Nh. Dini: A writer bravely bares her soul

Nh. Dini: A writer bravely bares her soul

Lie Hua
Contributor
Jakarta

A novelist weaves words into a mosaic of events to get across a
particular message. The events are those that the novelist has
gone through, observed or heard in daily life.

Imaginary events make up the world of a novel in which the
characters may or may not resemble real people. These characters
are interesting because they may, partly if not wholly, represent
the reader in the chain of events that the writer has put in a
certain order.

A novel has the power to absorb a reader into the world that
the novelist has created through his imagination. When reading a
novel, a reader sojourns in an imaginary world, getting
acquainted with a variety of characters and, sometimes, involving
himself, at least emotionally, in the chain of events that make
up the novel.

When a novelist writes about himself, he will be expected to
have a more observant attitude toward the events that he has gone
through in the real world. Of course, the order of events cannot
be arranged to his liking because they are in the order that the
Creator -- if you believe in the existence of the omnipotent God
-- has determined.

However, a novelist's sensitivity may give a literary touch to
a story about a series of otherwise hard, dry facts. It is in
this context that the difference between a novel and a novelist's
autobiography becomes blurred.

NH Dini is one of the country's most prolific and long-
standing novelists, and also one of the few Indonesian novelists
who has written an autobiography or memoirs. Prior to this latest
book of reminiscences, she has five others to her name, all
telling of her life, from her earliest years up to the period
covered in the book under review.

In this particular book, Dini lays bare in a touching manner
how her married life was ruined by the callous attitude of Yves,
the husband of her choice. A French diplomat, Yves proved during
her marriage to be the opposite of the charming man she first
met.

Yet, as a true Javanese, she never regretted her choice and
accepted the consequences of her actions. It does not mean,
though, she never resisted her husband's coarse treatment of her.
Often, in anger mixed with anguish, she stood up to him and
showed that as a woman she is not to be despised.

It is interesting to find out that in her despair about ever
mending her marriage, Dini found solace in the figure of a sea
captain that she met on a voyage to Kampuchea, or Cambodia, the
country where her husband was stationed as a French consul.

This part of Dini's life -- her real love with somebody with
absolute, unconditional affection -- is touching as Dini
describes the relationship in a polished, unsensational manner.
There is none of the expected sordidness in the story of a love
affair between a married woman and another man.

The captain, Delrouin, loves her and gives Dini what Yves
cannot or will not in his own selfishness. It makes for
interesting reading as Dini shows the relatively long process
before she finally allows herself to fall into the embrace of
this man.

While on the voyage, Dini feels love stir when she meets
Delrouin but she still keeps a distance, remembering the sanctity
of her marital vows. She garners all her strength to resist,
although with much difficulty, the temptation of her feelings for
the man.

Her dignity is wounded when, after arriving in Cambodia, she
finds her husband having an intimate dinner with another woman in
a hotel. From the hotel receptionist she learns that her husband
is staying there with his "wife" -- his legal spouse.

Stung by the betrayal, she responds eagerly to an invitation
to meet Delrouin, then assigned on a vessel bound for Saigon.

At this point, Dini -- despite claiming that she has not done
it out of spite or revenge -- allows free reign to her passion by
consummating her affair with Delrouin.

Ironically, Delrouin also refers to Dini as Mrs. Delrouin when
they stay in a hotel before embarking on the vessel. It is in her
love for Delrouin that Dini feels herself to be the richest woman
in the world, a feeling always denied her in her relations with
Yves.

This book of reminiscences is interesting to read as it
portrays the various characters Dini meets. Dini presents them to
us in the same way she portrays the imaginary people in her
novels. The dialog is crisp and fresh, revealing the character
traits of each person; it would read like a novel except for the
explanatory label of book of reminiscences on its jacket.

The work would be more interesting and useful to the reader if
Dini, as the wife of a French diplomat, could combine her
narration of the events that she has gone through and the
happenings of major significance in the context of world history,
providing us with her perspective.

Another woman writer, Han Suyin, did just that, engaging
readers with her eloquent and detailed description not only of
her own life but of the history of modern China in a five-volume
autobiography. NH Dini has this same potential as a writer, and
must tap it in her next volumes of reminiscences.

Dari Parangakik ke Kampuchea
(From Parangakik to Kampuchea)
NH Dini
PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama
Jakarta, 2003
436 pp