Year of Living Dangerously

Rating:
Summary: Le Carré-like
Review: "The year of living dangerously" is the story of a group of foreign journalists (moslty one named Guy Hamilton) in the year of Sukarno's deposition in Indonesia. It is well written and the reader is given SOME of the facts of life in Indonesia back in the sixties.

The good part of this book is that it resembles, in pace , thrilling and style, one of John LeCarré's spy books.

The bad part of this book is that it seems to have no reason at all to exist. The book starts out of nowhere and finishes suddenly. I don't know if that's because the environment of the story is so alien to me, or any other reason, but that's how I felt.

Grade 7.1 / 10

Rating:
Summary: Le Carré-like
Review: "The year of living dangerously" is the story of a group of foreign journalists (moslty one named Guy Hamilton) in the year of Sukarno's deposition in Indonesia. It is well written and the reader is given SOME of the facts of life in Indonesia back in the sixties.

The good part of this book is that it resembles, in pace , thrilling and style, one of John LeCarré's spy books.

The bad part of this book is that it seems to have no reason at all to exist. The book starts out of nowhere and finishes suddenly. I don't know if that's because the environment of the story is so alien to me, or any other reason, but that's how I felt.

Grade 7.1 / 10

Rating:
Summary: A great book
Review: I have to say that I cannot agree with my fellow reviewers;this novel, while mechanically well-written, follows the same basic plot line that has become standard in any North American/European story about the 'Third World': heroic journalist-rebel/cultural outsider who becomes, with the aid of a loyal local sidekick, the reader's lens onto a supposedly unknowable and incomprehensible Third World of corruption, chaos, and crisis. 'Indonesia' in this story serves as little more than colorful background for the Western hero to do his thing. The story is predictable precisely because it has been told so often before (and continues to be told; witness the identical plotline in films being made about Bosnia). The film version in this case has done justice to the book's plot; both are heavy-handed stereotypes .....

Rating:
Summary: A book and a movie
Review: I saw this movie years before I read the book. Weir's version was good enough but the book is something else (on the film, Mel Gibson a bad choice, Linda Hunt is terrific). I liked Koch's style (and for a person who reads a lot I hadn't heard of him till I visited Sydney) - its unique, evocative and very poetic. The insights into Indonesia were interesting (I am Indian and remember something of the politics that dominated the 60s) and its parallels with India even more so. I don't think its a bad thing at all that its a Western version - why should Koch be the insider who knows Indonesia better than the natives (spare me the angry Third World defenders). Its enough that Koch decsribes what he knows and feels - and does it well. Also interesting was its description of how print media works.

Rating:
Summary: I couldn't help but look over my shoulder whilst reading...
Review: If you have been a scholar of Indonesian language and culture, or if you merely read world news, you can't escape the controversy that lurks behind every corner of this novel. I almost felt I could be thrown in a Javanese prison as a Communist even for considering the views expressed in Christopher J. Koch's insight into Indonesia in the 1970s/1980s. I'll admit, the characters are stereotyped with big-shot journo, Guy Hamilton and his faithful (?) off-sider with a "dark side", but unusual however is the narration and subsequent commentary of "Cookie" whoever he was. Reminded me strongly of Tim O'Brian's, "In the Lake of The Woods". The analogy of the Wayang, a tongue-in-cheek view that the Indonesian people were merely puppets to the Sukarno government added a richness and depth to the text. Perhaps the plot of Jill was a little sappy, but if one wanted a crash course in Javanese culture at street level, combined with an interesting storyline...give this book a chance. If nothing, it will give you a glimpse of the vast differences in socio-economic status and culture that exists in this country.

Rating:
Summary: Third World Primer
Review: Keeping the politics of this book aside; I can really recommend it for anyone who wants to feel what it's like to live through a coup and martial law. No other book I've read can really make that smell of fear and random violence as alive as Mr. Koch.

The movie is best avoided. The nearest parallel movie to rival the atmosphere of this book would be "Power Play" with Peter O'Toole.

Funny thing, I'm yet to meet an Indonesian who's ever even heard of "The Year of Living Dangerously".

Rating:
Summary: Romance & political intrigue in exotic, turbulent Indonesia.
Review: Not in a long time have I read a seemingly little book so slowly. I must confess I bought the paperback for fifty cents at a used book store for the romantic title (I love travelogues), a picture of a young Mel Gibson (but thecover was the only piece of fluff in the book!) and because I was too cheap to rent the movie. I knew little abouteither the 1982 movie (also featuring a younger Sigourney Weaver) or the poetic Australian author and journalist, C. J. Koch. Friendship, romance, idealism, obsession and ultimately betrayal are woven amongst historical and political intrigue as a group of foreign correspondents is stationed in Indonesia during turbulent 1965. Indonesia? I knew little more about this country since the time I lived in Kingston, Jamaica and one of my letters mistakenly posted to the capital city of the NEXT tiny island nation on the equator: Jakarta, Indonesia. Let me leave you just enough detail about some of the characters to spark your curiousity: There's Billy Kwan, a half Chinese-Australian cameraman who happens to be a dwarf. His eccentric political philosophies loom large in comparison to his tiny stature. Billy's partner and idol, Guy Hamilton, is a Western journalist and an ambitious, solitary soul desperate to make a name for himself. Jill is an expatriate embassy secretary, suspicious, vulnerable and still naive after a succession of mismatched romantic involvements. Wally O'Sullivan, or "The Great Wally," as he is called, is the group's unofficial leader and respected news veteran. He is enormously fat and harbors his own secret sorrows despite the numerous parties he hosts. Before the war in Vietnam consumed the world's attention, Indonesia had it's brief moment in the international spotlight. The dictatorial, charismatic, Western-hating President Sukarno called upon his small, bitterly poor nation to defy U.N. convention and invade neighboring Malaysia. What happens to Indonesia's future if his plan succeeds is the crucible in which the fates of Koch's colorful characters are depicted. Intricately laced with many fascinating and unfamiliar elements, The Year of Living Dangerously is told in such a way that the reader can feel as if part of the tightly knit circle of "international press corps" who gather every day for Happy Hour in the Wayang Bar at the Hotel Indonesia to discuss the day's events or Sukarno's latest propaganda speech. Not a single character was ever who they seemed and exposing layer after articulate layer was half the pleasure of the trip. I was able to sightsee a little on that "other" island, one continent east, along the equator. Kochs describes it as the "Gate of the World. . . the most crowded island on earth [yet] as you fly into Java from Sumatra, over the Sunda Straits, [Indonesia] appears mysteriously devoid of human settlement. Indigo cones of volcanoes rise into the clouds from jade territories which seem as empty as those of the world's dawn. But these are the paddy fields and terraces the people cultivate to the very rims of the craters. President Sukarno tells us in his speeches that Java's spirit is the terrible volcano Merapi, which seems to sleep, but is always ready to explode in violence." A few of my favorite passages follow: (in the opening pages) ... I awaited the appearance of a successor with some interest. Kwan jerked around suddenly and squinted across the doorway where a tall man in a well-cut tan suit had made the obligatory blind halt to adjust to the Wayang's night. 'This'll be Hamilton,' he said, and dropped like an acrobat from his stool to the floor. Fists slightly clenched, elbows out from his sides, he hurried off, with a ghost of that rocking motion peculiar to the large-headed dwarfs one sometimes passes in the street. The newcomer's face, caught in the glow of the nearby candle, looked startled when he found himself confronted by Kwan. The cameraman extended his hand, tilting his head back and offering his broad Chinese grin. As he came with Kwan towards the round bar, Hamilton's tallness was fantastically exaggerated. The spiky head only just reached his elbow; it was as the new man walked with a strange child. (Later in the book) A silence fell in which they stood and looked at each other, as though trying to decide something. A panel of sun lay between them on the glazed ochre titles of the floor; the dusty quiet took on an illusion of tenderness as the blades of the aged fan gestured above their heads. After they became lovers, they would look back on this brink, and admit that each had guessed the other's awareness. Despite past affairs, they were both still young enough for the excitement which springs from sensing that a story has begun whose end can't be foreseen; and they were both old enough to know that life could offer them few if anymore such beginnings. ******************************************************** This as well as most of Koch's books may be hard to find, but I assure you they're worth the wait and adventure.

Rating:
Summary: compelling
Review: Though at times I found Koch's style a bit flowery and overly sentimental, this is a wonderfully written book. The story sheds some light on the power struggles that were going on in Indonesia in 1965, leading up to September 30's overthrow of Sukarno--an anti-colonialist hero turned decadent dictator. This book is interesting because it overturns the classic notion of the heroic Westerner and the loyal sidekick. Guy, the main character, is far from perfect. His "sidekicks," Kumar and Billy Kwan (one of contemporary literatures most intriguing characters) are ultimately and disasterously disillusioned with him. Even Jill, Guy's love interest, is not your typical "exotic" woman--the one that so often appears in stories like these. Jill is all too much like a real woman for Guy. And this is what makes Guy and the other main characters so intimate and illuminating for the reader--their flawed yet ultimately good intentions. In the end, the narrator (the mysterious, observant "Cookie") witholds judgment on the characters, on Sukarno, on Indonesia--and what remains is compassion...a great reward for a great story.

Rating:
Summary: Keep your air conditioning on
Review: You will be transported to the steaminess of the equator. This is a wonderful story full of unique characters in the midst of one of the most turbulent times in Indonesia. Sukarno's Indonesia is an edgy place in 1965 and the group of western journalists Koch assembles as his main characters can sense the tragedy ready to erupt. Guy Hamilton, a television correspondent, is joined by Billy Kwan, a Chinese-Australian cameraman who determines that he should "assist" Hamilton. Theirs is an uneasy friendship, enhanced by the remaining cast of characters, whom you will meet when you read the book. Much is made of the fact that Billy is a dwarf, but that is what makes him so interesting. It enables him to get away with things typically sized people would not. He is a fascinating, multidimensional character who is far more an intellectual than people give him credit for, much more political than casual acquaintances would guess, and passionate about Indonesia, something he keeps mostly to himself. Koch weaves a great tale here: part mystery, part political espionage thriller, a little bit of romance (but not enough to put you off), and all of it packed into 300 pages of Indonesian atmosphere. It is a carefully crafted masterpiece of storytelling that I highly recommend. While readily available on shelves in Australian bookstores, it is likely less well known in the states. Too bad, Koch's books are worth every penny.