Durian is a contentious fruit; loved by many, while others are disgusted by its strong smell and strange appearance. Jakarta, one of the largest and least known cities in Southeast Asia, is aptly nicknamed the “Great Durian.” Tales from the Big Durian, is a collection of true stories and experiences, crossing the lines of “normality” and leading readers into the surreal life of a megacity torn between western modernization and traditional beliefs.
The book begins with a short story about differences in cultural beliefs, where locals prefer skin whitening creams to being out in the warm tropical Indonesian sun. It leads to a collection of weird and funny tales that mix between expats and locals, leading to a chaotic mix of misunderstandings, which end up as confusing as they started.
As he travels through a growing ultramodern city towards the dilapidated dwellings and shacks of the poor. Where a society lives on the brink of earthquakes and floods, while millions of people somehow find a way to earn a living.
On the streets of this bustling city, luxury malls collide with street vendors selling everything imaginable, and Porsches battle East Asia’s most dangerous buses for space on the jammed roads of Jakarta.
The stories are often “human” stories; the anonymous street vendor of food outside a western-style bar, or the residents of a dilapidated apartment block, who have a reputation for being haunted. People who exist but are often the anonymous characters that make the city of Jakarta so interesting.
Each page invites you into a very real world, you can experience it first hand browsing a variety of stories, which confuse, bring joy or simply disgust.
Welcome to the surreal and yet very real world of “Great Durian.”
Tales from the Big Durian is available in e-book form through Fultus Books.
