True Detectives

Burning through one season of a series is something I rarely do lately but I fell back into this old, bad habit I guess. It is regrettable. 

During the intake of my old drug of choice, I found a really awesome, dark, and disturbing crime series, called True Detective. It has been recommended by some clamouring fans, but the decision to watch it just came recently. And how I do not regret it!

It opens with a very striking image of a very pagan corpse. Red hair, pale skin, and antlers. It gave me shivers and creeps and I felt a mixture of awe and fear every time my mind conjured that image. She felt so ancient, powerful, earthy - yet vulnerable and impotent in her immobility and death.

You should not watch this before any interview or social event. It makes you... gloomy. Dizzy. Feverish. Well, lesson learned for me at least.

Yea

It tells us about a seemingly occult case in Louisiana. A pair of detectives, Marty Hart and Rustin Cohle were tasked to solve it. They stumbled onto many obstacles during and after the solving of the case. And it does not help that both of those men apparently did not show any interest to learn about each other. They finally did, as time went by, but it is more like the details revealed themselves because situation called, not because each actively tried to learn about each other.

Rustin clicked more with Maggie, Marty's wife, than Marty did with him. Marty's jealousy further made the situation uncomfortable. Rustin held himself aloof - because he's an unhappy man. It is understandable. Matthew McConaughey gives a very admirable performance as Rustin Cohle. He successfully portrays him as an unhappy man who has conscience, deeply philosophic, self-check every time, and seeks redemption. His life is a long balancing act. He struggles, always, always. I find that I sympathise strongly with him - heck, I might even have fallen in love a bit with him. Were I to meet him I will give him my bear hug - all the strength and warmth I can give, I will give to him, for he has a very heavy cross to bear.

I find I dislike Marty Hart so much. He is a damned hypocrite, misogynist, and chronic adulterer. He had committed awful deeds - one of them won the prize - yet he can still sleep like a baby at nights. I am not too surprised at the direction the story went after the occult-murder case of Dora Lange was solved.

The thing is, to tell you the truth, I am pissed. It is a sin committed by two - why should only one of them bear the cross? Only one of them felt really guilty. The other seemed to have no conscience at all. It embittered me so much. And when Rustin committed a mistake - a mistake which was a result from domino effect from Marty's own fault - it was Marty who hit him not the other way around! 

What an egoistic prick!

True Detective is highly recommended for you who enjoy weird cases, heavy, dark psychological crime drama. I used to think it is impossible to build an entertaining full season based just one unsolved case - but turns out it is possible. ナイス。
The ending showed a disturbing and nauseous sex scene. Okay. Now I remember it again. I need to bleach my eyes. Eurrrghhhh. 
I am looking forward to season two. Because this is an anthology-style series, we will meet a different detective duo.They say it'll have Rachel McAdams in it and I CANNOT SIMPLY WAIT IN SILENCE. 

このTV series はとても凄い。ちょっと暗くって、みんなさん見て下さい！

じゃ、次の書き込みであう！ 

Sources:
http://media.giphy.com/media/lsQimiMkjsIPC/giphy.gif
http://cdn1.relevantmediagroup.com/sites/default/files/field/thumbnail/True-Detective-103.jpg
http://i.lv3.hbo.com/assets/images/series/true-detective/character/1/martin-hart-1024.jpg 

Koala Kumal by Raditya Dika

He is my favourite Indonesian comedian! I prefer reading his jokes and anecdotes to listening to his stand-up sessions, though. I just cannot see the beauty of stand-up comedies. So far I've only watched Indonesian ones. Perhaps I should give the ones from other countries a whirl.

So after a wait that feels almost eternal (four? five? six years? I honestly cannot remember) I was ecstatic upon learning that he published a new book! Oh. YAY! The title is as usual, distinctive.

At least two hours of fun!

And so, I read it and the same thought occurred over and over again.

Dude just, I don't know, six, seven years older than me, tops? And he swims in money (at least that's how it looks, I mean, frequent hang out at malls? Kemang? Eating those GODDAMNED SHIOYAKIS?).*

Dreaming away and wept

And I also feel that the tone is more mature and serious. He seems very self-examining, without sacrificing the funny, in some parts. Good for him, bad for me because I do not want to thiiiink. I want a book equivalent to candy floss, not a fancy hundred-courses French meal, for example. I was waiting so enthusiastically for his books because his books for my brain is like Bailey's Irish Cream for my soul.** In the end, he admitted that there is a theme for every stories in Koala Kumal.

It is loss. And how to deal with losses.

I was silent for a while after reading that. 

This book cannot come in a more perfect moment. I felt severe, profound loss at that time. I cried my eyes out on the daily basis. After waking up, during the day, before going to bed, during bathing - in short, all the freaking time. My eyes were swollen all the time. But of course everybody is busy, admittedly with far more important thing than me.*** But then, came toddling along this book. This book made me laugh. Made me forget about my loss. Lifted some of the stress. Thanks, Raditya Dika.

I think I'll give this nine out of ten stars. Why not the perfect score? Because of the mature tone. Sorry! 
______________________________________________________________________________

*Yes, I mull about money a lot. Sorry, Saint Timothy. Like a computer, there's a part of my brain dedicated solely for thinking about that thing. How to spend less and to obtain it. Let's just say it's fortunate for me and my family (core and extended) that I spent twelve years in a Catholic school and I don't remotely look like Dian Sastrowardoyo (for you Indonesians who will certainly get the reference!) or Jessica Alba.

**Oh. Bailey's...

***Losing me has more pros than cons, at least to the world in general and my family. Less mouth to feed, less land to spare (for housing, etc.), less water will be used, one less fertile female to populate the cramped world.

Double Indemnity

Lately, I am hooked to noir and hardboiled. I love noirs... especially the ones set in the 1920's. They are from different era when guys called women 'dame'. They are awesome. They sweep me away.This book is touted as one monumental noir novel, and its author (James M. Cain) as a highly influential person to noir development. I made a resolution to read this book when the right moment come. It came around two days ago. I devoured it instantly. I enjoy it thoroughly.The narration is done by an insurance agent who has a funny name, Walter Huff. Mr. Huff as a nickname is pretty funny, it sounds like sound that you make when you puff. The narration is fast-paced and built with the signature diction of noir. It is gritty. It is dark and self-examining.So, what is double indemnity? 

dou·ble in·dem·ni·ty

noun

NORTH AMERICAN

1. provision for payment of double the face amount of an insurance policy under certain conditions, e.g., when death occurs as a result of an accident.
2. 
   
3. This term is very relevant in this book, in fact, it's one of the main characters motive, beside lust. In the beginning, we are introduced to an insurance salesman doing his usual routine. Walter Huff tried to sell a policy renewal to his client, a Mr. Nirdlinger. However, he wasn't home when Walter paid him a visit. Walter seemed like an OK guy, a regular joe. But then he met a woman that will change his life and dirty his hands, Phyllis Nirdlinger. This is the exact moment when his moral is tested. And he failed the test. This moment makes me wondering. If you know that someone plan a homicide, why don't you prevent it? Are lust and money so big a temptation? I mean, Walter's life is plain, but it isn't dull. He can assess people well - it's one of his asset - and he enjoys selling insurance policies, which are exciting for him. He is good. It's a respectable life, he isn't a beggar. Is it possible to want someone so much after your first meeting that you decide to risk everything you have? When I read this book further, I feel that the two characters who conspire to take another human being life are so disconnected and distant. I mean, well... taking someone's life is a huge sin, morally and religiously. It will need a huge temptation to do the aforementioned act. But I didn't sense that Walter is tempted enough. It feels so insignificant compared with other things that he had already had.
4. 
   
5. Then Phyllis. She is first shown as a woman with a plan, then a willing accomplice in adultery and marricide, then later we learn that she is really crazy. The crazy talk she said at the beginning? Totally not an act. She is also more... ahem, experienced than Walter. Let's say that poor Walter should have done a more complete background check about his soon-to-be partner in crime. I dislike her depiction as a crazy woman, because it feels incongruous with her former acts. They were coldly and logically calculated.
7. The biggest irony in this book is when Walter tried to be a teacher in Murder 101, the pupil was more experienced. And Phyllis fared better when her acts were one-woman-acts. When a new partner was introduced, it was proven to be a big, fatal failure. A real pity, Phyllis.
8. 
   
9. 

And Walter? WRONGEST DECISION EVER, dearie.

See?

There are several memorable quotes in this book. I'll give you two.

I had killed a man, for money and a woman. I didn't have the money and I didn't have the woman. 

That's all it takes, one drop of fear, to curdle love into hate.

Kitab tentang Yang Telah Hilang oleh John Connolly

Aslinya berjudul The Book of Lost Things, seperti yang bisa dilihat pada gambar sampul di samping.
Buku ini sudah lama terbitnya sih, dan saya juga bacanya sudah lama. Tapi buku ini meninggalkan kesan yang sangat dalam buat saya. 
Awalnya, saya membeli buku ini karena tertarik pada retelling cerita dongeng. Saya lemah banget pada iming-iming 'retelling cerita dongeng'. Buku ini terbukti memuaskan. Beberapa cerita dongeng yang di-retelling dan turut membentuk alur cerita buku ini adalah dongeng Rumpelstiltskin dan Si Jubah Merah (Little Red Riding Hood). Keduanya diceritakan ulang menjadi sangat gelap dan kelam. Atmosfir buku ini memang gelap dan kelam, bahkan sejak awal.
Buku ini diawali dengan peristiwa kehilangan yang besar. Kehilangan istri dan kehilangan ibu. Wanita yang meninggal adalah ibu dari David, protagonis utama kita. David adalah anak laki-laki yang biasa-biasa saja, introvert. Hubungannya dengan ayahnya semenjak kematian ibunya cukup dekat, walaupun David selalu merindukan ibunya.
Sampai ayahnya bertemu Rose dan menjalin hubungan dengan Rose.
Ayah David dan Rose lalu menikah (MBA, by the way) dan pindah ke rumah Rose. Beberapa bulan setelahnya Rose melahirkan bayi laki-laki, Georgie. Georgie bukan bayi yang mudah diberi simpati. Dia rewel, dan penyakitan. Hal ini membuat perhatian ayah David dan Rose terpusat pada Georgie. David semakin menarik diri dari dunia dan menenggelamkan diri dalam buku-buku dongeng yang bertulisan nama 'Jonathan'. Buku-buku yang berbisik kepadanya. Di samping itu, semenjak pindah ke rumah baru dan tenggelam dalam dunia buku David sering pingsan dan mengalami khayalan yang seolah nyata. Tetapi ayahnya hanya menganggap David kena ayan.
Relasi David dengan Rose sendiri tidak pernah baik. David tidak suka pada Rose yang dianggap tidak layak menggantikan ibunya. Rose sendiri berusaha mengambil hati David, tapi selalu gagal, walaupun ada satu saat langka ketika keduanya bicara dengan baik-baik. Dalam percakapan ini, David mendapat pengetahuan baru tentang Jonathan.
Keadaan semakin diperparah dengan kedatangan si bayi baru. Rose yang kelelahan semakin sulit mengontrol emosinya dan pada suatu ketika, amarahnya pada David meledak. David, yang sudah menanggung banyak beban baru (kehilangan perhatian, penyakit aneh) juga meledak dan lari ke reruntuhan dekat rumah. Dan pada saat bersamaan, pesawat tempur Jerman jatuh di dekat reruntuhan itu.
David pingsan. Dan ia bangun di dunia yang asing dan baru baginya... Dunia yang mengerikan. Di mana cerita dongeng menjadi nyata. Sayangnya, bukan dongeng yang indah.
Apalagi yang selanjutnya terjadi pada David? Well, seperti para ksatria dalam dongeng, David diuji. Luluskah David dari semua ujian yang ia alami? 
... untuk itu, baca sendiri bukunya untuk menemukan jawabannya :)
Beberapa dongeng yang di-retelling selain dua dongeng di atas:

• Childe Roland
• Sleeping Beauty
• Hansel dan Gretel
• Snow White

Itu saja yang saya ingat. Selebihnya, saya tidak mengenali dongeng yang di-retelling. Dongeng hasil retelling benar-benar sangat berbeda dengan dongeng aslinya. Lebih dewasa dan lebih gelap, dengan pesan moral yang juga lain sekali dengan pesan moral yang tersirat dalam dongeng originalnya. 

Aftertaste yang saya rasakan setelah membaca buku ini adalah perasaan hangat bercampur kesedihan. Perasaan hangat karena ternyata masih ada hal yang indah dan baik setelah melewati segala hal yang mengerikan itu. Kesedihan karena ternyata orang baik tidak selalu mendapat upah yang sesuai dengan perbuatannya di dunia - entah bagaimana dengan upah di akhirat. 

Cocok sekali untuk penyuka cerita fantasi maupun retelling fantasi.

Good job, Mr. Connolly! Sayangnya saya malah belum membaca satu buku pun dalam seri supernatural-kriminal Anda. Kalau boleh menyimpang, banner website Anda sangat saya sukai. Archangel Michael, sedang mengalahkan setan :)

The Summer of the Ubume

I first knew this book's existence by browsing my 'Recommendations' in Goodreads. Here is the short summary from amazon.com:

In Japanese folklore, a ghost that arise from the burial of a pregnant woman is an Ubume. 
The Summer of Ubume is the first of Japan's hugely popular Kyogokudo series, which has 9 titles and 4 spinoffs thus far. 
Akihiko "Kyogokudo" Chuzenji, the title's hero, is an exorcist with a twist: he doesn't believe in ghosts. To circumnavigate his clients' inability to come to grips with a problem being their own, he creates fake supernatural explanations--ghosts--that he the "exorcises" by way of staged rituals. His patients' belief that he has vanquished the ghost creating their problems cures them.
In this first adventure, Kyogokudo, must unravel the mystery of a woman who has been pregnant for 20 months and find her husband, who disappeared two months into the pregnancy. And unravel he does, in the book's final disturbing scene.

Whoa. Let me list the things that hooked me immediately. 20 months pregnancy? Check. An exorcist who doesn't believe in ghost? Check. What kind of exorcist has no belief of the existence of the very thing he meant to exorcise? A seemingly supernatural case with logical explanation? Check. A ghost that I hear for the first time? Check.

And this is what I felt after finishing it.

This book is completely scary. It covers both fields of fear - the irrational (ghosts) and the rational (all the psychological twists and dramas). 
The book starts with lines that commonly found in mystery books - lines that spoken by someone we don't know. Sometimes we dismiss it, but later in the story those lines are found to be important. Such lines.
The story starts innocently enough. A poor journalist, Sekiguchi, visited his friend, Chuzenji 'Kyogokudo' Akihiko who was an owner of a used-books store in order to share a controversial story.
However, it was soon revealed that one of the person involved in the story was none other than their high school friend, Makio. After knowing that fact, Sekiguchi decided to further investigate the story. In doing it, he asked for help from his friend who was a private investigator, Enokizu and Kyogokudo's sister, Atsuko. By a strange twist of fate, Enokizu got a new client who was another key player in the weird story, Kuonji Kyoko, the sister-in-law of Makio.
And this is where the book begins to ride the crazy train.
The narrator - Sekiguchi - became more and more unstable along the story. I really want to shake him real hard or give him a good slap. CAN'T YOU BE A LITTLE BIT SANE, PLEASE. And grow some backbone. Buck up, man! At some point, I wonder which ones are crazy/ unusual. Is it Kyogokudo and Enokizu? Or is it Sekiguchi? I think it's the latter.
There was a long lecture about the nature of memory, brain, consciousness, subconscious, ubume, and quantum theory which I found to be a little bit tedious but interesting enough. Because I've watched Moryo no Hako before, those seemingly-out-of-topic lectures didn't bother me too much. I skimmed through some parts of them though - sorry, author. They were appropriate additions to the book.
The solution was a bit unbelievable. I can't imagine how a pair of eyes can thoroughly fooled their owner by unseeing something that was clearly there. I can understand if it just happened to one person. But three? And one of them didn't have any ties with the other two? Erm. I'm having a hard time to imagine, let alone believe, that such thing can happen.
This is a very noir book. It leaves a taste that needs to be cleaned fast, without delay. I don't recommend you to read another heavy or dark book after reading The Summer of the Ubume.
Nine stars. Deducting one for the solution.

Deathless Re-Review

Deathless adalah penceritaan kembali dongeng Rusia Koschei the Deathless. Kamu bisa baca salah satu versinya di sini. Secara umum buku ini mengisahkan kehidupan Marya Morevna, seorang gadis Rusia di masa pascarevolusi, mulai dari kehidupannya yang relatif tenang sebagai seorang gadis kecil, sampai peristiwa yang merupakan awal dari peristiwa-peristiwa lainnya yang mengguncang hidupnya dan menjadikan Marya Morevna wanita yang berbeda. Buku ini menceritakan pilihan-pilihan yang dihadapinya dan apa akibat dari pilihannya.

Banyak buku yang bisa langsung dimengerti saat dibaca. Yang terjadi adalah yang tertulis, semuanya eksplisit dan makna tersamarnya hanya ada sedikit. Ada juga buku yang tidak seperti itu. Untuk mengetahui apa yang terjadi, tidak cukup hanya dibaca, buku-buku itu harus dipikirkan dan direnungkan terus. Deathless karangan Catherynne M. Valente adalah salah satunya. Buku ini ditulis dengan indah, berlatar belakang di tempat yang saya sukai, dan mood saya saat membaca buku ini tepat – yakni saat saya ingin membaca pengisahan kembali cerita dongeng. Tetapi hal-hal itu tidak lantas membuat buku ini mudah dimengerti. Kita harus terus menggali buku ini lebih dalam, mencari terus makna yang tersembunyi di dalamnya – karena buku ini sulit dipahami. Walaupun begitu, cerita yang tertuang di dalamnya adalah salah satu cerita terindah dan paling sulit terlupakan yang pernah saya baca.

                Buku ini ditulis dengan pilihan kata yang indah, dan kalimat-kalimatnya seperti mengalir, kata-katanya seperti musik. Ada istilah yang tidak umum, jadi kamu perlu kamus siap sedia di sampingmu. Dalam membaca buku ini perasaan saya banyak berubah seiring adegan di dalamnya. Penggambaran Cat Valente begitu hidup, karakter-karakternya juga dapat dipercaya, tidak idealis. Motivasi tindakan karakternya logis.

                Ambil sebagai contoh tokoh utamanya, Marya Morevna. Dia adalah gadis yang baik, bisa dibilang begitu – tapi tidak semua perilakunya benar secara moral. Dia punya rasa ingin tahu dan keegoisan yang wajar. Dia gigih untuk mencapai apa yang dia maui. Keingintahuannya terlihat di saat dia mau diajak pergi oleh Koschei, padahal Zvonok sudah memperingatkannya untuk menolak Koschei. Dia berani menerima akibatnya dan tidak menyesali pilihannya, hal-hal itu terlihat di adegan setelahnya. Reaksinya beberapa saat kemudian juga wajar, saat dia membayangkan bagaimana jika dulu dia menolak Koschei – apa dia akan menjadi Marya Morevna yang sekarang? Kegigihan, keegoisan, dan sisi gelapnya terlihat saat dia menerima tantangan Baba Yaga.

Adegan-adegannya mengaduk emosi. Isi buku ini rasanya terus menempel di otak saya, bakalan selalu saya putar ulang, lagi dan lagi.

Kelemahan buku ini buat saya adalah kekurangsinambungan antarbab dan antaradegan; adegan-adegannya seakan meloncat; jadi seperti selimut perca di mana pola satu berakhir tiba-tiba dan disambung pola lain, jadi bukan seperti satu selimut utuh. Itu membuat saya bingung tentang apa yang terjadi di antara bab-bab itu.

                Banyak peringkas dan penginti sari memaknai Deathless secara berlainan – ada yang memaknainya sebagai prosa indah dan gelap yang menceritakan perjalanan Marya Morevna, dari masa remaja yang penuh keluguan sampai ke masa dia menjadi wanita yang teguh dan tangguh. Ada yang menuduh buku ini sarat dengan pesan dan simbolisme feminisme. Saya setuju dengan keduanya – ya, buku ini memang bisa dimaknai seperti itu – tapi bagi saya buku ini menceritakan sebuah kisah cinta yang paling indah, bagaimana hati manusia bekerja, pentingnya keberanian untuk memilih dan menerima akibatnya, dan bagaimana kehidupan itu terkadang begitu kejam dan tidak sesuai dengan harapan kita, tapi mau tidak mau harus kita jalani.

Sampai sekarang pun saya belum dapat memahami Deathless sepenuhnya. Jika kamu ingin bacaan yang ringan, Deathless bukan pilihan yang tepat. Buku ini juga mengandung adegan kekerasan, adegan seksual yang cukup eksplisit, dan adegan yang tidak baik untuk ditiru, jadi ini buku untuk >18. Dari skala 10, 9 untuk Deathless! 9, karena ada hal-hal yang belum terjelaskan yang memang susah dipahami, rasanya seperti mengerjakan soal Fisika dengan data yang kurang (those soon-to-be-engineers must know that feeling).