More Review

by beyondsky

When I picked up my copy of Novita Estiti's Subject: Re:, I had a somewhat high expectation. I first found out about the book when it was first released via Novita's post on Blogbugs mailing list. In her post, she complained about the misleading "ChickLit" label displayed on the cover of the book without her consent, and asked comments on the issue. Having no access to the actual book (I was still in Sydney at the time), I had to be satisfied by reading excerpts provided by the author on her blog. After reading the excerpts, not only that I agree that the "ChickLit" label is misleading, but I also became interested in the book itself. When I went to Gramedia a few days ago, the first thing I did was to head to the ChickLit section (I can't help to smirk), and picked up my copy.

I have less reading time now that I'm in Jakarta, but I managed to finished the book this morning. My impression? The book passed my high expectation. I think the reason for this is because I can relate in many ways to both characters, Nina and Yudha. From my perspective, the book talks about boredom with life in general. Whether it is boredom due to the routine of doing the same things over and over again, or because of the routine of constantly changing activities or jobs (which ironically is intended to avoid boredom in the first place). The storyline and the relationship development between the two characters also highlight what seems to be my theme of the month: "The unexpected turns of life."

Not only the story that intrigues me, but also the way of delivery. The book was formatted as a log of some sort, compiling online conversations between Nina and Yudha (eg: emails and messenger logs). I can relate to their mindless ramblings, as I've done it many times through my blog and previously, email. True to the current 'questionaires' trend, both Nina and Yudha filled out this somewhat useless but strangely fun activity. However, it was one of Nina's answer that caught my eyes. The question was "What are your future goals?" -- Nina's answer: "No goals in the future. I can't imagine the future." (p.88). As long as I can remember, I have never read a book with this much connection with myself.

Sometimes the reality can be harsh, and always unpredictable. Subject: Re: succeeds to portray the imperfections in life.

- THANK YOU VERY MUCH -