Imprisoned for more than 17 years for his opposition to tyranny, Toer dramatizes with grace and valor the injustices and glory of human life in his many internationally acclaimed books, which are banned in Indonesia, his homeland. In this pearlescent tale of feudal Java, a beautiful young woman from a poor fishing village has the misfortune of catching the eye of a Muslim aristocrat who asks to marry her, but who, after a brief ceremony in which a dagger takes the place of the groom, merely installs her in his bleak residence as a lowly concubine. Toer illuminates the poetic mind of his young heroine as she despairs of her prisonlike existence, pines for the sensual freedom of her former life, and puzzles over such conundrums as how a man as fraudulent as her "husband" instills fear in others, while honest and courageous men like her father are powerless; what makes her "better" than her servant; and how a woman can be considered nothing more than a man's property. As Toer unfurls this entrancing, indelible tale based on his grandmother's hard life, he deftly dissects the conventions that enable a brutal few to oppress the suffering many.
Donna SeamanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
-- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.
From Library Journal
Like Filipino writer F. Sionil Jose, Indonesian dissident Toer is considered a major contender for a Nobel prize, and his latest novel demonstrates why he has earned multiple literary awards during his remarkable writing career. Based largely on his grandmother's life, this novel relates the story of the arranged marriage of a lovely, unnamed young woman who leaves her fishing village to wed a nobleman, the Bendoro. Though the Girl from the Coast, as she is known, serves her husband well, eventually she learns that she is merely a "practice wife." The Bendoro not only divorces her but also takes away her child and banishes her. In Toer's characteristically simple, fast-paced narrative style, he deftly explores the complex issues arising when the impoverished interact with the privileged and when women become property. The novel's strong sociopolitical commentary explains why the Indonesian government has banned many of Toer's books and incarcerated him for nearly 15 years. Recommended for most collections. Faye A. Chadwell, Univ. of Oregon Libs., Eugene
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
-- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.
