Top Ten Tuesday (4): Top Ten Books I'm Curious To Read

I’m so glad that The Broke and The Bookish has decided to give this week Top Ten Tuesday topic to each participant to decide. Yes, it’s a freebie week! As I am in the middle of The Classics Club Project (and am very excited right now), there are several books I’ve been curious to read from my list. I know, there are always so many books I want to read, yet so little reading time I have! So, even listing ten books of them which I’m curious of the most is quite difficult for me. Hey, I’d like to read them all!! Anyway, ten is the game, so here are those ten books I'm curious to read,

Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas

After finishing The Man In The Iron Mask, I’m hungry to read more of d’Artagnan and the three musketeers adventures (yes, I know, I should have read Twenty Years After before The Man In The Iron Mask, and I have posted about that here). I have ordered this book, and it’s on the way right now.

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

I have just won a giveaway, and I got this book as the gift, yayyy! (sorry…I’m still exciting!). Being the most biographical novel of Charles Dickens has made me very curious of this book. I am reading Dickens biography now, and I find him as an interesting personage. I’d like to learn more about him through David Copperfield.

Tender Is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald

After reading The Great Gatsby, I’m longing to read Fitzi's other books. One of it that is also very biographical is Tender Is The Night. I have read several promising reviews about this book, and can’t wait to read it.

The Woman In White by Wilkie Collins

This book has been intriguing me since I read the review in a blog. Then last weekend I happened to read an interview of Mary Higgins Clark, where she was asked about the best suspense novel she has ever read. And guess what her answer was? Wilkie Collins’ The Woman In White. That’s enough for me to look forward to read this book. Suspense is one of my favorite genre anyway.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

I always love books with strong psychological aspects such as Agatha Christie and Emile Zola. The Picture of Dorian Gray seems to be the most tempting psychological novel to me right now. Actually I plan to read it next month for the Victorian Celebration.

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kessey

Same reason with Dorian Gray, this book has made curious for months. I just have to find time to read it!

Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Many book lovers had suggested me to read this book. I have the copy already, and right now I am preparing to host a readalong for this ‘bulk’ book. I plan to read it near Mrs. Mitchell birthday on November.

Germinal by Emile Zola

No need to say again, that I am already in love with Emile Zola. He is one of my all time favorite authors. Germinal is one of his best works, so I’m already impatient to wait for my copy to arrive!

Sketches by Boz by Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens is one of my favorite authors too. Although Sketches by Boz is not his best work, I am curious to read it because it’s his first-published-work, and because it contains everyday life sketches. It seems very interesting, not to mention that this is a rare book which I have bought in a very fair price.

A short stories collection by Guy de Maupassant

It’s a translation edition of Guy de Maupassant short stories collection. The title in Bahasa Indonesia is ‘Cinta Sejati’ which means True Love (I don’t know whether it is one of the short stories title). I’ve been longing to read Guy de Maupassant, and also several pieces of short stories. I’m not a fan of short stories, but I think there are a lot of good short stories out there that I may appreciate.

So, that’s it. Hopefully I can manage my time to read all those ten great books very soon. What’s your Top Ten Tuesday of this week?

Nobody’s Boy

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

“Aku seorang anak pungut”. Itulah empat kata ungkapan pembuka kisah ini yang—bagiku—menyimpan makna yang sangat mendalam. Pada usia delapan tahun Remi baru mengetahui bahwa ia bukanlah anak Mrs. Barberin—istri petani miskin—yang selama ini menghujaninya dengan curahan kasih sayang. Mr. Barberin memungut Remi saat masih bayi karena mengharap orang tua aslinya—yang diperkirakan kaya raya dari pakaian si bayi Remi—akan mengambilnya kelak, dan keluarga Baberin akan mendapat uang. Sayang si orang tua asli tak kunjung datang, maka Mr. Barberin menjual Remi kepada seorang musisi jalanan bernama Signor Vitalis, di luar ijin Mrs. Barberin.

Maka dimulailah perjalanan sulit Remi di jalanan kota Paris. Signor Vitalis adalah seorang tua yang berkelana bersama tiga ekor anjing dan seekor monyet. Mereka bepergian antar kota dan desa, dan mengadakan pertunjukan mirip sandiwara keliling untuk memperoleh uang demi makanan dan (kadang-kadang) tempat berteduh. Remi pun mulai belajar bersandiwara, serta bermain musik menggunakan harpanya. Ia juga belajar membaca dan menulis dari Signor Vitalis, yang lama kelamaan menjadi figur seorang ayah baginya. Di saat gerompolan mereka sudah saling menyayangi hingga mirip seperti keluarga—yang sangat didambakan Remi—keadaan pun memburuk.

Setelah itu Remi mengalami jatuh bangun berkali-kali, namun dari pengalaman-pengalaman itu Remi sedikit demi sedikit belajar tentang kehidupan. Bila awalnya ia mendambakan hidup dalam keluarga kaya dengan rumah bagus seperti milik Arthur dan Mrs. Milligan, lambat laun ia menyadari bahwa kasih sayang dan persahabatan adalah ‘home’ yang sesungguhnya ia rindukan.

Beberapa quotes yang aku sukai:

“Aku sayang anak itu, dan dia sayang padaku. Pelajaran hidup yang kuberikan padanya akan baik untuknya, jauh lebih baik dari yang akan dia peroleh bersama Anda. Anda akan memberinya pendidikan, itu benar; Anda akan membentuk pikirannya, tetapi bukan karakternya. Hanya dengan belajar menghadapi kesulitan-kesulitan hidup karakter orang akan terbentuk.” [Signor Vitalis] ~hlm. 134.

“Sapi yang kauberikan padaku sewaktu masih miskin akan jauh lebih berharga bagiku disbanding apa pun yang bisa kauberikan padaku setelah kau kaya, Remi.” [Mrs. Barberin] ~hlm. 135.

Tiga bintang untuk Nobody’s Boy.

Judul: Nobody’s Boy (Sebatang Kara)

Penulis: Hector Malot

Penerjemah: Tanti Lesmana

Penerbit: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama

Terbit: April 2010

Tebal: 384 hlm

Conclusion:

Nobody's Boy plot is actually quite ordinary, and I think it’d fit better into young adult or pre-teen books. It uses mild language, easy-to understand sentences (at least the one which is presented in the translated version I read), and the story flows without a certain emphasis to the characters. Hector Malot’s message was quite clear, which is about friendship, loyalty and affection. The essence of this story is Remi’s search for love and family, and life lessons he got from wandering along with Signor Vitalis and the gang. Nobody’s Boy became one of all time stories, perhaps, because of the unique figure of Signor Vitalis and his travelling artist group, his mysterious background, as well as the tour and adventures with which we experience together with Remi throughout the story, between France and Italy.

Three stars for Nobody’s Boy!

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.