On The Shelf<\/p>\n
Manhattan Sonnet: Indonesian Poems, Short Stories and Essays;
\nEditor: John McGlynn;
\nThe Lontar Foundation, Jakarta, 2001;
\nxv+101 pp;
\nRp 75,000<\/p>\n
The morning of Sept. 11, 2001, in New York, will go down in
\nhistory as a momentous, world-changing event, when human beings
\ncould be viewed at their most desperate.<\/p>\n
Within minutes, upon the impact caused by a pair of commercial
\nairliners hitting the twin towers of the World Trade Center,
\nthese huge buildings, about half a kilometer in height and the
\nvery symbol of global financial power, crumbled, leaving
\nthousands of people dead.<\/p>\n
At almost the same time, another passenger plane crashed into
\nthe Pentagon outside Washington D.C., the building symbolizing
\nthe military might of the world's only remaining superpower.
\nReports of the tragedy traveled the world within minutes, sending
\na mixture of despair and joy to different people in different
\nlands.<\/p>\n
History, itself, will pass judgment on the real value of this
\nseemingly desperate event, but the Lontar Foundation deserves
\ncredit for initiating the publication of this book, which, when
\nread against the background of the tragedy, will provide readers
\nwith deeper insight into what New York means to the outside
\nworld, represented here by a number of Indonesian writers
\neloquently putting down their grim and bright experiences about
\nNew York.<\/p>\n
It may be the symbol of a benevolent mother or, on the
\ncontrary, the embodiment of a giant economic tentacle that grips
\nthe rest of the world.<\/p>\n
This book, bringing together 17 Indonesian writers writing
\nunder the general theme of New York, consists of 19 poems, four
\nshort stories, one news article and five short essays. It begins
\nwith the title poem by Ajip Rosidi, who prophetically asks in the
\nfirst of the two triplets in the sonnet he wrote in the early
\n1970s: \"Is it within these strong and rigid walls\/One's sense of
\nsafety nestles?\/All I find here is vigilance, the source of
\napprehension\".<\/p>\n
As Ajip rightly puts it, there is no safety in New York
\ndespite the \"strong and rigid walls\". He wrote the sonnet when
\nthe twin towers were not yet even conceived of. Three decades
\nlater, the World Trade Center tragedy attested to his poetic
\nprediction.<\/p>\n
The news article and short essays by Goenawan Mohammad are by
\nfar the finest as he was there when the tragedy occurred. It was
\nalso Goenawan who had proposed the compilation of these works.<\/p>\n
In these pieces of prose, he contemplates the tragedy that has
\nbred hatred and manifested itself in \"self-narrowing patriotism
\nand bomb-dropping anger\". It is at this point that readers can
\ntake their own stance on the tragedy.<\/p>\n
-- Lie Hua<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/on-the-shelf-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }