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