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The Book of Everyday Things
Buku, bantal, sepatu, bolpoin, jam tangan, mainan, uang, dan sikat gigi... Ini adalah berbagai benda yang kita gunakan dalam kehidupan sehari-hari. Semuanya begitu biasa sehingga kita menerimanya begitu saja, seolah-olah semua benda itu sudah menjadi bagian hidup kita. Pada kenyataannya, kemampuan untuk membuat benda mungkin adalah cara kita mendefinisikan spesies kita dan membuat kita berbeda dari makhluk hidup lainnya. Coba tengok keadaan di sekitar kita perhatikan jumlah benda yang ada di sekeliling yang terus bertimbun sepanjang hidup kita. Seorang manusia mungkin mengawali hidupnya hanya dengan tarikan napas pertama, kemudian tidak membawa apa-apa ke dalam kuburnya selain yang dihiaskan orang lain pada jasadnya yang sudah tak bernyawa. Padahal, selama hidupnya, dia bergantung pada berbagai benda, bukan hanya untuk memungkinkannya berfungsi, melainkan juga agar memiliki identitas dan tujuan: Berbagai benda dan barang
yang diciptakan dan diproduksi oleh sesama manusia yang dapat digunakan untuk mengendalikan serta memanipulasi lingkungannya dan menentukan takdirnya. Berbagai barang yang mengisi tidak hanya ruang yang ditempatinya, tetapi juga yang pada akhirnya mengacaukan dan menyesakkan seluruh Bumi, yang sekaligus menyisakan semakin sedikit ruang bagi makhluk hidup lainnya untuk berkembang.
The Book of Everyday Things adalah pengingat bahwa terlepas dari kemampuan spesies kita untuk menaklukkan alam dan menciptakan aneka benda menakjubkan untuk membuat hidup kita lebih nyaman, obsesi kita untuk memproduksi dan mengonsumsi beragam benda mungkin justru membuat kita makin tidak memahami tujuan sebenarnya keberadaan kita. Bahwa mungkin kebahagiaan sejati tidak hanya terletak pada berbagai benda buatan manusia, tetapi juga menghargai apa yang diberikan alam kepada kita.
yang diciptakan dan diproduksi oleh sesama manusia yang dapat digunakan untuk mengendalikan serta memanipulasi lingkungannya dan menentukan takdirnya. Berbagai barang yang mengisi tidak hanya ruang yang ditempatinya, tetapi juga yang pada akhirnya mengacaukan dan menyesakkan seluruh Bumi, yang sekaligus menyisakan semakin sedikit ruang bagi makhluk hidup lainnya untuk berkembang.
The Book of Everyday Things adalah pengingat bahwa terlepas dari kemampuan spesies kita untuk menaklukkan alam dan menciptakan aneka benda menakjubkan untuk membuat hidup kita lebih nyaman, obsesi kita untuk memproduksi dan mengonsumsi beragam benda mungkin justru membuat kita makin tidak memahami tujuan sebenarnya keberadaan kita. Bahwa mungkin kebahagiaan sejati tidak hanya terletak pada berbagai benda buatan manusia, tetapi juga menghargai apa yang diberikan alam kepada kita.
306 pages, Paperback
Published February 28, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 21, 2025
The idea itself—of writing about things so common in everyday life—is mind-blowing. Desi explored her thoughts on 30 items. Take, for example, a book, a pillow, money, a toy, a flag, death, and a house. Who among us isn’t familiar with these?
As an author herself, it’s no wonder that she listed ‘book’ as the first item to talk about. I picked up this book because I have read Faces and Places and The Art of Solitude. I liked how she connected a paragraph to the next and the wit in her choice of words. I could relate to most of her ideas. So, I expected the same with The Book of Everyday Things. I was rewarded.
This time, too, I wanted to give her a high five – if she were next to me – when I read about bread. Yeah, the ultimate solution is indeed to bake your own bread to your own liking. The only difference is that I’m not a fan of breadmakers. I giggled at the sentence “...like my loaf of bread, it preferred to succumb to the pull of gravity rather than face the world with its head held high.”
When I arrived at Memories and read “… what separates us, homo sapiens, from other living creatures on this planet is precisely our dependence on the soundness of the mind to enable us to live our lives.” I argued. No, Desi. This time, I beg to differ. Luckily, I kept on reading. Finally, I got her point. Memory here is not about the activity of remembering. It is about the content that is being remembered. That content is called stories. “… it’s the stories that make us what we are.” True. High five.
This book is indeed packed with a lot. Philosophy. That’s one obvious thing. About each of these 30 items, Desi shared her philosophy. A lot of them, I had never seen presented the way she did. My jaw dropped again and again. How could an everyday-taken-for-granted item bring such an astonishing point of view?
History. How on earth did that cup of tea land on, for instance, the late Queen Elizabeth’s table every single afternoon without fail? It had something to do with Java, you know! How did our ancestors decide to invent money to bring happiness? Did you know that there was a time when soap was not a luxury item in malls like today, because even the king did not take a bath? Did you know that in the early days of shoes, a pair of shoes could be worn on either foot?
Biography. One might find this book an autobiography of Desi Anwar. Her parents, her sister, her childhood, her hobbies, and even her dreams. I mean, the ones she sees when she falls asleep.
When you finish reading The Book of Everyday Things, I think your day-to-day will never be the same.
As an author herself, it’s no wonder that she listed ‘book’ as the first item to talk about. I picked up this book because I have read Faces and Places and The Art of Solitude. I liked how she connected a paragraph to the next and the wit in her choice of words. I could relate to most of her ideas. So, I expected the same with The Book of Everyday Things. I was rewarded.
This time, too, I wanted to give her a high five – if she were next to me – when I read about bread. Yeah, the ultimate solution is indeed to bake your own bread to your own liking. The only difference is that I’m not a fan of breadmakers. I giggled at the sentence “...like my loaf of bread, it preferred to succumb to the pull of gravity rather than face the world with its head held high.”
When I arrived at Memories and read “… what separates us, homo sapiens, from other living creatures on this planet is precisely our dependence on the soundness of the mind to enable us to live our lives.” I argued. No, Desi. This time, I beg to differ. Luckily, I kept on reading. Finally, I got her point. Memory here is not about the activity of remembering. It is about the content that is being remembered. That content is called stories. “… it’s the stories that make us what we are.” True. High five.
This book is indeed packed with a lot. Philosophy. That’s one obvious thing. About each of these 30 items, Desi shared her philosophy. A lot of them, I had never seen presented the way she did. My jaw dropped again and again. How could an everyday-taken-for-granted item bring such an astonishing point of view?
History. How on earth did that cup of tea land on, for instance, the late Queen Elizabeth’s table every single afternoon without fail? It had something to do with Java, you know! How did our ancestors decide to invent money to bring happiness? Did you know that there was a time when soap was not a luxury item in malls like today, because even the king did not take a bath? Did you know that in the early days of shoes, a pair of shoes could be worn on either foot?
Biography. One might find this book an autobiography of Desi Anwar. Her parents, her sister, her childhood, her hobbies, and even her dreams. I mean, the ones she sees when she falls asleep.
When you finish reading The Book of Everyday Things, I think your day-to-day will never be the same.
July 15, 2025
Sebuah buku yang "sederhana" tapi cukup bermakna buatku. Selain isinya, cara aku "bertemu" buku ini untuk pertama kali juga memberikan kesan tersendiri.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews