Each essay in the book presents the reader with a conundrum and investigates the ... and swept up in the tides of histor
Delve Deeper into The Look of Silence A film by Joshua Oppenheimer This list of fiction and nonfiction books, compiled by Robert Surratt of The San Diego Public Library, provides a range of perspectives on the issues raised by the POV documentary The Look of Silence.
In this Oscar®-nominated film, winner of more than 70 awards, an optometrist identifies the men who killed his brother in the horrific 1965 Indonesian genocide. He confronts them while testing their eyesight and demands they accept responsibility. Winner, Grand Jury Prize, Critics Prize and Human Rights Award, 2014 Venice Film Festival. ADULT NONFICTION Larasati, Rachmi Diyah. The Dance That Makes You Vanish: Cultural Reconstruction in PostGenocide Indonesia. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, 2013. In The Dance That Makes You Vanish, an examination of the relationship between female dancers and the Indonesian state since 1965, Rachmi Diyah Larasati elucidates the Suharto regime’s dual-edged strategy: persecuting and killing performers perceived as communist or left leaning while simultaneously producing and deploying “replicas”—new bodies trained to standardize and unify the “unruly” movements and voices of those vanished—as idealized representatives of Indonesia’s cultural elegance and composure in bowing to autocratic rule. Morris, Errol. Believing is Seeing: Observations on the Mysteries of Photography. New York, NY: Penguin Press, 2011. Academy Awardwinning filmmaker Errol Morris investigates the hidden truths behind a series of documentary photographs. Each essay in the book presents the reader with a conundrum and investigates the relationship between
photographs and the real world they supposedly record. Pisani, Elizabeth. Indonesia, etc.: Exploring the Improbable Nation. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 2014. Declaring independence in 1945, Indonesia said it would “work out the details of the transfer of power etc. as soon as possible.” With over 300 ethnic groups spread across over 13,500 islands, the world’s fourth most populous nation has been working on that “etc.” ever since. Bewitched by Indonesia for twenty-five years, Elizabeth Pisani recently traveled 26,000 miles around the archipelago in search of the links that bind this impossibly disparate nation. Pohlman, Annie. Women, Sexual Violence and the Indonesian Killings of 196566. New York, NY: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2015. The Indonesian massacres of 1965-1966 claimed the lives of an estimated half a million men, women and children. Histories of this period of mass violence in Indonesia’s past have focused almost exclusively on top-level political and military actors, their roles in the violence, and their movements and mobilization of perpetrators. Based on extensive interviews with women survivors of the massacres and detention camps, this book provides the first in-depth analysis of sexualized forms of violence perpetrated against women and girl victims during this period. Rafter, Nicole. The Crime of All Crimes: Toward a Criminology of Genocide. New York, NY: New York University Press, 2016. In The Crime of All Crimes, criminologist Nicole Rafter takes an innovative approach to the study of genocide by comparing eight diverse genocides – largescale and small; well-known and obscure—through the lens of criminal behavior. Roosa, John. Pretext for Mass Murder: The September
30th Movement and Suharto’s Coup d’État in Indonesia. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2006. John Roosa draws on a wealth of new primary source material to suggest a solution to the mystery behind the September 30th movement and the enabling myth of Suharto's repressive regime. His book is a remarkable feat of historical investigation. Simpson, Bradley. Economists with Guns: Authoritarian Development and U.S.-Indonesian Relations, 1960-1968. Redwood City, Cal: Stanford University Press, 2008. Offering the first comprehensive history of U.S relations with Indonesia during the 1960s, Economists with Guns explores one of the central dynamics of international politics during the Cold War: the emergence and U.S. embrace of authoritarian regimes pledged to programs of military-led development. Drawing on newly declassified archival material, Simpson examines how Americans and Indonesians imagined the country's development in the 1950s and why they abandoned their democratic hopes in the 1960s in favor of Suharto's military regime. Sukanta, Putu Oka and Jennifer Lindsay. Breaking the Silence: Survivors Speak About the 1965-66 Violence in Indonesia. Monash University Press, 2014. Edited by former political prisoner Putu Oka Sukanta, this is a collection of accounts from people around the archipelago who experienced the 1965 violence in Indonesia. These accounts, including one from a perpetrator who is now tormented by guilt, and survivors who still feel isolated and rejected by society, show how the violence continues to influence Indonesian society. Vltchek, André and Rossie Indira. Exile: Conversations with Pramoedya Ananta Toer. Chicago: Haymarket
Delve Deeper into The Look of Silence A film by Joshua Oppenheimer Books, 2006. In these remarkable interviews with Indonesia’s most celebrated writer, he speaks out against tyranny and injustice and discusses personal and political topics he could never before address in public.
the author of a controversial book that denies the reality of the Holocaust, he must face the truths, realities, and memories of his own life.
York, NY: Henry Holt, 2004. This poetry anthology for teens explores themes of grief, anger and resiliency in response to violence, war and terrorism.
NONFICTION FOR YOUNGER READERS
FICTION FOR YOUNGER READERS
ADULT FICTION
Heits, Rudolph T. Communism. Broomall, PA: Mason Crest, 2013. For several decades during the 20th century, communism was one of the world's dominant forms of government. At one time, Communist regimes held power across much of Asia and all of Eastern Europe. This book provides an introduction to communism, exploring the principles that underpin communism and examines the way Communist governments have exercised power in practice.
McCormick, Patricia. Never Fall Down: A Novel. New York, NY: Blazer + Bray, 2012. When soldiers arrive at his hometown in Cambodia, Arn is just a kid, dancing to rock 'n' roll, hustling for spare change, and selling ice cream with his brother. But after the soldiers march the entire population into the countryside, his life is changed forever. Based on the true story of Cambodian advocate Arn Chorn-Pond.
Aw, Tash. Map of the Invisible World. New York, NY: Spiegel & Grau, 2009. A page-turning story, Map of the Invisible World follows the journeys of two brothers and an American woman who are indelibly marked by the past – and swept up in the tides of history. Kurniawan, Eka. Beauty is a Wound. New York, NY: New Directions, 2015. The beautiful Indo prostitute Dewi Ayu and her four daughters are beset by incest, murder, bestiality, rape, insanity, monstrosity, and the often vengeful undead. Kurniawan's gleefully grotesque hyperbole functions as a scathing critique of his young nation's troubled past: the rapacious offhand greed of colonialism; the chaotic struggle for independence; the 1965 mass murders of perhaps a million "Communists," followed by three decades of Suharto's despotic rule. Kurniawan, Eka. Man Tiger. New York, NY: Verso, 2015. Man Tiger tells the story of two interlinked and tormented families and of Margio, a young man ordinary in all particulars except that he conceals within himself a supernatural female white tiger. The inequities and betrayals of family life coalesce around and torment this magical being. An explosive act of violence follows, and its mysterious cause is unraveled as events progress toward a heartbreaking revelation. Schulman, Helen. The Revisionist: A Novel. New York, NY: Crown Publishers, 1998. When Dr. David Hershleder, the son of a Holocaust survivor, confronts
Hibbs, Linda. All About Indonesia: Stories, Songs and Crafts for Kids. North Clarendon, VT: Tuttle Publishing, 2013. Introduces Indonesia, describing its history, geography, culture, everyday life, educational system, cuisine, language, and religion, as well as discussing traditional regional costumes, music, and dance. Jeffrey, Laura. Simon Wiesenthal: Tracking Down Nazi Criminals. Springfield, NJ: Enslow, 1997. Presents the life and exploits of a Nazihunter, including the stories of how he caught and brought to justice such infamous war criminals as Adolph Eichmann. Tohari, Ahmad. The Dancer: A Trilogy of Novels. Jakarta: Lontar Foundation, 2003. Set in the tumultuous days of the mid 1960s, The Dancer describes a village community struggling to adapt to a rapidly changing world. It also provides readers with a ground-level view of the political turmoil and human tragedy leading up to and following the abortive Communist coup. Vecchione, Patrice. Revenge and Forgiveness: An Anthology of Poems. New
Mikaelsen, Ben. Tree Girl. New York, NY: Harper Tempest, 2004. They call Gabriela "Tree Girl" or Laj Ali Re Jayub in her native language of Quich'e. Gabi climbs trees to be within reach of the eagles and watch the sun rise into an empty sky. She is at home among the outstretched branches of the Guatemalan forests. Then one day from the safety of a tree, Gabi witnesses the sites and sounds of an unspeakable massacre. Smith, Icy. Half Spoon of Rice: A Survival Story of the Cambodian genocide. Manhattan Beach, CA: East West Discovery Press, 2010. Nine-year-old Nat is forced out of his Cambodian home and marched into the countryside when the Khmer Rouge comes into power. Nat is separated from his family and endures forced labor in rice fields from dawn to midnight with little food. Over the next four years, Nat confronts starvation, fear, and brutality. With the help of his friend Malis, Nat finds hope and the strength to escape, eventually reuniting with the family he loves.
