Review Imperial Badrooms

 

Imperial Bedrooms

by Bret Easton Ellis

Bret Easton Ellis’s debut, Less Than Zero, is one of the signal novels of the last thirty years, and he now follows those infamous teenagers into an even more desperate middle age.

Clay, a successful screenwriter, has returned from New York to Los Angeles to help cast his new movie, and he’s soon drifting through a long-familiar circle. Blair, his former girlfriend, is married to Trent, an influential manager who’s still a bisexual philanderer, and their Beverly Hills parties attract various levels of fame, fortune and power. Then there’s Clay’s childhood friend Julian, a recovering addict, and their old dealer, Rip, face-lifted beyond recognition and seemingly even more sinister than in his notorious past.

But Clay’s own demons emerge once he meets a gorgeous young actress determined to win a role in his movie. And when his life careens completely out of control, he has no choice but to plumb the darkest recesses of his character and come to terms with his proclivity for betrayal.

Picador 2010

Indah: 743 – 2012

Mengambil setting dua puluh lima tahun setelah Less Than Zero, di novel ini para remaja Beverly Hills yang hidup tanpa tanggung jawab telah tumbuh dewasa dan yah... hidup mereka mengalami peningkatan (atau penurunan?) dari masa mudanya.

Julian, yang tentunya tidak mati OD seperti di filmnya, sudah alih profesi dari gigolo menjadi germo. Escort service-nya terdiri dari para calon aktor dan aktris yang banyak luntang-lantung di Beverly Hills sambil mencari kesempatan untuk mendapatkan audisi dan ketenaran yang mereka dambakan. Blair, mantan pacar Clay, menikah dengan Trent, si mantan model yang kini jadi manajer artis di Hollywood. Rip, pemasok narkoba yang gemar menyekap gadis di bawah umur di apartemennya, jadi semacam kingpin. Dan Clay...

Selain telah menjadi penulis yang naskah-naskahnya telah diangkat jadi film, Clay masih tetap useless jerk seperti waktu remaja. Lupakan tokoh Clay yang diperankan Andrew McCarthy, pemuda sok suci yang berusaha menolong sahabatnya yang tenggelam dalam kenistaan narkoba dan prostitusi. Clay si penulis naskah tipe orang yang memanfaatkan posisinya untuk menjebak aktris yang menginginkan peran dalam film yang ditulisnya, ke dalam pelukan dan ranjangnya. Hidupnya mulai rumit waktu ia terobsesi pada aktris muda bernama Rain Turner. Aktris yang bersedia melakukan apa saja buatnya demi mendapat sedikit dialog itu ternyata punya hubungan dengan beberapa teman lamanya. Rain rupanya salah satu pelacur (plus kekasih Julian), pernah berhubungan dengan Trent, dan guess what, Rip juga terobsesi dengannya hingga ingin menyingkirkan Julian yang menjadi penghalang. Lupakan Clay yang diperankan Andrew McCarthy, karena ketimbang menyelamatkan Julian, di novel ini ia malah bekerja sama dengan Rip untuk membunuh Julian. Sepertinya Julian lebih baik mati OD saja waktu masih remaja, daripada mati dengan 159 luka tusukan dari 3 pisau yang berbeda waktu sudah separo baya...

Ya, Clay, si "aku" dalam novel Ellis ini, bukanlah tokoh utama yang manis. Tidak selugu dan sebaik yang digambarkan versi film Less Than Zero. Bahkan Clay versi novel Less Than Zero pun rasanya masih lebih mending daripada Clay versi terkini yang kalau toh dibunuh tanpa kubur pun kita takkan jatuh simpati.

Novel ini dibuka dengan cara yang unik. Tokoh Clay mengeluhkan novel Less Than Zero, karena meski pengarangnya menyebutnya fiksi dan mengubah beberapa detail, tapi nama-namanya tidak diubah, sehingga novel itu membongkar kehidupan pribadinya dan teman-temannya. Tokoh Clay juga mengeluhkan versi film Less Than Zero, yang ditontonnya bersama Trent dan Julian di bioskop. Jelas Ellis menyelipkan pendapat pribadinya di sini:

"The movie was very different from the book in that there was nothing from the book in the movie. The book was blunt and had an honesty about it, whereas the movie was just a beautiful lie. In the movie I was played by an actor who actually looked more like me than the character the author portrayed in the book. I also suddenly became the movie's moral compass, spouting AA jargon, castigating everyone's drug use and trying to save Julian. Julian became the sentimentalized version of himself, acted by a talented, sad-faced clown..."

Hm, seandainya tokoh Julian tidak dibikin mati OD (untuk mengingatkan penonton akan bahaya narkoba?) di versi filmnya, akan adakah film Imperial Bedrooms, dengan Robert Downey Jr kembali memerankan tokoh yang sama, hanya saja di sini kematiannya lebih mengesankan? Um... 159 lubang tikaman di tempat yang tidak mematikan sehingga mati kehabisan darah... A cool way to die for Tony Stark and Sherlock Holmes!

David: Do not read this book. It's about despicable people doing despicable things. In other words, it's about being human in the most essential sense of the term. You will not like it because you have to like the characters you read about. Or because it's too dull or cold or passe. Or because it's misanthropic or misogynistic. It's really none of these things, but you'll think it is and say it is and you'll be angry and spiteful and write another tired anti-Ellis review. Another tired anti-postmodernism review.
Save your time. There are many great books you'll not have time to read during your too-short life. Let this be one of them. This, and White Noise maybe. And Jonathan Safran Foer.

Clutch desperately to the past. To the literature and music and films of your parents and their parents, and so on. They've said everything that needs to be said. And they've invented all the worthwhile ways of saying it. Now let's just sit back in our tufted wingbacks and regard it, complacently, religiously.

The remainder, after all -- our contribution to the conversation -- is only decadence, gimmickry, and superficiality.

How disgusting we are. How pathetically, beautifully, wonderfully disgusting. T.S. Eliot said so, I think. In a manner of speaking.

Eve: What I've learned from this book is that Bret Easton Ellis has totally lost it. I didn't want to believe it - I thought American Psycho was brilliant. I kinda sorta got Lunar Park. But this book seems, to me, a serious cry for help. I have NO idea why he turned Clay into Bret/Bateman, and I don't wanna know. The book had none of the brilliance of Less Than Zero, and towards the end, the violent sex just seemed to be written for shock value. OK, Mr. Ellis - I get it. You're crazy.

Caris: Some Asshole

1234 Some Street

Somewhere, AZ 85119

Jay McInerney

222 Whereveryoulive St

Probably, CA 90210

Dear Mr. McInerney,

I’m writing you today about a horrendous pile of shit you wrote in 2006 called The Good Life. In that book, you chronicled a few days in the life of some middle-aged guy in the wake of the 9/11 disaster. Your book sucked and, in all likelihood, continues to suck.

In 1984, you wrote a book called Bright Lights, Big City. It was not a bad book. It wasn’t really good, but it showed promise. Representing a starting point, that book gave a hint about where you were going. It seemed to me that you knew your characters and you knew your subject matter. That was why I was so surprised with The Good Life. I was looking forward to seeing you improve upon what you did with your first book. I wanted to see where your coke-fueled, self-obsessed characters ended up.

But you messed things up. You turned it into a romance of sorts. And a boring one at that. You should have stopped.

I’m sure you’re aware of the work of Bret Easton Ellis. You and he were lumped together in the eighties and hailed as key members of the “Brat Pack,” a core group of young writers who were changing things. And I’m sure you’re aware that Mr. Ellis has just written a new book entitled Imperial Bedrooms.

In this new work, Ellis revisits Less Than Zero, his first book. That was the one that was so like your own first novel. It was good. Better than yours.

As it turns out, this new book is better than yours, too. Ellis has aged, but in a good way. He revisits his old characters, something I wish you had done. He shows how they grow, but still remain stagnant. Situations change, but, really, people don’t.

Don’t worry, though. It wasn’t perfect. As a matter of fact, I think Less Than Zero was the more powerful book (I’m not even mentioning yours anymore because they’re not even in the same ballpark). Ellis did some weird shit. That’s become his problem. Ever since American Psycho, his shit’s been fucked up. In this interview where he sounded like a total tool, Ellis revealed that he intended to make this one a Raymond Chandler type mystery. It starts out like Less Than Zero, but then follows his vision perfectly.

Here’s the problem: he’s already done this. In Glamorama and American Psycho, he already incorporates these elements. He has some hidden feature, like double agent fashion models or the question of what is real, that he pretends to give you clues about. They’re not very revealing because his big shockers aren’t really all that shocking. The characters are more fucked up than a plot could ever be. Patrick Bateman, for example, is more disturbing than his despicable acts. His books are all about their characters.

So, in that way, it didn’t work. Not only did he follow that same sort of formula, he also added that mental degradation he pounded into the ground with American Psycho. Of course, he did the same thing with Lunar Park and Glamorama, but not really to the same degree. It’s cool and all, but it gets kind of old. If the point he’s trying to make is that every narrator is unreliable, he’s succeeded. If he’s trying to do something new, he’s pulled a McInerney.

What I really, really liked was the melding of fiction and reality. He did this in Lunar Park as well, but I don’t think it could ever get old. It adds to the voyeuristic quality all of his books have. How much of Clay is actually Bret? It’s a wonderful opportunity to be able to confess your own sins through the development of mostly fictional, mostly awful human beings.

I guess what I’m trying to say here is that you should try again. Do what Ellis has done, but learn from his mistakes. Don’t get all stupid simply for style, but bring back your older stuff.

Sincerely,
Some Asshole

 

Review Dear John

Dear John

by Nicholas Sparks (Goodreads Author), Barokah Ruziati (Translator), Marcel A.W. (Illustrator)

"Dear John" demikian surat itu dimulai. Dan dari dua kata itu, ada hati yang patah dan dua anak manusia yang hidupnya berubah selamanya.

John Tyree, pemuda pemberontak yang memilih menjadi tentara karena tidak punya tujuan hidup... sampai dia bertemu Savannah Lynn Curtis. Hubungan yang awalnya hanya percintaan musim panas berubah menjadi cinta abadi, membuat Savannah rela menunggu John menyelesaikan penugasannya yang berjanji akan pulang dan menikahinya. Tapi tak satu pun menyangka akan terjadi peristiwa 9/11 di New York yang mengubah dunia dan cinta mereka. Pada saat itu, sebagai tentara, John harus memilih antara cintanya pada kekasih atau negaranya. ketika akhirnya pulang ke kampung halaman, John harus menghadapi kenyataan pahit dan menyadari bahwa cinta ternyata bisa mengubah manusia dengan cara yang tak pernah bisa dia bayangkan sebelumnya.

Gramedia Pustaka Utama 2010

Weni: "Dear John" demikian surat itu dimulai.
Dan dari dua kata itu, ada hati yang patah dan dua anak manusia yang hidupnya berubah selamanya.

Begitulah 2 baris kalimat yang tertulis di cover belakang buku ini

Dua anak manusia yang dimaksud tulisan tsb adalah John Tyree dan Savannah Lynn Curtis, sepasang kekasih.
Dan orang yang mudah terharu (cengeng) seperti saya nekat tetap membaca buku sejenis ini. Hasilnya seperti yang sudah diduga, berurai air mata.

Bukan..., bukan kisah John dan Savannah yang membuat saya menangis.

Memang, ada surat Savannah membuat saya terharu dan berkaca2, tapi kisah John dan ayahnya lah yang membuat saya menangis.

Ayahnya yang sangat biasa. Ayahnya yang tidak bisa bersosialisasi.

Ayahnya yang tidak pernah mengobrol. Ayahnya yang tidak punya emosi.

Ayahnya yang hanya punya gairah ketika berbicara tentang koin.

Ayahnya yang (diduga kuat) mengidap sindrom asperger.

Komunikasi tanpa kata antara mereka membuat saya terenyuh.

Adegan sang ayah yang meletakkan tangannya di punggung John ketika John akan kembali bertugas ke Jerman sudah cukup untuk membuat airmata saya mengalir.

Arlene: Dear John by Nicholas Sparks is one of those books I've developed a love/hate relationship with. I love, love, love the first part of the book, and I immediately fell for the main character, John Tyree. But when he gets his Dear John letter, it was all down hill from there, and I have to say I was left in angst. The ending is to some extent depressing, but I do have to give it to Sparks because he paints a realistic picture. However, someone needs to let the man know that he's writing fiction and sometimes, it's okay to have a happily ever after. His readers would surely appreciate it.

About the book… John Tyree's life is spiraling down hill when he decides to join the army. During a leave, he comes home and meets Savannah, and that's when his life takes a turn. They fall in love, and because of her, he learns how to forge a relationship with his father. He returns to his base in Germany with the hopes of coming home to Savannah when his tour is over. Then 9/11 hits, and he makes a choice that will change his life forever.

Great story, with a realistic yet off-of-the-charts sad ending. Let's just say, I'll proceed with caution when choosing another Sparks book in the future.

Katia: OK, so...I finally finished. Like a lot of other people, I read this simply because I saw the preview for the movie and I HAVE to read a book before I see the film adaptation. In this case, I really wish I wasn't so anal retentive.

Anyhoo, the book. Typical Sparks fare - star-crossed lovers, torn apart by fate, life, what have you. I really enjoyed the interaction between John and his father a lot more than I did his relationship with Savannah, maybe because it seemed far more real. I never warmed up to Savannah, even though she was supposed to be the perfect, lovely Southern young lady. And, like SO many other reviews on here, I too thought the ending was horrid. As I was nearing the end of my audiobook, I knew exactly how it would end, but I still had another disc to go. It was seriously painful...I can get behind tragic/unrequited love stories, but this one just seemed so pointless. John literally gives up everything he has in his entire life for someone who treats him badly for 90% of their relationship. I always know what I'm getting myself into with a Sparks book, but in this case I left feeling totally dissatisfied; its like when you go to a buffet, and you know what you're about to eat is terrible for you, but you binge anyways and have massive regrets immediately afterward. I'll still go see the movie, mostly because my sister-in-law is super excited to see it, but part of me hopes this is one of those instances where Hollywood romanticizes things and changes the ending. This book could really use it.

Review Interworld

Interworld

by Neil Gaiman (Goodreads Author), Michael Reaves, Tanti Lesmana (Translator)

Joey Harker selalu tersesat. Bahkan di rumahnya pun dia suka salah jalan. Tetapi suatu hari Joey benar-benar tersesat. Dia Berjalan keluar dari dunianya dan masuk ke dimensi lain. Gara-gara melintas antardimensi, jadilah Joey mangsa bagi dua kekuatan dahsyat---HEX yang mengandalkan sihir dan Binary yang mengandalkan sains, dan kedua kubu ini sama-sama bernafsu ingin menguasai Multiverse, dengan memanfaatkan kemampuan Joey berjalan antardimensi

Joey, yang terjepit di antara dua kekuatan ini, memutuskan bergabung dengan pasukan berupa versi-versi dirinya sendiri yang berasal dari berbagai dimensi dan sama-sama memiliki kekuatan hebat seperti dirinya. Mereka pun bersatu padu untuk menyelamatkan dunia-dunia alternatif dari kekuasaan jahat.

Pendongeng kawakan Neil Gaiman dan penulis fiksi-ilmiah pemenang Emmy Award, Michael Reaves, bersekutu menciptakan kisah tentang sihir, sains, kehormatan, serta takdir seorang anak laki-laki yang sangat istimewa---serta versi-versi dirinya yang lain.

Gramedia Pustaka Utama 2010

Annisa: Penerbit : PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama

Tebal : 274 Halaman

Alih Bahasa : Tanti Lesmana

Terus terang saya makin suka nih sama karyanya Neil Gaiman. Kali ini Neil Gaiman membuat alam semesta yang terdiri berjuta miliar triliun bumi yang ada di berjuta miliar triliun dimensi yang secara keseluruhan dinamakan Altiverse.

Dalam Altiverse terdapat dua kubu kekuatan yang selalu bersaing dalam memperluas pengaruhnya. Kekuatan yang pertama dinamakan kubu Hex yang berbasis pada ilmu sihir. Hex dipimpin oleh sekumpulan orang yang menamakan dirinya Dewan Tiga Belas. Kekuatan yang kedua disebut Binary yang berbasis pada Ilmu Pengetahuan/Science. Binary dijalankan oleh kecerdasan buatan yang menyebut dirinya 01101. Masing-masing beradu kekuatan untuk mengendalikan Altiverse.

Untuk mencegah salah satu kubu mendapatkan kekuatan yang dominan, dibentuklah suatu organisasi yang dinamakan Interworld. Interworld adalah polisi alam semesta yang berusaha menjaga keseimbangan antara sihir dan science. Interworld beranggotakan sekumpulan pejalan antar dimensi, yaitu manusia yang bisa berpindah dari satu bumi ke bumi lainnya.

Joey Harker adalah salah seorang diantaranya, walau dia juga tidak menyadari kalo dirinya adalah pejalan antar dimensi sampai suatu hari dia secara tidak sengaja berjalan ke bumi yang lain dan mendapatkan kalau rumahnya bukan rumahnya dan di dunia yang lain itu dirinya sudah mati karena kecelakaan di air terjun niagara.

Joey nyaris saja ditangkap oleh kaum binary sebelum diselamatkan oleh seorang petugas Interworld yang bernama Jay. Jay ini adalah Joey yang berasal dari bumi yang lain.

Wait! Wait! Kenapa kaum binary berminat menangkap Joey? Sebenarnya kaum binary maupun hex sangat berminat untuk menangkap para pejalan antar dimensi. Kaum Hex merebus para pelintas dimensi (secara harfiah) dan menggunakan saripati para pejalan antar dimensi sebagai sumber energi perjalanan antar dimensi mereka dalam rangka memperluar wilayah kekuasaan. Kaum Binary membekukan para pelintas antar dimensi dan juga mengambil energinya untuk tujuan yang sama.

Joey Harker ternyata adalah seorang pelintas antar dimensi dengan kekuatan yang besar sehingga menjadi rebutan antara kaum Binary dan kaum Hex. Berhasilkan Joey dan Interworld menjaga keseimbangan di altiverse? Baca sendiri dong, hehe.

Buku ini adalah satu lagi kisah fantasi yang mengasyikan dari Neil Gaiman. Terjemahannya juga mumpuni sehingga kejelimetan dunia altiverse bisa dijelaskan dengan baik. If you love sci fi you should definitely read it.

PS : Kayaknya sebenernya bukunya Neil Gaiman kayak The Graveyard Book, Good Omens dan Interworld ini keren deh kalo dibikin film.

Mizririz: Bagaimana jika dunia yang kita tempati sekarang hanyalah salah satu dari sekian juta dunia-dunia paralel lain yang ada?

Bagaimana jika kita punya kembaran di masing-masing dunia lain, dengan nama yang mirip, anggota keluarga yang mirip, dan teman yang mirip pula?
Joey Harker, remaja 15 tahun yang selalu tersesat, di sekolah, di toko, bahkan di rumahnya sendiri. Suatu hari tanpa menyadari apa yang dapat ia lakukan, dia 'mengunjungi' dimensi-dimensi lain. Ia mendapati rumah dan ibunya sama persis, tetapi berbeda versi. Karena kemampuannya 'jalan-jalan' ke dimensi lain, secara tidak sadar Joey telah membunyikan alarm yang akan mengundang dunia HEX dan dunia Binary untuk menangkapnya. 2 dunia tersebut berjuang meperebutkan Joey untuk kepentingan menguasai Altiverse, yaitu dunia-dunia alternatif.
HEX menggerakkan kehidupan dunia mereka dengan sihir, sedangkan Binary menggunakan teknologi super canggih. Joey bergabung dengan InterWorld yang bertujuan menyeimbangkan sihir dan sains, serta menyelamatkan Altiverse dari kekuasaan jahat.

Dikisahkan dengan sangat bagus oleh Neil Gaiman dan Michael Reaves. Dengan istilah-istilah rumit berbau sains serta dialog-dialog dan narasi yang sekali lagi berbeda dari novel-novel lainnya, yang membuat buku ini worth to buy.
Beberapa kutipan dan dialog yang aq suka :

Tidak apa-apa. Janji itu bersifat mengikat, entah Jay mendengar aq mengucapkannya atau tidak. Aku mendengar diriku mengucapkannya, dan aku tidak mau kalau sepanjang hidupku aku mencoba mencari pembenaran, kenapa aku tidak melakukan hal yang benar. (page 96)

Perbedaan sihir dan sains :

'Sihir' sebenarnya adalah cara berbicara kepada alam semesta dengan kata-kata yang tidak mungkin diabaikannya. Beberapa bagian Altiverse mendengarkan--bagian yang merupakan dunia-dunia Sihir. Beberapa tidak mendengarkan dan lebih suka kalau kalian yang mendengarkan mereka. Itu adalah dunia-dunia Sains. Pahami itu dan semuanya menjadi cukup sederhana. (page 206)

Alex: INTERWORLD BY NEIL GAIMAN AND MICHAEL REAVES: Most people are familiar with Neil Gaiman, who has written such great novels as Neverwhere, American Gods, and Coraline for younger readers, but not so many know Michael Reaves. Reaves has written for Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Twilight Zone, and Batman: The Animated Series, as well as the New York Times bestseller Star Wars: Darth Maul – Shadow Hunter. Gaiman and Reaves began working on the idea for Interworld in 1995 wishing to make it a television adventure, but the idea was not received well, so they decided to write it down in novel form but was still never picked up. Recently, it was represented and has been picked up with a 2010 release, and the book finally published. It is the perfect young adult science-fiction adventure story to fill the vacuum left with the completion of the Harry Potter series.

Joey Harker is an ordinary boy with nothing special going for him. He’s stuck in high school with few friends and a girl who doesn’t even know he exists. While on a routine school field trip, Joey suddenly “Walks” into a parallel world, just like the one he is from but with subtle differences. He Walks through a couple more worlds and soon finds people on his tail. He runs and an ally soon joins him, covered in this strange silvery suit, and looking uncannily like him. Joey eventually discovers that there are thousands and thousands of alternate realities which he is able to Walk through and get to. He discovers that there are two forces vying for control of all the worlds: the HEX, who are based in science and technology, and the Binary who believe in sorcery and magic. Finally there is the Interworld, where a seemingly endless number of Joey Harkers from different worlds, with different but similar names, all looking very different, of various ages, working together to stop the HEX and the Binary.

Written in an incredibly descriptive and flamboyant style, with a pastiche of imagery styles – with the clear intention of transposing Interworld to the big screen – Interworld is a unique novel for all ages, taking you on a journey unlike any other where it requires you to stay on your “mental toes” to keep everything straight and make sure you know what’s going on in this strange universe.

Belinda: Firstly, I WANT A FREAKING MUDLUFF.

Secondly, this book was mightily confusing. All these things about god, I don't know what. These science jargon things that I seriously could not get. I don't think I was supposed to anyway.Thirdly, it didn't get a five star because, it seemed more fit to be a comic book than an actual novel. Don't get me wrong though, this book rocks as a novel, but I guess I would've loved it more if it was illustrated. I mean, some things you can express with words, but the In-Between, I think it'd be better off draw out. Although that would probably have been pretty hard.
Also, some of the things that happen just seem too good to be true. I mean it fits with the comic-book-like story, where goodies always win. But *shrugs*, maybe I just didn't want to finish? Haha.

And fourthly, why you should read this book.I literally finished this book in one sitting. Pretty much.

The flow was really good, nothing seemed bumpy (except for probably the part where Joey gave his quick speech about Jay; that was kinda weird). All the characters were likeable, if not laughable. Even the baddie (Dogknife) seemed funny to me. Trust me, I don't know why. Maybe it was the description and I found it so amusing how they said that his face was one that would startle you awake at night.

But anyways, Interworld has an awesome mix of sci-fi and action and unimaginably good luck.(Except for Jay)

It even has a sentimental part, which luckily was kept at a minimum or it probably would've ruined the book. I love the gang of heroes they've created. The whole idea of Walkers and Joey Harker's and several different dimensions. And science and magic battling against each other. And MUDLUFFS. MUDLUFFS. Or Hue, IS AWESOME.There's quite a bit of info-dump at the beginning. You could probably just skim over that. It helps in the whole world-building.

But, anyways, I think that's all I've got to say.Oh and I really liked the ending. I think it was the perfect ending for this kind of book.