'Masterpiece' only good for a laugh
Joko Anwar, Contributor, Jakarta
There are always exceptions to old sayings, including the one that you should never judge a book by its cover.
For the cover of Andrei Aksana's latest novel gives us a forewarning of what lies in store when it proudly and pompously declares itself a "masterpiece". Even for the suitably prepared reader, this book is still likely to be the worst example of self-indulgence they have ever read.
The story, a superficial tackling of the issue of homosexuality, begins when Andrei himself is approached by a man upon his arrival from Paris.
"Only you can make this story touching... instead of being cast aside, mocked and cussed," the man says.
Later, the man reveals that the reason he chose Andrei to write his story was because he heard people saying that his works taught more about life than others did.
To this, Andrei replied, "Read my books, and you'll find out what my heart has got to say."
If the book is truly based on real events, Andrei has turned the man's story into a melodramatic yarn, undistinguishable from corny columns in some woman's magazines that tell of overblown real life tragedies.
Not that the material is good to start out with. In fact, it's so cliched it should have been told in 10 pages instead of 219.
The protagonist is 27-year-old Rafky, the man described in the title, who meets another beautiful man, Valent, on their way to Bangkok for a vacation.
The two become romantically and sexually entangled almost instantly. Rafky has a girlfriend in Jakarta and Valent is engaged to another woman. When they go home, they have to face their families in telling the truth.
But Valent just happens to have a terminal illness, in the tradition of sappy cinematic romances like Love Story and Sweet November.
Yes, cliched does not have to be a problem if an author can supply interesting words to join the dots. Unfortunately, Andrei's writing borders on camp and is guaranteed to generate chuckles instead of sympathy.
Trite phrases such as, "Love... isn't everybody entitled to falling in love?" are par for the course in this book. But, please, not all of us are entitled to such banality.
The dialog seems to have been generated by junior high school students in poetry class and sounds even older than that written by Andrei's grandparents, Sanoesi Pane and Armijn Pane, who, we are reminded in the author note on the back inside jacket, were two of the best well-known poets in the country in their time.
"Where do you live?" Valent asks.
"The sky is my roof... the Earth is my bed," Rafky answers. I dare you not to howl.
Worse, Andrei's take on homosexuality is so generalized, even misleading. He hints that one of the characters has become gay because he grew up without a father. Mr. Freud, take a bow.
The rest of the storyline is simply unbelievable. How can a fully grown 27-year-old man let himself to be grounded by his mother, regardless of how domineering she is. The part where his father smashes the garage door and the wall upon knowing that his son is gay is hilarious.
Andrei, proclaimed by the publisher (or himself) as a "singing author", is the first writer to use the "integrated concept" for his novels.
Just like his best seller Abadilah Cinta (Let Love Be Eternal), the novel is accompanied by a CD containing songs written and sung by Andrei himself, dubbed the novel's "soundtrack".
No need to ponder why no author had come up with the idea before. It's simply creative overkill.
Lelaki Terindah (The Most Beautiful Man)
Andrei Aksana, PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 2004
222 pp, including three pages of dedication