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A review by sherlys
Orang-Orang Bloomington by Budi Darma
5.0
People from Bloomington was written in 1970s in Indonesian entitled “Orang-orang Bloomington” by Budi Darma. He is a senior yet important writer up until today. His writing style is uniquely his, I only read three of his books so far and I still want to read more of his books.
People from Bloomington is a short stories compilation, they are 7 of them. The titles of the short stories are the names of the characters. They are all set in Bloomington, Indiana and the stories were written when the author studied and lived there in the 70s. The stories were written in first POV, with the character “I” that maybe many of you will find it quite strange. As an Indonesian, I think character “I” is what I say typical neighbor in Indonesia, but since the stories are set in the US it’s interesting to put this character there. The writer did not identify the character “I” clearly but I think this person personalities are odd and I feel that “I” is an outsider, character “I” is wild. I is sometimes I feel is our dark ego.
In this book you will meet “the old man with no name” who is an army veteran who lived in your neighbour’s attic, “Joshua Karabish” your ex-roommate with a strange disease who liked writing poetry, “The Family M” is a family who lived in the same apartment with you who you hated the most coz you though their children prank your car, “Orez” is about your beloved son who drives you and your partner crazy, “Yorrick” is your charming roommate who stole your love, “Mrs Elberhart” is about your old neighbor who lives on her own, who you secretly look after but she is a difficult person to be approached, and last but not least “Charles Lebourne” who you believed is your long lost father. Every story will make you face an uncomfortable feeling and that what makes this book so special.
People from Bloomington is a short stories compilation, they are 7 of them. The titles of the short stories are the names of the characters. They are all set in Bloomington, Indiana and the stories were written when the author studied and lived there in the 70s. The stories were written in first POV, with the character “I” that maybe many of you will find it quite strange. As an Indonesian, I think character “I” is what I say typical neighbor in Indonesia, but since the stories are set in the US it’s interesting to put this character there. The writer did not identify the character “I” clearly but I think this person personalities are odd and I feel that “I” is an outsider, character “I” is wild. I is sometimes I feel is our dark ego.
In this book you will meet “the old man with no name” who is an army veteran who lived in your neighbour’s attic, “Joshua Karabish” your ex-roommate with a strange disease who liked writing poetry, “The Family M” is a family who lived in the same apartment with you who you hated the most coz you though their children prank your car, “Orez” is about your beloved son who drives you and your partner crazy, “Yorrick” is your charming roommate who stole your love, “Mrs Elberhart” is about your old neighbor who lives on her own, who you secretly look after but she is a difficult person to be approached, and last but not least “Charles Lebourne” who you believed is your long lost father. Every story will make you face an uncomfortable feeling and that what makes this book so special.