How lucky am I. Since young, my parents already forced me to read many books, newspapers, and magazines. Although those books were written in Indonesian language, but still many of them inspire me until now.
No doubt, we spent lots of times during our childhood by reading comics. A lot of us read Doraemon, Detective Conan, Kobo Chan, or many others. For me, I was so inspired by comic written by Herge, a Belgian author. I would say it's not a comic, but a graphic novel. The series called The Adventure of Tintin. I read it first time, the Indonesian version of The Secret of Unicorn. Ah, all the adventures done by Tintin, Captain Haddock, Snowy, until Professor Calculus blew me away. Last time, I had a dream to follow their journeys to the moon, Tibet, or even Peru. Brilliant story!
I even wanted to have the same hairstyle as Tintin, although I failed to do that since my hair was too short. How's about your childhood hero?
I kept my Tintin books aside, then. My father introduced me to a lot of new books, especially Indonesian literature books. I started to read short stories from Kompas Newspaper, author like Seno Gumira Ajidarma, Sapardi Joko Damono, and many others. Their short stories are amazing, and I still remember exactly the story of Pelajaran Mengarang (Composition Writing from Seno Gumira Ajidarma, where a student asked to compose story about her daily life and encountered a problem when the title of the story was 'Mother'. The student experienced a problem to write and to explain, as her mother was a prostitute. That story, was incredible.
After that, I introduced to 'more heavy books' by my father and touched the books of Indonesian great author, Pramoedya Ananta Toer. He was the first Indonesian man and author to be nominated of Nobel Prize. I read his first book of short stories, entitled Cerita dari Blora (Stories from Blora. Almost all of his stories based on Netherlands occupation, but he wrote the story very well. For me, he is the greatest Indonesian author. You must read his writings. Especially, the famous one, four books of Tetralogi Buru (Buru Quartet which consists of Bumi Manusia (This Earth of Mankind), Anak Semua Bangsa (Child of All Nations, Jejak Langkah (Footsteps), and Rumah Kaca (House of Glass). In addition, also read fantastic writing from him, which is Panggil Aku Kartini Saja (Just Call Me Kartini). No wonder, those books propelled him to Nobel Nomination, the highest award for many scientists, authors, and economists.
No doubt, we spent lots of times during our childhood by reading comics. A lot of us read Doraemon, Detective Conan, Kobo Chan, or many others. For me, I was so inspired by comic written by Herge, a Belgian author. I would say it's not a comic, but a graphic novel. The series called The Adventure of Tintin. I read it first time, the Indonesian version of The Secret of Unicorn. Ah, all the adventures done by Tintin, Captain Haddock, Snowy, until Professor Calculus blew me away. Last time, I had a dream to follow their journeys to the moon, Tibet, or even Peru. Brilliant story!
I even wanted to have the same hairstyle as Tintin, although I failed to do that since my hair was too short. How's about your childhood hero?
I kept my Tintin books aside, then. My father introduced me to a lot of new books, especially Indonesian literature books. I started to read short stories from Kompas Newspaper, author like Seno Gumira Ajidarma, Sapardi Joko Damono, and many others. Their short stories are amazing, and I still remember exactly the story of Pelajaran Mengarang (Composition Writing from Seno Gumira Ajidarma, where a student asked to compose story about her daily life and encountered a problem when the title of the story was 'Mother'. The student experienced a problem to write and to explain, as her mother was a prostitute. That story, was incredible.
After that, I introduced to 'more heavy books' by my father and touched the books of Indonesian great author, Pramoedya Ananta Toer. He was the first Indonesian man and author to be nominated of Nobel Prize. I read his first book of short stories, entitled Cerita dari Blora (Stories from Blora. Almost all of his stories based on Netherlands occupation, but he wrote the story very well. For me, he is the greatest Indonesian author. You must read his writings. Especially, the famous one, four books of Tetralogi Buru (Buru Quartet which consists of Bumi Manusia (This Earth of Mankind), Anak Semua Bangsa (Child of All Nations, Jejak Langkah (Footsteps), and Rumah Kaca (House of Glass). In addition, also read fantastic writing from him, which is Panggil Aku Kartini Saja (Just Call Me Kartini). No wonder, those books propelled him to Nobel Nomination, the highest award for many scientists, authors, and economists.
Cover of 'Anak Semua Bangsa (Child of All Nations)' by Pramoedya Ananta Toer.
My father also mentioned foreign authors, like John Steinbeck for instance. I could not read the Indonesian version of his books, because I am pursuing my study in Singapore. However, I can read the English version of his books. Steinbeck, an American writer, was a Nobel laurate and Pulitzer-winner. So far, I already read two of his books and both of them were beatifully-written. First book I read, was The Cup of Gold, a story about a pirate. The second book I read, which made Steinbeck to receive the award from Nobel, was The Grapes of Wrath. The story was about how miserable the family can be after landlord system and discriminating Okies (Oklahoma people). If you want to read this book in Indonesian, search for the title Amarah. I would say, Steinbeck is my favourite author so far. His writing was so pessimsitic yet realistic, contain anger but controlled, and explain the situation exceptionally well. This literature book, was really amazing and inspire me in a lot of ways.
John Steinbeck, an American author
Currently, I am reading the book from another Nobel laurate from Turkey, Orhan Pamuk. The title of the book is My Name Is Red (the Turkish version : Benim Adım Kırmızı ). So far, the story is excellent. And what amazed me, Orhan Pamuk used lots of narrator in this book. He used dog, many characters, even coins to 'talk' in this book. If you read it, then you will understand.
It's good to read many literature books. Although it's quite difficult to understand, but there is an art in it. Once you can interpret it very well, then you know how beautiful the book is. And no doubt, it can inspire you.
So, what books that inspire you? :)
Further readings
Orhan Pamuk's My Name Is Red
http://en.wikipedia.org/wi
Pramoedya Ananta Toer's Buru Quartet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wi
John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath
http://en.wikipedia.org/wi
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