Catastrophe in Indonesia (What Was Communism?) by Max Lane

Catastrophe in Indonesia (What Was Communism?) Reviews

• 
  Ann T

  Grew up in Indonesia up to high school, I learned nothing about the Indonesian father of Proclamation, it’s first President Sukarno, nor about anything that took place in the 1950’s and 1960’s, except the tragedy of G-30-S and the alleged atrocities of the PKI and the complicity of Bung Karno. I remember how it was taboo to mention his name or the communism when I grew up. We were conditioned to believe that communism was evil.
  
  It was only in my 20’s when I was in Paris, and the first person I met uttered spontaneously, when he learned that I was an Indonesian, that Indonesia massacred half a million of communists in 1965, that I slowly started to ponder over the missing history in my education as I ran across more and more glimpses of our missing history. How did such a heroic figure who led Indonesia to freedom became a persona non grata? As a child grew up in ‘order baru’ under President Suharto, out of habit I did spend many years defending Indonesia against any criticism over the massacre of the alleged PKI, or atrocities in East Timor. But most books I read kept pointing me to see a different view.
  
  With more time to read nowadays, am getting myself re-educated more on my missing historical lessons, particularly the periods up to the fall of Bung Karno and the demise of PKI in Indonesia.
  
  Max Lane is a known authority on Indonesia. We had a number of his books at home. This little book provides some analysis of what happened to the Left Movement during the critical period around the fall of Bung Karno and the PKI. It also gives a very brief picture of the left movement in the 70’s. The book ends with rather positive outlook of the future of left movement in Indonesia, at least, that was my impression.
• 
  Owen Hatherley

  Short, sharp account of the rise and terrible fall of Indonesian Communism, in the really very good Tariq Ali-edited 'What was Communism' series from a decade ago. Lane has an unusual line on PKI culpability for the failed coup that was the pretext for the quasi-genocidal anti-communist purges of the mid-60s, and ends with an account of the emergence of an (extremely small) new left out of the literature published by survivors of the anti-communist massacres.
• 
  R Rasjid

  A quite intriguing book. For those who looking for a clearer perspective of what actually happened during 1965 in Indonesia, this book is a must-read.
• 
  Ibnu Nashr

  Buku ini menyajikan bahasan yang berbeda. ditulis oleh sejarawan yang berpihak (ini pengakuan langsung sang sejarahwan) membuat buku ini banyak membahas hal-hal dari sudut pandang yang berbeda.
  Dari awal saya sudah agak malas membacanya karena penulisnya terang-terangan mengatakan berpihak. padahal kalau saya mengutip perkataan Njoto (seorang tokoh partai dari pihak yang "kalah") dalam salah satu bukunya mengatakan bahwa, "sebagai seorang penulis kita mestilah berpihak. berpihak pada kebenaran. berpihak pada yang benar". namun sayang sekali saya merasa buku ini hanya sebagai pembelaan, bukan upaya mencari kebenaran.
  Buku ini menjelaskan kondisi sekitar dan sebelum peristiwa G30S 1965. dimana saat itu ideologi komunis sedang berkembang dan memiliki jutaan pendukung. saat dimana perjuangan kaum buruh dan petani sedang mencapai kejayaan. memang saya juga heran, mengapa partai ini dalam sekejap mampu dilenyapkan padahal memiliki banyak anggota. hal ini mustahil dilakukan secara mandiri oleh pihak tertentu, mesti ada pihak-pihak lain yang mendukung, juga mesti ada pihak lainnya pula yang saling berkhianat. memang episode G30s adalah salah satu episode tergelap yang pernah terjadi di negeri ini.
  
• 
  Perdana

  Damn it, Lane, you and your keen perspective again.
  Sebenarnya saya membaca versi bahasa Indonesia yang diterjemahkan dengan cukup baik oleh Djaman Baroe, "Malapetaka di Indonesia". Buku ini hadir sebagai antologi essei Max Lane dalam menganalisa G30S. Dia memaparkan dengan baik, analisa yang tajam, dan memberikan analisa (juga sintesa miliknya) atas berbagai pandangan kudeta 30 September 1965. Ia menganalisanya secara sinkronis, pada awal revolusi hingga awal bangkitnya Orde Baru.
  Well done!
• 
  Faaqih Irfan

  bagian dari pengungkapan tragedi kelam di tahun 1965. Pemaparannya cukup mendalam terutama friksi antara Sukarno, PKI, dan AD. Mengungkap tentang konspirasi antar AD dan AS.