Genderang Perang dari Wamena (1972) by Djokolelono: An Indonesian Children Fantasy #NovNov25

🥁 I have unexpectedly found this treasure while idly browsing through Google Playbook titles. It's a children fantasy novella by an Indonesian writer: Djokolelono. It has never been translated, so if you don't understand Indonesian, I can give you only my loose translation of the title. Genderang means drum; perang is war, and Wamena is a district in Papua. The story is told from point of view of two eleven-year-old boys: Adi and Yun (short of Yunanto). It's not clear where they live, but it is set in the 1970s. My guess is that they live in a small town. Adi has been living in the Netherlands; his father worked in a Dutch museum, and the family have only recently moved permanently to Indonesia. 

🥁 Yun is playing at his new friend Adi's, and it is a gloomy rainy day. They can't play outside, so Adi suggests they rummage at the backyard shed. One might find interesting stuffs in the shed - don't we know it! And they do! Opening a box in which Adi's father kept stuffs from the museum, they found a little drum. It's a traditional music instrument from Papua which is usually called tifa. Playfully one of them starts to beat it, and a strange thing happens. The player can't stop beating the drum, his hand goes faster and faster, while the other can't stop dancing on the tune. Then a white mist fills the shed, and the shed suddenly turns into a jungle. The boys are time-travelling to the jungle of Wamena in Papua, in the 18th century, following a Dutch expedition consisting of four white men and some locals.  

🥁 One of the Dutch men who was called Tristan van Allen, had stolen a drum, or tifa, a precious thing belonging to the chief of the tribe. The expedition leader told him to return it, as it would put the whole expedition in danger, but Tristan was adamant. Adi found from his father that the tifa came to his possession after being found years later by another group visiting Wamena, while the faith of the expedition itself was never revealed; they had just vanished. And now Adi and Yun are about to solve the mystery, as the tifa slowly reveals its history whenever the boys playing it. But it's not just a mystery, there's something menacing inside the tifa....

🥁 It was an exciting adventure to read! I kept forgetting that Adi and Yun are just elementary school students, they somehow sound more mature to me - like 17 or 18 years old boy, perhaps? Anyway, I was more interested in their one quarrel (the tifa foreshadows what's about to come; on the day the expedition members quarreled for instance, Adi and Yun quarrel too). The topic is about Dutch colonialism over Indonesia. Yun is expressing his hatred to the greedy Dutch, but Adi, who had been brought up in Netherlands, is saying that not all Dutch people are greedy, and that colonialism happens only when the locals aren't smart enough to detect their false politeness. This infuriates Yun, as his friend's implying that Indonesian are dumb. Well, I couldn't but pondering a lot about it afterwards, because it makes sense. And why the writer put it as the cause of quarrel? It might be a boyish quarrel (they are friends again the day after), but that was too serious a topic for a children read, don't you think? Anyway, this has been a fun read for me, and I can't wait to read more of the series. This novella is the sixth book from Weird and Wicked series, by the way.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Novellas in November 2025

hosted by Cathy and Rebecca

Agatha Christie Short Stories 2025: November Reviews #AgathaChristieSS25

I had a mixed feeling for my November reads for #AgathaChristieSS25. The Poirot one was dull, while the Tommy-Tuppence was as exciting as I would want to be in writing short stories.

The Kidnapped Prime Minister

It was during First World War, and when Poirot and Hastings were discussing about the assassination attempt towards the British Prime Minister, two government officials arrive. They ask him to locate the Prime Minister, who has been kidnapped during his journey to Versailles for a secret conference. His failure to attend the conference would be of immense consequence for the country, and might be, the world peace. The problem is, Poirot only has twenty four hours to do that. 

Once Poirot, Hastings, and two detectives arrive in France, instead of taking immediate actions, Poirot brings them to a hotel, where he sits down for four hours exercising his little grey cells. There are only two main suspects in this case, and after returning to London (what the purpose was of going to France in the first place, eluded me), Poirot makes inquiries to several cottage-hospitals, before locating the Prime Minister! As I said, it was a boring story. I wish Christie would elaborate it a little, sprinkling it with some actions or red herring. I begin to realize that Poirot's strong point is always his understanding of psychology, that his way of investigation isn't quite fit for short stories. 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Blindman's Buff

Tommy and Tuppence, on the other hand, are in on an exciting adventure! Business is slacking at Blunt's Detective Agency, and they have just received warning from the Chief that their disguise has been apprehended by the enemies. Tommy, then, proposed to exercising their detecting skills. So, combined with his passion of using methods of fictional detectives, he put on a pair of black eyeshades, and testing his awareness of the surroundings only by the other senses - in short, he's practicing to be a blind man - while Tuppence's acting as his guide. In that manner, Tommy and Tuppence dine out at a restaurant, where two men (a Duke and his servant) approach them. The Duke hires 'Mr. Blunt' to rescue his kidnapped daughter, and insists on bringing both of them separately by car to his house.

The Duke appears to be merely a disguise, and the kidnap is a trap. He's the enemy, and he knows about the Beresfords' disguises. The question is, how would Tommy extricate himself from the enemy's pointed gun and the electrified metal floor which would be exploded as soon as one step onto? In the end, it's a wonderfully fun story to read, although, of course, I already knew the "solution" long before. It's quite childish, even, but still, it has action and suspense, and I always love the witty banters between Tommy and Tuppence. Tommy shines this time, with Tuppence a little on the background.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

In the Mountains (1920) by Elizabeth von Arnim #NovNov25

🗻 In the Mountains is an epistolary novella by Elizabeth von Arnim, which is structured as diary. The author, thus the narrator, is an English woman, who seeks refuge at her chalet on the Swiss Alps. It's post Second World War, and for some mysterious and dark reason, our narrator is depressed and longed for peace and solitude of the Swiss Alps to be cured. However, just when she feels quite refreshed after spending hours in languid nature while admiring the beautiful views and cold crisp air, our narrator becomes restless and lonesome. It's her birthday, and as she wants to be busy herself to avert her mind from "the thing", she gives the servants holiday. And it is when she's alone, two women clothed in black, arrive on the scene.

🗻 Mrs. Barnes and Mrs. Jewks are widows in their forties, who've been staying at a cheap pension on the valley. They are lost while searching for a better place, and what with the narrator's loneliness and the widows' apparent poverty, our narrator took them in, and they soon become friends, if not intimate acquaintances. The two women are opposite of  each other in personality. Mrs. Kitty Barnes is an upright honorable woman, while Dolly, her younger sister, is a charming, sweet creature who can't help marrying husbands-to-be, even when they were Germans. Her two failed marriages brought a scandal among friends and family, and that's where Kitty, unselfishly cut out her honorable life, and brought Dolly to a more neutral country: Swiss.

🗻 At first the three ladies spent, if not very amiable, a tolerable existence. But after few weeks, our narrator begins to feel the strain of being hostess. What with Mrs. Barness 's profuse gratitude for the hostess' generosity, but on the other hand tyrannically forced her will in the household cost-savings; not mentioning Dolly's meek smiles and agreement to all her sister's decision. In short, the narrator longs for a friendship instead of hostess-lodgers relationship, and the sense of sacrifice one must always endure. Meanwhile, secrets begin to unfold as the story's progressing - the guests' secrets at least; the cause of the narrator's grief and anxiety were never disclosed. 

 🗻 The Swiss chalet here served as the Italian castle in The Enchanted April, that is as a cure to whoever is staying in. One comes with a heavy heart, and after staying several months, one leaves it refreshed and, as in In the Mountains, with new and hopeful prospect for brighter future. And although this novella couldn't be compared with The Enchanted April - it's a bit dull, I must say - but I enjoyed the charm of the Swiss Alps, especially when the narrator's enjoying a peaceful, solitude, charming times alone there. The ending is perhaps a little bit forced, but it brings a sprinkle of sweet charms to the rather gloomy atmosphere - despite of the Swiss Alps - otherwise.

Relatable Quotes:

"It's true that the worst pain is the remembering one's happiness when one is no longer happy."

"Oh, I do so want to be wholesome inside again! Nicely aired, sunshiny; instead of all dark, and stuffed up with black memories."

"A man does seem to have more to say that one wants to hear than a woman. I do want to hear what a woman has to say too, but not for so long a time, and not so often. [...] A woman when she talks seems usually to have forgotten the salt. Also she is apt to go on talking; sometimes for quite a little while after you have begun to wish she would leave off."

"I don't know anything more happy than to be where it is beautiful with some one who sees and loves it as much as you do yourself."

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

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Novellas in November 2025

hosted by Cathy and Rebecca

Book Pairings #NonficNov25 Week 3

The prompt for the third week of Nonfiction November 2025 is Book Pairings, hosted by Liz. My choice is my second book for this event:

Seven Years in Tibet is a memoir of Heinrich Harrer, a mountaineer and Tibetologist. It tells his experience of his escape from war-camp prison in British-India during Second World War and his subsequent stay in Tibet for seven years, including his friendship to the Dalai Lama.

As I have mentioned in my review, I've always been fascinated by Tibet. It started, I believe, after reading Tintin in Tibet, a graphic novel by Hergé, in my childhood. And accordingly, that's the first book I'm pairing with Seven Years in Tibet. 

Tintin In Tibet is about the triumphant salvation of a Chinese boy by the strong friendship and loyalty of his European friend. Chang, Tintin's friend, was the only survival of a plane crash on the Himalayas. While everyone was skeptical, Tintin was sure he's alive. From Tintin in Tibet, I learned about the rough lives of Tibetans amidst the cold weather and high altitude. About their staple food of Tsampa (Tintin and Captain Haddock were served this dish on their first night on Himalaya). Also about putting out one's tongue as a way of formal greeting (Captain Haddock took it as insult, which, as usual, triggered him to anger and comical result 😁). And, it was from Tintin, that I heard about Sherpa; Tibetan mountaineers with superior climbing skills and extreme endurance for high altitudes, whom foreigners hire as guides. And yet another thing that I remembered as I uploaded the book cover here - the Yeti. Had I not been reading Tintin in Tibet, I wouldn't have had any idea what the 'ugly beast' that Heinrich Harrer had mentioned referred to, would I? I think Tintin had taught me more about the outside world more than any geography I've ever studied in school!

The second book in this pairing is my second read of Tibet during my college days: The Third Eye by T. Lobsang Rampa.

It's a story about a boy who was trained from childhood to be an Oracle (it's NOT an autobiography, as was mentioned in the cover). A "third eye" was operated on his forehead, which enabled him of clairvoyance, aura deciphering, astral projection, and the like. It is from The Third Eye that I first learned about butter tea, a staple warming brew of Tibet; and of their butter making. If I remember correctly, it is made of yak's milk, put into a bag made from yak's skin turned inside out. A combination of hard shaking and low temperature, changes it into curdles, which would form the butter. At least that's what I remember, I might forget any little details, but that's the gist of it. And of course, the book opened my views about living in a monastery, of dedicating one's whole life to religion in a clustered place.

However, its most interesting connection with Seven Years in Tibet is the fact that there had been doubts whether it was truly written by a Tibetan Lama. Heinrich Harrer had in fact made enquiries on the case, and found out that the real author was actually an Englishman called Cyril Henry Hoskin, who claimed that his body hosted the spirit of a Tibetan Lama called T. (T for Tuesday) Lobsang Rampa, and who had probably never even been to Tibet. Nevertheless, his book has helped me understand more about Tibet, its culture, and its simple people. No doubt too, that this book helps many people to acknowledge Tibetan's cause for freedom. And the Dalai Lama himself had previously admitted that 'although the books were fictitious, they had created good publicity for Tibet.' [source: Wikipedia]

An honorable mention should be granted to The Dalai Lama's Cat by David Michie, which I have read for #ReadingtheMeow2025. Here's my review. When Heinrich Harrer mentioned, in Seven Years in Tibet, about some Regents who were called Rimpoche (meaning 'precious'), I was instantly reminded to the cat who was adopted by Dalai Lama in this book. He was also called Rimpoche by a cafe owner in Lhasa.


And that is my book pairings, it's amazing how one's reading of nonfiction is enriched by so many fictions, is it? How about you, have you read fiction books related to nonfiction? Have you read any of my books?

Seven Years in Tibet (1953) by Heinrich Harrer #NonficNov25

🗻 If you've been following my blog long enough, you might probably know that, besides France, Tibet is a country which I've always been fascinated. And so, for my second read for #NonficNov25, I picked Seven Years in Tibet, which I've been excited to read after three times watching the movie adaptation, starring Brad Pitt. If I have loved the movie, I loved even more the book from which it's been adapted. The book is a far cry from the romanticized version of the movie. Only bits of real facts that actually penetrated into the movie; the rest is Hollywood's doing. Believe me, if you want to know about Tibet and the early life of the Dalai Lama (yes, the current one), just start by reading this book!

🗻 The book expands from Heinrich Harrer's escape from the British war-prison in India, at the outbreak of Second Word War. Then he was an Austrian Nazi SS sergeant and a world renowned mountaineer, who always loved mountains and freedom. After several failed attempts of escape, with several different companions, he at last succeeded to flee towards Tibet. Harrer had read many books about Tibet before, and was fascinated by this mysterious country. But succeeding to flee did not bring automatic safety for these men (he was with several friends when starting the journey). One by one the member collapsed, either from physical or mental weaknesses. In the end, it was only Harrer and Peter Aufschnaiter, an Austrian mountaineer, agricultural scientist, and geographer, who made it across Tibet after grueling hikes in the roughness of Himalayan cold weather and high altitude. But the simplicity and generosity of the people they've got to know along the way, compelled them to take whatever way to reach the Forbidden City of Lhasa.

🗻 Following Harrer and Aufschnaiter's journey for the first half of the book, I was fascinated by the Tibetans' kindness and generosity. They received these two strangers clothed in rags and must looked like tramps, with warmth and sincere. True, there were some who're malice, but mostly they were pure-hearted, merry people, almost childish at heart. Their devotion to their religion was a striking feature of these people. And they smile and laugh a lot; they could even laugh at themselves, and were rarely offended by other's mimicry, for instance.

🗻 Tibetan's respect for all religions is also an admirable feature. The biggest monastery in Tibet is The Tsug Lag Khang, and while inspecting it, Harrer found a bell hanging from the roof with inscription "Te Deum Laudamus". The building had been a Catholic chapel many centuries ago, and only due to their  respect of other religion, that it was preserved. Christianity and Buddhisn have much in common, anyway - this is from Harrer's view. "They are both founded on the belief of happiness in another world and both preach humility in this life".

🗻 One of the most attractive features in Tibetan life is a habit of going to meet, and seeing one's friends. "When anyone goes away, his friends often put up a tent on his road several miles out of the town and wait for him there with a meal to speed him on his way. The departing friend is not allowed to go till he has been loaded with white scarves and good wishes. When he comes back the same ceremony is observed. It sometimes happens that he is welcomed at several places on his way home. In the morning, maybe, he first catches sight of the Potala; but on his way into the town he is held up at tent after tent by his welcoming friends, and it is evening before he arrives in Lhasa, his modest caravan swollen to stately proportions by his friends and their servants. He comes home with the happy feeling that he has not been forgotten."

🗻 The second half and the most interesting part of the book is of course, when Heinrich Harrer has finally got to meet the Dalai Lama, then a fourteen-year-old boy. Here we could see the Dalai Lama not as a God-King, but a mere boy. An exceptional and very intelligent boy, as Harrer shared his observation when the Dalai Lama asked him to build a home theater: "I observed then, for the first time, that he liked to get to the bottom of things instead of taking them for granted." Though the 14th Dalai Lama used to be boyishly excited about new stuffs, his passions are not of the usual things that fascinate boys; but always ones for the improvement of his people. From this we learn from the very beginning that he IS the perfect choice for Dalai Lama. His "appointment" was of another amazing story that Harrer had got to learn. Strange as it was for us, the boy proved to be the perfect Dalai Lama. And how wonderful it is that the 14-year-old boy that we read in this book IS the Dalai Lama we currently see on news or television.

🗻 I have found a 1992 YouTube video of an interview between the Dalai Lama and Heinrich Harrer, many years after their first meeting at Potala. They kept their friendship, and Harrer kept being a Tibet enthusiast until he died in 2006, aged 93. Here's the link to the video.

🗻 Needless to say, this book is going to be my all time favorite nonfiction book. Not only that it is about Tibet, but also due to the profound depiction of the serene and peaceful way of Tibetan by Heinrich Harrer, combined with his concise but beautiful writing style. It is a wholesome book; realistic, but with a magical sense.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Read for:

Nonfiction in November 2025

hosted by Heather, Frances, Liz, Rebekah, and Deb

Walk Two Moons (1994) by Sharon Creech

🔴 Walk Two Moons is narrated by Salamanca Tree Hiddle (or Sal), a thirteen year old Native-American girl, on a mission to bring her mother back home. After giving birth to a still-born baby, Sal's mother had gone to depression. One day she just went away from home, and her last postcard to Salamanca was sent from Idaho. Hitherto Sal has been tormenting by guilt (was her fall from the tree the cause of her mother's miscarriage?), and by loneliness (does my mother not love me enough to leave me?) Then Sal's grandparents take her on a cross-country road trip, tracing Sal's mother's steps to Idaho, from where Sal hopes of bringing her home.

🔴 During the road trip, Sal entertains her grandparents with stories about her school friend Phoebe Winterbottom, whose mother has also disappeared from home; about her annoyance about Mrs. Cadaver, to whom her father seems to be attached lately; about Ben Finney, a boy with whom Salamanca begins to be attracted. The farther they leave Euclid, Ohio (Sal's current home), the more her story unfolds. We get to learn about her happy life with her father and mother back in Bybank, with the animals and the trees she's grown to love. And of course, the mystery of anonymous messages Phoebe's family has been receiving; and the best part of the mystery, which is about the "lunatic". A young man had been coming to Winterbottom's house and looked for Mrs. Winterbottom. Phoebe concludes that it was him who has sent those letters, and that he is a lunatic. Moreover, after her mother's disappearance, Phoebe's convinced that the lunatic has kidnapped her. At some point, Phoebe (and Sal) even believe that Mrs. Cadaver might have done something bad to Mrs. Winterbottom. 

🔴 At first, Salamanca feels that Phoebe's story is related to her own story; their mother were both disappeared. But the more she tells Phoebe's story, the more she realizes that it's not so. Gram and Gramps (Sal's grandparents) try hard to cheer Salamanca up during the trip by visiting some landmarks. But when Gram is having a stroke when they're near their destination, Sal must drive the car by herself ever so slowly to Lewiston, Idaho, for four hours. What will she find at the destination? Will her mother come home? 

🔴 As is indicated by the title, Walk Two Moons is a novel about passing judgement to others. 'Walk two moons' is derived from an aphorism that Sharon Creech found in a fortune cookies, 'Don't judge a man until you've walked two moons in his moccasins.' It reminded me instantly to Atticus Finch's advice to his children in To Kill a Mockingbird. But beyond that, this novel's also dealing with coping with one's loss, building new relationships, and accepting and being proud of one's identity. All in all, it's a touching story with a twist in the end.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

Notes from an Island (1996) by Tove Jansson & Tuulikki Pietilä #NonficNov25 #NovNov25

🐚 For thirty years Tove Jansson, the Finland author who's famous for the Moomin series and The Summer Book, spent her live together with her partner on an island. This 96 pages book is a memoir of that phase of her life, illustrated by her beloved partner Tuulikki Pietilä, or Tooti, a graphic artist.

🐚 Tove and Tooti, who longed to have a simple and peaceful live, decided to move onto an island. The first island they chose, Bredskär, was a perfect one, 'leafy and welcoming'. The way Tove described it, you'd think they have lived in paradise; 'with a little forest with a woodland path, a little beach with a safe place for the boat, even a little marsh with some tufts of cotton grass'. But unfortunately, they boasted about it to friends and relatives, and soon enough, people were coming to their island on holidays, and their live began crowded once more. The only solution is to find another inhabited island which would give them the solitude they had been craving. They found it in Klovharun, a skerry in the Gulf of Finland, that's 'shaped like an atoll', complete with a lagoon in the middle. For me, it is less inviting than Bredskär, and I wonder whether Tove and Tooti had not regretted that they didn't keep secret about it in the first place - I would! Anyway, to make Klovharun habitable, they need to build a cabin. Problem aroused, they need permission from the Government to build, so they erected a tent meanwhile - it could be long to come, or didn't come anyway.

🐚 Then enter Brunström, who would help them building the cabin, and proved to be their true friend for thirty years. Brunström told them not to wait for permission, but start building anyway, which they did. The book consists of logs by Brunström and Tove, telling us how the cabin progressed. Midway building, the permission finally arrived, which they celebrated together. Later on Tove brought her eighty-year-old grandmother Ham to live with them on the island. I was afraid at first, it's hard for an elderly to live a rugged living on the island. But Ham is a bad-ass grandmother. I chuckled reading how, when the tent where she lived was flooded, she just laughed while wading ashore. 🐚 My favorite part is when Tove and Tooti took a helicopter to another part of the island to experience the breaking-up of the ice - 'Unbelievable tabernacles floated by, driven by a mild south-west breeze, statuesque, glittering [...] And they changed colour whenever they felt like it - ice blue, green, and in the evening, orange. Early in the morning they could be pink'. It must have been a once-in-a-life-time experience, and it felt serene and magical. Pity they didn't witnessed the moment when the ice did crack. But maybe it would have been too much for them. They lived on the island until their seventies, when Tove realized that she was becoming afraid of the ocean and its power. It's time to say goodbye! Though living on that island doesn't seem attractive for me - too demanding - this little book is realistic and unique, written and illustrated wonderfully.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

Read for:

Nonfiction November 2025

hosted by Heather, Frances, Liz, Rebekah, and Deb

Novellas in November 2025

hosted by Cathy and Rebecca