The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

To sum up this unique book in one short sentence is nearly impossible; but if I must, I would say that this book is about everything and nothing. Confused? So will you be, if I have interested you, by this review, to read it. By everything, I meant that this book covers wide and various (read: complex) topics around 14th century. I'm not actually familiar with this era, and must grope throughout the book to try to understand the historical background. Italy during the Middle Age seemed to be full of power struggle between the state and the Church; disputes between various orders inside Catholic Church; heresy, mystics, and thirst of theological study.

Our protagonists are William of Baskerville—a Franciscan friar and an inquisitor, and Adso of Melk—a Benedictine novice who helps William as his secretary. They came as guests at a Benedictine monastery, where, in a week, a theological disputation between the Pope and Friars Minor who was suspected of heresy, was going to be held. Unfortunately, a monk has been mysteriously found dead, and the abbot asked William's help to investigate the case, which seemed to be related to the monastery's library—a magnificent one with ancient manuscripts, with a labyrinth inside, but was full of dark mysteries. Within the seven days of unfolding the mystery, five more monks were dead—murdered—and many layers, signs, and paths began unfolding but leading, apparently, to nowhere. With it, the book also speaks about many heavy topics which seemed unrelated, confusing, and finally ended nowhere. This was what I meant earlier by 'everything but nothing'.

The magnificent (probably the biggest in the whole country) monastery owns a large collection of manuscripts from scientists and theologians from around the world (let alone important relics and valuable treasures hidden inside their vault). It should have been the centre of the civilization; but it mysteriously guarded from anyone, restricted, even from the monks, by some complicated designs and a dangerous labyrinth. They were scholar-monks, but forbidden to access of certain books. **spoiler alert** - In the end, it was burned down by the villain—library and the whole monastery; nothing survived. Everything, then nothing. **spoiler ends**

In this book, too, there were debates around poverty in the Catholic Church—whether or not Jesus disciples and monks were allowed to have personal possessions, etc. (without final conclusion and not related to the murder). They were also debating whether or not monks were allowed to laugh or joke. The later finally led to Aristotle's missing second book: Poetics, which spoke about tragedies and comedies. This book seemed to be the main cause of the murders; however, just as William and Adso seemed to have solved the mystery and found the murderer, we found out that the suspect did not do the murders, and some of the cases were not really murders. Again, everything, but means nothing.

In short, this book contains some chaotic ideas—some are true but the rest are false, and Eco let us readers to have our own opinion and perspective, and finally make our own conclusion. I am personally interested in two aspects. First, that knowledge should be opened to the world. Instead of banning (dangerous) books, the authority (country, school, parents, etc.) should have given us freedom to read, but with proper education. That way we are trained to sort the good from the bad from our readings. Second, the correlation of the heresy issue with the cause of the murders. Both are so relevant to the modern terrorism which is mostly rooted from religious people. Piety and heresy are divided only by a very thin line; sometimes a pious man and a murderer both love God, but the one humbly seeks and follows God's will, while the other only focus on his own will (arrogantly thinks it correspond with God’s). After finishing this book, I remembered Pontius Pilate's 'what is truth’? This book answered it beautifully; that love needs humility in order to be true, without that, it can lead to evil, destruction, and death.

Final verdict: 4 to 5

March by Geraldine Brooks

While Little Women has become so many people's favorites, I have failed to recognize its high value when I read it few years ago. It was difficult for me to relate with the story, that it just flowed to the end without deeper influence. It felt like an old blanket; comfortable, but nothing else.

Only after I read March, did I realize the reason. March was inspired by Little Women; telling the historical events of the 19th century American Civil War from the point of view of the missing father of Meg, Jo, Amy, and Beth. However, to me, March felt more realistic than Little Women because Brooks made March and Marmee true persons with their weaknesses and struggles; while in Little Women they were like Mr & Mrs. Santa Claus—too good to be true!

March was actually inspired by Amos Bronson Alcott—Louisa May Alcott’s father—who was a teacher and abolitionist. But instead of teacher, Brooks made March a chaplain. As we already read in Little Women, March left Concord, Massachusetts to serve in the Civil War as soldier’s chaplain. In his letters to home, he told everything but the real horror and brutality in the battlefield, for he didn’t want to add burden on Marmee and the children. Then he caught a severe illness and was brought to hospital, where Marmee immediately went to nurse her husband. Then and there she learned for the first time the damage war had wrought into her husband.

I don’t think Brooks wrote March (and won Pulitzer Prize in 2006) only as a fanfiction or to reminisce over one of the best-loved classics. She focused on the warfare; how it has touched every family and changed the veterans’ personal lives. To do that, picking March as the central figure is ideal, since his absence in Little Women gave Brooks rooms to explore the influence of war to men, and kind of recreating the story—if not one of the characters—of the best-loved classic. Moreover, Alcott’s history as an abolitionist might have given Brooks more rooms to write about racism and slavery.

I loved how March discusses about cowardice. I remember one episode of Downton Abbey (TV series) where Mrs. Patmore was troubled when her nephew’s name was excluded from war memorial given to the village because he was shot for cowardice in WW I. I remember being shuddered while watching that scene, as I thought how easy it was for us—who have never been in the war, or perhaps been in the war but not in that specific moment—to label others with “coward”. While survival is human instinct, is it really disgraceful when one selfishly saves oneself instead of risking life for saving others? I mean, morally it is not right, it is not ideal. Still, not everyone is blessed with bravery. And having just several seconds to make decision at a critical moment, sometimes there are a lot of things one must consider (one’s family, for instance). It is really not easy to be brave to accept death. And I think it’s enough that one must account his actions to God, without having to face society’s sanction for the rest of his (and his family) life too. So I won’t blame March for doing (or not doing, in this case) what he supposed to do in the battlefield. And I can relate with his guilt afterwards; how he must bear the burden alone; how it changed his life forever. I was glad that Marmee and Grace Clement never blamed him. And it was kind of Marmee too to try to understand his relationship with Grace.

War… there are things that only those who participated in it can relate to. I am glad I have finally been able to read this magnificent book. Pulitzer Prize or not, it is the kind of book that opens your mind and change your perspective.

5 of 5

The Last Dickens

What if Dickens has actually finished the last installment of The Mystery of Edwin Drood after all? What would be the fate of the poor young Edwin Drood? If you have lived in England or America in 1870, these questions must have filled mind of people everywhere—Dickens’ readers, publishers, and perhaps all the literary world—following the death of the great author. For James R. Osgood in particular, it is about the life and death of Fields, Osgood & Co., the publishing company who holds the rights to publish Dickens’ books in America. Matthew Pearl crafted this historical event into a wonderful 19^th century mystery novel.

After Dickens died, the last installment of Drood was shipped to Boston. It was the sixth and last installment from the most beloved author in England as well as in America at that time. Unfortunately, the junior clerk whose task was to procure the manuscript from the ship at the dock, had an accident and died. At first the police believed it’s an accident caused by opium overdose, but it was found later that he was ruthlessly killed. It’s double lost for Osgood, as he lost his reliable employee and the manuscript at the same time. And without Drood, Fields, Osgood & Co. might not survive another year…

But who did it? Was it their publishing rival, the Harpers, who have been using the Bookaneers (literary pirates) to be able to publish cheaper editions of top authors’ novels? Was it Dickens’ fanatic fan who wanted to collect the author’s last writing just for himself? Or was it related to the opium smuggling, which Pearl has used as his opening, just as Dickens used it in Drood? Throughout the book, these themes were intertwined alongside the interesting detailed stories of Dickens’ reading tours in America in 1870. 

Together with his pretty widowed bookkeeper, Rebecca Sand, Osgood departed to England to trace Drood’s trail, that perhaps he could get Dickens’ unpublished piece on Drood which will be an added value to the original (unfinished) book his publishing company would like to print; before the Harpers and other pirate companies publish their cheaper issues, and kill Fields, Osgood & Co.’s business. But Osgood and Rebecca’s journey was not merely business or literary journey, it turned out to be very dangerous. Osgood was no longer a dedicated literary businessman; he must also act as a detective. Not only to save his company (and in certain point his own life!), Osgood must save the most precious literary legacy in the world, the genuine work of Charles Dickens—or its remnants….

The question is, did his enemies’ intentions were as noble as Osgood’s? Who was going to win? And the most important, perhaps, what would become of Drood? Or in other word, was there any possibility—even very small one—that Dickens did write the ending before he died? Or at least…did he ever mention his intention of Drood’s ending? These points perhaps, besides Dickens’ charisma which surpassed centuries, that made this book so engaging and exciting to follow, helped, of course, by Pearl’s thorough research and his ability to revive the history in its original style.

So far I have read three of Pearl’s historical novels about classics authors: Poe Shadow, The Dante Club and The Last Dickens. But this is the only book in which the author became one of the characters. I have never read any book in which Dickens is ‘alive’, and it makes The Last Dickens my new favorite historical fiction. Kudos to Matthew Pearl; and now I can hardly wait his latest literary-hisfic on Robert Louis Stevenson: The Last Bookaneer!

Five stars for The Last Dickens.

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I read Vintage Books paperback edition

This book is counted for:

2^nd book for 2015 TBR Pile Challenge

14^th book for Historical Fiction Challenge 2013–2015

The Paris Wife

It’s said that “Behind every great man there’s a great woman”—in Ernest Hemingway’s case, Hadley Richardson was that great woman. Hadley was Hemingway’s first wife; he loved her very much, but somehow his troubled and unstable soul—and perhaps the corrupted age they lived in—torn out their happy marriage. The Paris Wife is a fictional story of their lives, written from Hadley’s side, but Paula McLain told it closely following the historical facts, which made this book very interesting.

Hadley Richardson was twenty eight on October 1920, a plain young woman with a plain and boring life who was still mourning over her mother’s death, when she first met a ‘beautiful boy with brown eyes’ whom introduced himself as Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway was then a war veteran, and was starting a literary career by writing for magazines. It’s obvious from the beginning that he had ambition to be a reputable writer. Shortly they fell in love, got married, and lived in a small apartment in Paris.

Living in Paris during the Jazz Age meant paradise for young talented writers or artists, but it’s not suitable for a conservative young woman like Hadley. But Hadley loved Ernest so much, that she dedicated herself to bring her husband’s career to the top. Accompanying Ernest, Hadley tried to mingle with the rising writers at that time, Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, etc. Ernest got the safety and stability feeling alongside Hadley, that he could pound his way to what his talent could produce; while Hadley got the man she loved very much—maybe too much. Everything should have got on very well, but then complicated things happened. First a baby appeared, then a woman (Hadley’s best friend) entered their marriage life.

Maybe Kate (Hadley’s friend before she married Ernest) was right from the beginning. Hadley shouldn’t have married Ernest, for “he liked women very much”. But then, marriage was what has saved Hadley’s life at that time, and she loved Ernest so much. To marry a talented and ambitious writer means a sacrifice. For Hadley, it’s okay. She could endure hours and days of loneliness when Ernest retreated into his passionate writings. She could endure Ernest’s changing mood and unstable emotion, including his war trauma. She could also endure the awkwardness being a conservative among the moral lose people of the Lost Generation. She could endure all those, as long as she still had Ernest’s love. So when Pauline Pfeiffer stepped up and seduced Ernest to leave his former wife, everything collapsed. I was so relieved that finally Hadley found a loving husband who led her to a happy normal life.

World War I has created what we now call the Lost Generation, the disoriented and confused young men who survived the war. But without it, we might never have talented writers such as Hemingway and Fitzgerald. For Hemingway’s sharpness and intense writing, for instance, was produced by what he had endured during the war. The war re-shaped his character, along with his mother’s dominance during his adolescence. That’s why he needed Hadley very much, for he found in her the sturdy rock where he could hold on to every time the tempest of the past hit him to swallow him into its rolling waves. So, in a way, we must thank Hadley Richardson for her role in Hemingway’s earlier career, or else, we would never have been amused by The Sun Also Rises (the novel he was writing when they were still married), A Farewell to Arms, and his other famous novels.

Two thumbs up to McLain who has written The Paris Wife so vividly that for two weeks I was like transported to the 1920s Jazz Age of Paris. She wrote as intense as Hemingway’s, and the ending made me feeling wretched for hours after finishing it. I loved the bullfighting scenes at Pamplona; Hemingway’s reaction reminded me of what I loved from The Old Man and the Sea and, vaguely, from To Have and Have Not: the intense and sharp description of a scene.

Five stars for The Paris Wife! It has changed my view towards Hemingway, and now I am eager to read more of his books, including A Moveable Feast, which I have failed when I read it five years ago. Sometimes reading the author’s bio (or semi bio like this historical fiction) helps you understanding and accepting him as he wanted to be.

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I read Virago paperback edition

This book is counted for:

13^th book for Historical Fiction Challenge 2013 –2015

The Dante Club

If only Henry Wadsworth Longfellow did not find his passion towards Dante Alighieri’s beautiful poem: The Divine Comedy in around 1864, Matthew Pearl would have not written his fantastic historical-thriller which has captured my mind for more than a week. The Dante Club is a group of poets gathered in Longfellow’s home every Wednesday to perfecting the translation of Dante’s The Divine Comedy. Among these people, there are Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. and James Russell Lowell. It is believed that they are the first American who ever brought Dante’s poem to be translated in English. More than a hundred years later, an American novelist, Matthew Pearl, brought this exclusive literary club in his first published historical mystery novel: The Dante Club.

In the end of American Civil War era, a Chief Justice was found dead in a very mysterious way; his body has been eaten alive by thousands of maggots placed in his body, while a kind of flag was found near the body. This mysterious murder was followed soon by another horrifying murder scene of Reverend Talbot, who was buried head-down in a narrow pit while his feet, which were protruding from the ground, were burned out. When Oliver Wendell Holmes, who—besides a poet—is also a physician, observes Talbot’s corpse, he finds a perfect parallel between the murder scene and the punishment in Dante’s Inferno—the first part of The Divine Comedy which tells Dante’s journey to witness sinners being punished in Hell.

At the same time as these murders agitates Boston, the Dante Club is in the middle of translating Dante’s Inferno, which is annoying Harvard Corporation who believes bringing Dante into America would be ruining their reputation. So now the respectable literary men in Dante Club must leave the comfort of their book shelves to chase the murderer, and stop him from killing more people, only depends on their knowledge and passion of the poem.

Reading this book instantly after finishing Dante’s Inferno is proved to be my perfect decision. I could instantly recognize the similarity of the murder scenes and Dante’s contrapasso (punishment that fits the crime—in Inferno); and it was so exciting to match it with my Inferno’s summaries, and to find what kind of sin it punished, and to guess what the victim had done to receive such punishment. But not only that, what delighted me more is to read how those poets are so passionate about Dante’s poem. They can read and delve deep into the poem every Wednesday night, discuss what Dante means by every stanza; and they do it intently and wholeheartedly, just because they find the poem so beautiful and interesting. I don’t think I would ever be such passionately in appreciating any literary work, and I would really like to have leisure time to do that with friends who share my interest.

For a start, Matthew Pearl had done a great job with The Dante Club. It is engaging, thrilling, yet educating and entertaining; while the fast-pace plot and the exotic nineteenth century setting only add the pleasure of reading this book. I am also glad that Pearl picks literary theme for his first three historical novels (besides Dante Club, there are Poe Shadow and Last Dickens), and I truly hope he would continue to work on more respectable classics authors and/or works.

Four and a half stars for The Dante Club, and a bunch of thanks for Astrid who lend me this book! ^__^

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*I read Ballantine Books (Random House) paperback edition for:*

4^th book for 2013 TBRR Pile Mystery Reading Challenge

14^th book for What’s in A Name Challenge 2013

Juliet

Romeo and Juliet mungkin adalah kisah cinta tragis paling terkenal di dunia. Selama ini kita tahu bahwa William Shakespeare adalah pria di balik kisah itu, yang banyak kita jumpai di buku, drama maupun film. Namun apa yang mungkin tidak kita ketahui, adalah pertama, bahwa Romeo and Juliet karya Shakespeare bukanlah karya yang pertama, ada beberapa penulis yang sebelumnya telah menulis kisah itu. Kedua, bahwa Romeo and Juliet bukanlah kisah fiksi, melainkan sejarah. Ketiga, Romeo and Juliet yang asli bertempat di Sienna—sebuah kota di Italia—dan bukan di Verona seperti versi Shakrespeare.

Julie Jacobs, seorang gadis yang sama sekali tidak romantis dan terobsesi pada Shakespeare, sama sekali berbeda dengan saudari kembarnya Janice yang manja, genit dan egois. Mereka tinggal bersama Bibi Rose, yang mengasuh mereka sejak Ibunya meninggal karena kecelakaan di Italia. Setelah Bibi Rose meninggal, Julie dan Janice baru mengetahui bahwa nama mereka sebenarnya adalah Giullietta dan Giannozza Tolomei. Maka mulailah Julie alias Giullietta menelusuri sejarah keluarganya sambil berusaha menemukan ‘sesuatu’ yang hingga kini disembunyikan dengan baik oleh ibunya: Diane Tolomei.

Begitu tiba di Italia, Giullietta langsung berkenalan dengan seorang pemuda bernama Allesandro Santini dan ibu baptisnya, Eva Maria Salimbeni. Dari sinilah bergulir kisah tentang sejarah permusuhan abadi dua keluarga besar yang menjadi penguasa Sienna berabad-abad lalu: keluarga Salimbeni dan Tolomei. Giullietta berhasil menemukan ‘peninggalan’ ibunya yang—alih-alih benda berharga—isinya justru tulisan-tulisan, surat-surat serta buku Romeo and Juliet-nya Shakespeare. Nampaknya dari semua dokumen itulah Giullietta harus mengupas pertalian dirinya dengan Juliet yang asli, yang berasal dari keluarga Tolomei juga!

Hingga masa kini, kutukan yang berlangsung sejak tragedi yang menimpa Romeo dan Juliet masih tetap menaungi keluarga-keluarga yang terlibat. Diane Tolomei menyelidiki hal itu, berusaha mencari cara menghentikan kutukan itu demi kebahagiaan putri kembarnya, dan kini tugas Giullietta dan Giannozza lah untuk melanjutkan tugas itu. Salah satu cara untuk memutus kutukan itu konon, adalah dengan menyatukan Romeo dan Giullietta. Nah, kini Giullietta telah datang ke Sienna, sekarang di manakah sang Romeo bersembunyi? Kalau Romeo yang seharusnya merebut hati Giullietta, lalu mengapa justru benih-benih cinta yang mulai tumbuh di hati Giullietta justru berasal dari Allesandro si cowok sinis Kepala Keamanan itu, yang nama keluarganya Santini?

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Juliet adalah kisah yang unik karena menggabungkan unsur sastra (Shakespeare) dan sejarah. Mungkin bagi yang sudah pernah membaca Romeo and Juliet akan sangat antusias membaca buku ini, di mana kita akan menjumpai banyak petikan-petikan dialog dan kisah dari Romeo and Juliet. Juga karena kisahnya amat mirip dengan kisah sejarah yang terjadi di Sienna (perseteruan dua keluarga dan kisah cinta sepasang insan yang berakhir tragis).

Kisah ini dirangkai dari dua sisi, sisi modern dan sisi sejarah. Keduanya berjalan beriringan, hingga di satu titik di mana tragedy itu terjadi. Dan di sepanjang kisah kita diajak untuk melihat kecantikan Italia, baik pada jaman dulu, namun lebih banyak pada jaman sekarang. Yang lebih unik lagi, kisah Romeo dan Giullietta yang asli berkaitan juga dengan wabah pes yang melanda dunia, dan kelak dikenal sebagai Black Death. Black Death inilah yang konon dipercaya sebagai bagian dari sebuah kutukan. Pertanyaannya, apakah perjuangan Julie benar-benar sepadan dengan hasil akhir yang ia inginkan? Apakah permata bernilai tinggi yang diwariskan oleh ibunya? Atau justru sesuatu yang jauh lebih bernilai daripada permata, yang menunggu Juliet di akhir petualangannya? Dan apakah sesuatu yang sangat berarti itu?

Meski sebenarnya kisah ini sangat menarik dan eksotis, dan telah diterjemahkan dengan baik oleh Penerbit Qanita, namun aku merasa buku ini kurang sukses ‘membawa aku ke dalam cengkeraman kisahnya’, seperti yang biasa aku rasakan ketika membaca buku-buku ‘bintang lima’. Aku merasa seolah sedang membaca sebuah kisah, dan bukannya terseret ke dalam kisah itu sendiri seperti yang aku rasakan—misalnya—dengan buku-buku karya Tracy Chevalier atau Ken Follett. Hanya itulah kekurangannya yang membuat aku beberapa kali sempat merasa bosan ( buku ini benar-benar tebal dan melelahkan meski cukup seru). Untuk itu memberikan tiga setengah bintang untuk Juliet (dibulatkan menjadi tiga J). Menghibur tapi kurang mencengkeram….

Judul: Juliet

Penulis: Anne Fortier

Penerjemah: Linda Boentaram

Penerbit: Qanita

Terbit: Januari 2012

Tebal: 712 hlm

Misteri Kematian Poe

Edgar Allan Poe, bagi yang (mungkin) belum mengenalnya, adalah seorang sastrawan besar Amerika. Beliau meninggal di Baltimore pada tahun 1849, dan sebab kematiannya hingga saat ini masihlah merupakan misteri. Dari sekian banyak sumber, dapat diambil kesimpulan bahwa Poe meninggal di Rumah Sakit Baltimore, empat hari setelah ditemukan dalam keadaan mabuk dan mengenaskan di hotel/kedai minum Ryan tepat pada hari diadakan sebuah pemungutan suara. Setelah itu segera diadakan sebuah pemakaman sangat sederhana, bahkan tanpa sebuah nisanpun, dan hanya dihadiri 4 orang kerabat dan teman lama Poe. Pemakaman itu begitu dingin, hambar, dan berkesan seadanya saja. Dan justru kesan itulah yang melekat di sanubari Quentin Clark, seorang pengacara tampan dan cerdas yang tepat saat pemakaman itu sedang melintas di depan makam.

Quentin adalah salah seorang dari sedikit saja pengagum karya-karya Poe pada saat itu. Pemikiran Poe yang tajam dan kritis, yang mengungkapkan kejeniusannya, tampaknya tak disukai oleh kebanyakan orang, termasuk media cetak yang pada masa itu sangat besar pengaruhnya dalam mempengaruhi opini massa. Media-media itu berlomba-lomba mencela Poe, menyebutnya memiliki moral dan mental yang buruk serta suka bermabuk-mabukan. Quentin sendiri telah beberapa saat berkorespondensi dengan sastrawan pujaannya ini, dan mengetahui bahwa Poe sedang berencana menerbitkan semacam jurnal sastra bertajuk The Stylus, yang akan menampilkan karya-karya sastra 'tingkat tinggi'. Hal itu memancing kebencian para pengarang ‘biasa’ karena membuat karya mereka jadi tampak picisan. Dari surat-menyurat itu, Quentin juga menyadari kegalauan hati Poe karena penolakan dunia terhadapnya, ditambah kondisi keuangannya yang buruk sehingga ia harus mencari dana kesana kemari demi terbitnya The Stylus.

Dari hubungannya dengan Poe, Quentin yakin bahwa Poe tidaklah sejelek yang dibicarakan orang saat itu, dan ini membuatnya termotivasi untuk membersihkan nama baik Poe sebagai sastrawan besar dunia. Hasrat Quentin untuk bertindak sebagai pengacara Poe yang sudah mati ini begitu besar hingga terpaksa mengorbankan kedudukannya di biro hukum yang diwarisi dari ayahnya dan dijalankan bersama Peter, saudara tirinya, juga hubungannya dengan seorang gadis yang dicintainya, Hattie Blum.

Lalu datanglah sebuah artikel yang menyebutkan bahwa karakter detektif dalam tiga kisah detektif yang ditulis Poe diambil dari sosok nyata seseorang yang tinggal di Paris. Nama detektif itu adalah C. Auguste Dupin, seorang jenius dengan kemampuan rasiosinasi (penalaran dengan menggunakan logika dan imajinasi tinggi). Maka Quentin pun pergi ke Paris untuk mencari dan menyeleksi sosok model itu, dan akhirnya menjatuhkan pilihan pada seorang Auguste Duponte.

Auguste Duponte, dengan kemampuan penalarannya yang hebat, telah sering membantu kepolisian Prancis menemukan kebenaran dalam kasus-kasus yang tak terpecahkan. Hal ini membuatnya mendapat banyak musuh yang membencinya, orang-orang yang tak ingin perbuatannya diketahui. Quentin menemukan Duponte dalam keadaan depresi karena hal itu. Dan setelah beberapa bulan merayu Duponte, akhirnya Quentin berhasil membawanya ke Baltimore untuk tinggal bersamanya di rumahnya, Glen Eliza, dan bersama mencari kebenaran dalam misteri kematian Poe.

Di sisi lain, datanglah seorang pengacara bernama Claude Dupin, atau biasa dipanggil Baron Dupin, yang muncul di Baltimore dan mengklaim dirinya sebagai sosok Dupin yang asli. Maka terjadilah sebuah kompetisi antara Duponte bersama Quentin, melawan si Baron bersama Bonjour, seorang wanita pencuri yang jadi asistennya. Banyak hal mencengangkan terjadi selama penyelidikan itu, dan bahaya pun beberapa kali mengancam jiwa Quentin. Sementara itu, pertunangan Quentin dengan Hattie terancam batal karena bibi Hattie dan nenek Quentin marah besar karena menganggap Quentin menodai nama besar keluarga dengan mangkir dari biro hukumnya dan malah mengurusi penyair dengan reputasi jelek yang sudah meninggal. Namun Quentin, dengan semangat berkobar untuk memulihkan nama baik Poe dan keberaniannya tetap melanjutkan penyelidikan bersama Duponte.

Di tengah penyelidikan yang berjalan bak siput, karena banyak orang dekat Poe sendiri tidak mau bersikap terbuka, Quentin mulai terombang-ambing kepercayaannya terhadap August Duponte. Ia bahkan sempat yakin bahwa mungkin Baron Dupin adalah sosok asli darimana karakter Dupin diambil. Baron Dupin sendiri adalah sosok yang menarik. Ia adalah pengacara yang kharismatik, mampu menyihir audience dengan caranya memaparkan kebenaran saat sidang. Namun ia juga tengah dililit utang sehingga akhirnya ikut menyelidiki kasus kematian Poe dengan harapan untuk mendapatkan uang. Ia malah ‘menjual’ acara di mana ia akan membuka kebenaran seputar rahasia kematian Poe.

Dan ceritapun makin bergulir dengan makin cepat dan makin menegangkan. Siapakah sosok detektif yang menjadi role-model Dupin dalam novel Poe? Auguste Duponte yang introvert dan tak banyak omong? Atau Baron Dupin yang flamboyan dan senang dihormati? Berhasilkah Quentin mengembalikan nama baik Poe? Oh….agaknya anda harus mengikuti langkah demi langkah, aksi demi aksi hingga ke halaman terakhir untuk dapatkan semua jawabannya. Di akhir novel ini, salah satu “Dupin” akan membeberkan analisisnya tentang apa yang dilakukan Poe saat ia bepergian dan akhirnya tiba di Baltimore, hingga saat kematiannya. Namun yang jelas, misteri sesungguhnya kematian Edgar Allan Poe masih tetap akan terselimut kabut tebal. Semua orang bisa menduga-duga, berspekulasi, menyusun kronologis, namun kebenaran yang sejati hanya Tuhan dan almarhum Edgar Allan Poe sendiri yang tahu….

Novel ini layak dibaca karena beberapa alasan…

Pertama, dengan membaca novel ini kita akan mendapat wawasan seputar kehidupan pribadi Poe di luar karya sastranya. Kisah cintanya, keluarganya, cita-cita dan idealismenya, juga kelainan kesehatan yang diidapnya. Kita juga akan melihat sikap terpuji Poe yang menolak perbudakan dengan rela menyisihkan sejumlah besar uang demi memberikan kemerdekaan pada seorang budak berkulit hitamnya: Edwin, padahal saat itu kondisi keuangannya sedang sulit. Hal-hal yang manusiawi inilah yang mungkin tak kita dapatkan dengan hanya mencari di Google…

Kedua, kita akan disuguhi banyak petikan dari ranah sastra karya Poe, puisi maupun kisah detektifnya. Bahkan karakter kisah detektifnya juga dipakai untuk menganalisis cara berpikir dan bertindak Poe sehubungan dengan penyelidikan kematiannya. Membaca The Poe Shadow--judul asli buku ini-- seolah mengapresiasi Edgar Allan Poe secara keseluruhan, ya tulisannya, ya pribadinya.

Ketiga, adanya unsur historis bercampur dengan fiksi menambah kenikmatan membaca buku ini. Matthew Pearl telah membingkainya dengan apik sehingga fakta dan fiksi itu mengabur tanpa batas, dan memberi kita sebuah nuansa kisah yang baru. Pearl sendiri mengklaim bukunya ini sebagai analisa misteri kematian Poe yang paling mendekati otentik, karena selain dari data-data yang telah ada hingga kini, ia juga memasukkan data-data baru yang belum pernah terungkap sebelumnya (lihat/dengar di videonya di: sini). Dan jangan khawatir, di catatan pengarang, Pearl akan memilah-milah mana fakta dan mana fiksi dari kisah ini, juga data-data baru yang ia dapatkan. Pendeknya, membaca kisah ini puas deh!

Catatan untuk penerbit Q-Press >> Sayang sekali buku seindah ini tidak diterjemahkan dengan lebih serius. Masih banyak salah ejaan yang tertebar di sana-sini. Cukup mengganggu meski akhirnya menjadi biasa karena ceritanya sendiri mampu mencengkeram gairah bacaku. Semoga Q-Press dapat lebih baik lagi di masa mendatang, karena saat ini terus terang aku jadi ragu untuk membeli buku terjemahan lainnya kalau tidak amat terpaksa. Dalam hal Misteri Kematian Poe, belum ada penerbit lain yang mau melirik buku ini untuk diterjemahkan….

Judul: Misteri Kematian Poe

Judul asli: The Poe Shadow

Penulis: Matthew Pearl

Penerbit: Q-Press

Cetakan: Juli 2007

Tebal: 796 hlm