Getting home from Delft to Amsterdam, yesterday, I was caught in the peak hours. To make things worse, trains got delayed, and even cancelled, from the Delft station - leaving the people at the platform fully packed, standing against the chilly autumn evening, and mostly grumpy. I didn't mind the situation so much because I got a good book to read: Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman's newest novel (my sister found this soft cover version in Singapore.. yaay!).
When the train to Amsterdam finally came, I joined the crowd, squeezing myself into the already-jammed interior. There's no seat available, so I and some other people stood up at the aisle. I resumed reading my novel while trying to keep my balance. Somehow I felt somebody stole a glance at me, once in a while: a woman sitting next to where I stood.
At one stop after Delft, Den Haag HS, a lot of passenger got off, and those who stood and continued their journey were shuffling around the aisle to find seats. The easiest choice for me was the seat next to the woman, so I sat there, quite content, and resumed reading. Again, the woman stole a glance not only at me, but seems like she was trying to read my book, too. This time, more sternly.
She herself was holding a thin A5-sized folder-like publication on her left hand, while her right was busy underlining some words in her folder. Naturally, I also glanced at what she's been busy with. It turned out that the folder in her hand was a - sort of - religious folder. Complete with an illustration of Jesus, full of quotations of verses in the bible. Then I suddenly realized why she was so curious about Anansi Boys: the catching phrase of this novel is, "God is dead. Meet the kids", which is printed fairly big and flashy (blue-metallic color against black background) at the back cover of the book. No wonder she looked at me as if I'm a mild heathen.. hee hee.. (a review for Anansi Boys, coming up!)
Photo source: the website of MUM Puppet Theatre
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ps [an old story]. People should lighten up. This reminds me of discussions in several mailing lists about The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown: the truth (or un-truth) of it, the official declaration from the Catholic church, and all such fuss. I've posted my opinion (as a comment) at a friend's review, here goes:
Books labelled as "best sellers" usually don't match my taste, and that's clearly the case with The Da Vinci Code. Out of curiousity, I finally bought a copy from a 2nd-hand book stall in a marketplace (3 Eur only) not long ago and started reading, finished the next day and rightaway came to a conclusion that this book is overrated.
1. I've been an admirer of Da Vinci's works and have naturally been always interested in biographies & documentations concerning this great artist & all relevant subjects. So, things that are supposedly "big secrets" in this book hardly roused my excitement. These "surprises" might be interesting, mind you, had the author not exaggerate all the supporting elements towards these sub-climax. So, my first problem is perhaps the language style of the book, which sounds rather pompous.
2. I won't refer to myself as a religious person, so I don't really mind whatever subject a book contains. It's just that this book brings up a topic that I've read (or watch or hear) time and again. Just another form of a repeated news.
3. There's a difference between an amusing, great detective story and a plain mystery story where most what-happens-nexts are predictable. Sadly, this book falls into the later category. Plain words are perhaps adequate in telling an exciting mystery adventure, but plain words for not-so-mysterious happenings are boring. This book is clearly not a great literature material. And I could see rightaway why Hollywood wants it on big screen; everything is there: there's a hero and his pretty partner-heroine, villains, conspiracy, exclusive & fancy 'tours' across Europe, and the script is ready. There, you've got yourself a supossedly-succesful movie.
4. I am biased by the idea that the main character will be played by Tom Hanks. That's it, enough to ruin the whole book. I like how Tom Hanks presents his characters in most of his movies, but I don't think he suits this Langdon character.
However, I can respect the research done by the author to complete this book, and his ability to put words together so that people who don't usually read novels are able and willing to read this book until the end. For that, I give this book one star.
Tul. Harry Potter case? hhh....Benernya sih gpp kalo mereka punya preference sendiri2 tetapi yg nyebelin, mereka coba 'impose' pemikiran mereka kepada orang lain. Yaa pelototin balik deh Ta :))
ReplyDeletehehehe tapi ya bisa dimengerti juga sih reaksi seperti itu. saya juga pernah ngalamin yang sebaliknya kok: lagi baca bible di kereta, terus dipelototin orang heheheiieeeee...
ReplyDeletetapi yang tidak diperdulikan oleh banyak orang adl: "God is dead" adalah frasa yang menjadi terkenal setelah friedrich nietzsche menganalisa pergeseran nilai-nilai kerelijiusan (dalam hal ini, kekristenan) di eropa dan menggantinya dengan rasionalisme.
walau nietzsche adl atheist, frasa ini tidak muncul sebagai pernyataan kepercayaan dia akan ketidakberadaan oknum yang namanya God.
dari wikipedia.de
Wohin ist Gott? rief er, ich will es euch sagen! Wir haben ihn getötet, – ihr und ich! Wir alle sind seine Mörder! Aber wie haben wir dies gemacht? Wie vermochten wir das Meer auszutrinken? Wer gab uns den Schwamm, um den ganzen Horizont wegzuwischen? Was taten wir, als wir diese Erde von ihrer Sonne losketteten? Wohin bewegt sie sich nun? Wohin bewegen wir uns? Fort von allen Sonnen? Stürzen wir nicht fortwährend? Und rückwärts, seitwärts, vorwärts, nach allen Seiten? Gibt es noch ein Oben und ein Unten? Irren wir nicht wie durch ein unendliches Nichts? Haucht uns nicht der leere Raum an? Ist es nicht kälter geworden? Kommt nicht immerfort die Nacht und mehr Nacht? [...] Gott ist tot! Gott bleibt tot! Und wir haben ihn getötet! Wie trösten wir uns, die Mörder aller Mörder?
Entah kenapa aku juga nggak minat baca buku itu...
ReplyDeleteHabis seluruh dunia yang:" udah baca Da Vinci Code?" Keren banget lho!!
Lalu habis itu ngajak diskusi tentang agama,terutama kekurangan2 dalam agama Katolik. Hado..kalo mau diskusi ayok aja,tapi kok bahannya kudu dari buku itu?
ah. the usual, resourceful jo. makasih atas nietzche-nya, itung2 ngelatih ulang jermanku :)
ReplyDeleteya.. banyak orang, yg mungkin memang nggak ngerti, nggak bisa memisah2kan antara data dan fiksi pada buku itu. or, simply too "hollywood-minded".. hihihi..
ReplyDelete