Local masterpiece: Publisher Balai Pustaka recently released Indonesian Cultural Heritage Series, a set of eight classic literary works by Indonesian writers from the 1920s to the 1940s, in a bid to make the works as appreciated as their Western counterparts. (JP/Anissa Febrina)Most of us remember them as names in our Indonesian literature textbooks, and their works as part of the reading list we have to choose from to make summaries. Often, that’s as far as those names and works go — names in our memories and titles of books that
we say we’ve read once, despite them having a literary quality that makes them worth at least a second reading. And perhaps, when we hear those names and titles — Marah Rusli’s Siti Nurbaya, Abdoel Moeis’ Salah Asuhan or Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana’s Layar Terkembang — we rarely consider them classic literary works that deserve a space on our b...