a house for mr. biswak

peh! dah lama giler dah tak baca novel atau buku cerita yang tebal-tebal ni. tak habih-habih dok baca pasal mende-mende teknikal jek. it's about time i change to something that have more literature values. ceewah!

it started well with harry potter's series, during mid-2006. All are, however, e-book in pdf format, downloaded from the internet. i read all but one, Halfblood Prince - ada sesapa boleh pinjamkan buku ni kat saya? i promise to speed read, insyaALLAH dalam seminggu je dah boleh habih. tapi, cerita-cerita fiksyen ni tak boleh la nak speed read, nanti 'feel' tu takde, tak dapat nak menjiwai watak. kena baca dgn teliti dan penuh penhayatan - thus, please give me a month to finish.

i found out harry potter potrayed in the book are very much different from the movie. there is a dark side of him, the way he suffered and fight-back. i pity him, but at the same time, salute him for all his courages and self-righteous. walaupon ada bab yang tak masuk akal, hero sentiasa menang, tapi tak sabar gak la nak tunggu tamat cerita ni. adakah Lord Voldamont berjaya ditumpaskan. atau, adakah cerita ini takde penghujungnya? atau adakah harry potter terpaksa commit suicide sebab dah tak tahan dgn ancaman musuhnya? kita tunggu...

now, i'm reading 'a house for mr biswak' by VS Naipaul. buku ni tak sengaja terbeli masa pergi giant hari tu. di jual longgok2, buku-buku lama RM8 jek. i didn't think twice, novel tebal 3 inci dapat harga lapan ringgit? it's a really good bargain! tak kisah le citer dia best ke tak, tak kisah sapa author dia, janji i got myself something to read.

its' a simple story of mr. biswak's quest in buying his own house - or trying to acquire a piece of land that can be called home. located in port-of-spain, of trinidad & tobago, in the mid of world war II, mr biswak was born poor and married to a rich family that owned a sugar plantation. but instead of ventured into his inlaws' business and working for them, he stand-up for himself, searching for his own job. it did stirred some uneasiness among the inlaws, and in many occasions, his wife was the one who tried to strike a delicate balance between her husband, and her very complex organisation of family structure.

sama seperti kehidupan kita hari-hari, hidup mr.biswak ni penuh dengan dugaan dan penuh juga dengan rezeki yang tidak disangka-sangka. kadang-kadang, kita sampai di satu penghujung jalan, dan kita tak nampak jalan lain untuk keluar dari situ, pada masa itulah pertolongan tiba, dari sumber-sumber yang tidak dijangka. selagi masih bernyawa, perjalanan hidup, nak tak nak, perlu diteruskan.

hmmm... dan siapalah yang tak idam-idam rumah sendiri, ye tak. kalau tak dapat rumah banglo dua tingkat, dapat rumah kecil untuk berkumpul anak-beranak pun cukuplah. kalau tak dapat laman luas ada swimming pool, dapat balkoni tiga kaki pun dah memadai. yang penting rumah tu kita punya.

telanjur tulis isu pasal rumah ni... mcm mana nak handle bebudak without maid? rasa mcm dah takde privacy la kat rumah tu. can i at least have a place of my own? kalau carik maid yang datang jaga rumah + anak2 waktu siang je, ada tak? help! help!