Richard Oh

Menjadi kritikus film di negara ini ternyata sangat mudah. Tidak perlu prakualifikasi, tidak seperti seorang pakar ekonomi yang minimal perlu gelar sarjana ekonomi atau pengalaman sebagai seorang praktisi bisnis. Kredensial seorang kritikus film kita berkisar dari pemerhati film, kataloger film, penggiat film hingga wartawan khusus film. Maka tidaklah mengherankan jika resensi film yang tiap minggu [...]

Nearly two centuries after it was first published in 1817, The History of Java by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, thanks to Narasi, an independent publishing company based in Yogjakarta, is finally brought out in Indonesian language. The Indonesian version of The History of Java is a doorstopper at 904 pages, an agreeable hardbound single volume [...]

Pada tahun 1876, sebuah festival diselenggarakan di Bayreuth atas prakarsa King Ludwig II, Bavaria, untuk menggelar karya-karya komposisi Richard Wagner. Seorang filsuf tak dikenal pada waktu itu diundang untuk menghadiri festival ini. Filsuf itu hadir di festival Bayreuth karena, selain sebagai sahabat dekat sang komposer, dia memang penggemar berat karya-karya Richard Wagner. Namun, apa yang [...]

The Snake Charmer A Life and Death In Pursuit of Knowledge By Jamie James Hyperion 260 The fascination with nature’s most unpredictable beasts has often persuaded some people that they are so well equipped with mastery of their subjects to be in any peril. We have seen, however, with the recent deaths of Steve Irwin, [...]

Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s Arok of Java: A Novel of Early Indonesia Translated by Max Lane Horizon Books 387 pages In his final critical hours, Pramoedya was rushed to a hospital. Lying in bed struggling for his life, he surprised everyone at his bedside with a request for his favorite kretek cigarette. When told he was [...]