Catcher in The Rye by JD Silinger ( 1951)

Catcher in The Rye  by JD Silinger ( 1951)

                Catcher in The Rye adalah salah satu novel yang paling tidak patut dicontoh, terutama para pelajar. Bercerita tentang remaja bernama Holden yang baru saja dikeluarkan dari sekolah asramanya. Dia berniat kembali pulang kerumah namun sebelumnya dia bergentayangan di New York mengunjungi bar-bar, hotel, teman dan guru-gurunya. Saat membaca buku ini pembaca sebaiknya menyiapkan samsak atau semacamnya karena mungkin akan gemas dengan tingkah Holden yang seenaknya menjustifikasi orang tanpa merasa berdosa dan mengumpat dan berbicara kotor. Namun sebenarnya bagi saya bagaimana dia melakukanya lebih terlihat lucu daripada membuat saya ingin memukul wajahnya, dia semacam misantrop (membenci segala hal secara umum), namun sebenarnya anak yang baik, dan hanya belum mengerti.

Cerita berfokus pada Holden yang kelayapan di New York menghabiskan uangnya, membeli minuman keras (dengan memalsu identitas), menyewa WTS (yang tak jadi ditidurinya), keliling kota menggunakan taksi sambil mempertanyakan hal-hal aneh, menginap di tempat gurunya, dan sebagainya. Sesampainya dirumah dia bertemu dengan adiknya, sepertinya disepanjang buku satu-satunya orang yang di sayanginya adalah adik perempuanya. Dan dia berencana untuk melarikan diri dari rumah, menolak pendidikan dan pergi memulai hidup baru. Namun  niatnya itu diurungkan saat dia hampir pergi teryata adiknya membuntutinya dan ingin pergi bersamanya, hubungan mereka begiru erat dan adegan saat adiknya merengek untuk Holden supaya jangan pergi lumayang menyentuh, haha. Cerita ditutup dengan penyesalan Holden yang keren. “I didn't know what the hell to say. If you want to know the truth, I don't know what I think about it. I'm sorry I told so many people about it. About all I know is, I sort of miss everybody I told about. Even old Stradlater and Ackley, for instance. I think I even miss that goddam Maurice. It's funny. Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.”

Lord of The Flies by William Golding (1954 )

Lord of The Flies by William Golding (1954 )

                Its not actually child book, There’re many philosophical phrase about human, relationship, brotherhood and maybe politic. Its fun book because only childs interfere in it, but absolutely not fun stories. In the beginning, its seems cute like the shell, the rule for speak, row of child form something like party or sort of, it remind me of Spongebob episode magic shell when Patrick, Sponge and Squid lost in forrest. Why not fun stories, close to the end of the book its nearly like the 1979 Capolla’s movie Apocalypse Now.

                The story start about group of child lost in unknown island, firstly they’re separated from one another but then a child find shell that could sound like wistle, and when he blow it every childs come to make an assemble. Then they pick a leader and divide the job for each one, its like political procession, how when its get worse everything is ruin.

            The group divided into two which is to hunt for food and the leader’s to make and keep the fire alive to make sign so ship can see it and save them. They gathering fruit, build a shelter, hunt animal for food, and held meeting regularly. Firstly, the hunters are afraid to chase down a pig, of course they’re still bunch of kids, but later they gradually become kind of gang of hyena or something, they become greed and held a party to celebrate their prey. It’s the day that the leader of the hunters quarrel with the chief, the hunters left the chief and form their own assemble, what they’re doing is hunt and eat to survive. And the chief and some of followers keep the fire to savior.

            And there’s mysterious scary thing (unknown thing) that the kids called the beast, and the hunters so arrogant that he’ll catch the beast. Lord of The Flies itself is mysterious creature that guide one of the child to the group of hunters when they’re in high and when this kid come, they think he’s the beast and kill him. Its creepy thing that kids killing each  other. Later the hunter become worse and they kill another kid and finally hunt the chief to kill him. The and is little bit awkward that when the hunters chase the chief to the beach, a ship come and they’re all crying like a kid as usual.

Animal Farm by George Orwell (1945)

Animal Farm by George Orwell (1945)

                Karya Orwell pertama yang saya baca, dan ternyata amazing. Satire politik yang dikemas dalam cerita fable dengan sangat cerdas dan simbolis. Seiring membaca novella ini saya menghubung-hubungkanya dengan kondisi atau suatu kasus politik dan sangat masuk akal, orwell mewakilkanya dengat akurat dan sangat mudah diingat. Narasinya terkesan polos namun tetap cerdas, seakan-akan Orwell menulis sambil menyembunyikan sesuatu dibalik peristiwa-peristiwa yang digambarkanya. Didalamnya juga dibumbui dengan pidato-pidato keren yang dapat menggerakan masa, menanamkan sebuah ideology atau semacamnya. Cerita dalam novella ini, meski tidak terlalu panjang namun sangat padat.

                Novella ini bercerita tentang pemberontakan hewan-hewan terhadap pemiliknya yang dipelopori seekor babi, namun kemudian babi itu mati dan peranya diambil alih oleh dua ekor babi lain yang lebih muda Napoleon dan Snowbell. Di antara hewan-hewan babi diwatakan sebagai hewan paling pintar diantara yang lainya. Pertama mereka berhasil mengusir manusia dari peternakan dengan beberapa kali perseteruan, lalu kemudian mereka benar-benar mampu menguasai peternakan dan mampu menjalankan semuanya sendiri. Namun suatu ketika Napoleon menyingkirkan Snowball dalam debat argumentasi tentang pembuatan sebuah kincir angin oleh usulan snowball, dengan mengancam snowball dengan anjing-anjing galak yang telah dilatih oleh Napoleon secara rahasia. Akhirnya Napoleon menjadi peminpin tunggal peternakan. Setelahnya Napoleon membangun juga kincir angin tersebut dengan menuduh snowball mencuri idenya. Snowball juga dituduh berkoalisi dengan manusia untuk merebut kembali peternakan dan tuduhan-tuduhan yang buruksehingga Napoleon akan member hukuman pagi yang bekerja sama denganya. Sebenarnya tak ada bukti yang kuat jika snowball yang melakukan pemberontakan termasuk merusak kincir angin yang telah dibuat.

                Seiring waktu, napoleon berubah menjadi pemimpin yang otoriter dan menyerupai manusia saat sebelum peternakan mereka rebut, dan diperlakukan kurang layak sementara napoleon sendiri sibuk dengan aktifitasnya seperti seorang burgois.

                Salah satu adegan faforit saya diakhir novel adalah saat Napoleon secara rahasia melakukan pertemuan rahasia dengan manusia dan berpesta minum dengan mereka dengan disaksikan para hewan-hewan yang mengintip dari jendela dan tak melakukan apa-apa—hanya melihatnya dari sana  dan mendengar apa yang dibicarakan dan mereka tak bias membedakan antara babi dan manusia saat napoleon terlibat pertengkaran dengan salah satu manusia. Seketika saat saya melihat scene itu saya berpikir tentang antara rakyat dan pemerintah—pemerintah melakukan apapun dan ya media merekamnya, melihatnya sehingga rakyat juga melihat dan mendengarnya, tapi terhadap yang terjadi disana, dibalik semua informasi yang bias didapat, sikap orang-orang hampir sama seperti hewan-hewan itu. 

Songs That Represent A Book and Literature Work

Songs That Represent A Book and Literature Work.

                Sometime when we listen to a certain song its lyric or anything direct us to a certain moment or something.  Here’s i figure few song that relate to a book or literature work. I don’t know if the songwriter in purpose write based on the book, im not checking one by one of them on wikipedia or something, its just my experience that when i listen to a song i remember the book or the opposite, and of course we can agree and disagree to the define.

1.       Led Zeppelin’s Stairway To Heaven and A Potrait of An Artist As A Young Man by James Joyce.

This both are legend no doubt, when we hear this song first thing came might be the wonderful solo guitar, amazing song and hard paraphase lyric. Indeed, anyone could have defferent interpretation about the meaning, like it said in the song “sometimes word have two meaning” that represent—maybe the bibble of another book of wisdom or religion. And Joyce is one of the pioneer of the modernist literature.

This song im pretty sure about faith, doubt and sort of. Staiway To Heaven means the persuit of heaven, virtue or Buddha said Nirvana, the struggle which is way we choose to wisdom. Lets think thay The Lady was Stephen Dadalus, she think all glitter is gold that means everything she sees is just her subjective view and of course it migh wrong. Its relate that Stephen’s struggle wether he will follow his free will or stay on the line of religious view. “Theres feel that i got when i look to the west” can be represent when Stephen read western philosophy and literature and also when his friends mock him for being astray cause his favourite poet was Lord Byron (I read Byron and  yes some I read  his poems’ about the view of faith, God and somekind, but i hardly knew yet the astray part, or im just stupid haha). Just like Stephen, the song said that there’s sign on the wall but she wont be sure, this is very Stephen indeed. We can relate almost all of the lyric to the novel, its very makes sense if you can see.

2.       John Lennon’s Imagine and Books of Marx

In his song American Pie,  Don McLean state ”..When Lenin read the books of Marx, the quartet practice in the park..” Lenin means Lennon and quartet means Beatles, no doubt that Lennon is largely influenced by western nor eastern Phylosopher and culture. We’ll agreed this is the ‘loudest’ song about communist. In the song state that imagine no possesion and no religion too,  brotherhood of men and so on, in the Communist Manifesto, Marx state that the idea of socialism might could be summed up in a  sentence: The abolishing the private property. And in case of religion marx state that it should disposed. The line, “you may say im a dreamer, but im not the only one” reminds me of the rise of proletariat against  capitalism and monarcy (its not really ruin actually, haha), slow but sure along with France revolution, english Industrial revolution and Germany movement etc.

3.       Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here and To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee

We can take the point of this book by reading the bedtime story about Grey Ghost  at the end of the novel or the preface quote or we can listen to this song intensly. Its about understanding others completely without any prejudice, i dont know if any other that define this song about Floyd’s ex member that dead by drug, I have defferent opinion about it to be more universal and relate to this book. Do you think you can tell, blue skies from pain, heaven from hell, can you tell the green field from the cold steel rail, i think is that we can’t feel and understand people if we’re not walking on their shoes and walk miles as their point of view.

4.       Mumford & Sons’ Dust Bowl Dance and The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

I have a defferent interpretation bout this song before i read the book, like another mumford’s song, they’re so poetic and have so many metaphor. Im the only son is evident that he’s Tom Joad that leads his family to California and makes most every decision and try  to keep them in a row. Theres no one in the town and no one in the field, and the dusty barren land has give it could yield  picture the condition of Oklahama that no longer plant could grow, and so there’s nothing could be eat therefore. This song is more like— in poetic way—a melancholy pray to the God and like said “look here nothing left, just gimme something to survive”. And again the line “...your greed and disgrace, one man has and anothe has not, how can you loved what it is you’ve got...when you took it from the weak hand of the poor...” draw the greed of the burgouise, the one who got all the capital (marx again) and make the labour paid very little wage. “know where i stand, know where i hide.... yes it was me, i know what ive done cause i know what i see..” Its about as he had experienced and see all the circumtances so he just did the best he could like he’s the only son, no one else could he counting on but himself. Both of them, song and the book is just so depressing.

5.       Radiohead’s 2+2=5 and 1984 by George Orwell

Radiohead is one of my favorite band ever, and Orwell is one of my favorite writer, he influenced me a lot about the political perception. Of cource this song isn’t capture a lot from the content of the book, the book is so tight consist of amazing opinion toward political circumstance, and this song take the one big part of the book. 2+2=5 is about the fact is just as prespective, the way we sees thing through everything in front, what is the defferent among 4 or 5? Logic is doesn’t matter when nobody willing to believe that 2 plus 2 equal to another number. Nietzsche said, “there’s no fact, only interpretation” and in the book it said that even fact through  the histories could be crooked by the time. Well, this theories makes me much more skeptical in a positive way.

6.       The Police’s Don't Stand So Close to Me and Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov.

This is one of my favorite book ever, indeed its phedofil, abnormal, obscene, but Nabokov plays his word very beautiful, and no better book in the genre. In the song the ‘old’ man said as a young teacher and in nabokov’s its professor half age as the abnormal. Dont stand so close means keep space from attracting sexual intercourse beetwen the schoolgirl and the teacher, nevertheless Humbert in Nabokov given by Lolita the innocence flattery. I dont think that its a taboo thing that sort of intercours accur to the young generation, its really exist hidding behind the normal scene. Such theme shouldn’t be prohibited topic to study or observation, otherwise i more likely thought that its a caution or somekind to the lecturer, parent and so on to notice such thing, like it said in the book.

7.       The Band Perry’s If I Die Young and Lady of Shalott by Alfred Tennyson (Poem)

This song makes me fall in love to the band. I used to read poetry randomly book to book by Whitman, Emerson, Frost, Byron, Wilde, Yeats, etc. and of course Tennyson, but this poem i haven’t read yet till I watched If I Die Young’s music video, when at the end it shows the scene of the poetry book in the page  Lady of Shalott, like some other Alfred’s poems its draw a farewell, but  i think its beyond that. Shalott is a women lived inside the castle which has a curse or something makes her can’t look stright to the outside world through window, she sees the world by shadow appear in the magic mirror (Well, its also remind me of Plato’s Allegory of The Cave, pretty resemble). One day come a knight Lancelot come to the castle and then shalott break the curse to look upon world stright and the mirror crack and she died just like in the song, “If I die young burry me in satin, lay me down on the bed of roses, sink me in the River, send me away with the word of love song”.

At the song there’s line “.., there’s so much more after im gone maybe then you hear the word i’ve been singin, funny when you died how people start to listen”, its represent the end of the poem that right after Shalott died along side the muse people start mention her name and Lancelot just said a pray for her. Its ironic when she’s start see the real world, death came upon her. Its like the world is something that surpraising, rapturing, or fearfull thing and come appear as a something undeniedable such death, the end for the new beginning, and leave the world itself as innocence-act-of-respond.

Thats it, for sure there’re much more songs if you want check, this just I write what i’ve been experienced.