Mercutio (Romeo and Juliet): Character Thursday #2

Reading Romeo and Juliet feels incomplete if not matching it with a little talk about this guy; Mercutio.

Mercutio is one of Romeo's bestfriends. He's not a Montague nor a Capulet. It is from his connection with Capulet that he gets invitation to the party, in which Romeo manages to come and meet Juliet.

Mercutio is a fun, witty, humorous person. But at times, his jokes are rude.. he just makes me want to punch him right on the face LOL. He is also moody, easily outbursts, provocative even.

If love be rough with you, be rough with love ~ Act I, Scene IV
If love be blind, it cannot hit the mark ~ Act II, Scene I

Good Peter, to hide her face; for her fan's the fairer face
~ Act II, Scene IV

Farewell ancient lady, farewell ~ Act II, Scene IV

And but one word with one of us? couple it with something; make it a word and a blow ~ Act III, Scene I

In 1968 movie adaptation Romeo and Juliet; John McEnery

In a loosely anime adaptation Romeo x Juliet

In 1996 movie Romeo + Juliet; Harold Perrineau Jr. 

Probably my most favorite Mercutio :D

Though he's not a main character, it is very interesting that Shakespeare made him play an important role. It is his temper thus his death that turns the story upside down.

At his rage before he dies, he curses the Montagues and Capulets;

A plague o' both your houses!
They have made worms' meat of me; I have it,
And soundly too; your houses!
~ Act III, Scene I

An English poet John Dryden wrote "Shakespeare show'd the best of his skill in his Mercutio, and he said himself, that he was forced to kill him in the third Act, to prevent being killed by him." Source: here.

Mercutio's death brings a massive grief to Romeo. Not only under the loss of a friend, but also because Romeo feels that it is partly his fault. The grief that plots Romeo into killing Tybalt, leading to his own banishment and the tragedies after.

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Don't forget to join Character Thursday and LRP monthly meme

And of course; Let's Read Play Event ;)

Terjerat Penguin Threads

"Saya adalah wanita yang lemah adanya,

mudah goyah karena cover buku nan cantik menggoda"

~ pengakuan >_<

Ketika membeli buku klasik, unsur "collectible" sangat dicari. Novel klasik - karena kebanyakan masa copyright-nya sudah kadaluarsa - bisa diperoleh dengan bebas di internet. Karenanya, setiap saya harus mengeluarkan kocek untuk sebuah novel klasik, nilai collectible itu yang dikejar (kecuali mungkin ketika membeli edisi terjemahan). Begitu pula dengan buku-buku cantik ini;
 

Emma - Jane Austen

Black Beauty -  Anna Sewell

The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

Tampak depan

Tampak belakang

Ya, apa lagi kalau bukan hasil lapar mata di Bookdepository. Sempat juga saya jumpai di Kinokuniya Plaza Senayan Jakarta, tapi toko buku ini punya kebijakan menempelkan stiker harga langsung pada buku - yang tentu saja sangat tidak saya sukai terutama untuk buku yang ingin dikoleksi karena cover indahnya seperti ini.

Awalnya hanya ingin membeli The Secret Garden, mengingat buku ini salah satu buku favorit saya sejak kecil. Tapi.. hm.. Emma-nya cantik juga ya plus saya belum baca. Lalu.. desainer cover Black Beauty juga sama dengan dua lainnya, jadi... oke... kenapa ga tiga-tiganya saja sekalian! Oyeah, kurang lebih $15 kali 3! *langsung 3 bulan puasa belanja baju XD*.

Ketiga buku ini termasuk dalam rangkaian Penguin Threads. Sesuai namanya, cover-cover cantiknya disulam dengan benang, lalu dicetak di atas kertas hingga menghasilkan embos yang memberi kesan seakan-akan cover tersebut benar-benar sulaman benang.

Salahkan Penguin Threads yang bikin koleksi sekiyut inih!

Bertekstur bak kain berbordir. Betapa saya suka sekali menyentuhnya!

Lebih unik lagi, bukan hanya bagian luarnya saja yang tampak timbul bagai tersulam benang, bagian dalam pun terlihat seperti bagian belakang kain sulaman.

Bagian dalam cover buku

Ilustrator cover bagi tiga novel klasik ini adalah Jillian Tamaki, seorang ilustrator asal Kanada yang kini tinggal di Brooklyn, New York.

Sebagian dari proses pembuatan

(diambil dari blog Jillian Tamaki)

Oya, cover-nya French flap; ada tambahan yang terlipat ke dalam.

French flap

...yang jikalau digelar memanjang akan tampak seperti ini;

Terpaksa ambil dari sumber lain karena ga tega ngegelarnya :p | Sumber: di sini

Dan tak lupa untuk menambah kesan shabby dan klasik; deckle edge.

Deckle edge

Ada 3 buku lagi dari jajaran Penguin Threads yang sudah terbit; Little Women, The Wizard of Oz, The Wind in The Willows. Ilustrator cover-nya berbeda, dan karena style-nya kurang sesuai dengan selera saya, jadi fiuhh selamat deh dompet.

Eits tunggu, kan ada saudara dekat Penguin Threads; Penguin Deluxe (yang sejenis hanya saja tidak menggunakan embos layaknya sulaman itu) tapi itu... adalah kisah panjang lainnya lagi... :D

Wishful Wednesday #2

Hari Rabu.. waktunya menggantungkan harapan pada bintang... e bukan, pada Astrid dari Books To Share, karena spesial di Rabu ini 2 orang yang beruntung bakal terkabulkan harapannya \^_^/

Buku inceran saya hari ini adalah...

Pride and Prejudice

Penulis: Jane Austen

Edisi: Penguin English Library

Tersedia di: Bookdepository

Sebenarnya saya sudah baca Pride and Prejudice edisi terjemahan. Tapiii... demi melongok ke daftar judul edisi Penguin English Library, dan menemukan cover oren ceria ini jadi ngiler... Mauu banget buku ini untuk koleksi.

Pride and Prejudice adalah novel Austen pertama saya, dan seketika menjadikan saya fans penulis wanita itu. Cara Austen mengembangkan cerita melalui karakter para tokohnya bikin saya kepincut.

Semoga kali ini bintang sedang baik pada saya dan mengabulkan harapan di Rabu siang ini... :D

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Yuk share Wishful Wednesday-mu.
Khusus hari ini ada giveaway-nya looh, info lengkapnya => di sini.

1. Silakan follow blog Books To Share – atau tambahkan di blogroll/link blogmu =)
2. Buat posting mengenai buku-buku (boleh lebih dari 1) yang jadi inceran kalian minggu ini, mulai dari yang bakal segera dibeli, sampai yang paling mustahil dan hanya sebatas mimpi. Oya, sertakan juga alasan kenapa buku itu masuk dalam wishlist kalian ya!
3. Tinggalkan link postingan Wishful Wednesday kalian di Mr. Linky (klik saja tombol Mr. Linky di bagian bawah post). Kalau mau, silakan tambahkan button Wishful Wednesday di posting kalian.
4. Mari saling berkunjung ke sesama blogger yang sudah ikut share wishlistnya di hari Rabu =)

The Story of Juliet and her Romeo

Two families in Verona have a long history of fights and rivalry. The Montagues and The Capulets are like fire and powder, explode as they touch. To give the readers this picture, the story begins with a brawl between the two houses.

Romeo, the only son of Montague, appears as a young boy helplessly in love with a girl named Rosaline.

Is love a tender thing? it is too rough,
Too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like thorn.
~ Romeo, Act I Scene IV

Until one day at a party held by The Capulets, as he and his friends manage to sneak into, Romeo has the change of heart. He falls in love with the prettiest girl he sees there, which turns out to be Juliet - the only daughter of Capulet. Juliet also has her heart beating for Romeo.

My only love sprung from my only hate!
Too early seen unknown, and known too late!
Prodigious birth of love it is to me,
That I must love a loathed enemy.
~ Juliet, Act I Scene V

Is she a Capulet?
O dear account! my life is my foe's debt
~ Romeo, Act I Scene V

Romeo and Juliet exchange vows in front of Friar Lawrence, who agrees in the hope of peace this bound might bring to the two rivals. This love seems to be a hint of peaceful future in Verona.

The balcony scene in an 1870 oil painting by Ford Madox Brown | Source: here

The plot thickens and switches into a reverse when Tybalt - Juliet's cousin - dies in Romeo's hands, as a revenge to Mercutio's death. Romeo is banished. In desperation of losing Romeo, Juliet can't stop tears from falling. Misunderstood by her parents who assume that her nonstop crying is a sign of grief over Tybalt's death, she is about to be put into a wedding with Paris. Panic, Juliet cries for Friar Lawrence's help.

Friar Lawrence gives a special potion that will make Juliet asleep but appear as dead. The plan is; Romeo should find Juliet at the time she awakes, and they can run away. Romeo is meant to be part of the plan, but he never gets the letter Friar Lawrence send him. And then... I think you know the rest.

So yes, being a tragedy - where the protagonist must die - Romeo and Juliet die in this play. As much as I had hoped that somehow the story would have been different... well of course such a wish is foolish :p. But reading such a famous and well-known play like Romeo and Juliet is never about knowing the ending. It's more about enjoying the lines, finally tasting how The Bard created such intense dialogues in a heart-throbing tale of love.

Juliet woke up to find Romeo was dead | Source: here

First ed Title Page | Source: here

I picked this as the first for Let's Read Play. It's my first time reading William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. I kind of knew how the story goes, but never actually read it before.

Believed to be adapted from a poem by Arthur Brooke, I understand now why this play is such a classic. It's beautiful, romantic, funny at the same time. Romeo and Juliet successfully covers the beauty in youth's love, how naive yet passionate it is.

Shakespeare designed this play into a fast-paced 5-day story, filled with woos and woes, and some good laughs. Perhaps that is how youth's love would be, as portrayed in the play; rough but sweet, timid but bold, always in haste, short-minded, full of misunderstanding... and die so soon. I recalled myself back when I was their age, when I could fall in love with some guy at school like he would have been the love of my life, to only forget about him the next week I fell for another :p

...the sweetest honey
Is loathsome in his own deliciousness
And in the taste confounds the appetite
Therefore love moderately; long love doth so,
Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow
~ Friar Lawrence, Act II Scene VI

To put it into today's perspective, this play also depicts the importance of adult's guidance in young-adult's romance. Parents need to have their eyes wide open to see and understand such a wave of passion. The tragedy is not only the result of the young ones who are recklessly in love, with their inability to communicate. It is also because of the adults who neglect the signs, with their refusal to compromise. It is good for Romeo and Juliet to have an adult to talk to - Friar Lawrence - who is trustworthy, though might not be as wise.

I can also get it now, how characters in books can recite this play line by line, how writers somehow at some point need to look up to it. The words seem timeless, relevant. I myself have to restrain my fingers from tweeting each line >_<

Able to grasp the mood, I immediately "re-read" it by watching the 1996 movie. And the magic moment happened. There - after several years - at my second attempt to watch DiCaprio's Romeo+Juliet, I did (finally!) cry at "Kissing You" scene. I felt it, the heartache that I searched in that movie (which I didn't find the first time I watched it because I had no idea what they're talking about :p). Hungry for more, I moved on to the older one; 1968 movie. If only I could go to a theater and watch a live performance...

I'll talk about the movies some other time, but here's to sum up; I think I can never get bored with this one. I love it today, and I believe will still adore it tomorrow, and years from now.

So I offer thee
5 cups of hot creamy coffee,
for this sweet deary
yet tragic love story...

Romeo and Juliet is a play by William Shakespeare
Published: 1597
Ebook by Feedbooks

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More posts in this blog regarding Romeo and Juliet:
- Juliet's quote in Weekend Quote #1
- Mercutio in Character Thursday

Weekend Quote #1

Since I'm currently reading Romeo and Juliet for Let's Read Plays, I think it is only natural to quote a line or two from this play.

For this 1st Weekend Quote, I pick:

"What's in a name? that which we call rose, by any other name would smell as sweet" ~ JULIET, Act II, Scene II

What makes me so into this quote is that right at the moment I read it, I remembered another quote by Anne Shirley (Anne of Green Gables);

"I read in a book once that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but I've never been able to believe it. I don't believe a rose would be as nice if it was called a thistle or a skunk cabbage." ~ ANNE SHIRLEY, Anne of Green Gables

I Iike the Indonesian translation (which I actually have posted here);

"Aku pernah membaca bahwa disebut apapun setangkai mawar, aromanya akan sama harumnya, tapi aku tidak pernah bisa mempercayainya. Aku tidak percaya bahwa setangkai mawar akan sama indahnya jika disebut bunga tahi ayam atau kol sigung."

And there I had a good laugh imagining Juliet and Anne having argument about name and rose >.<


Just-a-note: I know it's a bit odd that Juliet's line made me remember Anne's line, while for some others it might be the opposite. But I well, read Anne's first before Juliet's, so.. here we are :p

Weekend Quote is hosted by Half-Filled Attic. Feel free to join. You can:

• Give the context of the quote
• Give your opinion whether you agree or disagree with it
• Share your experience related to the quote
• Share similar quotes you remember
• Or anything else. Just have fun with the quote.

Wishful Wednesday #1

Perdana ikutan Wishful Wednesday!

Buku yang lagi diidam-idamkan sampai ileran parah adalah ini;

The Teleportation Accident

Ned Beauman

Buku ini masuk dalam jajaran Longlist Man Booker Prize 2012. Kenapa ngiler sama buku ini? Covernya itu loh napsuin banget! :p

Blurb-nya heboh:
Longlisted for the 2012 Man Booker Prize.
HISTORY HAPPENED WHILE YOU WERE HUNGOVER
When you haven't had sex in a long time, it feels like the worst thing that could ever happen to anyone. If you're living in Germany in the 1930s, it probably isn't. But that's no consolation to Egon Loeser, whose carnal misfortunes will push him from the experimental theatres of Berlin to the absinthe bars of Paris to the physics laboratories of Los Angeles, trying all the while to solve two mysteries: whether it was really a deal with Satan that claimed the life of his hero, the great Renaissance stage designer Adriano Lavicini; and why a handsome, clever, charming, modest guy like him can't, just once in a while, get himself laid. From the author of the acclaimed Boxer, Beetle comes a historical novel that doesn't know what year it is; a noir novel that turns all the lights on; a romance novel that arrives drunk to dinner; a science fiction novel that can't remember what 'isotope' means; a stunningly inventive, exceptionally funny, dangerously unsteady and (largely) coherent novel about sex, violence, space, time, and how the best way to deal with history is to ignore it. LET'S HOPE THE PARTY WAS WORTH IT

Konon buku ini agak gila... Jadi, gila + cover menggoda = meratapi dompet. Iya, gimana ga meratapi dompet lha wong harganya mihil gituh...

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Yuk share Wishful Wednesday-mu:
1. Silakan follow blog Books To Share – atau tambahkan di blogroll/link blogmu =)
2. Buat posting mengenai buku-buku (boleh lebih dari 1) yang jadi inceran kalian minggu ini, mulai dari yang bakal segera dibeli, sampai yang paling mustahil dan hanya sebatas mimpi. Oya, sertakan juga alasan kenapa buku itu masuk dalam wishlist kalian ya!
3. Tinggalkan link postingan Wishful Wednesday kalian di Mr. Linky (klik saja tombol Mr. Linky di bagian bawah post). Kalau mau, silakan tambahkan button Wishful Wednesday di posting kalian.
4. Mari saling berkunjung ke sesama blogger yang sudah ikut share wishlistnya di hari Rabu =)

Warga Baru di Bulan Oktober

Waktunya mendata penghuni baru timbunan di bulan Oktober kemarin.

No.1-7 dibeli di akhir September, tapi karena laporan belanja September udah dibuat di posting yang ini, jadi mereka ngisi daftar hadir di bulan Oktober.

* Yang ini... salahin Periplus Setiabudi yang sale + tambahan diskon 10% pas waktu saya jalan-jalan ke Bandung (dalam usaha cari kambing hitam). Buku-buku ini murah bener jadinya.

1. State of Wonder, Ann Panchett
2. Theodore Boone: The Abduction, John Grisham
3. The Space Between Us, Thrity Umrigar
4. Reckless, Cornelia Funke
5. Vampire Academy The Ultimate Guide, Michelle Rowen with Richelle Mead (hepi banget waktu nemu buku ini dengan harga murce *gegirangan)
6. Confessions of Love, Uno Chiyo

* Comot di Bandung Book Fair, untuk event Let's Read Plays. Jarang-jarang niih dari book fair cuma bawa pulang sebiji buku tipis (bangga atas kemampuan menahan dirinya, tapi lalu lirik ke No.1-6 di atas, ga jadi bangga >_<)

7. Oidipus, Sophokles

* Tak bisa menahan diri, beli di Bookdepository. Awalnya ga suka covernya, tapi pas dateng ternyata keren juga body-nya (ish ish main fisik) :D

8. The Casual Vacancy, J.K. Rowling

* Jalan-jalan dan melangkahkan kaki ke Gracia - sebuah toko buku kecil yang letaknya di sisi kiri Naga Swalayan Jakarta Timur. Meneliti raknya dan menemukan ini dalam kondisi baru.

9. Oteba, Marga T.

* Ini dibeli untuk baca bareng Nobel Sastra @BBI_2011, udah diripiu => di sini;

10. Snow Country, Yasunari Kawabata

* Pembelian acak, tanpa niat tertentu, sebagian karena covernya cakep >_<

11. Three Weddings and Jane Austen, Prima Santika
12. Cinta Tanpa Warna, Kartika Sari
13. Test Pack, Ninit Yunita
14. Blue Romance, Sheva

* Yang terakhir, ya gitudeh lagi-lagi saya ke Bandung dan dengan sengajanya melipir ke Periplus Setiabudi... Ini yang satu guede yang satu lagi kuecil, yang gede harganya lebih murah daripada yang kecil.

15. Love, Inc., Yvonne Collins & Sandy Rideout (ciyuus miapaah saya beli buku ini :p btw, harganya bukan yang di sticker itu ya *emang keliatan? :p)
16. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury (yang ini ga lagi sale *sigh*)

Whoa! 16 buku! *sibuk umpel-umpelin ke timbunan

Let's Read Plays: Starts!

Finally, November has come and here we are in Let's Read Plays event!

Let's Read Plays is a yearlong event hosted by Fanda and I, where participants will read classic plays throughout the year, from this November to October 2013.

As I have said in this post, plays have a special place in my heart. So really, I'm soo excited!

For more details, please go to the SIGN UP POST and MASTER POST in Fanda's blog.

Meanwhile, here's my list of 12 plays for the event:

1. Nov '12 Shakespeare's Tragedy: Romeo and Juliet
2. Dec '12 Shakespeare's Comedy: The Merchant of Venice
3. Jan '13 freebie: Othello
4. Feb '13 Shakespeare's History: Richard III
5. Mar '13 Greek: Oidipus
6. Apr '13 Shakespeare's Comedy: The Taming of the Shrew
7. May '13 Shakespeare's Tragedy: King Lear
8. Jun '13 Oscar Wilde: An Ideal Husband
9. Jul '13 Other author: Death of a Salesman (Arthur Miller)
10. Aug '13 Shakespeare's Comedy: The Tempest
11. Sep '13 freebie: Much Ado About Nothing
12. Oct '13 Shakespeare's Tragedy: Macbeth

Now, since plays are often short reads, I think I'm going to cram some more titles into the list. Maybe re-reading some plays I've read, but that's optional.

It'll be fun! If you join in before November 15, you'll be eligible to participate in giveaways. Yes, with "s", meaning; there will be more than one giveaway in this event ;)

So, are you up for this challenge?
This way, please...
==> SIGN UP POST
==> MASTER POST
==> MONTHLY MEME

Komako (Snow Country) | Character Thursday #1

Jadi saya pecah telur, ikutan posting Character Thursday-nya Fanda!

Sebagai posting perdana ini saya mengambil salah satu karakter dari buku yang baru selesai saya baca, Snow Country karya Yasunari Kawabata, yaitu Komako.

Komako adalah geisha di sebuah penginapan pemandian air panas yang ditemui Shimamura - sang tokoh utama - setiap kali pria itu pergi ke sana. Digambarkan memiliki pipi sewarna angsa yang baru dibului, kulit yang mudah memerah apabila sedang malu atau mabuk.

Awalnya saya agak kesulitan mengikuti dialog Shimamura dengan Komako. Karena dialog ala Jepang (yang biasa kita lihat di buku, manga atau drama) umumnya memang sunyi, singkat, melompat, terpotong, dan seperti tidak lengkap, butuh waktu hingga saya memahami karakter utama wanita di Snow Country ini. Ditambah lagi, beberapa kali dialog dilakukan saat Komako sedang mabuk.

"Jangan, jangan. Bukankah kau bilang kau hanya ingin berteman?" (hal. 38)
"Saya tidak akan menyesali apapun. Tetapi, saya bukan perempuan rendahan. Bukankah Anda sendiri yang mengatakan hubungan seperti itu tak akan lama?" (hal. 38)
Ia meracau nyaris tak sadar, dan ia menggigit-gigit ujung kimononya seolah untuk menolak kebahagiaan. (hal. 38)

"Aku mau pulang"... "Aku tidak akan pulang. Aku akan duduk di sini sampai pagi."... "Aku mau pulang" (hal. 82)

"Aku tak mau lagi mengantamu. Kau tak tahu bagaimana rasanya mengantar kepulanganmu." (hal. 101)

"Tak ada bedanya bekerja di manapun. Tak perlu risau soal itu." (hal. 140)

"Aku benci padamu. Benci sekali padamu."... "Aku sedih sekali." (hal. 159)

Dari kalimat-kalimat itu, tergambar rasa putus asa dan frustrasi Komako pada keadaannya; geisha gunung yang terjerat hutang, mencintai seorang pria yang tak mungkin dimilikinya.

Komako membenci sekaligus mencintai Shimamura, kadang bersikap kasar pada pria itu kadang lembut, ingin pria itu pergi dari hidupnya tapi ia juga tahu ia tak sanggup berpisah dengannya, selalu menantikan kehadirannya. Terombang-ambing antara kerelaan melepas, dan posesif ingin memiliki.

Matsuei, Sumber: di sini

Sempat tertangkap pula, rasa cemburunya pada Yoko. Mungkin meski Shimamura tak pernah mengucapkannya, Komako bisa melihat pria itu tertarik pada Yoko.

Hal lain yang menarik perhatian saya, Komako suka membuat catatan untuk setiap buku yang dia baca. Wah, bisa jadi blogger buku juga dia yaa :D Saya jadi penasaran, buku-buku dan karakter-karakter bagaimana yang menarik bagi seorang Komako.

Konon Komako diciptakan Kawabata dengan inspirasi seorang onsen geisha bernama Matsuei. Geisha dengan nama asli Kodaka ini kabarnya usianya mencapai 99 tahun. Karena terkenalnya kisah yang berjudul asli Yukiguni ini, di Yuzawa (setting Snow Country) diadakan kompetisi tahunan Miss Komako. Sayangnya ketika saya menelusuri sumber, hanya ada Miss Komako 2007. Yang penasaran sama Miss Komako, sila melipir => ke sini.

Catatan iseng nyempil: sejujurnya saya belum pernah melihat angsa yang baru dibului, tapi dalam ingatan samar dari film kartun saya bayangkan warnanya pink, bener ga? :D