Buku di Bangku Terasku

Penulis: Robert Harris Penerbit: Penguin Random House UK Tahun terbit: 2015 Jumlah halaman: 520 ISBN: 9780 0995 2268 3 (versi cetak/ekspor)
The Spartan statesman Lycurgus, seven hundred years ago, is said to have observed: "When falls on man the anger of the gods, first from his mind they banish understanding." Such was to be the fate of Caesar. I am sure Cicero was correct: he had gone mad. His success had made him vain, and his vanity had devoured his reason.
Trilogi Cicero (Imperium-Conspirata-Dictator) oleh Robert Harris adalah "petualangan" buat saya. Robert Harris membuktikan bahwa dia adalah salah satu master fiksi sejarah bertema Roma Kuno. Sama seperti penulis fiksi sejarah favorit saya lainnya, Mary Renault (yang menulis tentang Yunani Kuno), Harris tidak hanya menulis tentang Roma; dia menghidupkannya saat saya duduk membaca buku ini di mana saja. Rincian yang begitu mendetail tentang tempat, suasana dan bahkan aspek-aspek kepribadian terkecil dari tiap karak…

Penulis: Stephen King Penerbit: Hodder and Stoughton Tahun terbit: 1987 Jumlah halaman: 320 ISBN: 978 1 84894 0895 (versi epub)
She gave him a disturbing sense of solidity, as if she might not have any blood vessels or even internal organs; as if she might be only solid Annie Wilkes from side to side and top to bottom. He felt more and more convinced that her eyes, which appeared to move, were actually just painted on, and they moved no more than the eyes of portraits which appear to follow you to wherever you move in the room where they hang. It seemed to him that if he made the first two fingers of his hand into a V and attempted to poke them up her nostrils, they might go less than an eight of an inch before encountering (if slightly yielding) obstructions; that even her grey cardigan and frumpy house skirts and faded outside-work jeans were part of that solid fibrous unchannelled body.
Beberapa buku baru bisa diapresiasi ketika dibaca ulang lama kemudian. Buat saya, karya-karya Stephen…

Penulis: Mary Renault Penerbit: Vintage Books Tahun terbit: 1988 Jumlah halaman: 419 ISBN: 0 394 75101 9 (versi cetak)
The bed was ancient but grand, of painted and gilded cedarwood. And now it was time to serve him the royal Persian banquet he must be expecting from Darius' boy. I had it ready, with all the seasonings. But though in my calling I felt as old as time, my heart, which no one has trained, was young, and suddenly it mastered me. Instead of offering spices, I simply clutched him, like the soldier with the arrow wound.
Banyak yang berkomentar kalau film Alexander yang dibintangi Colin Farrell di tahun 2005 flop alias gagal total karena dua hal: kualitasnya yang rendah walau sudah menyelipkan Anthony Hopkins dan Angelina Jolie, serta aspek homoseksualitas yang terlalu diumbar. Saya tidak akan berkomentar tentang yang pertama; walau sejujurnya, lepas dari keasyikan melihat betapa tebalnya eyeliner Jared Leto yang berperan jadi Hephaistion sang sahabat masa kecil Alexander, mema…

Author: Natsuo Kirino Publisher: Vintage International Year: 2008 (English-language edition) Pages: 208 ISBN: 978 0 30738 7486
The sense of danger we all feel is something my mother can't comprehend. My mother's generation still believes in beautiful things like justice and considering other people's feelings.... Mom always lectures me about not afraid of getting hurt, but all she can imagine is the kind of hurt she's experienced herself. She had no idea of the threats that surround kids these days, how much we're bullied, how much hurt this causes. 
I once read a piece of review on Natsuo Kirino’s books that said: “She should write novels that are more suitable for women.” I laughed and imagined that reviewer sitting in front of me before I shot back: “Let me tell you something: Natsuo Kirino knows her stuff, and she pens it beautifully, even if she doesn’t make another Eat Pray love copycat or whatever your definition of women's novel is.” Kirino writes books about…

Penulis: Ray Bradbury Penerbit: Simon and Schuster Paperback
Tahun terbit: 2013 (edisi ulang tahun ke-60)
Jumlah halaman: 249
ISBN: 978 1 45167 3319 (versi cetak)

The books are to remind us what asses and fools we are. They're Caesar's praetorian guard, whispering as the parade roars down the avenue, 'Remember, Caesar, thou art mortal'.

Kita sering mengeluh bahwa orang sekarang lebih suka menonton TV daripada membaca buku, lebih suka mengisi otak dengan acara TV sensasional ketimbang membaca buku-buku sastra yang memerlukan imajinasi untuk memahaminya. Sekarang, bayangkan versi ekstremnya: bagaimana jika kita hidup di negara dimana buku dilarang, pemadam kebakaran dibayar untuk membakar buku, TV sensasi menjadi satu-satunya bentuk hiburan yang diijinkan, dan memiliki buku diancam hukuman mati? Itulah yang dibayangkan Ray Bradbury tentang masa depan saat menulis Fahrenheit 451, dan sama seperti prediksi Andy Warhol tentang "15 menit ketenaran," visinya bisa dibilang…

Penulis: Yoko Ogawa Penerbit: Picador Tahun terbit: 2013 (edisi bahasa Inggris) Jumlah halaman: 162 ISBN: 978 0 31267 4465 (versi cetak)
My chest began to ache and cold sweat ran down my back. My foot caught on something and I stumbled again, managing to catch myself on a large, double-door stainless refrigerator, the kind from a restaurant kitchen. It was spattered here and there with bird droppings. I opened the door, and I found someone inside. Legs neatly folded, head buried between the knees, curled ingeniously to fit between the shelves and the egg box.