A Tryst with Kimbell Art Museum

This story started some years ago when I was still a college student studying Architecture at my hometown; Jogja, Indonesia. In order to tell it properly, I must explain the condition of my study back then.

Some of the assignments for Architecture students involve learning from the “starchitects” around the world. And by learning, it includes understanding the concept and what the building envisions, knowing the architects’s style and vision, scrutinizing the floor plans, circulation, building physics, etcetera. I was in the class of the year 1999 and as I recall, we haven’t had as complete online sources as we would find these days. And our departments’ library was far from being a cornucopia. I distinctly remembered how my friends and I often had trouble finding sufficient written materials and drawings of a particular building. Our library had quite a collection, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that for each assignment, the 80 or so of us would like to have one project that’s different from each other. Clearly, that’s nearly impossible. For those of us  who were lucky enough to discover a book which contains a “not-so-popular” building by a “famous-but-not-too-obvious” architect would usually end up with inadequate material to work with. And the internet wasn’t very helpful either, at that time.

One time, we got one of those assignment. I forgot the year, the subject, or the lecturer *oops*. But it was another analytic assignment on one great building by well-known (obviously) architect. So I picked for myself a building by Louis I. Kahn. It was a museum named Kimbell Art Museum. The signature design of this museum is the subtle yet innovative form of skylight to accentuate the art pieces. The skylight took from as narrow slits on the ceiling which capture the daylight than dispersed by perforated metal reflectors onto the arc-roof and down the wall.

Image via Wikipedia

I was not familiar with Kahn. I merely ran into a book about his works and liked what I saw.  And as predicted, I didn’t got references on this Kimbell Art Museum as much as I want to build a solid paper. That’s all I can remember about the event. I don’t remember if I nailed the assignment and what grade I got.

And I never thought about that building again until few weeks ago when I found out that Kimbell Art Museum is located in Fort Worth—just 45 minutes drive from where I live now! It struck me. To have the opportunity to visit a certain building designed by a famous architect outside my home country has always been an uttered wish for me. Beyond that, to be able to “meet” the building in person after studied about it only on papers in black and white ink from a place 10,000 miles away, is simply an awe.

Under construction of 2nd building by Renzo Piano

So, last weekend, I had the chance to visit the museum with my husband. Experiencing the building as a museum visitor was not a thrilling journey, of course. I couldn’t roam around as if I was in an open house or something. Nonetheless, it was a fun rendezvous with my “old college friend”.

We’ve come a long way, baby.

https://www.kimbellart.org/

 

“Puji Tuhan”

Pagi ini, untuk kedua kalinya, saya mengantar suami ke kantor. Yep, I was the one on the pilot seat. Program antar-jemput suami ini sengaja saya lakoni dalam rangka membiasakan diri nyetir. Kebetulan hari ini saya perlu membeli satu alat dapur, jadi setelah menurunkan suami di kantornya, tujuan saya berikutnya adalah ke supermarket.

Selesai belanja, saya langsung pulang ke apartemen yang perjalanannya cuma dua menit saja. Rute yang saya tempuh sangat pendek. Dari apartemen ke kantor suami cuma lima menit. Total waktu yang saya habiskan pagi ini untuk mengantar suami-belanja-pulang hampir tepat setengah jam. It was a short commute and a very light shopping.

Seperti biasa, sesampai di rumah, saya beri kabar ke suami saya lewat sms. Dan seperti biasa, jawabannya selalu singkat. Kali ini jawabannya:

Puji Tuhan.

Tadinya, saya sudah siapkan jawaban ini:

Keajaiban ya, aku pulang dengan selamat?

Dengan nada bercanda, tentu saja. Mungkin dilengkapi dengan smiley face atau tambahan kata “hehe” di belakang.

Tapi sedetik kemudian saya urung mengetikkannya. Tiba-tiba saya ingat.

Tak menjadi masalah apakah kamu baru kemarin sore bisa nyetir ataukah pembalap profesional. Kamu mungkin saja pengendara yang baik dan berpengalaman, tapi di luar sana bisa jadi ada pengendara ngawur yang beresiko mencelakan kamu. Pejalan kaki di trotoar pun bisa tak aman. Apa pun dapat terjadi di dunia fana ini.

Terlepas dari maksud serius atau bercanda dibalik sms suami saya, “Puji Tuhan” adalah ungkapan syukur dan doa. Dan memang ungkapan itulah yang perlu kita lafalkan atau gemakan dalam hati setiap saat. Dalam konteks kasual maupun formal, selalu pantas kalau kita jawab “Amin”.

 

How Television Shaped Me

I have been besties with television for God knows how long. But as the media grows, and as I also grow, I noticed that the effects made by television to me somehow shifted along the time. I’m not sure if it was because of my increasing age (wisdom? *meh) or it’s the shows that’s been changing.

I’ll try to break it down here. Below are my television eras sort of like.

• Elementary school. All I can recall from this childhood of mine are (children) music; American and Japanese cartoons; Indonesian (local) children movie or shows; and some action from MacGyver, The A-Team, and Remington Steele. I don’t think I clearly understood what those shows were about. So they were merely entertainment.

• Middle school. I think this age marked the first time I got hooked to television. We started to own a cable, so my choice of show was extensive. I remember I used to park in front of it right after I got home and changed. I think I even had my lunch there, on the couch, in front of the telly. It was my MTV era. And I was crazy about music back then.  So when I was not doing anything else, that’s where I’d most likely be. For me as a teenager, the music (references) and the English speaking helped me survived my teen-life and shaped my personality. Oh, speaking of which, I forgot to mention the Sesame Street show. Yes. Aside from Alternative Nation, MTV Classic, and MTV Unplugged, I did tuned in to the wiz of Big Bird and friends!

Courtesy of Wikipedia

• High school. This is not as important tv era as the middle school. I didn’t had an enlightenment of any kind. My personal development and life-enrichment was mostly gained through books, social relationship and such. I remember the television show I consumed during that period of time was American comedy series (Friends! and such), soccer games, Japanese soap operas, and reality shows. My highlight: comedy series and soccer games. I still enjoy them until now. I think that comedy and sport (despite the politics) is sincerely entertaining and inspiring, way more than the latter subjects I mentioned.

• College. Those days, television was my escape from pile of assignments and daily routine of campus life. Mostly I watched it in the evening, after I managed to get home and relax. My choice of entertainment was somewhat the same as before. I guess I’ve come to an age where my TV personality might stop developing. Or is it our TV media that had stop innovating? Huh. Anyway, college days was when I got crazy about CSI series. I dig all the franchise. I had a thing for detectives, criminology and forensic since I was a kid. I used to read Alfred Hitchcock and Agatha Christie. Now, the TV have brought the excitement alive for me. After CSI—as you’d know—television have been showering me with detectives. Bones, Monk, Criminal Minds, love them all!

Well, nowadays, I still love those television series. Notably, musical show—I love musical—Glee! I’ think musical series is gaining popularity and I’m pretty sure there will be other musical coming up. So, it’s hard to miss this trending show on television.

Back in the days when I was busy roaming outside the house, television was my companion while I’m home. Now that I’ve resigned from my previous career, I’m pretty much home all day with as much TV as I can consume. But as I was trying to build a new working habit and develop future career, I realize that I need to turn my TV off.

Usually I turn my TV on when:

• I don’t have anything else to do
• I have something better to do but choose to do it later
• I actually have scheduled work to be done, but get lazy to start

You see, it gets worse.

At one point, I know I have to limit my television time in a day. Just one hour less each day would make a significant change in my life. In an hour I could clean up my tiny apartment, or write a blog post, or write a hundred-ish words of a story, or read 50 pages. Multiply that and imagine the kinds of achievements I could accomplish!

I’m proud to say that I’ve been keeping my TV off during the day, so I can do some other meaningful works. I watch it in the morning with my husband for news update, and in the evening when my husband’s home from work to watch some movies together.

All my life, television has done considerable (good) affects to me. It’s been more than merely entertainment media (not talking about the news casts here), it has contributed a number of aspects to my perspective and personality throughout those years. But as I aged and have new goals in life, it’s best to draw the line and make my 24 hours a day matter.

 

My Obstacles to Writing

I know many people have rather similar problems to overcome while writing. Writer’s block, deadlines, personal problem diverting focus, distraction by kids (or in my case: husband), and the list goes on with more personal touch on it.

Well, I have my own personally-tailored shortcomings in hand. But I’m sure one or more could be yours or somebody else’s too. So these are some things that might blow my concentration or keep me from typing in the first place.

1. I get lost in Google. I kill my time by feeding them to my curiosity. I’m used to google everything that puzzles me while watching telly, reading a book or the news, or whenever I question something in my mind. That would be fine when done in your spare time. But while writing, sometimes I have to stop myself from rambling on the net. I should restrain my research so I don’t get carried away by the abundance information I try to consume all at once.

Image by Corbis

2. I have the urge to edit every line right after I put down the period. And I’m getting more self-conscious about this after I took a course on copy-editing. I began to understand more about punctuation, sentence structure, and other grammatical issues. I re-read my sentence to make sure I made it concise and and clear. Sure, those editing are crucial and compulsory. But overdoing it while writing doesn’t help me with the writing flow.

Image by Corbis

3. Having somebody (my husband, mostly) hang around and watch me working bothers me. Yes, it’s one of my ugly side. I don’t like being watched or waited while working on something. I get annoyed and distracted, and usually end up with my asking (or growling) the person to leave me alone. I guess this suggest that I should have a safe and secluded working nook to keep my brain flow freely.

Image by Corbis

4. Lack of coffee. I know it’s a lame excuse. But, truth be told, sometimes I find myself reluctant to sit on my desk whenever it’s not my designated day to indulge a cup of coffee. Sad and unhealthy, true (both the coffee and the lack-of-effect). But the feeling of needing a coffee next to me while writing is somewhat easy to cope once I manage myself to sit down and start typing.

Well, that’s all I have. Hopefully, this list stops right here at number four. Amen.

2012 Ongoing List #2

Image by © Richard Baker/In Pictures/Corbis

Hmm. Resolution number two.

Berusaha menulis bahasa Indonesia dengan baik dan benar.

Ini salah satu cara mempromosikan kecintaan terhadap bahasa ibu kita, sekaligus langkah paling mudah mengusung nasionalisme. Setuju?

Niat ini sebenarnya sudah konsisten muncul sejak beberapa lama. Bukan karena sok pinter atau sok jago bahasa (yang ini jelas nggak). Sepertinya muncul dari keprihatinan saja. Dengan banyaknya media sosial beredar beserta alat komunikasi yang makin canggih dan makin langsing, nampaknya penggunaan bahasa pun turut berkembang namun juga menyurut. Surut; dengan munculnya penyingkatan kata dalam penulisan, dan pemilihan kata serapan yang tidak tepat. Contoh yang sekarang nyangkut di otak saya adalah “tetiba” dan “happy birdday” yang kemudian diperjelas menjadi “selamat hari burung”. Aduh. Oke lah, “tetiba” menyelesaikan masalah keterbatasan karakter. Tapi contoh yang terakhir itu tidak memberikan manfaat apa-apa kecuali lucu-lucuan yang setelah beberapa kali terbaca sudah tidak lucu lagi.

Contoh media sosial dan komunikasi itu adalah sms dan online chatroom. Dulu, sms dan chatroom melahirkan gaya baru dalam menulis yang disebabkan pertama-tama karena keterbatasan karakter dalam satu format sms yang hanya 160. Di chatroom yang sempat menjadi ajang mencari dan bergaul dengan teman baru, gaya penulisan itu pun tak jauh beda. Ditambah dengan singkatan dan akronim seperti “asl pls” (age/sex/location, please) dan “kul/ker” (kuliah atau kerja).

Dalam berpesan singkat lewat ponsel, kebutuhan menyingkat kata dan kalimat ada karena berkaitan dengan tarif per pesan. Sementara di chatroom, tampaknya singkat-menyingkat itu muncul karena keinginan kita untuk mengetik secara cepat (secepat berbicara, kalau mungkin) agar obrolan mengalir lancar, terutama bila kita sedang berinteraksi dengan beberapa orang sekaligus.

Lalu muncul sosial media yang sedang meledak beberapa tahun ini; Twitter. Batasan karakternya lebih kikir lagi, 140 karakter. Namun masyarakat sudah tak gagap. Kita sudah terbiasa berstrategi dengan sms, pengurangan 20 karakter tidak akan terlalu berpengaruh. Apalagi, untuk berkicau di Twitter tidak ada tarif yang dikenakan tiap kita memencet tombol “send”. Kita bisa menulis kicauan serial tanpa keluar rupiah, hanya bandwidth saja.

Don’t get me wrong.  Saya bukan sedang mengkritik orang lain atau para alay-ers. Saya juga sedang mengkritik diri saya sendiri.

Beberapa hari yang lalu saya membalas email dari rekan saya. Hubungan kami sangat kasual karena kami teman kuliah. Di tengah-tengah menulis, saya tersadar bahwa saya telah menyingkat banyak sekali kata di situ. Tak jauh beda dari gaya saya menulis sms. Seperti ini misalnya.

Mnrtku sih krn temen kuliah lmyn deket, kalo lagi pas ngga ktm di kampus ya mereka sms plg ngga.

Bingung, tak? Saya berhenti mengetik dan membaca kembali apa yang sudah saya tulis sejauh itu. Kenapa saya menulis seakan-akan email saya punya batasan karakter dan saya harus buru-buru sign-out dari warnet karena tagihan saya sudah IDR 15.000 lebih? Kenapa saya memperlakukan akun email saya seperti Twitter?

Dari situ lah saya sadar bahwa generasi kita mungkin sudah semakin malas menulis dan berbahasa dengan benar akibat terlibas budaya serba instan. Di satu sisi, bersosialisasi lewat media-media tersebut mengajarkan kita untuk beropini dengan lugas, padat, santun dan beretika layaknya sedang bertatap muka (meskipun masih banyak juga yang gagal). Media sosial juga membuka banyak akses pada banyak sekali pengetahuan. Dalam banyak hal, masyarakat lebih terdidik dan lebih pintar berkat teknologi ini. Tapi semoga tak lantas membuat lalai berbahasa dengan baik. Walaupun, cara kita berkomunikasi adalah pilihan masing-masing ya…

 

Berburu Rumah Impian

Buku-buku pelajaran bahasa Indonesia yang saya akrabi di sekolah dasar dulu membentuk gambaran tersendiri di benak saya. Ibu memasak di dapur. Kakak menyiram tanaman di kebun. Ayah membaca surat kabar di ruang keluarga. Adik menggambar di kamar. Sebuah rumah. Dan saya cukup beruntung dilahirkan dan dibesarkan dalam sebuah rumah yang kurang lebih memiliki vitalitas yang sama dengan rumah keluarga dalam buku bahasa Indonesia tersebut.

Saat menjadi mahasiswa Arsitektur pun harapan pertama saya sederhana saja. Membangun sendiri rumah impian saya. Bersama suami, tentu saja.

Dan seperti layaknya arsitek dan desainer pemimpi, ditambah dengan referensi dan romantisme ala buku dongeng (atau buku pelajaran bahasa Indonesia), diam-diam saya mengembangkan detail rumah impian itu di kepala.

Beranda depan (dan belakang, bila mungkin!) dengan kursi dan meja kopi yang nyaman.

Kebun mungil yang asri (walau tanpa tangan dingin berkebun seperti mama saya)

Ruang makan dengan akses pemandangan tetumbuhan hijau yang segar.

Dinding backsplash dapur berkeramik mozaik dengan monokrom warna jingga.

Cat dinding dengan warna aksen pada dinding-dinding tertentu untuk menghidupkan ruangan.

Perpustakaan mini dengan satu kursi baca super nyaman.

Dan pojok-pojok lain.

Perburuan saya dan suami dimulai dari internet. Dimulai dari situs-situs pengembang dan pemasar properti semacam Century21. Tidak sekedar mengiklankan dan menjual, Century 21 juga memberikan tips dalam membeli properti. Dari artikel itu, disebutkan beberapa pertimbangan lain—selain “lokasi, lokasi, lokasi”—yang mungkin terlewat oleh para pemburu rumah pemula. Selain lokasi, faktor anggaran dan rencana pembiayaan juga sangat penting ketika mengincar rumah idaman.

Berhadapan dengan urusan Kredit Pemilikan Rumah (KPR), bunga pinjaman, pajak properti, sistem pembayaran rekening rupa-rupa, dan sebagainya yang kerap luput dari pengetahuan kita ini akan dimudahkan dengan adanya makelar properti sebagai perpanjangan tangan. Segala pertanyaan tentang segala hal di luar keahlian saya itu dapat saya ajukan ke agen properti bersangkutan yang sedianya dapat menjawab maupun merujuk kepada sumber yang tepat.

Dari awal, kami sudah menentukan kisaran harga rumah yang mampu kami tanggung. Bahkan Century 21 pun punya aplikasi kalkulator KPR yang dapat digunakan. Kita tinggal menentukan jangka waktu pinjaman (biasanya 5-15 tahun), prosentase bunga KPR rata-rata saat ini, dan perkiraan besar pinjaman (plafon) yang kita butuhkan. Aplikasi tersebut akan menghitung jumlah angsuran tiap bulan dari angka-angka tersebut. Jika angsuran yang didapat terlalu besar/kecil, nominal pinjaman atau jangka waktunya dapat disesuaikan lagi.

Kemudian, bagian favorit saya. Berburu rumah! Laman Century 21 memiliki mesin pencari properti dengan batasan wilayah, status, dan harga. Sudah punya incaran lokasi yang dituju dan kisaran harga yang disasar? Tinggal duduk manis di depan layar monitor, pilih-pilih kandidat properti yang cocok, dan catat!

Open house adalah lanjutan bagian favorit saya. Inilah klimaks dari segala perhitungan dan pencarian tadi. Dari proses ini, saya bisa langsung jatuh cinta, tapi juga bisa langsung patah hati. Dan faktor yang mempengaruhi bukan cuma fisik rumah yang bersangkutan saja. Saya mau punya lingkungan perumahan yang asri dan nyaman juga. Yang aman. Yang infrastrukturnya (jalan, saluran pembuangan, saluran air bersih, jaringan listrik, jaringan telekomunikasi, sistem pembuangan sampah) berfungsi baik.

Rumah impian itu diciptakan oleh penghuninya. Ia tidak muncul begitu saja dari tikungan jalan. Saya percaya, rumah mungil kami itu masih akan tumbuh mendekati impian kami, seperti halnya pribadi kami yang masih selalu berkembang. Saya yakin, rumah impian anda juga ada di luar sana; entah masih berupa tanah kosong, masih berpenghuni, atau masih terlalu mungil untuk calon keluarga besar anda. Tangan-tangan kita sendiri nanti yang perlahan memahatnya menjadi rumah impian kita.

2012 Ongoing List #1

Instead of making a list of resolutions for this new year, I’m going to make it an open list. I’d like to know that I still have options and chances. And being an open-minded person, I’m open for new and developing ideas. Ideas that do not necessarily come entirely from me, but might grow in time by the injections of other’s thoughts.

So I’m going to start the list and elaborate one at a time.

Starts with a simple, do-able thing I love. Initiated by goodreads, this year I’m taking part in goodreads’ 2012 reading challenge. I have submitted a target of 25 books to read this year. 

If you would spare your time to dig in to my old (in Indonesian) journal here, you’ll find out that I had sort of the same resolution last year. I wanted to read more books! So, I counted—as I recorded in goodreads.com—throughout 2011 I only read 11 books. Of course, there might be one or two more that I forgot to put in there. Well, back then, I didn’t set up a number because I was still working office hours and it was pretty tricky to gather up some free time and energy to read.

So, I’m raising the bar this year.

As I was saying last year; new year resolution, for me, is more like a silent prayer which diligently pursued without public announcement. Therefore, aside from building up this list I’m sharing here, I may also have some other resolutions to keep for my self. Yes, because it’s personal. Yes, because I don’t want a public recognition if somehow I fail. But also because magic works best when performed discreetly without anyone’s anticipation. Voila!

Epic Closure for 2011 (in the Wizarding World)

Ah. So much for Post A Day 2011! I’d been curled up in my laziness, routine, and other stuffs in my life, I neglected my post-a-day commitment. I’m sorry. And even I didn’t close the year 2011 with a blog post! Well actually, I’m not so sorry about that one, because I was on my best vacation ever!

My husband and I went to Orlando on wheels. And we’re grateful that we had the opportunity to visit Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando. We were tight on schedule and budget—spent more time on the road than on the attractions site—nonetheless we had much fun and no regret.

And I had my epic moments to close the year by visiting The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando! It was something I didn’t expect before, since our traveling plan was made only a day prior to our departure. And the 2.5 hours in line for the Forbidden Journey ride was worth it, even to my husband who’s not a Harry Potter fan (it was very kind of him to bear with me).

Ocean of people beneath the Hogwarts castle

Okay. The highlight of our (well, my—) journey to Universal Orlando was the Harry Potter attractions. I wouldn’t mind skipping other attractions as long as I can get my hands on a glass of butterbeer! Of course, that would be such a waste of the ticket value (which was a lottt). So, we managed to drag our half-conscious feet to some of other attractions. My husbands’ personal favorite was the Jurassic Park River Adventure which we mistakenly rode first thing in the morning. We got plunged six stories high into a river to find our clothes were all soaking wet, on our first ride of the day.

(The head of) Hogwarts Express welcomes us at the entrance

To enter the most popular Wizarding World of Harry Potter, we had to register our party for a return ticket which stated the period of time we’re allowed to get in. This way, the human crowd would be more controllable. Our schedule was at 11.40. After indulging the set of Hogsmeade and taking a few pictures, we headed straight to the oh-so-long line (so long you couldn’t see the path of the queue) of the Forbidden Journey ride.

While we're standing in line at the foot of the castle

After hours in the line, standing outside the castle then gradually entering the yard and a place supposedly a replica of greenhouse where Prof. Sprout teach, we finally entered the castle (still in line). But while walking in line, we were entertained by taking a small tour in the castle. We were walking along the corridors where all the people in the paintings are actually alive (must be some sort of digital monitor behind those frames). Then passing through Dumbledore’s office and greeted by the professor himself (from a screen which was placed conveniently that he looked pretty real). And of course, there’s one classroom where we met Harry, Ron and Hermione standing and greeting from a balcony (also a digital image that looked realistic). Oh, and we also met the Fat Lady in her painting, guarding the Gryffindor Common Room. I didn’t hear what she was saying, but I’m guessing she was asking for our password? Hehe…

And the ride was awesome!! It’s not a roller coaster ride. It was simulator ride in a room with seem to have a seamless screen where they play the 3D movie, and some real property hanging about in front of us the whole ride such as Death Eaters, skeleton, Voldemort’s serpent, and Fluffy the three-headed dog. And so, one moment we were flying on a broomstick with Harry in a quidditch game, tossed around by Whomping Willow, getting chased by Death Eaters, and some more things I forgot. But it was legend—wait for it—dary! Legendary!

Survived the ride, we’re taken to Filch’s Emporium of Confiscated Goods, the souvenir store that was packed with people hunting down Harry Potter’s merchandise.

a Gryffindor student at the check out counter of Filch's Emporium

We didn’t take the Flight of the Hippogriff ride because we had already spent too much time in the Wizarding World. And we also didn’t ride the Dragon Challenge roller coaster because we don’t have the guts…hehe. However, we’re still having trouble going somewhere else anyway. There were muggles everywhere.

Three Broomstick diner and the crowd. Couldn't even see what the door looks like.

I wanted to go to the restroom (I read that it has Moaning Myrtle ‘haunting’ it) but the line was crazy, I decided to go later. And going to Three Broomstick cafe to get something to eat was also unbearable, judging from the crowd in front of its door.

Butterbeer stall

Anyhoo— After the thrilling ride, we stopped (and take another line) to have a glass of butterbeer! A soda-like drink with buttery foam. Yummy. Not an actual beer or alcoholic drink. It’s children-friendly drink. And I bought a souvenir glass with it.

Cheers!

That’s it. That’s how I close my 2011. A brief tour to Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, a 2.5 hours line for a ride with Harry, a glass of butterbeer, and two hours of driving (at last!) on interstate road. Happy new year!

 

Meluruskan Kaki

Setelah tiga hari rekreasi jalan kaki dari pagi sampai gelap hari, akhirnya di penghujung hari ini kaki-kaki ini bisa rileks.

The Marriage Plot

The Marriage Plot adalah novel Jeffrey Eugenides yang ke tiga. Dari dua novelnya yang lalu, saya punya apresiasi atas penyusunan kalimat, bahasa, dan pilihan katanya yang cerdas. Penuturannya panjang dan mendetail. Kadang-kadang adegan yang sedang dia kupas bukanlah masalah rumit, tapi penuturannya yang menguntai tiap simpul dari pangkal sampai ujung memberi tambahan berat pada konten sesungguhnya. Konsekuensinya, mungkin beberapa pembaca ada yang merasa bosan, merasa Mr. Eugenides ini menggadang-gadangkan masalah saja. Tapi poin ini yang saya rasa membuat novel-novelnya masuk dalam genre Literary Fiction, dan bukan “sekedar” Popular Fiction.

“The Virgin Suicides”—novel pertamanya—gagal jadi favorit saya, setelah saya terkesan membaca Middlesex lebih dulu. Kedua-duanya, bahkan yang terakhir ini juga, tidak memberikan kesimpulan solid di akhir buku. Ketiga novel ini lebih menggambarkan proses yang membangun cerita dan metamorfosis karakter-karakternya. Di Middlesex, saya terpuaskan dengan ending abu-abu karena mendapat asupan jalan cerita menarik dengan analisis biologis dan kalimat indah sepanjang perjalanan. Sementara Virgin Suicides yang menggambarkan kondisi jiwa manusia (yang sangat menarik buat saya) berujung pada bunuh diri itu tidak memberikan analisis psikis, atau sebab-akibat yang transparan. Belakangan saya tahu bahwa pengarang mereka peristiwa bunuh diri itu sebagai simbol saja.

Mysterious depression leading to suicide act. A tale of a sex-change. Dan sekarang—pernikahan.

The Marriage Plot berpusat pada karakter tiga tokoh sentral: Madeleine, Leonard, dan Mitchell di tahun 80-an. Dari situ bisa ditebak: cinta segitiga. Madeleine yang merupakan mahasiswa English Literature memiliki ketertarikan dengan novel-novel sastra Victorian yang selalu mengusung kisah seputar pernikahan, dimana di masanya merupakan suatu hal yang terkait dengan martabat dan uang. Ia kemudian mengembangkan tesis dengan judul “The Marriage Plot: Selected Novels of Austen, Eliot, and James”.

Kecintaannya pada buku dan intelektualitasnya membuatnya dekat secara akademis—pada mulanya—dengan Leonard, pemuda yang tertarik pada bidang Biologi, miskin namun ramah dan sangat cerdas. Perjalanan hubungan mereka diawali dengan diskusi mengenai Derrida, Barthes, dan sastrawan, filsuf lain yang tidak saya kenal. Kemudian berlanjut menjadi hubungan romantis sampai suatu saat mereka berdua harus menghadapi tantangan menjalin hubungan di tengah-tengah manic depression.

Mitchell yang merupakan sahabat dekat Madeleine sejak awal kuliah menganggap sahabatnya sebagai belahan jiwa. Ketertarikannya pada ilmu agama dan spiritualitas membuatnya memutuskan untuk berkelana ke India, dengan harapan memperoleh panggilan jiwa dan dapat melupakan Madeleine.

Eugenides menggambarkan peristiwa-peristiwa yang terjadi pada para tokoh ini melalui sudut pandang masing-masing tokoh. Jadi seringkali ada adegan sama yang dituturkan dua kali. Namun, dengan detail dan cara pandang yang berbeda karena dituturkan oleh kepala yang berbeda. Dari sini terbaca proses pertumbuhan karakter tokoh-tokoh tersebut. Masing-masing punya warna tersendiri, terpengaruh dari latar belakang keluarga, pendidikan dan buku yang mereka baca.

Dari wawancara dengan Jeffrey Eugenides di www.guardian.co.uk, terungkap bahwa beliau memang memasukkan sekian banyak referensi buku dan sastra beserta kutipannya bertolak dari pengalamannya sendiri tumbuh dan berkembang dengan buku-buku tersebut. Menurutnya, buku-buku yang dibaca itulah yang membentuk kepribadian dan cara berpikir orang-orang muda.

Selain dengan cermat memasukkan sederetan referensi yang sepertinya sering dirapal oleh para tokoh ini, Eugenides juga dengan rinci membahas tentang penelitian biologi Leonard, pergumulan spiritual Mitchell, dan perjalanan hati Madeleine dalam menerjemahkan “cinta” dari buku-bukunya ke dalam kisah cintanya sendiri.

Menuju pertengahan lebih membaca buku ini, saya masih tidak bisa meraba arah yang dituju Eugenides. Sebelumnya, saya memang sengaja tidak membaca resensi apapun tentang buku ini, bahkan yang tercetak di jaket cover-nya pun tidak. Menjelang akhir, saya baru teringat pada akhir cerita dua novelnya yang terdahulu dan berasumsi buku ini pun mungkin tidak memberi akhir cerita yang saya harapkan.

Menurut Eugenides, ia ingin membongkar plot pernikahan konvensional yang dikenal di masyarakat di masa itu dan di novel-novel klasik Madeleine. Karena itulah, di akhir perjalanan dan pencarian ketiga anak muda itu, mereka kemudian berhenti dan menelaah kembali paham dan impian mereka sebelumnya.