Twilight in Jakarta is both timely and reflective, allowing the reader to bridge the gap between recent tumultuous political unrests in the West and the rise of the East as a world power. Over half a century ago, Mochtar Lubis's Twilight in Jakarta was was secreted out of Indonesia and published in London, becoming the first Indonesian novel ever to be published in English translation. The novel, a depiction of social and political events in the capital during the run up to a national election, contains a grim cast of characters: corrupt politicians, impotent intellectuals, unprincipled journalists, manipulative Leftists, and impetuous Muslims to name but a few. Although the novel represents a condemnation of 1950s Indonesia, the subjects remain prevalent in today's world. After three decades of authoritarianism and more than a decade of transition, Lubis's most accomplished work in English continues to tell the story of a nation subjected to poverty, separatism and political deceit

Mode of access: World Wide Web