The Book of Jakarta <\/em>are the stark divide between the wealthy and those struggling to survive, bureaucracies that range from the frustrating (\u201cSeems like that rule was just put in place today, somehow\u201d)* to the deadly (\u201cfor the past three days I\u2019ve been watching the news, hoping to see his name on the list \u2026 We filed a report, and the officer told us they\u2019ll be in touch\u201d),** Jakarta as a place of multiple everyday dystopias \u2013 whether in the present reality, an imagined future, or alternative and not-so-unrealistic realities \u2013 and the perspectives of those on the margins of society. From an ageing sex worker to street buskers, a group of senior citizens left behind by modern life to a homeless artist, the voices are diverse but all speak from a place of dissent, of exclusion from a capitalist regime.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/commapress.co.uk\/books\/the-book-of-jakarta\/jakarta-final\/image%2Fspan3\")
<\/p>\n
The translations are consistently strong and appropriately modern: there are clearly some cultural references that are tricky to translate, but I appreciated the use of occasional footnotes to help explain these.\u00a0 One such reference explains the title of the opening story, \u201cB217AN\u201d by Ratri Nindity (translated by Mikael Johani): the title is a typical numberplate of the region, but is also a pun on a phrase meaning \u201ctogether one destination\u201d. This is key to the storyline of \u201cB217AN\u201d, which embodies two themes of The Book of Jakarta<\/em>: movement and the outskirts. The brilliant opening line, \u201cTomorrow I\u2019m getting married and tonight I rest my head on your shoulder\u201d, sums up the story\u2019s intrigue: two days before the narrator\u2019s wedding she texts her former lover for one final meeting. At his insistence, the tryst is a scooter ride in adverse weather conditions to a seafood stall on the other side of town. The story is narrated in a second-person address, with the narrator both commenting on what is happening in the moment on their scooter journey, and remembering how they met and how their relationship developed. What is never explained is how they separated and the narrator came to be engaged to someone else: this is hinted at in subtle comments about the lover\u2019s determination not to become part of mainstream life, and the narrator\u2019s susceptibility to the myth that if she embraces such a life then she will be happy. This culminates in my favourite quotation from the piece: \u201cPeople like me have to study really hard to get into the best school, the best university, and then get the perfect job that promises a better life. Sadly, this middle-class manual doesn\u2019t have a section on how to be content.\u201d The narrator is chasing after an elusive happiness that was promised to her generation if they followed a predetermined formula for success, but which never materialises, leaving her inhabiting the margins of a life from which she feels disconnected. Her eleventh-hour meeting with her former lover represents a final attempt to connect to life (\u201cIn this strange place, I feel like I can do whatever I want\u201d), and to find something more satisfactory than the bland formula from which she feels disenfranchised: the detail of the journey and the not-so-final destination are superb.<\/p>\nAnother striking perspective from the margins is found in Ziggy Zezsyazeoviennazabrizkie\u2019s \u201cGrown-Up Kids\u201d (translated by Annie Tucker), in which a group of senior citizens in an apartment complex make a suicide pact. Four women (Mrs M, Mrs N, Mrs O and Mrs P) plan an outing to an amusement park to scare themselves to death on the biggest ride, while Mrs M\u2019s husband prefers to step out of life at the National Library, where he and his wife had their first date. Mr and Mrs M\u2019s diverging plans for their last rites epitomise the combination of pathos and humour that characterises the story: \u201cMrs M received a text and when she opened it she found a message from her husband: he had arrived at the National Library. Mrs M didn\u2019t like the place; it was too big and too quiet. But Mr M relished its stillness, and as part of his poetic departure, he insisted he wanted to return to the location of their first date. Mrs M had blushed and blown her nose when she heard his plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
The story opens with abject reality, Mrs M helping her husband with his adult nappy and delicately dealing with his digestive problems. They say goodbye as if they were both going on separate errands, and as Mr M heads to the library, Mrs M joins her acquaintances (the anxious Mrs N, the health-food-obsessed Mrs O, and the overly coarse Mrs P, brilliantly sketched out in a series of pithy observations that Tucker renders in English with great tongue-in-cheek humour) on their final journey to the amusement park. \u201cGrown-Up Kids\u201d is set in a near but all-too-possible future (in which the capital of Indonesia has relocated, a plan for the near future explained by editors Maesy Ang and Teddy W. Kusuma in their introduction to the volume), leaving Jakarta a shell of historic buildings and tourist attractions. We are given a flashback to Mr and Mrs M in their youth, when they met as rebellious students taking part in an uprising (which I understood, though perhaps erroneously, to be the May 1998 events referenced in the introduction). Mrs M then searched for Mr M on the internet, and given that they are now of an age that robs them of control over their own bowels, that could set the date of the story at around 40-50 years from now.\u00a0*UPDATE: the demonstration referenced is actually a 2019 event, which would locate the date of the story around 60-70 in the future*<\/p>\n
\u201cGrown-Up Kids\u201d showcases the anthology’s blend of tragedy and humour, ideals and banality, and its ending shows the cynicism needed for real survival in a not-too-distant evolution of modern society, as well as echoing the terrifying-turns-cynical ending of utuit\u2019s \u201cBuyan\u201d (translated by Zo\u00eb McLaughlin). As in the excellent \u201cA Secret from Kramat Tunggak\u201d (by Dewi Kharisma Michellia, translated by Shaffira Gayatri), older generations who have helped modern Jakarta prosper are cut off from a world – or a city – that no longer has any use for them. This generational conflict, disenfranchisement and exposition of the concept of social \u201cusefulness\u201d is echoed throughout the anthology. There are also implicit and explicit criticisms of the Suharto regime, of what followed it and where this could lead: this is a collection that gently educates and enlarges perspectives without ever being overly didactic, and which brings together a common purpose without reducing the sprawling archipelago to homogeny or stereotype.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
Join us for the virtual launch of The Book of Jakarta<\/em>! On Tuesday 2nd<\/sup> February at 1pm (BST) I will be talking to authors Ratri Ninditya and Ziggy Zezsyazeoviennazabrieke and translator Rara Rizal about their work on this exciting collection. Further details and tickets available here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n***<\/p>\n
Review copy of The Book of Jakarta <\/em>provided by Comma Press<\/h6>\n* From \u201cThe Aroma of Shrimp Paste\u201d, Hanna Franisca, translated by Khairani Barokka<\/p>\n
** From \u201cThe Problem\u201d, Sabda Armandio Alif, translated by Rara Rizal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Edited by Maesy Ang and Teddy W. Kusuma (Comma Press, 2020) The Book of Jakarta is the latest addition to the Reading the City series from Comma Press, presenting ten short stories based in the Indonesian capital. The stories that make up the collection share connected ideals, but each still offers a unique perspective on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[235,439,777,913],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
REVIEW: The Book of Jakarta - Translating Women<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/2021\/01\/15\/review-the-book-of-jakarta\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"REVIEW: The Book of Jakarta - Translating Women\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Edited by Maesy Ang and Teddy W. Kusuma (Comma Press, 2020) The Book of Jakarta is the latest addition to the Reading the City series from Comma Press, presenting ten short stories based in the Indonesian capital. The stories that make up the collection share connected ideals, but each still offers a unique perspective on […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/2021\/01\/15\/review-the-book-of-jakarta\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Translating Women\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-15T15:19:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/commapress.co.uk\/books\/the-book-of-jakarta\/jakarta-final\/image%2Fspan3\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/2021\/01\/15\/review-the-book-of-jakarta\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/2021\/01\/15\/review-the-book-of-jakarta\/\",\"name\":\"REVIEW: The Book of Jakarta - Translating Women\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/2021\/01\/15\/review-the-book-of-jakarta\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/2021\/01\/15\/review-the-book-of-jakarta\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/commapress.co.uk\/books\/the-book-of-jakarta\/jakarta-final\/image%2Fspan3\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-15T15:19:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-15T15:19:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/#\/schema\/person\/f55c794873afd5892e3c96ddf775f5b2\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/2021\/01\/15\/review-the-book-of-jakarta\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/2021\/01\/15\/review-the-book-of-jakarta\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/2021\/01\/15\/review-the-book-of-jakarta\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/commapress.co.uk\/books\/the-book-of-jakarta\/jakarta-final\/image%2Fspan3\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/commapress.co.uk\/books\/the-book-of-jakarta\/jakarta-final\/image%2Fspan3\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/2021\/01\/15\/review-the-book-of-jakarta\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"REVIEW: The Book of Jakarta\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/\",\"name\":\"Translating Women\",\"description\":\"INTERNATIONAL | INTERSECTIONAL | ACTIVIST | FEMINIST\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/#\/schema\/person\/f55c794873afd5892e3c96ddf775f5b2\",\"name\":\"Mark\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c8bc2e4b4cd54966c634a0cda0b58382?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c8bc2e4b4cd54966c634a0cda0b58382?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mark\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/university-of-exeter-new.onyx-sites.io\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/author\/rxizfitwrt\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"REVIEW: The Book of Jakarta - Translating Women","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/2021\/01\/15\/review-the-book-of-jakarta\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"REVIEW: The Book of Jakarta - Translating Women","og_description":"Edited by Maesy Ang and Teddy W. Kusuma (Comma Press, 2020) The Book of Jakarta is the latest addition to the Reading the City series from Comma Press, presenting ten short stories based in the Indonesian capital. The stories that make up the collection share connected ideals, but each still offers a unique perspective on […]","og_url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/2021\/01\/15\/review-the-book-of-jakarta\/","og_site_name":"Translating Women","article_published_time":"2021-01-15T15:19:57+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/commapress.co.uk\/books\/the-book-of-jakarta\/jakarta-final\/image%2Fspan3"}],"author":"Mark","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/2021\/01\/15\/review-the-book-of-jakarta\/","url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/2021\/01\/15\/review-the-book-of-jakarta\/","name":"REVIEW: The Book of Jakarta - Translating Women","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/2021\/01\/15\/review-the-book-of-jakarta\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/2021\/01\/15\/review-the-book-of-jakarta\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/commapress.co.uk\/books\/the-book-of-jakarta\/jakarta-final\/image%2Fspan3","datePublished":"2021-01-15T15:19:57+00:00","dateModified":"2021-01-15T15:19:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/#\/schema\/person\/f55c794873afd5892e3c96ddf775f5b2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/2021\/01\/15\/review-the-book-of-jakarta\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/2021\/01\/15\/review-the-book-of-jakarta\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/2021\/01\/15\/review-the-book-of-jakarta\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/commapress.co.uk\/books\/the-book-of-jakarta\/jakarta-final\/image%2Fspan3","contentUrl":"https:\/\/commapress.co.uk\/books\/the-book-of-jakarta\/jakarta-final\/image%2Fspan3"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/2021\/01\/15\/review-the-book-of-jakarta\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"REVIEW: The Book of Jakarta"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/","name":"Translating Women","description":"INTERNATIONAL | INTERSECTIONAL | ACTIVIST | FEMINIST","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/#\/schema\/person\/f55c794873afd5892e3c96ddf775f5b2","name":"Mark","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c8bc2e4b4cd54966c634a0cda0b58382?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c8bc2e4b4cd54966c634a0cda0b58382?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mark"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/university-of-exeter-new.onyx-sites.io"],"url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/author\/rxizfitwrt\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1724"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1724\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}