Posted by paramita on Jan 17, 2008 in
books,
movies Hari ini gw terbaca sinopsis film “Perempuan Punya Cerita” di kompas online. Sayangnya kompas nggak bisa di-link, tapi sinopsis film dan trailernya juga bisa dilihat di http://www.kalyanashira.com/perempuanpunyacerita/.
4 cerita pendek. 4 sutradara perempuan bercerita tentang 4 perempuan biasa yang punya pengalaman luar biasa. Tapi kenapa dari 4 cerita ini, kok semuanya cerita penderitaan perempuan ya?
Please don’t let it be another depressing movie…
Read more…
Tags: book, movie, review
Posted by paramita on Feb 21, 2007 in
books 
Author : Habiburrahman El Shirazy
Published : December 2004, 406 pages
Genre : Fiction, Islamic, Indonesian
Lina recommended this book; she said it gave her mixed beautiful feelings. I peeked inside and I remember reading parts of this in a continuous story part in Republika newspaper about three years ago. Sadly, I did not know the ending because that was the time I went to Germany. I remember that it was beautifully written, especially for people who adores Islam or who wanted to learn and adore it and I was curious about the ending, so I bought the book.
The main character is an Indonesian student in Egypt. He was an exceptional student, with an exceptional akhlak (mentality?), a very kind person who always do the right thing according to the guidance of Islam, Al-Qur’an, and the Prophet Muhammad. He must be good looking as well (at least presentable enough), considering all the girls that was mentioned in this story fell in love with him (there are four of them, from different nationality and background).
It is a love story, but it was a love story written in a perspective of an Islamic scholar. True love between a man and a woman only comes after marriage. It is a guidance of how to love (and how to be loved) in ways that did not collide with the teachings of the Prophet. It is a book about Islam teaching, because it has explanations of Qur’an and Hadits. It is an idealistic portrayal of how a guy should react (and how a good moslem girl should act).
I kind of find it hard to swallow that the author made it that all the girls love the main character. But then again, it is a romance novel where everything is allowed to be over the top. The main character is totally flawless guy, a perfect person. A dream guy for a moslem woman.
In the end, I believe this book is only for those who love Islam or try to love it. For those who don’t it is probably too idealistic and unreal. The Qur’an and Hadits was a little bit too much and sometimes a bit forced upon. For me it is a bit boring to read all the quotes (*devil wink*)
Final rating:
9/10, if you’re a good moslem or would like to know/be one.
5/10, if you’re easily bored with preaching or you don’t believe in Islam that much.
(Bought: Gramedia Paris Van Java, Bandung on 1 February 2007, Read: 1-2 February 2007 (around 8 hours))
Posted by paramita on May 8, 2006 in
books A book by Paulo Coelho, first published in 1998
Read on: 07 May 2006, just in one seating 
A wonderful book, I can’t put it down, therefore I read it all in one day. The story evolves around Veronika, a young women who decides to die. Not because she has problems, but because her life was just stagnant she found no reason to be alive…
I found it very much eye opening, made me think about my life, and how lucky I am that I actually do have problems in life. That I’m able to laugh with all my heart, and cry with all my heart. That I’m able to experience life ups and downs, forced to fight back, and in the end, when I looked back, I learned that it is actually a process of creating who I am.
Mistakes, sorrow, heart aches, anger, and pain are not there just because it will make victory and happiness much sweeter, but it is also written in the path of life. It is when you embrace both as a part of life’s path, not avoiding one part, or even shutting down your heart to emotions… we will be at peace, knowing that everything happens for a reason, and God never pushed you more than you can bear..
