It should not be a surprise to know that fiction books can carry heavy messages within them. For instance, George Orwell’s “1984” includes issues like censorship among many, Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway” touches on the damage of war, and Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights” has something to say … [Read more...]
‘Indonesia Out of Exile’: Imagination and liberation
June 29, 2023 by
'This book is not easy to pigeonhole in terms of its genre. It is partly social history, partly a biography of a great writer, partly an intellectual adventure story.' The following is a review of “Indonesia Out of Exile: How Pramoedya’s Buru Quartet Killed a Dictatorship” by Max Lane, Penguin … [Read more...]
Queer Joy Is Complicated in This Story Collection
June 27, 2023 by
What would it mean to be happy? It’s a question both essential and existential, one that seems so daunting, it’s best avoided. But queer Indonesian poet Norman Erikson Pasaribu has no intention of shying away from the messy nature of happiness—including its more melancholic aspects. The title of … [Read more...]
First Impression Friday: Man Tiger
June 25, 2023 by
Synopsis: A wry, affecting tale set in a small town on the Indonesian coast, Man Tiger tells the story of two interlinked and tormented families and of Margio, a young man ordinary in al particulars except that he conceals within himself a supernatural female white tiger. The inequities and … [Read more...]
