Pulang


Author: Leila S. Chudori
Publisher: KPG: Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia
Publication Date: December 2012
Pages: 464

Pulang is the latest novel written down by Leila S. Chudori, a Tempo journalist.This is another novel with historical background, the 30th September 1965 tragedy. Up until now there are still lots of unexplained facts, loopholes, mysteries and the like about that tragedy therefore everything about it will be interesting. It took six years for Leila to finish this novel. She visited Paris twice in order to interview the ex-political prisoners who established the Indonesian restaurant in Paris and got the books and other materials to support the writing process of this novel.

Pulang is a family drama, friendship, love and betrayal using the setting of three important historical moments, Indonesia on 30th September 1965, France on May 1968, and Indonesia on May 1998. The central character here is Dimas Suryo, an ex-political prisoner who happens to be outside Indonesia when the 30th September 1965 tragedy breaks out. Dimas and his three best friends are suspected by the new regime government (without any legal trail) to have relation with the people behind the tragedy. Their passports are revoked. They are not allowed to return to Indonesia. The government does not stop there. They chase their families. Interviewing them. Even many of them are put in jail.

This is the start before Dimas and their friends become stateless. Without any legal status, they go to different part of the globes, from Havana to Santiago to Peking and finally landed in Europe. A place to stay. They open an Indonesian restaurant in Paris in order to survive. Soon Dimas got married with a France woman, Vivienne, and they have one beautiful daughter, Lintang Utara.

The story will continue from Lintang Utara's point of view, back in Jakarta on May 1998. This is another tragedy. Human's life will never be far from tragedy. Although been living in Europe for ages, Dimas always misses Indonesia. He wants to be buried in Jakarta. He wants to return to his root. Everybody needs a place where he can go home. A home is where a heart is.

Another historical novel but wrapped in a simple prose. If you think history is not your cup of tea, you still can enjoy this novel.     

2 comments:

ferina March 15, 2013 at 3:10 PM  

aku baru aja baca buku ini. dan yup, sebuah novel sejarah, tapi gak terlalu banyak detail. pembaca jadi fokus ke tahun 1965, dan 1998 aja.

tokohnya banyak, tapi semuanya penting. bukan sekedar tokoh sambil lalu.

pengen bisa ngubek2 Shakespeare & Co. :D

riana March 15, 2013 at 8:04 PM  

@Ferina: Banyak yg suka novel ini, mungkin salah satu alasannya karena unsur sejarah di novel ini disajikan secara 'ringan' tanpa kehilangan makna:)

Ke Gramed atau Periplus aja udah kalap ya, gemana kalo ke Shakespeare & Co.? *bayanginnya aja serem* :p