recent indulgence

Hola ... oohh, it felt so wonderful and nice to be able to indulge myself in some books after so many months of not doing it. I don't know why I deprived myself from reading ... maybe too much distractions coming my way. However, it's time to hit the library and let's take a look at my recent accomplishments in the reading department, which consist of  2 very familiar authors in my book archive, Jeffrey Archer and Agatha Christie.

Honestly, I have never read a full novel from Jeffrey Archer, but I have enjoyed several of his short stories collections instead. New additions to the list are "A Quiver Full Of Arrows" (1980) and "A Twist In The Tale" (1988). Most of his short stories are inspired by true events, while a few are his own creation. The most common experiences of reading these stories are (for me) are, one, it's like reading a person's whole life biography, where a story could tell a tale encompassing decades of years, and two, the tales are often normal and bland in the beginning but smack you with a twist or something surprising or unexpected in the end. In these two short stories collections, I have several favourites i.e. from the "A Quiver Full Of Arrows"; The Luncheon, The Coup, Old Love, The Perfect Gentleman, One-Night Stand, Henry's Hiccup and A Matter of Principle. In "A Twist In The Tale", my favourites would be The Perfect Murder, A La Carte, Just Good Friends, The Steal, Honor Among Thieves and A Chapter of Accidents.

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Next, my favourite crime novelist, Agatha Christie. I have read so many of her books, yet there are still many more that I haven't read. Hallowe'en Party (1969) might not be as grand as her other stories that I've read, but it's still one of the best. And it's a bit dark story, when the victim is a child. Now that is quite different because there's never been a child victim in the books that I've read so far. In this book, Hercule Poirot is helping his novelist friend Ariadne Oliver to figure out who and why a 13-year old Joyce Reynolds is murdered in a Hallowe'en party.

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There, those were my recent conquests. And right now, I'm just starting to read a fourth book, all in one week. Perhaps, I'll write about it in my future post. Till then, au revoir.

Batu Ketiga Dari Matahari

Source: the book's fb

Batu Ketiga Dari Matahari...literally translated as 3rd Rock From The Sun...yup, I know what you're thinking but nope, it doesn't have any connection to that US sitcom about aliens trying to live as humans. This is the second book from Kerat Studio that I read, the first one being written here. The third rock from the sun is obviously the Earth, where we live in, and the tales are of life on it, its craziness, complexity, ugliness and dot dot dot ...etc.

Well, how can I say....after reading all 47 short stories written by 8 writers, it took me awhile to decide how I should write about it here. Well....that is art, not everybody can understand the same thing in the same way. For me, there's a mixture of cluelessness, awesomeness and 'waddehel'ness in this one book. 5 writers each has a piece with the same title, except for 3 writers, which I don't know why it's like that...

Anyway, I believe that all the stories are written with careful thoughts. And perhaps, if one person is thinking in the same wavelength as the others, then they can share the same thoughts... if not, all you get is noise.

However again, since this is suppose to be my personal thoughts about it, let me take this privilege to say thanks to ...

(in no particular order ... )

Zoul Yazix ... I like the way you weaved Warna Atas Dunia and how the rest of your 5 stories: Solitud, Imbasan Hidup, Pakcik Berbaju Batik Biru, Seorang VIP Di Perpustakaan Negeri, Perempuan Tanpa Badan Di Atas Rak Buku-buku Cinta and Ritual Cinta seems to be a continuation of one another;

Ophan Bunjos ... I can make my own conclusions from Di Sisi Dandelion Hitam, Nicoleta Bermata Hijau, Batu Ketiga Dari Matahari and Si Molly Sudah Terbang Ke Sorga, but I am lost with PendosaKembara Cinta and Menuju Malam Yang Tidak Pernah Tidur .... as if I'm trying to peel layers and layers of never ending ....;

april ... simple yet touching in Nota Memori, Adin and Seorang Aku, Dan Tuhan;

KHRLHSYM ... I can relate to Taman Masa; Kopi and Matahari touches me; and I like the way you wrote Batu Ketiga Dari Matahari and Dewa Kecil;

Encik Psychopath ... you are wise and brilliant in Melihat Tuhan, Terima Kasih Untuk Masa Anda and Taman Surga ... your work is much sweeter than your pen name;

Lucifer ... saya gerun dengan Bunyi Itu; I like the story of CCTV, and laughed in Batu Ketiga Dari Matahari, while Im[mortal]iti and Ini Bukan Kamasutra are brilliant;

nasyrun ... I know there's the real world behind the mysterious layers that you weaved all your stories with although I'm not sure what it is, complex wisdom? But Perihal Rockstar, Tahi Kucing Dan Faux-Deus does make sense to me ...;

Sahidzan ... reading Lenyap Dimamah Masa is like trying to capture a beautiful bird, it's beautiful, it's tempting ... but once you try to hold out your hands it flies away... the rest, nice experience of reading...

Whatever it is, all writers are in a class of their own...superb.
Reading this book is like eating asam pedas or curry ... it just tastes better after the first time.


Title : Batu Ketiga Dari Matahari
Secondary Title : Cerita fiksyen dari Lapan Homosapiens
Pages : 185
Publisher : Kerat Studio, 2012
Price : RM20.00
Language : Malay 

IRise: The Chronologies Vol. 1: IFall

picture from IRise fb profile photos

IFall is the first volume of the IRise: The Chronologies, a compilation of short stories, poetic verses and comics published by Kerat Studio, an independent publication, with joint copyrights with Zine Satu Malam, another independent publication entity. These entities comprises individuals who write, edit, proof-read and publish their own works, for the love of their art. They circulate or sell their work through blogs and I happened to know about this compilation through my friend's FB, who's also one of the contributors in it.

As I understand it, and as I have written up there, IFall is the first volume of IRise. IRise is a series of chronicles depicting life and love and everything related to it, separated into five volumes. IFall, as the name suggests, is a compilation of downfalls and heartbreaks. Unrequited love, untimely deaths, betrayals and so forth, told by a group of people who might be telling their own stories, or inspired by the themes, that much I don't know, but readers surely can relate to the stories as they are part and parcels in most of our life. Perhaps several pieces are quite disturbing in terms of its 'suicidal' tones but if one reads with an open and positive mind, one will surely concludes that there are lessons to be learnt. In the aspects of story-telling, from my personal viewpoint, several pieces are really touching and smartly and interestingly written. I don't think it matters much to tell which is which...after all, they are all there to share their stories and to celebrate the works of young writers.

After IFall, be watchful of the rest of the other volumes i.e. IWeep, IRetaliate, ISedate and IRise. From the introduction by Lucifer, one of the contributors, I expected that these series will bring the readers into a journey from the lowest point in a person's emotional turmoil to his/her rise or comeback to the real world....like the catchphrase written on the book; "Fall Aplenty, Rise Wholeheartedly"...

Information about this book (and other titles) and how to purchase it can be found in Kerat Studio blogsite.

Title: Vol. 1: IFall

Secondary title: IRise: The Chronologies

Pages: 178

Publisher: Kerat Studio, 2012

Price: RM20.00

Language: Malay and English

To Cut A Long Story Short by Jeffrey Archer

Alhamdulillah....last year I managed to write 15 book reviews, although I've enjoyed more than 15 books. Anyway, at least I can say that I've read not less than 15 books on 2011, right? Still, it's such a small number. So, one of my 2012 wishes is to read and review a minimum of 24 books, that means an average of 2 books per month, and write about it here, InsyaAllah. Let's say that this blog also serves as my report card, savvy?

So, the numero uno book for this year is a collection of short stories written by Jeffrey Archer. This is the second short stories compilation from Mr. Archer that I've read. The first one is in here. 

Title : To Cut A Long Story Short

Author : Jeffrey Archer

Publisher : Harper Collins, 2001 (Paperback Edition)

Pages : 419

Genre : Short story

Bought at : Book Xcess, Amcorp Mall, PJ

Price : ..opps, forgot...but definitely not more than RM20

There are 14 original selected short stories in this edition, 9 of it are based on true incidents and 1 is a translation from an Arabic story (somehow I think I've read this one before but dunno when and where...). I enjoyed all of them but my best choice would be ..... er....almost all! Haha. Well, the ones that I fully enjoy reading are as follows....

The Endgame, an honourable mission brilliantly executed by a rich man and his lawyer to know which of his family member deserves a good place in his will; Chalk and Cheese, the tale of 2 brothers who each have a different start in life and end theirs in the opposite ways; Both Sides Against The Middle, about a cunning con man making use of the land and law to get away from being caught but finally lost; and finally The Grass Is Always Greener, an interesting chain of stories about one's perspective about the others and how they always think that the other person is luckier than him and so on and on.

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There's also the story that moved me such as A Change of Heart, about a white South African who's into apartheid but has a change of heart after an accident; the story that made me cry hate to gold digger men in Too Many Coincidences; terrorized and chuckled at the same time with Something for Nothing; and lauded a diplomat's daring effort to provide for the people by using all resources he could find in Other Blighter's Efforts.

An interesting collection, this one. A truly enjoyable one. Smart and brilliantly written, catching the reader's interest all the time by the wonderful story-telling, regardless of the theme whether it's a court drama, crime story, love affair, family drama etc. and etc. Love it!

Miss Marple's Final Cases by Agatha Christie

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Title : Miss Marple's Final Cases

Author : Agatha Christie

Publisher : Harper/Collins, 2002

Pages : 240

Genre : Mystery

Bought at : MPH Subang Parade

Price : Value Buy-double books for RM39.90

First published by : Collins, 1979

This is Agatha Christie Signature Edition.

This is actually a collection of mysterious short stories from Agatha Christie. There are 9 stories in it, including 3 bonus stories, as follows...


Sanctuary
Strange Jest
Tape-Measure Murder
The Case of the Caretaker
The Case of the Perfect Maid
Miss Marple Tells a Story
The Dressmaker's Doll (bonus)
In A Glass Darkly (bonus)
Greenshaw's Folly (bonus)

Jane Marple is the 'detective' or shall I say, the master key of hints in all cases except in The Dressmaker's Doll and In A Glass Darkly, doing her wonders in the most natural way. The two aforementioned stories are rather a Hitchcock-ly kind of thriller, not that I want to compare between Christie's and Hitchcock's, but just to say that it fits the genre. All stories are brilliant, and similarly as I sad before....never believe the obvious because it may not be the real thing.

Always a thrilling read.

Ketentuan Ilahi

Sidek termangu di atas bangku batu di taman permainan itu. Cuaca pada hari itu cerah dan angin bertiup sepoi-sepoi bahasa, menyapu lembut pipi kematunya itu. Sidek sudah tua. Dia sudah tidak larat lagi. Kerjanya hari-hari adalah menghabiskan usia tuanya di taman itu. Taman permainan yang tak seperti taman permainan yang lain. Kecil sahaja, maklumlah...ianya dibina sekadar untuk mengisi ruang di antara sebuah pangsapuri lima belas tingkat dan bangunan parkir kereta di sebelahnya.

Sidek bagaikan penunggu setia di taman itu. Tiap-tiap petang dia pasti di situ, melihat telatah anak-anak yang bermain, waima tidak ada apa yang boleh dimainkan sangat oleh anak-anak di situ. Buaiannya sudah tercabut dari talinya. Yang tinggal cuma satu atau dua yang dipasang kembali atas inisiatif penduduk yang tinggal di pangsapuri itu. Namun kadang-kadang dia melihat buaian itu tercabut kembali. Begitu juga dengan nasib alat-alat permainan yang lain yang bagaikan hidup segan, mati tak mahu. Sidek hanya menggelengkan kepalanya, menginsafi keadaan yang disaksikannya berulang kali. Budak-budak zaman sekarang ni tak reti langsung nak menghargai kemudahan yang ada. Semua nak dirosakkannya, tak tahu bersyukur langsung!, rengus Sidek dalam hatinya sambil mengelus misai tuanya yang panjang itu.

"Sidek!"

.........

"Sidek!!" 

Semakin nyaring dan tajam panggilan itu. Sidek berpaling. Dia kenal sangat dengan suara itu. Masakan tidak, tuan punya suara itulah teman lepaknya di taman itu setiap hari.

"Fareez. Kau rupanya. Kenapa lambat hari ni? Biasanya, tak sempat panas punggung aku duduk kat bangku ni, kau dah terpacul kat sebelah aku.", balas Sidek setelah melihat Fareez menghampirinya sambil tersengih-sengih macam kerang busuk.

"Alah...aku dah sampai dari tadi lagi. Tapi aku tengok kau macam syok saja melayan perasaan, aku malaslah nak kacau daun.", selamba saja Fareez menepuk bahu kawannya itu seraya duduk di sebelah. Walaupun usia Fareez lebih muda separuh dari usia temannya itu, namun mereka telah terbiasa berbahasa kau, aku sejak mula mengenali diri masing-masing.

"Apa yang kau geleng-geleng kepala tadi? Macam ada masalah je? Teringatkan Limah ke?"

Tiga Kali Seminggu by Dr. Faisal Tehrani

Tiga Kali Seminggu (directly translated as Three Times A Week) or hereafter referred to as TKS, is a compilation of short stories written by Dr. Faisal Tehrani, one of the most read novelist in Malaysia. In it, 15 short stories written during his two decades of writing. In his preface, Dr. Faisal explains about the motivation behind each story that he wrote and tells about its themes and objectives. His introduction to his works helps me to understand the reason and the background of each story. Even though the stories are short, it is a journey of understanding and swallowing the ideas from the start to finish. Some have romantic essence, but it is never shallow. The romantic and love theme is laden with substance. Good substance. The others are, in general, about life philosophies, religion and social matters presented in a mature, highly imaginative, provocative and abundant in knowledge derived from the author's experience and beliefs.

I have a few favourites of all the 15 short stories. One of them is Hajah Abidah. It is a story of the experience of a seasoned female celebrity performing haj in Mecca and in the process, discovers her call in life and her real soul mate in front of the Kaabah. Then, Cinta Medeni, a love tale within the background of sufism and time research in Islam. Manifesto Mergastua, the letter from all fauna to caliphs of the Earth, us humans. Muthupalaniappan, a heart-wrenching story of the relationship between a young ambitious teacher and a poor pupil. Finally, Setelah Diciptakan Adam..., of feminism and the nature of women beside Allah swt.

Apart from that, 10 more short stories of similar themes including the title story, Tiga Kali Seminggu which is rather funny. TKS is an enjoyable read which is light in terms of time consumption but mildly heavy in substance. And I would like to spend some time some day for another Faisal Tehrani treat.

Adieu.

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Cat O' Nine Tales by Jeffrey Archer

Bear in mind that this is not the cat o'nine tails. There's a difference between the two and imagine my confusion when I tried to look for some significance in the title's meaning with the book and found images of a scary whipping device instead.

Anyway, Cat O' Nine Tales is a compilation of short stories written by the famous (and perhaps controversial) British author, Jeffrey Archer. During the course of his life, Archer had been incarcerated in several prisons in his country for some reasons (lo and behold the web world for you to seek for it) and in those times he had encountered many kinds of inmates. Making full use of the time there, he managed to extract stories of the inmates he 'befriended' with and wrote them. Since then, he had produced several compilations of prison stories and this one is the first one that I've read.

In Cat O' Nine Tales, there are 12 short stories in which 9 of them were derived from real life stories from the prison. I had enjoyable time reading all the stories in the sense that they were told in a simple way and at the end of each stories I always felt a sudden jolt of interesting feelings. Maybe it's because of Archer's ways to write the stories, or maybe it's because of the stories themselves. The stories are real, they came from real people, real life, and there's always something to learn in life. All of the stories came from people who definitely broke the law in one way or the other, but they way they broke it, the reason, the chain of events, the motivation...when we read it, sometimes we couldn't believe it. But those were the choices that people made, whether unknowingly, reluctantly or....most of the time, purposely.

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Anyway, this book is good for those who seek light reading without losing the the charm of learning and uplifting spirit.