Garis-Garis Deja Vu: A Refreshing Twist in Malay Novel

Photo from Jemari Seni's website

I went to Sogo for a short shopping trip for a pair of shoes (peep-toed black pumps, woot!) and a purse (which according to my cousin is "Macam handbag mak budak" because I like huge purses that I could fit at least a thick trade paperback novel in) and stopped by Pustaka Minerva to satiate my craving for Malay books.

I bought two because I still have to finish Netherland (the last book I bought in the US): Zahrah de Tigris (Zahrah of Tigris) by Khairyn Othman and Garis-Garis Deja Vu (Lines of Dreams) by John Norafizan.

I have had interesting conversations with both Khairyn and John online. Khairyn was a journalist for a Malaysian news agency and has been to many places and seen many things while John is an engineer who was trained in Manchester, England. When I think of Khairyn, I remember Geraldine Brooks who wrote Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Muslim Women and People of the Book but after hearing about John' latest work - Odisi Bulan Biru (The Blue Moon Odyssey) - that he promised to mail to me, I opted to read Garis-Garis Deja Vu (after this will be referred to as Garis) first.

I could not say that it was the wisest decision ever because I haven't finish Zahrah de Tigris yet but I must say that Garis was exceptional in concept and execution, even though the technical literary aspect was a little but disappointing in my humble opinion.

The novel revolves around dreams, and the intertwines of quests (yes, quests) for love between its many characters. What I like the most about it is how John creates so many characters and so many stories but they all fall into places at the end. Even better, I couldn't even guess the connections as John writes each chapter as if they are not related at all. The suspense kept me going, and I finally finished the book a little over 24 hours after acquiring it in Kinokuniya KLCC.

After finishing the book, I am glad to say that I didn't remember the love stories but instead the motivations behind each love story. Rumi's poetries were used as metaphors a lot to the point that they become so equivocally romantic to see how Ashraf and Nini fell in love because a book of poetry in a bookstore. I myself could see this scene very clearly in my mind as I had imagined my own characters fighting over a rare edition of Shakespeare's Hamlet in Shakespeare's and Co in Paris that ended up with them having dinner and argue more about things that matter.

I love Garis so much and now am looking forward to read Odisi Bulan Biru, which according to John is already in the mail. Woot!