Acara 24 Hour Comics Day atau Hari Komik 24 Jam merupakan acara internasional di mana komikus-komikus di seluruh dunia berusaha menciptakan komik setebal 24 halaman dalam jangka waktu 24 jam non-stop secara serentak.

Selama acara berlangsung, reportase beserta halaman-halaman naskah yang sudah jadi di-upload ke situs web untuk menyambungkan dengan panitia pusat di Amerika dan para komikus lain di seluruh dunia. Di akhir acara, fotokopi karya-karya akan dikirimkan ke Ohio State Library untuk dokumentasi.

Tantangan ini datang dari Scott McCloud (Understanding Comics, Reinventing Comics, Making Comics) dan Nat Gertler. Dua komikus asal Amerika itu penggagas acara ngomik seharian ini. Bahkan McCloud telah menerbitkan beberapa buku kompilasi yang menampung 24 karya terbaik para komikus yang sudah ikutan 24 Hours Comics Day. Di tahun 2006, karya Tita Larasati (Curhat Tita) terpilih sebagai Best 10.

Ngomik rame-rame di C2O

Khusus untuk acara ini, C2O library buka sepanjang hari Sabtu 18 Oktober 2008 09.00 s/d Minggu 19 Oktober 2008 11.00. Kami menyediakan kursi, meja, tempat beristirahat, makanan dan minuman, kertas naskah serta berbagai buku dan komik bahan referensi untuk menemani kamu ngomik selama 24 jam bersama teman-teman.

Selain juga lebih seru, marathon membuat komik bersama-sama memberi pengalaman dan kesempatan untuk melihat komikus-komikus lainnya beraksi, termasuk para anggota Comic Artists’ Society of Surabaya (CASS) yang terdiri dari Beecomics, Neo Paradigm, Outline, SPLASH Magazine, dan Wind Rider Studio.

Di akhir acara, selain dikirimkan ke Amerika dan dipajang di situs web Comic Artists’ Society of Surabaya, karyamu juga dapat dipamerkan di C2O library sampai tanggal 31 Oktober 2008 di mana banyak orang lain dapat melihat dan menikmati karya-karyamu.

Siapa saja yang bisa ikut 24HCD di C2O?

Siapa pun!* Selama kamu tertarik, tertantang rame-rame membuat 24 halaman komik dalam 24 jam! Merasa nggak bisa gambar? Tidak masalah meskipun kamu cuma bisa menggambar stick figures, selama kamu senang membuatnya… Enjoy aja!

Tahun lalu, tercatat lebih dari 1200 peserta dari 18 negara berpartisipasi dalam acara ini. Di Indonesia sendiri, tidak kurang dari 70 komikus di Jakarta (Akademi Samali, Ruang Rupa), Surabaya (DKV ITS), Bandung (DKV ITB) dan Semarang (Papillon Studio) turut ambil bagian.

Komikus profesional maupun amatir kerap berpartisipasi dalam acara ini. Gaya dan teknik yang diterapkan pun bermacam-macam, mulai komik hitam putih, berwarna, komik CG, photocomics, montase, komik humor, laga, superhero, autobiografi, manga dll.

* Peserta di bawah usia 17 tahun harus mendapatkan izin dari orang tua / wali.

Cara ikut 24 Hour Comics Day di C2O

1. Download formulir pendaftaran 24HCD dalam bentuk PDF atau JPG.
   Datang ke C2O library Jl. Dr. Cipto 20 Surabaya 60264 (lihat peta) untuk mengisi formulir pendaftaran. Formulir juga tersedia di C2O.
2. Serahkan formulir ke petugas kami bersama dengan uang tiket Rp 40.000 selambat-lambatnya tanggal 11 Oktober 2008.
   *Biaya tiket sudah termasuk makan siang, malam, pagi, kertas naskah, dokumentasi, fotokopi dan pengiriman naskah ke panitia pusat.

Persiapan 24 Hour Comics Day

1. Perserta bebas membawa dan menggunakan materi gambar seperti pensil, pena, bolpen, kuas, pensil warna, dll.
2. Kenakan pakaian yang nyaman dan bersih. Jangan lupa toiletries pribadi: sikat & pasta gigi, handuk, dll.
3. Boleh membawa music player tapi gunakan earphone ya…
4. Pastikan ada yang mengantar jemput kamu pulang atau gunakan transportasi umum. Kami tidak menyarankan kamu mengemudi kendaraan sendiri setelah terjaga 24 jam.

TEMPAT TERBATAS! Kami minta peserta untuk mendaftarkan diri sebelum tanggal 11 Oktober 2008. Untuk keterangan lebih lanjut atau konfirmasi, hubungi kat - HP 0858 5472 5932 email c2o@coffee-cat.net atau kunjungi langsung C2O library Jl. Dr. Cipto 20 Surabaya 60264 (lihat peta).

Download brosur dalam bentuk PDF atau GIF.

Readers will notice recurring themes and subjects — Quixote, H.G. Wells, Chesterton, Poe, Joyce, Gibbon, etc. — even repetitions (of phrases, sentences, paragraphs, even pages), running through these vast range of essays. As Eliot Weinberger wrote in the introduction, Borges was fascinated with the infinite possibilities of reassemblies of old elements. (I rather pity the glaring absence of The Saragossa Manuscript, at least in When Fiction Lives in Fiction, whereas The Thousand and One Nights is discussed alongside The Golem and At Swim-Two-Birds.) Borges is notable for the incisive-strength with which he discusses vast range of subjects in accessible manner, his polyglot nature never to intimidate. His movie criticism, however, came nowhere near the erudition and range of his literary oeuvre.

Borges has often been accused of political inertia and detachment; Weinberger’s inclusion of Borges’ writings against Peron dictatorship, anti-Semitism, etc. might challenge this archetype. (Yet, at the same time, I don’t deny Borges’ “political Brahmanism”, his voluntary seclusion from reality into his invented universe — see Clive James’ Cultural Amnesia for an interesting comparison with Ernesto Sábato.)

This collection comes with Index, valuable for a book so brimming with thrilling ideas, and is well-translated.

Also available by the same author

Labyrinth
The Complete Fictions

The first, heroic, version was upheld and promulgated — orally and then in writing, in their chronicles– by the sans-culottes and Jacobins; the second, according to which the young man hoped to the very end for some magical sleight of hand, was recorded by the official historians of the powerful Hapsburg dynasty to prevent the birth of a legend. History is written by the victors. Legends are woven by the people. Writers fantasize. Only death is certain.

Readers familiar with Kiš’s life and other works (particularly garden, ashes) might feel some semi-biographical elements in The Encyclopedia of the Dead (A Whole Life), but in his insightful post-script, Kiš wrote about how, 6 months after the story was first published,

The person who dreamed the dream and to whom the story is dedicated to” (written for M. — K.) found an article in Yugoslav magazine about top-secret archives that contain names of eighteen billion people, living and dead, carefully entered on the 1,250,000 microfilms compiled to date by the Geneological Society of the Church of the Latter-Day Saints […]

The names in these extraordinary archives come from all over the world; they have been copied painstakingly from the most varied records, and the work goes on. The ultimate goal of this stupendous undertaking is to enter on microfilm nothing less than the whole of mankind — not only the part that is still living but also the part that has passed on to the otherworld.

With the shadows of pogroms, holocaust and fascist regimes looming in the background, Kiš casts doubts on commonly accepted notions (that “books serve only good causes”, that To Die for One’s Country is Glorious). Using a more or less familiar case (The Protocols of Elders of Zion), Kiš conscientiously reconstruct the story, imagining the obscure history, concealing the well-known “conspirator” figures whose sources Kiš discloses at the end of the book in his post-script, all the more creating blurred penumbras of facts and fictions.

Michael Henry Heim did a wonderful job — too bad he didn’t write any introduction.

Other titles by the same author also available:

Much love to L. for getting me this book.

- MKI
- M Productions
- 7 Blue Artland
- Sequen
- Jagoan Comics
- Curhat Anak Bangsa
- Wind Rider
- Neo Paradigm
- Outline

Acara Seminar di EDGE 2008, Gramedia Expo

Title: EDGE 2008, East Design & Graphic Expo
Date: Wednesday June 18, 2008
Time: 10:00 am - 8:00 pm
Location: Gramedia Expo, Surabaya
Street: Jl. Basuki Rachmat
City State Zip: Surabaya
Phone: 62 811 979 286

Dalam Pameran Grafika East Design & Graphic Expo, atau disingkat EDGE 2008 di Gramedia Expo, Surabaya akan diselenggarakan juga 2 kali seminar untuk bidang “Digital Printing” dan “Packaging”

Design Kemasan adalah salah satu karya kreatif yang cukup unik.

Karena kemasan berfungsi ganda (Functional dan Marketing Tools) maka dalam mendesign kemasan aspek yang dapat mengingatkan/awareness, menarik/eye cathching menjadi points yang essensial.

Komposisi Branding, Logo dan ketentuan-ketentuan legal pun tidak kalah penting.

Tapi dalam rangka mengangkat martabat bangsa yang sudah terpuruk, para kreatif Indonesia harus mempunyai jurus-jurus yang bisa memacu nasionalisme; apakah dengan kekayaan budaya bangsa ini, para designer kemasan dapat meramu dan menjadikan karya design kemasannya sejajar dengan karya-karya dunia?

Pengalaman Universitas PETRA yang bekerjasama dengan KUKM daerah adalah salah satu pemacu dunia kemasan dalam mensinergikan budaya, kreatifitas dan teknologi dalam karya design dan menginspirasi peserta seminar ini.

EDGE 2008 Exhibitors List:
@Media / Inkjet Large Format Printing
Aneka Warna Photo / Teckwin, Kodak-Encad
Anta Tirta Kirana / 6′ers Pack
ANZ / Banking
Alea Grafika / Metal Line Printing Plates, Book Binding Machineries
Artha Intilestari / Océ POD
Asaba / Develop POD
Askomindo Dinamika / Océ POD
B & B / Bilboard Advertising Magazines
Bhinneka Mentari Dimensi / Roland
Bintang Abadi Sejahtera / Reconditioned Printing Machineries
Bintang Cakra Kencana / Aurora Printing Plates
Bintang Terang / Signage System, Advertising Materials
Bright Arts / Witcolor Large Format Printing
Buana Citra Abadi / KIP POD
Chip Foto Video / Photography & Video Technology Magazines
Concept Media / Concept Design Magazine
Datascrip / Canon POD
Dell Pan Tunggal / Printing Machineries
Digital Studio / Design School
DIC Graphics / DIC Printing Ink
DVT / MyJet & Mimaki Large Format Printing
EcoPrint / Digital Printing Solution
FGDexpo2009 / Graphics Industry Exhibition
Global / Global Large Format Printing
Gramedia Asri Media / Pantone Color Systems
Gramedia Printing Group / Publishing & Printing Network
Granindo Prima / Digital Printing Solution
HP Indonesia / Digital Proofing System
Imex Persada / Witcolor Large Format Printing
Indokarta / Signage System
Indonesia Photo / a Darwis Triadi Photography Publication
IT Grafis / Large Format Printing & Materials
Margono Dian Graha / Fancy Papers
Maxipro / Witcolor & Phaeton Large Format Printing
Megalica Media Sign / Ritrama Coloured Vinyl Stickers
MIB / Advertising & Signage System
Microlux Indonesia / Kodak Creo CTP System, HP-Scitek Large Format Printing
Modern Photo / Fuji Sericol
Multi System Technology / Signage System & Digital Printing
Multiyasa Swadaya / Ritrama
Niki Supplier / Esae Printing Ink
Nusindoprima Indah / Inkjet Large Format Printing
Paperku / Various Papers
Premiere / Digital Printing Services
Printcolor Indonesia / Printcolor Printing Ink
ProPoster / Digital Printing Solution
Samafitro / HP-Indigo POD, HP-Nur, Canon POD
Samudra Printama / Digital Printing Services
Sepomindo / Inks for Digital Printers
Sigmaco Imagi / Laser Engraving & Infinity Large Format Printing
Spectral Digital / Signage System
Speed / Speed Large Format Printing
STIKOM / High School for Packaging Design
Surya Prima Jayatama / Fancy Papers, Inkjet Materials
Tunas Jaya Lestari / Finishing Machineries
Unimes Pusaka Cemerlang / Jinn Yeu Folding Gluer, Packaging Machineries
University of PETRA / Design Komunikasi Visual
Wujud Unggul / Printing, Packaging & Book Binding Machineries

Source: Desain Grafis Indonesia dan FGDexpo.

Track listings

1. La Mort (02:05)
2. New York Herald Tribune (01:25)
3. Duo (02:21)
   Tracks 1-3 from “À Bout de Souffle” (1959), composed by Martial Solal
4. Angela, Strasbourg Saint-Denis (02:23)
5. Chanson D’Angela (Chanté par Anna Karina) (02:23)
   Tracks 4-5 from “Une Femme est une Femme” (1961), composed by Michel Legrand
6. Vivre Sa Vie (03:04)
   Track 6 from “Vivre sa Vie” (1962), composed by Michel Legrand
7. Ouverture (01:51)
8. Camille (02:28)
9. Générique (02:08)
   Tracks 7-9 from “Le Mépris” (1963), composed by Georges Delerue
10. Ballade Pour Un Escroc (04:39)
    Track 10 from “Les Plus Belles Escroqueries Du Monde” (1963), composed by Michel Legrand
11. Valse Triste (02:05)
12. Thème D’Amour (01:37)
    Tracks 11-12 from “Alphaville” (1965), composed by Paul Misraki
13. Mic Et Mac (Chanté par Anna Karina) (02:39)
14. Ferdinand (07:44)
15. Pierrot (02:48)
16. Ma Ligne De Chance (Chanté par Anna Karina) (02:38)
    Tracks 13-16 from “Pierrot le Fou” (1965), composed by Antoine Duhamel
17. Anticipation (04:08)
    Track 17 from “Le Plus Vieux Métier du Monde” (1967), composed by Michel Legrand
18. Elle Et Lui (02:28)
    Track 18 from “Week-End” (1967), composed by Antoine Duhamel
19. Mao Mao (Chanté par Claude Channes) (02:11)
    Track 19 from “La Chinoise” (1968), composed by C.Channes, G.Hugé & G. Guégan
20. Le Commerce (02:04)
21. L’Imaginaire (03:40)
    Tracks 20-21 from “Sauve qui peut (La Vie) (1980), composed by Gabriel Yared
22. Ferdinand (04:03)
23. Bonus track, performed by Sporto Kantès

[kml_flashembed movie="http://uk.youtube.com/v/uoQVRyh5aZE" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Tiket pertunjukkan pada acara festival seni surabaya seharga Rp. 10.000 - Rp. 20.000 yang bisa kita dapat di ticket box festival seni surabaya sejak pagi hingga menjelang pertunjukkan berlangsung. Perjunjukkan yang akan digelar, antara lain : tari, puisi, teater, dan diskusi budaya.
Jadwal Acara Festival Seni Surabaya 2008

Tanggal | Hari | Jam | Tempat | Pertunjukan

1 juni 2008 | Minggu | 19.00 | Gedung Utama |

• Pembukaan FSS 2008
• Ratna K. Riantiarno (Baca cerpen : Pledoi karya: Azizah Hefni)
• Kolaborasi Musik Surabayan
• Sawung Jabo & Cak Kartolo

2 juni 2008 | Senin | 19.00 | Gedung Utama |

• Hip hop Etha-Dam (Perancis)
• Aduna, Terre D’aventure / Aduna, Negeri Petualangan

3 juni 2008 | Selasa | 19.00 | Gedung Utama |

• Teater Bengkel Muda Surabaya (Pesta Pencuri karya Jean Anouilh)

4 juni 2008 | Rabu | 19.00 | Gedung Utama |

• Monolog Wawan Sofwan dari Bandung (DAM karya Putu Wijaya)

5 juni 2008 | Kamis | 19.00 | Gedung Utama |

• Musik Acapella Mataraman (Yogyakarta)

6 juni 2008 | Jumat | 19.00 | Gedung Utama |

• Tari Hendro Martono (Yogyakarta)
• Kolaborasi Balet Amelia Tandjung dan Rudi Soenarto (Surabaya)

7 juni 2008 | Sabtu | 19.00 | Gedung Utama |

• Teater Ragil dari Surabaya (Masyarakat Rosa karya Meimura)

8 juni 2008 | Minggu | 19.00 | Gedung Utama |

• Puisi Perkusi Sosiawan Leak-Temperante (Solo)
• Pembacaan puisi: 5 penyair Jatim: A. Muttaqin, Indra Tjahyadi, Mashuri,F. Aziz Manna, Denny Tri Ariyanti

9 juni 2008 | Senin | 19.00 | Gedung Utama |

• Pantomim oleh Jemek Supardi (Yogyakarta), Philippe Bizot dari Perancis - (Les Petites Etapes Du Bonheur / Langkah Kecil Mencapai Kebahagiaan)

10 juni 2008 | Selasa | 10.00 - 12.00 | Gedung Utama

• Diskusi Budaya

Pembicara:
1. Hariyadi (Pengamat Politik / Surabaya)
2. Diah Arimbi ( Pengamat Sastra / Surabaya)
3. Afrizal Malna (Esais / Jakarta)
Moderator:
1. Dimam Abror
2. Keynote Speaker
3. Meutia Hatta (Menteri Pemberdayaan Perempuan)

• Pemutaran Film pukul 19.30

11 juni 2008 | Rabu | 19.00 | Gedung Utama |

• Jajan Pasar (Surabaya)
• Banjaran (ISI Solo)

12 juni 2008 | Kamis | 19.00 | Gedung Utama |

• Ratih Dewi Pratama Adyka Putri (Surabaya)
• Tari Asri Mery Sidowati (Jakarta)

13 juni 2008 | Jumat | 19.00 | Gedung Utama |

• Teater Tetas dari Jakarta (Republik Anthurium karya AGS Dwipayana)

14 juni 2008 | Sabtu | 19.00 | Gedung Utama |

• Klinik Teater Surabaya (Joko Tarub karya Akhudiat)

15 juni 2008 | Minggu | 19.00 | Gedung Utama |

• Wayang kontemporer (STSI Bandung)
• Kolaborasi Gus Sholah dan Franky Sahilatua

Agenda Diskusi Festival Seni Surabaya 2008

SEMINAR KEBUDAYAAN
100 TAHUN KEBANGKITAN NASIONAL

Tema
Nasionalisme dalam Arus Global (Memikirkan Ulang tentang Keindonesiaan)

Pembicara
Diah Arimbi (Pengamat Sastra, Surabaya)
Hariyadi (Pengamat Politik, Surabaya)
Afrizal Malna (Seniman, Jakarta)

Moderator
Dimam Abror (Budayawan)

Waktu dan Tempat
Seminar diselenggarakan pada :
Hari, Tanggal : Selasa, 10 Juni 2008
Waktu : Pukul 10.00 – 12.00 WIB
Tempat : Gedung Balai Pemuda,
Jln Gubernur Suryo 15 Surabaya
Nomor telpon sekretariat (031) 5474704

DISKUSI SASTRA
KEBANGKITAN SASTRA POPULER RELIGIUS

Tema
Nasionalisme dalam Arus Global (Memikirkan Ulang tentang Keindonesiaan)

Pembicara
Akhmad Muhaimin Azzet (Editor Penerbit DIVA Press)
Vanny Chrisma W (Novelis)

Moderator
Abdul Malik (Mojokerto)

Waktu dan Tempat
Hari, Tanggal : Minggu, 10 Juni 2008
Waktu : Pukul 10.00 – 12.00 WIB
Tempat : Gedung Balai Pemuda,
Jln Gubernur Suryo 15 Surabaya
Nomor telpon sekretariat (031) 5474704

DISKUSI SASTRA
LIMA PENYAIR JAWA TIMUR
(Indra Tjahyadi, Mashuri, A Muttaqin, Denny Tri Aryanti, F Aziz Manna)

Tema
Lima Penyair Menebus Kota

Pembicara
Arif Bagus Prasetya (Kritikus Sastra)

Moderator
Zeus Anggara (Budayawan)

Waktu dan Tempat
Hari, Tanggal : Minggu, 10 Juni 2008
Waktu : Pukul 13.00 – 15.00 WIB
Tempat : Gedung Balai Pemuda,
Jln Gubernur Suryo 15 Surabaya
Nomor telpon sekretariat (031) 5474704

PEMBACAAN PUISI
LIMA PENYAIR JAWA TIMUR
(Indra Tjahyadi, Mashuri, A Muttaqin, Denny Tri Aryanti, F Aziz Manna)
&
PERTUNJUKAN PUISI-PERKUSI
(Sosiawan Leak & Temperente)

Waktu dan Tempat
Hari, Tanggal : Minggu, 10 Juni 2008
Waktu : Pukul 19.00 – 21.00 WIB
Tempat : Gedung Balai Pemuda,
Jln Gubernur Suryo 15 Surabaya
Nomor telpon sekretariat (031) 5474704

1960 was the year in which black Americans’ struggle for civil rights reached critical mass. In February, anti-segregationist lunch-counter sit-ins began in Greensboro, North Carolina. Rallies, marches and sit-ins spread out across the country like a bushfire, with black, and white, musicians, dramatists and visual artists adding their voices to the movement. The question was no longer perceived as whether a change was going to come, but when it would come.

We Insist!, recorded in August and September 1960, was the first of several jazz albums explicitly to voice the growing demand for equal rights. In November, it was followed by the recording of bassist Charles Mingus’ Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus (Candid, 1960), whose “Original Faubus Fables,” a ferocious attack on Arkansas governor Orval E. Faubus (of Little Rock High School infamy), possessed an intensity which set the tone for most jazz-as-protest albums to follow.

Some of those albums sound like period pieces today, but not We Insist!, which is sufficiently nuanced and free of agit-prop literalism to transcend its era. Conceived as a suite by Roach, its composer and arranger, the album features a shifting cast of players, with only Roach and singer Abbey Lincoln heard throughout. Three of the five tracks—”Driva’ Man,” “Freedom Day” and “All Africa”—feature lyrics by Oscar Brown Jr., sung by Lincoln, who is joined on “All Africa” by Nigerian conga player Michael Olatunji. Brown’s words, pitched as poetry rather than polemic, are deep and eloquent, and Lincoln’s assertive, uncompromising delivery of them is widely considered to be her finest recorded performance.

The album is ablaze with instrumental spirit too. Tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins, in an inspired piece of guest casting, solos at length on the opening “Driva’ Man,” his sturdy, heavyweight testifying suggesting dignity and determination in the face of whip-wielding oppression—he sounds like the civil rights marchers looked. “All Africa” closes with four minutes of collective improvisation between Roach, Olatunji and Afro-Cuban percussionists Ray Mantilla and Tomas DuVall, as thrilling an African/Afro-American drum summit as could be wished for. There are stirring solos from trumpeter Booker Little, trombonist Julian Priester and tenor saxophonist Walter Benton, and the ensemble’s focus is razor sharp throughout, honed by Roach’s virtuosic drumming.

Awesome is an over-used word, but it’s the right one for We Insist!.

Visit Max Roach on the web.
Max Roach at All About Jazz.

Track listing: Driva’ Man; Freedom Day; Triptych (Prayer, Protest, Peace); All Africa; Tears For Johannesburg.

Personnel: Max Roach: drums; Booker Little: trumpet; Julian Priester: trombone; Coleman Hawkins: tenor saxophone (1); Walter Benton: tenor saxophone; James Schenck: bass; Michael Olatunji: congas; Ray Mantilla: percussion; Tomas DuVall: percussion; Abbey Lincoln: vocals.

From:
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=27012

1 Mei
1:00 pm : Talk Show & Discussion “Promoting Local Comic Industry”
4:00 pm: Comic Workshop - Manga

2 Mei
4:00 pm : Comic Workshop - American / Western

3 Mei
4:00 pm : Workshop Digital Colouring

4 Mei
3:00 pm : Drawing & Colouring Contest

Participants
Beecomics
Neo Paradigm (AQUANUS DAN BENUA KE TUJUH)
M Productions (Deviant, Crash)
Outline Studio (Komedo)
Seven Blue Artland Studio (Splash magazine)
Wind Rider Studio (Wind Rider, Knights of Apocalypse)
Komunitas Komik DKV UK Petra

Perhaps it’s the lack of emotion-driven issues and “existentialist” themes (usually present in Tarr’s works) that makes the beautifully-conjured melancholia and the story rather incompatible. There were moments of great beauty, sure, but overall, I would rate even his earlier works e.g. Karhozat, Almanac of Fall, Prefab People, even the short in Visions of Europe higher than this one. Just hoping it’s not a sign of a further autumnal decline.

I read a book one day and my whole life was changed.

With that hokum-slash-truism, the novel begins the story about Osman, a young student who became obsessed about a book, as well as those who have read it, looking for some sorts of answers, common threads, and comparisons to how the book affects their lives and gives the possibility of a new life (a sentiment shared by many readers, I’m sure).

He begins tracking Janan, whom he first saw the book being held by, and her friend/lover Mehmet, believing that they know something about the world of the book, but both of them soon disappear. Leaving his home (and his past life?), Osman embarks on aimless bus trips fraught with many fatal yet nonchalantly-written accidents (that may or may not be a bit much to some readers). He found Janan, and together they search for Mehmet in metaphorical, dreamlike coach rides, encountering darkly comical Dr. Fine with his hired “watches” that seeks to annihilate the book and its corrupting influence (I might turn potential readers off with that sentence, but it’s not that simplistic, my brain just refuses to write a better review) and uncovering the truths behind the grandeur signs of fates, hopes and dreams he had obsessively associated with and projected into the book, along with Janan.

The New Life is rather similar to The Black Book, although generally Pamuk is one of those writers whose works are permeated by similar characters — downbeat writers/artist/thinkers/drifters, beautiful, elusive woman — and themes — unrequited love, lost hope, east vs. west, disillusionment, identity, art — but he has the skills to whip these ingredients with the right amount of local culture & history, melancholy and humour into novels that work on different levels but ultimately hard to put down.

Also available by the same author:
My Name is Red (Faber, English)
The Black Book (Faber, English)
Snow (Faber, English)
The White Castle (Serambi, Bahasa Indonesia)