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Hello fellow readers, welcome to 2020! This is my first wrap up in 2020. That's exciting. Although this year doesn't start in a good note, what with Australia bushfire, Jakarta flood, and corona virus. I'm currently living in Jakarta. Thankfully, I didn't directly impacted by the flood. I hope everyone's fine and stay safe. However, in term of reading, I read a lot. I finished 7 books. True, some of them are Penguin minis and mangas but those are good stories. So let's jump right in.
Books read in January
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Kim Ji-Yeong Lahir Tahun 1982 - Cho Nam-Joo (★★★★) |
This book is a translation of a popular South Korean fiction novel by Cho Nam-Joo. The title in English is Kim Ji-Yeong Born 1982. It follows Kim Ji-yeong, a 34 year old woman living in South Korea. She suffers from depression after giving birth to her first-born. Because of that, her husband takes her to a psychiatrist. From there in order to understand what makes her what she is, we then learn her family life story since before she was born until she has her daughter. This book talks about gender discrimination in South Korea. Although it's set in South Korea, sadly what Ji-yeong experienced is relatable to women around the world, no matter where they are. There are many important points being highlighted in this book which I think is important to be discussed. Reading this book is exhausting because as a woman myself, I can't help but reflecting Ji-yeong's life to mine. It made me feels uneasy, angry at times, and sad. Reading this book kind of reminding me of when I read The Vegetarian by Han Kang. Anyway, this book has already been translated into Indonesian and English but the one that I read is in Indonesian. I recommend this book to read whether you're a woman or not.
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In The Miso Soup - Ryu Murakami (★★★) |
In the miso soup is a crime mystery/ thriller book by a Japanese author named Ryu Murakami. It tells the story of Kenji, a Tokyo nightlife guide, as he took an American tourist named Frank on a tour around the red light district in Tokyo. A high school student was murdered not too long ago in the area and as Kenji getting to know Frank he started to became suspicious of Frank and suspected that he might be the killer. In the miso soup is the kind of book that will creep on you slowly and shock you. If you're familiar with Japanese literature, I think you will have a little inkling of what's to come. It's gory and explicit but aside of its mystery aspect this book also touches on what Japanese people think of foreign people especially American. Reading this book is quite a weird experience and it got under my skin a little bit. I've written a full review of In the Miso Soup if you want to know more about my thoughts on it.
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Orange: The Complete Collection, Volume 1 - Ichigo Takano (★★★★) |
Orange is a manga about a girl named Takamiya Naho who received a letter from her future self. In the letter, she asked her past self who's still in high school to save a boy who just moved to her school named Kakeru. This manga is previously released as tankobon in 6 volumes but the one that I read is the collected edition which divided into 2 volumes. In the first volume, it mainly focuses on the introduction of Kakeru, Naho and their circle of friends. It also focuses on how Naho reacts to the unexpected letter and finding out what truly happened to Kakeru. Besides a story of being teenagers and growing up, Orange actually talks about dark themes such as depression and suicide. This manga made me emotional at some parts. I love how Takano sensei managed to draw Kakeru's true emotion subtly while trying to appear cheerful to the others. That hits me hard because it depicts how people with depression often seem okay to others when they're actually not. I also love how this manga questions destiny and fate. Like if you change the present based on your knowledge of your future to prevent something from happening, then from then on your future will be different than the future that you already know. Who will ensure that the same future won't happen again? What if no matter what you do things will end up the same way because it's destined to be that way? There's a chapter in it which talks about time travel and alternate realities and I think the alternate realities concept is what's used in this manga. This is only the first volume and some things are not answered yet. However, this manga shows two perspectives, one from Naho's high school self and the other is from Naho's ten years after the Kakeru first moved to her school. The two perspectives help me putting together the big picture and figure out the timeline. I think this manga has an interesting premise. It will pull on your heartstrings, I highly recommend Orange to read.
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Orange: The Complete Collection, Volume 2 - Ichigo Takano (★★★★★) |
This manga is the second and the last volume for Orange complete collection. In this volume, we come to learn how and what initiates the letters. Since we're getting nearer and nearer to the point where Naho and her friends lost Kakeru, it's getting more emotional. The depression stuff in this manga feels real, too real it scares me a bit. The ending is touching and it shows how important it is to have a support system in your life. It also shows how important it is to be considerate towards others. Even if they seem fine, you don't know what they've been through or what's going on through their mind. This volume also include another story called Haruiro Astronaut. It's very different from Orange. In fact, the mangaka herself said that she's having fun with this title. It's fluffy and full of shoujo manga tropes. It's a nice intermezzo after the hard stuff from Orange. I'm glad that I finally read this manga. I highly recommend Orange to read.
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The Old Man of the Moon - Shěn Fù (★★★) |
This book is a part of Penguin Little Black Classic collection. I honestly knew nothing about this title. The only reason I picked it up is because I want to read more of Asian literature. This bbook is written by Shen Fu, a Chinese writer from the Qing Dynasty. This mini book is actually a part of Shen Fu's autobiography which focuses on Shen Fu's wife, Chen Yun. It tells the story of how he met his wife, his wife's personality, and his love for his wife. I think it's sweet of him to write about his wife. Especially considering the custom when this book was originally written, women don't have the same privilege as women now. But Shen Fu treated his wife as equal, sharing his hobbies and thoughts with her. At some point, Yun even dressed around as a man so they could spend the time together outside. The title itself refers to Yue Lao, the God of Marriage and Love in Chinese mythology. Yue Lao appears as an old man under the moon. Hence the title. All in all, this book is such a nice introduction to a classic Chinese literature.
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The Breakthrough - Daphne du Maurier (★★★★) |
This book is a part of Penguin modern mini collection. The story in this book is originally a part of du Maurier's short story collection called Not After Midnight, and other stories. The breakthrough follows Stephen Sauders, an electrical engineer who was sent to join a project in an isolated laboratory. He didn't know what the project was because it's so secretive, at least not until he arrived at the facility. It turns out he was expected to help operating a computer that's supposedly able to capture 'energy' from human being. The team lead, James MacLean hypothesized that after people died, their energy would escape and wasted. So he's trying to capture that 'vital spark' using the computer. The computer itself is named Charon, referring to the ferryman who carries souls of the newly deceased across the rivers Styx from Greek mythology. A young assistant who was dying of leukimia, Ken, became their test subject. However, when the experiment was conducted, they found out that Ken's life energy wasn't the only one the Charon captured.
I must say, it's such an interesting concept. I know Daphne du Maurier is a household name with her novel Rebecca. Even so, I haven't read Rebecca. I think this book is a nice introduction to her writing which I enjoy. The idea is intriguing, it's easy to read, and it kept me on the edge of my seat. The atmosphere of being in isolation and MacLean creep me out. The science in this book is ambiguous. Yet, the ambiguity makes it even creepier. The Breakthrough really encourages me to read Rebecca. I recommend this Penguin modern mini book especially if you're looking for a book with Gothic vibe.
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The Life of a Stupid Man - Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (★★★★) |
The Life of a Stupid Man is a part of Penguin Little Black Classic collection. This one collected 3 of Akutagawa's short stories, In a Bamboo Grove, Death Register, and The Life of a Stupid Man. In a Bamboo Grove is a murder mystery story surrounding a man who was found dead in a bamboo groove. It's written in testimonies from people involved in the case. It opens with a testimony from the woodcutter who found the body, a travelling priest, the policeman, the suspect, the wife's mother, the wife, and the ghost of the man himself. The story starts as your usual murder mystery, but as more people give testimonies we learn that each negates the others. If you're willing to be observant enough you'll learn little mundane details that contradictory. For a short story, it's quite complicated to summarize yet fun to be dissected.
The second one is an autobiographical story in which Akutagawa wrote about the death of people around him including his mother. In Death Register he also wrote about how his mother suffered from mental illness, and their relationship. He also voiced his concern of being inherited his mother's illness. Death Register kind of giving me a sense of what's on Akutagawa's mind. He's been surrounded by many deaths, not to mention his worries of ending up like his mother. It was a bleak glimpse of his state of mind.
While the last story the Life of a Stupid Man, which is also the title of this mini collection, is an autobiography short story composed of many paragraphs with a specific theme for each one. The paragraphs are mainly Akutagawa's observation of his surrounding and his thoughts start from when he's twenty leading up to his death at 35 years old. Akutagawa actually died by suicide. From the previous short story, we learn that he's been surrounded by death and he has fear over his mental health. The Life of a Stupid Man reveals how his health kept deteriorating. He wouldn't sleep for days because he couldn't, he had hallucinations which made him depend on drugs. It's bleak and depressing especially when we reach the part where he's 35 years old. It feels like he's in constant anxiety which affected his view of life. At one part, he even blatantly said that he's tired of living and there's only one choice for him, madness or death. The last paragraph, Defeat, gives us a clear idea of which path he chose.
Although full of despair, I'm genuinely impressed by his ability to express his emotion and thoughts into such a short story. I love his writing. Now I want to read all of his works. If you haven't read any Akutagawa's I think this mini book is a perfect introduction to his works.
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Review Posts in January
January Favorites
Book
Orange
The Life of A Stupid Man
TV Series
The Good Place Season 4
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It is the final season of the Good Place. This show is so good I can't bear to part with it. I put off watching season 4 because I wasn't ready to say goodbye to team cockroach yet. But the ending is perfect. I had such a high expectation for the ending I was afraid that it wouldn't meet my expectation. It does. It's bittersweet and touching, I cried. If you haven't watched the series, I highly highly recommend it.
Modern Love Season 1
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I included this in my December 2019 wrap-up. I saved some episodes to watch for later and I finally finished all of it in January. Oh my gosh I need season 2 immediately. What I love about this series is the episodes have some kind of fairy tale like quality yet it's believable to be realistic stories. It's touching, sad, and hopeful. The last episode is so wholesome I can watch it over and over again. I highly recommend the series and really can't wait the second season.
Music
Bon Iver i,i Tour Concert
Oh. My. God. What an experience. To give a bit of a background, Bon Iver has been accompanying me since I was an undergrad student. His music would constantly play while I was working on term's final projects, undergrad thesis, up until master thesis. So his music means a lot to me. I was on twitter when one of my friends who apparently a fan of Bon Iver tweeted about it. So when the ticketbox opened, I immediately bought one. I don't even care if I'd go watch it alone because his music is personal to me. I'm glad I decided to go. Now I get why people said that his live performances are transcendental. It's like you're enveloped in their sound. Such a moving performance that many people actually cried (including yours truly, lol) and someone made a joke about it. If you're a fan of their music and haven't seen them live, you have to try it. This experience is something that I'll keep forever.
So there you have it. The first wrap up of the year. How's your January? Did you have a good start of the year? I'm excited to read more books in February. Hope you all have a good month ahead!
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