Larasati

By Pramoedya Ananta Toer; Translated by Brian Russell Roberts, Keith Foulcher

Set during the Indonesian Revolution, Larasati tells the story of the dazzling Larasati, Indonesia’s premier star of the silver screen. When war breaks out, she pledges loyalty to the struggle for freedom, seeking to negotiate a place for herself and her art in the male-dominated world of the Revolution. Her determination to contribute “in her own way” takes her from anti-colonial Central Java to a fight for survival in Dutch-occupied Jakarta, where her life takes a dramatic turn.

She never wavers in her allegiance to the ragtag freedom fighters who attack the well-armed colonial army with bamboo spears and hand grenades. But can her talents make a difference in this contest between bamboo and howitzers? And during long months of soul-crushing hunger and years of abuse, will she be able to resist the false promises of security that have lured so many of her fellow Indonesians to the side of their former colonial masters? Through it all, Larasati maintains a keen life of the mind that helps her balance the promptings of her heart, her allegiance to the cause of Indonesian freedom, and her instinct for self-preservation.

Finally, the Revolution’s triumph is Larasati’s own triumph, but years of physical, emotional, and intellectual warfare have taught her that neither defeat nor victory is permanent.

“[Pramoedya] is a master, and a brilliant one, at setting out an intricate web of motivation, character and emotion.”

—The New York Times Book Review

“Perhaps more than any other writer, Pramoedya has brought the brutality of the Indonesian century—colonial exploitation, revolution, the purges and exile of intellectuals—to the world’s attention.”

—Nell Freudenberger, author of The Limits

“After the war that confirmed Indonesia’s existence as a legal and political entity, [Pramoedya] took up his pen to help make Indonesia a social entity as well.”

—Hilmar Farid, author of Rewriting the Nation: Pramoedya Ananta Toer and the Politics of Decolonization

ISBN: 9786237150299

Dimension: 14 x 21.5 cm
Pages: 240
Publisher: The Lontar Foundation
Year: 2025
Category: Fiction, Novel

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