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丕賱噩賲丕賱 噩乇丨
毓賱賶 睾乇丕乇 賲丕賰賵賳丿賵 丕賱賯乇賷丞 丕賱卮賴賷乇丞 賮賷 鈥溬呚жω� 毓丕賲 賲賳 丕賱毓夭賱丞鈥� 賷禺賱賯 賰丕乇賳賷丕賵丕賳 賮賷 丕賱噩賲丕賱 噩乇丨 亘賱丿丞賸 爻丕丨賱賷丞貙 賵賷噩毓賱 賲賳賴丕 賲爻乇丨丕 賷毓乇囟 毓賱賷賴 鬲丕乇賷禺 廿賳丿賵賳賷爻賷丕 丕賱賲毓丕氐乇貙 賵賲丕 卮賴丿鬲賴 賲賳 丨賵丕丿孬 賰亘賷乇丞 毓賱賶 賲丿丕乇 丕賱賯乇賳 丕賱毓卮乇賷賳. 賵毓亘乇 孬賱丕孬丞 兀噩賷丕賱 賲賳 兀爻乇丞 賵丕丨丿丞貙 賷丨賰賷 毓卮乇丕鬲 丕賱丨賰丕賷丕鬲貙 賲購禺賱氐丕 賱賰賱賾 丨賰丕賷丞 賲賳賴丕貙 賰兀賳賾賲丕 賴賷 賴丿賮賴 丕賱賵丨賷丿 賲賳 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 賰賱賴丕貙 孬賲 賷賳氐乇賮 廿賱賶 丨賰丕賷丞 兀禺乇賶貙 丨鬲賶 賱賷賵卮賰 賰賱賾 賮氐賱 賮賷 賴匕賴 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞貙 兀賳 賷賰賵賳 賮賷 匕丕鬲賴 賯氐丞 胤賵賷賱丞 賲丨賰賲丞.
賵鬲噩賲毓 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 亘賷賳 丕賱丨爻賾 丕賱賲賱丨賲賷 賵丕賱鬲丕乇賷禺貙 賵丕賱鬲乇丕噩賷丿賷丕 丕賱毓丕卅賱賷丞貙 賵丕賱禺乇丕賮丕鬲 賵丕賱賰賵賲賷丿賷丕 丕賱賱丕匕毓丞 賵丕賱乇賵賲丕賳爻賷丞 賮賷 爻賱丕爻丞 賲匕賴賱丞貙 賰賲丕 賵氐賮鬲賴丕 丕賱氐丨丕賮丞 丕賱賮乇賳爻賷丞 丨賷賳 氐丿賵乇 鬲乇噩賲鬲賴丕 賮賷 亘丕乇賷爻 毓丕賲 2017 賵賵氐賵賱賴丕 賱賱賯丕卅賲丞 丕賱賯氐賷乇丞 賱噩丕卅夭丞 賲丿爻賷爻 丕賱賲乇賲賵賯丞貙 賵鬲賳亘兀 丕賱賲丨乇乇 丕賱孬賯丕賮賷 賱噩乇賷丿丞 賱賵賲賵賳丿 亘兀賳 賴匕賴 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 賯丿 鬲氐賱 亘氐丕丨亘賴丕 廿賱賶 兀亘賵丕亘 丕賱兀賰丕丿賷賲賷丞 丕賱爻賵賷丿賷丞 賮鬲賰賵賳 兀賵賱 賳賵亘賱 賮賷 丕賱兀丿亘 賱兀賳丿賵賳賷爻賷丕.
賵賱丿 賰賵乇賳丕賵賷丕賳 亘噩夭賷乇丞 噩丕賵丕 毓丕賲 1975貙 賵丿乇爻 丕賱賮賱爻賮丞 亘噩丕賲毓丞 噩丕丿噩丕 賲丕丿丕貙 賵賴賵 賷賰鬲亘 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 賵丕賱賯氐丞 賵丕賱賲賯丕賱 賵丕賱爻賷賳丕乇賷賵 丕賱爻賷賳賲丕卅賷貙 廿囟丕賮丞 賱毓賲賱賴 賰賲氐賲賲 噩乇丕賮賷賰. 賵賯丿 氐丿乇鬲 賱賴 丨鬲賶 丕賱丌賳 兀乇亘毓 乇賵丕賷丕鬲 賵禺賲爻 賲噩賲賵毓丕鬲 賯氐氐賷丞 賵賰鬲丕亘 賵丕丨丿 賲賳 丕賱賲賯丕賱丕鬲. 鬲購乇噩賲鬲 兀毓賲丕賱賴 廿賱賶 27 賱睾丞貙 賵賰丕賳 兀賵賱 賰丕鬲亘 廿賳丿賵賳賷爻賷 賷氐賱 廿賱賶 丕賱賯丕卅賲丞 丕賱胤賵賷賱丞 賱噩丕卅夭丞 賲丕賳 亘賵賰乇 毓丕賲 2016 亘乇賵丕賷鬲賴 鈥溫з勜必� 丕賱賳賲乇鈥� 賵丕賱鬲賷 丨氐賱鬲 兀賷囟賸丕 毓賱賶 噩丕卅夭丞 氐賳丿賵賯 兀賵亘賳賴丕賷賲乇 賱賱兀氐賵丕鬲 丕賱賳丕卮卅丞 丕賱鬲丕亘毓丞 賱噩乇賷丿丞 丕賱賮丕賷賳賳卮賷丕賱 鬲丕賷賲夭. 兀賲丕 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 丕賱鬲賷 亘賷賳 兀賷丿賷賳丕 鈥溫з勜呚з� 噩乇丨鈥� 鈥� 賲賳 鬲乇噩賲丞 丕賱賲鬲乇噩賲 丕賱賲乇賲賵賯 兀丨賲丿 卮丕賮毓賷- 賮賯丿 丨氐賱鬲 毓賱賶 噩丕卅夭丞 鈥溬堎堌辟勜� 乇賷丿乇鈥� 賱毓丕賲 2016 賮囟賱丕 毓賳 鬲乇卮丨賴丕 賱噩丕卅夭丞 賲賷丿爻賷爻 丕賱賮乇賳爻賷丞 賱毓丕賲 2017.
兀丨賲丿 卮丕賮毓賷貙 卮丕毓乇 賵賰丕鬲亘 賵賲鬲乇噩賲 賲氐乇賷貙 賵賱丿 爻賳丞 1977貙 丿乇爻 丕賱兀丿亘 丕賱廿賳噩賱賷夭賷貙 賵賱賴 丕賱毓丿賷丿 賲賳 丕賱賰鬲亘
丕賱賲鬲乇噩賲丞貙 賲賳賴丕 乇賵丕賷丞 鈥溫з勜ㄘж� 丕賱兀夭乇賯鈥� 賱賱賰丕鬲亘 丕賱噩賳賵亘 兀賮乇賷賯賷 丌賳丿乇賷賴 亘乇賷賳賰貙 鈥溬傌地碘€� -賯氐氐 賯氐賷乇丞- 兀賱賷爻 賲賵賳乇賵貙 賰鬲丕亘 丕賱丕賯鬲氐丕丿 鈥溫з勜池з呚辟娰堎� 丕賱兀卮乇丕乇鈥� 賱毓丕賱賲 丕賱兀賯鬲氐丕丿 丕賱賲乇賲賵賯 賴丕 噩賵賵賳 鬲卮丕賳噩貙 賰匕賱賰 鬲乇噩賲 廿賱賶 丕賱毓乇亘賷丞 丕賱卮丕毓乇 丕賱兀賲乇賷賰賷 鬲卮丕乇賱夭 爻賷賲賷賰 鈥溫з勜关з勝� 賱丕 賷賳鬲賴賷鈥澵� 賵丕賱卮丕毓乇 丕賱兀賲乇賷賰賷 乇丕爻賱 廿丿爻賳 鈥溬冑勝嗀� 賳賵賱丿 賲氐丕亘賷賳 亘丕賱睾孬賷丕賳鈥� 賵賰鬲丕亘 鈥溬囐嗀� 賵丕賱丌賳鈥� 賱亘賵賱 兀賵爻鬲賷乇 賵噩賷賴 廿賲 賰賵鬲夭賷. 氐丿乇鬲 賱賴 乇賵丕賷丞 鈥溫з勜з勝傗€� 賵毓丿丞 丿賵丕賵賷賳 卮毓乇賷丞 賲賳賴丕 鈥溬堎傌地жω� 兀禺乇賶鈥澵� 賵鈥�77鈥�.
賵鬲噩賲毓 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 亘賷賳 丕賱丨爻賾 丕賱賲賱丨賲賷 賵丕賱鬲丕乇賷禺貙 賵丕賱鬲乇丕噩賷丿賷丕 丕賱毓丕卅賱賷丞貙 賵丕賱禺乇丕賮丕鬲 賵丕賱賰賵賲賷丿賷丕 丕賱賱丕匕毓丞 賵丕賱乇賵賲丕賳爻賷丞 賮賷 爻賱丕爻丞 賲匕賴賱丞貙 賰賲丕 賵氐賮鬲賴丕 丕賱氐丨丕賮丞 丕賱賮乇賳爻賷丞 丨賷賳 氐丿賵乇 鬲乇噩賲鬲賴丕 賮賷 亘丕乇賷爻 毓丕賲 2017 賵賵氐賵賱賴丕 賱賱賯丕卅賲丞 丕賱賯氐賷乇丞 賱噩丕卅夭丞 賲丿爻賷爻 丕賱賲乇賲賵賯丞貙 賵鬲賳亘兀 丕賱賲丨乇乇 丕賱孬賯丕賮賷 賱噩乇賷丿丞 賱賵賲賵賳丿 亘兀賳 賴匕賴 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 賯丿 鬲氐賱 亘氐丕丨亘賴丕 廿賱賶 兀亘賵丕亘 丕賱兀賰丕丿賷賲賷丞 丕賱爻賵賷丿賷丞 賮鬲賰賵賳 兀賵賱 賳賵亘賱 賮賷 丕賱兀丿亘 賱兀賳丿賵賳賷爻賷丕.
賵賱丿 賰賵乇賳丕賵賷丕賳 亘噩夭賷乇丞 噩丕賵丕 毓丕賲 1975貙 賵丿乇爻 丕賱賮賱爻賮丞 亘噩丕賲毓丞 噩丕丿噩丕 賲丕丿丕貙 賵賴賵 賷賰鬲亘 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 賵丕賱賯氐丞 賵丕賱賲賯丕賱 賵丕賱爻賷賳丕乇賷賵 丕賱爻賷賳賲丕卅賷貙 廿囟丕賮丞 賱毓賲賱賴 賰賲氐賲賲 噩乇丕賮賷賰. 賵賯丿 氐丿乇鬲 賱賴 丨鬲賶 丕賱丌賳 兀乇亘毓 乇賵丕賷丕鬲 賵禺賲爻 賲噩賲賵毓丕鬲 賯氐氐賷丞 賵賰鬲丕亘 賵丕丨丿 賲賳 丕賱賲賯丕賱丕鬲. 鬲購乇噩賲鬲 兀毓賲丕賱賴 廿賱賶 27 賱睾丞貙 賵賰丕賳 兀賵賱 賰丕鬲亘 廿賳丿賵賳賷爻賷 賷氐賱 廿賱賶 丕賱賯丕卅賲丞 丕賱胤賵賷賱丞 賱噩丕卅夭丞 賲丕賳 亘賵賰乇 毓丕賲 2016 亘乇賵丕賷鬲賴 鈥溫з勜必� 丕賱賳賲乇鈥� 賵丕賱鬲賷 丨氐賱鬲 兀賷囟賸丕 毓賱賶 噩丕卅夭丞 氐賳丿賵賯 兀賵亘賳賴丕賷賲乇 賱賱兀氐賵丕鬲 丕賱賳丕卮卅丞 丕賱鬲丕亘毓丞 賱噩乇賷丿丞 丕賱賮丕賷賳賳卮賷丕賱 鬲丕賷賲夭. 兀賲丕 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 丕賱鬲賷 亘賷賳 兀賷丿賷賳丕 鈥溫з勜呚з� 噩乇丨鈥� 鈥� 賲賳 鬲乇噩賲丞 丕賱賲鬲乇噩賲 丕賱賲乇賲賵賯 兀丨賲丿 卮丕賮毓賷- 賮賯丿 丨氐賱鬲 毓賱賶 噩丕卅夭丞 鈥溬堎堌辟勜� 乇賷丿乇鈥� 賱毓丕賲 2016 賮囟賱丕 毓賳 鬲乇卮丨賴丕 賱噩丕卅夭丞 賲賷丿爻賷爻 丕賱賮乇賳爻賷丞 賱毓丕賲 2017.
兀丨賲丿 卮丕賮毓賷貙 卮丕毓乇 賵賰丕鬲亘 賵賲鬲乇噩賲 賲氐乇賷貙 賵賱丿 爻賳丞 1977貙 丿乇爻 丕賱兀丿亘 丕賱廿賳噩賱賷夭賷貙 賵賱賴 丕賱毓丿賷丿 賲賳 丕賱賰鬲亘
丕賱賲鬲乇噩賲丞貙 賲賳賴丕 乇賵丕賷丞 鈥溫з勜ㄘж� 丕賱兀夭乇賯鈥� 賱賱賰丕鬲亘 丕賱噩賳賵亘 兀賮乇賷賯賷 丌賳丿乇賷賴 亘乇賷賳賰貙 鈥溬傌地碘€� -賯氐氐 賯氐賷乇丞- 兀賱賷爻 賲賵賳乇賵貙 賰鬲丕亘 丕賱丕賯鬲氐丕丿 鈥溫з勜池з呚辟娰堎� 丕賱兀卮乇丕乇鈥� 賱毓丕賱賲 丕賱兀賯鬲氐丕丿 丕賱賲乇賲賵賯 賴丕 噩賵賵賳 鬲卮丕賳噩貙 賰匕賱賰 鬲乇噩賲 廿賱賶 丕賱毓乇亘賷丞 丕賱卮丕毓乇 丕賱兀賲乇賷賰賷 鬲卮丕乇賱夭 爻賷賲賷賰 鈥溫з勜关з勝� 賱丕 賷賳鬲賴賷鈥澵� 賵丕賱卮丕毓乇 丕賱兀賲乇賷賰賷 乇丕爻賱 廿丿爻賳 鈥溬冑勝嗀� 賳賵賱丿 賲氐丕亘賷賳 亘丕賱睾孬賷丕賳鈥� 賵賰鬲丕亘 鈥溬囐嗀� 賵丕賱丌賳鈥� 賱亘賵賱 兀賵爻鬲賷乇 賵噩賷賴 廿賲 賰賵鬲夭賷. 氐丿乇鬲 賱賴 乇賵丕賷丞 鈥溫з勜з勝傗€� 賵毓丿丞 丿賵丕賵賷賳 卮毓乇賷丞 賲賳賴丕 鈥溬堎傌地жω� 兀禺乇賶鈥澵� 賵鈥�77鈥�.
632 pages, Paperback
First published December 12, 2002
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About the author
Eka Kurniawan
26听books1,597听followersEka Kurniawan was born in Tasikmalaya in 1975 and completed his studies in the Faculty of Philosophy at Gadjah Mada University. He has been described as the 鈥渂rightest meteorite鈥� in Indonesia鈥檚 new literary firmament, the author of two remarkable novels which have brought comparisons to Salman Rushdie, Gabriel Garc铆a M谩rquez and Mark Twain; the English translations of these novels were both published in 2015鈥�Man Tiger by Verso Books, and Beauty is a Wound by New Directions in North America and Text Publishing in Australia. Kurniawan has also written movie scripts, a graphic novel, essays on literature and two collections of short stories. He currently resides in Jakarta.
Eka Kurniawan, seorang penulis sekaligus desainer grafis. Menyelesaikan studi dari Fakultas Filsafat Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta. Karyanya yang sudah terbit adalah empat novel: Cantik itu Luka (2002), Lelaki Harimau (2004), Seperti Dendam Rindu Harus Dibayar Tuntas (2014), dan O (2016); empat kumpulan cerita pendek: Corat-coret di Toilet (2000), Gelak Sedih (2005), Cinta Tak Ada Mati (2005), dan Perempuan Patah Hati yang Kembali Menemukan Cinta Melalui Mimpi (2015); serta satu karya non fiksi: Pramoedya Ananta Toer dan Sastra Realisme Sosialis (1999).
Eka Kurniawan, seorang penulis sekaligus desainer grafis. Menyelesaikan studi dari Fakultas Filsafat Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta. Karyanya yang sudah terbit adalah empat novel: Cantik itu Luka (2002), Lelaki Harimau (2004), Seperti Dendam Rindu Harus Dibayar Tuntas (2014), dan O (2016); empat kumpulan cerita pendek: Corat-coret di Toilet (2000), Gelak Sedih (2005), Cinta Tak Ada Mati (2005), dan Perempuan Patah Hati yang Kembali Menemukan Cinta Melalui Mimpi (2015); serta satu karya non fiksi: Pramoedya Ananta Toer dan Sastra Realisme Sosialis (1999).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,046 reviews
April 1, 2016
"One afternoon on a weekend in March, Dewi Ayu rose from her grave after being dead for twenty-one years."- Eka Kurniawan, Beauty is a Wound
This book has one of the best, most memorable opening sentences I've ever read. And it definitely set the stage for one of the most compelling and engrossing stories I've read in a long time. Over 500 pages of prose and I enjoyed every page. Even without having any knowledge of the history of Indonesia, I loved it.
Indonesia seems to have had a turbulent history of colonization, first by the Dutch, then the Japanese. I find the same theme in a lot of novels that focus on colonized subjects who become involved in proxy wars: confusion over what exactly is happening:
"Look," she said to another woman next to her, "they must be confused by two foreign nations making war on their land."
I'm always a fan of anyone who writes compelling, multi-dimensional women. This book traces the history of Indonesian-Dutch prostitute Dewi Ayu and her four daughters and their characters are written so well. It's a complicated family history, complicated even further by wars, colonialism, communism, independence struggles, and love. In addition, fairy tales and legends are mixed in to this funny yet tragic story.
I like stories that focus on small communities like this. Imagine being part of a community that you were born and raised in, one where everyone knows you and makes room for you because they know they have no choice but to put up with you since migration isn't a common practice. Something Elizabeth Alexander wrote in her "The Light of the World" has always stuck with me, something regarding African societies (told to her by her late husband) about how the village always makes room for everyone, including the mentally ill, and I saw that in this book; people adapting to each other.
Kurniawan is a great writer, really exceptional. I enjoyed the way he presented Indonesia's history in a fictionalized account, making it accessible, as well as interesting and educational.. I had no idea, for example, that Indonesia had a history with communism:
"Comrade Salim admitted that he was not a good Marxist, that he didn't understand all that class theory yet, but he was fairly certain that injustice had to be fought in any way possible. There are no Marxists in this country, he said, but there are plenty of starving masses, who work more than what they get for it in return, who have to bend their knees every time a big man appears, who know nothing expect that the only way to be free from all of that is to rebel."
I already touched upon the compelling female characters in this book. Cynthia Enloe wrote a bit about brothels in Asia during World War 2 and the Vietnam war and it was something I'd never really thought about before but it was interesting to see that although war is often in the masculine domain , there is a lot about the involvement of women that isn't considered or that is glossed over. We know women and children are always the biggest victims in war and this book at least lends some warmth and a richer narrative to the stories that aren't often mentioned, those that are seen as peripheral to the war. This line, "The colonel came to believe that the brothel built up his men's morale and was good for their fighting spirit...", reminds us of how women are used in times of war.
Indonesia as a locale for this story was interesting: the dichotomies of native Indonesian vs. Dutch, interspersed with some magical realism, myths, humour and wit, bawdiness, as well as great insights, made the story really come alive. Also, to me the history seemed to be very much like that of many countries where the needs of the people are quite basic, yet are still out of reach due to bad governance:
"Long ago he had heard an imam in the mosque talk about heaven, about rivers of milk that flowed at your feet, about beautiful ever-available virgins, nymphs, about everything being there for the taking and nothing forbidden. All of that seemed so beautiful, really too beautiful to be believed. He didn't need anything as grandiose as all that--it would be enough for him if everyone got the same amount of rice. Or maybe that wish was really the most grandiose wish of all."
Prepare to be shocked, outraged, and delighted.
This book has one of the best, most memorable opening sentences I've ever read. And it definitely set the stage for one of the most compelling and engrossing stories I've read in a long time. Over 500 pages of prose and I enjoyed every page. Even without having any knowledge of the history of Indonesia, I loved it.
Indonesia seems to have had a turbulent history of colonization, first by the Dutch, then the Japanese. I find the same theme in a lot of novels that focus on colonized subjects who become involved in proxy wars: confusion over what exactly is happening:
"Look," she said to another woman next to her, "they must be confused by two foreign nations making war on their land."
I'm always a fan of anyone who writes compelling, multi-dimensional women. This book traces the history of Indonesian-Dutch prostitute Dewi Ayu and her four daughters and their characters are written so well. It's a complicated family history, complicated even further by wars, colonialism, communism, independence struggles, and love. In addition, fairy tales and legends are mixed in to this funny yet tragic story.
I like stories that focus on small communities like this. Imagine being part of a community that you were born and raised in, one where everyone knows you and makes room for you because they know they have no choice but to put up with you since migration isn't a common practice. Something Elizabeth Alexander wrote in her "The Light of the World" has always stuck with me, something regarding African societies (told to her by her late husband) about how the village always makes room for everyone, including the mentally ill, and I saw that in this book; people adapting to each other.
Kurniawan is a great writer, really exceptional. I enjoyed the way he presented Indonesia's history in a fictionalized account, making it accessible, as well as interesting and educational.. I had no idea, for example, that Indonesia had a history with communism:
"Comrade Salim admitted that he was not a good Marxist, that he didn't understand all that class theory yet, but he was fairly certain that injustice had to be fought in any way possible. There are no Marxists in this country, he said, but there are plenty of starving masses, who work more than what they get for it in return, who have to bend their knees every time a big man appears, who know nothing expect that the only way to be free from all of that is to rebel."
I already touched upon the compelling female characters in this book. Cynthia Enloe wrote a bit about brothels in Asia during World War 2 and the Vietnam war and it was something I'd never really thought about before but it was interesting to see that although war is often in the masculine domain , there is a lot about the involvement of women that isn't considered or that is glossed over. We know women and children are always the biggest victims in war and this book at least lends some warmth and a richer narrative to the stories that aren't often mentioned, those that are seen as peripheral to the war. This line, "The colonel came to believe that the brothel built up his men's morale and was good for their fighting spirit...", reminds us of how women are used in times of war.
Indonesia as a locale for this story was interesting: the dichotomies of native Indonesian vs. Dutch, interspersed with some magical realism, myths, humour and wit, bawdiness, as well as great insights, made the story really come alive. Also, to me the history seemed to be very much like that of many countries where the needs of the people are quite basic, yet are still out of reach due to bad governance:
"Long ago he had heard an imam in the mosque talk about heaven, about rivers of milk that flowed at your feet, about beautiful ever-available virgins, nymphs, about everything being there for the taking and nothing forbidden. All of that seemed so beautiful, really too beautiful to be believed. He didn't need anything as grandiose as all that--it would be enough for him if everyone got the same amount of rice. Or maybe that wish was really the most grandiose wish of all."
Prepare to be shocked, outraged, and delighted.
August 24, 2021
"One afternoon on a weekend in March, Dewi Ayu rose from her grave after being dead for twenty-one years."
Now that's the kind of beginning that will grab my attention!
If you like the magical realism of M谩rquez (as I do), then this could be your cup of Colombian coffee - although it's set in Indonesia (I know. It's an idiom that I drove into a cul-de-sac).
Dewi Ayu, the village prostitute and local misanthrope, gives birth to a hideous little baby and dies twelve days later, without setting eyes on her unfortunate progeny.
There ensues a magical, folkloric riotous story that would be beyond the imagination of most writers.
Hilarious, cruel, bawdy, highly offensive and fantastically otherworldly.
I loved it!
Many will not.
Now that's the kind of beginning that will grab my attention!
If you like the magical realism of M谩rquez (as I do), then this could be your cup of Colombian coffee - although it's set in Indonesia (I know. It's an idiom that I drove into a cul-de-sac).
Dewi Ayu, the village prostitute and local misanthrope, gives birth to a hideous little baby and dies twelve days later, without setting eyes on her unfortunate progeny.
There ensues a magical, folkloric riotous story that would be beyond the imagination of most writers.
Hilarious, cruel, bawdy, highly offensive and fantastically otherworldly.
I loved it!
Many will not.
March 4, 2016
**Content advisory for discussion of multiple rapes.**
My enjoyment of this book followed a kind of reverse bell curve, with a really weak back end. :( I started out really digging it--a magic realist family fable about a Dewi Ayu, a Dutch-Indo woman who comes back to life twenty-one years after she died (and after she gave birth to her fourth daughter, a monstrously ugly girl she named Beauty.) The prose felt solid and the voice was coming from an interesting, unusual place--the story had the feel of folklore.
I hung with it for a couple hundred pages, following Dewi Ayu through the early years of her life and the chaos of war, in which she and other Indonesian women were forced into prostitution (aka, systematic rape under the guise of "comfort women") by occupying Japanese soldiers. Rough stuff, and hard to read, but the narrative voice seemed to understand that these were war crimes, and that the women suffered--and the story still felt like it was following a through-line. Indonesian history, between the Dutch and the Japanese, isn't always pretty.
Then things got weirder. The story skipped around, visiting different characters related by blood or marriage to Dewi Ayu and her daughters, and while there was still some historical context (the rise of Communism, the massacre of Communists, power struggles through the 1960s and 1970s), the voice seemed to get repeatedly distracted by minor household stuff. There were some entertaining myths and some stories that seemed like retellings of myths, and they mostly wound back around again, sooner or later, to the Dewi Ayu clan--although I couldn't always tell why we'd taken that particular tangent.
About three-quarters of the way through the book, the story seems to fall apart. We drop into the lives of a handful of different men who marry Dewi Ayu's daughters or otherwise get involved in her family life--and Dewi Ayu herself disappears almost completely from the picture. Instead, we spent pages and pages dwelling on these men's obsessive lust-relationships with young girls, complete with meticulous, extended sex-fantasy descriptions of the girls' bodies.
And then we get tons and tons of rape. Men are tempted by women, obsessed by women, driven wild by their lust for women. (And livestock. One guy goes nuts and repeatedly rapes chickens to death, as well as countless dogs and kine.) They drug, kidnap, and rape girls and women, rape their wives...it goes on and on. Women get pregnant from rape, are forced to marry their rapists, die of pain and regret and rape. And the rapes are often described in bizarrely explicit, extended, almost blissfully pornographic passages that in any other context would be meant for titillation. Phrases like "make love" and "have sex" are used interchangeably with rape, albeit mainly through the perspectives of the rapists themselves. But honestly, it felt to me like the narrative voice also conflated these things at some points, or at the very least was playing fast and loose with the ideas.
I almost didn't finish the book, because...what the #$!*? The latter third of the book (or thereabouts) reads like a bizarre masturbatory rape-dream written by someone with serious sexual issues. I understand that colonization--the occupation and forcible exploitation of a region by a foreign power--is a kind of rape, although I take issue with the old-hat analogy of colonial occupation to actual rape of the female body. I understand the title of the book equates beauty with pain and injury. But given the execution, I don't understand what I was supposed to feel or learn from most of this book.
I was left feeling like the author had taken a promising setup and driven it down a gross, personal back alley for his own purposes--or maybe to be more charitable, had lost control of what he was doing and gone way off the rails (and no one, including his editor at New Directions or his female translator, had told him.) I didn't feel like the book ended with anything like a justification for the bizarre saturnalia it indulged in for so long, or like it ever adequately reassured me that it understood the distinctions between colonization and actual rape, or the problems of using graphic, extended, repeated depictions of rape to make a literary or political point.
This book started out feeling exciting and interesting and new. Somewhere in the middle it folded in on itself like a crappy cake, and by the end what I had was something I mostly wanted to spit out.
My enjoyment of this book followed a kind of reverse bell curve, with a really weak back end. :( I started out really digging it--a magic realist family fable about a Dewi Ayu, a Dutch-Indo woman who comes back to life twenty-one years after she died (and after she gave birth to her fourth daughter, a monstrously ugly girl she named Beauty.) The prose felt solid and the voice was coming from an interesting, unusual place--the story had the feel of folklore.
I hung with it for a couple hundred pages, following Dewi Ayu through the early years of her life and the chaos of war, in which she and other Indonesian women were forced into prostitution (aka, systematic rape under the guise of "comfort women") by occupying Japanese soldiers. Rough stuff, and hard to read, but the narrative voice seemed to understand that these were war crimes, and that the women suffered--and the story still felt like it was following a through-line. Indonesian history, between the Dutch and the Japanese, isn't always pretty.
Then things got weirder. The story skipped around, visiting different characters related by blood or marriage to Dewi Ayu and her daughters, and while there was still some historical context (the rise of Communism, the massacre of Communists, power struggles through the 1960s and 1970s), the voice seemed to get repeatedly distracted by minor household stuff. There were some entertaining myths and some stories that seemed like retellings of myths, and they mostly wound back around again, sooner or later, to the Dewi Ayu clan--although I couldn't always tell why we'd taken that particular tangent.
About three-quarters of the way through the book, the story seems to fall apart. We drop into the lives of a handful of different men who marry Dewi Ayu's daughters or otherwise get involved in her family life--and Dewi Ayu herself disappears almost completely from the picture. Instead, we spent pages and pages dwelling on these men's obsessive lust-relationships with young girls, complete with meticulous, extended sex-fantasy descriptions of the girls' bodies.
And then we get tons and tons of rape. Men are tempted by women, obsessed by women, driven wild by their lust for women. (And livestock. One guy goes nuts and repeatedly rapes chickens to death, as well as countless dogs and kine.) They drug, kidnap, and rape girls and women, rape their wives...it goes on and on. Women get pregnant from rape, are forced to marry their rapists, die of pain and regret and rape. And the rapes are often described in bizarrely explicit, extended, almost blissfully pornographic passages that in any other context would be meant for titillation. Phrases like "make love" and "have sex" are used interchangeably with rape, albeit mainly through the perspectives of the rapists themselves. But honestly, it felt to me like the narrative voice also conflated these things at some points, or at the very least was playing fast and loose with the ideas.
I almost didn't finish the book, because...what the #$!*? The latter third of the book (or thereabouts) reads like a bizarre masturbatory rape-dream written by someone with serious sexual issues. I understand that colonization--the occupation and forcible exploitation of a region by a foreign power--is a kind of rape, although I take issue with the old-hat analogy of colonial occupation to actual rape of the female body. I understand the title of the book equates beauty with pain and injury. But given the execution, I don't understand what I was supposed to feel or learn from most of this book.
I was left feeling like the author had taken a promising setup and driven it down a gross, personal back alley for his own purposes--or maybe to be more charitable, had lost control of what he was doing and gone way off the rails (and no one, including his editor at New Directions or his female translator, had told him.) I didn't feel like the book ended with anything like a justification for the bizarre saturnalia it indulged in for so long, or like it ever adequately reassured me that it understood the distinctions between colonization and actual rape, or the problems of using graphic, extended, repeated depictions of rape to make a literary or political point.
This book started out feeling exciting and interesting and new. Somewhere in the middle it folded in on itself like a crappy cake, and by the end what I had was something I mostly wanted to spit out.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 23, 2022
丕賱噩賲丕賱 賮鬲賳丞 賵賯賵丞 賵噩乇丨
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賷丨賰賷 丕賱賰丕鬲亘 廿賷賰丕 賰賵乇賳賷丕賵丕賳 毓賳 丕賳丿賵賳賷爻賷丕 亘賷賳 丕賱丨賯賷賯丞 賵丕賱賮丕賳鬲丕夭賷丕
賲賳 禺賱丕賱 卮禺氐賷丞 丿賷賵賷 丌賷賵 丕賱鬲賷 賯丕賲鬲 賲賳 賯亘乇賴丕 亘毓丿 21 爻賳丞 賲賳 賲賵鬲賴丕
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賵賷毓乇囟 兀丨丿丕孬 賵賮鬲乇丕鬲 鬲丕乇賷禺賷丞 賲賴賲丞 賮賷 丕賳丿賵賳賷爻賷丕 毓賱賶 賲丿賶 賲丕卅丞 毓丕賲 鬲賯乇賷亘丕
賱賲 賷購賮賱鬲 丕賱賰丕鬲亘 禺賷賵胤 丕賱丨賰賷 丕賱爻賱爻 亘乇睾賲 賰孬乇丞 賵鬲卮丕亘賰 丕賱卮禺氐賷丕鬲 賵丕賱兀丨丿丕孬
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賵禺丕氐丞 賮賷 丕賱賲夭噩 亘賷賳 賵丕賯毓 丕賱爻賷丕爻丞 賵丕賱鬲丕乇賷禺 賵丕賱兀丨丿丕孬 丕賱睾乇丕卅亘賷丞 賵丕賱兀爻丕胤賷乇
毓丕賱賲 賲賳 丕賱丨賰丕賷丕鬲 賮賷 亘賱丿丞 賴丕賱賷賲賵賳丿丕 丕賱禺賷丕賱賷丞
賷丨賰賷 丕賱賰丕鬲亘 廿賷賰丕 賰賵乇賳賷丕賵丕賳 毓賳 丕賳丿賵賳賷爻賷丕 亘賷賳 丕賱丨賯賷賯丞 賵丕賱賮丕賳鬲丕夭賷丕
賲賳 禺賱丕賱 卮禺氐賷丞 丿賷賵賷 丌賷賵 丕賱鬲賷 賯丕賲鬲 賲賳 賯亘乇賴丕 亘毓丿 21 爻賳丞 賲賳 賲賵鬲賴丕
賷賳鬲賯賱 賮賷 丕賱賲賰丕賳 賵丕賱夭賲丕賳 賵賷鬲鬲亘毓 賲爻丕乇 丨賷丕丞 丕賱卮禺氐賷丕鬲 賵賲氐丕卅乇賴賲
賵賷毓乇囟 兀丨丿丕孬 賵賮鬲乇丕鬲 鬲丕乇賷禺賷丞 賲賴賲丞 賮賷 丕賳丿賵賳賷爻賷丕 毓賱賶 賲丿賶 賲丕卅丞 毓丕賲 鬲賯乇賷亘丕
賱賲 賷購賮賱鬲 丕賱賰丕鬲亘 禺賷賵胤 丕賱丨賰賷 丕賱爻賱爻 亘乇睾賲 賰孬乇丞 賵鬲卮丕亘賰 丕賱卮禺氐賷丕鬲 賵丕賱兀丨丿丕孬
丕賱爻乇丿 賲睾乇賯 兀丨賷丕賳丕 賮賷 丕賱丨爻賷丞 賵丕賱毓賳賮 賱賰賳 賮賷 丕賱毓賲賵賲 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 賲賲鬲毓丞
賵禺丕氐丞 賮賷 丕賱賲夭噩 亘賷賳 賵丕賯毓 丕賱爻賷丕爻丞 賵丕賱鬲丕乇賷禺 賵丕賱兀丨丿丕孬 丕賱睾乇丕卅亘賷丞 賵丕賱兀爻丕胤賷乇
dnf
December 6, 2016DNF @ 40%
This is a very rapey book and I really don't want to continue any further, specifically after a scene where a woman, after being gang raped on multiple occasions, is then consumed by lust for her "rescuer". No. Just no. I get that this book is satirical and allegorical and symbolic, but still. The author doesn't graphically describe the rape scenes but there are just so many and I am really not convinced that they are necessary to the plot. It's a shame, because I really liked the beginning of this book - it has one of the best opening lines I have ever read - and I enjoyed some of the folkloric quality to the writing, but this kind of rape fantasy myth is just too far out of my comfort zone.
This is a very rapey book and I really don't want to continue any further, specifically after a scene where a woman, after being gang raped on multiple occasions, is then consumed by lust for her "rescuer". No. Just no. I get that this book is satirical and allegorical and symbolic, but still. The author doesn't graphically describe the rape scenes but there are just so many and I am really not convinced that they are necessary to the plot. It's a shame, because I really liked the beginning of this book - it has one of the best opening lines I have ever read - and I enjoyed some of the folkloric quality to the writing, but this kind of rape fantasy myth is just too far out of my comfort zone.
February 11, 2016
Eka Kurniawan, said to be following in the giant steps of Indonesia's most famous author, Pramoedya Ananta Toer (known for his anti-colonial and social realism tetralogy, Buru Quartet), is a popular literary young blood who could be as heavily influenced by a host of literary icons. His novel is a 20th century Indonesian historiography told in the rich folklore of her culture; in gothicism that awakens memories of Lafcadio Hearn's chilling ; in magic realism reminiscent of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's epic tale of Latin America, or Salman Rushdie's mesmerizing novel of India, ; and in the taut rendering of wartime atrocities, it is more explicitly a depiction of abuse and violence against women as similarly narrated in Mo Yan's hallucinatory novel of China's history, .
Far off at the edge of the South Seas, lies the port city Halimunda - the Land of Fog, so named by the beautiful, mythical princess Rengannis who pledged to marry the first person she saw at her window...
But there was no one as far as the eye could see, no one except a dog who was looking back over his shoulder in her direction after hearing the sound of the window creaking open. The princess was stunned for a moment but, remember, she never went back on her word, so from the bottom of her heart she promised she would marry that dog.
The novel represents 'Beauty' in both binary and opposing stories of Halimunda - a hypnotic land possessively controlled for 3 centuries by the Dutch; savagely violated by the hands of the Rising Sun; betrayed and abandoned by her two-faced 'friendly rescuers', and left exposed like a carcass to be devoured by homegrown wild dogs known as aka; and the multi-generational saga of Dewi Ayu - an exotic beauty of Dutch and Indo mixture, abducted and forced into the role of comfort woman for the Japanese, eventually becoming the most intoxicating prostitute in the village. The 'demon seed' took root four times in Dewi Ayu's womb, the result was four 'beautiful' daughters.
I should open my own whorehouse....There鈥檚 no curse more terrible than to give birth to a pretty female in a world of men as nasty as dogs in heat.
Through the daughters' lovers evolve Halimunda's post WWII violent political and social struggles. In 'Beauty's' presence, they are irresistibly drawn in, but, like the creature in a Venus fly trap, to touch the treasure could be fatal, may be scarring and mutilating, excruciatingly painful, unendurable or gruesomely deadly.
In Halimunda (thought to be Jakarta ), Kurniawan explores and resurrects his nation's bloodstained past - her struggle for self identity in the aftermath of WWII and survival in the wake of Suharto's brutal genocidal massacre of thousands of Communists - blending with it Indonesian beliefs in the 'potent dead' who, thought powerful enough to influence the living, return as ghosts from the otherworld, for "the wretched don鈥檛 die easy" and ghosts have unfinished business; and so the commanding ghost of Dewi Ayu, rises from her grave 21 years after she died to contrast, it would appear, a mysterious and vengeful evil spirit - unknown until the last chapters - dead set to unleash its seething wrath upon her family. War, it seems, plays out on many realms in Halimunda.
Kurniawan delivers a compelling tale ripe with Southeast Asian folklore, supernatural horror and the explicit violent history of a region beaten down by the heinousness of war and a corrupt, murder-driven regime, urging the reader - who might otherwise equate Indonesia with devastating earthquakes or the explosive volcanic eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 - to be more informed of her political past. Kurniawan is already setting a blazing path and a brilliant future as a notable writer of Indonesian fiction, and has completely slain me with this novel of 'Beauty.'
Far off at the edge of the South Seas, lies the port city Halimunda - the Land of Fog, so named by the beautiful, mythical princess Rengannis who pledged to marry the first person she saw at her window...
But there was no one as far as the eye could see, no one except a dog who was looking back over his shoulder in her direction after hearing the sound of the window creaking open. The princess was stunned for a moment but, remember, she never went back on her word, so from the bottom of her heart she promised she would marry that dog.
The novel represents 'Beauty' in both binary and opposing stories of Halimunda - a hypnotic land possessively controlled for 3 centuries by the Dutch; savagely violated by the hands of the Rising Sun; betrayed and abandoned by her two-faced 'friendly rescuers', and left exposed like a carcass to be devoured by homegrown wild dogs known as aka; and the multi-generational saga of Dewi Ayu - an exotic beauty of Dutch and Indo mixture, abducted and forced into the role of comfort woman for the Japanese, eventually becoming the most intoxicating prostitute in the village. The 'demon seed' took root four times in Dewi Ayu's womb, the result was four 'beautiful' daughters.
I should open my own whorehouse....There鈥檚 no curse more terrible than to give birth to a pretty female in a world of men as nasty as dogs in heat.
Through the daughters' lovers evolve Halimunda's post WWII violent political and social struggles. In 'Beauty's' presence, they are irresistibly drawn in, but, like the creature in a Venus fly trap, to touch the treasure could be fatal, may be scarring and mutilating, excruciatingly painful, unendurable or gruesomely deadly.
In Halimunda (thought to be Jakarta ), Kurniawan explores and resurrects his nation's bloodstained past - her struggle for self identity in the aftermath of WWII and survival in the wake of Suharto's brutal genocidal massacre of thousands of Communists - blending with it Indonesian beliefs in the 'potent dead' who, thought powerful enough to influence the living, return as ghosts from the otherworld, for "the wretched don鈥檛 die easy" and ghosts have unfinished business; and so the commanding ghost of Dewi Ayu, rises from her grave 21 years after she died to contrast, it would appear, a mysterious and vengeful evil spirit - unknown until the last chapters - dead set to unleash its seething wrath upon her family. War, it seems, plays out on many realms in Halimunda.
Kurniawan delivers a compelling tale ripe with Southeast Asian folklore, supernatural horror and the explicit violent history of a region beaten down by the heinousness of war and a corrupt, murder-driven regime, urging the reader - who might otherwise equate Indonesia with devastating earthquakes or the explosive volcanic eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 - to be more informed of her political past. Kurniawan is already setting a blazing path and a brilliant future as a notable writer of Indonesian fiction, and has completely slain me with this novel of 'Beauty.'
December 2, 2022
Exotic family saga from the place hugely known as popular tourist destination. I love this kind of books. European and American authors have dominated for so long that anything from eastern parts can absolutely blow my mind. Indonesian culture and history is so rich and eclectic. I could barely comprehend this crazy mixture of superstitions, Islam and Mahabharata. Through five generations we witness country's bloody history. From the fall of white colonialism, WWII, communism till gaining independence. All just to finally break the family curse and end chain of deaths and suffering. The book is compared much to the One Hundred Years of Solitude, and I also recognized the style from the first pages. So you'll like this novel if you enjoined Marquez' book. But trigger warning: this story has very graphic descriptions of rape and sexual deviations.
February 10, 2017
Fascinating Allegorical Tale of Indonesia f/k/a Dutch East Indies
If you like tales of political/social allegory, such as Animal Farm and One Hundred Years of Solitude, that exercise your brain, without overly challenging to the point of losing intrigue, the kind of story in which you delight in discovering (or trying to) the metaphorical meaning of actions, characters and things within, then I recommend you put this on your list of books to check out.
This brilliant novel reflects and criticizes the turbulent history of the world's 4th most populous country Indonesia, a country of more than 14,000 islands and of terrible tsunamis. Indonesia's native citizens suffered under three and a half centuries of Dutch rule, Japanese occupation for 3 years during WWII, the mass slaughter of possibly a million citizens after the failed Communist coup in 1965, followed by the despotic rule of Suharto for 3 decades.
Indonesia: Tsunami
1965 - Communists Being Led En Masse to Slaughter after Failed Revolution/Coup
Kurniawan tells the tempestuous history by means of an epic allegory which is, by turns, ridiculous, magical, hilarious and always captivating. The centerpiece is Dewi Ayu, the stunningly beautiful 3/4 Dutch and 1/4 Malaysian girl forced into prostitution in her late teens upon Japanese occupation, her four daughters (each with different fathers), their lovers and husbands, Dewi Ayu's 3 grandchildren, and the village of Halimundo, which is reminiscent of the village of Macondo in One Hundred Years of Solitude. Kurniawan also weaves in colorful, intriguing local folklore to make his points.
Suharto - Despot who Ruled for 30 Years
While the novel contains some scenes of the grotesque and of rapes, they did not seem gratuitous or unnecessary to reflect the tragedies befallen Indonesia and its residents.
It is haunting and has solidly stayed with me nearly 5 months after reading it. You can accuse me of being off my rocker but, I think this book is destined, 50 years from now, to be deemed a classic. Really.
Attempt at Representation of Protagonist: Gorgeous 3/4 Dutch, 1/4 Malaysian Dewi Ayu
If you like tales of political/social allegory, such as Animal Farm and One Hundred Years of Solitude, that exercise your brain, without overly challenging to the point of losing intrigue, the kind of story in which you delight in discovering (or trying to) the metaphorical meaning of actions, characters and things within, then I recommend you put this on your list of books to check out.
This brilliant novel reflects and criticizes the turbulent history of the world's 4th most populous country Indonesia, a country of more than 14,000 islands and of terrible tsunamis. Indonesia's native citizens suffered under three and a half centuries of Dutch rule, Japanese occupation for 3 years during WWII, the mass slaughter of possibly a million citizens after the failed Communist coup in 1965, followed by the despotic rule of Suharto for 3 decades.
Indonesia: Tsunami
1965 - Communists Being Led En Masse to Slaughter after Failed Revolution/Coup
Kurniawan tells the tempestuous history by means of an epic allegory which is, by turns, ridiculous, magical, hilarious and always captivating. The centerpiece is Dewi Ayu, the stunningly beautiful 3/4 Dutch and 1/4 Malaysian girl forced into prostitution in her late teens upon Japanese occupation, her four daughters (each with different fathers), their lovers and husbands, Dewi Ayu's 3 grandchildren, and the village of Halimundo, which is reminiscent of the village of Macondo in One Hundred Years of Solitude. Kurniawan also weaves in colorful, intriguing local folklore to make his points.
Suharto - Despot who Ruled for 30 Years
While the novel contains some scenes of the grotesque and of rapes, they did not seem gratuitous or unnecessary to reflect the tragedies befallen Indonesia and its residents.
It is haunting and has solidly stayed with me nearly 5 months after reading it. You can accuse me of being off my rocker but, I think this book is destined, 50 years from now, to be deemed a classic. Really.
Attempt at Representation of Protagonist: Gorgeous 3/4 Dutch, 1/4 Malaysian Dewi Ayu
November 16, 2016
This falls somewhere between a 2.5 and a 3.5. When I first started it I thought I was going to love it. It had many shades of . There were many things I did really like. The historical backdrop of Indonesia was fascinating and I ended up googling lots of things to learn more about the history. A lot of this book is political satire which never really works for me. I found some of the characters to be fascinating and I loved their stories but in the end there was far to much "blah blah blah rape blah blah blah whore blah blah blah rape all the women etc" Oh and then there was the part where they killed all the dogs (yes I get the symbolism but no don't kill the dogs!) There were several places along the way where I considered a DNF. Despite my somewhat negative comments I am actually glad that I read this book and that I finished it. It's not a bad thing to a read a book that pushes you beyond your comfort zone.
November 27, 2015
There is so much rape in this book. I'm not necessarily averse to that but I have questions about how and why sexual violence functions as both plot point and constantly revisited method of characterization, as nearly all of the women in this novel - both primary and secondary- are defined and characterized by their brutal and repetitive violations.
The novel was often beautiful and really well written. I can understand why it has drawn so many glowing comparisons to One Hundred Years of Solitude, but unlike Marquez' book I think Beauty topples under the weight of its own ambition and its many narrative threads. I did not buy the ending nor the message the author seemed to underline as the moral heart of the story. It rang false to me, and, considering the amount of sexual violence and the emphasis on a certain type of femininity, left me somewhat disturbed. I can't really discuss it without spoiling the whole plot but this is a book that I feel like I would need to revisit or discuss with someone else in order to parse out my complicated feelings. Probably one of the books I feel most conflicted about that I've read all year.
The novel was often beautiful and really well written. I can understand why it has drawn so many glowing comparisons to One Hundred Years of Solitude, but unlike Marquez' book I think Beauty topples under the weight of its own ambition and its many narrative threads. I did not buy the ending nor the message the author seemed to underline as the moral heart of the story. It rang false to me, and, considering the amount of sexual violence and the emphasis on a certain type of femininity, left me somewhat disturbed. I can't really discuss it without spoiling the whole plot but this is a book that I feel like I would need to revisit or discuss with someone else in order to parse out my complicated feelings. Probably one of the books I feel most conflicted about that I've read all year.
April 24, 2022
"Beauty Is a Wound" is the debut novel of Eka Kurniawan, which was originally published in 2002. This is the second time for me to read a work by Kurniawan (earlier this year I read ). "Beauty Is a Wound鈥� is a grand and quite over-ambitious satire. With the historic backdrop stretching from the end of Dutch colonialism of the Indies to the end of the 20th century, Kurniawan tells the story of an Indo (mixed Dutch-Javanese) woman called Dewi Ayu and her three daughters. The family is cursed and is struck by one catastrophe after another.
First of all, I think it鈥檚 important to clarify that this is more of a horror novel rather than magical realism. The first sentence of the book goes like this: "One afternoon on a weekend in March, Dewi Ayu rose from her grave after being dead for twenty-one years." But pay attention to what happens next. People are terrified and run away from Dewi Ayu. If this were magical realism, people would glance at Dewi Ayu and then continue doing whatever they were doing. But no! People are running away because it鈥檚 a nightmare. The reader is about to come across a lot of rape, incest, bestiality, murder, male chauvinism and even more rape! This book is not for the faint of heart.
I think it鈥檚 justified that Kurniawan present Indonesia's history in a horrific manner. Indonesian history is permeated with sexual violence. It happened during 300 years of Dutch colonization, what the Japanese army did to the comfort women (throughout Asia and which most Japanese still won鈥檛 recognize), the killings and rapes of 1965 (which the Indonesian government still won鈥檛 claim responsibility for), the horrific invasion and rape of East Timor by the Indonesian army, the violence and rapes against ethnic Chinese in 1998鈥� I don't even want to get started on the multinational corporations and their trickery raping the soil and natural wealth of Indonesia. Kurniawan really succeeds in weaving Indonesia鈥檚 turbulent history into this novel. I loved his description of communist ghosts haunting the murderers.
Unfortunately, the chronology of the characters鈥� stories and development is somewhat sloppy. Better editing could鈥檝e improved the narration. But I can forgive the author because he was only 25-27 years old and his second novel has shown that his writing improved.
Finally, I appreciate the psychology behind this novel. The reader is outraged, angry and frustrated with the many rapes and how women are merely treated as sex objects. But that鈥檚 what we should feel. When we are enraged by these actions, it proves that we are still human and sane. Most of these horrific crimes were never recognized and will probably go unpunished. The eerie thing is that many Indonesians stay mum about this part of history. Most people want to move on, because it鈥檚 too painful to talk about the past and most victims are ashamed. I don鈥檛 know what term psychologists use, but it鈥檚 important to talk about this so that the oppressors won鈥檛 oppress again. So, I thank Kurniawan for writing this novel. Beauty is indeed a wound!
May 5, 2022
Normalmente, a la hora de dar mi opini贸n sobre un libro, me gusta empezar por dar algunos detalles de la trama, a modo de introducci贸n para luego hablar de mis impresiones y las cosas que me ha hecho sentir la lectura. En este caso, me ha cabreado tanto este libro, que tengo ganas de pasar directamente a enumerar todas las cosas que me han horrorizado de 鈥淟a belleza es una herida鈥�. Por empezar por alg煤n detalle bueno dir茅 que al inicio pensaba que me iba a gustar mucho, ya que tiene un toque muy parecido al realismo m谩gico latinoamericano que tanto suelo disfrutar. Tambi茅n creo que la pluma del autor parece bonita, y digo parece, porque lo que cuenta me ha dado tanto asco, que me cuesta ser objetivo en este punto.
驴Qu茅 nos podemos encontrar en este libro? Principalmente mujeres siendo violadas, eso es lo que m谩s tiene el libro. Pr谩cticamente todos los personajes femeninos que salen, y son muchos, ya que es una saga familiar, son violadas en uno o varios momentos. De hecho, la violencia sexual hacia la mujer y sus efectos se minimiza hasta tal punto, que parece que nos est茅n contando chorraditas y no las barbaridades que est谩n ocurriendo. Tambi茅n nos vamos a encontrar una romantizaci贸n brutal de la prostituci贸n, adem谩s de otra romantizaci贸n m谩s, esta vez de la pederastia.
Uno de los primeros temas de los que habla esta historia son las mujeres de solaz, todas estas mujeres de diferentes partes de Asia, que fueron raptadas por el ej茅rcito japon茅s antes y durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, a las que posteriormente violaban en grupo. Ya he le铆do unos cuantos libros que tratan sobre ese horrible hecho, algunos centrando mucho la historia en 茅l, otros solo de pasada, y siempre he encontrado crudeza y realidad, pero con respeto y, sobre todo, empat铆a hacia las mujeres que vivieron algo as铆. Casualmente, todas estas obras estaban escritas por mujeres. No es casualidad que la primera sobre el tema que leo escrita por un hombre, Eka Kurniawan, sea la 煤nica donde encuentro una narraci贸n poco respetuosa, que invalida el relato de las mujeres que han sufrido y sufren esta violencia, y que incluso llega a tratar las agresiones sexuales como una cosita sin importancia.
Durante la primera parte de la novela me chocaba mucho ver una especie de desajuste entre lo que narraban las mujeres que eran violadas, con lo que la voz narrativa iba contando, quit谩ndole 鈥渉ierro al asunto鈥�, invalidando la voz de estas mujeres y sus vivencias, e incluso, juzg谩ndolas. Es una de las veces que m谩s me ha chocado ver una voz narrativa que juzga tanto a sus personajes. No es un libro en el que pasan cosas malas porque sus personajes son malos, es un libro en el que los peores comentarios posibles son hechos por un narrador omnisciente.
Me resulta muy chocante ver tant铆simas buenas cr铆ticas en un libro donde casi todas las mujeres son violadas en alg煤n momento, donde se dice constantemente que la mujer bella provoca al hombre, o que ni uno solo hombre en la tierra, por bueno que fuese, podr铆a resistirse y no violar a una mujer atractiva. De hecho, no solo todos lo personajes femeninos son violados, es que todos los personajes masculinos o violan a diferentes mujeres o se 鈥渆namoran鈥� de ni帽as de 8 o 12 a帽os. Y repito, todos estos comentarios asquerosos que tiene la novela, que son CIENTOS, son realizados a trav茅s de la narraci贸n. Es m谩s, la historia tiene pocas escenas de sexo consentido, pero las pocas que tiene son descritas de manera escueta y r谩pidamente se pasa a otra cosa. Eso s铆, las escenas de violaciones son descritas al dedillo, con un lenguaje muy soez, con s铆miles muy desagradables, e, incluso, con un tufillo morboso que me remov铆an las tripas.
Y lo peor es como trata a las mujeres el autor. Hay cierto momento donde una mujer que es brutalmente violada en grupo, horas despu茅s se "tira al cuello" de uno de los protagonistas para mantener relaciones sexuales. Una madre casa a su hija de doce a帽os con su amante de treinta. Hay otra que despu茅s de ser violada continuamente por hombre, acaba enamor谩ndose de 茅l. El autor llega a usar las palabras "sexo", "uni贸n" o "follar", cuando est谩 hablando de violaciones mientras nos narra la historia. Las mujeres son vejadas por los hombres durante toda la historia, desde la primera p谩gina hasta la 煤ltima. Y tambi茅n son vejadas por el narrador.
En fin, que no me voy a alargar m谩s, porque es una historia que ni este tiempo gastado merece. 驴Peor libro del a帽o? Sin lugar a dudas. Es una de las historias m谩s desagradables que he le铆do en mi vida, y no porque sea dura, estoy acostumbrado a historias as铆, sino porque se normalizan y romantizan barbaridades continuamente, empezando por el mismo t铆tulo 鈥淟a belleza es una herida鈥�. La mujer es violada 鈥減or culpa鈥� de esta belleza, como bien se dice muchas veces en el libro. Los hombres son provocados por esta belleza y no pueden frenarse. Ni un solo hombre en el planeta. Ni uno. Valiente pereza de discurso rancio que tiene el se帽or Kurniawan.
驴Qu茅 nos podemos encontrar en este libro? Principalmente mujeres siendo violadas, eso es lo que m谩s tiene el libro. Pr谩cticamente todos los personajes femeninos que salen, y son muchos, ya que es una saga familiar, son violadas en uno o varios momentos. De hecho, la violencia sexual hacia la mujer y sus efectos se minimiza hasta tal punto, que parece que nos est茅n contando chorraditas y no las barbaridades que est谩n ocurriendo. Tambi茅n nos vamos a encontrar una romantizaci贸n brutal de la prostituci贸n, adem谩s de otra romantizaci贸n m谩s, esta vez de la pederastia.
Uno de los primeros temas de los que habla esta historia son las mujeres de solaz, todas estas mujeres de diferentes partes de Asia, que fueron raptadas por el ej茅rcito japon茅s antes y durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, a las que posteriormente violaban en grupo. Ya he le铆do unos cuantos libros que tratan sobre ese horrible hecho, algunos centrando mucho la historia en 茅l, otros solo de pasada, y siempre he encontrado crudeza y realidad, pero con respeto y, sobre todo, empat铆a hacia las mujeres que vivieron algo as铆. Casualmente, todas estas obras estaban escritas por mujeres. No es casualidad que la primera sobre el tema que leo escrita por un hombre, Eka Kurniawan, sea la 煤nica donde encuentro una narraci贸n poco respetuosa, que invalida el relato de las mujeres que han sufrido y sufren esta violencia, y que incluso llega a tratar las agresiones sexuales como una cosita sin importancia.
Durante la primera parte de la novela me chocaba mucho ver una especie de desajuste entre lo que narraban las mujeres que eran violadas, con lo que la voz narrativa iba contando, quit谩ndole 鈥渉ierro al asunto鈥�, invalidando la voz de estas mujeres y sus vivencias, e incluso, juzg谩ndolas. Es una de las veces que m谩s me ha chocado ver una voz narrativa que juzga tanto a sus personajes. No es un libro en el que pasan cosas malas porque sus personajes son malos, es un libro en el que los peores comentarios posibles son hechos por un narrador omnisciente.
Me resulta muy chocante ver tant铆simas buenas cr铆ticas en un libro donde casi todas las mujeres son violadas en alg煤n momento, donde se dice constantemente que la mujer bella provoca al hombre, o que ni uno solo hombre en la tierra, por bueno que fuese, podr铆a resistirse y no violar a una mujer atractiva. De hecho, no solo todos lo personajes femeninos son violados, es que todos los personajes masculinos o violan a diferentes mujeres o se 鈥渆namoran鈥� de ni帽as de 8 o 12 a帽os. Y repito, todos estos comentarios asquerosos que tiene la novela, que son CIENTOS, son realizados a trav茅s de la narraci贸n. Es m谩s, la historia tiene pocas escenas de sexo consentido, pero las pocas que tiene son descritas de manera escueta y r谩pidamente se pasa a otra cosa. Eso s铆, las escenas de violaciones son descritas al dedillo, con un lenguaje muy soez, con s铆miles muy desagradables, e, incluso, con un tufillo morboso que me remov铆an las tripas.
Y lo peor es como trata a las mujeres el autor. Hay cierto momento donde una mujer que es brutalmente violada en grupo, horas despu茅s se "tira al cuello" de uno de los protagonistas para mantener relaciones sexuales. Una madre casa a su hija de doce a帽os con su amante de treinta. Hay otra que despu茅s de ser violada continuamente por hombre, acaba enamor谩ndose de 茅l. El autor llega a usar las palabras "sexo", "uni贸n" o "follar", cuando est谩 hablando de violaciones mientras nos narra la historia. Las mujeres son vejadas por los hombres durante toda la historia, desde la primera p谩gina hasta la 煤ltima. Y tambi茅n son vejadas por el narrador.
En fin, que no me voy a alargar m谩s, porque es una historia que ni este tiempo gastado merece. 驴Peor libro del a帽o? Sin lugar a dudas. Es una de las historias m谩s desagradables que he le铆do en mi vida, y no porque sea dura, estoy acostumbrado a historias as铆, sino porque se normalizan y romantizan barbaridades continuamente, empezando por el mismo t铆tulo 鈥淟a belleza es una herida鈥�. La mujer es violada 鈥減or culpa鈥� de esta belleza, como bien se dice muchas veces en el libro. Los hombres son provocados por esta belleza y no pueden frenarse. Ni un solo hombre en el planeta. Ni uno. Valiente pereza de discurso rancio que tiene el se帽or Kurniawan.
July 29, 2022
BUKU INI GILA. SAKIT JIWA. EDAN. NGERI. WAHHHHHH. WOOOOOWWWW
Gak bisa berkata apa-apa lagi, dan mau nge-review juga bingung harus mulai dari mana.
benar-benar membuktikan bahwa Cantik Itu Luka, cantik itu membawa penderitaan.
Buku ini bercerita tentang kehidupan nan tragis dari anak-anak manusia, menurut saya karma menjadi "tokoh utama" dari alur cerita di buku ini. Karakter-karakter yang kuat, tragis, sadis, mesum dan tidak bersimpatik menjadi kekuatan dari buku ini.
Dewi Ayu, Alamanda, Adinda, Maya Dewi, Si Cantik, Sang Shodhancho, Kamerad Kliwon dan Maman Gendeng.Semua karakter itu "sakit".
Alur cerita yang membuat dahi saya mengrenyit berkali-kali, BERKALI-KALI! 100 halaman pertama memang banyak adegan mesum, perkosa sana sini, sangat amat eksplisit. Tapi itu lah manusia, tidak ada beda dengan binatang kalo soal berahi.
Kehidupan Dewi Ayu, sang pelacur terkenal yang tragis hingga turun temurun ke anak-cucunya.
Kisah cinta tragis antara Alamanda & Kamerad Kliwon.
Obsesi Maman Gendeng terhadap Rengganis.
SEMUANYA SAKIT JIWA
Tidak lupa dengan tragisnya akhir kehidupan masing-masing karakter; Alamanda, Adinda, Maya Dewi yang semuanya menjadi janda. Kamerad Kliwon yang bunuh diri. Sang Shodhancho yang meninggal dimakan anjing. Mungkin hanya Maman Gendeng yg kematiannya tidak tragis, hanya seperti Yesus dan Yudas Iskariot.
buku karya pertama yang saya baca, dan saya ketagihan membaca karya-karya beliau selanjutnya. Historical fiction dalam buku ini kuat sekali, walaupun nama kota begitu fiksi, yaitu Halimunda.
Tidak heran kalo buku ini sudah diterjemahkan ke puluhan bahasa dan Eka Kurniawan digadang sebagai penerus Pramoedya. Saya suka sekali dengan karya sastra ini dan beruntung bisa membacanya.
Buku ini sangat amat saya rekomendasikan untuk kalian baca, minimal SEKALI SEUMUR HIDUP.
November 23, 2021
I read this for a group discussion this month in the 21st Century Literature group, and I don't want to say anything that will preempt that discussion at this stage, so I'll try to keep this review fairly short.
This was the Javanese author's first novel, published in Indonesia in 2002. It is an epic magic realist story in which events in the small fictional coastal town are to some extent a microcosm of the history of Indonesia since the 1930s.
At its heart it is a family story, and at its heart is Dewi Ayu, a child of Dutch settlers who supports her family through prostitution. In the striking first chapter she rises from the grave after 21 years, and finds her youngest daughter Beauty, who was a baby at the time of her death, now a young adult. Beauty is the product of a wish, brought on by the tragic fates of Dewi Ayu's first three beautiful daughters, that her unborn baby should be as ugly as possible. After the first chapter we go back to Dewi Ayu's own youth under Dutch colonial rule, her experiences of the Japanese invasion that led her into prostitution, and the lives of her three eldest daughters and the men they marry.
The story is by turns funny and brutal, with many violent incidents, deaths and rapes. Supernatural elements abound - ghosts are everywhere and play a crucial part in the plot.
Not a book I would recommend to everyone without reservations, but overall I found it quite impressive.
This was the Javanese author's first novel, published in Indonesia in 2002. It is an epic magic realist story in which events in the small fictional coastal town are to some extent a microcosm of the history of Indonesia since the 1930s.
At its heart it is a family story, and at its heart is Dewi Ayu, a child of Dutch settlers who supports her family through prostitution. In the striking first chapter she rises from the grave after 21 years, and finds her youngest daughter Beauty, who was a baby at the time of her death, now a young adult. Beauty is the product of a wish, brought on by the tragic fates of Dewi Ayu's first three beautiful daughters, that her unborn baby should be as ugly as possible. After the first chapter we go back to Dewi Ayu's own youth under Dutch colonial rule, her experiences of the Japanese invasion that led her into prostitution, and the lives of her three eldest daughters and the men they marry.
The story is by turns funny and brutal, with many violent incidents, deaths and rapes. Supernatural elements abound - ghosts are everywhere and play a crucial part in the plot.
Not a book I would recommend to everyone without reservations, but overall I found it quite impressive.
October 3, 2019
Turb奴t pirma skaityta knyga i拧 / apie Indonezij膮. Tuo svetimos kult奴ros vaibu tolimai vis ataid臈davo Jean Rhys ir "Wide Sargasso Sea", bet tik tokiu dekoratyviniu lygmeniu, nes 膷ia n臈ra - bent a拧 neatpa啪inau - nei dialogo su kolonist懦 kult奴ra, nei didel臈s priespaudos.
Knyga visam 寞manomam pijare lyginama su Marquezu (100 met懦), ir ne veltui. Sugeba b奴ti labai pana拧i 寞 Marquez膮 (vietom net citat懦 lygmeniu), bet sykiu ir nesijausti gryna kopija ar m臈gd啪iojimas.
Pagrindinis i拧 pana拧um懦 - magi拧kas realizmas, 膷ia sutraktuotas visai gra啪iai: jo n臈ra daug ir did啪ioji dalis jo pasirodym懦 susij臋 su mirtimi - 啪mon臈s tai, u啪uot mir臋, i拧skrenda 寞 or膮, tai bendrauja su vaiduokliais (nu啪udyt懦j懦 拧m臈klomis), tai tuos vaiduoklius valgydina ar i拧 j懦 renka info, o kartais b奴na i拧vis atspar奴s mir膷iai, kulkoms ir kitiems pavojams. O dar - mir臋 gr寞啪ta kartu pab奴ti su myl臈tais 啪mon臈m ir atsisveikinti. Tai ne visai markesi拧kas mag.realizmas, bet gra啪us. Gal labiau primena visokias El dia de los muertos.
Kaip ir pas Marquez膮, 膷ia - vienos 拧eimos saga (nuo prad啪ios iki galo); tiesa, ji vienaplani拧kesn臈 - susijus su vienos 拧eimos moterimis ir j懦 likimais, kurie galiausiai visi suvienod臈ja. 膶ia pana拧iau ne tiek 寞 roman膮, kiek 寞 koki膮 labai i拧pl臈tot膮 sakm臋 ar legend膮.
Kaip ir pas Marquez膮, visas romanas persisunk臋s ironijos ir linksmo, atsainaus tono. Nuo komunisto s奴naus, kuris pats tampa komunistu, o v臈liau - smulkiu kapitalistu, iki draug懦, kurie kasdien lo拧ia kortom ir dalinasi r奴pes膷iais, bet galiausiai vienas j懦 be galo d啪iaugiasi gav臋s galimyb臋 nu啪udyti kit膮. Ir tt tt tt.
Skaitydama galvojau du dalykus, ne啪inau, ar jie susij臋.
1. Ant kiek 拧itoj knygoj yra visi拧kai easy pateikto prievartavimo. Jei kas nors susiparina - nub臈ga paprievartauja 啪mon膮/pa啪寞stam膮/vaik膮/gyv奴n膮/拧eimos nar寞. Jei d臈l ko nors nesutaria ar kas nors 寞啪eid啪ia - v臈l ten pat paprievartaut. Galiausiai pagrindin臈s persona啪臈s prostitut臈s darbas ir likimas ima atrodyti pavyd臈tinas ir labai patogus. Skai膷iau ir m膮s膷iau: ka啪i, kiek tas gali b奴ti kult奴rinis dalykas? Ar gali prievarta ir smurtas tur臈ti tiek kit膮 reik拧m臋 kitoj kult奴roj, kad skamb臈t懦 taip...nebaisiai? Kiek tas yra realisti拧ka? Mes 拧iurpstam nuo Lolitos, bet skaitom Kurniawan ir visai linksma. Nes juk visiems ir tikrai visoms (!!!) baigiasi laimingai. O gal Kurniawan - toks vietinis Tarantino (nenoriu sakyt V臈lyvis), kuriam smurtas - visai gera med啪iaga, provokatyvi, sykiu ir bauginanti, leid啪ianti pasijausti did啪iuoju subversintoju? K膮 supratau - kad 拧ito tikrai nesuprasiu ir, netur臈dama ir tikrai netur臈sianti platesnio konteksto, turb奴t 拧itos knygos at啪vilgiu liksiu tik egzotini懦 i拧kam拧懦 muziejaus ap啪i奴rin臈toja.
2. Ar magi拧kasis realizmas n臈ra ka啪koks postkolonializmo dalykas? T. y. ar tai n臈ra tokia ne tik 拧iaip simpati拧ka ir linksma, bet ir 拧iokia tokia savisaugin臈 strategija? Tokia anti-mimikrija. Dar labiau save suegzotini ir tampi toks 寞domus ir egzoti拧kas. Galvodama apie tai ir apie tiek daugel寞 pana拧um懦 寞 Marquez膮, prisiminiau, kaip univere viena d臈stytoja analizuodavo Almodovaro film膮 ir baigdavo i拧vada: "tai receptas, kaip sukurti 拧edevr膮, laim臈siant寞 visokius apdovanojimus". Ar Marquezas, magi拧kas realizmas+egzotika = toks pat receptas? Ne啪inau, gal ne. Bet ka啪koks tolimas jausmas, kad 膷ia ka啪kas ma啪daug tokio, man liko.
艩iaip knyg膮 skaityt, man atrodo, verta, ji savoti拧ka, galinti sunervuot, vietom plok拧toka, o vietom gra啪i, simpati拧ka muilo opera. Vertimas labai 啪odingas ir gra啪us.
Kalbant apie vertim膮 - JIS DARYTAS I艩 ANGL挪, nors originalas n臈ra angli拧kas. Suprantu, kad LT n臈ra turb奴t daug originalo kalbos 啪inov(i)懦... Ir, matyt, taip neretai daroma, jei buvo su agentais susitarta, nusipirktos autorin臈s, ir tt. (Plius angli拧kasis vertimas visoks toks premijuotas.) Bet..n啪n. Ar nereikia to ka啪kaip ai拧kiau pa啪ym臈ti, ai拧kiau aptarti? Ar tik man vienai atrodo 膷ia bi拧ki feikas? Gal prisigalvoju. Bet ka啪kaip u啪sijautrinau, galvodama apie visas kolonijines saviegzotizavimo praktikas, kuri懦 kontekste tas gal atsitiktinai, bet vis tiek truput寞 ironi拧kai atrodo.
Knyga visam 寞manomam pijare lyginama su Marquezu (100 met懦), ir ne veltui. Sugeba b奴ti labai pana拧i 寞 Marquez膮 (vietom net citat懦 lygmeniu), bet sykiu ir nesijausti gryna kopija ar m臈gd啪iojimas.
Pagrindinis i拧 pana拧um懦 - magi拧kas realizmas, 膷ia sutraktuotas visai gra啪iai: jo n臈ra daug ir did啪ioji dalis jo pasirodym懦 susij臋 su mirtimi - 啪mon臈s tai, u啪uot mir臋, i拧skrenda 寞 or膮, tai bendrauja su vaiduokliais (nu啪udyt懦j懦 拧m臈klomis), tai tuos vaiduoklius valgydina ar i拧 j懦 renka info, o kartais b奴na i拧vis atspar奴s mir膷iai, kulkoms ir kitiems pavojams. O dar - mir臋 gr寞啪ta kartu pab奴ti su myl臈tais 啪mon臈m ir atsisveikinti. Tai ne visai markesi拧kas mag.realizmas, bet gra啪us. Gal labiau primena visokias El dia de los muertos.
Kaip ir pas Marquez膮, 膷ia - vienos 拧eimos saga (nuo prad啪ios iki galo); tiesa, ji vienaplani拧kesn臈 - susijus su vienos 拧eimos moterimis ir j懦 likimais, kurie galiausiai visi suvienod臈ja. 膶ia pana拧iau ne tiek 寞 roman膮, kiek 寞 koki膮 labai i拧pl臈tot膮 sakm臋 ar legend膮.
Kaip ir pas Marquez膮, visas romanas persisunk臋s ironijos ir linksmo, atsainaus tono. Nuo komunisto s奴naus, kuris pats tampa komunistu, o v臈liau - smulkiu kapitalistu, iki draug懦, kurie kasdien lo拧ia kortom ir dalinasi r奴pes膷iais, bet galiausiai vienas j懦 be galo d啪iaugiasi gav臋s galimyb臋 nu啪udyti kit膮. Ir tt tt tt.
Skaitydama galvojau du dalykus, ne啪inau, ar jie susij臋.
1. Ant kiek 拧itoj knygoj yra visi拧kai easy pateikto prievartavimo. Jei kas nors susiparina - nub臈ga paprievartauja 啪mon膮/pa啪寞stam膮/vaik膮/gyv奴n膮/拧eimos nar寞. Jei d臈l ko nors nesutaria ar kas nors 寞啪eid啪ia - v臈l ten pat paprievartaut. Galiausiai pagrindin臈s persona啪臈s prostitut臈s darbas ir likimas ima atrodyti pavyd臈tinas ir labai patogus. Skai膷iau ir m膮s膷iau: ka啪i, kiek tas gali b奴ti kult奴rinis dalykas? Ar gali prievarta ir smurtas tur臈ti tiek kit膮 reik拧m臋 kitoj kult奴roj, kad skamb臈t懦 taip...nebaisiai? Kiek tas yra realisti拧ka? Mes 拧iurpstam nuo Lolitos, bet skaitom Kurniawan ir visai linksma. Nes juk visiems ir tikrai visoms (!!!) baigiasi laimingai. O gal Kurniawan - toks vietinis Tarantino (nenoriu sakyt V臈lyvis), kuriam smurtas - visai gera med啪iaga, provokatyvi, sykiu ir bauginanti, leid啪ianti pasijausti did啪iuoju subversintoju? K膮 supratau - kad 拧ito tikrai nesuprasiu ir, netur臈dama ir tikrai netur臈sianti platesnio konteksto, turb奴t 拧itos knygos at啪vilgiu liksiu tik egzotini懦 i拧kam拧懦 muziejaus ap啪i奴rin臈toja.
2. Ar magi拧kasis realizmas n臈ra ka啪koks postkolonializmo dalykas? T. y. ar tai n臈ra tokia ne tik 拧iaip simpati拧ka ir linksma, bet ir 拧iokia tokia savisaugin臈 strategija? Tokia anti-mimikrija. Dar labiau save suegzotini ir tampi toks 寞domus ir egzoti拧kas. Galvodama apie tai ir apie tiek daugel寞 pana拧um懦 寞 Marquez膮, prisiminiau, kaip univere viena d臈stytoja analizuodavo Almodovaro film膮 ir baigdavo i拧vada: "tai receptas, kaip sukurti 拧edevr膮, laim臈siant寞 visokius apdovanojimus". Ar Marquezas, magi拧kas realizmas+egzotika = toks pat receptas? Ne啪inau, gal ne. Bet ka啪koks tolimas jausmas, kad 膷ia ka啪kas ma啪daug tokio, man liko.
艩iaip knyg膮 skaityt, man atrodo, verta, ji savoti拧ka, galinti sunervuot, vietom plok拧toka, o vietom gra啪i, simpati拧ka muilo opera. Vertimas labai 啪odingas ir gra啪us.
Kalbant apie vertim膮 - JIS DARYTAS I艩 ANGL挪, nors originalas n臈ra angli拧kas. Suprantu, kad LT n臈ra turb奴t daug originalo kalbos 啪inov(i)懦... Ir, matyt, taip neretai daroma, jei buvo su agentais susitarta, nusipirktos autorin臈s, ir tt. (Plius angli拧kasis vertimas visoks toks premijuotas.) Bet..n啪n. Ar nereikia to ka啪kaip ai拧kiau pa啪ym臈ti, ai拧kiau aptarti? Ar tik man vienai atrodo 膷ia bi拧ki feikas? Gal prisigalvoju. Bet ka啪kaip u啪sijautrinau, galvodama apie visas kolonijines saviegzotizavimo praktikas, kuri懦 kontekste tas gal atsitiktinai, bet vis tiek truput寞 ironi拧kai atrodo.
January 4, 2021
Kitap, bir zamanlar Halimunda鈥檔谋n en g眉zel fahi艧esi olarak 眉n salan Dewi Ayu鈥檔un, 枚l眉m眉nden 21 y谋l sonra mezar谋ndan kalk谋p yine 鈥済眉zelli臒in鈥� a莽t谋臒谋 yaralar谋 kapat谋p i艧leri tekrar yoluna koymak i莽in evine geri d枚n眉艧眉 ile ba艧l谋yor. Dewi Ayu鈥檔un hayat谋n谋n 陌kinci D眉nya Sava艧谋鈥檔dan itibaren g眉n眉m眉ze kadar s眉recini anlat谋rken asl谋nda Endonezya鈥檔谋n tarihini de takip ediyorsunuz. Endonezya鈥檔谋n bir Hollanda s枚m眉rgesi oldu臒u d枚nemden itibaren, yerli halk谋n ikinci s谋n谋f insan g枚r眉lmesi, kad谋nlar谋n s枚m眉r眉lmesi, aile i莽i 艧iddet, i莽 sava艧, askeri darbe, toplu katliamlarla dolu korkun莽 tarihiyle y眉zle艧iyorsunuz. Ancak yazar谋n b眉y眉l眉 ger莽ek莽ilikle kara mizah谋 harmanlad谋臒谋 kitapta zaman zaman kahkahalarla g眉l眉yor iki sayfa sonra da insanl谋ktan nefret edebiliyorsunuz. 艦iddet, tecav眉zler, ensest, delilik, iradesiz erkekler, ac谋 莽eken kad谋nlar, kinci k枚t眉 ruhlar ve kom眉nist hayaletlerle dolu yeti艧kinlere y枚nelik, sarkastik bir peri masal谋. Benim Endonezya edebiyat谋ndan okudu臒um ilk kitapt谋 ve 莽ok be臒endim. Bir aile tarihiyle 眉lke tarihini aktarmas谋 ve b眉y眉l眉 ger莽eklikten dolay谋 Marquez鈥檌n Y眉zy谋ll谋k Yaln谋zl谋k kitab谋 ile 莽ok k谋yaslan谋yor ancak bire bir benzer oldu臒unu d眉艧眉nm眉yorum. Zira Y眉zy谋ll谋k Yaln谋zl谋k鈥檛an ho艧lanmayanlar谋n dahi sevebilece臒i bir kitap bence. Kapak sizi aldatmas谋n, mutlaka okuyun.
鈥溍嘺resizlik i莽inde 鈥楰om眉nist mi oldun yoksa?鈥� diye sordu. 鈥楢ncak bir kom眉nist b枚yle kederli olabilir.鈥�
鈥楢艧谋k oldum.鈥� dedi Kliwon annesine.
鈥楧aha k枚t眉ym眉艧.鈥� dedi annesi.鈥�
鈥溍杔d眉kten sonra hat谋rlanaca臒谋n谋z谋 ummay谋n鈥� dedi, 鈥渋nan谋n insanlar do臒rudan kendilerine dokunmayan hi莽bir 艧eyi hat谋rlamazlar.鈥�
鈥溍嘺resizlik i莽inde 鈥楰om眉nist mi oldun yoksa?鈥� diye sordu. 鈥楢ncak bir kom眉nist b枚yle kederli olabilir.鈥�
鈥楢艧谋k oldum.鈥� dedi Kliwon annesine.
鈥楧aha k枚t眉ym眉艧.鈥� dedi annesi.鈥�
鈥溍杔d眉kten sonra hat谋rlanaca臒谋n谋z谋 ummay谋n鈥� dedi, 鈥渋nan谋n insanlar do臒rudan kendilerine dokunmayan hi莽bir 艧eyi hat谋rlamazlar.鈥�
April 20, 2025
" 賮賷 毓氐乇 毓胤賱丞 兀爻亘賵毓賷丞 賲賳 賲丕乇爻 貙 賵亘毓丿 賲賵鬲賴丕 亘廿丨丿賷 賵毓卮乇賷賳 爻賳丞 貙 賳賴囟鬲 丿賷賵賷 丌賷賵 賲賳 賯亘乇賴丕 "
毓賳丿賲丕 鬲賯乇兀 賴匕賴 丕賱噩賲賱丞 賮賷 兀賵賱 賮氐賱 賲賳 乇賵丕賷丞 丕毓賱賲 兀賳賰 亘氐丿丿 毓丕賱賲 賵丕爻毓 賲賳 丕賱禺賷丕賱 賵丕賱賮丕賳鬲丕夭賷丕 賮賱丕 鬲賵噩丿 丨丿賵丿 賱賱賵丕賯毓 兀賵 丕賱賲賳胤賯 ..
丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 賲賳 兀丿亘 丕賱賵丕賯毓賷丞 丕賱爻丨乇賷丞 丕賱賲丿賲噩 亘賴丕 兀丨丿丕孬 鬲丕乇賷禺賷丞 賵爻賷丕爻賷丞 賱廿賳丿賵賳賷爻賷丕 毓賳 胤乇賷賯 鬲賲孬賷賱賴 賮賷 亘賱丿丞 爻丕丨賱賷丞 鬲丿毓賷 賴丕賱賷賲賵賳丿丕 賮鬲噩丿 賳賮爻賰 鬲賯乇兀 毓賳 丕賱丕丨鬲賱丕賱 丕賱賴賵賱賳丿賷 賵丕賱賷丕亘丕賳賷 賵丨乇亘 丕賱毓氐丕亘丕鬲 賵賲兀爻丕丞 丕賱卮賷賵毓賷賷賳 賮賷 賯氐丞 毓賳 丕賱丨亘 賵丕賱賰乇賴 賵丕賱毓賴乇 賵丕賱兀卮亘丕丨 賵丕賱爻丨乇 賵丕賱丕賳鬲賯丕賲 ..
丕賯鬲乇亘鬲 賰孬賷乇丕 賲賳 乇丕卅毓丞 賲丕乇賰賷夭 賲丕卅丞 賷賵賲 賲賳 丕賱毓夭賱丞 賵賱賰賳 亘胤毓賲 廿賳丿賵賳賷爻賷 禺丕氐 賮賴賷 毓賳 孬賱丕孬 兀噩賷丕賱 賲賳 毓丕卅賱丞 丿賷賵賷 丌賷賵 賵丨賷丕鬲賴丕 賵丕賱賱毓賳丕鬲 丕賱鬲賷 丨賱鬲 毓賱賷 兀爻乇鬲賴丕 賲賳 卮亘丨 賳丕賯賲 賰丕乇賴 賱賳氐賮 兀氐賵賱賴丕 丕賱賴賵賱賳丿賷丞 賮賯丿 爻賱亘 噩丿賴丕 丕賱賴賵賱賳丿賷 毓卮賷賯鬲賴 賵賯乇乇兀賳 賷賳鬲賯賲 賲賳 賳爻賱賴 丕賱亘丕賯賷 賵賴賵 丿賷賵賷 丌賷賵 ..
賮賷 賳賴丕賷丞 賰賱 賮氐賱 賷購賮鬲丨 亘丕亘 賷毓胤賷賰 賲丿禺賱丕 毓賱賷 噩夭亍 丌禺乇 賲賳 丕賱賲卮賴丿 賵賲賳 賯氐丞 廿賱賷 賯氐丞 鬲噩丿 鬲乇丕亘胤 賲鬲賷賳丕 亘賷賳 兀賵賱 賵丌禺乇 賰賱賲丞 賵鬲賰鬲卮賮 賱賵丨丞 賲鬲賰丕賲丞 爻丕丨乇丞 毓賳 賰賱 卮禺氐 賵夭賲丕賳 賵賲賰丕賳 賰賱 丨丿孬 賮賰丕賳鬲 兀卮亘賴 亘囟賮賷乇丞 賲賳 丕賱禺賷丕賱 賵丕賱爻賷丕爻丞 賵丕賱鬲丕乇賷禺 賰賱賲丕 爻丨亘鬲 胤乇賮賴丕 丕賳夭賱賯 胤乇賮 丌禺乇 賮賷 賷丿賰 賮鬲噩丿 賳賮爻賰 賮賷 毓丕賱賲 賷禺鬲賱胤 亘賴 丕賱賵丕賯毓 賲毓 丕賱禺賷丕賱 ...
賲賳匕 賮鬲乇丞 賵兀賳丕 兀乇賷丿 丕毓丕丿丞 賯乇丕亍丞 賲丕卅丞 毓丕賲 賲賳 丕賱毓夭賱丞 毓賳丿賲丕 賵賯毓鬲 賮賷 賷丿賷 賴匕賴 丕賱鬲丨賮丞 丕賱賮賳賷丞 ..
廿賱賷 毓卮丕賯 丕賱賵丕賯毓賷丞 丕賱爻丨乇賷丞 兀賴丿賷賰賲 賴匕賴 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 丕賱鬲賷 賯丿 鬲乇囟賷 卮睾賮賰賲 賱毓丕賱賲 賲丕乇賰賷夭 賵賱賰賳 亘賯賱賲 賰賵乇賳賷丕賵丕賳 ...
丕爻鬲賲鬲毓賵丕丕 ..
丿賲鬲賲 賯乇丕亍 鉂わ笍鉂わ笍鉂わ笍
毓賳丿賲丕 鬲賯乇兀 賴匕賴 丕賱噩賲賱丞 賮賷 兀賵賱 賮氐賱 賲賳 乇賵丕賷丞 丕毓賱賲 兀賳賰 亘氐丿丿 毓丕賱賲 賵丕爻毓 賲賳 丕賱禺賷丕賱 賵丕賱賮丕賳鬲丕夭賷丕 賮賱丕 鬲賵噩丿 丨丿賵丿 賱賱賵丕賯毓 兀賵 丕賱賲賳胤賯 ..
丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 賲賳 兀丿亘 丕賱賵丕賯毓賷丞 丕賱爻丨乇賷丞 丕賱賲丿賲噩 亘賴丕 兀丨丿丕孬 鬲丕乇賷禺賷丞 賵爻賷丕爻賷丞 賱廿賳丿賵賳賷爻賷丕 毓賳 胤乇賷賯 鬲賲孬賷賱賴 賮賷 亘賱丿丞 爻丕丨賱賷丞 鬲丿毓賷 賴丕賱賷賲賵賳丿丕 賮鬲噩丿 賳賮爻賰 鬲賯乇兀 毓賳 丕賱丕丨鬲賱丕賱 丕賱賴賵賱賳丿賷 賵丕賱賷丕亘丕賳賷 賵丨乇亘 丕賱毓氐丕亘丕鬲 賵賲兀爻丕丞 丕賱卮賷賵毓賷賷賳 賮賷 賯氐丞 毓賳 丕賱丨亘 賵丕賱賰乇賴 賵丕賱毓賴乇 賵丕賱兀卮亘丕丨 賵丕賱爻丨乇 賵丕賱丕賳鬲賯丕賲 ..
丕賯鬲乇亘鬲 賰孬賷乇丕 賲賳 乇丕卅毓丞 賲丕乇賰賷夭 賲丕卅丞 賷賵賲 賲賳 丕賱毓夭賱丞 賵賱賰賳 亘胤毓賲 廿賳丿賵賳賷爻賷 禺丕氐 賮賴賷 毓賳 孬賱丕孬 兀噩賷丕賱 賲賳 毓丕卅賱丞 丿賷賵賷 丌賷賵 賵丨賷丕鬲賴丕 賵丕賱賱毓賳丕鬲 丕賱鬲賷 丨賱鬲 毓賱賷 兀爻乇鬲賴丕 賲賳 卮亘丨 賳丕賯賲 賰丕乇賴 賱賳氐賮 兀氐賵賱賴丕 丕賱賴賵賱賳丿賷丞 賮賯丿 爻賱亘 噩丿賴丕 丕賱賴賵賱賳丿賷 毓卮賷賯鬲賴 賵賯乇乇兀賳 賷賳鬲賯賲 賲賳 賳爻賱賴 丕賱亘丕賯賷 賵賴賵 丿賷賵賷 丌賷賵 ..
賮賷 賳賴丕賷丞 賰賱 賮氐賱 賷購賮鬲丨 亘丕亘 賷毓胤賷賰 賲丿禺賱丕 毓賱賷 噩夭亍 丌禺乇 賲賳 丕賱賲卮賴丿 賵賲賳 賯氐丞 廿賱賷 賯氐丞 鬲噩丿 鬲乇丕亘胤 賲鬲賷賳丕 亘賷賳 兀賵賱 賵丌禺乇 賰賱賲丞 賵鬲賰鬲卮賮 賱賵丨丞 賲鬲賰丕賲丞 爻丕丨乇丞 毓賳 賰賱 卮禺氐 賵夭賲丕賳 賵賲賰丕賳 賰賱 丨丿孬 賮賰丕賳鬲 兀卮亘賴 亘囟賮賷乇丞 賲賳 丕賱禺賷丕賱 賵丕賱爻賷丕爻丞 賵丕賱鬲丕乇賷禺 賰賱賲丕 爻丨亘鬲 胤乇賮賴丕 丕賳夭賱賯 胤乇賮 丌禺乇 賮賷 賷丿賰 賮鬲噩丿 賳賮爻賰 賮賷 毓丕賱賲 賷禺鬲賱胤 亘賴 丕賱賵丕賯毓 賲毓 丕賱禺賷丕賱 ...
賲賳匕 賮鬲乇丞 賵兀賳丕 兀乇賷丿 丕毓丕丿丞 賯乇丕亍丞 賲丕卅丞 毓丕賲 賲賳 丕賱毓夭賱丞 毓賳丿賲丕 賵賯毓鬲 賮賷 賷丿賷 賴匕賴 丕賱鬲丨賮丞 丕賱賮賳賷丞 ..
廿賱賷 毓卮丕賯 丕賱賵丕賯毓賷丞 丕賱爻丨乇賷丞 兀賴丿賷賰賲 賴匕賴 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 丕賱鬲賷 賯丿 鬲乇囟賷 卮睾賮賰賲 賱毓丕賱賲 賲丕乇賰賷夭 賵賱賰賳 亘賯賱賲 賰賵乇賳賷丕賵丕賳 ...
丕爻鬲賲鬲毓賵丕丕 ..
丿賲鬲賲 賯乇丕亍 鉂わ笍鉂わ笍鉂わ笍
February 3, 2023
Novel yang aneh dan gila. (mengucap panjang)
Aku tak gemar sangat baca benda-benda berkait hal perang, pemberontakan, komunisme apatah lagi hal pelacuran tapi jalan cerita buku ini disusun sungguh rapi dan teratur menjadikan ia satu bacaan yang tidak membosankan. Penulis sangat pandai mengolah setiap watak sehingga setiap watak dan karakter di buku ini sama penting dengan Dewi Ayu. Dari kisah Maman Gendeng ke Sang Sodancho terus ke Kamerad Kliwon juga perihal anak-anak Dewi Ayu sendiri malah sehingga ke cucu-cucunya- penulis sungguh teliti dan bijak mengemas alur cerita sehingga aku rasa buku ini tak perlukan seorang editor.
Recommended- walau endingnya pada aku kurang memuaskan, tapi ada pengajaran juga ya!
Aku tak gemar sangat baca benda-benda berkait hal perang, pemberontakan, komunisme apatah lagi hal pelacuran tapi jalan cerita buku ini disusun sungguh rapi dan teratur menjadikan ia satu bacaan yang tidak membosankan. Penulis sangat pandai mengolah setiap watak sehingga setiap watak dan karakter di buku ini sama penting dengan Dewi Ayu. Dari kisah Maman Gendeng ke Sang Sodancho terus ke Kamerad Kliwon juga perihal anak-anak Dewi Ayu sendiri malah sehingga ke cucu-cucunya- penulis sungguh teliti dan bijak mengemas alur cerita sehingga aku rasa buku ini tak perlukan seorang editor.
Recommended- walau endingnya pada aku kurang memuaskan, tapi ada pengajaran juga ya!
May 12, 2016
1.5 stars - I didn't like it.
After an incredible opening paragraph, this one has begun to just disappoint and bore. DNF'ing around 75 pages / 15% in. I have had my fill of rape, incest and bestiality and am choosing to move on to another book on my never-ending TBR list. This one's just not for me.
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First Sentence: One afternoon on a weekend in March, Dewi Ayu rose from her grave after being dead for twenty-one years.
After an incredible opening paragraph, this one has begun to just disappoint and bore. DNF'ing around 75 pages / 15% in. I have had my fill of rape, incest and bestiality and am choosing to move on to another book on my never-ending TBR list. This one's just not for me.
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First Sentence: One afternoon on a weekend in March, Dewi Ayu rose from her grave after being dead for twenty-one years.
April 26, 2018
3,5 estrellas
Una lectura que ten铆a que hacer con urgencia. No recuerdo c贸mo me lleg贸 este t铆tulo del cual ni siquiera hice el intento de desprenderme. 鈥淟a Belleza es una Herida鈥� para mi es de los t铆tulos m谩s seductores que he podido encontrar para una novela. Sent铆 que era un asunto prioritario leerla, y m谩s cuando su autor Eka Kurniawan es de Indonesia, un pa铆s lejano y cuya literatura es territorio virgen para m铆. Desde luego, tambi茅n estaba el tema del g茅nero 鈥渞ealismo m谩gico鈥�, m谩s cuando ha sido comparada con 鈥淐ien A帽os de Soledad鈥�.
La historia se desarrolla en una ciudad de la misma naturaleza de Macondo, Halimunda; y cuenta a trav茅s de las historias personales de las mujeres de una misma estirpe el paso de la violencia en Indonesia con sus diferentes actores; desde antes de la primera guerra mundial, hasta los noventa. El contenido hist贸rico, es una promesa que hace E. Kurniawan en su preludio:
鈥︹€滵ewy Ayu y sus hijas volvieron a ver la brutalidad de la que era capaz el hombre , vieron las calles de su pueblo convertidas en r铆os de sangre y los r铆os en fosas comunes.
Esta es la historia de nuestro pa铆s. Una historia de fantasmas鈥asen y disfruten鈥�.
Y la novela arranca con uno de los mejores intros que he le铆do; la resurrecci贸n de Dewy Ayu, su protagonista:
鈥淯na tarde, un fin de semana de marzo, Dewy Ayu se levant贸 de su tumba tras haber pasado veinti煤n a帽os muerta鈥� 鈥�
Y ya con esto para m铆 la novela tiene un despliegue 茅pico, y pese a que parezca dif铆cil, el ritmo y la solvencia no decaen. A mi juicio E. Kurniawan da lecciones soberbias de movimiento, fluidez, buena escritura y de creatividad. Nunca me aburr铆, la novela es una mezcla de ingenio, violencia, humor, romance, mitolog铆a, ocultismo y fantas铆as. Pero esto no es suficiente para sostener esta historia.
El autor, al igual que en otras novelas de realismo m谩gico Latinoamericano (La casa de los esp铆ritus, como agua para chocolate, cien a帽os de soledad), le da voz y protagonismo a la mujer, siendo esta la que conduce la historia no de una forma pasiva, sino desafiando las normas sociales y teniendo una posici贸n concreta ante la realidad que las rodea. Adicional a esto, en 鈥淟a Belleza es una Herida鈥�, la mujer es objeto de la violencia, no solo de la guerra sino tambi茅n de los efectos colaterales de la misma, y as铆 mismo se expresa. Concretamente 鈥渓a mujer鈥� son las mujeres de una estirpe familiar maldita, bellas, bell铆simas, sobrenaturalmente hermosas, que no llegan a ser felices. Si bien, todas tienen participaci贸n en la novela, Dewi Ayu (quien me record贸 a Pilatos de La Canci贸n de Salom贸n de Tony Morrison), la prostituta m谩s bella es la que lleva la batuta en la novela; no solo por ser la que empieza a narrar o la que termina el relato, sino porque con el paso de las p谩ginas parece un fantasma omnipresente, que todo lo sabe. Y es que Dewy Ayu, resulta un personaje resabiado y ma帽oso, es la testigo, es la contadora, pero en su forma no se distancia de los otros personajes. Porque as铆 son los dem谩s personajes, parcos, ma帽osos y resabiados, los cuales no expresan emoci贸n ni llevan al lector a la misma, generan m谩s bien distancia. Y est谩 todo lo dem谩s鈥st谩n los conflictos y las muertes en Indonesia, pero solo como parte de la ambientaci贸n de la novela, lo que cre铆 que me iba a contar el autor se diluy贸 en el paso del tiempo y de las situaciones/representaciones fant谩sticas que tiene el libro por doquier. Porque es como escrib铆 anteriormente, el libro est谩 lleno de ocurrencias muy ingeniosas y creativas, pero su espectacularidad termina en mucho ruido, est谩n bien integradas en la novela pero no logr茅 integrarme yo a ellas, o verlas como algo maravilloso; m谩s bien, llegue a asociarlas con una estrategia publicitaria鈥s铆 de abrumadora puede ser la situaci贸n.
Si bien, esta novela se ambienta en un contexto hist贸rico-social, tiene ficciones (lo sobrenatural lo percibo m谩s como fantasias u ocurrencias, no como una realidad m谩gica) y evoca la mitolog铆a ancestral, no puedo ubicarla dentro del realismo m谩gico. Es cierto, no puedo definir el realismo m谩gico, pero otra verdad es que no puedo compararla con Cien A帽os de Soledad o La Casa de los Esp铆ritus; m谩s bien si encuentro similitud con el realismo m谩gico de Tony Morrison.
La lectura de este libro me deja inquietudes, como si ser谩 que estamos ante diferentes matices de lo que se llama el realismo m谩gico o si el realismo m谩gico tambi茅n evoluciona 贸 est谩 en plena evoluci贸n (?). Otra inquietud que me deja el libro es la obvia 驴por qu茅 la belleza es una herida? No creo que Eka Kurniawan sea un tipo machista o misogeno, incluso estoy segura que no fue su intenci贸n; pero al final del libro el mensaje que llega a m铆, es que la belleza es una herida porque las mujeres bellas son las que sufren, o por lo menos las que m谩s.
Al terminar estas l铆neas no s茅 si tuve equilibrio entre lo subjetivo y lo objetivo, o si estar茅 siendo maniquea. El caso, es que si bien no termino de encajar en esta realidad de La Belleza es una Herida, me parece importante que la novela sea le铆da porque Indonesia es un pa铆s al que casi no recurrimos para leer y porque me gustar铆a conocer mas apreciaciones de este libro, porque eso si, el libro es m煤ltiple en lecturas e interpretaciones, y eso me parece valioso.
Una lectura que ten铆a que hacer con urgencia. No recuerdo c贸mo me lleg贸 este t铆tulo del cual ni siquiera hice el intento de desprenderme. 鈥淟a Belleza es una Herida鈥� para mi es de los t铆tulos m谩s seductores que he podido encontrar para una novela. Sent铆 que era un asunto prioritario leerla, y m谩s cuando su autor Eka Kurniawan es de Indonesia, un pa铆s lejano y cuya literatura es territorio virgen para m铆. Desde luego, tambi茅n estaba el tema del g茅nero 鈥渞ealismo m谩gico鈥�, m谩s cuando ha sido comparada con 鈥淐ien A帽os de Soledad鈥�.
La historia se desarrolla en una ciudad de la misma naturaleza de Macondo, Halimunda; y cuenta a trav茅s de las historias personales de las mujeres de una misma estirpe el paso de la violencia en Indonesia con sus diferentes actores; desde antes de la primera guerra mundial, hasta los noventa. El contenido hist贸rico, es una promesa que hace E. Kurniawan en su preludio:
鈥︹€滵ewy Ayu y sus hijas volvieron a ver la brutalidad de la que era capaz el hombre , vieron las calles de su pueblo convertidas en r铆os de sangre y los r铆os en fosas comunes.
Esta es la historia de nuestro pa铆s. Una historia de fantasmas鈥asen y disfruten鈥�.
Y la novela arranca con uno de los mejores intros que he le铆do; la resurrecci贸n de Dewy Ayu, su protagonista:
鈥淯na tarde, un fin de semana de marzo, Dewy Ayu se levant贸 de su tumba tras haber pasado veinti煤n a帽os muerta鈥� 鈥�
Y ya con esto para m铆 la novela tiene un despliegue 茅pico, y pese a que parezca dif铆cil, el ritmo y la solvencia no decaen. A mi juicio E. Kurniawan da lecciones soberbias de movimiento, fluidez, buena escritura y de creatividad. Nunca me aburr铆, la novela es una mezcla de ingenio, violencia, humor, romance, mitolog铆a, ocultismo y fantas铆as. Pero esto no es suficiente para sostener esta historia.
El autor, al igual que en otras novelas de realismo m谩gico Latinoamericano (La casa de los esp铆ritus, como agua para chocolate, cien a帽os de soledad), le da voz y protagonismo a la mujer, siendo esta la que conduce la historia no de una forma pasiva, sino desafiando las normas sociales y teniendo una posici贸n concreta ante la realidad que las rodea. Adicional a esto, en 鈥淟a Belleza es una Herida鈥�, la mujer es objeto de la violencia, no solo de la guerra sino tambi茅n de los efectos colaterales de la misma, y as铆 mismo se expresa. Concretamente 鈥渓a mujer鈥� son las mujeres de una estirpe familiar maldita, bellas, bell铆simas, sobrenaturalmente hermosas, que no llegan a ser felices. Si bien, todas tienen participaci贸n en la novela, Dewi Ayu (quien me record贸 a Pilatos de La Canci贸n de Salom贸n de Tony Morrison), la prostituta m谩s bella es la que lleva la batuta en la novela; no solo por ser la que empieza a narrar o la que termina el relato, sino porque con el paso de las p谩ginas parece un fantasma omnipresente, que todo lo sabe. Y es que Dewy Ayu, resulta un personaje resabiado y ma帽oso, es la testigo, es la contadora, pero en su forma no se distancia de los otros personajes. Porque as铆 son los dem谩s personajes, parcos, ma帽osos y resabiados, los cuales no expresan emoci贸n ni llevan al lector a la misma, generan m谩s bien distancia. Y est谩 todo lo dem谩s鈥st谩n los conflictos y las muertes en Indonesia, pero solo como parte de la ambientaci贸n de la novela, lo que cre铆 que me iba a contar el autor se diluy贸 en el paso del tiempo y de las situaciones/representaciones fant谩sticas que tiene el libro por doquier. Porque es como escrib铆 anteriormente, el libro est谩 lleno de ocurrencias muy ingeniosas y creativas, pero su espectacularidad termina en mucho ruido, est谩n bien integradas en la novela pero no logr茅 integrarme yo a ellas, o verlas como algo maravilloso; m谩s bien, llegue a asociarlas con una estrategia publicitaria鈥s铆 de abrumadora puede ser la situaci贸n.
Si bien, esta novela se ambienta en un contexto hist贸rico-social, tiene ficciones (lo sobrenatural lo percibo m谩s como fantasias u ocurrencias, no como una realidad m谩gica) y evoca la mitolog铆a ancestral, no puedo ubicarla dentro del realismo m谩gico. Es cierto, no puedo definir el realismo m谩gico, pero otra verdad es que no puedo compararla con Cien A帽os de Soledad o La Casa de los Esp铆ritus; m谩s bien si encuentro similitud con el realismo m谩gico de Tony Morrison.
La lectura de este libro me deja inquietudes, como si ser谩 que estamos ante diferentes matices de lo que se llama el realismo m谩gico o si el realismo m谩gico tambi茅n evoluciona 贸 est谩 en plena evoluci贸n (?). Otra inquietud que me deja el libro es la obvia 驴por qu茅 la belleza es una herida? No creo que Eka Kurniawan sea un tipo machista o misogeno, incluso estoy segura que no fue su intenci贸n; pero al final del libro el mensaje que llega a m铆, es que la belleza es una herida porque las mujeres bellas son las que sufren, o por lo menos las que m谩s.
Al terminar estas l铆neas no s茅 si tuve equilibrio entre lo subjetivo y lo objetivo, o si estar茅 siendo maniquea. El caso, es que si bien no termino de encajar en esta realidad de La Belleza es una Herida, me parece importante que la novela sea le铆da porque Indonesia es un pa铆s al que casi no recurrimos para leer y porque me gustar铆a conocer mas apreciaciones de este libro, porque eso si, el libro es m煤ltiple en lecturas e interpretaciones, y eso me parece valioso.
September 5, 2022
Kh么ng c贸 tai h峄峚 n脿o kinh kh峄g h啤n l脿 sinh ra 膽峄゛ con g谩i xinh 膽岷筽 trong m峄檛 th岷� gi峄沬 c峄 nh峄痭g g茫 膽脿n 么ng d芒m d峄 nh瓢 b峄峮 ch贸 膽ang 膽峄檔g c峄
-- C么 c岷 膽岷穞 cho con b茅 m峄檛 c谩i t锚n hay
-- "脌," Dewi Ayu n贸i. "T锚n n贸 l脿 膼岷筽."
-- "峄�!" m峄峣 ng瓢峄漣 k锚u l锚n, b峄慽 r峄慽 t矛m c谩ch khuy锚n can b脿 . "Th岷� c貌n t锚n N峄梚 膼au th矛 sao?"
-- "Th么i N脿o, t锚n con b茅 l脿 膼岷筽."
H峄� b岷 l峄眂 nh矛n theo khi Dewi Ayu quay tr峄� l岷 ph貌ng b脿 膽峄� m岷穋 膽峄�. H峄� ch峄� c貌n bi岷縯 nh矛n nhau, bu峄搉 b茫 h矛nh dung c岷h m峄檛 c么 g谩i tr岷� 膽en nh瓢 nh峄� n峄搃 v峄沬 c谩i 峄� c岷痬 膽i峄噉 ch矛nh 矛nh gi峄痑 m岷穞 b峄� g峄峣 b岷眓g c谩i t锚n 膼岷筽. 膼煤ng l脿 m峄檛 s峄� s峄� nh峄.
Rating: 7.5/10
Genre: Fiction | Magic Realism
膼峄� kh贸: 6.5/10
Dewi Ayu - m峄檛 岷� g谩i 膽i岷縨 n膬m m瓢啤i hai tu峄昳, 膽茫 ch岷縯 hai m瓢啤i m峄憈 n膬m, 膽峄檛 nhi锚n 膽峄檌 m峄� s峄憂g d岷瓂. B脿 l脿 岷� g谩i 膽i岷縨 膽岷筽 nh岷 v霉ng, l脿 khao kh谩t h岷眓g 膽锚m c峄 m峄峣 g茫 膽脿n 么ng 峄� Halimunda. Dewi Ayu c贸 b峄憂 ng瓢峄漣 con, 膽峄乽 l脿 g谩i. Ba 膽峄゛ con 膽岷 c峄 b脿 膽峄乽 膽岷筽, duy ch峄� c贸 膽峄゛ con g谩i 煤t l脿 x岷 - v矛 b脿 膽茫 ch谩n nh峄痭g 膽峄゛ con 膽岷筽 膽岷� r峄搃 n锚n b脿 c岷 xin 么ng tr峄漣 ban cho m峄檛 膽峄゛ con x岷 x铆.
Cu峄憂 s谩ch tr岷 d脿i t峄� th峄漣 ni锚n thi岷縰 c峄 b脿 膽i岷縨 xinh 膽岷筽 Dewi Ayu, 膽岷縩 khi s峄� ph岷璶 膽瓢a 膽岷﹜ khi岷縩 b脿 ph岷 l脿m g谩i 膽i岷縨 r峄搃 h岷� sinh 3 膽峄゛ con g谩i xinh 膽岷筽 tuy峄噒 tr岷 m脿 ch岷硁g 膽峄゛ n脿o chung cha. S峄� ph岷璶 c峄 ba 膽峄゛ tr岷� l岷 ti岷縫 n峄慽 khi ch煤ng y锚u v脿 sinh ra ba 膽峄゛ con c农ng v峄沬 v岷� 膽岷筽 m锚 mu峄檌 l貌ng ng瓢峄漣. 膼岷筽 l脿 m峄檛 n峄梚 膽au k峄� c芒u chuy峄噉 c峄 ba th岷� h峄�, quanh qu岷﹏ 峄� v霉ng 膽岷 h瓢 c岷 Halimunda, Indonesia. T谩c gi岷� 膽茫 d霉ng l峄媍h s峄� 膽au th瓢啤ng c峄 膽岷 n瓢峄沜 m矛nh 膽峄� k峄� c芒u chuy峄噉 c峄 v霉ng 膽岷 Halimunda.
膼芒y c贸 l岷� l脿 cu峄憂 s谩ch 膽岷 l峄檔 nh芒n sinh quan nh岷 m矛nh t峄玭g 膽峄峜, b峄焛 m矛nh ph岷 膽谩nh v岷璽 v峄沬 logic c峄 b岷 th芒n trong khi theo d玫i c芒u chuy峄噉. T谩c gi岷� vi岷縯 n锚n 膼岷筽 b岷眓g l峄慽 k峄� hi峄噉 th峄眂 huy峄乶 岷 (Magic Realism), c芒u chuy峄噉 膽an xen v脿 th瓢峄漬g 膽峄檛 ng峄檛 chuy峄僴 t峄� hi峄噉 th峄眂 sang nh峄痭g y岷縰 t峄� huy峄乶 h岷 v脿 ng瓢峄 l岷 khi岷縩 logic th瓢峄漬g t矛nh c峄 m矛nh kh贸 m脿 theo k峄媝 膽瓢峄. Su峄憈 h啤n 400 trang s谩ch, c芒u chuy峄噉 膽瓢峄 膽an xen v峄沬 r岷 nhi峄乽 c芒u truy峄噉 huy峄乶 tho岷 d芒n gian, nh峄痭g chi ti岷縯 hoang 膽瓢峄漬g nh瓢 l峄 bi岷縩 th脿nh ng瓢峄漣, ng瓢峄漣 nh岷 xu峄憂g v峄眂 r峄搃 m峄峜 c谩nh bay l锚n tr峄漣 hay c谩c chi ti岷縯 qu峄� d峄� nh瓢 h峄搉 ma v岷 v瓢峄焠g ch峄漬 v峄漬 ng瓢峄漣 s峄憂g, con ng瓢峄漣 ch岷縯 膽i s峄憂g l岷 nhi峄乽 l岷. C谩c chi ti岷縯 18+ nh瓢 t矛nh d峄, c瓢峄g hi岷縫 hay c谩c chi ti岷縯 g芒y kh贸 ch峄媢 trong cu峄憂 s谩ch c农ng l脿 膽i峄乽 m脿 b岷 n锚n c芒n nh岷痗 tr瓢峄沜 khi quy岷縯 膽峄媙h 膽峄峜.
膼岷穞 nh峄痭g y岷縰 t峄� 膽贸 sang m峄檛 b锚n, n岷縰 b岷 c贸 h峄﹏g th煤 t矛m hi峄僽 ti岷縫 th矛 膼岷筽 l脿 m峄檛 n峄梚 膽au c贸 ch瓢啤ng 膽岷 膽瓢峄 vi岷縯 r岷 hay v脿 岷 t瓢峄g:
"M峄檛 bu峄昳 chi峄乽 cu峄慽 tu岷 th谩ng Ba, Dewi Ayu b瓢峄沜 ra kh峄廼 ng么i m峄� c峄 b脿 sau khi 膽茫 ch岷縯 hai m瓢啤i m峄憈 n膬m. M峄檛 th岷眓g b茅 ch膬n c峄玼 b峄玭g t峄塶h...
[Spoiler alert] - C芒n nh岷痗 ph岷 d瓢峄沬 c贸 th峄� ti岷縯 l峄� n峄檌 dung c峄 s谩ch
膼岷筽 l脿 m峄檛 m贸n qu脿 c峄 Th瓢峄g 膽岷� (ho岷穋 gene di truy峄乶). 膼岷筽 l脿 m峄檛 ph瓢峄沜 l脿nh. 膼岷筽 l脿 m峄檛 ni峄乵 h芒n hoan.
膼岷筽 c农ng l脿 m峄檛 n峄梚 膽au,
hay c谩i 膽岷筽 tr峄� th脿nh th峄� th霉 ngh峄媍h, l脿 th峄� c谩m d峄� nh峄痭g hi峄乵 kh铆ch, nh峄痭g gi脿nh gi岷璽 v脿 b岷 lo岷, ...
Ngay t峄� t峄盿 膽峄� c峄 cu峄憂 s谩ch, 膽峄檆 gi岷� 膽茫 c贸 th峄� m瓢峄漬g t瓢峄g r岷眓g r峄搃 c谩i "膼岷筽" s岷� d岷 b贸p ngh岷箃 t岷 c岷� m峄峣 b岷 ch岷 t峄憈 膽岷筽 c峄 n贸. Trong 膼岷筽 l脿 m峄檛 n峄梚 膽au, c谩i 膽岷筽 l脿 ch峄﹏g nh芒n l峄媍h s峄�, l脿 ngu峄搉 c啤n c峄 m峄峣 giao tranh, l脿 d岷 t铆ch c峄 m峄峣 t峄檌 l峄梚.
Dewi Ayu xu岷 th芒n l脿 m峄檛 c么 g谩i gia gi谩o, v矛 chi岷縩 tranh n峄� ra m脿 s峄� ph岷璶 膽瓢a 膽岷﹜ t峄沬 ng峄 t霉. "Nh峄�" 膼岷筽, Dewi Ayu 膽瓢峄 ch峄峮 膽峄� 膽瓢a t峄沬 nh脿 th峄�, ch铆nh th峄ヽ tr峄� th脿nh m峄檛 岷� g谩i 膽i岷縨. Ch岷 nh岷璶 nh瓢 s峄� ph岷璶 膽茫 an b脿i, m峄峣 膽i峄乽 t峄沬 v峄沬 c么 d霉 l脿 ni峄乵 vui hay s峄� b岷 h岷h, c么 膽峄乽 th岷 nhi锚n b瓢峄沜 qua. C谩i 膽岷筽 m峄� m峄� c峄 Dewi Ayu nh瓢 m峄檛 ch峄﹏g t铆ch l峄媍h s峄� c峄 Halimunda.
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M矛nh mu峄憂 vi岷縯 r岷 nhi峄乽 th峄� nh瓢ng ch岷硁g hi峄僽 sao "t岷痗" 膽岷縩 c岷� th谩ng nay r峄搃. 脻 膽茫 g岷h ra r峄搃 v岷玭 kh么ng th峄� vi岷縯 n峄憈 膽瓢峄. Th么i th矛 膽脿nh 膽岷穞 峄� 膽芒y m峄檛 膽o岷 l峄璶g l啤 :(
Cu峄憂 b脿y kh么ng ph岷 gu m脿 m矛nh th铆ch, nh瓢ng h峄廼 c贸 hay kh么ng th矛 m矛nh v岷玭 nh岷璶 l脿 n贸 c贸 c谩i hay c峄 n贸. V岷瓂 n锚n c岷 quan s岷� 膽峄� 7.5, 膽峄� th岷 r岷眓g hay nh瓢ng kh么ng ph岷 hay t芒m 膽岷痗. C贸 khi tr峄� 0.5 n峄痑 v矛 gi峄憂g Tr膬m n膬m c么 膽啤n qu谩...
-- C么 c岷 膽岷穞 cho con b茅 m峄檛 c谩i t锚n hay
-- "脌," Dewi Ayu n贸i. "T锚n n贸 l脿 膼岷筽."
-- "峄�!" m峄峣 ng瓢峄漣 k锚u l锚n, b峄慽 r峄慽 t矛m c谩ch khuy锚n can b脿 . "Th岷� c貌n t锚n N峄梚 膼au th矛 sao?"
-- "Th么i N脿o, t锚n con b茅 l脿 膼岷筽."
H峄� b岷 l峄眂 nh矛n theo khi Dewi Ayu quay tr峄� l岷 ph貌ng b脿 膽峄� m岷穋 膽峄�. H峄� ch峄� c貌n bi岷縯 nh矛n nhau, bu峄搉 b茫 h矛nh dung c岷h m峄檛 c么 g谩i tr岷� 膽en nh瓢 nh峄� n峄搃 v峄沬 c谩i 峄� c岷痬 膽i峄噉 ch矛nh 矛nh gi峄痑 m岷穞 b峄� g峄峣 b岷眓g c谩i t锚n 膼岷筽. 膼煤ng l脿 m峄檛 s峄� s峄� nh峄.
Rating: 7.5/10
Genre: Fiction | Magic Realism
膼峄� kh贸: 6.5/10
Dewi Ayu - m峄檛 岷� g谩i 膽i岷縨 n膬m m瓢啤i hai tu峄昳, 膽茫 ch岷縯 hai m瓢啤i m峄憈 n膬m, 膽峄檛 nhi锚n 膽峄檌 m峄� s峄憂g d岷瓂. B脿 l脿 岷� g谩i 膽i岷縨 膽岷筽 nh岷 v霉ng, l脿 khao kh谩t h岷眓g 膽锚m c峄 m峄峣 g茫 膽脿n 么ng 峄� Halimunda. Dewi Ayu c贸 b峄憂 ng瓢峄漣 con, 膽峄乽 l脿 g谩i. Ba 膽峄゛ con 膽岷 c峄 b脿 膽峄乽 膽岷筽, duy ch峄� c贸 膽峄゛ con g谩i 煤t l脿 x岷 - v矛 b脿 膽茫 ch谩n nh峄痭g 膽峄゛ con 膽岷筽 膽岷� r峄搃 n锚n b脿 c岷 xin 么ng tr峄漣 ban cho m峄檛 膽峄゛ con x岷 x铆.
Cu峄憂 s谩ch tr岷 d脿i t峄� th峄漣 ni锚n thi岷縰 c峄 b脿 膽i岷縨 xinh 膽岷筽 Dewi Ayu, 膽岷縩 khi s峄� ph岷璶 膽瓢a 膽岷﹜ khi岷縩 b脿 ph岷 l脿m g谩i 膽i岷縨 r峄搃 h岷� sinh 3 膽峄゛ con g谩i xinh 膽岷筽 tuy峄噒 tr岷 m脿 ch岷硁g 膽峄゛ n脿o chung cha. S峄� ph岷璶 c峄 ba 膽峄゛ tr岷� l岷 ti岷縫 n峄慽 khi ch煤ng y锚u v脿 sinh ra ba 膽峄゛ con c农ng v峄沬 v岷� 膽岷筽 m锚 mu峄檌 l貌ng ng瓢峄漣. 膼岷筽 l脿 m峄檛 n峄梚 膽au k峄� c芒u chuy峄噉 c峄 ba th岷� h峄�, quanh qu岷﹏ 峄� v霉ng 膽岷 h瓢 c岷 Halimunda, Indonesia. T谩c gi岷� 膽茫 d霉ng l峄媍h s峄� 膽au th瓢啤ng c峄 膽岷 n瓢峄沜 m矛nh 膽峄� k峄� c芒u chuy峄噉 c峄 v霉ng 膽岷 Halimunda.
膼芒y c贸 l岷� l脿 cu峄憂 s谩ch 膽岷 l峄檔 nh芒n sinh quan nh岷 m矛nh t峄玭g 膽峄峜, b峄焛 m矛nh ph岷 膽谩nh v岷璽 v峄沬 logic c峄 b岷 th芒n trong khi theo d玫i c芒u chuy峄噉. T谩c gi岷� vi岷縯 n锚n 膼岷筽 b岷眓g l峄慽 k峄� hi峄噉 th峄眂 huy峄乶 岷 (Magic Realism), c芒u chuy峄噉 膽an xen v脿 th瓢峄漬g 膽峄檛 ng峄檛 chuy峄僴 t峄� hi峄噉 th峄眂 sang nh峄痭g y岷縰 t峄� huy峄乶 h岷 v脿 ng瓢峄 l岷 khi岷縩 logic th瓢峄漬g t矛nh c峄 m矛nh kh贸 m脿 theo k峄媝 膽瓢峄. Su峄憈 h啤n 400 trang s谩ch, c芒u chuy峄噉 膽瓢峄 膽an xen v峄沬 r岷 nhi峄乽 c芒u truy峄噉 huy峄乶 tho岷 d芒n gian, nh峄痭g chi ti岷縯 hoang 膽瓢峄漬g nh瓢 l峄 bi岷縩 th脿nh ng瓢峄漣, ng瓢峄漣 nh岷 xu峄憂g v峄眂 r峄搃 m峄峜 c谩nh bay l锚n tr峄漣 hay c谩c chi ti岷縯 qu峄� d峄� nh瓢 h峄搉 ma v岷 v瓢峄焠g ch峄漬 v峄漬 ng瓢峄漣 s峄憂g, con ng瓢峄漣 ch岷縯 膽i s峄憂g l岷 nhi峄乽 l岷. C谩c chi ti岷縯 18+ nh瓢 t矛nh d峄, c瓢峄g hi岷縫 hay c谩c chi ti岷縯 g芒y kh贸 ch峄媢 trong cu峄憂 s谩ch c农ng l脿 膽i峄乽 m脿 b岷 n锚n c芒n nh岷痗 tr瓢峄沜 khi quy岷縯 膽峄媙h 膽峄峜.
膼岷穞 nh峄痭g y岷縰 t峄� 膽贸 sang m峄檛 b锚n, n岷縰 b岷 c贸 h峄﹏g th煤 t矛m hi峄僽 ti岷縫 th矛 膼岷筽 l脿 m峄檛 n峄梚 膽au c贸 ch瓢啤ng 膽岷 膽瓢峄 vi岷縯 r岷 hay v脿 岷 t瓢峄g:
"M峄檛 bu峄昳 chi峄乽 cu峄慽 tu岷 th谩ng Ba, Dewi Ayu b瓢峄沜 ra kh峄廼 ng么i m峄� c峄 b脿 sau khi 膽茫 ch岷縯 hai m瓢啤i m峄憈 n膬m. M峄檛 th岷眓g b茅 ch膬n c峄玼 b峄玭g t峄塶h...
[Spoiler alert] - C芒n nh岷痗 ph岷 d瓢峄沬 c贸 th峄� ti岷縯 l峄� n峄檌 dung c峄 s谩ch
膼岷筽 l脿 m峄檛 m贸n qu脿 c峄 Th瓢峄g 膽岷� (ho岷穋 gene di truy峄乶). 膼岷筽 l脿 m峄檛 ph瓢峄沜 l脿nh. 膼岷筽 l脿 m峄檛 ni峄乵 h芒n hoan.
膼岷筽 c农ng l脿 m峄檛 n峄梚 膽au,
hay c谩i 膽岷筽 tr峄� th脿nh th峄� th霉 ngh峄媍h, l脿 th峄� c谩m d峄� nh峄痭g hi峄乵 kh铆ch, nh峄痭g gi脿nh gi岷璽 v脿 b岷 lo岷, ...
Ngay t峄� t峄盿 膽峄� c峄 cu峄憂 s谩ch, 膽峄檆 gi岷� 膽茫 c贸 th峄� m瓢峄漬g t瓢峄g r岷眓g r峄搃 c谩i "膼岷筽" s岷� d岷 b贸p ngh岷箃 t岷 c岷� m峄峣 b岷 ch岷 t峄憈 膽岷筽 c峄 n贸. Trong 膼岷筽 l脿 m峄檛 n峄梚 膽au, c谩i 膽岷筽 l脿 ch峄﹏g nh芒n l峄媍h s峄�, l脿 ngu峄搉 c啤n c峄 m峄峣 giao tranh, l脿 d岷 t铆ch c峄 m峄峣 t峄檌 l峄梚.
Dewi Ayu xu岷 th芒n l脿 m峄檛 c么 g谩i gia gi谩o, v矛 chi岷縩 tranh n峄� ra m脿 s峄� ph岷璶 膽瓢a 膽岷﹜ t峄沬 ng峄 t霉. "Nh峄�" 膼岷筽, Dewi Ayu 膽瓢峄 ch峄峮 膽峄� 膽瓢a t峄沬 nh脿 th峄�, ch铆nh th峄ヽ tr峄� th脿nh m峄檛 岷� g谩i 膽i岷縨. Ch岷 nh岷璶 nh瓢 s峄� ph岷璶 膽茫 an b脿i, m峄峣 膽i峄乽 t峄沬 v峄沬 c么 d霉 l脿 ni峄乵 vui hay s峄� b岷 h岷h, c么 膽峄乽 th岷 nhi锚n b瓢峄沜 qua. C谩i 膽岷筽 m峄� m峄� c峄 Dewi Ayu nh瓢 m峄檛 ch峄﹏g t铆ch l峄媍h s峄� c峄 Halimunda.
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M矛nh mu峄憂 vi岷縯 r岷 nhi峄乽 th峄� nh瓢ng ch岷硁g hi峄僽 sao "t岷痗" 膽岷縩 c岷� th谩ng nay r峄搃. 脻 膽茫 g岷h ra r峄搃 v岷玭 kh么ng th峄� vi岷縯 n峄憈 膽瓢峄. Th么i th矛 膽脿nh 膽岷穞 峄� 膽芒y m峄檛 膽o岷 l峄璶g l啤 :(
Cu峄憂 b脿y kh么ng ph岷 gu m脿 m矛nh th铆ch, nh瓢ng h峄廼 c贸 hay kh么ng th矛 m矛nh v岷玭 nh岷璶 l脿 n贸 c贸 c谩i hay c峄 n贸. V岷瓂 n锚n c岷 quan s岷� 膽峄� 7.5, 膽峄� th岷 r岷眓g hay nh瓢ng kh么ng ph岷 hay t芒m 膽岷痗. C贸 khi tr峄� 0.5 n峄痑 v矛 gi峄憂g Tr膬m n膬m c么 膽啤n qu谩...
August 26, 2015
鈥淚t鈥檚 true that oppressed people only have one tool of resistance: run amok. And if I have to tell you, revolution is nothing more than a collective running amok, organized by one particular party鈥�
Beauty is a Wound is one of only two (so far) works by Indonesian journalist, writer and designer, Eka Kurniawan that have been translated into English. Twelve days after she gave birth to her fourth daughter (ironically named Beauty), Dewi Ayu, even at fifty-two still the most beautiful and desired prostitute in the Javan city of Halimunda, wrapped herself in a burial shroud and died. Twenty-one years later, she rose from grave, to the shock of the neighbourhood. Her reasons for doing so were not immediately apparent.
Kurniawan鈥檚 epic tale extends over almost a century and, against the backdrop of Dutch Colonial days and the Japanese wartime occupation through the struggles for independence to the modern day, tells the story of an extended Indonesian family: births, marriages, deaths and everything in between. There is plenty of humour and some sweet romance, but this family (like many in Indonesia) also suffers its share of tragedies, or perhaps even moreso. There is quite a lot of violence, again an accurate reflection of life in those times in that country: rapes, massacres, murders and beatings are described in a very matter-of-fact style.
Kurniawan鈥檚 tale demonstrates how corruption, propaganda, the power of petty despots, the impotence of the Police force and control of the media are all accepted aspects of everyday life in Indonesia. The attitude of those petty despots is summarised thus: 鈥溾€機omrade Kliwon 鈥� is quite sympathetic and works hard to remedy the misfortunes of others鈥�.sometimes I think he鈥檚 the only person in this city who looks toward the future with hope.鈥� 鈥楾hat鈥檚 what communists are like. Pathetic people who don鈥檛 realise this world is destined to be the most rotten place imaginable. That鈥檚 the only reason God promised heaven, as a comfort to the wretched masses鈥欌€�
This is a rambling story that is certainly reminiscent of Garcia Marquez and Rushdie, although, while Rushdie tends to never use two words when three or five will do, Kurniawan is much more succinct. Some elements of the supernatural feature: mainly ghosts and channelling of the dead, and of course, folklore and superstition are commonplace. The prose is quite basic, the dialogue often rather earthy: it is easy to read; a background knowledge of Indonesian history and politics is helpful, but not essential. Translation of this impressive work from the Indonesian has been achieved by Annie Tucker. An original and thought-provoking read. 4.5鈽卻
Beauty is a Wound is one of only two (so far) works by Indonesian journalist, writer and designer, Eka Kurniawan that have been translated into English. Twelve days after she gave birth to her fourth daughter (ironically named Beauty), Dewi Ayu, even at fifty-two still the most beautiful and desired prostitute in the Javan city of Halimunda, wrapped herself in a burial shroud and died. Twenty-one years later, she rose from grave, to the shock of the neighbourhood. Her reasons for doing so were not immediately apparent.
Kurniawan鈥檚 epic tale extends over almost a century and, against the backdrop of Dutch Colonial days and the Japanese wartime occupation through the struggles for independence to the modern day, tells the story of an extended Indonesian family: births, marriages, deaths and everything in between. There is plenty of humour and some sweet romance, but this family (like many in Indonesia) also suffers its share of tragedies, or perhaps even moreso. There is quite a lot of violence, again an accurate reflection of life in those times in that country: rapes, massacres, murders and beatings are described in a very matter-of-fact style.
Kurniawan鈥檚 tale demonstrates how corruption, propaganda, the power of petty despots, the impotence of the Police force and control of the media are all accepted aspects of everyday life in Indonesia. The attitude of those petty despots is summarised thus: 鈥溾€機omrade Kliwon 鈥� is quite sympathetic and works hard to remedy the misfortunes of others鈥�.sometimes I think he鈥檚 the only person in this city who looks toward the future with hope.鈥� 鈥楾hat鈥檚 what communists are like. Pathetic people who don鈥檛 realise this world is destined to be the most rotten place imaginable. That鈥檚 the only reason God promised heaven, as a comfort to the wretched masses鈥欌€�
This is a rambling story that is certainly reminiscent of Garcia Marquez and Rushdie, although, while Rushdie tends to never use two words when three or five will do, Kurniawan is much more succinct. Some elements of the supernatural feature: mainly ghosts and channelling of the dead, and of course, folklore and superstition are commonplace. The prose is quite basic, the dialogue often rather earthy: it is easy to read; a background knowledge of Indonesian history and politics is helpful, but not essential. Translation of this impressive work from the Indonesian has been achieved by Annie Tucker. An original and thought-provoking read. 4.5鈽卻
August 18, 2024
I have NO choice but to give it a 5. There is probably less than 3% of pages where I rush through my reading, but 97% of the plot and its characters intrigues me. The plot is ridiculous to the point that I have to close my book many, many times for me to take a breather, to take it all in before continuing with my reading. You really need to understand the mysticism of the culture and to be open to all possibilities before you read this. Otherwise you might not be able to accept what the writer tried to bring. Also, it helps that the many characters introduced in the book, their stories are divided by chapters, otherwise you might lose sight of who that person is, its connection etc. But oh my gosh, what a ludicrously beautiful book!
October 4, 2015
a beautiful, stirring, and powerful epic of indonesian politics and family, eka kurniawan's beauty is a wound (cantik itu luka) must surely be considered as one of the year's finest works of translated fiction. sweeping across decades and generations, beauty is a wound is a violent, enchanted saga, compelling on account of both its impressive breadth and storytelling verve. kurniawan, an indonesian journalist and author, published this remarkable novel when he was 27 years old (released in english concurrently with his 2004 novel, man tiger).
threaded throughout with traces of magical realism, beauty is a wound is a lively, vigorous work with a large, yet unforgettable cast of well-drawn characters. rape, incest, slaughter, massacre, brutality, war, and revenge loom heavily in the story (though never excessively so), but kurniawan tempers these darker elements with humor, rich history, and fantastical occurrences. exploring themes of fate, customs, heroism, loyalty, folklore, communism, cultural/national legacy, and a host of interpersonal relationships intimate, familial, and professional, beauty is a wound is a self-contained world established, perhaps, to make sense of the larger one it inhabits (or has descended from).
spanning the better part of a century in indonesian history, kurniawan's encompassing tale never dulls or languishes under its own ambitious weight. beauty is a wound, despite its copious violence, is somehow reminiscent of jorge amado's exceptional 1958 novel, gabriela, clove and cinnamon, replete as it is with multiple voices, brilliant intensity, and depth of imagination. beauty is a wound is a vibrant tapestry of village life, colonial rule, political independence, and generational drama. kurniawan's first novel translated into english shimmers with the luster of literary accomplishment, offering a gorgeous, at times harrowing glimpse into a country with a long, tumultuous past.
*translated from the indonesian by annie tucker (recipient of a 2013 pen/heim translation grant for her english translation of beauty is a wound)
threaded throughout with traces of magical realism, beauty is a wound is a lively, vigorous work with a large, yet unforgettable cast of well-drawn characters. rape, incest, slaughter, massacre, brutality, war, and revenge loom heavily in the story (though never excessively so), but kurniawan tempers these darker elements with humor, rich history, and fantastical occurrences. exploring themes of fate, customs, heroism, loyalty, folklore, communism, cultural/national legacy, and a host of interpersonal relationships intimate, familial, and professional, beauty is a wound is a self-contained world established, perhaps, to make sense of the larger one it inhabits (or has descended from).
spanning the better part of a century in indonesian history, kurniawan's encompassing tale never dulls or languishes under its own ambitious weight. beauty is a wound, despite its copious violence, is somehow reminiscent of jorge amado's exceptional 1958 novel, gabriela, clove and cinnamon, replete as it is with multiple voices, brilliant intensity, and depth of imagination. beauty is a wound is a vibrant tapestry of village life, colonial rule, political independence, and generational drama. kurniawan's first novel translated into english shimmers with the luster of literary accomplishment, offering a gorgeous, at times harrowing glimpse into a country with a long, tumultuous past.
"do you believe in god?" asked kliwon tentatively.
"that's irrelevant," salim replied. "it's not man's job to think about whether god exists or not, especially when you know that right in front of your eyes one person is stepping on another's neck."
"so you are going to hell."
"i'd rather go to hell, because i have spent my whole life trying to eliminate any man's superiority over other men." he continued, "if i might share my opinion, this world is hell, and our task is to create our own heaven."
*translated from the indonesian by annie tucker (recipient of a 2013 pen/heim translation grant for her english translation of beauty is a wound)
June 29, 2020
Dewi Ayu - n脿ng 膽i岷縨 n峄昳 ti岷縩g m峄檛 th峄漣 c峄 th峄� tr岷 ven bi峄僴 Halimunda - 膽茫 ch岷縯 hai m瓢啤i m峄憈 n膬m, nay 膽峄檛 nhi锚n s峄憂g l岷. T峄� s峄� ki峄噉 t瓢峄焠g nh瓢 hoang 膽瓢峄漬g qu峄� d峄� trong c谩i th岷� gi峄沬 c峄 Halimunda 岷, 鈥溎愥汗p L脿 M峄檛 N峄梚 膼au鈥� d岷玭 d岷痶 ng瓢峄漣 膽峄峜 膽i qua h啤n n峄璦 th岷� k峄� l峄媍h s峄� 膽岷 bi岷縩 膽峄檔g c峄 膽岷 n瓢峄沜 Indonesia b岷眓g c芒u chuy峄噉 nhu峄憁 m脿u bi k峄媍h c峄 nh峄痭g th岷� h峄� ph峄� n峄� trong gia 膽矛nh c峄 Dewi Ayu.
H啤n n峄璦 th岷� k峄� l峄媍h s峄� 岷 膽茫 ch峄﹏g ki岷縩 m峄檛 膽岷 n瓢峄沜 Indonesia l脿 thu峄檆 膽峄媋 c峄 H脿 Lan, r峄搃 sau 膽贸 tr岷 qua Th岷� chi岷縩 th峄� hai v峄沬 s峄� hi峄噉 di峄噉 kinh ho脿ng c峄 ph谩t x铆t Nh岷璽. 膼岷縩 th峄漣 k峄� 膽峄檆 l岷璸, Indonesia l岷 ti岷縫 t峄 ch峄﹏g ki岷縩 xung 膽峄檛 gi峄痑 th岷� l峄眂 t瓢 b岷 膽ang n峄昳 l锚n v脿 nh峄痭g ng瓢峄漣 c峄檔g s岷 ki锚n trung. L峄媍h s峄� v峄沬 膽岷 nh峄痭g bi岷縩 c峄� 膽贸 ch铆nh l脿 ch岷 li峄噓 quan tr峄峮g gi煤p 鈥溎愥汗p L脿 M峄檛 N峄梚 膼au鈥� kh谩m ph谩 nh峄痭g ng玫 ng谩ch 膽au 膽峄沶 v脿 kh峄g khi岷縫 nh岷 c峄 m岷h 膽岷 h瓢 c岷 Halimunda. Nh峄痭g 膽au 膽峄沶 岷 v岷璶 v脿o Dewi Ayu, v脿o nh峄痭g 膽峄゛ con g谩i xinh 膽岷筽 c峄 b脿, v脿 th岷� h峄� nh峄痭g ng瓢峄漣 ch谩u c峄 b脿, nh瓢 th峄� c岷� gia 膽矛nh b脿 ngay t峄� 膽岷 膽茫 b峄� nguy峄乶 r峄. L峄媍h s峄� trong cu峄憂 ti峄僽 thuy岷縯 膽瓢峄 kh岷痗 h峄峚 qua c谩i nh矛n v脿 s峄� ph岷璶 c峄 nh峄痭g ng瓢峄漣 ph峄� n峄�, nh峄痭g ng瓢峄漣 d岷玼 c贸 l脿m g矛, d岷玼 c贸 b峄� ng瓢峄漣 膽峄漣 nh矛n nh岷璶 nh瓢 th岷� n脿o, th矛 h峄� v岷玭 l脿 nh峄痭g ng瓢峄漣 ph峄� n峄� th岷璽 膽岷筽. C谩i 膽岷筽 c峄 h峄�, nghi峄噒 ng茫 thay, l岷 bi岷縩 h峄� tr峄� th脿nh t芒m 膽i峄僲, th脿nh c么ng c峄�, th脿nh nh峄痭g m岷h th峄媡 da 膽峄� 膽脿n 么ng gi脿y x茅o v脿 c瓢峄g hi岷縫. S峄� ph岷璶 膽茫 kh么ng 膽峄慽 膽茫i t峄� t岷� nh峄痭g ng瓢峄漣 膽脿n b脿 trong gia 膽矛nh Dewi Ayu, 膽茫 膽谩p l岷 v岷� 膽岷筽 c峄 h峄� b岷眓g n峄梚 膽au, b岷眓g nh峄痭g s峄� ki峄噉 bi th岷 nh岷.
膼瓢峄 xem nh瓢 鈥淭r膬m N膬m C么 膼啤n鈥� c峄 ch芒u 脕, 鈥溎愥汗p L脿 M峄檛 N峄梚 膼au鈥� 膽茫 v岷璶 d峄g m峄檛 c谩ch ho脿n h岷 nh峄痭g h矛nh 岷h, chi ti岷縯 膽岷穋 tr瓢ng c峄 ch峄� ngh末a hi峄噉 th峄眂 huy峄乶 岷 trong v膬n ch瓢啤ng, 膽岷穋 bi峄噒 l脿 nh峄痭g chi ti岷縯 huy峄乶 岷, phi th峄眂 nh瓢 ng瓢峄漣 bay l锚n tr峄漣 r峄搃 bi岷縩 m岷, hay Dewi Ayu sau nhi峄乽 ng脿y s峄憂g l岷, vi岷縩g th膬m nh脿 c农 c峄 b脿 r峄搃 h贸a th脿nh c谩nh b瓢峄沵. T岷 c岷� 膽瓢峄 l峄盿 ch峄峮 v脿 vi岷縯 ra nh岷眒 t岷 d峄眓g m峄檛 thi锚n s峄� thi gia 膽矛nh cho谩ng v谩ng v脿 kh么n c瓢峄g, theo 膽煤ng nh瓢 c谩i c谩ch m脿 Gabriel Garcia Marquez 膽茫 l脿m say l貌ng ng瓢峄漣 膽峄峜 trong 鈥淭r膬m N膬m C么 膼啤n鈥�. B岷眓g c谩ch trao cho m峄梚 nh芒n v岷璽 m峄檛 ch瓢啤ng truy峄噉, t谩c gi岷� 膽茫 c贸 th峄� kh岷痗 h峄峚 h矛nh t瓢峄g c峄 t峄玭g nh芒n v岷璽 trong m峄慽 t瓢啤ng quan v峄沬 c谩c nh芒n v岷璽 kh谩c. Nh峄痭g d芒y m啤 r峄� m谩, nh峄痭g m峄慽 quan h峄� ch峄搉g ch茅o, 膽an xen c农ng t峄� 膽贸 m脿 膽瓢峄 ph啤i b脿y.
C芒u chuy峄噉 trong 鈥溎愥汗p L脿 M峄檛 N峄梚 膼au鈥� h岷 d岷玭 ng瓢峄漣 膽峄峜 kh么ng ch峄� b峄焛 t铆nh s峄� thi 膽岷穋 tr瓢ng c峄 n贸, hay nh峄痭g chi ti岷縯 v峄� t矛nh y锚u v脿 t矛nh d峄 膽瓢峄 mi锚u t岷� m峄檛 c谩ch tr岷 tr峄 m脿 kh么ng h峄� th么 t峄 m脿 c貌n cu峄憂 h煤t 膽峄檆 gi岷� b峄焛 nh峄痭g chuy峄噉 t矛nh d峄� dang, nh峄痭g c岷穚 t矛nh nh芒n b岷 h岷h, kh么ng 膽岷縩 膽瓢峄 v峄沬 nhau v矛 s峄� nghi峄噒 ng茫 c峄 s峄� ph岷璶 v脿 s峄� b岷 t脿n c峄 con ng瓢峄漣. N峄梚 b岷 h岷h v脿 d峄� dang 岷 膽茫 xu岷 hi峄噉 ngay t峄� 膽o岷 膽岷 c峄 cu峄憂 ti峄僽 thuy岷縯, trong c芒u chuy峄噉 膽au l貌ng c峄 Ma Gedik v脿 Ma Iyang, 膽峄� r峄搃 ti岷縫 n峄慽 trong nh峄痭g g矛 膽茫 di峄卬 ra cho Alamanda v脿 膽峄搉g ch铆 Kliwon.
鈥溎愥汗p L脿 M峄檛 N峄梚 膼au鈥� c貌n h岷 d岷玭 膽峄檆 gi岷� 峄� ch铆nh c谩i c谩ch m脿 t谩c gi岷� k峄� l岷 c芒u chuy峄噉 tr岷 qua nhi峄乽 th岷� h峄� c峄 gia 膽矛nh Dewi Ayu, v峄沬 nh峄痭g s峄� ki峄噉 m峄沬, nh峄痭g h峄゛ h岷筺 v峄� 岷﹏ 峄ヽ 膽au l貌ng v脿 bi k峄媍h s岷痯 s峄璦 di峄卬 ra, bu峄檆 ng瓢峄漣 膽峄峜 ph岷 li锚n t峄 d玫i theo c芒u chuy峄噉 t峄� ch瓢啤ng n脿y 膽岷縩 ch瓢啤ng kh谩c. V脿 c貌n 膽贸 nh峄痭g c谩i ch岷縯, nh峄痭g s峄� ki峄噉 k峄� d峄� m脿 nguy锚n do ho岷穋 ng瓢峄漣 g芒y 谩n ch峄� 膽瓢峄 ti岷縯 l峄� 峄� nh峄痭g 膽o岷 sau, t膬ng th锚m ph岷 b铆 岷﹏ v脿 cu峄憂 h煤t cho c芒u chuy峄噉, ph岷� v脿o thi锚n s峄� thi v峄憂 膽茫 r岷 h岷 d岷玭 m峄檛 ch煤t s岷痗 m脿u trinh th谩m, m峄檛 ch煤t 膽谩ng s峄� 膽岷縩 t峄� nh峄痭g suy ngh末 v脿 h脿nh 膽峄檔g c峄 m峄檛 s峄� nh芒n v岷璽.
Sau t岷 c岷�, 鈥溎愥汗p L脿 M峄檛 N峄梚 膼au鈥� 膽茫 soi chi岷縰 v脿o nhi峄乽 th岷� h峄� gia 膽矛nh Dewi Ayu 膽峄� 膽瓢a 膽岷縩 m峄檛 s峄� gi谩c ng峄� cho 膽峄檆 gi岷�, 膽煤ng nh瓢 t锚n g峄峣 c峄 t谩c ph岷﹎, r岷眓g 膽岷筽 l脿 m峄檛 n峄梚 膽au. 膼贸 l脿 th么ng 膽i峄噋 chung, to脿n v岷筺 nh岷 nh瓢ng c农ng x贸t xa nh岷, m脿 Eka Kurniawan mu峄憂 truy峄乶 t岷 th么ng qua cu峄憂 ti峄僽 thuy岷縯 c峄 m矛nh. 膼峄慽 v峄沬 Dewi Ayu, nh峄痭g 膽峄゛ con c霉ng nh峄痭g 膽峄゛ ch谩u c峄 b脿, r峄檔g h啤n c岷� l脿 nh峄痭g c瓢 d芒n c峄 Halimunda, th矛 s岷痗 膽岷筽 lu么n 膽i song h脿nh c霉ng n峄梚 膽au. 膼贸 l脿 n峄梚 膽au c峄 nh峄痭g ng瓢峄漣 膽脿n b脿 xinh 膽岷筽 nh瓢ng l岷 tr贸t sinh ra trong m峄檛 th岷� gi峄沬 膽瓢峄 v岷璶 h脿nh b峄焛 nh峄痭g g茫 膽脿n 么ng xem ph峄� n峄� ch峄� nh瓢 膽峄慽 t瓢峄g 膽峄� chi岷縨 膽o岷.
Nh瓢 Nh茫 Nam 膽茫 ch峄� ra 峄� b矛a sau cu峄憂 s谩ch: 鈥淣岷縰 s岷痗 膽岷筽 l脿 m峄檛 trong nh峄痭g 膽岷穋 t铆nh v末nh h岷眓g c峄 gia t峄檆 n脿y v脿 c贸 l岷� c峄 c岷� Halimunda, qu锚 nh脿 h峄�, th矛 n峄梚 膽au c农ng l脿 m峄檛 膽岷穋 t铆nh v末nh h岷眓g.鈥�, n峄梚 膽au l脿 m峄檛 膽岷穋 t铆nh m茫i m茫i di truy峄乶 trong gia 膽矛nh Dewi Ayu, c农ng nh瓢 s岷痗 膽岷筽 m脿 ch峄� c贸 nguy峄噉 瓢峄沜 m茫nh li峄噒 c峄 b脿 m峄沬 gi煤p 膽峄゛ con g谩i 煤t tr谩nh kh峄廼. 鈥溎愥汗p L脿 M峄檛 N峄梚 膼au鈥�, sau r峄憈, l脿 m峄檛 t谩c ph岷﹎ 膽岷筽, 膽au, v脿 kh贸 qu锚n nh瓢 ch铆nh c谩i c谩ch m脿 ng瓢峄漣 d芒n Halimunda kh么ng bao gi峄� c贸 th峄� qu锚n 膽瓢峄 Dewi Ayu.
H啤n n峄璦 th岷� k峄� l峄媍h s峄� 岷 膽茫 ch峄﹏g ki岷縩 m峄檛 膽岷 n瓢峄沜 Indonesia l脿 thu峄檆 膽峄媋 c峄 H脿 Lan, r峄搃 sau 膽贸 tr岷 qua Th岷� chi岷縩 th峄� hai v峄沬 s峄� hi峄噉 di峄噉 kinh ho脿ng c峄 ph谩t x铆t Nh岷璽. 膼岷縩 th峄漣 k峄� 膽峄檆 l岷璸, Indonesia l岷 ti岷縫 t峄 ch峄﹏g ki岷縩 xung 膽峄檛 gi峄痑 th岷� l峄眂 t瓢 b岷 膽ang n峄昳 l锚n v脿 nh峄痭g ng瓢峄漣 c峄檔g s岷 ki锚n trung. L峄媍h s峄� v峄沬 膽岷 nh峄痭g bi岷縩 c峄� 膽贸 ch铆nh l脿 ch岷 li峄噓 quan tr峄峮g gi煤p 鈥溎愥汗p L脿 M峄檛 N峄梚 膼au鈥� kh谩m ph谩 nh峄痭g ng玫 ng谩ch 膽au 膽峄沶 v脿 kh峄g khi岷縫 nh岷 c峄 m岷h 膽岷 h瓢 c岷 Halimunda. Nh峄痭g 膽au 膽峄沶 岷 v岷璶 v脿o Dewi Ayu, v脿o nh峄痭g 膽峄゛ con g谩i xinh 膽岷筽 c峄 b脿, v脿 th岷� h峄� nh峄痭g ng瓢峄漣 ch谩u c峄 b脿, nh瓢 th峄� c岷� gia 膽矛nh b脿 ngay t峄� 膽岷 膽茫 b峄� nguy峄乶 r峄. L峄媍h s峄� trong cu峄憂 ti峄僽 thuy岷縯 膽瓢峄 kh岷痗 h峄峚 qua c谩i nh矛n v脿 s峄� ph岷璶 c峄 nh峄痭g ng瓢峄漣 ph峄� n峄�, nh峄痭g ng瓢峄漣 d岷玼 c贸 l脿m g矛, d岷玼 c贸 b峄� ng瓢峄漣 膽峄漣 nh矛n nh岷璶 nh瓢 th岷� n脿o, th矛 h峄� v岷玭 l脿 nh峄痭g ng瓢峄漣 ph峄� n峄� th岷璽 膽岷筽. C谩i 膽岷筽 c峄 h峄�, nghi峄噒 ng茫 thay, l岷 bi岷縩 h峄� tr峄� th脿nh t芒m 膽i峄僲, th脿nh c么ng c峄�, th脿nh nh峄痭g m岷h th峄媡 da 膽峄� 膽脿n 么ng gi脿y x茅o v脿 c瓢峄g hi岷縫. S峄� ph岷璶 膽茫 kh么ng 膽峄慽 膽茫i t峄� t岷� nh峄痭g ng瓢峄漣 膽脿n b脿 trong gia 膽矛nh Dewi Ayu, 膽茫 膽谩p l岷 v岷� 膽岷筽 c峄 h峄� b岷眓g n峄梚 膽au, b岷眓g nh峄痭g s峄� ki峄噉 bi th岷 nh岷.
膼瓢峄 xem nh瓢 鈥淭r膬m N膬m C么 膼啤n鈥� c峄 ch芒u 脕, 鈥溎愥汗p L脿 M峄檛 N峄梚 膼au鈥� 膽茫 v岷璶 d峄g m峄檛 c谩ch ho脿n h岷 nh峄痭g h矛nh 岷h, chi ti岷縯 膽岷穋 tr瓢ng c峄 ch峄� ngh末a hi峄噉 th峄眂 huy峄乶 岷 trong v膬n ch瓢啤ng, 膽岷穋 bi峄噒 l脿 nh峄痭g chi ti岷縯 huy峄乶 岷, phi th峄眂 nh瓢 ng瓢峄漣 bay l锚n tr峄漣 r峄搃 bi岷縩 m岷, hay Dewi Ayu sau nhi峄乽 ng脿y s峄憂g l岷, vi岷縩g th膬m nh脿 c农 c峄 b脿 r峄搃 h贸a th脿nh c谩nh b瓢峄沵. T岷 c岷� 膽瓢峄 l峄盿 ch峄峮 v脿 vi岷縯 ra nh岷眒 t岷 d峄眓g m峄檛 thi锚n s峄� thi gia 膽矛nh cho谩ng v谩ng v脿 kh么n c瓢峄g, theo 膽煤ng nh瓢 c谩i c谩ch m脿 Gabriel Garcia Marquez 膽茫 l脿m say l貌ng ng瓢峄漣 膽峄峜 trong 鈥淭r膬m N膬m C么 膼啤n鈥�. B岷眓g c谩ch trao cho m峄梚 nh芒n v岷璽 m峄檛 ch瓢啤ng truy峄噉, t谩c gi岷� 膽茫 c贸 th峄� kh岷痗 h峄峚 h矛nh t瓢峄g c峄 t峄玭g nh芒n v岷璽 trong m峄慽 t瓢啤ng quan v峄沬 c谩c nh芒n v岷璽 kh谩c. Nh峄痭g d芒y m啤 r峄� m谩, nh峄痭g m峄慽 quan h峄� ch峄搉g ch茅o, 膽an xen c农ng t峄� 膽贸 m脿 膽瓢峄 ph啤i b脿y.
C芒u chuy峄噉 trong 鈥溎愥汗p L脿 M峄檛 N峄梚 膼au鈥� h岷 d岷玭 ng瓢峄漣 膽峄峜 kh么ng ch峄� b峄焛 t铆nh s峄� thi 膽岷穋 tr瓢ng c峄 n贸, hay nh峄痭g chi ti岷縯 v峄� t矛nh y锚u v脿 t矛nh d峄 膽瓢峄 mi锚u t岷� m峄檛 c谩ch tr岷 tr峄 m脿 kh么ng h峄� th么 t峄 m脿 c貌n cu峄憂 h煤t 膽峄檆 gi岷� b峄焛 nh峄痭g chuy峄噉 t矛nh d峄� dang, nh峄痭g c岷穚 t矛nh nh芒n b岷 h岷h, kh么ng 膽岷縩 膽瓢峄 v峄沬 nhau v矛 s峄� nghi峄噒 ng茫 c峄 s峄� ph岷璶 v脿 s峄� b岷 t脿n c峄 con ng瓢峄漣. N峄梚 b岷 h岷h v脿 d峄� dang 岷 膽茫 xu岷 hi峄噉 ngay t峄� 膽o岷 膽岷 c峄 cu峄憂 ti峄僽 thuy岷縯, trong c芒u chuy峄噉 膽au l貌ng c峄 Ma Gedik v脿 Ma Iyang, 膽峄� r峄搃 ti岷縫 n峄慽 trong nh峄痭g g矛 膽茫 di峄卬 ra cho Alamanda v脿 膽峄搉g ch铆 Kliwon.
鈥溎愥汗p L脿 M峄檛 N峄梚 膼au鈥� c貌n h岷 d岷玭 膽峄檆 gi岷� 峄� ch铆nh c谩i c谩ch m脿 t谩c gi岷� k峄� l岷 c芒u chuy峄噉 tr岷 qua nhi峄乽 th岷� h峄� c峄 gia 膽矛nh Dewi Ayu, v峄沬 nh峄痭g s峄� ki峄噉 m峄沬, nh峄痭g h峄゛ h岷筺 v峄� 岷﹏ 峄ヽ 膽au l貌ng v脿 bi k峄媍h s岷痯 s峄璦 di峄卬 ra, bu峄檆 ng瓢峄漣 膽峄峜 ph岷 li锚n t峄 d玫i theo c芒u chuy峄噉 t峄� ch瓢啤ng n脿y 膽岷縩 ch瓢啤ng kh谩c. V脿 c貌n 膽贸 nh峄痭g c谩i ch岷縯, nh峄痭g s峄� ki峄噉 k峄� d峄� m脿 nguy锚n do ho岷穋 ng瓢峄漣 g芒y 谩n ch峄� 膽瓢峄 ti岷縯 l峄� 峄� nh峄痭g 膽o岷 sau, t膬ng th锚m ph岷 b铆 岷﹏ v脿 cu峄憂 h煤t cho c芒u chuy峄噉, ph岷� v脿o thi锚n s峄� thi v峄憂 膽茫 r岷 h岷 d岷玭 m峄檛 ch煤t s岷痗 m脿u trinh th谩m, m峄檛 ch煤t 膽谩ng s峄� 膽岷縩 t峄� nh峄痭g suy ngh末 v脿 h脿nh 膽峄檔g c峄 m峄檛 s峄� nh芒n v岷璽.
Sau t岷 c岷�, 鈥溎愥汗p L脿 M峄檛 N峄梚 膼au鈥� 膽茫 soi chi岷縰 v脿o nhi峄乽 th岷� h峄� gia 膽矛nh Dewi Ayu 膽峄� 膽瓢a 膽岷縩 m峄檛 s峄� gi谩c ng峄� cho 膽峄檆 gi岷�, 膽煤ng nh瓢 t锚n g峄峣 c峄 t谩c ph岷﹎, r岷眓g 膽岷筽 l脿 m峄檛 n峄梚 膽au. 膼贸 l脿 th么ng 膽i峄噋 chung, to脿n v岷筺 nh岷 nh瓢ng c农ng x贸t xa nh岷, m脿 Eka Kurniawan mu峄憂 truy峄乶 t岷 th么ng qua cu峄憂 ti峄僽 thuy岷縯 c峄 m矛nh. 膼峄慽 v峄沬 Dewi Ayu, nh峄痭g 膽峄゛ con c霉ng nh峄痭g 膽峄゛ ch谩u c峄 b脿, r峄檔g h啤n c岷� l脿 nh峄痭g c瓢 d芒n c峄 Halimunda, th矛 s岷痗 膽岷筽 lu么n 膽i song h脿nh c霉ng n峄梚 膽au. 膼贸 l脿 n峄梚 膽au c峄 nh峄痭g ng瓢峄漣 膽脿n b脿 xinh 膽岷筽 nh瓢ng l岷 tr贸t sinh ra trong m峄檛 th岷� gi峄沬 膽瓢峄 v岷璶 h脿nh b峄焛 nh峄痭g g茫 膽脿n 么ng xem ph峄� n峄� ch峄� nh瓢 膽峄慽 t瓢峄g 膽峄� chi岷縨 膽o岷.
Nh瓢 Nh茫 Nam 膽茫 ch峄� ra 峄� b矛a sau cu峄憂 s谩ch: 鈥淣岷縰 s岷痗 膽岷筽 l脿 m峄檛 trong nh峄痭g 膽岷穋 t铆nh v末nh h岷眓g c峄 gia t峄檆 n脿y v脿 c贸 l岷� c峄 c岷� Halimunda, qu锚 nh脿 h峄�, th矛 n峄梚 膽au c农ng l脿 m峄檛 膽岷穋 t铆nh v末nh h岷眓g.鈥�, n峄梚 膽au l脿 m峄檛 膽岷穋 t铆nh m茫i m茫i di truy峄乶 trong gia 膽矛nh Dewi Ayu, c农ng nh瓢 s岷痗 膽岷筽 m脿 ch峄� c贸 nguy峄噉 瓢峄沜 m茫nh li峄噒 c峄 b脿 m峄沬 gi煤p 膽峄゛ con g谩i 煤t tr谩nh kh峄廼. 鈥溎愥汗p L脿 M峄檛 N峄梚 膼au鈥�, sau r峄憈, l脿 m峄檛 t谩c ph岷﹎ 膽岷筽, 膽au, v脿 kh贸 qu锚n nh瓢 ch铆nh c谩i c谩ch m脿 ng瓢峄漣 d芒n Halimunda kh么ng bao gi峄� c贸 th峄� qu锚n 膽瓢峄 Dewi Ayu.
June 20, 2016
This was an unexpectedly good book. Interesting, riveting, surprising, and by the end, all consuming. I listened to this on audible because at this time of the year, reading time is a premium. Simply put, I loved it and Jonathan Davis did a very fine job at narration. Not sure what I was anticipating, but this book took hold of me and would not let go. I would go so far as to call it epic. Part folklore, part Indonesian history, part magical realism, part allegory, part (fictional) memoir, it was just captivating. The imaginary town of Halimunda and the lead character Dewi Ayu endure the Dutch and Japanese occupation and eventually the country's own dictatorship where they mow down the Communists. The foundations of the story are rooted in historical fact. Many of the milestones in the novel, really did occur in history. The magical realism comes in the form of spirits and ghosts and small bits of magic that pepper the book. This story is in effect a family saga as they endure all of these historical changes.
The book is oddly whimsical. I say that because is is full of suffering and misfortune and yet many of the characters are quirky and strange and somehow are able to remain somewhat amiable through everything. These people are callous and reckless and have very little regard for other people; but they aren't malevolent. They are not acting the way that they do out of hate, anger or bitterness, it's just the way things are and have always been. The prose is austere, yet so good and descriptive. You feel like you know the characters and care about what happens by the end of the book. None of the characters are especially good people, nor are they all bad (though Shodancho is pretty close to all bad). All of the male characters are man-childs. Among the many male characters in the book, the leads include a commanding officer in the army, a common thug, and a Communist. All are infantile in different ways in their behavior and need to fight, have sex, be in charge, be the alpha male and all of them (in fact all of the male characters in this book) have conflated visions of love which they confuse with lust, obsession and enslavement. The sole purpose of a wife is to fulfill sexual lust and propagate the species. If she is coveted by others, then these men are hopelessly in love (their definition not mine). If she keeps a good home...bonus!! The female character's understanding of love is every bit as superficial where the only real proclamations of love are for the handsomest man in the village. Otherwise, they are dutiful and devoid of passion. The female characters are all long suffering, beautiful, objects to be possessed. This is the best they can hope for in life and they are pragmatic. The lead character is forced into prostitution (during the Japanese occupation) eventually transforms her assets (her breathtaking beauty) into a commodity desired by all. She is the most desirable prostitute and eschews marriage because in her words she'd rather be paid for sex than to give it for free to one man. To her sex is a means to an end. She manages to find some measure of success and comfort without the confines of marriage. For her daughters though, she wants them to have a normal (by Indonesian standards) life. The story chronicles their struggles, needless to say nothing is normal about their lives.
The entire story is a satire. Kurniawan is exposing some well rooted mindsets that seem to have driven the country in ways that defy logic. He seems to be saying, this is why the country is the way that it is. This is how we got here. Not for the faint of heart. This story contains a lot of rape, violence, incest and subjugation of people in general and women in particular. In this world "Beauty" is a commodity coveted above all things. You'll have to read the book in order to understand the title. For me, a fascinating take on a culture I knew nothing about. I want to read more by this author.
4.75 Stars
The book is oddly whimsical. I say that because is is full of suffering and misfortune and yet many of the characters are quirky and strange and somehow are able to remain somewhat amiable through everything. These people are callous and reckless and have very little regard for other people; but they aren't malevolent. They are not acting the way that they do out of hate, anger or bitterness, it's just the way things are and have always been. The prose is austere, yet so good and descriptive. You feel like you know the characters and care about what happens by the end of the book. None of the characters are especially good people, nor are they all bad (though Shodancho is pretty close to all bad). All of the male characters are man-childs. Among the many male characters in the book, the leads include a commanding officer in the army, a common thug, and a Communist. All are infantile in different ways in their behavior and need to fight, have sex, be in charge, be the alpha male and all of them (in fact all of the male characters in this book) have conflated visions of love which they confuse with lust, obsession and enslavement. The sole purpose of a wife is to fulfill sexual lust and propagate the species. If she is coveted by others, then these men are hopelessly in love (their definition not mine). If she keeps a good home...bonus!! The female character's understanding of love is every bit as superficial where the only real proclamations of love are for the handsomest man in the village. Otherwise, they are dutiful and devoid of passion. The female characters are all long suffering, beautiful, objects to be possessed. This is the best they can hope for in life and they are pragmatic. The lead character is forced into prostitution (during the Japanese occupation) eventually transforms her assets (her breathtaking beauty) into a commodity desired by all. She is the most desirable prostitute and eschews marriage because in her words she'd rather be paid for sex than to give it for free to one man. To her sex is a means to an end. She manages to find some measure of success and comfort without the confines of marriage. For her daughters though, she wants them to have a normal (by Indonesian standards) life. The story chronicles their struggles, needless to say nothing is normal about their lives.
The entire story is a satire. Kurniawan is exposing some well rooted mindsets that seem to have driven the country in ways that defy logic. He seems to be saying, this is why the country is the way that it is. This is how we got here. Not for the faint of heart. This story contains a lot of rape, violence, incest and subjugation of people in general and women in particular. In this world "Beauty" is a commodity coveted above all things. You'll have to read the book in order to understand the title. For me, a fascinating take on a culture I knew nothing about. I want to read more by this author.
4.75 Stars
March 30, 2017
Rijetko se meni dogodi da odustanem od knjige i ne pro膷itam je do kraja jer si ve膰 nekako znam procijeniti 拧to bi mi se svidjelo, a 拧to ne bi... Ali, u ovom sam se slu膷aju grdno prevarila (doga膽a se i najboljima.. ;) )..
Isto tako, 啪elja da pi拧em osvrt i da svima pri膷am o nekoj knjizi naj膷e拧膰e me uhvati kada me neka knjiga odu拧evi.. Ove druge eventualno spomenem, u nekoj raspravi ili, ako me netko ba拧 upita za mi拧ljenje o odre膽enoj knjizi koja meni, eto, nije sjela... Ali, ovaj put 膰u vam ba拧 napisati ...hmmm...ne osvrt (jer nije ok pisati osvrt na knjigu od koje si pro膷itao 40-50str.) nego, recimo, svoje iskustvo... A mislim da to mogu, jer, nakon svog dugogodi拧njeg 膷itala膷kog sta啪a, imam pravo nakon nekoliko stranica zaklju膷iti da li mi se knjiga svi膽a ili ne.. Jer, bez obzira na sadr啪aj (koji 膰e kasnije mo啪da postati super zanimljiv), stil pisanja ostaje isti..to se vrlo brzo uo膷i..).
Dakle, rije膷 je o knjizi "Ljepota je njezina rana", indonezijskog pisca Eka Kurniawana... Knjiga je do啪ivjela jako velik, svjetski uspjeh, osvojila niz nagrada, a NY TImes i The Guardian su je 膷ak uvrstili me膽u najzna膷ajnije knjige godine. I ja ne ka啪em da to nije zaslu啪eno, samo, eto, po meni to ba拧 i ne bi bilo tako.. Ali, tko sam ja?! Ja sam iznosim svoje (skromno) mi拧ljenje...
Po onome 拧to sam pro膷itala o knjizi kao i po sadr啪aju knjiga mi je djelovala ba拧 super i tako je ja krenuh 膷itati...E, a onda... Kuku lele..
膶ak i to 拧to po膷inje time da se 啪ena, nakon 20 god. smrti ustaje iz groba i vra膰a svojoj ku膰i (i nastavlja normalno dalje 啪ivjeti, samo, jel', 20god. starija) me nije toliko zasmetalo, rekoh, ok.. Tako i tako u "blurbu" (tekstovi na koricama) pi拧e da je ovo "fantazmagori膷na epska pripovijest". Onda detalj kako 膷ovjek na umoru dolazi kod prostitutke jer 啪eli izdahnuti u njezinom, recimo, naru膷ju.. ;) , a nema love pa joj za to daje svoju (nijemu!) k膰erkicu (koja 膷ak prostitutki napi拧e "dajte spavajte s njim mo啪e brzo izdahnuti) sam, ono, pro膷itala i rekla, ajde dobro.. Ludo, ali ok. No, da vam sad ne pi拧em jo拧 neke takve detalje, samo 膰u re膰i da sam odustala kada sam do拧la do dijela gdje 膷ovjek, koji je ludo zaljubljen u 啪enu koju su udali za drugoga (bogatog kolonizatora- ovo je u stvari kritika tada拧njeg indonezijskog dru拧tva) poludi, ali onako fino poludi. Izme膽u ostalog tako je lud da po膷inje op膰iti sa 啪ivotinjama.. I kada sam pro膷itala da je njegova majka morala ujutro zadaviti pet jadnih koko拧ki koje su se tresle, a iz "膷mara su im izlazila crijeva" (od silne "strasti" ludog sina), e tu vi拧e nisam mogla.. Ja sam 'em vizualni tip, 'em sam jaaako, jaaako, "slaba" na 啪ivotinje.. Tu smo se ova knjiga i ja rastale..
Znam 拧to je nadrealizam i koliko je cijenjen kao pravac.. Isto tako znam da su, neke od karakteristika nadrealizma odstupanje od estetike i te啪nja tome da djela budu provokativno neugodna, pa eto, ja bih ovo djelo svrstala upravo u takvu skupinu.
Ja vjerujem da je autor Kurniawan na ovaj na膷in uspio re膰i sve 拧to je mislio, iskritizirati sve one povijesne doga膽aje u Indoneziji koje je 啪elio i da je upravo zato knjiga do啪ivjela ovakav uspjeh, ali, ja svako toliko pogledam njegovu sliku na kraju knjige i samo mi do膽e 啪elja (ne ba拧 da mu 膷estitam) nego da ga pitam, "E, moj, Eka, na 膷emu si ti?". :)
Uglavnom, ako ste ljubitelji epske fantastike u nadrealisti膷nom stilu go for it! Pun pogodak! Meni ova knjiga ide na listu "nije to za mene".
Isto tako, 啪elja da pi拧em osvrt i da svima pri膷am o nekoj knjizi naj膷e拧膰e me uhvati kada me neka knjiga odu拧evi.. Ove druge eventualno spomenem, u nekoj raspravi ili, ako me netko ba拧 upita za mi拧ljenje o odre膽enoj knjizi koja meni, eto, nije sjela... Ali, ovaj put 膰u vam ba拧 napisati ...hmmm...ne osvrt (jer nije ok pisati osvrt na knjigu od koje si pro膷itao 40-50str.) nego, recimo, svoje iskustvo... A mislim da to mogu, jer, nakon svog dugogodi拧njeg 膷itala膷kog sta啪a, imam pravo nakon nekoliko stranica zaklju膷iti da li mi se knjiga svi膽a ili ne.. Jer, bez obzira na sadr啪aj (koji 膰e kasnije mo啪da postati super zanimljiv), stil pisanja ostaje isti..to se vrlo brzo uo膷i..).
Dakle, rije膷 je o knjizi "Ljepota je njezina rana", indonezijskog pisca Eka Kurniawana... Knjiga je do啪ivjela jako velik, svjetski uspjeh, osvojila niz nagrada, a NY TImes i The Guardian su je 膷ak uvrstili me膽u najzna膷ajnije knjige godine. I ja ne ka啪em da to nije zaslu啪eno, samo, eto, po meni to ba拧 i ne bi bilo tako.. Ali, tko sam ja?! Ja sam iznosim svoje (skromno) mi拧ljenje...
Po onome 拧to sam pro膷itala o knjizi kao i po sadr啪aju knjiga mi je djelovala ba拧 super i tako je ja krenuh 膷itati...E, a onda... Kuku lele..
膶ak i to 拧to po膷inje time da se 啪ena, nakon 20 god. smrti ustaje iz groba i vra膰a svojoj ku膰i (i nastavlja normalno dalje 啪ivjeti, samo, jel', 20god. starija) me nije toliko zasmetalo, rekoh, ok.. Tako i tako u "blurbu" (tekstovi na koricama) pi拧e da je ovo "fantazmagori膷na epska pripovijest". Onda detalj kako 膷ovjek na umoru dolazi kod prostitutke jer 啪eli izdahnuti u njezinom, recimo, naru膷ju.. ;) , a nema love pa joj za to daje svoju (nijemu!) k膰erkicu (koja 膷ak prostitutki napi拧e "dajte spavajte s njim mo啪e brzo izdahnuti) sam, ono, pro膷itala i rekla, ajde dobro.. Ludo, ali ok. No, da vam sad ne pi拧em jo拧 neke takve detalje, samo 膰u re膰i da sam odustala kada sam do拧la do dijela gdje 膷ovjek, koji je ludo zaljubljen u 啪enu koju su udali za drugoga (bogatog kolonizatora- ovo je u stvari kritika tada拧njeg indonezijskog dru拧tva) poludi, ali onako fino poludi. Izme膽u ostalog tako je lud da po膷inje op膰iti sa 啪ivotinjama.. I kada sam pro膷itala da je njegova majka morala ujutro zadaviti pet jadnih koko拧ki koje su se tresle, a iz "膷mara su im izlazila crijeva" (od silne "strasti" ludog sina), e tu vi拧e nisam mogla.. Ja sam 'em vizualni tip, 'em sam jaaako, jaaako, "slaba" na 啪ivotinje.. Tu smo se ova knjiga i ja rastale..
Znam 拧to je nadrealizam i koliko je cijenjen kao pravac.. Isto tako znam da su, neke od karakteristika nadrealizma odstupanje od estetike i te啪nja tome da djela budu provokativno neugodna, pa eto, ja bih ovo djelo svrstala upravo u takvu skupinu.
Ja vjerujem da je autor Kurniawan na ovaj na膷in uspio re膰i sve 拧to je mislio, iskritizirati sve one povijesne doga膽aje u Indoneziji koje je 啪elio i da je upravo zato knjiga do啪ivjela ovakav uspjeh, ali, ja svako toliko pogledam njegovu sliku na kraju knjige i samo mi do膽e 啪elja (ne ba拧 da mu 膷estitam) nego da ga pitam, "E, moj, Eka, na 膷emu si ti?". :)
Uglavnom, ako ste ljubitelji epske fantastike u nadrealisti膷nom stilu go for it! Pun pogodak! Meni ova knjiga ide na listu "nije to za mene".
November 25, 2016
Indonesian History as Fact and Fable
"One afternoon on a weekend in March, Dewi Ayu rose from her grave after being dead for twenty-one years." Not your usual opening for a novel, is it? Dewi Ayu, formerly the most sought-after prostitute in the district of Halimunda, walks back to her house, takes a bath, and is reunited with her daughter Beauty, who she had prayed would be born ugly鈥攁s indeed she most certainly was. After a few dozen pages, the action slips back in time to Dewi Ayu's childhood, her experience of being forced into a brothel by the invading Japanese, her postwar success in the business on her own, the various suitors for her hand, and so on, covering most of Indonesian history from 1940 to the present.
Eka Kurniawan is a good storyteller, and most of the episodes are interesting in their own ways. Apart from Dewi Ayu herself, we meet a variety of characters who are each a little larger than life, such as the strongest man in the community, or the young former guerrilla leader who wants only to retire to a cave and meditate. We learn folk tales such as that of the beautiful Princess Rengganis who, tired of all the men seeking her in marriage, decided one day to throw open her shutters and wed the first person that she sees. Some of the stories, such as the girls' suffering in the Japanese prison camp, are truly horrible. But the vaguely comic tone of the whole, whether influenced by the folklore tradition or magical realism, makes it difficult to take it all seriously, or even to sustain much interest after a certain point.
A pity, because I genuinely wanted to know more about Indonesia, and also enjoyed the fabulous tone of many of the chapters. But for me, those two elements worked against one another instead of combining.
"One afternoon on a weekend in March, Dewi Ayu rose from her grave after being dead for twenty-one years." Not your usual opening for a novel, is it? Dewi Ayu, formerly the most sought-after prostitute in the district of Halimunda, walks back to her house, takes a bath, and is reunited with her daughter Beauty, who she had prayed would be born ugly鈥攁s indeed she most certainly was. After a few dozen pages, the action slips back in time to Dewi Ayu's childhood, her experience of being forced into a brothel by the invading Japanese, her postwar success in the business on her own, the various suitors for her hand, and so on, covering most of Indonesian history from 1940 to the present.
Eka Kurniawan is a good storyteller, and most of the episodes are interesting in their own ways. Apart from Dewi Ayu herself, we meet a variety of characters who are each a little larger than life, such as the strongest man in the community, or the young former guerrilla leader who wants only to retire to a cave and meditate. We learn folk tales such as that of the beautiful Princess Rengganis who, tired of all the men seeking her in marriage, decided one day to throw open her shutters and wed the first person that she sees. Some of the stories, such as the girls' suffering in the Japanese prison camp, are truly horrible. But the vaguely comic tone of the whole, whether influenced by the folklore tradition or magical realism, makes it difficult to take it all seriously, or even to sustain much interest after a certain point.
A pity, because I genuinely wanted to know more about Indonesia, and also enjoyed the fabulous tone of many of the chapters. But for me, those two elements worked against one another instead of combining.
June 1, 2020
丕賱噩賲丕賱 噩乇丨..... 廿賷賰丕 賰賵乇賳賷丕賵丕賳
鬲乇噩賲丞: 兀丨賲丿 卮丕賮毓賷
丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 丿賷 兀賮囟賱 賲孬丕賱 廿賳 丕賱賲賵乇賵孬 丕賱卮毓亘賷 賲賳 丕賱丨賰丕賷丕鬲 賱兀賷 兀購賲丞 賷氐賱丨 賱賱鬲丿賵賷賳 貙 鬲丿賵賷賳 賷噩賲毓 賲丕 亘賷賳 丕賱賵丕賯毓賷 賵丕賱賮丕賳鬲丕夭賷 賲賰賵賳賸丕 賳氐 爻丨乇賷 禺賱賾丕亘貙 賳氐 賲賳 賳賵毓 禺丕氐 賷氐賱丨 兀賳 賷賰賵賳 賲丕丿丞 賱賱廿賲鬲丕毓 賲賴賲丕 賰丕賳鬲 禺賱賮賷丞 丕賱賯丕乇賷亍 兀賵 賲噩鬲賲毓賴.
賮賷 丕賱亘丿丕賷丞 賰賳鬲 兀馗賳 丕賱賲賰鬲賵亘 毓賱賶 馗賴乇 丕賱睾賱丕賮 賲賳 鬲卮亘賷賴 賱賴匕丕 丕賱毓賲賱 亘賲卅丞 毓丕賲 賲賳 丕賱毓夭賱丞 兀賵 丨鬲賶 兀胤賮丕賱 賲賳鬲氐賮 丕賱賱賷賱貙 賰賳鬲 兀馗賳賴 賳賵毓 賲賳 丕賱賲亘丕賱睾丕鬲 丕賱賲毓鬲丕丿丞 賲賳 丕賱賳丕卮乇賷賳 賵丕賱賳賯丕丿貙 賵亘丿兀鬲 卮賰賵賰賷 賮賷 丕賱賲亘丕賱睾丕鬲 鬲賯賱 亘爻亘亘 賲賯丿賲丞 丕賱賲鬲乇噩賲 兀丨賲丿 卮丕賮毓賷 丕賱賯氐賷乇丞 丕賱亘賱賷睾丞貙 賵丕賱鬲賷 賲賴賾丿 賮賷賴丕 賱賱賯丕乇賷亍 兀賳賴 爻賷賯乇兀 乇賵丕賷丞 賲賳 賳賵毓 禺丕氐貙 賵卮丕賮毓賷 賲賲賳 賳賵賱賷賴賲 孬賯鬲賳丕 賮賷賲丕 賷賯賵賱|賷鬲乇噩賲 亘賱丕 匕乇丞 卮賰.
亘卮賷亍 賲賳 丕賱鬲噩丕賵夭 賮賴匕賴 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 禺賱賷胤 賲丕 亘賷賳 賲卅丞 毓丕賲 賲賳 丕賱毓夭賱丞 賵兀胤賮丕賱 賲賳鬲氐賮 丕賱賱賷賱貙 賵廿賳 賰丕賳鬲 兀賯乇亘 賱爻賱賲丕賳 乇卮丿賷 賲賳賴丕 賱賲丕乇賰賷夭貙 賵賯丿 賷賰賵賳 爻亘亘 匕賱賰 兀氐賵賱 乇卮丿賷 丕賱賴賳丿賷丞貙 賮胤亘賷毓賷 兀賳 賷賰賵賳 丕賱賲卮鬲乇賰 亘賷賳 丕賱賴賳丿 賵廿賳丿賵賳賷爻賷丕 兀賰孬乇 賲賳 丕賱賲卮鬲乇賰 賲毓 兀賲乇賷賰丕 丕賱賱丕鬲賷賳賷丞貙 亘賱 廿賳 鬲賵馗賷賮 丕賱賰丕鬲亘 賱賱賲賴丕亘賴丕乇丕鬲丕 賷賵丨賷 亘鬲兀孬乇 卮丿賷丿 亘賴匕丕 丕賱賳氐 丕賱兀爻胤賵乇賷貙 賮廿賳 賰丕賳鬲 亘賱丿丞 賴丕賱賷賲賵賳丿丕 丕賱廿賳丿賵賳賷爻賷丞 丕賱賲賯丕亘賱 賱賲丕賰賵賳丿賵 賲丕乇賰賷夭貙 賮廿賳 丕賱賮鬲丕丞 噩賲丕賱 鬲卮亘賴 廿賱賶 丨丿 賲丕 卮禺氐賷丞 爻賱賷賲 賮賷 兀胤賮丕賱 賲賳鬲氐賮 丕賱賱賷賱.
丕賱賲賴賲 廿賳 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 丿賷 丨丕賱丞 噩賲賷賱丞 噩丿丕貙 賲賲鬲毓丞 賵賲丐孬乇丞 賵賲賱賴賲丞貙 賵賮賷賴丕 賰孬賷乇 賲賳 丕賱丕賳爻噩丕賲 丕賱賱賷 亘賷鬲賰賵賳 亘丕賱鬲丿乇賷噩 賲毓 丕賱賯丕乇賷亍貙 丕賳爻噩丕賲 亘賷乇亘胤賰 亘賰賱 氐賮丨丞 賲賳賴丕貙 賵丕賱兀賴賲 賴賵 丕賳賰 賱丕 鬲賳鬲馗乇 賲賳賴丕 卮賷亍 禺丕氐貙 賱兀貙 丕賳鬲 亘鬲賰賵賳 賮賷 丨丕賱丞 丕爻鬲爻賱丕賲 賱賱丨賰賷貙 賵丕賱賲賵囟賵毓 亘賷鬲丨賵賱 賰兀賳賰 賯丕毓丿 賲毓 丕賱賰丕鬲亘 賵賴賵 亘賷丨賰賷 賵丕賳鬲 賲卮 賯丕丿乇 鬲睾賲囟 毓賷賳賷賰貙 賵賮賷 丨賰丕賷丕鬲賴 賴鬲賱丕賯賷 賳氐 鬲丕乇賷禺賷 賲鬲禺賮賷貙 賲毓 賰丕鬲丕賱賵噩 賱賱鬲毓丕賲賱 賲毓 丕賱亘卮乇貙 賲毓 噩乇毓丞 鬲丕乇賷禺賷丞 賲賰孬賮丞 毓賳 丕賳丿賵賳賷爻賷丕 賵賲賳胤賯丞 噩賳賵亘 卮乇賯 丌爻賷丕 亘丕賱賰丕賲賱貙 賵鬲丿丕毓賷丕鬲 丕賱丕爻鬲毓賲丕乇 賵丕賱丨乇賵亘 毓賱賷賴丕貙 毓亘乇 丨賰丕賷丕鬲 卮禺氐賷丕鬲 賲孬賷乇丞 賵睾賳賷丞貙 賰賵賾賳賴丕 丕賱賰丕鬲亘 賵乇爻賲賴丕 毓賱賶 兀賵乇丕賯賴 賵賳賮禺 賮賷賴丕 賲賳 乇賵丨 丕賱丨賰賾丕亍賷賳 丕賱兀賵丕卅賱貙 賮丕賳胤賱賯鬲 卮禺氐賷丕鬲賴 賲鬲丿賮賯丞 亘丨賰丕賷丕鬲 噩丿賷丿丞貙 丨賰丕賷丕鬲 賱賵 賰丕賳鬲 賰購鬲亘鬲 賲賳 賯乇賵賳 賱賰丕賳鬲 賲丨鬲賱丞 賲賰丕賳丞 賲乇賲賵賯丞 囟賲賳 兀毓馗賲 賲丕 賰購鬲亘貙 賵賴匕丕 賲丕 爻賵賮 賷賸賯丕賱 毓賳賴丕 亘毓丿 毓賯賵丿 賲賳 丕賱丌賳貙 賵賲賳 兀賴賲 賲賯賵賲丕鬲 鬲賱賰 丕賱毓馗賲丞貙 賴賷 丕賱爻賱丕爻丞貙 丕賱爻賱丕爻丞 丕賱鬲賷 鬲乇亘胤賰 亘賴丕 賮鬲賳鬲賴賷 賲賳賴丕 爻乇賷毓丕 賲鬲卮賵賯丕 賱賯乇丕亍鬲賴丕 賲乇丞 兀禺乇賶.
賵賱賱丨賯 賮廿賳 毓馗賲丞 賴匕丕 丕賱毓賲賱 賱賲 鬲賰賳 賱鬲馗賴乇 亘鬲賱賰 丕賱氐賵乇丞 丕賱賲亘賴乇丞 廿賱丕 亘鬲乇噩賲丞 賲鬲賯賳丞 賲賳 賲鬲乇噩賲 賯丿賷乇 賰兀丨賲丿 卮丕賮毓賷貙 賮丕爻賲賴 毓賱丕賲丞 噩賵丿丞 亘丕賱賳爻亘丞 賱兀賷 毓賲賱 賲鬲乇噩賲貙 丨鬲賶 賴賵丕賲卮賴 亘爻賷胤丞 賲賮賷丿丞 鬲購賰賲賱 丕賱氐賵乇丞 賵丕賱賲毓乇賮丞 亘孬賳丕賷丕 丕賱毓賲賱.
鬲乇噩賲丞: 兀丨賲丿 卮丕賮毓賷
丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 丿賷 兀賮囟賱 賲孬丕賱 廿賳 丕賱賲賵乇賵孬 丕賱卮毓亘賷 賲賳 丕賱丨賰丕賷丕鬲 賱兀賷 兀購賲丞 賷氐賱丨 賱賱鬲丿賵賷賳 貙 鬲丿賵賷賳 賷噩賲毓 賲丕 亘賷賳 丕賱賵丕賯毓賷 賵丕賱賮丕賳鬲丕夭賷 賲賰賵賳賸丕 賳氐 爻丨乇賷 禺賱賾丕亘貙 賳氐 賲賳 賳賵毓 禺丕氐 賷氐賱丨 兀賳 賷賰賵賳 賲丕丿丞 賱賱廿賲鬲丕毓 賲賴賲丕 賰丕賳鬲 禺賱賮賷丞 丕賱賯丕乇賷亍 兀賵 賲噩鬲賲毓賴.
賮賷 丕賱亘丿丕賷丞 賰賳鬲 兀馗賳 丕賱賲賰鬲賵亘 毓賱賶 馗賴乇 丕賱睾賱丕賮 賲賳 鬲卮亘賷賴 賱賴匕丕 丕賱毓賲賱 亘賲卅丞 毓丕賲 賲賳 丕賱毓夭賱丞 兀賵 丨鬲賶 兀胤賮丕賱 賲賳鬲氐賮 丕賱賱賷賱貙 賰賳鬲 兀馗賳賴 賳賵毓 賲賳 丕賱賲亘丕賱睾丕鬲 丕賱賲毓鬲丕丿丞 賲賳 丕賱賳丕卮乇賷賳 賵丕賱賳賯丕丿貙 賵亘丿兀鬲 卮賰賵賰賷 賮賷 丕賱賲亘丕賱睾丕鬲 鬲賯賱 亘爻亘亘 賲賯丿賲丞 丕賱賲鬲乇噩賲 兀丨賲丿 卮丕賮毓賷 丕賱賯氐賷乇丞 丕賱亘賱賷睾丞貙 賵丕賱鬲賷 賲賴賾丿 賮賷賴丕 賱賱賯丕乇賷亍 兀賳賴 爻賷賯乇兀 乇賵丕賷丞 賲賳 賳賵毓 禺丕氐貙 賵卮丕賮毓賷 賲賲賳 賳賵賱賷賴賲 孬賯鬲賳丕 賮賷賲丕 賷賯賵賱|賷鬲乇噩賲 亘賱丕 匕乇丞 卮賰.
亘卮賷亍 賲賳 丕賱鬲噩丕賵夭 賮賴匕賴 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 禺賱賷胤 賲丕 亘賷賳 賲卅丞 毓丕賲 賲賳 丕賱毓夭賱丞 賵兀胤賮丕賱 賲賳鬲氐賮 丕賱賱賷賱貙 賵廿賳 賰丕賳鬲 兀賯乇亘 賱爻賱賲丕賳 乇卮丿賷 賲賳賴丕 賱賲丕乇賰賷夭貙 賵賯丿 賷賰賵賳 爻亘亘 匕賱賰 兀氐賵賱 乇卮丿賷 丕賱賴賳丿賷丞貙 賮胤亘賷毓賷 兀賳 賷賰賵賳 丕賱賲卮鬲乇賰 亘賷賳 丕賱賴賳丿 賵廿賳丿賵賳賷爻賷丕 兀賰孬乇 賲賳 丕賱賲卮鬲乇賰 賲毓 兀賲乇賷賰丕 丕賱賱丕鬲賷賳賷丞貙 亘賱 廿賳 鬲賵馗賷賮 丕賱賰丕鬲亘 賱賱賲賴丕亘賴丕乇丕鬲丕 賷賵丨賷 亘鬲兀孬乇 卮丿賷丿 亘賴匕丕 丕賱賳氐 丕賱兀爻胤賵乇賷貙 賮廿賳 賰丕賳鬲 亘賱丿丞 賴丕賱賷賲賵賳丿丕 丕賱廿賳丿賵賳賷爻賷丞 丕賱賲賯丕亘賱 賱賲丕賰賵賳丿賵 賲丕乇賰賷夭貙 賮廿賳 丕賱賮鬲丕丞 噩賲丕賱 鬲卮亘賴 廿賱賶 丨丿 賲丕 卮禺氐賷丞 爻賱賷賲 賮賷 兀胤賮丕賱 賲賳鬲氐賮 丕賱賱賷賱.
丕賱賲賴賲 廿賳 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 丿賷 丨丕賱丞 噩賲賷賱丞 噩丿丕貙 賲賲鬲毓丞 賵賲丐孬乇丞 賵賲賱賴賲丞貙 賵賮賷賴丕 賰孬賷乇 賲賳 丕賱丕賳爻噩丕賲 丕賱賱賷 亘賷鬲賰賵賳 亘丕賱鬲丿乇賷噩 賲毓 丕賱賯丕乇賷亍貙 丕賳爻噩丕賲 亘賷乇亘胤賰 亘賰賱 氐賮丨丞 賲賳賴丕貙 賵丕賱兀賴賲 賴賵 丕賳賰 賱丕 鬲賳鬲馗乇 賲賳賴丕 卮賷亍 禺丕氐貙 賱兀貙 丕賳鬲 亘鬲賰賵賳 賮賷 丨丕賱丞 丕爻鬲爻賱丕賲 賱賱丨賰賷貙 賵丕賱賲賵囟賵毓 亘賷鬲丨賵賱 賰兀賳賰 賯丕毓丿 賲毓 丕賱賰丕鬲亘 賵賴賵 亘賷丨賰賷 賵丕賳鬲 賲卮 賯丕丿乇 鬲睾賲囟 毓賷賳賷賰貙 賵賮賷 丨賰丕賷丕鬲賴 賴鬲賱丕賯賷 賳氐 鬲丕乇賷禺賷 賲鬲禺賮賷貙 賲毓 賰丕鬲丕賱賵噩 賱賱鬲毓丕賲賱 賲毓 丕賱亘卮乇貙 賲毓 噩乇毓丞 鬲丕乇賷禺賷丞 賲賰孬賮丞 毓賳 丕賳丿賵賳賷爻賷丕 賵賲賳胤賯丞 噩賳賵亘 卮乇賯 丌爻賷丕 亘丕賱賰丕賲賱貙 賵鬲丿丕毓賷丕鬲 丕賱丕爻鬲毓賲丕乇 賵丕賱丨乇賵亘 毓賱賷賴丕貙 毓亘乇 丨賰丕賷丕鬲 卮禺氐賷丕鬲 賲孬賷乇丞 賵睾賳賷丞貙 賰賵賾賳賴丕 丕賱賰丕鬲亘 賵乇爻賲賴丕 毓賱賶 兀賵乇丕賯賴 賵賳賮禺 賮賷賴丕 賲賳 乇賵丨 丕賱丨賰賾丕亍賷賳 丕賱兀賵丕卅賱貙 賮丕賳胤賱賯鬲 卮禺氐賷丕鬲賴 賲鬲丿賮賯丞 亘丨賰丕賷丕鬲 噩丿賷丿丞貙 丨賰丕賷丕鬲 賱賵 賰丕賳鬲 賰購鬲亘鬲 賲賳 賯乇賵賳 賱賰丕賳鬲 賲丨鬲賱丞 賲賰丕賳丞 賲乇賲賵賯丞 囟賲賳 兀毓馗賲 賲丕 賰購鬲亘貙 賵賴匕丕 賲丕 爻賵賮 賷賸賯丕賱 毓賳賴丕 亘毓丿 毓賯賵丿 賲賳 丕賱丌賳貙 賵賲賳 兀賴賲 賲賯賵賲丕鬲 鬲賱賰 丕賱毓馗賲丞貙 賴賷 丕賱爻賱丕爻丞貙 丕賱爻賱丕爻丞 丕賱鬲賷 鬲乇亘胤賰 亘賴丕 賮鬲賳鬲賴賷 賲賳賴丕 爻乇賷毓丕 賲鬲卮賵賯丕 賱賯乇丕亍鬲賴丕 賲乇丞 兀禺乇賶.
賵賱賱丨賯 賮廿賳 毓馗賲丞 賴匕丕 丕賱毓賲賱 賱賲 鬲賰賳 賱鬲馗賴乇 亘鬲賱賰 丕賱氐賵乇丞 丕賱賲亘賴乇丞 廿賱丕 亘鬲乇噩賲丞 賲鬲賯賳丞 賲賳 賲鬲乇噩賲 賯丿賷乇 賰兀丨賲丿 卮丕賮毓賷貙 賮丕爻賲賴 毓賱丕賲丞 噩賵丿丞 亘丕賱賳爻亘丞 賱兀賷 毓賲賱 賲鬲乇噩賲貙 丨鬲賶 賴賵丕賲卮賴 亘爻賷胤丞 賲賮賷丿丞 鬲購賰賲賱 丕賱氐賵乇丞 賵丕賱賲毓乇賮丞 亘孬賳丕賷丕 丕賱毓賲賱.
February 12, 2016
Let me get this straight: Beauty is a wound, because it fosters ill-will and causes chaos among men?
Because men are such animals?
What I don鈥檛 want to do is look at this story with the eyes of a haughty modernist, because this is meant to be an epic, and anyway its universe is not set in the rules of logic.
But mannnnnnnnn, what is with all the zoophilia and raping and all the 鈥榤aking love鈥� and all those lol-worthy ghosts, and I cannot even be done with listing all the depravities in this book. It really does make me just close the book sometimes and just blink blink blink.
And yes, it was very much like A Hundred Years of Solitude. The prose this time is clean and efficient, and even funny at times, and I can see a real parallel between the women in both books. Ever the pillars, ever the survivors of a long storm.
I wanted to like this book because reading it was never boring, but I found the passion comical and I greeted every depravity with an exasperated sigh, so I鈥檓 gonna go sit on a fence.
P/S: Fair warning, lots and lots of rape.
P/P/S: My friend recommended this book to me, saying it's a 'whole other thing', which I thought meant 'something real good'. So having read this now, I think I owe him a right smack.
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