Books › Perburuan
Perburuan
First published 1975 · 180 pages
A tense, dialogue-driven descent into the psychological shadows of a hunted man during the dying days of a brutal occupation.
What it feels like
Reading this novel feels like holding your breath in the dark. Unfolding over a single, suffocatingly tense day and night, the narrative traps you in the paranoid, shadow-drenched world of a hunted rebel commander disguised as a beggar. The pacing is propulsive yet deeply philosophical, driven less by sweeping action than by urgent, stage-play-like dialogues that strip bare the souls of its characters. You can feel the grit, the exhaustion, and the constant, prickling dread of betrayal on every page. The prose is raw and stripped-down, reflecting the author's own imprisonment during its creation. It is a perfect match for readers who crave politically charged, psychologically intense historical fiction where the fight for national liberation is waged within the fractured minds of its survivors.
- Mood
- claustrophobic
- tense
- shadow-drenched
- oppressive
- Tone
- urgent
- philosophical
- defiant
- somber
- Pace
- propulsive
- Themes
- psychological toll of betrayal · anti-colonial resistance · stripping of identity · loyalty versus survival · the meaning of freedom
- The writing
- Stripped-down and urgent, the writing relies heavily on intense, philosophical dialogue that gives the narrative the claustrophobic feel of a stage play.
- The arc
- The journey moves from a state of paranoid isolation and physical degradation to a sudden, explosive reclamation of dignity and collective resistance.
- Who it's for
- Readers who crave intense, politically charged historical fiction that focuses on the psychological weight of occupation and the moral compromises of survival.
Content notes
- war themes
- betrayal
- physical degradation
- violence
- imprisonment
About the book
Microfiche. Jakarta: Library of Congress Office; Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress Photoduplication Service, 2002. 2 microfiches; 11 x 15 cm. photocopying prohibited. Novel. Pusat Dokumentasi Sastra H.B. Jassin collection. Typescript, with some handwritten notes.
Description from Open Library.
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