Novel
The Year of Living Dangerously
C. J. Koch · 1978
Synopsis
Jakarta, 1965, under Sukarno. Guy Hamilton, correspondent for Australian radio, has just arrived; foreign journalists gather at the Wayang bar, because going out alone is dangerous. Billy Kwan, a small Chinese-Australian photographer, well connected in the circles of power and who keeps files on those around him, obtains interviews for him. Hamilton falls in love with Jill Bryant, a British diplomat and secret agent, while Billy's admiration for Sukarno turns sour as the economy collapses. Cookie, a colleague, tells all this after the fact.
Context
The novel appeared in 1978 from Thomas Nelson in Australia and from Michael Joseph; its title takes up the Italian phrase that Sukarno used for the independence day speech on 17 August 1964. It was not among the finalists for the Miles Franklin prize, whose rules ask for a portrayal of Australian life; according to the blog ANZ LitLovers, its Indonesian setting ruled it out. Peter Weir brought it to the screen in 1982, and the author, as co-screenwriter, was nominated for the Oscars. The book and its adaptation were banned in Indonesia under Suharto. The French translation appeared in 1985 from the Presses de la Renaissance.
Who it is for
A novel in English, told by a witness, translated into French under the title L'Année de tous les dangers.
Prizes and reception
Book of the Year prize of the newspaper The Age in 1978, then the National Book Council prize in 1979.
Sources for this page 5
The pages consulted to check this page.