WKD

a review of Words Fail Me by Teresa Monachino

‘Why does monosyllabic have five syllables?’

‘Being blunt can result in cutting remark.’

If the English language is a product this book is a compilation of customer complaints. It records complaints of erratic and erroneous behaviours in a neatly designed hard-cover book. Albeit the title expresses disappointment and angst, the content is all about amusing wordplay arranged in minimalistic graphic of red, white, and black, without any tinge of exasperation from the author.

This book is quite a delightful read. But I am sorry that this is a coffee table book and not a normal book. By being a coffee table book, it missed the chance to go deep with the subject, for books in coffee table category does not allow the subject to get too deep (taxing for the mind). 

I love some coffee table books. Mostly the visual ones, like Daido Moriyama picture books for example, or Nobuyoshi Araki’s Tokyo Lucky Hole, for pictures have an indefinite depth about them—you can stare them for ages and still find something new. But this, words-laced-with-graphic-coffee table book, is different. There is just something very wrong seeing a tiny 5-letter-word cowering in the centre of a page surrounded by a great white space. 

It is also tough to stare at a word for a long time and finding something else than the meaning of the word itself. This shortcoming results a very brief reading (15 minutes or less).

That being said, there is one chapter of the book that’s worth a special mention: Antigrams, which is the opposite of anagrams, that means a word or phrase that is formed by rearranging the letters of another but having a direct opposite meaning or contradiction. Here are some examples:

astronomers — no more stars within earshot — I won’t hear this silent — listen violence — nice love and so on

I just marvel at these revelations (inventions?) and wondered how the author can come up with these antigrams. How many else are there? There could be more, I guess. And any of us can find more with the blessing of happy accidents.

a review of In Praise of the Stepmother by Mario Vargas Llosa

Don Rigoberto’s carnal fascination with his beautiful second wife, Lucrecia, is secretly shared by his cherubic son, Alfonsito. Lucrecia on the other hand seems to be intrigued by this development. She is forever pondering whether the love Alfonsito gives her, straightforward as it may seem, like hugs, kisses on the cheek, a little peck on the lips…, is innocent or is concealing another more ambitious motive. A validation comes into sight when she is told by the maid that she saw Alfonsito had been peeping her showering by standing on a perilous perch on the roof of the house. The seduction soon comes from both part, the son, and the stepmother, and when the Don Rigoberto, the father, finds out, Lucrecia is thrown out of the house. What is the motive of this nebulous little villain, Alfonsito? By the end of the book Justita, the maid, asked him whether he did this because he can’t bear to have another woman replace his mama? To that he answers: “I did it for you, Justita…because you’re the one that I…” before his mouth comes at hers hard. As the maid staggered out of the room, rubbing her mouth, she hears Alfonsito laugh with genuine delight, as though enjoying a splendid joke.

The story, which spans 14 episodes long with one epilogue, does actually entertain in the manner of a good twisted fairy tales. What’s interesting though, the chapters are interspersed with steatopygiac nude and one curious near abstract painting by Francis Bacon, and an abstract cubism-like painting by Szyszlo. These paintings come to life in the book, most often told in first person, acting like a silent witness to the lascivious events in the house of Don Rigoberto, all the while lending their artistic beauty to the aesthetic of carnal pleasure.

The novel is an erotic novel written with ambitious stylistic sophistication. While it can be read calmly over a good cup of tea or coffee, it doesn’t lose its power to stimulate the pumping of blood to the groin. However, there is more art in this than sex. Of course, art, art all over. Otherwise, how else could the author have won the Nobel Prize?

a review of Di Tubuh Tarra, dalam Rahim Pohon

For a selection of short story, this book is quite inconsistent; there must be quite a number of editors involved in selecting these short stories. The best short story (voted by editors) is a story by Faisal Oddang called Di Tubuh Tarra, dalam Rahim Pohon (In Tarra’s Body, In the Womb of the Tree)—which strangely positioned in the first of all the stories in the book, unlike many short story collection where the main story is placed at the extreme back—which tells a cultural story of Toraja ethnic where the dead bodies of newborn are laid to rest inside the main trunk of a big tree. The story is told in part Indonesian, part Torajan with rich cultural vocabulary and footnotes, and could easily discourage unknowing readers. The editors were right: Faisal Oddang’s story is one of the good stories presented in the book. ‘Good’ means fresh. But there are other stories that are so banal I couldn’t help rolling my eyes and falling asleep.

Let’s get to the good stories first. My favourite of the bunch is a short story titled, ‘5 Stories by Sapardi Djoko Darmono’. I remembered laughing so hard at one of the stories that sarcastically narrates a commuter’s trip back home after a day’s work in the city. He staggers home only to find his daughter points out to him that one of his legs aren’t actually his. His leg has been misplaced with others’ in the chock-full train on his way home. His writing is funny, poignant, and unmistakably old-skool. That reminds me so much of how my grandfathers talked with his friends (in a good way). Other than that the good stories are ‘Angela’ by Budi Darma, ‘Jalan Asu’ by Joko Pinurbo, ‘Beras Genggam’ by Gus TF Sakai, and of course the one by Faisal Oddang. That makes 5 good stories. I also noticed one piece by a good writer, Seno Gumira Ajidarma, but I just don’t get his work this time.

Now, as I have said before, there are a lot of disappointing stories. Disappointing because some blindly adopt plot driven narratives which are too reliant on twist they lack of real emotion and depth of characters; disappointing because the topic is stale; but mostly disappointing because they are so boring. Which makes me wonder, for whom does Kompas publish this book? Not for the teenagers, of course; not to entice new readers, I guess; but also not for literary snobs, for some of the stories offend advanced readers with bland narratives, banal topics, and unashamed use of plot twist. It is also worth noting that LG Saraswati Putri did write an epilogue (which feels very much like introduction put at the back) that feels to me like a weak, irresponsible glorification laced with famous philosopher’s names and wisdoms.

a review of X-Men Days of Future Past by Chris Claremont and John Byrne

One thing is clear: the movie is much better. But of course we can’t dismiss the graphic novel version completely for it is the tree where the movie’s story originated.

The actual “Days of Future Past” timeline is actually only 2 chapters in the book. Strangely, the other 3 chapters don’t even qualify as a background story, in all honesty, I thought they serve as a deadweight. Here are the full breakdown of the chapters: 1st part is a recap of the events leading to Jean Grey (Phoenix) death; 2nd part tells a story where Nightcrawler is dragged into Dante’s Hell and how the rest of the X-Men helps him getting out; 3rd part is about Wolverine’s journey to resign from the Canadian Secret Service, which leads to his encounter with the Alpha Team and the beast Wendigo; 4th part (2 chapters) is about Days of Future Past; 5th part tells a novel story about Sprite (Kitty Pryde) who has to fight alone with a Ridley Scott’s alien-like creature at Xavier’s home. Again, there is no relation at all between the rest of the chapters and Days of Future Past.

I also need to say that X-Men don’t really appeal to me much before the movie because of some reasons. One of the reason most easily comes to mind is that they all wear silly-looking tight-spandex costumes that would be more apt to be worn in sex parties than battling evil mutants. Of course I understand that it was the 80s, everything must be colourful and skin-tight, and the same goes with Batman, Spiderman, and Superman, right? Right. But the sheer number of X-Men characters makes it look much ridiculous than others (yes, I can tolerate spandex Superman and Spiderman). Now when the movie comes out (probably starting with First Class [2011]) they make sure that it is realistic enough to make the story more believable and true. Because things like “changing into costume before fight” is something from the past. (Not to mention there are some awkward changing costume occurrences in the book.)

So let’s now focus on Days of Future Past. There are differences although the main idea is the same. The year is 2013 and the world is overrun by Sentinels. The only remaining X-Men was Wolverine, Sprite, Storm, and Colossus. Undetected by the Sentinels, the X-Men sent the mind of present Kitty Pryde to the past to work with the X-Men in the past to prevent the assassination of Senator Robert Kelly and Charles Xavier. Meanwhile the rest of the future X-Men members are getting slaughtered by Sentinels as they guard Pryde’s unconscious body. There was some real eerie moments similar to movie’s Days of Future Past shown in the book, which was great. However, by the end of the story, Kitty Pryde manages to finish her job and the assassination is prevented, however, the world of 2013 is no longer shown in the story arc as the present day X-Men (and the readers, of course) are left to ponder what is happening in the 2013 world. And that really sucks.

But thanks to the movie. Yes, now we know what happen to the 2013 world. And I need to say that the glorious narration of the movie version does actually make the comic open-ended closure feels somewhat lazy and unfinished. (Personally I rarely like story narratives that has to do with time travelling, but X-Men Days of Future Past has the best time-travelling narratives I have ever seen.) 

A review of Tiada Ojek di Paris by Seno Gumira Ajidarma

The city is not a concrete jungle, it is a human zoo, said Desmond Morris, a zoologist. This statement viewed cities with an emphasis on its people rather than its structures. However, which focus does it want to emphasise? The myriad variety of its people? Or the confines of city life, like a zoo, where people are caged from one another? 

In this book, subtitled “Urban Talk”, Seno Gumira Ajidarma offers sharp observations about Jakartans in 44 stories, which are collected from his published columns in newspapers. These stories are strange, yet familiar and intimate. We have heard these stories before.

Jakarta Alienates “Ever since the 50s Jakarta has been a city that alienates people,” wrote the author. He went on arguing that city people aren’t bound by blood or culture, unlike their counterparts in the village. People come to Jakarta to fight, to work, to survive. These people often go on their own accord, alienating other people in the process.

Jakartans Hate Real Jakartans Small talk with “small people” (cab drivers, housemaids, security officers, coolies, and so on) often carries you to the point of “Where do you originally come from?” To which I have always answered almost spontaneously. (Sukabumi.) This answer have never failed to make the conversation more pleasant than before and the conversation would carry on further and farther away from Jakarta—to the places where they are originated. For some reason, there is no original Jakarta people. Betawi people, on the other hand, do exist, albeit rarely. Most Jakarta people are consisted of people coming from many places outside Jakarta. This urbanisation is the direct cause of uneven distribution (money, power, development) in Indonesia. For instance, Jakarta enjoyed electricity every day for a year but cities in North Sumatra have to endure power crisis that includes deliberate power cut for many hours in a week. There is also a reason why online shopping is a hit for people living “outside the island” (outside Java, minus Bali). No wonder we will find every kind of Indonesian people from outside Jakarta in Jakarta. And no wonder people will dislike you if you proclaim yourself the real Jakarta people.

Jakarta Will Never Have “Ideal” Public Parks There is also a chapter regarding public parks in Jakarta. Public parks, that can be argued a product of European cities, are not a big hit here in Jakarta, for some reasons. If I may suggest just two: 1. The weather’s too hot 2. The pollution’s too dangerous. The author also observed an area in Jakarta with a luxurious apartment complex that offers a European style park with cupid statues and fountains. And because most luxurious apartment complexes are incarnations of slum areas, more often than not they are situated around shovels and huts. This one is no exception. Fences were erected to fend off people from the slums from enjoying the parks. But all the fences did was fending off the residents from entering the parks (permission from the building management needed). In the end there was only kids from the slums, who got in by jumping off the fence, playing water in the fountains under the afternoon heat. The irony.

A review of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller

My early love for Batman started with Batman Returns (1992). I still don’t fully understand why, but it was a dark, strange, depiction of a superhero it almost felt as if it wasn’t a superhero movie. (I disliked the whole Superman series.)

The fact that Batman is just a normal human pushing his limits makes Batman more like a metaphor than a fiction. His crusade stands as true as every man’s pursuit for perfection; a universal story of human struggle.

Of course I didn’t get all of that from Batman Returns and probably I am being totally biased because Batman Returns is a part of my idyllic childhood and it will always be forever beautiful.

In Batman: The Dark Knight Returns you will find a truly different Batman from the usual Batman movies’ Batmans. This Batman went to the extreme and being much older (pushing sixty). This Batman had also somehow learned to be more brutal and violent than his younger self. Whatever triggers that—Jason’s death?—he seemed to be more effective in his method (anything to do with experience?). This Batman doesn’t hesitate to kill and possessed dark thoughts. In one scene, Two Face (Harvey Dent) was falling from great height and Batman said to himself:

It takes nearly a minute to fall from this height. And despite what you may have heard, you’re likely to stay conscious all the way down. 

The impact is tremendous. Even bone is turned to powder.

Not much of a corpse left. Mostly liquid.

Problem is…

There might not be any fingerprints. Even dental records would probably useless.

And like I said Harvey…

…I have to know.

Being much older Batman had lost a greater portion of his constitution and not rarely he was facing catastrophic situations that he luckily managed to make narrow escapes. To think about it again, if somebody was to make this series a movie, Clint Eastwood would be the perfect cast.

Other superheroes had also aged badly. Selina was now running an escort company, Green Arrow was a one-handed fugitive, and Superman was a mindless government slave.

Batman was assisted by 13 year-old girl, a new Robin—Carrie—which could be a little bit strange that Batman was willing to risk the life of a teenager for his crusade. But this tells much about Batman at the end of his wits. He had little or no choice to clean up Gotham’s mess after years of his absence. He would employ any method (including a bloody fisticuff with a brawny mutant leader half his age) to get things done.

I truly think Batman: The Dark Knight Returns is a graphic novel masterpiece. It never gets old. I’ve read it many times from the first time I read it 8 years ago. Frank Miller’s art was also at its best—the meticulous pencilling, smooth panelling, and noir-minimalist colouring really make it work.

Review of Cerita Pendek Tentang Cerita Cinta Pendek

Bisa dibayangkan Indonesia di awal tahun 2000an: sebuah bangsa yang baru keluar dari pemerintahan Orde Baru dengan keterbukaan pikiran sebatas… ya… enggak jauh-jauh dari jaman Orde Baru, yang lalu "dididik" oleh stasiun TV film-film sinetron yang menggambarkan kisah cinta orang kaya (mobil Mercy, anak orang kaya, Arie Wibowo) vs. orang miskin (tukang sayur cantik, pelayan seksi, anak sekolahan ketinggalan jaman) yang selalu berakhir happy ending; koneksi internet secepat perahu getek dan buku-buku New York best seller yang terjemahannya kacau balau; pelajaran bahasa Indonesia di sekolah dengan kalimat: Ayah bekerja di kantor. Ibu memasak di dapur, serta keterbatasan supply film porno dan keaktifan lembaga sensor Indonesia yang menyensor seluruh adegan ciuman di TV dan bioskop.

Bisa dibayangkan kesuksesan Djenar Maesa Ayu di tahun 2000an: seorang wanita cantik yang berani bercerita tentang perselingkuhan dan percintaan anak-orang tua; berani mendeskripsikan dengan detil kenikmatan perselingkuhan, seks, dan kegiatan gonta-ganti pasangan; dapat menulis kata-kata “sperma mengering di selangkangan”, “lengket dan basah” serta “menusuk anus”… dengan begitu nyamannya.

Maka pantas saja Djenar langsung memenangkan Khatulistiwa Literary Awards (untuk karya Mereka Bilang Saya Monyet!) yang merupakan sesuatu yang bisa dimengerti jika anugerah tersebut dilihat sebagai usaha “buru-buru” lembaga sastra/kesenian dalam menarik keluar bangsa Indonesia dari kegelapan jaman Orde Baru. Anggaplah karya Djenar Maesa Ayu sebagai simbol keinginan bangsa Indonesia untuk lebih terbuka (pikirannya).

Kekuatan Djenar sebagai penulis bisa dibilang adalah jumlah energi dan kelancangan yang terdapat di banyak kalimat yang ditulisnya:

…saya begitu ingin mendengar pantas sebagai pantat.

…bagi saya lebih terhormat melacur demi uang, ketimbang terus melacur demi sebuah lembaga pernikahan.

Jika hati bapak setengah senang, ia akan menyerahkan tubuhnya ditelanjangi dan dibolak-balik oleh bapak seperti adonan martabak telur.

Puitis, lucu, dan tak terduga, kalimat-kalimat tersebut seringnya menghibur. Itu adalah Djenar at her very best. 

Namun kumpulan cerpen ini mungkin memiliki potensi yang lebih apabila didukung dengan proses editing yang lebih baik. Karena banyak kalimat yang terlihat “kegemukan”—tidak ekonomis.

Lalu permasalahan lain: hanya sedikit cerita di buku ini yang bisa dibilang berbeda dibanding cerita yang lainnya. Terasa sekali kemonotonannya dari satu cerita ke yang lainnya. 

Pertanyaannya, seberapa jauh tema seks dan tabu bisa digarap oleh Djenar?