thatdecembergirl's reviews
399 reviews

 Orang bilang, "Fitnah lebih kejam daripada pembunuhan."
Yeah, that might be. Because fitnah might result in pembunuhan anyway.

And that, my friend, is the overall energy in this tome called Stephen King's "Needful Things". Tadinya sih mau nulis ulasan pakai bahasa Inggris aja, tapi ternyata nggak sanggup. Gejolak jiwa ini harus dilampiaskan pula dalam kearifan lokal agar lebih greget. We're going Jakselnese, baby.

This book tells about kabupaten folks living their kabupaten life, and it just feels so real. Suatu tempat di mana semua orang mengenal semua orang, di mana semua orang tahu siapa anaknya siapa, siapa pacaran dengan siapa, siapa mantannya siapa, atau siapa diam-diam punya dendam kesumat sama siapa. Orang kabupaten tidak digerakkan oleh hingar-bingar gemerlap kehidupan dunia; orang-orang kabupaten menggerakkan kehidupan dan segala hiruk-pikuk dramanya.

Enter Sandman Leland Gaunt.

Leland Gaunt is to Castle Rock what Snouck Hurgronje was to Perang Aceh (this is why you read your history textbook at school, fools). Sosok yang luwes menggunakan siasat devide et impera demi mencapai apa yang dia inginkan: the whole thing burning down in flames, into piling mountains of ashes and ruins. Pakar politik adu domba. Seniman dengan karya aliran tumbak cucukan. I was reading with dread. Pokoknya memasuki 75% novel tuh perut rasanya udah mules aja. I was there seeing what he's doing to the whole town, hoping that the people I not-so-secretly rooting for would survive.

SPOILER ALERT: some of them do not make it to the end.
Prepare your heart for this sport called going heartbroken over fictional characters.

Oh ya, TOKOHNYA BANYAK BANGET. Well, again, this is about kabupaten folks living their kabupaten life. Jadi ya... emang melibatkan segambreng manusia. Needful Things, arguably, offer a lot more characters than King's so-called best book, The Stand. Tapi anehnya, saya bisa tetap peduli terhadap orang-orang ini meskipun nggak inget-inget amat siapa namanya yang mana. Ada yang pemabuk. Ada yang pejabat korup. Ada janda depresif yang habis keluar dari RSJ. Ada istri yang hobinya emang cari ribut sama tetangganya. Ada petinggi gereja yang gontok-gontokan karena proyek pembangunan kasino. I don't always remember their names, but I remember their story. And I think, at the end of the day, that is what matters most.

As a closing statement I'd say one thing:
Alan Pangborn x Polly Chalmers is my OTP and I'm shipping them from the deepest trench in my heart.

 

*P:S: Initially I gave this book a 4-star review (because I'm trying not to be that much biased), but since I seem unable to stop thinking about it for days after finished reading... to the 5-star shelf it goes.

 

The saving grace of this book is its general theme, I guess. Coping with loss, motherhood struggle, and all. I'm not sure whether my detachment with this book is due to my inexperience with pregnancy and motherhood and all that jazz, or if it is just not that well-written. The storyline is decent, I suppose. It's nothing special, but I can see the appeal. The book has several good one-liners here and there, but that's also the problem: the story feels more like an excuse to deliver those one-liners.

But one main takeaway (for me) from this book is that white people is basically gross.... I mean, how can someone store a plate that has been used as an ashtray by their guest under their bed FOR DAYS?? Along with the cigarette butt? Also a broken photo frame and torn-up picture? Like, don't you guys want a clean room? Don't you have some... I don't know, hygiene standard, I guess?

At the end of the day, I think this is more on the "okay" pile.
I don't quite like it, but I appreciate that it can be read rather quickly from start to finish. 

I'm now seething mad at the people who mock Stephen King for the massive volume of his books. It's overwriting, they say. Some even go as far as to say he's got words diarrhea. But I'd argue that Nathaniel Hawthorne is the genuine form and the actual, irrefutable victor of the overwriting Olympics. The Scarlet Letter could be wrapped up in 50 pages or maybe under (30-ish pages would be best, I suppose), but here we are, 200-ish pages of archaic nonsense. And kids in America still have this shit as one of their mandatory school readings? In 21st century? Well, my condolences. Truly.

In short, I don't like this book. It feels like a waste of time even with all the skimming I did. Because please, the writing style is almost unreadable; Hawthorne kept blabbing almost about anything mid-sentence. This is unreadable to the extent that I had to open a Wikipedia page just to make sure that I don't understand things wrong. As I reader, I feel very much frustrated. I don't want to read a lengthy description about FLOWERS THAT BRUSH AGAINST THE DRESS WORN BY HESTER'S DAUGHTER THAT MOVES DELICATELY AS SHE WALKS BESIDE HER MOTHER. It's hard to care about the characters because they all behave like a platoon of true misogynist jerks. Also, it's doesn't make sense to me to see how attached Hester is to her so-called Scarlet Letter (A for Adultery? Ewwww lame) when it's just something easily detachable. THEY DIDN'T EVEN TATTOO THE GODDAMN LETTER ON HER FLESH... why bother wearing the letter dutifully for SEVEN FRIGGING YEARS TO FRIGGING EVERYWHERE??

I can't even rate this book. I cannot bring myself to even put one effing star. I'm THAT mad. Everything is awful here, and what angers me the most is that I perfectly knew that my fellow countrymen here where I live still behave just like the people around Hester. When extramarital pregnancy or whatever it is you call pregnancy that happens outside wedlock, they shame and blame the woman harder than the man. Men are given sympathy oh-so easily. Men can redeem themselves, men can be pardoned for the sake of his reputation and life achievements and his promising future but what about the women? God, I'm so furious.

Words of advice: if you're planning to voluntarily read this book (like me), just... don't.
Especially if you're not someone like me, who loves to keep reading a book she hates (just so she could write a lengthy review about how she hates it). 

 I breezed through this book in two days. That alone deserves one star, I suppose, even when the reasons I read it rather fast are both easy readability and absolutely nothing compels me to take it slow or savor every sentence or scene during reading, unlike Lapvona.

This is not the most well-written novel I've ever read, but the light undertones succeeded in keeping me reading. The idea is interesting. I wouldn't say brand new or completely original, but still interesting nonetheless. What if the creatures of legends and myths, the non-human, are actually real and they live between us? The unicorns, the kappas, the mermaids, even the vampires? And what if the fact that they're non-human often means they're dangerous, or wanted for the properties of their body parts like some freaking exotic animals?

Rather nice, right?

The premise is also quite fun to imagine. Probably would be a prison break story but make it a human trafficking market instead of prison. BUT... the book doesn't live up to its potential. I don't know if this is a YA books problem or an author's skill issue, but things get funny (and not in a good way) around 40% mark, or wherever mark it was when Nita makes her initial escape from her cage. (Sorry for the lack of spoiler tag, I don't think it's worth it.) The overall problem is that things get solved way too easy. Schaeffer kept upping the stakes for her characters but no matter what problem she threw, it was always unbelievably easy to get out of. And everything is heavily dependent of luck, or just plain nonsense. How could you walk through an unfamiliar rainforest for the FIRST TIME and then successfully going back and forth to two different locations WITHOUT getting lost? The passcode to the human cage is WRITTEN DOWN RIGHT BESIDE IT?? The protagonist proposing to burn a frigging RAINFOREST and her sole reason is (and I quote here) "This whole place is made of wood—it should light up pretty easily."??? What about natural humidity?? What about... I don't know, some logic???

Also, Nita the protagonist has the ability to heal herself. This by itself is definitely amazing. But it doesn't make any sense to me to know that her ability doesn't seem like consuming anything. She heals herself from GUNSHOT WOUNDS without feeling intense hunger or having required to eat anything beforehand or in the aftermath. She doesn't pass out in exhaustion, too. She doesn't need extra hours of sleeping for her energy to recharge after major healing sessions and no food. Girl, babygirl, I don't think physical exertion in that capacity works like that. Things have to be exchanged in equivalent. Otherwise, it's just bullshit. 

 This was an "Oh well, it's okay, I guess" book for me. I think that the writer felt compelled to make the book longer so that it doesn't feel like a pocket book, but as a result, this book has many information that goes nowhere. I read them and go quoting Ariana Grande like, "Yes, and...?" here and there because things just left there hanging.

Also, as a non-American, the one that might actually be useful for me is much less than I expected. But it's a little bit shocking to know that people at least need around 7,5 liters of water for consumption and sanitary. Per day. That's... a lot, man. And now you're telling me to store water for bad days? Where to put them all, pray tell? Unless you're RICH, nobody has a frigging basement (or a swimming pool!!!) where I live. 

The original title for this book is 「博士の愛した数式」 (Hakase no ai shita suushiki—The Professor's Beloved Formula) and only god knows why such a warm, innocent title was changed drastically into something so... generic, yet at the same time has a rather sultry implication, by Stephen Snyder.

Taking place in 1992's Japan, the book was full of nostalgic pieces like house telephone and the absence of smartphone when read in 2024. The nameless protagonist, a single mother working as a housekeeper, is employed to take care of an equally nameless math professor whose memory only lasted eighty minutes. Story development takes us to the place where the housekeeper's son (back then only an elementary grader) ends up frequently visit her workplace just so she doesn't have to leave him during the day almost every day. This book tells how the housekeeper, her son, and the professor spend their time together and the bond they share.

Worry not my friend, there will be no further explanation or in-depth flashback regarding the professor's condition, because this piece of information is nothing more than a groundwork for our housekeeper heroine to grow. The underlined theme of this story is found family, and how the housekeeper found pieces of extraordinariness in her hardworking, struggling daily life.