Unlock Now Mulai Saat Ini Segalanya Akan Berubah Imagined By Eliza V. Handayani Formatted As Paperbound

of you may have heard about this novel for all the wrong reasons:

The launch of From Now On Everything Will Be Different by Eliza Vitri Handayani at the Ubud Writers amp Readers Festivalwas cancelled after warnings from local police, ostensibly because of references to themassacres of communists in Indonesia.
There are sensitivities best left undisturbed, it was thought,

The cancellation raised a storm of protest about censorship and in Australia anyway a rehash of the historical events of, publicity which seems to have defeated the censors purpose if there was one, rather than just overofficious local intervention.


Well, since Im interested in Indonesian books and writing, and I really, really dont like bookbanning, I bought a copy from Vagabond Press to see what the book was about

From Now On Everything Will Be Different explores the relationship between two young people during the Reformasi era in Indonesia.
This is the period when people power demanded an end to the Suharto New Order era and its associated repression and cronyism, and democratic reforms were put in place.
The transition period was not without new challenges, . .

To read the rest of my review please visit sitelink comfr




Read this novel out of curiosity due to the controversy of its launching, However, sorry to say, the book doesn't live up to the hype, With all random plots and cheesy drama, I couldn't take it, Thank goodness it's not thick so I could finish it in one sitting, Si penulis berusaha sangat keras untuk menunjukkan bahwa ia bisa menulis karyanya sekelas sastra, padahal tidak, Dengan alur waktu cerita yang berantakan, dua karakter yang diilustrasikan sangat lemah, reformasihanya jadi tempelen mentalmental disorientasi manusia Indonesia, Saya heran kenapa buku ini sangat digembargemborkan luar biasa, Kesan awal terpaksa harus saya jatuhkan kepada cover, Terlalu ringan dibandingkan dg isinya,

Selain cover, plot mnjadi sesuatu yg sesungguhnya menarik, Kesatuan unsurcerita ditampilkan dinamik dg kenyataan dn kenangan yg saling bersahutan, Sayangnya, pembaca harus dibuat bingung dg sistematika penulisan yg sulit dimengerti karena ketirisan editorial,

Penulis kreatif membuat reformasi sebagai latar penceritaan, Hadirnya reformasi lebih dr sekadar hiasan, Ia menentukan perjalanan Julita Rizky,

Namun, Sekali lagi, sayangnya, yg mengecewakan, terlepas dr cover, kisah Julita Rizky terkesan sangat FTV, Rizky yg anak genk nakal SMA harus mnghadapi perempuan yg berani dn berbeda spt Julita, Padahal, plot dn bahasa yg sudah "nyastra" akan terkesan lbh wah apabila disandingkan dg kisah problematika hidup yg lebih berbobot, Terlebih lagi reformasi, tdk dgunakan sbagai hal yg dapat mnggoyah hidup lakonnya,

Cobaan hidup hanya hadir dr dalam diri, tntg cinta, jati diri, dn pencapaian yg gagal, yg jalan keluarnya hanya berasal dr diri sendiri.
Selebihnya, dg pnggunaan diksiyg imajinatif, karya Eliza ini dpt diadikan sarana rekreasi bagi penikmat sastra ringan Indonesia,
Salah keunggulan novel singkat adalah fokus cerita yang rinci, sensitif dan dalam yang membuat pembaca tertawan oleh intensitas dan suspensi cerita hingga selesai.
Tentunya tidak semua novel singkat memberikan kepuasan seperti itu, Eliza V. Handayani, yang saya kenal dari novel scifi pertamanya AreaX, adalah salah satu penulis yang memberikan hal tersebut dengan penggunaan diksi dan metafora yang segar.
Awalnya saya sangsi novel ini akan jadi bacaan yang berkesan, Sebab, bagi saya, judul dan sampul buku ini terlihat seperti novel chicklit, Beberapa halaman pertama pun saya mengira konflik dan karakter tokoh utama, Julita dan Rizky, tidak akan berkembang jauh, Beberapa adegan pembukaan serasa tengah membaca naskah FTV, Namun saya salah, semakin saya masuk ke dalam konflik novel ini, penulis memberikan perkembanganperkembangan konflik dan karakter yang tak terduga, Yang paling memberi kesan adalah Kotak Karya Belum Selesai dan Kotak Memori Esensial yang, saya pikir, memiliki makna filosofis tertentu yang semakin menguatkan karakter Julita dan Rizky.
Yang agak mengganjal adalah beberapa latar cerita seperti keadaan politik saat dan pasca reformasi seperti tidak berpengaruh pada konflik maupun karakter, Terlihat hanya tempelan nirmakna belaka, Seraya reformasi dan demokratisasi menyapu Indonesia pada akhir tahun 'an, generasi muda bangsa bertanya: apa makna menjadi bebas Seorang perempuan dan lakilaki menginginkan kebebasan untuk jadi diri sendiri, sekalipun nilainilai yang mereka pegang bertentangan dengan nilainilai masyarakat dan budaya.


Terombangambing antara pengharapan keluarga dan aspirasi seni sendiri, si lakilaki memutuskan untuk tunduk, sementara si perempuan memutuskan untuk merintis jalan sendiri.
Selama lima belas tahun mereka terus merengkuh satu sama lain, mencari sesuatu untuk mengisi apa yang hilang dalam diri, Kisah mereka mengiringi serangkaian perubahan dalam sejarah Indonesia kontemporer,

Melesat bolakbalik antara perspektif si perempuan dan si lakilaki, masa kini dan masa lalu, novel ini mencoba membongkar mitos pergaulan

yang banyak beredar di kalangan orang muda, terutama di Jakarta, dan menyelusuri dua sikap yang mungkin diambil oleh mereka yang memiliki ambisi seni.
Ia mengisahkan pergulatan kedua tokoh untuk membebaskan diri dari rundungan kekecewaan, serta menjejaki apa yang dikorbankan dan dicapai ketika kita tunduk pada pengharapan orang lain dan ketika kita terus menekuni jalan sendiri.
From Now On traces the relationship between two wouldbefree spirits as they strain against mainstream societys strictures, We are introduced to Rizky as a thirtysomething doctor while he prepares to catch up with Julita, a feisty photojournalist, for the first time after a period of years.
The twin threads of Rizky and Julita preparing/travelling to their meeting point comprise a core strand of the novel,
We then meet them as highschoolers in Jakarta, Indonesias capital, getting into strife because of their unconventional values, Their story is next picked up in, a time of severe unrest against the government and the established order, Here the themes of their resistance to social and political norms, together with their individual struggles to find freedom and identity in their personal lives, are more firmly established, forming the double motif that provides the novels focus.

The characters of Julita and Rizky are well drawn, both being likeable but with flaws and foibles, Their efforts to achieve workable lifestyles, ones that reconcile their Bohemian temperaments with mundane realities, are for the most part pursued separately, and circumstances dictate that their relationship is expressed mainly through phone calls, texts and letters.
Rizky is the less assertive of the two in terms of breaking free and wears the cost of that, while Julita takes a more nonconformist route, with its own attendant price.
Their pains are palpable and one aches for them,
Their personal struggles take place against the Indonesian nations own struggle to forge a reformed society after the easing out of the quasidictator Suharto and the social order that went with him.
This backdrop is in no way intrusive, however, and it wont harm your enjoyment of the novel if you have no knowledge of the politics or culture of the place.

There are, however, two minor issues Id raise about the book, First, there are a few slips of grammar, but not to any distracting extent, What was an occasional bother to me was lack of clarity about exactly where I was in terms of time, as the novels keeps shifting timewise.
Editorial guidance could have easily fixed this,
That said, From Now On is an intriguing read with two endearing main characters, even when you feel like giving them a slap to wake up to themselves.
As they edged slowly closer to their rendezvous, I couldnt help feeling the tension and had to resist flipping to the end to see what finally happens.

I recommend From Now On to anyone who likes a wellwritten novel about characters you can care about, Whether it represents “a new dawn of the Indonesian novel” as has been suggested, is too early to call, It is nonetheless a real advance on a lot of literature from that country in that it explores moral issues more fearlessly than Hanadayanis compatriot writers usually do.
From Now On is an engaging novel from a new talent and I look forward to her next offering,
This is an abridged version of a review I wrote for Rochford Street at sitelink com
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