Review Unwind

Unwind (Unwind Trilogy #1)

by Neal Shusterman (Goodreads Author)

Connor, Risa, and Lev are running for their lives.

The Second Civil War was fought over reproductive rights. The chilling resolution: Life is inviolable from the moment of conception until age thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child "unwound," whereby all of the child's organs are transplanted into different donors, so life doesn't technically end. Connor is too difficult for his parents to control. Risa, a ward of the state is not enough to be kept alive. And Lev is a tithe, a child conceived and raised to be unwound. Together, they may have a chance to escape and to survive.

Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers 2007

Karen: this is a great book to use as a springboard for discussions about reproductive rights and governmental responsibility and what kind of world we are creating and leaving to the next generation.

but i'm just going to talk about me. cuz i am a very laissez-faire individual, and i live my life like i am reading a book someone else is writing, and i am just tuning in to see where it all goes, and any discussion of this sort always leads to conflicts, and i think goodreads has enough of those, yeah?

i am of two minds on this book. on the one hand, i got completely sucked into the story, and i love the characters (especially lev), and i thought it was one of the rare dystopian YA books that actually took the time to world-build enough so that its characters made sense in the world they were given. but even at the beginning, i was picking it apart, and finding flaws in the construction; ways that the system could be abused and that just would not work, even as a dystopia. catie's review goes into a lot of concerns i had, and even though i liked the book a lot more than she did, i agree with a lot of her observations.

i am late to this book's party, and most of you have already read it, but for the newborns out there who can't even read yet, i will lay out some of the plot points, so your folks can read them to you.

in this book, abortion is no more. there was a war between the pro-lifers and the pro-choicers which resulted in legislation (apparently only half-seriously proposed) that satisfied both sides: no more fetus-abortion, but parents had the right to "unwind" their unwanted kids once they reached the age of thirteen, but once they turned eighteen, they were there for good. unwinding is a process whereby the kids are used for parts, and nearly every single piece of them is transplanted into a needy recipient, ensuring the donors would "live on", but in a different state. and all these parts retain the muscle-memory of their previous owners, which seems medically implausible, but who am i to judge? this results in "more surgeons, fewer doctors" because no one needs to be cured anymore, they can just get some spare parts and fix themselves up that way.

for people who are unable to raise their children until the age of thirteen, there is another feature of the legislation that is called "storking," where unwanted babies are left on the doorsteps of strangers, and THEY HAVE TO RAISE THEM. i mean, it is better than a dumpster, by far, but what a drag. this is the part i had the most problems with. i mean, how easy is it to abuse that law? and i was grateful that he included an anecdote about one such incident that was horrifying, but i can't see how this was a law that ever got accepted. assuming that financial responsibility for thirteen years at least? no thank you.

but whatever, if i can accept the chinks in divergent's armor, i can accept this. it is a teen fiction book; it's not flawless, but this is the world we are given. and it is admirable that he took the time to a) construct such a fully-developed world and b) point out its flaws, occasionally.

and its strengths are numerous. there is great detail-work here, even when it is just given briefly, in the anecdotes of the various unwinds. the variety of reasons a kid can be unwound are numerous and heartbreaking. and just the number of wonderful moments of revelation - (view spoiler)

but overall, i was completely engaged in the story, and i do think the characters grew and became different people, (view spoiler)

overall, i thought it was a great read, and i appreciated the care that went into writing it, even though it is one of those books you have to accept as-is, without going over it with a hyper-critical eye.(

Janina: An astonishing and at the same time disturbing read. Took me some time to get into, but from then on I was hooked. The world Shusterman created feels so vivid and real, it almost scared me. Thought-provoking and highly original. I haven't read anything like this ever before.

Also, it contained one of the most disturbing scenes I have ever read - not on a graphic level, but more due to the fact that what exactly is happening is left almost completely to the reader's imagination (if you've read the book, you will most likely know what I'm referring to).

Set in the near future, the novel follows three teens about to be unwound – which is the thing to do with unwanted teens and basically means that they are to be scavenged for body parts to be transplanted to those in need of them (though the signification of 'need' can be stretched here: someone can also 'need' new eyes because his girlfriend doesn't like the old ones' colour)

Connor has always been trouble, sometimes unable to control his temper. When he finds out that his parents are about to have him unwound, he runs away and crosses paths with Risa and Lev. Risa is a state ward being sent away due to shortage of money and Lev is a tithe, sacrificed by his religious parents for a greater good

Connor and Risa have only one goal: to be able to make it until their eighteenth birthday, when the law will protect them from being unwound after all. Lev, who has always believed in his special purpose, is deeply conflicted. Should he run with his two 'rescuers' or should he turn them in?

I not only found the three main characters, but also the friends and enemies they make on their journey drawn realistically and very relatable. Everyone has his own way of dealing with their situation and nothing is painted in black or white. Those characters have their faults – some more than the others – but in the end there was no one who deserved to be treated like he was nothing but human spare parts for those who could afford it.

The only thing that felt a bit off at times was the writing style. Sometimes the present tense sounded awkward to me, and the frequent switching between the different points of view made it hard for me to become fully attached to all the characters, but I loved Connor, Risa and Lev.

I will definitely be looking out for more of Shusterman's work.

Edit: I originally rated this book four stars, but I've decided to up my rating ;). I would recommend Unwind to everyone looking for a good YA book, I would label it a favourite, and I don't think I'll ever forget it. If a book makes me think about it even months after reading it, it definitely deserves five stars!

Kat: I was walking back from my playgroup with my son on Monday, I came out of an elevator to find a teenage boy waiting for me. Fear and an urge to protect my son came over me as he looked a little "rough" around the edges.

Instead of pulling a knife or picking a fight though, the teenager turned on me with big, embarrassed, doe-eyes to ask in a quivering voice, "Excuse me, can I please have fifty cents to call my mum?" I fished out fifty cents worth of coins and left as soon as I saw him head towards the telephone, not waiting around to see if he got through to her. True story.

Unwind by Neal Shusterman is a novel about a world gone mad in which children between the ages of thirteen and eighteen can be legally signed over by their parents or guardians to be put through a harvest camp so that others can take their organs, tissue and blood.

Abortion is also illegal but people can leave infants on other people's doorstep as a method of "storking" and thus legally handing over their responsibilities of the child.

A common phrase used throughout this book is, "Someone else's problem." This encompasses the spirit of the book and is said often by adults who have had children fall temporarily into their hemisphere and require dealing with. There are very few adults in this book who do more than the bare minimum of what they have to do to sit right in their conscience and there's a whole bevy of others who don't do that much.

Connor, one of the trio of main protagonists and an indisputable Christ metaphor, is a "problem" child. His parents are at a loss as to how to handle his behavioral problems and his poor grades so they consign him to being unwound. Risa, a ward of the state, is a bed that the government can free up for a child that they can't legally unwind yet and so is also handed over to the harvesting camp. Levi, the last of the trio is a religious tithe by his parents - born and raised to serve God by handing him over to be tithed as part of their duty to the community and God.

There are many other such stories in this book from a boy whose loving parents died, leaving him an inheritance that his aunt feels would be better off putting her kids through college once he's been unwound and a boy whose divorcing parents couldn't agree on any custody solution and would rather, literally, divide him.

This whole book is about the powerlessness of children in the hands of those who should be responsible for them. It is at times nerve-wracking, heartbreaking, devastating and a complete adrenaline rush.

What it is most of all, though, is sad. Sad because the truth is that children are not the problem and they shouldn't be treated like a problem. They are a symptom at worst and a blessing always. They are a gift that requires attention. They are an innocent package and in the case of 99% of them - if they are running around the street as twelve year olds being a menace to society then they have not let us down - we have let them down.

I love this book because it is well written, I love this book because it is compelling. I love this book because sometimes it is a hard and challenging read on a personal level. I love this book because it asks you to think. I love this book for the many things it has revealed about me - most of them not positive. I love this book because it is well-written with absorbing characters and a great plot.

Most of all, I love this book because next time I come across a kid of the street asking for fifty cents to call his mum, I'll let him borrow my phone and make sure she's coming to get him.

Review The Time Traveler's Wife: Istri Sang Penjelajah Waktu

The Time Traveler's Wife: Istri Sang Penjelajah Waktu

by Audrey Niffenegger (Goodreads Author), Ingrid Dwijani Nimpoeno (Translator)

Henry De Tamble memiliki "kemampuan" menjelajahi waktu. Ia bisa tiba - tiba menghilang dan muncul di tempat yang tak dikenalinya sepuluh tahun yang lalu atau yang akan datang.

Saat berpindah - pindah waktu inilah ia bertemu Clare Abshire, anak perempuan yang tinggal di Michigan, dan terjadilah kisah cinta yang indah hingga ajal memisahkan mereka.

Masalah timbul, karena saat usia Henry maju - mundur sesuai lokasinya di dalam waktu, usia Clare bertambah terus dengan normal.

Tapi Audrey Niffenegger menulis para tokoh dalam buku ini dengan cara yang begitu lembut dan halus sehingga buku ini bukan sekadar kisah cinta biasa. Berkat keahlian dan sensibilitasnyalah para pembaca akan bisa menangkap keindahan dan keanehan dalam hidup, bukan cuma gejolak - gejolaknya.

Gramedia Pustaka Utama 2007

Annisa: Kisah cinta yang romantis. Itu kesan yang saya dapet setelah membaca buku ini. Romantis tapi ngga berlebihan dan ngga geuleuh. Extraordinary love story. Stunning malah. OK lah.

Bercerita tentang sepasang manusia Claire dan Henry yang saling mencintai seumur hidup mereka. Henry adalah seorang manusia yang memiliki kelainan gen. Kalo diibaratkan seperti kaset hidup henry bisa di rewind dan forward kapan saja.

Dia bisa kembali ke masa lalu dan lompat ke masa depan. Namun Henry sendiri tidak bisa mengendalikan kapan dia melakukan time travel. Jadi semua perjalanannya melintasi waktu menciptakan jalinan kisah cinta yang unik antara Henry dan Claire.

Claire pertama kali bertemu Henry ketika umurnya 6 tahun, Henry 36. Henry pertama kali bertemu Claire ketika umurnya 25 tahun, Claire 20 tahun. Audrey Niffenegger juga membangun karakter Henry dan Claire dengan kuat dan dalam.

Henry dan Claire akhirnya menikah, membangun hidup dan keluarga. Bagaimanakah mereka bertahan dan menjalani kehidupan. Jelimet, dramatis tapi menarik, romantis dan orisinal. Sepanjang buku saya dibikin penasaran dengan apa yang akan terjadi berikutnya. Agak sedih sih endingnya, sedih tapi manis (halah). Dan saya suka buku yang endingnya macam gini. Sip lah. Recommended untuk dibaca.

Indah: Aku suka cerita-cerita tentang time travel seperti Back to the Future, di mana tokoh utamanya bisa jalan-jalan ke masa lalu atau masa depan dengan kendaraan keren dan tetap pake baju lengkap :D

Baca buku ini, di mana sang penjelajah waktu telanjang bulat setiap kali pindah waktu, membuatku teringat pada Terminator-nya Arnold Schwarzenegger yang sampai ngerampok baju preman, yang kebetulan baju kulit yang lumayan keren.

Ceritanya cukup menarik, karena tokoh utama cowoknya terus berlompatan masuk ke kehidupan tokoh utama cewek, sehingga cewek tersebut sudah tahu siapa suaminya kelak dari kecil.

Tapi lebih menarik punya anak dari cewek di masa lalu yang kemudian jadi bos kita di masa datang, deh! (Btw, ini review buku apa film Terminator?

Lynita: I have to say I'm a bit disappointed with this book; perhaps because of my high expectation having read/heard from sources that it's a great book & it's on the top of the list of "Book of 21st Century" by Goodreads.

The book to me is just a collection of diary entries of Henry & Claire...from beginning to end, from the time they met in the future & current time, to time they live together, then back to the future from Henry's point of view. The whole time, I was waiting and hoping that there will be a climax, a huge conflict, invention, tragedy, miracle, anything that neither the current Henry or the future Henry or Claire knows, that can make the story more exciting, but that is not the case. The book/story just didn't give me any emotional involvement & I sometimes wondering if I'm too numb because I'm not (that) touched by their love story. To me, it's hard to feel sorry/touched when they knew that what's gonna happen to them and they just re-living it.

The part I like about this book is the fact that they live in Chicago and I have lived in that city for a year, so the part where the writer mentions the street name, the El, the windy weather (which are quite often) reminds me of the beautiful city & my life then.

Lin-Lin: Baca ringkasan cerita singkat di cover belakang buku sebenarnya udah sangat jelas kalau cerita ini akan berakhir sedih (terjadilah kisah cinta yang indah hingga ajal memisahkan mereka)

Setelah sebelumnya cuman berkutat baca romance fairy tale dengan happily ever after ending ala Harlequin, saatnya baca cerita romance yang real dan lebih bermutu, walaupun banyak unsur science-fiction, ceritanya cukup mengharukan, terutama menjelang bab-bab akhir, tentang istri yang setia menunggu suaminya yang mempunyai gen yang membuatnya dapat menjelajah waktu tanpa bisa mengendalikannya. Satu hal yg unik disini, walaupun Henry dapat menjelajah waktu dan bahkan mengetahui masa depannya, dia tidak dapat mengubahnya.

Bacanya sih ngga sampe ketagihan tapi juga ngga membosankan, ada 2 POV,yaitu Henry dan istrinya Clare. Inti utama cerita ini tentang kesetiaan dalam penantian.

Joyzi:

Awesome book in my opinion especially that I have a thing for time traveling. I love it the story is interesting even though it's confusing at first because the story is not chronological and the author would just arrange each story by any timeline (past, future, present).

I also love the characters Henry (librarian, time traveler) and Clare (artist) and of course their daughter Alba (also time traveler). It's just sad though and I'm not expecting it that in the end the story became depressing.

I also love the part wherein Henry saw Clare writing the date in one of her work and Henry says that I saw in the future that it has no date in it, so you should not write the date. And Clare wanted to somehow break the rules of what should happen and still write the date on it and say that, "What is the big deal if I write the date or not?" Henry kind of scares her that maybe something terrible happen like a war or something if they kind of change something even if it's a small thing. So when Henry goes in the future again he looks for the drawing and was surprise that it does not have a date on it and he asks Clare since he knows that in the past they decided to put a date on it, then what the heck happen and Clare says that she was kind of scared about the war thing so when he left she decided to chipped off the date.

It just felt clever to me that somehow the past, present and future are interrelated in ways that you can't even change it, even the future. It's just whatever happens you can't change it anymore.

And also the part wherein he time travels and he went to Ingrid's apartment and when he asks Ingrid the date and he knows that this is the day wherein Ingrid killed herself and he thought that maybe he can change that, but the inevitable happens and Ingrid killed herself in front of him.

This is just a great book if you love time traveling and dejavu.

Anne: This book is a debut for Audrey Niffenegger. And being a first-timer herself, i think she made the complex timelines with ease. The Time Traveler's Wife is a love story concealed inside a suspense novel but is far from a science fiction exploration of the space-time continuum. The book is about the two characters - Henry DeTamble and Clare Abshire whose passionate love affair endures across a sea of time and captures themselves in an impossibly romantic trap. Henry is a time-traveller; a genetic mutation which causes him to spontaneously travel through time, disappearing from view, leaving behind his clothes and possessions, and arriving naked in another time and another place. While Clare is leaving a chronologically normal life, Henry isn't. After their first meeting (Clare was 6 and Henry would be 36) Clare will always wait for his arrival. She has known him all her life. He visits her numerous times during her childhood and adolescence, and inadvertently reveals that they will be married in the future. His last visit is on her 18th birthday in 1989, and will be separated for two years. Finally, they meet in 1991, a real time for both of them, Clare is 20 and Henry is 28. Henry does not know anything about Clare and Clare has to show Henry the diary she made as a testament of Henry's existence in Clare's past, which is still in Henry's future. Henry begins to experience the events in Clare's childhood and at the same time experiencing life with the adult Clare in the present. In the novel, the future cannot be changed, and many tragic events are foreshadowed in the past.

When they soon get married, Clare and Henry have to struggle to survive and maintain their love, and at the same time fighting a complex disorder that constantly threatens their existence. They yearn for the domestic drudgery and the homely comforts of marriage without the constant fear of separation. He longs to be able to live only in the present and he and Clare desperately search for a medical treatment for the disorder but to no avail.

Although the love in the story is very much appalling and intense, a part of it I find ultimately depressing: Henry's father never recovers and continues to mourn for years when his mother died, and Ingrid (Henry's ex-girlfriend) committed suicide after losing Henry to Clare. The love in the story has such a passion with no middle ground, no growth from the experience.

But my most favorite part is the way Henry describes love through his letter to Clare. This is how it goes:

Clare, I want to tell you, again, I love you. Our love has been the thread through a labyrinth, the net under the high-wire walker, the only real thing in this strange life of mine that I could ever trust. Tonight I feel that my love for you has more density in this world than I do: as though I could linger on after me and surround you, keep you, hold you.

Review A Thousand Splendid Suns

A Thousand Splendid Suns

by Khaled Hosseini, Berliani M. Nugrahani (Translator)

Indonesian version of A Thousand Splendid Sun

Translator: Berliani M. Nugrahani

Penyunting: Andhy Romdani

Hati pria sangat berbeda dengan rahim ibu, Mariam. Rahim tak akan berdarah ataupun melar karena harus menampungmu.

"Hanya akulah yang kaumiliki di dunia ini, dan kalau aku mati, kau tak akan punya siapa-siapa lagi. Tak akan ada siapa pun yang peduli padamu. Karena kau tidak berarti!"

Kalimat itu sering kali diucapkan ibunya setiap kali Mariam bersikeras ingin berjumpa dengan Jalil, ayah yang tak pernah secara sah mengakuinya sebagai anak, Dan kenekatan Mariam harus dibayarnya dengan sangat mahal. Sepulang menemui Jalil secara diam-diam, Mariam menemukan ibunya tewas gantung diri.

Sontak kehidupan Mariam pun berubah. Sendiri kini dia menapaki hidup. Mengais-ngais cinta di tengah kepahitan sebagai anak haram. Pasrah akan pernikahan yang dipaksakan, menanggung perihnya luka yang disayatkan sang suami. Namun, dalam kehampaan dan pudarnya asa, seribu mentari surga muncul di hadapannya.

Qanita 2007

Iyut: dapet dari GRI Book Challenge :)
baru sampai di Jogja tgl 14 April 2011.. waktu untuk membaca tinggal 16 hari..512 halaman >,<
semangaaaat..

-----------------------------------------

Mendapat buku ini dari GRI Book Challenge membuatku dihadapkan pada 2 pilihan, menyelesaikan membaca dengan batas waktu akhir April dan membuat resensi, atau di-black list tidak boleh ikut GRI Book Challenge lagi untuk seterusnya. Paket buku tiba di Jogja tanggal 14 April, berarti hanya ada waktu sekitar 16 hari untuk membaca buku setebal 500an halaman ini. Bagiku yang akhir-akhir ini kesulitan mencari waktu untuk membaca, ini cukup menantang. So, kutetapkan target minimal membaca 35 halaman per hari. Tidak sulit ternyata, karena kisah yang ditulis Khaled Hosseini ini alur ceritanya mengalir, tidak membuatku bosan mengikuti runtutan kisah hidup tokoh utama buku ini, Mariam dan Laila, sejak kecil hingga dewasa. Kisah ini berlatar situasi Afghanistan saat negara itu dikuasai kaum komunis, dijajah Soviet, kemudian masa-masa di bawah kekuasaan Mujahidin dengan pertikaian antarfaksinya, hingga kemudian Taliban menguasai Afghanistan dan penerapan hukum berdasarkan Syariah-nya, ditutup dengan situasi Afghanistan tahun 2003, setahun setelah Taliban diusir dari kota-kota besar Afghanistan.

Bagian pertama buku ini diawali dengan kisah Mariam, tentang masa kecilnya di Herat sebagai anak haram Jalil, pengusaha kaya, yang memilih “membuang” Mariam dan ibunya Nana, menempatkan mereka di sebuah kolba di suatu tempat agak di luar kota, hingga kemudian hidup Mariam berubah drastis saat usianya menginjak 15 tahun, ketika ia menjadi piatu kemudian dijodohkan dengan Shareed yang jauh lebih tua darinya, dan harus pindah ke Kabul mengikuti suaminya. Manis pahit hidup Mariam sebagai istri diceritakan hingga tahun 1978, saat terjadi kudeta kekuasaan dan pihak komunis mulai berkuasa.

Kemudian kisah bergulir ke bagian kedua, kisah Laila kecil, pada tahun 1987 saat Afghanistan masih dijajah Soviet yang menduduki negara itu satu setengah tahun sejak kudeta 1978, hingga Laila remaja, di tahun 1992 saat kaum Mujahidin berhasil menguasai Afghanistan. Kisah hidup Laila bersama Babi (ayahnya) yang suka membaca dan selalu mengajari Laila berbagai hal, dan Mammy (ibunya) yang depresi karena kedua kakak lelaki Laila pergi berjihad melawan Soviet dan kemudian gugur. Kisah Laila bersama Tariq, sahabat lelakinya yang berkaki satu akibat terkena ranjau darat. Kisah Laila bersama Giti dan Hasina, sahabat-sahabat perempuannya.

Saat Laila berusia 14 tahun, perang saudara meletus di Afghanistan. Di sini kisahnya mulai menguras hati, ada kehilangan, ada kesedihan, ada perpisahan. Bagian kedua ditutup dengan serangan roket, yang meluluhlantakkan rumah Laila dan membawa kisah hidupnya terjalin dengan kisah Mariam pada bagian ketiga.

Membaca bagian ketiga buku ini berefek samping pegal hati (haha, di sini mungkin perlunya jamu pegal linu :D). Kisah Laila dan Mariam diceritakan secara bergantian. Bagian yang paling bikin capek, selain KDRT yang mereka alami, adalah masa-masa kekuasaan Taliban dengan hukum Syariahnya di tahun 1996. Membaca undang-undang yang ditetapkan Taliban membuatku hampir tidak bisa menahan diri untuk merobek-robek halaman tersebut saking gemasnya (lebay..hehe, sayang bukunya kalau dirobek). Terutama bagian peraturan untuk perempuan: tidak boleh keluar rumah tanpa ditemani muhrim laki-lakinya, tidak boleh menunjukkan wajah, tidak boleh berbicara kecuali diajak berbicara, tidak boleh tertawa di depan umum, anak perempuan tidak boleh bersekolah, perempuan tidak boleh bekerja. Hadeeeh..rasanya perempuan tidak dianggap manusia. Dan mungkin memang demikian, mengingat kata-kata ayah Laila sebelumnya (halaman 169): Perempuan tidak pernah dianggap di negeri ini, Laila, tapi sekarang, di bawah rezim komunis, perempuan mungkin lebih mendapatkan kemerdekaan dan berbagai macam hak lain yang tak pernah mereka dapatkan sebelumnya. .. Tentu saja, kemerdekaan perempuan juga menjadi salah satu alasan bagi orang-orang di luar sana untuk mengangkat senjata lantaran kebakaran jenggot.

Pada masa berkuasanya Taliban, fasilitas untuk perempuan semakin minim, rumah sakit khusus untuk perempuan tidak dilengkapi dengan baik, tidak ada air bersih, listrik, suplai peralatan dan obat-obatan terbatas. Membaca bagian operasi Caesar yang terpaksa dilakukan tanpa obat bius beneran membuat ingin meng-khitan para Taliban itu berkali-kali tanpa suntikan obat bius juga.

Bagian ketiga meski menyayat hati tapi juga paling seru menurutku. Klimaksnya ada di sini, karena setelah itu, bagian keempat terasa hanya sebagai tempelan untuk menutup kisah ini dengan manis.

Salah satu poin yang bisa kutarik dari buku ini adalah: jangan menyimpan amarah terlalu lama, karena pada akhirnya nanti kita juga yang akan menyesal, mengapa tidak memaafkan saat masih ada kesempatan untuk itu (teringat hubungan ayah anak yang penuh kepahitan, kekecewaan dan penyesalan antara Jalil dan Mariam).

Catatan terkait editan buku: tidak banyak typo kutemukan di buku ini, atau mungkin aku saja yang kurang memperhatikan karena terlalu asyik tersedot dalam ceritanya. Yang kudapati hanya 2 kesalahan saja. Yang pertama di halaman 146 paragaraf nomor 2 dari bawah, tertulis: “Biji-bijian, Sayang,” kata Hasina. “Kalian harus ingat. Kecuali , tentu saja”—sekarang dia menyeringai dan menyikut Mariam—, semestinya bukan Mariam, melainkan Laila karena di bagian ini kisah sudah beralih ke Laila, dan yang sedang diceritakan adalah percakapan Laila dengan dua temannya, Hasina dan Giti. Typo satu lagi aku lupa mencatat di halaman berapa letaknya :P
Yang sedikit mengganggu adalah banyaknya kata asing yang tidak disertai keterangan ataupun catatan kaki untuk menjelaskan artinya. Tidak sampai mengganggu kenyamanan membaca tapi kadang cukup membuat bertanya-tanya.

Yippppieeee.. reviewnya kelar, walau seadanya. Aneh rasanya membuat review karena di-wajib-kan, biasanya membuat review itu tergantung ‘panggilan’ bagiku, hihihi. Semoga tidak di-blacklist untuk ikutan GRI Book Challenge berikut berikut berikutnya :)

Otis: I'm not sure if I love Khaled's characters (see my review of The Kite Runner), but the man can tell a story. I think all Americans need to read this book, as it helps to understand and sympathize with what the people in Afghanistan have gone through. Particularly interesting as the book spans 30+ years and paints a very graphic picture of how Afghanistan changed in that time. From Russian communists to warlords to the Taliban to US Army, there have been no shortage of invaders and wars, and victims. Khaled leaves out little of the misery and death, but also focuses on how life invariably always finds a way.

So a little sad, but I liked it. I think the thing I liked most was that I've read so few books about that area of the world, and now I feel like I've gotten to know it, just a tiny bit.

LeAnn: I requested A Thousand Splendid Suns from my local library, and after waiting four months, I decided to request The Kite Runner since it was Hosseini's first book. I ended up getting both at the same time, but I listen to TKR in the car while commuting to my daughter's school,so I finished ATSS first. Perhaps that's the right order because several readers on GoodReads have worried that the second novel couldn't compare favorably to the first.

I liked Laila and Maryam's story a lot and I'm grateful for the opportunity to get to know Afghanistan's recent history through the eyes of a gifted storyteller. I have so much more compassion for the Afghan people now that I know in intimate detail what they have suffered. I notice news stories about Afghanistan more. Yesterday, I saw that the Afghan government released survival rates for children under 5, saying that now there is improved health care nearly 90,000 children have survived to their fifth birthdays. Under the Taliban, 85% of the population had no health care at all.

I thought his storytelling was exceptional. However, having two main characters made it a bit tricky. There can only be one climactic moment in a novel, and it felt like it came at the end of Maryam's last chapter. I stayed up late reading right up until that point in the story; it was like a thriller. But after the climax, I had to read several chapters and I found my interest waning.

Normally, I'm the first one to want a novel to offer hope at the end. I just debated this issue with friends. One friend complained that a novel she had read ended up too neat and happy after all the tragedy in the story. While I hadn't felt that way about the novel she mentioned, I almost feel that way about A Thousand Splendid Suns. That's why I rated it a 4. But I feel bad for doing it.

Hosseini is definitely someone to keep reading. His first novel is amazing (at least as far as I've gotten) and his second nearly so. We need more novelists like him.

Weni: Selesai juga akhirnya, meski dengan kecepatan membaca seperti kura2 (mengutip kalimat Syl) :D

Sepertinya saya paling setuju dengan komentar USA Today tentang buku ini: "perut serasa diaduk, emosi terkoyak".

Rasanya saya nggak akan mengulang membaca buku ini. Bukan karena kisahnya tidak menarik tapi karena ketika membaca buku ini ada beberapa halaman yang pengen saya robek saking sebalnya. Seolah dengan merobek saya bisa memberi pelajaran pada orang2 kejam itu hehe. Orang2 yang dengan semena2 menyakiti wanita, fisik dan jiwanya, hanya karena dia wanita. Orang2 yang merasa berhak memukuli wanita sampe berdarah2 hanya karena dianggap melawan, dianggap melanggar peraturan, dll.

Astaga, mereka pikir mereka itu lahir dari mana? pohon ? Mereka pikir siapa yang membesarkan mereka sampai punya tangan dan kaki yang kuat yang akhirnya mereka gunakan untuk memukuli dan menendang wanita ?

*Emosi*

Asma: It's been a while that i didnt read a novel. Since i write nonfiction more lately than fiction, i use most of my time reading by reading nonfiction books.

A Thousand Splendid Suns, a book that i was forced to read, because my reading book club (Klub Buku Anadia, Jakarta) had chosed this as one we would discuss in our first book discussion.

think i became slowly in reading, hehehe. It took few hours for me to complete this book. Early pages didnt really impress me. But when the writer makes the characters impression went upside down (who is the evil one? is it the father that her mother hates so much, or the mother who always take everything in negative way?), that was the first time i really think... damn it's a good book!:)

i love the setting. The characters. The fact that Khaled Hosseini really quoted parts of Al Qur'an with a style. In Indonesia we have writers who write islamic fiction (some mentioned i m one of this kind of writer:)) , and the problem especially to young writers, is when they put parts of Al Qur'an the writing became too verbal... and more like khutbah instead of a fiction. The message becomes too heavy for the readers.

But it doesnt happen that way with this book.
And i like the message from the author. Think i understand why the author dedicated this book to all afghanistan women, for the life they live.

Last but not least, i like the honesty that the author put in his writing. Personally i want to congrats the author... and look forward to reading his upcoming book.

thank you for writing such a moving story. thank you for sharing afghanistan with us.

(ps: my english is bad... i know! hehehe)

Hasanuddin: Setiap orang Afghan selalu menemukan cara untuk bertahan di tengah kematian, kehilangan dan duka yang tak terbayangkan. Bertahan untuk melanjutkan kehidupan. Dan Mariam pun melakukan hal itu.

Mariam tumbuh menjadi wanita yang tidak memiliki banyak tuntutan dalam kehidupan, tidak membebani orang lain dan tidak pernah mengungkapkan bahwa dirinya memiliki kesedihan dan kekecewaan. Impiannya telah lama hancur terinjak-injak. Dan itu semua ditampung oleh Mariam dan menanggungnya seolah peran yang harus dilakoni.

Keanggunannya ada bukan karena bawaan, namun terbentuk oleh tempaan tekanan yang selalu menderanya. Kehidupan keluarga yang indah hanya setetes untuk dinikmati. Selebihnya berada dalam bayang-bayang gelap supremasi Rasheed, suaminya.

Itulah kehidupan Mariam yang menyandang cap harami sepanjang hidupnya. Harami seorang wanita desa miskin, anak yang tak diinginkan. Seperti rumput liar. Kehidupannya nyaris tak pernah memberikan kebahagiaan dirinya.

Mariam juga menorehkan guratan yang dalam kepada Laila --istri muda Rsheed. Mariam telah menjadi teman dan kakak bagi Laila dan anak-anaknya. Mariam telah menjadi pelindung dari kebuasan Rasheed. Dan Mariam adalah ibu yang menentramkan setiap lembar nyawa yang berada dalam "genggaman" Rasheed.

Kebaikan Mariam seperti halnya puisi yang ditinggalkan oleh ayah Laila terhadap Kabul, "Siapa pun takkan bisa menghitung bulan-bulan yang berpendar di atas atapnya, Ataupun seribu mentari surga yang bersembunyi di balik dindingnya". Cinta dan pengorbanan Mariam... Sangat mengagumkan!!!

Dan entah apa yang besemayam dalam pola pikir Rasheed. Selalu menyanjung nang (kehormatan) dan namos (kebanggaan). Sementara di sisi lain dirinya lah yang menginjak-injak dengan kakinya sendiri. Dan baginya, pria adalah kebenaran mutlak. Layaknya jarum penunjuk kompas yang selalu mengarah utara dan selatan...

Novel ini memiliki setting waktu dan tempat yang hampir sama dengan The Kite Runner, Afghanistan. Sekali lagi Khaleed Hosseini berhasil mengaduk-aduk perasaan ku. Sisi personal dalam cerita fiksi ini begitu kuat dan menyentuh hati.

Lambatnya tempo penuturan pada novel ini, aku anggap refleksi dari lambatnya kehidupan Mariam dan Laila yang dihabiskan bersama Rasheed. Merayap pelan melewati hari ke hari. Menempuh hidup dalam bayang-bayang ancaman.