To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

This is definitely a brilliant piece of work. Prior to reading, I knew nothing of what it's about. As always, when I decide to read a book, I'll go straight into it. Usually would look for reviews or google search only once I'm done reading. From a brief internet search right after finishing the book, I am surprised to find out that Harper Lee is a woman and To Kill a Mockingbird is partly an autobiographical. It's embarrassing and I totally have too much to learn. The story is written from the perspective of a little girl of nine and I should have guessed that at least most of it is based on lives actually lived. I have always been attracted to read stories written from the era of early 1990s and this one is not a let down. It's no wonder that when the novel was published in 1960, it became hugely successful right to winning the Pulitzer Prize, and has become a classic of modern American literature.

From the moment I read the dedication page, "For Mr Lee and Alice, In consideration of Love & Affection. Lawyers, I suppose, were children once: Charles Lamb", I was already hooked. I have always thought about becoming a lawyer if there is such thing as a second chance in life. One very lawyer-y wisdom shared by Scout Finch (Jean Louise) which I like very much is this, something she had on her mind during the court hearing of Tom Robinson ..."Never, never, never on cross examination ask a witness a question you don't already know the answer to, was a tenet I absorbed with my baby food. Do it, and you'll often get an answer you don't want, an answer that might wreck your case".

Another of my favourite is the definition of 'democracy' given by Scout in answer to her teacher, "Equal rights for all, special privileges for none".

Most of the narration is based on the experience of three children, so innocent and full of non-hypocrite thoughts and actions. However, the main or one of the most important events in the story in my opinion is the trial of Tom Robinson, a colored man accused of raping a white girl. Though the trial was narrated within just one or two chapters, I think it is the heart of this novel. I truly hoped for the jury to pass the not guilty verdict but nope, it's probably too far fetched, during that year of 1935 it is at least. And then there is Boo Radley, a gentle but seemingly tormented man who "...stayed shut up in the house all this time... because he wants to stay inside" (Jem).

There are so many great statements especially made by Scout, Atticus and her brother Jem all over the story.

There was also short exchange of conversation between Scout and her teacher and later between she and her father and further later between she and Jem of her confusion about why is it okay for folks to hate Hitler ...."how can you hate Hitler so bad an' then turn around and be ugly about folks right at home...". She didn't get satisfactory answers and Jem has furiously ordered her to stop that train of thoughts....I would love to know the answers too.

Excellent novel this is. You've got to read it.

The Iron Facade by Catherine Cookson

Oh Gosh...I so love this tiny novel in an old copy which fits so nicely in my handbag. Book condition is 6/10. The novel is now available for sale at RM5.  PM me at Kedai Buku Saduri FB page if you would like to be the next owner. If you like what I write here about this wonderfully written romantic, I'm quite sure that you'll enjoy it immensely, just like I did.

  

It's been so long since I last read a sweet love novel ; what more one written by someone born more than 70 years before me. Indeed, I've always been a fan of peoples in the early 1990s. I imagine that time as a  wonderful time, so much love, vast lands free of concrete, fresh air everywhere, thinking minds yet the least conflicts. The reality is probably 98% less than how I fancy it, then again, I don't care. It's the way I wish it to be at least.

Cookson wrote the iron facade so simply yet with much complication. The main character Prudence Dudley is a woman of beauty, brains and a successful career as a novelist. She survived unhappy childhood with plenty of complicated, probably conflicting feelings for her parents who have been unfaithful to each other. Her marriage to Ian, a man she thought will bring her happiness and her sad life sunshine, failed too, just like the marriage of her parents.

In the company of her always protective Aunt Maggie, she flees to a rented cottage in the far off Lake District where she met David McVeigh. He happens to be the owner of the soothing albeit old cottage at the  Lowtherbeck estate that Pru and Aunt Maggie rent for 3 months. So much drama took place in the few months of their stay in the estate. Most of the novel narrates all the intricacies and tension endured of the many interesting characters; Roy Mc Veigh (later discovered that he and Davie doesn't share the same father and mother, Jannie, a girl who suffers retarded growth following a boat accident which has taken the lives of two people everyone thought were her parents, Flora Cleverly, the housekeeper who is actually Roy's mother and Fannie's grandmother. I love how their stories intertwined and conflicted.

What I love best is how the love scene of Pru and Davie is only described and dramatized in the last two pages in the novel. Their love is so devoid of any kind of carnal desires and physical attraction, Instead, their embrace is fueled by emotional bond so vivid and beyond blissful. I love it so much.

Kasih Seharum Manisah

Kasih Seharum Manisah (KSM)

Ini adalah novel cinta tarbiyah kedua saya baca dalam bulan ini. Yang pertama Kuseru Namamu Kekasih (KNK). Asas cerita tidak banyak berbeza membuat saya tertanya, adakah kedua cerita ini berkait? Rasa macam nak buat carian Google tapi setakat ini belum dapat cari masa untuk itu. Mungkin lain kali. Kedua-dua novel ini mengenengahkan mahasiswa mahasiswi yang sedang belajar di luar negara sebagai watak utama. Cerita juga diselang-selikan dengan senario di luar negara dan di Malaysia. Rayyan dan rakan-rakannya dalam KNK di Sydney dan Manisah dalam KSM serta saudara kembar, kekasih yang didambakan dan rakan-rakannya di Glasgow.

Apabila saya mengambil keputusan membaca KSM, langsung saya tidak menjangkakan jalan cerita yang begitu sama. Selepas beberapa mukasurat membaca saya fikir saya sudah boleh mengagak apa kesudahan cerita KSM, saya silap. Penyudahan cerita agak diluar jangkaan saya. Kredit untuk A. Razak Adam yang agak berjaya mengalun watak-watak serta jalan cerita yang agak berbelit "in an interesting way".

Berbanding Rayyan dalam KNK, Manisah lebih "real" wataknya. Seorang remaja yang mempunyai naluri wanita, mempunyai gerak hati yang akhirnya menerangkan mengapa dia bersikap dingin atau tidak terdorong untuk membalas cinta Kelvin walaupun setelah mereka lama menjalin hubungan cinta sehingga bertunang. Beliau juga ada rasa cemburu, pandai pula mencari jalan untuk merebut hati lelaki yang dicintainya iaitu Soefjan.

Oh ya, menyebut nama Soefjan, beliau yang dimulakan dengan "Kepada Manisah Kekasih Allah...." juga membuat saya lebih kuat dengan berprasangka yang KSM dan KNK ditulis dengan tinta yang sama. Mungkin juga hanya kebetulan.

Apapun, nukilan A. Razak Adam bagi saya pada mulanya agak hambar.....KNK lebih menarik. Saya juga agak geram dengan sikap tidak adil Manisah terhadap Kelvin sebelum mengetahui yang mereka sebenarnya adik-beradik. Kedua-dua novel ini memasukkan cerita rakan-rakan watak utama yang tertarik dengan cara dan pegangan orang Islam dan kemudian memeluk Islam. KSM melihat Soefjan menikahi rakan sekuliah gadis Inggeris lebih kepada memenuhi hasratnya berjuang dan berkorban ke jalan yang diredhai Allah. Rayyan dalam KNK juga, walaupun tidak dinyatakan secara jelas, akhirnya akan bersama dengan Mark, rakyat Australia yang juga telah terbuka hati untuk memeluk Islam.

Buku ini juga saya tidak menyesal baca. Agak banyak kesilapan dan kekeliruan yang saya jumpa ketika membaca buku ini, contohnya pada awalnya rakan sekolah Manisah bernama Parameswari tetapi kemudian menjadi Maheswari. Tetapi agaknya itu kesilapan kecil dan biasa saja. Harap buku ketiga nanti janganlah punyai jalan cerita yang terlalu sama. Rating saya untuk Kasih Seharum Manisah 4/5.

Kuseru Namamu Kekasih novel best tulisan Maya Iris

Kalau tak silap saya,....dan saya rasa saya tak silap, inilah novel dalam Bahasa Melayu pertama saya habis baca hanya sebab saya nak baca. Kalau dulu masa zaman belajar saya mungkin dimestikan baca novel atau buku dalam bahasa Melayu tapi itu tak sama dengan yang ini. Kali ini saya entah kenapa rasa terpanggil untuk baca; pertama sebab Kedai Buku saduri memang ada jual buku ini.  Kedua, ramai pelanggan kami beritahu buku tulisan Maya Iris memang best.

Masa saya baru baca dua mukasurat, anak dara sulung cakap "Mama, what are you reading?" Bila saya menjuih tunjuk cover buku, dia kata "Really?". Memang dia tu kekadang banyak cekaddak....mungkin ikut perangai Mamanya (masa muda dulu, sekarang dah berumur tak macam tu lagi kot hehe).

Okay, apa pendapat saya mengenai cerita yang dinukilkan oleh penulis amat berbakat dan amat popular Maya Iris dan diterbitkan pada tahun 2008 ini? Yang pasti, saya langsung tak menyesal baca. Memang puas hati. In fact, entah macam mana saya dapat habiskan hanya dalam tempoh beberapa hari.

Saya suka watak-watak utama Rayyan, Hanisa, Zaim dan kemudian Mark. Saya amat suka cara Maya Iris menganyam cerita berselang selit dengan terjemahan ayat A-Quran atau Hadis. Rentak cerita juga "just nice"; tidak terlalu slow dan tidak juga begitu laju. Ramai yang pernah review cerita ni menyatakan ia lebih kepada cerita ugamma dan bukan sangat cerita cinta. Saya setuju bahagian kedua tapi mengenai bab ia lebih kepada buku agama saya kurang setuju. Saya berpendapat ia cerita cinta yang diindahkan lagi, dipadatkan dengan pengajaran dan makna yang dalam.

Ada juga beberapa keadaan dimana saya rasa agak bosan dengan watak Rayyan yang "macam bagus:, terutama bila dia banyak cekkadak dengan Zaim dan banyak bunyi juga dengan Hanisa. Namun perasaan itu hanya sekelumit terdetik saja. Secara keseluruhan saya fikir Maya Iris berjaya meninggikan mmartabat watak Rayyan ke tempat yang dihasratkan. Watak paling saya minat ialah....Osman haha. Dia paling fun. Saya juga suka Hanisa dan Zaim. Memang amat sepadan mereka berdua.

Masa awal sehingga pertengahan buku, saya agak dan semacam berharap bahawa "kekasih" yang dimaksudkan untuk Rayyan ialah Saifullah; kawan sekolah yang telah membuli Rayyan semasa dia dalam darjah tiga; Saifullah yang memberitahu cikgu bahawa dia sanggup bayar duit tabungnya RM30 sebagai ganti rugi kerana mencederakan Rayyan; dan Saifullah yang telah ke Universiti Madinah mengikuti kursus Usuluddin.

Cerita Margaret yang sempat bercerita dengan Rayyan mengenai kekasih yang amat dirinduinya Gary dan memeluk agama Islam sejurus sebelum meninggal memang menarik dan menyayat hati. Selepas dari itu saya dah boleh agak bahawa Mark juga akan memeluk Islam sedangkan sebelumnya ada disebut bahawa dia bercadang (dalam hati) untuk membawa Manisa menganut Kristian.

Kesimpulannya, selepas baca buku ini, saya berniat nak baca lagi buku-buku Maya Iris yang ada dalam simpanan saya atau buku-buku lain yang berlandaskan tarbiyah + cinta yang mungkin akan dijual di Kedai Buku Saduri sebagai buku pre-loved.

Rating saya untuk Kuseru Namamu Kekasih? 4/5