The Book of Imaginary Beliefs

by Lala Bohang

Earth is blue, fragile, light, and not a star. And we’re part of it,
not just living on it. Earth is a battle ground where all species
constantly face an invisible war. And we’re the main actor of
growth, destruction, and peace. Someone’s precious is someone else’s garbage. Someone’s interest is someone else’s boredom.
Someone’s principle is someone else’s violation.
Someone’s contentment is someone else’s pressure. Someone’s recipe for
immunity is someone else’s cause of death. Either you’re the
“someone” or the “someone else”, it doesn’t matter because
confusion will always bounce back to you, no matter how far
you’ve been running away from it. It’s about facing an empty page
each day, it’s about waking up in the morning deciding to be alive,
it’s about choosing which mistakes to avoid, it’s about considering
what and who to ignore, it’s about crafting a self that’s truly your
own, it’s about faking a smile to cure the pain of others, it’s about
continuously moving forward because going back is never a choice,
it’s about looking at the blue sky and having small talks with it,
it’s about everything that feels small and unworthy, it’s about
becoming buoyant, never being trapped between other people’s
cacophonic agendas, it’s about counting your breath.

Genres: Poetry, Literature, Graphic Novels, Nonfiction, Indonesian Literature

152 pages, Hardcover

Published February 18, 2019

About the author

Lala Bohang lahir di Makassar dan merupakan lulusan jurusan Arsitektur Universitas Parahyangan yang bekerja sebagai perupa, penulis, dan kurator untuk label buku Pear Press. Sejak tahun 2009 ia telah berpartisipasi pada beberapa pameran kelompok di dalam dan luar negeri. Tahun 2016 Lala mulai mempublikasikan buku trilogi berjudul The Book of Forbidden Feelings (2016), The Book of Invisible Questions (2017), dan The Book of Imaginary Beliefs (2019).

Reviews

[Hestia Istiviani · Rating 4 out of 5]

We're too shallow
to achieve the
holy nothingness

Kembali dengan desain sampulnya yang polos, Lala Bohang mengeluarkan lagi kumpulan puisi dan ilustrasinya. Berjudul The Book of Imaginary Beliefs, Lala menawarkan hal yang ternyata menjadi frasa dalam puisi-pusinya, "Reliaty or Fiction?"

Bagi mereka yang mengikuti buku Lala sejak yang pertama, pasti merasakan bagaimana tulisan Lala berkembang. Dari yang sekadar menjadi buku puisi dengan rasa sedih dan pilu, kini menjadi puisi yang dekat dengan konteks kehidupan pembacanya: remaja urban dan pikiran mereka. Yang mana, aku akui, merupakan hal yang bagus. The Book of Imaginary Belief menjadi bukti bahwa Lala menjadi lebih dewasa.

Lala menyoroti tentang banyak hal: dari perasaan kita sendiri, perasaan kita yang belum terbalas dan keseharian seseorang melewati kesibukan. Malah bagiku, mengapa buku ini begitu dekat denganku, karena aku hampir merasakan apa yang dituliskan oleh Lala. Kesendirian dan ketakutan untuk menjadi sendiri di tengah tumpukan pekerjaan-pekerjaan.

The Imaginary Belief menjadi semacam bahan refleksi bagiku. Dia jauh lebih personal ketimbang buku-buku Lala yang sebelumnya, yang sebatas membicarakan cinta saja.

Disamping, warna hijau kali ini rasanya memang pas menggambarkan aura yang terdapat pada bukunya.

Let contradictories
doubt you from
yourself.

[yun with books · Rating 4 out of 5]

FINALLY I FINISHED THIS BOOK

Suka banget sama Si Hijau ini, menurut saya dia itu penutup yang manis. Pada akhirnya yang bisa dilakukan manusia dalam hidup adalah menerima dan sedikit boleh "masa bodo".

[teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

"𝘿𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙩𝙝𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣"

This is the most memorable and meaningful sentence that I got from this book, actually the content of this book is kind of random but still enjoyable to read, it feels like the author write something that suddenly appears on her mind or write something that happens to her.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lala Bohang
The Book of Imaginary Beliefs
Gramedia Pustaka Utama
152 halaman
6.3

Lala Bohang's latest effort, The Book of Imaginary Beliefs, is surprisingly her most enjoyable and relatable work to date where she asks her readers to be grateful while dedicates one page to Lana Del Rey.

[Sari Herbita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another

This is not the book you're looking for

Tetap dengan khasnya Lala Bohang yang penuh kata - kata depresif nan memabukkan. I don't know what's going on her beautiful mind, just beautiful. Tapi ya buku ini bukan buku yang akan dicintai oleh banyak orang, terutama orang - orang bahagia yang sangat positif menjalani hidup lol

[Ainay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Selesai membaca ini, aku ingat Mas Gibran Jokowi yang tiap ditanya selalu jawab, "Biasa aja."

Sayang sekali aku berekspektasi terlalu tinggi, karena aku sangat suka dua seri sebelumnya. Tapi yang ini blasshhhh ... kosong.

Rate 2.5🌟

[frikelovato · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buku puisi yang gak kaya puisi. Isinya semacem random thought dari penulisnya aja. Banyak hal-hal yang gak aku ngerti, itu bisa karna aku yang gak sampai atau emang kalimatnya yang terlalu random? 🤔

Hal lain yang cukup menarik lainnya itu adanya hal-hal yang cukup sensitif tapi disajikan dengan penjelasan yang apa adanya. Contohnya: nihilistik, coping mechanisms, traumatic, Law of attraction dll.

Dan terakhir, menurut ku pribadi, kenapa buku ini belum bisa dikasih 4 bintang, bukan karna cara penulisan atau kalimatnya yang jelek, tapi karna antar kalimat atau paragrafnya sering mengangkat hal yang beda, dan lagi hal yang dimaksudnya itu terlalu random yang gak semua orang paham.

[Jihan Aulia Zahra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aku jadi lebih familiar dengan tulisan-tulisannya Lala Bohang dan aku suka banget dari series The Book, yang ini lebih lepas dan lebih bebas, terkesan ada marah-marahnya tapi bikin lega. Dibanding dengan The Book yang lain, paling suka The Book of Imaginary Beliefs sih.

[Fenny Fenfen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some parts are beautiful
Some parts are weird and messy
Some parts are depressing
Some parts are full of anxiety

[isaiah · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I thought a family should stay in the same house even though they caused so much pain to one another, until one day I found a hotel room lifestyle. I truly wish I were born from a blanket.”

⭐ 3.8/5

Kak Lala's books are always be the greatest comfort for me. cocok banget dibaca sebelum tidur. bukan buat nemenin saat overthink, tapi buat ngademin pikiran yang nggak bagus. love it. 💙

[Wookiee · Rating 4 out of 5]

! I love how Lala Bohang writes about all the complex feelings humans go through. All the good and bad in us? No need to overthink it — just feel it and enjoy the ride!

[Shirley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual star: 2.5, It was okay, i'm sorry i didn't like it that much.
Like her other book it talks about mental health and her journey accompanied by illustration, still the same concept i like few words from it but the majority did nothing for me some even feels repetitive.

[Stef · Rating 3 out of 5]

Third book from Lala Bohang that I read. I thought I would like this but the content and illustration turned out to be so-so. Some of prose I can related but some just repetition. Still two old books had beautiful illustration than this one.

No cure for human's hypocrisy and complexiy

[Safara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buku ini cocok dibaca kalo mau refleksi tentang hidup.

Banyak pertanyaan yang muncul, kenapa menjalani hidup harus sekompleks itu? Kenapa kalo berteman harus begitu? Kalo punya pasangan kenapa harus gitu?

Sebenernya selama ini kalo baca puisi gue selalu mikir "ah ini mah galau aja isinya." Tapi setelah baca bukunya Lala Bohang, terutama yang seri ini dan seri sebelumnya, gue jadi menyimpulkan bahwa ternyata baca buku puisi bisa jadi salah satu alternatif kalo kesulitan melakukan kontemplasi.

--
I read this book in English. You can access it in Gramedia Digital apps.

So far, this is my favorite book from Lala Bohang.

In this book, Lala asked us why being a human is hard? Why life have to be that complex? Why people have friends? Why people have to get married?

For you who cannot describe your feeling well, or maybe want to have contemplation time, I recommend you to read this book. This is the deepest book compared to other two.

[raafi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reality or fiction?

Wrapping up June with this book is like drinking a glass of wine at night after a whole tiring day--it's a healing to your imaginary thoughts. I enjoyed the stories of: Lana Del Rey, a dog named Salt, a mother who made her kid drink urine, a breathing meat, a pretty doll, a hotel room. Some other writings remind me of the song "Let Her Go" by Passenger that tells about the contradiction of feelings.

However, the repetitive-kind of writings in this book is a little too much and making it a bit boring.

[Lunar Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in this series that I read. The book I previously read was the book of forbidden feelings. I think this book doesn't tell about relationships like the first book. However, it turned out that I was wrong haha 🙈. This book also tells about relationships, even though there are also some imaginary feelings in this book. I like the illustration in green, but I don't really understand the artistic meaning behind it.

Overall 3,6🌟

[Sunny. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, the book said it's not to be trusted, but I found honesty and truth about human and feeling in the book. The book is beautiful, I love the title, I love most of the words written there, eventho some are very "messy" and confusing.

[Utha · Rating 3 out of 5]

If there's
a distance,
there's a
longing.

[Shanya Putri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reality or fiction?

[hana · Rating 3 out of 5]

looking at the last two books, i can say this one is kinda hard to read, but some parts are still warm yet depressing

[CHAI · Rating 4 out of 5]

(I like how the papers in this book were in sewed.)

I finally get here, where The Book Of Siblings come to its closure!

[Eva Novia Fitri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dari jauh, seseorang terlihat impeccable. Dengan rutinitas yang nyaman, secure, seperti semua puzzle puzzle hidupnya benar disematkan. Then look at you...
Saat kalian berdua, entah bagaimana, didekatkan. Hari demi hari, sisi2 lebih dalamnya lebih terkelupas. Oh rupanya ia pun sama. The scars, the loneliness. Papan puzzlenya ternyata masih menyisakan beberapa ruang kosong.
Lalu kau pun tenang, ternyata lubang2 jiwa itu semua punya. Hanya tak akan terlihat jika tak saling dekat. Leganya menyadari bahwa kau bukan satu2nya manusia yang tak sempurna. Senangnya bersama sama menghabiskan waktu saling mengisi celah satu sama lain.

Lalu kemudian arah angin berubah. Lubang lubang jiwa itu tidak lagi puas hanya saling melengkapi tapi menuntut untuk duluan diisi. Kekurangan kekurangan yang dulu mendatangkan rasa nyaman kemudian jadi semata2 kekurangan yang lama2 sulit dimaafkan dan harusnya segera dihilangkan. Tak tahan.
Jarak yang dulu terasa menyiksa, sekarang menjadi tiba2 diperlukan.

Itulah kurang lebih cara Lala mem breakdown sebuah kalimat " If there is a distance there is a longing"

Distance memang harus dijaga dalam semua relasi. Pernikahan, persahabatan, kekerabatan. Sebagaimana lubang2 di dirimu, lubang2 dalam hubungan itu perlu selamanya ada..karena itu adalah pintu terbuka, yang membuat jiwa tetap sehat dan hidup untuk segala kemungkinan2 yang baru dan berbeda. Ketidaklengkapan itu selamanya harus ada.

Setelah membaca 3 buku Lala, baru m berani menemukan apa yg bagiku paling kusukai dari dia. Dia memberikan perspektif baru dan tak terduga, penghayatan baru, alternatif baru, terhadap semua hal lama dan biasa. Sehingga, sambil membaca kita akan me recall semua perasaan, orang, makanan,,tempat ya pernah kita lewati dengan sebuah pemahaman baru.

Di buku ini, Lala lebih royal memakai kata. Renungan2 panjang dengan kalimat2 yang mengalir pelan, benar2 bacaan yang sangat personal. Love. Love. Love

[Awal Hidayat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Truthfully, i ain't an adoring fan of Lala Bohang. Well, i read the two siblings of this book previously. Few give me moved impression, several are just average. And here I am, read the new book with very high expectation. The first reason, the title of the book. It really hypnotizes me to have this book. Another essential thing, Lala Bohang posted gloomy spoiler about her spoiler through Instagram. How come I didn't wanna get this book ASAP. So, kudos to my Gramedia friend!!1!

Now about the book, just the same as her previous books. I love few pages, while others remain mere void. I can relate to "non-believer", "different coping mechanism" and "psychological struggle" the most. Weirdly, on my beginning tries, just opening random pages, i could somewhat fulfill my expectation. But when I read as usual from first to last page, it gave less meaningful way. Well, lesson learnt.

Here is my favorite line: Everyone has a different coping mechanism regarding being brought to this universe without consent... Some people create perfect imaginary lover to manipulate their late night loneliness.

Okay, seems like that part becomes the reason why the title of the book is so... Fairly good enough!

[Sintia Astarina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kalau sudah pernah membaca The Book of Invisible Questions dan The Book of Forbidden Feelings, mungkin kamu akan merasa kalau karya Lala Bohang yang satu ini jauh lebih dewasa dan jauh lebih matang. Lala Bohang membocorkan bagaimana proses kreatif dalam pembuatan The Book of Imaginary Beliefs ini.

Awalnya, ia akan merumuskan isi kepalanya ke dalam teks lebih dulu, kemudian dilanjutkan dengan menggambar, barulah bukunya didesain.

“Nah, desainnya yang (bikin) stres, tuh,” ujar Lala Bohang. Ia menambahkan, desain buku ini benar-benar dipikirkan secara matang. Makanya, apabila dibandingkan dengan dua saudarinya yang lain, bakalan kerasa banget perbedaan. Buku yang satu ini terasa lebih spesial.

REVIEW SELENGKAPNYA DI SINI https://www.sintiaastarina.com/the-bo...

[Claudia Anastasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ini adalah buku Lala Bohang pertama yang saya baca, i don’t know if i supposed to read the other book first or not.

Tadinya berpikir buku ini hanya sekedar sekumpulan puisi-puisi galau kekinian khas jaman sekarang, tapi ternyata tidak. Banyak tulisan yang justru bisa menjadi refleksi kehidupan bagi saya. Ditulis dengan indah and kind of depressing for me (apakah memang stylenya seperti itu?), but i like it.

Beberapa tulisan sangat relevan bagi saya, seperti mengenai kesendirian, makna kehidupan, kekosongan, dan beberapa tulisan lainnya saya baca tanpa memahaminya karena tidak relevan bagi saya. Meskipun terkadang beberapa kata dan kalimat terlalu repetitif (yang tentu saja masalah selera), tapi secara keseluruhan buku ini lebih dari ekspetasi saya.

PS : ilustrasi dan nuansa hijaunya sangat membantu menggambarkan teman dari keseluruhan puisi di buku ini. Suka sekali.

3.5/5⭐️

[Yuu Sasih · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the first book in this trilogy, then feels like the second book is not as likable as the first one, but the third book reminded me why I love Lala Bohang's prose.

In summary, Lala said it best with one of the phrase used in this book: her works were like Lana Del Rey. Sometimes it feels like it's romanticizing pain and mental health, and exploiting it to the point of almost anti-psychology or anti-therapy. But by exploiting the pain and sadness, she showed us what it means to be depressed, what it means to be anxious, because it is what it is, and most of the time psychoteraphy indeed out of reach when we were at the lowest point. So despite the romanticizing, this is still a much needed perspective, to let people know that this is what happened when one experiencing daily wounds and hurts that could led to depression and anxiety.

[mushtabara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hate this book but I like this book(?)

Sometimes this book is so relatable with my life right now; giving me advices, great slap, and so on, but sometimes it feels different, vague, and mostly repetitive (especially when it comes near to the end of the page)
Also, I feel like I’m reading my big sister journal rants in the middle of my free time ;0 I kind of have anxiety, but not as much as this book.

However, let me write down my favo parts inside!

• “Everything doesn’t always happen for a reason but everything happens because it happens” (p. 40)
• “You only need to live on so much less than you thought.” (p. 42)
• Oh, stop being so hard on yourself part (p. 44-47)

Love the illustrations! Abstract, fresh, unique, and unexpected. Thanks for mentioned Lana Del Rey! She is my favorite singer all the time ^_^

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Some pages hit, some just felt like random scribble, and some def felt like a personal diary.
Some felt right, some felt too edgy.

From the title itself, I thought it would be a kind of empowering one where readers would be forced to think outside the box, challenging status quo, and so on. Well, it is more like validating your feeling which is the exact opposite of it. But who am i to judge a book from its title right?

There are some passages like "Stop being so hard on yourself" and "How to have a good cry".
Another about furnitures and Frida Kahlo's paintings. It's just a bit all over the place.

The only thing that I liked was the Del Rey's lines. Overall, I think it's a nice book to read when you're still having those lingering pains. This will comfort your messy head on a rainy day.

[Jajo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book feels like entering an art performance with various mood radiating through each chapter. The words are short but carry so much weight, consume so much thought, and draw so much emotions. It was mind-wearying at first as much as it was stress-relieving at last.

Well, truth is some of the stories didn’t match up well with my character. But there are ones that i made sure to mark, not only on the book but also repeatedly on my mind. Those which i wish someone had looked me in the eyes and told me in person or hearing those from my mother, rather than reading it from a strange book i accidentally bumped on, written by a complete stranger which probably i’ll never-ever meet. It was strange-strange experience but a good kind of strange, and i am really thankful for that.

[P.P. Rahayu · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Book of Imaginary Belief
by Lala Bohang

3 out of 5 stars

Another book by Lala Bohang. I read the first book on 2018, I supposed. Well, I wasn't really engage with her words, but I like the illustrations. So does this book.

Because I make the review in 2020, I don't really remember what this book about. Once again, I read another poetry book around this time because I still got my heart break's vibe.

So, yeah. I like the words-that I have written on my channel in Telegram, and I still like the illustrations. Moreover, the color theme of this book is green! I like it.

My favorite and quote and so damn relatable:

He's there but not there.