Daughter of Fortune

cover picture from http://www.goodreads.com

Title     : Daughter of Fortune

Writer  : Isabel Allende

Year    : 1999 (Indonesian edition first published in 2009 by Gramedia Pustaka Utama)

Language        : Spanish (translated from the English edition into Indonesian by Eko Indriantanto)

As The House of the Spirits did before, Daughter of Fortune very much astonished me. Though at first I was quite disappointed by the general similarities with the The House of the Spirits in certain aspects some early chapters, Daughter of Fortune turned out to be amazing and amazed me ‘til I dazed.

Eliza, an orphan girl whose parents are unknown, put into the lap of the Sommers family. They raise her without telling her who actually her parents are and make her into a lady of manner. That, until she meets a labor guy named Joaquín Andieta. She knows from the very first time that he is her first and forever love, and then they involve in a passionate forbidden love affair. But the news of gold rush soon comes to Chile, and everyone is in desire to get rich instantly by digging gold. Every man are ready to go to California following their fate, and Joaquín Andieta is no exception.

Pregnant, Eliza goes following her love to the land of gold two months later with the help of a Chinese cook working with her uncle, Captain John Sommers. Tao Chi’en, the cook, thinks that this girl must be crazy enough to go across the sea just to see her boyfriend. Ha cannot say no when Eliza asks him to smuggle her into his ship. Tao Chi’en agrees, but they do not realize yet that Eliza’s request will lead them into a different story they think they know.

This novel may not actually be about love story. I’d rather say that Daughter of Fortune is decorated with love story. In my opinion, its main idea is the history of gold rush taking place in California like a hundred year ago or so. It’s about the coming of various people from around the world—which then make the idea of the “melting pot” alive—the pride and prejudice toward each other, about the racial conflicts, about women and the life they have to live, about business opportunities, about the growing cities. I think Daughter of Fortune is more about history rather than love story. Though we are obviously reading the electrical attraction between Eliza Sommers and Tao Chi’en, also about Eliza’s search for Joaquín and her doubtful heart, I don’t think it’s truly about love. The way I read it, it’s more like the “more or less” history of what shaped California at that time, and more than that, what shaped America now. Even if it talks about love a bit, it’s more about love without any boundaries, even race and culture.

What’s more about this novel is its characters. Like always, I assume, Isabel Allende is one of the experts of exploring people’s characters, especially seen from the side of their race and culture. In The House of the Spirits, Allende described the character of Clara as the one having spiritual power to represent her idea of magical-realism. Here in Daughter of Fortune, Allende puts the character of Tao Chi’en as her “tool” to represent that so-her-idea. What amazed me so much, Allende didn’t put the character of Tao Chi’en there just because he’s Chinese and thus automatically would bring the magical/spiritual idea (you know, Chinese believe in ghost, reincarnation, magical power and so on) into the story, but Allende patiently wrote the cultural background of Tao Chi’en as a Chinese to make his appearance sensical in a cultural way. Well, those of you who are not patient in reading this kind of book, you’ll find yourself bored reading two dull full chapters about Tao Chi’en. But that’s the high point instead, I think. Once you read it, you’ll get the magical/spiritual idea.

This book is also about being a woman. Sometimes women (especially women of that period) cannot know what to make of the world. Eliza is once forced pretending to be a man, and then she writes to Tao:

“Being a man is boring, but being a woman is even worse.”

In a period where women have to live in a very strict way, either in Western or in the Eastern world, you don’t have much choices to take, so little decisions to make. Either you end up being married or being a spinster, there’s not much you can do. Other choices can be worse than anything: sold, forced to become prostitutes, forced to become slaves. Women who do not have any power, or rather who do not know her own power inside, are forced to live under men’s guide and rules. Some men may think differently, but most may not.

Daughter of Fortune is a great story, minus the heart-wrenching love story, though. I was so caught that I thought myself “fortunate” to have read this book. I’m looking forward to read Portrait in Sepia now. It’s the last of the Tripartite by Isabel Allende. Well, in reading order, its story ran after Daughter of Fortune, and should have been the prequel of The House of the Spirits.

Rating: 4

Rapid Fire Question

Okay, among all other weird activities of BBI members (hehehe, no, I don’t mean it seriously), this is the weirdest one. Yup, Rapid Fire Question: you ask, you answer, you pass on to the other members. Right. Hmm… I don’t really understand the rules, but it seems like a member will create 10 questions, then 5 other members will answer them, and then pass them on to other 5 members with addition of 5 more questions. Okay. These questions below passed on to me by @daneeollie, one the members who’s insane to pass it on to me (LOL). Let’s answer it:

1. nambah atau ngurangin timbunan? (adding or reducing book piles?) –> I’d rather both, but okay… reduce it first, then I’ll add it later, HAHAHA.

2. pinjam atau beli buku? (borrowing or buying books?) –> I’d rather borrow (no money, bro!!!)

3. baca buku atau nonton film? (reading books or watching movies?) –> ARE YOU KIDDING ME???!!! both, of course.

4. beli buku online atau offline? (tobuk yg temboknya bisa disentuh)  (buying online or in a bookstore?) –> as I don’t have any damn credit cards, I prefer buying books in a bookstore.

5. (penting) buku bajakan atau ori? (originial or pirated books?) –> yo, it’s not like I’m a criminal or something, LOL. of course the original ones.

6. gratisan atau diskonan? (getting free books or discount?) –> FREE….!!!! (as if I can get books for free, bleh…)

7. beli pre-order atau menanti dgn sabar? (pre-order or waiting patiently for the release date?) –> I’ll wait it alright.

8. buku asing (terjemahan) atau lokal? (foreign/translated or local books?) –> sorry, my preference hasn’t changed… WESTERN contemporary literature, okay???

9. pembatas buku penting atau biasa aja? (is it important to have a bookmark?) –> of course

10. bookmark atau bungkus chiki? (real bookmark or snack bag for replacement?) –> real bookmark, baby…

11. happy ending vs sad ending? –> hahaha, believe it or not, I’m a BIG fan of SAD ENDING!!!

12. Rhett Butler vs Ashley Wilkes? –> sorry, who the hell is that?????

13. buku baru vs buku second? (new or second-hand books?) –> both, I don’t mind.

14. twitter vs facebook? –> hahahaha, really, I don’t have any Facebook page. I don’t think I should.

15. book swap vs book sale? –> I’m okay with either of them

Now, I will add these questions to Annisa Anggiana, Astrid Lim, Alvina, Mia, and Ana. I hope you don’t mind

11. menandai quote dengan stabilo ato stiker?

12. fiksi ato non-fiksi?

13. baca buku fisik ato e-book?

14. baca buku sambil tiduran + denger radio, tiduran+ngemil, ato tiduran +twitteran? (pilih salah satu)

15. membaca buku untuk menghibur diri ato untuk menambah luas wawasan?

Nah, those are the questions from me (in Indonesian) addressed to the 5 BBI members above. please let me know your answers Thank you!!!

The Pictures of the Books: My Wishlist (3)

 

 

Title: Silent House

Writer: Orhan Pamuk

Year: 2012

Language: English

Publisher: Knopf Canada

Selimut Debu

cover picture from http://www.goodreads.com

Title     : Selimut Debu (Impian dan Kebanggaan dari Negeri Perang Afghanistan)

Writer  : Agustinus Wibowo

Year    : firstly published in 2010 by Gramedia Pustaka Utama

Language        : Indonesian

Wanna broaden you horizon? I suggest you to read this book.

Agustinus Wibowo had stunned me with his second travel book, Garis Batas, and last month he just released his third one, Titik Nol. Since I haven’t yet had any chance to read Titik Nol, I had to be satisfied with this first one first, Selimut Debu. Knowing that it was best-seller and that Garis Batas was very much a “masterpiece” of a traveling book, I decided that I have to read this book. Besides, I was really intrigued with what would he write about Afghanistan, considering his writing about the Central Asia countries had me dropped dead on the spot.

It was 2006 and was his second time setting foot on Afghanistan. This time he covered almost the whole land of Afghanistan, down from the south to the north. From one border to another. Agustinus Wibowo was not only “traveling”, he unveiled what’s in veil, he uncovered what’s covered, he told us without any tendency about all sides of the Afghan society: their religion, their beliefs, their culture, their hopes, dreams, their pride and prejudice toward each other.

Reading this book is like being let know what’s inside the war, the suicide bombs, international interference, and all the money circling in that middle of nowhere. It’s like, having read about the donors and the dollars giving to the recovering Afghanistan, asking ourselves… really??? Millions and millions of dollars went there and nothing changed?? The people were still poor, mostly uneducated, the bombs were still exploding, the guns were still fired, and the wars were still going on. With or without Taliban, with or without those dollars, Afghanistan would be (and perhaps will be, in the future) a warfare country which won’t be getting anywhere.

“Di sini semua mahal. Yang murah cuma satu: nyawa manusia.”

What’s more amazing about this book is how Wibowo unveiled what’s in veil, what’s inside the burqa. His cultural discovery gave me some kind of revelation about “feminism”. When some international gender organization (Western, I’d say) tried to hammer Western ideas about the “equality” between men and women, about fighting the oppressive patriarchal culture into the Afghan women’s brains, all they needed was only their burqa to veil them, to keep them safe. Feminism does not have to be “you have to work” or “you have to fight your husband” or “you have to go to school” or “you have to put off your burqa”. No. Feminism is matter of choosing our own way, even if it means wearing burqa or staying at home or being married and having so many children at sixteen. What women favor in one culture doesn’t have to be the same with what “other” women choose in another culture. Afghanistan is not America, you cannot expect it to have the same ideas of gender and/or feminism.

Selimut Debu also opened my eyes about religion. Wibowo’s interaction with the Afghan society, from cities down to the untouchable villages, told me much about how those people see and understand their religion, in this case, Islam. What attracted me was not about the opposite ways of Sunni and Syiah, but how religion and culture go actually in seperate ways, but the first cannot prevail without the second. Sometimes people (not only the Afghan people, but we all, too) are confusing religion with culture, and that’s been going from generation to generation. The burqa, the pilgrimage, the bachabaz tradition, the legend of Hazrat Ali. Religion comes from God, but people cannot live without tradition and culture, and thus they blend them into their way of life. Sometimes we know it’s not right, but we can’t help it.

Selimut Debu didn’t only bring me to the mountainous land of Afghanistan, but also got me into its’ depth, it’s veiled culture and secrets. It’s not only a traveling book, it’s a cultural book. Its packaging is perfect to me: it has a nice, humorous, smart writing style, it contains deep results of observation, it’s inserted with wonderful pictures, it has nice (new) cover, and it has less typos than the second one (thank God).

Rating: 4

Happy B’Day to BBI

Happy 2nd anniversary to Blog Buku Indonesia a.k.a BBI. I owe you so many things: my readers, my increasing stats, some awkward comments (LOL, no, just kidding). Without this community I won’t have a place to share my thinking and opinions about books I read and my passion on literature. This is the place where I meet many book lovers and book bloggers with their various favorite genres (read: preferences) and abundant thoughts and opinions. I learned (and still trying) to wrap my mind around those different preferences, thoughts, comments, so on. I’m still trying to be not only a wider reader, but also a wider-thought person. Amen.

Once again, happy b’day BBI. Hope we will be still together

The Bell Jar

cover picture from http://www.goodreads.com

Title     : The Bell Jar

Writer  : Sylvia Plath

Year    : 1966 (Indonesian edition first published in 2011 by Ufuk Fiction – Heart)

Language        : English (translated into Indonesian by Kania Dewi)

You won’t be an author until you’re eccentric. Or frustrated. Or both. At least Sylvia Plath had made it clear. And, as I proved it myself, reading this book had made me kinda frustrated. Or eccentric. Or both.

The Bell Jar is listed as one of 100 all-time best novels, and one of must-read feminist novels, as I recall. When my friend first told me about this book, she said, “I feel like I can read myself.” And I said, “Wow.” This book must be amazing, then. When I read David Nicholls’ One Day back then, The Bell Jar is also mentioned as one of many books prefered by the main female character. Then I thought: This book must be important. Or people won’t talk much about it. It’s just… Well…

Because, in some article I read, it is said that The Bell Jar is a very personal novel for Sylvia Plath, and that it is “some kind of” her semi-biography, I will assume that Esther Greenwood here is Sylvia Plath herself. Or rather, representing Sylvia Plath herself. A confused, depressed, frustrated girl living in a “bell jar” who doesn’t know what to do with her life though she already gets all what girls want, plus a boy she admires for so long. Except that those “all” seem to drag her from one side to another without mercy that she is not sure about her choices anymore, and that the “boy” she likes turns out to be a coward and a hypocrite.

Have you ever lived in a bell jar? Being stuck inside and cannot go out? Living as if you’ve got everything but none of those available for you in life is your own choice? None of those is really what you want? And the guy whom you think you like suddenly turns out to be the one you most despise in the world? And your family does not even understand you? And you hate all of your “friends”?

When my friend said she felt as if “she can read herself,” I can understand that, now. But, well, I can only say this: I never got all that I seem to want in my life, and unfortunately I never hooked up with the guy I like, but I know how it feels when my family didn’t understand me and when I really really hated some friends. Fortunately, I never ended up in a hospital with an OT to experience.

Eccentric. Frustrated. As I read The Bell Jar, page by page, I thought: is it only me, or Esther Greenwood is not actually living in a bell jar, but rather she puts herself in a bell jar? She did seem not to have any choice (of her own) in life, but to my thinking, people always have two ways: live your life, or not at all. NOT: live your life, or die trying. If Esther Greenwood hates her life and all its choices, she should made “another” life to get away. Moreover, it’s 1960s already, not 1800s anymore where you cannot do something without ending up in an isolation. It was the period of rebellion, freedom, struggle, fight. When you’re a woman and you don’t like something lying in front of you, just say NO. What on earth is the point of saying Buddy Willard is a hypocrite when you yourself do not say what you think? The character of Esther Greenwood here made me wonder if she is actually born mentally ill.

I’m not saying that The Bell Jar is a silly, cracked book. It’s beautifully written, actually. I like the flow. In fact, I like the story. It’s just… Well… I don’t agree with the author. That’s all. Because for me, life is a matter of finding a way to “get out”, and suicide is never the answer.

Rating: 3.5

April Giveaway: An Artist of the Floating World

 

Really, I actually never trust a giveaway because I never win!! But okay, I’ll try this time. Here’s the giveaway. A fellow translator, Melody Violine, hosts a superb giveaway, giving (away, of course) 3 books An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro. Since it’s quite simple and easy to follow, I joined it. Will you, readers?? Come, it’s fun!

 

JOIN IT HERE!!!

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