Book Review

Title: Negeri 5 Menara
Author: A. Fuadi
Publisher: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama

Year of Publication: 2009
Place of Publication: Jakarta
Thickness: 422 pages

A.  Synopsys

A novel of Negeri 5 Menara is written based on the author's personal experience. A. Fuadi who succesfuly gained eight scholarships to study abroad is very nicely presented his life's journey in reaching his dreams and success.

This novel tells the story of Alif who is forced by his mother to continue his study at the  religious school.  View about religious school that is very left behind compared to public schools makes Alif against the wishes of his mother. Briefly, on the   recommendation of his uncle, he applied to Pondok Madani (PM) in East Java. The decision was taken reluctantly because Alif really wanted to go to public school.
 

The over intensive activities and the coercive regulation at Pondok Madani sometimes makes Alif overworked and under pressure. However, words of wisdom and motivation that is often conveyed by asatidz (teachers) at PM return the spirit of Alif to study.  One of advices that Alif always remembers it is from the Arabic phrase man jadda wajada, which has meaning whoever does considerable effort will definitely succeed.

 Alif luckily met five boys who become his best friends while at PM; they are Raja, Said, Baso, Dulmajid, and Atang. Six of them in the habit of gathering in the mosque minaret of PM. Under the minaret, they usually have a break from the demanding schedule, discuss the lessons, and talk about their dreams. When evening comes, the six boys often watched over the sky and saw the cloud. They imagined the shape of the cloud as the continents of the world. One would assume that the form of the cloud they watched was similar to the African continent,the others say America, Asia and others. Each had their own imagination and dream that one day they will be in those continents.

Because of their habitual to get to gather under the minaret, Alif and his friends get their nickname as Shahibul Menara or the owner of the minaret from their friends. Even the six boys named each of them as a minaret I, II and so on.

After four years at PM, they finally passed, except Baso who quit before graduating because he had to take care of his grandmother. After graduating from PM, they split up and continue their education according to their personal wishes. Concisely, the six boys made their dream and were successful.

This novel contains  moral messages to dare to dream and  not to underestimate every dreams  because every dreams would be heard by God. The story in this novel teaches the readers to make all effort in achieving successful and not to despair.   

B. Personal Comment

This novel explains in detail about the activities that are full of dicipliness and the open minded views in Islamic boarding school or pesantren on the developments of modern world. It is very important in order to make a correction of people’s negative views about religious school. 

After reading this novel, I started to think of my wishes and listed my dreams. This novel is not only amusing but also inspiring. It is amusing because we will find many jokes within this novel. Besides that, the author also included his personal opinion when he told us about the characteristic and behavior of his friends and it is funny because of his comments. Negeri 5 Menara can be considered as an inspiring novel because it is full of massages. We would be reminded to many hadist and wise words trough this novel. Without doubt, I could say that this is the best inspiring novel I ever read.