After weeks of having this in my possession, I started to read it; but with suspicion. Just went through the prologue though. And some twelve pages after that. Some things I’ve noticed.
- He was sponsored by some rich gramps who owns Kampung Paya to do not one, not two, but three degrees in United States. What’s more, the last one is in Philosophy. How neat.
- He has a five-storey bookcase. He loves Dostoevsky and Miller. Why is it that all authors insist to put some of their darling faves in their own novels. And the fact that he terribly loves to write. *sigh* you see this everywhere. paradise lost in frankenstein. anna karenina in the unbearable lightness of being. the great gatsby in the catcher in the rye.
- He plans on writing a philosophical book. How neat. Clap clap.
- He has this history of abandoning god for the last twelve years of his life. And has a terrible affliction surrounding the word ‘rahmat’. Geez, no wonder you gave me this book.
- His descriptions of harvard graduates and train shuttles sounds highly reminiscent of someone.
- He shits on a green carpet. “The Green Pasture”.
- negro grandma ghost/delusion. bad move.
- i see the word “borjuis”… or bourgeois. wow.
Okay I better stop. For all I know, I could’ve written something that revolves exactly around these themes, with a different scene, a different country (oh?), and throw in all my favorite authors and ideas and what you have in the there. Not that I “could’ve written” a great novel, more like I could imagine myself trying to write it (and fail miserably along the way). And this is why we should never publish our first novel. it shall, in all probability, remind us of ourselves.
Criticisms aside, I will like reading this. In fact, it is the most singular interesting lengthy bahasa melayu writing i’ve read in the past six years, the first one being this book title “Iko” about some kuih-selling kid and some grad student in some housing area. At least it didn’t start out with some gushy dialogue with some too many detailed introduction. But a god-seeking novel without the most usual religious preachy stuff would probably interest me. Let us hope he doesn’t don’t introduce some preachy hijab wearing girl along the way and he starts to fall in love and they both guide their way toward god.
okay stop stop stop.
Empangan, Zakaria Ali, 1991.
p/s; he’s an awesome guy by the way (this said after googling him).
perkaraperkara 
haha see? I told you it's a most worthy MALAY book. A proper one too, I mean it has enough pages to be considered a novella. N no, there's no hijab wearing chick in it. There's some chickens though *shrugs* :PYou probably dig the fact that he totally abandoned his books without much thought aite? Kind of a recluse in a non-pitiful kind of way too.N yeah, that dostoyevsky thing didn't slip me. Saw it, take note n then some other encounters with his name n finally thought to ask you of it.I googled Zakaria Ali too, sounds like an awesome guy ain't he?
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he travels light doesn't he? macam keanu hahaha….
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\”Let us hope he doesn't don't introduce some preachy hijab wearing girl along the way and he starts to fall in love and they both guide their way toward god.\”modal basi novel sekarang.boleh menyesatkan orang.mencari keredhaan Tuhan kerana perempuan. 😛
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bogus?
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Oh come on! Keanu's in the process of furnishing his own proper house now! > . <
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haha leana, perlukah mention chicken tersebut? *guling*somehow I think Empangan is the best Malay novel I've ever read, coz, uh, it's different than other typical Malay novels (considering the fact that I rarely read Malay novels at the first place~). Tapi dia memang menarik. The worthiest novel among our three Malay Studies novels IMO~why I didn't realize that Dostoevsky part? yang aku perasan Trollope, and yay Wilde :D*selak balik Empangan*
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Ade kat prologue.And I got through the third chapter already. He seems to be quoting from Bob Dylan and about how living in America has Americanize him. Got called biadap and such. and i see no single solitary minah in here… it's kinda… sad.
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Oh, there's a girl in it alright. Just that she's almost completely insignificant.
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