The Girl from the Coast
by Pramoedya Ananta Toer
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Description
Pramoedya's The Girl from the Coast tells the story of a beautiful young woman from a fishing village who finds herself in an arranged marriage with a wealthy aristocrat. Forced to leave her parents and home behind, she moves to the city to become the 'lady' of her husband's house. Pramoedya's breathtaking literary skill is evident in every word of this book, one of his classic works of fiction made especially poignant because it is based on the life of his own grandmother.Tags
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Member Reviews
This book sucked me in and wouldn't let me stop. Written in a lyrical style, it carries you along as the girl's life in her fishing village ends and her new life as a young consort (not official bride) begins. There are many such novels about young girls dependent on the traditions of their culture and how they navigate these difficult worlds. You learn from each and this book is no exception. You want her to succeed in some way. The afterword also is revealing.
It is a great pity the two remaining volumes were destroyed by the Indonesian military but it is a sweet story of his grandmother although not great literature.
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Author Information
76+ Works 2,945 Members
One of Indonesia's most prominent authors, Toer spent most of his adult life in prison; his works have frequently been banned by the government. Toer's first novel, The Fugitive (1950), was written during his internment by the Dutch. Toer became a leading figure in the Marxist literary group Lekra and was again incarcerated after the 1965 show more overthrow of Sukarno, joining thousands of other left-wing artists on the prison island of Buru. The author of over 30 works of fiction and nonfiction, Toer is best known for his Buru tetralogy, which traces the birth of nationalism in Indonesia. Most of the work was composed as narration to fellow prisoners, then later recorded and published after Toer's release in 1979. Although the events of the tetralogy take place in the past, they must be understood in the context of his experiences at Buru. In 1988 Toer received the PEN Freedom-to-Write Award. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Awards and Honors
Awards
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Gallimard, Folio (6357)
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Girl from the Coast
- Original publication date
- 1982
- Important places
- Indonesia
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, General Fiction, Historical Fiction
- DDC/MDS
- 899.22132 — Literature & rhetoric Asian Literature Literatures of non-Austronesian languages of Oceania, of Austronesian languages, of miscellaneous languages Malay and Austronesian languages Indonesian languages Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) Indonesian fiction 1900–2000
- LCC
- PL5089 .T8 .G3313 — Language and Literature Languages and literatures of Eastern Asia, Africa, Oceania Languages of Eastern Asia, Africa, Oceania Languages of Oceania Malayan (Indonesian) languages
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 168
- Popularity
- 194,238
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.83)
- Languages
- 6 — Dutch, English, French, Indonesian, Polish, Spanish
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 13
- ASINs
- 2
