Read a thread in expat forum Germany and found out that one of the member just launched a book about her experience of living in Germany for about 15 years. As a new comer I have feeling that this book will give enlightenment in funny way. The writer whose British with her own angle doesn’t bother me. The subtitle is "One British family bungles being German"

I bought this book before Christmas which at that time the book was rank number 2 in amazon.co.uk. I guess all expats living in Germany had ordered this book!

Cathy Dobson wrote her story in time-order started in new year, so yes...of course Dinner for One is included. As an Asian and not British, I even have same feeling with Cathy about this comedy sketch, a British comedy which never played in Britain but played annually in this Germany.

From this book also I know that if you like to go to public sauna, you need to be totally naked. Yes, even sauna for men and women are separated but some changing room are mixed! Hui! I thought I got enough horror when I visited a public swimming pool close to my place and when I went inside the shower room, all women are naked without any cover under showers. And this sauna its not only women!

The most interesting one is about German toilet. I never realize before that German have different type of toilet compare to Indonesia till I read this book. A colleague of Cathy came from England to stay for days in the city and he complained that German toilet was built in a wrong way. The hole is in the wrong place! Haha! No wonder that I always need room freshener spray during my duty on toilet cos its always smelly right under my nose! And the logic of German is like this: You can see properly what is under water. That will explain if you are suffering from worms or bowel cancer or any manner of disease if you don't inspect your poo daily!

Help! I don't want to see my poo daily!

This book is quite amusing. One thing that disturb me is that Cathy talk too much about her cat. I don't dislike cat, but story about get in the cat into the box for pages is just too much hehe...

Worth to read for auslander or for people who like to know funny part of being German.

This is a graphic novel, a comic book, adapted from a 'real' novel by Paul Auster. Paul Karasik and David Mazzucchelli are the two brilliant people who adapt it into graphic novel. The introduction of this graphic novel even written by Art Spiegelman. If you really into comic then you must know his famous 'MAUS'

The story begin with a wrong number that started it. A writer decided to try to be a detective after several calls to his apartment, looking for help a from a detective he was not. This detective wannabe found a subject and object already but somehow he's little bit slow decided what he has to do cos it's his first case, of course. And when finally the family he should protect from murder and a murderer suspect suddenly missing, he got depressed. That's the main line of the story but it goes slow with a bunch of interesting panels from Karasik and Mazzucchelli.

According to Scott Mc Loud's book; 'Understanding Comics - The Invisible Art' there are 6 categories of panel to panel transitions in comics; 1.moment to moment, 2. action to action, 3. subject to subject, 4. scene to scene, 5. aspect to aspect, 6. non sequitur. And mostly comics like Xmen, Betty and Veronica, Asterix, Donald Duck, Tintin, etc have mix category in their panel with action to action (category number 2) always be a dominant. But as Mc Loud get confused with panel of Osamu Tezuka's comics (one of his best is Astro Boy) and most japanese comics (manga), I also get confused with panel in this City of Glass like you can see in this page of City of Glass. Hm...what is this? Obviously it's not action to action. Maybe it mix between aspect to aspect and scene to scene plus subject to subject.

Example of aspect to aspect is: panel one: christmas tree/ panel two: santa claus.
Example of scene to scene is: panel one: someone is wearing sari India with Taj mahal as a background/ panel two: someone's carry a famous wine with Eifel Tower as a background.
Example of subject to subject is: someone just break a finish line on marathon/ panel two someone is starring at stop watch timer.


And thx for Neil to give me this book! :)

Pictor's Metamorphoses and Other Fantasies

Finally I finished this book since last January when I bought it with Neil hehe… Reading this book is never been easy for me. Need high concentration. Cannot read this on the plane when you are tired (I always bring it when I’m traveling). Cannot read this book while waiting someone or something(I tried it also, in hospital in coffee shop). You really have to spend time just for this book with comfy seat, cookies and a cup of tea.

Pictor’s Metamorphoses and Other Fantasies is a compilation of Hermann Hesse’s short stories. Stories setting was taken in several places like Italy, Gaza, Berlin, China, or maybe even Indonesia cos I found some word in Indonesia with perfect translation.

My favorite story is Three Lindens. It’s about three brothers who really back up and love each other. Among whom there was such hearty friendship and intimacy as is seldom seen. Each of them willing to die to protect two other brothers. Simple and really short story but have a deep meaning of brotherhood and friendship.

Most of Hesse’s stories are fantasies, more to fairy tales. In Indonesia I think we have Danarto Which have similar fantasy misery like Hesse. But if Danarto more to religious part, Hesse more to fairy tale.

A good book to read when you really have to read something, not when you just want to fill your time reading than doing nothing.

It’s a new book by Ellen Feldman. Just read the synopsis somewhere. It said the author inspired by her visit at Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam, about the love story between Anne and Peter Van Pels. The main character’s name in this novel is also Peter Van Pels and the story begun after Peter survived from Nazi and started a new life in America.
Hm… I don’t clear enough with this…is this a fiction novel or true story. If it a novel, is that ok if an author make continuity story from the true story?

Anne Frank, Peter Van Pels, and 6 other persons hided from Nazi in Annex for two years till Nazi caught them and brought them to Nazi camp for gas chamber is a true story…Then can I make a novel tell story that Peter Van Pels had survived then moved to America, getting married, had 3 kids and loose his voice because of his distress of his past times, after he notice that his wife reads Anne Frank’s diary? (which is translated into many languages, and this is true).
Is that allowed in writing?

The fact is; The only one survive and alive man from Annex, who can tell story about Annex and decided to publish her daughter’s diary is Mr. Otto Frank -Anne Frank’s
father. The fact is; Peter Van Pels died on May 5’1945 when he just 18 years old in Nazi camp (8 peoples in Annex got arrested at August, 4, 1944)*
Is it possible that Peter has 3 kids before he died when at August 1944 he and 7 others people in Annex got arrested by Nazi??

I’m confused.
It’s a fiction then…but with true character and true setting? Is that ok to write something like that? If it ok then I have so many imaginations after visiting Anne Frank museum. I even think that she’s alive and make journalism school for kids or something like that cos I know she always want to be a journalist. Can I make that kinda story eh??

* Anne Frank House – A Museum with a Story
Anneke Boekhoudt, Nico de Brujin, Mieke Sobering – Anne Frank Huis/ Amsterdam 2001

Ini buku kayaknya terinspirasi dari karya-karya dunia absurb sebelumnya macam Harry Potter atau Lord of The Ring. Ceritanya tentang seorang jenius muda berusia 12 tahun yang ingin menguasai dunia dengan memasuki dunia peri yang tak seharusnya manusia tahu. Banyak intrik yang terjadi ketika Artemis dan bodyguardnya, Butler, mencoba mencari rahasia dunia peri untuk digunakan menguasai dunia nantinya. Seputar itulah ceritanya.
Namun entah karena terjemahannya kurang baik atau memang ceritanya yang tak menarik, baca buku ini rasanya membosankan. Tapi aku tipe orang yang harus tuntas membaca, nggak bisa langsung buka halaman terakhir untuk tahu endingnya. Alhasil dari sejak April sampai sekarang, buku ini belum kelar dibaca. Padahal konon ada seri 2 sampai 4 nya hehe…


ket: Yg di sebelah ini cover versi aslinya. Versi Indonesia, gambarnya beda..tadi gak nemu di google :p

The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories

Love this book from the first time I saw it. Its Tim Burton gitu looch!!! Nice hard cover also tempts me…sorry but sometimes (mostly) I judge the book from its cover :p )
There are 23 stories here and the most I love is The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy for sure. Tis book has some bizarre stories but almost similar about new kids who jump to the world with strange body and really feel uninvited by their parents. Like oyster boy...a boy with oyster head, or a mom who gave birth a boy but its not human at all. It’s a robot boy. Doctor said that his father is a microwave blender!! The girl who turned into a bed is another odd thing beside toxic boy and mummy boy.

But the most I love from his book is the illustration. Superb! Very Tim Burton!
Nice book and will not waste your time :)

This is not a new book…but I still read it again and again till now, never get bored!
Its about poor lil Chiyo who became Sayuri, one of the most popular geisha in Japan. This book also describe how hard to be a good geisha (note: only sexy body and a seduction voice, wink, and clothes…will never work!).
This is a great great first book by Arthur Golden (I tried to lookin for next Golden’s book, but never found it) and now Hollywood is making movie based on this book with Chinese actors!
I feel very passionate about the book! Because of that, I personally would have loved to see the movie with Japanese actors. I feel disappointed that they cast Michelle yeoh and Gong Li for the most beautiful geisha in Japan; Hatsumomo and Mameha :(
And Zhang Ziyi for Sayuri…hmmm….
But Let see…I hope the movie can be great as the book.