Optimist

The novel is mainly about the forgotten British poet/writer named C. J Richards who lived in Burma/Myanmar in colonial times and he believed himself as a Burmophile. He served as I.C.S (Indian Civil Servant) and when he retired from I.C.S service, he was a D.C (District Commissioner) and he left for England a year before Burma gained its independence in 1948. He came to Burma in 1920 to work in civil service after passing the hardest I.C.S examination. He wrote several books on Burma and contributed many monthly articles to Guardian Magazine published in Burma from 1953 to 1974 or 1975. Though he wrote several books which had much literary merit to both communities, Britain and Burma (Myanmar), people failed to recognize him. The story has two parts: one part is set in the contemporary Yangon (then called Rangoon) in 2016 context and a young literary enthusiast named “Lin” found out unexpectedly the forgotten writer’s poetry book and there is surely a good deal of time gap that led him into a quest to know more about the author’s life. The setting is quite different comparing to colonial Burma and independence Myanmar (Burma), early twentieth century and 2016 which is a transitional period in Myanmar. The writer’s life is fictionalized in the novel and most of the facts are taken from his personal stories and other reference books. It is a kind of historical novel with a twist and it has comparatively constructed the two different periods in Myanmar history to convince readers, locally and abroad more about history, authorship, humanity, colonialism, and transitional development in Myanmar today.

Cyril is a sophomore student who is just like any other teenager. Just recently before their freshmen year ended, he had admitted a secret to his clubmates, thus making him the bullies' target. This resulted in him losing his friends and be left with one true friend, Hera. Everything seemed chaotic already until they became classmates with a supposed to be senior student named, Kode. The older guy, on the other, is a loner. He has repeated the year level for 2 years already because he doesn't want to attend school anymore, but his parents force him to. However, after a long drive home from the prom party at the end of the school year all of their lives completely changed, though, they were unsure if the change was for better or worse.

Imagine being kidnapped; being held hostage; being threatened with hunger and violence; surviving with unknown people. Imagine finding a connection, finding love in that oh so terrible prison. Imagine being loved by that love. Imagine being lost, torn away from that love; slapped back to the reality of your fate. Imagine being tortured; the pain not mostly from your own torture, but from the knowledge that the love was somewhere else, somewhere close but far; also being tortured. Imagine your whole life being questioned, threatened to be a lie. Imagine that love being questioned. Imagine being alone. Imagine Love In Bondage.

Iya Santos is a 21 years old teacher, who lives her life to the fullest. She grew up with a drunkard father and with her loving grandmother, whom sooner was taken away from her because of death. She was given lots of fortune due her grandmother's death, and because of that at young age she independently manages all the money that she has. She treasures her friends and treated them like family. She never begs for a man’s love, for she believes that love should be given freely and to be begged. A problem occurs, when she met her mother whom she thought already died after she gave birth to her. Feeling lied to and betrayed, she ones again closes her heart to everyone, thinking that she can no longer trust the people around her.Life goes on for her as she realizes that the only way to heal a broken heart is through forgiving. 5 years had pass, her mother called her and wanting to meet her, not because she wants to say sorry for what she had done but because she has a stage 3 cancer and asking her a favor to take care of her child, as she met her mother and her child, her mother had a heart attack and needed to be rush in the hospital. She was left with no choice but to take care of her step brother, whom soon after got attached to her. And when her mother died she took care of him. It was like taking care of her own child, Jom helped her to take care of her step brother. Soon after, Jom and Iya got engaged and soon got marriede.That is when Iya finally realizes the true meaning of life.

The trust of the innocent is the liar's most useful tool. It's funny because it's true. I was innocent. Someone naive enough to trust so blindly and for that I was taken advantage of by liars. And now I have lost everything. But I was given a new life. A second chance to right the wrongs done against me. Now vengeance is on my mind. Hatred is in my heart. And love is in the air. But I don't know where it's coming from. Because I don't trust anyone. Not even the air I breathe.

Mencintai, bagiku ya harus memiliki. Apapun itu alasannya! Seorang Adam datang, ketulusannya meluluhkanku. Sorot matanya yang tajam, memabukkanku. Sedang sebuah cincin, yang melingkar di jari manisnya, seketika menghancurkan harapanku. Iya, dia sudah beristri. Tetapi hasratku untuk memilikinya, tetap menggelora, tidak akan pernah padam sampai kapanpun. Mungkin ini sedikit gila, tetapi ini lah kisahku. Kisah seorang wanita muda, yang bernama Criana.

Angelie is a college student from the slums of Manila who has always been certain of her intentions in life. She had her life planned out before enrolling in university. However, things spiral out of control and become monotonous when she is denied in the admission of her first choice university. However, this does not deter her, and she spends the next year becoming accustomed to failing herself. Eventually, events transpired and she discovered optimism during her second year in college. As she has made genuine friends, they embark on a path of intrigue in order to spice up their stay, which entails changing their NSTP subjects from CWTS to ROTC. They had no idea that tensions would erupt once they entered such an organization. They unearth secrets, secrets that would either destroy the organization as a whole or would destroy them individually.

Jaya diputuskan oleh kekasihnya—Tasya—di suatu malam hanya karena tidak mengingat hari ulang tahunnya. Di saat Jaya ingin mendapatkan hati Tasya kembali, dia mengalami kenyataan yang jauh lebih pahit: Tasya menjalin hubungan dengan sahabatnya sendiri. Jaya harus memilih antara sahabat atau mantan yang masih dicintainya. Dia hanya bisa pasrah menanggung luka yang teramat dalam. Layaknya batu karang di tepi lautan, bahkan meski diterpa ombak jutaan kali pun, ia tetap bergeming.

Cowok itu bernama Beryl. Nama lengkapnya Beryl Bernando. Dia punya sejuta pesona di kampus dan pandai meluluhkan hati para cewek. Cewek mana pun pasti berhasil ditaklukkannya. Tidak hanya cewek sesama mahasiswa saja yang berhasil masuk dalam jeratan dan perangkap cintanya, tapi juga dosen galak dan senior di kampus juga berhasil ditaklukkan hatinya. Bahkan dosennya menjadi teman main di atas ranjang. Dia adalah Bu Liana. Tidak hanya Bu Liana saja yang berhasil ditaklukkan Beryl di atas ranjang. Tapi masih terdapat segudang cewek lain yang berhasil menjadi teman kencan di atas ranjang. Di ujung cerita, Beryl menikah dengan Sherly atas permintaan Paelori, cewek yang sangat dicintai Beryl karena secara diam-diam Sherly sangat mencintai Beryl dan Paelori ingin menebus dosa orang tuanya pada keluarga Sherly.

Karena sebuah kertas contekan, Tara terpaksa harus berurusan dengan Wira, laki-laki yang menjabat sebagai ketua organisasi pecinta alam di sekolah mereka. Hal itu memicu kemarahan Harsa, si angota tim basket terganteng yang notabane adalah kekasih Tara. Dibalik konflik internal yang melibatkan mereka, tersimpan fakta yang mengarisi takdir antara Wira dan Harsa. Kesalahan-kesalahan di masalalu membuat yang terus berseteru terombang ambing dalam jalan hidup yang rumit, antara keluarga, cinta dan cita-cita. Lalu apa jadinya jika Tara yang terkenal judes itu diam-diam mulai menyimpan rasa kepada Wira. Sementara Harsa masih dilanda kebimbangan. Ini adalah kisah dari orang-orang yang dipaksa untuk tumbuh dewasa tanpa peduli seberapa mudanya mereka. Hingga pada akhirnya mengerti jika jatuh cinta tidak akan mengajarkannya tentang hidup. Tapi patah hati - mungkin.