A young woman takes a driverless taxi through the streets of Jakarta, only to discover that the destination she is hurtling towards is now entirely submerged... A group of elderly women visit a famous amusement park for one last ride, but things don’t go quite according to plan... The day before her wedding, a bride risks everything to meet her former lover at their favourite seafood restaurant on the other side of the tracks... Despite being the world’s fourth largest nation – made up of over 17,000 islands – very little of Indonesian history and contemporary politics are known to outsiders. From feudal states and sultanates to a Cold War killing field and a now struggling, flawed democracy – the country’s political history, as well as its literature, defies easy explanation. Like Indonesia itself, the capital city Jakarta is a multiplicity; irreducible, unpredictable and full of surprises. Traversing the different neighbourhoods and districts, the stories gathered here attempt to capture the essence of contemporary Jakarta and its writing, as well as the ever-changing landscape of the fastest-sinking city in the world. Translated by Mikael Johani, Zoe McLaughlin, Shaffira Gayatri, Khairani Barokka, Daniel Owen, Paul Agusta, Eliza Vitri Handayani, Syarafina Vidyadhana, Rara Rizal and Annie Tucker.
There was a long letter that arrived too late. The sender’s name was not written and the letter was partly wet because of the rain. * Since we were little, we felt like aliens that were lost on earth. The man had already forgotten his childhood friend when a bundle of letters arrived at his doorstep. If you really must know, I only have one type of dream. I want to live in a simple house with someone who is truly fitting for me. If I really must pour all of my attention, I will do that to such a person. The man had already forgotten their childhood dreams. For many decades since we first met, I have chosen you in each of my prayers. You never knew that until today. And if you ask me to leave just like that, at my age now, which is nearing forty, it might be too late for me to find a substitute of you. * The man had never known that his childhood friend was still in love with him. The letters dragged that man to the past. Until he found out that it was all too late.
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