From the acclaimed author of People Who Eat Darkness comes this “deeply felt” account of Indonesia at the crossroads of freedom and terror —Time, Asia
BOA’s take: This is an overview of some of the issues central to Indonesia’s transition from the Suharto era to democracy (1998) as well as the turmoil involved in East Timor gaining independence from Indonesia (2002). The author’s first-person account from the point of view of a journalist brings the details and events to clarity for the reader while we also experience the author’s struggle with his own underlying fears.
Don’t let your own lack of interest or knowledge of Indonesia sway you from reading this book. It’s highly accessible and should be of interest to anyone curious about Asian cultures. Listen to our “Hon Podcast” interview with the author.
Book Description:
In the last years of the twentieth century, foreign correspondent Richard Lloyd Parry found himself in the vast island nation of Indonesia, one of the most alluring, mysterious, and violent countries in the world. For thirty-two years, it had been paralyzed by the grip of the dictator and mystic General Suharto, but now the age of Suharto was coming to an end. Would freedom prevail, or was the “time of madness” predicted centuries before now at hand?
On the island of Borneo, tribesmen embarked on a rampage of headhunting and cannibalism. Vast jungles burned uncontrollably; money lost its value; there were plane crashes and volcanic eruptions. Then, after Suharto’s tumultuous fall, came the vote on East Timor’s independence from Indonesia. And it was here, trapped in the besieged compound of the United Nations, that Richard reached his own breaking point.
About the Author:
Richard Lloyd Parry was born in north-west England, and has lived since 1995 in Tokyo, where he is the Asia Editor of The Times newspaper of London. He has reported from twenty-eight countries, including Afghanistan, Iraq and North Korea. In 2005, he was named the UK’s foreign correspondent of the year. He has also written for Granta, the New York Times and the London Review of Books. Parry was recently interviewed by the New York Times “By the Book.”