Bibliograph

Buru Island, a prison memoir, Hersri Setiawan ; translated by Jennifer Lindsay

Type

Label

Buru Island, a prison memoir, Hersri Setiawan ; translated by Jennifer Lindsay

Language

eng

resource.biographical

contains biographical information

Illustrations

maps

Index

no index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Buru Island

Oclc number

1140140815

Responsibility statement

Hersri Setiawan ; translated by Jennifer Lindsay

Sub title

a prison memoir

Summary

"Buru Island was the site of Indonesia's most remote and infamous prison camp. In the wake of the 1965 repression of the political Left, between 1969 and 1979, approximately 12,000 men were held on Buru without formal charge or trial. During their detention prisoners suffered torture, forced labour and malnourishment, as well as social isolation. This book is an edited translation of the Indonesian language memoir by the writer Hersri Setiawan (b.1936) who was detained for nine years, including seven on Buru Island. As a young writer filled with hope and optimism for Indonesia's future he joined the left-wing cultural organisation Lekra (Lembaga Kebudayaan Rakyat, Institute of People's Culture) and was a permanent representative of the Indonesian National Committee to the Asia-Africa Writer's Bureau in Colombo. Setiawan shares an intimate account of his life story leading up to and during his detention. In beautifully crafted prose he brings into stark light the horrors of the period after 1965, which included disappearance, murder, torture, betrayal and loss and his own capture and incarceration on Buru Island. This is a moving and at times harrowing account of human cruelty and, at the same time, a story of survival and hope" -- Back cover

Classification