Elfira Yolanda S

The Umbrella Man and Other Stories by Roald Dahl

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After so many years, finally I read another work from Roald Dahl. When I was in junior high, I read The Witches and it gave me a so so impression plus I was fined by the book rental for late return. I know, I know, an absurd reason not to read books from a particular author. :P

Even after Charlie and The Chocolate Factory movie came out (I love it!), I am not intrigued to read Roald Dahl’s other books. Not until I saw The Fantastic Mr. Fox movie. I can still hum the song from the movie.

Boggis and Bunce and Bean..

One fat, one short, one lean.

These horrible crooks

So different in looks

Were nonetheless equally mean!

The Umbrella Man and Other Stories has 12 horror short stories and a story about planes.

The plane story is placed as the 8th story in the book and at first I was surprised. I was expecting another horror story and when I read and waited for the darkness part to come, it never came. Then I remember that Roald Dahl was a fighter pilot and he wrote article about war. Soon after I realized this, I skipped the story. :D

The horror stories in this book are all adult stories. Some of them are bloody scary to imagine (or is it me who easily get scared..).

Don’t be fooled by my short appreciation for each of the story below. Roald Dahl is an awesome story teller and even when I found some stories similar, I still got engaged in the way Mr. Dahl magically conducts the characters and the events. Thumbs up!

The Great Automatic Grammatizator
The idea presented in the story is scary. You know that in cooking, there might be an ingredient that’s lastly added and the dish’s fragant or taste becomes stronger after that? This story is like that kind of dish.

Mrs. Bixby and The Colonel’s Coat
One word comes to mind: deceit.

The Buttler
This story reminds me of the famous children tale, The Emperor’s New Clothes. Yes, it’s definitely same story, different set.

Man From The South
With proper imagination, there would be blood involved. One bloody scary story indeed.

The LandLady
If it were a song, the title would be Hotel California.

Parson’s Pleasure
Another deceit.

The Umbrella Man
Witnessing a deceit.

Katina
The air plane story. Didn’t finish reading.

The Way Up To Heaven
This is a warning to always keep not just ourselves sane, but for the sake of our life, keep other around us sane, too. Because you never know what a mental person could do.

Royal Jelly
It reveals the horror of being obsessed. That’s what I thought.

Vengeance Is Mine Inc
Cool company name, bad bad business.

Taste
A story of a jerk.

Neck
I need a second opinion for this story, really. I read and read the last few paragraphs and would really like to confirm what happen at the end. Did he really do that? Did he not? Did he? Did he??

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Integrated Korean: Beginning 1, 2nd Edition by Young-Mee Cho

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is my first Korean textbook and I love it! It has 8 units and each unit has 2 conversations, a narration, usage example of the lessons learned in the unit, and a piece on Korean culture snipplet. The audio files are provided in KLEAR website.

The Grammar Points and Vocabulary

I have no complain against the grammar taught in this book. At my beginner level, I’d just welcome any points taught and be happy to be able to create more simple sentences throughout the lessons. Since it’s a college textbook, the vocabulary revolves around campus life and it’s perfectly ok with me.

I love it that they only use romanization at some parts in the introduction. I’m not a big fan of romanization. It surely helps at certain point, like when the first time learning 한글, or when we communicate with those who are not learning Korean (btw, 한글 is Hangul, the Korean writing system), or when the tools are not capable for writing in 한글.

For Korean learning textbooks and dictionary, I prefer romanization served at minimum or almost zero rate. That’s why I prefer Collin’s gem dictionary instead of Berlitz. Thanks to Febry, the dictionary is on the way, yay!

The Exercises

The book does not have the answer key and I read that even the workbook of this KLEAR series don’t have the answer key provided. The exercises tend to be short in number and some are only applicable in a classroom or with partners (not quite suitable for a self learner like me). Despite all that, I’m grateful to have those exercises.

Other Parts

I love the introduction, the objectives list, and the closing part of the book. My favorite part of the introduction is the pronunciation rules. It’s the part where I always keep running to whenever I hear different from the sound I am expecting to catch on my ears. I mark this part with post-it.

The objectives list provide us the summary of each unit, which grammar points at which part, what culture snipplet and what kind of usage. Needless to say, it’s one helpful list for ㅁ reference. As the new grammar rules come, I use this list a lot.

The last few pages in this book consist of appendices, grammar index, and the glossary. More references which if I knew about it sooner, it would make my studying time more efficient. I even left out the glossary until I reached Unit 8, the last unit. Before that, I kept turning the previous pages to find what certain word meant and it happened like thousand times! *sigh*

The glossary is Korean-English, and vice versa. The Korean-English one can be useful to learn the 한글 alphabet order. I’m so gonna use this one for my next books of this series! (Hope the books will arrive safely next week, cross my fingers xD)

이 책을 정말 좋아해요. 여러분, 한국어 재미있지요? ^^

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This week I just got my books from Book Depository, the online bookstore based in UK. I first heard about Book Depository from this forum (in Indonesian). The store offers free shipping to worldwide, including to Indonesia.

But free shipping does not always mean cheaper. Like any other purchase, comparison will help deciding from options available. I asked several questions before buying books, especially import books, from Book Depository or from any bookstore for that matter.

Are the books available in local bookstore? No. In Kuta, where I currently live, I haven’t seen the books in Periplus, Times bookstore and even Gramedia.

Have you checked local(Indonesian) online bookstore? I actually could send an inquiry to several bookstore such as Kinokuniya (customer_service@kinokuniya.co.id), Periplus, Times bookstore, or Aksara (info@aksara.com). They accept book order either via email or form on their website (and they respond in twitter, too). A friend had an experience buying the third book of Hunger Games trilogy from Kinokuniya and the service was excellent.

I think I could get my books in Kinokuniya. Though their Indonesian website doesn’t have any search form yet but I assume what I can find in other Kinokuniya’s website can also be found in their Indonesian store (well, if it’s not in stock, I think they can make it available since they’re one company, right?). I did the search in their Singapore website. The books were available but at price I’m not willing to pay. :P

What’s with the price? I can’t say any particular store has the absolute best price for all books. Price comparison is a must. The import books on local bookstores usually have higher price than the stores like Amazon and Book Depository. So, if Amazon has shipping cost, does that mean Book Depository is the better way to go? Not always. Some books we’ll find it cheaper and some more expensive at Amazon, and other books at the same price. So, always compare, compare carefully!

Anything else to pay? I could think of 2 things, time and means of payment. I think the first one is more general. It takes 25 days for the books to come into my bookshelf. Let me note down the dates:

26 Feb: ordering date
1 & 2 March: books dispatched (I order 2 books, they were dispatched separately and that’s why I got 2 packages)
22 March: my happy day!

What makes it worth the long wait is the total of 300K IDR difference with Kinokuniya price. If it’s under 100K IDR, I would bear with it because I might have got the books faster from Kinokuniya, if the book is in stock. If it’s not in stock, with 300K IDR difference, I need to wait for 3-4 weeks as they order it from their warehouse. But that’s my case.

Another friend of mine just got her books from Kinokuniya Jakarta. She ordered it by email and the books are available. She  pays 80K IDR more than the price at Book Depository but the books arrives within 2 days.

What about means of payment? I took it into consideration because I still don’t own a credit card. Lucky me, my dear friend Rika was willing to help me with the purchase (I can’t thank you enough, jeng!). But I feel that it would be great if I can handle (control?) all my book purchase process from beginning to end. I’m thinking of getting a credit card but that’s another story.

There’s actually a way to purchase import books without credit card. There are at least 2 online bookstores in Indonesia that helps us purchase books from Amazon (yes, only from Amazon at the moment), BukaBuku and Bookoopedia. I just tried buying via Bookoopedia a few days ago (ok, guilty! I can’t stop buying books!!). The total price is 50K IDR higher than Book Depository but I don’t need any credit card so it’s wonderful. I hope the books will arive safely (cross my fingers).

I chose Bookoopedia because when I searched for the books, Bukabuku didn’t list the new price on my books. The books I wanted to buy was recently discounted but the discounted price only showed up in Bookoopedia. See? Always compare!

This is imported goods, any tax? I’ve heard things and I’ve read things. Both Bookoopedia and Bukabuku said that total order higher than $50 is subjected to tax (read it here and here, in Indonesian).  I have nothing on this so I don’t have much to say. I’ll update it when my Bookoopedia order arrives.

Is that it? Is that all? Alternative! Regarding bookshopping, there is still e-book. I have no thought of converting to an ebook reader (am I using the correct term here?). But one day, one twitter account intercepted my conversation with Periplus (I was looking for a book by George Orwell, 1984). That account was of an online bookstore, specialized in ebooks. I guess they are the first in Indonesia. Check out their website here, Papataka. Quite a unique name, huh?

I guess that’s all for now. Happy book hunting!

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October
Your turn in the chair next time.

November
I know. I like your stories. Mine are always too dark.

October
I don’t think so..

October
It’s just that your nights are longer. And you aren’t as warm.

November
Put it like that, and I feel better.

November
I suppose we can’t help who we are.

taken from Neil Gaiman’s October In The Chair in his book, Fragile Things

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If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late by Pseudonymous Bosch

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What keeps me reading the series is the narator character. It was like I didn’t care at all about the story. I guess I just can’t lie about my age.

And I think that’s the only problem I have with this book. I mean if the author someday decides to write something that has more appeal to adult, I would definitely put it in my shelf. He is creative in way that he is able to come up with various detail in presenting a story. When I read the books (the first two of the series), I feel like each chapter has one extraordinary detail at minimal.

For example, there is a chapter in which he only writes an apology for losing the chapter, a quiz chapter with absurd questions. Then there is a chapter that teaches us a polite way of saying that something is unordinarily different (which is a polite way of saying weird). He also provides a prologue and appendix in similar way. If I were to read this in my younger years, I would probably be drown in full satisfaction.





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1 star

This book is never meant to be for my eyes and mind.
I wish I could burn this book.
*speechless*

2 stars

I manage to finish reading it.
It’s o-k-a-y.

3 stars

Hey, what’s this? I like it!
Hm.. Fascinating!

4 stars

Love it, love it!
I’m grateful to have read this book.
There are many things to say about this book.

5 stars

*amazed*
How can there be a book like this?
This book… I read it more than once in acceptable period of time.

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The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Me likey: the competition. Me no likey: the love seasoning.

Yes, the love thingy is just a bit and the way it is staged is reasonable but I guess it doesn’t suit my taste. I surely hope that it will not come out strongly in the rest of the trilogy or turn out in such different way.

And yes, the competition is scary. A reality show in which the viewers get to see 24 teenagers kill each other? Luckily it’s only fiction. Oh, please stay in fiction for eternity! I notice that I enjoy the book because I always enjoy the story of competition. You know, like watching Running Man with Yoo Jae Suk as MC (this shameless analogy is brought to you by my honest adoration to the humble and witty MC xP).

Anyway, this first book of the series is recommended to be a weekend reading (since reading it in weekdays would risk in sleep deprivation or uneasiness from having to put down the book for a while.

Cheers!

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Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

How did I know this book?

From blog-walking. The blog author was reading it for the n-th time and it is one of his favourite. And I thought the title is a thought-provoking for a moment. This book had been adapted to a famous 80′s movie, Blade Runner.

Any pre-reading thought?

Since the book is from 60s and the setting is around 1990, I was wondering what could be the thought/prediction from someone from the past? Even though it is only a fiction but still it came from one’s imagination. I read that the author died in 1982 so he didn’t get a chance to see if any of his came true. But I bet he had a lot of fun trying to create the future.

What kind of mood this book is setting me while reading it?

Gloomy and suffocated. I don’t want to live in the earth described in it. But from the viewer’s seat, it was nice, I just waited for the next action to come.

And after reading?

This book is 102 pages, I have the Oxford University Press version. It’s a short novel, yet it’s packed. There are many characters and I feel like every few pages I was turning could result in some questions. I think this book is a good resource for discussion in a literature class or book club.

Anything else to add?

Yes, I regret that I stopped in the middle of the story and then continue it after a while. I keep thinking it cuts me a big portion of impression. Hm. Maybe next time.



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Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The book leaves me stunned and in hunger for another Murakami’s works. I just have to read other titles to make sure whether the reading has really found a place in my heart or it’s all just a confusion that I will never understand.

The early chapters got me used to various ways of story telling. In fact, I think it lasted till the end. It was also rich in references. Most of them were about world famous literatures which was understandable and made me wonder how many he had read.

At first, I thought Kafka was only a weird name used to capture the readers’ attention. But apparently, it was from the German novelist, Franz Kafka, and it was a Czech word for an animal, an animal which had certain role in the story. I found several of this kind of connecting detail and I love it.

Back to references, it seems like that almost every characters in this book had made one at some point. It might be one of the drawback of this book because no matter what the background was, whether the character’s 15 year old boy or a truck driver, they eventually could get engaged at heavy topics in which the references helped perform a good analogy.

I said almost every characters because I think the only one who didn’t do that was the old man who couldn’t read. So, I think it has a good point because it teaches me to look pass people or even my own background and take reading as a powerful tool.

The other drawback was few pages here and there that I skipped reading. I took them as accessories to the story and to me they were horrible or gross or things I didn’t like to read.

Last, there are holes in my understanding of the story. There are questions like ‘what exactly happens?’ or ‘what’s the point of that event? why does it seem like a changing course?’, questions like that. But when I came to the last page of the book, I felt satisfied with the whole package and didn’t want to have the story changed for a bit.

..
The drowning girl’s fingers
Search for the entrance stone, and more.
Lifting the hem of her azure dress,
She gazes -
at Kafka on the shore

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The Name of this Book Is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The narrator is a bit peculiar and that is exactly why I will definitely read all the books in Secret Series! He maintains two-way communication with the reader throughout the story and he is addicted to chocolate.

The series are a pentalogy since there are 5 senses. This first book is about smell.

I think the book is educating (especially for children) in a very entertaining way. There are a lot of notes of various common knowledge including one big point about synaesthesia, a neurogically-based condition which makes people experience sensory mixture. This book makes me wonder how life feels like when I adopt synaesthesia.

Can’t wait to run into the book store and grab the rest!

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