Literary journey to understand existence

Title: Supernova - Ksatria, Puteri dan Bintang Jatuh (Supernova - Knight, Princess and the Falling Star); Author: Dee; Publisher: Truedee Books, Bandung, 1st edition, January 2001; 208pp, Rp 29,500

JAKARTA (JP): The novel is amazing. From beginning to end it is capable of arousing curiosity, bit by bit, to the final realization that after all we have just explored our own existence through a story that the writer has adroitly woven.

Taken simply, the novel dwells on love, a human feeling as old as human existence itself. Dhimas and Ruben, both Indonesian graduates of U.S. universities, are gays. In their first encounter in U.S. they pledged to produce a masterpiece that would bring together different sciences not as a scientific work but a story. Ten years after this encounter they meet in Jakarta to realize this ambition to present a complex system of the universe as embodied in human interactions in a narrative.

The character in their story, Ferre, 29, is a successful managing director in a multinational company but still single. Ferre, or Re, gets acquainted with Rana, 28, a married deputy chief editor of a woman magazine, when she interviews him for her magazine. Re falls madly in love with Rana, who responds to Re because her own marriage with Arwin is not a happy one. The two have an affair and enjoy the bliss of love until Arwin finds out and magnanimously, out of his sincere love for Rana, lets Rana leave him and marry Re.

It is at this point that Rana realizes she has got the liberating love from her own husband. She ends her relationship with Re. Re gets frustrated and comes to the point of committing suicide when suddenly out of his great struggle to decide whether or not to go on with his suicide plan, he hears loud and clear his own voice calling his own name.

Afterwards he gets acquainted with Diva, a top model and a high-class call-girl. Unlike ordinary call girls, Diva is bordering on a genius. She has a great interest in philosophical thinking from Marx to Gramsci and Habermas.

Re and Diva become very good friends. Re finds enlightenment about love from Diva. Love is free... Love is living...

He also finds out later that widely-read Diva is the Supernova, with whom many people, including Rana, have consulted through the Internet about many problems. When finally Diva has to leave Re for good, Re is ready to face his future.

Diva has brought him the light and Re knows she will always be with her as he has got the light now. As the story ends, Dhimas and Ruben realize they love each other more than ever before.

What is captivating about this novel, which is written in a very poetically lively modern Indonesian, is that although the story is simple, Dee manages to insert smoothly philosophical ideas about this universe and existence in general. She peppers here and there basic concepts of modern physics like the quantum theory, the theory of chaos and order and the theory of turbulence. This scientific information, wonderfully, does not stand on its own. Dee has beautifully incorporates all these concepts in the plot of the novel and therefore they become inseparable from the novel.

From one page to another, the reader will be persuaded to explore the meaning of existence in this universe and raise questions about Life and Love through the interactions involving Re, Rana and Diva and also through the intimate relationship of the story makers, Dhimas and Ruben.

The novel is also interestingly unusual in structure as the story of Dhimas and Ruben and that of Re, Rana and Diva come alternately. Dhimas and Ruben will discuss what is going to happen to their characters and will base their debates on a particular scientific theory. This is helpful to the reader because he will be introduced to a particular concept in science and see how it works in human relationships.

This pattern is repeated throughout the novel, which is made up of 33 chapters. As befits the contemporaneity of the novel, the word "chapter" is replaced by the Indonesian keping (disc), a word that calls to mind a computer set and other digital equipment. Some of the titles given to these chapters give a clue to the nature of the novel, for example Being is the Only Existence, the Great Question Mark, Reversed Order Mechanism, Eternity is Chaos, Cyber Avatar or the Bifurcation Point.

Despite its scientific bent, the novel abounds in criticisms of the present condition of our society. The writer lashes out on opportunism, egotism, pretension and hypocrisy that we usually witness in our daily lives.

Her incisive yet poignant criticism may be seen when Diva, as a member of the panel of judges for a children's fashion show, makes a short speech before awarding prizes. This is what she says to the astonishment of the judges, the parents and the children themselves:

"Sweet little sisters. Your friends here have been selected because they are the best in imitating adults.They have to be selected because your parents have paid the registration fees and also bought expensive dresses for you. Actually, nobody either wins or loses today. You are all cute and sweet although many years later you may become fat and short or have a lot of acne on your face. ... When you return home, don't forget to play again..."

Reading her criticisms, we are made aware of our position in society: many of us are liars to ourselves.

Another interesting feature of this novel is that the writer freely expresses her own thoughts as comments between brackets. The reader must be alert all the time for the part played by Dhimas and Ruben, by Re, Rana and Diva and also for the writer's own comments.

Interestingly, Dhimas and Ruben, who create the Supernova and are not supposed to have anything to do with the Supernova, are finally connected with the Supernova when they get an e-mail from her. At this point, the creators and their creation blend, inseparable. It is here that the writer, also a singer and a song writer, seems to drive home the main message of the novel:

"All realities are real, only separation is an illusion. At one point we are but one organism. Soul and matter .... are two aspects in a unity. ... Each of us has our own distinct personal history as our point of departure ... but belong to the same spider's web. ... We are indeed the center of the universe ... because ... we are its significance."

Finally, to be true to its label of a digital novel, more can be found about the novel if you visit http://www.trudee.com. Who knows the Supernova is only a click away from you.

-- Lie Hua