Laluba

This anthology of Nukila Amal’s short stories describes the human condition, from day to day routine to extremes: people strolling, taking a break at a coffee bar, boredom, first love, the loneliness of the elderly, and the brutality of wars.

The characters in the stories could be anyone or anything: an expectant mother, an eccentric dancer, a dew drop, two talking hands, or a small crocodile bursting out from a picture. The stories take place in the Halmahera coastal region, the alleys and streets of Jakarta, a village in Corsica, a gallery in the Netherlands, a circus in the middle of nowhere, or the amusement park inside the eye. Several stories set off from the works of printmaker M.C. Escher.