Status Updates From Cerita dari Blora

Pak guru tolol, gedeg bgt

Kasihan Ahyat

Acceptance: the longest story in this collection. A family full of kids. The different ideas and conquerors that enter the country, tear the family literally apart. It also touches upon gender inequality. Acceptance used as a form to adapt in the face of violence and injustice, as a form of dealing with suffering. It's so sad.

Independence Day. A soldier who lost his sight and legs turns very bitter despite independence achieved for the nation. He becomes a burden for the family. The family falls apart.

Revenge: How revenge and the military brainwashes people. They aren't human anymore. They turn into killing machines, completely blind.

Kasian Siti, kasian anak2 Siti, Siman bejat

Kecewanya berasa yh

Circumcision, a very short story but probably rings true for many.

Third story: In Twilight Born. It's a story of hope and disappointment. Swadesi. Trying to become independent from colonial power but then being crushed. Gambling to deal with the disappointment. Pregnancy of mother. Gosh this short story collection is really good.

I feel like I have read the story of Inem before but I don't remember where. Nonetheless, it's a really heartbreaking but well written story.

First story: All that is gone. Wow. What a storyteller. The story about his parent's unhappy marriage. His father was cheating. And how a child perceives it.

“Humanity has no use or value if it doesn’t go hand in hand with courage.”