When I arrived in the early 90s, it was almost impossible to find English-language books about Indonesia. Things have changed.
The Internet was not yet available at the time and there were no English-language bookstores. In fact, there were few libraries of any kind. Gramedia, of course, sold Indonesian books, focusing mainly on how to get better at business or in religion. But outside Jakarta there were few. When I arrived in Lombok in 1999, I could not find the libraries at all, bar a few dusty stalls selling pirated copies of textbooks and technical manuals. The same is true for most countries.
I used to buy my books in Singapore or Melbourne. I would drive to the suburbs where a small shop specializing in books on Indonesia and Asia. I bought more or less everything I could find in Indonesia for a general readership. My collection of early included Christopher Koch of The Year of Living Dangerously and Pramoedya Ananta Toer of Buru Quartet (published in English by Penguin), which were subsequently banned in Indonesia. Then there were occasional copies of Inside Indonesia , the only independent source of information and analysis on Indonesian politics and society at the time.
Other early acquisitions included wonderful book by Franz Magnis-Suseno, Javanese ethics and World-View (The Javanese Idea of the Good Life), and critical Indonesia Bill Manual Dalton. Conversely, I read White Tribe Ratih Hardjono Asia, an Indonesian to Australia. But for a young man of book-hungry who fell in love with Indonesia, the country has remained pretty much a mystery. Of course, this was how President Suharto wanted her.
Twenty-five years later and we are spoiled for choice. Bookstores like Kinokuniya, Books and Beyond, Aksara and Ganesha meet the English language bibliophiles, the Periplus shops can be found in airports and shopping malls across the country, and every October, the Ubud Readers and Writers Festival celebrates the literature Indonesia and the region. Indonesian bookstores appeared in shopping centers in most cities, and 2015 Frankfurt Book Fair in Featured thriving scene of literature in Indonesia.
The number of books available in English and Indonesian, exploded.
new breed of Indonesia novelists pushes the boundaries and, through the efforts of the Lontar Foundation and others, many of their works are available in translation. The shelves are also full of books on Indonesia and the Indonesian experience writing Sojourners and expatriates. Scholarly analyzes of Indonesian history, politics, society, environment and religion jostle for space with titillating stories from Jakarta sex industry and exposes the sordid scene of drug Bali. And in between, there is all of the popular history and anthropology novels and travelogues. The best of them offer new perspectives, get under the skin of this diverse and dynamic country, while at the same time entertaining and fun.
Notable bed in the past year include Tim Hannigan Raffles and the British invasion of Java and A brief history of Indonesia Indonesia Elizabeth Pisani etc. Andrew Beatty A shadow falls in the heart of Java, and Nigel Barley of in the footsteps of Stamford Raffles, Toraja misadventures of an anthropologist in Sulawesi, Indonesia, and Island demons.
The Derek Pugh history of travel to Sumbawa, published in 2015 on the 200 e anniversary of the catastrophic eruption of Tambora, takes the reader to the science of volcanology at history and personal travel narrative. At the end of the book, I found myself considering a plan to climb Tambora, thinking very seriously the risks of life on the Ring of Fire, and desire for some more offbeat travel.
Tambora is full of stories and characters. We meet old daughter of the Sultan of Bima, Sumbawa child jockeys Besar and West Sumbawa doped surfers out. All set against the backdrop of the giant mountains and the havoc it wrought on the planet 200 years ago. Perhaps best of all, Pugh, an Australian expatriate, written as if it introduces the characters, tell these stories over a beer at the bar, or perhaps sitting by a campfire on a beach. Tambora is a great thread.
The book is published by Gramedia, English and Indonesian. Throughout history and reflection, it is a call to the Indonesians and Americans to get to know each other. Title Like the Moon and the Sun is an Indonesian proverb that describes a perfect match, the balance of contrasting two peoples and traditions, each enhancing the other. Harsha has a deep understanding of the country and described the peaceful transition of Indonesia from a dictatorship to the third largest democracy in the world, critical analysis religion, human rights and the war against terrorism the perspective of an insider and benefit from the experience of an outsider. This is a reflection tale written by a serious man, but that seriousness is never allowed to go into self-importance, because it is tempered by a sense of humor and tenderness - maybe "love" is not too strong a word - for Indonesia and its people.
memory 'Arlo Hennings Guitarlo , is a very different kind of book. Hennings is a colorful character and unlike Harsha, this character is reflected in the colorful writing. The style is pure rock and roll on top, with fantastic moments, sometimes self-denominational, but never boring. At 15, he ran away from home in the US for a life on the street, falling with against-culturalist junkies, narrowly avoiding a lynching by the red-neck farmers are picked up by a bus hippies and stumbling amid three days of peace, love and music at Woodstock. After the attempts of a "normal" life as a dental technician and a street vendor, he discovers a talent for managing music, which takes him to the heart of the American music industry and subsequently in South Africa.
English language bookstores in Indonesia:
Aksara www.aksara.com (stores in Kemang, citos and Pacific Place, Jakarta)
Books and beyond www. booksbeyond.co.id (40 stores, located in Jakarta, Tangerang, Cikarang, Bandung, Medan, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Balikpapan, Bali, Manado, Makassar and Palembang)
Ganesha : www.ganeshabooksbali.com (shops in Ubud and Sanur)
Gramedia www.gramedia.com (Indonesian and English books , stores in most cities)
Kinokuniya www.kinokuniya.co.id (Plaza Senayan shopping, great Indonesia and elsewhere in Jakarta)
Lontar Foundation: www.lontar.org (Indonesian books in translation, Pejompongan, Jakarta)
Journey www.periplus.com (40 stores, located in Jakarta, Bali, Yogyakarta, Bandung, Semarang, Surabaya, Lombok and Medan)
Ubud writers and festival readers: 26 - October 30 2016
books discussed in this article are available on Amazon , or directly from the authors:
Derek Pugh www. derekpugh.com.au
Stanley Harsha: http://stanleyharsha.com
Arlo Hennings www.arlohennings.com