kimberly28's review
3.0
When I travel, I keep a little journal and list all the places I visited and ate, and write a little review just for myself and talk about my experience and feelings that day, and also so that someone asks "Hey I'm going to Place next month, any recommendations" I actually have something to look back on. This book was more like reading that than a regular novel, but I kind of liked that actually.
annamontana's review
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This book is about an epidemiologist who has to travel across Indonesia to visit sites of a bird flu outbreak. It is also about foodies traveling across Indonesia to taste all the different foods that the islands have to offer. It is also about corruption in government and business. It is also about falling in love. It is also about friendship. It is also about food. It is also about how appearances can be deceiving. The author also begins most chapters with a dream or a memory that is not pertinent to the story. Does this sound like too much? It is. The premise was great (epidemiologist grabs some friends and colleagues to travel across Indonesia enjoying the local food) but too much else was added.
Some of the food had great descriptions others were just a name and unless you are familiar with Indonesian food, it won't mean anything.
Not terrible, but in need of a good editor. The translation was very good.
Some of the food had great descriptions others were just a name and unless you are familiar with Indonesian food, it won't mean anything.
Not terrible, but in need of a good editor. The translation was very good.
siria's review against another edition
1.0
The Birdwoman's Palate has an intriguing premise and for the first couple of chapters I was thinking this would probably be a four star book. It tells the story of Aruna, an Indonesian woman in her mid-thirties who's a bit of a foodie and is working for a government agency during an outbreak of avian flu.
As it became clearer that there was no real plot arc or structure to the book, and that the avian flu subplot was an odd McGuffin, I revised my opinion to perhaps a 3 out of 5. After all, there was still plenty of vivid colour to Laksmi Pamuntjak's description of the various different kinds of food that make up Indonesian cuisine.
Then the characters acted less and less like actual people—Nadeszhda was a caricature—while others were cyphers. Two stars, I thought.
And then the sex scenes began, and amidst tears of laughter I revised downwards to just one star. I don't know which was more hilariously awful, Pamuntjak's description of cunnilingus (women "flare up like a candle the second a man parts their vulva [...and] lap up and devour, with the flames of their new knowledge, the pastures of manhood." Nothing like a woman's genitals being described as a pasture of manhood!) or how she describes penetrative vaginal sex (the vagina is a "cavity"; the penis "incubates in its wetness." Incubates.).
A hot mess.
As it became clearer that there was no real plot arc or structure to the book, and that the avian flu subplot was an odd McGuffin, I revised my opinion to perhaps a 3 out of 5. After all, there was still plenty of vivid colour to Laksmi Pamuntjak's description of the various different kinds of food that make up Indonesian cuisine.
Then the characters acted less and less like actual people—Nadeszhda was a caricature—while others were cyphers. Two stars, I thought.
And then the sex scenes began, and amidst tears of laughter I revised downwards to just one star. I don't know which was more hilariously awful, Pamuntjak's description of cunnilingus (women "flare up like a candle the second a man parts their vulva [...and] lap up and devour, with the flames of their new knowledge, the pastures of manhood." Nothing like a woman's genitals being described as a pasture of manhood!) or how she describes penetrative vaginal sex (the vagina is a "cavity"; the penis "incubates in its wetness." Incubates.).
A hot mess.
3ciacath's review against another edition
3.0
“Insting hanya bisa datang dari pengalaman. Ia tak jatuh dari langit, atau menyelundup seperti jin ke dalam tubuh, yang dengan baik hatinya mengarahkan panca inderamu untuk membuat pilihan-pilihan paling jitu.” hal. 42
Aruna, seorang ahli wabah berusia 30-an menghadapi quarter life crisis. Ia mulai mempertanyakan passion-nya sendiri dan profesi yang dipilihnya. Ia membandingkan kehidupannya sendiri dengan kehidupan kawan-kawannya. Ia menimbang kembali pemikirannya mengenai pernikahan dan menjadi ibu.
Apa sih tujuan hidup ini? Apa yang sebenarnya ingin saya lakukan? Bagaimana saya bisa berdaya guna secara optimal untuk diri sendiri dan sekitar? Saya merasa peran saya sekarang tidak cocok dengan idealisme saya, tapi apa kah panggilan hati saya itu? Kalau saya mendengarkan panggilan hati saya dan meninggalkan segala rutinitas dan kebiasaan selama ini, keluar dari zona aman, lalu menceburkan diri ke bidang yang lain tanpa perlengkapan yang cukup, amankan masa depan saya? Saya yakin pertanyaan-pertanyaan di atas pernah muncul di benak orang-orang dengan rentang usia serupa Aruna. Pertanyaan yang sedang saya ajukan kepada diri saya sendiri belakangan ini sebenarnya. Pertanyaan yang hingga sekarang belum saya temukan jawabannya.
Aruna dan Lidahnya memang terasa selekat itu dengan realita. Juga tokoh-tokoh lain di dalamnya serta permasalahan mereka masing-masing. Farish si realis, Bono si risk-taker, dan Nadezhda si pemimpi. Tentu saja satu kata sifat tak cukup untuk menggambarkan mereka berempat, pribadi-pribadi yang kompleks dengan background pekerjaan dan gaya yang berbeda-beda, yang disatukan oleh kecintaan mereka terhadap makanan.
Melalui novel ini, kita juga diajak melihat sisi lain Indonesia. Mengenal karakter manusia di beberapa daerah di Indonesia, kehidupannya, juga makanannya yang dari itu kita bisa menganalogikan kehidupan. Novel ini adalah perjalanan mengenal diri sendiri dan sekitar kita.
Karena itu, terima kasih kepada Aruna dan Lidahnya, saya sadar saya tidak sendiri. Mungkin ada banyak rekan-rekan di luar sana yang juga sedang menghadapi krisis yang sama. Lalu, melalui Aruna juga kita bisa belajar untuk terus berjalan sambil melakukan apa yang kita cintai dan kita yakini. Semoga di ujung perhentian nanti, kita bisa mendapat jawaban dan menjadi pribadi yang lebih matang.
Carpe diem!
Aruna, seorang ahli wabah berusia 30-an menghadapi quarter life crisis. Ia mulai mempertanyakan passion-nya sendiri dan profesi yang dipilihnya. Ia membandingkan kehidupannya sendiri dengan kehidupan kawan-kawannya. Ia menimbang kembali pemikirannya mengenai pernikahan dan menjadi ibu.
Apa sih tujuan hidup ini? Apa yang sebenarnya ingin saya lakukan? Bagaimana saya bisa berdaya guna secara optimal untuk diri sendiri dan sekitar? Saya merasa peran saya sekarang tidak cocok dengan idealisme saya, tapi apa kah panggilan hati saya itu? Kalau saya mendengarkan panggilan hati saya dan meninggalkan segala rutinitas dan kebiasaan selama ini, keluar dari zona aman, lalu menceburkan diri ke bidang yang lain tanpa perlengkapan yang cukup, amankan masa depan saya? Saya yakin pertanyaan-pertanyaan di atas pernah muncul di benak orang-orang dengan rentang usia serupa Aruna. Pertanyaan yang sedang saya ajukan kepada diri saya sendiri belakangan ini sebenarnya. Pertanyaan yang hingga sekarang belum saya temukan jawabannya.
Aruna dan Lidahnya memang terasa selekat itu dengan realita. Juga tokoh-tokoh lain di dalamnya serta permasalahan mereka masing-masing. Farish si realis, Bono si risk-taker, dan Nadezhda si pemimpi. Tentu saja satu kata sifat tak cukup untuk menggambarkan mereka berempat, pribadi-pribadi yang kompleks dengan background pekerjaan dan gaya yang berbeda-beda, yang disatukan oleh kecintaan mereka terhadap makanan.
Melalui novel ini, kita juga diajak melihat sisi lain Indonesia. Mengenal karakter manusia di beberapa daerah di Indonesia, kehidupannya, juga makanannya yang dari itu kita bisa menganalogikan kehidupan. Novel ini adalah perjalanan mengenal diri sendiri dan sekitar kita.
Karena itu, terima kasih kepada Aruna dan Lidahnya, saya sadar saya tidak sendiri. Mungkin ada banyak rekan-rekan di luar sana yang juga sedang menghadapi krisis yang sama. Lalu, melalui Aruna juga kita bisa belajar untuk terus berjalan sambil melakukan apa yang kita cintai dan kita yakini. Semoga di ujung perhentian nanti, kita bisa mendapat jawaban dan menjadi pribadi yang lebih matang.
Carpe diem!
chloeplatt's review
slow-paced
1.0
This started well but it fell apart for me because none of the stories lines had much substance and the writing about food wasn't explained that well. I also didn't understand the dreams narrated at the start of each chapter.
icelemonado's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
bigpaw's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
2.5
Picked this up on a whim from a display at the BPL as part of their Winter Reading Program. In the past, I've really loved books about food, which is odd because I have the palate of a five year old lol. Reading this made me realize it's not the food, it's the cooking I enjoy reading about. Descriptions of food in restaurants and all the meals the characters ate weren't as interesting to me. They all started to blend together to me. The conspiracy plot with the avian flu was interesting, but never felt fully realized. It almost felt like an afterthought to the travel and food writing. In general, I wish those two elements of the story had been mixed together better. There were some nice insights and observations at different points, and I did enjoy and appreciate being fully immersed in a culture I'm not super familiar with. But Aruna as a narrator didn't do much for me, and the plot elements didn't come together in a way that worked for me.
karenreader's review
adventurous
emotional
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Really liked the adventure through Indonesia, including history, landscapes, cities, and food descriptions. Did not like the ending as much as the adventure.
heather01602to60660's review
2.0
I am not sure if something was lost in the translation, but I felt the entire time I kept waiting for something to actually happen, when nothing ever really did, and the few things that did were just... anticlimactic as could be.
I enjoyed the character or Aruna, but I wish she'd been given something to do other than wander from restaurant to restaurant (literally, the second half of the group's journey is truly going from one to the next, like... don't they ever get full?). At the outset, the juxtaposition of being an avian flu epidemiologist describing the delicacies of bird meat was both amusing and squirm-inducing for me, but then the whole work part of the story just vanished. And while that could have been - and for moments seemed to be leading to - a story in itself full of intrigue or a chance for Aruna to be forceful and take action, it just opened up more time to wander around, eating, and getting all mooney eyed over a man.
Half the food focus and twice the epidemic focus (with an actual epidemic at work) was what I was expecting based on the book description. This was definitely a forced myself to finish choice because, like I said, the text kept sounding like something big was coming. Spoiler alert: it pretty much isn't.
I enjoyed the character or Aruna, but I wish she'd been given something to do other than wander from restaurant to restaurant (literally, the second half of the group's journey is truly going from one to the next, like... don't they ever get full?). At the outset, the juxtaposition of being an avian flu epidemiologist describing the delicacies of bird meat was both amusing and squirm-inducing for me, but then the whole work part of the story just vanished. And while that could have been - and for moments seemed to be leading to - a story in itself full of intrigue or a chance for Aruna to be forceful and take action, it just opened up more time to wander around, eating, and getting all mooney eyed over a man.
Half the food focus and twice the epidemic focus (with an actual epidemic at work) was what I was expecting based on the book description. This was definitely a forced myself to finish choice because, like I said, the text kept sounding like something big was coming. Spoiler alert: it pretty much isn't.
readerziyya's review against another edition
4.0
novel yang memuaskan!
cara penulis memasukkan info-info kulinernya meyakinkan banget. orang awam dan bukan foodie kayak saya akan mengiyakan saja apa-apa yang dinarasikan penulis dalam novel ini. diksinya variatif, macam karya literasi saja. saya bahkan ngga menemukan typo. hebat! ga pake penyunting pula Laksmi Pamuntjak ini. keren!
cara penulis memasukkan info-info kulinernya meyakinkan banget. orang awam dan bukan foodie kayak saya akan mengiyakan saja apa-apa yang dinarasikan penulis dalam novel ini. diksinya variatif, macam karya literasi saja. saya bahkan ngga menemukan typo. hebat! ga pake penyunting pula Laksmi Pamuntjak ini. keren!