Zig Zag: Kumpulan Cerpen

by Putu Wijaya

456 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Putu Wijaya, whose real name is I Gusti Ngurah Putu Wijaya, is an Indonesian author who was born in Bali on 11 April 1944. He was the youngest of eight siblings (three of them from a different father). He lived in a large housing complex with around 200 people who were all members of the same extended family, and were accustomed to reading. His father, I Gusti Ngurah Raka, was hoping for Putu to become a doctor, but Puti was weak in the natural sciences. He liked history, language and geography.

Putu Wijaya has already written around 30 novels, 40 dramas, about a hundred short stories, and thousands of essays, free articles and drama criticisms. He has also produced film and soap-opera scripts. He led the Teater Mandiri theatre since 1971, and has received numerous prices for literary works and soap-opera scripts.

He's short stories often appear in the columns of the daily newspapers Kompas and Sinar Harapan. His novels are often published in the magazines Kartini, Femina and Horison. As a script writer, he has two times won the Citra prize at the Indonesian Film Festival, for the movies Perawan Desa (1980) and Kembang Kertas (1985).

Reviews

[Henny Sari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Putu memang salah satu orang gila!
setiap cerpen pada buku ini berurat berdaging!

[red · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tiap cerita punya makna yang mendalam menurutku. Dibuka dengan Seekor Bebek yang Mati di Pinggir Kali.. dibuat deg-degan dan melongo sama endingnya. Paling suka sama cerita Obrolan Sederhana.. sederhana emang tapi entah kenapa suka. Lalu Rahasia Telinga Seorang Sastrawan Besar.. bagaimana melawan rezim dengan drama yang cerdas (setuju banget). Sebetulnya, dari semua yang paling aku suka justru Sambal Keluarga.. gimana terutama endingnya Dian yang punya selera unik di atas tradisi sambal yang udah lama ada di sana. Selain itu juga teriris baca cerita Retakan Kisah.. campur aduk bacanya ditambah ending yang rasanya betul-betul mewakilkan :

Ketika ibuku menyapa, aku bahkan tidak tahu harus berkata apa, dan hanya bisa bertanya, "Ibu baik-baik saja?"

Lagi, suka dengan cerita Berburu Beruang. Pesan-pesan yang berisi imajinasi, daya hidup, daya cipta.

Untuk beberapa cerpen masih perlu ku baca dua kali untuk mengerti makna implisitnya tapi sejauh ini suka dan menghibur, bermakna juga.

[Ande johan]

Gw masih penasaran ma buku ini, dulu pas gw baca minjem punya temen. Baru setengah dah diminta balik dan sampe sekarang gw pengin terusin bacanya tapi bukunya dah g ada. Cari di toko buku blm ketemu. Buku ini berisi cerpen yang bagus bagus, jalan ceritanya susah ditebak...tepat seperti judulnya "zig zag".Ada yang mo minjemin? or punya info...

[Fedry]

shock, inspiring, just living close to us....but its happens