The House on the Strand (1969) by Daphne du Maurier

🧪 Richard Young has befriended Magnus Lane since university. He often stayed with the Lanes on holidays at Kilmarth, an ancient house near the Cornish coast. Magnus Lane is now a scientist, a chemical researcher or biophysicist at the University of London, and Richard, or Dick, has often been his guinea pig. Magnus has a laboratory in his house, and here he is perfecting a special concoction, which Dick has agreed to test, while staying at Kilmarth with his (Dick's) family during summer holiday. Dick's wife, Vita, and his two stepsons are still a week or so from joining him at Kilmarth, so he has ample time to do with the potion, or you may call it drug.

🧪 The potion brings him to the past, in fourteenth century to be precise, when the house was called Kilmerth. Yes, this is a time-travelling story. The place is the same, but the landscape has changed after six century. Dick soon becomes drawn into the people's lives and affairs, though they can't see him. There is a set back though, he'd get severe vertigo and nausea if he touch them. The man who stayed at Kilmerth (the same house, but humbler at that time) was Roger, a steward to Sir Henry Champernoune. And it is this man that Dick follows everytime he drinks the potion. His fascination is centered on the faith of Isolda, a beautiful woman and wife of Sir Oliver Carminowe, but who had had a secret affair with the brother of Sir Henry's wife, Otto Bodrugan. During these time-travels, Dick wanders around the landscape, often ends up quite a distance from where he's been taking the potion.
🧪 So drawn is Dick to the past, that his present is gradually fading. It's more and more difficult to focus on things he needs to do, and this secret also puts a barrier in his marriage life, when Vita and the boys finally join him at Kilmarth. But now that Magnus will be staying at Kilmarth for the weekend, they would have fun adventures together - or so Dick thought. Unfortunately, something terrible happens, that thwarted this excitement, and Dick is left with two choices: stop the test all together and return to his own life, or continue secretly the time-travelling to the past on his own, with its consequences.

🧪 As is usual with all of du Maurier's, this one is also a gripping story about the addiction to another life when ones' own is less eventful and stuck in a place one doesn't want to be. I think in Dick's case, he feels like a stranger when he's with Vita and the boys - the boys being only step sons. However, instead of trying to find a solution, he prefers to be out of that life and pursue another which is more engaging. We do that a lot, but with books. When one's tired of one's life, one can always be out of reality for a few hours at a time, and drawn in a good and engaging story of another life. But one must return to reality and deal with it anyway in the end. I believe that's the moral background that du Maurier wanted to highlight with her inconclusive ending. Nevertheless, this is an engaging gothic/science fiction story with a touch of historical theme. Not of du Maurier's best, perhaps, but still is fun to read.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier

💎 Another brilliant piece of work from du Maurier! Although not as magnificent as Rebecca, it's still brilliant.

💎 The story is told by one of the most unreliable narrators in literature: Philip Ashley; an orphan who'd been brought up by his cousin: Ambrose Ashley, the owner of a large estate in Cornwall, England.

💎 Ambrose is Philip's world; he worshipped him as brother, father, and guardian. They have each other, this two brothers, and Philip will be Ambrose's heir after he turns 25. But their world is shattered the day Ambrose left to Italy, in need of warmer weather. He met a distant cousin, Rachel, a widow in Florence. He was soon infatuated by her, and eventually married her, and stayed in Florence.

💎 Ambrose soon fell ill with terrible headaches. His letters to Philip changed tone; he didn't trust Rachel, and even called her his tormentor. At this point Philip, whose hatred toward Rachel has rapidly growing, departed to Florence to save Ambrose. But it's too late, Ambrose's dead and buried in Florence.

💎 When Rachel came to Cornwall, Philip has been planning a revenge, since he's sure that Rachel has killed Ambrose. But this spoiled boy, who had nearly no experience in dealing with women before, was soon falling in love head over heels with his cousin Rachel.

💎 Now history repeats itself, Philip began to have similar illness to Ambrose, right after his 25th birthday, when he handed over the estate to Rachel and wanted her to be his wife. The question is, did Rachel really poisoned Ambrose (and now Philip) for their money/estate? Or she's merely an impulsive spendthrift woman who loves gardening, and thus keeping a packet of poisonous laburnum tree seeds in her drawer?

💎 One of my biggest pet peeves in literature is ambiguous ending. I'd prefer a rounded up story, of which I could either satisfyingly happy or mournfully broken-hearted, so that I can immediately close the book, and move on to next one. An uncertain ending, however, left me uncertained, and it's really annoying. My Cousin Rachel is one of the latter. Du Maurier leave us to guess ourselves whether Rachel is really an evil woman, or it's all just Philip's sentiment because of his jealousy. Remember, we know Rachel only from Philip's perspective, and he's emotional and unreliable, and perhaps on the border of madness (as was Ambrose).

💎 On my part, I prefer to conclude that Rachel is not innocent. She's a spendthrift - that's a fact - and her relationship with the lawyer/best friend Rainaldi could not have as innocence as she said it to be. They never talk openly, and always talk in Italian when Philip leaves the room. And the laburnum seed.. why keep it in her drawer? There could have been simple reason, but it's rather fishy, don't you think?

💎 All in all, it's rather an appropriate gothic reading, beautifully written. I admired Maurier's tension building and psychological thriller around a mysterious woman (just like in Rebecca), but.. like I said, I hated the inconclusive ending.

Rating: 4 / 5

The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo

♦️ It's one of the hardest reads for me. Is it because I've read it during one of the toughest phases of my life? Or is it just because Hugo's isn't my cup of tea? (I struggled too when reading Les Miserables - the abridged one!)

♦️ Synopsis:
It tells the story of the beautiful gypsy Esmeralda, condemned as a witch by the tormented archdeacon Claude Frollo, who lusts after her. Quasimodo, the deformed bell ringer of Notre-Dame Cathedral, having fallen in love with the kindhearted Esmeralda, tries to save her by hiding her in the cathedral's tower.

♦️ Set in the 15th century, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (or originally: Notre Dame de Paris), talks a lot about Gothic architecture and passion. Hugo took pain to describe (or rather "preach") about the grand architecture of the church, and how architecture is an important thing in men's existence, which was about to be replaced by printing (Confession: I skipped most of these parts!)

♦️ The hunchback, who is supposed to be main character of the story, is Quasimodo, the bell ringer of Notre Dame, whose deformity from birth made him hated by the society. He was raised by Claude Frollo - an ambitious archdeacon - inside the Notre Dame church, and later on became its devout bell ringer.

♦️ Frollo, Quasimodo, and a gypsy girl named Esmeralda, are the three flawed characters whose lives were ruled by their passions. I can make excuse for Quasimodo, for he was cruelly marginalized by others, without opportunity to find sympathy and affection. When he became deaf, his world became narrower. Who can blame him for stubbornly loving a girl who was clearly ignorant of him and loved another?

♦️ Frollo is the antagonist here, that is clear. But what about Esmeralda? Is she a blameless victim? Not entirely. She sealed her fate when she flirted with Captain what's-his-name, and stubbornly loved him when she knew he's completely ignored her for another girl. Esmeralda is a clever girl, but she's controlled by her passion, so much so that when she finally met her estranged mother in the critical moment, her only focus was still the Captain. I wanted to strangle her so much when reading this passage - that's your mother who love you so dearly that she had sacrificed her life for you, you idiot!!

♦️ The only survivor of this tragedy is Pierre Gringoire, the poet. It's our reminder to not let our life be ruled with passion.

Rating: 3/5

The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe

I must say, this was one of the most difficult reads I have ever tackled. As a mystery enthusiast, I thought it would delight me, as The Mysteries of Udolpho has been praised as inspiration for many mystery writers in the centuries after. At first it looked like it. I loved to find that St. Aubert, Emily, and even Valancourt, were nature enthusiasts. I enjoyed reading the beautiful sceneries during their journey around the Alpines. But then, after the death of Mr. Saint-Aubert, and Emily must (according to Saint-Aubert's last wish) live with her aunt, things began to alternate from bad to worse, to bad, to even much worse; especially during her stay in the Castle of Udolpho - the home of the wicked Montoni, to whom Emily's aunt married not long after Emily's stay with her.

Misfortunes came flooding with every change, and everytime you think this one is the worst of all previous, something more wicked would come. At first, you could relate very much with Emily's misfortunes, but after a while you would feel dullness in both the heart and mind. Like something that terrified you so badly at first, but after some repetition, well... it's not so terrifying anymore in the end, you’d feel numbed.

It's doubly torturing because Emily, the heroine, is a calm and loving creature. That she must endure the selfishness, coldness, and shallowness of others, the disgust over Montoni's wickedness, her complete helpfulness to protect her own life and honor, not mentioning her superstitions (which was not unusual at that era), the gloomy atmosphere of a Castle Udolpho, and her fear lest her lover has betrayed her or even dead (which one is worse, anyway?) - why, I was almost surprised that any human being could get through all that safely!

Have you felt depressed already from reading my review? Well, beware that you don't read this book during your gloomiest mood!

It would have been a perfect Halloween read, if only Ann Ratcliffe hadn't thrown every ingredient of horror and evil at a single human being that it seems almost impossible to bear. Well, tired is what I felt after finishing the story. Ann is a great Gothic writer, but never again would I read The Mysteries of Udolpho!

Note: I have read this last year (in October), but just couldn’t spare enough time to write a proper review till now.

Final rating: 3 to 5

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Rebecca is often considered Daphne du Maurier's masterpiece. It's a perfect Halloween read - beautiful yet haunting. I have read it for R.I.P. XIV, and loved it. As most likely you all have read it, I’m not going to take the pain of summarizing it (and it’s difficult to do so without throwing spoilers – if you haven’t read it – anyway), so, here are my thoughts:

It begins with the end

If you hate spoilers, you might dislike this kind of writing style, in which the characters told you what have happened in the past that they ended up in their situation today. For me, it provides sort of certainty of how the story might end, which I prefer, rather than always worrying whether this will end tragically or happily. By knowing how it would end (except for mysteries, of course), I can read slowly and calmly, savoring every moment of it. In the end I found it much more satisfying. And so it was with this book. The heroine told us that she and her husband have survived from a tragedy - something which has happened to their lovely mansion: Manderley, and which they both desperately tried to forget.

It's about a woman without name, and a name without the woman

I was rather annoyed, in the early chapters, as it seemed nobody ever mentioned the name of the narrator! But in the end I think du Maurier did it purposely to highlight the contrast between her and Rebecca - whom everyone talked about, found everywhere, heard everywhere, though she was dead years ago.

Yvonne (let's give the narrator a name, at least in this post, as I hate a nameless character!) is timid, introverted and insecure young woman, working as companion to a wealthy woman. Rebecca is her opposite in everything! She married the owner of an estate, rich, bold, beautiful, sociable, powerful. Those were the outside qualities any outsider would have perceived. But as a husband, Maximilian de Winter knows better. Inside, the two women are also the David and the Goliath in their hearts and souls. Rebecca is also wicked, selfish, cruel, and without love. She reminds me of Cathy in East of Eden. 

[credit: Gardenvista]

Yvonne is sweet, loving, innocent, kind, and tender, if only you know how to love her, because she is, again, insecure. I can totally relate to her, because I understand how to manage insecure people. My dear mom is one. What they need, on top of everything, is love - they need to be sure that they are loved. When you love them, and protect their privacy (because that's what we, introverts, need most of all!), we'd see a brave woman underneath the fragile appearance. Unfortunately the world still love outside appearances better than inner qualities. And that's why introverts and insecure people tend to be disliked and misunderstood, just because they aren't sociable. They forget that these people, if you are willing to understand and respect their silence and timidity, you'll see that their capability to love is much bigger than the extroverts.

In this story, only Maxim and Frank, the agent, it seems, who could really see Yvonne's qualities, and understand her. From the very beginning I have had certainty that Maxim married Yvonne purely for love. That he, alone, could see underneath the plain appearance of this girl - while others would never, or with difficulty, understand.

[credit: Gardenvista]

Intelligence vs innocence

What struck me is, that the so called 'dim-witted' Ben could see the cruelness beneath Rebecca's superficial charm, while others who were more intelligent, failed. Apparently, being intelligent does not always prevent one from being shallow and vain. On the other hand, I think innocent people use their feeling more than their mind, in judging others' character. That's why Rebecca's charms never deceived poor Ben.

And I loved how du Maurier put Maxim's faith in Ben's hand. But, isn't murder still a murder, be it done to good people or villains? Well, sometimes, evil can only be stopped by violence. It's still wrong, of course, but I'd probably do the same if I have had a soulless person like Rebecca - or Cathy - as a spouse.

The wicked housekeeper

No, I'm not going to analyze Mrs. Danvers' character here. She's purely as wicked (and more sick, perhaps) as her mistress. It's only that every time I read about her, it was Downton Abbey's Mrs. Hughes face that popped up in my head. I know that Mrs. Hughes is kind and wise, so different from Mrs. Danvers, but do you remember her face when she looked at Mr. Green (the valet how 'attacked' Anna Bates)? It's full of cold hatred and disgust; and it's that face which I imagined was on Mrs. Danvers' every time she saw Yvonne. Yeah, a Gothic castle which is haunted by it's evil mistress, and kept by a wicked housekeeper... there's enough of Gothic element there to make it a favorite Halloween read!

It has been a delicious read for me, and I think I would love to return to it in the future!

4,5 of 5 - because I still hate any writer who doesn't name his/her narrator! :)

The Phantom of the Opera: Second Reading

Some books must surely be read more than once to get into all the layers it contains! On my first reading of Phantom about seven years ago, I was fascinated more by its gothic theme than by the grotesqueness of its back story. Only now on this second reading did I fully grasp the scary reality underneath the fantastic story; even more because it’s so relevant with the world we live now.

I don’t know if you are familiar with the story, but in short it was believed that a famous Opera House in Paris was haunted by a ghost. Not only demanding to be paid on regular basis, the Opera Ghost (OG) often created inexplicable accidents when the directors didn’t give him what he wanted. Many of the theatre crews have seen scary apparitions. One night a mediocre female singer suddenly became an angelic diva after receiving lessons from an angel of music. These incidents, in the age when superstitious was quite strong, only made the phantom of the opera more sensational.

However, does the phantom really exist? Or is it just a tasteless joke thrown by the resigned managers to prank their successors? We, readers, have actually been warned from the first through the prologue:

“The Opera ghost really existed. He was not, as was long believed, a creature of the imagination of the artists, the superstition of the managers, or a product of the absurd and impressionable brains of the young ladies of the ballet, their mothers,  the box-keepers, the cloak-room attendants or the concierge. Yes, he existed in flesh and blood, although he assumed the complete appearance of a real phantom; that is to say, of a spectral shade.”

Because the opera ghost was indeed a real person called Erik. He was born deformed with corpse-like appearance and—as Christine Daaé put it—smelled like death. It saddened me to read how his mother rejected him because of that. I could not imagine growing up deprived of love. Add to it degradation and humility Erik must have experienced from his youth; and in the place of a supposedly loving and genius man, stands a really hideous monster. So, whose fault is it, if many years later what that man thinks is only revenge? It is inevitable.

My thought when I finished this second reading was: what would have happened if Erik was accepted by the society? He might have built grand architecture and brought brilliant innovations to the opera house for its good. But look now what it gets? Almost a major destruction if an innocent young girl had not bravely and lovingly accepted him as a human being. How just a tiny gesture of affection could make such huge change!

Not just about Erik, I think the phantom of the opera also refers to the marginalized people who worked as fireman or other (seemingly) insignificant jobs at the theater. When Christine Daaé showed the bowels of the opera house to Raoul, she pointed to these firemen as “ghosts”. It seems to me that to the glorious upper world, those underground workers are ghosts—nonexistent and insignificant; ugly things that must be kept hidden and forgotten. How relatable it is with our real world!

5 of 5!

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

This is the first time I read detective novel with Victorian background. Here I can hear you yelling: ‘What about Holmes?’ Well, Holmes is Holmes. I mean, he is a real detective, and his stories were focused mostly on the crime-solving. While The Woman in White depicted ordinary persons who were forced to perform detective tasks to solve their own problem.

In this post, I will not trying to summarize the story, but only jotting down my random thoughts while reading this awesome book.

What I realized immediately after finishing this story is the difference between Dickens’ and Collins’ style. I naturally compared them because they were close friends—Dickens published Collins’ short stories in the periodicals he founded: Household Words—and I assumed Collins style would be closely similar to Dickens. I was not completely wrong, they had a similarity, but I think I like Collins better.

Collins’ characters—at least in The Woman in White; I have not read his other books—are as strong as Dickens’ but more plausible. I felt like knowing Walter Hartright or Marian Halcombe as real persons in real life, not just characters in some tales. Hartright is a drawing master; if he was in Dickens’ novel, he would probably be portrayed as romantic and melancholic person. But Collins made him an intelligent young man with strong will and courage. Laura Fairlie, though not as strong and brave as Marian, still found, now and then, courage to resist under her tyrannical husband.

Dickens’ characters are also mostly typical. Most of his villains, especially, can be detected almost at once. But with Collins, I found that several of the characters are in grey area. Count Fosco is one example. Everybody tends to like him. Interestingly, it was Laura who first detected something artificial in him. And how he adored Marian, and acted gentlemanly towards his “enemies”. Beyond his lack of moral conscience, nobody would disagree that he is a kind gentleman. Another ambiguous character is Hartright’s Italian friend: Professor Pesca. Who would ever suspect that behind this funny and simple man with extra warm heart, laid a dark secret of being member of a secret organization (by the way, what organization can it be, indeed?)? And how very often do we, too, wrongly judge our friends or close relatives?

To summarize, I did really enjoy The Woman in White. I loved the uniqueness and originality of the characters; loved the neat and smooth plot; loved how Collins built it slowly—neither too surprising nor too predictable. And I also loved the mature love story; and enjoyed the little—just a little—twist of the plot. It is a detective story, but the highest aim is not to punish the villains, or to reveal the truth, or to excite our adventurer side; it is just what one must do for the loved ones—it is the act of love, honor, and humanity. Oh, I just love it!

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Of all Dickens’ novel I haven’t yet read, The Mystery of Edwin Drood is perhaps one I’ve been looking forward the most. Edwin Drood is the first and the last of Dickens; the first mystery novel he’s ever written, and also the last novel we’d ever read from him. But the most interesting aspect of Edwin Drood is because Dickens was in the middle of writing it when he died. Moreover, on his last days on earth, Dickens’ mood was very dark and gloomy. The Staplehurst train accident that gave him a near-death experience seemed haunted him until he died. Dickens’ health was also getting worse at that time. Those were the circumstances that much affected Dickens when he started writing Edwin Drood.

From the beginning the dark and hopeless atmosphere has appeared between the lines. Remarks of death, the cold tombs, and the dark crypt can be found quite often. The dark soul of Jasper—beaten by the power of opium, and his mad love to Rosa—was vividly portrait by Dickens. Shortly, Dickens’ usual melancholy and sense of humor we have been familiar with, faded in this particular work.

Edwin Drood was a cheerful and easy going young man. Being an orphan, his uncle Jasper—an opium addict—has been his most close relative and friend. Edwin was betrothed to Rosa Bud—daughter of his late father’s friend—and now it’s time for realizing their marriage. Edwin came to Cloisterham—a cathedral town—but there he was welcomed with a dark atmosphere. There were his uncle who secretly madly in love with his fiancée and acted strangely towards him; there were also orphan temperamental twin of Neville and Helena Landless. One day Neville chaffed him of being indifferent to his fiancée in an offensive manner that ignited a quarrel.

Approaching the day of their marriage, Edwin and Rosa met secretly and decided that they were better befriending than being husband and wife. Edwin has been carrying a diamond ring he got from Rosa’s guardian on the day of the meeting, however as the marriage was cancelled, he was about to wait for Mr. Grewgious’ visit to return it. Meanwhile, before he could inform Jasper about the marriage cancellation, he took a stroll with Neville on the night of Christmas Eve. Then he was mysteriously gone. Either he voluntarily disappeared or being murdered, his body was never found. And now, in the middle of the mystery, Dickens died without ever finishing the book, and thus left the mystery unsolved forever.

From the beginning it seems that Dickens brought us to take Jasper as the suspect of the crime. We never knew whether Dickens had intended to “kill” Edwin Drood, or made him disappeared. Some critics suggest that as the book title is The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Drood might have not been dead, or otherwise there won’t be any mystery left about him. Makes sense, but anyway, it was quite obvious that Edwin Drood was set to be murdered. By who? And with what motive?

Everything concerning Jasper was dark, mysterious and suspicious, and he has a strong motive to kill Edwin. As I am discussing in this interactive post, his big interest in the cathedral crypt and Durdles’ set of keys and their night adventure was very suspicious. He even fainted when Mr. Grewgious told him about the marriage cancellation—shocked from realizing that he had killed his beloved nephew in vain?

So I was questioning myself, if Dickens wanted this to be a mystery, surely he would conceal the truth and spread false signs here and there to mislead us. Was that the case here? Was Jasper’s mysterious conducts meant as a distraction to conceal the real crime? Once again, the only one who can answer these never-ending questions could not satisfy us, and left us forever in wonder.

And what about the motive? I can figure out two motives at least, of love and of greediness. If love was it, the suspect would be either Jasper or Neville—yes, in mystery we should always think of the most impossible, right? But if it was greediness, how about the diamond ring Edwin had got from Mr. Grewgious? If it was the case, than we could suspect Bazzard, for except Mr. Gewgious and Edwin, he was the only one knew the existing of the ring. Considering that the story—when Dickens left it—was still in the middle stage, anything can happen, and that someone who has been previously behind the curtain could turn out to be someone with important role.

Well, we can go on and on with our analysis, but all would be in vain because we would never know the truth. I guess, even Dickens have not known where this story would end when he died, as he never created a fixed plot before writing this particular story. I read elsewhere that Dickens just wrote the story and thought about the details in progress.

Finally, I can only say that although this won’t be my most favorite of Dickens’; I still felt his personal emotions involved in the story, as if I could feel his despair, his struggles, his agony, and his fear of death—or should I say the intuition that death was approaching?—in most of the lines in this unfinished book. The Mystery of Edwin Drood, I think, is one of the most precious legacies Charles Dickens has left us. Four and a half stars I grant for this book.

~~~~~

*I read the 2005 Dover Thrift Editions paperback*

*This book is counted for*

5^th book for 2013 TBR Pile Challenge

33^rd book for The Classics Club Project

4^th book for What's In a Name Reading Challenge 2013
2nd book for 2013 TBRR Pile Mystery Reading Challenge

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

[Conclusion in English is at the bottom of this post]

Ketika sedang berjalan-jalan di malam yang suram di London, seorang pengacara bernama Mr. Utterson bersama temannya menemukan sebuah bangunan tak terurus yang hanya memiliki sebuah pintu. Pintu itu menerbitkan kembali memori tentang sesosok pria kejam bernama Edward Hyde, yang bahkan keberadaannya saja membuat kita merasakan suasana yang amat jahat. Dan memori itu, bersama fakta bahwa Hyde menulis cek atas nama seorang terpandang yang bukan dirinya, membawa kita kepada sebuah surat wasiat yang terkunci rapat di ruang kerja Mr. Utterson. Surat wasiat aneh milik sahabatnya, seorang pria terhormat dan ilmuwan terpandang bernama Dr. Henry Jekyll.

Setelah kejadian itu, berturut-turut Edward Hyde melakukan tindakan kejam berdarah dingin, sementara di pihak lain keanehan demi keanehan terjadi pada Dr. Jekyll. Sang dokter—yang telah menulis surat wasiat bahwa Mr. Hyde, teman yang dipercayanya dan memiliki kunci untuk masuk ke rumahnya, akan mewarisi semua hartanya bila meninggal—sakit dan tak mau tampil di depan umum selama beberapa lama. Hingga akhirnya Mr. Utterson menerima surat wasiat dari Dokter Lanyon, yang bertiga bersama Dr. Jekyll bersahabat erat selama bertahun-tahun. Di suratnya, Dokter Lanyon melampirkan surat lain dari Dr. Jekyll yang hanya boleh dibuka jika pada suatu hari kelak sang dokter menghilang.

Misteri makin mengental, dan puncaknya adalah ketika kepala rumah tangga Dr. Jekyll mengajak Mr. Utterson ke rumah Dr. Jekyll, karena ada kejadian-kejadian yang sangat aneh dan menggetarkan syaraf seluruh isi rumah sang dokter. Apakah yang akan ditemukan Mr. Utterson di sana? Benarkah sahabatnya itu sedang dalam kesulitan? Dan apakah sebenarnya isi surat Dr. Jekyll yang hanya boleh dibuka ketika dirinya sudah menghilang?

Buku ini, meski hanya 128 halaman, menyajikan kisah yang sederhana namun disajikan dengan gaya gothic Victoria-nya yang cantik oleh Robert Louis Stevenson. Kupikir, hampir semua pembaca telah mengetahui paling tidak gambaran umum tentang kaitan Dr. Jekyll dan Mr. Hyde. Stevenson telah mampu menghadirkan nuansa gothic yang suram sejak awal kisah. Meski kita sudah mengetahui misteri yang ada, toh Stevenson mampu membawa ketegangan di pertengahan hingga akhir kisah ini.

Secara keseluruhan karya Stevenson ini mampu menghiburku yang memang menyukai gaya Victoria, namun tetap aku kurang mengerti mengapa Stevenson harus membuka kisah ini dengan berpanjang lebar menjelaskan tentang Mr. Utterson dan sepupu jauhnya, yang amat berbeda dalam kepribadian dan nampak tidak nyaman dalam kebersamaan mereka, namun toh tetap mempertahankan kebiasaan berjalan-jalan bersama di hari Minggu. Kalau toh itu hanya untuk membawa kita untuk berkenalan dengan fenomena Mr. Hyde, mengapa harus se-detail itu? Toh setelah itu si sepupu jauh tak pernah berperan dalam kisah ini, kecuali dalam menjelaskan kisahnya menyaksikan kejahatan Mr. Hyde.

Aku menduga, mungkin Stevenson sengaja menonjolkan adanya dua sisi yang berbeda dari sebuah entitas. Sebut saja kepribadian Mr. Utterson sendiri. Di awal kisah diungkapkan bahwa di satu sisi ia adalah orang yang dingin, kaku , pemalu, membosankan. Namun di sisi lain ia orang yang menyenangkan dalam pergaulan terutama ketika ia telah meneguk sejumlah anggur dalam acara-acara santai. Mr. Utterson ‘keras’ terhadap diri sendiri, tak menyentuh minuman keras dan tak mau terlibat dalam gemerlap duniawi. Namun di sisi lain ia cukup toleransi terhadap sisi liar orang lain, bahkan kadang ia tidak mengecam keliaran orang lain dan malah mendorong mereka melakukannya. Sebuah paradoks, bukan?

Tampaknya Stevenson dari awal sudah mengingatkan kita bahwa dalam diri manusia selalu ada dua sisi yang berbeda ini, sisi terang dan gelap, sisi baik dan jahat. Dr. Jekyll sebenarnya tak jauh berbeda dari kita semua (terwakili oleh Mr. Utterson). Hanya saja ia lebih berani untuk bermain sebagai ‘Tuhan’, mencoba memisahkan kedua sisi itu dan melihat sisi mana yang lebih dominan. Dari percobaannya itu, kita dapat belajar bahwa, sisi manapun yang kita ‘beri makan’ akan mendominasi diri kita. Tinggal kita sendirilah yang harus memilih, sisi mana yang kita biarkan mendominasi hidup kita, karena pilihan itulah yang akan menentukan masa depan dan tujuan hidup kita.

Empat bintang untuk Robert Louis Stevenson!

Judul: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde

Penulis: Robert Louis Stevenson

Penerbit: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama

Penerjemah: Julanda Tantani

Terbit: Mei 2011

Tebal: 128 hlm

Conclusion:

As you might have been familiar with the overall story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, I won’t bother to write about the story at all. I’m just curious about how Stevenson opened this story. He wrote quite thoroughly about Mr. Utterson and his relative—with whom he used to spend Sundays by walking around the city. Both of them seemed did not enjoy one another’s company, but they kept enjoying their excursions anyway. I kept asking myself, what Stevenson wanted to show us; that people tend to create certain habits—that they think as good habits—to control our wilder sides?

Stevenson also wrote about two different sides of Mr. Utterson’s personalities. He was a cold, shy, and boring lawyer who kept himself from classy drinks and amusements. Here I assume Mr. Utterson was a man who tried hard to live a straight and humble life. But on certain circumstances—in casual parties under the overflowing of his favorite wine, for instance—he would permit himself to let his gaiety spring among his friends. On these occasions he could tolerate wild sides of people, envied them for having fun so freely, and sometimes persuade them to nurture their wildness.

I think Stevenson wanted to emphasize the two sides of kind and evil, good and bad in human’s souls; that we are all (like Mr. Utterson) have it in our soul—not only in Dr. Jekyll’s case. We all have a slight of ‘Mr. Hyde’ in our souls; what made us different are our choices. Dr. Jekyll—in his arrogance—chose to nurture the evil in his soul, because he experienced the freedom in the wildness of Mr. Hyde’s world. At one point Dr. Jekyll could stop his experiment and perhaps he could live the rest of his life in peace, but—just like Adam and Eve—he could not resist the temptation to be ‘God’. He chose to continue the terrible experiment until he could not control it anymore.

In the end, we must always realize that we have both kind and evil in us. And it’s up to us to choose which side we will let dominate ourselves, by nurturing it. Once we chose the wrong one, that could be the end of our lives, just like Dr. Jekyll.

What a wonderful story about good and evil, the everlasting search in human’s lives. But apart from that, I also loved the Victorian gothic atmosphere throughout the story with which Stevenson had enveloped it. It was dark but beautiful.

Four stars for The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

 [conclusion in English is at the bottom of this post]

“Like the painting of a sorrow, a face without a heart.”

Meminjam sebaris kalimat dari Hamlet karya Shakespeare yang juga dikutip oleh Oscar Wilde di buku ini, kupikir seperti itulah keseluruhan kisah The Picture of Dorian Gray ini. Dorian Gray adalah seorang pemuda 20 tahun yang ketampanannya menyiratkan kemudaan yang menyegarkan dan tanpa dosa, seperti jiwanya saat itu—saat sebelum dunia mulai meracuninya. Dorian bersahabat dengan seorang pelukis terkenal bernama Basil Hallward yang segera terpesona dan memuja Dorian. Basil melukis potret diri Dorian sambil mencurahkan kecintaannya pada pemuda itu ke dalam lukisannya, yang kemudian menjadi sebuah mahakarya.

Sahabat Basil yang lain, Lord Henry, adalah seorang pria yang memuja kenikmatan, dan memandang dunia dan kehidupan lewat cara pandang yang sinis dan skeptis. Lord Henry inilah yang kemudian—setelah berkenalan dengan Dorian—menyuntikkan ide-ide yang meracuni pikiran Dorian sehingga si pemuda menjadi pemuja kemudaan. Ia lalu ‘berdoa’ agar lukisan dirinya lah yang akan menjadi tua dan lelah akibat beban hidup Dorian, sementara dirinya sendiri tetap muda dan tanpa garis-garis kehidupan di tubuhnya. Entah bagaimana, ‘doa’ itu terwujud, dan ketika jiwa Dorian—akibat pengaruh buruk sekitarnya—makin bobrok, ekspresi dirinya di dalam lukisan itu pun pelan-pelan berubah. Sementara itu Dorian berubah menjadi makin jahat, dan jiwanya makin ‘gelap’. Dari luar ia tampak tanpa beban, padahal di dalam jiwanya keropos dan ia tak sanggup bangkit dari keterpurukan. Pertanyaannya, akankah Dorian Gray sanggup bangkit dari keterpurukannya? Ketika jiwa manusia sudah tergerogoti demikian dalam, manakah yang lebih gampang, berusaha ‘kembali ke jalan yang benar’ ataukah malah jatuh semakin dalam?

Dorian Gray adalah kisah gothic tentang gelapnya jiwa manusia, dan semua itu gara-gara racun pengaruh buruk dari lingkungan sekitarnya. Oscar Wilde telah merangkai kisah ini dengan cantiknya, memadukan sisi artistik dengan gaya menulis flamboyant khas dirinya, membuatku sangat menikmati kisah ini dari awal hingga akhir. 256 halaman itu bak secangkir kopi, bukannya kuminum dengan beberapa tegukan cepat, melainkan kuseruput sedikit demi sedikit sambil menikmati setiap sensasi yang bisa kureguk darinya. Benar-benar perkenalan yang memabukkan bersama Oscar Wilde. J Kalau anda ingin turut mencicipi kenikmatannya, percikannya ada di chapter posts ini (dari chapter I hingga XVII)

Lima bintang untuk Dorian Gray dan Oscar Wilde!

Conclusion:

The Picture of Dorian Gray, I think, is Oscar Wilde’s allusion to the world for over-worshipping beauty and youthfulness. Through this book we are also invited to see the development of human spirit in general. I see the picture of Dorian Gray as a reflection of his soul. Dorian wanted to have barter with the devil to exchange his own soul with the physical youthfulness of the painting, and with that, he hoped he will forever be free and have fun without having to bear the brunt of his actions because the painting was the one who will bear it.

I see there are two factors which initiated the fall of Dorian Gray's soul. First, the excessive worshipping of Basil Hallward towards Dorian Gray, that is the starting point; then coupled with the influence which Lord Henry has injected into Dorian’s mind, led Dorian to worship his own beauty and made ​​a prayer to barter his soul with the youthfulness of his picture. It is also interesting that, as one slumped deeper into his sin, his conscience being increasingly unbearable to him. When his soul was beginning to corrupt, Dorian could encourage himself to make repentance, the picture could act as his soul barometer, but when he has drawn deeper in the mud of sin, he refused to see the picture and chose to cover and hide it, both from his own eyes and from other’s. However, it is not easy to run away from one’s conscience; Dorian tried to please himself in hedonism. He plunged himself deeper in sin, so that when the last effort of ‘the representative of his conscience’ tried to take him away from the darkness, he could not bear it and killed him. At the end…this is the question for us all:

“What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?”

Oscar Wilde has fascinated me with his paradoxes and artistic style in writing Dorian Gray. Just as Basil Hallward had left something of himself in the picture of Dorian Gray, I believe Wilde had also left his flamboyant personality and passion of aestheticism in his writing. As I already mentioned in one of my posts, if book was a drink, Dorian Gray were a cup of coffee; instead of drinking it in gulps, I took it sip by sip, while savouring the bitter-sweet taste, feeling the warmth liquid flowing through your throat and inhaling the sweet fragrance that come into my nostrils. There are many aspects in this particular ‘cup of coffee’ that I can enjoy, which, if I drink it in a hurry, I will certainly lose the sensation! That is how I have savoured The Picture of Dorian Gray in about ten days, having been busy with reading and posting chapter posts, but in the end it ‘s worth all the efforts J. I enjoyed Dorian Gray till the last drop.

Five whole stars for this book!

Title: The Picture of Dorian Gray

Author: Oscar Wilde

Publisher: Penguin Popular Classics

Published: 1994

Pages: 256

Kisah-Kisah Tengah Malam

Betapa tepat pemilihan judul untuk buku berisi kumpulan cerpen karya Edgar Allan Poe ini. Poe memang dikenal sebagai master dalam cerita pendek yang bernuansa ‘gelap’ atau gothic. Tema kisah-kisahnya bervariasi, dari macabre (jenis fiksi yang melibatkan tanda-tanda kematian seperti tengkorak, mayat dsb), psycho-thriller, cinta tragis, detektif, petualangan dan alam, juga komedi sarkastis. Kisah-Kisah Tengah Malam ini memang cocok untuk dibaca pada waktu malam, meski tak semua kisahnya bersetting-kan waktu pada malam hari.

Dari tiga belas (apakah sengaja diambil angka 13?) cerpen yang ditampilkan di kumcer ini, sebagian besar bertutur tentang cekaman rasa takut, pembalasan dendam dan rasa bersalah. Namun meski sepintas tema sentralnya mirip, tiap kisah memiliki keunikan dan kekuatan cerita tersendiri. Contohnya cerpen Setan Merah [judul asli: The Masque of the Red Death] yang berkisah tentang sekelompok bangsawan dan orang terpandang yang—alih-alih memikirkan rakyatnya yang sedang terserang wabah penyakit—malah bersembunyi di sebuah kastil sambil bersenang-senang. Ternyata meski bersembunyi di dalam gedung yang tertutup rapat, wabah penyakit yang digambarkan sebagai setan merah tak urung menemukan mereka juga. Sebuah kritik sosial bagi para pemimpin yang mengabaikan penderitaan rakyat atau orang-orang yang dipimpinnya. Poe sukses menghadirkan horror-thriller yang penuh ketegangan lewat kisah ini.

Lain lagi dengan kisah Mengarungi Badai Maelström [judul asli: A Descent Into The Maelström] yang merupakan salah satu kisah favoritku di buku ini. Menurutku, ini kisah yang paling lain daripada yang lain dari 13 cerpen di buku ini. Bernuansa science fiction, mengisahkan sebuah pergerakan arus antara dua pulau yang menciptakan semacam pusaran kuat ke dasar laut, yang mampu (menurut kisah karya Poe) ‘menelan’ apapun yang kebetulan berada di tengah pusaran itu. Lewat penuturan tokoh yang pernah mengalami—dan selamat dari—maelstrom itu, Poe dengan amat piawainya seolah membawa pembaca mengarungi pengalaman yang sama dengan tokohnya. Yang menarik juga, maelstrom yang dikisahkan terjadi di Norwegia ini memang benar-benar ada, meski insiden tersedotnya kapal di cerpen ini murni fiksi.

Cerpen William Wilson juga menyajikan sesuatu yang unik dari keseluruhan cerpen Poe di buku ini. Salah satu kisah yang endingnya menyisakan pertanyaan yang lumayan ‘dalam’, dari sekedar kisah biasa yang nampak di permukaan. Ketika anda menamatkan cerpen ini, bertanyalah pada diri sendiri, apa yang hendak dikatakan oleh Poe. Moga-moga persepsiku tidak meleset…

Sedangkan kisah yang paling kocak adalah Obrolan Dengan Mummy [judul asli: Some Words With A Mummy]. Seharusnya kisah ini bernuansa macabre juga, dengan adanya sesosok mummy yang bisa bicara. Namun Poe—lagi-lagi—berhasil membuat kisah ini menjadi cukup kocak, sambil mengajak kita menambah wawasan dengan menyimak obrolan dengan si mummy itu.

Itulah beberapa cerpen yang menarik perhatianku, namun sebenarnya keseluruhan dari tiga belas cerpen ini benar-benar istimewa, seistimewa karakter dan kehidupan sang penulis sendiri. Secara lengkap, inilah daftar seluruh cerpen dalam buku ini, beserta judul aslinya, meski ada satu cerpen yang tak kutemukan judul aslinya.

Gema Jantung Yang Tersiksa [The Tell-Tale Heart]

Pesan Dalam Botol [Manuscript Found In A Bottle]

Hop-Frog [Hop-Frog]

Potret Seorang Gadis [The Oval Portrait]

Mengarungi Badai Maelström [A Descent Into The Maelström]

Kotak Persegi Panjang [The Oblong Box]

Obrolan Dengan Mummy [Some Words With A Mummy]

Setan Merah [The Masque of the Red Death]

Kucing Hitam [Black Cat]

Jurang dan Pendulum [The Pit and the Pendulum]

Pertanda Buruk [??]

William Wilson [William Wilson]

Misteri Rumah Keluarga Usher [The Fall of the House of Usher]

Meski nampaknya semua kisah ini hanya kisah-kisah seram untuk memacu adrenalin kita, namun bila dicermati, sesungguhnya Poe juga hendak menyisipkan satu-dua pemikiran untuk kita renungkan.

Empat bintang kuhadiahkan untuk Edgar Allan Poe, yang tepat pada hari ini berulang tahun ke 203! Happy birthday Mr. Poe…terima kasih untuk cerpen-cerpen anda yang khas dan mempesona!

Judul: Kisah-Kisah Tengah Malam

Judul asli: Tales of Mystery and Terror

Penulis: Edgar Allan Poe

Penerjemah: Maggie Tiojakin

Editor: Hetih Rusli

Penerbit: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama

Terbit: Desember 2010

Tebal: 248 hlm

Wuthering Heights

Dalam arti harafiahnya, wuthering adalah cuaca buruk semacam badai dengan angin yang kencang. Namun dalam novel klasik bersetting abad 19 karangan Emily Bronte ini, Wuthering Heights adalah nama sebuah rumah milik keluarga Earnshaw. Meskipun, nama Wuthering memang pas juga disandang oleh rumah itu kalau melihat sejarah para penghuninya yang membuat ketenangan dan kedamaian tak pernah ada di dalam Wuthering Heights.

“Wuthering” [baca: badai] pertama ditiupkan oleh Mr. Earnshaw ke tengah keluarganya yang (saat itu) harmonis, ketika suatu hari ia pulang dari luar negeri. Entah dengan alasan apa, ia memungut seorang bocah keturunan gipsi untuk menjadi anggota keluarga baru Earnshaw. Anak itu diberi nama Heathcliff. Kombinasi pemanjaan dan pemujaan dari ayah angkatnya, ditambah perlakuan buruk semua orang kepadanya, membuat Heathcliff tumbuh sebagai orang yang kasar, pahit, jahat, pendendam dan cenderung brutal. Hindley, putra sulung Mr. Earnshaw teramat sangat membencinya karena ayahnya kini mencurahkan seluruh kasih sayang dan perhatiannya pada Heathcliff kecil, dan mencampakkan Hindley dan adiknya Catherine begitu saja. Di sisi lain, Catherine yang tumbuh sebagai gadis liar justru menyukai dan berteman akrab dengan Heathcliff.

Bertetangga dengan Wuthering Heights, hiduplah Mr. & Mrs. Linton beserta Edgar dan Isabella anak-anak mereka, di rumah yang berjuluk Thrushcross Grange. Edgar muda tertarik pada Catherine Earnshaw, sementara si gadis lebih menyukai Heathcliff yang juga membalas perasaannya. Sementara itu, setelah Hindley meninggalkan rumah untuk kuliah, Mr. Earnshaw pun meninggal dunia. Kematiannya menjadikan Hindley yang telah menikah, pemilik Wuthering Heights yang baru. Dan untuk membalaskan dendam kesumatnya, ia menurunkan derajat Heathcliff menjadi setara pelayan yang hina. Sementara Catherine, yang tadinya sama liar dan tak terurusnya seperti Heathcliff mendadak berubah menjadi lebih anggun dan bermartabat setelah menginap beberapa minggu di rumah keluarga Linton. Hal ini menjadikan ia semakin jauh dari Heathcliff, dan semakin dekat dengan Edgar…

Rasanya setelah membaca sekilas 3 paragraf di atas, novel ini hanyalah menyajikan sebuah drama keluarga biasa yang membosankan dan datar-datar saja. Anda keliru! Novel ini justru cenderung bernuansa “gelap”, tragis dan brutal. Emily Bronte rupanya adalah, entah seorang penulis yang ahli masalah kejiwaan, atau memang memiliki latar belakang kehidupan yang sangat kelam. Karena, persoalan dua keluarga yang biasa ditemui pada jaman itu: jatuh cinta, perkawinan, iri, dendam…dirangkai olehnya sehingga sanggup mempengaruhi emosi dan bahkan kebencian pembaca. Boleh dibilang, amarah anda rasanya akan tersulut tiap kali salah seorang dari tokoh-tokohnya berbicara kasar sambil menebarkan ancaman yang sangat kejam dan sadis.

Dan Emily dengan cerdiknya membungkus kisah itu sebagai cerita bersambung Ellen (Nelly) Dean, seorang pengasuh di Wuthering Heights, yang dikisahkannya atas permintaan Mr. Lockwood, seorang pria yang menyewa rumah Thrushcross Grange dimiliki Mr. Heathcliff. Tokoh Heathcliff memang menjadi benang merah novel sepanjang 488 halaman ini. Setelah tamat membaca buku ini, aku merasa bahwa Heathcliff adalah karakter yang paling kuat di kisah Wuthering Heights ini. Saking kuatnya, Heathcliff dapat mencengkeramkan pengaruhnya (dan meniupkan “wuthering” demi “wuthering”) ke dalam hidup orang-orang di sekitarnya. Seolah, karena ia sepanjang hidupnya harus menderita, maka tak ada orang lain yang boleh merasa bahagia. Berkat Heathcliff pula, jalan hidup semua tokoh lainnya jadi berubah. Dan hebatnya, tak ada yang dapat menolak pengaruh jahat Heathcliff ini, apalagi memeranginya. Mereka semua hanya dapat bertahan.

Lihat saja Catherine yang menderita karena cinta, meski Edgar mencintainya sepenuh hati (yang sangat aku herankan mengingat karakter Catherine yang liar dan cintanya pada Heathcliff). Lihat juga bagaimana Hindley menjadi setengah gila karena dendam, sehingga mempengaruhi pertumbuhan Hareton, anak lelakinya, menjadi bocah yang bodoh dan berperangai kasar. Dan cengkeraman jahat Heathcliff ini tak berhenti setelah ia mengawini Isabella Linton yang ia benci (lebih heran lagi aku pada kebodohan Isabella yang jelas-jelas melihat karakter buruk Heathcliff tetapi tetap mencintai dan menikahinya!). Perangai Heathcliff juga tak berubah setelah ia memiliki anak lelaki yang cengeng. Kenyataan bahwa mereka yang segenerasi dengannya telah tiada, tetap tak menyurutkan obsesi Heathcliff untuk membalaskan dendam pada anak-cucu mereka.

Aku jadi berandai-andai…kalau saja semua perangai jahat Heathcliff itu diganti dengan perangai yang baik, maka karakter Heathcliff akan bisa menjadi panutan. Di kisah ini ia begitu konsisten membenci, berbuat jahat dan memastikan orang lain hidup menderita. Alangkah baiknya kalau seseorang bisa konsisten mengasihi sesamanya, selalu berbuat baik, dan membaktikan seluruh hidup, pikiran dan tenaganya untuk membuat kehidupan orang lain lebih baik! Ah…seandainya saja… Tapi, mungkin kalau Emily Bronte menulis kisah dengan tokoh yang sedemikian baik, bukunya tak akan selaris dan sefenomenal Wuthering Heights ini. Sebagai catatan, di Goodreads aku mengamati bahwa kebanyakan orang memberi bintang 5 (amazing) atau 2 dan bahkan 1 (didn’t like it), jarang orang memberikan bintang 3 atau 4. Yang artinya, kebencian dan kejahatan di satu sisi bisa membuat anda muak setengah mati, namun di sisi lain bisa sangat mempesona. Berada di kubu manakah anda? Oh ya, tentu saja anda harus membacanya dulu sebelum bisa menjawab. Yang jelas aku seharusnya bisa memberikan 1 atau 2 bintang saja, namun aku juga tak bisa mengabaikan kepiawaian Emily Bronte dalam menulis kisah ini. Buktinya? Ia mampu membuatku sangat muak pada Heathcliff dan semua yang ada di Wuthering Heights ini hanya melalui tulisannya. Hebat bukan?....

Judul: Wuthering Heights

Penulis: Emily Bronte

Penerbit: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama

Cetakan: April 2011

Tebal: 488 hlm

The Tales Of Terror & Detection

Buku ini merupakan salah satu kumpulan cerpen-cerpen detektif-gothic milik seorang sastrawan besar Amerika: Edgar Alan Poe, yang diterjemahkan dan diterbitkan oleh Penerbit Liris, Surabaya. Dengan cover yang bernuansa gelap dan angker dengan rumah bermenara tinggi di latar langit gelap dan cahaya bulan, memang nuansa gothic itu langsung terlihat. Kalau dibadingkan cover aslinya, aku pikir cover dari penerbit Liris ini lebih mengena. Tapi sayangnya...hanya cover itu saja yang bisa diandalkan dari versi terjemahan ini. Terjemahannya sendiri kacau, seolah-olah penerjemahnya hanya menerjemahkan apa adanya, tanpa mempedulikan isinya (itu kalau ia benar-benar memahami kedalaman maknanya dan dapat mengapresiasi sastranya).

Karena alasan di atas, aku hanya menyempatkan membaca 2 dari total 5 kisah yang ada di buku ini. Itupun karena kedua kisah itu ada tokoh detektif C. Auguste Dupin, tokoh detektif ciptaan Poe yang menjadi pelopor semua tokoh detektif di dunia kesusasteraan dunia, termasuk Sherlock Holmes yang muncul sesudah Dupin.

Misteri Marie Roget

Sebenarnya Poe pertama kali menghadirkan C. Auguste Dupin dalam kisah "The Murder in the Rue Morgue". Setelah itu ia menulis Misteri Marie Roget ini, di mana ia masih sedikit menyebut-nyebut tentang kasus Rue Morgue itu, meski tak ada kaitan langsung dengan kasus ini. Marie Roget adalah seorang gadis muda pelayan toko di Paris pada abad 19 yang cantik dan suka bergenit-genit. Ia pernah menghilang dari rumah ibunya selama seminggu penuh, membuat orang-orang mencarinya, namun akhirnya kembali tepat setelah seminggu, tanpa alasan yang jelas. Baru saja keluarga dan orang-orang di sekitarnya dapat melupakan peristiwa aneh itu, Marie kembali menghilang di suatu malam, setelah ia pamit hendak mengunjungi rumah bibinya. Dan kali ini bukannya kembali dalam keadaaan sehat walafiat, ia malah ditemukan sudah menjadi seonggok mayat mengambang di Sungai Seine empat hari kemudian.

Sebelum pergi, ia mengatakan pada tunangannya, St. Eustache bahwa ia akan melewatkan waktu di rumah bibinya di Rue Des Drome. Saat ditemukan di sungai, tubuhnya terapung dan pakaiannya sudah robek-robek berantakan. Belakangan, di sebuah sudut yang rimbun di sebuah taman, dua bocah menemukan beberapa bagian dari pakaian wanita yang diyakini adalah pakaian yang dikenakan Marie. Pada bagian penemuan pakaian ini agak membingungkan, karena kita tahu model gaun wanita pada jaman itu yang bertumpuk-tumpuk dan ribet.

Polisi telah melakukan penyelidikan, dan media-media cetak berlomba-lomba menerbitkan analisis mereka tentang kasus ini. Berdasarkan data-data yang terkumpul, tokoh 'aku' (yang tak pernah jelas siapa) membahas kasus itu bersama si jenius Auguste Dupin. Dupin adalah tipe detektif yang mengandalkan logika berpikir untuk memecahkan masalah. Ia jelas orang yang amat pandai, dan penguasaannya terhadap ilmu pengetahuan sangat baik. Misalnya media cetak, yang saat itu sebagai satu-satunya pembentuk opini massa, ada yang mengambil kesimpulan bahwa mayat itu bukan mayat Marie, tapi wanita lain. Ada yang bilang bahwa pelakunya pastilah geng yang suka membuat keributan di kota itu.

Namun ketelitian dan logika hebat Dupin mematahkan semua asumsi para media cetak itu. Dupin mampu memaparkan detail yang paling remeh dengan logika yang hebat. Tak ada satu detail pernyataanpun yang luput dari radarnya. Di sini kadang kita juga seolah belajar sesuatu. Misalnya saja pembuktian Dupin tentang mayat Marie yang terapung. Media mengatakan bahwa waktu 3 hari tak cukup untuk membuat mayat bisa terapung. Menurut teori mereka, mayat harus mengalami pembusukan selama 6-10 hari untuk bisa kemudian muncul ke permukaan. Padahal menurut Dupin, bahkan kalau kita yang hidup dilemparkan ke air dan tak bisa berenang, ada orang yang akan tenggelam, ada yang tidak. Tahukah anda bahwa rata-rata berat gravitasi khusus tubuh kita dan jumlah air yang dipindahkan saat tubuh kita jatuh ke sungai, itu sama? Itu artinya bahwa secara alami, kita tidak akan begitu saja tenggelam hingga ke dasar sungai. Kecuali kalau kita lantas menjadi panik, mengangkat kedua tangan kita ke atas dan bergerak-gerak, maka kita akan tenggelam. Sebaliknya, kalau posisi kita tegak lurus seolah-olah berjalan di air, dan kepala didongakkan seakan-akan tidur di permukaan air, maka kita tidak akan tenggelam. Menarik kan?

Tapi penelusuran bukti-bukti yang njelimet dan pembuktiannya itu begitu bertele-tele, dengan kutipan dari surat kabar yang diulang-ulang, ditambah dengan terjemahan yang jauh dari sempurna, menjadikan kisah ini penyebab sakit kepala! Padahal aku hanya ingin tahu, siapa sih yang membunuh si Marie yang malang? Sebuah geng? Atau seorang pacar gelap?

Kisah kedua jauh lebih menghibur...

Surat Yang Dicuri (The Purloined Letter)

Kali ini, bukan soal pembunuhan yang diangkat, tetapi pencurian. Seorang Inspektur Kepolisian Paris pada suatu hari mendatangi Dupin (dan tokoh 'aku) untuk minta bantuan. TKP adalah di kerajaan. Pelakunya adalah seorang Menteri dengan inisial D. Dokumen yang dicurinya itu akan memberinya kekuasaan yang tak layak ia dapatkan dan membahayakan kedudukan seseorang di tingkat yang lebih tinggi. Surat itu dipastikan masih dimiliki oleh Menteri D. Namun, si Inspektur yang telah menerapkan semua ilmu penggeledahan yang paling canggih untuk menemukan surat itu di kediaman Menteri D, tak berhasil menemukannya.

Dupin, dengan logika dan rasiosinasi* nya yang kuatlah yang akhirnya mengetahui di mana surat itu berada selama ini, dan sekaligus berusaha merebutnya dari tangan Menteri D. Ternyata memang manusia selalu berasumsi bahwa orang lain akan melakukan hal yang sama dengan dirinya sendiri. Si Inspektur, yang bangga dengan pengetahuan dan ketrampilannya untuk menggeledah dengan teliti tempat-tempat persembunyian di suatu tempat, tak memikirkan kemungkinan bahwa seseorang yang cerdik dan tak ingin hartanya ditemukan orang lain, mungkin memilih meletakkan harta itu di tempat yang justru terlihat oleh semua orang. Bukankah peti yang tertutup dan tergembok rapat akan menyiratkan sesuatu yang rahasia atau berharga tersembunyi di dalamnya? Tapi kalau ada sebuah kotak yang digeletakkan sembarangan saja di atas meja, apakah kita akan mencurigai ada sesuatu yang disembunyikan di situ?

Akhirnya, membaca buku ini memang melelahkan, tapi aku jadi bisa sedikit lebih mengenal metode-metode yang digunakan Auguste Dupin dalam pemecahan misterinya. Meski aku juga masih belum mampu mengenalnya secara personal, karena karakternya tak banyak dikupas di kedua kisah ini. Yang paling menarik (dan paling terkenal) pada diri Dupin adalah rasiosinasinya. *Rasiosinasi adalah proses penalaran yang menggabungkan logika dan imajinasi tinggi. Bisa dibilang rasiosinasi adalah hasil dari studi dari berbagai data yang ada, ditambah dengan pendekatan pribadi sang detektif pada situasi TKP secara umum, dengan tujuan untuk memahami apa yang kira-kira terjadi dan dialami oleh para pelaku sebuah kasus.

Using what Poe termed "ratiocination", Dupin combines his considerable intellect with creative imagination, even putting himself in the mind of the criminal. ~Wikipedia.

Membaca kedua kisah buku ini juga akan memberiku sedikit bayangan tentang karakter Edgar Allan Poe dan tokoh detektifnya, Auguste Dupin bagi kisah dan buku berikutnya yang akan aku lahap. Buku apa? Tunggu saja dengan sabar ulasannya di blog ini ya....

Judul : The Tales of Terror and Detection (terjemahan)
Pengarang : Edgar Allan Poe
Penerbit : Penerbit Liris
Penerjemah : Anna Karina
Cetakan : Juni 2010
Tebal : 214 hlm

The Phantom Of The Opera

Don't judge people from their looks. Anda semua pasti setuju dengan kalimat tersebut. Namun pada kenyataannya kadang tidaklah semudah itu. Banyak contoh anak-anak yang lahir cacat atau abnormal disingkirkan dan dikucilkan oleh orang-orang di sekitarnya, bahkan kadang oleh keluarga dan orang tua mereka sendiri. Hal itulah yang menjadi cikal bakal kisah sejarah terkenal yang terjadi di Paris akhir abad 19: The Phantom Of The Opera. Seorang wartawan sejarah bernama Gaston Leroux lalu melakukan penyelidikan 30 tahun sesudahnya, dan menuliskan hasil analisa, wawancara dan penyelidikannya, serta merangkumnya menjadi sebuah kisah misteri, horor, cinta sekaligus petualangan yang menegangkan namun memberi nuansa seni yang hebat ini.

Warga Paris yang hidup pada jaman itu sudah mengenal Hantu Opera, demikian mereka menyebut fenomena-fenomena ganjil yang terjadi di dalam gedung opera itu yang tak pernah dapat dijelaskan. Hantu itu digambarkan berwajah seperti mayat atau tengkorak dengan mata yang menyala keemasan. Hantu itu kadang menampakkan diri, namun lebih sering lagi hanya terdengar suaranya, serta melakukan hal-hal yang mustahil dilakukan manusia. Si Hantu bukan hanya suka jail (seperti mengerjai kedua manajer Opera dan membuat malu seorang biduanita), namun ia bisa dibilang adalah penguasa gedung Opera beserta semua pertunjukannya. Ia mengklaim balkon nomor lima di gedung itu untuk dirinya, tak boleh disewakan atau ditempati orang lain. Ia mengatur siapa yang boleh bermain memerankan tokoh apa. Ia menuntut gaji 20 ribu franc kepada manajer Opera, dan memiliki setumpuk peraturan lain yang harus ditaati semua orang, kalau tidak.... akan terjadi 'hal-hal yang buruk'.

Hal yang buruk itu bisa saja hanya hilangnya seekor kuda, atau jatuhnya lampu kandelar besar yang tergantung di atap gedung opera, atau bahkan terbunuhnya seorang staf dengan cara digantung! Pendek kata, tak seorang pun tampak percaya pada kisah kekanak-kanakan tentang hantu itu, namun tak ada seorang pun juga yang tak merasa ngeri pada hantu itu. Lalu semuanya berubah saat seorang bintang baru Opera itu mulai bersinar. Dialah Christine Daae, seorang gadis nan cantik, lembut dan polos, yang sedari kecil dididik dalam kehalusan seni serta dongeng-dongeng tentang malaikat. Christine memiliki suara emas yang, konon, bagaikan suara malaikat dari surga. Suara itulah yang memikat sang Hantu Opera dan merebut hatinya!

Kepolosan Christine dimanfaatkan dengan baik oleh si hantu. Dengan gampangnya, si hantu memasukkan ide tentang Malaikat Musik, sosok gaib yang dikirim oleh almarhum ayah Christine untuk mengajarinya bernyanyi. Maka Christine pun tidak pernah mempertanyakan keberadaan 'Malaikat Musik' yang tak berwujud dan hanya terdengar suaranya saja dari balik tembok saat mengajarinya bernyanyi selama tiga bulan di dalam kamar gantinya setiap malam. Yang pertama kali mengetahui keganjilan ini adalah Viscount Raoul de Chagny, bangsawan muda yang jatuh cinta pada Christine yang dikenalnya semenjak kecil. Malam yang istimewa itu, saat Christine untuk pertama kalinya mengejutkan semua orang dengan suara gemilangnya, Raoul mengikuti Christine hingga ke kamar gantinya. Di sana ia mendengar suara pria berbicara pada Christine, namun ternyata tak ada seorang pun disana! Hantu itu....

Selanjutnya perilaku Christine menjadi aneh. Ia tampak tidak bahagia, ketakutan, dan menghindar dari Raoul seolah-olah ia tak mencintai pemuda malang itu. Atau itulah yang disangka Raoul pada awalnya. Ia merasa cemburu pada 'pria misterius yang mengajari Christine menyanyi dan dengan tidak sopannya melakukannya di kamar ganti sang bintang, berduaan saja di malam hari'. Yang ia tak sadari saat itu, sang pria bukan saja misterius dan kurang sopan, ia ternyata adalah sang Hantu Opera sendiri, yang ternyata juga bukanlah hantu namun justru jauh lebih berbahaya daripada hantu. Sang Hantu Opera sejatinya adalah seorang pria 'malang dan tak bahagia' bernama Erik.

Bagaimana seorang pria bisa menjadi hantu opera? Seperti yang telah kujadikan pembuka ulasan buku ini pada paragraf pertama tadi, penolakan dunia terhadap seorang pria berwajah buruk dan mengerikan, membuat Erik harus menyembunyikan dirinya dari dunia, di lorong-lorong bawah tanah yang gelap di dalam Gedung Opera. Di sebuah rumah di tepi telaga jauh di bawah gedung Opera, Erik menghabiskan hari-harinya. Ia mengenal setiap sudut gedung itu karena ia dulu ikut merancang bangunannya sebagai seorang arsitek. Setelah tugasnya selesai, diam-diam ia merancang dan membangun rumahnya sendiri tanpa sepengetahuan siapapun. Tak ada yang bisa masuk ke rumahnya karena ia menyiapkan jebakan-jebakan maut. 'Nyanyian maut' di dalam telaga bagi yang datang dengan perahu lewat telaga, atau 'Bilik Penyiksaan' bagi yang datang lewat suatu jalan rahasia di gudang ketiga Opera.

Erik berhasil memikat Christine dengan kedok Malaikat Musiknya sehingga ia dapat menculik si gadis ke rumah tepi telaganya. Ia ingin menjadikan Christine sebagai istrinya, kalau tidak, ia akan menghancurkan 'dunia atas', sebutannya untuk dunia normal di mana ia ditolak. Hanya si Orang Persia yang mengetahui rahasianya karena orang ini dulu pernah menyelamatkan nyawa Erik. Orang Persia mengetahui hampir semua karya-karya jenius Erik sebagai seorang arsitektur sekaligus ilusionis. Erik mampu mendesain 'pintu jebakan', ilusi menggunakan cermin, dan 'bilik penyiksaan' yang mampu membunuh orang. Menarik menyimak tentang bagaimana ilusi dapat menyesatkan orang, bahkan membuatnya ingin mati dan akhirnya membunuh diri. Bahkan si orang Persia yang tenang dan mengetahui rahasia bilik penyiksaan itu juga akhirnya terhanyut pada ilusi ciptaan Erik. Menarik membayangkan bagaimana sebuah ruangan yang didesain khusus dengan cermin bisa begitu mematikan! Lebih menakutkan daripada ruangan yang penuh senjata, karena senjata digerakkan oleh orang lain, sementara dengan ilusi, kau sendiri yang membunuh dirimu.

Boleh dibilang, petualangan orang Persia dan Raoul de Chagny untuk menyelamatkan Christine dari cengkeraman Erik inilah yang teramat seru dan tegang dalam buku ini. Mereka akhirnya menyadari rencana akhir sang Hantu: yaitu untuk menghancurkan 'dunia atas' sebagai pelampiasan dendamnya pada mereka yang menolaknya. Dan Christine adalah satu-satunya harapan mereka, karena kalau ia menolak menikah dengan Erik, Erik akan menghancurkan mereka semua....

The Phantom Of The Opera benar-benar kisah yang menggugah. Kita akan dibawa dalam pesona opera dan kesenian tingkat tinggi, pada syair-syair anggun dari petikan drama yang digelar, dan pada eksotisme dan kemisteriusan gedung opera dengan rumah tepi telaga dan lorong-lorong gelapnya. Kita juga akan diajak melihat bagaimana cinta dapat menyentuh, lalu mengubah sebuah kehidupan. Bagaimana cinta mampu menjadi benci karena ketiadaanya, namun cinta juga mampu mengasihani dan rela berkorban saat ia terpenuhi. Yang paling membuat kisah ini menarik, adalah karena kisah yang serupa dongeng ini benar-benar nyata! Paling tidak, Gaston Leroux telah melakukan pekerjaan yang patut diacungi jempol untuk menyingkapkan kebenaran sejarah sekaligus menyajikan sebuah hiburan yang indah, mengharukan dan menginspirasi.

Kita layak berterima kasih pada penerbit Serambi yang telah menerbitkan kisah klasik ini, dan menyajikannya dalam buku bercover lux, ditambah bonus pembatas buku nan cantik (dengan paduan warna hitam, putih dan ungu yang nampak mewah). Hanya sayang (lagi-lagi), masih banyak kesalahan ejaan yang mengganggu di sana-sini. Aku sungguh berharap, para penerbit lebih memperhatikan masalah ini. Karena sejatinya, membaca itu bukan hanya proses memahami sebuah tulisan, namun lebih pada menikmati sebuah perjalanan pikiran dan emosi. Dan sungguh...kesalahan ejaan itu bisa jadi sangat mengganggu proses itu. Semoga masalah semacam itu tak lagi menodai kisah yang mengagumkan semacam The Phantom Of The Opera ini.

Note: Oh ya, apakah anda tahu bahwa kisah ini pernah dibuat film? Bagi yang sudah menonton, setting rumah telaga Erik memang sesuai dengan kisah aslinya. Namun sosok Erik jauh lebih menyeramkan di kisah aslinya, baik fisiknya, kepandaiannya maupun caranya membalas dendam. Secara keseluruhan bukunya JAUH lebih bagus daripada filmnya! (seperti biasa ya...)

Terakhir sebagai penutup, aku ingin mengutip kata-kata si pengarang dalam epilognya, mengenai sosok Erik sang Hantu Opera:

"...Erik yang malang dan tidak bahagia! Haruskah kita iba padanya? Mengutuknya? Dia hanya ingin menjadi seperti manusia lain. Tapi wajahnya terlalu mengerikan. Dia harus menyembunyikan kejeniusannya atau memakainya untuk mengelabui manusia lain, padahal, dengan wajah yang normal, dia pasti akan menjadi anggota masyarakat yang paling mulia. Dia memiliki kemampuan untuk menggenggam dunia, tapi pada akhirnya harus puas dengan sebuah gudang bawah tanah. Dengan demikian jelaslah, Hantu Opera tersebut patut dikasihani."

Judul: The Phantom Of The Opera
Pengarang: Gaston Leroux
Penerbit: Serambi
Penerjemah: Istiani Prayuni
Cetakan: Februari 2010
Halaman: 485 hlm.