My Favorite Writers (Up Until Today)

Yay! Finally, BEC got this Indonesian writer topic as a challenge. Latest published challenge was the result of a poll on now active Facebook Page. It is about Indonesian writers that you like the most.

My earliest recollection of reading is back to my elementary school years. I was always so curious in the beginning of every school year. During that time, after my parents paid the required school fees, school handed me textbooks for the year. I would hurriedly get back home and read every single word out of the book.

I never knew that this behavior would lead me to an activity that I like the most now. Reading. And with this, there come people which I regard more than celebrities appear on my tv screen. The writers.

My Favorite Indonesian Writer(s) Based on Book Genre

Motivational, Self Help, and Self Improvement Books

I read many books from this category but only one name instantly popped out of my head. Rhenald Khasali.

I can categorize his books as self-help or self-improvement books, right? or can’t I?

His way of writing is not in a try to lecturing me-way. He simply only stating facts and data which I can learn it myself. No self-doubt arose when reading his books, unlike many other books which fall into the same category. From Pak Rhenald’s book, I can only see the way how to improve myself.

Oh, maybe I can include Alberthiene Endah in this section, the writer of Merry Riana: A Million Dollar Dream for that particular book. She wrote it in a novel and storytelling way but I still can learn a lot from the story.

Socio Critics Themed Novel – (Or The More Honest Picture of Indonesia)

For this kind of category, I can only think of two names which every one of their books was always a big hit for me. They left me dumbfounded with so many thoughts about how life can be so unfair but nothing I can do about it.

Thinking that the reality for many people is just plain cruel and they just have to accept it.

Can you guess who they are?

Yes, of course, Pramoedya Ananta Toer whom my best friend came to fall in love with his work instantly when she read The Earth of Mankind. One of the four books from Buru Series.

The way Pram wrote his book, especially in Buru Series to me was great. He never meant to lecture people to do things or not to do things. He wrote the life of the characters just as they way it supposed to be in the proper setting of time and culture. But then it gives you so many lessons and insight of how you should and shouldn’t do things.

And I find this kind of writing style in Eka Kurniawan’s books. How he wrote his books made me love his works instantly. I started to read his book with Beauty is A Wound. I continued instantly with O, Man Tiger and Love and Vengeance.

If you want to know Indonesian literature, you gotta read their books!

Indonesian Lush and Beautiful Picture in Fiction

If you want to read about beautiful Indonesia in fiction, you have to read the piece of Dee Lestari. My number one favorite of Indonesian fiction.

She is a singer/songwriter who turned a big book writer with her Supernova Series. I fell in love with her work from her Knight, Princess, and the Shooting Star (the link will lead you to move review of the book). The first ever book of Supernova series which she continued to write until 15 years from the initial publication of the first book. The last book of the series was titled Intelegensi Embun Pagi (I didn’t find the book’s English publication).

I enjoyed her short stories as well which one of them was the inspiration for a box office movie with the same title of her the short story, Filosofi Kopi. Well, many of her works were big hits in Indonesian box office.

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However, if you really want to know Indonesian Literature fully, you have to read classic Indonesian writers such as AA Navis, Hamka, Marah Rusli, NH Dini and many others.

Read the book category in this blog.

What do you think? Who is your favorite Indonesian writer(s)?