Up the Down Staircase (1965) by Bel Kaufman

👩🏼‍🏫 Sylvia Barrett is an English teacher with idealistic hope of inducing her pupils to the love of writing, and of Chaucer. However, teaching at a minority high school like Calvin Coolidge High, opens her eyes that nurturing and shaping young minds is not a simple task. This book is a parody of American public school system, particularly in the 1960s when this book was published (I have no idea how relevant it is today). 👩🏼‍🏫 The book is structured as a compilation of memos and circulars from the office or the authority, inter-classrooms notes between teachers, fragment of discarded notes dropped in the trashcan, essays to be graded, Sylvia's letters to her best friend out of school, and one of my favorites: notes from the students dropped in the class suggestion box. Through all the entangled communication, readers would catch the frustrating degree of bureaucracy which involved in a teacher's daily task (when the teachers complained, the answer will be: "Let it be a challenge"). I was wondering how Sylvia could manage to divide her time between reading all those instructions and whatnots, actually teaching a subject, and reading and writing notes to her best pal teacher Bea Schachter (how they exchange notes during school hours, I wonder? Do they use students for courier? This was 1965, before internet era, anyway). 

👩🏼‍🏫 And the students. I have left talking about them for last, because they are the best part of this book. I believe that one can value a teacher from his/her students. That is, a good teacher would reflect his/her influence on the student's improvement. And by reading all those notes from the suggestion box, I could surmise that Sylvia is a dedicated and affectionate teacher. The suggestion box is a brilliant idea from Sylvia (the school ought to adapt that to their system). Basically, it's a box where any student could drop notes, whether signed or anonymous, usually on a particular subject. But sometimes, even students from other classroom dropped notes to say something to Sylvia. This is a good idea, because the students could express their honest views on things without being afraid of punishment or judgement. From that notes, Sylvia could gather how the students gained from her teaching, and what were their problems.

👩🏼‍🏫 There are students who signed their names - usually those who approved of her, or loved her teaching. But the anonymous letters are the most interesting; these were from students who, at first, hated her, or disapproved of her teaching. There's one who signed as "The Hawk", complete with a doodle, who always end his notes with 'this is the last time I'm writing to you' or something like that. However, The Hawk would always write again everytime Sylvia asked their opinion or suggestion, and always with the same ending, haha! I think Sylvia's success with her pupils is, first of all, because she listens to them. These students, who come from low social background with all the problematic nature, often need to be listened, understood, and appreciated.

👩🏼‍🏫 Amidst these chaotic life Sylvia must endure everyday, she received an offer from a private school who'd give her position of English teacher with comparatively free reign; less students, focusing on the teaching, free subjects and less clerical duties, and she could even have a seminar on Chaucer - the topic she loves. Moreover, the building offers comfort, not like the public school's with its broken doors or windows, and lacking of... well... almost everything needed to teach, as Sylvia put it in one of her letters to her friend:

We have keys but no locks (except in lavatories), blackboards but no chalk, students but no seats, teachers but no time to teach.

The question is, will Sylvia accept the offer and have her own ideal of teaching? Or will she remain at Calvin Coolidge and face the same chaos and frustration everyday?

👩🏼‍🏫 This was not a very comfortable read for me. I skipped almost all the official memos - I didn't understand half of it anyway - and only read the more interesting communications of human beings (internal memos to other teachers, or the students'). Nevertheless, this is a touching story of dedicated teachers who fought alongside their pupils against poverty and hierarchy, to obtain a better life for future generations.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

Dear Mr. Henshaw (1983) by Beverly Cleary #20BooksofSummer2025

✍🏼 Leigh Botts's favorite writer in the world is a children books' author, Boyd Henshaw. Since Leigh was in second grade, he has been writing letters to "Dear Mr. Henshaw". At first because of his teacher's assignment, but then he keeps writing because his mother told him too. Being a famous writer, you would think that Henshaw would ignore these childish letters; one in particular containing a list of questions that Leigh made Henshaw answer. But funnily, Henshaw wrote back with his list of questions for Leigh to answer. And composing these serial letters containing the answers are how Henshaw taught Leigh to be a good writer.

✍🏼 Leigh's parents were divorced, and he lives with his mother who can barely support for both of them. His father is a delivery-truck driver who's always on the road (the reason why his wife divorced him), and his support checks often came late. Leigh misses him, and is always waiting for his father's calls (that are almost always late too). The one thing that helps Leigh is writing a diary, as encouraged by his favorite author Mr. Henshaw. And through this diary, and occasional letters to Mr. Henshaw, Leigh grew up towards adolescent, slowly realizing that his dreams of normal life of a family might never came true, and that he could actually be a writer someday!

✍🏼 All in all, it is a heartwarming epistolary novella, with a lovely main character. I loved how Mr. Henshaw, though we knew nothing of him, and his writings to Leigh were never actually revealed, has become the lighthouse of Leigh's otherwise bleak existence. Through his silence, rather than over-indulgence, Mr. Henshaw has built in Leigh, courage, resilient, and self confident. He was what Leigh's father lacked of, continual presence and guidance. Thanks to his suggestion of writing a diary, Leigh could pour out his frustration and disappointments into writing, and with that, he also sharpens his skills to be a writer.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2
  

Read for:

20 Books of Summer 2025

hosted by Annabel and Emma

Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim

✍🏼 Elizabeth von Arnim, neé Mary Annette Beauchamp was born in Australia. But then she married a German Count, and moved to Nassenheide, Pomerania, as Countess von Arnim-Schlagenthin.

✍🏼 Von Arnim wrote Elizabeth and Her German Garden as a mockery to German aristocratic society. It's a semi autobiographical novel, written as a diary of the protagonist, Elizabeth, who was developing a beautiful garden on the estate, though she knew almost nothing about gardening.

✍🏼 I enjoyed the book so much for three reasons: a) At times it's so hilarious, I had often to stifle my laughter while reading in public. b) It talks much about gardening, and though I'm not keen on the subject, I love everything concerning nature. c) I loved most of Elizabeth's unorthodox views on life and tradition, which I can well relate. I quote here some of her entries, which is bluntly honest and hilarious.

“I believe all needlework and dressmaking is of the devil, designed to keep women from study.”

"If you have to have neighbours at all, it is at least a mercy that there should be only one; for with people dropping in at all hours and wanting to talk to you, how are you to get on with your life, I should like to know, and read your books, and dream your dreams to your satisfaction?"

"I never could see that delicacy of constitution is pretty, either in plants or women."

"What nonsense it is to talk about the equality of the sexes when the women have the babies."

"To most German Hausfraus the dinners and the puddings are of paramount importance [...] but, I would humbly inquire, are there not other things even more important? And is not plain living and high thinking better than the other way about? [...] It cannot be right to be the slave of one's household gods, and I protest that if my furniture ever annoyed me by wanting to be dusted when I want to be doing something else, and there was no one to do the dusting for me, I should cast it all into the nearest bonfire and sit and warm my toes at the flames with great contentment, triumphantly selling my dusters to the very next pedlar who was weak enough to buy them. [...] is it not pathetic to find a young woman bravely struggling to learn languages and keep up with her husband?"

✍🏼 It's a short but entertaining novel, and I can't wait to read more of von Arnim. The Enchanted April is next. Maybe next year?

Rating: 4,5 / 5

Evelina by Frances Burney

♦️ Evelina, or A Young Lady's Entrance into the World is the complete title of this epistolary novel by a 18th century female British author: Frances Burney. This is my first time reading Burney, and I guess I'd like to read more of her. Though, like any other 18th century literature, Burney's flowery sentences often overwhelmed me, I enjoyed her witty satire very much.

♦️ Evelina can be considered a "half" orphaned girl. Or what would you call a girl whose mother has been denied by her husband (Sir Bellmont), and who then died after giving birth to her (the girl); while the father has never owned her, and so she was raised and educated by a village Reverend?

♦️ This story starts when Evelina's grandmother (her mother's mother) came to claim her. She brought Evelina - until then being sequestered under the Reverend's protection - out in the society; the opera, dinner parties, and what not. You can imagine how she made foolish blunders after blunders, especially in handling young men's attentions.

♦️ There are two particular young men who would take an important influence on Evelina - and kind of shape her future. The one is Sir Clement Willoughby, a boisterous, impertinent young nobleman who pesters Evelina wherever she goes, and forces her to love him. The other is Lord Orville, a charming, polite, and a truly gentleman, whom Evelina sees as a perfect character. And of course, it is this young lord who steals Evelina's gentle and kind heart.

♦️ Most of the chapters seem to be dedicated to tell us how the smitten Evelina, a high educated young woman, is ashamed of the shallow people with whom she is forced to associate with, and tries hard to conceal it from Lord Orville. But circumstances always plunge her to the worst incidents, right when Lord Orville is around to witness it. And that's what make the story more interesting.

♦️ These series of blunders was at first felt tedious to me, but along the way I quite enjoyed the hilarious comical scenes, particularly when I have got used to the tedious sentences.

♦️ It is interesting to learn about society mechanism in 18th century. I was confused, particularly, by the letter from Lord Orville that Evelina thought is impertinent, that she feels thoroughly insulted. I read it twice, and found nothing's wrong. I thought it's over-sensitivity on Evelina, but later on the Reverend has also the same opinion. I guess written communications are more intriguing because we can't hear the "tone", and just have to "read between the lines" to measure the exact sentiment that the writer means to convey. One thing I would've loved to keep from the 18th century is the art of correspondence!

♦️ Overall this is a very enjoyable novel, but only when you read slowly, savoring every passage. Otherwise, it's be just a bunch of tedious letters.

Rating: 4 / 5

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

✍🏼 This book is probably the best non-fiction-feel-like-fiction books I've ever read so far. In the middle of the reading, I had actually googled it to make sure that the story had really happened in real life, and not a fictional account of a historical event. And it surely is 100% real.

✍🏼 Helene Hanff is an American aspiring writer who loved to read classics or rare books. In 1949, four years after World War II ended, access to rare books was limited. In this condition, Helene wrote a letter of purchase order to a British out-of-print book store: Marks & Co., located in 84, Charing Cross Road, London - a correspondence which lasted in twenty years.

✍🏼 And so this book is a compilation of these correspondences, consisting of Helene's and the bookstores staffs' letters, for over twenty years. And what is amazing and beautiful about it, is that those letters were not only of business issues; they also developed into a warm friendship, not only between Helene and Frank Doel, the corresponding staff, but also with other staffs.

✍🏼 The friendship was even far exceeding the literary matters, which, along the way, felt less and less important. They started telling stories about themselves, sometimes funny, but often touching. Learning about food shortages in Britain as the aftermath of WWII, Helene sent Frank Doel and other staffs food parcels, often during special occasions like Christmas, which delighted them very much.

✍🏼 During those twenty years, everyone became good friends, and we, as readers, witness the most touching and inspiring acts of humanity, only by reading their letters.

✍🏼 It's really a wholesome book to read - light but at the same time, deep. And of course, there are tons of literary discussions and classic books mentions, which are equally delightful for classics fans like me.

Rating: 5 / 5

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

The Moonstone is considered the first detective novel that established the ground rules of modern detective novels. Though I agree with this statement, I think Agatha Christie is still the reigning queen of the genre.

Published in 1868, it is an epistolary novel about the missing of a yellow diamond called Moonstone, which was originally placed on the forehead of the Hindu god of the moon statue, located at a Hindu temple in India. The diamond protected by three hereditary guardians from Brahmin caste, who do not hesitate to perform crime, even murder if needed, in order to save it. One day a British army officer - a rogue named Colonel Herncastle - stole it from the temple in a looting during the Siege of Seringapatam, and brought it to England. His life has never been in peace ever since.

Colonel Herncastle's sister is a Lady Verinder, who disliked her notorious brother. Furious with his sister's rudeness and humiliation, he took an unusual way of revenge, by bequeathing the Moonstone to his niece, Rachel Verinder, when she turns eighteen. Several days before the birthday party, three Indian jugglers come to the town, and even ask permission to perform at the Verinders' on the night of the birthday party. They get to see Rachel, who, excited by the inheritance, pins the Moonstone on her blouse. That night Rachel keeps the diamond in an Indian cabinet in her parlour. The next day they finds the cabinet empty, the diamond is missing. They hire the best detective to investigate the case, but, despite of the progresses Sergeant Cuff has made, Lady Verinder stops the investigation altogether, as it has somewhat bothered Rachel. And so the mystery is left unsolved.

Two years from the unfortunate event, Franklin Blake - Rachel's cousin - who was tasked of bringing the Moonstone to Rachel at her birthday night, takes initiative to keep a neat record of everything that had happened from the moment they got the Moonstone, to the moment when the mystery is eventually solved. He compiles narrative of persons involved, reports, letters, and diary, to create a complete and true history of the Moonstone mystery. And so, that is what we read as this novel.

I was in love with the novel from the first chapter, which is Gabriel Betteredge's narrative. Betteredge is the Verinders' chief steward (butler and housekeeper), a pleasant, humorous, warm hearted old man who loves Defoe's Robinson Crusoe so much, that the book becomes his 'bible' and sole consolation in life. He is the sole reason why I kept reading this book. I loved his narrative, it shows his wittiness, loving nature, and loyalty towards the Verinders. How I've wished that he'd keep the pen to himself for the rest of the book, and I might have automatically granted it five stars, no matter how the story unfolds. However, Collins didn't agree with me. He chose, instead, to trust the next narration to a hypocrite girl (a Pharisee of modern world) who I despised! After that, several other persons alternately took over the pen, and that, I think, was when I took first of the five stars I've stored for the book. I love continuity in a book. Two narration is still okay, but NOT more than that, please!!

The other half star I reluctantly took away is from the opium experiment. I don't know much about the side effect of opium, but I think the opium plot involving Franklin Blake is quite lame and absurd.

Apart from those two objections of mine, The Moonstone promised to be an enjoyable Victorian story, with the oriental superstition, the mysterious swamp, the social injustice leading to tragedy, the romance - though it would be better if the heroine isn't that spoilt, selfish, insensible as Rachel. But yeah... Collins isn't Dickens.

All in all, I must say that I'm quite disappointed. It started very nicely, but ended disappointingly. I don't know how it supposed to "establish the ground rules of modern detective novels" if the detective was shunned before he could do his job, and the amateur who took over is head over heels in love, which means he's not clearheaded, and thus, unfit for the task. It is a good Victorian novel, but not as a detective novel. Trust that to Agatha Christie only!

Final rating: 3,5 / 5

The Ides of March by Thornton Wilder

Julius Caesar is perhaps one of the most famous people, of whom so many authors have written about. And after that many (Shakespeare included), what else left for Thornton Wilder to cover in his The Ides of March? To me, that was the most interesting aspect which persuaded me to read this book at the first place. Partly because I thought it was a play (Wilder is famous for his plays), and partly because Ancient Rome always fascinates me, particularly the era of Caesar and Cicero. I am Cicero's admirer too, if you haven't known it. :)

Anyway, with that in mind, I plunged into the book, only to find, not without surprise, that The Ides of March is actually an epistolary novel! It contains communication through letters of Caesar and people around him, his journal-letters to a fictional character of Lucius Mamilius Turrinus, as well as Commonplace Books of some historians such as Cornelius Nepos. Commonplace Book is an account of events of the writer's time that he kept by himself. These materials are, of course, fictional, but Wilder kept most of the events and the characters as real as possible; but not the times.

In the Preface, the author has stated that 'historical reconstruction is not among the primary aims of this work.' What, then, is this work's about? I had to finish it before realizing the answer. The Ides of March covers events in year 45 BC, from the profanation of the Mysteries of the Bona Dea by Clodia Pulcher and her brother Clodius, to Caesar's murder. I have assumed from the novel title, that Brutus, Cassius, Casca, and the gang would be the center characters. But no--another surprise!--Clodia Pulcher played almost as much important role as Caesar in the plot. Then, Cleopatra also made her appearance, as well as Catullus the poets who fell in love with Clodia. At first I asked myself: 'Why must I read about Clodia Pulcher and Catullus? They had nothing to with Caesar's murder!'

Julius Caesar's assassination

After finishing the novel, I realized that The Ides of March is more a philosophical novel than historical; that Wilder might have brought us to enter Caesar's mind; saw him as a statesman--as well as a man--and enter one of the genius minds that ever lived on earth. This side of Caesar appeared in his journal-letters to Lucius Mamilius Turrinus. Most of them reflect his searching for human existence, and his thoughts on many subjects. These insights changed my mind on Caesar. Now I can see that Caesar is an extremely proud person. He is not snobbish, but he just believes that he is different from others. He knows how to make Rome a solid state, and has capability and commitment to do the works, when others had none of the qualities (and he was probably right). He cares about others, especially common people--although perhaps selfishly--that they also loves him in return. He seems to dislike vulgar luxury and indulgence, and hates the deity that others imposed on him. His bigger flaw, perhaps, is women. But even in his affair with Cleopatra, I can see that being a genius man, Caesar longs to acquaint others who equal him. Cleopatra is one! They understand each other. Although Caesar also realizes that Cleopatra's only concern is her Egypt. What a lonely man, Caesar is!

I was most intrigued by Caesar's decision to let Clodius sneaking into the Bona Dea ritual disguised as a woman to meet Pompeia, albeit a warning from Cleopatra before the event (both Caesar and Cleopatra have secret polices). Is it his way to 'punish' Pompeia because she was aware of Clodius' plan but did nothing to prevent it (and thus dishonored herself)?

About the conspirators, Caesar was aware of their presence (from the secret police), but he must have never thought them to be so solid, and certainly never suspected Brutus, whom he loved. I think Brutus is the most hypocrite man I've ever known. How he scolded his mother for suggesting the idea of tyrannicide (I have never known this word ever existed!); he really appeared to be disgusted; but then… :(. Even Dante made him dwell on the lowest circle, didn't he? And what was that for? The freedom, they said? It’s more for their persona; freedom, I think, not so much for Rome!

All in all, it is an interesting take on Julius Caesar. 3,5/5 was my final score.

Claude's Confession by Émile Zola

Is this book really Zola’s most autobiographical novel? Maybe some of Zola’s hardcore fans have been curious about this. From the biographies I have read in books, introduction to Zola’s novels, or Wikipedia, I learned many similarities between Zola’s early life and the story plot of Claude’s Confession. Both Claude and Zola came from small rural village in very young age, and suffered from poverty and culture shock while living in Paris for the first time. But beyond that, I don’t know how many of the plot representing Zola’s real life or thoughts.

Like Zola, Claude must leave his rural life, and bunch of friends, to live alone in Paris. He felt lonely and out of place, that his only consolation is by exchanging letters with his friends. The main theme of this book is Claude’s passionate love over a tart named Laurence, whom he took in his place out of pity. At first he was disgusted of her vulgarity, and even determined to “purify” her. But from disgust came passion. Claude became passionately in love with Laurence. It was an unrequited love, though, since Laurence, who has been living in the street, has never known the pure love which Claude offered her. This ignorance made him extremely sick; then he began to lose senses.

This might be far away in plot and style than Zola’s more mature novels, but nonetheless, is quite interesting. I can sense Zola’s brilliant way of dissecting his characters psychologically, to study how it would react; exactly the way he would do later on in his Rougon-Macquart series. If you have been familiar with his books, Zola’s characters always have one extreme tendency (or madness). It could be the possessive love for money, sex, or even of land. In Claude, it was the obsession of purity and innocence. Claude’s ideal girl is one with pale complexion and virginal timidity (I have read somewhere that it’s also Zola’s taste of women—don’t know whether it’s true or not). And just the same as in his other novels, this madness is always ruinous. It’s as if, when you have this tendency, you would certainly go down into the bottom.

If you have interest in psychology, this novel will amuse you. For mere entertainment, it’s rather painful. But if you call yourself Emile Zola’s fan, well, I believe this novel would interest you to learn how Zola ever began his literary genius.

The Sorrows of Young Werther

Once in your lifetime, there would be a moment when everything seems smooth and feels right, that you know you are producing something bigger than anything you have done so far; The Sorrows of Young Werther might have been that of Goethe! In Chinese philosophy, there is a concept called Wu Wei, which literally means non-action or non-doing. The Chinese believes that there will be times when we don’t have to fight so hard to achieve something. All you have to do is to wait for that perfect moment to come, when you don’t have to work so hard, yet everything complies with your wish, then voila….your masterpiece! Goethe wrote Werther after being acquainted with a young man named Jerusalem, whose faith had similarity with his own. He finished the book in four weeks without making any preliminary plans or putting it down on notes before. And from the result (especially the ending) I could see how much Goethe has poured out his emotion into it. So intense and powerful was it, that I have lost my mood to read the rest of his writings for several days.

Werther is a young man with passionate temperament who was staying on a village. He wrote letters to his friend William, telling him all about what he has done and how his feeling was from day to day. These letters were woven into this epistolary novel. Most of the letters were about Werther’s infatuation with a peasant girl named Charlotte (he called her Lotte). They had a lot in common, and although Lotte didn’t return his feeling but engaged and married to another man, they became intimate friends. But Werther could not get rid of Lotte from his life; his love for her was too strong. The last letters he wrote to William showed how much his mental was disturbed. It affected his artistic mind too, that he was unable to paint, or even do, anything.

Werther should be a perfect reading for those who have interest in psychology; a bit similar with the troubled Philip in Of Human Bondage, though Philip’s sorrows were more complex, as the root of his problems did not come from passionate love, but from the lack of universal love. From Werther I learned to always have control and balance over our own life. Sometimes we need to follow our feelings, but at other time, when you do not feel happy, there must be something wrong in what you are doing. Your rational side must take over to make yourself balanced. The art of life is in the balancing our two poles to drive our lives to happiness.

Looking at the style, Goethe might be more suitable to Romanticism than Enlightenment. The melancholy atmosphere and his flowery sentences in Werther were very romantic. However, his regard over life (and particularly in suicides) gave him a little credit to be in the Enlightenment too, in his reasoning against traditional values praised in the Renaissance. In fact, Goethe was one of the proponents of the new movement called Sturm und Drang (=Storm and Drive) in German, which succeeded The Enlightenment, and prepared for the coming of Romanticism. Its uniqueness was in the extreme emotional expression, which you can undoubtedly find in Werther.

Five stars for Goethe and his almost autobiographical story of the young Werther!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I read Signet Classics paperback

This book is counted as:

4^th book for Literary Movement Reading Challenge:Enlightenment

89^th book for The Classics Club Project

The Color Purple

How do you say that a book is a wonderful book? For me, it’s when everything from the book keeps ‘haunting’ me long after I finish it. It’s when I feel quite affected (in a good way of course) by the book, that it somehow changes a bit of me—what I think and what I feel. And that’s how I feel about this book: The Color Purple.

At the beginning, I thought this book is just going to be a story of pains and sorrows, racisms, and hard times for African-American women; a kind of story that you would perhaps put down halfway because it is too sad and frustrating to keep on reading. But I was wrong. On the contrary, The Color Purple—although it did tells stories about pains and sorrows—it tells more about love and friendship, faith and hope. And Alice Walker has written them all in a series of letters. Through that letters, we came to know about Celie and Nettie—the two sisters who love each other even though their lives have been separated, and all they must have gone through to keep their hopes on each other, in the middle of a turbulence era in America in 1910-1940s.

I love how Alice Walker emphasizes many remarkable things within the letters which were written by a non-educated African-American woman like Celie. I mean, those letters are not just ordinary letters, they contain deeper and stronger meanings, and a lot of life philosophies too sometimes. For example, the first sentence that opens the story: ‘You better not never tell nobody but God. It’d kill your mammy’. I detect terror or shame in it, as if the person who has written it has done something very wrong or shameful—a big secret—that she couldn’t tell anybody but God. What a great way to start a novel! It already speaks the overall theme of the story, because that’s how Celie must have felt nearly her entire life.

Unlike Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin—where Uncle Tom was portrayed almost like a saint, Celie is not that ideal, not perfect. However I love Celie better than Uncle Tom because she’s just an ordinary human being just like most of us, who can be bitter and weak upon the tortures of life. At first Celie seemed to be faithful to God, she poured her sorrows into her letters to Him. She didn’t run away like Nettie, she didn’t fight like Sofia. She just gone through every pains she got from her Pa and then from her husband, Mr. _______. However at certain point, that was when she knew that Mr. _____ has hidden Nettie’s letter from her, she stopped writing to God, and began to write to Nettie instead. It’s interesting to read how Celie felt about God at that time, from her conversation with Shug:

Celie: “What God do for me?”

Shug: “Celie! He gave you life, good health, and a good woman that love you to death.”

Celie: “Yeah, and he give me a lynched daddy, a crazy mama, a lowdown dog of a step pa and a sister I probably won’t ever see again. Anyhow, the God I been praying and writing to is a man. And act just like all the other mens I know. Trifling, forgetful and lowdown.”

Shug: “Miss Celie, you better hush. God might hear you.”

Celie: “Let ‘im hear me. If he ever listened to poor colored women the world would be a different place, I can tell you.”

Well, there were times when we were in hard times, we might think the same way, that God has forgotten us and left us, so we also left God. It’s not strange, because—like Celie—we are all weak. At her hard times, Celie turned to the one she love the most, her sister Nettie and her best friend Shug. It’s them (especially Nettie) who have saved Celie from throwing God away for good. Because in people you love, and love you in return, you will find God’s presence. And at the end (to my joy!), Celie can finally repair her relationship with God in her last letter. We also experience the ups and downs of our faith, and now we know—thanks to Celie—that the only way to keep us from falling is to open our heart for love.

The same thing happened to Mr. ______. His philosophy is quite deep, and I think, very interesting:

“I think us here to wonder, myself. To wonder. To ast. And that in wondering bout the big things and asting bout the big things, you learn about the little ones, almost by accident. But you never know nothing more about the big things that you start out with. The more I wonder, the morel love.”  

There are several things that I don’t get quite well, though. For instance, why did the African reject all the missionaries, although they were also African (Samuel, Corrine and Nettie)? And why they dislike Africans that had been sold for slavery to America? Is that because of their being narrow minded?

And why do you think Celie kept calling his husband with Mr. ________? I think Alice Walker wants to emphasize how women’s status upon men’s at that time. Men have full authorities to women, that even after their marriage, Mr. _______ placed himself as a master, and Celie as a slave. Or, it might be that Celie hated his husband so much that she can’t spell his name, as if to say.. hey, he who used to beat me and treat me like a slave is not a friend, so I won’t call him as if he’s my friend. Because at the end when everything got better for Celie, she could finally call Mr. ________ with just ‘Albert’. What do you think?

I have also been wondering about the color purple itself. Has it a certain meaning that Alice Walker wanted to tell us? Or is it just Celie’s favorite color besides red? I remember that Celie asked for color purple or red when Shug brought her to a store to buy cloth for her first dress. The cover of the copy I read (borrowed from a friend) is also intriguing me, as it has purple flowers on the grayscale image of a black woman. I have discussed it here.

Last but not least, through The Color Purple we can see the danger of racism. I learned it from the scene of Sofia and Miss Eleanor Jane, when Eleanor Jane tried to make Sofia say something good about his baby. Eleanor Jane could not understand why Sofia can’t treat her just as a friend. Sofia knew that Eleanor Jane loves her despite of their different races, but there will always be an invisible curtain that separates them. And I think it would take a very long time too before that invisible curtain could vanish completely from our society.

Five stars for The Color Purple and Alice Walker!

Title: The Color Purple

Author: Alice Walker

Publisher: A Harvest International Edition

Published: 2007

Pages: 294

A special thanks to Bettina from Liburuak blog, who has hosted this lovely read along. Without it, I might not have been found the greatness of Alice Walker's writing, as well as the great female character such as Celie...

*This is my 1st review for The Classic Bribe 2012*

Catatan Harian Anne Frank

Inilah sebuah diary paling sensasional yang pernah diterbitkan secara luas. Anne Frank adalah seorang gadis remaja berusia 13 tahun, yang karena invasi Jerman atas Belanda, dan karena pembersihan atas etnis Yahudi pada jaman Hitler, maka ia dan keluarganya dan beberapa orang lagi harus menyembunyikan diri di sebuah loteng. Disinilah ia menulis diary selama hampir 4 tahun. Edisi yang pertama kali diterbitkan adalah diary yang sudah disensor oleh Otto Frank, ayahnya (satu-satunya yang hidup setelah peristiwa Holocaust itu), mulai beredar tahun 1947 dengan judul The Diary Of A Young Girl. Namun, setelah Otto Frank meninggal, ia mewariskan hak penerbitan diary itu pada Jawatan Dokumentasi Perang Belanda, yang kemudian menggabungkan versi tsb dengan versi aslinya, dan dengan beberapa tambahan yang berguna agar pembaca memahami kondisi pada saat itu. Maka, pada tahun 1995 terbitlah sebuah edisi revisi terbaru: The Diary Of A Young Girl: The Definitive Edition. Edisi inilah yang terjemahannya dalam Bahasa Indonesia akan kuulas disini. Selamat membaca....

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Anne Frank adalah seorang gadis yang periang dan cerdas berusia 13 tahun. Ia terlahir dari pasangan Yahudi, Otto dan Edith Hollander Frank. Otto Frank adalah seorang Direktur di Dutch Opekta Company, perusahaan di Amsterdam yang memproduksi selai. Kakak perempuan Anne bernama Margot. Kehidupan mereka menyenangkan dan baik-baik saja, hingga saat Jerman menginvasi Belanda dalam Perang Dunia II, dan pemerintahan Hitler mengeluarkan dekrit 'anti Yahudi'. Mulailah masa-masa terkekang bagi kaum Yahudi, mereka harus memakai semacam pin berbentuk bintang warna kuning (yellow star), mereka dipaksa menyerahkan kendaraan, dilarang mengendarai mobil, dilarang menggunakan jalan raya, dilarang masuk tempat hiburan, dilarang terlihat di jalanan antara jam delapan malam hingga jam enam pagi, dll.

Pada ulangtahun Anne yang ke-13 pada 20 Juni 1942, ia mendapat hadiah sebuah diary. Pada hari itulah ia mulai mencurahkan seluruh perasaan, pandangan dan pengalaman hidupnya pada diary yang ia beri nama "Kitty". Anne merasa bahwa bila ia menumpahkan perasaan pada orang lain, orang itu tidak akan mengerti dia, malah mengomeli, menyalahkan dsb. Maka Kitty ia anggap teman terbaiknya yang paling mengerti dirinya, dan karena diary tidak dapat menghakiminya.

Pada saat itu sebenarnya pembersihan etnis Yahudi mulai digembar-gemborkan, dan Otto Frank mulai merencanakan untuk melarikan keluarganya. Namun, sebelum rencana itu terwujud, pada tgl. 8 Juli 1942, Margot menerima surat panggilan dari pemerintah Hitler. Surat Panggilan berarti kamp konsentrasi dan sel tahanan, maka Otto Frank harus mengubah rencananya. Otto Frank dan Van Daan (rekan bisnis Otto Frank) membuat rencana baru sementara Anne dan lainnya berkemas-kemas. Maka pada tgl. 9 Juli 1942 keluarga Frank meninggalkan apartemen mereka yang nyaman untuk terakhir kalinya, dan pindah ke sebuah loteng yang terletak di gedung tempat Otto Frank bekerja. Loteng tempat persembunyian mereka itu akan dikenal dengan "Secret Annex". Kepindahan mereka dibantu oleh pasangan Miep dan Jan Gies yang adalah teman dekat keluarga Frank. Miep bekerja sebagai sekretaris Otto Frank. Karyawan lain Oto Frank adalah Tuan Kleimann, Tuan Kugler dan Bep Voskuijl.

Secret Annex, ruang loteng di lantai tiga itu akan menjadi tempat persembunyian Anne dan keluarga (4 orang), serta keluarga Van Dann (3 orang), dan seorang dokter gigi bernama Tuan Dulles, total 8 orang. Pintu masuk yang memisahkan gudang dan Secret Annex diberi lemari buku untuk menyamarkan, dan selama bersembunyi mereka tidak boleh keluar sama sekali. Miep dan Bep yang bertugas untuk berbelanja kebutuhan semua penghuni Secret Annex. Selama jam kantor, mereka harus tetap berada di atas loteng, tidak boleh ribut, tidak boleh menyiram toilet karena kucuran air bisa terdengar dari bawah. Jadi mereka harus tinggal di tengah ketakutan, keterbatasan bahan makanan (kadang mereka harus makan buncis atau selada sepanjang hari), baju yang usang (dan kekecilan bagi Anne yang sedang dalam masa pertumbuhan), ruangan yang bau (karena tidak bisa setiap saat mengguyur toilet). Namun, di saat yang sama Anne, Margot dan Peter Van Daan (yang berusia 16 tahun) tetap mendapatkan pelajaran sekolah dari buku-buku yang di-suplai oleh Tuan Kleimann dan Tuan Kugler.

Sepanjang waktu di Secret Annex, semua penghuni sering mengalami perdebatan dan perselisihan antar penghuni maupun antar keluarga. Selain itu, mereka juga sering mendengar suara sirene meraung-raung yang merupakan peringatan bila ada pesawat udara lawan melintas. Juga tembakan-tembakan di malam hari. Seperti yang ditulisnya: "..Semua orang takut. Malam hari ratusan pesawat terbang melintasi Belanda menuju kota-kota di Jerman, menjatuhkan bom di tanah Jerman. Tiap jam ratusan bahkan ribuan orang terbunuh di Rusia dan Afrika. Tidak ada yang mencegah perang, seluruh dunia dilanda perang, meskipun sekutu telah berusaha, perang belum juga berakhir.." Beberapa kali ada juga percobaan pencurian di gedung tsb. Saat-saat itu, semua orang menahan napas dan begitu ketakutan bahwa persembunyian mereka ditemukan seseorang.

Di tengah-tengah suasana itulah, Anne remaja tumbuh menjadi seorang gadis. Ia membentuk pribadi dan mengatasi ketakutan, kecemasan, ketidakmengertian, dan kenyataan hidup bersama 5 orang dewasa lain yang sering menyalahkan dan menganggapnya bodoh, nakal, lancang, dsb. Padahal, Anne sebenarnya adalah sosok pribadi yang berani, terbuka dan kritis. Namun, karena pada saat itu sikap itu dianggap tabu, dan seorang anak tidak boleh menyatakan pendapatnya, maka hanya pada Kitty-lah Anne dapat menumpahkan seluruh pemikiran dan perasaannya, termasuk gejolak seksualitas pada awal masa pubernya. Anne tidak cocok dengan Ibunya, ia sering mengungkapkan rasa benci pada sang Ibu. Ia tidak suka pada Nyonya Van Dann, dan pada Tuan Dulles yang terpaksa harus berbagi kamar dengannya, dan karena ia dianggap seorang anak kecil, maka Tuan Dulles lebih banyak menguasai kamar mereka. Namun di saat-saat lain, Anne juga merasa menyesal telah menyakiti Ibunya. Khas seorang remaja yang tengah membangun karakternya.

Anne memiliki cara pandang yang mengagumkan sebagai remaja usia 13 tahun saat itu. Ia membenci perang, ketidak-adilan dan kekejaman. "..Aku merasa jahat tidur di tempat tidur yang hangat, sementara di luar banyak sahabat karibku kelelahan atau dipukuli habis-habisan. Aku dibuat takut sendiri sewaktu memikirkan teman-teman yang dijajah oleh monster-monster kejam yang tiada kenal belas kasih. Dan itu semua harus mereka alami, semata-mata karena mereka Yahudi." Di lain kesempatan, "Sepanjang siang dan malam, orang-orang miskin diseret keluar dari rumahnya. Saat anak-anak sekolah pulang, mereka melihat orang tuanya sudah hilang. Saat seorang perempuan pulang dari berbelanja ia menjumpai rumah mereka telah disita dan keluarganya-pun hilang. Semua orang takut." Itulah beberapa penggalan curahan hatinya pada Kitty.

Namun, di tengah ketakutan dan ketidak pastian serta kerinduan yang amat besar akan kebebasan itu, Anne memiliki harapan yang amat tinggi. Dan harapan serta optimisme itulah yang membantunya melewati masa-masa sulitnya. Pada pagi hari atau malam hari saat jendela boleh dibuka, Anne akan duduk di depan jendela lantai paling atas bersama dengan Peter Van Dann dan melihat ke langit. "...Pagi ini saat aku duduk di depan jendela dan sangat lama disana, menatap betapa dalamnya Tuhan dan alam, aku bahagia. Kekayaan, kehormatan, segala sesuatu dapat hilang. Tapi kebahagiaan di dalam hatimu hanya dapat berkurang, ia akan selalu di sana, selama kamu masih hidup untuk membuat dirimu kembali bahagia. Bila kamu merasa sedih, cobalah naik ke loteng pada hari yang indah dan menatap ke luar. Bukan pada rumah-rumah dan atapnya, namun pada langit. Selama kamu dapat menatap langit tanpa rasa takut; kamu akan tahu bahwa kamu suci di dalamnya dan akan menemukan kebahagiaan sekali lagi."

Anne menemukan persahabatan yang indah dengan Peter. Itu juga salah satu hal yang memberikan secercah kegembiraan di tengah suramnya suasana di Secret Annex. Pada malam hari Anne sering naik ke loteng paling atas bersama dengan Peter. Mereka akan duduk berduaan dan memandang langit. Itulah saat-saat paling tenang dan membahagiakan bagi Ann. Simaklah bagian tulisan Anne Frank yang amat terkenal, dan mengilhami banyak orang akan arti kebebasan, cinta dan harapan: "...Sulit dalam masa seperti ini: idealisme, mimpi dan harapan yang dihargai dapat tumbuh dalam diri kami, semuanya hancur oleh realitas yang suram. Suatu kejutan aku tidak meninggalkan semua idealisme-ku, sementara mereka tampak begitu absurd dan tidak praktis. Aku masih berpegang teguh pada mereka karena aku masih percaya, disamping hal lain, bahwa orang pada dasarnya berhati baik. Sangat tidak mungkin bagiku membangun hidupku di atas pondasi kekacauan, kesengsaraan, dan kematian. Aku melihat dunia lambat laun berubah menjadi hutan belantara, aku mendengar suara guruh mendekat, dan suatu hari juga akan membuat kami hancur, aku ikut merasakan penderitaan berjuta-juta orang. Namun saat aku menatap langit, aku merasakan bahwa semuanya akan berubah menjadi lebih baik, dan perang ini akan berakhir, aku juga berpikir, perdamaian dan ketenangan sekali lagi akan kembali. Pada suatu saat aku harus berpegang pada idealismeku. Barangkali waktunya akan tiba, saat aku mampu mewujudkannya."

Tulisan ini ditulis oleh Anne hanya tiga hari sebelum akhirnya Secret Annex ditemukan, dan ke-8 penghuninya ditangkap dan dibawa ke kamp konsentrasi. Anne akhirnya meninggal karena tifus, akibat buruknya gizi dan sanitasi di kamp konsentrasi. Ia meninggal sekitar akhir Pebruari atau awal Maret 1945. Walau ia tak lagi hidup dan tak dapat mewujudkan kebebasan dan kebahagiaan yang ia cita-citakan, namun pengharapannya yang besar akan terus hidup dan mengilhami banyak orang hingga saat ini.

Catatan Fanda:
Anne adalah anak yang cerdas dan berpikiran tajam. Pandangannya tentang kekejaman, perdamaian dan harapan adalah hal-hal yang perlu kita teladani. Kita semua diciptakan sebagai manusia yang sama oleh Tuhan. Bahwa kita lahir dalam etnis tertentu, dibesarkan dengan ajaran agama tertentu, tinggal di negara tertentu, janganlah itu lantas membuat kita saling membenci dan saling menghakimi. Biarlah negara-negara berperang, namun kita secara personal dapat menciptakan kedamaian mulai dari keluarga, teman, dan orang-orang di sekitar kita. Dan yang terpenting, teruslah berharap dan biarkan Tuhan yang menentukan yang terbaik untuk kita.