Book Nook: 'Kisah Intel dan Sebuah Warung'

Book Nook: 'Kisah Intel dan Sebuah Warung'

Kisah Intel dan Sebuah Warung (A Story of Intelligence
Officers and A Sidewalk Restaurant); By Sobron Aidit; Garba
Budaya, August 2000; 170 pp; Rp 20,000

JAKARTA (JP): Many people will probably buy this book out of
curiosity, because its author bears a famous surname.

Yes, Sobron Aidit is a younger brother of D.N. Aidit, the
chairman of the banned Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), which
was blamed for an attempted coup in 1965.

The author was a lecturer in the Beijing Foreign Language
Institute when the turmoil broke out. He moved to Paris in 1981,
and with his friends established an Indonesian restaurant (Sebuah
Warung), changed his name to Simon Sobron and his nationality to
French.

Sobron in his book, which is divided into two sections, tells
of his experiences, including with intelligence officers who
often visited the restaurant and followed him during his frequent
visits here, such as when he went to his parents' grave in
Belitung island, South Sumatra, in 1993.

One of his visits here concurrently occurred with a takeover
of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) Headquarters in July
1996. He was shocked when a local magazine described him as a
member of the Democratic People's Party (PRD), which was blamed
for riots after the takeover.

Although the author claims the book is a collection of short
stories, it reads like a diary -- and the expression of an
Indonesian who misses his homeland. (jun)