What I've Been Reading and Listening to...

Hello,

It's been a while (again) I didn't post anything to this blog. I spent the last month traveling around Europe. I went to Paris, then Copenhagen, Prague, Berlin then back to Switzerland again. It's been hell of a month!

But I'm not going to talk about my travel. Here, I want to share three things, like the way I used to make a post on this blog.

1. Novels

People say, waiting is a good book. So, while traveling in the last 5 weeks, I spent lots of times reading. At the airports, on the train, or even in some times spending with waiting, I always read. I finished two amazing books, which are:

- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer.

Indonesian novelist Donny Dhirgantoro made a character named Safran in his nationally-famous book, 5 CM. This name is the middle name of this American young author, Jonathan Safran Foer. I can see why. In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, he has the most exciting and unique way of writing I have ever read.

This novel tells about a kid who lost his dad in the 9/11 tragedy. He then tries to dig the last memory of his dad, then starts to discover more and more hidden things about their family: his long-lost granddad and his complicated relationship with the grandmother. 

The story is simple and inevitably sad. However, I was attracted to Foer's really different way of writing. He really cares so much about the performance, for example the layout of the pages, which sometimes contains pictures. Some of the pictures are absurd and surreal. The most interesting thing is that, the strange layout, different font sizes, or even the page alignment, can also contribute to the flow of the story. This is a masterpiece, if we talk about the book from the appearances.

- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

This book is almost similar to Extremely Loud. It's also written in the first-person point of view, seeing from a little kid point of view. The difference is, only, the kid in Curious Incident is autistic.

The story is opened by a dead dog, which leads to the curiosity of the autistic kid. He then decides to 'investigate' the dog's death by asking around his neighbors. The story also leads to the kid's disturbed family situation. 

It might be the most simple story someone can write, but then, easy reading is a damn hard writing. I love how Mark Haddon slowly uncovers the real mystery behind the plot, which is, actually the most simple situation a reader can discover.

2. Song


Perhaps, the most suitable title for this post is 'simplicity'. Those two books I reviewed above, are simple yet exciting stuffs to read. Now, I want to talk about the song which has been playing in my mind for like.. almost 2 months.

It is a song by an alternative band that was quite popular in the 90's, Everclear. The song, which was also released in the 1990's,  is called I Will Buy You A New Life. The tunes are catchy. The beat is a little too-last-decade, especially if you compare it with the electric songs that are popular in the 2000's. However, those things are not disadvantages to this soon-to-be-one-of-my-favorite songs ever.

The lyric tells about a guy who apologizes to his partner (or wife?). The woman has lived with someone else, but the guy has a strong intention to win her heart back. The main difference between the lyric with all the mellow and sad songs is... the lyric sounds a little bit.. umm.. arrogant. You can check out its chorus:

I will buy you a garden 

Where your flowers can bloom 

I will buy you a new car 

Perfect shiny and new 

I will buy you that big house 

Way up in the west hills 

I will buy you a new life 

Yes I will 

Arrogant, isn't it? However, I see it in a different point of view. The song is merely the vow and the strong words of a committed man to get his love back. Let's say that this song doesn't try to sound sweet, but we get the sweet impression anyway. Isn't it sweet? :D

I posted the video here so you can enjoy it like I do.

I Will Buy You A New Life by Everclear

Lyrics:

Here is the money that I owe you, so you can pay the bills 

I will give you more when I get paid again 

I hate those people who love to tell you money is the root of all that kills 

They have never been poor, they have never had the joy of a welfare christmas 

I know we will never look back 

You say you wake up crying, yes and you don't know why 

You get up and you go lay down inside my baby's room 

I guess I'm doing ok, I moved in with the strangest guy 

Can you believe he actually thinks that I'm really alive 

(CHORUS)

I will buy you a garden 

Where your flowers can bloom 

I will buy you a new car 

Perfect shiny and new 

I will buy you that big house 

Way up in the west hills 

I will buy you a new life 

Yes I will 

Yes, I know all about that other guy, the handsome man with athletic thighs 

I know about all the times before with that obsessive little rich boy 

They might think you think you're happy, yeah maybe for a minute or two 

They can't make you laugh, no they can't make you feel the way that I do 

(CHORUS)

I know we can never look back 

Will you please let me stay the night 

No one will ever know 

(CHORUS)