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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I hadn't known about the bloodshed of the 1965 events in Indonesia. This is sent through the eyes of western journalists and camera people including an Australian Chinese with dwarfism.
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I saw the movie made from the novel first - it was some years ago. I was very taken by the movie (starring Linda Hunt portraying a man - it works), and that is why I later read the book. It did not disappoint. It offers an important piece of history of a land we Westerners know little about in a moving, compelling story with memorable characters. Highly recommended if you love stories set in different cultures spiced with political intrigue.
This book is complete and utter shit. It's racist, ableist, fat-phobic, sexist and orientalist, and it manages to do all this in only the first four pages. It is Indonesian post colonial history written from a white colonial gaze. It's disgusting. It makes Indonesians and Sukarno seem like mindless idiots, like they have no political acumen, and what is to be expected when it is written by a white man? White people hate it when we refuse to allow them to exploit and rule us anymore and so this shit is what we get. White people giving this book a good review, you're all fucking racists. The Indonesians giving it a good review? You're even worse. You've bought a version of yourself the White man is selling you. Your internalized racism makes you even more disgusting than the White man cos it's your own people you're selling out. If I could give this book a negative star I would. This book is only for the Asians who like to put down other Asians to get the White mans approval, and the Whites yearning for the good old days where they were rich and could do as they please and think they are somehow better than the rest of us mindless savages. Everyone else, please go read things written by actual Indionesians with a much more nuanced user standing of post colonial Indonesia.
cold war, lyrical imagery, excellent characterization, intriguing Indonesian history
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Saw the film many years ago and it continues to haunt me. Picked up a third hand copy of the book, probably in Bras Basah road in Singapore way back, but it's sat on my TBR shelf for far too long. Am intrigued by this period in Indonesian history, and still filling in gaps in my own ignorance. This is an atmospheric political thriller that captures the last months of Sukarno's presidency as seen through the eyes of a group of - mainly Australian - journalists. It centres on Guy Hamilton, who is befriended by the dwarf photographer, Billy Kwan, soon after his arrival in Jakarta. Kwan spies on just about everyone and writes about them in his journal and compiles dossiers on them - most of all on Hamilton and his girlfriend, Jilly. Kwan's is the most complex character in the novel, yet I don't think we ever fully understand what drives him.