Monday, September 13, 2010

the books

i finished reading TAPAI by Hishamuddin Rais last night and was glad i read him first before Tina Kisil's book. i was fairly dissapointed by Kisil's. but, i'd give it another try today. i might erase this tomorrow (if i change my mind), but, as of now my 3 major dissapointments in Kisil's book are:
1. the typeface and unjustified paragraphs
2. the stories are not chronologically structured, making the whole book looks messy
3. what? she doesnt speak Dusun? are you kidding me? blur that sentence out man... theres no good excuse of inability to speak Dusun for kampung kids back in the 60's. thus, the story seems real fake to me.

the good side? my sister approved of it. the front cover is excellent. though, i'd much prefered a right foot marking on the paddy fields (left one is considered bad luck and rude in Dusun culture...). i'm doing the re-reading. maybe, its my fault, maybe i put high expectation on the book.

As for the TAPAI, 2 thumbs up. (written by a swan among the ducks, who discovered that he can fly- enjoy the flight dude- in the end, you'll realize, you are too, just a bird, like the rest of the ducks). i love the honesty in his writing and the theme- food. except for 3 chapters, he wrotes hardcore food discoveries, which i enjoyed very much! and the liberation of ones mind. that's the essence of his writing. but, trying to be different for the sake of being different is hardly a statement and most of the time a real cliche. (i'll save him an invitation for our satay and red wine eatery). anybody knew how to contact him?

here's my new mug---->


i still have Farish Noor and Irving for weekend and a new mug to accompany me. my hexies progress in my my other blog "my passion" and i paste picture of the front cover of books i read over there.

i'm going to write a review of Kisil's book. so i wont rant about it here. i found the author's blog Tea with Tina. she's a new blogger and if you think her book good, her blog is a must visit.

12 comments:

Night said...

nice mug..haahah
**komen pasal mug jak pasal aku tak baca buku..hehehe

jenkays said...

aku mo komen yg sama smlm tapi takut kena marah...why oren?not green?

kukuanga said...

muahahahaha.. to both of you.

aku pny kitchen banyak barang orange and green. sebelah mug tu hijau bah juga the bulat2.

komen lah bah on the new hijau header..

ppong said...

No. I never said m impressed with the book cover. coz sia rasa, kalau dia kasi bikin cover tu gambar muka dia lagi laku mengkali, hehe. owh, she is gorgeous! (terus sia pikir2, dapatkah sia mengambil gambar potrait yg sebegitu rupa?) uhh..the susunan sama unjustified font tu, mengkali boleh tanya dia pny editor la.

kukuanga said...

watch the full stop mark k pong. i wrote: "my sister approved of it. the front cover is excellent." ko approve sama dia pny buku. i said, itu cover yg cantik.

after re-reading, ya, banyak details yg menarik. astaga.. aku mnejadi hyper-critical plak sama ni buku. chet!

jenkays said...

woit..sejak bila korang jadi professional mengomen buku org ni ha? but i think there will never be another writer that wud impress me like andrea hirata..!! he made my life wonderfull muahahaha skrg rasa hidup ni perlu di terus kan dengan tenang dan perlahan-lahan

ppong said...

bersemangat baca ni buku pasal dia cerita pekara pasal urang dusun bah jen. lepas baca dia pny sinopsis d belakang buku, terus tu expectation got high! sadly, ada flaw juga. tapi dia pny 1st book juga bah. lagipun, suka hati lah bah dia mau bikin buku dia mcmn.

hhehe, tu buku indon sia baca sikit2, namau overflowed, tapi ada perkataan2 yg susah dimengerti. hehe baru sampai part dia kestau kawan2 dia ttg plan pusing eropah dengasn bekerja d jalanan dan tiba2 kawan2 dia betting pula. hehe.

kukuanga said...

ahahahahah..
obses mau tau apa tu lady tulis pasal orang dusun bah jen.

pong,
sy sudah kasi comment dalam tu editor punya blog.

ya, Hirata masih lagi penulis asia paling menarik bagi sy juga jen. and, ya, from now on, i'll write book review.. (dengan penuh harapan mau kasi jangkit kengkawan baca buku, supaya jadi gila sama-sama)

Tina said...

Hi! This is a 'return' visit to say thanks for looking in the other day. I see that I've caused a tiny ripple here!
Glad that my book caught your eye, or maybe I should say your sister's?
As you can see, I'm new to blogging and still trying to improve before telling my friends about it. Looking forward to your visits and comments!!

kukuanga said...

pong! Tina Kisil baru commented on my blog! (owh God!)

dear Tina,
thanks for the visit. me and my sister discussed a lot of your book's content. its not just a 'ripple' it caused. its our lives revisited! and as much as our opinions differ, we highly think of your book as a milestone for us, Dusun women. thanks for the motivations and role-model to look up to.

Tina said...

Hi again! I'm blog hopping and lurking around here. Pong must be your sis. Will visit her blog one of these days.
I'm glad that you could relate to what I've written. More Dusuns should write about our people and culture. Except for old books (written by white men) books about the Dusuns are almost non-existent. It's time we write our own stories!

ppong said...

hi Tina! glupppps.. (kihkih, author struck skijap). I run a blog which is not running. so, you might want to save your trip to my blog for another day. (aiya, malu me)