Blog si Feminis

Lelaki Terindah is the title of a novel written by Andrei Aksana. For those who don’t really follow the development of novel publication in Indonesia and Indonesian authors—that mean they never hear this name yet—Andrei Aksana is the grandson of big poets Sanoesi Pane and Armijn Pane. These two names are commonly found in school books—from elementary, junior, and senior high schools—in Indonesia.

At first I read the review of this book in one national newspaper. The review easily attracted me. But, my bad thing is, I didn’t note the title and I forgot it easily. Therefore, when trying to find it in one bookstore, I didn’t find it.

Some months later, when I went to a bookstore with Julie, she appointed the novel to me, saying, “Look, isn’t the title provoking?” FYI, ‘indah’ means beautiful, how could a man become beautiful? After appointing the novel, Julie went to other shelves while I took the novel from the shelf. I was provoked. LOL. When looking at the drawing on the front cover, my up and down teeth directly clicked, “Wow …” I saw a part of sexy body of a man that I believe would make women’s mouth like Samantha Jones—one character in Sex and the City—water openly. LOL. (well … honestly, I am impressed by her open sexual drive, and wonder if I could become like her. LOL. This is one thing that my Abang doesn’t like AT ALL. LOL.

First, I read the poem on the back cover.

Suatu ketika dulu

Aku pernah dihanyut asmara

Tapi tak pernah ku tenggelam

Karena kekuatan cintamu

Menjadi perahu dan dayungku

Hanya engkaulah yang mampu

Melenyapkan ragu menjadi tahu

Memupuskan kelu menjadi deru

Hanya engkaulah yang bisa

Menggantikan tawar menjadi rasa

Menhadirkan tiada menjadi ada

Karena hanya engkaulah …

Lelaki Terindah di hidupku

One time in the past

I was carried away by love

But I was never sunk

The strength of your love

Was my boat and row

to go along the ocean of love

you are the only one who is able

to change doubt into understanding

to alternate pessimism into optimism

you are the only one who is capable

to convert tasteless into tasty

to present existence from nothing

because you are the only

the most gorgeous man in my life

(badly translated by Nana LOL)

What a very romantic and adoring poem, from someone to a man—the most beautiful (well, I’d prefer to translate it into ‘gorgeous’ a word that is more androgynous) one. In an instant I loved the poem. When I opened the beginning pages, I found another poem that is also very romantic and adoring.

Tak pernah cukup kata

Menjabarkan keindahanmu …

Tak pernah cukup batas

Memagari kehadiranmu …

Kau lebur mimpi menjadi bentuk

Kau pahat angan memiliki raga

Bagimu

Segalanya mungkin …

These two poems were enough to provoke me to buy the novel. LOL. I wanted to buy two novels instead of just one. One was for myself, and the other one was for the one that was automatically on my mind when reading those two adoring poems. However, when reading the beginning pages of chapter one, and I found that it was about homosexual love (and it made me glad because at last I found the novel I was looking for after reading the review in one national newspaper some months before), I cancelled to buy two. I didn’t want to give the novel to the one who was on my mind automatically when reading the title of the book. I didn’t want him to think that I encouraged him to be a homosexual. LOL. Because I am a straight person, I want him to be one too so we would always be attracted to each other. LOL. As someone claiming as following the postmodern phenomenon, I don’t consider homosexual as abnormal or a social disease (you can read my post entitled “What is normal?” and “Sexuality” some months ago). However, since I am straight, I would be very broken hearted if the one that I dub as my Lelaki Terindah were homo. LOL. It makes sense, doesn’t it? LOL.

I bought the novel on March 17, 2005. I have used the novel as one subject for discussion in my literature class several times, especially when I discussed how society influences writers to produce their works. It illustrates how sociological approach is used to dissect one literary work. There is always close relationship between society and literature. I am really a strong follower of Daniel Goldmann’s theory on Genetic Structuralism: there is always close relationship between the work and the writer, and between the work and the society where and when the writer lives and produces his/her work.

Going back to Andrei Aksana as the author of Lelaki Terindah. I love the beautiful poems he writes and inserts inside his novels. However, I am not provoked to buy his other novels because to me they are about common themes, although I believe they are beautifully written. And, suddenly I want to write something on Lelaki Terindah because my sister borrowed this novel some days ago.

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