A Great Loss to Humanity

It is definitely a sad day for humankind as Indonesia's most well-known and celebrated writer, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, passed away yesterday (Indonesian time). He was 81 years old. I cannot even begin to express my sadness and deep sense of loss when I received the news. Pram is not just a kretek-smoking writer to me; he's a major source of inspiration, the Rock of Gibraltar I look to when in need of strength and beacon of conscience. Since Pram has been profiled in numerous major publications such as the New Yorker, Salon, LA Times, etc, I'm not going to write about his long, hardscrabbled yet illustrious life. See Alex Bardsley's compedia of all things Pram for everything you'll ever want to know about Indonesia's, if not, one of the world's, greatest writer.

I cried the first time I read Pram's Bumi Manusia (This Earth of Mankind), I cried again when I read the English translation of the same book a few years later, and I almost cried again when I read it for the third time in my Modern Indonesian Literature class this semester--I had to stop reading before I got to the end of the book lest I'd get choked up again. I wrote a post about Bumi Manusia last year, but as of now, I am totally at a loss for words.

One thing I can say is Pram has profoundly influenced me in every imaginable way, but most importantly, in the necessity to fight all forms of injustices, the struggle to preserve one's honor, dignity and principles under the most extreme duress, and the belief in the best of humanity.

We are going to miss you tremendously, Pak Pram. Rest in peace and may Allah bless your beautiful soul. Amin!

Final Note: I encourage people to read Pram's work especially the Buru Quartet (This Earth of Mankind, Child of All Nations, Footsteps, and House of Glass) and his rather unconventional yet hauntingly poignant autobiography, "The Mute's Soliloquy" (Nyanyi Sepi Seorang Bisu: Catatan-catatan dari Buru). I have these and several other of his books at home if anybody wants to borrow them. The UW's Memorial Library also has a vast collection of Indonesian literature which includes all of Prams' work, in Bahasa Indonesia and English. If not, go to the University Book Store. The last time I checked the Used Books section, which was about a month ago, there were a bunch of Pram's books up for grabs.