Novels by Sapardi Djoko Damono

Hujan Bulan Juni & Suti adalah 2 novel karya SDD yang sudah kubaca.
Do I love them? Hmm, it's arguable. But they are not bad actually! :)
I ordered both of them (PO'd Suti with autograph! :p) from Melbourne :D And I'm glad I did :)

I think as he comes from a poetry background, his novels are (a bit) overly poetic. Also, he's put a lot of Javanese slangs, which entertains me to the max(!), but can be difficult for others to follow and catch the humor.

Hujan Bulan Juni is surprisingly short. The premise is simple: it's a love story between two people from different backgrounds and beliefs. Yet the story is told in the most 'sophisticated' way. Not the 'fancy' type of sophisticated. The 'complex' type of sophisticated. And it's told in a brutally honest, down to earth manner. I read this in the flight from Melbourne to Denpasar and Semarang. It doesn't only leave me quite bored (bcs I finished the book long before the flight ended), but also hanging bcs of the way it ends! Definitely will read it again, but does it make it to my TOP list? Don't think so. Not yet, anyway.

I find the title intriguing as well, but it's like Dee's 'Perahu Kertas' title, I suppose?


Luckily, Suti is way better!
I love this story, somehow. It has a weird attraction :p It's unconventional, fictional, yet (again) down to earth and poetic. I love the characters! Although I'm a bit hesitant about the theme, I'm amazed at how the story unravels! Admittedly, some wordings choices left me confused, but I think it's part of the art (?). And I'm also left curious about the ending! I don't know what had happened there. But I guess that's why we read books and watch movies :) To evoke feelings and play around with our emotions? :)


Now, would I recommend the 2 novels to people?
They might not be the first 2 novels I'd think of when I go on suggesting people on books they should read, but for an adventurous, poetic, and *quite frankly* Javanese reader, bored with the kinds of books out there and wanting to read something different, it's worth a shot :) I couldn't promise that everyone will like this book, but it's not too too bad :)

Di sini, aku dibuat benar-benar penasaran tentang novel-novel klasik Indonesia, those written by Indonesia's most famous poets and story tellers. And the poems themselves! Nggak kalah menarik, rasanya, dibanding dengan novel tulisan penulis asing.
Looking forward to reading more Indonesian novels!!!


Cheers!
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