Syaihan Syafiq's Blog, page 16

379: book depository... my newest one-stop online bookstore!

Greetings readers!
As you may have known, there are some new ads on the top, sidebar and also at the end of the blog, amirite? Well... if you guys don't mind clicking them, it will lead you to Book Depository, this new online bookseller that I have discovered.
If you, like me, an avid book-reader and book-collector, going to the local bookstore is similar to a 6-years-old going to the Toys'R'Us. In fact, if I was going out with my friends, I'd rather ditch them to do their own activities and let them leave me at the bookstore, provided that they will call me back when its time to go.
Anyways, there are times when you go to your favorite bookstore, eager to find this one book that you wanted to buy, spending hours browsing the shelves, looking and re-looking at it again just in case, then finally deciding to ask one of the bookstore's staff-member, only to have this reply:

Total disappointment, amirite?
Anyways, apart from heading to my regular online bookstores like MPH Online, Amazon and even Ebay, I soon discovered a new website called Book Depository. What differs this website from the other three is that Book Depository provides free delivery.
Yep, you read me right; FREE DELIVERY . I kid you not.
But there's a catch, though. Since this is actually an international company, the book that you ordered will took a slight delay of 10-14 days from the date of confirmed purchase. But that's okay I guess, considering that it provides free shipping to your door step.
Book Depository provides an extensive collection of books, make it either fiction or non-fiction, graphic novels, manga, dictionary, audio books and even e-books for sale. I prefer Book Depository in comparison to the other website when I can't find the book that I want (or the kind of cover that I want).
Well, today, approximately 15 days after I had completed the payment of purchase, the book that I bought is finally here. It is bubble-wrapped and was sent via air mail from UK. Yeah, the delivery schedule is kind of late, but then again I don't really mind because of the cheaper price you got (and did I tell you that the shipping is free?) in comparison to other online bookstores albeit local or international.Would I be ordering from Book Depository again in the future? Definitely! I was aiming to clear my wishlist of graphic novels by the end of this year and most of them can be bought rather cheaply via Book Depository that buying from Kinokuniya or other online bookstores.I highly recommend Book Depository for all of my blog readers. Its cheaper, and had a wider variety of rare books not sold locally.
=)

378: [siri tak ada kerja] #18 - A to Z Book Survey.

The other day I discovered this survey done from various BookTubers and this survey originated from this blog, so I decided to give it a go.
Check it out!

Author you’ve read the most books from:Stephen King. I started reading 'IT' way back in high school and something about his style of narration and his craftsmanship in storytelling had made me hooked ever since.

Best Sequel Ever:Doctor Sleep by Stephen King. Its the sequel from his older book, 'The Shining'. I liked how all the characters have grown up and how the author manages to develop such an engrossing story of an already good book is beyond by comprehension.

Currently Reading:Colorless Tsukuri Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami.

Drink of Choice While Reading:Coffee. Black, with just a teaspoon of sugar. 

E-reader or Physical Book?I prefer physical book in comparison to e-books, but then again I do have some books in my iPad that I bring along to read when I am commuting in the train.

Fictional Character You Probably Would Have Actually Dated In High School:Charlie from 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower'.

Glad You Gave This Book A Chance:Room by Emma Donoghue

Hidden Gem Book:Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I have heard so much about this book, my friends and lecturer are all pestering me to give it a go but I was kind of hesitant at first. Then I decided to grab a copy and boy am I hooked! 

Important Moment in your Reading Life:Transforming from being a book-lover, to a book-writer. In 2012 I had the opportunity to publish my debut novel. Another checklist marked in my bucket list. :)

Just Finished:Siong by M. Faiz Syahmi & Neesa Jamal

Kinds of Books You Won’t Read:Erotica. I tried reading that famous '50 Shades of Grey' but I put it down after a quarter done because of several reasons: 1) its poorly written, 2) there's nothing happening to the development of the characters apart from having sex, sex and more sex

Longest Book You’ve Read:The Stand by Stephen King and Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.

Major book hangover because of:Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Number of Bookcases You Own:There's one bookcase at the living room and the rest of my books are stacked in two tall towers at the corner of my room. Oh, and I also had another huge chest of books that I left at my best-friend's house (which I am yet to take home after I had graduated last 2 years)

One Book You Have Read Multiple Times:This one is kind of hard because I have plenty of books that I find extremely enjoyable that I tend to revisit again and again. One of it would be 'It' by Stephen King.

Preferred Place To Read:On my bed.

Quote that inspires you/gives you all the feels from a book you’ve read:“Ideas are like beards. Men don’t have them until they grow up. Somebody said that, but I can’t remember who.” ― Haruki Murakami,  Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

Reading Regret:I regret nothing. I appreciate and respect each and every authors who have managed to make their craft published and bought by others to be read and enjoyed (or not?).

Series You Started And Need To Finish(all books are out in series):All 13 books from the Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snickets.

Three of your All-Time Favorite Books:1. The Hours by Michael Cunningham
2. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk3. Salina by A. Samad Said


Unapologetic Fangirl For:Rainbow Rowell. Everything that she had written thus far has been pure genius. I would buy just anything from her after this.

Very Excited For This Release More Than All The Others:The Revival by Stephen King.

Worst Bookish Habit:I rather wait half a year (or longer) after the book release just to get the copy in paperback format because hardcovers are expensive as hell, yo!.

X Marks The Spot: Start at the top left of your shelf and pick the 27th book:The Lake by Banana Yoshimoto

Your latest book purchase:The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta

ZZZ-snatcher book (last book that kept you up WAY late):Zombijaya by Adib Zaini.

377: [siri salah dengar] #10 - telefon baru, katanya.

DIA: May you be the class clown
        I'll be the beauty queen in Sears
        It's the new iPhone that we care (yeah)
        We're so happy, even when we're smilin' out of our ear
        Let's go down to the tennis court, and talk it up like yeah (yeah)

AKU: Macam salah je part chorus tu...(tunjuk lirik kat laptop)

DIA: Pfffttt....



rujukan: http://unforumzed.com/showthread.php?...

376: panggilan hangit daripada ambank. jaga-jagalah kalian!

Salam,
Tadi lepas lunch dan baru je nak ambil mood sambung menulis, tiba-tiba aku dapat panggilan daripada satu nombor [ 03-21888899 ] yang aku tak kenali. Mula-mula malas jugak nak angkat, tapi bila dah dok ringing lima-enam kali, aku angkat jugak. Iyelah... manalah nak tahu kot-kot call tu dari lecturer aku ke, member aku ke, sedara-sepapat ke, ye tak?
Bila aku jawab, dengar suara pre-recorded with a heavy Chinese accent, cakap lebih kurang macam ni:

"Dear Customer. This is AmBank credit card centre. You have a pending transaction of RM3,862. Press 1 to confirm, press 5 to repeat, press 9 to speak to our operator"

* dialog kat atas ni bukan dialog sebenar, tapi lebih kurang macam tu la.
Bila dia dah habis cakap, dia akan pause, lepas tu ulang balik. Bila aku tanya, "Hello, hello?!"  (cue lagu Lady Gaga) tak ada respons, tapi sebaliknya dialog yang sama diulang semula.
Aku malas nak layan, terus hang up the call dan sambung kerja macam biasa. Tapi entah macam mana tergerak hati la nak Google dan cari info pasal benda ni, dan aku discover yang memang ada scam bangang macam ni dari certain people, guna nama AmBank.
Yang kelakarnya, 1) aku tak ada akaun AmBank, 2) random gila orang nak buat transaction sampai dekat RM4K kat aku yang bergaji ala-ala ciput ni. Serius lawak.
Anyways, aku terjumpa la blog ni yang cakap pasal pengalaman yang serupa, which is kind of creepy jugak la considering that blogger ni tulis entri dia pada bulan Mac lepas. Which means scam ni strikes back la kot.
So kau orang kat luar sana, be safe and be smart, okay?
=)

375: this friday... if God's willing, then i shall meet you again, Insya-Allah... ;)

the title says it all.i cannot keep smilin' like a fool nowwaiting for your returnInsya-Allah...

374: [siri ulasan buku] #42 - pinjam karya anuar shah.

Apabila mendapat naskah berjudul PINJAM yang ditulis oleh seorang lelaki bernama Anuar Shah ini, payah untuk menyangka bahawa seorang peguam boleh menulis fiksyen kreatif sebegini. Mungkin kerana apabila kita mendengar profesion peguam, kita akan membayangkan seseorang yang serius, bekeng, tepat dan cepat, langsung tidak menyerupai karya pertama tulisan beliau ini.
Agak payah untuk melabelkan genre yang sesuai untuk diletakkan pada naskah ini. Separuh awalnya bagaikan ada acuan psychological-thriller, separuh pertengahannya pula aku menghidu elemen sai-fai, dan selebihnya ada juga bibit-bibit humanistic thriller. 

PINJAM merupakan sebuah karya yang bergerak perlahan, terlalu perlahan sebenarnya. Terlalu banyak back-story yang diceritakan sejak protagonis kecil, kemudian ada lagi menginjak kisah kisah pra-lahir protagonis yang diceritakan oleh beberapa lagi watak yang saling bertukar-ganti naratif, sehingga kau sebenarnya harus membaca karya ini dengan berhati-hati dan bijak membuat hubungkait antara watak-watak tersebut kerana khuatir kau akan putus asa dan akhirnya letak sahaja buku ini ke samping kerana 'letih' hendak berfikir (maklum sajalah, majoriti pembaca tempatan bukannya 'rajin' sangat hendak berfikir kalau hendak membaca naskah fiksyen santai *batuk* jeling group WhatsApp KRM *batuk* //inside joke//). Jujur aku katakan, naskah PINJAM ini hanya bermula untuk berasa menarik pada halaman 122 dan seterusnya kerana pada halaman inilah munculnya naratif tak bernama yang aku kira merupakan hook kepada keseluruhan cerita ini.
Teknik konstruksi naratif orang pertama pelbagai watak (first person point of view) yang digunakan dalam PINJAM mirip benar seperti konstruksi plot yang digunakan dalam novel keduaku iaitu KOYAK. Plot bergerak dalam kelajuan agak perlahan, dengan dibahagikan kepada 4 bahagian kecil iaitu 'Siakap Senohong', 'Gelama Ikan Duri', 'Bercakap Bohong' dan 'Lama-lama Mencuri' yang aku kira pintar namun tidak nampak relevan pembahagian sub-bahagian buku ini kepada empat. Nak katakan empat sub-bahagian ini merupakan penanda kepada perkembangan tumbesaran protagonis utama (seorang lelaki bernama Shahrom) pun tidak jugak, entahlah (#malasberfikir).

Selain daripada itu, snowball effect  yang dibangunkan sedari awal pergerakan plot dalam PINJAM semacam kurang berkesan. Naratif cerita bagaikan hanya bermula pada 30 halaman terakhir dan aku mengandaikan bahawa jika aku membaca suku terakhir novel inipun aku tidak akan 'sesat' dan boleh memahami pergerakan cerita dengan hampir baik kerana banyak hal pada halaman-halaman terakhir inilah yang pada hemat aku merupakan dasar awal cerita dan yang selebihnya itu hanyalah back-story kepada keseluruhan cerita. Faham tak?

Agak kecewa dan berasa sedikit tertipu sebenarnya dengan keseluruhan premis cerita dalam novel PINJAM ini. Terlalu banyak ocehan yang tak sepatutnya ada diperpanjangkan semata-mata untuk memanjangkan naratif yang sepatutnya boleh diringkaskan lagi. Aku ambil contoh kisah sisi naratif Hasan dalam novel ini. Bagi aku, kalau sekadar diceritakan secara ringkasan pun tak menjejaskan naratif asal sebenarnya, tanpa perlu ditulis secara kritis dan terperinci, lengkap dengan anekdot dan lipatan cerita naratif Hasan itu sendiri. Ini yang menyebabkan naskah ini agak perlahan sebenarnya kerana aku tidak lihat fungsi naratif Hasan (dan juga beberapa lagi naratif watak lain dalam novel ini) diketengahan kalau kisah dasarnya hanyalah *SPOILER* kisah sebuah entiti misteri yang memasuki minda Zaharudin dan Shahrom dan seterusnya konflik perseteruan (yang bagi aku, apalah dendam Zaharudin pada Shahrom itu sebenarnya kalau setakat kisah bergaduh lebih-kurang sesama keluarga?) antara kedua-duanya yang akhirnya mengakibatkan salah seorang daripadanya terbunuh.

Kisah misterius entiti yang berkebolehan 'meminjam' dan memanipulasi minda manusia yang diketengahankan dalam PINJAM tidak diperjelaskan dengan baik, malah pada hemat aku bagaikan sengaja diceritakan secara sipi-sipi sahaja (aku hidu bahawa hal ini adalah kerana penulisnya mungkin, aku bilang mungkin, sengaja berbuat sedemikian kerana hendak memberi ruang untuk sekuel ataupun spin-off kepada PINJAM). Sayang, bagi sebuah naskah di mana bahasanya baik dan struktur naratifnya sudah bagus, ceritanya pula bagi aku biasa-biasa sahaja.

373: empty.

372: parut.

Bila aku pecat bajukuAku nampak parutBila aku loloskan seluarkuAku intai parutBila aku tanggalkan sepatukuAku lihat parutYang terakhirnya bukti Tuhan sayangkan akuCelaka automobil entah manaYang keduanya tanda Tuhan mahu tunjukkan jalanLensa kamera halus menyelinap mengintai degup jantungkuYang pertamanya evidens bahawa aku harus teruskan hidupSurgeri dada terbuka, pintasan jantung, baiki bikuspid dan entah apaSemuanya sudah sembuhTanda bahawa hidup ini harus dihargaiTetapiBogel sekalipun di depan kacaAku tidak nampak parut paling ilusifTerperosok jauh di dalam celahan hatiBila kau tidak lagi bersamakuMasih pedih, masih luka, disentuh tidak berdarah, tetapi peritnya tidak tertanggungDan aku tidak lagi rela menyimpan parut itu lagiBagaimanakah?

371: letting go.

There are times when I let myself to be ridiculously stupid and go through the stuff that was left my ex. Those trinkets were kept nicely in three old random shoeboxe, containing knick-knacks of random stuff that were traded between us back then.

I don't know why I did that. I just do.
All those letters, movie ticket stubs, random receipts from various food places that we used to call 'our place', odd-looking stones (collected by the roadsides, beaches or sidewalks when we decide to take a stroll) and various other mementos.
The other day I decided to walk down memory lane, took a bus back to the island and visited the place where we used to sit and watch the ocean. That very same spot has long gone, and now was replaced by a humongous multi-stories shopping complex called Queensbay Mall. It's kind of sad to see 'our place' of odd jutting bay of huge rocks are now literally a vast open-air car park for that mall. I tried to find 'our spot' but obviously to no avail; everything look and feel very much different.
I took my cellphone out and snap a picture, before sending it over to you. Mere minutes later,you replied by asking me where was the picture is taken. I asked you to call me (yeah, I am that naggy, excuse me) and we end up talking over the phone for hours while I sat at the bus stop, overlooking the car park. I must look like a crazy homeless person to other passerby, with my animated hands and gasping as I held my conversation with you. I don't know, I know feel that I need to talk to you, and I appreciate you for doing just that.
I told you that I am at the crossroads of my life (yet again) and sometimes I just feel like I am literally drifting in and out of life without an exact sole purpose of living. My studies have been going on endlessly nowhere, my life slowly felt empty, like a leaking pail half empty with water.
It has been awhile since we met face to face, and I don't really bother that, considering that you live somewhat 1000 kilometers away from me and that we are literally are separated by a strait and passport. How I wished things were as simple as before: me wanting you here would take only a simple bus/train/plane/car ride away and hey presto, we're sitting next to each other, overlooking this same old ocean, sharing a bag of potato chips and sipping on a perspiring glass of Pepsi.
Things are way too different to be back as before, I know, I should have learned that by now.
But why on earth is letting go so damn fucking hard to do?

370: malas, as in being lazy as fuck.

It has been 4 years since I started blogging (again) and looking back, I must say that there is not much that I have documented over the past years. Previously, I have to admit that blogging has been a sort of escapism  for me to write anything that has been going on in my life or whatever that strikes me fancy. Only 370 entries since 2011, and that is... sad.

But then again, over the past years and restarting this blog again (after it got blocked by Google for unclear reasons) I have to admit that the drive to update this blog has been dwindling and I have become what you say as 'malas'.

Me, having the Master of Arts in Liberal Arts & Sciences, pfffft.... yeah, right!
Between juggling my life as a full-time student and attempting to *hint*hint* finishing the manuscript of my new book *hint*hint*, I somehow realized that this blog has long been neglected. Long gone are the days when I am excited to come up with crafty entries (albeit there's nobody commenting nor I assume reading it, LOL), long gone are the anticipation of having my entries being shared by fellow followers on twitter and whatnot.

I don't know why.

Maybe I need to take a break and re-evaluate the purpose of this blog. Maybe I should do a major overhaul. Maybe all this blog needs is a face-lift. You know, a new header, change of layout, a bit of here and there and everywhere else.

Aishh... sounds like too much of a work to me.



Now Ramadhan has come and my degree of malas-ness is even higher than ever. Even the simple task of opening the word document to write a piece of writing is an agonizing tumultuous effort on my behalf. Maybe I can never acquire my aim to finish writing by August since I only got roughly a month to go (which is not much since I still have like 80% more to complete my first draft).
I NEED HELP!

=(