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Bali Chronicles: A Lively Account of the Island's History from Early Times to the 1970s
This is a story about the vulnerability and durability of an anachronistic system in a chaotically changing modern world. The Balinese-Hindu culture thrived undisturbed for centuries, but modern times threatened to destroy the island's heritage. This book details the struggle in full.
Bali had many traumatic encounters with the West. Spanning all of Balinese history, it sketches the economics, culture and politics of the island. This book is a must for students of Pacific studies or international relations.
Bali had many traumatic encounters with the West. Spanning all of Balinese history, it sketches the economics, culture and politics of the island. This book is a must for students of Pacific studies or international relations.
- GenresHistory
256 pages, Paperback
First published November 15, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 27, 2024
This book came in really handy when I was researching a Bali-based magical realism thriller. It sounds like heavy-going from the title but is well worth reading and thoroughly recommendable. I have it on my list to re-read before too much longer and am looking forward to digging back into this old classic.
July 30, 2013
Note that this is a reprint of a book from the mid-1970s, updated slightly with a more recent forward.
The amazing island of Bali has had an equally amazing history. This book goes through its history with a strong emphasis on the Dutch influence. There is a strange repetitiveness in the book, almost as if the chapters were written independently, but each chapter is so full of interesting tidbits that the repetition is easy to ignore. The fundamental point made in the book is that Bali is an island stuck until recently in 1600, with all the grandeur, mannerisms, and culture of that time. Why did Bali remain the same for so long? The author points to many of the activities of the Dutch, for good and for bad (and some of it unbelievably bad).
I read the book while on Bali, and during the flight home, and could not put it down. This is not a book about art or culture but rather on how historical decisions affected an island and its peoples.
It was interesting to note that the author was horrified about the possibility of there being 300,000 tourists per year on the island, while the current number is about 10 times that. And his comments about "hippies" on the island provide unintended humor, and clearly date the book.
Overall, well worth the read to get a better feeling of how Bali got to where it is, or was in the 1970s.
The amazing island of Bali has had an equally amazing history. This book goes through its history with a strong emphasis on the Dutch influence. There is a strange repetitiveness in the book, almost as if the chapters were written independently, but each chapter is so full of interesting tidbits that the repetition is easy to ignore. The fundamental point made in the book is that Bali is an island stuck until recently in 1600, with all the grandeur, mannerisms, and culture of that time. Why did Bali remain the same for so long? The author points to many of the activities of the Dutch, for good and for bad (and some of it unbelievably bad).
I read the book while on Bali, and during the flight home, and could not put it down. This is not a book about art or culture but rather on how historical decisions affected an island and its peoples.
It was interesting to note that the author was horrified about the possibility of there being 300,000 tourists per year on the island, while the current number is about 10 times that. And his comments about "hippies" on the island provide unintended humor, and clearly date the book.
Overall, well worth the read to get a better feeling of how Bali got to where it is, or was in the 1970s.
August 7, 2014
The research began in 1970s, entitled Bali Profile: People, Events, Circumstances (1001-1976), published by AUFS in 1976 and now reprinted as Bali Chronicles. It sketches the history, economics, politics, traditional way of life and culture.
From "The Dewa Agung and the Radjas (pre-1800)" until "Royalty Updated (1856-1976)", this book gives intimations of the long-term sources of the contemporary crisis. Sixteen chapters bring the readers to get to know Bali, which is now self-consciously converting itself into a tourist paradise.
In "Basics of Balinism" chapter, there's one interesting line: at the bottom of everything there is magnetic iron, but in the beginning there was nothing, all was emptiness; there was only space--taken from The Island of Bali (New York, 1937) which excerpts from Balinese legends regarding the creation of the universe (Bali) and of human beings (Balinese).
The Balinese really lives the culture as one aesthetic package: life, work, social involvement, religious practices, and artistic self-fulfilment. The vulnerability and fragility of any such anachronistic system in the chaotically changing modern world is altogether self-evident.
December 21, 2011
Picked this book up whilst visiting Bali to get some background on the history and culture of Bali. The focus and sources come mostly from the Dutch colonial period. This book was EXTREMELY repetative but still gave me a lot of insight into this period of Bali's often turbulent history. I would have like more on the Sukarno years but I guess that is another book.
June 16, 2015
Great history of Bali. Enjoyed during recent trip with historical records of Dutch colonial period.
September 25, 2015
Good to read while visiting Bali or if you are interested in Dutch colonialism
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews