Books and Beyond

The Kite Runner
by Khaled Hosseini

This is a story about a man (a Pashtun, majority tribe in Afghanistan) revisited his homeland after receiving a letter from an old friend of his family, a letter with a photograph in it, of a man who used to be his childhood friend, son of his father’s servant (a Hazara, minority, lower social class).

The man brought us to flashbacks of his childhood years, history of Afghanistan (before Russia invasion, during the invasion, after Russia defeated and, when he revisited, the Taliban was taking control), and the turning point of his relationship with his loyal and loving Hazara friend after a kite festival (”for you, a thousand times over”, that was the last words of the Hazara boy).

His cowardice, unloyalty brought regrets and eventually brought him back to his homeland because, as the letter he received said, there’s something could be repaired. For you a thousand times over…

He found many things there, about his Hazara brother, his father, his homeland, an old enemy, and he found his courage.

This is a great novel, very touching. About love, hate, pride, sorrows, regrets, forgiveness, Afghans, and Afghanistan.

Shop Girl
By Steve Martin

It’s about a girl, twenty something, artist by heart but took a job as a waiter in gloves store (which was a boring place). Met a boyfriend, about the same age, but the relationship ended so soon; he was such a boring boy. Then suddenly a man, fifty something, a man who commuted between two cities, came to her life. This man is kind to her, very generous, helping her financial problems, but there was a lack: he was a type of man who could not commit to a relationship, and he admitted this to her. Although she said it was OK with a condition that he should tell her when he slept with other girl, apparently she was hurt he told her he just did.

Bored of her job and her relationship, she moved to other city working in an art gallery (secretary or receptionist). Relationship with The Man reduced to (or is it increased to) nice friendship, and amazingly the previous boy, having found new wisdoms, became The New Man.

Well the story is not as dull as my summary above, it is a good novel.

A curious incident of the dog in the night-time
By: Mark Haddon

This is a great novel starts with a death of a dog belonged to a neighbor that Christopher, an autistic 15 year old, dedided to investigate to find who the murderer was. This led to revelations which are surprising and sad.

I think the title of this novel comes from a phrase in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of Bakersville (Christopher reviewed some facts of this Sherlock Holmes’ murder investigation). Christopher likes Sherlock Holmes because he was so logical but doesn’t like the author Sir Arthur who believed in the supernatural.

Christopher loves dogs, has a pet rat Toby, wants to be an austronaut, has a videographic memory, is brilliant in math (knows prime numbers up to a very big number) and science, always honest (because he cannot make up stories to lie).

He hates yellow and brown, loves red, doesn’t like crowds (and strangers) and always has big problem recognizing human emotions and sentences with metaphors (similes are ok).

It is an easy reading with plain English, and Christopher loves to explain things so we can understand.

Judul: Sugih Tanpa Banda (Mangan Ora Mangan Ngumpul 2)

Pengarang: Umar Kayam

Buku ini adalah kumpulan tulisan Umar Kayam di koran Kedaulatan Rakyat dari tahun 1991 sampai 1994 (tapi isinya masih cukup relevan), merupakan sekuel dari buku Mangan Ora Mangan Ngumpul. Enak dibaca, ringan tapi sekaligus sangat berisi.

Berisikan kejadian sehari-hari dalam rumah tangga tokoh Ageng dengan dialog-dialog dan kejadian-kejadian yang lucu, kadang ironis, yang menyinggung dan kadang mengkritik masalah-masalah kesenian, sosial, politik, kadang juga keagamaan. Umar Kayam benar-benar seorang pengamat dan pengkritik yang luar biasa hebat.

Banyak berisi ungkapan Jawa, seringkali diikuti dengan artinya, tapi kadang tidak juga, jadi untuk pembaca yang kurang mengerti ungkapan atau jargon Jawa harus rajin nanya ke teman-teman yang mengerti.

I wonder what happens now to the little kids in the book, Tolo-Tolo Si Anjing Laut and his bro Beni Prakosa.

Halo temen2…

Pengen punya blog ttg buku-buku yg udah gua baca, iya bisa juga ngga tentang buku sih, bisa tentang apa aja lah, tapi keknya kalo bikin resensi buku mungkin bisa lebih bermanfaat…

Ini baru gua baca minggu lalu, bagus deh…

—

Anyone Can Do It: Building Coffee Republic from our Kitchen Table
(Authors: Sahar and Bobby Hashemi)

This book is about an actual experience of a sister and brother building a business of coffee specialty outlets from just an idea into a real big business.

It started with an idea: One night in 1994 Sahar (the sister) said to her brother Bobby that she missed the experience of drinking coffee in the US, the taste, etc. At that time, to get coffee in London, you have to go to places selling sandwiches; coffees were merely additionals with poor taste, presentation (plastic cups and lids made from cheap materials). England was (and is) a tea drinking nation.

So Bobby thought building american style coffee outlet in London was a very brilliant idea.

With that idea in minds, they quit jobs. Sahar, formerly a lawyer, lost interest in the job, and Bobby, formerly an investment banker in the US, felt it’s better for him to stay close with family in London (Sahar and his mother). They started the search and research for knowledge of coffee, the market, demand and supply, technology, potential places for outlets, financing alternatives, etc. This book gives so much valuable lessons in starting a business from zero.

About a year since idea (in 1995), they opened an initial outlet, the first Coffee Republic outlet. Bobby almost gave up since it did not do well in several first months but eventually people spread the words of the great experience drinking coffee at Coffee Republic.

Coffee Republic expanded into 20 outlets a year after and became giant in 5 years and eventually publicly listed.

Sahar and Bobby did a great job, I admire their bro and sis relationships, their hardwork, dedication, courage, how they’re so organized, and so smart as well. I enjoy reading the book.