I’m determined to finish my Around the World in 80 Books reading challenge this year, and yes, I did say that last year too 😀 It has got more challenging as time has gone on because I’m dependent on what has been translated, so I was delighted to find Indonesian writer Intan Paramaditha included in the Vintage Classics Weird Girls series (even if I do bristle a bit at the condescending title).
Apple and Knife (2018, transl. Stephen J Epstein 2018) is a collection of short stories, mostly set in the modern day but quickly destabilised into gothic, fairytale (in the Grimm sense) realities. They are united by a visceral, forthright sensibility.
“I want drops of blood to be ink on my book, encrusted in the lines of destiny that twist and spin history on my palm. I want to make sacrifices like blood does, play with puddles, ooze sores, flare in anger.”
The collection opens with The Blind Woman Without a Toe, a reworking of the Cinderella story, told from the point of view of one of her step-sisters. This put me in mind of fellow Weird Girls author Angela Carter, particularly The Bloody Chamber. However, Paramaditha’s voice is resolutely her own, and part of the impact of the horror occurs because a recognisable reality grows uncontrollably into something dark and unmanageable.
I’m always interested in portrayals of witches, those women who live on the fringes and often offered women healthcare. In Scream in a Bottle, Gita is a researcher who travels to Cadas Pangeran in search of a witch named Sumarni.
“It’s as if time is gnawed away by termites here. The hours melt into the night, and the tick of the clock no longer matters.”
It soon emerges that Sumarni’s main work is ending unwanted pregnancies.
“She seems almost a smile, but no smile is reflected in her grey eyes. Gita watches as those eyes become the sky. Clouds gather within; they let loose rain, but no thunder.”
As this story develops across a few pages, Sumarni explains an element of her work that is otherworldly, both menacing and protective, a commentary on the silencing of female voices and experience. It is deeply unnerving.
One of the most disturbing tales for me was Beauty and the Seventh Dwarf, which features violent (consensual) sex and self-mutilation. But I never had the sense that Paramaditha was being gratuitously shocking. She uses the bloody and the violent to explore the insidious control of women’s bodies in the modern world; the fabulist framing highlighting recognisable horrors rather than obscuring them.
“Bathed in the blue glow, her mangled features made me feel as though I was looking at a mermaid who had been dashed against the rocks by the waves. Yet I was shipwrecked, and she was not rescuing me.”
I’ve only scratched the surface here of the settings and themes in the collection, but hopefully I’ve given a flavour of what to expect. Not a comfort read but an interesting one! I’d like to read longer fiction by this author now, to see what she does with more space to explore. Luckily her first novel has also been translated:
madame bibi lophile recommends 
This sounds very interesting although not particularly easy. One of my children has just finished their PhD on witches in popular culture, so this could be good for them too. Good luck with the challenge!
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a fascinating PhD! I hope they enjoyed it.
Thank you Jane – only four books left to go so it’s absolutely doable 😊
LikeLike
This doesn’t sound like my kind of thing, although I did read The Bloody Chamber, but her writing looks as if it is really fine.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can understand that! I did really like her writing, the novel sounds like it might not be so horror-filled.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve not come across anything in translation from Indonesia before. I share your interest in the portrayal of witches or wise women. So much cruel misogyny triggered by the power their knowledge gave them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hadn’t either, although I think this writer is quite high profile – somehow she passed me by.
Absolutely, the history of witches is so bound up in looking to sustain misogynistic power structures, as you say.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This sounds like a really rich collection, Madame B, even if it is a little dark. But I can cope with Carter so I could probably manage this. I was intrigued by the Weird Girls title and checked out the collection. Agree it’s a condescending name to give to the collection but there are some interesting books there – although I’m not sure it entirely holds together as a selection!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is an interesting selection isn’t it? But as you say, a few outliers there! I hope you enjoy this if you get to it. (For me the most upsetting tale involved a neglected cat, even though no direct harm came to it.)
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love the fact you are reading your way round the world. That is the sort of travel that appeals to me!
I don’t think I would want to read this book; Angela Carter can be a step too far for me and I shy away from Grimm’s Fairy Tales being happy to know about them rather than being brave enough to read them. However, I still enjoyed reading your review and I too find it interesting how easily women on the fringes of society were branded as ‘witches’ for not conforming to current acceptable norms.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m really enjoying my bookish travels and no airports to navigate – hooray!
I complete understand giving this a miss – its very well written but that means the horrors are very real.
The whole history and positioning of witches is so interesting isn’t it? I find it fascinating, and infuriating.
LikeLike
Sounds intriguing, if potentially disturbing! Great find for your Around the World challenge – keep up the good work!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Definitely disturbing, but grounded in something to say, and well written!
Thanks FF, hopefully I’ll be completing my bookish journeys soon 😊
LikeLike
I’ve read quite a bit of Indonesian Lit, and there’s a fair bit of violence in what I’ve read of contemporary fiction. There are events in their history which still resonate…
I’ve had Apple and Knife on my TBR for ages, I should read it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s interesting Lisa, thank you. I had no idea how she sat within Indonesian lit more widely.
I hope you enjoy this when you get to it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
This does sound very good indeed, and I can see why the Angela Carter sprang to mind. I’ll definitely keep it in mind!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad it appeals Jacqui!
LikeLike