Budi Darma
Penguin Classics
21 July 2026 (1983)
320
eBook - PDF
Literary Fiction
ARC via Edelweiss
In Bloomington, Indiana, the indistinguishable Fanton Drummond’s life changes when he encounters Olenka Danton in an elevator. Fanton is infatuated at first sight; when Olenka reciprocates, the two begin an affair. The deeper Fanton steps into Olenka’s world — in which he learns of her artistic talent, unhappy marriage and seeming disinterest in her son — the stronger his obsession grows. But one day, Olenka vanishes. Fanton’s subsequent search for Olenka becomes an existential journey filled with tragicomic twists and introspective musings on the meaning of life, all through which Fanton realizes that he knows little about Olenka, and even less about himself.
With prose characteristic of Camus by way of Lynch, Darma foregrounds the absurd monotony of everyday life — and the meaninglessness that it masks — all through the eyes of a white male American narrator who is equal parts aware and oblivious to his insignificance, caprice, and narcissism. Olenka, newly translated into English by PEN Translation Prize winner Tiffany Tsao, captures Darma’s nuance that toes the line between realism and absurdism, the tragic and the comic, and the factual and the fictious, to blur all binaries between these notions — as well as those that separate us from others.
Olenka was an interesting read in terms of the narrative style. It wasn't difficult to get into, but it was different, especially as we headed into the later sections of the book. The introduction was helpful in this respect as it provided some background to the writing of the work. Fanton was an interesting figure. At first I kind of liked him, as he seemed interested in Olenka and her situation with her husband. However, as the novel progressed, I came to realise he was not so different from the other man he looked down on. Had things worked out the way he wanted, he would likely have morphed into him completely. While serious in general, there were clear comedic turns in this work, so I could see why the blurb compared Darma to Camus and Lynch. This is a work I believe will stick in my mind for a while, and I recommend it to readers who like psychological character studies coupled with humour. I am giving it 4 stars.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
No comments:
Post a Comment