Antara Balqis Silfia, Minn Edina & Aida Nurani

Sumber: Internet. Terima kasih.

Bukan nak buat review pun. Belum habis baca semua. Cuma nak membebel. Hiksss~

Di antara 3 novel ini, Setenang Cahaya Hati adalah yang mula-mula sekali saya beli dalam bulan lepas. Saya beli secara online melalui penulisnya.

Minggu berikutnya, saya ke MPH Alpha Angle. Saya terserempak dengan Yuda Di Padang Maya & Versus. Teruja sungguh nampak novel-novel ni.

Tetapi Versus yang saya sudahi dulu dengan wassalam. Hari ni beli, esok habis baca. Saya hairan betul dengan tarikan Hlovate ni. Novel dia ceritanya ringan je tetapi saya tak tahu apa yang buat saya sangat suka baca novelnya. Cara penulisannya lebih kurang macam Ahadiat Akashah atau Nass Alina. Lebih kurang tapi tak sama. Dulu pernah ada orang gelakkan saya sebab baca novel Ahadiat Akashah. Tengah buat professional degree pun baca lagi Ahadiat Akashah. Sekarang novel Ahadiat Akasyah dah pecah panggung. Siapa yang gelakkan saya dulu tu? Mana dia mana dia? Meh sini nak seligi sikit.

Sekarang ni berjangkit dengan Hlovate. Umur dah masuk setengah abad pun, masih baca novel tentang budak-budak yang baru nak membesar di universiti. Memang lembab la saya ni. Dari dulu lembab. Semuanya lambat.

Dari dulu saya cari puncanya kenapa saya suka baca novel yang ditulis seperti Hlovate dan Ahadiat Akashah. Belum jumpa tapi saya dapat rasakan ringannya novel mereka bukan ringan saja-saja. Contohnya Hlovate, ia sarat dan berat di dalam kepala saya yang mengatakan Hlovate adalah seorang yang sangat bijak, berpendidikan tinggi, berilmu bukan saja ilmu yang sedang dipelajarinya sekarang tapi ilmu di luar bidangnya juga dan tahu apa yang dia tulis. Technical jargon yang dia guna sikit pun tidak melunturkan kemahuan saya untuk berhenti membacanya hingga akhir. Novel Versus tu, saya habiskan jam 2.30 pagi. Mata pula macam faham-faham je. Tapi kalau mata saya bagitahu dia mengantuk pun, saya paksa dia buka sampai saya habis baca. Kalaulah bangun bertahajud kan bagus.

Saya terjumpa bermacam-macam orang tulis mengenai novel Hlovate di internet. Baik dan kurang baik. Cuba baca salah satunya kat bawah ni. Rasanya dia reply sebab orang cakap dia selalu tulis novel tentang growing up kot.

Assalamualaikum and greetings to all =)
I’m officially flabbergasted.If not,flattered[not to mention that I’ve been laughing my head off too in the middle of one hectic week-over reading this debate].It has never crossed me that ada orang yang sanggup took all the trouble to write half a thousand words of comment on my hikayat/cerita.

I found it surreal because I thought that nobody would bother,but yeah…I still found it amusing. I thank you,Mr.Minas Tirih for your thoughts and starting the forum. And that’s me being serious and sincere,not me being sarcasticAs weird as it sounds,I’m giving the nod to Mr.Minas Tirih’s points;to a certain degree anyway.No surprise there because I’m pretty much a skeptic on my works myself.haha.And I’m not a real big fan of stereo-Malay novels either,but I do dig for the certain kinds that totally blow me.So I think I do understand Mr.MT and his notion because I do think along the same line,and frankly speaking I’m not the tad offended.

But maybe a bit. Because I was surprised that Mr.MT was actually looking for the essence of romantic notions in the book,which I’ve to say I’ve deliberately disappointed you.Well,it’s either you’re stereotyping me or me here stereotyping you as the stereotype reader.

I’m not a big fan of romance.
Premise A:But the most readers are.
Premise B:And I love writing.
Conclusion:Hence to get people reading you stuff,love element is almost a definite answer. As a commercial value,attraction force.And just mere that.

I don’t really write with who-gonna-end-up-with-who in mind as a core.

As for explaining myself,here’s just the stuff that I’ve put in my blog that I hope will make it clear that I’m not really a who-gonna-end-up-with-who fan.Banyak lagi benda lain yang boleh dicerita.I’d rather have people stereotyping me as hlovate yang kerja tulis pasal cerita growing-up je.Because that’s what I’m doing anyway.“….aku menulis bukan sebab aku nak create dunia fantasy.aku jot down everything yang aku nak share dengan orang lain tentang apa yang aku tau.aku tak banyak ilmu.tapi aku cuma tau kisah hidup~aku,family aku,kengkawan aku.dunia nie classroom yang paling besar dengan God sebagai Teacher the Almighty.aku banyak belajar dengan tu.aku tak pandai tulis bahasa bunga-bunga untuk harukan hati orang.aku just tulis apa yang aku rasa dan nak orang rasa.tp macam kata kawan aku 'everything needs commercial value and attraction force'.maka aku pun draw je cerita tu ikut taste org yg nak baca,tapi dengan core yg aku ada sebagai basic color.nak share rasa dengan orang bukan senang.aku tak pandai melukis,so aku tak boleh draw n paint perasaan akuaku tak pandai menyanyi, aku tak boleh lagukan hati aku, aku takde art n skill,maka aku takleh nak shout out buat graffiti kat mana-mana dinding dan sebenarnye aku tak pandai pun menulis....aku tau throw out n spill je.I aint writing to create a fantasy love story.frankly speaking,I actually cant stand much mushy-lovey-dovey-stuff[one of the reason why GT_i[V] got me bad].sumer material yang dah publish kat sini,each ada core sendiri.the core is the reason that set me writing.the chenta part is mere fabrication.yeah…commercial value is a must kalau nak orang flip thru material kita.love element is an almost definite answer. Tapi ada je my material yang commercial value nyer overshadow the core....”

I always take reading as something very much similar to the other things yg we do to please our senses.Things like eating or listening to the music or even enjoying a painting.

If I’m craving for some nasi goreng belacan then I won’t be going to try to find it in a French restaurant serving escargot with butter-garlic sauce.It’s a futile effort la tu.Better try Warung Pak Ngah Baharom Taman Jaya.Or if I want something heavy and thrilling like super cili padi tom yam with nasi putih,then there’s no point of buying popcorn to satiate the appetite.Same goes with reading.If one wants to read about the philosophy of the theory of knowledge,find Aristotle or Plato,and not Judith McNaught.If one wants some thrill,find Dan Brown or Sue Grafton,not Noddy in Toyland[but I still find thrill in Enid Blyton’s Famous Five and Findouters....well,maybe that’s just me.I’m weird like that].

Things like reading/eating/whateverelse depend on the need of want during that particular time.I remember reading an article by Faizal Tehrani about popcorn novels =).It was seriously interesting.And I personally think reading is so like eating.Popcorn and junkies are bad for health,but that’s what people like most anyway.If they tend to take too much sugar overdose,well...they’ll get cavities.So,balance up then.Pickup Leo Tolstoy’s and Shahnon Ahmad’s for some slap of reality[the carb].Grab Allahyarham Dr.Usman Awang’s and Coleridgre-Wordsworth’s works to enjoy the beauty of language,words and poetry[the protein].Make some time for the articles in Times or Newsweek because they’re equivalent to vit and minerals to keep you in check.And you only need some small amount of sugar and fat and whatever nutrients the junkies have.And this’s the part where you grab some popcorn novels.Like popcorn,light novels pun ada sustenance even sesudu..Once in a while is okay,but don’t make it your staple diet.My ceritas are popcorn too.As surreal as it sounds,I won’t have people reading my ceritas as staple diet.That’s just absurd because there’s lots of much better stuff to baca for the carb sustenance.

Tapi no matter how objective I made it looked like above,reading is also as subjective as enjoying a painting.Each individual has different interpretations of what they see/hear/taste.Beauty and quality lies in the eyes of the beholder.Ever seen works by Goya?Some will just say that his darker works memang just plain barbaric from first glance.Some will say there’s beauty in the tragedy.And how about works by Yusof Gajah?Maybe orang sekali pandang akan kata his works looks so childish with all the quirks and bright colors.Well,I pity those who’re shallow then.Dan sama jugak dengan books.People ada interpretation sendiri.Some might some books as insightful,quirky,or whatever and others might find if as uber trash.It depends on the kind of person you’re really.Of what you want,and what you want to find.

I still watch Senario whenever I feel like I want a good laugh,and still think Lion of The Desert is the uber best film ever.

I don’t read RADHA because I want to know Syah akan end-up dengan Kaduk or Ammar.I read it because I want to follow how she membesar and belajar.I've said it numerous times-->I’m not a writer,I’m merely a storyteller.Because calling myself a writer will be an insult to the word itself.Writers are people like Tolstoy and Shahnon Ahmad and Hugo and Azizi Hj Abdullah and Louisa May Alcott.I’m a language butcher and God knows how many laws of language and literature that I’ve crashed in one go.Not to mention that I’ve never been enrolled into any writing classes,hence it’s my sincere apology if my works lack the whatever quality-theory that should be.I just spilled.

And also it’s my sincere apology to any of you if you find this piece offensive,or if my works are insulting your intelligence.

Like what I’ve said,don’t go for popcorns if you want some nasi goreng.

Well yeah…I’d rather be hated for what I am than to be loved for what I’m not =)p/s:And for the record for the umpteenth time,I still have issues with GT_i.I’ll be totally fine if people want to call it picisan or whatever.And please don’t bother to read it when it’s out if you’re not up for triple-honey-sugar-coated-popcorn-drenched-in-caramel-sauce.It still keeps me on the verge of grabbing anti-emetics.

Just so you know.
You’ve been warned.
May Allah bless.
Enjoy reading and shoutouting.

Nampaknya tulisan dia yang saya copy paste dari sumber ini lebih panjang dari tulisan saya.

Saya sedang berada di pertengahan Setenang Cahaya Hati.