Title :
Ayah (Father)
Author :
Andrea Hirata
Publisher :
Bentang Pustaka
Publication :
May 2015
Pages : 412 + xx pages
Andrea Hirata is an author best
known for his book entitled “Laskar Pelangi”.
The reward that had been given to him are The Winner of BuchAwards
Germany 2013, Winner of New York Book Festival 2013 (general fictiom category),
and Honorary Doctor of Letters (Hon Dlitt) from University of Warwick 2015. He
was born in Belitung, Indonesia. All of his novels is background in Belitung as
he wants to introduce his home village
to the people.
Now, I am going to review a novel
by Andrea Hirata entitled “Ayah”. This is a novel Fiction. However, all the
stories written is a real story from
Andrea’s friend. The novel tells about a father figure in the family.
The story is still background in Belitung.
Sabari fell in love with a girl
named Marlena. Although his love was rejected repeatedly, he never gave up. He
always makes poems to Marlena. Sabari is an accomplished poet. He learned it
from his father. Finally, Sabari married Marlena and had a son named Zorro. One day, Marlena divorce Sabari and She brought Zorro with her. Sabari became stress because
he could not live without his son.
Sabari had friends named Ukun,
Tamat and Toharun. There are Silliness and sometimes a little fight adorn their
friendship. Ukun and Tamat could not bear to see Sabari become a stress man.
They decided to look for Zorro and Marlena. They went to Sumatra island to visit all
of Marlena's pen pals. Although they had to being bums, they kept the spirit of
seeking Marlena and Zorro until they found them.
When I saw this novel, I wonder
why this novel did not tell the synopsis in the cover. In the cover just tell
about Andrea Hirata’s short biography. I think it is important to write a
synopsis in the cover. As we know that most of people will read the sinopsis
first before they buy it. If the synopsis is interesting, people will be
interested to buy the book. Besides, too many endorsements about Laskar Pelangi
in this novel. This would even make this novel looks unconfident. It would be
better if the endorsements is for this novel.
I like the front cover of the
book which full of meaning. There are a father who is pointing somewhere and a child who is holding cotton candy in his
hand. Besides, there are also a bicycle and a pair of balloons are tied at the
bike. It all gives the impression of happiness between the Father and the Son.
The plot of this novel are fragmentary
and flashback. Therefore, I was a little confused at the beginning of the novel.
In the early part of the story is told about Amirza and his son named Amiru. So
what their ties with Sabari? At the first, I guess there are two stories about
the father. evidently, Amiru is Zorro which is Sabari's child renamed by
Marlena. Amirza is Marlena's husband who is the stepfather of Zorro. Eventhough
I little confused of the beginning, but I really enjoy the story. This novel is
full of puzzles, so we have to read the whole of the story to understand the
novel as a whole.
Almost every chapter there
are poems that really meaningful. This is my favourite one.
Bring a thousand soldiers to
subdue me!
Aim thousand guns, right to the
pit of my heart!
The sky was a witness that I am
here, to love you!
And let me die in the fragrance
of your love ....
(Ayah Novel - page 110)
This novel is awesome. This inspiring story teach us how great the love of a father to his child. It could make us smile, laugh, sad, furios, and tears. I recommend this novel to all ages because it is inspiring and educating the readers.
