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The Year of Living Dangerously
The charismatic god-king Sukarno has brought Indonesia to the edge of chaos - to an abortive revolution that will leave half a million dead. For the Western correspondents here, this gathering apocalypse is their story and their drug, while the sufferings of the Indonesian people are scarcely real: a shadow play.
Working at the eye of the storm are television correspondent Guy Hamilton and his eccentric dwarf cameraman Billy Kwan. In Kwan's secret fantasy life, both Sukarno and Hamilton are heroes. But his heroes betray him, and Billy is driven to desperate action. As the Indonesian shadow play erupts into terrible reality, a complex personal tragedy of love, obsession and betrayal comes to its climax
Working at the eye of the storm are television correspondent Guy Hamilton and his eccentric dwarf cameraman Billy Kwan. In Kwan's secret fantasy life, both Sukarno and Hamilton are heroes. But his heroes betray him, and Billy is driven to desperate action. As the Indonesian shadow play erupts into terrible reality, a complex personal tragedy of love, obsession and betrayal comes to its climax
295 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
76 people are currently reading
2225 people want to read
About the author
Christopher J. Koch
15 books53 followersChristopher Koch was born and educated in Tasmania. For a good deal of his life he was a broadcasting producer, working for the ABC in Sydney. He has lived and worked in London and elsewhere overseas. He has been a fulltime writer since 1972, winning international praise and a number of awards for his novels, many of which are translated in a number of European countries. One of his novels, The YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY, was made into a film by Peter Weir and was nominated for an Academy Award. He has twice won the Miles Franklin award for fiction: for THE DOUBLEMAN and HIGHWAYS TO A WAR. In 1995 Koch was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for his contribution to Australian literature.
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December 17, 2016
The Year of Living Dangerously, the 1978 novel by C.J. Koch, is a towering disappointment as reading material. I say that as someone who loves the 1982 film based on Koch's book--a classic, end-of-summer romance of tremendous passion and sophistication starring Mel Gibson, Sigoruney Weaver and in her Academy Award winning performance as a male Chinese-Australian dwarf, Linda Hunt--but who also has a particular distaste for passive narrators who observe characters through a telephoto lens. In Koch's book, the emotional stakes are distant, the passion and intensity fleeting and the information dumps sky high in what should have been a compelling narrative.
The story is the first person account of Cook, an Australian reporter in his late thirties who bares an awful resemblance to Koch and conveniently observes all. In the summer of 1965, Cook is posted in the sweltering Indonesian capitol of Jakarta, where populist strongman Sukarno placates his impoverished people with threats against the West and promises a return to glory. At the Wayang Bar, an oasis for the foreign press corps inside the air conditioned Hotel Indonesia, a Chinese-Australian dwarf and freelance photographer named Billy Kwan introduces himself to Guy Hamilton, the newly arrived correspondent for the Australian Broadcasting Service.
Kwan recognizes in Hamilton dashing good looks and naked ambition, as well as the newsman's existential problem. The ABS correspondent Hamilton has been sent to replace left Indonesia without showing Hamilton the ropes or sharing what contacts he had. Kwan takes Hamilton outside the hotel compound for a stroll through the slums, exposing him to the poverty and degradation of the people, voicing support for the overtures Sukarno is making to improve their living conditions. The next morning, Kwan proposes a partnership--Hamilton for the words, Billy for the pictures--and offers to help him build contacts in both Sukarno's government and in the Communist insurgency, the PKI.
Hamilton ashed his cigar, and studied the end of it for some moments without speaking. He began now to entertain a suspicion which was to be the subject of a number of discussions in the Wayang Bar: that Kwan was involved with the PKI, and was perhaps a Communist Party member. This might cause trouble in the future; but he decided not to question his good luck.
"If this works out," he said finally, "I'll make a deal with you. I'll give you all the film you can handle from now on; I'll use no one else, and you won't need to scratch for work again. There's just one condition. You check in with me every day before you take any other assignments--and if you have any more contacts like this, you give them to me. Okay?"
Kwan blinked twice, then broke into a broad grin. "Fine," he said. "That's what I've always wanted--a real partnership. You're a hard bugger, but I think you and I will get on, Guy." He jerked in his chair. "You'll get an interview that'll make an international stir. It'll get things rattling on the diplomatic circuit here, I can tell you. An interview like this needs a good instrument to transmit it." His chin lifted, and his face wore a new expression: one of almost fatuous pride. "I've chosen a good instrument," he said.
At the pool behind the hotel, Kwan introduces Hamilton to Jill Bryant, a secretary at the British Embassy who works for Col. Ralph Henderson, British Military Attache. One of the few single white women in Jakarta, Jill is heavily pursued but wary of involvement with another man after her affair with a French diplomat ended badly. Her friendship with Billy serves to keep suitors away, but having met with the cameraman's approval, Hamilton gets the impression that Billy is conspiring to get him together with Jill. He wins points with Billy by deliberately losing a swimming race against the Colonel when he sees how bad the elder Brit wants to win.
The top foreign newsmen--a British fop named Wally O'Sullivan and a crass Canadian correspondent named Pete Curtis--have to concede that Hamilton has usurped them with his scoops. While Curtis makes no secret of his taste for the Javanese prostitutes who sell themselves outside the cemetery after dark, Cook carries the secret of Wally's sex life: a proclivity for young men. Cook's confidence with Hamilton reveals no sexual perversions, only a blind pursuit for something big on the horizon. Hamilton is assisted in his work by an Indonesian named Kumar who the newsman is generous toward and respectful of, but begins to suspect is affiliated with the PKI.
Once Hamilton and Jill become lovers--with Billy's blessing and even encouragement to use his garden bungalow for privacy, which Guy is given a key to--the photographer's behavior grows erratic. Jakarta is edging closer to civil war. Jill dispels Hamilton's suspicion of her long hours working with the Colonel by revealing that the Chinese have floated an arms shipment to the PKI. Hamilton refuses to promise he won't use this bombshell in his reports, estranging himself both from his lover and from his partner. Billy grows increasingly disillusioned with President Sukarno as well and begins to assume all the characteristics of an assassin.
Having gone to earth, Billy Kwan preoccupied us in the Wayang more than he had done when he was visible. Perhaps it was a symptom of our own general exhaustion and malaise. Even Henri Bouchard and Kevin Condon discussed him to an extent they would not normally have done. Wally's expulsion, and Kwan's suspected part in it, made some post-mortems inevitable, but they continued to a morbid extent: we were like voyagers on a cruise that had gone on too long. And outrage became replaced by a black amusement.
The Year of Living Dangerously has some vivid writing in it. Its strength is the eloquence in which Koch describes the atmosphere of Jakarta and how it serves as a pressure cooker for his characters. Koch, a radio producer for the Australian Broadcasting Service in Sydney for many years before he became a full-time writer, based much of Guy Hamilton on his younger brother Philip, who covered Sukarno's downfall and signed his broadcasts off in much the same manner as Hamilton does. Hamilton, a prince, and Billy, a dwarf who serves the prince, would appear to have a dynamic relationship, juxtaposed nicely against the lore of the wayang kulit, the Indonesian shadow puppet theater..
The critical flaw in the novel is the use of the author surrogate "Cook" to tell the reader everything. We are told about Sukarno. We are told about Javanese culture. We are told what Jill Bryant looks like, exhaustively. We are told what characters are thinking and what they uttered in private conversations with each other, even though "Cook" would have no insight into most of these details. Some of his information is vital to the story but very little of it revealed through the actions of the characters, which are Hamilton and Billy. Guy & Jill's romance is largely absentee here, communicated to the reader with all the excitement of a letter a mother might write you while you were at summer camp.
The novel goes off the rails when Koch drops Billy from the story and follows Hamilton on holiday to Tugu, where Kumar arranges a rendezvous with a Russian spy who wants the itinerary of the Chinese arms shipment and is prepared to seduce Guy to get it. This transaction was dropped from the Australian-American production directed by Peter Weir and adapted by C.J. Koch and Peter Weir & David Williamson, which focuses on "A Love Caught In The Fire Of Revolution." Hunt's award-winning performance as Billy Kwan gives the character a gentle nature not evident in the book, where Billy is often depicted as an exotic creep a la Peter Lorre.
The story is the first person account of Cook, an Australian reporter in his late thirties who bares an awful resemblance to Koch and conveniently observes all. In the summer of 1965, Cook is posted in the sweltering Indonesian capitol of Jakarta, where populist strongman Sukarno placates his impoverished people with threats against the West and promises a return to glory. At the Wayang Bar, an oasis for the foreign press corps inside the air conditioned Hotel Indonesia, a Chinese-Australian dwarf and freelance photographer named Billy Kwan introduces himself to Guy Hamilton, the newly arrived correspondent for the Australian Broadcasting Service.
Kwan recognizes in Hamilton dashing good looks and naked ambition, as well as the newsman's existential problem. The ABS correspondent Hamilton has been sent to replace left Indonesia without showing Hamilton the ropes or sharing what contacts he had. Kwan takes Hamilton outside the hotel compound for a stroll through the slums, exposing him to the poverty and degradation of the people, voicing support for the overtures Sukarno is making to improve their living conditions. The next morning, Kwan proposes a partnership--Hamilton for the words, Billy for the pictures--and offers to help him build contacts in both Sukarno's government and in the Communist insurgency, the PKI.
Hamilton ashed his cigar, and studied the end of it for some moments without speaking. He began now to entertain a suspicion which was to be the subject of a number of discussions in the Wayang Bar: that Kwan was involved with the PKI, and was perhaps a Communist Party member. This might cause trouble in the future; but he decided not to question his good luck.
"If this works out," he said finally, "I'll make a deal with you. I'll give you all the film you can handle from now on; I'll use no one else, and you won't need to scratch for work again. There's just one condition. You check in with me every day before you take any other assignments--and if you have any more contacts like this, you give them to me. Okay?"
Kwan blinked twice, then broke into a broad grin. "Fine," he said. "That's what I've always wanted--a real partnership. You're a hard bugger, but I think you and I will get on, Guy." He jerked in his chair. "You'll get an interview that'll make an international stir. It'll get things rattling on the diplomatic circuit here, I can tell you. An interview like this needs a good instrument to transmit it." His chin lifted, and his face wore a new expression: one of almost fatuous pride. "I've chosen a good instrument," he said.
At the pool behind the hotel, Kwan introduces Hamilton to Jill Bryant, a secretary at the British Embassy who works for Col. Ralph Henderson, British Military Attache. One of the few single white women in Jakarta, Jill is heavily pursued but wary of involvement with another man after her affair with a French diplomat ended badly. Her friendship with Billy serves to keep suitors away, but having met with the cameraman's approval, Hamilton gets the impression that Billy is conspiring to get him together with Jill. He wins points with Billy by deliberately losing a swimming race against the Colonel when he sees how bad the elder Brit wants to win.
The top foreign newsmen--a British fop named Wally O'Sullivan and a crass Canadian correspondent named Pete Curtis--have to concede that Hamilton has usurped them with his scoops. While Curtis makes no secret of his taste for the Javanese prostitutes who sell themselves outside the cemetery after dark, Cook carries the secret of Wally's sex life: a proclivity for young men. Cook's confidence with Hamilton reveals no sexual perversions, only a blind pursuit for something big on the horizon. Hamilton is assisted in his work by an Indonesian named Kumar who the newsman is generous toward and respectful of, but begins to suspect is affiliated with the PKI.
Once Hamilton and Jill become lovers--with Billy's blessing and even encouragement to use his garden bungalow for privacy, which Guy is given a key to--the photographer's behavior grows erratic. Jakarta is edging closer to civil war. Jill dispels Hamilton's suspicion of her long hours working with the Colonel by revealing that the Chinese have floated an arms shipment to the PKI. Hamilton refuses to promise he won't use this bombshell in his reports, estranging himself both from his lover and from his partner. Billy grows increasingly disillusioned with President Sukarno as well and begins to assume all the characteristics of an assassin.
Having gone to earth, Billy Kwan preoccupied us in the Wayang more than he had done when he was visible. Perhaps it was a symptom of our own general exhaustion and malaise. Even Henri Bouchard and Kevin Condon discussed him to an extent they would not normally have done. Wally's expulsion, and Kwan's suspected part in it, made some post-mortems inevitable, but they continued to a morbid extent: we were like voyagers on a cruise that had gone on too long. And outrage became replaced by a black amusement.
The Year of Living Dangerously has some vivid writing in it. Its strength is the eloquence in which Koch describes the atmosphere of Jakarta and how it serves as a pressure cooker for his characters. Koch, a radio producer for the Australian Broadcasting Service in Sydney for many years before he became a full-time writer, based much of Guy Hamilton on his younger brother Philip, who covered Sukarno's downfall and signed his broadcasts off in much the same manner as Hamilton does. Hamilton, a prince, and Billy, a dwarf who serves the prince, would appear to have a dynamic relationship, juxtaposed nicely against the lore of the wayang kulit, the Indonesian shadow puppet theater..
The critical flaw in the novel is the use of the author surrogate "Cook" to tell the reader everything. We are told about Sukarno. We are told about Javanese culture. We are told what Jill Bryant looks like, exhaustively. We are told what characters are thinking and what they uttered in private conversations with each other, even though "Cook" would have no insight into most of these details. Some of his information is vital to the story but very little of it revealed through the actions of the characters, which are Hamilton and Billy. Guy & Jill's romance is largely absentee here, communicated to the reader with all the excitement of a letter a mother might write you while you were at summer camp.
The novel goes off the rails when Koch drops Billy from the story and follows Hamilton on holiday to Tugu, where Kumar arranges a rendezvous with a Russian spy who wants the itinerary of the Chinese arms shipment and is prepared to seduce Guy to get it. This transaction was dropped from the Australian-American production directed by Peter Weir and adapted by C.J. Koch and Peter Weir & David Williamson, which focuses on "A Love Caught In The Fire Of Revolution." Hunt's award-winning performance as Billy Kwan gives the character a gentle nature not evident in the book, where Billy is often depicted as an exotic creep a la Peter Lorre.
December 11, 2016
It's always difficult to believe that someone we know well has crossed into that territory where no one from our side can reach him, and from which messages crackle back that no longer make any sense.
Ooooooookaaaaaay. So. This was a friend-read with Joe Valdez. This book is not what I thought it was going to be, AT ALL.
BASIC PLOT: The whites stationed in Jakarta, Indonesia form a relatively tight-knit group made up of diplomats, journalists and cameramen. Billy Kwan is a half-Chinese, half-Irish-Australian and a dwarf. He is passionate about helping the poor, keeps elaborate dossiers on all his friends, and is a megalomaniac who thinks he's somewhat of a god. The book, like many many books, implies Kwan is fucked up in the head because he is a dwarf and half-Chinese.
Hamilton is a basically good guy, but glaringly stupid, and he falls into being Kwan's best friend, not realizing the extent of Kwan's machinations on his life.
Let's talk about its strengths and weaknesses.
STRENGTHS:
1.) It's as if you are IN Indonesia. The book is absolutely transporting, you can feel it throbbing with life beneath your fingertips.
Swift evening spreads across Jakarta. The city lies inert in a hot brown twilight, which smells of petrol, frangipani, and fear. All energy burns low, like the failing street lights; but fear mounts like erotic excitement in these stormy nights of the north-west monsoon. Jakarta waits always for explosions.
2.) Koch is a good author. He writes good sentences and is no slouch when it comes to telegraphing both scenery and human nature.
Despite Billy's eccentricity, I had not considered him until that moment to be anything but troubled in a way natural to a man with his disadvantages. This last remark, spoken as though to himself, had opened a door. I felt that I was being warned. But I put the feeling aside, as we nearly always do such warnings.
WEAKNESSES:
1.) The main weakness here, the most disappointing part of the book, is the plot.
Not because, as many claim, this is too 'political' to be read, understood, and liked by the masses, but simply because Koch is not good at writing human stories of human interest.
As in many books, there is the political/intrigue story which runs through the whole book, and then there is the human interest story, the story that deals with how the characters relate/love/hate and interact with each other. It's on this human note that the book fails.
I thought you just said that one of Koch's strengths is writing about human nature.
Yes, it's true that Koch slips little well-written gems about the nature of humans into his book. However, from a 'plot' angle the book is lacking. Our lead, Hamilton, is likable but deeply stupid and it's sometimes hard for the reader to watch his stupid lurchings.
The characters interact with each other in a kind of superficial way which does not endear you to any of them nor cause you to care when they reach some sort of crisis. This is the book's ultimate failure.
I guess one could consider this weakness a 'strength' because it is very true to life. People do things for no discernible reason, and life's mundane conclusions are everyday. However, I read novels to feel for the characters and get worked up about their lives and situations. Koch is unable to wrest those feelings from me. There's a whole lot of build-up and then little consequence. Billy Kwan might be a spy! He is keeping tabs on his friends! He's full of delusions of grandeur! But, you know, nothing really comes of this.
Hamilton and Jillie are having a love affair! He's commitment-phobic! She's ! He's ! All of this should be super-exciting to me, a romance junkie, but the way Koch writes it it is dull as dust. I couldn't get worked up about any of it.
A Russian woman slinks onto thescreen page. Is she a spy? Is Hamilton going to sleep with her? What are her evil plans? Don't get excited - where is this going? You've guessed it! Pretty much nowhere with no consequences and no major events.
Koch is a master of introducing things that you THINK are going to be exciting and finally get the plot going, but then taking them exactly nowhere. Again, much like real life - most of it is mundane - but terrible for what is falsely labeled as an 'adventure novel.'
2.) You're going to have to slog through some perversions to read this book. How much this bothers you (child rape and creepers of every stripe) depends on your sensitivity levels, I guess. All sexual perversions are completely brushed off in this book as 'no big deal,' so don't think anyone is actually upset about pedophilia or whatever. It's all cool! Ugh.
The Wikipedia summary of this novel is absolutely horrendous. Not only do I think it is inaccurate as to the book's events, but it completely doesn't capture the spirit and the heart of the novel... which I guess is understandable. I read it after the book was over, to see what they had to say about the book and I was violently disappointed.
The back of my book says, "A compelling tale of romance and the political turmoil of twentieth-century Indonesia!" which is a complete lie.
Tl;dr - Indonesia drips off the pages of this book. Koch occasionally offers some startling insights into human nature. However, the plot is plodding, the characters are not engaging, and at no point is excitement actually delivered on. I don't know what I was expecting from this book, but this certainly wasn't it. The book is very retro - written in the late '70s and taking place in the '60s - and I guess you could argue that it is a classic in a way. But it's very disappointing, especially for this reader.
Ooooooookaaaaaay. So. This was a friend-read with Joe Valdez. This book is not what I thought it was going to be, AT ALL.
BASIC PLOT: The whites stationed in Jakarta, Indonesia form a relatively tight-knit group made up of diplomats, journalists and cameramen. Billy Kwan is a half-Chinese, half-Irish-Australian and a dwarf. He is passionate about helping the poor, keeps elaborate dossiers on all his friends, and is a megalomaniac who thinks he's somewhat of a god. The book, like many many books, implies Kwan is fucked up in the head because he is a dwarf and half-Chinese.
Hamilton is a basically good guy, but glaringly stupid, and he falls into being Kwan's best friend, not realizing the extent of Kwan's machinations on his life.
Let's talk about its strengths and weaknesses.
STRENGTHS:
1.) It's as if you are IN Indonesia. The book is absolutely transporting, you can feel it throbbing with life beneath your fingertips.
Swift evening spreads across Jakarta. The city lies inert in a hot brown twilight, which smells of petrol, frangipani, and fear. All energy burns low, like the failing street lights; but fear mounts like erotic excitement in these stormy nights of the north-west monsoon. Jakarta waits always for explosions.
2.) Koch is a good author. He writes good sentences and is no slouch when it comes to telegraphing both scenery and human nature.
Despite Billy's eccentricity, I had not considered him until that moment to be anything but troubled in a way natural to a man with his disadvantages. This last remark, spoken as though to himself, had opened a door. I felt that I was being warned. But I put the feeling aside, as we nearly always do such warnings.
WEAKNESSES:
1.) The main weakness here, the most disappointing part of the book, is the plot.
Not because, as many claim, this is too 'political' to be read, understood, and liked by the masses, but simply because Koch is not good at writing human stories of human interest.
As in many books, there is the political/intrigue story which runs through the whole book, and then there is the human interest story, the story that deals with how the characters relate/love/hate and interact with each other. It's on this human note that the book fails.
I thought you just said that one of Koch's strengths is writing about human nature.
Yes, it's true that Koch slips little well-written gems about the nature of humans into his book. However, from a 'plot' angle the book is lacking. Our lead, Hamilton, is likable but deeply stupid and it's sometimes hard for the reader to watch his stupid lurchings.
The characters interact with each other in a kind of superficial way which does not endear you to any of them nor cause you to care when they reach some sort of crisis. This is the book's ultimate failure.
I guess one could consider this weakness a 'strength' because it is very true to life. People do things for no discernible reason, and life's mundane conclusions are everyday. However, I read novels to feel for the characters and get worked up about their lives and situations. Koch is unable to wrest those feelings from me. There's a whole lot of build-up and then little consequence. Billy Kwan might be a spy! He is keeping tabs on his friends! He's full of delusions of grandeur! But, you know, nothing really comes of this.
Hamilton and Jillie are having a love affair! He's commitment-phobic! She's ! He's ! All of this should be super-exciting to me, a romance junkie, but the way Koch writes it it is dull as dust. I couldn't get worked up about any of it.
A Russian woman slinks onto the
Koch is a master of introducing things that you THINK are going to be exciting and finally get the plot going, but then taking them exactly nowhere. Again, much like real life - most of it is mundane - but terrible for what is falsely labeled as an 'adventure novel.'
2.) You're going to have to slog through some perversions to read this book. How much this bothers you (child rape and creepers of every stripe) depends on your sensitivity levels, I guess. All sexual perversions are completely brushed off in this book as 'no big deal,' so don't think anyone is actually upset about pedophilia or whatever. It's all cool! Ugh.
The Wikipedia summary of this novel is absolutely horrendous. Not only do I think it is inaccurate as to the book's events, but it completely doesn't capture the spirit and the heart of the novel... which I guess is understandable. I read it after the book was over, to see what they had to say about the book and I was violently disappointed.
The back of my book says, "A compelling tale of romance and the political turmoil of twentieth-century Indonesia!" which is a complete lie.
Tl;dr - Indonesia drips off the pages of this book. Koch occasionally offers some startling insights into human nature. However, the plot is plodding, the characters are not engaging, and at no point is excitement actually delivered on. I don't know what I was expecting from this book, but this certainly wasn't it. The book is very retro - written in the late '70s and taking place in the '60s - and I guess you could argue that it is a classic in a way. But it's very disappointing, especially for this reader.
September 18, 2016
I may be one of the few people who never saw the movie but I really enjoyed the book! The author was really good at creating the atmosphere of Jakarta, the heat, the smells and the poverty of the local people. The story was fascinating, not just the politics of the day but also the life and interactions between the visiting Western journalists. Beautifully written and very interesting.
January 2, 2021
Like all Koch’s novels, this is an esoteric work; that is to say, the real ‘action’ is not what it appears on the surface.
Although ostensibly the main character is Guy Hamilton, the book can be read as a dialectic between the figures of Billy Kwan (a half-Chinese dwarf who embodies the eternal restlessness of the racially mixed) and Sukarno, the populist dictator of Indonesia. Sukarno originally embodied all strands of Javanese society (Hindu, Muslim, Right and Left), but when he threw in his lot with the PKI (Communists) he came to an ignominious end, because he had lost his connection with the people. Sukarno, not Hamilton, is the real ‘giant brother’ of Billy Kwan…Kwan dies because Sukarno was dead internally.
‘The struggle of [Right and Left] never ends, because neither side is wholly good or bad,’ Koch writes. Maybe that was true in Koch’s time, but in 2020 the ‘Left’ (servants of the Davos billionaire class) do appear to have actually become evil.
Although ostensibly the main character is Guy Hamilton, the book can be read as a dialectic between the figures of Billy Kwan (a half-Chinese dwarf who embodies the eternal restlessness of the racially mixed) and Sukarno, the populist dictator of Indonesia. Sukarno originally embodied all strands of Javanese society (Hindu, Muslim, Right and Left), but when he threw in his lot with the PKI (Communists) he came to an ignominious end, because he had lost his connection with the people. Sukarno, not Hamilton, is the real ‘giant brother’ of Billy Kwan…Kwan dies because Sukarno was dead internally.
‘The struggle of [Right and Left] never ends, because neither side is wholly good or bad,’ Koch writes. Maybe that was true in Koch’s time, but in 2020 the ‘Left’ (servants of the Davos billionaire class) do appear to have actually become evil.
November 18, 2021
Flares, flares everywhere, in the flat darkness, where gabled villas with orange-tiled roofs hid behind crumbling walls, and a dark, drain-like canal moved with evil slowness on an area of muddy ground beside the highway, the lights from the pasar burned uncertainly: kerosene and gas pressure-lamps set on the counters of many little stalls under tattered awnings. Above them, the final awning of the heat extended motionless.
Why has it taken me so long to discover this Australian classic?
It is hard not to be drawn in by the underlying menace of the story: its 1965, declared by a posturing Indonesian President Sukarno as “The Year of Living Dangerously” as he threatens to boycott the UN if Malaysia is admitted. A godlike-figure to the nation, rallies are held at the stadium, rousing the masses, cars overturned and set ablaze, senior figures wisely sleeping away from their homes, in the midst of crumbling infrastructure and imminent bankruptcy, foreign aid siphoned off to build monuments to Sukarno and homes for his wives (the latest, the beautiful Japanese bar girl, Dewy Sukarno).
Against this background, foreign correspondents meet in sanctity of the Wayang bar of the ludicrously-expensive Hotel Indonesia, with its own power supply and water, food flown in from overseas or grown on the hotel’s own farm, to avoid gastroenteritis. Ambitious Sydney reporter, Guy Hamilton, anxious to make a name for himself, is befriended by Chinese-Australian cameraman, Billy Kwan, whose Asian features and dwarf stature allows him into places no westerner could go. He becomes Hamilton’s eyes and ears, showing him the seedier dark side of life in Jakarta’s slums, and they forge a formidable partnership. But Billy is manipulative – almost Machiavellian, with secrets of his own.
Kwan pointed. ‘Did you see my wayang puppets? Beauties, aren’t they? If you want to understand Java, Ham, you’ll have to understand the wayang. Look at Bima here - he’s a bit crude and kasar, although he’s a goodie. See the round staring eyes? Like a Westerner. But the more aristocratic heroes, like his brother Arjuna – they’re alus types, refined, courteous: the Javanese priyayi class. They look at the ground because its kasar to stare into people’s faces. And they have almond eyes.
Some books have a pretence at literature, but here we have the real thing. Narrated by another wire-man, known as Cookie, the events that take place, friendships and confidences betrayed, Billy’s torment for the people – all beautifully written, amid almost lyrical descriptions of the equatorial heat, and seasons.
We have come to the end of June. At this time of the year, the rain-bearing north-west monsoon is long past and the south-east monsoon rules in Java. As the months go by, the dry, steady head it carries from the deserts of Australia, moving across Timor and the Java Sea, will mount in intensity; it is in these nights of the dry monsoon that the screens of the Wayang kulit, the shadow-shows, light up all through the countryside.
Kwan again: ‘Spiritually, this place is still a colony – not of Holland; of Hindustan. It’s the old Hindu kingdoms that are most real here. And it’s like all colonies – like Australia: because Java’s one remove from the cultural source, there’s a slackening – something missing. Even the air goes slack. A country of second-hand.’
By September revolution arrives, with tragic results.
This is a book that stays with the reader long after the last page. Some years back, I saw the Peter Weir movie, Mel Gibson with his matinee-looks in the role of Guy Hamilton, reporting from Jakarta for the ABS, his love interest – Sigourney Weaver – I scarcely remember, both overshadowed by the Oscar-winning performance of Linda Hunt – herself a dwarf, in the role of Billy Kwan. Well-deserved.
Why has it taken me so long to discover this Australian classic?
It is hard not to be drawn in by the underlying menace of the story: its 1965, declared by a posturing Indonesian President Sukarno as “The Year of Living Dangerously” as he threatens to boycott the UN if Malaysia is admitted. A godlike-figure to the nation, rallies are held at the stadium, rousing the masses, cars overturned and set ablaze, senior figures wisely sleeping away from their homes, in the midst of crumbling infrastructure and imminent bankruptcy, foreign aid siphoned off to build monuments to Sukarno and homes for his wives (the latest, the beautiful Japanese bar girl, Dewy Sukarno).
Against this background, foreign correspondents meet in sanctity of the Wayang bar of the ludicrously-expensive Hotel Indonesia, with its own power supply and water, food flown in from overseas or grown on the hotel’s own farm, to avoid gastroenteritis. Ambitious Sydney reporter, Guy Hamilton, anxious to make a name for himself, is befriended by Chinese-Australian cameraman, Billy Kwan, whose Asian features and dwarf stature allows him into places no westerner could go. He becomes Hamilton’s eyes and ears, showing him the seedier dark side of life in Jakarta’s slums, and they forge a formidable partnership. But Billy is manipulative – almost Machiavellian, with secrets of his own.
Kwan pointed. ‘Did you see my wayang puppets? Beauties, aren’t they? If you want to understand Java, Ham, you’ll have to understand the wayang. Look at Bima here - he’s a bit crude and kasar, although he’s a goodie. See the round staring eyes? Like a Westerner. But the more aristocratic heroes, like his brother Arjuna – they’re alus types, refined, courteous: the Javanese priyayi class. They look at the ground because its kasar to stare into people’s faces. And they have almond eyes.
Some books have a pretence at literature, but here we have the real thing. Narrated by another wire-man, known as Cookie, the events that take place, friendships and confidences betrayed, Billy’s torment for the people – all beautifully written, amid almost lyrical descriptions of the equatorial heat, and seasons.
We have come to the end of June. At this time of the year, the rain-bearing north-west monsoon is long past and the south-east monsoon rules in Java. As the months go by, the dry, steady head it carries from the deserts of Australia, moving across Timor and the Java Sea, will mount in intensity; it is in these nights of the dry monsoon that the screens of the Wayang kulit, the shadow-shows, light up all through the countryside.
Kwan again: ‘Spiritually, this place is still a colony – not of Holland; of Hindustan. It’s the old Hindu kingdoms that are most real here. And it’s like all colonies – like Australia: because Java’s one remove from the cultural source, there’s a slackening – something missing. Even the air goes slack. A country of second-hand.’
By September revolution arrives, with tragic results.
This is a book that stays with the reader long after the last page. Some years back, I saw the Peter Weir movie, Mel Gibson with his matinee-looks in the role of Guy Hamilton, reporting from Jakarta for the ABS, his love interest – Sigourney Weaver – I scarcely remember, both overshadowed by the Oscar-winning performance of Linda Hunt – herself a dwarf, in the role of Billy Kwan. Well-deserved.
December 1, 2022
4.5 stars. An interesting, suspenseful, well written novel about foreign correspondent Guy Hamilton, an Australian born in England, and cameraman Billy Kwan, a Chinese-Australian. Billy is able to provide Guy with very useful political contacts. Billy and Guy are in love with the same woman.
Set in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1965, and referred to by President Sukarno as ‘the year of living dangerously’. A year of political intrigue with much unrest by the Indonesians and the army.
Billy Kwan is a very interesting, complex, memorable character. A book with very good plot momentum.
A highly recommended read.
This book was first published in 1978.
Set in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1965, and referred to by President Sukarno as ‘the year of living dangerously’. A year of political intrigue with much unrest by the Indonesians and the army.
Billy Kwan is a very interesting, complex, memorable character. A book with very good plot momentum.
A highly recommended read.
This book was first published in 1978.
May 24, 2014
This book is complete and utter shit. It's racist, ableist, fat-phobic, sexist and orientalist, and it manages to do all this in only the first four pages. It is Indonesian post colonial history written from a white colonial gaze. It's disgusting. It makes Indonesians and Sukarno seem like mindless idiots, like they have no political acumen, and what is to be expected when it is written by a white man? White people hate it when we refuse to allow them to exploit and rule us anymore and so this shit is what we get. White people giving this book a good review, you're all fucking racists. The Indonesians giving it a good review? You're even worse. You've bought a version of yourself the White man is selling you. Your internalized racism makes you even more disgusting than the White man cos it's your own people you're selling out. If I could give this book a negative star I would. This book is only for the Asians who like to put down other Asians to get the White mans approval, and the Whites yearning for the good old days where they were rich and could do as they please and think they are somehow better than the rest of us mindless savages. Everyone else, please go read things written by actual Indionesians with a much more nuanced user standing of post colonial Indonesia.
May 23, 2012
First I will confess that "The Year of Living Dangerously" is my favorite movie. I watched the movie (probably half a dozen times) before I ever read the book years ago. I'm not sure what compelled me to pick it up again, but I'm so glad I did. While I love the movie for its atmosphere, I love the book for its insights into the politics of Indonesia in the early 1960s. That time period was so politically volatile, and it was completely overshadowed by the rapidly growing war in Vietnam. This book also helps the reader understand the Western mind set that led to the Vietnam War. The story of the complicated friendship between an Australian journalist and a Chinese-Australian photographer (I'm over-simplifying, but I don't want to give anything away) as Indonesia perches on the verge of a bloody civil war, this book is appealing for its variety of characters --- each a type (though not a stereotype) of person who finds himself far from where he is from, torn between cultures, unsure of where to call home after so many years adrift in foreign lands. I'm also impressed with the way Koch weaves spirituality with politics, tradition with progress, and the conflicts of loyalties to one's nation and loyalties to one's self.
August 31, 2011
Thirty years after I first read this, Koch's writing still evokes the same sensations and feeling it did originally. It is if I had only read it yesterday. The now long gone era of post colonialist fervor of Indonesia in the pre Suharto days of the Bung Karno (Sukarno's mad regime) is brought to life if only in the dreams of the characters and shadows of wayang kulit puppets to the sound of the gamelan music.
While the style of writing may be different than current fashion dictates, it is not dated and perhaps borders on ethereal overlaid by a first person perfect journalistic commentary.
The Year of Living Dangerously is the god-king Sukarno terminology for a stage of behavior of 'his' people to employ in their struggle with the rest of the world during 1965. Confrontation and other mad, as insane, phrases and reinvented words are bandied about in the politics of Indonesia in this moment in a revolutionary time. A small group of western journalists are on hand to watch and report the deterioration of society. The group includes an Australian half Chinese dwarf photo journalist whose intellectual fervor takes him along for the ride in to the depths of the beast of the fervor gripping the populace. The main protagonist, Guy Hamilton, another Aussie journalist becomes the victim of the many behind the scenes intrigues culminating in a final physical confrontation and punishment that foreshadowing hints at for a third or more of the book. If not morally deserving of the injury coming to him, he at the least, is another not innocent scapegoat. Contradictions abound in this world of unending darkness.
Set in the cultural and climatic density that is South Eastern Asia, The Year of Living Dangerously hints and overly rails at many virulent topics from racism, to poverty, to tyranny, to the cultural morass and depravity left from colonial times as the people afflicted choose a new social model. Blood, death, and chaos are never far behind the dancing shadow tales of a people entering into this world of Dangerous Living.
It is all Water from the Moon
September 28, 2012
Reading Patrick Holland's new novel got me thinking about Australian authors covering S E Asia and digging through my library for a book I almost forgot I had, and I started re-reading it. The Year of Living Dangerous is a masterpiece, and somehow, nearly forgotten here in Aus. For all the talk you get about the Asian Century and how dynamic life in and around the Australasian region has become, our literati sure do seem to like their distractionist (is that a word?) Historico-Euro fluff. Not that there's anything wrong with writing about Europe mind, but it doesn't have much to do with Australia and the neighbours. But forget politics. This is a novel about people, about culture and landscape and ... well, read it, you'll be glad you did.
August 21, 2010
Ini adalah novel yang cukup baik menggambarkan masa-masa kelam sejarah Indonesia tersebut. Sebelumnya sangat jarang, hanya bisa dihitung dengan jari, sebuah roman yang menggambarkan masa-masa pemberontakan G 30 S/PKI tanpa adanya sponsor dari pemerintah. Untuk itu, novel ini terhitung berharga untuk bangsa Indonesia.
Indonesia disini dipandang dari kacamata orang asing. Pada masa itu, Indonesia sangat membenci orang asing dengan propaganda Soekarno yang anti Nekolim. Indonesia pada masa pemerintahan Soekarno pernah begitu tegas terhadap dunia. Malaysia diganyang. Amerika dan Inggris "Go to hell!". Keluar dari PBB. Peduli amat dengan blok barat dan timur, Soekarno membuat NEFO (New Emerging Forces).
Soekarno, telah diakui oleh siapapun, selalu membuat decak kagum, bahkan oleh musuh-musuhnya. Dia orator yang sangat ulung dan logis, yang membuat orang-orang tergerak hanya dengan mendengarkannya. Dia punya mimpi besar untuk Indonesia, untuk dunia. Namun seperti anak yang terlalu asyik bermain dengan mainannya, dia lupa menapak ke realitas. Realitasnya adalah rakyatnya miskin dan kekurangan makanan.
Soekarno, di mata orang yang tak pernah bisa memahaminya secara menyeluruh, adalah tiran dan pahlawan. Bahkan orang yang menganggap dia tiran pun mengakui bahwa Soekarno adalah pahlawan terbesar Indonesia. Soekarno selalu menarik untuk diperbincangkan, tak ada habis-habisnya membicarakan Soekarno. Bagaimana kecerdasannya yang melebihi rata-rata. Bagaimana percaya dirinya yang luar biasa. Bagaimana dia benar-benar di dalam hati mencintai petani (seperti Marhen) dan tukang becak. Bagaimana serunya petualangan seksualnya. Bagaimana dia berusaha membangun monumen-monumen untuk menunjukkan bahwa Indonesia adalah Superpower. Monumen Nasional konon dibangun menunjukkan mitos alat kelaminnya berujung emas. Orang membenci sekaligus mencintainya setengah mati. Seperti jatuh cinta, kita jatuh cinta kepada Soekarno, tapi kemudian frustrasi oleh cinta itu sendiri. Seperti Billy Kwan dalam buku ini, yang obsesif terhadap Soekarno.
Buku ini benar-benar bukan novel biasa. Sangat kompleks sebagai thriller psikologis. Sangat detail sebagai roman sejarah. Sangat mencekam sebagai sebuah drama. Sebuah buku yang lengkap, Anda tak akan menyesal membacanya. Ini adalah buku yang penting untuk Indonesia.
Dari orang asing, kita mendapatkan gambaran mengenai sejarah negeri kita. Dari orang asing, kita mengenal stereotip bangsa kita, orang-orang berkulit coklat, dengan etika kerja yang terganggu oleh cuaca yang begitu panas, selalu merokok kretek yang baunya membuat mual, dan menggemari sate.
Ya itulah kita, bangsa Indonesia. Bangsa yang pernah membuat negara-negara besar malu. Bangsa yang kemudian menjadi bangsa yang malu akan dirinya sendiri.
Indonesia disini dipandang dari kacamata orang asing. Pada masa itu, Indonesia sangat membenci orang asing dengan propaganda Soekarno yang anti Nekolim. Indonesia pada masa pemerintahan Soekarno pernah begitu tegas terhadap dunia. Malaysia diganyang. Amerika dan Inggris "Go to hell!". Keluar dari PBB. Peduli amat dengan blok barat dan timur, Soekarno membuat NEFO (New Emerging Forces).
Soekarno, telah diakui oleh siapapun, selalu membuat decak kagum, bahkan oleh musuh-musuhnya. Dia orator yang sangat ulung dan logis, yang membuat orang-orang tergerak hanya dengan mendengarkannya. Dia punya mimpi besar untuk Indonesia, untuk dunia. Namun seperti anak yang terlalu asyik bermain dengan mainannya, dia lupa menapak ke realitas. Realitasnya adalah rakyatnya miskin dan kekurangan makanan.
Soekarno, di mata orang yang tak pernah bisa memahaminya secara menyeluruh, adalah tiran dan pahlawan. Bahkan orang yang menganggap dia tiran pun mengakui bahwa Soekarno adalah pahlawan terbesar Indonesia. Soekarno selalu menarik untuk diperbincangkan, tak ada habis-habisnya membicarakan Soekarno. Bagaimana kecerdasannya yang melebihi rata-rata. Bagaimana percaya dirinya yang luar biasa. Bagaimana dia benar-benar di dalam hati mencintai petani (seperti Marhen) dan tukang becak. Bagaimana serunya petualangan seksualnya. Bagaimana dia berusaha membangun monumen-monumen untuk menunjukkan bahwa Indonesia adalah Superpower. Monumen Nasional konon dibangun menunjukkan mitos alat kelaminnya berujung emas. Orang membenci sekaligus mencintainya setengah mati. Seperti jatuh cinta, kita jatuh cinta kepada Soekarno, tapi kemudian frustrasi oleh cinta itu sendiri. Seperti Billy Kwan dalam buku ini, yang obsesif terhadap Soekarno.
Buku ini benar-benar bukan novel biasa. Sangat kompleks sebagai thriller psikologis. Sangat detail sebagai roman sejarah. Sangat mencekam sebagai sebuah drama. Sebuah buku yang lengkap, Anda tak akan menyesal membacanya. Ini adalah buku yang penting untuk Indonesia.
Dari orang asing, kita mendapatkan gambaran mengenai sejarah negeri kita. Dari orang asing, kita mengenal stereotip bangsa kita, orang-orang berkulit coklat, dengan etika kerja yang terganggu oleh cuaca yang begitu panas, selalu merokok kretek yang baunya membuat mual, dan menggemari sate.
Ya itulah kita, bangsa Indonesia. Bangsa yang pernah membuat negara-negara besar malu. Bangsa yang kemudian menjadi bangsa yang malu akan dirinya sendiri.
July 31, 2017
This is a 'Classic', a must read for anyone interested in the craft of writing. Multi layered, written with the precision of a professional writer and the heart of a man who truly understands human failing. The second person telling of Cookie was initially difficult to come to terms with and it is only beyond the middle of the book that it becomes clear how he is able to recount the lives of the main protagonists around him with such detail. Cookie is, the most one-dimensional character in the book and plays a voyeurs role, never taking part in any action. If there is a fault in the structure of the book, and I would expect to be challenged on this, it is Cookie's ability to reconstruct events, not only from Billy Kwan's dossiers, but the conversations with Hamilton that occur beyond the events unfolding in the last days of the Indonesian, Sukarno's regime. It is written so intimately I wonder whether the author contemplated an easier journey committing to the third person, given Cookie has no relevance to the story?
The character of Wally O'Sullivan, a respected journalist, is handled with sympathy, yet by today's standards it is an indictment on those around him, including the main character Hamilton, that he is allowed to indulge his weakness without criticism. Ultimately the event that sets in train the conclusion leading to Billy Kwan's demise is Kwan whistleblowing on Wally. The establishment blackballs the self righteous but utterly correct Kwan, in favour of their favourite son.
It is almost certainly how such things would have been handled in those days so one cannot criticise the author. That said there is a lot more to Billy Kwan and his spiritual almost symbiotic relationship with Hamilton and Sukarno. Through both men the dwarf is able to channel his intelligence through Hamilton as his local guide, and Sukarno, his personal faith. Unfortunately he is unable to guide Hamilton completely, and Sukarno's powers are failing.
Without his 'hosts' Kwan is ultimately lost, he has no way of defining himself.
This is a sad story in many ways and uniquely told, but better it is original and has real depth.
The character of Wally O'Sullivan, a respected journalist, is handled with sympathy, yet by today's standards it is an indictment on those around him, including the main character Hamilton, that he is allowed to indulge his weakness without criticism. Ultimately the event that sets in train the conclusion leading to Billy Kwan's demise is Kwan whistleblowing on Wally. The establishment blackballs the self righteous but utterly correct Kwan, in favour of their favourite son.
It is almost certainly how such things would have been handled in those days so one cannot criticise the author. That said there is a lot more to Billy Kwan and his spiritual almost symbiotic relationship with Hamilton and Sukarno. Through both men the dwarf is able to channel his intelligence through Hamilton as his local guide, and Sukarno, his personal faith. Unfortunately he is unable to guide Hamilton completely, and Sukarno's powers are failing.
Without his 'hosts' Kwan is ultimately lost, he has no way of defining himself.
This is a sad story in many ways and uniquely told, but better it is original and has real depth.
March 9, 2013
I loved the movie, but the book was far better. Even if you don't give a fig about Inodensian politics, The Year of Living Dangerously is a must read. Guy Hamilton is a problematic hero; he is far more likeable in the movie. But that's what makes the book shine...there are no heroes, just shadowy characters set against the folkloric myths of Indonesia's spooky wayang puppets (see Youtube link below).
In defense of the movie, the casting of Linda Hamilton as Billy Kwan could not have been more spot on. The book and movie perfectly synch here.
Much of Koch's description of Indonesia reminded me of Graham Green and Paul Theroux--with a dash of Paul Gauguin. Lush, tempting, impenetrable and irresistible to Westerners.
The book and movie's encapsulating line is "Anglo Saxons are better in the tropics."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qhlj-g...
In defense of the movie, the casting of Linda Hamilton as Billy Kwan could not have been more spot on. The book and movie perfectly synch here.
Much of Koch's description of Indonesia reminded me of Graham Green and Paul Theroux--with a dash of Paul Gauguin. Lush, tempting, impenetrable and irresistible to Westerners.
The book and movie's encapsulating line is "Anglo Saxons are better in the tropics."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qhlj-g...
February 17, 2025
I know it was a dangerous time (esp as a White woman) but I would kill to visit Jakarta in the 1960s! 3🇮🇩
I started reading this book last year in Surabaya and struggled to get into it but since returning home I’ve been missing indo and this has taken back.
This book isn’t perfect: I hate how it ends right before 1967, I felt as if Koch was edging the coup the entire time.
Also Hamilton is the epitome of Said’s Orentialist: this man knows nothing about the language, culture and political situation and has affairs with women who are probably spies but fully embraces the city and is straight vibing in indo. He almost always gets away with his ignorance by being tall, White, friendly and handsome.
Koch just gets indo (at least from the perspective of an Aussie) and reading this in Melbourne has transported me right back there! How I miss the stifling heat, chaotic stress and spicy food - balik k sn segera inshallah 🙏
I started reading this book last year in Surabaya and struggled to get into it but since returning home I’ve been missing indo and this has taken back.
This book isn’t perfect: I hate how it ends right before 1967, I felt as if Koch was edging the coup the entire time.
Also Hamilton is the epitome of Said’s Orentialist: this man knows nothing about the language, culture and political situation and has affairs with women who are probably spies but fully embraces the city and is straight vibing in indo. He almost always gets away with his ignorance by being tall, White, friendly and handsome.
Koch just gets indo (at least from the perspective of an Aussie) and reading this in Melbourne has transported me right back there! How I miss the stifling heat, chaotic stress and spicy food - balik k sn segera inshallah 🙏
February 23, 2018
Saw the film many years ago and it continues to haunt me. Picked up a third hand copy of the book, probably in Bras Basah road in Singapore way back, but it's sat on my TBR shelf for far too long. Am intrigued by this period in Indonesian history, and still filling in gaps in my own ignorance. This is an atmospheric political thriller that captures the last months of Sukarno's presidency as seen through the eyes of a group of - mainly Australian - journalists. It centres on Guy Hamilton, who is befriended by the dwarf photographer, Billy Kwan, soon after his arrival in Jakarta. Kwan spies on just about everyone and writes about them in his journal and compiles dossiers on them - most of all on Hamilton and his girlfriend, Jilly. Kwan's is the most complex character in the novel, yet I don't think we ever fully understand what drives him.
August 21, 2011
Set in Indonesia during the Sukarno regime in 1965. Guy Hamilton is an Anglo-Australian journalist who arrives to Jakarta as a first time Australian ABC Radio correspondent. He will face one of the most important turmoils of the Indonesian history and will survive to tell his story... A most evocative book. So short, yet it weaves together stories of love, friendship, courage, and political drama. And it also shows love and friendship against the terrifying backdrop of major real-world events (Sukarno in Jakarta). And it does a beautiful job with Indonesian culture -- especially the meaning of the wayang puppet theater
May 19, 2014
Research for my own novel led me to this book on which the famous Mel Gibson movie is based. I loved the film so I knew I would like the story. What I didn't realise was how beautifully written it was, how true and compelling. It's an absolutely wonderful novel and I'm ashamed to say I knew nothing before about its author, Christopher J. Koch. What a writer. What a book.
February 11, 2013
Nice book - I was expecting a political thriller, but the book was more character driven than I would have thought. I remember only vaguely the film -- so that helped... (the 'vaguely' part, that is...).
February 27, 2024
I remember this movie coming out when we was a little kid. My mum borrowed it from the video library and I was super excited. It was apparently about living dangerously and started Mad Max and the alien-whooping lady from Alien. I was bitterly disappointed when I watched it - nobody died and there were no car chases.
Forty years later, I thought I’d give the book a try, now that I was old enough to understand it. It’s interesting to try and pigeon-hole it… I can’t quite. Considered a classic australian novel of the 70s, it’s very dated in the way it’s written, its prose. However, given that it’s set in 1965, how much of this is a dated style of writing and how much is an accurate reflection of the attitudes and attitudes of the time? It’s impossible to say. I suspect it’s the latter, as this book creates an incredibly vivid picture of 1960s vernacular and lifestyle. It’s almost hard to believe these days, but this is a detailed account of life as a foreign journalist before the days of computers and reliable overseas phones. It seems almost comedic to read it these days, but it’s also haunting in the way these journalists have to become one with the city in order to do their job.
The description of 1960s Indonesia, the culture, the cities, the politics, is incredibly vivid. You can almost taste the tropical air.
Fun fact, Linda Hunt won the Best Supoorting Actress Oscar for this movie… for playing a dwarven man.
Four Hawaiian shirts out of five, Old Man.
March 20, 2018
J’avais vu le film enfant et son souvenir m’obsédait. Un livre très instructif sur l’Indonesie (et le film à revoir très vite)
October 21, 2024
A fascinating portrait of an era and place; but plot moves at an atmospheric but ponderous snail's pace and fails to convince me that the story or fates of the characters matter that much dramatically speaking.
December 29, 2019
What a shame I waited so long to read this Australian classic
October 11, 2020
Compelling tale of political intrigue set during Sukarno’s tenure in office. Some interesting and finely drawn characters. Really captures the essence of Westerners abroad in an alien culture, in this case journalists and the embassy set, tasked with reporting on a culture they’re physically, emotionally, and intellectually removed from. Well done story with enough culture and history to give it some real meat and depth.
September 3, 2021
My first exposure to Indonesia and Jakarta, and read shortly before I visited in 1987. I certainly viewed my visit in a different manner than the seeming easygoing country that was presented to me. Hard to fairly review as I saw the movie after reading the book. Need to revisit.
September 3, 2021
Bueno, moderadamente interesante, aunque visto el lugar y el momento en el que se desarrolla da la impresión de que se le podía haber sacado muchísimo más partido, pues las pinceladas que se ofrecen son de lo más jugoso que tiene el libro.
Los personajes bastante dispares. Los tres principales parecen tener un trasfondo que hubiera merecido explorarse mucho más, pero no se hace, principalmente el del enano, del que nunca llega a saber a ciencia cierta por qué se comporta de la forma en la que lo hace.
Los personajes bastante dispares. Los tres principales parecen tener un trasfondo que hubiera merecido explorarse mucho más, pero no se hace, principalmente el del enano, del que nunca llega a saber a ciencia cierta por qué se comporta de la forma en la que lo hace.
October 10, 2010
Wayang,
Padi dan dewi sri
Soekarno,
Kelompok kiri dan kanan,
kemiskinan.
Itulah Indonesia dilihat dari sudut pandang wartawan asing pada masa menjelang dan jatuhnya Presiden Soekarno. Masa yang dijadikan judul buku ini: The year of living dangerously.
Tokoh dalam novel ini adalah para wartawan asing yang bertugas meliput perkembangan politik di Indonesia. Negeri yang baru lahir, dengan kecantikan negeri dan kekuatan pidato Soekarno membuat dunia melirik. Ada yang Jatuh cinta ada juga yang was-was.
Melalui kisah persahabatan juga cinta segitiga antara Billy Kwan dan Hamilton_keduanya adalah wartawan Australia dan Jill_pegawai kedutaan Inggris, cuplikan sejarah Indonesia dimuat.
Sangat terasa kekuatan Soekarno masa itu begitu mempesona, hingga membuat Billy Kwan jatuh hati pada Soekarno sekaligus patah hati melihat kondisi miris rakyatnya. Dengan cara yang tragis, ia berusaha mengingatkan Soekarno untuk memperhatikan kelaparan rakyatnya.
Apa ya yang membuat buku ini mendapat tempelan logo "the age book of the year award" dan "national book council award", thus "novel terbaik tentang Indonesia' dari amazon.com?
Ceritanya menurutku membosankan, terlalu tenang, untuk mengisahkan kehidupan di masa yang berbahaya. Paling di penutup cerita saja alurnya sedikit cepat. Yang lainnya, seperti paparan teka teki yang tak dijawab si penulis. Mungkin karena memang masa itu penuh dengan misteri, atau si penulis juga kurang berani membeberkan analisa sejarahnya. Misalnya, bagaimana Kwan bisa memiliki hubungan dengan Aidit yang membantu hamilton dapat mewawancarainya dan kemudian melambungkan nama Hamilton dan kwan di jajaran wartawan asing di Indonesia. Apakan ada hubungan antara Kumar yang PKI dengan Kwan, dan siapa pula Vera, si gadis rusia yang secara aneh dan menurutku maksa muncul di perjalanan Hamilton.
Ya, begitu berbahayanya masa revolusi bagi keberadaan wartawan asing, ternyata tetap saja membuat beberapa mereka jatuh hati pada Indonesia. Merasa lebih berarti atau harus berbuat lebih bagi Indonesia. Tapi Indonesia ya tetap Indonesia. Sepertinya bukan milik siapa siapa ya?...termasuk bukan milik warga negaranya.
Untuk penulis asing yang mencoba menulis Indonesia, harus diakui, dia pandai melihat Indonesia sesungguhnya. Dan aku setuju lah dengan gambarannya tentang Indonesia di novel ini.
Sekaligus penasaran merasakan suasana saat mendengarkan pidato Soekarno yang bisa menghipnotis rakyatnya sampai lupa dengan kelaparannya.
Kapan lagi ada manusia seperti dia di Indonesia ya???
Padi dan dewi sri
Soekarno,
Kelompok kiri dan kanan,
kemiskinan.
Itulah Indonesia dilihat dari sudut pandang wartawan asing pada masa menjelang dan jatuhnya Presiden Soekarno. Masa yang dijadikan judul buku ini: The year of living dangerously.
Tokoh dalam novel ini adalah para wartawan asing yang bertugas meliput perkembangan politik di Indonesia. Negeri yang baru lahir, dengan kecantikan negeri dan kekuatan pidato Soekarno membuat dunia melirik. Ada yang Jatuh cinta ada juga yang was-was.
Melalui kisah persahabatan juga cinta segitiga antara Billy Kwan dan Hamilton_keduanya adalah wartawan Australia dan Jill_pegawai kedutaan Inggris, cuplikan sejarah Indonesia dimuat.
Sangat terasa kekuatan Soekarno masa itu begitu mempesona, hingga membuat Billy Kwan jatuh hati pada Soekarno sekaligus patah hati melihat kondisi miris rakyatnya. Dengan cara yang tragis, ia berusaha mengingatkan Soekarno untuk memperhatikan kelaparan rakyatnya.
Apa ya yang membuat buku ini mendapat tempelan logo "the age book of the year award" dan "national book council award", thus "novel terbaik tentang Indonesia' dari amazon.com?
Ceritanya menurutku membosankan, terlalu tenang, untuk mengisahkan kehidupan di masa yang berbahaya. Paling di penutup cerita saja alurnya sedikit cepat. Yang lainnya, seperti paparan teka teki yang tak dijawab si penulis. Mungkin karena memang masa itu penuh dengan misteri, atau si penulis juga kurang berani membeberkan analisa sejarahnya. Misalnya, bagaimana Kwan bisa memiliki hubungan dengan Aidit yang membantu hamilton dapat mewawancarainya dan kemudian melambungkan nama Hamilton dan kwan di jajaran wartawan asing di Indonesia. Apakan ada hubungan antara Kumar yang PKI dengan Kwan, dan siapa pula Vera, si gadis rusia yang secara aneh dan menurutku maksa muncul di perjalanan Hamilton.
Ya, begitu berbahayanya masa revolusi bagi keberadaan wartawan asing, ternyata tetap saja membuat beberapa mereka jatuh hati pada Indonesia. Merasa lebih berarti atau harus berbuat lebih bagi Indonesia. Tapi Indonesia ya tetap Indonesia. Sepertinya bukan milik siapa siapa ya?...termasuk bukan milik warga negaranya.
Untuk penulis asing yang mencoba menulis Indonesia, harus diakui, dia pandai melihat Indonesia sesungguhnya. Dan aku setuju lah dengan gambarannya tentang Indonesia di novel ini.
Sekaligus penasaran merasakan suasana saat mendengarkan pidato Soekarno yang bisa menghipnotis rakyatnya sampai lupa dengan kelaparannya.
Kapan lagi ada manusia seperti dia di Indonesia ya???
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October 9, 2015It's hard to rate this book, to be honest. Di satu sisi, gw suka plotnya, karakter-karakternya (Billy Kwan!!), ketegangan serta suasana yg terbangun dari percakapan-percakapan yg ada. Namun, di sisi lain, gw menyesalkan mengapa buku ini harus ditulis oleh orang asing? Kenapa harus Christopher Koch (a.k.a C.K a.k.a Cookie) yg menulis buku ini, sehingga gw jadi makin menyadari bahwa negara gw, pemimpin negara ini serta masyarakatnya (terutama yg ada di cerita, para kaum miskin yg tinggal di 'Jakarta Baru' saat itu) sangat menyedihkan.
Gw juga paham kenapa buku ini dilarang beredar saat rezim Orde Baru. Selain menyebut-nyebut PKI (kalo pas jaman Orba bisa ilang tiba-tiba kalo ada yg nulis soal PKI), di bab-bab terakhir juga ada beberapa kalimat yg menyatakan penumpasan PKI dan kroni-kroninya dan diungkapkan bahwa jutaan nyawa melayang (dulu di pelajaran PSPB gak disebutkan sih bahwa penumpasan PKI ternyata memakan korban segitu banyak). Belum lagi banyaknya olok-olok terhadap Presiden Soekarno yg mungkin memang benar-benar terjadi terutama di kalangan wartawan asing pada masa itu. Memang sulit dipungkiri bahwa pesona Bung Karno tidak hanya memikat rakyat Indonesia saja, namun juga pihak-pihak asing. Semacam benci tapi cinta bin penasaran.
Gw gak benci sama buku ini dan pas gw baca salah satu review bahwa buku ini mungkin rasis, gw juga gak menyalahkan. Karena kondisi saat itu MUNGKIN secarut marut gambar benang ruwet anak-anak. Jadi bintang satu sekaligus lima gw sematkan pada buku ini.
Gw juga paham kenapa buku ini dilarang beredar saat rezim Orde Baru. Selain menyebut-nyebut PKI (kalo pas jaman Orba bisa ilang tiba-tiba kalo ada yg nulis soal PKI), di bab-bab terakhir juga ada beberapa kalimat yg menyatakan penumpasan PKI dan kroni-kroninya dan diungkapkan bahwa jutaan nyawa melayang (dulu di pelajaran PSPB gak disebutkan sih bahwa penumpasan PKI ternyata memakan korban segitu banyak). Belum lagi banyaknya olok-olok terhadap Presiden Soekarno yg mungkin memang benar-benar terjadi terutama di kalangan wartawan asing pada masa itu. Memang sulit dipungkiri bahwa pesona Bung Karno tidak hanya memikat rakyat Indonesia saja, namun juga pihak-pihak asing. Semacam benci tapi cinta bin penasaran.
Gw gak benci sama buku ini dan pas gw baca salah satu review bahwa buku ini mungkin rasis, gw juga gak menyalahkan. Karena kondisi saat itu MUNGKIN secarut marut gambar benang ruwet anak-anak. Jadi bintang satu sekaligus lima gw sematkan pada buku ini.
May 28, 2019
Oh em gee. This is a famous Aussie novel I had never heard about. Probably the best writing I’ve come across in years. Maybe it just suits my taste but Koch fucking nails character and symbolism so much so you find yourself reading the supernatural stories as if they’re plot. You have to hang off his every word to not miss huge transitions in the characters.
The story is set in 1965 in Jakarta as President Sukarno starts to lose his hold on Indonesia as the country is pulled by political forces left and right. The characters are journalists from Australia and other commonwealth countries that are not only going through their shit but in complete unison with the country’s political turmoil. Billy Kwan is probably the most memorable character I’ve come across and developed so well you consider him a mate. Hamilton is a character we all know too well even now decades later we all no the inconsistent bohemians that can’t escape rigid conservative brainwashing of their past. Basically a fuck boi of 1965 completely unaware of his devastating short comings until he is forced to reconcile them.
The story is set in 1965 in Jakarta as President Sukarno starts to lose his hold on Indonesia as the country is pulled by political forces left and right. The characters are journalists from Australia and other commonwealth countries that are not only going through their shit but in complete unison with the country’s political turmoil. Billy Kwan is probably the most memorable character I’ve come across and developed so well you consider him a mate. Hamilton is a character we all know too well even now decades later we all no the inconsistent bohemians that can’t escape rigid conservative brainwashing of their past. Basically a fuck boi of 1965 completely unaware of his devastating short comings until he is forced to reconcile them.
March 29, 2021
Christopher Koch's "Dangerously" is a ripper of a story, following Australian journalist Guy Hamilton and photographer Billy Kwan as they document Suharto's overthrow of Sukarno in Indonesia in 1965. Both men have a liking for British diplomat Jill Bryant, tall handsome Guy is shocked to find she has posed naked for Chinese Australian dwarf Billy. When Jill passes information to Guy, she and Billy are shocked to find he doesn't break the story, but waits to see what happens. All hell breaks lose, there is death, injury and escape.
February 24, 2013
I saw the movie made from the novel first - it was some years ago. I was very taken by the movie (starring Linda Hunt portraying a man - it works), and that is why I later read the book. It did not disappoint. It offers an important piece of history of a land we Westerners know little about in a moving, compelling story with memorable characters. Highly recommended if you love stories set in different cultures spiced with political intrigue.
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