Author: edwinsetiadi

“More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop” by Satoshi Yagisawa

This is the sequel to the international bestseller “Days at the Morisaki Bookshop”, which I read just less than a month ago, one week before I travelled to Tokyo.

And naturally when I was there, I just had to visit the Jimbocho area. Among others, I first visited the most iconic Yaguchi Shoten book store, with the female shopkeeper I swear have an aura like Takako (or maybe not). And then I visited Kitazawa bookstore with the 2nd floor filled with vintage English books (I bought 3 rare books there, naturally). But the most memorable for me was Anegawa Nyankodo, the store selling everything imaginable related to cats, from books, to magazines, to merchandises.

But of course I didn’t find the Morisaki bookstore nor Saveur coffee shop, the main fictitious venues in the book, although I wish the places really do exist. Nevertheless, the first book captured the feel of the real-life area so brilliantly that I strangely felt already at home when I was there.

This second book begins with a description of the Jimbocho as I experienced it, and as the first book described it. And the narrator didn’t take long to reveal herself after only few pages: It’s Takako! Yes, the second book is still about her, her uncle Satoru, Momoko, Tomo, Takano, Sabu, Wada, and other endearing characters. It perfectly filled-in the gaps left in the first book where it explains things a little bit more, as well as offering more elaborate stories from the characters that we’ve become familiarized with.

Alongside the narration for the character’s stories, this second book also elaborates on the nature of bookshops and the different kinds of customers: from casual buyers, to brokers, to rare book collectors. It is also a beautiful portrayal of what reading means for many different people: Some resort to reading as a way to open up to the world, other sees literature as a consolation and a retreat from the world, while some just mysteriously collect them with no time to read them like the old guy with a weird dress sense.

And then of course, there’s the [Japanese] book recommendations. From “The Chieko Poems” by Kotaro Takamura, to “Train of Fools” by Hyakken Uchida, to several others, including the mysterious book “The Golden Dream” that got the characters looking after it all over the city.

Unfortunately, however, the majority of these wonderful books are only available in Japanese language. But I am pleased to found and purchased the kindle version of “In Praise of Shadows” by Junichiro Tanizaki (which has an English translation), the book that uncle Satoshi puts in Takako’s hand and insisted that she reads it on the spot, a book that the English translator of the book also highly praised in the last note.

All in all, this is a well-written and heart-warming book, the most appropriate sequel for Days at the Morisaki Bookstore that makes the entire story even richer and deeper. I absolutely love it.

“Right Things, Right Now: Good Values, Good Character, Good Deeds” by Ryan Holiday

This is the third book out of the four-part Stoic virtue series of Courage, Discipline, Justice, and Wisdom.

In this neatly organized book, the author, Ryan Holiday, breaks down the trait of justice into several chapters with the following themes: keep your words, tell the truth, take responsibility, be your own referee, be good and not great, be an open book or transparent, be decent, do your job, keep your hands clean, integrity is everything, realize your potential, be loyal, choose a north star (something to reach towards), the importance of timing, the importance of being kind, see how the other half lives, you have to help, start small, create alliances, be powerful and sometimes show power, practice pragmatism, develop competence, the importance of giving, grow a coaching tree, look out for the little guy, make good trouble, climb your second mountain (second act in life), don’t do things for the recognition, give them hope, be an angel, on forgiveness, make amends, the great oneness, expand the circle, find the good in everyone, give the full measure of devotion, love wins, and pay it forward.

As usual for his writing style, Holiday uses plenty historical examples to make his excellent points, from political figures as Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Mahatma Gandhi; to writers and poets like Walker Percy, Hesiod; sportsperson like golfer Patrick Reed, runners Abel Kiprop Mutai and Ivan Fernandez Anaya, tennis player Arthur Ashe; whistleblower like Frank Serpico and Cynthia Cooper; dancer Martha Graham; architect and inventor Buckminster Fuller; to many more historical figures such as Mother Teresa, Carl Jung, Ponticus, Florence Nightingale; and of course the usual Stoic heroes Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Chrysippus, Cato, and others.

This time around, however, the book feels too repetitive, rushed, and while he mentions a lot of historical figures Holiday only uses the same selection of US-centric historical examples for his core arguments. Most notably Harry Truman, who is mentioned almost in every single chapter of the book, even more so than the Stoics, and so much so that the book could become a semi-autobiography of him.

And what’s with the extra effort to portray Truman as a near-saint figure? The truth is, Truman remains the only world leader in history that decided to use atomic bomb to inflict mass casualties on the enemy’s population. He is also responsible for “curbing” the spread of communism in Greece and Turkey, or in an unfiltered words, he’s staged a war in Europe to kill the organic spread of an ideology that happens to oppose US interests. But of course these huge chunk of Truman’s history are not mentioned in the book.

Moreover, throughout the book Truman is characterized as a principled man who champions justice, honesty, and selflessness, among others, which are undoubtedly true. But there’s also another side of the man, one that made a controversial decision based on the lobbying by a close friend Jacobson, which turned him into an accomplice to a brutal neo-colonial project. But in the book, it got brushed off under the label of “loyalty” to a friend. Also not mentioned in the book is Truman’s racist tendencies, where he often used racial slurs, told racist jokes, and called Martin Luther King Jr. a troublemaker. Pretty ironic since the Civil War movement is the second most dominating story in the book. What’s with the whitewashing?

If I didn’t follow Holiday for years and read 12 out of 15 of his books, I would probably get easily misled to think that he’s building up Truman’s image only to justify some of his sins and their spillover effect till today, most specifically his one decision told in the chapter “create alliances.” Decision that becomes this one elephant in the room that Holiday didn’t mention but addresses everything around it: like the chapter “keep going back” that lists all of the brutal events throughout history, which was even elaborated in chapter “make amends”, but Holiday then conveniently forgot to mention this 1 brutal event in both cases (an event that other modern Stoic Donald Robertson is boldly vocal about).

I mean, if you don’t want to discuss current affairs, that’s understandable. But why discuss everything about current world politics, also saying that you’re divesting from Belarus because the country supports Putin’s aggression in Ukraine, even went to a great length to paint this victimhood picture of one side, only to completely ignore what they’ve done ever since? The things written in chapters “be an angel”, “you have to help”, “the great oneness”, and “find the good in everyone” confirm this.

What happened with all the things preached in the book about courage in the face of unfairness, about not being indifferent and not choosing the safe option of being “neutral” while ignoring the huge injustice that is actually happening? Is this why the book was delayed by half a year after something happened just before the usual launch date for the Stoic virtue series? Is this why the content (not the organizational) of this book is kind of messy and unlike his other works that are meticulously researched and neatly written with good flow, because it was heavily edited halfway through?

Nevertheless, to be fair it isn’t so much about what has been said, but what has NOT been said. And Holiday already has a big deposit in my credibility bank that he deserves the benefit of the doubt. And when we see the book from a personal-development lens, in the end of the day it is a good book. It teaches us to ultimately become a decent human being with a clear conscience, someone who has integrity and a great sense of fairness, and will act accordingly even though sometimes our actions to do the right things will cost us.

“It’s not virtue signaling to push back against cruelty and indifference,” Holiday remarks at his conclusion. “It doesn’t make you a “social justice warrior” to speak out for kindness and fairness and inalienable rights. But even if it was, is anything better to be a warrior for than justice and or anything better to signal than virtue? What has to happen to your brain to be opposed to those things?” Yes Ryan, what has to happen?

“What I Talk About When I Talk About Running” by Haruki Murakami

This book is a wonderful autobiography that focuses on his love of running. Why he picks up the running habit at 33, his gradual training from zero to running a marathon, why and how he makes running one of his daily habits, his struggle during sluggish days when he didn’t feel like running, his most enjoyable runs, his worst marathon race, his experience on several ultra marathon race, and many more, all of which are poured into this very honest memoir.

The book is also a part of a memoir of his other love, writing. It is inserted between his stories of training and races, as a big part of his life, which is so very fascinating as we can see the daily routine of a novelist, including his thought process, how he process inspiration into a written words, and the everyday nitty gritty as a writer.

It is a short book, but filled with a lot of gems. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa

They call the area Jimbocho. It is a neighbourhood in Tokyo that is home to more than 170 bookshops, which makes it the largest book store area in the world. And deep inside Jimbocho there’s a little wooden building where 25-year-old Takako once lived for months at the 2nd floor of her uncle’s bookshop.

Takako never liked reading books, she instead stays there mending a broken heart while struggling to get out of bed most of the time after breaking up with her cheating boyfriend and quitting her job altogether. But then as summer turns to autumn she begins to get to know her eccentric uncle, the regular customers, the people in the neighbourhood coffee shop filled with gossip and friendly banters, and the many books that have become a part of her daily life.

It is a heartwarming novel about a journey of getting lost and self-discovery, with twists revealed slowly as the book progresses, like what happens with her uncle’s wife who abruptly left 5 years ago. It is truly hard to put down once we start reading it, such a beautifully-written book.

What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama

This is a short novel about 5 different walks of lives: a shopkeeper, a furniture manufacturer, a former magazine editor, an unemployed person, and a retired person. Each single one of them have a very different life from one another, but they all have 1 thing in common, the same community library that turns their lives for the better after a recommendation of the perfect book by the librarian. It is such a charming and heart-warming book, filled with the everyday scenes of a life in Japan.

The Religions Book (DK Big Ideas) by DK

This is an impressive book about the evolution of religion, written in a concise manner that sums up everything in short articles format.

The book covers the most primitive forms of beliefs scattered around the world in the early days of humanity, like those practiced by the Chewong tribe in indigenous Malaysia, the belief of the Quechua Indians, the belief of the Dogon people in Bandiagara Plateu in Mali, and so much more.

It also addresses the ubiquitous rise of sophisticated philosophies everywhere, from the era of pioneering Axial age to the complicated web of schisms among major religions in latter centuries in human history.

Moreover, the book then dives deep into the few surviving modern global religion that we know in the world today, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

It’s astonishing to see how humans have always reflect the image of their respective deities in their customs and rituals, and it’s even more fascinating to see how cultures evolve through time alongside the evolution of their respective religion.

Even today. Where at the last part, the book also shows the ongoing evolution of the modern religion, such as Rastafarianism, Mormonism, Sikhism, Santeria, Baha’i, and many more, who are one way or another a reflection of an ever growing natural progress from the major modern religion.

In short, this is without a doubt one of the most complete books about world religion, presented in the most digestible ways.

“World Travel: An Irreverent Guide” by Anthony Bourdain and Laurie Woolever

This is a book about world travels through the eyes of Anthony Bourdain, written by his long-time collaborator Laurie Woolever.

Laurie was no stranger for Tony. They met a while back ago in 2002, when she was hired to edit and test the recipes for Tony’s Les Halles Cookbook. She then started to work as his assistant in 2009 where she also became involved with numerous editing and writing projects, alongside the ground-level tasks of an assistant, and they also collaborated in writing another cookbook in 2015 called Appetites.

This book was supposed to be their third collaboration. However, Tony’s busy travelling schedules meant that the project got postponed several times, that is, until Tony’s shocking death.

Now, I love Tony. I’ve watched almost all of his travel shows, from No Reservations to Parts Unknown, I watch them when I’m happy and when I’m sad, I watch them when I’m ill, sometimes I just put them as a background as I do other stuffs around the house, I even showed his shows to my kids since they were toddlers. We love his no-bullshit and brutally honest approach on life and travel. And I was pretty heartbroken when hearing about his death.

This travel book, in many ways, has a nostalgic feel about Tony. It is written by Laurie with the intention to re-live all the things that Tony himself had said about these places, in a style that Laurie would know best as one of the closest person ever lived with Tony.

As Laurie remarks, “I’d spent enough time in daily correspondence with Tony to have a good sense of the way he’d choose his words and set his rhythm. He wrote nearly impeccable prose, but on the occasion when it needed a bit of tidying or fleshing out, I was able to do that, I think, without detection.”

All the countries, the sights, the art, the food, the people are all vividly described just like it was in Tony’s shows. And in a way, the book seems to be intended as the complimentary show notes for the shows, where we get more of the details such as the name of the places, the addresses, how to get there, the prices, the short history, etc.

And along the way, Laurie provides so many quotations from Tony that is fitting with the country that is being covered, which makes it feel as if Tony is still alive and well. Such an enjoyable book to read, loving every minute of reading it.

Win Every Argument: The Art of Debating, Persuading, and Public Speaking by Mehdi Hasan

Mehdi Hasan is one of my favourite journalists. And I’ve been following his work from his columnist/political editor days at the New Statesman, the Guardian, the Huffington Post, to his brilliant Oxford-style debate show at Al Jazeera English, to his time at the Intercept and Deconstructed podcast, his stint at Peacock and MSNBC, to now his long-overdued own media, Zeteo.

At many points in his brilliant career I thought to my self, if ever Mehdi writes a book, I will buy it and read it straight away, no matter on what subject it is. But I never thought that he would actually write a book about his number one trade secret: his ability to win arguments! My God, Mehdi, are you out of your mind? 🙂

So yes, this book feels like a cheat sheet of his “secret formula”, one that, for his own sake, makes me afraid that he’s revealing way too much for any potential opposition. And just like seeing the blueprint behind any magnificent work, the book does not disappoint one bit.

In this book he discusses a lot of debating techniques used by great orators of the past – from Cicero, to Churchill, MLK, Mandela and many others – which makes a fascinating read right from the start. He then back them up with the psychological theories behind the techniques and provides a lot of examples from history and from his own experience, the latter of which serves like a highlight reel to a great footballer’s career.

You know how the better the book, the longer it takes for us to read it and the longer our notes are? This book took me 4x longer than my usual reading pace and I took a s**t ton of notes from it (where it feels like I’ve highlighted like 60% of the book). But I’m not going to spill all of its trade secrets here. It is already “bad” enough that he reveals them all, I’m not going to contribute on spreading it.

But the key, non-in-depth and non-linear, summary is as follows:

1. Research both sides of the argument.
2. Know your audience.
3. Grab their attention.
4. Connect with them.
5. Show emotions and not just facts.
6. How to reach the heart? 1. Tell a story 2. Choose the words carefully 3. Show, not just tell.
7. Show the receipt.
8. Ad Hominem: Attack the argument AND the credibility of the person.
9. The importance of listening.
10. The rule of three.
11. Produce a zinger.
12. Use memorable one liners.
13. Set up a booby trap.
14. Use the opponent’s own comments or opinions from the past.
15. Learn the dirty tricks used by others too, like the gish gallop technique: flooding the argument with utter nonsense but in an abundant amount so that the opponent doesn’t have the time to address it one by one (Donald Trump’s weapon of choice).
16. Project confidence.
17. Use humor.
18. Use self talk.
19. Keep calm.
20. Practice your debates.
21. Do your homework.
22. Have a grand finale.

Now, almost everyone can come up with this logical list, in fact a lot of books have done it. But what sets Mehdi apart from the rest is his reasoning behind the techniques that he chose to use in many different situations, how he time them, and even how he prepared for them.

And to that end, Mehdi is one of the best in his field of work, one of the very best at the art of debating, and thus reading this book is like as if Serena Williams is writing a book about tennis, or Steven Spielberg writing about movie directing, or Warren Buffett writing about investing. It is simply a book that should be the main required reading for any serious debate club.

Another German leaving my world, just after Jürgen Klopp did so in less than 2 weeks ago!

I’ve lived in this city for the majority of my life, but I’ve never seen it the way I did with you. From 5 stars to “kaki 5”, from the expat bubble to dodgy markets, from bar hopping to museum exploring, music festival, football matches, a failed stand-up comedy night, to a Halloween running event chased by monsters, and of course from the many independent book stores to our favourite spot the vintage book area in Blok M.

Ah yes, the books, the things that brought us together in the first place. I think it’s a borderline miracle that I can meet probably the only person who is as crazed with books as I do, with range of topics that we are either familiar with (and can talk about it endlessly) or we complement each other with our own special interests that are new for each other. Like fiction and literature, my God how on Earth did you manage to get me to read fictions?

Which brings us to Buru Quartet. Funny how it takes a foreigner to introduce me to the best Indonesian literature ever written, Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s Buru Quartet, and encouraged me to read it in its original language. My language. And then introduced me to the weird and wonderful and interesting writings like from Stuart Jeffries, Albert Camus, Chuck Palahneuk, Benedict Anderson, and several others including the funniest book that I’ve ever read: Why We Took the Car.

This alone has made you one of the most influential persons that I’ve ever crossed paths with. But between Kemal becoming a Borrusia Mönchengladbach fan and Kirana learning how to swear in German, we also found a family friend in you guys. Om Fred and tante Pia. A relationship that has the feel that it is only the beginning.

Jakarta won’t be the same without you roaming around with your scooter or chilling at Coffeebeerian. Going to the bookstores won’t last for hours now that I’m unable to discuss ideas with you. But c’est la vie, the universe has other [better] plans that look very exciting indeed. I couldn’t be more happier for you.

Have a great new chapter in life my friend, let’s continue our conversations online, and see you next year!

“The Stranger” by Albert Camus

This is a novel about a life lived by someone with a detached moral code and a difficulty to experience, identify, and express emotions.

It is written through the first-person vantage point of the main character, Meursault, who lives in a poor and violent neighbourhood in Algiers, Algeria, but who crucially marches on in his life without attaching meaning (and indeed, emotions) to anything.

And that is what makes his story interesting, considering that his life involves all the spectrum of emotions: romantic relationship, the death of his mother, a psychotic neighbour, a violent friend, and even a deathly encounter with a stranger that involves a murder, all of which he goes through without really a hint of grief, fear, joy, anger, remorse, disgust, sadness, etc.

The narrative itself is quite simple, but filled with so many philosophical interpretation and dilemma, with existentialism theme at its core. Because reading about how Meursault responds to the events of his surrounding can make us think about our place within society, and how meaningful or meaningless events can be if we detach all emotions from it.

It is quite the philosophical journey from a book of only 123 pages long, a book that made Albert Camus won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957 and, among many others, inspired The Cure to write the song “Killing an Arab.”

And upon further investigation, it is believed that the Meursault character is based on Camus’ real-life friend Galindo, who is an intelligent but odd person that exhibits the social and personal characteristic impairment of Asperger’s syndrome.