BOOK REVIEW
The Interpreter from Java - Alfred Birney
I received this book in one of my book subscription boxes a few months ago, Teatime Bookshop (click here to read my recent unboxing post and to receive 10% off your order, or scroll to the end for your exclusive code). Was I the only person in the world that didn't know where Java was? Possibly. I did a quick 30-second search to find that it is one of the Indonesian islands, of which Jakarta is the capital. Curiosity satisfied, I opened up and began reading.
Firstly, I have to say that I really loved the style of writing, which I have since found out is known as 'autofiction', or 'faction' which treads the line between novel and autobiography. It's taken from the author's own experiences and the stories that his father shared with him towards the end of his life. It is cleverly written using the author as a muse for the main character, someone on the hunt for the truth about his father, his life, and the ways that the experiences and demons of his father impacted his own family.
I felt hatred, sorrow, shame, and conflict. Sometimes all at once. I'll admit, that colonialism is not something I know much about. I have yet to delve into the history of our world in any great depth. In fact, I find historical reading quite intimidating, apart from the occasional historical fiction (some of which could have worked equally well as contemporary fiction, the past simply being the background setting of the story), so my knowledge in this area is sparse and my viewpoint naive. This book was a wonderful way to gain a much deeper understanding of a topic that I find overwhelming. The glossary at the end was a nice touch too and I used it more than once.
The timeline jumped around and I sometimes struggled to recognise whose viewpoint I was in, having to track back slightly to get my bearings once more. This affected my immersion in the story a few times but as I got more accustomed to the writing style, this happened much less often.
The book follows Alan, our main character and son of the Interpreter from Java, as he reads his father's journals, interviews his mother, researches his family history, and shares his own experiences growing up. It's such an interesting concept and a unique way of writing. In parts he is directing his writing at his father, in others, he's exchanging emails with his brother, or reading his father's journals leaving the reader feeling that they are a fly on the wall of a family in constant conflict.
The depictions are brutal and intense, while also evoking emotion. The writing was thought-provoking and descriptive, painting a picture of the brutality of both war and childhood. I enjoyed every minute of this book and will continue to recommend it for years to come. There are trigger warnings of the type you would expect when reading a book depicting war and childhood trauma but the violence is certainly not the main focus of the book - the characters and their inner turmoil are.
In short, READ THIS BOOK!!
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