tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20582412532435170292024-02-07T14:57:26.375+07:00The T-FilesTranslations, books, bits and scraps, anything that comes to mindWork and stuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857782984232511394noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2058241253243517029.post-86135226949664607312013-03-18T14:41:00.000+07:002013-03-18T14:41:36.397+07:00Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
A
couple of months ago, I finished reading the last page of Me Before You. I closed the
book and sat back on my chair. My heart
was full. Sometimes, when the heart is
too full, you don’t know what to say, you can’t describe it. So you borrow someone else’s words, otherwise
your heart will burst. And for this
book, I’m Work and stuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857782984232511394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2058241253243517029.post-47361362185605428792012-06-16T04:32:00.000+07:002012-06-17T01:14:13.744+07:00It was a Pigeon
I made the call. Because of a pigeon. And a windowsill. It wasn't even a real pigeon. Nor a real windowsill. It was in the book I was reading. A pigeon cooed on the windowsill, it said. It puffed up its body, marched back and forth, and took flight. A mental image immediately took shape in my mind, of a fat, grey, beady-eyed pigeon, and a windowsill. Not just any windowsill, Work and stuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857782984232511394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2058241253243517029.post-30675672848214538492012-04-03T12:24:00.004+07:002012-06-16T04:08:24.761+07:00Saat Keraguan Menyapa
Dalam bukunya, Seperti Sungai yang Mengalir, salah satu tulisan Coelho yang paling mengena buat saya adalah Doa yang Terlupakan. Doa ini ditulisnya lama berselang, disisipkan di sampul sebelah dalam sebuah buku puisi, dan bertahun-tahun kemudian doa ini kembali kepadanya dalam cara yang sungguh luar biasa---di selebaran yang disodorkan seseorang kepadanya ketika dia sedang berjalan-jalan Work and stuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857782984232511394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2058241253243517029.post-63915218063138507652011-10-28T09:09:00.003+07:002011-10-28T11:33:51.577+07:00Little Things That Warm the HeartA cup of hot chocolate, a letter from a friend (a nice, old-fashioned, ink on paper letter), and a beautiful poem by Tagore to complete my morning.
The Gardener: XXVIII
Your questioning eyes are sad. They seek to know my meaning as the moon would fathom the sea.
I have bared my life before your eyes from end to end, with nothing hidden or held back. That is why you know me not.
Work and stuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857782984232511394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2058241253243517029.post-70600861310163573592010-11-07T02:59:00.011+07:002011-10-26T10:53:49.966+07:0050. Let the Right One In* Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
Cover design: Satya Utama Jadi
At first I was a bit sceptical about this book. It’s a vampire novel by Swedish author John Ajvide Lindqvist. The synopsis did not help to convince me at all. So I really don’t know why, in the end, I decided to give it a try. And I’m glad I did. It’s like no other vampire novels I’ve ever read. Work and stuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857782984232511394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2058241253243517029.post-63783031631122815092010-06-24T22:39:00.005+07:002011-10-26T10:42:42.054+07:00Farewell, Mb. Lis*Farewell, Mb. Lis
Beloved editor, translator, mentor, shipmate, captain.
Joy, shipmate, joy!
Your life is closed, your life begins,
The long, long anchorage you leave,
The ship is clear at last, she leaps!
She swiftly courses from the shore,
Joy, shipmate, joy
(from Songs of Parting---Walt Whitman)
June 24, 2010Work and stuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857782984232511394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2058241253243517029.post-15843629291780790922009-10-24T04:47:00.014+07:002011-10-26T10:08:21.455+07:00"Magic" in a Tube* "Magic" in a Tube
Salah satu “mainan” favorit saya adalah kaleidoscope. Ya, benda berupa tabung cermin berisi manik-manik atau objek-objek berwarna lain, yang pantulannya membentuk pola-pola abstrak yang indah, rumit, dan selalu berubah-ubah. Saya betah memandangi pola-pola yang mirip kaca patri ini berlama-lama. Duluu sekali saya pernah punya satu kaleidoscope. Tapi gara-gara Work and stuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857782984232511394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2058241253243517029.post-60951929712181449992009-08-05T23:08:00.008+07:002011-10-26T10:09:01.327+07:0049. Three Shadows
* Three Shadows by Cyril Pedrosa
I'm glad to announce here that I've finished translating this beautifully written and visually stunning graphic novel by French writer Cyril Pedrosa. It's one of those books that move you so much and this book speaks a lot in all its simplicity. The little boy Joachim lives a happy and simple life with his parents. Everything was perfect, until the three Work and stuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857782984232511394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2058241253243517029.post-41169646988828235772009-08-05T23:05:00.009+07:002011-10-26T10:03:58.880+07:0048. Teen Ink * Teen Ink: Love & RelationshipWork and stuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857782984232511394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2058241253243517029.post-23247233247231358952009-07-06T00:24:00.007+07:002011-10-26T10:10:02.950+07:00Tim Burton's Stain Boy* Tim Burton's Stain Boy
I was looking for something light to read this afternoon when, among the stacks of books, I found my old copy of The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories by Tim Burton, so of course I had to read it again. It's an all time favourite book of mine and it's truly awesome. I especially like The Girl Who Turns Into a Bed, but I don't think this one has been made Work and stuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857782984232511394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2058241253243517029.post-10634024837297543422009-06-29T20:25:00.002+07:002011-10-26T10:10:22.242+07:00To Sleep or To Keep Awake* To Sleep or To Keep Awake
Isn’t it frustrating when you want to keep typing while the words are flowing, and yet you can hardly keep your eyes open? I plan to finish at least 10 pages today but the sleep inducing cough medicine I took insists that I I lay down and call it quits. I would like to keep going, at least for awhile. Who knows, maybe I, in this semi-conscious state I’m in, might Work and stuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857782984232511394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2058241253243517029.post-36114763926297651452009-06-21T01:51:00.013+07:002011-10-26T10:10:51.172+07:0047. Interworld* InterWorld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves
I'm going to finish the last ten pages tomorrow. Meanwhile, here's a brief summary about this book. Basically it's a battle of power between worlds. HEX and Binary are two powerful forces in the Multiverse, and both are determined to be the one and only ruler of all. While HEX relies on magic, Binary depends on science. Interworld is some sort of Work and stuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857782984232511394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2058241253243517029.post-90162979465182598752009-03-06T14:51:00.006+07:002009-04-13T00:44:02.015+07:00"Absence" is Presence*"Absence" is PresenceI found this in the book I'm working on:Light and shadow: you need both to paint a scene or tell a story. To represent three dimensions on a flat surface, you need light to form the object and shadow to give it shape. In composing a picture or a story, you pay attention to negative and positive space. The positive space is what you want the viewer's eye to focus on. But Work and stuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857782984232511394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2058241253243517029.post-71445112143268456342009-02-27T00:48:00.012+07:002011-10-26T10:53:29.916+07:0046. Recipes for...* Recipes for a Perfect Marriage by Kate Kerrigan
Cover design: Satya Utama Jadi
Four more chapters and I’m done. Pheww. I like this book a lot, really. If there is anything or anyone I don’t like here it's Tressa Nolan, one of the main voices in this book. She is too insecure, too fussy and superficial for my taste. I gritted my teeth when translating those chapters about Work and stuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857782984232511394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2058241253243517029.post-91154064860147663982008-12-02T23:36:00.009+07:002011-10-26T10:14:58.829+07:00Books That Come to Stay
Books That Come to Stay and Books That Only Pass Through
I hoard books. I’d have liked to use the term “collect”. “Collecting” sounds so much nicer than “hoarding”. “To collect” implies that the things you collect are chosen carefully, selectively, but the fact is many people simply collect and accumulate (things, or books) mindlessly, impulsively. So do I, with books. I “hoard” books mostly Work and stuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857782984232511394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2058241253243517029.post-46131915209243376672008-11-29T00:51:00.007+07:002011-10-26T10:05:06.819+07:00The Dying Mermaid
The Dying Mermaid
Do you search for the mermaid? She's not here, she's up thereOn her back upon the rockHer hair spread out her eyes steadfastDying under the crimson skyThe sea roaring the sun bleedingNot another creature to be seen
One final breath and one last pullShe throws her heart of starfish shapeFar to the deep blue depthTurns it into bright bloody red
She's gone and Neptune sits Work and stuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857782984232511394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2058241253243517029.post-84109576815391739072008-11-01T00:29:00.004+07:002008-11-01T01:32:19.977+07:00DistractionsDistractionsThey come in all shapes and forms. Some I can ignore, others I cannot. Phone calls and text messages I do and WILL ignore sometimes when I’m in the middle of translating the pages that fit my mood of the night. But tonight I let myself be distracted. By these all too familiar lines in a translation material I was reading:Whoever you are holding me now in hand,Without one thing all Work and stuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857782984232511394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2058241253243517029.post-69870203976682216402008-07-09T00:18:00.006+07:002011-10-26T10:12:41.019+07:0045. Chicken with Plums
* Chicken with Plums by Marjane Satrapipublished: October 2008
Witty and brilliant as ever. Chicken with Plums is a story about Marjane's great uncle, Nasser Ali Khan, who decided to die after his wife broke his beloved tar. The story is both tragic and dramatic, yet i couldn't help chuckling now and then while reading and translating. And i found myself amazed at the main character's Work and stuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857782984232511394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2058241253243517029.post-76550175029368866932008-07-03T18:22:00.011+07:002011-10-26T10:12:57.242+07:0044. Laika
*Laika by Nick Abadzis published: November 2008
Laika was the abandoned puppy destined to be Earth's first space traveller. This is her journey. Nick Abadzis masterfully blends fiction and fact in the intertwined stories of three compelling lives. Along with Laika, there is Korolev, once a political prisoner, now a driven engineer at the top of Soviet space program, and Yelena, the lab Work and stuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857782984232511394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2058241253243517029.post-9492390870208704912008-06-14T23:16:00.023+07:002011-10-26T10:52:34.984+07:0043. Silence
* Silence by Shusaku Endo
Cover design: Satya Utama Jadi
published: December 2008
How do i describe this book? Can I say that it's, more or less, in the line of Coelho's The Fifth Mountain? Yes and no, I think. Yes, because it also tells about a God who seems to be completely silent in the face of human adversity. No, because... it is in many ways a much more sombre Work and stuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857782984232511394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2058241253243517029.post-26461346259477513852008-04-16T17:21:00.011+07:002011-10-26T10:15:43.080+07:0042. The Secret Things of God
* The Secret Things of God by Henry Cloud It's the Christian version of The Secret.Work and stuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857782984232511394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2058241253243517029.post-2846603681916960962008-04-14T15:35:00.039+07:002011-10-26T11:15:54.107+07:0040. Ways to Live Forever
* Ways to Live Forever by Sally Nicholls
cover design: Satya Utama Jadi
published: May 2008
It's a poignant story, beautifully written, about an 11 year-old boy who is dying from leukimia. Sam loves facts, and he has many questions about many things, from ghosts and airship and what it feels like to kiss a girl, and what happens when you die. But instead of being heartbreaking, this story Work and stuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857782984232511394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2058241253243517029.post-56984906057638175192008-04-14T15:35:00.036+07:002011-10-26T10:17:25.693+07:0041. The Book of Lost Things * The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
cover illustration: Rob Ryan
published: August 2008
I'd say that John Connolly writes weird books. Weird in the sense that you don't quite know what to make of them. His books are unlike any other that i've ever read. They're dark, that's one thing for sure. Not that there's never a happy ending, but a happy ending in Connolly's books is not the Work and stuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857782984232511394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2058241253243517029.post-88340945723233017942007-10-19T22:03:00.007+07:002011-10-26T10:19:13.871+07:0039. Eleven Minutes
ELEVEN MINUTES by Paulo Coelhotranslated by Tanti Lesmana and Arif Subiyantocover design: Satya Utama Jadi
Work and stuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857782984232511394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2058241253243517029.post-84228772206840533562007-09-01T00:39:00.001+07:002011-10-26T10:19:47.674+07:00It's OverIt's Over
I always know when an affair is over. And doing translations for me is like having a long love affair. You are committed---or supposed to commit yourself---to the work at hand until you complete it. And so far I always did. Although at times boredom set in and I abandoned the book for awhile, in the end I always picked it up again and continued where I left off. But this time… it’s Work and stuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857782984232511394noreply@blogger.com0