Basuki's latest book focuses on a magical mask
Basuki's latest book focuses on a magical mask
Topeng Jero Ketut;
Sunaryono Basuki, KS;
Published by Yayasan Indonesia Tera,;
first edition February 2001,;
193 pp
DENPASAR, Bali (JP): So, you've been there and done that, and
bought a T-shirt, too, on the resort island of Bali. But you've
never come across the magical phenomenon and mysteries other
people talk so much about?
For example, a magical mask that can make you invisible and
lead you to a world others have never set foot on? Or perhaps
you've been to Lovina Beach in northern Bali without ever
realizing that something magical took place in the area? Then you
must read Topeng Jero Ketut, Jero Ketut Mask, by Sunaryono
Basuki.
Basuki is an English lecturer by profession who has lived in
Bali for more than 30 years as is married to a Balinese woman.
This is not the first mystery novel written by Basuki. He has
also written Maut di Pantai Lovina (Murder in Lovina Beach, 1993)
and Hunus (Kris Drawing, 191), and not unintentionally, both have
Lovina Beach as their setting.
The strength of Topeng Jero Ketut lies in its moving story.
Most of the locations in the story are real places, which gives
the book the feel of a nonfiction work.
To create a virtual reality, the writer crafts a passage in
which two characters make a reference to the murder of German
tourist Elke Wasserman, who was a character in Murder in Lovina
Beach.
The technique is not new. At least not on television, where
it is called a spin-off. For example, an episode of The X-Files
showed the star of another TV series by Chris Carter, Millennium.
Or Kevin Sorbo as Hercules appeared in Xena, The Warrior
Princess.
Jero Ketut Mask is about the search for a magical mask by
four businesspeople from Jakarta: Tommy, Pance, Bobby and Eddy.
Driven by their greed and curiosity, each searches for the
mystical mask using every means imaginable.
"Jero Ketut" is actually a polite term the Balinese use to
refer to a rat. The Balinese believe it is taboo to refer to the
animal with its real name, just like Javanese who refer to tigers
as Mbah (literally "respected elder") when they pass a forest.
The four fail to get the mask, but the magical mask comes to
them to fulfill their wishes. They become what they want, men
with a rat mask and invisible to others. But the question
remains: are they still human, or are they rats? It does not make
any difference. A greedy man, after all, has the tendency to
behave like a dirty rat, with or without a mask.
--Antariksawan Jusuf