Potions and Paper Cranes

by Lan Fang, Sal Glynn (Editor), Elisabet Titik Murtisari (Translation)

A stark, honest portrayal of cursed love during the Japanese occupation of Java and the struggle for Indonesian independence.

Sulis is a young woman selling potions in Surabaya's harbor district. She meets Sujono, a coolie with dreams of becoming a freedom fighter, and whose passion for Matsumi, a geisha called to Java by a Japanese general, is destined to ruin all of them. In Potions and Paper Cranes, each tells the story of their lives during the end of World War II and Indonesia's transition from a Dutch colony to an independent republic.

Genres: Asia

252 pages, Paperback

First published September 21, 2013

About the author

Lan Fang adalah seorang penulis kelahiran Banjarmasin. Alumni Fakultas Hukum Univ. Surabaya ini menulis sejak 1986. Karya-karyanya menjuarai lomba di tabloid Nyata dan novelette Femina 1998, 1999, 2003 dan 2005.

Lan Fang telah menerbitkan: Reinkarnasi (2003), Pai Yin (2004), Kembang Gunung Purei (2005), Laki-laki yang Salah (2006), Yang Liu (2006), Perempuan Kembang Jepun (2006), Kota Tanpa Kelamin (2007), Lelakon, Ciuman di Bawah Hujan (2010). Di tahun 2009 ia juga menerbitkan buku cerita anak: Kisah-kisah si Kembar Tiga (2009). Dan akan menerbitkan kumpulan puisi Ghirah Gatha.

Reviews

[Jessica Vega · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the different perspectives with each character. Their inner thoughts and emotions of hate and love toward each other was in contrast with each other and made you understand why they did what they did. Not much of a history buff but learned about the tumultuous relationship in indonesia with the Chinese and Japanese people.

[Angieee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bagus! Buku yang bikin aku hampir mau slebew temenku yang belain si cowoknya! Bener bener ketara sih perbedaan pemikiran laki laki dan perempuan waktu debate tentang buku ini.

[Marina · Rating 4 out of 5]

** books 114 - 2014 **

Buku ini jadi buku pertama dari mbak Lan Fang yang saya baca.. buku ini aslinya bahasa inggris klo di indonesianya judul bukunya berubah jadi "Gadis Kembang Jepun". novel ini menceritakan kedua wanita yang sama2 terjebak di satu pria yg sama, cinta sejati, kasih sayang seorang ibu. menariknya setting di novel ini disaat posisi belanda dan jepang menduduki indonesia..

saya paling suka penulis menceritakan settingan sejarah dengan detail bagaimana kondisi ketika Jepang menyerang Belanda, asal muasal surabaya banyak orang chinese di kembang jepun, jaman pendudukan jepang di indonesia.. jepang yg menyerah setelah kota hiroshima dan nagasaki dibumihanguskan.. disini juga dengan gamblang wanita2 yg takut karena menjadi budak seks tentara jepang..

Sulis.. seorang gadis penjual jamu gendong yg biasa "melayani" tentara2 akhirnya bertekuk lutut di depan pria pribumi bernama Mas wandi.. tatkala meski ia mencintai pria itu ia tak bisa menerima lelaki itu seusia ayahnya.. haruskah ia mengejar Mas sujono?

Matsumi.. seorang geisha jepang yang menyamarkan dirinya menjadi tjoa kim hwa yg berarti the golden flower snake.. ia dididik untuk melayani pria mana saja namun hatinya terpatut pada mas Sujono.. bagaimana kisah mereka selanjutnya?

saya suka dengan novel ini! meski bahasa inggris pembaca enak bacanya.. mungkin krn vocabnya ga njelimet kali ya? novel ini saya kasih bintang 4 dari 5! saya rekomendasikan klo kalian suka romance yg complicated tapi bersetting sejarah kolonial belanda dan jepang di indonesia :*

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Find this and other reviews at: http://flashlightcommentary.blogspot....

My nose for World War II lit led me to Lan Fang's Potions and Paper Cranes, but my appreciation for the novel has nothing to with global events of the period. Shocking as it sounds, it was Fang's depiction of individual experiences that captured my imagination.

The main story shifts points of view between Sulis, Sujono and Matsumi, something I liked as the role of each character alters with each narrative voice. It is an approach few could manage, but I felt Fang handled it beautifully. Another thing I liked was contrast in Fang's approach to Chinese, Indonesian and Japanese culture and how those influences might have interacted during the uncertainty brought on by the larger conflict.

A deeply intuitive tale, Potions and Paper Cranes is a naked assessment of human nature, a haunting narrative that touches something in the reader's soul and shakes them to the core.

[Midori · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think a central question of this book is how and why violence is reproduced— lines of abuse are portrayed, each perspective given time to flesh out and develop. We see Solis first as a woman determined to have security, then that morphing into terrible abuse of Lestari. We hear of Sojano first from two women he had ended up abusing— then his perspective, his guilt and resulting love for Lestari. We see Lestari's love for her father, the frustrated sentiments toward the mother that abandoned her to an abusive woman. There is no easy line of accusation here, though of course, recognizing power in a patriarchy is present. There are class and ethnic lines of power as well, that can be analyzed and unraveled.

[Ming · Rating 2 out of 5]

Set in Indonesia during the Japanese occupation during World War II, this book tells a messy story and in a messy way. I won't recount the plot points.

I think the tone has the conceit of being written by a man. It's the first and lasting impression.

The story of ethnic Chinese and Indonesians struggling during this period is violent and somehow unsatisfying. I go back to the words: messy and conceit. I remain confused about the point: why tell this story? The resolution felt incomplete.

[!Tæmbuŝu]

Reviewed by Asian Review of Books

[Jesica Adriani · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is really beautiful and give so much meaning behind every tragedy :)