More Than Words (40/2020)

 

Title : More Than Words
Author : Zack Shah
Publisher : Penwings Publishing, 2019
No. of Pages : 88

REVIEW 40/2020.

I chanced upon this book at the local bookstore. I love the colour and design of the cover. It looks sweet and artistic. This is the second English poetry book that I have ever had (well, except for the children’s poetry books that I bought for my children).

However, this book is something else.

More Than Words is Zack Shah’s first book. After reading it, I’d say that this young man is very talented. I was made to understand that he wrote these poems and hid the manuscript under his drawer until his talent was spotted by Charissa Ong Ty, who eventually managed to convince him to publish his works.

“A diary, a love letter and a storybook all rolled into one, … from the innocence of young romance to the dangers of desire, all experienced through the entire spectrum of human emotion.” was the description of this book in Goodreads.com. In addition, Google Books claimed that it is the third of Penwing’s product listed in their Best Sellers’ list, nationwide.   

What makes it so special, you might ask?

As I flipped through the pages, the words immediately hit me. Perhaps because I have experienced a couple of heartbreaks before, that I could relate to the poems. They are beautifully written – the rhymes, the words – all blended in very well together. Most of the poems seem like the words were written by a heartbroken lover, who was left by the love of his life. The titles of the poems reflect the contents and what the poems are all about.

The poems are divided into three parts i.e. Sweet Nothings, Pretty Lies and Love Story. Even the Prologue is also a poem!

I cannot really point a finger on one that is my favourite or the one that I like best, because they are all good! They rhyme between paragraphs, even though it is a long paragraph such as Tsunami; and also, line by line such as City Girl; and the usual rhyming poem, like Muse. There are also poems which do not rhyme at all, such as Eye of the Storm and Guardian Angels.   

The poems vary in categories. Mostly they are of heartbreaks and love, of promises and lies, or wonderful moments together and of trying to love oneself. There is one in particular, Denial, which is quite sarcastic, but in a whimsical way.

I would share these poems with you anytime. But that will only spoil the surprise and the beauty of the words. You must buy this book in order to understand it yourself.

For the beauty of it, I rate this book a FIVE star. The first of my reviews. 

The Little Book of Ikigai (39/2020)

 

Title : The Little Book of Ikigai
Author : Ken Mogi
Publisher : Quercus Editions Ltd., 2018
No. of Pages : 196

REVIEW 39/2020.

I have heard of ikigai some time ago, but haven’t got the chance to explore what it means, until I found this book. I started reading it in August and just completed it today. A very slow read, I’d say.

Ikigai, in a layman’s term is a life’s principle held by Japanese in order to live a long and happy life. The word “iki” means to live and “gai” means reason, a Japanese word to describe the pleasures and meaning of life. Okinawa, Japan, is recorded as the place with the highest number of centenarians (people aging 100 years and more) and one of their secrets is because they have ikigai. 

This book was written based on the Five Pillars of ikigai and they are as follows:

 

However, each of the chapter does not really refer to any particular pillar. The chapters were written starting with “What is Ikigai?” and followed by topics such as your reason to wake up in the morning, kodawari and the benefits of thinking small, sensory beauty of Ikigai, flow and creativity, ikigai and sustainability and finding your purpose in life. It is not a book about ikigai itself, but more to “HOW” we can apply ikigai in our lives. Hence it is not written in sequence of every Pillar. 

In the first few chapters, Ken Mogi makes the reader understand what is ikigai. By telling the story of how Jiro Ono started his world class sushi restaurant, the writer is making an example on how Japanese people with ikigai started their business small. Jiro Ono, for example, put all his attention into the business and make improvements along the way, not only to make his sushi taste better, but how to make it faster. The business started off as a means to make ends meet and making sushi was the cheapest option. But it is now one of the famous sushi restaurants in Japan. 

Most of the successful business owners told in this book have ikigai in certain areas of their life. If Jiro Ono has the Starting Small ikigai, Kiroki Fujita has the same, too. He got up at 2am every day to go to the market in order to get the finest tuna for his clients (and that includes Jiro Ono). He has also perfected his skills on looking for the high-grade tuna. 

Japan is also known as the Land of the Rising Sun and people in Japan would stay up all night on New Year’s Eve, to see the first rising sun of the year. People would also get up very early in the morning to start their business; and to save fuel and candles during the night. Starting up early in the morning refers to Pillar 4 : The Joy of Little Things. 

Other than real life examples, Ken Mogi also shared his point of view through movies that he has seen. For example, he quoted the movie Tampopo by Juzo Itami, a 1985 movie of a woman who tried to perfect her skills in making ramen noodles. This is an example of kodawari – a trait that is uncompromising and self-centred. Kodawari is also about people pursuing their own goals above and beyond reasonable expectations based on market forces, when good enough is simply not good enough. 

Ken Mogi also gave the example of Sembikiya, Japan’s premium fruit shop, which sell fruits at ridiculously high prices. For example, their musk melon could cost up to 20,000 yen each. On that note, I have also seen a video of Paul Hollywood tasting a 50,000 yen strawberry and I start to wonder, why is it so expensive? To answer this question, Ken Mogi stated that the Japanese take the transient of life seriously. Therefore, in agriculture, the farmers will take care of their harvest with very good care. For the musk melon, in order to make the fruits grow bigger than usual, sweeter and juicer, the farmers would leave only one fruit on each tree and these expensive fruits are given to people as gifts, to honour them. Another kodawari example is in the making of Yohen Tenmoku bowls, also known as the starry bowl. There are only three left in the world. Kodawari is in relation to Pillar 5 : Being in the Here and Now. 

To relate this principle with our own culture in Malaysia, I think the best would be in the making of Batik clothes, weaving of Songket, the making of Wau Bulan and also the making of Keris. However, in Japan, crafts people are held with high esteem and played a pivotal role in Japanese society. Making of the art is related to Pillar 2 : Releasing Yourself, which is also very much related to Being in the Here and Now. 

A neuroscientist argues that being conscious is functionally significant because it gives us sensory pleasure, which is a reason to carry on with life. Such sensory pleasure can also be derived from making music, cooking, gardening, dancing and drawing. 

Japan is also a nation of harmony and sustainability (Pillar 3). Sustainability is evident through family businesses that have thrived for centuries. For example, ikebana, the business of Ikenobo family which has been around since 1462 and the Sen family, with their tea ceremony business which is still active for more than 400 years. 

Ken Mogi also shared the unique construction of the Ise Shrine. The shrine will be dismantled and reconstructed on a new site every 20 years, with exactly the same design and the same construction process. It was last reconstructed in 2013 and the next will be in 2033. This is to maintain the sustainability of the shrine. It is also part of the Shinto belief of death and renewal of nature. It is also said that in 20 years, they would manage to pass down the skills to construct the new shrine, to younger generations. The uniqueness is not only about maintaining the same structure, but also in maintaining the household and its standards, to manage the shrine. 

The Meiji Shrine is also an example of Harmony and Sustainability. This shrine was built surrounded by 120,000 trees from 365 species. Dried leaves are swept and put back under the trees to turn them into natural fertilizer for the trees. Tourists are not allowed to wander off the tracks in order to preserve the natural surroundings. This is something that we need to think of, regarding the future of our jungles and natural surroundings, which have been destroyed by modernisation and development. 

Having ikigai is also about finding our purpose for living and that it is not only about the materials or the monetary rewards. Ikigai is also about getting back up once we have experienced failure and to find things that make us happy. 

In Japan, the datsusara phenomenon is on the rise, when office workers decide to leave their employment to pursue their passion and work on freelance basis. There are also people who seek their happiness through producing manga comics and participating in the Comiket (Comic Market). These people find their happiness while selling their own creations in the Comiket and others would dress as the anime figures, called Cosplay, and get back to their routine life afterwards.

The greatest secret of ikigai is accepting oneself. Seek your own ikigai in your uniqueness. Perhaps you already have your own ikigai, but you are not aware of it? Try and reflect - what makes you happy, what are your passions / hobbies, how you have lived your life all these while, how are you going to move forward in the future?

Though this book is not structured in accordance with the Ikigai Pillars, the examples and stories shared have shed some light on how they can be applied. This is a very interesting book that it took me almost two months to read. I’d give it FOUR stars. It is also worth checking out the movies, places, people and businesses mentioned in this book. 

Sedetik.doc (38/2020)

 

Tajuk : Sedetik.doc
Penulis : 51 penulis
Penerbit : Metromedia Solutions
Jumlah Halaman : 238
Harga : RM29.00

ULASAN 38/2020

Buku ini merupakan hadiah daripada Cikgu Maimunah, salah seorang rakan ghostwriter, yang kebetulannya seorang guru di sekolah anak-anakku.

Buku ini menampilkan seramai 51 orang penulis, yang berkongsi kisah kali pertama masing-masing. Latar belakang penulis juga berbagai-bagai. Ada penulis lama dan ada juga yang baru pertama kali menulis. Buku ini juga menarik kerana saiznya agak kecil 5in x 7.5in, kulitnya tebal dan mempunyai flap di hadapan dan belakangnya. Jarang aku melihat sebuah buku antologi yang mempunyai flap. 

Flap di kulit hadapan menyenaraikan nama-nama penulis, kerana pada isi kandungan hanya ditulis tajuk penulisan mereka sahaja. Flap di kulit belakang menunjukkan buku-buku di bawah penerbitan Metromedia Solutions. 

Kisah pertama kali, rasanya bukanlah sesuatu yang asing bagi kita semua. Kali pertama jatuh cinta, kali pertama putus cinta, kali pertama masuk sekolah, semuanya pernah kita semua alami. Ada juga yang telah mempunyai kisah kali pertama menimang cahaya mata, malah ada juga yang sudah pertama kali menerima menantu atau cucu, Ini semua, bagiku, kisah kali pertama yang biasa.

Namun, di dalam buku ini, kisah kali pertama merupakan kisah penulis dan tentunya setiap kisah itu berbeza. Menariknya, buku ini telah disusun sebegitu rupa sehingga tiada kisah kali pertama yang sama. Contohnya, tidak ada kisah kali pertama jatuh cinta yang berulang kali. Setiap penulis menulis kisah kali pertama yang berbeza.

Cikgu Maimunah, contohnya, berkongsi kisah kali pertama beliau menanam keazaman untuk menulis apa saja yang telah diilhamkan Tuhan kepadanya. Ini kisah kali pertama yang agak unik. Jarang aku baca mengenai seseorang yang masih ingat bila kali pertama dia menyimpan hasrat terhadap sesuatu. Selalunya kita ingat bila kita mula melakukannya. Itupun kadang-kadang tak ingat juga!

Selainnya, ada kisah pertama kali menjadi guru, pertama kali menunggang motosikal, pertama kali melihat kesan buruk akibat banjir besar, pertama kali mengenakan niqab, pertama kali naik bas bersendirian, pertama kali merantau menuntut ilmu, pertama kali membawa ibunya melancong ke London, pertama kali menunaikan Umrah, pertama kali ibu bapanya menghadiri majlis penyampaian hadiah ketika di sekolah rendah, pertama kali belajar menjahit baju dengan ibu, pertama kali menyertai aktiviti NGO di perkampungan orang asli dan pertama kali menghidap penyakit kencing manis (diabetes).

Ada juga kisah yang agak lucu kerana kali pertama menggunakan mesin mencuci pakaian. Yang melucukan, pengalaman pertamanya itu berlaku di rumah ibu mertuanya, kerana dia baharu saja mendirikan rumahtangga! Ada juga kisah seorang doktor baru yang pertama kali melihat darah yang banyak, lalu dia jatuh pengsan di dalam bilik pembedahan.

Agak menarik ialah kisah kali pertama menaiki kereta api di India, kononnya hendak merasa menaiki kereta api Chennai Express. Akhirnya penulis dan rakan-rakannya terpaksa berlari mengejar kereta api kerana koc mereka jauh ke hadapan. Malah ada beberapa rakannya yang tidak sempat akibat terjatuh. Mujurlah penjaga platform dapat meminta pemandu memperlahankan kereta api tersebut dan membantu rakan-rakannya naik. Dapatlah mereka berjumpa semula.

Agak menarik juga kisah mengenai penulis yang menceburkan diri dalam penulisan Haiku. Haiku ialah puisi Jepun yang mempunyai prinsip dan peraturan penulisan yang ketat. Penulis merupakan salah seorang pembimbing penulisan Haiku Melayu di Malaysia dan beliau telah menanam minat terhadap penulisan Haiku sejak tahun 2003. Inilah pertama kalinya aku tahu mengenai Haiku. 

Ada kisah mengenai pertemuannya buat pertama kali selepas 20 tahun tidak berjumpa dengan bapa saudara dan keluarganya, akibat dari persengketaan keluarga. Penulis menceritakan keadaan bila ayah dan bapa saudaranya bertemu semula selepas 20 tahun itu dan gaya penceritaannya amat menyentuh kalbu. Terharu dibuatnya.

Ada juga kisah kali pertama yang menyedihkan. Di antaranya ialah kisah penulis yang telah jatuh cinta dengan gadis menjual nasi lemak berhampiran pejabatnya, tetapi akhirnya beliau kecewa kerana gadis itu sudah bertunang dengan orang lain. Mungkin kerana dia lambat mengambil tindakan.  Sepatutnya dia mengambil iktibar dari lagu Jangan Tunggu Lama-Lama, nyanyian Ramil Sarip. 

Kisah yang paling menyedihkan bagiku ialah kisah penulis yang baru menerima adik ketiga, tetapi adiknya meninggal dunia hanya selepas lima hari dilahirkan. Gaya penceritaannya juga menyentuh hati, kerana ia ditulis seolah-olah penulis masih berusia 11 tahun, iaitu ketika peristiwa sedih itu berlaku.  

Ada juga kisah yang agak mendebarkan, yang berlaku kepada seorang penulis ketika beliau menuntut ilmu di Mesir. Ketika itu telah berlaku rusuhan besar apabila rakyat Mesir memberontak untuk menjatuhkan Presiden Hosni Mubarak. Aku yang membaca tidak dapat membayangkan betapa gentingnya keadaan ketika itu, di mana semua penduduk diarahkan supaya duduk sahaja di rumah sewa masing-masing dan tidak dibenarkan keluar. Namun, penulis yang berdegil telah keluar dan telah dikejar oleh orang-orang Mesir yang sedang memberontak. Mujurlah beliau diselamatkan oleh seorang tua, yang menyuruhnya balik dengan segera.

Kisah yang meninggalkan kesan terhadap diriku kerana aku juga pernah mengalaminya ialah kisah tentang pertama kali dia menjaga ayahnya yang dimasukkan ke hospital. Penulis bergegas ke hospital setiap pagi sebelum ke tempat kerja dan datang semula selepas habis waktu kerja. Pengalamannya itu mengingatkan aku kepada waktu aku menjaga emak di KPJ Ampang Puteri. Selalunya aku akan tidur di wad, sebelah katil emak dan awal pagi aku akan bersiap untuk ke tempat kerja. Adikku akan datang menjaga emak sepanjang hari itu. Kemudian, selepas habis waktu kerja aku akan datang semula untuk bermalam lagi dengan emak.

Satu lagi kisah yang meninggalkan kesan terhadap diriku ialah mengenai kisah penulis yang kematian neneknya. Kisah itu mengingatkan aku kepada pengalaman aku sendiri, semasa nenekku (Wan) meninggal dunia di Kuantan. Ketika itu aku masih lagi belajar di ITM Shah Alam. Selepas Wan meninggal dunia, aku menangis hampir setiap malam kerana rindukan Wan. Masakan tidak, aku dilahirkan di rumah Wan, dijaga dan dibesarkan oleh Wan. Setiap malam aku tidur dengan Wan, sehinggalah kami berpindah ke rumah lain ketika aku berusia 10 tahun. Kisah kali pertama penulis mengalami kematian neneknya mengimbau semula kenangan-kenangan itu, kerana kematian Wan juga merupakan pengalamanku yang pertama berhadapan dengan kematian orang yang kusayang.

Membaca buku antologi seperti ini seolah-olah berhadapan dengan 51 orang yang bercerita tentang pengalaman kisah hidup masing-masing, dapat membuka minda kita bahawa setiap orang ada kisahnya yang tersendiri. Kisah hidup orang lain juga dapat memberikan kita kesedaran dan keinsafan supaya sentiasa bersyukur dengan apa yang kita ada. Ada orang yang kisah hidupnya lebih susah daripada kita. 

Buku ini hanya sebuah bacaan ringan, bagiku. Maka aku berikan TIGA 🌟🌟🌟 bintang kerana susunannya menarik dan kisah-kisah di dalamnya juga sangat menarik. 

The Tales of Beedle the Bard (37/2020)

 

Title : The Tales of Beedle the Bard
Author : J.K.Rowling
Publisher : Bloomsbury
No. of Pages : 105

 

REVIEW 37/2020.

 

This is one the preloved books that I received from a dear friend. Among the books that she gave, I chose to read this one and only because I am a fan of JK Rowling’s stories.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard consist of five fairy tale stories, just like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves or Maleficent. The only difference is that the tales in this book are about magic and wizardry. At the end of each story, there is a note by Professor Dumbledore, providing his insights about the story – whether or not it makes sense (even in a wizardry world) and whether or not it is suitable to be in the library of Hogwarts for the students to read.
 
These tales were said to have been written by Beedle the Bard, a wizard who had lived in the 15^th century and who had mistrusted Dark Magic. These were tales about a young wizard who tried to deny his inheritance of a cooking pot given by his father to help cure sickness and solve the neighbours’ problems; about three witches – Asha, Altheda and Amata, and a Knight called Sir Luckless, who journeyed to the Fountain of Fair Fortune, in order to solve their personal problems; about a warlock who had his heart kept in a box to protect it from falling in love and being heartbroken; about a witch called Babbitty who turned herself into a rabbit to hide from the pursuit of an angry King; and the tale of three brothers who tried to run away from Death.

 

The last tale, I have read many a times in other platforms and probably you would have read it, too.
 
If you are a fan of Harry Potter books and a fan of JK Rowling, you might find this book interesting. It is a light read that you can take as your bedtime story. 

I give it a FOUR 🌟🌟🌟🌟 star.

Chronicle of a Death Foretold (36/2020)

 

Title: Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Author: Gabriel Garcia Marquez (GGM)
Publisher: Penguin Books
No. of Pages: 122

REVIEW 36/2020.

This was one of my late brother's collection of GGM's books. He had a few, and I have so far read three of them, including this one. I tend to like GGM's writing style, even though it is in fact, translated from Spanish. 

GGM has his own way of telling his stories. In these three books that I have read, I found that he would start with the end and then weaved his way around to tell the story bit by bit until the last few chapters when he would write the details. 

Reading this book made me think, trying to imagine the scenario and what have happened. 

He started by narrating about Santiago Nasar, the man who was killed (murdered) and the main character of this story. The author wrote this book in the first name, as if he was the narrator, going back to 27 years when the murder took place. 

It is a story of people who are still cultured by old-fashioned belief of new brides with virginity. The bride in this story, is a beautiful girl, and one who is protected and was carefully being looked after by her family. After she was married off to a foreign man who came to the town looking for a bride, the man found that she is no longer a virgin. She was then returned to her family the very next morning, causing them great humiliation and embarrassment. She then accused Santiago Nasar as the man who had deflowered her. Whether it was the truth or otherwise, only she knows.

But her twin brothers have already plotted to kill Santiago in honour of their family’s name. The sad thing about this tragedy was the fact that almost everyone in town knows about the plot to kill him, but Santiago Nasar himself was not aware of it until the last minute. What makes it sadder is how his good friend tried looking for him all night long, only to find him in the morning, already stabbed by the bride’s twin brothers.

The brothers were apparently caught and brought to trial. However, not much was told about their fate or how long would they be spending time in jail.

This book was translated into simple English. However, the names are in Spanish and the story was intertwined that as the reader, I had to flip to the previous pages in order to recall the characters and to understand the storyline.

In summary, this is an open ended story that will make you think a little bit. I give this book THREE 🌟🌟🌟 stars for the interesting story and the storyline.