Jalan Tak Ada Ujung

Mochtar Lubis’ Jalan Tak Ada Ujung (or, A Road with No End in English translation) is a historical fiction set in 1946, a modern era in Indonesian history where the independence declaration the year before didn’t stop the Dutch from coming to its former colony to occupy it once more. First published in 1952 (this particular Yayasan Obor Indonesia’s edition was reprinted for the seventh time in 2016), the story doesn’t follow any heroic actions, though it does seem so, of our protagonist―rather, it depressingly, and disturbingly at times, displays his cowardice and lack of enthusiasm for fighting the colonizers. This book is clearly not about being a hero; instead, it is about a road that has no end, a road that the protagonist has to blindly walk on to reach not only true independence, but complete freedom.