“This book affirmed within me the value in bucking against that instinct, in stepping into our fears. It‘s where the greatest truths come from - the understanding of what matters and what doesn‘t, the ability to let go of the things that too often hold us down, the acceptance of ourselves and a belief in our own promise.”

“I know that I am who I am not because of the titles I‘ve held or the celebrities I‘ve met, but because of the snaking paths and winding roads, the frustrations and contradictions, the constant growth that is painful and joyful and full of confusion.”

“I‘ve often wondered,” I said. “If you were an animal, what animal would you be?”
She leaned back, puzzled. “I can‘t say I‘ve given it any thought,” she said. “Since God did not make me an animal.”
“Indulge me,” I said. “For instance: fox or cat?”
...
Obviously I was both, since—unlike many—here I still am. I still have a bag of tricks. And I‘m still high in the tree.”

“I made choices, and then, having made them, I had fewer choice.”

“Such a cruel thing, memory. We can‘t remember what it is that we‘ve forgotten. That we have been made to forget. That we've had to forget, in order to pretend to live here in a normal way.”

“But I keep on going with this sad and hungry and sordid, this limping and mutilated story, because after all I want you to hear it, as I will hear yours too if I ever get the chance, if I meet you or if you escape, in the future or in the heaven or in in prison or underground, some other place.”

“Luke said I had the mind of an antiquarian. He liked that, he liked old things himself.”

“When we think of the past it‘s the beautiful things we pick out. We want to believe it was all like that.”

“All she really knew was that in this terrible, frightening world, she had stumbled into something unexpected.”

“Somehow I keep going. If there is one thing I never do, it‘s stop.”

“He loves a version of me that is incomplete. I always thought it was what I wanted: to be loved and admired. Now I think perhaps I‘d like to be known.”

“... in those boxes are the things I don‘t use much anymore but can‘t bear to part with. For me, admitting that I won‘t decorate a tree for Christmas is giving up, and I‘ve never been good at letting go.”

“Perhaps that‘s why I find myself looking backward. The past has a clarity I can no longer see in the present.”

“Not all of us are as lucky as you. You are a man of extraordinary gifts. You don‘t need toys to make you happy.”

-Crown Prince KBM Al Saud to Gabriel Allon.
The New Girl, Daniel Silva (2019).

Buku antologi puisi Hujan Bulan Juni memuat 102 puisi karya SDD dari tahun 1959-1994. Selaras dengan judul buku, puisi pada Hujan Bulan Juni yang banyak memiliki kesan sendu menjabarkan berbagai makna kehidupan yang diturunkan oleh alam bersama hujan. Melalui buku ini, pembaca dapat memahami bahwa alam mempunyai cara tersendiri dalam menyampaikan pesan, salah satunya dengan hujan yang turun di bulan Juni. (FVV)

“Lebih luas dari fajar
lebih dalam dari langit
lebih pasti dari makna
sudah usai sebelum dimulai
dan sepenuhnya abadi
tanpa diucapkan sama sekali.”

-Sapardi Djoko Damono (1994)
Terbangnya Burung, Hujan Bulan Juni.

“Aku mencintaimu, itu sebabnya aku takkan pernah selesai mendoakan keselamatanmu.”

-Sapardi Djoko Damono (1989)
Dalam Doaku, Hujan Bulan Juni.

Tak ada yang lebih tangguh dari hujan bulan Juni.

“Sejak itu kau pun menunggu kalau-kalau ada kabar dari perahu yang tak pernah lepas dari rindumu itu.”

-Sapardi Djoko Damono (1981)
Perahu Kertas, Hujan Bulan Juni.

“Yang fana adalah waktu. Kita abadi:
memungut detik demi detik, merangkainya seperti bunga
sampai pada suatu hari
kita lupa untuk apa.
“Tapi,
yang fana adalah waktu, bukan?”
tanyamu. Kita abadi.”

-Sapardi Djoko Damono (1978)
Yang Fana adalah Waktu, Hujan Bulan Juni.

“Ia ingin pagi itu hujan turun rintik-rintik dan lorong sepi agar ia bisa berjalan sendiri saja sambil menangis dan tak ada orang bertanya kenapa.”

-Sapardi Djoko Damono (1973)
Pada Suatu Pagi Hari, Hujan Bulan Juni.

“Aku dan matahari tidak bertengkar tentang siapa di antara kami yang telah menciptakan bayang-bayang,
aku dan bayang-bayang tidak bertengkar tentang siapa di antara kami yang harus berjalan di depan.”

-Sapardi Djoko Damono (1971)
Berjalan ke Barat Waktu Pagi Hari, Hujan Bulan Juni.

“Dan bumi tak pernah membeda-bedakan,
tak pernah mencinta atau membenci;
bumi adalah pelukan yang dingin,
tak pernah menolak atau menanti,
tak akan pernah membuat janji dengan langit.”

-Sapardi Djoko Damono (1964)
Seorang Penjaga Kubur yang Mati, Hujan Bulan Juni.

“Jadi mengapa manusia bisa tetap eksis ketika kemanusiaan mati?,” - Ahmad Tohari (1982).

Berkat kepiawaian penulis dalam membangun setting kisah RDP yang didasari dengan kesadaran dan wawasan alam yang tinggi, penulis berhasil menyulap kesan Dukuh Paruk yang digambarkan gersang menjadi perkampungan istimewa. Membaca RDP membuat pembaca menyadari bahwa hubungan manusia, alam dan peristiwa lampau merupakan kesatuan yang tidak terpisahkan. (FVV)