“…without a love of literature, you’ll remain just a lot of clever animals.”
—Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Bumi Manusia (This Earth of Mankind)
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Pramoedya is my most preferred Indonesian author. If presenting him to new to his writing audience, I would start with one of his latest books: his autobiography where his life (?)/Stay (?) in Buru Island forms most of the thick volume. Without deep understanding of the tough transition of the country and the author/people there, it is more difficult to appreciate his works. That is my opinionated view, of course. I am just very passionate about him. Sadly, he never made it to the Nobel club, sad, because that would have been a good reason to make him “fascionable” within Indonesia and its school system.
Thank you for writing and sharing!
Thank you Rumiana! Pramoedya is an author I love very much. You are right, I think the book you are referring to, A Mute’s Soliloquy, is a very good starting point to discover this author. There is also a small interview book with him, Exile, which is also giving interesting background to his life and work. By the way, I am looking for a translator Bahasa Indonesia/Bulgarian – do you by chance know someone?