Benedict Anderson's Book Of Life Out Of The Shell Review

JAKARTA - Pouring all the stories related to personal life is not easy. The thought process of determining the starting point, collecting data, packaging stories, inserting lessons to adjusting the language, is evidence of the long process that must be taken to become a biography. For that, everyone who dares to make a kind of biography related to his life deserves appreciation.

Moreover, if it is himself who wrote the story, and not someone else. Thus, the book is completely authentic. Some examples of self-written biographies include a biography of the leader of the Russian October Revolution, Leon Trotsky entitled My Life (1929); a biography of Indonesia's education figure, Butet Manurung, entitled Sokola Rimba (2007), and a biography of a well-known Indonesian journalist, Muhamad Radjab, entitled Semasa Kecil di Kampung 1913-1928 (1974).

Each of the works mentioned above contains interesting and authentic content because they tell their own story. Then, if someone thinks biographies are mostly boring and sleepy, they may not have read the book by a great professor and researcher in Southeast Asia, Benedict Anderson, who wrote a biography of his life entitled Living Outside the Shell (2016).

Usually we often find biographies that are limited to figures such as politicians, artists, businessmen or state leaders. Therefore, the presence of the biographical genre that reveals personal life, family background, who motivates a researcher, is very rare. Luckily, through this book Ben - as he is usually known - has succeeded in becoming one of the researchers who made a biography.

Through his biographies, writers with great works such as Imagined Communities (1983), Java in A Time of Revolution (1972), Kuasa Kata: Exploring Political Culture in Indonesia (1990) and Under the Three Flag (2005) prove that the work of a researcher not only interesting in terms of findings in the field, but his life journey can also motivate people to dare to live outside the shell.

Looking at the existing reality, researchers generally feel at home with their position in a discipline, department, university and do not dare to look beyond that. Ben is different. Himself far beyond that. In the term, one must have readiness to seek and follow the direction of the wind. In other words, Ben dared to learn anything that had nothing to do with his field.

As a result, this book is so interesting to read in your spare time. It is so interesting that readers can understand why Ben wrote a biography, attended school, visited Indonesia, fell in love with Indonesian literary works, and even criticized him in the current era. to give you an idea of that, we summarize some of them.

First, the reasons for making a biography. This Irish man who was born in Kunming, China in 1936, revealed the reason for making a biographical book because he wanted to answer a request from Japanese students regarding how the image of the socio-political context, the culture in which the anglo-saxon scientists were born. Ben felt that in order to have an idea regarding the workings and nature of thinking of an American professor, this book appeared.

Initially, the book was entitled "Yashigarawan no soto e". On his way, Ben was then encouraged by his younger brother, Perry Anderson to make the English version. Incidentally, at that time his younger brother worked at the Verso publisher in England.

At first Ben had refused because he felt that his life story was not very interesting, until finally it softened. The manuscript was then published in English under the title "A Life Beyond The Boundaries," and an Indonesian translation followed. Equally, Ben proves that his life is interesting enough to be learning material for readers.

Second, Ben's days at school. Ben's mother's hard work in sending her child to school is exemplary. Living as a widow and only relying on her husband's pension money, made her continue to motivate her child to continue studying in order to get a scholarship to enter elite schools in England.

Finally, from a total of 13 children who received scholarships in Eton, Southeast London, Ben was at number two from the very end. However, Ben was quite satisfied. At first, Ben felt that the school was a strange place. This is because children who go to school are relatively wealthy and powerful. So that not infrequently he and other scholarship recipients are labeled as bookworms.

Even so, gradually Ben began to feel at home. Until finally, because he went to school at Eton, Ben then got the opportunity to spend his exciting days at school while tasting the opportunity to travel abroad, both to Paris, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, and Italy.

Whether it's going with his aunt or with his school friends. Until finally, Ben got a scholarship to enter the University of Cambridge and slowly reached the Americas, to be precise at Cornell University.

Third, the times in Indonesia. Ben who became interested in Southeast Asian studies began to visit one country after another which became the focus of his research. Uniquely, one of the most reviewed and most memorable countries in the book was during a visit to Indonesia.

“I arrived in Jakarta at the end of December 1961 and stayed until April 1964. When the plane landed in the dark. The rainy season has started, and I clearly remember traveling to town in a taxi with all the windows open. The first thing that struck me was the smells - from fresh trees and bushes, the smell of pee, incense, oil lamps, trash, and above all, the cooking smells of the little stalls lining the street, ”reads page 63.

Among Indonesian reviewers, Ben is known as someone who is full of totality in his work in the field. He learned the local language, made friends with Ong Hok Ham - who later became a famous historian - acted on, until he began to learn a little bit about Indonesian culture because he often encountered cultural upheavals. Starting from trying spicy food, using sarongs to sleep, and seeing how Indonesians liberate boys from their activities.

Through Ben's visit, the public can recognize Indonesia through his glasses. Including the reason for the mention of the word 'foreigner.' According to Ben, the origin of the popularity of the word Bule was purely due to his role in asking his friends to call him like that because he felt that the words of the master, commonly referred to by Indonesians, were rather strange.

“I also told him that I popularized the new meaning for the term in 1962 or 1963. My friend didn't believe in me, so I said, 'You're a historian, an experienced Indonesian historian. You bet 100 dollars, you won't be able to find the word bule in the meaning of white man, in any document before 1963. He won't bet, "it reads on page 77.

The rest, Ben talked a lot about his fondness for Indonesian literature. Because of his love, Ben then joined in tracing the works of a well-known Indonesian writer Kwee Thiam Tjing whose pen name was Tjamboek Berdoeri.

According to Ben, of the many works of Indonesian literature he read, it was Tjamboek Berdoeri's writing that thrilled his heart the most, so that Ben was moved to compile the scattered works of these writers. On that basis, the book entitled Becoming Tjamboek Berdoeri (2010) can be enjoyed by many people to this day.

Detail:

Book Title: Life Outside the Shell

Author: Benedict Anderson

First published: 2009 (Indonesian version: 2016)

Issuer: Left Margin

Number of Pages: 205