This Valentine, let’s get it on with some of the country’s best literary love stories, caught on paper.

There is a reason why the most famous love line in Indonesian literature is Sapardi Djoko Damono’s “Aku ingin mencintaimu dengan sederhana” (I wish to love you simply). Indonesian love is rarely straightforward, and this undying fact is reflected in the country’s varied literary output. From expressionist poems to lighter popular books about urban paramours, these love stories are necessarily suffused with narratives on history, class and inner exploration.

Seperti Dendam, Rindu Harus Dibayar Tuntas (Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash)

by Eka Kurniawan

A controversial pick on the face of it, perhaps, as the novel is a genre mish-mash – at once a gritty portrayal of the seedy side of 1980s Indonesia and a loving homage to the era’s kitschy action movies. But at its heart, Vengeance is Mine explores the redemptive powers of love.

Its protagonist, Ajo Kawir, leads a life of thrill-seeking and violence after a traumatic childhood event leaves him impotent. Things change when he meets Iteung, a lovable gang member with a past of her own, and the two descend into a murky underworld of crime, mythology, and ghosts. Oh, and also, high-speed truck chases.

Adapted into an award-winning film directed by Edwin last year, the book is relentless in pace and breathtaking in prose. But beyond its cinematic pretensions is a novel filled with humor, pathos and beauty.

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