[Review] The Old Capital - Kawabata Yasunari

The Old Capital

(Judul asli : 古都 lit. Koto)

Pengarang : Kawabata Yasunari

Penerjemah : J. Martin Holman

Penerbit : Tuttle Publishing

Tahun terbit : 2000 (cetakan kelima)

Ukuran : vi + 164 halaman

Sinopsis:

The Old Capital is of one of the three works for which Yasunari Kawabata won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Set in Kyoto—the old capital of Japan for a thousand years—this lyric novel traces the life of Chieko, the beloved adopted daughter of a kimono designer and his wife. Believing that she had been kidnapped by the couple as a baby, Chieko learns one day that she was instead a foundling, left abandoned on a doorstep. Happy with her adopted parents, however, her security and contentment remain undisturbed until an answered prayer at the famous Yasaka Shrine dramatically alters the course of her life.

[Review] Ja(t)uh - Azhar Nurun Ala

JA(t)UH

Pengarang : Azhar Nurun Ala

Penyunting : Abdullah Ibnu Ahmad

Penerbit : Azharologia

Tahun Terbit : 2013

“Aku tidak pernah mengerti konsep cinta yang ada di pikiran para penyair. Buatku, mereka adalah orang-orang gila. Cinta, tidaklah perlu kita maknai dengan kalimat-kalimat hiperbola. Ia sederhana. Awalnya ia ada sebagai rasa, lalu, bila kita berani, ia akan berkembang menjadi kata. Dan bagi mereka yang matang, ia akan terurai menjadi laku.”

--Warna, halaman 80--

[Review] Kokoro - Souseki Natsume

Kokoro

(Judul asli: こころ lit. Kokoro)

Pengarang : Souseki Natsume

Penerjemah : Edwin McClellan

Penerbit : Tuttle Publishing

Tahun terbit : 1969

Ukuran : viii + 248 halaman

Sinopsis:

Set in the turbulent Meiji era, a chance encounter on a Kamakura beach irrevocably links a young student to a man he simply calls “Sensei.” Intrigued by Sensei's aloofness and wanting to know more about him, the student begins to call upon Sensei with increasing frequency. Eventually, Sensei and his beautiful wife open up their home and their lives to him. The young student graduates from university and is called back home to his dying father, but the Sensei draws him back to Tokyo with a letter of heartfelt confession. ...

Written in 1914, Kokoro provides a timeless psychological analysis of one man's alienation from society, and starkly but gently shows the depth of both friendship and love.

[Spoilers ahead!]

[Poetry] Tampar Wajahku

Kata orang menyerah itu mudah
Kau berhenti, menapak tanah terdiam runtuh
Kau terduduk, mencari benar dari sesal tak bertuan
Kau menangis, memanggil beku datang bagi hati

Tapi saat ingin ku diam, menyerah, menyambut kalah,
Tak kunjung rasa itu tiba
Tak pernah waktu meminta maaf
Aku harus terus maju, meski peluh jadi air mata
Meski sakit terasa di pahitnya ludah

Satu demi satu tulangku rontok!
Dimakan kejinya Tuhan semesta alam
Dicerabut masa dan kata maaf

Adakah kiranya yang mau menampar wajahku?
Agar setidaknya pori-pori membuka, biarkan ampunan mengalir
Adakah kiranya yang mau menampar wajahku?
Agar sesal ini tampak olehmu, Kawanku!

-12052014-