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A review by itzreibrary
Happy Stories, Mostly by Norman Erikson Pasaribu
4.0
"What does it mean to be happy? Also, what does it mean to be almost happy? In a world where we disneyfied heterosexualities, for queer folks, what is happiness?"
Happy Stories, Mostly, consists of 12 stories, some long some very short. As queer, Norman Erikson Pasaribu wrote mostly about general issues faced by LGBTQ communities (in, specifically, I think, Jakarta). There are also a lot of mentions about Batak culture, and what intrigued me much; the lost or doubt in faith and God (as the writer raised as a Catholic). There’s one story that gave a deep impression in my mind: The True Story of the Story of the Giant, about Henri, who once read a short story called The Secret History of The Giant Man. The Giant Man supposedly was an urban legend from North Sumatra, about a young man back in the colonial era, who kept growing until he attained a height of around 100 meters. Though it was badly written with ridiculous claim ‘based on a true story’, Henri can’t shake the story off his head. When he went to college in Jakarta, one of his classmates, suddenly mention the story of the giant, whose name apparently Parulian Si Halak Ganjang. Henri became more intrigued when he found out that his classmate was actually a Batak, too, his name was Tunggul Sitorus. Their friendship escalated quickly, until one day Tunggul admitted that he fell in love with Henri. Henri immediately turn him down and eventually, Tunggul threw himself in front of a moving train.
I realized I learn a lot from just this one story. Heteronormativity, which made me snort with laughter; the Batak urban legend, Parulian si Halak Ganjang (Google doesn’t know anything about him); and how hard it was to come out to the person you love if you’re gay, especially when the person not only turn you down but he also straight.
After I read the whole book and caught the writer’s sense of humor (which I love very much), I think the title Happy Stories, Mostly, is actually a sarcasm. There are no happy stories here, even at the almost.
‘I asked if he worried about confirming stereotypes – about gay men having multiple partners and so on. “Henri, Henri,” he sighed, “all the hetero guys I know have three or four girls! What do you call that?” His tone was withering, “heteronormativity!”’ -page 46.
Happy Stories, Mostly, consists of 12 stories, some long some very short. As queer, Norman Erikson Pasaribu wrote mostly about general issues faced by LGBTQ communities (in, specifically, I think, Jakarta). There are also a lot of mentions about Batak culture, and what intrigued me much; the lost or doubt in faith and God (as the writer raised as a Catholic). There’s one story that gave a deep impression in my mind: The True Story of the Story of the Giant, about Henri, who once read a short story called The Secret History of The Giant Man. The Giant Man supposedly was an urban legend from North Sumatra, about a young man back in the colonial era, who kept growing until he attained a height of around 100 meters. Though it was badly written with ridiculous claim ‘based on a true story’, Henri can’t shake the story off his head. When he went to college in Jakarta, one of his classmates, suddenly mention the story of the giant, whose name apparently Parulian Si Halak Ganjang. Henri became more intrigued when he found out that his classmate was actually a Batak, too, his name was Tunggul Sitorus. Their friendship escalated quickly, until one day Tunggul admitted that he fell in love with Henri. Henri immediately turn him down and eventually, Tunggul threw himself in front of a moving train.
I realized I learn a lot from just this one story. Heteronormativity, which made me snort with laughter; the Batak urban legend, Parulian si Halak Ganjang (Google doesn’t know anything about him); and how hard it was to come out to the person you love if you’re gay, especially when the person not only turn you down but he also straight.
After I read the whole book and caught the writer’s sense of humor (which I love very much), I think the title Happy Stories, Mostly, is actually a sarcasm. There are no happy stories here, even at the almost.
‘I asked if he worried about confirming stereotypes – about gay men having multiple partners and so on. “Henri, Henri,” he sighed, “all the hetero guys I know have three or four girls! What do you call that?” His tone was withering, “heteronormativity!”’ -page 46.