Audiobooks by Budi Darma

Olenka

"A new English translation of an existential tale of obsession by Indonesia's celebrated writer of absurdist realism A Penguin Classic In Bloomington, Indiana, Fanton Drummond's life changes when he encounters Olenka Danton in an elevator. Infatuated at first sight, Fanton begins to see Olenka everywhere, from bus stops and parks to the imagined settings of his mind's eye. Soon they begin an affair, and Fanton steps deeper into Olenka's mysterious world. 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 Albert Camus by way of David Lynch, Budi Darma foregrounds the absurd monotony of everyday life-and the meaninglessness it masks. Newly translated into English by PEN Translation Prize winner Tiffany Tsao, the novel, layered with literary and visual references, blurs realism and absurdism, fact and fiction, tragic and comic, to probe the human condition and pinpoint our common plight. Penguin Classics is the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world, representing a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. * This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF that includes Part VII: Notes by the Author from the book."

Budi Darma (Author), Art Bautista, Grace Lynn Kung, Tiffany Tsao (Narrator)

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People from Bloomington

"Winner of the 2023 PEN Translation Prize Winner of the 2023 NSW Premier's Translation Prize An eerie, alienating, yet comic and profoundly sympathetic short story collection about Americans in America by one of Indonesia's most prominent writers, now in an English translation for its fortieth anniversary, with a foreword by Intan Paramaditha A Penguin Classic In these seven stories of People from Bloomington, our peculiar narrators find themselves in the most peculiar of circumstances and encounter the most peculiar of people. Set in Bloomington, Indiana, where the author lived as a graduate student in the 1970s, this is far from the idyllic portrait of small-town America. Rather, sectioned into apartment units and rented rooms, and gridded by long empty streets and distances traversable only by car, it's a place where the solitary can all too easily remain solitary; where people can at once be obsessively curious about others, yet fail to form genuine connections with anyone. The characters feel their loneliness acutely and yet deliberately estrange others. Budi Darma paints a realist world portrayed through an absurdist frame, morbid and funny at the same time. For decades, Budi Darma has influenced and inspired many writers, artists, filmmakers, and readers in Indonesia, yet his stories transcend time and place. With The People from Bloomington, Budi Darma draws us to a universality recognized by readers around the world-the cruelty of life and the difficulties that people face in relating to one another while negotiating their own identities. The stories are not about "strangeness" in the sense of culture, race, and nationality. Instead, they are a statement about how everyone, regardless of nationality or race, is strange, and subject to the same tortures, suspicions, yearnings, and peculiarities of the mind."

Budi Darma (Author), Chris Andrew Ciulla, Emiko Susilo, Eric Sharp, Langston Darby, Mark Bramhall, Nathan Agin, Reynaldo Piniella, Sunil Malhotra, Tiffany Tsao (Narrator)

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[Indonesian] - Orang-orang Bloomington

"'Janganlah mengurusi kepentingan orang lain dan janganlah mempunyai keinginan tahu tentang orang lain. Hanya dengan jalan demikian, kita dapat tenang.' Sejak kali pertama terbit, tujuh cerita yang dihimpun dalam antologi Orang-Orang Bloomington sukses memukau pembaca lintas generasi melalui permasalahan yang diangkat—emosi-emosi terdalam manusia. Manusia dengan segala dinamika kehidupannya dikisahkan melalui sudut pandang orang pertama—menjadikan suasana batin tokoh-tokohnya tergali dalam. Cerita-ceritanya tampak sederhana, tapi menyuguhkan sisi lain kehidupan nyata yang kompleks dan kelam. Dengan cara yang tidak biasa, Budi Darma mengungkap konflik antarmanusia yang lazim kita hadapi dalam keseharian—prasangka, kesepian, kedengkian. Semua berpadu menjadi satu formula kisah yang realistis, menyentuh, bahkan cenderung menampar. Melalui Orang-Orang Bloomington, Budi Darma berhasil menyabet penghargaan S. E. A. Write Award 1984 dari Pemerintah Thailand. Cerpen-cerpen yang menginspirasi ini kami hadirkan kembali untuk memperkenalkannya kepada pembaca muda, sekaligus mengobati kerinduan para pembaca setia Budi Darma."

Budi Darma (Author), Anes Wibowo (Narrator)

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[Indonesian] - Olenka

"Tanpa yang lain saya tidak mempunyai arti, tidak mempunyai fungsi, dan tidak ada. Fanton Drummond jatuh cinta pada sosok Olenka. Perempuan misterius yang tanpa sengaja dia temui dalam sebuah lift di Apartemen Tulip Tree. Semenjak pertemuan itu, tak henti-hentinya Fanton Drummond mengamati dan menebak-nebak bagaimana kehidupan Olenka sebenarnya. Semakin dalam Fanton Drummond menelusuri hidup Olenka, semakin liar bayangan Fanton Drummond. Sebagaimana perjalanan menyusuri sebuah peta dunia, yang tak menemukan pangkal pastinya. Melalui Olenka Budi Darma sejatinya sedang menyibak rahasia paling kelam dalam jiwa manusia. Karakter-karakter unik dengan kecamuk pikiran dituturkan dengan menarik. Novel dengan capaian bahasa paripurna."

Budi Darma (Author), Anes Wibowo (Narrator)

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