The Crocodile: Let’s not accept that history is written by the victors, especially when “victors” means former colonial powers who prefer not to acknowledge the abuses perpetrated under their regimes

September 5, 2017April 28, 2019 ~ Kelly Dunagan ~ Leave a comment

The Crocodile, Vincent Eri, 1970

Papua New Guinea, #2
Borrowed from SF Library
Read September 2016
Rating: 3.5/5
Recommended for: colonial powers ripe for toppling

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Max Havelaar: a selfish, altruistic, mediocre, Dutch work of great Indonesian literature

August 8, 2017August 8, 2017 ~ Kelly Dunagan ~ 1 Comment

Max Havelaar, or The Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company, Multatuli, 1860

Indonesia, #3; Netherlands, #5
Paperback, received as a gift
Read May 2017
Rating: 3/5
Opening line: “I am a coffee broker, and I live at No. 37 Lauriergracht, Amsterdam.”
Recommended for: contradictarians

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Legends, Traditions, and Tales of Nauru

July 21, 2017August 13, 2017 ~ Kelly Dunagan ~ 1 Comment

Legends, Traditions, and Tales of Nauru, Timothy Detudamo, 2008 (written in 1938)

Nauru, #1
Borrowed from SF library
Read December 2016
Rating: 3/5
Recommended for: literalists

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Kiki: All These Changes

July 19, 2017April 28, 2019 ~ Kelly Dunagan ~ 3 Comments

Kiki: Ten Thousand Years in a Lifetime, Albert Maori Kiki with Ulli Beier, 1968

Papua New Guinea, #1
Borrowed from SF Library
Read September 2016
Rating: 3/5
Recommended for: self-starters in search of inspiration

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Jazz, Perfume, and the Incident: improvising meaning from brutality

July 17, 2017July 14, 2017 ~ Kelly Dunagan ~ 1 Comment

Jazz, Perfume, and the Incident, Seno Gumira Ajidarma, 1996

Indonesia, #11
Borrowed from SF Library (via Interlibrary Loan)
Read: June, 2017
Rating: 3/5
Recommended for: conscientious sensualists

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East Timor: False starts

July 14, 2017July 17, 2017 ~ Kelly Dunagan ~ 2 Comments

Funu: The Unfinished Saga of East Timor, Jose Ramos-Horta, 1987

East Timor, #1
Borrowed from SF Library
Rating: 2/5
Read: April 2017
Recommended for: Experts

The Crossing, Luis Cardoso, 1997

East Timor, #2
Borrowed from SF Library
Rating: 3/5
Read: April 2017
Recommended for: Exiles

Beloved Land: Stories, Struggles, and Secrets from Timor-Leste, Gordon Peake, 2013

East Timor, #5
Borrowed from SF Library
Rating: 2.5/5
Read: April 2017
Recommended for: Expositors

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Raetemaot: not everyone is a writer

July 12, 2017July 11, 2017 ~ Kelly Dunagan ~ 1 Comment

Raetemaot: Creative Writing from Solomon Islands, Julian Maka’a, ed.

Solomon Islands, #6
Paperback, $20 from Alibris.com (I kind of can’t believe I paid $20 for this)
Read September 2016
Rating: 2/5
Recommended for: trainee editors after a rousing game of spot-the-professional-writer

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Custom Stories from Choiseul

July 10, 2017July 10, 2017 ~ Kelly Dunagan ~ 1 Comment

Custom Stories from Choiseul, various authors, 1995

Solomon Islands, #6
Skimmed on Google Books
Read September 2016
Rating: 2/5
Recommended for: incurable elaborators

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Suremada: Another bewildering reading experience from the Solomon Islands

July 7, 2017July 29, 2017 ~ Kelly Dunagan ~ 1 Comment

Suremada: Faces from a Solomon Island Village, Rexford Orotaloa, 1989

Solomon Islands, #5
$20, alibris.com
Read August 2016
Rating: 1.5/5
Opening line: Anaibolafafawa was the village Big Man.
Recommended for: Rambling internet commenters

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The Alternative: Actually, let’s just stick with option A.

July 5, 2017July 10, 2017 ~ Kelly Dunagan ~ 1 Comment

The Alternative, John Selwyn Saunana

Solomon Islands, #4
Borrowed from San Francisco State University, via SF public library
Read September 2016
Rating: 1.5/5
Recommended for: petulant opportunists

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