My First Impression Of The Color Purple

The Color Purple by Alice Walker has been known to be one of the most influencing works of the 20th century. It tells stories of the struggle of African-American women in America. I have put this book in my wishlist in Goodreads as well as in myClassics Club list. However, I still don't have the 'courage' to read it, realizing that reading books about pain and suffer always require my deep passionate and emotional involvement.

So, I was glad when one of the participants of The Classics Club was hosting a readalongof this book. It's encouraging to know that there others who are reading the same book as what you're reading at the same time. I also thank Annisa who lent this book to me. And here I am on page 63 (of 294), but has already been struck by the story...

The story is written as a series of letters addressed to God, by an African-American young woman named Cellie. She was fourteen years old when she was forced to have sex with his father. Becoming a wife didn't make things better either for Cellie. It seemed normal for men at that time to beat their wives just to make them see who the boss of the family is. Some of them just struggled to survive, just as Cellie:

"I don't know how to fight. All I know how to do is stay alive."

But some of them would fight, like Sofia:

"All my life I had to fight. I had to fight my daddy. I had to fight my brothers. I had to fight my cousins and my uncles. A girl child ain't safe in a family of men."

It struck me how men could be so cruel to their wives and children. Men, who were supposed to be family protector, have become the enemy in their own household. However, considering what had happened at the time which this story used as a setting, everything seems reasonable.

1930’s has been noted in history as a hard time for African-American in America, especially in the Southern. Racism was still strong at that time, although some organizations such as Ku Klux Klan had had declined. It’s also hard for African-American women with exceedingly low position in American social culture at that time. Those circumstances are the background of The Color Purple. I think the inferiority of African-American to white people made the situation worsen for African-American women. When the men were intimidated by white people, they found the need to compensate it by intimidating their women (and children) to prove to themselves and to the world that they still have power. The Great Depression also occurred at the same time, which only worsen the situation.

So far, I’m enjoying this book, although I was confused a little bit at first with the language used by African-American, but I got used to it after several pages. Next week I will publish a character analysis from this book in Character Thursday meme, and will post my review at the end of the readalong, on 31 May 2012.

Weekend Quote (1): From The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

This time I join a weekly meme created by my new blogger friend, who has the same passion of classics readings as I do: Listra from Half-Filled Attic. It’s called Weekend Quote, which from the title you can guess that it is all about favorite quote you’ve found from books you are reading.

The idea is to pick a quote from a book or author you read, like, or hate, and write your comment about it. You can post the “Weekend Quote” article every weekend (Saturday or Sunday), or at any weekend suits you best.

Here are the rules:

• You have to pick one quote and comment about it. It may be the reason why you agree or don't agree with it, or why it is interesting for you. I can also be your experience that reminds you of that quote. Feel free to use your imagination. :D
• Please put the picture of “Weekend Quote” on either your blog sidebar or everytime you post the quote. (It helps people to know what we are doing).
• Please give a link back to Listra’s blog at your post.

I know it is Friday, and normally the weekend has not been started yet, but as I seldom have time to post on weekend, I will post Weekend Quote every Friday. Anyway, for me, Friday is my first and best day of the weekend!

As this week I am reading The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, I pick up one quote that I found interesting:

“A man should keep his little brain attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he can get it if he wants it.”

Of course, that is the way Sherlock Holmes manages his brain as a reasoner who works mostly with his deduction skill. Although we are not a detective, I think we also need to apply Sherlock Holmes’s way to manage our own “little brain”. With so many news, data, gossips etc. which is floating in our mind everyday, we need to pick only the important ones to be kept in our ‘little brain attic’—as Holmes took it, and leave the rest of them in the lumber room. Very interesting and very useful indeed! Thank you Sir Conan Doyle for this quote!

What is your favorite quote of this weekend?

Remi on Nobody’s Boy: Character Thursday (11)

Character Thursday is a weekly meme that requires you to post on every Thursday, your character choice from the book you are reading or you have finished with. It can be the protagonist or the antagonist, characters that you love the most or hate the most. You can pick any book of any genre as you like. Please  feel free to grab the button below and paste it in your post. Last but not least, please add URL of your post in the linky at the bottom of this post.

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And my Character Thursday of this week belongs to:

Remi

Nobody’s Boy by Hector Malot

"I was a foundling", that is how this story is opened by Remi, a boy of eight years old who just learned that he is a nobody's boy. Raised with love and care by Mrs. Barberin, Remi's heart filled with love and affection. Despite living in a modest family—where eating pancakes once a year on pancake day is their only luxury—Remi was happy with his poor condition because he was having a home, and living with people he loved and loved him (Mrs. Barberin).

But then, just like other human beings who have always lived in the sense of security, Remi felt his world turned upside down when he was sold to Signor Vitalis, and must leave his comfortable life. However, in sadness and solitude at his first night of separation with Mrs. Barberin, Remi remained strong thanks to the first hint of friendship which Capi—the clever spaniel dog—has shown him by licking Remi’s face when he was crying.

"Touched by a sweep of its tongue, I sat up in my straw bed, I held its neck and kissed its cold nose. It whined a little, then it put one foot in front of my hand and not moving anymore. I immediately forgot my fatigue and sadness. I’m no longer alone. I have friends. "

Living as a street entertainer, suffered the rigors of life - freezing cold and starving – has built little Remi’s character. When he had to live alone without Signor Vitalis and separated from her new friends, Remi grew stronger. It seemed that, when he later traveled with Mattia, Remi had been far more confident than before, which made him automatically the leader of their small 'enterprise'. I think combination of love (for he knew that Mrs. Barberin, Arthur & Mrs. Milligan, Lise and her family—all of them loved him) and sorrowful life affected much to Remi’s character.

However, Remi is a kind hearted and innocent boy, whose obsession of having a family was so big, that he became less alert to …family’s bad attitude towards him. I can’t blame him as he was so longed for being a member of a secured family and having a home to live. All in all, Remi isn’t a very special character (for I 'm not quite fond of a character which is described to be too perfect), but through him, we (especially youngster) can learn about love and friendship.

So…who is your Character Thursday this week? You can add your URL in the linky below:

Weigh in Wednesday (2): Contemporary vs Fantasy

Contemporary vs Fantasy

This week’s Weigh in Wednesday topic is : Contemporary vs Fantasy. I’m never a fantasy fan, so my answer is obviously contemporary! I love contemporary because it talks about real life, what is going on on the real world, what real people face in real life, and what they do about it. By reading contemporary I got so much valuable lessons about the world, life and people. Still, I sometimes read fantasy, but only for a refreshing, usually after reading some ‘tough’ classics…

How about you? Are you a contemporary or a fantasy?

This weekly meme is hosted by Lauren, please visit her blog to join.

Every Thursday, I host another meme: Character Thursday. Feel free to join if you like.. :)

Top Ten Tuesday (3): Top Ten Favorite Quotes From Books

These are my top ten favorite quotes from books, in random order. Three of them in Bahasa Indonesia because I read the translation, and cannot find the same quotes in English.

"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.... And one fine morning-- So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." ~F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Great Gatsby

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only." ~Charles Dickens – A Tale of Two Cities

“Until the day when God will deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is contained in these two words,—‘Wait and hope.’” ~Alexandre Dumas – The Count of Monte Cristo

“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 Frank – Diary of Anne Frank

"I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart." ~Anne Frank – Diary of Anne Frank

“They loved each other, not driven by necessity, by the “blaze of passion” often falsely ascribed to love. They loved each other because everything around them willed it, the trees and the clouds and the sky over their heads and the earth under their feet. Perhaps their surrounding world, the strangers they met in the street, the wide expanses they saw on their walks, the rooms in which they lived or met, took more delight in their love than they themselves did.” ~Boris Pasternak – Doctor Zhivago

“Peter: ‘ke mana Engkau hendak pergi, Tuhan?’

Jesus: ‘Karena kini kau meninggalkan umatKu, Aku akan pergi ke Roma, untuk disalibkan yang kedua kalinya’.” ~ Henryk Sienkiewicz - Quo Vadis?

"Semua orang ingin agar hidupnya indah dan mudah. Hidup memang indah, Nak, sangat indah, namun tidak mudah. Hidup akan menjatuhkan seseorang dan begitu orang itu bangkit, dia akan dijatuhkan lagi. (…). Aku ingin agar hidupmu mudah. Lebih mudah daripada yang kualami. Hati seorang ayah sakit saat melihat anak-anaknya menghadapi dunia. Tahu bahwa mereka akan terluka, sama sepertinya... Lalu apa yang harus ia lakukan? Apa yang harus ia lakukan ketika jatuh? Tentu saja ia harus menerima hal itu dan melanjutkan hidup." ~Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings – The Yearling

“If there's just one kind of folks, why can't they get along with each other? If they're all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other?” ~Harper Lee – To Kill A Mockingbird

"Please, sir, I want some more." ~Charles Dickens – Oliver Twist

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish blog. 

The Man In The Iron Mask

(conclusion in English is at the bottom of this post)

Bagaikan matahari, ada saatnya terbit, ada saatnya tenggelam, begitu pula kehidupan manusia, ada saat ia mengalami kejayaan masa muda, namun akan tiba saatnya kejayaan itu menyusut tiba-tiba. Empat sahabat pengawal ekslusif Raja Prancis yang dulu mengalami kejayaan, kini—tiga puluh tahun kemudian—mau tak mau menyaksikan tenggelamnya masa-masa indah itu. Mereka adalah the three musketeers: Athos, Porthos, Aramis, ditambah sahabat setia mereka D’Artagnan, para pengawal raja yang termashyur dengan semboyan: ‘one for all and all for one’. Kisah karya Alexandre Dumas yang berdasarkan sejarah pemerintahan Louis XIII hingga Louis XIV ini dirangkai ke dalam tiga sekuel. Dimulai dari The Three Musketeers, disusul Twenty Years After, dan ditutup dengan The Vicomte de Bragelonne. Sekuel ketiga ini—karena begitu panjangnya (sekitar 2000 halaman)—dibagi ke dalam 3 bagian. The Man in The Iron Mask ini adalah bagian terakhir dari sekuel ketiga itu (jadi ia sebenarnya bukan novel yang berdiri sendiri), di mana para musketeers telah memasuki usia 50-60 tahunan.

Seperti yang telah kuduga, Alexandre Dumas merangkai kisah ini dengan plot yang rumit, terbagi atas beberapa konflik yang melibatkan tokoh yang berbeda-beda. Mungkin ini adalah akibat cara penulisan kisah ini yang asalnya berupa serial (bukan novel). Karena itu, aku akan mengulas sedikit kisah dari 5 tokoh utama, beserta bumbu-bumbu konflik yang mengelilinginya.

Aramis

Adalah Aramis (sudah menjadi uskup) yang merancang kudeta terhadap Louis XIV dengan menukarnya dengan saudara kembar Louis yang sejak kecil diasingkan kemudian dipenjara agar tidak mengganggu takhta Louis. Phillipe, si saudara kembar malang inilah yang kemudian menjadi the man in the iron mask. Sedang Aramis sendiri kemudian dikejar-kejar pasukan Raja yang dipimpin D’Artagnan, karena pemberontakannya.

Athos

Setelah pensiun dari musketeers, Athos—kini Comte de la Verre—hidup tenang bersama putra tunggalnya yang kini meneruskan pelayanannya kepada Raja: Vicomte Raoul de Bragelonne. Sayangnya Raoul terlibat cinta segitiga dengan Louis XIV, yang dimenangkan—tentu saja—oleh sang Raja. Raoul bukan saja patah hati, namun juga patah semangat hidup. Hal yang membuat Athos marah dan menyalahkan Raja dengan kata-kata kasar. Raoul lalu berangkat perang ke Arab, meninggalkan Athos kesepian. Kisah ayah-anak ini yang paling tak aku sukai, penuh kegalauan!

D’Artagnan

Adalah satu-satunya yang masih mengabdi kepada monarki, dengan menjadi Kapten Musketeers. Karakter D’Artagnan sudah kuulas di sini. D’Artagnan tersinggung karena Louis XIV tak sepenuhnya memberinya kepercayaan saat ia bertugas memburu Aramis dan Porthos, lalu mengundurkan diri dari jabatannya (dan bukan sekali ini saja ia ‘ngambek’ dan mengancam mengundurkan diri).

Porthos

Digambarkan sebagai yang paling baik hati dari keempat sahabat ini, memiliki tubuh raksasa, namun tak terlalu cerdik. Diperalat Aramis untuk mengkudeta Louis XIV, namun toh tak membenci sahabatnya meski ia lalu menjadi buronan padahal tak bersalah. Dumas menuliskan epitaph yang sangat menyentuh emosi bagi musketeer yang satu ini!

Louis XIV

Kukira bolehlah disimpulkan bahwa sang Raja, Louis XIV, merupakan inti dari semua konflik yang ada di kisah ini, sekaligus yang memiliki karakter paling kompleks. Aku telah sedikit mengulasnya di sini. Selain berkonflik dengan jagoan-jagoan kita di atas, ia juga mencopot Menteri Keuangannya: M. Foquet setelah Foquet mengadakan pesta super mewah yang membuat pamor Louis XIV sebagai raja seolah ‘tenggelam’. Dipicu oleh kecemburuan, Colbert yang mengincar posisi Foquet pun ikut ‘mengipasi’ amarah Louis.

Dari konfliknya dengan semua tokoh, aku melihat bahwa Louis XIV bukanlah tokoh antagonis yang diktator, dan malah menurutku tindakannya wajar bagi seorang raja. Mari kita lihat dari kasus Aramis, ia jelas-jelas adalah pemberontak, musuh kerajaan, dan hukuman mati memang masuk akal baginya meski ia adalah sahabat D’Artagnan. Ketika ‘menukar’ Louis dengan Phillipe, jelas-jelas Porthoslah yang membantu Aramis, maka tak heran bila Louis menganggapnya juga sebagai pemberontak.

Tindakannya terhadap Foquet memang keterlaluan karena dipicu ego pribadi. Namun bagiku Foquet memang terlalu berlebihan saat mengadakan pesta mewah padahal kondisi keuangannya sedang carut-marut. Ia memang bangsawan yang terhormat dalam sikap dan kepribadian, namun ia terlalu membanggakan kehormatan yang dimilikinya, tanpa memperhatikan ego rajanya. Lagipula tampaknya ia memang bukan menteri keuangan yang kompeten, karena dari apa yang kutangkap dari buku, pembukuannya kacau sehingga kas kerajaan bercampur dengan kas rumah tangganya.

Takdir memang tak bersahabat bagi Raoul, namun kupikir juga kurang pada tempatnya bagi Athos untuk melampiaskan amarah pada Raja, apalagi karena La Valliere sendirilah yang memutuskan Raoul demi mengejar cinta Louis. Sedang dalam kasus D’Artagnan, aku justru mengangkat dua jempol bagi Louis XIV yang benar-benar memahami watak bawahan yang paling ia percayai itu. D’Artagnan sangat setia, namun kelemahannya terletak pada kebanggaannya yang agak berlebihan pada kehormatan. Louis jelas tak dapat mempercayai D’Artagnan untuk benar-benar menangkap kedua sahabatnya. Di bagian akhir kisah ini, Louis XIV menunjukkan bahwa dirinya bukanlah anak muda manja yang dijadikan raja. Ialah sang pemimpin mutlak negara. Inilah cuplikkan dialog yang menunjukkan kematangan Louis XIV sebagai raja.

Conclusion:

I see The Man In The Iron Mask as a symbol of changing times. What applies in the old days may not be able to impose on us in the present days. We should uphold the principles that we think is right, however we must also be flexible with the present situation. Honor could be maintained in a different way, not by violence, coercion, let alone the rebellion!

Athos, Porthos, Aramis and d'Artagnan is a symbol of past glory, and they will always be admired and respected at all times. But times have changed, the values ​​which they used to stand then, may not mean anything anymore now. Whose fault is that? The past, or the present? The answer is none. Life will continue, and we inevitably must adapt to it.

Thirty years after the golden age for the four musketeers, they were (through d'Artagnan in his conversation with Louis XIV) reminded that their time has gone. The new horizon has come, and what left for them are these choices: to get out of it with honor, or try to live with it. Still, their honorable manner is something that should be inspiring the future generations.

As usual, Alexandre Dumas has presented a complex story with a complex plot, involving many characters with their own problems, which at first seem unrelated, but in the end interlocked each other. Unfortunately, there are things still unrevealed until the end of the novel—for example: what exactly is Madam de Chevreuse’s motive in her intrigue to topple Foquet? It seems she wanted to revenge against Aramis, but why? Maybe I'll get the answer from the two previous novels. Nevertheless, The Man In The Iron Mask is an unforgettable story, part of a wonderful epic, about honor, loyalty, love and friendship.

Four swords for The Man In The Iron Mask and Alexandre Dumas!

Title: The Man In The Iron Mask

Author: Alexandre Dumas

Introduction & Notes: Keith Wren

Publisher: Wordsworth Classics

Published: 2002

Pages: 632

Louis XIV on The Man In The Iron Mask

Update

On my 10th Character Thursday blog hop, I decided to expand this blog hop for international participants. Therefore, from this post onward, I will post this hop in English. For my Indonesian blogger follower, you are free to post in Bahasa Indonesia, but if you would like to follow my decision, please also feel free to do it. I have provided Google Translation on the sidebar for both Bahasa Indonesia and English for your convenience.

And....here is my Character Thursday of this week:

Louis XIV

The Man In The Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas

I've always thought that King Louis XIV was the antagonist in The Man in the Iron Mask, considering I've seen the movie many times and Louis was portrayed ruthless, greedy and playboy. Well, here's the difference between book and movie. In the book, we will be able to follow the twists and turns of personality in a character, that it is sometimes difficult to say which one is the protagonist and which one is the antagonist, as each has it own positive and negative aspects, and in fact there is hardly a figure which is always good or always evil.

From the beginning of this story, Louis XIV had had trouble with Monsieur Athos and Foquet. Louis the playboy in this story loves Louise de la Vallière, while the girl was already engaged to Raoul de Bragelonne (son of Athos). Wanting to win Louise, the king sent Raoul to war outside Paris. And so, returning to Paris, Raoul found her fiance has become king’s lover, even though the King has approved the engagement before sending Raoul to war. He was heartbroken. Athos—have pity for her son—faced his King to demand an explanation. In this scene Louis lost his temper.

From his dialogue with Athos, I could imagine Louis's face flushed, with eyes full of hatred, because he knew that he was wrong and he wasn’t able to respond to the respectful but ironic words of Athos. Louis’ words became short and rough, and in his anger, Louis instructed D'Artagnan—his captain of musketeer to capture Athos, though of course D'Artagnan could not do such action which is demeaning the honor of a nobleman and former musketeer like Athos.

In addition to his hot-tempered manner, spoiled (often stomping his feet when angry), and playboy, Louis also mad of respect and worship of power, elegance and majesty, which is natural, given the King is considered a representative of God in the world at that time. So, when the finance minister M. Foquet was holding a party on his palatial mansion, Louis was burning with envy. He felt Foquet has stepped him, which is (supposedly) considered the highest and the wealthiest man in the world. Coupled with the incitement of subordinates Foquet targeting ministerial posts, Louis was jealous as he thought Foquet would like to seize La Vallière from him (without first investigating the truth). The King became angry, and told D'Artagnan to arrest Foquet in his own party while the King was still in his hospitality! Really quite an honorable manner, and D'Artagnan felt it too.

However, when we are nearing the end, things changed... When the king ordered d'Artagnan to catch his friends (Aramis and Porthos as rebels for attempting to swap the king with his twin brother: Phillipe), D'Artagnan met his equal adversary! Because he felt he had managed to 'twist' King’s orders many times before, d'Artagnan immediately made plans for saving Aramis and Porthos without having to violate King’s orders. D'Artagnan was surprised though, when, before he did so, an officer came and said he had a warrant from the King, which forbade d'Artagnan to continue his plan! And it happened not once but three times ... This time Louis XIV defeated d'Artagnan.

And when the angry d'Artagnan confronted and blamed the king for did not believing and embarrassing him in front of his men, this is the answer Louis XIV, with full confidence and authority, has pronounced:

“Captain D’Artagnan, I am master here, and I will have servants who will set no limits to their obedience, though they may perhaps lack your capacity. But one does not require the limbs to be endowed with intelligence. It is for the head to direct, and the limbs to obey; and it is I who am the head. Look around you; you will see that powerful heads had been obliged to bend. You also must humble your pride, or else choose such exile as will suit you best (….) You are a brave man—that I know full well. Why have you judged prematurely? Judge of me from this day forward, d’Artagnan, and with as much severity as you please.”

Gone were the short and rude words. Here is a warning full of grace and dignity, which would certainly make anyone fascinated and 'slapped’. And that was also how d'Artagnan felt at that time, as illustrated by Alexandre Dumas:

“D’Artagnan remained lost in mute bewilderment, and, for the first time in his life, was unable to come to a decision. He had at last found an adversary worthy of his steel. He recognized that this was no longer cunning, but the calculated foresight of a master mind; no longer violence, but strength; in place of petulance and empty boasting, he found determination and method.”

And when a group of M. Foquet’s friends came to ask the King’s help for the poor Madame Foquet, Louis was swept away in sympathy, and finally fulfill their request. For that, d'Artagnan gave Louis XIV a motto: 'Gentle towards the weak, but terrible to the strong'. An attribute that I think should be owned by a leader of a great empire.

In the end (in this story) Louis XIV showed his quality as king of France. Even if he seemed to be ruthless for punishing Aramis and Porthos, I thought it was natural for a king to give lessons to those who intended to rebel (Aramis), and who are too proud of himself regardless the feelings of his King (Foquet). Because if not so, how will a king be honored as the supreme leader?

In this story (again, because I did not read the real history), Louis XIV has transformed to such a character and managed to bring French—step by step—to a better state. I was just thinking, what it would be like if Aramis succeeded in overthrowing Louis from the throne and replacing him secretly with Phillipe? Phillipe might be a more sensible, with higher morality than his brother, but was he ready to become leader of France? Moreover, his brief appearance made me think Phillipe as a melancholy person, who I think is less firm to be the leader of a monarchy.

Inevitably, when I was reading this book, I always imagine Leonardo di Caprio as Louis XIV. I think he is fit to play Louis in the movie version of 1998 :

That's my Character Thursday of this week, who's yours?