If you still remember your last visit to Gorgeous Inspirations online magazine of July/August 2007 edition, you must remember my recommendation for you to read this astounding novel, Looking for Alibrandi (Indonesian title: Mencari Jati Diri) by Melina Marchetta.

Well, I’m going to review it again here, just because I want you all know how gorgeous the book is.

And by the way, I just bought the book for myself, so that I no longer have to check it out from the local library no more. Really, I need the book be around me

My review:
For this matter, say buh-bye to the United States for the reason that apparently Australia has a better—no, THE BEST teenage novel in the universe. It’s apt for women of all ages (grannies, mommies, and daughters). And guess what, this novel even becomes one of the school text books in the country! How awesome is that, eh?

Read this novel, and you’ll undergo practically all kinds of senses and emotions. I still remember how I truly guffawed at the humors inside. I still remember how I truly sobbed for the gloomy scenes inside. I still remember how I was truly mad as well when the characters felt rage. I still remember how I truly felt relieved and literally contented for the happy scenes inside. I just remember how I felt ALIVE reading this great book!

Looking for Alibrandi is such a strong and smart and inspiring and stunning novel, you wanna steal the book from one of those shelves in the nearest book store once you realize you don’t have one. Naaah… just a hyperbole sort of thing—skip this. But seriously, this book is just gorgeous.

From this book, you can learn (and recall your teenagehood) how to recognize your true you.

From this book, you can learn to understand other cultures. This is actually a multi-culture kind of book, in which Ms. Marchetta (I salute you, really, Ms. Marchetta!) shows the cultures of both Australian and Italian and the conflicts between those two in a very clever way.

From this book, you can learn (again) how to love others.

From this book, you can learn (always again and again) how every single person on earth has different perspectives on anything.

To sum up, you can learn anything from this awesome novel!

Looking for Alibrandi was also made into a movie (I’ve never had any opportunity to watch it, but I’m sure it is pretty much as great as the written version, as Ms. Marchetta herself wrote the screenplays).

:: The gorgeous inspiration of this post?
That Looking for Alibrandi is gorgeous, you must buy one for yourself

As I’ve told you, my post on Ayat-ayat Cinta (AAC) has brought pretty significant traffic to this blog, and that matters to me, really. Having so many people comment on my post matters to me. Don’t you, bloggers, agree with me?

Well, I won’t talk too much (again) about AAC. Just a quick note that there’s a blog kindly mentioning my post on AAC. It’s Planet Vavai. Thanks

And another virtual neighbor that kindly mentions this blog address is someone from Aku dan Perempuan. She puts Gorgeous Inspirations in one of her links in the sidebar of her blog. And in return—not because she has mentioned my blog, but because I DO think her blog is gorgeous—I put her blog address in my link sidebar as well. It’s worth a click, trust me.

:: The gorgeous inspiration of this post?
Even my blog can inspire other people that I don’t know at all to post their comments and/or to ask someone else to visit my blog

I never thought that writing my point of view on Ayat-ayat Cinta would bring such traffic to this blog

Well then, it’s ‘the Oscar moment’ ( ); I’d like to thank AAC and the fans and the haters, plus to all search engines. You know who you are!

[photo from Ruang Film]

P.S.: I never have the novel of Ayat-ayat Cinta (AAC). Well, I did once buy the book (not for me; for my friend). I know I’m so very late, but believe it or not, I started to read the book only recently.

I don’t know what’s going on with me. I’m just not a kind of person who can be so hipnotized very easily by any ‘phenomenal’ books. Like, for instance, I never read Harry Potter (trust me, that’s the fact). I even watched two of the movies way so long after one TV station here showed them.

But I was kind of hipnotized a bit by the movie of Ayat-ayat Cinta once it was already in the cinema here in town. It was a pure curiosity, I assume. So I decided to go see the movie as my new friend happened to give me a treat to watch

The Novel
Before I share my thoughts on the movie, guess I would like to comment first on the book.

So, here’s the thing. FYI, I’m no fanatic fan of religious literature (or of any other kinds of literature), yet I do believe that I’m pretty selective (the good kind of selective, hopefully) in choosing what to read in this ‘genre’. In my opinion, not because a major amount of religious fiction books are sold out, then you’re certain that those books are the best, ever, let alone when it comes to the matter of taste. Well, we’re not ducks, are we?

So, I’m so sorry to all AAC novel biggest fans to say this; that I’m not THAT ‘crazy’ about both the book and the movie. Seriously.

Well, yes, it’s such a fresh kind of thing for Indonesia to have another new religious movie, after for so many times we’ve been bombarded with those freaking horror movies.

Frankly speaking, the first time I started to read some comments inside the book, I pretty much believed that they mean what they mean; that the book IS that good. I mean, even Joni Ariadinata comments on it wonderfully! Moreover, the first several lines of the first chapter are astounding! But later then, I begin to see the ‘common’ lines that I would find in other religious novels out there.

To my knowledge, comments you usually find on the jacket or inside books are always nice, and so are those in AAC; but after reading it myself, I found those a bit exaggerating, I don’t know.

Anyway, of course the book has nice parts. I particularly like a few of the last parts of the novel, like when Maria dies. It’s so moving. And from the very first time I read, I love the character of Maria, while I dislike the character of Fahri. I know, I know, he’s almost perfect and might be any woman’s man-of-their-dream. But sorry if I like the ‘normal’ one. You know, like Donald Duck. He so represents human—us; that bad lucks, lots of times, ‘have to’ be our friends.

Well, of course, the character of Fahri does have positive impact; people may look at him as a good role model in doing deeds, for example, whether to fellow muslims or to people of other religions.

The Movie
Now let’s talk about the movie. Surprisingly, people, I like the character of Fahri in the movie a bit more than I do in the novel. Sorry again for Fahri fans, but when I read the book, I thought that he (seemed) a bit putting on weight, but apparently the character looks fit on the actor’s skinny body

But still, I love Maria more. Great cast! Her hair, her eyes, her gorgeous face, her appearance, just as exactly as what I thought when reading the novel. Well, I especially love the scene when she first met Fahri on the flat building. Her role to be hospitable at the scene is just so gorgeous.

Another fave scene of mine: when Fahri’s prison-mate reminds him of how God (Allah) truly exists by giving him obstacles in life, and that Islam is all about patience and acceptance. Gorgeous message!

It’s a fast-paced movie (you know, to summarize the content of the book), so it was a bit boring watching it at first. But as the same as the novel, only a few of the last parts are great.

Although a little bit disappointed with the way Maria dies on the movie, I salute the director anyway.

Oh and one more thing, I love the original score. And the soundtrack is pretty gorgeous, too.

No comments on the polygamy thing and other stuff on both the novel and the movie. You can just read what others think

Wow, what a long post

{This post is cross-posted at BlogHer} 

It’s been several months I practice a greener life in almost everything I do, including when shopping. When planning to buy many goods or only some goods but they are big in sizes, I always bring my cotton shopping bag. When I go to some stores at the spur-of-the-moment, I use my old plastic bags that I always carry inside my work bag.

It is so true that lots of times it’s pretty hard to be different.

It’s pretty hard to be the only woman who wears headscarf while others around you don’t.

It’s pretty hard to be the only person who brings drinking flask to work and get your working partners stare at your flask, as if you can read their minds, “Only kindergarten pupils here in town who bring flasks.”

Well, yes, it is apparently pretty hard to be the only person on the store cashier that says no to plastic bags, even before the cashierperson takes the plastics to put all your stuff you buy into them.

Sometimes the cashierperson before me gruntles and sometimes looks freakingly confused.

Actually, the cashierpersons are not the only people who always give me a “what is this person trying to do, saying no to plastic bags, while I’m here trying to be nice to put her goods into the store plastic bags?” look, but other customers of the stores also.

So, looks like my problem in trying to be a greener shopper (in terms of the use of shopping bag, for this matter) isn’t about my preference of the shopping bag, but about how other people might think about my preference. But so far, I’m pretty glad to be different