Ayu Utami
My fourth stop on my journey to read the world is Indonesia. I had actually tried to buy an Indonesian author even pre-Read-the-World project, but couldn't find any on the bookstore shelves of Singapore. Given that Indonesia is Singapore's biggest neighbour, I would have though people might be interested reading a thing or two about it, but I guess not.
In contrast to The Sand Fish, Saman is indeed a work of translation from Bahasa Indonesia, with a note from the translator Pamela Allen. As a translator myself, it's always lovely to see translation – usually something invisible and unaccounted for – be given a voice and translators an opportunity to say something. Since most people know little about Indonesia or its history – and the book takes place during a chaotic period of its history – the translator must have had a tough time with it all, but did so with aplomb. The book reads seamlessly, and the translation could not be felt.
Saman caused quite a firestorm when it was first published in Indonesia, touching on all the country's taboos: extramarital sex, political repression, and the relationship between Christians and Muslims. It is a shifting story, moving from time, place, and protagonist. The choice of Saman as title made this shifting a bit muddled for me. As the book's title character, the story is sometimes told by Saman, and sometimes by others about Saman; but other times the story told by Saman is about another person, or is told by another person about another person. – Don't get me wrong, I don't mind this kind of storytelling, but Saman as the title led me to think of Saman as the protagonist, when that wasn't really always the case. Otherwise, an interesting glimpse into turbulent slice of Indonesian life.
Saman caused quite a firestorm when it was first published in Indonesia, touching on all the country's taboos: extramarital sex, political repression, and the relationship between Christians and Muslims. It is a shifting story, moving from time, place, and protagonist. The choice of Saman as title made this shifting a bit muddled for me. As the book's title character, the story is sometimes told by Saman, and sometimes by others about Saman; but other times the story told by Saman is about another person, or is told by another person about another person. – Don't get me wrong, I don't mind this kind of storytelling, but Saman as the title led me to think of Saman as the protagonist, when that wasn't really always the case. Otherwise, an interesting glimpse into turbulent slice of Indonesian life.
