Hasrul Rizwan's Fantastik

In honesty, I've lost of words. The writer is stupendous. He weaved wits in almost every pages of the novel. I failed to retreat myself from laughing out loud barely in two pages at a time. Fantastik may not the greatest satire ever crafted by him as I'm still immersed in the resolution of experience depicted in Budak Hostel Otaknya Sewel but, Fantastik is utterly mindblowing.

The novel written in Ali's random, innocent, null and naive point of view, making it looks nicely like his very own diary. The emergence of Alma, literally helps him in redefining the way reality works and broadening his perspective to think further. They say, go big or go home. The stretched chapters in the novel reminds me on Mandatori by Ramlee Awang Murshid and sometimes I'm disturbed with the lengthiness of chapters, not because the plots were draggy but this is just a personal matter; Long chapters make me hard to stop as I never stop at the middle of chapters. I only pause after certain episodes are over. Can I say that this case is distracting my focus to get some quality reading as well? Again, it's personal.

Alongside the process of penetrating Ali's personal point of view, slowly I'm falling in love with Alma. Am I the only one experiencing this?

The brilliance of how the characters being built, prepared and unveiled capped off with a fantabulous, madly ridiculous climax. You can't always have this much weight of fun reading a novel unless it is helmed by Hasrul Rizwan. Fantastik reminds me of several scenes in movies; police chasing in Taxi 2, Main Agar Kahoon in Om Shanti Om and Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. I love this setting, a lot. Especially on how the writer shaped Alma as a dream girl of everyone in the novel, sending me to the brink of sinking in love.

When we're in the grasp of our beloved ones, we'll feel safe and secure may whatever disaster or obstacle surges in between. The tranquility of being with our beloved one is irreplaceable, invaluable.

Mindfuck, as usual, as always. This is a double-edged sword climax and conclusion to yet another magnificent and well delivered fable. The grief only arrives at the ending moment of being in both; relationship and friendship. I felt that deep until the song Kaise Mujhe from Ghajini played acoustically in my mind. I'm shooketh. Oh my goodness not a time can I escape from my feeling being played again and again. Hasrul Rizwan brilliantly weaved consecutive scenes that cunningly betrayed my mind for so many times until I started singing Detik Kematian from Inteam and Paradise by Maher Zain. But hell yeah, nothing such absurd exists as bad ending. Everything ends with a good note, if it isn't good then it's not the end just yet.

Sit down and enjoy reading until the very last of alphabets, and you'll end up being blown away. What a glorious story.

"Di dalam kegelapan, cahaya akan senang terlihat."