan pada tantangan yang baru: merobohkan dinding perasaan masing-masing dan berani membuka diri kepada satu sama lain. Dalam proses berbagi rasa itulah terungkap sisi-sisi kehidupan mereka yang panjang dan tertaut pada orang-orang di seputar hidup mereka.

“Semua keluarga bahagia itu sama saja; keluarga-keluarga yang tidak bahagia punya ketidakbahagiaannya masing-masing.” Demikian kalimat pembuka novel [b:Anna Karenina|15823480|Anna Karenina|Leo Tolstoy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1601352433l/15823480.SX50.jpg|2507928] karya Leo Tolstoy. Ungkapan yang sama bisa juga dipakai untuk Kare Kano ini. Karakter-karakternya punya situasi rumah tangga yang berbeda satu sama lain. Ada Yukino yang keluargaya baik-baik saja. Ada Arima dengan yang dibesarkan orang tua asuh dan tak jelas nasib orang tua kandungnya. Ada juga teman-teman mereka dengan situasi yang unik dan masalah yang berbeda-beda, baik dengan keluarga maupun antara sesama mereka sendiri.

Dalam Kare Kano, aku melihat konflik dan kerumitan dalam hubungan manusia ini sebagai cerminan persoalan yang aku temui dan alami sehari-hari. Tidak mudah menuntaskan perasaan yang mengganjal, yang sudah tertimbun bertahun-tahun lamanya. Bahkan, sisi-sisi buruk yang kita punya sekarang muncul sebagai turunan dari masalah orang tua kita, kakek-nenek kita, bahkan generasi sebelumnya lagi. Inilah yang namanya trauma antar generasi (intergenerational trauma). Masami Tsuda menjadikan trauma turun-temurun ini sebagai masalah yang ia ingin selesaikan dalam ceritanya di Kare Kano.

Lalu, apa jawaban Kare Kano soal hubungan antar manusia yang rumit, traumatik, dan seringkali berujung luka ini?

Menurutku, pertama, ia punya pesan bahwa trauma adalah hal yang manusiawi. Rasanya, jarang sekali ada orang yang tidak pernah mengalaminya. Adapun orang yang merasa tidak punya trauma, justru mungkin ialah yang paling pandai menyembunyikannya. Maka, hal yang terpenting buat kita sebagai makhluk yang tak sempurna adalah mengakui kelemahan itu, serta bersedia menunjukkan luka dan trauma kita kepada orang-orang yang kita percaya.

Kedua, luka yang kita alami bisa membuat kita takut dan akhirnya jadi melukai orang lain, bahkan orang yang paling kita kasihi. Ini sering disebut dengan istilah dilema landak (yang banyak diulas di anime Neon Genesis Evangelion). Kita pun harus mengakui luka yang kita torehkan pada orang di sekitar kita, baik secara sadar maupun tidak.

Ketiga, hidup dengan rasa sakit, luka, dan trauma tak menjadikan kita orang yang tak layak punya masa depan. Bukan pula artinya kita tak punya alasan untuk berharap pada kehidupan yang lebih cerah dan gembira. Satu-satunya cara untuk bangkit dari kekelaman itu adalah memaklumi diri kita sendiri, membenahi kekurangan-kekurangan kita secara sadar, sambil terus berusaha yang terbaik di saat ini dan di masa depan.

Itulah kesan-kesan yang aku tangkap setelah menamatkan 21 volume Kare Kano. Mayoritas cerita berkisar pada kehidupan Yukino, Souichiro, dan kawan-kawannya saat SMA. Namun, makin lama makin banyak kilas balik yang bisa sampai membahas 2-3 generasi yang hidupnya puluhan sebelum mereka. Manga ini diakhiri dengan kilas depan 16 tahun setelah mereka lulus sekolah. Sementara itu, Masami Tsuda merilis cerita ini dalam waktu 9 tahun, dari 1996 sampai 2005.

Dalam 9 tahun itu terlihat perubahan gaya dan cara gambar sang mangaka dari yang awalnya cukup kasar di volume-volume awal hingga lebih terpoles di bagian-bagian akhirnya. Desain karakter juga sepertinya bukan kekuatan Tsuda-sensei, karena sepanjang aku membaca seringkali aku tertukar atau kesulitan mengingat beberapa karakter yang potongan wajah, rambut, atau tubuhnya mirip-mirip.

Cerita tentang Kota Kurouzu yang entah kenapa warganya sangat terobsesi dengan bentuk spiral. Banyak rasa yang aku alami waktu baca buku ini. Di antaranya: penasaran, aneh, takut, mual, dan jijik. Kejadian-kejadian yang melibatkan spiral sepanjang komik ini tidak selamanya dijelaskan secara jelas. Namun, justru itulah yang bikin aku penasaran buat baca sampai akhir. Aku betul-betul ingin tahu bakal seaneh apa lagi peristiwa spiral yang bakal terjadi di Kurouzu, dan memang makin ke belakang hal-hal yang terjadi makin tidak masuk akal.

Walaupun aku enggak biasa baca/nonton manga/komik/novel/film/cerita horor, Uzumaki ini seaneh dan semisterius itu sampai aku jadi berani melawan rasa takut yang biasanya aku rasakan kalau lihat hal-hal yang berbau horor. Hahaha. Tapi ini rasanya emang kekuatan dari cerita-ceritanya Junji Ito yang sangat di luar nalar. Waktu aku sebelumnya baca The Enigma of Amigara Fault, ada rasa ngeri dan risih yang sama, tapi akhirnya tetap kubaca sampai akhir semata-mata karena penasaran.

Banyak gambaran dan poin cerita (plot points) dari Junji Ito yang saking aneh, seram, dan menjijikkannya mungkin akan sulit aku lupakan (mungkin banyak pembaca juga mengalami hal yang sama). Pokoknya merinding banget deh bacanya, sampai harus sering ambil jeda dulu antar babnya.

Ulasan ini aku poskan ulang dengan beberapa revisi dan tambahan di blog: https://antariksakh.com/menjadi-2022/.

Beberapa poin yang aku pikirkan tentang buku ini:

1. Sangat jarang ada orang Indonesia yang bisa nulis dengan perspektif selebar ini. Orang-orang “intelektual” di sini seringkali sudah punya ranah spesialisasi masing-masing. Akibatnya, meski tulisan-tulisan mereka banyak yang bisa tajam menghujam jantung persoalan, namun tidak terlalu menarik buat orang yang bukan pemerhati subjek yang dibahas, sebutlah di bidang-bidang sains, ekonomi, sosiologi, atau kebudayaan. Bukunya Afu ini tampak sudah bebas dari sekat-sekat keilmuan yang kaku itu, dan dari situ dia bisa meramu sebuah “cerita” yang unik, mengupas masalah-masalah masyarakat dengan cermat, tapi juga dengan sisi manusiawi yang semua orang bisa nyambung.

2. Di halaman 127, Afu menyebut tentang “membangun kembali angkatan intelektual Indonesia” yang sempat hilang lantaran Orde Baru. Mirisnya, sampai 24 tahun paska robohnya Orde Baru dan tegaknya Reformasi ini, rasa-rasanya masih belum ada “angkatan intelektual Indonesia” itu, kaum public intellectuals dari orang-orang di generasi Y dan Z. Tapi, membaca Menjadi ini membuatku agak optimis kalau mungkin kelompok orang-orang intelektual itu akan muncul dengan buku semacam ini sebagai pemicunya.

3. Aku suka banget dengan banyaknya alat-alat berpikir atau mental models yang dikenalkan di Menjadi ini, seperti sistem I dan II dalam berpikir, tahap-tahap pendewasaan-nya Kegan, konsep need for cognitive closure, eksternalitas, ekonomi donat, sampai dikotomi reformis-revolusionis dalam manajemen perubahan. Rasa senangku ketika dikenalkan perkakas-perkakas konsep ini buat memperbaiki metode berpikirku mungkin sama dengan bapak-bapak habis belanja dari toko bangunan berupa toolbox yang isinya lengkap banget buat menunjang segala aktivitas pertukangan di rumah.

4. Walaupun buku ini penuh dengan pergumulan dalam proses “menjadi” yang filosofis/etis/spiritual nan tidak duniawi, tapi sebetulnya buku ini juga sekaligus bisa jadi panduan yang bagus buat menentukan arah karir bekerja, rencana studi, esai kontribusi dan personal statement buat aplikasi beasiswa, bahkan mungkin rencana terjun ke politik praktis bagi yang memang berminat ke arah sana. Hehehe. Alat-alat berpikir dalam buku ini memungkinkan untuk dipakai ke arah sana, terutama di bagian C. Jadi, ini buatku satu hal yang perlu digarisbawahi, bahwa berpikir kritis atau refleksi diri atau berfilsafat atau “menjadi” itu bukan hanya kegiatan waktu senggang untuk menunjukkan privilese saja (mungkin istilah yang tepat untuk ini “navel-gazing”). Ia punya nilai yang sangat praktis dan sangat bisa diterapkan sebagai siasat bertahan hidup dan, pada akhirnya, untuk memenangkan the game of life.

5. Pada akhirnya, sesuai anjuran Afu sendiri di akhir buku, aku menemukan titik-titik perseberangan pendapat. Titik perbedaan pendapatku yang terbesar adalah dari soal proses “menjadi” yang digambarkan linear sesuai dengan alur hidup. Buku ini ditulis dengan asumsi bahwa ada titik awal dan akhir yang jelas dalam proses “menjadi.” Ini bisa terlihat dari proses dialektika Hegelian yang dikutip Afu dengan tesis-antitesis-sintesisnya. Tapi, bisa juga kita katakan kalau proses pengembangan diri tidaklah seruntut itu. Afterall, life is messy, paradoxical, and full of randomness. Banyak hal yang tidak dapat terjelaskan dalam bentuk narasi (re: narrative fallacy, fooled by randomness), apalagi kalau urusannya dengan pengalaman pribadi (re: survivorship bias, Anna Karenina principle). Tentu saja, tidak bakal ada buku yang bisa menjelaskan semua hal di dunia ini alias the theory of everything. But, for me, the beauty of Menjadi is that for all its useful bits of knowledge and tools for critical thinking, it is ultimately NOT intended as a prescription of how to lead a good life, but rather as a call to action to start/restart our process of being/”menjadi”. Ini adalah hasil refleksi penulisnya atas proses “menjadi”-nya, yang bisa jadi sesuai ataupun tidak dengan situasi personal masing-masing pembaca. Akupun jadi merasa terpanggil untuk merespons apa yang sudah ditulis Afu dengan refleksi-refleksiku tentang prosesku sendiri dalam “menjadi.”

I originally wanted to read Hitchhiker three years ago to cope with the sense of dread and insignificance after finishing the third book of the cosmic sci-fi series Remembrance of Earth's Past. Contrary to that series' heavy-handed, ultra-hard science fiction approach to deliver the tale of our universe, here our world is presented as a deadly place but also a silly and bewildering place to live in. Liu Cixin in his trilogy presented the view that our lives in the universe are absurd in the sense that there's no point in anything and that all our efforts to create something in it tend to be negated by the sheer force and size of the galaxy itself. Similarly, Douglas Adams wanted to convey such sense of absurdity, too. However, he did it by presenting the fuzzy, confusing, and plain unknowable truths of the universe as a series of witticisms and jokes.

I'm enjoying this change in perspective. It is far easier to swallow the fact that I as a human being am very much meaningless and mostly harmless in the grand scheme of things through comedy and silly characters than through theoretical speculations and tragic stories. Which kind of explanation is more correct doesn't matter. Afterall, as the old man Slartibartfast said, “I'd far rather be happy than right any day.”

This is a short read that got me thinking, “If I were to die 3 months from now, would I do anything differently?” The main character wondered about this, too, when he, as the title suggests, sold his life for ten thousand yen per year. It's a pretty bittersweet story, and has certainly made me feel some feelings. However, I'm not really impressed by the introduction of a “best girl” to accompany this main character. It kinda cheapens the whole point about the story and its ending.

Overall, the impression I got upon finishing the book was like the one I experienced after finishing Mitch Albom's “The Five People You Meet in Heaven.” This manga made me feel and think, but not deep enough. Still an enjoyable read, though.

I wanted to give this book at least 3 stars. I really did.

Liu Cixin's “The Three Body Problem” trilogy was amazing. I literally had an out-of-body experience just from reading it. Descriptions about aliens, the failing nature of humans, and our mind-boggling insignificance in the universe had made me ugly cry by the end of the series. Heck, even Barack Obama used these books to escape from his day-to-day politics. But like many other expansive stories, some plot points are left unaddressed and untold. This is where Baoshu came in with this fan fiction sequel to try to fill in the gaps

The ideas presented on “The Redemption of Time” are intriguing, just like on the trilogy. Being relatively untrained on hardcore philosophy and/or science, maybe a lot of the explanations in this novel just went above my head. However, I like the discussion about the concept of time, especially the idea that “time is freedom.” I am also drawn to the battle of ideology between The Master and The Lurker, whether we should prioritize space or we have to preserve time. This all makes little sense to you readers, but once you get the hang of it I bet you'll be interested too.

Also, the translation is just perfect and feels as if it's not fan fiction but a canonical work from Cixin himself. I suspect that this is thanks to Ken Liu, who had also done a great job delivering the English version of the first and third books in the trilogy.

So why did I give it only 2 stars? Here are some defects that ruined my experience reading it:

1. There's this kinda sexist attitude throughout the book. Actually, even the original trilogy made questionable characterizations of its female cast, e.g. big emphasis about femininity, their tendency as care-givers, their disposition towards feelings rather than thoughts. Baoshu seems to have taken the clue and dials it up to eleven. He described Sophon (a recurring humanoid character from the trilogy) as being inspired by a certain porn star (which I first thought was fictional but actually exists in real life). Many of the female characters act just like they do in male-oriented romance, which is a trashy move coming from the author. This should be pure hard science fiction that can be read by anyone of any background, but sadly these sexist overtones will make the novel inaccessible for half of the population. I myself couldn't recommend this book for my female friends because of this problem.
2. The latter parts of the novel (which are more about creating a new story as opposed to fill in some information gaps in the original novels) deliver the juicy bits about speculations and theories related to life, the universe, and everything. But the way it is delivered feels like just a power fantasy fiction. Yun Tianming suddenly receives powers that make him somehow invincible and look younger. From this point on, he's nothing more than an empty character. At some moment in the novel I began to wonder, “Am I reading a science fiction novel, or am I reading Sword Art Online?”
3. This might not be a big deal for others, but it is to me. This author just randomly dropped a reference to Suzumiya Haruhi and then went on to slander it as “stupid cartoon.” No, sir, “Endless Eight” is one of the best arcs in the Suzumiya Haruhi light novels. In fact, it is my favorite after “The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi.” I know it has some relevance to your story, but this juvenile remark about anime has really made me doubt your seriousness about the ideas you're trying to present through your book here.

So, should you readers try it? I'll say you might want to judge for yourself whether you like it or not, but only if 1) you're not a female (I think you'll be disgusted by its portrayal of women characters), 2) you really, really, really like “The Three Body Problem” trilogy and is thirsty for more content, and 3) you can discern between the serious sci-fi concepts and the silly tropes that are the stuff of trashy fiction.

A legendary but aging fisherman has been unable to make a catch for the past 84 days. This led the other fishermen to believe that this particular fisherman is cursed and soon to be a goner. He wants to prove them wrong. So off he goes to the sea, trying to catch the biggest fish he could get. But this journey was not at all what he expected.

That's the synopsis. At first, I wasn't really intrigued by the premise. Even immediately after finishing this novella, I still couldn't figure out why it's so significant for many people. But after thinking more about what I just read (actually, I listened to it through audiobook) and reading about its background and response on Wikipedia, I began to realize that this story can elicit a lot of implied meanings and metaphors, and that is why this story brought Hemingway to his Nobel prize.

“Greatness” is a concept that's very close to “success”, in the sense that both are extremely difficult to describe objectively. However, this book uses a very specific understanding of “greatness” and builds on it to argue that we can never really plan to achieve greatness. Rather, things can become great if we don't plan on it and focus instead on making gains. These are all very abstract explanations, but I get it.

This book affirms what I truly believe about greatness: the more you pursue it, the less likely you're able to achieve it. But again, this depends on what you mean by “greatness”, and for the book's specific intention of the meaning of “greatness”, the authors' argument makes sense. It's really hard to point out specifically. Just try reading the book for a little bit, I guess? You can get a glimpse to their answer to “Why greatness cannot be planned?” on the concluding chapter.

Overall, this was a great and important read.

Tidak seberkesan Rafilus atau Olenka, tapi tetap menggambarkan suasana batin yang sama: bahwa manusia jauh di lubuk hatinya cenderung suka mementingkan diri sendiri dan tidak berharap yang baik-baik kepada orang lain, tapi sekaligus juga butuh kasih dan sayang dari sesama manusia agar bisa bertahan hidup.

Listened to this book because it's narrated by THE Littlefinger. I will still need to read the book visually to retain the information, though. This kind of book is something you'll ultimately have to read at your own pace rather than being read to.

I like that this book doesn't become preachy with their formula of forming habits. The advice listed here are helpful, but the author is also careful to be aware of the limits of the prescriptions that he wrote. The tips are also useful and can be applied to other areas outside of personal development, such as business and parenting. If you have read Charles Duhigg's The Power of Habit, this book can be a perfect companion because it gets more practical on how you can actually make habits work for you.

This book is a translation of the ancient Chinese text Tao Te Ching. According to the introduction of this rendering, tao means “the way of all life,” teh can be interpreted as “the fit use of life by men,” and ching stands for “ a text or classic.” it contains 81 very short chapters discussing the nature of this world, as well as human relations.

At first, I was really confused with the sayings, as words and lines seem to be unrelated to one another. However, as I kept reading and not thinking too much about it, an understanding about the gist of the text dawned upon me. I think it's the repetitiveness of the chapters that eventually allow me to capture the meaning behind the seemingly confusing and platitude-ish wording.

This book touches upon many topics, but one of the most notable here is the concept of wu-wei. According to this article, the term means literally “no doing” and figuratively “effortless doing,” while the translator of this edition worded it as “creative quietism.” Either way, I could find no better way to grasp that concept than to read and feel out the words of Lao Tzu himself.

Of course, this translation is by no means Lao Tzu's actual words. As a student of translation myself, I don't think that any translation can truly replace the source text, the original. Witter Bynner as the translator might have let some of his own biases (particularly of Christianity and the West) slip into the text in its English form. In the introduction, he even admitted that he could not speak Chinese. Instead, he relied on previous English translations and his own experience of being in China for two years. That being said, the translation itself is beautifully written. It pays attention to rhyming and line breaks really well, and the vocabulary he used back in 1944 seems so contemporary, as if he only wrote it in the 2020s.

All in all, although with a grain of salt, I would recommend you to read this Bynner's translation of Tao Te Ching. I might even need to read this more than once.

This book makes some great points about the problem with police officers and the concept of policing overall, but I do think that the arguments are all over the place. That's why it's hard for me to support its conclusion.

A really short read on how and how not to invest which takes just about one hour to finish (although it comes with a caveat). The writer outlined five hurdles of investing that every young person should avoid. Reading this booklet kind of feels special to me since the advice starts on what to do with investments at 25 years old, which is my current age. He he.

I like most of the bits of advice and warnings Bernstein offered, such as that humans are not particularly good at investments because they suck at long-term planning. However, as with any book about finance, we must take his advice with a grain of salt. As another reviewer pointed out, his inconsistency shows when he wrote against mutual funds yet at the same time told readers to invest in 401(K), which invests the money into (partly) mutual funds.

In short, we should never trust 100% of any financial advice. However, this book has more amount of believable advice than almost any other finance book.

I once read the Indonesian translation of this book, and the experience couldn't have been more different. This biography reads not like a dry explanation about how someone had lived in the past. Martin Lings presented the story of the Prophet almost like a myth. I don't mean “myth” as in “fiction” but as a grand narrative that shows why there are more than a billion humans today that believe in his words, his deeds, and his message. Some might judge that the story might be unconvincing, while others will certainly get stirred by Muhammad's virtuous qualities, as well as his complexities as a human being.

One of the main differences that set this biography apart from many other chronicles about Muhammad is that it does not begin straight from Muhammad's birth. Instead, we are told first about the story of Ibrahim, how he built the Kaaba, how his descendants found the city of Mecca (the focal point of Muhammad's story), who Muhammad's ancestors were, and finally the recent events preceding Muhammad's birth. Another distinguishing feature compared to other English biographies about the Prophet is that Martin Lings wrote using an Early Modern English-like style (such as one you might find in Shakespeare's plays). This can be quite jarring for readers, bearing in mind that this book was written in the 1980s. I'm not entirely sure why Martin Lings did this, but maybe it has to do with the subtitle, “His Life Based on the Earliest Sources.” Perhaps Martin Lings did this because he wanted to show that what he wrote is not based on his taste or liking, but because he just wanted tell it like how classic Arab biographers told the story of Muhammad in classical Arabic. Indeed, all of his sources (which he extensively cited and footnoted in each chapter, which are mostly brief) date just a few centuries from Muhammad's lifetime.

Since this book relies so much on classical sources rather than more contemporary ones, those intending to find factual information or critical analysis (so to speak) about the Prophet may be disappointed. Just like the early Islamic biographies about the Prophet, we can find many instances where supernatural occurrences happened or of miracles supposedly performed by Muhammad. Historical accuracy is not the point of this book. Rather, as I pointed out earlier, this book presents Muhammad as how he is revered and followed by more than a billion Muslims around the globe. Through Martin Lings' writing, you might not be able to find the factual truth about Muhammad, but you might see why many people see Muhammad as the bringer of Truth.

Exactly what it says on the can. You are going to learn how to be miserable so that you can be able to avoid the sources of misery.

“Pekerjaan menjauhkan kita dari tiga keburukan: rasa bosan, dosa, dan kemiskinan.”

Terkadang saya lupa bahwa Bung Hatta masih hidup di zaman Soeharto. Terkadang negara ini lupa bahwa mereka punya bapak bangsa yang juga akademisi.

Sebagaimana buku-buku lain dalam seri ini, jilid tentang Bung Hatta berhasil menggambarkan sosok tokoh dwitunggal (dan dwitanggal) yang berwarna, yang tidak melulu satu sisi sebagaimana yang kita tahu dalam pelajaran sejarah. Meski penyampaiannya tidak melulu runtut, dari buku ini kita bisa mengerti garis kehidupan Bung Hatta yang berwarna-warni dan tidak melulu dipenuhi perjuangan. Justru hidup beliau lebih ramai oleh buku-buku, baik yang dia baca maupun yang dia tulis.

Very brief introduction to what data science is, how does one work with it, and why people make such a big deal out of it. Although this book won't teach you how to be a data scientist, I think this is a decent point of departure for anyone wishing to learn to analyze data.

Although reading this book is such a hard work, the sheer insanity of it all forced me to keep faith with the story, and upon reaching the last page I was baffled. I feel so, so insignificant, but in a good and eye-opening way.

(I'll write a review later, maybe.)

Sejujurnya, saya baca buku ini karena “disuruh” Pak Ariel Heryanto dalam video ceramahnya yang cukup viral tentang peran serta orang Eropa dalam kemerdekaan Indonesia. Kalau biasanya di film atau karya fiksi lainnya orang Eropa, apalagi Belanda, selalu dijadikan tokoh jahat, di kumcer karangan Iksaka Banu ini justru hampir semua lakonnya bernama asing. Orang “pribumi”-nya sendiri hanya muncul sekali-sekali, kadang membantu Belanda dan kadang memusuhi.

Dari cerita pendek pertama, Selamat Tinggal Hindia, kita disuguhi keterangan bahwa yang berpikir soal Indonesia merdeka bukan cuma orang Indonesia saja. Ada orang-orang Belanda yang lahir dan besar di Hindia, dan sama sekali mereka tidak kenal tanah Belanda itu sendiri. Mungkin pembaca akan ingat ke karakter Annelies di Tetralogi Buru-nya Pram. Di cerita yang lain, Pollux, Iksaka Banu tidak hanya bertutur soal nasib Pangeran Diponegoro setelah kalah perang, tapi juga bagaimana seorang tahanan Belgia (yang waktu itu masih berjuang memisahkan diri dari Belanda) ditolong oleh beliau. Namun, dari semua cerita dalam buku ini, yang paling mengguncang saya adalah Semua Untuk Hindia. De Wit, sang tokoh “aku”, menjuluki Pemerintah Hindia Belanda saat itu sebagai fasis, oleh sebab ambisi Gubernur Jenderal van Heutsz untuk menguasai Kerajaan Badung, Bali. Karena ambisi itulah Kerajaan melawan, namun mereka melawan tidak dengan cara yang dikira oleh orang-orang Belanda dan mungkin kita sebagai pembaca yang sudah hampir 110 tahun terpisah dari peristiwa Puputan Badung yang terkenal itu.

Tentunya, tidak seru rasanya kalau semua cerita saya kupas satu per satu. Agaknya cukup dikata bahwa Iksaka Banu betul-betul menekuni penggarapan latar waktu dan tempat serta tema dalam cerita-ceritanya secara sungguh-sungguh. Kisah-kisah ini, yang semuanya bersudut pandang “aku” yang seorang Eropa kulit putih, tampak sangat meyakinkan meski tak sebentar pun pernah terlintas di kepala saya. Kita terbiasa mendengar cerita soal sejarah Indonesia dari buku sejarah sekolah saja, yang dipenuhi oleh cerita-cerita kepahlawanan yang sarat kemuliaan dan pengorbanan para pejuang serita kelicikan dan kebiadaban penjajah. Nyatanya, sejarah Indonesia tidak sehitam-putih itu. Penjajah maupun yang terjajah rupanya pernah dan bisa hidup bersama-sama, meski dalam ketidakadilan dan penindasan.

Sebetulnya saya kurang sreg dengan penyajian dialognya yang agak kaku dan berasa terjemahan, juga dengan beberapa cerpen yang buat saya tidak begitu terlihat konfliknya. Namun, penggambaran sejarah dan tokoh-tokoh yang gamblang berhasil memakan perhatian saya hingga beberapa waktu setelah membaca buku ini. Sudah saatnya orang Indonesia membaca sejarahnya sendiri dengan lebih terbuka.

Dibandingkan buku Politik Kekuasaan, buku ini memang lebih berat ke soal politik secara tatanegara ketimbang politik praktis. Saya menemukan beberapa gagasan yang menarik soal bagaimana menyeimbangkan kekuasaan golongan elit dan golongan rakyat (murba?). Sayangnya, karena ini hanya saduran, penyajiannya jadi terkesan buru-buru. Terkadang satu bab hanya diberi 1-2 halaman. Selain itu, ada informasi yang berulang dan banyak penjelasan yang diberikan tanpa latar belakang sebelumnya. Tapi, sebetulnya masih cukup puas, sih. Mungkin nanti perlu baca lagi.

Was hoping for the discussions of philosophical ramifications of the quantum theory, but turns out this book is more concerned with explaining its roots and development. I'm not saying it should have been presented any other way, it's just that this book seems to be impenetrable for those with nonexistent (or near-nonexistent) knowledge of physics. So here's an advance note for those who want to read this introductory book: please make sure that you are familiar with physics and/or chemistry beforehand.

Perhaps I will return to this later after refreshing my high school physics/chemistry from other books.