The Book of Everyday Things (English Edition)
Author: Desi Anwar
Category: Self-Improvement, Lomba Ulasan Sewindu Bincang Buku
Books, pillows, shoes, pens, watches, toys, money, toothbrushes.... These are things we encounter in our daily life. They are so ordinary that we take them for granted, as if they’ve always been part of our lives. As a matter of fact, the ability to create objects is probably how we humans define our species and make us different from other living creatures.
Just look around us and see the amount of stuff we surround ourselves with and accumulate throughout our lives. A human being might enter this life with nothing but the first breath, and bring nothing into his grave other than what others adorn on his lifeless body. And yet, during the course of his life, he is dependent on objects not only to enable him to function but also to give him a sense of identity and purpose: Things and objects created and manufactured by his fellow humans with which to control and manipulate his environment and determine his destiny. Objects, however, fill not only the spaces they occupy but also end up cluttering and clogging up the whole planet while at the same time leaving less and less space for other living beings to thrive.
The Book of Everyday Things reminds us that despite our species’ ability to conquer Nature and create amazing objects to make our lives easier, our obsession with producing and consuming things might just detract us from ever understanding the real purpose of our existence. That perhaps true happiness does not only lie in manmade things but in appreciating what Nature has given us.
Dengan wawasan luas dan penuh kepekaan emosional, Desi Anwar menjadikan benda-benda biasa dan peristiwa sehari-hari menjadi jendela untuk melihat kehidupan dari sudut pandang baru.
Benda-benda sehari-hari, situasi dan orang-orang dimaknai lebih dalam dengan kenangan, motivasi kehidupan, bahkan isu lingkungan.
Misalnya pada bab 28 berjudul Light. Kita dibawa melintasi waktu, kembali ke masa lalu saat listrik belum menyentuh seluruh pelosok desa. Malam-malam kala itu dipenuhi suara alam, suara kodok dan tonggeret bersahut-sahutan. Gelapnya malam membuat orang tidur lebih awal. Manusia pun hidup berdampingan harmonis dengan ritme alam.
Kini, listrik telah menerangi hampir seluruh sudut negeri. Lampu menyala dengan mudah, memungkinkan aktivitas tanpa henti. Namun, kemudahan ini juga membawa konsekuensi. Alam kehilangan kesempatan untuk beristirahat.
The Book of Everyday Things dihiasi ilustrasi cantik bernuansa oren dan hijau pada tiap babnya, mengajak pembaca berhenti sejenak, menghirup napas dalam-dalam, menghargai hal-hal sederhana dalam hidup lalu mulai memandang dunia dengan cara penuh syukur.
Ada satu catatan kecil: untuk versi digitalnya, daftar isi yang memuat judul bab akan sangat membantu pembaca dalam memilih bab yang diinginkan.
As an author herself, it’s no wonder that she listed ‘book’ as the first item to talk about. I picked up this book because I have read ???????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????????? and ???????????? ???????????? ???????? ????????????????????????????????. I liked how she connected a paragraph to the next and the wittiness in her choice of words. I could relate to most of her ideas. So, I expected the same with ???????????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????. I was rewarded.
This time, too, I wanted to give her a high five – if she were next to me – when I read about bread. Yeah, the ultimate solution is indeed to bake your own bread to your own liking. The only difference is that I’m not a fan of breadmakers. I giggled at the sentence "...like my loaf of bread, it preferred to succumb to the pull of gravity rather than face the world with its head held high."
When I arrived at “Memories” and read “… what separates us, homo sapiens, from other living creatures on this planet is precisely our dependence on the soundness of the mind to enable us to live our lives.” I argued. No, Desi. This time I beg to differ. Luckily, I kept on reading. Finally, I got her point. Memory here is not about the activity of remembering. It is about the content that is being remembered. That content is called “stories”. “… it’s the stories that make us what we are.” True. High five.
This book is indeed packed with a lot of things. Philosophy. That’s one obvious thing. About each of these 30 items, Desi shared her philosophy. A lot of them, I had never seen it the way she presented it. My jaws dropped again and again. How could an everyday-taken-for-granted item bring such an astonishing point of view?
History. How on earth did that cup of tea land on, for instance, the late Queen Elizabeth’s table every single afternoon without fail? It had something to do with Java, you know! How was it that our ancestors decided to invent money to bring happiness? Did you know that there was a time when soap was not a luxury item in malls like today because even the king did not take a bath? Did you know that in the early days of shoes, a pair of shoes could be worn on either foot?
Biography. One might find this book an autobiography of Desi Anwar. Her parents, her sister, her childhood, her hobbies, and even her dreams. I mean, the ones she sees when she falls asleep.
When you finish reading ???????????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????, I think, your day-to-day will never be the same.